Ruby's POV
After the two cannons fire, Katniss and the district eleven girl, Rue's portrait appears at the sky. At least we don't have to deal with having the guilt of killing a little girl, despite me barely seeing who I just killed.
After the fourth day, we wander around the forest in the night as usual…
BOOM!
The portrait of the district five girl appears on the sky. Ruby and I stare at each other, exchanging stunned looks.
"So, do we continue with the plan? There are seven of us left, and if we kill of all of the careers when they are of guard, there will be three of us left: You, me, and whoever that eleven boy, Thresh," Ian whispers very closely to my ear.
I glance at all of them closely infront of us. They don't seem to be hearing or giving any attention of us or our conversation. Then, I glance back at Ian and nod at him with a smile. I grab his collar and whisper closely to his ear.
I equip my sword as Ian equips his knife. Then we prepare each other for our targets.
Ian sneaks behind Clove and stabs her from behind, piercing through her chest. She gasps in fear before falling forward.
BOOM!
He grabs attention to the rest of the group, and I take this chance to slice Glimmer from behind the neck, beheading her.
BOOM!
I also swing my blade and thrust it through Marvel's stomach at ease.
BOOM!
Before Cato could even react, Ian grabs his daggers and aim for the weak parts of his body to impair his movements. He strikes Cato's humerus and femur bones, or specifically his biceps and thighs. Then, Cato kneels on the ground screaming in pain.
Finally, Ian and I gaze at our surroundings. There was blood and corpses everywhere, similar to the blood-bath, but a lot less. My guilt washes over my heart. I just betrayed people who trusted me greatly. Well that's too bad, that was their mistake. This is the Hunger Games, you weren't suppose get too close with tributes from other districts, maybe not even your own district partner. Ian takes another glance at me, but I give him a serious face, trying to hide my shame that I was prepared for.
"How can you do this to us?!" Cato growls, grinding his teeth.
"It was bound to happen, Cato," I said with a calm but heartless look. "Ian, get the medicine and heal his wounds."
"What! Why?" Ian asked, giving me a very perplexed look. "Why would we even keep one of the most feared tributes alive?"
Cato gives the same look at me, but I don't change my expression, nor do I give Ian an answer. I just wait and stare at him until he does what I say. I must let Ian remove the daggers from the wounds and heal them with medicine, or who knows whether Cato still has enough strength to kill one of us before he's long gone…supposedly. You know what Ian says, "Better me than you right? I'm going to die anyways."
After mending Cato's wounds, Ian ties up Cato's wrists and ankles, laying him against a tree. Then, he and I just slouch against our own thin tree near Cato's. We all face each other as I leer at Cato, Ian leering at me with a worried look, and Cato glaring furiously at the both of us. We can hear ominous howls from the other side of the arena. This is going to be a long night.
A few hours have passed and I start to feel traumatized.
Why can't I kill him? Why can't I kill him? WHY CAN'T I KILL HIM?
This keeps banging in my mind whenever I take a glimpse at Cato, so then I glance at Ian.
How can we have betrayed them? How can we have betrayed them? HOW CAN WE HAVE BETRAYED THEM?
Well, this isn't helping.
Either way, both thoughts were really irritating and were scratching my head. So, instead of staring at them, I just stare down at the filthy, dry dirt. There was a stiff silence emitting the air until Cato breaks it.
"What now?" Cato asked. I don't even want to deal with his depressing looks. I don't even want to answer him, but he continues, "You got me tied up and everything, why don't you just kill me?"
"Shut up!" I shout. I shoot a dagger at a lizard, but I miss by barely a centimeter. I can feel myself getting drowsy, eyes drifting, breath becoming unsteady. I can even feel myself topple down a bit to the side. So, I slouch down the tree trunk.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Ian calls shaking my shoulder, but I groan. I raise my head, but my vision is just a little blur whenever I blink or squint. "I think we should just leave, Ruby. I don't think I can trust this guy long enough for us to supervise him."
Last thing I know, I hear the boy's voices under an argument until I fall unconscious.
I wake up, startled, the next morning, and find both of the boys asleep. However, I hear grass and leaves whistling close by. I take out my sword, and slowly tip toe towards where the sound came from, hoping I wouldn't wake them up.
"Where do you think you're going, princess?" Cato asked. "Your brother wouldn't want you to wander off all alone now would he?" he teases.
I smile back at him, "Shut up. Keep quiet, I'll be back soon."
He smiles back at me as he watches me leave. That was until he and I spot a dark figure, not far from where we were at. What do I do? That must be Thresh coming our way. I got to do something before he gets here!
"Praise yourself," I whisper to Cato. He gives me a confused look.
I cup my hands around my mouth and make as loud of a scream as possible, a scream in fear, making the figure turn back running. Then I turn back to Cato and Ian, but all I see is a wincing Cato and an aroused Ian.
"What the hell!" Ian shouts.
"Just giving you a wakeup call," I laugh, making Cato giggle. I walk towards Cato and observe his wounds.
"They're all gone!" Cato said in amusement.
I blush, but try to hide it by turning away and mumbling, "You're welcome." I glare back at him crossing my arms. "You're lucky Ian and I have a heart."
"And when she means we, she means her," Ian snorts with a sense of laughter.
I scowl and punch him in the arm. "Come on, let's get going. We're done with him." I pull Ian close before turning away. "Hand him a knife and let's leave," I whisper.
He nods and does as he was told. Cato quickly grabs the knife, staring angrily at Ian and I. Before leaving Cato, I take one last glance at him. He looks back at me with a look that I can tell what's in his mind: Why are they doing this for me?
Ian tugs my arm, calling to me and saying, "Ruby, come on, let's go!" I run with him towards the Cornucopia.
Ian's POV
As we climb on top of the Cornucopia, we both lay down, breathing heavily through exhaustion, and sit back up once we regained our energy.
"There's something I've been meaning to give to you when it was at this time of games," I said grabbing hold of my token and handing it to Ruby, clutching her hand.
I let go, and Ruby's expression changes. Her face looks as if she was startled. She examines my MP3 and scrolls through the music.
"Check the very last song in there. That song was strictly made for you," I said with a smile. She smiles back at me and her eyes look teary. "Don't listen to it until there are two left standing, or when you're in the hovercraft to get out of here."
She cries and nods with a smile. She leans on my shoulder and holds my hand. I do that same technique to keep her calm. When the sky blends to night, another howl of mutts cry, but then we hear screams from a boy.
BOOM!
Ruby and I stand up, startled. Thresh's portrait appears in the sky. Now all that's left is Cato, Ruby, and me. I was flabbergasted. This was what I was prepared for throughout all these years. I step back and forth, pulling my hair up.
"Ian what's wrong?" Ruby asked.
"Nothing, listen, I'm going to find Cato," I answer as I drop off all of my equipment except for my knife, and jump off the Cornucopia.
"Wait, what? Why!?" she shouts, tugging my arm back up.
"I just got to locate him, okay?"
"And then what? Go back here and expect to be back alive? How is finding him significant?"
"I'm bound to die anyways, Ruby. Better for me to die in a way that you don't have to kill me and see my corpse. Right?" Saying that took some weight of my chest, but was a pain to see how Ruby would react to it.
But it was worse than I thought. She freezes and ungrasps my arm. Her body seemed shaky and her skin looked pale. This is the first time I see Ruby actually fear something. I kiss her on the lips. "A gift for my soul before I leave." She starts crying again, clutching my MP3.
I kiss my left index finger and draw a cross on my hand. A symbol for prayer from where I lived. My family is very religious. Ruby does the same thing and waves good-bye as she watches me run into the jungle.
I rush pass trees, swiftly cutting through branches and bushes. I call out Cato's name several times, but no response, nor do I hear anything or anyone nearby. That was until I heard some bushes behind me move. Found him. There is no way he got any other weapons except for that dagger I gave him and maybe his arms if I count those.
"You're not a skilled assassin as I was Cato!" I call out. "I got senses you know, might as well come out."
Cato steps out of the bushes, laughing. He raises his hand and dagger in the air as if he was arrested.
"Do you really think you can beat me, seven?" Cato laughs. "You may be skilled and all, but I don't think you're skilled enough to beat me."
"Says the dude who collapsed after I threw four daggers at you," I smirk.
"Touché."
I walk to him, handing my knife, and take a step back. "I'm all yours."
He gives a hard look at me, looking lost. "Too easy. Where's Ruby Gem?"
"Find out yourself, but I won't lie to you, she isn't here."
"Well, then…" he twirls the knife in the air and catches it. "Why should I even bother? This isn't fun."
If he isn't going to kill me then…
I grab his wrist that holds the knife and I pull directly to my chest. I clench my teeth to hold in my cry in pain.
"Hey! What the fuck!" Cato shouts.
I feel drowsy and collapse to the ground, closing my eyes. I feel cold and everything goes dark, I can even barely hear Cato shouting at me for whatever reason until…
BOOM!
the cannon fires. That was the last thing I hear.
Ruby's POV
Here I am sitting on top of the Cornucopia, leaning on the horn, and listening to the song that Ian gifted me. Playing it over and over and over and over…
I hear barking, along with heavy breathing from the forest. I prepare my bow and grab my three arrows. I see a big blonde dude climb on the Cornucopia with a whole pack of mutts chasing behind him.
I watch as he pulls his whole body on the Cornucopia. I don't even think he's aware of me. He just looks down at the mutts and takes a few steps away from the edge. However, I shoot my three arrows straight at both of his biceps and his right knee. He's a dead man now.
But then I glance at the mutts. Barking at me, growling, clawing on the Cornucopia, and trying to climb up. It sickens me just like that little blonde girl back when I was five. I grab my equipment and jump off the Cornucopia.
"What the fuck are you doing? Trying to get yourself killed?" Cato shouts, but I ignore him and focus on the mutts. I attack them exactly how I attack the dummies back at the private session in the training center. The 360 spins, the flips, the twirls, everything, until all the mutts were dead. Then I climb back up the Cornucopia.
"So that's how you got a twelve," he snorts.
I walk to his right side and kneel beside him. "It's a pity to see such a talented man let his arrogance and temper get to him."
"Go ahead. Shoot, see if I care! I'm not afraid of you!" Cato shouts. "I've always wanted to die anyways. I didn't realize that until now."
Well I don't hate him, so…I might as well make him NOT suffer HORRIBALLY through his death. Maybe the wounds I already applied to him are enough.
"Any regrets?"
"What are you waiting for? Shoot!"
"Cato…" I start feeling remorseful. Just for my pleasure, I pet his head, giving him pity eyes.
"Why are you doing this?" he cries. "You're already making me suffer, isn't that enough to please you?"
I laugh, "Who said I wanted to see you suffer?" This is what I get for having a heart. Having the feeling of guilt after killing someone. "I just wanted to know that you'll be okay and ready," I said with a voice that sounded hurt and shaky.
I can feel a tear starting to shed. I try to hold it in, but it falls anyways. I REALLY feel bad.
"I'm sorry Clove, Glimmer, and Marvel. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to save you guys," he said with a serious voice, but sheds a tear and smiles. "Well, Ruby Gem, I'll see you and Ian in the other side."
I kiss him in the lips, "For the soul of Cato." I kiss my left index finger and draw a cross on my hand. "Say hi to Ian for me."
"Yeah, I will. Stop crying, it's only going to make me feel even more remorseful," he smiles and I laugh. "I'm ready. I have no regrets."
Though I didn't know him that long, of a person with his personality and temper, this is the first time I'd actually see him in his soft state.
I wipe my tars and prepare my bow and arrow. "T-three…two…one…" I weep and close my eyes, "Good-bye Cato."
BOOM!
Sorry if this is too boring, but I just wanted to make it dramatic. xP