Chapter 11
Katniss struggles under his big muscular arms, trying to free her arms that are glued to her sides by one of his arms. She is able to open her mouth wide enough to clamp her teeth down hard on his hand that restrains her from yelling profanities, and any other such noises, at him. He tenses a little but then goes back to normal within a seconds notice when she does this, but makes no other acknowledgment. Not a sound escapes him, he doesn't flinch.
He leans his head down so his mouth is next to her ear, a feeling of deja vu overcoming her again—being held against her will while he whispers in her ear. This is like the...third time since she first saw him that this has happened.
"Shhhhhh. Stop moving. I'm not going to hurt you." Katniss momentarily stops moving at his statement, unlocking her teeth from his palm.
She's about to keep resisting to his hold on her, ignore everything he just told her to not do, when she hears the sound of a bunch of footsteps heading in their direction. She tenses at the thundering of steps, trying to shrink herself deeper into Cato, not even caring that he is still kind of her enemy and they he is holding her against her will. She closes her eyes, not wanting to see what happens.
Cato tightens his hold, slowly and soundlessly sliding down the trunk so they are sitting on the branch instead of standing on the branch. Her back is pressed to chest without a single sliver of space between them. The lower half of her body is tucked in-between Cato's legs, that seems to sort of wrap around her's, like he's her shell of protection. Even though he still has a tight grip on his sword that is laying across both of their feet, it doesn't seem to bother her as much. What bothers her is the thoughts of how Cato will react when the careers are near. Will he team up with them again and turn against her so she's outnumbered? Will he push her off the tree and into the hands of the careers and then laugh in her face when she asks for help?
Her stomach twists into knots and she shrinks into him, hoping that it might keep him there instead of moving, which is kind of wishful thinking to think that her little force could hold him. He releases his hand from her mouth, and she bends her head down so they are between her knees. He uses his free hand to cover her head with the hood of her black jacket, he does the same with his, laying his head sideways on the back of her neck so he can still see what's going on below.
Goosebumps form anywhere his skin is in contact with her's. She's not used to this kind of touch from a guy. Her and Gale's relationship was-is-never this physical; they touched, just not like this.
About a hundred feet away from their tree, a girl sleeps, curled up around a small fire. Small dark gray clouds of smoke flow up through the trees, which is actually quite visible in the dark. The fire lights up everything within a thirty foot radius. Small popping noises that the fire makes sound monstrous in the silence of the night.
How did he not hear that earlier?
Guess he was too busy trying to figure out a way to get Katniss to come down to his branch.
On the other side of their tree, Cato can see the silhouettes of the careers, sprinting towards the stupid, sleeping girl at the fire.
As they pass under the tree, Cato pulls Katniss closer to him, though he's not sure why; she doesn't have that much importance to him. So then why does he feel obliged to comfort her about death? There's death everywhere in this arena, this is what she signed up for when she volunteered, she's bound to have seen at some point in here, whether it's her own or not.
Katniss doesn't look at the scene, just hears the heartless laugh from the merciless careers—well mostly Clove, really-and the worthless pleas from the helpless girl who is now at their mercy. She hears her painful screams that pierce her ears with ringing sounds.
Cato watches though, but for some reason he doesn't the pleasure he thought he would feel at the sight of the girl being held underneath Clove, being cut to pieces by her lethal knifes-at the sight of being one person closer from winning and going home and finally being able to please his father. Instead, he's smirking at how angry Clove looks. She could be angry at anything, but he knows that she's thinking about him. She knows what he has done—is doing. He wants to laugh at how much this entertains him. How she actually trusts him. They might be from the same district, but that doesn't really mean anything, only one can come out of this damned place.
He watches as her energy spills out of her, how she gives up with destroying the girls face and just slits her throat.
The cannon goes off (making Katniss jump a little in his arms), and Clove stands up, smiling at her work. The girls face is now no longer recognizable.
Clove begins to leave, going towards their tree, the others following closely, angry scowls on their faces.
Katniss tenses at their approaching footsteps. Her head comes up a little and to the side to look down at them.
"That's not fair," Glimmer says in her annoyingly high voice. "You just killed someone. Why couldn't you have let someone else kill that one? Why do you get to have all the fun? I was the one who suggested that we just kill that District 12 rat, and you were to one who wanted to 'stick to what you said'. And what did you do later, oh yeah, you killed him. Wh-"
Katniss makes a little squeaking sound.
Glimmer stops making her accusation and stands there wondering if she really just heard that or if she just though she did.
Katniss and Cato quickly turn their heads down, hoping they won't be able to make-out their figures in the dark.
The careers stay quiet, waiting for something to happen.
After a while, they just decide that it was most likely a bird or something. They shift their hunting gear into better positions on themselves, then, head off in a different direction.
They stay silent for about ten more minutes, so that they are for sure that they are actually gone and out of hearing distance.
"They're gone," he says, though Katniss doesn't hear him because she is just about fully asleep. "Guess this means we're allies."
He lays his head softly on top of her's, and falls asleep almost instantaneously.
In the morning, Katniss wakes up to find herself curled up next to Cato. Her head lays lazily on his shoulder, her hands under her head as a pillow. Her legs are sprawled across the branch, one of them on top of Cato's. His arm is wrapped loosely around her waist, the other behind his head.
She jerks up suddenly, rubbing her eyes to make sure she's not mistaken. She glares at Cato who is slowly opening his eyes.
His eyebrows knit together. "Is there something wrong?" he says quietly, his voice slurred with sleep.
She doesn't say anything.
He, then, realizes that he has his hand on her right hip. He slides it off, making Katniss shiver slightly.
He doesn't say anything, just removes himself from underneath her, trying hard not to touch her again.
Katniss sits there with her head down, her face a deep red, grateful that Cato isn't saying anything about it.
They both hope that the thick branches are enough to cover everything that went on during the night. They might have been able to pick up their conversation, which is kind of okay since they really haven't said anything embarrassing (well at least that morning, anyway).
Cato picks up their supplies, and carries his sword loosely in his hand. He uses his free hand to hook onto a lower branch and swing down, his feet landing loudly, the leaves crumpling underneath.
Katniss follows his lead by grabbing her bow (her sheath of arrows already on her back from yesterday), and landing softly, unlike Cato.
He was a few yards away, still walking, and she jogs up to him.
"Where are we going?" Katniss asks him curiously.
"If we want to live any longer in fucked up place, we're going to need water," he says simply.
She nods.
They trek on for a couple of hours, going blindly through the forest in search of some nice fresh water to pour down their parched mouths. The hot "sun" beats down on them, making them sweat whatever water they have left (which does not help their cause).
Cato walks forward confidentially, while Katniss walks a little farther back, trying to walk in a straight line. Her head is dizzy, her stomach cramping, making her walk slower than both of them would like. It's probably from the lack of food she's been taking in. Cato took out what little food they have in their pack earlier that morning, and gave her a cracker and half of a piece of beef jerky. She literally had to force down the half-piece of beef jerky, and she didn't even end up eating the cracker.
Katniss know from reading some of her mother's medical books that she's suffering from dehydration. She doesn't voice her revelation, but knows that Cato knows this too. He's probably suffering too, but he's better at hiding what he's feeling.
After a while, Cato gets tired of having to stop so much so that Katniss could catch up to him. He stops, let's out a sigh, and comes back to her.
"Hop on."
She looks at him bewildered. "What?!"
"Get on my back."
"Why?"
"Because you're taking too long," he tells her like she's stupid or something.
She doesn't move, so Cato leans down to grab her around her knees.
"Okay, Okay fine! Just please don't carry me like that again."
He stands back and turns around, taking off the back pack and handing it to her. She steps forward, taking the pack in her small hands and straps it on her back, and then she places her hands on his broad shoulders. She jumps up. His hands circle around her thin thighs, holding her up. She wraps her arms loosely around his neck, but her head up, not wanting to touch him any more than she already is.
It amazes her how much he can hold, especially with him being dehydrated as well.
IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!
Heeeeeeeeey. Sorry for the long wait on this update. Also, sorry for the shortness of it, it's just that I'm leaving tomorrow morning to go on a two week vacation so I won't be able to update for a while, but I promise to write a little over those two weeks, and I promise to make the next Chapter.
Thanks to that encouraging review by Love is my weapon.
Sorry for any miss spellings or grammar errors, I was typing really fast to get this done.
Please review! :) It would make a great early-birthday present (which btw is this coming Wednesday (June 19)).