Cato blinks slowly, staring at the harsh sunlight. He glances to his right and there she is, her face set in a determined scowl. And when the sixty seconds is up, he's gone, his powerful legs carrying him towards the Cornucopia.
His hands close around the hilt of a short, broad sword and he swings it up and around, slicing someone's throat. A smile curls around his lips and he turns to face the wave of running tributes. This is where he belongs.
As he fights his way through the waves, he thinks of her, the way her skin melted under his fingers, like butter. Her mint mouth. He will do this for her, he decides. He will kill as many as he can for her sake. Because if he can't win, then she will.
"Cato!" he lifts his head to see Clove standing next to Lover Boy, confusion written all over her face. "He wants in."
"Fine." he waves a hand, and approaches the impressive pile of supplies they managed to acquire. He knows that she only has that orange pack and he regrets that, hoping that he will be able to get some supplies to her. "Lets hunt."
The other make sounds of agreement and assemble their weapons before venturing into the woods.
"This is going to be a piece of cake." Clove says giddily, skipping through the trees. "Eleven dead? HA!"
"Yes, but unfortunately, the fun part is over." Marvel says. "Now it's the boring, tracking part."
"No tracking." Cato says. "They'll come to us, one by one." the others laugh and agree. Only Peeta is silent, dragging his weapon along almost dejectedly. The others ignore him, unsure of how to act around him.
Cato cracks his knuckles and attempts to smile, but merely grimaces.
They descend on the girl before she can even react. Then she's screaming, pleading for them to spare her. Clove's knife is in her stomach and out within a minute, back into the folds of her jacket.
Marvel and Glimmer laugh. "Twelve down and eleven to go!" Marvel hoots.
"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking." Cato says, rolling his eyes. Marvel is such an idiot, but he's a good ally, so Cato keeps him around...for now. They begin to walk away, talking about the victims that they have yet to catch.
All Cato can hear is the snap of twigs below their feet and the occasional bird.
He stops. "Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?
The others stop to glare at him. "I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately." Glimmer says, tossing back her shiny hair.
"Unless she isn't dead." Marvel counters.
"She's dead," Clove snarls harshly, whipping out the bloody knife. "I struck her myself." she waves the knife around, her face twisted into a mask of rage.
Cato replies quietly, "Then where is the cannon?"
The others grind their teeth and shift their weight. "Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done." Marvel says. Clove snarls at him.
"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice!" Glimmer agrees quickly, eying the knife nervously.
"I said she's dead!" Clove snaps and the three of them begin to argue. Cato rolls his eyes and notices something in the tree behind them. A slender belt, tied around the branch and something on top of it. His eyes narrow.
"We're wasting time!" Peeta says harshly. "I'll go finish her and let's move on!" he disappears towards the girl, a frown on his bruised face. As soon as he disappears, the others begin to whisper.
"Why don't we just kill him now and get it over with?" Marvel asks, annoyed. He runs his fingers through his messy hair and glances at them.
"Let him tag along. What's the harm? And he's handy with that knife." Cato says, "besides, he's our best chance of finding her."
"Why? You think she bought into that sappy romance stuff?" asks Clove, raising one eyebrow. She's disgusting, Cato thinks, as she examines the blood on her knife curiously before wiping it on her jacket.
Glimmer rolls her eyes before answering. "She might have. Seemed pretty simpleminded to me. Every time I think about her spinning around in that dress, I want to puke."
"Wish we knew how she got that eleven." Marvels says enviously.
"Bet you Lover Boy knows." Cato says, his tone bitter. He hears Peeta's footsteps and they go silent. "Was she dead?"
"No. But she is now." a cannon fires and the others smile. "Ready to move on?"
The others begin to leave, but Cato hangs back. "I'll catch up. I want to check something." he says, waving them away. As soon as the others are gone, he approaches the tree, his heart pounding like a drum. "Katniss."
Her face appears above, pale and beautiful. "Cato, what are you doing?"
"Are you okay?" unconsciously, his brow knits together and he reaches up to grasp a thick branch. He climbs as high as he can before stopping, his face turned up towards her. A mortal worshipping a goddess.
"I'm fine." she slides out of her sleeping bag and slides from branch to branch, resting in front of him. Distant screams tell them that they pack had found another tribute. Cato reaches forward and touches her cheek gently. The longer the pack takes, the more time they have alone. As his fingers touch her skin, she pulls away, cautious. "Don't."
"Katniss, do you love him?"
"No." she shakes her head and leans away from him. "I don't love anyone."
Cato nods, hurt yet satisfied. "I'm going to keep the others away from you." he smiles and drops his hand. He turns to glance down at the ground and sighs. "You know, if it wasn't for these damned Games, we would have never met."
"I know. But is our meeting such a good thing?"
"What?" his head swivels to look at her. "What does that mean?
"We're enemies. We're going to have to kill each other." she shakes her head. "Go, Cato. Don't look for me."
"Katniss—"
"Go." his eyes narrow.
"Fine." he drops out of the tree and heads towards the screams. He had never been rejected by a girl. They flocked to him, left and right. Rejection hurt. He felt pathetic, weak. He could be a good husband, he would bring home the goods. But here was Katniss, a pathetic little girl, from District 12. His mouths puckers and he stops cold, his mind spinning. When he won the Games, he would find a nice wife, settle down in Victor's Village, and make lots of babies. That was how it was going to be.
"She's nothing." he says aloud.
Nothing but a squirrely thing, sleeping in trees. Ha! But as he continued to think about how great his life would be, he couldn't help but think that it would be better with her there. His wife. The mother of his children. The woman he came home to every night…
A chill drops down his spine.
"Oh no." he whispers as the pack finds him.
"Cato lets go." The girl from District 4, Rea, says with a yawn. "There's nothing here."
—
Cato settles into the curve of the Cornucopia, his eyes scanning the Careers camp at the edge of the lake. Marvel had created a bonfire and was now roasting some soft of bird. Clove and Glimmer clean their weapons, whispering in sharp voices.
"So who's left?" he calls out lazily, watching Clove jump at the sound of his voice. She lifts her green eyes to look at him, a blush creeping up her cheeks. Pathetic.
"Us, the boy from 10, the boy from 3, the girl from 5, and both from 11 and 12." Rea rattles off, shaking water from her hair. "I can't believe those losers from 11 are still alive." she shakes her head in disgust.
"Do you they had sponsors?" Peeta asks quietly from his perch next to the fire.
Glimmer bursts out laughing, dropping the quiver of arrows into the sand and doubling over. "Sponsors—for District 11? Don't be stupid!"
"Keep your voice down!" Clove hisses, swatting at Glimmer.
"Why? No one is going to think to come after us." Cato grumbles. "Get some sleep, all of you. Tomorrow we hunt."
—
The sounds of animals awoke him. They burst from the woods, galloping towards the Careers campsite, scattering weapons and ashes from the fire as they passed by. Birds soared through the bright blue sky, their chirps echoing in Cato's head. He looks towards the tree and he sees what had disturbed the animals. A wall of fire, burning through the forest.
The forest, where Katniss was.
Before he can think properly, he is on his feet, eyes scanning the forest. Clove calls after him, her voice full of terror. He runs, his long legs getting him to the edge of the forest in an instant. He shoves his way past branches, nearly tripping over a fallen log. How does she move through the forest so easily when there are so many trees?
He bursts through a clump of berry bushes, nearly knocking her over. "Cato?" she hisses, soot on her face and her eyes wild. "What are you doing here? Get away from me before the other Careers—"
He grabs her arm, dragging her behind him. "Shut up and run! I'm trying to save your ass!"
"My leg!" she cries, her breathing ragged. "One of the fireballs burned my calf." Cato glances down at the back of her calf and his stomach swoops. The burn is bad, the skin red and blistered.
He glances behind them at the wall of fire and before Katniss can say anything, tosses her over his shoulder and runs.
A fireball crashes into a tree feet from Cato's heat, the heat of it making his eyes sting. Katniss is swearing in his ear, her hands grasping his jacket tightly. "Shut up!" he repeats, leaping over a burning log. "Just shut up!"
He doesn't know how long he ran. But by the time he stopped, all traces of the attack long gone, his lungs were burning and his shoulders aching. And before he could control it, his legs had given out from beneath him and they slammed onto the ground.
She rolls away from him, her chest heaving. "Are—are you insane?" she gasps, fixing her grey eyes on his face. "I was fine!"
"Why can't you just say thank you?" he chokes out, his eyes watering from the smoke. "I just saved your life!"
She scrambles away from him, crouched near a small spring. "Go back to your camp, I'm fine." he can almost feel the hatred, the venom, in her voice. It hurts him, knowing that she despises him. He leans against a tree, allowing himself a moment to rest.
They survey each other wearily, her by the spring and him resting against the tree. He takes in her face, pale and sooty. Her trembling hands, gripping her pack tightly. She shows no recollection of their encounter in the training center, the intimacy they shared.
"I'm not going to hurt you." he murmurs, absently stroking the ground. "I want to protect you."
"Why? We're in the middle of the arena. Only one of us can survive, or have you forgotten?" she gently lies on her stomach in front of the spring, dipping her hands into the cool water. "What happened in the training center was a lapse in judgement. I was—over emotional and you were there. I'm sorry to have...led you on."
"Katniss." he moves closer to her, placing a hand on the small of her back. "We'll probably be dead by morning. Why can't you just let yourself be young before then? There is no Prim to protect here."
She lifts her eyes to his and surveys him in silence. "But there's me to protect. And you're my enemy."