hey! i am really glad that i manage to update in time even though my keyboard kept on going crazy after i spilled coffee on it! it was all thanks to your lovely reviews that kept me motivated.
One reviewer told me to make the voice Peeta but honestly I am not a very big fan of Peeniss... I strongly despise weakness and the only time Peeta showed any substance was during the "I don't want to be a piece of their games". He would be dead be it wasn't for Katniss. No offence to any Peeta fans...he is just not my type =) and please don't hate me cuz I don't like Peeta ( i have had an experience of it)
one last thing, We have had more than a thousand views! Yay! but sadly it also made me realize how few ppl review =( but anyway
enjoy =)
Chapter 9
The voice, frail and weak, even a little scared approaches slowly. It does not seem to be a threat but I can't take any chances, not right now. I turn back, my makeshift club in my hand and my body poised to attack. But the sight of the little figure, looking up to me with her big brown eyes staggers me.
"Rue!" I cry, louder than I should but I don't care. Seeing her in front of me came as a shock; No, a surprise as I half-expected her to be dead by now. But I should have known better, she is a survivor.
"Shush… not so loud. He is not that far, come fast!" she pulls my hand and both of us disappear in the trees. We were sprinting for almost five minutes when I hear a rustle in the leaves
"Wait" I grab rue's hand and push her behind me
"Katniss…we have hurry" she says, urging me to move forward but my hunter instincts tell me different. There is another rustle in the leaves behind us. I turn around sharply, my club was still in my hand
"There's someone nearby but don't worry, I've got your back" I assure her
I see a figure coming towards us, not the way the careers do, not the way a predator approaches the prey but in a rather casual manner. I see the tribute; medium stature, lithe body, a little shorter than me with flaming red hair.
"Rue! Thank the capitol you are safe! How many times have I told you not to wander off like that?" She comes and embraces her tightly
I could have asked her a million questions that time like who she was or what she was doing here but instead I ask
"Thank the capitol?" I say in a slightly disgusted manner
"That's what we are taught at school" she shrugs and answers.
"Then you can thank your capitol for putting us in this too" I retort.
"You know Foxface?" I turn towards rue and ask
"Foxface?" the girl with the red hair asks, slightly insulted
"yeah, got a problem with that?"
"We'll talk about that later. Can't you understand that we don't have much time? Come, we have to go to the hideout as soon as possible" she scolded both of us. I wonder what the audience was thinking right now, watching me – the girl on fire, the tribute who had go the highest training score etc being scolded by a little 12-twelve about being careless.
We run till we reach a little clearing, not saying a word to each other only shooting a few dirty glances at each other.
"This is it" foxface says, standing in front of a cut hollow tree trunk
"Huh? So what are we supposed to do now? Slide inside?" I ask in a joking manner but rue and foxface are as serious as ever
"Precisely" comes the answer to my dumbstruck expression
"Are you people out of your mind?" I ask, trying my best to keep my voice as low as possible
"It's either this or wait for the career come here; he can't be that far, you know" she says. So I had two choices- to slide down a tree trunk or get my throat sliced and to be honest I don't like the latter one.
"Please Katniss," rue holds my hand and says, in a compelling manner.
"Fine" I reply, guess I didn't have any choice left.
Rue goes first, followed by me and then finally foxface. It was as if the gamemakers had specially designed this hideout for someone smart enough to figure out. It wasn't much, but it was much better than sleeping unguarded on the ground or the trees. It was pretty much like an underground mud cave, with a bit of wild plants growing on the damp walls. The supplies collected by both of them were laid neatly in small corner.
There was a small rucksack, a bottle of water, a rope, few edibles and two shiny, unused knives. One for rue and one for her…nothing for me to use.
"So now can I know what the hell is going on here?" I say in a slightly bratty manner but you can't blame me. I had less than 5 hours of sleep in the last few days and am running from here to there, being dragged by two alliances and pushed down a freakin tree. Who would be in a good mood after all that?
"Katniss, this is Marissa and Marissa, this is Katniss" rue says, formally introducing us "And we are allies, all three of us" she adds, noticing the coldness and tension between both of us
"I don't trust her" I declare bluntly, not thinking about the consequences. I had already made more enemies than I could handle but did that stop me from opening my big, blunt mouth? No.
"Nor do I" Foxface Marissa says. Both of us are looking at rue to say something, to take a side and defend one of us.
"Can we please not fight and focus on surviving instead? Aren't the remaining tributes who are hunting for us enough? Do you really think that we need more problems?" she appeals, pleading the both of us to make peace.
"Does it look like I have any other choice? " I snort
I sit next to rue, on the cold, damp ground. We are talking about how she met Marissa and why on earth did she decide to trust her when someone slightly pokes me in the back with something definitely sharp. It doesn't hurt but I enough to make me turn back. I see the familiar redhead staring intently at me, her bright green eyes fixed onto my stormy gray ones. It was like she was analyzing me, speculating if I should be considered a real danger or not.
It somehow reminded me of Cato; the way he tried to 'read' me. The intention was same- to judge me, but the intensity in her gaze was so much more than Cato's that it made me want to cringe to an extent. It was that time when I realized that she could be a much more dangerous opponent than any of the careers, and that she should not be counted out yet
I break the eye-contact and look down, only to see her pointing a knife at me. Not in a threatening manner but rather casually however, the sharp end was still pointed me. it takes me awhile to realize that she was actually giving me the knife.
"Take it" she says, bringing the knife too close to my stomach for my liking. I eye her carefully, trying to determine what the reason for her sudden generosity was.
"Take it" she insists
"I can't, it's your weapon" I honestly have no idea why I was being like this, under normal circumstances like back home in district 12 I would have gladly accepted any help that came and these were extreme circumstances since we were in the hunger games but her I am, being completely irrational.
She thrusts the knife in my hand and says
"You need this more than I do besides, I have other weapons" with a sly smile. The smile that confirms my suspicions- If she wanted, she would stab me in the back with the same knife without even giving me a chance to realize what was going on.
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Cato POV
I chuck my spear at a nearest tree, sending all my emotions, my rage, my anger, my frustration with it. I grunt as the metal pierces the wood. No one makes a fool out of Cato Fortis…No one. I couldn't believe that I was stupid enough to fall of the firebitch's trick. And the thing that aggravates me even more is that I was interested in her. I wanted to keep her alive till the end, alive till the only tributes remaining were Me, clove and her and then maybe play with her and finish her off but after that little stunt that she pulled off, she would be dead the second she comes in front of me.
I feel the incredible rush of adrenaline in my veins the same way I always do whenever I am angry. Normally, I like it since it is the time when I am most powerful, that is the time when anyone in my way doesn't stand a chance (not that they do anyway). It is the time when I can kill without an ounce of mercy or remorse
Sure, we are taught how to kill pitilessly at the academy but being humans even we feel kinda guilty even if it is the smallest amount, when we see a mauled and mutilated tribute, atleast I do sometimes. But luckily, we are taught how to mask our emotions and be the person the capitol wants us to be; a person who would give them a good show, no matter how gory it gets.
She and Enobarnia had always told me that my anger was my greatest strength and my greatest weakness. If anyone came in front of me right now, they would be dead even before they realize it but due to my rotten luck, I had no one to take my anger out on.
I pull out the spear that had gone halfway into the tree relatively easily, a task that would take atleast two or three tries for even someone like me. Like I said, this was the time when I was strongest physically and weakest mentally. I head back to the cornucopia, distraught and infuriated by the night's trip.
"Lost her haven't you?" Clove's mocks me with a victorious smile on her face. Anyone who didn't know her well would expect her to be angry but knowing her, she was more than happy to know that I had failed in some way.
"We'll find her soon, and I am not gonna rest until we do" I say, indicating that we had a long journey ahead of us
"She is not going to like it Cato" her voice suddenly serious " she said that we should stay near the cornucopia"
"I don't do everything the way she says" I snap, clearly to messed up to think straight
"As you say, you highness" sarcasm and annoyance dripping from her sentences like honey "Glimmer! Wake up!" she says, kicking her lightly in her stomach
"What? You have disturbed my beauty sleep!" she shrieks, searching for a mirror to see if she had any dark circles
"Like I give a damn" she snorts " Wake Marvel up! His highness Cato wants us to leave the cornucopia at once" she glares at me before going off to line her precious knives against her coat.
After an intolerable hour of Glimmer's rant about her hair, Clove's protests about leaving the cornucopia and half of her knives unguarded and Marvel's vain attempts to lighten up the mood by cracking lame jokes. We are finally ready to leave the safety of the cornucopia.
I am coming to put out the fire in your eyes, fire girl. So you better watch out now… you never know which moment is gonna be your last
OK... i know the story is VERY fast-paced but i already have an Idea for catching fire that i can't seem to get out of my head..i shd stop typing now otherwise i would give away the whole plot :P
Hmmm? What do you think? Review please, your reviews are what motivates me to update/write, so keep that in mind. :). I absolutely love reading them
i'll keep a target this time...how about 5 review? not to much i hope. Don't worry! i'll update even if you guys don't reach the target like i always do... but it will just be a little late
Love all my lovely readers!
XOXO
