Tips of Brushes, Blades of Arrows

Option A

By: KaKaVegeGurl

Author's Note:

The new chapters will probably be coming out once a week or something to the effect.

Thank you all so much fer read! Have a nice steaming cup of yaoi, and enjoy!

~KaKaVegeGurl

Side Notes:

I can't be losing sleep over this, no, I can't

And now I cannot stop pacing

Give me a few hours and I'll have this all sorted out

If my mind would just stop racing

'Cause I cannot stand still

I can't be this unsturdy

This cannot be happening

This is over my head but underneath my feet

'Cause by tomorrow morning I'll have this thing beat

Chapter 7 - Confrontation, Joining the Careers

The land that we're standing on is pretty average, stretching out into a large forest ahead. There's a large lake, and I look back behind me and see the Cornucopia, the weapons there and my eyes fall immediately on a silver bow and quiver of arrows. I look up to Katniss, knowing that she's had to have already seen it and decided to go for it.

Sure enough, she's preparing her legs to run for the bow instead of to the forest, like she should be. I know she can run, but she shouldn't do it. Haymitch told us not to. He knows my plan, so me running in is no big deal, I have to put myself into the line of danger. But Katniss can't, not if my plan's going to work.

I turn and then I stare at her directly in the eyes until she finally looks at me. I shake my head slightly and see her face get confused.

No, I scream at her in my mind, wishing desperately that she could hear me. Please don't Katniss. It's not worth your life.

The gong sounds finally and I don't even hesitate. I look away from her, hoping that she doesn't try for it, and dart out as fast as I can to the pile of weapons nearest to me. I was always good in track, not the best of course, but good enough. And my legs don't disappoint me. I reach it just a heartbeat before I have to.

I snatch up a nice sized long dagger and throw my arm back just in time to hit the hilt of a sword from District Two's male tribute. I stare into his eyes, unblinking in shock, before I throw the sword from his hands.

I'm not good with a blade or anything, never had practice, but neither are these boys, so we're all on even ground.

I side step him and parry the oncoming attack from the boy from District Four. His eyes go wide before he falls forward against me, a dagger embedded in his skull. I back up and he lands face down on the ground.

The girl from District Two is a few yards behind him and tosses a few more, none aimed at me, and I see the blade's gleam in the corner of my eye just as it swings out to my arm, I try to dodge and barely miss it. It grazes my arm, slicing through my jacket and I feel it cut over the skin. Blood pours out and then I lurch back to him; with the shorter blade, I know that I should probably be in closer since I have a dagger and I move in to get at his jaw line.

"I wouldn't do that," I tell him.

His eyes are wide and he stares at me.

"Let me join your team," I say calmly, holding his sword down.

But he doesn't look like he's going to give in. This wasn't part of his plan. I knew it'd be hard to get into their group, but I had saved him, didn't that count for something?

I shake my head, "I saved your life," I turn and push the new girl that's charging at me back with both of my palms out against her shoulders. She stumbles backwards but doesn't fall down.

The girl, from district 3 I think, goes to move forward to me again and then the boy from District 2 runs in front of me and buries his sword in the center of her chest, down to the hilt. I can hear the cracks of it going through her spine. Her eyes are wide as the blood spills from her mouth, her nose, her eyes.

I can't help but be shocked, my stomach twisting violently around, as he slings her to the ground. His sword is slick with her blood and he looks at me, "Alright," he says, "Lover boy. You can join us, for now."

I nod, trying to hide my shock and disgust, I'd imagined the blood, but the sounds... I never thought of that. Screams are one thing, but the sound of her spine, that would be in my mind forever. The past Hunger Games never had those sounds amplified. "It's always going to be 'for now' until you decide to try and kill me."

He smiles viciously, holding up his sword before he runs at another girl and does a repeat motion, just for me, I think. He sinks the hilt into her gut, gives it a nice jerking twist inside of her and throws her down to his feet.

My hands are shaking, and I swallow. I try to fight the urge to stop him. If Katniss will come out of this alive, the rest have to die, I tell myself. I know this, but watching him do it while he's thinking of her bothers me so much that I'm having a hard time hiding how much it's really getting to me. That's right, he knows how I feel about Katniss, so he's trying to tell me that this is what he'll do to her. That he'll bury his sword in her, that he won't even hesitate to kill her. Once I've shown him the way.

I disarm another boy, not sure where he's from, and then move to grab a guy off of District Two's back. He has a spear handle around her throat. I actually can't figure out why he didn't just stab at her instead of trying to choke her out. I can't stab him though, I can parry and dodge with this dagger, but I don't think I could actually draw cold blood unless it came face to face with Katniss. So I drop the dagger to my side and settle for punching him in the face instead.

He falls back, gets his footing again, and punches me as well. I can't just kill the guy in cold blood, I keep telling myself, I could never lower myself to taking his life when he's really done nothing wrong... yet. But I'm about to take my best try at it when District Two's boy does it for me. The other boy drops his spear and lands two separate ways. I look away in disgust but use it as an excuse to grab up a backpack of goods.

"Alright," District Two says, "I'm Cato, the boy from District two. And you're..."

"Peeta, District 12, as I think you already know," I tell him.

"I do."

The girl from District Two thanks me by saying: "And why the fuck are you with us?"

Cato stops her from grabbing up a dagger, "Hey, hey, let me ask the questions."

I'm not surprised at all then, but I let it happen even though I have the chance to stop it, when he hits me just below where the other boy had hit me and I stagger back. I struggle to keep my balance and look him in the eyes.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you now, Peeta," Cato stares at me, waiting.

"The girl," I say, leaning forward with my hands on my knees, spitting up the blood from my mouth, my jaw pops in pain, "I can lead you to her. And I know what she's like. I can help you find her."

Cato nods in agreement, "See, Clove," he says cheerfully, "it all works out in the end. And besides, ff it wasn't for 'Pita' here, I might be dead. So the least I can do is let him live long enough to see sunrise tomorrow."

I nod as well and have to pull my eyes from the ground because of the pieces of the boy from before are right at my feet, covering the bottom of my boots in a nice layer of drying blood. "That's all I'm really asking." His innards float around in the pool of red, intestines, lungs, so red, that I'd be impressed if I wasn't completely sickened.

The girl, Clove, nods with a sigh finally, "Alright, I guess."

Two other girls walk to us and one introduces herself as Glimmer. Which I try my hardest not to laugh at because her name is so unusual and amusing.

And then another boy joins us.

"Alright," Cato says, assuming he's the leader of them, something that was already pre-arranged, "Let's gather everything up and move out."

That's when the cannon finally starts. I count it out eleven times in my head and hope that one of those isn't meant for Katniss.

I snatch up a first-aid kit that I find in a bag and bandage up my arm, wrapping it securely before joining the group. We take our time then, gathering up the goods, and joining them together in a large pile.

"This is good enough for now," Cato sighs and turns to us, "We can rest and eat for now, and then we'll head out for the rest of them. We'll sort through the supplies in the morning to see what we've got."

He grabs up some of the food and we sit around the lake together and eat.

It's the tension between the Careers of this group that is very thick and uncomfortable. They're all probably thinking of how to best stab each other in the back soon enough. They probably watch each other's movements and actions out of the corners of their eyes, guessing how strong they are, and how easily they'll go down.

I wonder how easily they think I'll go down. And Cato, I'm sure, has already got his mind set on who he's going to kill first.

But it doesn't bother me, because I've decided something for myself. If there's any of them that I want to take down first and foremost, or even only, I want it to be him. I want it to be Cato. He has proven enough already that he's the only one that I really have to beat to give Katniss her best chance at winning in this thing.

Glimmer has taken the bow and quiver of arrows that was meant for her, and Cato kept his sword that already has taken two young girl's lives. I like the dagger that I picked up from the start enough so I tuck it into my belt. It's a light dagger, but it's strong, and has already helped to save my life a few times.

"That was a good first day," Cato says as he stuffs his face, "We'll get the rest of this moved soon."

"Where to?" Glimmer asks.

Cato shrugs, "Probably best by the lake somewhere. But, other then that, I don't really know yet."

Best by the lake? He's really been thinking with that plan, hasn't he? Put a lot of thought into it, I think. I mean, it's not like past Career groups have thought of that one before. No, of course not.

Finally he, Cato, stands up and announces that it's time to hunt. The group lights torches for anyone that doesn't have a flashlight already. I take up one gratefully, more comforted with the fire. And we set off into the woods.

I'm more or less hoping that we don't find anyone at all. But I've been wrong a lot as of late. So I should know what to expect.

That's alright though, as long as it's not Katniss. As long as we never find her. As long as she never finds me.

Ending Notes:

See you next time! Reviews are loved.

~KaKaVegeGurl