I'm back with a late update...again.
Sorry!
I don't even believe that this is a very good chapter.
Anyway.
Here you go!
I gasp and jump back.
Within moments Marvel is by my side holding onto my shoulder.
"What is it, Katniss?" he walks to the Cornucopia slowly and reads the engraved metal.
His face blanches a bit as he turns to me.
The others come out of the structure.
"Where are we?" Rue asks in amazement
"The arena for the 75th Hunger games." I try to say offhandedly but, I know I failed miserably. I search our new surroundings.
As soon as my words are spoken, Clove runs out of the thick foliage, followed by the girls from six and seven.
Oh god.
They're covered in blood.
Without hesitation, I run to them.
I jump into the salty water and swim as fast as I can.
And unexplainable urge to take care of them comes over me.
When I reach them I quickly look over them as I check for injuries.
I glance behind them and see that a section of the forest is now covered in blood.
It's raining it.
A chill runs through me and I force my attention back to the trio in front of me.
They look terrified.
"Can you all swim?" I ask quietly; like I do with animals that are easy to scare and lash out.
Clove nods but, the others don't.
I nod at Clove and she swims to the Cornucopia, taking the girl from six with her.
I call Acciona and she takes the girl from seven back.
I risk a glance behind me and I can't help but gape in shock.
It stopped.
I turn to swim back when a hissing catches my attention.
Not an animal.
Nor a person.
It takes a minute or two for me to realize.
When I do, I pull the neck of my shirt over my mouth and nose.
A gas.
I turn around yet again to leave, but, again I am distracted.
Someone is coughing.
Very violently I may add.
I nervously look back and forth between the now apparent mist and the Cornucopia.
"Well, fuck" I mutter under my breath as I run into the mist.
"Hello?" I call from under my shirt.
"K-Katniss!" I hear a voice call.
A manly voice.
My eyes widen in realization.
Tears form quickly due to the mist that is now burning my skin.
"Thresh!" I scream. I double over and cough as I inhale some of the gas.
My eyes search frantically through the tears and mist to find my friend.
"Kat!" he sounds terrified. "I need help, I ca- I can't carry them both!"
"Where are you?" I scream as the fog grows denser.
"Follow my voice" He orders, abeit weakly
I do as im told and moments later I can barely see a shadow in the mist.
I run towards it and collide with Thresh.
"Who else do you have?" I squint and cough.
The mist is beginning to burn my skin through the fabric of my shirt.
"Selvina and I'm not sure" his answer is broken up by a coughing fit
"Who's heavier?" I ask.
"The other one." I hear him gasp and fall with a thud.
"Thresh!" I say panicked. When I do I feel the muscles in my arms spasm.
"Give me Selvina!" I order.
He gets up unsteadily and hands me the girl.
I fling her over my shoulder and run towards the light of the beach.
I can just barely hear Thresh's heavy footsteps behind me.
My legs wobble and I stumble a few times before collapsing on the sand.
Thresh falls next to me.
My throat and skin burns intensely.
I close my eyes to the bright sun.
"Thresh" I wheeze "We need to get to the water"
He coughs his agreement and we slowly rise.
We hear splashing and I feel wet arms envelop me and Selvina.
The water feels heavenly.
I push further into the hug.
"Water" I mumble.
My leg spasms again and I almost fall before the figure catches me.
Step by step I am slowly being submerged in water.
With each step, the pain drifts further and further.
I move away from the figure when im strong enough and dip my head under water.
I open and close my eyes quickly until I feel no pain.
I break the surface and see who helped me.
His cocky smirk is in its place and his eyes are bright just like normal.
"Thanks, again, Marvel" I sigh as I splash him.
He feigns a hurt expression and splashes me back.
He cocks an eyebrow at me as a challenge.
I go to splash him when I remember the others.
I turn back to the beach and see Thresh and Selvina in the shallows
And Cato.
I swim over to them as I ignore the feeling of discomfort on my body.
"How are you all?" I ask quickly.
They were in there longer than I was.
It's Cato who answers first. His deep voice is scratchy, as I am sure mine is as well.
"I think so, thanks to you… and Thresh" he answers gratefully adding Thresh's name at the last second.
A little bit too gratefully.
Something is off about him.
I observe him and I find the difference.
His eyes seem different.
I look closely at them and see that they are a few shades darker than the ice blue I was used to.
I shake off the feeling of abnormality.
"No problem. It was probably more Thresh's doing than mine. I probably couldn't have carried you." I wave to the others at the Cornucopia. I give them a thumb up and I see them visibly relax.
Selvina speaks next.
"Which is why I should be thanking you." Her voice is mostly smooth; signaling the condition of her throat isn't as bad as Cato's.
"It's fine." I reply.
"No, it isn't, you could have died." She continues. I hear a whimper from Cato and I turn to him. His eyes are fearful. I check behind me to see if there's danger but, there is nothing there. I turn back to him and his gaze is fixed solely on me.
Is he afraid of me dying? I think to myself
No, what a ridiculous notion. No one is afraid of me dying. I can't mean that much.
I realize I've been silent for a few minutes so I decide to talk again.
"Of course I could have, but I didn't and that is all that matters." I say finally
"You always think that your life doesn't count." I hear Thresh's deep rumble of a voice "How would Prim like that if I told her you risked your life daily just for the thrill?" he chuckles
"I do not do it just for the thrill! If it wasn't for me you'd all be dead six times over!" I defend
"That is probably true." Thresh concludes. "Now; Where, the hell, are we?"
"I think there was a glitch." I try to find the right words to explain. "I hit the force field and then it kind of electrocuted a Minotaur, the one I thought I killed before you came to get Glimmer's bow." I say pointedly towards Cato "Then by the time Marvel and I got back to the Cornucopia, we were here."
"But, Where is here?" Selvina piped in.
"The 75th Quarter Quell Arena"
Everyone is silent.
I scan the group and my eyes land on Cato who is deep in thought.
He is trying to remember something.
"Wait, I missed my chance at the Minotaur thing…again!" Cato exclaims.
The others laugh but, I continue to stay silent.
Something definitely is abnormal about Cato.
Why did it take that long for him to remember the Minotaur?
"Should we go to the others?" Thresh asks
"Yeah. You all can swim right?" I ask
Everyone but Selvina nods.
"I'll take her" Thresh sighs.
"No" I say sharply "You inhaled a lot more of that gas than we did. Cato can take her across; you need to not exert yourself"
"Okay then Doctor Everdeen" Thresh mocks.
I smile lightly and swim back to the Cornucopia.
We all converge in the metal monster and I retell what happened.
"So…What now?" Rue asks
"Good question…Glimmer would you like to answer?" Damian continues
"Oh, no I think Marvel should" she passes
"I'm shit at explaining things…Clove however."
I chuckle at our group.
"We need a game plan" I say finally.
They all nod in agreement.
"First, I don't think we should go into the jungle unless it is completely necessary. Blood Rain and Poisonous Mist are probably only the beginning." Selvina concurs
"I have no doubt about that. This is a Quarter Quell arena. It will be more dangerous than we could possibly imagine." I say calmly.
"We also need to find District Nine. They are out there and they will kill you." Marvel shudders and continues "They don't know about the rebellion yet. They are probably terrified and that is dangerous."
They did something to him. I think to myself
Fury bubbles in my chest.
I swear if they hurt him in any way-
"Right." The girl from seven, whose name is Aida, chimes in. "They nearly took my head off with a coil of wire." She rubs her neck.
"And, Then there's Peeta" Clove says darkly.
Cato stiffens at his name.
"God knows where he is" Marvel sighs.
"We'll find him when it's time to go" I say
"You're going to let him live?" Glimmer gasps
I pause.
Should I?
Of course I should. He is still human
Barely.
"Yes. He is still human-ish" I sigh
"Only you" Marvel chuckles.
I glare at him.
"It's getting dark" Rue says quietly.
I step outside and see that the mist has receded.
"You're right, it is getting dark and very quickly I might add." I say offhandedly. Run trots back into the Cornucopia.
A flicker of movement in the jungle catches my eyes.
I squint through the darkness.
A rusty orange ball of fur is swinging from tree to tree.
Chills run down my spine.
A Mutt.
I don't know how long I stand out there, searching the darkness.
"Katniss" a hand on my shoulder makes me jump and reach for the knife in my pocket.
"Calm down Kitty" he chuckles
"Shut up Marvel" I smile and slap his chest.
It's a lot harder than I thought.
A blush creeps onto my cheeks and I pray the darkness hides it.
"You should get some sleep." I can hear the concern in his voice.
I don't want to.
I don't want to dream.
"It's a little too…crowded in there." I lie.
He snaps his fingers and runs inside.
Before I can question him, he comes out with four sleeping bags.
"Four?" I ask
"Yep, you, me, Rue, and Thresh." He says cheerfully.
Rue step out of the cave.
"Three. Thresh and Glimmer passed out in the back." She says quietly.
I look inside and see everyone is asleep.
I smile gently.
"You two should sleep." I whisper
"Not without you." Rue pouts.
"How can you say no to that face?" Marvel pouts as well.
I laugh quickly at the childishness.
"Fine" I say quickly "But, I have to say I expected the childishness from Marvel but, not from you Rue" I joke
"Well Then!" Marvel says loudly.
"Shut your face" I hiss
"That isn't possible!" He whispers
"Actually it is" Rue enters the conversation. "I know where we can sleep"
"Where?" I ask.
"On top of the Cornucopia" She climbs quickly.
I smile and follow her up.
Marvel comes after with the bags.
We set them up and fall asleep.
For me, a terrible one.
Marvel PoV:
My dream of an angel in white singing with a brown braid is cut off by a small scream.
My eyes shoot open and land on Katniss' writhing form.
"No-No-NO! Stop…please" she cries and my heart shatters
"Katniss" I say quietly as I lightly shake her shoulder.
"Leave her alone! You bastard" she mumbles.
"Katniss!" I shake harder.
Her pleas cause a surge of anger to wash over me.
Whose neck do I need to snap?
"Get away from me!" she nearly shrieks.
I put my hand to her cheek.
I hiss and pull away.
She's as hot as a furnace.
I pick her up bridal style and carry her off of the Cornucopia.
She thrashes in my grip.
"Sorry about this" I mumble as I jump into the black water.
I drag her up to the surface.
"Peeta!" She wakes with a gasp and searches around frantically.
"No, just me." I answer
She ignores me.
Her eyes are wide with fear as they continue searching.
She mumbles things under her breath that I can't hear.
I grab her chin lightly and make her face me.
Her silver eyes meet my green ones and I see that I have her attention.
"Katniss." I say calmly "It's me. Marvel. You remember Marvel right?"
"P-Peet-"
"Isn't here." I cut her off "He can't hurt you. I won't let him anywhere near you as long as I'm around."
She whimpers like a child and sticks out her pinky.
"Promise?" she asks
I grasp her pinky with mine.
"I promise"
She smiles serenely and falls back asleep in the freezing water.
I stay with her there until her fever breaks.
After, I dry her off the best I can and carry her to my sleeping bag.
Rue is awake.
"Nightmare?" she asks
"Yea and I think she's sick" I sigh.
"Well, duh. She was stung by Trackerjackers. A lot of them. She's still having side effects." She says quietly
"She's still cold so she's sleeping with me in my bag." I climb in
"Sure" she giggles
"What?" I quirk a brow
"Nothing!" She says quickly.
She lies back in her bag.
My eyes just close when I hear her.
"Marvel?"
"Yea" I answer
"You and Katniss remind me of my mom and dad" she says quietly
I remind her of her dad?
"Then they must be awesome people and I can't wait to meet them." I smile
"They're dead. I've only heard stories" she deadpanned.
"I'm sorry" I turn to face her. Her eyes are teary but, she still has a smile
"It's okay. I was just wondering if I could call you dad? I have a bad feeling that this won't last forever and I just want to call someone dad and mom and actually mean it."
I smile. "Daddy Marvel. I like it"
I Really do.
She grins and scoots closer to Katniss and me.
"And Mommy Katniss; if she's okay with it." She giggles
Mommy Katniss.
I like that one too.
I hope you liked it.
If you didn't don't be afraid to tell me.
I don't hate constructive criticism.
Anyway, review!
I love all of my reviewers.
Until next time.
~*~Momo