A/N: So there have been problems with the chapters. Sorry if you got e-mails about there being a third chapter even if it wasn't. But anyway here it is! THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS SO FAR they mean a lot to me. I will try to answer questions when I can but fanfiction is not cooperating with me so it will take a while. So go on, READ, and when you're finished REVIEW. =D
The Price of Winning
Chapter 3, Unfortunate Events
Cato
By this time, Cato had already broken every brittle object and tipped off all the furniture placed around the 2nd floor.
"You done?" Clove asks with her hands resting on her hips.
"An eleven! How the hell was she able to score an eleven?" Cato yells as he throws one of the pillows that he found on the couch towards the wall. It must have been quite a throw since after it slammed against the wall, it had a small rip on its fabric.
The moment the number 11 flashed on the screen as the results of District Twelve's tribute girl Cato went crazy and destroyed every beautiful thing around him. He wondered how she got to impress the game makers so much when all she was learning from training was plants, snares and more stuff like that. Did she give them a speech about everything she learned or something? He thought, Nah, no matter how good the speech would've been, it couldn't have scored any higher than my sword wielding skills.
"How am I supposed to know?" Clove asks
"She must be enjoying herself. After what I said the other day? Fuck her!" He yells some more.
"Right….and I'm sure breaking every object around here will solve it." She says sarcastically, "It's probably just a mistake."
Cato starts to calm himself down, "A mistake? Yeah right. The Capitol doesn't make mistakes. They have too much pride in themselves to do something so shameful." Then he scowls, "Why are you so relaxed? Aren't you upset that she scored higher than us?"
"Oh of course I am. I hate her for it. But like I said, breaking everything, won't solve anything."
"So you're just gonna sit there and do what exactly?"
"The obvious. I'm going to kill her in the arena. Show them that she's nothing but a lost puppy."
Cato smirks at this, "Not if I beat you to it."
Katniss
"That's amazing! You must have been brilliant."
"I always thought of you as someone with guts, sweetheart."
"You're lucky their opinion of you wasn't the other way around!"
"Katniss, great job."
All these people fawning over her like she's the queen just made Katniss dizzy. And with all these positive remarks she couldn't help but think of the negative side. Now the careers want her dead more than ever, if that was even possible.
"Thanks." was all Katniss said.
Haymitch nods then signals everyone to listen, "So, tomorrow night is the interview, the day after that, the games."
"So?"
"I think you should take a break for the morning."
"A break? Shouldn't we be practicing for the interviews?" Peeta asks.
"That'll be a waste of effort and time, 'cause I know in my heart that there is nothing we can do to make you better. And I mean that in a good way for you Peeta. In a bad way for Katniss over here."
"Thanks again." Katniss sarcastically says.
"Your welcome sweetheart. Now, let's get to bed." Haymitch says as he gets up from the couch and heads to his room, "Good night."
Cinna, Portia and Effie say good night and head to their rooms as well. Peeta and Katniss just sit on the couch and stare at the blank screen before them. Katniss was thinking about the interview. How on earth am I going to pull it off? I have no idea how to make people like me. She thought. Peeta was thinking about how close the games are. Will I survive the first day? Should I be making allies? He wondered.
"So I guess they don't hate us so much. You know, the people in charge. If they did, they wouldn't have given you an eleven." Peeta says, breaking the silence.
"Possibly. But they could've given it for lots of other reasons. Maybe it's because they hate me so much that they made sure I'm the biggest threat around, making everyone want to kill me. Or maybe it's because the Capitol wanted it. Or if not that, maybe they just wanted to add some more drama." Katniss reasons.
"Or they just like you."
"Or they just like me." Katniss smiles at the blue eyed blonde. And he smiles back too.
Katniss
Katniss just sits on her bed and stares at the wall. What was she going to do today? Haymitch had given them a break for such a fail of a reason. He probably just wanted to get drunk and lay on his bed, the games were starting tomorrow after all. So she just sits there and wait for an idea to pop in her mind.
Creek. The sound of the door bought Katniss' attention. Peeta's blonde hair and blue eyes stick out of the tiny space in between the door. "Want to come with me?" He asks.
"Come where?" Katniss questions as she heads towards the door.
"Get a biscuit or two from the refreshments' table on the ground floor."
"I guess so. Nothing else to do anyway."
"Then let's grab a biscuit."
"Or two." She smiles.
"Maybe three." He smiles back. "Now come on." He nudges his head out the door, signaling for Katniss to come out.
Katniss follows Peeta out the door and they both step in the elevator heading downwards. Katniss pushes the ground floor button then the elevator starts moving.
12
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11
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10
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9
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8
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7
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6
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5
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4
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3
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2
Peeta and Katniss exchange horrified looks as the elevator they were on stops on floor number 2. Ding! As the elevator doors start to open, they look forward, only to see the doors sliding open to the 2nd floor's tribute occupants.
"Well this is unfortunate." Clove says as she looks at Cato.
Cato crosses his arms and looks at the two before him. Then he just steps in the elevator as Clove follows from behind.
Silence takes place in the small box. Katniss looks to the floor. Peeta looks at the career tributes. Clove plays with her knife. And Cato looks all around the place.
.
1
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G (ground floor)
The elevator stops and the doors slide open. Katniss successfully pushes her way through the two tributes in front and out the door, but not before she heard Cato say "Nice score fire girl."
She looks at him, who was already by her side. "Thanks?"
"Whatever you did must have really been something."
Katniss doesn't say anything. Well, what could she have said? "Oh yeah you better watch out"? or maybe "No it's nothing special really."? She'd be either boasting or just being modest. Of course what she did must have been something, the Capitol wouldn't just give out an 11 for nothing.
"So what are you guys here for?" Peeta asks as if he knew that Katniss needed his help.
"We're taking a break from our interview practice. What about you blondie?" Clove asks.
"Refreshments." Peeta answers.
"Yup. That's what I meant by break." Clove says.
"Right." Peeta nods as he leads them all to the refreshments' table. He takes a cookie for Katniss and he takes a piece of bread for himself. Clove takes a bunch of chocolate truffles for herself and Cato. It's really neat how all these stuff are for free.
Katniss starts to nibble on the cookie she had. Keeping her eyes everywhere except for where the careers stood.
"So what was it that you did that impressed the game makers, Katniss?" Cato asks as he threw one truffle into his mouth.
Katniss spine tingles when he says her name. It sounded so cold and so...hungry. She doesn't look at him. She just didn't want to. She was worried that she might give in, and show her fear. His words just made her feel like he wanted to rip off her heart. He scared her. "Nothing too special." She says as she kept her eyes to one of the avoxes on the opposite side.
"So it's a secret isn't it?" Cato says as he reaches out for her hair and plays with it. "Must be really deadly then huh?"
"I don't think it's that much of a trouble." She says, her eyes still somewhere not on him. It was slightly true that her archer skills weren't that dangerous. If someone was too near and then tackles her, she'd be dead in a second.
"Okay." Cato bends down to her ear as he lets go of her hair, "I just hope I get to know all about it before you die." Then he turns around and says something to Clove.
Katniss was too light-headed at the moment to realize what was happening around her. She looks down at her hand and sees that she had crushed her cookie so hard that it had turned into crumbs. She threw the crumbs by the nearby trash bin then took a piece of hot bread. "Peeta, I think I'll just go back to the penthouse." She says as she starts towards the elevator.
"Wait, I'll come with you-"
"No, you can stay." She smiles.
"O-okay." Peeta returns her smile.
Cato
Katniss always smiles whenever that blonde boy was around. Peeta was his name? It reminds Cato of bread for some reason. He watches as Katniss make her way back to the elevator, not looking away for one second.
"I bet you know how she got that eleven." Clove says as she looked to the blonde boy. This drew Cato's attention so he looks back at them.
Peeta looks at the two as they waited for him to say something. When they realized he wasn't going to say anything, Cato steps in.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"So what if I do? I'm not telling you and there's not really much of what you can do about it." Peeta says.
"Yes there is, an alliance." Clove says.
"An alliance?" Peeta and Cato simultaneously ask, there faces mirror each other's looks of shock.
"Yes. You don't have to tell us about her skills but help us find the fire princess in the arena, and we'll kill you last."
"Are you sure about this Clove?" Cato asks.
"Definitely. So what do you say Peeta?"
"I-I think I have to go." Peeta says as he starts to walk to the elevator.
"Be sure to think about it." Clove says as he leaves.
Cato waits until Peeta is out of the room completely before he says something, "Do we really need him to find her?"
"Yes. We both know that she's going to make it out of the Cornucopia, and we'll need him to hunt her down. We can easily find her on our own. But with him, it'll be quicker."
Cato smirks, "I like the way you think."
"Like I said, I want her dead just as much as you do." Clove gives him a sweet yet cunning smile.
Katniss
Katniss looked at herself in the mirror. Her outfit was amazing. The sequins of the dress illuminated its color. She looked like a real princess, and on stage she would be once again on fire.
Cinna makes a circling movement with his finger, a signal they both agreed on so that Katniss would know when to start spinning. Katniss makes a few turns before fire starts on her dress' tail. It was truly beautiful. When she stops spinning, she rests one of her hands against the wall to keep her balance.
"Cinna, this is amazing but, how am I supposed to make people like me? I can't shine like this dress does!" Katniss says as she puts her hands on her hips.
"I'm sure you'll do great." Cinna says as he puts his hands on her shoulders.
"And if I don't?"
"Just say what's on your mind. Like you always do when you're with me."
Katniss lazily nods as Cinna leads them outside.
They make their way to the line. Katniss takes her place behind Thresh and in front of Peeta. Peeta looks good, Portia did a great job on making him look charming. He's probably going to do so well, Katniss thought.
"Peeta," She turns to looks at him. He seemed rather off today. After he asked for his last day of training to be done privately, he just seemed distant. It probably had something to do with her.
"Yeah?" Peeta smiles. "Katniss, what's wrong?" he asks as he noticed Katniss' confused and pained look.
"Nothing. It's just- did something happen yesterday? After I left?" She asks.
"N-No. What made you think that?"
"Nothing. It's just that you seem...different"
"Different?"
Katniss nods.
"I guess it's just because of the games. It has really been a bother, knowing that it'll be starting tomorrow."
"Oh." Maybe it's just that. Maybe he is just worried about the games, who wouldn't be? Aside from the careers. She thought.
The flash of the screen before her gets her attention. She looks up and sees Ceasar Flickerman introducing District One's Glimmer, she seemed extremely...happy, for some reason. Next up was Marvel, throughout the interview he acted confident, almost cocky. Then there was Clove, Ceasar asked her about her time at the Capitol, and how different it was from her district. Then, he asked about her family. She told him about how she wants to make her father the proudest man around since he was the one who convinced her to become a career.
After Clove, it was Cato's turn. To Katniss, he seemed surprisingly human. He wore a smile and talked a lot about his time as a career. His smile was still on when Ceasar had asked him about his family. Katniss felt dizzy when he finished his answer, he seemed almost too human. He said something about his family supporting his decision to volunteer and that they're all about bringing pride to their district just like he is. Katniss felt uncomfortable when Ceasar asked him about all the females who had crushes on him. Seriously, if he had anyone special, how could that person even stand Cato and his blood-thirsty eyes? She wondered. When Ceasar asked Cato if he had ever considered one of the tributes as a threat, that's when his smile faded.
"A threat?" Cato asked.
"Yes. A threat. Anyone in mind?" Ceasar pushed.
"No, no one really."
"Oh come on now, are you sure? What about the girl from your district, Clove? She seems like trouble."
"No. I know her, and I also know how to get rid of her."
"Then perhaps Marvel? He seems confident he can win."
"Are you joking?"
"The big guy, Thresh from eleven?"
"Never really thought about it."
"Okay, then what about the girl on fire, Katniss? She got a score of eleven, one point higher than your score, surely you have considered her as a threat right?"
Cato stays silent for a moment as the crowd grows more curious of his answer, "I don't even know how she got the 11, so I wouldn't consider her as that much of a threat. But I do want to be able to kill her first before anyone else." Then he smirks. And this makes the crowd goes crazy. It's just like when Finnick Odair had turned 18. Yes, for a second, it was that crazy.
"Thank you for your time. Ladies and Gentlemen, Cato of District 2!"
Backstage Katniss was frozen. The people of the Capitol are just like him, like the careers. He has just told them that he wanted to kill her and all they were reacting to was his smirk. His tiny little sly smirk that Katniss knows just a bit too well.
"I can't believe them." Peeta whispers from behind.
"It's not that surprising. These are the people who get excited for every Hunger Game and watch in anticipation as children get killed, after all." Katniss whispers back.
"But still..."
Cato
Cato was pissed off. First he was asked this weird question about girls. Then he is asked if he thought of anyone as a threat. Does it look like he thinks of anyone as a threat? No. He is the threat. So what if Katniss Everdeen got a higher score than he did? No one knows what happened in there. The score is just the game makers' opinion alone. And lastly, he has to sit here and watch the interviews until every single tribute is finished. Probably a small price to pay before the games tomorrow.
Cato does what he does when sitting on a couch in front of a screen that's either off, or is showing something boring, he is cracking his knuckles. Glimmer is beside him. He often notices her taking a few subtle glances at him. But he lets it be. Clove is currently talking about the offer they gave to Peeta. Seems like they all agree on the idea, so he doesn't really care about anything she is saying already. Cato just stares at the screen, hearing the interviews, not really listening to them. He is busy thinking, so it's not that difficult to shut out everything else around him.
He took his time on thinking about the possible things that could happen in the arena. Like if he ran into the guy from eleven, or if he couldn't find any swords at the Cornucopia. He thought about the landscape of the arena. If it was water, he'd be okay, but that would mean that most of the tributes would drown and just die. And he didn't want that. He thought about Peeta, if he'd decline the offer, and if he should just kill him then and there. Lastly, he thought about Katniss, about when he was going to kill her and how.
He cursed at himself as he looked back at the screen. He really did take that long thinking since Ceasar was already interviewing District 12's Katniss Everdeen. It's funny how she suddenly popped up the moment he thought about her.
"Look at her all gussied up. She looks like a real princess now doesn't she, Marvel?" Glimmer says as she looked at Marvel.
"I already told you I'm not into her. Not after that shove she gave me 3 days ago." Marvel snarls while trying to defend himself.
"Oh fine, fine. You're no fun." Glimmer sticks out her tongue at her partner, and he does the same.
"God you guys are like children. Just watch will you?" Clove says in an annoyed tone.
Cato listens to the first interview he has listened to after his. He had to admit, he was curious as to what her interview would turn out like. It could be just as annoying as his, or it could be as boring as the one of District 11's male. I mean seriously? "Yes." "No." "Not sure." "I guess." Yeah, sure, everyone will be so interested in that.
After Ceasar introduces Katniss as the girl on fire, he asks about her entrance during the chariots. She seemed oddly innocent when she speaks. It's like she doesn't know why she's there or what she's saying. Yet the Capitol loves it. Idiots, Cato thought. Then she gets up and starts twirling for around for half a minute as fire starts at her dress' tail, playing up the girl on fire skit.
"She's making me feel dizzy." Glimmer states.
"You're not the only one." Clove says.
Ceasar then asks her about her sister. She takes up all the little time left by talking about her. As a result, Ceasar wasn't able to get anymore information out of her. So much for that, Cato thought. He watches her 'til the moment she leaves then goes back into his thinking mode.
This time he only had a minute to muse. "Well, there is someone I have liked since, forever." When he heard Peeta's voice say these words, his attention was drawn back to the screen.
He listened to Peeta talk about his crush and Ceasar trying to give him "tips" at getting whoever the girl is. He said by winning, he could get her. Yeah right as if that's ever going to happen, Cato thought. But Peeta says winning wasn't going to help. Of course it will, but sadly, you have no chance of winning. Cato thought. Then Ceasar asks why, and blah blah blah. Cato was about to drive his attention away from the screen until Peeta, on national television said, "Because...she came here with me."
It took a moment before Cato could make sense of the blue-eyed boy's words. But when he did, he didn't say a thing. A part of him didn't really care, but a part of him did. And he's just sitting there staring at the now-blank screen and wondering why.
A/N: I hope it was at least okay. I know this was late but at least it's out now. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner. But please review it always makes my day when I read them especially if they're nice. Thank you in advanced and I hope I made no errors here.