We were beginning to approach the others and immediately let our hands drop to our sides. Cato walked ahead of me and yelled to the others.
"I got her guys, she thought she could try and climb a tree to get away from me" he laughed, and the others motioned for him to join them. He did, and I was left to stand on the outskirts of the group. I was supposed to be in this alliance, but with the way the girls treated me, and Cato's pretending, I felt like an outcast. A prisoner of war - like they had captured me and were tormenting me. This couldn't go on any longer and if I was going to survive for longer, I had to at least acknowledge them as my allies. So I walked over and sat down with them, sitting nearest to Marvel as I knew he wouldn't mind. As I sat down, Marvel nudged my shoulder as a welcome but the girls threw me horrid stares.
"Listen 12, if you're in this alliance, you have to actually kill people, and prove that you're worth something to us. How many kills have you got?" Clove asked me. Kills? Oh, she meant how many people had I murdered. I had only killed one person, but that wouldn't be good enough for Clove and the others. Cato wasn't looking at me, but instead was fiddling with the grass by his feet. He was a coward in front of the others. I remembered what I had told myself before I joined them; acknowledge these people as your allies.
"I've only killed one person, a girl, but I've hardly had the chance to kill anyone else" I said, throwing back her stare, and she laughed. Glimmer piped up.
"You need to kill more than one. Also, don't think you're special just because you can fight with a sword. It doesn't matter if you don't have one" she said, and turned to Cato for approval. Cato looked up at her, smirked, and handed me his sword. Glimmer's face was a sight to behold; her mouth hung open and immediately had something to say about this arrangement.
"Cato, what are you doing? Don't give her that! Without it, you're-" but Cato had cut her off.
"I'm what? Useless? Not special? I don't need a weapon to kill" he said. And it was true. Cato was strong enough to kill someone with his bare hands. I took the sword in my hands, and weighed it, as I did in the training centre. It was the same sort of weight, but the metal was different. It seemed stronger, and there were tiny holes indented into the blade. Which gave me an idea. I stood up and the others looked up at me.
"Um, where the hell do you think you're going 12?" Clove snapped at me, getting her knife ready in her hand.
"Relax. I'll be back" I assured, and started heading towards the woods. A firm hand pulled me back, I turned to see it was Cato. He had me in a firm grip by my arm.
"You better come back" he said, in a threatening voice, with the others agreeing. I thought about how I could convince them that I'd be back. And then I remembered. Before I left Cinna, he had given me a token. It was a necklace with pictures of my family inside. I asked Cato to hold the sword whilst my hands fumbled at the back of my neck for the clasp. I took the necklace of and placed it in Cato's hands.
"I'll be back" I said, and Cato nodded. He knew I wouldn't leave this behind. I took the sword from his hand, and headed for the woods. I didn't even know if I would find what I was looking for - but I knew that the Gamemakers would have put them somewhere. I walked deep into the woods for what seemed like an hour, when I heard what sounded like someone running through the woods. I ran towards a tree, and hid behind it. I didn't want to be caught in the middle of the woods by myself, even if I did have a sword, they could have a spear or my bow and arrows. I waited, until I saw them. They were running from something, but kept looking back. I couldn't quite make out who it was, but I could see their hair. Blonde. And then he turned towards me. Peeta. I kept myself hidden, because if something was after him, I definitely didn't want it after me as well. I don't think Peeta saw me, because he ran straight past the tree I was hiding behind. And then I saw what was chasing him; it was a huge figure carrying a weirdly shaped axe. I recognised him from the reapings. This was Thresh from District 11. I stayed hidden, crouching down lower into the ground. Eventually he had past the tree, but I waited a while just in case he came back. I turned around to check my surroundings and looked down at my left. There they were. Deadly nightshade. The flowers were in full bloom, but those weren't what I was interested in. I examined the ground, looking for the roots. I cut into the roots with the sword, ensuring the full blade had touched the plant roots. The roots were roaming with deadly toxins that would kill a person slowly and painfully once inside their system. Once the blade was completely covered, I wiped off the excess poison with a leaf and started back for the others. This would make killing people easier, as even the smallest scratch from this blade would kill them. But I wasn't going to tell the others I did this. They could use it against me. I was starting to see the opening of the woods where I had left earlier, and sure enough, they were all still sat there, waiting for me to return. I pushed myself through the bushes and walked towards them. Marvel was the first to see me.
"And here she is, the girl on fire herself. Where have you been?" he asked in a friendly tone. I hadn't thought about what I would tell them. Cato looked at me and then at the sword suspiciously. I took a seat next to Cato and put the sword on the ground.
"I've just been looking for something, but I couldn't find it" was all I said, and luckily enough, they left it at that. Glimmer told the group that they had better get moving. So we all stood up and headed for the lake. I was walking at the back whilst the others were talking vigorously. Cato was walking next to Glimmer, who kept laughing at his jokes overenthusiastically. God that girl was a nightmare. After a few minutes, Cato stopped and knelt down to tie his shoelace. Hang on, it wasn't even untied. But I had caught up all too soon. As I walked past him, he got up and walked next to me, talking to me in whispers, whilst the others walked on in front.
"I know what you were looking for" he said. I didn't reply, just in case he would tell the others.
"Come on Katniss, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Deadly nightshade? I could smell it as soon as you sat back down" he said. Fuck, he knew.
"Don't tell them Cato" I asked, but he insisted he wouldn't.
"Oh, here" he said, handing me my necklace. He offered to put it on for me. His fingers brushed the back of my neck, sending a chill down my spine.
"I really miss you, you know" he said, planting a small kiss on the back of my neck. I checked to see if the others were looking, but they were too busy talking to each other.
"I'm sorry for being horrible to you - I hate it" he said, with sadness in his voice. His hand found my waist, where he gently squeezed it. I took his hand off of me.
"Cato, you can't do that. Not here at least" I said, but he just smirked at me. I cocked my head to the side.
"Are you smirking at me?" I asked him, trying to sound serious. But it didn't work and we both started laughing. He had a gorgeous smile, when it was sincere. I really missed him too. I missed his hands on me, his lips on mine, the smell of him. I wanted nothing more than to jump in his arms and kiss him, but I knew that would not go down well with the others. He seemed to share my thoughts, and looked over to the others. He pulled me into the woods, just on the edge, and pulled me into his arms, kissing me. It was very passionate, but it was the type of kiss that would lead to more. We had to stop, but I didn't want to. His hands found my ass, and he gave it a squeeze. I pulled away from the kiss.
"Cato, not here" I said, as he kissed my neck.
"I need you, I just want to feel you" he said, still kissing my neck. God, did I need him too, but this was not the time or the place for that. A small moan escaped my mouth as he continued to kiss my neck. His hands started moving up my back, where they found my skin. His hands explored my back, relishing in the feeling on skin on skin contact. Our breathing became heavier, and I knew it what it was going to lead to. I stopped him.
"Cato, we should catch up with them or they'll wonder where we are" I said, and he pulled his hands away, giving me one last kiss. Fuck, I didn't want him to stop, but we had to remember where we were. We were in the Games, and this could cost us our lives.
"Okay, but tonight I want to feel all of you" he said, his hand sliding down in between my legs. He gave me a cheeky wink, a quick kiss on the forehead and started walking away to the others. I followed, and it seemed that they didn't notice our absence. Thank God for that. I thought about trying to be nice to the girls; after all, we were allies. I walked up to walk alongside them, but immediately started receiving abuse.
"Don't walk so close to me 12, I might catch something" Glimmer said, and Clove laughed.
"Oh yeah, she might give you a disease or something. Who knows what they live in in 12" Clove laughed. I laughed.
"We live like shit, but it's not as good as your districts obviously" I said. Glimmer laughed.
"Obviously. How often do you eat anyway? What is it like once a week?" they howled with laughter. They were laughing at me, I knew that, but I let it go over my head for the sake of the alliance.
"Sometimes, but in my district, if you need food, you have to enter your name into the reaping each time you ask" I said, but they seemed to shut up.
"Really? They told us in 2 that that was a myth" Clove said.
"Yeah, if we need food, we just go and get it from our kitchens" Glimmer said.
"Well, if we had kitchens, I would do that too, but I don't even have a real house" I said, and both girls looked shocked. Wow, I didn't realise talking about myself in a bad way would worked, but this was all these girls knew. Luxury.
"So wait, where do you live then?" Clove asked, and she seemed genuinely interested.
"So I have a house, but it's sort of a one room get up, you'd have to be rich to have at least 2 rooms in district 12" I said, and it was true. No one had more than 2 rooms in 12, but that was the way I grew up, and so I couldn't enjoy what I didn't have. Glimmer had a shocked look on her face. Soon enough, Marvel and Cato had caught up to us, and joined in with the conversation.
"So hang on 12, you mean to tell me, you live in one room, with how many of you?" Marvel asked.
"I live in one room, with my mom and sister" I said.
"So where is your dad?" Cato asked. Great, I was hoping he wouldn't have been mentioned. I didn't like to talk about my dad. Too many memories came back to me, and I usually ended up in tears when I did speak about him. I didn't answer, but instead stayed quiet. Cato seemed to know that he had made a mistake by asking the question, and gave my hand a subtle squeeze.
"So, I don't have a dad, anymore. He died" There, I said it. But in a way, it felt good to open up to these people. It felt almost as if they were beginning to trust me sincerely. And then Glimmer said the unthinkable.
"I'm sorry about that" she said. What? Did the girl from District 1 just show compassion to a girl from District 12. I wasn't expecting her to say that so stuttered when I replied.
"Uh, thanks. I don't really like talking about him" I said.
"Why? He's your dad, surely you'd like to talk about him?" Marvel asked. Cato seemed to sense that I was getting upset, and tried changing the subject.
"Hey guys, did you just see that?" he said, pointing to the side, where the woods were. Everyone immediately turned their heads to the direction of where he was pointing, and Clove quickly pulled out her knife.
"What was it Cato? A tribute?" she asked, searching warily.
"I don't know, but I definitely saw movement from over there" he said, and with that they all started running towards the woods, leaving me and Cato alone.
"Thanks" I said to him.
"No problem. My mom died a few years ago, and I struggle to talk about her as well" he said. Wow, I didn't know this.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did he die?" Cato asked me, as we started walking towards the woods, where the others were running around looking for what Cato had seen.
"Um, he went to work one morning in the coal mines, with a bunch of other dads, sons and brothers. About an hour after he left, there was this huge explosion. Wiped out nearly half of the district. Luckily, I was out of the house at the time, because our house was blown to pieces. But, we got the news an hour later. He wasn't going to come back" I said, my voice cracking. He took my hand for a brief moment, and then let go.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked" he said, but I was glad he did. I was good to talk about my dad. It felt like I was reconnecting with him after years of him not being around. We caught up with the others, who were questioning Cato.
"Are you sure you saw someone? Could it have been an animal?" Marvel asked.
"Could have been, but I thought it was better to check" he said. We headed deeper into the woods, hunting down the tributes. Marvel walked next to me and spoke to me in a whisper.
"So, I know Cato didn't see anything. I'm sorry for going on about your dad" he said, and he apologised. Wow, 2 career apologies in one day. This must be a record.
"It's okay Marvel, it just brings back too many memories" I said, and he left it at that. We continued to walk until Clove stopped.
"Clove, what is it?" Cato asked. She pointed to something in the distance; fire smoke.
"Stupid, honestly, during the day as well?" Cato said, and they started walking to where the fire was. Oh no. A fire meant a tribute. But what if it was Peeta? I don't know if I could see him get killed. I mean, we were friends but I never really played along with the whole love story. But Peeta wouldn't be that stupid.
"Yep, that's a fire alright. You guys ready?" Clove asked, and she pulled out two knives from her belt. Cato didn't have a weapon, but I gave him the sword.
"Katniss, you need this" he said. But I shook my head.
"No, I don't. Whoever it is, I'd rather not kill them" I said, but he shook his head. He obviously wasn't impressed with my lack of killing.
"Listen, you need to kill someone, otherwise they'll start doubting you" he said, and told me to keep the sword and walked away. So that's it. I had to kill whoever it was. We were getting closer to the fire, and I could see that the fire starter was a girl. Stupid, I thought. Did she learn anything from training? Clove walked up behind her, but she hadn't noticed us yet. She was rubbing her hands together to keep warm.
"That was a really dumb idea" Clove said, and immediately the girl turned around, and fell to her knees.
"Oh God, please, please don't kill me, please!" she pleaded with Clove. Clove just laughed at her. She looked at me.
"12, you're doing this" she said, and pushed me forward. The girl pleaded with me not to kill her. I didn't want to do this. My breathing got heavier. Fuck, how could I do this? Then I remembered the sword. Without hesitating anymore, I grabbed the girl's arm and cut it slightly with the sword. Clove and Glimmer laughed.
"What was that 12? That's not going to kill her. You're so weak" Clove said, pushing me aside and started for the girl, a knife in her hand. Cato grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Clove, trust me, she'll die" he said, and motioned for them to continue. The girl was crying hysterically on the floor, holding her arm. I knew that she was experiencing the burning sensation now, as the poison worked its way through her veins, and into her heart. She began writhing on the ground and soon enough she was coughing up blood. Her body was contorting horribly, as the poison was sure enough in her brain by now. Clove was looking at the girl with suspicion. The girl went still, and a cannon fired in the distance, confirming her death. I didn't stick around, and continued walking. The girls couldn't believe that I had killed the girl by a simple scratch, but they seemed scared by it. If only they knew that I had laced this sword with poison for them.