The Lady of the Lake
So! Chapter 16!
We have hit the Incredible milestone of 200+ Reviews! I can't believe my little story, just something I started writing for the hell of it, has touched you guys so much. Thank you, without you guys I wouldn't have gotten this far, not in a million years. You have inspired me and kept me going, and your reviews have made me smile so much.
So in honour of 200 Reviews and 60,000 words, I am offering you guys something in return for all you've given me. In your review for this chapter, or in an Ask over at:
thgladyofthelake on Tumblr
Just ask me for a drabble, a small fic of something from this universe. Maybe you want to see Cato returning to the Career pack after Sky helped him, or some Marvel/Darrien, or maybe you want some more behind the scenes action from the Capitol. I am all yours guys. Ask away and I will post it up on the Tumblr...and maybe on FF too.
Now onto the chapter!
This chapter features Sky proving that she's not so much the damsel in distress, Cato being noble, Thresh and Sky discussing Rue and Marvel's death, and Sky...fulfilling one of the Lady of the Lake legends.
Enjoy!
Chapter 16
My dreams are fevered; something I only know because of the brief moments of lucidity, snapshots that I think are reality.
Teesa and Thresh standing together, his head bowed as she murmurs to him, hands sketching something out, a plan.
Then the chiming of a sponsor gift.
The white of the note left on my chest by slim fingers.
Blinding pain as something holds me down as quick and clever fingers do something to my ribs.
Eventually though my eyes open and I blink blearily up at the sky above me. I still feel weak as a kitten, but my head is clearer now, and I see that night covers the Arena, the faintest colour of dawn touching the horizon.
Slowly my fingers trail down my sides, wincing as they brush against sensitive skin. My ribs have been bound up, roughly, I notice, touching the white bandages that wrap around my torso. Slowly my hand reaches out and retrieves the note which had slipped to the ground. It's from Finnick, but not addressed to me.
'Patch her up for pity's sake. He won't come for a corpse. – F'
"Charming as ever…" I murmur with a smile and look around me.
My eyes meet Thresh's where he stands watch nearby, hand on the scythe that I'd seen him wield at the feast. His black eyes glitter in the faint pre-dawn light; and nearby I see Teesa curled up asleep, perfectly still and practically invisible against the shadowed, golden grain.
"How long was I out?" I ask huskily, my voice weak.
"Only a few hours," his voice is deep, "Over 12 hours in total. The Capitol medicine your mentor sent is strong."
"He worries," I say, rubbing my thumb over the white paper, "I haven't been an easy Tribute for his stress levels."
That makes Thresh rumble a deep almost inaudible chuckle.
We sit in silence for a few more moments and then I ask, hesitantly, "No sign of him?"
"He's nearby," Thresh's hand tightens on his weapon, "We saw him prowling the border at dusk…Teesa was tending to your wounds. It drew him close."
"Is it wrong that I hope he stays away?" I mumble, brushing my hair out of my eyes, "I'm bait…"
"It is not wrong." Thresh eyes me, "You are loyal. Teesa said as much. However your loyalty is misplaced. A mouse should not trust a viper."
"He saved my life. He did not have to." I point out.
"I doubt it was selfless." Thresh eyes me, "You must have done something first."
"Well…yes but…" I sigh gustily, "He is trustworthy and he's honourable. Trust me I was surprised too…didn't expect that at all."
"I believe you are mistaken in his better qualities." Thresh shrugs, "But I do not think I will be able to convince you otherwise."
"What…happened at the Feast?" I ask after a moment, needing to know, "It's a bit of a blur to me, but I thought you were going to kill me."
"I was." He looks at me steadily, "And then I heard 2, she mentioned Rue, how they, the Careers, killed her. She was just a little girl." He frowns, "I hope she did not suffer. I killed 2. I spared 12 for her kindness to Rue. I was about to kill you, but Teesa told me to grab you and run. She usually has a plan, so I did."
"I was there," I say softly, "When Rue died. Marvel killed her." I shake my head sadly, "I don't think she was a little girl to him in that moment. All he could hear was her screaming for Katniss, and Katniss…had killed Darrien."
"So?" His face is bullish.
"He loved Darrien…"
Thresh's eyes widen slightly and then he looks away, processing my words. "Vengeance. She took away someone he loved. So he returned the favour."
I nod.
"He wasn't evil, and he wasn't trying to torture her. He just…was trying to find peace."
We sit there in silence for long moments and then Thresh's voice rumbles.
"So 2 did not kill her?"
"No." I shake my head, "He was alone,"
Thresh frowns again and looks away.
"That is…unexpected. Thank you. For telling me."
We sit in silence for long moments as the sun slowly begins to light the horizon. It's strangely peaceful, even though my body aches, and I know I'm in mortal peril. The birds are singing, the sky is awash with pinks and golds and the air is cool on my face.
I lay still for a while, perhaps looking like I have fallen back to sleep, and glancing under my eyelashes I can see Thresh turn his attention back to the wheat fields.
He thinks me incapacitated.
I'll show him incapacitated.
There's no way I'm going to lay here and wait for Cato to stumble into their trap. It's not an obvious one, I can only see Thresh, armed and ready, and Teesa asleep, but I know the red haired girl. She always has a scheme, and contingency plans on top of those.
So slowly, minutely, bit by painful bit I inch towards the large pond and the deep river flowing towards the lake.
Slow, measured, tiny movements.
I inch my way along the ground, keeping the pain buried, and making sure my breaths stay deep and even.
So close.
Almost there.
I almost weep with relief as I feel the water lap at my fingers and then at my body as I slowly slide into the cool water.
Just before I go under I snag a reed from the bank and slip it into my mouth, sliding under water and going as deep as I dare, paddling into the rushes. I'm hidden by water plants and breathing underwater.
Silently, cocooned in the cool, protective embrace of the water, I thank all those years of swimming in the lake of District 4. It's an old trick…but I've never seen anyone use it in the Hunger Games before.
I count the moments by pressing my fingers to my wrist, measuring my heartbeat, I don't trust myself not to come up too early. So I drift, counting the reassuring thuds.
After I reach a hundred I slowly begin to make my way down the waterway, keeping the reed in my mouth and making sure I keep my breaths even and careful. If I panic my body will demand more air, and this reed only can supply so much.
I get a ways down stream, with long careful strokes. My ribs hurt still, but they are tightly bound, so I feel okay about pushing onward. I don't go too far though, before coming up for air, knowing the bend in the river will hide me from the two hunting me.
I surface and shake the water out of my eyes.
But the instant my ears clear I hear chaos.
Thresh is roaring, a sound of rage and then I hear an answering bellow, but it's from a voice I know all too well, and it's shouting my name.
"Sky!" Cato's voice fills the once peaceful air, panicked and furious all at once, "SKY!"
I scramble out of the water and hurry through the wheat, pushing stalks out of my way as I run towards his voice. I don't dare answer, because I fear, I fear Teesa's trap has snapped shut around him.
And then I smell it. Smoke.
It's everywhere, and then I can feel the heat ahead. I lift my shirt, the wet material covering my mouth and duck into the smog ahead of me.
It's not the first time I've been blind, and so I follow my way by the sound of his voice, the direction of the heat.
When I come to the wall of fire I pause, and open my eyes wide, peering through the burning air. He's in a cleared patch of field, and fire rages around him, slowly moving in. He's twisting in the centre, panicked, blind, and choking on the thick smoke.
It's my turn to be the hero.
I lunge through the wall of flames before me, staggering into the clearing and rolling as the fire licks at my skin. It hurts but I know it doesn't hurt as much as losing Cato would. I grab him, and he almost lashes out in a panic before he realises just who it is.
"Sky…"
"Come with me." I turn back the way I came and then I shove him through the flames, dashing after him, my wet clothes keeping me protected once more as I land on him, forcing him to roll, the dust smothering the flames, my bare arms burning, "Come on…"
He follows my lead, for once not arguing, and we hurry back to the deep river.
Together we huddle in the water as the flames come up to the side of the bank, a furious maelstrom of burning death that reaches for us.
But again the water is my ally…and the flames eventually burn out, leaving us, panting, soot covered, but alive.
We stay there for a long moment, but then Cato lets out a shuddering sigh and coughs.
"Fuck…"
"You said it," I reply, wheezing a little from my own inhalation of the smoke.
"Are you alright?" he asks me then, turning me to face him, hands coming up to cradle my face, checking me over for wounds, "I heard you scream last night…"
"Broken ribs," his face darkens murderously and he growls, "It's better now though. Sponsors…"
"It was Thresh wasn't it?" He snarls softly and tugs me close, protectively, "Fucking bastard. Clove told me...told me they took you. Him and the bitch from 5."
"Yeah," I curl a hand behind his neck, "Cato? I'm so sorry about Clove…I tried…I really…"
"I know." His face trembles slightly, blue eyes haunted by grief and rage, "I'm going to make him pay."
"Cato…" I make him look at me, blue eyes locking onto me, "No."
"What?" his eyes narrow, and a snarl leaves his throat, "He killed Clove!"
"And where will it end?" I ask, my hand flailing, "Where will any of this end? How does that justify making someone suffer a painful death?"
"If you had the chance you'd do the same!" he growls, "You'd want fire girl to pay."
"No," I cup his cheeks, "I wouldn't. Enough is enough Cato. Katniss killed Darrien, Marvel killed Rue in vengeance, Katniss killed him, Clove tried to kill her, Thresh killed Clove for Rue…don't you see…its so…pointless! There is always someone heartbroken in the end, and always someone wanting revenge. It has to stop."
He stares at me, his eyes hard, and I swallow, trying once more.
"This isn't a Game anymore Cato. I just…want to get home. I'm sick of all this…this…" I don't have a world for it, but he seems to understand, "I need this to be over. Don't make it into a bloody battle…just…kill him and be done."
"I don't think it will be so easy." Thresh's deep voice comes from above us and we turn to see him and Teesa on the bank of the river, "I have no intention of just letting him kill us."
Cato growls and steps forward, unarmed but ready to launch into a battle in which he's, for once, unlikely to win.
Thresh just grunts in response and makes a gesture, like 'come on.'
Cato surges up and out of the water, and launches himself at Thresh and the two of them go tumbling back into the seared wheat, fighting like a pair of wild dogs. It's bloody and ferocious and for a moment I am frozen in place by the violence.
It's then I see Teesa yanking open the male 2 tribute bag from the feast, and see her draw out a beautiful sword, a blade that shines and glints wickedly sharp in the air. It forces me to move and I lunge forward, grabbing her ankle as she moves and yank, causing her to fall with a yelp.
The sword goes flying and I hear a splash.
Teesa rolls to face me, and we stare at one another. We are former allies, friends, but now we have to be enemies, forced to fight, to hurt one another.
"I'm sorry." I say softly, and then we are attacking, rolling into the water like a pair of wildcats, hissing and spitting as we claw, bite and scratch. I grab a hank of hair and yank viciously, and she yowls before jabbing her elbow into my ribs.
I scream.
Suddenly Cato is there, snarling with fury, and he grabs Teesa, yanking her up and throwing her bodily away from me. She hits the deep water and sinks like a stone, before thrashing up.
"Help!" She flails wildly, eyes wild as Thresh and Cato crash together once more, both of them bleeding, but neither giving up, "I can't…" she sinks a little and scrabbles to the surface again, "I can't swim! Sky!" she screams my name before going under again.
For a second I wonder if this is the moment I become the monster the Hunger Games want me to be; if I will leave her there, desperate and drowning.
But in the next heartbeat I'm moving, diving into the water after her and tugging her to the surface.
I drag her to the opposite bank and I leave her there, gasping. She will live, but she won't be able to come back to help Thresh…not unless she makes the long circle around. And she's far too practical for that.
We stare at each other for long moments and then I murmur.
"I won't change. Not for you. Not for them."
And then I'm back in the water, swimming towards the writhing shapes of Cato and Thresh.
A glint of something catches my eyes and I dive down, my fingers questing through the dim water, reaching out until they curl around the hilt of the beautiful sword.
Cato's sword.
I head back to the surface and swim forward, finding my feet and call out.
"Cato!"
He turns, and I hold up the shining blade. His eyes light up, and he slams Thresh down against the ground before surging to his feet and over to me. A swift, hungry, vicious kiss and then he is gone once more, the sword gleaming in his fist.
After that…there is no doubt about how the fight will end.
Thresh puts up a valiant effort, and it's a long bloody battle after that until the cannon sounds, signalling his death, and the fact that there are now only five tributes remaining.
Cato stands there over his body, bloody, chest heaving, hand white knuckled on the hilt of his sword. Then slowly he turns and looks at me.
I look up at him, standing there, bathed in sunshine, surrounded by the dark scorched earth of the burned wheat fields, the sword I found for him shining in his hand, like it belongs there.
He must see something in my face, acceptance perhaps, awe even and his own wary expression softens before he kneels down beside me.
"My Lady." he murmurs.
"Hold still,"
My fingers are gentle as I wrap some of the remaining bandages, from the sponsor gift Finnick had sent to Thresh and Teesa, around the worst of Cato's wounds.
The fight with Thresh had been bloody and terrible, vicious to the end. Cato had emerged victorious but far from unscathed.
We left the wheat fields, taking with us the three bags from the feast, the sponsor gifts, and the remainder of Teesa and Thresh's food supplies. As the sky rumbled threateningly overhead we walked down the river to the lake, and without even asking one another we returned to my cave behind the waterfall.
It's now raining heavily outside, but we are tucked away, safe and mostly warm inside the cave which has been my home for the past fortnight. Here we can relax and here I begin to tend to Cato's terrible wounds.
Thresh had gotten in a few good blows with his scythe, but thankfully none of the deep wounds are in dangerous places. Carefully I wrap up the worst of them, using the remaining medicine gifted to me by Finnick, the one for my ribs, and then the burn cream I'd gotten after Darrien's death.
Carefully I slather it on both of us, on the red raw skin of our arms, and then I sit back with a sigh.
We sit in silence for long moments, just laying there with our backs against the stone walls, listening to the sound of the waterfall and the rain.
"Tomorrow," Cato says softly and I look across at him as he stands, offering a hand to me, "We'll come up with a plan tomorrow."
"Okay," I say softly, taking his hand and letting him pull me up, "Tomorrow."
Slowly he draws me close, holding me against his chest, arms curling around my body gently, careful of my damaged ribs. He's holding me like I am something precious.
Something to be treasured.
"I just…want to hold you," Cato says softly, his head dropping to tuck into the curve of my neck, "I was too late. Too late for Clove…in time only to watch her die." His body shivers against mine, "Too late to save you."
"You did save me." I say softly, my hand stroking his hair, "I'm here."
"None of his is happening the way it was supposed to."
"No," I say softly, remembering Finnick's and Mags' plans. They feel so long ago now, "It's not."
He lifts his head and his lips find mine in a soft, slow, deep kiss.
"You and me." He whispers against my mouth, "You and me. We'll win this. We'll go home. Together."
"Together," I say softly and he kisses me again.
"No one is going to take you from me," his voice rumbles through my body, as we lay down on our makeshift bed, curling up together to listen to the water outside, the rain falling over the arena, "You are mine."
My lips curl up slightly.
"Possessive much?"
And then I laugh, the first true laugh in ages as he gives an affronted huff, tugging me even closer.
Perhaps now, I think to myself as we drift off to sleep, his body curled around mine protectively, perhaps now…everything will be alright.
So…we're barrelling towards the end…of the Hunger Games anyway. I reckon this fic is going to go on…and on
RoseMaple – It is the sad thing about the Hunger Games…most of everyone dies Cato misses her too.
TitanShadow – Here is more!
Queen of sharks - I know Saaaaaaaaaad.
Luli Cullen – Thanks xoxo!
MoonlightDiva – I'm sooooooorry. It's the Hunger Games! Tributes Die! One day I'll write a fic where the Tributes escape hows that?
Julesjumper – I'm just glad you're reviewing now! Sky and Finnick is so much fun to write, and Sky and Darrien made my heart all warm and fuzzy. I'm glad you liked Cato's growth, and I'm glad you liked Marvel/Darrien (I loved them too) I shall continue on! I hope you review again
Reviewer08 – Teesa was always going to be the character who would be intensely practical, with very little input from emotionalism. Thank you! I'm so glad you think this is the best Cato/OC fic. I'm humbled.
Guest – Poor Clove. Here is the next chapter lovely
DancingAroundAFire – Aha in this fic it's a case of any pair can make it home…as long as they work together. And don't worry…I was a bit teary over Clove too. I look forward to hearing from you again lovely.
Frazzle – Reading certainly improves English skills, although I'm not sure my little fic counts as such Good luck with your exams sweets!
Mt – I'm glad you felt sorry for Clove. I do like to give characters a bit of extra layering. No one is perfect after all, and no one is wholly evil. And these are just kids who have been brought up in a terrible situation
Madreader13 – Indeed! And we're racing towards the climax of the games!
WonderGirl556 – I'm glad I brightened your day! Don't worry Cato isn't going to die….not yet anyway.
Germany – Thank you!
EGilly – Poor Clove Survival is the aim of the game at this point and everyone is beginning to turn on everyone else.
It's-A-Passion – Me too! Cato is definitely in pain from Clove's death, but at the moment he's burying it until the Games are over. Both he and Sky are in 'grit your teeth and hang on to the finish' mode. Finnick is protective! And he has mad trident skills.
Aryannasora – Sky is going to have a rough few chapters ahead. Both of them are.
IamCharliedaughterofPoseidon – I'm glad you thought it spectacular! Damn right…I'll not leave you in the lurch. Solidarity bb!
Loopyloola – Alls fair in love, war and Hunger Games.
SophiaLily1980 – You're going to have to just wait and see what I have in store.
CatoSkyOBSESSED – Thank you for your three reviews my love! And you're always welcome to ask me things, I'll always answer. This fic will be continuing on from the end of the Hunger Games. I have far too many ideas brewing to just leave things hanging. Thank you for your long reviews. They always fill me with such a happy, warm, fuzzy feeling. And thank you for telling me about Chapter 2 being your favourite chapter! I love Finnick, Mags, Cato and Sky too.
Eve – Nothing sexier than a bit of wall/tree slamming. ;) And thank you! I'm so glad you read them xD. And yeah, I think Clove would have been glad to go down fighting. Same as Thresh.
Sarah'1595 – I know right? She's just kind of floundering through the games. But she's got some mojo. I'm glad you're hooked! Please stay hooked!
Hahaha – Here is what happens next…
