A/N: Here's the first new and improved chapter of The Diamond and The Stone. The next one should be up in a week or so. Hope you like it!
The sun is beginning to set as the anthem begins to play. The death recap is short today, just one tribute, but from my hiding place she can't see who. Her first thought is of not of Peeta or his safety, and the guilt that's lived in her chest since this thing between them began settles a little deeper. The anthem fades with the last of the sunlight, and the sounds of the forest resume. She knows that sleep is not exactly safe, but it's been three days since she was last able to sleep, and her vision is beginning to blur at the edges. She reasons that she'll drag some plant life in front of her hide out to conceal it better. The arrangement of the rocks has her reasonably hidden, but she'll take no chances tonight. She darts the twenty yards to the stream to refill her water bottle, then works at camouflaging the cave. It's hardly her best work, but it'll have to do until morning.
She covers the floor of the cave in pine needles and settles in as far towards the back as she can. The sounds of the mockingjays echoing each other's calls is what finally lulls her into a troubled sleep.
:.:
A familiar male voice draws her to consciousness.
"Katniss. Katniss, wake up." The voice is rougher than it was a few days ago, and far more desperate than she's ever heard it. Her eyes open slowly as she sits up, but her hand is already gripping her knife. Can't be too careful this far into the Games. His face slides into focus, and she thinks she sees him smile for a second. It vanishes a quickly as it was ever possibly there. She feels safer already with him here, though she knows she shouldn't. If they were anyone else anywhere else, she might cry. As it is, she releases her grip on her knife and hesitantly reaches out to touch him, if only to be sure he's real and not another of the capital's cruel illusions. (The screams of the jabberjays still echo in her ears.)
The reality of it hits her hard and fast. The cannon yesterday did not belong to him. It might have belonged to Peeta, and she wouldn't really mind if it was. It's better than having to kill him herself. There are four of them left. They don't have much time left in the arena. In the faint light filtering into the cave, Cato looks like he always has: dangerously attractive and poised to kill, and she is thankful that there are no cameras in here.
"Who's left?" She has to know, wants to remember the names of the tributes that will either kill her or be killed by her.
"Hello to you, too," he smirks. Katniss frowns at him, and he seems to realize that she's all too serious about this. Now is not the time to be playing their game. In this moment, they need to be allies, not friends, certainly not lovers.
"You, me, the girl from five, and your Loverboy." He ticks them each off on his fingers. Peeta is still alive, somehow. Hopefully Thresh gets to him before they do. She regrets that thought, but it's still true. She' rather not kill Peeta. Actually, she couldn't live with herself if she did, certainly couldn't return home. Killing your District partner simply isn't done, even amongst the Careers. A few years ago, the boy from six had killed his district partner, brutally murdered her. He kept her alive as he sliced through her arms and legs, and Katnis remembers forcing her mother and Prim away from the screen as the boy crushed the poor girl's skull with the heel of his boot. The careers that year turned on one of their own and ripped him to pieces. She also remembers her shock at learning that even the Careers have a sort of moral code. She refuses to let herself become that boy.
Cato's talking, and she makes an attempt to listen, but she's too busy trying to find a way to not be the one who kills Peeta. He congratulates her on such a well picked hide out, near water and food and easily camouflaged. He asks for food and Katniss digs in her pack for the last bits of jerky from Haymitch.
"Haven't eaten since Clove died. No time," he explains. He looks like he hasn't slept since then either. Katniss pats the ground beside her, and he shrugs off his pack and crawls to the back of the cave. He leans against the sloping wall, and covers her hand with his. "What's our plan?" She hasn't got one, is the thing, but he doesn't need to know that yet.
"Sleep now. You look like you need it. We'll come up with a plan tonight." Cato agrees easily enough, lets her take watch as he rests his head on his pack and closes his eyes. She watches him fade from consciousness and then turns her attention to the forest around them.
:.:
Katniss wakes Cato as the anthem begins to play. Tonight the light fades faster than it ever would outside the arena and reminds her of the Game maker's power. There are no faces in the sky tonight, which means that the Capitol citizens will be unstaisfied, which means that the Game makers will be at work tomorrow, killing them off and forcing them together. While Cato slept, she came up with a plan that might stall the Capitols' hand for a few days.
The plan isn't complicated by any means, but it will complicate things for her. Her District will probably hate her. It will end all the lies and speculation about her and Peeta's "relationship" It'll confuse Haymitch and whatever few sponsor she has left. But it'll definitely bring in more sponsors, and give the Capitol something to salivate over. She explains her plan to Cato, and he thinks that the benefits far outweigh the negatives. They agree that it should be casual, and not forced. Tomorrow morning, they'll put it into action.
:.:
Cato wakes her with the sun, and he asks her if she's ready to start. She responds by taking his hand and leading him out of the cave. This will be the first the audience has seen of her in a few days. From their point of view, she'd been hiding out, probably waiting for Peeta. When Cato had found her cave, they'd probably thought the worst. But there was no cannon and her picture wasn't projected into the sky, so who knows what they think she and Cato have been doing.
They head a little way into the forest as planned, holding hands and walking close together. Katniss even plays it up and rests her head on his shoulder. It's far more affectionate than they are when they're alone. Gathering food safe to eat isn't hard for her, but he seems to have no idea what he's doing. She fills her pack with roots and leaves and even a few berries. He almost eats nightlock berries straight off the bush. Katniss pretends to laugh and quickly knocks his hand away from his mouth.
"Nightlock. They'd kill you before they reached your stomach. Here, try some of these." She offers him a handful of berries and follows them up with the kiss that will confuse - and hopefully delay - the Game makers and all of Panem.