It's been awhile.
Like, a four-month long while.
I apologize.
Thresh looked warily at the large white cloud that drifted lazily across their expanse of sky. Briefly, he wondered what The Others were up to. Marvel... what had happened to him? Where did the light take him? And Glimmer, had she not died as well? And The Others... why couldn't he remember their names? Perhaps he had never learned them. It had been ages since then, right? Katniss and Peeta... he wondered what they were up to, now that the worst was behind them. What were they doing with their precious allowance of life; did they deserve it?
"Hey," a voice greeted, along with a hand on Thresh's shoulder. "You okay?" Cato asked, gruffly, as he sat down beside Thresh in the sun-scorched grass.
"Yeah," Thresh replied, shaking any loose thoughts from his head. "Just thinking, is all."
Cato smiled weakly, gazing off into the distance. "I try to avoid to avoid it, if I can."
Thresh threw Cato a wary look. "You mean that massive head of yours can actually hold thought? Boy, I read you wrong."
"Oh come off it," the blond boy muttered, but it lacked his usual bite. "I try to be nice to you, and this is the thanks I get?"
"Yes," Thresh replied, staring somewhere past Cato's nose. "Because you're only being nice to me out of necessity, and because Clove threatened to braid your hair if you got within a five yard radius."
Cato smirked. "I'm not that callous, you know. I could have possibly quite liked you if the circumstances had been different."
"Oh, well then," Thresh said, rolling his eyes. "Cato, you big softy." He followed Cato's glance to Clove, who was sitting under the plain's lone oak, clumsily trying to braid Rue's hair. "Cato, you big softy," he said again, chuckling.
The blonde stared at the brunette with disdain. "Please," he said, "I think not."
"I think so," the taller boy responded, a glimmer of deviousness in his eyes. Allowing his gaze to wander back to the two girls sitting across the plain, he remarked, "She would have been a great mother, you know."
Cato's expression soured instantaneously. "Yes, she would have," he bit out.
"I'm sorry," Thresh said, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't mean to offend you."
The stockier boy shook his head, and leaned back until he was lying in the grass. "I know you didn't," he replied. "Or, at least, I think you didn't. I don't think I can know anything for sure, anymore." He glanced over at Thresh, then quickly back at the sky. "She would have been a great mother, I know that. She wanted kids, they were always on her mind," Cato continued.
Thresh leaned back so he was resting on his elbows, so that he could hear more clearly what the other was saying. "You wouldn't have been half-bad as a dad, either," Thresh remarked. "Probably. Once you stopped intimidating the living shit out of them."
Cato quirked a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I can't have kids," he said, plainly.
"Well, neither of us can," Thresh pointed out. "I mean, it's not like anyone has tried or anything, we've been kind of busy lately-"
"God, you're an idiot," Cato spat. "You don't get it. I can't have kids. I couldn't have them before the Games, I couldn't have them now. It's out of the question, hell, it was never part of the equation."
Thresh nodded, struck by this new information. "How do you know?"
"As a citizen of District 2, you are subjected to mandatory tests once you hit puberty. I assumed every district had a test, but I guess it might just have been our district," the shorter said, matter of fact. "I found out when I was twelve- they said I was impotent or some shit like that. Faulty genes."
Thresh slumped back onto the ground. "Oh." He looked away, because this was far more personal than Thresh was used to getting, and it scared him. Yes, he understood that Cato was a... an ally, of sorts, but what if this really was just the Games over again? What if there could only be the one victor?
"Yeah," Cato replied. Thresh startled, but he doubted the other boy noticed. "That was all she ever wanted," he said, with a head nod towards Clove, "and I couldn't give it to her. What about you?"
"What about me?" Thresh murmured. When Cato sent a glare his way, he sighed. "Yes. I could. If I wanted."
The boy beside him sent him a curious look. "How do you-?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Thresh muttered, turning away from Cato's discerning look. Sighing, he started to say, "Look, I'm sorry-"
Cato shrugged, looking over at Thresh. "No, I'm sorry. And wipe that stupid grin off your face, I'm perfectly capable."
"I know," Thresh said, laughing. "Or at least, I think I know."
Cato nodded as a round of laughter erupted from the girls across the way. "I don't trust this sky," he said, softly, and Thresh turned to look at him, "it's entirely too blue."
"Is that a bad thing?" Thresh asked, hesitantly.
"Yes," Cato replied. "Nothing perfect lasts."
"And who decided that an orange would be called an orange?"Rue asked, indignantly. "And what came first: the colour, or the fruit? Is an unripe orange called a 'green'?"
Thresh smiled at Rue's garbled jabber, laughing as the child switched so easily from one thought to the next. Sometimes, he believed, she might be the most sane of them all. At least, she wasn't trying to pretend she was. Because, let's face it, they were all perhaps a little mad. "I don't know," he murmured, half-listening, staring resolutely at the path ahead. He wasn't quite sure how long they'd been walking, but he could have sworn they'd walked this path for hours.
"Of course not," Cato snapped, sending Thresh a look that clearly was meant to try Thresh's patience. "An orange is always an orange; a pear is always a pear."
"But," Rue said, smiling, "isn't there a pear tree, or a pair of socks? Can't you pare an apple?"
Clove interrupted, and Thresh silently thanked her. "What's all this talk about food?"
"I don't know," Rue answered. "I think I might be hungry, but I'm not really sure what that feels like anymore."
"Is there an emptiness in your stomach?" Clove recalled, with great satisfaction, and Thresh smirked at the silly grin on her face.
Rue shook her head. "No, but there's this weird ache in my jaws... almost like they're getting stiff from misuse."
"I doubt it," Cato snorted. "Not with the way you've been talking."
The little girl either didn't hear the insult or had a strength Thresh didn't have. "Well, maybe the pain is in my teeth then. It's not pain, really... I just can't really explain it."
"I think I know what you mean," Thresh said, slowly. "Like in the off-season," he said to her, "or any season, really, when you never have enough and you start to forget what food is."
She nodded, and Clove gaped in horror. He almost laughed; poor little rich girl who had never felt hunger. Almost. Instead he scuffed at the undergrowth. "Exactly," Rue nodded. "Are any of you hungry?"
Her answer was three shakes of the head. "No, thank you," Thresh said, more out of habit than anything.
"I think I saw a fruit tree a while back," Clove responded, turning around to face the other side of the forest.
"Did it have little colourful things hanging off it?" Thresh deadpanned, probably deserving the punch Cato threw to his shoulder.
Rue smiled. "Do you guys mind if I-?"
"Go ahead," Clove said, smiling warmly. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"I'll be fine," Rue said, smiling shyly, and then turned off towards the mess of trees behind her.
Thresh smiled softly. "She idolizes you, you know."
"Me?" Clove asked, her smile growing wider.
"No, Cato," Thresh said, rolling his eyes. "Yes, you."
The auburn haired girl laughed. "I don't know why. I mean, I'm not much of a role model."
"I think it's because you remind her of Katniss, in a way," Thresh stated, shrugging.
Cato shook his head manically, catching Thresh's eye. "Bad move," he mouthed, and Thresh cringed.
"I am nothing like that stupid tree-hopping bimbo," Clove practically growed. "And I don't appreciate the comparison, especially from a friend."
Thresh sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't see what's so bad about her. Obviously, she had her faults, but-"
"Please," Clove spat. "You already saved her once, no need to do it again."
Cato frowned, looking between the two. "I wonder what's taking Rue so long," he said clearly, in a desperate attempt to change the subject.
"Yes," Clove said, pausing. "Where is Rue?"
Cato shrugged, and then mouthed "Mission accomplished," when Clove had her back turned. Thresh's mouth twitched, but didn't quite reach a smile. Why now? He wondered. Why the sudden change in Cato's behaviour? Cato hated him- or, at least, he had until a few hours ago. What was he planning? Was Clove in on it? Then Thresh got that reflexive twitch at the back of his head that warned him he was over thinking things. Again. Suddenly he felt uncomfortable in his own mind, and hostile in his own skin. He never over thought things. Why now? He thought again, which brought him back to the subject of Cato. Why the sudden change in Cato's behaviour? Cato hated him-
Only the piercing scream broke his thoughts. "What was that?" Cato cringed.
Thresh and Clove already knew. "Rue," Clove whispered, and then was off like a shot, leaving the boys clumsily running after her. "Rue?" She screamed as she ran. "Rue!"
"I'm here," Rue called out, her voice coming from the right. They followed her voice, coming to a large apple tree, and a small Rue hunched on its ground.
Clove crouched down in front of the girl. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Rue said, dragging herself up. "I just figured I'd eat up in the tree, and I accidentally nodded off."
"You didn't hit your head, did you?" The older girl asked.
Rue shook her head. "No, just my elbow," she said, sighing. "You wouldn't happen to have any bandages, would you?"
"You mean plasters?" Clove asked, tilting her head, searching through their bag of supplies.
"Plasters?" Rue asked. "What do you mean?"
Clove frowned. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Rue nodded. "Sorry," Clove said, "it's stupid, but last time you asked me for a bandage you called it a plaster. I thought- well, I don't know what I thought."
Rue blushed. "Sorry, you called them bandages last time, so I guess I picked it up."
Clove smiled. "Oh, okay," she said, fishing out a bandage from the burlap sack. "You just can't be too careful with injuries, especially when they're from a fall like yours."
"Are we all ready to head out?" Thresh asked, moments later.
"Yes, we should get going," Cato agreed, staring up at the colour-streaked sky. "It won't be long before the sun sets, and we need a place to spend the night."
Nothing perfect lasts. The thought struck Thresh suddenly, throwing him off guard. Why now?
Thresh awoke to a rustling by his ear. "Are you up?" He heard Rue ask, and he squinted in the darkness to find out who she was directing the question to.
"I am now," Clove responded, sleepily. "What's up?"
"I found us some friends," Rue giggled, and Thresh caught the outline of her crouched body next to Clove's.
Clove rubbed at her eyes. "Us?" She asked, and then, "Friends?"
"Yes, me and you, silly," Rue giggled. "I found some friends."
"What kind of friends?" Clove asked, warily.
Rue smiled, her teeth unnaturally white in the night sky. "These kind," she said, and then whistled.
He heard the snarls before he could make out the shape. Mutts. He made his body as still as possible, not even daring to breathe. "Rue, what did you do?" Clove asked, using her hands to move herself backwards towards the bushes.
"That rhymes," Rue laughed, melodically. "I didn't do anything," she said, at Clove's stern look. "They found me."
"Why?" Clove asked, her voice shaky as the mutts drew nearer.
Rue smiled. "Because they sensed I needed them."
"For what?" The other girl asked, finding herself backed up against a rocky ledge with nowhere to go. Thresh's eye drifted to Cato's form, and found the boy's blue eyes staring back. Cato shook his head slightly. 'Don't say a thing.'
"Well," Rue said, flopping down beside Clove, and sitting cross-legged, "we do need a way to get rid of Thresh and Cato."
"We do?" Clove repeated, and the boys exchanged a worried glance.
Rue nodded, the moonlight highlighting her dark hair. "Of course. How can we win if they're still here?"
"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Clove tried, and Thresh almost cried out at her stupidity.
"No, I didn't," Rue said, as if she were singing a song. "Silly Clove. Oh, look! They're here!" A mutt's foot came dangerously close to Thresh's knee, and he had to bite down on his lip to keep from saying anything. "So, to get rid of the boys..."
"But they're my friends," Clove said, slowly standing.
Rue giggled, standing as well. "They're not your friends. I'm your friend."
"Yes, you are," Clove agreed, holding out her hands. "But so are they. They're your friends too, love."
"No, they aren't," Rue spoke, her voice growing testy. "I heard them! When you were braiding my hair they were talking about how to get rid of us!"
A flicker of hesitation showed on Clove's face. "I'm sure you heard wrong, Rue. They don't want to hurt us, just like we don't want to hurt them."
"But I do!" Rue snapped. "I want to them to hurt, to bleed! I want them to scream in pain and beg for mercy. I want them bled white and carted away. I want them gone."
"You don't mean that," Clove protested, abnormally pale. "You don't- oh, Rue, you're bleeding."
Rue paused. "Am I?" She frowned, and looked at the large gash on her forearm. "Thank you for telling me, Clove."
"Do you need a plaster?" Clove asked, fingers shaking. "I'm sure I can-"
"No!" Rue screamed, her face twisting nastily. "Because," she said, digging her fingernails into the gash, "it's how I do this." What happened next is not something Thresh felt he could accurately describe, but it make his stomach churn. The three watched on, in grim fascination, as Rue sunk her fingers into her gash and started to pull the skin off her arm.
Clove shrieked, shrilly. "Stop!" She commanded. "You're hurting yourself!"
Rue's grin widened as the ripped a particularly large chunk of muscle clean off her bones. "It's doesn't hurt," she said, innocently. "It actually feels quite nice." Clove gagged as Rue moved to the next arm, and then to her legs, and as the mutts grabbed and fought over the flesh at Rue's feet.
"Are you crazy?" Clove screamed, fingers fisting through her hair. "You're killing yourself!"
A laugh cut through the night, but it wasn't Rue's. "Am I, Clove?"
"Yes!" Clove screamed, her eyes shut, and her ears covered by her hands.
"I never thought I'd see the day," came a voice entirely too low to be Rue's. Clove hesitantly opened her eyes, and Thresh followed her gaze.
There, standing among Rue's shredded skin, with Rue's manic smirk still imprinted on the flesh, was Katniss Everdeen. "Hello, Clove," she said. "Bet you thought you'd never see me again."
"What are you doing here?" Clove asked, testily. She clutched at her neck, and Thresh briefly wondered why. Something else, however, caught his attention moments later. Clove had tossed him the communicator watch. He reached for it slowly, trying to cause as less noise and visible movement as possible. I didn't matter though; both Katniss and the mutts were intently focused on Clove. He flicked the watch open, cringing at the click it made. "M.?" He asked. "M.?"
"I have some... unfinished business to attend to," Katniss smirked. "You tried to kill me, Clove, and I fully intend to try to do the same."
Thresh almost missed the crackle of the communicator. "Speak," M. demanded.
"Can you please tell me," Thresh started, "why the hell is frigging Katniss Everdeen back in the arena?"
There was clear hesitation on the other end. "It's not Katniss Everdeen," M. relented, sighing. "It's a mutt, albeit an intelligent one. We call them ReMinders, because they mimic and manipulate others' memories."
"You people are fucking screwed up," Thresh hissed back.
"Don't remind me."
It hit Thresh suddenly. "So what happened to Rue?"
"I don't know for sure," M. admitted, "but that mutt is most definitely not her. I lost her presence awhile ago, Thresh. I'm not quite sure what that means at the moment, but I'll let you know when I do."
Katniss moved towards Clove, the pack of mutts following in her wake. "So what is it this time, Clove? Are you afraid to die?"
Clove pressed herself against the rocks as Katniss' hand ghosted across her face. "No," she whispered.
"You're about to be." Katniss grinned. "Are you afraid of the big bad wolf, Clove?"
"How do we get rid of her?" Thresh asked M.
The communicator crackled. "The same way you kill any other mutt."
"And how's that?"
"With great luck and good aim," M. replied.
"Helpful," Thresh remarked, dryly.
"Aim for the head," M. clarified. "It's where they are the most vulnerable. I am no longer of any assistance to you. Good-bye."
The reception broke up, making Thresh groan inwardly. Always at the worst possible time.
"So," Katniss asked, "are you?" She asked, absentmindedly patting the fur of the large blond mutt.
Thresh caught the glint by chance. "Are you afraid to die?" Clove asked, turning the conversation back on her attacker, as she deftly pulled the small knife from inside her jacket.
"What?" Katniss asked, taken aback.
Clove grinned. "You're about to be," she said, thrusting the knife deep in Katniss' shoulder blade.
Katniss screamed in agony, but called the mutts off when they moved in to attack. "She's mine," she hissed, jerking the knife out from her body and discarding it on the forest floor.
Thresh motioned to his head, and Cato nodded. "The head, Clove!" Cato called out, causing Katniss to turn on him with eyes filled with rage. Clove, seeing her chance, grabbed the small knife from where it lay and plunged.
Thresh swore he could have seen the ghost of a smile form on Katniss' face before she fell. "The mutts!" He yelled, with a hoarse voice, and scrambled to his feet just as the mutts surged. Clove tossed him one of her precious knives, and he caught it clumsily, cutting open the palm of his hand. He slit the throat of one just as it reached for Thresh's neck, and turned on the next. It snarled, then reached across and batted him on the shoulder, causing Thresh to drop his knife.
So this was it, then. It struck him as odd that he didn't feel anything other than acceptance. He wasn't ready to die. Then he remembered. He already was. So that's why, he thought with a smirk. In that case, bring it on.
Blood spattered his face, warm and sticky, and he wondered why he didn't feel any pain. Slowly, the massive creature in front of him slid to its knees, and Thresh then noticed the sword protruding from its abdomen. He looked up and met Cato's eyes, and nodded once. "My hero," he remarked, dryly. "What do you call it? Knight in shining armour?"
"Shut up," Cato said, gruffly; helping Thresh to his feet. Thresh felt his mouth open to thank him, but instead nodded. They had bigger issues to worry about at the moment.
I had writer's block for the longest time, but then this idea struck me and begged to be written.
Once again, I'm sorry. I have no idea where this wonderfully gory piece of hell came from, but in a weird way, I'm kind of glad.
If you're reading this, Karamel, which I doubt you are, I'm sorry. For being a shitty friend, for not talking to you on Christmas, for not bothering to ask how your exams went, for everything, and especially for not watching Doctor Who.
An awfully apologetic,
-Pursuit
