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Sacrifice
Chapter Two
Written by: kmac13
8/15/2012
Cato brought his best friend, Malice, to join him on his Victory Tour. He figured it would give Malice a good chance to learn what being a victor meant as it is planned that Malice will win the Seventy-Four Hunger Games in seven months. As usual the tour starts from District Twelve and works its way down until they reach the Capitol.
As they stepped off the train in District Twelve they automatically felt thick, dirty, coal air hit them and both boys sneered with disgust at the poorest district. Standing on the stage Cato could see all of the dirty underfed people of the district, who were forced to be there, standing in their reaping clothes. Towards the stage there were better fed, light skinned, blonde hair, blue eyed people who looked to have better clothes than those who stood further back. These must be the merchant class Enobria had told him about. The people in the back looked worse for the wear. Olive skin, dark hair and gray eyes, some so skinny they looked to be walking skeletons. They must be the coal miners.
Cato looked out over the crowd; there were many girls near the front who looked to be fawning over the six-foot four victor. His blonde hair and blue eyes matched most of the fawning huddle, but his massive frame was not something many of them had seen on a man in their district. He scanned out of the crowd as the mayor went on about what an honor it is for Cato to be there. Cato figures he probably won't find anything that will catch his eye in the lower districts, but looking never hurt. That's when his eyes fell on her. Her small, thin frame stood tall and strong despite her shorter stature, dark chocolate hair braided over her left shoulder and intense gray eyes that shone like a fire. She stood out amongst the rest of the crowd. She was standing towards the back with a tall boy, almost as tall as Cato himself, with broad shoulders, dark hair and gray eyes. They almost looked like they could be related, but he noticed the look in the boy's eyes was not that of family fondness, but that of love. His blood boiled just thinking about the dirty coal miner loving that beautiful girl. The boy bent towards the girl and whispered something in her ear causing her plump pink lips the curl into a smirk and glance sideways to the boy as she mumbled something back.
Finally, Cato's attention is drawn away from the entrancing girl he had spent the whole introduction staring at. He smiles and shakes the mayor's hand before turning to face the people of District Twelve. He stares at the girl and her infuriating companion the entire time he gives his scripted speech. Katniss and Gale both notice Cato's stare and Katniss scoffs when Gale tells her she has yet another admirer. To which she replies with an eye roll. Katniss is sure nobody has ever been an admirer of hers unless they were admiring her aim and kills in the Hob. Gale knows better, he knows he is not the only one who has eyes for Katniss, he just hopes and prays he is the only one she will eventually have eyes for when she is ready.
Katniss looks at the newest victor and if she wasn't so disgusted with the fact that he is a ruthless killer she would find him attractive. She tries to listen to the scripted speech that rolls out of his smug mouth, but she finds herself staring into his icy blue eyes wondering what type of person he might be if there were no Hunger Games. She gently shakes her head to clear her thoughts as Gale bends to her ear to whisper a lewd joke about the other boy on stage and Cato.
Malice follows his friend's line of sight and lands on a beautiful girl from the wrong side of the district and a boy near Cato in size. He looks back at his friend as the boy puts his arm around the girl's shoulder and smiles smugly as if he has the most prized possession in all of District Twelve. From what Malice can see, he does. However, his friend's face has gone from a calm façade to complete rage as he watches the boy and girl standing in the back of the crowd. Malice knows as soon as Cato steps off stage nothing good will come of this.
During the reception, Cato continually looks for the girl who had caught his eye. Feeling frustrated in not being able to find her he leaves the area and heads toward a poorer area of town where he had spotted a field during his speech. That is where he finds the boy and girl he had seen together during his speech, sitting against a tree. He watches them for a few minutes before the boy calls out to him, standing as he does. Cato had thought he had been silent, not sure how they had noticed him.
"What do you want?" Gale calls while walking toward Cato. He had told Katniss to stay, but when did she actually ever do what someone told her to. She followed lightly behind him and Cato couldn't help but appreciate the gracefulness in which she moved.
"Hey Darling, what are you doing out here? You should be inside with the rest of the party." Cato directs towards Katniss, completely ignoring Gale.
"I won't ask again what are you doing out here? And she is not your Darling." Gale growls.
"What's your name Darling?" Cato continues at Katniss.
"What does it matter?" She replies drily, not even feigning interest in the newest victor, something he is not accustomed to. Every other girl he has come in contact have been falling all over themselves to get near him and this girl, from the poorest area of the poorest district, is acting like he is the dirt under her.
"It matters. I would like to know my future wife's name." He smirks seeing if this would draw out any emotion.
Gale scoffs and rolls his eyes at this comment. Saying, "Good luck with that buddy", under his breath.
"Go ask someone else. I'm not interested in being anyone's wife." She stood tall and Cato could see she meant it, but he had no intention of backing down. He walked towards her as she held her ground and stared right back into his icy blue eyes. Of course Katniss wasn't blind she could see he was a good lucking boy, but she could see Gale was too. This never gave her cause for anything more than observation.
Cato bends towards her ear, gently pushing a stray strand of hair from her face. "Mark my words, You. Will. Be. Mine." He growls in her ear, making her fight or flight systems go into overload. She could tell he means every word and truly believed she would be his, but every ounce of her told her 'no'.
"Gale, let's get the kids and go home." She commands as she pushes past Cato towards Gale, the two of them off to get their siblings from the celebration and go home for the night. Gale places his arm around Katniss, like he often does, and turns to smirk at Cato who continues to stand there staring at the pair walking away in disbelief.
That night Cato calls the president to find a way to solve this problem he is having. When he had won, President Snow told him if there was ever anything he wanted or needed to please call him. President Snow treasured District Two victors more than the rest, they were his masterpieces.
"Ah, Cato my boy, what can I do for you?" President Snow greets Cato over the phone.
"Well Mr. President I was hoping you would be able to help me with a problem I am having."
"Go on"
"I have found the girl I would like to marry; the problem being is she is not too keen on the idea."
"You are in District Twelve, no? Wouldn't you rather look at the better options you may get in the higher districts or Capitol?"
"No, no. Trust me Mr. President when you see her you will understand. She is definitely the diamond of District Twelve. Look at the footage from the ceremony today. Girl with dark hair, grey eyes standing in the back of the crowd next to a boy of similar coloring and my build. Katniss Everdeen is her name if you can believe the bumbling blonde girl who told me."
"Hold on a moment let me pull up the footage. What side?"
"Left, sir."
"Hmmmm. I see what you mean. Too bad you saw her first, she could make a pretty penny if she won the games. Alright son, here is what I will do for you because you did such a great job squashing the other tributes last year, you really were brutal. I will send word to the head peacekeeper there tomorrow to go with you to her house and she will be placed in you care as your wife. The paperwork for the marriage will be taken care of now. You will have to offer some sort of monetary stipend for her family's benefit. She will remain a citizen of District Twelve until she is eighteen and must return every year for the reaping. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Thank you so much, Mr. President. Thank you."
With that they hang up and Cato rests easy knowing he will get the girl he desires. Malice on the other hand has a fitful night of rest; something about buying and kidnapping a wife doesn't sit well with the boy.
The next morning the Head Peacekeeper Cray and another, who looked to be there begrudgingly, Darius escorted Cato and Malice to the Everdeen residence. Upon arriving it is clear Katniss is not at home. Her mother and sister wait on the men. The peacekeepers seem to understand where the girl is without having to ask. After a few minutes of sitting in awkward silence Cato asks, "And where might Katniss be this morning?"
The mother, sister and peacekeepers all look at each other hesitantly. Finally Darius speaks up, "She is probably with Gale, they normally spend the mornings getting food for their families." He skirts around where she really is; out in the woods, hunting with Gale.
At the mention of the boy's name Cato goes into a blind fury, only calming for a millisecond when the door opens and Katniss, followed by Gale, enter the small residence shocked to see who is there. They quickly drop their bags outside the front door and make their way in the cramped space.
Mrs. Everdeen looks at Gale with so much sorrow as she implores the young man to go home. He looks back at Cato then to Katniss, who nods her head in agreement with her mother, before turning out of the house. Cato gets up quickly and follows Gale out of the house where he proceeds to punch Gale. Gale gets a few good hits in on Cato before he is on the ground being kicked in the stomach.
"Stay away from my wife." Cato roars at the dark haired boy. Gale looks up at him confused and clearly angry at the words that came from Cato.
"Wife?" he gargles out.
"Yes President Snow has already signed the papers as of last night at ten fifty pm Katniss is my wife." Cato sneers.
Katniss runs out to the two boys standing between Cato and Gale's fallen figure telling him to stop. She turns to Gale and helps him up. He looks at her like a lost puppy as she helps him. "Do you know? Did you know?" He whispers. She shakes her head 'no' holding in her tears and motions him to go home.
Cato grabs Katniss by the arm and bends to her ear. "I told you would be mine. No more playing with your little boyfriend." He snickers at her. Bile rises in her throat and before she knows it she is bent over in an alley tossing the few berries she had for breakfast. When she finishes she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand and looks at Cato in the eye.
"I've never had a boyfriend; I've never even kissed a boy. You just beat up my best friend for no reason. How would you like it if I beat up your best friend?" She sneers, hate and loathing dripping from every pore. Even Cato starts to feel bad for beating up Gale and taking her away.
They head back in the house where her mother and sister have packed a small bag for her. Cato promises to send money each month, enough to support them nicely, and to let Katniss call Haymitch's once a week to talk to them. The peacekeepers, Cato, Malice and Katniss all head back to the train after she had hugged her sister goodbye. Darius and Cray pull the girl in for a hug before she boards and promise to watch after her family. Cray may be a dirty old man, but he doesn't go out of his way or harass unwilling participants, he has enough willing who call at his door at night, so Katniss isn't afraid that he will ever take advantage of her precious sister.
Once on the train Malice tries to introduce himself, but Katniss just glares at a visibly bereft Cato. "Where will I be staying? I would like to rest. I have been up since four hunting so my family would have something to eat today." She has no emotion in her voice and her eyes stay fixated on him. He feels bad for making her leave her family. He saw the pain in her loved ones' eyes and the anger she has towards him hurts like he didn't think it would.
"This way to our room." Cato responds holding out his hand to her. She looks at it with disgust and he drops it by his side as he leads her to his sleeping quarters on the train. "This is our room. Some clothes have been placed in the closet and dresser for you and the bathroom is through here." He looks at her and she just nods her head. "Well I'll let you rest for a while." He turns to leave, but she calls out to him first.
"Cato? Thank you for sending money to my family so they can live without me. They wouldn't make it without me. And thank you for allowing me to call home once a week. I know those probably weren't in whatever original agreement you had made."
He looks at her hopefully. "Anything for you." He whispers as he turns to leave.
Once the door is shut Katniss removes her hunting clothes and goes into the bathroom to shower. She looks at all of the buttons before figuring out water pressure and temperature. She showers and gets truly clean for the first time in her life. The years of coal dust washing off her taught body. She lets out a pint up sob type sigh for her family, but she knows she must do this and she knows she must at least try to like Cato, for her family. That is her mantra; for her family.
After her shower she puts on a large shirt she finds in a draw assuming it's probably one of Cato's but not really caring. It is big and comfy. She lies in the bed and dreams of District Twelve and a life without Cato Anvil.
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