The Lady of the Lake
So here we are. The Climax of the 74th hunger Games.
Just a few notes today, before I let you get into the nitty gritty.
The Lady of the Lake TUMBLR has some drabbles of behind the scenes stuff. Finnick watching Sky rescue Cato after the Trackerjackers and Cato's thoughts on seeing Sky.
Check out thgladyofthelake or the link is on my profile.
Also! Mad props to StardustIsMagic and Eva Marie Snape for their GORGEOUS edits! Seriously, the love...I feel it...and I think you all should go feel it too! :D
This chapter features the final four, the final fight, and Skato's fate.
Also! Worth listening to 117 from the Halo 4 Soundtrack while reading! I listened to it on repeat while writing the epic last battle.
Review responses are at the end of the chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 18
The next day the storm has blown over and I decide to go foraging for food upon waking. Cato is still sound asleep in our rough bed, head pillowed on his arm, face more relaxed in sleep than I have ever seen it on waking. I can't help but press a soft kiss to his mouth, feeling his soft lips curl upwards in his sleep.
"I'll be back soon," I breathe and head out, taking a deep breath of the clear air.
I have to go further afield for foraging now, I've picked bare the woods nearest to my home and even though I'd planted a few seeds from the nuts and berries, I doubt they will grow in time to feed me in this arena.
So I wander deeper into the forest, my solitary remaining hunting knife in my belt.
I walk for a good fifteen minutes before I find anything and even then it's just one of the white tubers, rich but small. Too small for a proper meal.
"Got anything to eat?" A voice comes from nearby, and I look around, recognising the voice.
It's Teesa and she looks awful.
Clearly the young woman hadn't been able to find some good shelter from the storm yesterday and last night. She looks tired, and drawn, damp and dishevelled, and her skin has the pallor of someone who has caught one of those sicknesses that has you sniffling and snuffling for days. She's also painfully thin by this point, not having any food supplies for a few days and living on limited rations before that.
She looks at me through large amber brown eyes, which are tired but still sharp, still measuring.
Silently I offer her the solitary tuber I've found so far.
She wolfs it down eagerly, sighing with pleasure at the feeling of having something in her belly.
"Thank you." She says softly, glancing up at me again, "You did not have to do that."
"I know…" I reply and sigh softly, "You didn't have to fix my ribs either."
We look at one another and then Teesa chuckles raspily, "Look at us…half wild, grubbing for food like wild beasts."
"The Hunger Games aren't supposed to be easy." I point out with a light chuckle, "One Victor and all that."
"Two this time." She looks at me, "You and Cato…or so you hope."
"Yes." It hurts, saying this to her face, knowing that if Cato and I survive to become Victors it means walking over her corpse. But she just nods slowly.
"I won't be the one to kill you." She says slowly, "I suppose I could try…right now but…I do not want you dead."
"I don't want you dead either Teesa." I take a step towards her, "I've always considered you a friend."
"You always were foolish like that." Teesa takes a step back, shaking her head with a wry chuckle, "And now you've infected me with the same thoughts."
"Teesa…" it breaks my heart to see this girl, this smart, brave, intelligent, bright girl, reduced to this hungry, half wild creature, "Stay…we can find some food."
She shakes her head slowly, a sad smile on her lips, "No. I won't take from you. Maybe Katniss and Peeta have some food; I don't mind stealing from them."
"Teesa," I reach for her, unhappy to see her in this state, "Please, just come back with me. We'll find food and go back…"
"Cato will kill me." She says it slowly, but her voice is regretful, "And he would be right to. You care too much Sky."
"It's not a crime to care about you!" I shout it, exasperated, "I'm so sick of everyone treating me like I'm some kind of invalid for caring if you live or die, or if you're happy or unhappy."
"You're in a game of who is the better killer Sky." Teesa shrugs slightly, "Not the better lover."
And she vanishes into the woods.
I run after her, even though I know it's no good and after a while I come to a stop, looking around me at the still woods, and I give a low sigh.
"It's about who is the better survivor," I say softly, repeating Finnick's lesson from the Capitol, where he had given me hope of my own survival.
But she has vanished, disappearing into the woods like a spectre. I have never met anyone so gifted at vanishing and appearing where required.
Slowly I move off again, foraging and scooping up nuts and the berries I recognise as well as some mushrooms and more of the tubers.
I almost have enough for two hungry tributes when someone else finds me.
"Looking for something?" A voice asks from nearby and I twist in surprise to see Peeta, standing there, a small knife in his hand. The sound of his approach had been deadened by the sound of the rushing water, the river which I was going to use to trail my way back to the waterfall, "Sky."
"Peeta," I'm relieved to see he's better, colour in his cheeks and his leg seemingly unharmed, "You look well."
"Katniss patched me up," the knife slowly lowers as he sees me make no move towards my own, and the blue eyes soften, "Sorry about the last time I saw you."
"You mean knocking me out with a block of wood?" I touch my head and give him a wry smile, "I can't say it was the most pleasant sensation."
"Sorry," he grins slightly, walking forward a pace, "You would have hauled me off to fuss over me…I needed to find Katniss. Though I failed at that too, she found me in the end." His face softens even more, and although it makes my chest pang at the thought that it's between him and Cato, Katniss and I to survive, I am glad to see the look in his eyes.
"You love her," I say softly, and he looks up at me in surprise, "You really love her."
"Yeah…" he shrugs, a bit bashfully, "Crazy huh?"
"You have no idea," I smile at him, "It's nice though. Cute."
"Shut up." He flaps a hand at me and walks the final few paces to pull me into a hug.
I hug him back, breathing him in, feeling the soft tickle of his soft blond hair against my neck, the solid strength of him holding me. Peeta was my first friend in these games, the first who wasn't my own District partner. He'd opened up to me, given me a chance, and had made me feel less alone, both in the training centre and in those heart pounding first minutes in the games where we ran together for our lives.
I realise then that I've missed him, and tears spring to my eyes, dripping onto his shirt.
"Hey," he soothes gently, "Hey now…what's this? Where's the Sky who threatened to shove a fishing trident somewhere painful into her meddling mentor?"
That makes me give a weak chuckle and I wipe my eyes slowly, "It's just been such a long two weeks." I sigh, looking up at him, "I'm so tired Peeta, I just want to go home."
"I know…" he kisses my forehead lightly, "I know. I saw…I saw Darrien's…" he waves upwards, meaning the nightly account of the Fallen, "I'm sorry. He was a good guy; he was always kind to me. Treated me like I belonged."
"That's him for you." I feel my throat close up and I cough roughly, trying to push away the choking emotions, "Thank you Peeta."
"Have you been alone?" he asks, face concerned, "This whole games?"
"No," I shake my head, "People have helped me."
"Good." He strokes my hair, then tugs me close again and we just stand together, arms enfolded around one another. "I missed you, you know."
"I missed you too," He kisses my forehead and I just close my eyes feeling safe, "This is so messed up."
"Yeah…" His hold tightens slightly, "I hate this."
"Me too…"
We stand there just for a few moments more before slowly we pull back from one another. It's been a comfort for both of us I think, this contact, the feeling of being held. Even if we both know the only way out of this nightmare is over the body of the other.
"I should go," I say softly, "I've got to get back,"
"Yeah, Katniss will be back soon," He pulls a face, "We wouldn't want to kill you, you know…but.."
"I know…" and I do know. It's not my game, but it's certainly everyone else's, "Peeta?"
"Yeah?" he looks back around at me.
"Be careful." I say softly, and he smiles coming back over to hug me tightly once more.
"You too."
And then we part, me walking slowly down the river-way and him washing his face in the water. I've not gone far, when suddenly a cannon booms out across the Arena and I freeze.
Cato!
"Cato!" I break into a dead run, crashing through the underbrush, through the grass and leaves and plants until I came tumbling out into the clearing above the waterfall. I look around desperately, sliding down the rocks, almost falling in my haste.
He's not here.
He's not in the cave, he's not in the clearing, and he's not in the water.
I even check the bottom of the lagoon, diving deep to see if he tried swimming alone and drowned. Nothing, not even a hint of him, and now I'm standing on the banks of the lake, dripping, almost hyperventilating, terror filling me.
Everything is blurring, the panic affecting my eyes and making even the trees awash with blurring.
"Sky!"
And then he's there suddenly, his strong arms wrapping around me, lifting me up against him and his mouth finds mine in a deep, panicked kiss. I kiss him back franticly and then suddenly he pushes me away, shaking my shoulders roughly.
"Where were you!" He roars, face flushed. Everything is coming back into focus now, and I can see his face, eyes wide and slightly wild, as he shakes me again, "I checked all your traps! And then the cannon went off! Sky! Do you even know….you can't just."
"Cato…" my eyes well, even though I know he's not shouting because he's really angry. I'm just emotional, wrung out from the panic of thinking that I'd lost him, that I'd lost him because I'd left him here. Which is ridiculous. He's Cato, deadly Tribute, but…still. There were only five of us left…now there are four…and I couldn't have been sure. What if Katniss had killed him too?
"Fuck, don't…" he shakes my shoulders again and then tugs me in for a tight hug, "Don't."
We just cling to each other, there in the warm arena air, breathing each other in, relieved for now, that both of us are okay.
We wait outside for the evening to fall, holding each others hands as slowly the night sky appears above us. And then after what seems an eternity, the seal shimmers into view, along with the Panem anthem, and the words; The Fallen.
It hangs there for long moments, tormenting us, before shimmering out of view and I see Teesa's intelligent amber eyes gazing down at me.
The breath shudders from my lungs, and my knees weaken slightly.
She's dead. Teesa, my friend, my former ally, is dead. Her bright wit, her sharp mind, all that potential, that fire, that brightness…snuffed out. For entertainment.
Her death is another raw wound, and every breath seems to grate across them, all these scars I'm getting. Zara, Darrien, Marvel, Clove, Teesa…
I look up at Cato, who is frowning slightly as he watches her little sly smirk, and then he seems to realise I'm looking at him and turns back to me.
"I could never remember her name."
"Teesa." I say softly, "Her name was Teesa."
He nods, "Teesa. She was a worthy opponent."
In that moment I'm grateful, so grateful. He could have talked about how Katniss and Peeta are the two remaining, a team like us. He could have dismissed her as unimportant, a nothing in the scheme of the game. Instead he gives her the highest honour he knows.
That of someone worth fighting.
"Thank you…" I say softly, and kiss him lightly, feeling him touch my throat gently.
"We'll remember her." He says gently, "We'll remember them all."
I nod, and together we stand, just looking up at the night sky, where the last remnant of the girl who had been my loyal friend had been.
In the morning we know instantly something is wrong.
For the past two and a bit weeks, I don't even remember the number of days any longer, I have fallen asleep to the sound of the water rushing outside my cave.
When we wake, there is silence.
"What's wrong?" Cato's voice is groggy in the light morning air, as he sits up, "Why's the water stopped?"
"I don't know…" I get to my feet and pad to the front of the cave, where the water curtained us off from the world, and I gasp. Instantly Cato is up and beside me, and together we stare out at an empty hole where our lagoon, where our waterfall had been.
"They've drained the water." Cato's voice is harsh as he scowls down at the dry earth, "They're forcing us together."
"Driven by dehydration?" I feel sick at the depths of the Gamemakers manipulation, "Where do you think they want us to go?"
"Where else?" Cato turns back to the cave tugging off his jacket and sorting through our supplies, "The cornucopia. I bet the lake is still full there."
"They want a show down." I murmur, "Cato…I'm going to be next to useless out in the open…I'm practically that even in cover!"
"Stop that," He gives me a look, "I'm going to keep you safe."
He yanks open his pack from the Feast and tugs out some odd coloured metal, that he begins to strap on himself and I realise after a moment that it is armour.
"Your sponsors sent you armour?" I marvel, reaching out to touch the hard, smooth plates, "That's incredible."
"They sent Clove some too," He points at the second bag with the number 2 emblazoned upon it, "Put it on."
I do as he says, untying to second bag to tug out the smaller and lighter armour. It moulds better, giving more flexibility, but probably less all round protection. Still it suits me, just as it would have suited the small dark haired tribute it was made for.
I also tug out another vest of throwing knives, wickedly sharp things that Cato waves for me to pull on.
"I can't use them," I remind him, "I have absolutely no idea what to do with throwing blades."
"Sharp things are better than nothing." He tells me, strapping the glittering sword he'd been sent to his waist, "They may give one of the love birds pause."
It makes sense.
Once I am kitted out in the things that would have been Clove's, I reach out and tug open my own bag, the one with the 4, the one I'd been avoiding.
Tucked inside is a trident, which has a handle which elongates with a twist of the handle. It's a statement, something from Finnick, reminding me that I am his Tribute, that I am from District 4, and I breathe in a deep hissing gasp of gratitude. It's something ranged, something that will definitely give an attacker pause before charging.
Down the bottom of the pack I find one last thing and I smile slightly at the familiarity of the little blue tub.
It's body paint, blue body paint that will show on skin, be it underwater, in the darkness or hidden by clothing. We often have swimming races, this is to mark the swimmers so they can be found. People design marks to designate one from the other. It's primitive, tribal, and something our District holds to with pride.
Every Tribute from 4 who has made it to the final stage of the game has received a pot like this.
I unscrew the lid and move to scoop out some of the paint.
"No," Cato is watching me, and his eyes are fixed on the tub. It seems he knows the custom, which doesn't surprise me. He studied the game; he would know every Tribute from 4 to make it this far has gotten one, "Let me."
Slowly I hand it over and close my eyes.
Normally the tribute would make warrior markings, straight lines, threatening, displaying their bravery and strength.
Cato's finger is slow as he traces from the corner of my eyebrow at the bridge of my nose, up over my forehead in a delicate curve, before mimicking it on the other side. His design is slow, careful, elegant and flowing. And when I open my eyes I wish I could see myself, because the expression on his face is one of pure lust.
"You look ready." He says.
"I am ready." I reply, but then I catch his arm, taking back the pot, "But you aren't. Hold still."
I paint him with my District's colours, the shimmering blue that catches his icy eyes and makes him look even more handsome and dangerous than he already did. I paint him as a warrior, strong lines, curving faintly, because even at it's strongest, water flows. Cato is like the granite from his district, the hard masonry stone. But he has learned to bend.
When my finger drops, I swallow at the sight of him, and I know my eyes must reflect what he'd felt after painting me.
"Now…you are ready." I say softly.
"We are ready." He replies, lifting my hand to his lips.
We do not get far, a quarter of the way around the lake perhaps, before suddenly the midday light begins to fade, darkening towards night.
"What is going on?" I whisper to Cato, clutching at the trident and glad of the paint, which glitters in the moonlight, revealing Cato to me.
"The GameMakers want this to end." He rumbles back, slowly drawing his sword, "It's time for the climax of their work of art."
"I don't like the sound of that." I mutter and then freeze as a growl fills the air, "I don't like the sound of that either!"
We turn, moving back to back and scan the woods around us, scanning the forest. I've never heard anything like that growl before, and I've been wandering these forests for the entire time. The Gamemakers have a surprise, and I'm sure it's one I will loathe.
And I'm right.
With baying howls, four wolves suddenly leap out of the shadows, lunging at Cato.
"Fuck!" he shouts and slashes at them, before shoving me forward, "Run, RUN!"
We run, feeling that primitive fear of being hunted coursing through us. The wolves are huge, great slavering beasts that howl as they race after us. For once I have the advantage over Cato, I am faster than him, especially in his armour, and I lead us through the forest, leaping over logs. He can see my movements; follow me exactly, the paint guiding his way.
He grunts behind me, and for a moment I fear the beasts have hurt him, but a wild look around reveals him running behind me, unharmed.
"Arrow!" he shouts, and nods to the left, where I suddenly see two other shapes racing.
Katniss and Peeta.
We break into the clearing of the Cornucopia and it's a dead sprint there to the golden horn. I reach there first and then Cato is behind me, grabbing me bodily as he throws me upwards. I grab the ridge and haul myself up, before reaching down, offering him my hand.
He grabs it and jumps, getting most of the way up anyway, and I drag him onto the metal, and we lay there gasping, rolling away from the edge.
"Fuck…" he pants, looking at me, "You alright?"
I nod and then suddenly Katniss is there, bow in hand, face wild as she shoots back down at the animals racing after her and Peeta. Rolling over I see that there is not just the one, or the small group I thought I'd heard. No there is a whole pack…20 of them.
The number rings in my mind, but I ignore it in favour of watching Peeta, hobbling desperately as he tries to climb up and Katniss and I both lean down, reaching for him.
For a second our eyes meet, her grey ones desperate, and we are both in sync. Neither of us wants Peeta to die. Not like this.
So we haul him up together and our combined strength is enough to yank him away as he screams, a wolf muttation having taken a chunk out of his leg.
"They're the Tributes." Katniss is sobbing, grabbing my hand and pointing out certain wolves. "Look!"
And after a sickening moment I realise she is right.
There is Thresh, a monsterous black wolf with snapping, human brown eyes, Thresh's eyes. And then there is a small dark grey one with dark eyes, Clove, all lean and lithe. I look around desperately and then my heart seems to stop as my eyes meet a pair of blue wolf eyes.
Darrien.
The cry that leaves my throat is wretched, heartbroken, and if I hadn't already been crouched on the metal I would have fallen.
Beside him is a lithe dark brown mutt with hazel green eyes. The two of them prowling together. Still together.
Are there more than just the eyes to the muttations? Do they contain some of the Tributes feelings too?
Then suddenly Peeta is flying back and I see Cato has regained some of his breath and has grabbed the younger male, holding him in a headlock, blue eyes cold.
"This ends here." He growls, even as Katniss draws her bow, aiming it at his head.
"No!" I shout, lunging at her.
"Shoot me and he goes down with me."
Katniss' face works with absolute fury, eyes snapping and then suddenly her bow swings around, and the arrow is focused on me, the vulnerable skin of my neck.
"Release him, or I'll kill her right now."
"No," Peeta manages to strangle out, "Katnisss…"
Cato's face is set in stone, the blue lines on it glittering, and then his eyes turn towards me, our eyes meeting.
We stare at one another for a long moment, and that's all the time Katniss needs.
The arrow shoots through the air, punching into the join of shoulder and neck, just above the armour, and I scream. A second later another arrow whizzes through the air, sprouting in Cato's hand.
It seems to happen in slow motion, Cato releasing Peeta, and the boy shoving his opponent back.
For a second my lover is suspended in the air, our eyes meet, and then he is gone, and I hear him hit the ground with a thud.
For a second I am frozen, horror gripping me and then my throat opens in a heartrending howl.
"CATO!" I scream it, agony ripping through me as I lurch to my feet.
Another arrow shicks through the air, punching into my side at the join of the mesh armour, Katniss obviously thinks that I'm going to attack.
But that is not my intention.
Five steps is all it takes before I reach the edge of the Cornucopia and slide off it to drop down on the ground, on the grass, beside Cato, who is fighting viciously.
"Sky! What the hell are you doing!" Peeta screams it above me, and I glance up to see his pale face. But then the wolves are upon me.
I have my trident and I use it to knock a leaping beast back. Then Cato is there, pushing me behind him with a snarl as he slashes with his sword.
One of the wolves snarls at him, and he howls back, ferocious and not backing down.
"You want to dance!" He roars it at the animals, "You want her? You have to get through me first!"
It's brutal and bloody and I struggle against them too, using my trident to keep them at bay even as we move, shifting together to edge around the cornucopia. We can't last forever…we have to get back up.
We get so close.
We can see the lip, where we can climb up, it's right there. And it's right there that four of the monsters charge at once and knock Cato to the ground. Instantly they are on him, even as I scream and lunge in to stand above him, laying about me with my trident.
I could run, they would be distracted, but…
That's not me.
This is my choice.
"You will not have him!"
One animal bares his teeth at me, and I recognise the wild eyes of the insane tribute from 10. He is snarling at me, slowly edging forward, almost taunting me before suddenly something charges out of nowhere, knocking him back.
Darrien.
The black wolf puts himself solidly between me and the one from ten, snarling lowly in his throat, hackles raised. Slowly the dark brown wolf that was once Marvel joins him, covering our left flank, giving Cato's ankle a brief lick. Then a red tinted fox like wolf steps from the pack, stepping beside me proudly, amber eyes sharp with intelligence.
Then a small wolf with golden fur and bright eyes, Zara, circles around to join us, as does the grey Clove. And then finally the great dark brown wolf that is Thresh steps over to us and growls at the animals remaining.
They mill, confused, and then with a snarl they attack.
It's bloody and fierce with fur flying around us. The others have numbers. Fourteen on seven, with two humans.
Zara is the first to fall, whimpering as the two beasts from seven rip at her. I try to get to her, but can't leave Cato, and she melts away into the ground. A few of the enemy wolves fall and then it is Teesa who is next, taken down by the pair from eight and one from nine. A pack of them take out Thresh, even though he kills a few of them before he melts into the ground.
Clove howls as she is tackled by the boy wolf from five and three, followed by Glimmer who rips her throat out with a snarl of pleasure.
Then it is just us, just Cato and me, and Marvel and Darrien.
Marvel is torn apart and Darrien with him as he races to his rescue. And then the remaining wolves turn on us, circling us and attacking. I scream as one gouges my side where Katniss' arrow pierced the armour, and Cato turns towards me.
It's that second of inattention, that brief moment where his care for me weakens him, like it did on the Cornucopia.
With a howl of triumph the wolf from 10 charges, and knocks Cato to the ground, lunging in and savaging at his neck.
"NO!" I scream it and without another thought I charge forward myself, spearing the wolf and knocking it away. I cover Cato with my own body, my hands covering his throat, staunching the blood with just a ripped fragment from my shirt. His eyes are hazy as he gazes up at me, as the wolves close in around us.
But it is not quick.
Oh no.
Where is the show in a quick death?
They play, slowly tearing the armour from me with their sharp claws, tearing chunks from my back as I hunch over Cato, protecting his vulnerable throat with my body.
My screams of agony seem never ending, even as Cato loses consciousness underneath me, as his blood stains the grass.
It is agony, pure agony and I scream and scream to the heavens.
I don't have to hold it in. Let them hear.
There is nothing but the pain, nothing but the agony, the fire searing through me with every measured bite, every intentional scratch, every tormenting gush of my life's blood the Gamemakers wring from me.
The world swims before me, and slowly darkness seems to be coming. Blessed darkness, the darkness of death.
It is almost a welcome sight.
But it doesn't come.
I don't hear the chiming at first. But then suddenly it seems like the air is full of it, and the wolves seem to pause.
I look up, eyes blurry, and blink at the sight that greets me.
Sponsor gifts, thousands of them.
They all fall from the sky, towards us, some with 2 on them, some with 12, but many with 4. They fill the air with their chimes, drowning out the sounds of the wolves' confused whimpers.
I stare at the heavens, feeling unconsciousness reaching for me even as more and more sponsor gifts fill the sky.
Just as the darkness swamps me, I hear the shaking voice of Claudius Templesmith, the announcer of the Games.
"Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Victors of the 74th Hunger Games. Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark of District 12, Cato DuGrey of District 2 and Schuyler Cavendish of District 4!"
And then everything is black.
I know it's cliché for the four to win the games. But trust me; this will be further explained next chapter as they return to the Capitol. This is not the end! And things are going to get more complicated from here!
AND YOU THOUGHT THE DARVEL WAS DONE!
SophiaLily1980 – And here you go! The conclusion to the 74th Hunger Games.
WonderGirl556 – Finnick will be back next chapter! And there is a drabble of him up on the tumblr. It's of him flailing about Sky saving Cato back after the Trackerjackers Enjoy!
Mt – They really did. And yeah…the rebellion is going to be VERY different with Sky and Cato involved.
Luli Cullen – Thank you! Xoxo
Reviewer08 – Awe thank you. And your reviews would never bore me! I crave you guys telling me what you think always!
MoonlightDiva – Me too! Fluff RULES
Sarah'1595 – Here you go! I hope this answers some of your questions!
Coco2008 – Aw! You were that excited by me responding to your review? You should definitely try writing your own Cato fic, the more Cato the better I say. Please don't hyperventilate too much! I love reading your long reviews!
Guest – Thank you! I like writing the romance too.
Aly91 – Thank you! Welcome to the story Hope you continue enjoying.
EGilly – It was…followed by this one….eek…
Hahaha – Here you go! The last of Teesa sadly It's gutting, since I love her too, but it had to happen.
Aumack – Thank you! I'm so glad you can visualise what I'm writing. It's fun If you can see it in your minds eye.
It's-A-Passion – Finnick is coming! And there is Finnick on the Tumblr! Here is your update!
