I sleep soundly the almost the whole night, but I'm woken up by Cato practically squeezing the life out of me. I do my best to turn to face him and try to wake him up. "Cato, wake up. Cato." I say as I hold his face gently.
"Hm? What is it?" he says with urgency as he wakes up. "Nothing, you were just squeezing the oxygen out of me." I say sarcastically.
"Oh, sorry…I guess I had a bad dream." I says quietly as he avoids my gaze. "Do you want to talk about it?" I ask gently while searching his face for signs of pain.
He suddenly looks at me with his piercing blue eyes "I don't want to lose you." He says with hurt in his eyes. I don't know what to say.
I can't say that he won't because only one of us can come out alive. It's impossible. The game makers won't change the rules for anything.
I look at him sadly, and know that he's thinking the same thing. I want to reassure him, that I'll be with him until the last possible moment.
He looks down at me, still saddened and without saying a word, kisses me. It's short, simple and sweet.
He pulls away slightly, enough for me to speak, but I lock eyes with him before I do. "I will be with you, no matter what, until it's time. Ok?" I tell him, hinting at the fact that I'm not planning on coming out of the arena.
He catches it though "What do you mean? I'm going to do everything in my power to get you out alive." He says sternly "But, Cato I-"I begin to speak but am cut off by one kiss. "Everything. Understand?" he says when he pulls away.
I know that it's best not to argue with him right now, knowing he'll only get more stubborn. "Ok." I sigh as I turn back over, telling him I want to go back to sleep. He gets my drift and pulls me up to his chest, wrapping his arms around me before dozing back off.
When I wake up, the sun is barely shining through the window, but I know it's time. I pull myself out of Cato's grip and walk to the bathroom, glancing back at his sleeping form for a brief moment. I sigh, knowing that this is going to be hard, but also kind of exciting.
I strip down and step into the shower, washing my hair and scrubbing my body. I take my time because this is going to be my last shower, and I want to enjoy it.
When I feel like I'm ready, I towel off and walk back to my room. I pull on some loose black pants and a shirt, pulling my hair up in a ponytail. Nadab will meet with me before the launch and dress me in my arena clothes and fix my hair.
I gently rouse Cato, telling him he needs to go get ready. He obliges, but not without a fight. I have to pull every last blanket off of him before he'll finally get up.
He stand up to leave, but before he does, he pulls me close to him, holding both sides of my face and kisses me much longer than he has before.
We've decided to not reveal our relationship until we get to the final 6. It might prove as a weakness to the other tributes.
He pulls away, hugs me tightly then heads out the door turning back for just a second. "See you soon" he says with a smirk and I know that he's excited about what's to come.
I shake my head and smile at his giddiness as I walk down the hall to grab a little bit to eat before Enorbia and Brutus come to escort us to the hovercraft that will take us to the launch rooms below the arena.
I eat a roll and some fruit, and Cato comes out just in time to grab a few pieces of bacon before we head down. We ride the elevator to the ground floor, and then we take a small corridor to a hangar that holds the hovercraft.
We are some of the first ones here. Brutus and Enorbia give us some last bits of advice, and then we're allowed to board the hovercraft where a woman directs us to our seats.
I am seated next to the boy from District 4 and Fire Girl. I look around and see that Cato is seated next to the small girl from District 11 and the girl from District 5.
Another woman comes and injects a tracker into our right forearms before the lights go dim. I quickly put on a smirk of excitement as the others around me shudder in fear.
The hovercraft lurches forward as he take off. We ride for what seems to be 45 minutes before we land in a much smaller hangar.
We are quickly filed off and taken our separate ways. Cato catches my eye and mouths 'good luck'. I quickly reply 'you too' before I lose sight of him.
I am ushered into a room where Nadab waits for me. He hugs me, then begins dressing me in my arena clothes. They are lightweight cargo pants, a light t-shirt, and a jacket to go over. I also have on a pair of sturdy boots.
Nadab begins to pull up my hair when he mumbles "Well, what do we have here?" he asks as he pulls back the hair from around my ear.
"What?" I question as I look in the mirror. "Oh crap." I mutter as I see the red and faintly purple mark right below my ear. I mentally curse Cato, but am also slightly amused.
"I bet I can guess who caused this" Nadab says with a smirk as he goes back to finishing my hair, pulling a few pieces out, to disguise the mark. I say nothing in response, I just sit and wait patiently for him to finish.
As soon as he does, a robotic voice sounds "60 seconds to launch" I feel slight butterflies lurch in my stomach from excitement. I stand up; embrace Nadab briefly thanking him for all that he's done. I then walk and stand inside of the clear tube in the center of the room.
Nadab taps the bottom of his chin, telling me to look up and stand tall. I do so, and the tube lurches up. I see nothing but darkness for 30 seconds, and then I am able to see the light of day. I feel the wind lift a few hairs off of my face as I observe the arena.
It is woodlands. There's a large lake to the left of me, the forest is directly in front and the cornucopia is directly in the middle of all of the tributes.
I look around and see Cato 6 tributes to my left, Marvel 3 to my right, Glimmer directly across from me, and next to her is Fire Girl. I smile cockily as I see her look like a stunned deer. I observe the cornucopia and all it has to offer.
There are various backpacks and sleeping bags scattered around the front, but inside there are weapons galore. I catch a glimpse of a beautiful set of knives arranged on a belt next to a wall of spears and swords. "That's mine" I say to myself.
Suddenly, we hear a speaker crackle and the voice of Claudius Templesmith booms out. "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 74th Annual Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" he yells with enthusiasm as the timer above the cornucopia begins counting down.
60 seconds. That's all I have to wait before I can finally do what I've been trained for. "This is it" I tell myself s the adrenaline surges in my veins as the timer reaches 30 seconds.
I look and Cato and he smirks at me as he gets in a stance so that he can run quickly for the weapons.
I smirk back and do the same, knowing that I'll have to kill a few with just my hands before I get a weapon though. "That'll be no problem at all" I tell myself confidently.
The clock reaches 10 seconds and I tense my legs up, ready to bolt. 9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…The buzzer blares and we're off. It's complete chaos, but I only have my sights set in one thing. Anyone who gets in my way will simply die.