I take notice of the huge stone in his even larger hands. "Cato! CATO!" I scream, still scrambling backward as fast as I could, searching for a way out. A knife. I need a knife. I get to my feet and snatch one of the knives out from my jacket. He throws the stone just as I throw the knife, but the difference is, I manage to get out of the way.
He doesn't, and the knife pierces his upper shoulder. Even so, Thresh's still running toward me, not as fast, given the bleeding wound that's soaking his shirt, but fast enough. I'm not going to get away, I think, as I stumble and fall to the ground. I'm going to die here.
He raises another, equally heavy looking rock, and is about to throw when he's knocked off balance. Cato. He actually heard me. I throw a knife as Cato swings his sword and Thresh's cannon sounds loudly. I want to collapse on the ground, to sit and just breathe for a moment. But I can't. The hovercraft is already coming to collect his body. He picks up our pack and we head to the surrounding forests.
I lean against a tree and accept the water bottle he offers me gladly. "You weren't careful, you idiot", he says. Just hearing his wry sense of humor makes me hug him. As much as I can anyway, given that he's taller than me.
"When I heard you scream I thought I wasn't going to get there in time. I saw you on the ground and I thought you were dead". The thought that bursts into my head then makes me pull apart and stare at him. "She got away. She got away again!" I curse myself for letting that happen. "And she had the medicine for Lover Boy with her too".
Damn it. So now Lover Boy'll be healed and we'll have to deal with him and Katniss. Cato's face doesn't show anything, but I can tell he wishes I'd killed her quickly now. "Did you catch Five?" I ask hopefully. "No. When I heard you yelling I ran back". Wonderful. So this is all my fault.
On the upside, we killed Thresh. The biggest and most threatening competitor. "What d'you think's in the backpack?" I ask him. He opens it and we look at two bodysuits made entirely of cloth. "How is this supposed to help us?" he asks, angrily. "Wait.." I peer at them and pick one up. I take out a knife and slash it down the fabric. No rip, no tear. Nothing.
"It's armor. Look". I grab his spear and attempt to tear down the front. Completely fine. "Well, maybe these are useful", he admits. I know he doesn't want to. Cato never likes to admit he's wrong, even when it's blatantly obvious he is. I'm the same way. In District 2, we're taught that any admission of being wrong, any sign of not being perfect at all, really, is a sign of weakness. And weakness is not tolerated.
Clouds gather overhead and eventually it starts raining. Our camp's by the lake, so we head for the forest, hoping the trees will act as a sort of cover to the pouring rain. Our clothes are drenched by now.
We sit underneath an especially large tree, the lowest branches occasionally hitting Cato's head. "I'm going to change into my armor", I say, more out of caution, than neccessity. "Okay", he says, smirking and leaning back against the tree.
I go round the other side of the tree, pulling the suprisingly light armor on, it weighs no more than any other clothing, and then put my shirt and pants on over it. The suit goes from wrist to neck and from the ankles.
It won't protect us from, say, arrows aimed at the head, but if somehow tries to sneak up on us in the night, it'll be effective. "Well?" I ask him as I round the tree again. "Not much of a difference", he shrugs. "Good", that was the idea. If the others can tell we have a way of protecting ourselves, they'll aim for the head. I sit down beneath the tree as he goes to change too. As I sit, I feel the tiredness I've been holding back all day hit me.
He comes back and sits next to me. Fighting to stay awake, I lie my head against his shoulder. Any leftover animosity between us is gone in this moment. "I never said earlier. But...thanks. For saving my life. I would be dead if you hadn't come back when you did". "I didn't want to lose you", is all he says.
A lot of the time, I can sense what his feelings are, even when he says almost nothing. But for once, I can't. So when he pulls my face to his, I'm unprepared. But the way it feels is so nice, the way his lips feel against mine, I wrap my arms around him and pull him tighter to me. And that's how, soaking wet and in the rain, I had my first kiss.
