A/N: I know there hasn't been much action lately, so I thought I'd give you the next chapter right away. =]
Disclaimer: No.
Part 12
Clove POV
Man. This walking thing was getting old. The fire caught up with us and chased us for about an hour, thick pungent smoke rolling over the creek in choking waves. But by midafternoon all traces of it had disappeared so we left the water, opting for hard land instead of continuing the tiresome slogging. Which was better but didn't really help the soreness scrubbing off the soles of my feet, or the aching in my throat, courtesy of smoke inhalation.
I had to trot a bit to keep with the rest; my legs were rather shorter than theirs. Marvel (I had yet to see him grow weary) loped around me in circles to irritate me.
It worked. I was irritated. He ended up in the brook as a result of a fierce push on my part when he was off-guard.
We were still hiking beside the creek because Peeta said Katniss was likely to stay near water. It sounded logical.
Still, I was a little confused with Peeta. Wasn't he madly in love with the girl on fire? Then again, everybody lied in those interviews. If saying the truth wouldn't win sponsors, you made something up that did. Of course, too, Peeta would work to his own good end, just as every other person I'd ever known did. If that meant ditching his girlfriend in favor of prolonging his life, no doubt he would do it. Nobody cared enough about anybody else to die for them.
I couldn't imagine it anyway.
Life. It was all about fighting for your own existance, your own dignity. If you didn't fight, you lost those two things and then it was over. It was the first method of self-preservation I'd ever learned.
Fight or die.
I thought about Katniss again. We all wanted her dead. Probably because she was so socially magnetic and yet from the poorest of the districts. We all had our issues with her. When she'd gotten a higher score than Cato did in training, he hadn't really appreciated it... Okay, he'd smashed a vase... I was pretty sure Glimmer was jealous that a girl from Twelve was held up as beautiful and desirable when she, from the Luxury District, no doubt felt she deserved to be the only one labeled as such.
Four and Marvel seemed neutrally unfavoring of all tributes, their attitude being, "we'll just kill anyone in our way." Peeta was taking care of his own hide.
And I had my own personal reasons.
Twilight was creeping in and we were still walking when Marvel the tireless let out his signature whoop.
"There she is!"
And there she was, the girl on fire herself, scrambling through a pool just a short distance ahead. She streaked into the bushes, but by that time we were well onto her. We chased her into the woods.
She climbed a tree.
Then she smiled down at us and wanted to know how it was going with us.
This girl had nerve.
Of course Cato rebounded first. "Well enough, thank you." Insert smirk. "And yourself?"
"Kinda warm for my taste." She was smug under devastating graciousness. She was playing well. "Won't you come up, join me?"
"Think I will," Cato said smoothly, softness of rage running through his tone. I knew his temper was close to snapping but wasn't sure why.
Okay, I kinda knew. She was just egging him on. It made him see red. Cato couldn't take disrespect.
Her antics certainly had me wanting to knife her. But she was too far up.
Of course Glimmer thought it was her right to shove her weapons at Cato in order to climb the tree herself. Cato just pushed her away. I would have felt gleeful but I was too pre-occupied, between my own frustration with Katniss and fear of Cato in beast-mode.
He didn't make it up the tree. Part way up a branch broke and he came back to earth- very literally- with a thud. Katniss was very high up by now.
Cato got up unharmed, though the thread between rational anger and straight blue rage had obviously snapped. He swore so hard without stopping for breath that I started to be curious as to how long he could keep that up and wondered if he would pass out.
Meanwhile Glimmer tried her luck but that girl was no tree-climber. She was back down in a pathetic hurry.
Not that she gave up. She took her bow and arrows and shot at Katniss, who was now way, way up. Her aim was so random that it was funny. Or would have been, if we hadn't all been so exasperated at each other and Katniss.
So we got into a big shouting match then. I thought I could probably climb up far enough that I could throw a knife and at least wound the girl, but I also thought Cato might kill anyone who said the wrong thing at that point, so I clammed and watched them argue.
Peeta finally convinced us to leave her up there for the night; as he pointed out, she really couldn't go anywhere, anyway. (Despite his logic, I was surprised he didn't get his neck wrung, a couple times.) But darkness was seeping through the forest, steadily growing denser, and we all wanted sleep more than anything else in the world.
We made a fire first, and had another rabbit- which I had killed this time- for supper. I watched Cato warily and saw him gradually cooling down.
Afterward I just crashed on the ground, too worn out to think. My burning eyes drifted shut, my throat rasped a little with each breath, and my aching feet ached on in my heavy boots that I was too weary too remove. I automatically held a knife close to my chest.
Tired... so tired...
Sleep was already crawling in at the edges of my drowsy consciousness when I felt a strong hand tentatively close around mine. Without knowing what was real and what was in my head, I weakly squeezed back as everything faded out.
Cato POV
Screams. Shrieking. A panicked, "Cato! Get up!" A yell of "The lake! To the lake!"
What lake? The lake was back by the Cornucopia.
I struggled to my feet and the vague thought that this was just a rerun of yesterday morning blew away like a scared whisper. Roaring filled the air, wild golden streaks spiraled round and round before my eyes. It also occured to me that now I was running, stumbling from the chaos. Clove was dragging me with her, screaming like a wild thing as she scrambled around trees and bushes, pulling me along by our joined hands. The golden streaks became a swarm behind us.
Tracker jackers.
Horrified, I grabbed the still shrieking girl and took off at twice my former speed, Clove clinging to me like a monkey.
"Lake... over... next... hill," she gasped in my ear.
I followed her directions, but by the time I'd reached the crest of the hill my steps staggered and my brain seemed to be acting as carousel in my head. Round and round, twirling dizzily.
Stung. I'd been stung.
This is bad, I thought as figures began popping up all around me. Something whispered repeatedly, echoing soft and far, "Cato... Cato... Cato..."
Then my father's face was right in front of mine and I lost it. My foot hit something and Clove and I crashed to the ground.
Clove stayed wrapped around my chest as we rolled, over and over, into a bottomless pit, where the monsters were.
…...
A/N: Btw, Cato and Katniss' conversation was pretty much adapted from the book, so that's to Suzy's credit not mine... XO
