Chapter 29
Four Walls
Those four walls now are the only place that I can breathe out
Those four walls now are home
Those three words now are the only thing that came to save me
Those three words now are home
Cato and I have nothing to unpack in the cave since we had to leave everything in the fire. All we have are my bow and arrows and his sword that had remained strapped to his hip. We're back to square one.
I'll probably set up some snares when I know Cato is all right.
"You should probably lay on your stomach to rest your back for a bit."
He doesn't respond, just follows my suggestion and sighs.
"I think I'm going to go look for some-"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Cato lifts his head as I run out of the cave and crawl through the tunnel. The parachute is floating down right as I get out of the tunnel, and I reach out for it before it can land below me.
I open it with shaking hands and find a tub of something that smells so strongly of chemicals that my nose burns.
I pick up the note attached.
For you and Cat.
Use sparingly.
Love-H
Relief fills me at I realize that this is the medicine Cato needs for his burn at the same time amusement floods me at Haymitch continued misuse of Cato's name. I quickly climb down the rocks so I can wash my hands, then run back to the cave.
Cato is sitting up looking worried.
"Lay on your back. We got medicine."
"From my mentors?" Cato asks in shock. "They hate me right now."
I shake my head. "No, from Haymitch."
"Haymitch?" Cato chokes out, still in shock. I guess it is weird, another tribute's mentor sending you medicine, but it is Cato and I to share. But it is still weird, since we all know it's mainly for him.
"Just lay down, would you?"
Cato quickly rolls onto his stomach. "As long as you save some for your arm."
I snort. "My arm is nowhere near as bad as your back."
I study his back for a second. "I'm going to have to uh-take your shirt off."
I don't want to cut it off, because then he won't be able to wear it again, but he solves my dilemma by sitting up and carefully taking his shirt off.
I just gape at him. Sure, I'm a healer. I've had to get used to seeing people naked. Took me awhile, sure, but I got used to it. But right now I feel like I've never seen a boy's body before. His chest is on display, his tan skin smooth as he displays his very toned body.
I snap out of my staring when he rolls back onto his stomach, and I sober when I see his back. This isn't the time to be drooling over him!
I dip my fingers into the paste, grabbing a glob of it before smoothing it onto his back. At first, his whole body tenses, but then he relaxes, a breath leaving his lips. I smooth it out evenly onto his back, so it doesn't coat too thickly. It obviously provides pain relief, but I wonder if it'll really treat the burn.
When his back is coated with a thin layer of the medicine, I stop. Cato's face is completely relaxed, looking boyish.
"Now put some on your arm," He mumbles, eyes closed.
Wow. He's practically unconscious and still bossy.
I do what I'm told though, and I get a small scoop of it into my fingers before putting it on my own burn more thinly than I did Cato's. At first it stings, and I hiss out a breath, but then a cool, tingly sensation follows, and I sigh in relief.
The burn covers about 70% of my upper arm, so I am now able to move my arm, full range of motion, without it hurting.
The tin is still about two thirds full, so there's plenty left.
Cato's breathing evens out, and I hate to do it, but I shake him awake. Just like earlier, I'm shocked when he wakes up instantly. He's usually so hard to wake up, but I guess subconsciously he knows he's in the hunger games and can't mess around snoozing.
"Cato. Cato, wake up," he blinks open his eyes. "Stay here, I'm going to go set up some snares."
His eyes drift closed. "Okay. Just be careful."
I wait a minute, and his breathing evens out again. Now that he's not in pain, he'll rest easy. I hate leaving him here unprotected while he's asleep, but I doubt anybody would find this place, and I probably won't go far.
I swing my bow and arrows onto my shoulder and head out.
It took me a few hours to make the snares and set them up, but eventually I got all of them scattered around what I like to call 'home base'. I even stumbled upon a surprisingly meaty squirrel and shot it down.
I skin it before I enter the cave, and I'm really not sure what to do with it. I can't light a fire, since the careers could be up and see it, but it's not like we can eat it raw.
I think about what to do while I just stare at Cato's sleeping form.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I quickly drop the squirrel and rush out of the cave to retrieve the parachute. This tin is much smaller and when I open it, all that's in it is a small note.
Open the bag.
Use sparingly.
Love-H
What the hell? There is no bag in this thing! But then I remember the small bag that's in my pants pocket that Haymitch had sent yesterday with the food that I never even looked at.
I pull it out with shaking hands, and pull the drawstring. Inside are about 8 little pebble looking things. I pull one out carefully and examine it.
What is this?
I roll it around in my fingers and even smell it, but I still have no clue. I decide to wake Cato up and see if he knows. He's slept long enough, I'm sure.
I gently shake Cato awake, and he's instantly on alert, sitting up without even wincing. That cream must be working already. "What is it? Are you okay?" He asks somewhat frantically.
"I'm fine. I just can't figure out what these are."
I hand him the small stones, and it only takes a second for him to figure it out.
"Those are gunstones. They're made of gunpowder and when you drop them they make a fire. They don't produce any smoke so you can go undetected. We had to study the games in the academy and some tributes got these from their mentors but they're really expensive. Where'd you get these?"
I look at the little stone in glee. "Haymitch sent them with dinner last night but I never opened the bag until now. I was just trying to figure out how to cook that squirrel-" I gesture over my shoulder, "when I got a parachute with just a note saying to open this. Now I know why."
Cato nods. "Here, I'll help you. Do you need me to skin it?"
I shake my head. "No, I already did it. Is your back better?"
Cato nods, smiling. "It still hurts, but it's like background noise now."
"Good," I smile. I walk back over to the squirrel and set up some normal stones in a circle. "Do I just-just throw it on the ground?"
Cato nods. Seconds later I have a blazing fire inside the cave with no smoke. I grab a stick that's just lying in the cave, and sharpen one tip of it so I can pierce the squirrel with it. As I hold the meat over the fire, I see Cato in my peripheral vision playing with something in his hands.
"What is that?" I ask before I can stop myself.
Cato smiles to himself before walking over to me. It takes me a second to register that it's a bracelet. It's made of a dainty thin rope, with beads woven in it messily. There's something twisted around it, though…
"Is that…?"
"The primrose you gave me? Yeah," he murmurs. He places it in my hand and I study it. He reaches over and runs a finger along the rope. "My sister made that for me. I took it as my token, but I weaved that around it so it looked like the primrose was supposed to be attached and I could bring it too."
I'm touched, but I don't know what to say.
"What's she like? Daphne?" I ask instead of responding, since I don't really know how to.
Cato smiles widely, and I'm glad I asked. "Well, I think I already told you this, but she just turned three. She started talking early and she uses all these big words when she talks that three-year-olds shouldn't even know the meanings of. And she's obsessed with climbing things. Trees, rocks, hell she's always hanging all over me," he chuckles.
I evenly rotate the squirrel over the fire, smiling. I wonder what I was like as a kid. I wonder if Katniss would talk about me like Cato talks about his sister, voice full of affection.
"And Oliver?"
"Oliver is a little genius. He's only twelve, but he's brilliant. He doesn't really care about school or grades but he invents all this stuff everyday, all this amazing stuff. I swear he's going to be famous one day for his inventions. He's real quiet, and introverted, I guess, but he's so intelligent. He teaches me new stuff everyday."
I think about the little boy I saw at the reaping whose name was called. He had curly blonde hair and blue eyes hidden under glasses. I remember that he had to push them up a lot because they were always slipping down his nose.
"What about your sister? The one you said was having a baby?" He inquires.
How did he know that? I voice my question.
He raises his eyebrow. "You said it during your interview, remember?"
"Oh, you remember that?" I ask in surprise.
Cato smiles bashfully, "I kind of remember everything you've ever said in my presence."
My heart rate speeds up at this. I feel like I remember everything he's ever said, too.
I'm not even quite sure what to say, but it's definitely not the oh-so-eloquent 'oh' that comes out of my mouth.
I open my mouth to say that I feel the same way, but that's not what comes out at all.
"Uh, yes, Katniss is having a baby."
I kind of want to punch myself when I see the disappointment in his eyes that he's quick to hide with a smile. He obviously wanted me to reciprocate, not completely change the subject.
"Katniss is my big sister. She's very protective, and she's the one who taught me the whole-" I mime drawing back an arrow on a bow.
His lips quirk up at the corner. "Do you have any other siblings? Or nieces and nephews?"
I shake my head, but then think about it. "I mean Vick, Posy, Rory, and Gale are like my siblings, but not by blood. Gale is my brother-in-law and they're all his siblings, so I guess we're all related by marriage."
"Well, family is a choice," Cato mutters, more to himself than me.
When he sees the slight confusion on my face, he elaborates.
"I just mean, you can be related to someone by blood, but you don't consider them family. You can choose your own family, blood relation or not. 'The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,' and all."
I smile widely as the treasonous words roll off his tongue easily.
Cato shouldn't surprise me anymore, but he does.
Ever since the rebellion, the quote from the bible has always been shortened to 'blood is thicker than water' so that the religious context is taken out, but led to it being misquoted and twisted around to mean the opposite of what it originally meant.
I know that this will probably be cut out of the broadcast so the viewers at home won't see it. Haymitch had told me a long time ago that the Capitol cuts anything seen as rebellious out of the hunger games live feed. There's a 10 second lag, since it's "live", so they have time to switch to something else or cut the screen black if someone says something they shouldn't. Whether it's religious, rebellious, or just talk of what their home life is like in their district. The Capitol doesn't like its citizens to know what the other districts are like.
I remember once during the games when I was younger; a tribute had said a prayer right before they were killed. The Gamemaker decide not to cut the screen to black because that would've cut the death too, so they let it play.
We got a new Gamemaker that year.
Cato smiles back at me, mischief in his eyes.
I have a feeling his father isn't considered family to him.
I turn my attention back to the squirrel, murmuring, "I know exactly what you mean."
Hours later after the squirrel is eaten, I voice something that's been nagging at me.
"Cato," I call hesitantly, biting my lip.
His eyes dart to mine from where he was playing with his bracelet, lost in thought. We haven't really been doing much of anything.
"Did you see Clove with the careers earlier? When Rue…" I trail off midsentence, but I can tell he knows what I mean.
Cato doesn't seem surprised by my question, as if he's already thought of this. "No, she wasn't there," he spoke, his eyes darting back to his wrist.
When he doesn't elaborate further, I speak up. "Do you…know why she wasn't there?"
Cato shakes his head. "No, I don't. But I've known Clove for years. She may seem harsh and cold, but she's not. You saw how she protected you from Brutus and Enobaria. She probably just took off. Hell, after everything I saw Callan do, I did."
I think about the tough girl who always had a knife in her hand. I suspected she wasn't all that she seemed, but Cato confirms it. I mean she helped me in the training center when I was practicing with the knives, and she threatened her own mentors when they attacked me.
"I'm not too worried about her. She's alive, and I know Clove can take care of herself," he continues.
"I wonder where Thresh and Eli are," I muse out loud.
Silence once again fills the cave.
"Let me check your back," I say a long while later.
Cato's eyes widen infinitesimally, as if he hadn't really thought about it.
He answers by turning around to face the wall as I walk towards him. His shirt is still off, and I gasp when I see it.
"What? What's wrong?" Cato questions anxiously.
"Oh, Cato, it's so much better!" I burst out, running a finger over the previously charred flesh that now looks normal, if only a little bit red.
"What does it look like?"
"It-it's normal, the skin a little tough and a bit inflamed. There're scars, only where flesh was missing. They're not bad, though," I say the last part quickly.
I can hear him swallow, and his shoulders drop marginally. "At least all I got out of that was a few scars, right?"
I don't answer, because I know he isn't expecting one.
I back away, and Cato turns back around.
I drink in the sight of him, looking healthy and perfect sitting in front of me, and suddenly I'm overwhelmed by his presence.
"I think I'm going to go check the snares," I whisper hoarsely, causing me to clear my throat.
"I'll come with," Cato adds, his eyes brighter.
I nod my head a little jerkily.
Later, after everything happened, I'll wish we never left that damn cave.
A/N: It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an update! Also a cliffy.
But finally another chapter! Sorry for the long wait ): I was at Coachella and ever since I've been back I've been super busy and working a lot. But here you all go.
I'm not sure I like a quiet, contemplative Cato.
But I have a question for you guys. I've had a dream cast written out for this story for a while, and I wanted to know if you guys wanted a peek. Let me know.
Anyways, your reviews make me happy, and I appreciate every single one of you who read this story.
Let me know what you guys think about this chapter!
