Author's Notes: edited August 17, 2018
Chapter Twenty-Nine – Reunion and Separation
Thresh was no expert when it came to herbs, but he did know just enough to figure out which would be effective on Tracker Jacker stings. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to stumble upon any on his way to the Cornucopia. He was thankful for the shade that the tall trees offered, however, he did wish that a breeze – even a small one – would pass them. Sweat was already covering his body, and it wasn't making the task of carrying Prim easier than it should've been. She was light enough, but with the fatigue beginning to set in, he wasn't too sure if he could go on.
Frustrated, anxious, and more than simply dehydrated, Thresh kept on going until they reached the structure where it had all begun.
The Cornucopia.
The young girl in his arms was sweating and squirming, which turned into shivering when he laid her down. He cursed under his breath, but was more than relieved when he found that the particular plant needed for treatment was growing up the side of the Cornucopia. He knelt by Prim and studied her closely for a moment, looking for the barbs of the Tracker Jackers that had stung her.
He found one of them just above her wrist and the other on her chin. He pulled both of them out, and moved some of Prim's hair away from her face. She slowly began to stop convulsing. They were both covered in dirt, but he couldn't help but think that between them, she would always look presentable. It seemed to be part of her charm. She looked so sweet – like an angel.
"Primrose," said Thresh. "The cure is by the Cornucopia. Do you want to wait or come with me?" His eyes looked around, careful not to be too absorbed in Prim's situation that another tribute might sneak up on him. He turned back to Prim when she groaned loudly, and he helped her sit up.
"I'll keep watch from here. Just help me stand and then you can go," replied Prim as she blinked rapidly to clear her vision and determine whether or not she was still hallucinating. When her feet were planted firmly on the ground, she sent Thresh off after handing him her bag to fill with supplies, and kept her hand on her improvised knife belt, which was basically some rope tied in such away that she could sheath her knives for easy access and carrying.
Blue eyes scanned the area as Prim made sure that no one could surprise her or Thresh when it came to an attack. The day was shaping to be uneventful until Thresh returned to her side, chewing something. He spat the paste onto his hand and then went on to apply it on the areas where Prim had been stung.
Thresh offered Prim a small smile, "That ought to do fo-"
An arrow entered through the side of his neck and Prim didn't even register that she had thrown her knife until Thresh's weight fell haphazardly on her and she caught sight of Glimmer's wide eyes as she looked from the knife buried in her chest to her. Two canons fired, and Prim was left one knife short as she came to terms with the fact that she had reacted and thrown her knife at Glimmer on pure instinct.
Killer.
That was the first word to cross her mind as she stood, breathing heavily. Trembling hands rose to hold on to her friend's limp body. She gripped his arms which, toned as they were, had gone a little softer now.
"I'm sorry," said Prim, despite not knowing what she was apologizing for. Her hands moved up to his back and she used all her strength to slowly guide him to the ground. Tears have blurred her vision, but she did not stop as she moved to ensure that he was lying properly, as if he were only settling in to sleep and she were guiding him.
"I'm so sorry." She couldn't bear to look at his eyes. Brown and wide open, they had been guarded but alive only a second previous. Her tears fell on his bare chest, and she placed a hand above his no longer beating heart just as her other moved his eyelids shut.
"I'm so sorry." She croaked once again, her head resting on his chest and her hands curled into fists.
Words could not describe how disgusted he felt for leaving his best friend behind. And when the canon – Clove's canon – sounded, he had to stop and regain his composure. He placed a steadying hand against the trunk of a nearby tree. Not counting himself, five tributes were left. That meant five more people were hindering him from becoming the Victor that he knew he was.
He looked to the direction he was heading. It would take quite a while for him to arrive at the Cornucopia, and since he no longer has any supplies, he needed to conserve his energy. They promised food and water, which meant energy to kill his opponents. He needed to get there or at least find an alternate source of food and water.
Growing up in an environment when he could've had nearly everything he wanted, food was never scarce. It was something he was unaccustomed to, and he had no plans to get used to it. When he returned a Victor, he would eat as much as he wanted whenever he wanted just to forget that he had ever felt what true hunger and starvation was like.
He had been walking for a good mile and a half when two canons fired in quick succession. He wondered who it could've been, but could not find it in himself to care. He didn't think it would Prim. She was smart and quick for someone like her, and he wouldn't be surprised if in the end it would be him, her and Thresh.
Another mile and he finally arrived at the Cornucopia, upon catching sight of the various delicacies; he felt his mouth water and his stomach rumble. Like a man in a desert stumbling upon an oasis, he used his last bout of strength to get to the large structure to gorge on the food and eat like a king.
His body moved off of muscle memory, and he was surprised to find that he had just narrowly missed being killed with a knife.
Clove?
His eyes scoured the area for the blade's origin, and he found his blue eyes colliding with that of one Primrose Everdeen's. She was no longer pale, her skin having gained a natural tan. She was covered in a lot of dirt, and her cheeks had sunk into her face in such a way that highlighted her cheekbones but also showed how small she was. There was a green substance on her chin, but that was not what caused him to stare.
Her eyes were no longer the bright blue he remembered that they had once been. They had darkened and were full yet vacant at the same time. Red and puffy, he knew that she must've been crying, and from the way she sniffled, he guessed that she had only begun to stop. She seemed more vulnerable and guarded all at the same time, and he could remember only one time when he felt that way.
She had killed someone.
It was only then that he looked around properly.
A burly man lay in front of her, and in the distance, he could see the faint outline of a girl's figure.
He was not so dense as to think that she could've killed both of them, and so based off of what he could see, he inferred that she had been with the man when the woman ha killed him and she had retaliated and promptly lost her composure. He sheathed his sword and walked over to her despite the protest of his stomach, which only wished to be filled with food.
"Rose."
The way in which he had said her name had Prim watching his every move. From the way he had sheathed his sword to the way he began to walk towards her. There wasn't much change to his looks. His eyes were still as blue as ever; perhaps tainted with an emotion she could not quite point out. His hair had gotten a shade darker, and so had his skin. His facial features seemed more angular – more defined.
She looked back down at Thresh's dead figure and couldn't help but wince as her eyes landed on the arrow protruding from his neck. It seemed to have killed him instantly, and she could only assume – and hope – that such was the case, because she wouldn't have wanted him to suffer. In fact, she wished that suffering preceded none of the deaths in the games.
"C-cato." She said with a hiccup.
They hadn't seen each other in days, but the feeling in the pit of Cato's stomach whenever he saw his Rose hadn't changed. Like a man possessed, he grabbed her arms and pulled her to him, his lips finding hers in a searing kiss that conveyed just how much he had been deprived of her company. As much as he was unwilling to admit it, he had missed her, and now that he had found her, he wasn't about to let go.
It hadn't been a conscious decision, but by the time Prim realized she was kissing him back, she found that she was too gone to care. She poured into it the despair and sorrow she felt and the utter guilt that came with taking a life. When they parted, there was blood on their lips, and it took a moment to sink in that Cato's lip was bleeding.
He smiled despite the strain it gave his dry (and now, bleeding) lips. "You've gotten stronger, Rose." He teased, though the laugh that followed was as humorless as their situation. Despite herself, she blushed and murmured an apology, licking her teeth absently and finding that she wasn't as repulsed as she would have been a week ago at the metallic taste of blood.
"Why don't we get some food and leave?" Cato asked, looking to the Cornucopia, and Prim was more than grateful that he did not mention the two dead bodies so clearly visible. Her regard for him grew quite a bit, because he seemed to understand that she neither wanted nor needed to discuss the specifics of Thresh's and Glimmer's death.
She met his eyes and was suddenly drawn back to that time that they had been staring at each other as she laid trapped between him and the sofa. He had been such a different person then. She looked past him and that was when she realized he was alone.
Where's Clove?
So she finally understood his lack of prying. She would have thought that he would be taunting and teasing her about her first kill, but instead he had kept silent. She had mistaken it as understanding or sympathy; she knew then. Clove was dead and Cato was ignoring it just as much as she was trying to ignore and forget what had just occurred.
"Alright," said Prim, even though she already had two bags filled with supplies.
Her eyes widened. How could she have forgotten Peeta and Rue?! They were out there probably worried sick about her and Thresh while she was here lip locking with the enemy! Feeling appalled at herself, she knew that she had to leave and find them. But with her rotten sense of direction, she would most probably get lost.
How was she supposed to get back now?
Cato was completely unaware of Prim's dilemma as he took her hand in his in a completely unprecedented move, and led her to the table filled with various platters of food. She followed behind him in a daze, the bags Thresh had handed her earlier lay in a heap a few feet away from where she had once stood.
It felt completely and utterly surreal to have her hand in his, and he marveled at how they had remained soft and malleable despite the rough times and all the changes she must have gone through. He thought nothing of it, and when they arrived by the table, he found that there were different types of food upon it. He tugged Prim closer to his side.
"I have to go, Cato."
His head snapped to her so fast, Prim found it a miracle that she didn't hear a crack. "No." She winced; she shouldn't have expected anything else.
"Peeta and Rue are waiti-"
"THEN LET THEM WAIT." He snarled pulling her close and holding her by her arms, shaking her. "You're mine, Rose; you won't be getting rid of me that easily." The look in his eyes was panicked and glazed, almost like a rabid animal that would've scared her if Prim didn't understand what he was going through. But as it were, she did. She knew what it meant, because he may be unhinged and somewhat unnerving, but Cato was first and foremost, human.
He didn't want to be alone.
