~Katniss~
I stood in my room on the train, comparing it to the room on the train that I took from Twelve to Two initially, that's all I seem to be doing these days, comparing. First I compared Two to Twelve, then the way Cato acted when I left versus my return, and finally this room compared to the first one. Eventually after staring at the room long enough I set my bag on the bed and dig through it, trying to find a more comfortable shirt to change into, it was then that I realized that I needed to change my gauze and put on some cream so my back won't get infected. And as I stood there topless, rubbing the medication onto my back the best as I could, the worst thing happened, and good thing I wasn't facing the door.
"Spitfire are you oka- oh my god." Clove said, opening the door slightly then wider when she saw my back. I quickly grabbed a shirt and held it to my chest. "What the hell happened? Is this why you're so distant?" she asked sounding concerned.
"Shut the door." was all that came out of my mouth. She obliged and leaned against it.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked and I was surprised she didn't ask what happened again. I grabbed the roll of bandages and tossed it to her.
"Can you help me with the gauze?" I asked and she nodded, coming over to me and carefully helped me the best that she could. Once we were finished I put a shirt back on and turned to her, seeing tears forming in her eyes.
"What happened?" she asked breathlessly. I sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to me, silently asking her to sit down. She took the spot and looked at me hopefully, waiting for me to explain.
"When I was home for the Games, I didn't follow some of the rules they have in my District and I got punished for it."
"And you got whipped?" she asked and I nodded in response. "How many times?"
"Twenty times." I replied and she sighed. "I had to have stitches and I got them out once I got back, they were in too long because I was on the train for a day longer and some reopened when they took the stitches out. So I have to put this cream and bandages on my back so it doesn't get infected." I explained to her.
"That's why you didn't talk to us." she stated and I nodded. "I understand why you wouldn't, but now that I know and I assume that Luna knows, what's going to happen when Cato finds out that he's the only one that doesn't know?"
"I don't know, the Games are over so he can talk to me, but I don't know what's going to happen." I said looking at the ground.
"We should go back out there, they are going to wonder what's going on." Clove pointed out.
"Like you did?" I said looking at her and she smiled proudly.
"Yes like I did, but knowing Cato, it'll be a lot worse." she said standing up and walking towards the door. When she noticed that I wasn't following her she turned back to look at me. "You coming?" I looked up and her and nodded before getting up off the bed and following her out of the room to the main dining area where Brutus and Kairo sat eating food, and Cato sat on a couch lazily. When he saw us coming into view he picked his head up to look at us.
"Everything okay?" Cato asked and I nodded, earning a small nod from him in return.
"Does she-" Brutus started but I interrupted.
"Yeah she does." I answered glancing at Clove who smiled softly and me. The two of us walked over and sat down on some chairs near Cato who just kept glancing between the two of us.
"So how did Anica win?" Kairo asked, that must be the girls name from Two, I didn't see the Reapings because my mom wanted my to rest as much as I could, so I wouldn't know.
"Why don't we watch it? It should be on by now." Cato said taking out a remote control and turning on the television, thus turning on the Games.
The image on the screen was horrible, the girl I am assuming was Anica was battling another girl and a boy, I didn't know what Districts they were from but they could fight, must be Careers. Anica kept swinging her ax back and forth cutting anybody near her as they stood on top of a cliff. Down below them was a roaring river, fifty feet away that could kill them, they seemed to be in mountains, not much of a chance of getting food except for any mountain animals. Finally she killed the boy by swinging the ax across his throat, slicing through a major artery in his neck, and he fell at her feet, bleeding to death. The cannon signal made me jump slightly but I don't think anybody noticed. Anica kept swinging and got a look of confidence when she stepped into her swings, making the girl she was aiming for step away and eventually over the cliff to her death. The cannon fired, they called her name as the Victor of this years games, and the screen faded to black except for the Capitol seal appearing on screen.
"Well that was boring." Cato thought out loud. I pulled my knees to my chest and looked at the ground, trying not to grimace at his enjoyment of killing innocent people. Even if he thought the ending of the Games was boring.
"Hopefully next years Hunger Games are more exciting." Clove said from the chair next to me. I rested my head on my knees and sighed. I hated the Games, I always knew that, but what was fueling my hate for them was the irritating pain in my back, the one thing the medics at the Academy didn't give me was some medication for pain.
"You okay there Spitfire?" Cato asked and I nodded.
"Just some sore muscles, that's all." I said sending Brutus a look. "Don't supposed you got any pain medication on this train do you?" I asked him.
"Sorry, these trains seem to lack medical assistance." he said and I tried not to chuckle.
"No they certainly do not." I replied.
"Why would they have any pain medication on the train?" Cato asked, returning to his lazy position. "I mean when you go to the Capitol, you shouldn't be injured and when you leave they aren't going to let you leave injured. So why would they have it?" he asked like its the most obvious thing in the world and I rolled my eyes.
"Never mind, you wouldn't understand." I said and he glared at me in confusion. I rested my head back on my knees, trying to concentrate on something other than the irritation from my back.
"Maybe I would if you just told me." he offered and I picked my head up off my knees to look at me.
"Maybe I don't want to tell you." I countered.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so stubborn and open up to people."
"Maybe I don't want to open up to people." I said, my voice rising and feet going back to the ground. I glared at him in annoyance. He shifted and sat in the same position I was.
"You told Clove and Luna." he challenged, returning my glare.
"Well I trust them."
"You told Brutus." he challenged again.
"Correction, I didn't tell him, somebody else did."
"But you would've had to tell him anyway."
"Of course I would have, he has to know." I yelled at him.
"Then why can't you tell me?" he questioned.
"Because I don't trust you yet!" I fired back.
"What can I do to prove to you that you actually can trust me?" he asked in a different tone of voice.
"There have been several things that have proven to me that I can't trust you Cato."
"But I can change, you can trust me!" he shouted, seeming to forget about everybody else in the room.
"And yet we wonder why Brutus told us not to talk to each other until the Games were over." I said finally before standing up and stalking back to my room once more today. As soon as I got there I grabbed a pillow, held it to my face, and screamed into it. When I had run out of breath I just sat on the edge of the bed with the pillow in my lap, silently stroking it and feeling the softness of the fabric, a material that Effie told me was velvet. There was a soft knock on the door and I groaned to myself, laying back on the bed while I called out to them.
"Come in." the door opened and the sound of heavy footsteps filled the room. At first I thought it was Brutus but I was mistaken when his face entered my line of vision.
"Can we talk?" Cato said with his face invading my sight. I sighed and looked past him to the ceiling.
"About what?" I asked and he pulled away so I was no longer looking at him, I continued to look up as he paced my room, being silent for a few moments.
"I'm sorry." he blurted out. Still laying on the bed I turned my head to face him. I could tell by his face that he doesn't like to apologize for things but it was sincere.
"For what?" I asked suspiciously and he shrugged.
"Everything. For trying to figure you out so hard, trying to force it out of you, arguing with you, punching you in your dorm room, what just happened back there," he said jabbing his thumb towards the door. "just everything." he finished
"Apology accepted." I said a little confused. I grabbed the pillow from my lap and placed it behind my head.
"And you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to." he said and I gave him a lopsided, half, smile.
"Thanks." I said, he started towards me and sat himself down on the edge of the bed near me but not invading my comfort zone.
"So what is there anything that we can talk about that won't end up in an argument?" he asked and I thought for a bit, staring up at the ceiling as if hoping the answer will appear. I finally got an idea and spoke up about it.
"How was the Reapings?" I asked him and he looked at me perplexed.
"Didn't you see them on television?" he asked and I sat up, crossing my legs to face him but not looking at him, instead I looked down and left.
"Not exactly." I said biting my lip.
"Oh well they were like any other Reaping I guess, names were called but people volunteered for them."
"Who got called?" I asked making him sigh.
"I don't remember the girl but Crone was called." he said, keeping his gaze on me, trying to find any reaction.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing just trying to find any reaction. I thought you two were close." he said.
"You've been watching me." I observed with a sly smile. This is weird, back home I didn't smile much but here when I'm with Clove and Cato they bring out a different side of me.
"You didn't confirm my observations." he countered back with a smirk. I rolled my eyes before looking him in his bright, icy, blue, eyes.
"He and I weren't as close as you think." I replied and his eyebrows knitted together.
"Why not?"
"Finding him making out with some random girl from the Academy the day before I leave doesn't exactly help." I replied and he nodded, agreeing with me.
"So what about your Reapings?" he pried and I smirked at his attempt to get any information out of me.
"Like you said, just like any other Reaping." I replied vaguely.
"That all I'm going to get?" he asked with a small smile and I nodded.
"Yes." I said and he chuckled.
"You are hell bent on protecting your identity aren't you?" he asked.
"You bet." I replied with a mysterious smile and again he chuckled.
"So what about you can you tell me?" he asked and I thought again.
"Ask me a question and if its one I can answer I will and if its not I'll say skip it. Deal?" I suggested and he smiled.
"Deal." he agreed holding out his hand to shake. I shook it for a moment before pulling my hand away. "First question. What is your favorite color?" he asked and I really had to think about that, because I never really had before. I d like spending time in the forest among the thick green tress, so I guess it'd have to be green.
"Green." I answered.
"Why?"
"Skip it." I shot back and he nodded, trying to think of another question.
"Your family, is it big or small?"
"Small." I answered with one word again.
"How small?" he asked with a raise eyebrow and I think about if I can answer it or not and eventually I do.
"Mom and sibling." I said, trying not to think of my dad. I missed him every day. I wonder what he would think about me being here. I probably wouldn't be if he was, because then I wouldn't feel the need to train to be a better hunter.
"What about your dad?" he asked and I sighed, trying to keep the tears away.
"He uh, died a few years ago." I replied barely above a whisper and he put his hand on my knee trying to comfort me.
"I'm sorry. How?" he asked and I shook my head.
"Skip it." I said.
"Do you have any friends besides what you have at the Academy?"
"Three back home, they are the best friends I could ever ask for and I owe them so much." I said contemplatively.
"Why do you owe them?" he probed.
"Skip it." I replied sharply. "You know besides your family, I don't know much about you when I think about it."
"That's true, go on ask any question you want." he said and I suppressed a chuckle.
"Okay, let's start from the beginning. Favorite color?" I asked casting a suspicious smile at him.
"Grey or Silver. Either one." he answered instantly.
"Like the steel the Academy looks like it's made out of? Or the shine of a sword?" I questioned thinking those were the reasons.
"Among other things." he said looking me dead in the eye. Could he really mean my eyes? I shifted uncomfortably and looked down trying to think of another question. I knew about his family, and I pretty much knew about his friends so I asked something really random.
"Favorite type of weather?" I asked.
"Favorite weather really?" he asked surprised.
"Well I know about your family and pretty much your friends so favorite weather." I said letting him continue.
"Okay well I guess sun mostly but in the colder months I do like the snow. Sessa loves playing in it and looking at it." he said.
"I hate it when it snows." I blurt out before I could stop myself. When it snows, people freeze to death, and there aren't many animals out to hunt, so the winters are always hard to sustain when it comes to food. But thanks to Peeta and Gale, I can come home with something.
"Why?" he asked.
"Skip it." I shoot back.
"Okay then, what is your favorite type of weather?" he asked honestly.
"Sun definitely."
"Well at least we agree on something." he replied making me chuckle slightly.
"If I wasn't hiding who I am, we might agree on more things." I thought out loud. I could tell that my statement took him a little by surprise.
"Am I ever going to find out what they are?" he asked hopefully. I looked at him and smiled confidently.
"Only if you go into the Hunger Games and win will I ever tell you." I reply an he smiles, stand up, and looks down at me.
"I'm looking forward to it." he says, giving me one last genuine smile, then walking out of my room. What am I doing? Am I actually starting to get close to Cato? And if I am then why?
~Cato~
I walk out of Spitfire's room feeling a little happy. I didn't go in there expecting her to trust me completely and tell me what ever it is that happened to her, but at least I did find out a few things about her, it wasn't anything helpful like her name or where she was from. But I know hat her favorite color is, favorite type of weather, and that her father died leaving her with a mother and sibling. Things were starting to build and hopefully, this building will complete itself before it comes crashing down, or preferably not crash at all. Anyway I walked back out to the sitting area and plopped myself back on the couch. Kairo and Brutus had retired to their rooms while I was talking to Spitfire, leaving me with Clove.
"You seem happy." she observed.
"I am actually." I told her, placing my hands behind my head, resting them there.
"What did Spitfire tell you?" she asked and my smile faltered.
"She didn't tell me what happened to her but I didn't expect her to either." I replied and Clove nodded at me. She looked down at her fiddling hands in her lap and sighed.
"If she ever does, please don't blow up. You're starting to grow protective of her Cato, and if she ever tells you, I know that you aren't going to like it and you'll get mad." she explained not looking at me.
"Mad at what?" I asked confused.
"Mad at what happened, why it happened, how it happened, and finally mad at her for not telling you. And please don't me mad at her. She has her reasons not to tell anybody." she practically pleaded.
"Let me guess, protecting her identity right?" I guessed and she nodded.
"She didn't even tell me what it is exactly that completely happened." Clove explained and I nodded.
"Okay, I'll try to keep an open mind if that's what you're asking."
"That's not the only thing I'm asking, the other thing is just what I said. Please don't get mad." she said and I remained silent. I laid my head back on the couch and rested it there for a few minutes. I must have dozed off because when I woke up again Clove was gone and the lights were out. With a sigh I stood up, much to my aching muscles protest, and walked to my room on the train. It was right next to Spitfire's apparently because my name was on the door. I didn't even notice it when I went to talk to her. I reach for the handle of the door and just as my hand closed around the knob I heard soft cries and moans coming from Spitfire's room, which soon turned into light screams. Feeling concerned I opened the door to see her on her bed thrashing and writhing around, her arms and legs tangled up in the sheets. I quietly strode over to her bed side and placed my hand on her shoulder. Trying to stop her from thrashing, but she fought me, trying to push my hand away. I had to sit on my knees on the bed with my hands on her shoulders, gently shaking her awake, calling her name.
"Spitfire." I called quietly so I don't wake anybody else, but failing to wake the scared girl in front of me. "Spitfire!" I called a little louder and her eyes shot open and her quick breathing turning into a pant. She looked around the room, seeming frightened before resting her eyes on my worried face. "Are you alright?" I asked her concerned, taking my hands off of her shoulder and sitting up, her following in pursuit. She rubbed her forehead and wiped the sweat away and sighed, trying to calm her breathing.
"Just a nightmare." she said, her voice cracking, I could see tears forming in her eyes and soon she was crying in her hands. Instinctively I gathered her crying form into my arms and said soothing words into her hair. One of my hands was gently stroking hair while the other was rubbing her back up and down. She was wearing a loose fitting tank top and the surface beneath the piece of clothing was rough, and just above the top of the tank top was a white bandage peeking out. I pulled away slightly and looked at her in the eyes.
"What happened to your back?" I asked her and she sniffed. She pulled further away from me and looked away.
"Its what happened to me. And why I have been acting the way I have been." she said vaguely and I gently placed my hand on her shoulder and she flinched.
"I'm sorry." I said pulling my hand away so I don't make her more uncomfortable.
"It's okay. I might as well tell you now."
"Tell me what?" I probed gently.
"Back home, I broke a few laws and well you know the punishment for doing that." she said and I nodded, back in Two it was a whipping and a week in a prison for every law broken. But I don't know if that punishment is the same for where she lives.
"I know it for my District, but I don't know about yours." I told her and she looked at me.
"What is it for Two?"
"Whipping and a week in prison for each law that is broken." I told her and she shivered.
"In my District it's just a whipping." she said with a harsh voice and I shut my eyes, trying to get the image of her being whipped out of my mind.
"How many?" I said with my eyes still closed tightly.
"Twenty." she replied flatly. Twenty lashes for two laws broken.
"What laws?" I asked her, half knowing she won't answer but half hoping she will.
"Skip it." she said reverting to our little game from earlier today, I cracked a small smile
"What was the nightmare?" I asked her carefully.
"That it was my sibling that got whipped instead of me, and I couldn't do a thing to stop it." she said after a moment of silence. I rested my hand on hers and this time she didn't flinch or shiver, she was just as calm as she could be.
"I'm sorry." I told her and she gave me a tiny smile, you wouldn't notice it if you weren't paying attention, but I was.
"Thanks. This isn't the first nightmare I've had lately." she told me and I looked at her curiously.
"What other ones were there?"
"The one I remember the most is I was in some sort of meadow or field with a lake, a there was a man that I thought was my friend but it turned out to be Crone. He had a knife and attacked me. I kept trying to evade him but he knocked me to he ground and I couldn't escape. Then another man came and saved me, at first I thought it was another one of my friends but it turned out to be," she said, looking away from me. "someone else." she said quietly.
"Who was it?" I asked her, using my hand to turn her face to look at me.
"It was you." she said looking down, away from my gaze. I stared at her blankly, she dreamed of me? Of me saving her life?
"What happened next?"
"You killed Crone with a sword then you held me as I cried like you did just now. I had realized that if you weren't there I would've died. Some other...stuff happened and the next thing I know, you were gone and I was in a hole and somebody was burying me alive." she finished telling me about her dream and I could tell that she was leaving some thing out. But I wasn't going to push it. If she didn't want to tell me then I'll just wait until she does, like everything else about her that she hasn't told me. But I can't believe she had a dream about me, especially where I saved her life, maybe this will bring us closer, I mean if you can dream it then it can happen right?
"Did I say anything? In your dream I mean." I probed slightly. Maybe we didn't say anything to each other, but then again maybe we did. I looked into her eyes and she turned away from me, looking down at the ground instead of meeting my gaze.
"You said something, but I don't remember what it was." she said and again I knew she wasn't telling me the full truth. But again I was not going to push it, she'll tell me when she's ready.
"How often do you have these nightmares?" I asked her.
"That was the last one I remembered, and that was when I woke up from being whipped." she said, flinching at the memory.
"But how often do you have them?" I repeated and she sighed.
"The last one was on the train to District Two." she muttered and I nodded, not really knowing what to say. I don't really remember having any nightmares, because I never had anything to have a nightmare about. There was a calm and comfortable silence between us for a few minutes before she spoke up again. "You should probably go and get some sleep." she offered and I just nodded my head again.
"Yeah, we're going to be in the Capitol by morning." I said, standing up and walking towards the door. Before I closed it behind me I turned to look at her one last time, seeing her get back under her covers of the bed, her head on one pillow and the other clutched in her arms. "You going to be okay for the rest of the night?" I asked checking on her. She looked at me from her bed and nodded shakily.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." she reassured when she saw my disbelieving look.
"Okay well next time I wake you up because of a nightmare, I won't be leaving." I told her and she rolled her eyes.
"Go to bed Cato." she ordered and I closed the door and went to my room. Just laying there on my bed, I can hear her crying lightly through the very thin walls of the train. For what little I know about her, I know that she cares a lot for her sibling or siblings, because that nightmare scared her, like most would. But I hardly see someone cry from a nightmare, usually they wake up for a little bit, try to clear their head, then go back to sleep. But that's what life is like in District Two, I don't know about where ever she is from.
I had a hard time sleeping that night, and I could tell that Spitfire did too. I laid awake on my bed all night listening to her muffled cries, unable to fall asleep. If you weren't paying attention, you probably wouldn't hear her cries, but I was, I couldn't help but listen, just in case she fell back into her nightmares. But she never did, because she never went back to sleep. And I could tell that she was afraid to, she was afraid of the nightmares. But that is what I don't understand. She is here, on this train for the Victory Tour, because she trained good enough at the Academy to be a Career, and a really great one at that. Careers aren't supposed to show emotion, because it makes us look and sound weak. But with her, she shows them and yet she isn't weak. Do emotions belittle us as much as the Trainers back in Two tell us? Spitfire uses them to make her better. She trains for her family, to protect them from any harm. Later that night, I must have dozed off and fallen asleep because I am woken up by Clove, trying to shake me awake.
"Cato come on and get up, we're in the Capitol." she said, standing there waiting to see if I actually get up. I comply to her orders and sit up in bed, rubbing the sleep away. "When did you finally come to your room last night?" she asked with her arms crossed.
"After I talked to Spitfire last night. I don't know what time that was though." I told her standing up.
"What did you talk about?" she probed, I know what she was getting at, she wanted to know if Spitfire told me about her back.
"Her scars on her back." I answered, muttering it barely above a whisper.
"She told you."
"She had a nightmare that it was her sibling that was whipped and not her, and she couldn't do anything about it." I told her and Clove nodded.
"What else did you talk about?" she asked.
"She told me about another nightmare she had, when she woke up after getting whipped. Crone was about to kill her but I stopped him and saved her. She didn't tell me everything though, I know she didn't. She still doesn't trust me yet." I told her pulling off my shirt and putting on a fresh one.
"Just because she told you about what happened doesn't mean she trusts you yet." Clove reminded me.
"I know but I don't know what I can do to get her to trust me."
"And there's nothing you can do. You can't get her to do anything. You just have to let it come naturally." Clove explained.
"Like she did with you and Luna?" I asked her.
"Exactly." Clove said smugly but with no smile or smirk present on her face.
A/N: Hey everybody! I hope you liked the chapter. So we are getting close to the end of this story. I'm working on the sequel but I'm at a point where I'm stuck. If anybody has any ideas on where they want to see this story go or any ideas at all, feel free to PM me! It would be much appreciated. Thank you and again I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
~ The Hungry Mockingjay