This is The Hunger Games from Clove's POV with my own creative twist. Enjoy.
Claudius Templesmith's voice booms down from overhead, congratulating the six of us who remain. I assumed he would be inviting us to a feast, but he's not. He says something very confusing. There's been a rule change in the Games. The new rule states that both tributes from the same district will be declared winners if they are the last two alive. He repeats himself once more and his voice is gone.
"Clove!" I hear his voice from the bushes behind me. Cato comes running into our clearing squirrel in hand. "Did you hear? Did you hear Claudius!"
"No, I totally missed the giant announcement that is made of all to hear." I said sticking my tongue out at him, "Looks like you finally caught us some dinner. Now how do we cook this without letting Thresh or the redhead know we're here?"
"Hmm, good point…I guess we'll figure it out in the morning. So the only people left are us, Katniss, loverboy, Thresh, and redhead right?"
"Right, just come lay down and get some rest. We'll track Katniss down tomorrow; we know she'll go after lover boy." He lays down about 5 feet away from me, "Just us and them, if we off one of them, we go home for sure." He stretches and rolls to face me. We lay there looking at each other for what seems like ages before he pats the grass next to him, "C'mon Clove, we don't have any sleeping bags and we can't light a fire, it's gonna be a cold one tonight." After weighing my options of freezing to death or get uncomfortably close to Cato, I chose not freezing to death.
He fell asleep quite quickly for being so excited only a few minutes ago, I roll onto my back so I can get a good look at him. He isn't all that bad looking for someone so short tempered. He's also quite the furnace. I snuggle into his warmth and ponder why, after 74 years, they would change the rules now. Then it hit me, the so called star-crossed lovers. I forgot for a while there that we were part of a television show, star-crossed lovers make good television.
Well if these capitol people want a good show, I'll make sure I give it to them. I look at Cato as longingly as I can manage, clench my eyes shut, shake my head slightly, then pretend to give into temptation and kiss him. He jolts awake and looks at me beyond confused. I kissed him again, but instead of fighting me like I thought he would, he went with it and kissed me back. He must understand what I'm doing, trying to give our district two victors and their own pair of so called star-crossed lovers. I don't care how many Capitol people she has fooled, Katniss can't pull the wool over my eyes. She doesn't love that boy anymore then she loves that drunk of a mentor Haymitch.
Lucky for me, Cato went right along with my plan, kissing me sweetly at first then more hungrily. He rolled us over so I was pinned under him and he moved to kissing my neck. It felt so good, like all the nerves in my neck were electrified every time his lips touched them.
"Why did you start kissing me?" he asked as quietly as possible into my neck. Thinking of a nonobvious way to answer, I leaned forward and nibbled on his earlobe. He wasn't faking how much he liked that. I paused tormenting him for a moment to answer, "The rules are meant for the lovers not us, let's make them pick the best couple." I moved from his ear to his neck, traced his jawline with kisses, pulled back and looked into his eyes. Those pale blue eyes looked back at me with something that wasn't there before, it wasn't the usual wariness and distrust; it was almost caring. That's strange; Cato doesn't actually care about me. He just wants a way for us to both get home. He knows how much my baby brother means to me and all those girls throwing themselves at him aren't a bad prize to come home to either.
He blinked hard and his lips crashed back into mine. This wasn't nearly as repulsive as I thought it would be, kissing him. He is a strong and powerful creature but his lips are so soft and nimble. Like, when he is kissing you, he is a totally different person. I can see why all those girls back home flock to him, it's not just the good looks but how sweet he is when you kiss him.
A snapping twig, about 15 feet away, broke us from our embrace. We were both on our feet me with a knife and Cato with his sword. A rabbit hops into view, scratches its ear, and hops away. I flopped onto the ground cracking up. Cato wheeled around glaring, "What's so funny? That could have been Thresh or the redhead!" he barked at me.
"Take it easy Cato, it was only a rabbit! That's why I'm laughing, we freaked over a rabbit." I said then fell onto my back and laughed some more. He flopped down next to me only to be greeted with a swift punch in the arm. He didn't take to kindly to my gesture so he flipped himself on top of me. He had my arms pinned above my head with one hand and he had a shin on each of my knees. I was stuck so I did the only sensible thing when a guy with a bad temper has you pinned to the ground; I stuck my tongue out at him.
He furrowed his eyebrows together trying to come up with something to do back to me; he isn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. I saw the idea pop into his head and his arm jerk; I knew what he was doing before he even did it. Before I could react to what I saw coming, he had his free hand tickling me. This is the worst thing he could have ever done to me, I am beyond ticklish. I started laughing uncontrollably and really, really loud.
"Shh!" He orders me while continuing to torture me.
"I can't while you're tickling me!" I manage to giggle out. So in order to quite me, he doesn't stop tickling me, no, that would make sense. He kisses me much hungrier than the last time. I was kissing him back before I even registered what was going on. With his brain otherwise occupied, I wriggled my legs free and kicked him up and off of me.
"Hey!" he says as he hits the ground with a thud. I effortlessly jump on top of him and land straddling his stomach. We just looked at each other, neither one of us exactly sure what we should do. I decided it would be a good time to cool things down a bit so I just lie down and put my head on his chest. I listened to his heartbeat, his breathing, so rhythmic and steady. For the first time since we entered the arena, I felt safe.
I knew volunteering would land me a spot in here, but I never thought they'd pick me as the volunteer. We all train for the day when we can, but the odds of you being the chosen volunteer are not in your favor. I never actually wanted to come to the Games, but I volunteered like I was supposed to.
I got called on. I froze unsure of what to do when the applause erupted. I went with the mood; I bounded up the stairs, took a bow and flashed a big smile. As I looked out into the crowd I caught my father and baby brother's attention, my father has never looked more proud where as my brother was silently crying. Why was he crying? He wasn't the one going into the arena. Oh, right. His big sister was.
Cato didn't get chosen but he shouted so loudly that he volunteered they couldn't ignore him. He strode right up to center stage and blew a kiss to all the girls that were now weeping over him. He winked and I swear one of the girls fainted. I really did not like him for being so happy we got picked but I pretended to be ecstatic because that is what the tributes of our district do.
"What do you think the lovers are doing tonight?" he asked interrupting my thoughts. Not being in much of a mood for talking, I just shrugged and slid off of him. He brushed the hair out of my eyes, "Clove? What's wrong?" I just rolled over and buried my face in my elbow.
"Clove, c'mon. Talk to me." I didn't want to snap but I did, "Why? So when we get back you can ditch me and ignore my existence for all of your fan girls? You may have wanted to come here but I didn't. I wanted to stay home with my brother!" I lost my cool and now there was no stopping the tears from coming down. I lost my composure and I have now shown Cato and all of Panem, if they're watching, that I am weak. Who am I kidding, of course they are. Everyone is asleep or not doing anything as interesting as a new lovers' quarrel.
"If you didn't want to come then why-" I cut him off, "Because Cato, that's what we do in our district. A name gets called and all the 18 year olds volunteer. I just never thought they would pick me. I did it because it's what we do." I barely got out the last sentence before I lost my bearings. I started sobbing like a small child, it's so humiliating. Then as I was trying to figure how to play this is our favor, he scooped me up into his arms. He draped me over his lap and just held me as I cried.
"I'm sorry Clove, I didn't know." He whispers so softly I barely heard him. I know I should do something to help our case but I am just so angry with him I can't kiss him now. I just sobbed even harder into his shoulder.
The next thing I knew there was a mockingjay in a tree repeating a sound pattern that almost resembled Peeta's name. I stared at the bird concentrating, trying to dissect what it was mimicking. I decided that Katniss had found loverboy early this morning. I realized that I had fallen asleep in Cato's arms; we were propped up against a tree. I went to punch him awake until I remembered we were playing the newly realized lovers card.
I kissed him softly on the lips as his eyes fluttered open. He smiled and kissed me slowly, god did he have bad morning breath. I pulled away to get a good look at my new pretend boyfriend. His eyes were puffy.
"Cato, were you crying?" I asked cocking my head to the side. He dropped his eyes from mine. I grabbed his hand, "C'mon talk to me." He took a deep breath and looked so intently at me it stopped my heart, "Yeah, I was. After you cried yourself out I realized how afraid I really was of this place, how being a pompous ass was just my way of hiding it. I'm sorry Clove." Did he actually just admit to crying, being afraid, and apologize all in one foul swoop? Knowing what the crowd would want, I kissed him gently.
I went to back out of the kiss when he planted his hand hard on my back holding me there. He parted his lips with mine and the gentle Cato I met last night was back. I repositioned myself on his lap so I was facing him instead of sitting sidesaddle. Kissing him was so effortless and almost pleasant. Our lips danced together for what felt like hours when he pulled away and looked me in the eyes.
"What?" I asked more nervously then I had planned.
"I never ignored your existence. We had classes together and I always admired you. You were, are, such a skilled knife thrower. Watching was you incredible. You came alive during target practice; you seemed so at peace when you would throw. Ironic isn't it? I fumbled knife throwing for years hoping they would set me with you as a tutor. Which is why when you got picked as a tribute…" his voice trailed off.
"You didn't let anyone volunteer because of me?"
"Yeah, I needed the chance to get to know you. That would have been my biggest regret. Not knowing you." I just stared in disbelief at him, he has to be lying. But he was so clumsy with knives; maybe it's just a cover in case anyone at home questions it. Yeah, that's it.
"This," he said before kissing me, "is just a bonus." He pulled away and genuinely smiled at me. How can this boy, so brutal, be so caring and kind? I felt something I wasn't accustomed to, my stomach was in knots and doing backflips. Is this what people call butterflies? They are usually accompanied with feelings for someone. No. No way. I don't like Cato. I only started tolerating him yesterday! There is no way I like him.
As if he could tell I was having some kind of inner turmoil, he kissed me. The kiss wasn't like any of the others; it was so soft I could barely feel it. Still, it electrified my entire being. My heart stopped and raced all in the same moment, my stomach sank and flew sky high all at the same time. I opened my eyes to see his tearing up staring back at me.
"What?" I asked so softly I wasn't sure if he heard me.
"I just…" he choked on his words. Then as if it was an instinct, I knew what he was going to say. He was going to say what I was questioning myself.
"Clove," he said taking a deep breath, "I think I love you. I know in the arena isn't exactly the best time to tell you but I want you to know…just in case." My eyes filled with tears, "I'd rather you tell me than Ceaser." I said doing that strange choking laugh you do when you're crying. I flung my arms around his neck and kissed him. Our tears fell together onto our shirts. I had never been so happy before in my life.
I could go home; I could see my brother again. I could see my dad again. I could have Cato, we could live together. The happy thoughts swam through my head and engulfed my entire being. I pulled out of the kiss and looked at Cato with a smirk, "How about we go hunt some love birds?" He wraps his arms around me, stands up, kisses my nose, and plops me on my feet.
We skirt along the outside of the center of the arena making sure to stay hidden within the tree line. We see the redhead digging around in the rubble of our blown supplies; little does she know Cato and I already salvaged everything. We make sure to keep an extra careful eye on the fields where we know Thresh is hiding. We back tracked through the woods to where we had Katniss held up in that tree, the place where Glimmer died, the place where Cato cut Peeta.
The trek took much longer then it had the first time seeing as we needed to actually be careful now. The first time we had gone this way, we still had Marvel and we hadn't killed Thresh's fellow tribute. What was her name? The little tree climber. Rue. That was her name. I felt awful that she died the way she did. I would have done it much quicker, not left her to bleed out like Marvel did. She was a sweet one, I wonder if she was the baby. She was so young after all.
By the time we found the place we last saw Peeta, it wasn't that hard to find their new hideout. You could hear him in pain from a good mile away. Hiding that noisy boy in a cave wasn't your best move there love bird.
"So, you wanna kill em now?" Cato asked me as we sat about 100 yards away from the cave.
"Nah, I want to see if he keels over on his own. Plus I think it's funny we're so close and the great hunter of district 12 hasn't noticed us." He had to stifle a laugh, "That's because she's so in love with him she forgot about the rest of us my dear. Have you forgotten they are the star-crossed lovers?"
"Then what are we?" I asked him planting a kiss firmly on his lips.
"The most badass team ever?" He answered trying to see if that was the answer I was looking for. He wasn't following me so I just let it go and put my head down on his shoulder. Putting his arm around me he said, "We do need some food yah know." And as if he said the magic words, a parachute came down. I untied it and opened it; it had a few cans of beef and veggie stew. We split the stew, taking swigs straight from the can.
Over the next day or so we sat and watched her care for him. Try and save his leg, try to keep him alive. I'm convinced she's only keeping him alive because now they can both get home. I wonder if she would have left him to die out here otherwise. I wonder what Cato would have done if they didn't announce the rule change. I never exactly trusted him in here, especially since I saw how effortlessly he snapped that boy's neck.
I mean I can kill no problem. It can actually be kind of fun to watch them just plop on the ground because of one simple knife I threw. But to kill someone with my bare hands? I don't know if I could do that. Cut them up, make them bleed, leave them to die. I can do all that no problem, but snapping a neck? I don't think I could do it.
"What would you have done to me if they didn't change the rules?" I asked as I passed the last of the stew back to him. He looked at me completely confused. "Like, where would we be right now if they didn't change the rules to make it so we could both go home?"
"I…um," he couldn't seem to get the words out, "I was planning on splitting with you this morning and hoping someone else would kill you so I didn't have to."
"And what if you had to, would you have done it? If it came down to me vs you. Would you have hunted me down like Katniss or let me come and find you?"
"I guess…I would have…" then it hit me. Everything he said last night and this morning was for the Games. It was all for the Games. Why am I so mad? I started this. I knew he would go along with it. But he said he loved me, the way he kissed me, everything seemed so real.
"So you would've killed me eh? Nice to know." I stormed off into the woods. He couldn't call my name or follow me if he didn't want to let the love birds know we were here. I took the opportunity to walk away, clear my head. I picked a nice tree and threw every knife I had into it over and over again. I have no idea what time it was when I left but it was getting dark now so I figured if she survived this long she knew what she was doing. I followed the love bird's lead and slept in a tree.
As I was about to drift off, Claudius came over the speaker inviting us to the feast I had so desperately waiting for. This should flush out the birds. Who knows, maybe I can kill two birds with one knife? I crack myself up. I cozied into the tree and drifted off wondering what Cato was doing.
I woke up as soon as the birds started chirping. I jumped out of the tree and made my way to the Cornucopia. As I was about to enter the clearing I saw the redhead bolt out of the Cornucopia, she is smarter then I gave her credit for. I didn't even think of that, and from the rustling bushes a few hundred yards to my right, Katniss didn't either.
Just as she grabbed her pack, I flung a knife at her head. Damn it! That is the second time I missed that bitch. She won't be so lucky this time. I pounced on her as she was reloading her bow. I crouched on her chest with a knife against her throat.
"Where's lover boy?" I asked her. "Oh, I see. You were gonna help him. Well that's sweet!" I said with a smirk. "Well, it's too bad that you couldn't help your little friend. That little girl, what was her name again? Rue? Yeah, well we killed her. And now, we're gonna kill you." Just as I was going to plunge my knife into her chest I was lifted off of her and slammed into the ground.
"You kill her?" It was Thresh, the only guy in the arena that was bigger than Cato.
"No!" I screamed. Where did he come from? I didn't even hear him! What is that? Oh shit, it's a giant rock. He's going to kill me!
"You said her name!" He has that same look in his eyes Cato does before he kills someone.
"Cato!" I shrieked his name. "Cato!" C'mon Cato. I'm sorry. I just really need you now.
"You said her name!" the arm with the rock in it raised about his head. I shut my eyes waiting for the clash of the rock against my skull but it never came. I opened my eyes to see Cato on top of Thresh plunging his sword into his chest. Tears and sobs of relief, panic, and adrenaline wracked my body. I couldn't have chased Katniss even if I wanted to.
Cato, leaving his sword in Thresh's chest, crawled over to me and held me like he had the night before. The cannon sounded. Cato grabbed his sword, my hand, and led me to the lake so I could splash some water on my face and settle down. After the waves of spasms finished, I turned to Cato and asked him, "Why did? How did?"
"After I heard Claudius last night, I knew this is where you would be." He answered my unformulated questions. "I'm just happy I got here in time." He said as his voice trailed off. I took his hand and fell into his chest. He may not love me like he said, but he does care. He kept me alive. That's all I need to get me through these Games. I can sort out the rest later.
With Thresh dead, all that was left in our way were the love birds and the redhead. I looked up from his chest, "Cato, they got the medicine. Peeta is going to get better. With her arrows and his strength…" my voice trailed off. I didn't worry about the two of them individually but together they were a lethal combination.
"Clove, you shouldn't be worried," I gave him a quizzical look, "they don't know we know where they've been hiding. We'll just take em out when they come out again." I love that he thinks like me, so sadistic and maniacal. We grabbed our bag, Thresh's too since he won't need it anymore, and headed back to our campsite to stalk the love birds.
The next few hours were really uneventful, we heard bits and pieces of conversations from them but Cato and I were more interested in snuggling and kissing. We went through our pack and Thresh's. In our pack we found body armor. It didn't protect against knives, we checked, but it did protect against arrows. We put on our armor under our normal arena shirts to hide them from Katniss. In Thresh's we found food and water, he didn't need anything but supplies.
After adjusting to the new armor, I fell asleep completely happy in Cato's arms like I had two nights ago. I dreamt of home, back in district two, everyone cheering for us. We get off the train and everyone cheers. My brother comes running up to me, tears in his eyes. My father hugged me so tight he nearly broke my back. Cato and I moved into the same house in Victor's Village and sat in front of the fire place talking about the next Hunger Games and being mentors.
I woke up to the love birds squawking over how well the medicine had heeled Peeta's leg and Katniss's head. They were planning on moving this morning, going to hunt I presume. I woke Cato with a kiss and told him of the birds plan on coming out of the cave today. We positioned ourselves behind a tree on the other side of the river.
Katniss lead the way, bow and arrow in tow and Peeta limping behind her.
"Hey there love birds." Cato says as he stepped out from behind a tree. Before he finished moving, Katniss let an arrow rip into Cato's armor. She was dumbfounded as her arrow bounced off of Cato's chest. Laughing I stepped out from behind the tree as well and flung a knife into her chest. It landed with a thud and so did she.
"Katniss!" Peeta sobbed at her side while her breathing slowed and eventually stopped. Cato and I bolted before the cannon sounded. We knew leaving him alive would be dangerous but necessary if we wanted to go home. We decided, with the wounded Peeta and elusive redhead still alive, our best bet to stay alive would be out in the open by the cornucopia. We saw no sign of either of the other tributes the rest of the day, or night for that matter.
By the time we woke up, it was around 10 in the morning but the sun was already starting to set. I guess this is the last day we're allowed to be in here, they're rushing the day so we can get to the grand finale. Just as Cato and I were getting our bearings, a ballistic Peeta comes fumbling out of the woods.
"We could have gone home!" He shouted as he walked toward us. "I loved her and you killed her right in front of me!"
"I did you a favor lover boy," I cooed at him, "she never loved you anyway."
"You're lying!" He yelled as tears streamed down his face.
"Am I?" I approached him with a smirk, "Then tell me, lover boy, why didn't she look for you until after Claudius announced you could both go home."
"Because she couldn't find me, she was trying but she couldn't find me!" I could hear the doubt in his voice.
"No silly boy, she didn't care. She only cared about getting herself home." I stood there and smiled watching the realization sink in. She never loved him, or even cared about him. She did it because if she didn't help her district partner get home, he district never would have forgiven her.
"She did care! She-" his voice was cut short. He fell to the ground with a knife sticking out of his back. Confused I looked around to see the redhead scampering away into the woods. Well, that takes care of that I suppose. Although I really would have enjoyed slitting his throat or watching Cato torture him. I look over at Cato who looked equally disappointed, "Well what do we do about the redhead?" I asked him.
"Why don't we see what the Game makers have in mind?" I totally forgot they sped up the time because tonight is the grand finale. I wonder what they have in mind. As if they read my mind, a group of howling erupted from the west. That is the same direction the redhead ran. Her screams told me the howling things found her. Cato and I climbed to the top of the cornucopia, hoping we would outlast the redhead.
But lo and behold, she brought the howling mutts right into the center of the arena. Seeing us, she climbed the cornucopia too. We all stood there; eyeing each other its two on one, she has to know she's going to die. Why does she look so happy? What is she planning? Then I realized why, out of her pocket she pulled some sort of contraption. I had never seen something like that before, but before I had time to even wonder what it did, she showed me. She aimed at me and Cato and pulled the trigger releasing a huge wave of fire.
We hit the ground so hard my head spun. Where the hell did she get that? Was that in her pack? I knew what I had to do; I had to take her out. Cato and I split up moving as close as we could to the edge of the cornucopia. I threw a knife making her duck and Cato tackled her to the ground. He had to fight the contraption out of her hands. He slammed her wrist against the ground the flame thrower flew out of her hand and down to the mutts. One of them caught it in their mouth and it exploded spraying shrapnel and mutt bits all over the place. Cato was badly burnt.
I pulled a knife out of my coat and smiled at her. Her eyes were flooded with tears and fear. She knew what I was going to do. I slit her throat, but just deep enough. I sat there and watched her choke and gurgle. She deserved to suffer because she took my kill away from me and she burnt Cato. It took her minutes to finally either bleed out or choke to death on her own blood. I loved every gurgle she made. I closed my eyes and imagined Peeta gurgling and drowning instead.
As the cannon sounded the mutts retreated. I helped Cato stand and finally took in the extent of his injuries, his arms were severely burn and his face wasn't looking so great either. I could tell that was going to scar, I felt bad for him but it meant less competition for me when we got home. Home. We were going home. Even though he was burnt, he leaned down and kissed me. I smiled up at him and he said "Ready to go home? We've got quite the life ahead of us my fellow champion."
"After all, we are the only surviving star-crossed lovers." I said winking at him. I have no idea how he actually feels about me, no idea how I actually feel about him. But what I do know, is that we get to go home and we share a house in Victor's Village. We are victors. We won the 74th Hunger Games.
I hope you enjoyed my Clato oneshot. If demand is high enough, I might do another but for now this is a oneshot. Clove and Cato were my favorite district pair and I thought they deserved a happy ending too. Thanks for reading :)