CHAPTER 7
I want to give a special thanks to you guys for all your amazing feedback! It really makes me very happy! So, without further delay, here's chapter 7. Enjoy!
The search went on for at least another hour. Katniss was trembling, getting colder and colder in her soaked clothes and the rough bark scrapped her back painfully. She thought her feet were going to slide off the slippery branch any moment now. On top of everything, Cato's presence was in no way soothing. His body felt ice cold against hers and of a suffocating weight. He stood motionless like a statue but she knew that he was on the alert. Just like a perfect predator.
"They're gone now" he suddenly said, and she jumped slightly, struggling against the growing dizziness that had taken over her. "Let's go"
He pulled away from her and she made an attempt to move, but her feet disobeyed her. She shook them a bit, then began to rub her upper arms to warm up a little. She looked down hesitantly – there were at least thirty feet above the ground.
"Let's go now"
Before she could reply, Cato slung her on his shoulder and jumped all the way down.
-x-
Once they went past the border fence and into the Seam they noticed that there were several Peacekeepers along the way, looking suspiciously at any late by passers and soon they saw that a checkpoint had been set up at the entrance of the Victors' village.
"They're looking for me, aren't they?" Katniss asked in a low voice, a bit relieved that she had a reason to break the awkward silence between them. But deep inside she was both angry and frightened. Cato must have been following her like a ghost into the woods. Nobody was that quiet. And the way he'd climbed after her, agile like a big cat, not to mention the way he'd caught her. It was obvious that he was a lot more dangerous now than he'd been in the Arena. A rather disturbing thought.
Cato didn't answer, instead his arm went around her shoulders, pulling her close to him.
"What the hell are you doing?" she questioned angrily, struggling to escape his grip.
Lover Boy must have nerves of steel if he put up with all the fits she keeps throwing for so long! Cato pondered.
"They probably already know that neither Lover Boy nor that 'cousin' of yours are with you, so they're expecting you to be alone" he muttered under his breath. "Now stuff your hands in your pockets, your fingers are bleeding. They're looking for evidence that you've been out there"
"How do you know they're looking for me?" Katniss insisted. "They've tracked down someone in the woods but they don't know it was me. Maybe they didn't even track me, maybe if was you who led them to me in the first place!"
"Because the scanners can only track living things" Cato growled.
They continued to walk in silence for a while, towards the Victors' village. Cato's arm on her shoulders made her feel uncomfortable, all the more since he held her somehow gently, as if he were afraid he would hurt her. As if she didn't know what he was really about. She snorted, annoyed.
For the moment however, they seemed to have more important problems. A Peacekeeper suddenly stopped them and directed the flashlight straight into Katniss' face. She jerked her head away from the blinding ray.
"Hey, you!" the man shouted, attempting to grab her by the collar.
"Leave her alone!" Cato ordered in a stern, menacing voice.
"You, back off!" the Peacekeeper barked, pushing him in the chest.
"How dare you touch me, you District scum!" the Career jumped. "I am a citizen of the Capitol!" he spat, waving the fake id Cinna had provided under the man's nose. His attitude improved significantly.
"I'm sorry sir, but I still have to ask where you have been-"
"Hey, we all need to have some fun every now and then" Cato replied and he winked suggestively, pulling Katniss even closer to him. She could not help a groan.
Then they were free to walk back to the house. Katniss couldn't take it anymore. She had to confront him once and for all, even if would – most likely - end badly. She had to know. Just as they were about to get inside, she gathered all her strength and shoved him into the wall. Sort of.
"What kind of game are you playing, Cato?" she yelled. "Come on, spit it out! Do you really think you can fool me? That I don't know what you want? You came here to kill me!
Cato felt an irresistible urge to slap her but somehow he managed to refrain, instead he slammed his fist into the wall right next to her head, crumbling the mortar.
"I surely didn't come here to help you, to comfort you or to fucking babysit you!" he spat. Despite the fact that it's all I've been doing lately!
"But if I'd wanted to kill you, I would have done it a hundred times by now!"
"You should waste no more time, then!" Katniss hissed. "Come on, hit me, you bastard!" She tried to throw a punch at his face but he caught her wrist and held it in place between his thumb and his index finger. Then he captured her other hand the same way.
"Stop it!"
"No, you stop it! Stop pretending already!" she struggled to free her hands. "And why are you so damned gentle with me? Who do you think you're fooling with that? Huh?"
"Because Hazel says we must be careful when handling humans" he muttered, and his features softened a bit.
So that's what it is! Katniss realized. The damned bastard is just letting me know that he can crush me like a bug now!
"I don't care how strong you are!" she spat "I'm not afraid of you! I never was! So come on, what are you waiting for? Why didn't you kill me out there, in the woods?"
Cato took a step forward while still holding her hands, and his massive frame towered over her. Katniss began to panic, but she wouldn't back down.
"I don't know" he replied at last, in a low voice. "I look at you and I don't feel anything"
And then, just as feather soft as he'd grabbed her, he released her wrists and slipped past her inside the house, leaving her to brood over his words.
"You sure know how to stir the shit, don't you sweetheart" Haymitch commented from the living-room as she passed by on her way to her room.
-x-
Katniss had not seen him at all for the last two days. They needed some training of their own, Haymitch had explained, now that it wasn't long until the Victory Tour would begin, but she had a strange feeling.
I don't know. I look at you and I don't feel anything
Those words kept popping into her mind, puzzling. Hell, she couldn't care any less how Cato felt, of all people, and no doubt it was good news that he wasn't so hostile anymore, although she still found that bit quite hard to believe. He'd admitted that he didn't know it himself why he wasn't so determined to tear her to pieces anymore. Maybe it was Hazel's influence, after all she was calm and gentle like Cinna, yet firm and calculated.
Katniss shook her head as she walked towards the armory, deciding she wouldn't allow herself to be distracted from the more pressing matters. She would just train, as hard as she could. It was very early in the morning, and she knew she had at least two hours for herself before Flavius would show up.
I know they won't let me survive the Iron Games, but at least I'll go down the hard way she repeated determined. I will show the Capitol that I'm not weak, and that I'm ready to defy them until the end!
But then sudden thoughts of Prim and her mother – and Peeta - flooded her mind and bit at her remorsefully. She could not even think of Peeta, his fate was already sealed, but her family… no, she could not afford to think like that.
She pretty much didn't know what she was supposed to think anymore when she walked inside and stopped dead in her tracks. Cato had gotten there before her and was already training. She glanced around for Hazel, but the petite girl was nowhere in sight. She could do nothing but stare dazed at the glint of his two swords as he spun them before thrusting them deep into the dummy's chest, piercing through the armor.
"What?"
She jumped slightly noticing that he'd stopped and was currently glancing back at her questioningly.
"Nothing, um… I thought you said that the weak points are the joints, underarms and neck" she said shrugging uncomfortably.
Cato pulled the swords out in one swift move and balanced them in the air. "Well, there would be more weak spots available if you were, um, like us… but since you're not, better stick to playing the cards that you do have"
She smiled lightly, drawing closer, but she wasn't doing a very good job concealing her nervousness, Cato realized.
"Flavius says that it helps to think that is someone you hate" Katniss said, pointing to the dummy. It was better to talk about something else and ignore the elephant in the room. Better not to think of the uncertainty between them. Not now.
"Really? Is that why he ran away crying last time I saw him?" he laughed, handing her one of the swords.
"No, that was because he's convinced that I'm going to ruin his precious Games" she replied taking position and concentrating on the target. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to pretend that it was Flavius instead of the dummy. She found him appalling enough.
She gave it several blows but it was hard – the armor was slippery and kept diverting her blade. She let out a frustrated groan. Behind her, Cato snorted and she couldn't help turning and glaring at him.
"Hey, whoever it was that you thought of, I don't think you hate them enough" he commented.
"Oh? And who did you think of before?" Or maybe I shouldn't have asked that, maybe he was thinking of me after all…
Cato's features darkened. "Seneca Crane"
Katniss blinked, a bit confused. She'd never given much thought to Seneca Crane. Apart from the fact that he'd disdainfully ignored her during her private session, just as the other Game makers had done, she had nothing against him in particular, more than her general hatred towards Capitol.
"You know, I'm not going to say now what a wonderful person Clove was, because it would be somewhat of an overstatement" she suddenly heard Cato say "but she was brave, she fought until the end and at least she would have deserved a dignified death"
She turned to face him fully and for a moment she was under the impression that his icy blue eyes were filling with tears. And he didn't blink them back fast enough for her not to suddenly come to know that beneath that tough surface he was broken.
"But instead he turned her into a brainless beast and the last thing I got to do was to drive my sword through the heart of that horrid creature she'd become"
Katniss closed her eyes. And Rue, and Thresh… Their eyes were so full of hatred
Her fingers squeezed the sword's handle until her knuckles went white. Her shoulders dropped and she tossed away the weapon, covering her mouth with both hands. Cato's sword flew by, not inches away from her face and stuck into the dummy's head, knocking it down.
"But his time will come, soon"
Hope you enjoyed :) Next update as soon as I figure out how things will evolve… In the meantime, let me know what you think :)
