Raised to Fight, Born to Die

by thenightshow

"This is how we are alike, him and I. We both live for the blood and gory of the Hunger Games. I am worthy of his blood and he is worthy of mine…He is the only person in this arena who will kill me out of honor. I don't want to be killed by some coward. Hopefully that will not be ruined as well." Read Cato and Clove's untold story in the 74th Annual Hunger Games.

10. Rock Beats Knife

Raised to Fight, Born to Die: The District 2 Tributes

Sorry for not updating in SUCH a long time. It's like I have less and less free time every week so I can barely get on at all anymore. Anyway, YES, this is the chapter a lot of you have been waiting for. I literally rewrote this, like, ten times because I was never happy with it, so hope you guys enjoy it….feedback is GREATLY appreciated. I haven't been getting a lot lately, probably because I haven't updated, so please review this chapter! (Warning: Swearing.)

(Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or its characters.)

~*~*~X~*~*~

Chapter 10: Rock Beats Knife

~*~*~X~*~*~

Cato

We decide to take a chance and pick some berries. We're too desperate to pass them up now.

When I'm picking berries, I notice there are two different kinds Clove and I have picked up. They look almost the same; I don't even notice it first. But Clove stops me when I move to eat them.

"Wait!" she says.

I pop one of the two berries I'm holding in my mouth. "What?"

She stops dead, her eyes watching my every move. Then she sighs in relief and walks up to me quickly. "Some of these are nightlock, Cato. You'll be dead in a second."

"Yeah? How do you know?"

"They used them in last year's Games. They look exactly the same as those berries," she points to a bush of berries identical to the one I just ate, "but their juice is blood red. That's how you can tell." Her tone is condescending, which doesn't exactly make me happy.

"What're the chances I'd eat one? Jeez, you need to relax."

Her head snaps in my direction. "Just don't eat these berries if you can't tell the difference. You could've eaten the one in your hand instead of the one you actually ate, and if that were the case, you'd be dead already." Then she turns and walks away.

I just roll my eyes. "Mind your own business."

I can just see the steam coming out her nostrils when Clove turns around. "Fine. But if you eat the wrong damn berry and you die, don't come crying to me."
"Well, technically I wouldn't be able to, seeing as I'd be dead."

Clove scowls in annoyance.

I look at the new berry I am holding. I squeeze it. Blood red juice oozes out, and I think how, if Clove hadn't pointed out the whole telling-the-difference-by-juice thing, I would have eaten this berry. This nightlock berry. And I would be dead, leaving Clove to fend for herself against Thresh.

I toss the berry down to the ground. I don't pick any more.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Clove

It's too cold.

I literally can't move my toes. My fingers are a bit numb and I can see my breath in front of me when I exhale. Tonight's going to be freezing.

"These damned Gamemakers," Cato says under his breath. He shivers, the movement travelling down his spine.

"We should stop for the night," I say. "No point wasting all our energy getting to the Cornucopia and being all tired during the feast."

Cato just nods. We pick a spot under a huge tree and lie down, our heads touching the tree's trunk. Cato puts his arm around me and I rest my head on his huge bicep.

Now, lying down next to Cato, is when I realize how much I like him. Cato, who is flirty and sarcastic. Cato, who is merciless and bloodthirsty. This boy is someone who looks forward to the hunt. He is someone worthy of his blood and his Career title. He not only lives up to, but surpasses the standards for a Career back home. This is how we are alike, him and I. We both live for the blood and gory of the Hunger Games. I am worthy of his blood and he is worthy of mine. We are both intelligent and brave. We are both confident and proud. He understands me, and in return I am there for him. Now that there can be two victors, I finally allow myself to imagine how what we have between us could change when we get back home.

~*~*~X~*~*~

I have these really annoying skin rashes that won't go away. They're itchy and puffy and red. One on my lower back, one on my right leg and another on the underside of my left arm. They hurt like hell. Literally.

"You can get skin rashes from hunger, you know," Cato says.

"And how would you know that?" I say skeptically.

He shrugs. "A trainer told me when I passed by the edible plants station," he says. "I was walking toward the weapons stand and the plant trainer told me I really should take some time at the survival skill stations just in case. Then he tried to tell me all these symptoms of, like, dehydration or something."

"And you kept walking?"

Cato snorts. "Of course I kept walking. Didn't think our fucking supplies would be blown up," he says harshly.

I understand what he means. Careers never depend on the survival stations during training. We just practice with what we've already been training with our whole lives: our weapons of choice. We get first dibs on the supplies anyway. Why learn how to find food when we already have more than enough for the whole duration of the Games?

Of course, who knew some coal mining bitch would be smart enough to blow up our supplies, right?

~*~*~X~*~*~

We keep moving through the night. We have to, if we plan to get to the Cornucopia by dawn.

I find us some mint leaves to chew on so we don't think about the ever-growing issue of hunger. What little pee I have is a dark brown. My rashes are worse. My stomach growls louder and louder every minute.

We get to the edge of the clearing. We still have a few hours, so we decide to make our way over to Thresh's field.

"Wonder what's gonna be in his backpack," Cato says.

"Yeah." I can't think of anything else to say.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Cato sneak a glance at me. I turn my head to look at him, and we just sit there, looking at each other, my heartbeat growing faster with every passing second. I can't believe I actually thought I was going to kill him.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Cato

It's dawn. Clove and I are crouched by the Cornucopia clearing. We glance around, anxious, waiting for someone to come out. Then the ground in front of the Cornucopia splits open, and a black metal table slowly rises up with a mechanical whirr in front of the golden Cornucopia's entrance. I see four backpacks on it. District Two's and District Eleven's bags are huge, while Twelve's is puny and Five's is medium-sized.

Clove points with her chin. "That little bag probably has Lover Boy's precious medicine," she snickers.

I feel a smirk cross my face. "We should take it."

Clove nods. "Definitely."

Then, all of a sudden, a figure bursts out of the Cornucopia, grabs the medium-sized bag, and runs off into the forest. I see flashes of red hair.

I raise my eyebrows. "Clever," I say. Clove nods at me and I know what that means. I get to go after Finch. Good-bye, District Five.

"There'll definitely be a feast tonight," Clove says.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Clove

I smirk as Cato sneaks off to go after the girl from Five. Then I dash forward. I am directly behind the Cornucopia, so I can't see who's just run out on the front side until I come around the right side. What'd you know? It's my best friend, Katniss Everdeen.

Katniss Everdeen. I spit on the ground, feeling the loathing rolling through me, making my body jumpy and restless. My body already does what I want to do; one of my serrated blades whizzes through the air and toward the Girl on Fire.

Unfortunately, she quickly raises her bow, protecting her face from my knife. Damn. The next thing I know, I see an arrow slicing through the air, coming straight toward my chest. I turn just in time, but a stinging pain fills my upper left arm. The sudden pain is almost unbearable.

Almost.

I have to stop running and yank out the arrow. I very briefly examine my arm, making sure it's not bleeding too much where leaving alone would risk my bleeding to death. I inhale sharply from the searing pain.

But my wound isn't my priority now. I shut out the pain, just like I was trained to do back home. I run forward and I see Katniss grabbing the tiny orange bag she so desperately needs. I can't let her get that medicine…finally, a worthy challenge.

Instinctively my arm whips out, throwing my next knife so fast the girl doesn't even have time to turn around. My weapon slices through her forehead and dark red liquid oozes out of her newly-inflicted wound. I smile in delight.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Cato

I run, darting through trees, my feet stomping on the dead leaves that litter the forest floor. I see that red hair now, so close, just a few feet ahead of me. I know I'll catch her. She may be faster, but I'm stronger and my legs are longer. I have more endurance in me than she does.

In the back of my mind I remember Clove back at the feast. I know I'll have to turn back at some point, if not right now. She can handle Katniss and Thresh on her own, but I still want to be there. Just in case she needs me. Plus, who would want to miss out on the tragic murder of the famous Girl on Fire?

All of a sudden, Finch makes a sharp left. This is when I realize she's led me to Thresh's field, on accident or on purpose, I don't know, but Thresh could be anywhere in this tall grass. I backpedal quickly, knowing it's better to stay on known turf than venture somewhere unknown.

I look to my left. Finch is long gone. I lost her. Fuck, I think to myself. If I can't catch Finch, I should make myself useful at the Cornucopia.

I am about to turn around, but I see something ahead of me.

A huge figure, someone as big as me, jumps out of the tall grass.

It's Thresh.

He has no weapons, so I put my sword away. I can handle him.

Thresh is ten feet away from me now.

Then our fists meet.

And we fight.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Clove

I run toward her as fast as I can, slamming into her, sending both of us to the ground. She grunts and we struggle for a bit, but it's no contest. We're both small, but I have the strength for this fight.

I let a smug smirk cross my face. "Where's your boyfriend, District Twelve?" She grunts and tries to struggle. "Still hanging on?"

"He's out there right now hunting Cato," Katniss does her best to intimidate me. It doesn't work. Then she screams as loud as she can her district partner's name. "Peeta-"

My hand slams down on her throat, blocking her windpipe. Katniss gasps for air, and for a moment I am in pure bliss. Seeing a girl who though she could beat Cato and me, Careers, being choked to death knowing how badly she wants to bring Lover Boy his medicine? No words can describe how I'm feeling. I wish Cato could see this.

"Liar," I spit. "He's nearly dead, Cato knows where he cut him," My smile grows bigger when an image pops into my head. "You've probably got him strapped up in some tree while you try to keep his heart going…" I raise my eyebrows mockingly. "What's in that pretty little backpack? That medicine for Lover Boy? Too bad he'll never get it."

Then, still keeping her pinned down with my legs, I unzip my jacket and show Katniss my impressive and deadly array of knives. My favorite weapons. Katniss squirms and struggles with panic, the fear radiating off her. I pretend to be deep in thought, as if debating which knife to use, and then I pick out one of my bigger curved blades. I hold the knife closer to her face, and her eyes dart to it and she struggles again. But I am too strong.

"I promised Cato if he let me have you, I'd give the audience a good show," I sneer. I tilt my head slightly and give her my most menacing smile, and I can tell she's freaking out inside her head.

I scoff in disgust. "Forget it, District Twelve. We're going to kill you, just like we did your pathetic little ally," I say, taunting her. "What was her name? The one who hopped around in the trees? Rue? Well, first Rue, then you," I pause for a second, smiling sadistically, "and I think we'll just let nature take care of Lover Boy. How does that sound?" I ask. I know she's going crazy, that little brain of hers racing to find one last escape.

"Now," I pause, pretending to consider. "Where to start?"

~*~*~X~*~*~

Cato

I punch Thresh in his stomach, and he doubles over. When he falls to the ground, he grabs my foot so I kick him in the face. I miss because he rolls to the side at the last second. He stumbles back up and slams his heavy body into me, making me backpedal a few steps, but I regain my strength quickly. He ducks, dodging my punch and runs.

I chase after him. Into the forest again.

It is not for another five minutes that we run into Finch. She is digging a hole in the ground, her green backpack beside her, when she is suddenly in Thresh's path. Ht jumps over the small hole and knocks her aside. She scrambles up and gets the hell out of there. I make a beeline for her direction. Thresh may be the bigger fish here, but I might as well eliminate all the unnecessary competitors now before the real fight begins with Clove, Thresh and me. And that includes clever little Finch.

I am not gaining on her nor am I losing distance. This is going to be a long chase; I can tell.

The red-haired girl in front of my eventually gets away, though. She always does, right? She's gotten away because I have stopped dead in my tracks.

I stop because I hear Clove's bloodcurdling scream.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Clove

I hastily wipe the blood from Katniss's ugly forehead wound. I tilt Katniss's ugly, sallow face to the right, and then to the left, thinking of where to start. I want this to be slow. I want this to be painful. So painful it tortures her. I want her last seconds to be dying a slow, cruel death. And I want to be the one to do it.

Katniss jerks her head forward, trying to bite me. Euch. Not so fast. My free hand grabs a fistful of her hair and wrenches back toward the ground, making Katniss's head jolt back suddenly. She gasps in pain. I smile in pleasure.

"I think…" I say, my voice smooth, "I think we'll start with your mouth." I take my blade and touch the tip to the edge of her lip. I slowly trace the outline of her lips, all the while making sure my blade digs into her skin. Katniss stares me straight into the eye. Finally, someone brave enough to die with dignity. Most people would whimper and whine, closing their eyes shut as if that would make all their nightmares go away.

"Yes," I say, "I don't think you'll have much use for your lips anymore. Want to blow Lover Boy one last kiss?" She doesn't say anything, but she spits in my face. Gross, but I have to say, she's got guts.

I howl in rage. "All right then! Let's get started."

My knife just touches the tip of her mouth again when suddenly strong burly hands yank me up into the air.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Cato

My heartbeat thumps faster in panic. I sprint back where I came from, to the Cornucopia. I'm coming, Clove. I'm coming for you.

When I'm running, I see Finch again, digging the same hole she'd been digging earlier. She grabs a medium-sized metal can out of the backpack and tosses it into the hole. Then she starts to bury it again. I start to wonder what's in the jar, but it is only a passing thought. Clove is my first priority now.

I run past Finch, who flinches when she sees me, until I hear Thresh's husky roar echo throughout the forest. "What'd you do to that little girl? You kill her?!"

I hear Clove's frantic voice next: "No! No! It wasn't me!"

I run with everything I have now. If I don't make it in time…Clove can't leave. We're supposed to win. We're supposed to be victors together. The fact that Clove could actually die in these Games makes my heart drop into my stomach. I can't bear the thought of losing her.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Clove

"What'd you do to that little girl? You kill her?" Thresh shouts in my face.

My heart is beating double-overtime. I have never been so scared in my entire life. It never occurred to me that I could actually…die.

"No! No, it wasn't me!" I scream, desperate to convince him otherwise. I never touched Rue. Marvel was the one who killed her!

"You said her name! I heard you!" his sharp voice exploded, rage contorting his features. "You kill her?"

"No! No, I-" I am going to say I meant Marvel was the one who killed her but then Thresh takes out a sharp rock in his hand and raises it. All thought goes away and now only instinct is left. I'm too scared to do anything else so I scream for the first person who comes to my mind. "Cato! I screech. "Cato!"

~*~*~X~*~*~

Cato

"Clove!" I yell, desperate to save her. I want her to know I'm almost there. Dread fills my heart like deadweight when I realize I'm too far away, not even in the meadow yet. I run with everything I have left; my anger at myself for leaving her, my hatred for Thresh because he is the only one Clove could possibly be scared of and that I stopped pursuing him in the forest, and my desperation to save this girl whom I've only known a week, and yet she's still managed to make me love her so much.

I know I'm too late. But I keep running anyway. It's one of those situations where you know something's gone wrong, where you know you can't do anything to change what's happened, but you give it all you've got anyway. It's what you do for the people you care about.

This isn't the Hunger Games. This is a war. A war against other kids I don't even know. A war against Thresh, who is about to kill the girl meant to come home with me.

I finally reach the clearing and I see Thresh running toward the opposite of the meadow and into the forest. Then my eyes set themselves on Clove's dying body.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Clove

During training back home, a previous victor, Enobaria, talked to us about what the arena was like. She said that we all have a choice. You can flee and cower and hide, waiting for someone else better and braver than you to find and kill you, dying on their terms, or make sure the other tributes fear you and make them pray they never encounter you in the Games. Make them shiver with fear when they hear your name. Most people pick the first option when they sit at home praying their name won't get picked during the reaping. Or when they hide like cowards from everyone else in the arena. But a few people pick the latter. This shows in training, when you go for the knives instead of the knot tying. Or during the bloodbath when you run into the line of fire with other brave tributes instead of fleeing into the landscape behind you. Or when you chase your opponent down instead of running away from them.

"Clove! Stay with me, okay? You know you can! Don't leave. Stay with me!"

To be a victor, you have to pick the second choice. You have to want to win. You have to hunger for victory. You have to want it so bad you'll do anything and everything in your power to get the crown of the victor.

"Clove. Clove!"

May the odds be ever in your favor. Hah. Real victors don't need odds when they have skill, pride and determination. Real victors don't need luck when they have an unquenchable thirst for blood and fear of the other tributes on their side. These are all the things Cato and I have. Marvel and Glimmer? They were too swallowed up by the fame and attention that comes with representing their district that they never actually realized what it truly takes to be a real opponent in these brutal and gruesome Games.

"Damn it, Clove! Don't fucking leave me! Please, Clove. Please."

I am already dead. I know it. I'm done for. The thought comes as a shock for me, seeing as I've been trained to kill for my entire life and all that is thrown away in the presence of a big burly boy from a weak, outlying district. What I hate the most, though, is how I will die by Thresh's hands. This would make me flush with rage during any other circumstances, but I am too weak to make a big deal out of it now. All I can say is that I hope for Cato to be the one to win now. He has to be the victor. For District Two. For me. For himself. He is the only person in this arena who will kill me out of honor. He is the only one here worthy of my blood; I am the only one here who deserves his. Hopefully that will not be ruined as well.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Sorry for the really late updates. Finally finished Chapter 10.. A big thanks for all of my readers' support, it really keeps me writing! I hope you guys like this chapter the most so far, and I hope you guys think I caught Clove's death really well. If not then tell me ASAP.

~*~*~X~*~*~

For those of you who are asking about what I'm working on after Raised is finished, I'm working on Unrest: Tension in the Dark Days about a group of kids living in District Thirteen during the Dark Days and a oneshot about Rue.

~*~*~X~*~*~

Thanks again for the support and reviews!