Nova was awake for a few minutes before she opened her eyes. She thought about the possible viewers she'd have. If there were really 5 areas of the arena to watch, 5 groups or individuals the cameras could be eyeing at any time, there was about a 20% chance the attention would be on her. They were probably catching footage of everyone waking up. The chance of tributes all stirring simultaneously was slim.
She yawned, stretched her arms above her head until her joints produced a series of satisfying clicks, and waved at a very suspicious-looking tree hole with a little black device nestled inside. Some of the cameras were undoubtedly well hidden, but this wasn't one of them.
The temperature had dropped again. She began to pack her sleeping bag and blanket away. Goosebumps were forming over any exposed skin. She could see her air leave her mouth in tiny puffs of steam that vanished into the atmosphere.
"Day 13," she muttered, "here we go."
Before climbing down, she ate a hearty breakfast that as usual consisted of squirrel, chocolate, and dried fruit. She wasn't convinced that she was anywhere near the worst off as far as nutrition was concerned. She observed a weight loss — some of her bones had become far more prominent — but the difference wasn't as severe as she'd feared it would be after this much time in the arena.
Once her backpack was strapped to her shoulders, and with her axe in hand, she swung upside down on the branch she'd slept on and dropped to the ground. Unfortunately, she'd allowed herself to forget the state of her left foot.
She gasped, collapsing onto her knees. "Son of a bitch," she whispered. "If you're laughing right now," she started, addressing the Capitol viewers, "fuck off."
Either that had shut them all up or gotten another round of laughter out of them. She could work with either of those results.
Nova slid the hood of her jacket over her head and her free hand into her pocket, while her hand holding her axe vanished up her sleeve. If the other tributes were cold before, she couldn't imagine how they were getting through now. Anyone without a sleeping bag and/or blanket was screwed.
If not for the pain she felt during any harsh movements, she'd be jogging to the Cornucopia. She hated having to walk the lengthy distance, her fingers and toes numb and her nose running. It took her a full hour to reach the right side of the mouth of the Cornucopia. The sun had barely risen yet. The sunrise was orange today with a purple-ish undertone.
She glanced around the clearing from the safety of the treeline. The others were undoubtedly nearby, but clearly they all had the same idea to hide as they strategised how to go about retrieving their items safely. This really was a bloodbath part 2, after all.
She looked between each of the bags lined up on a table in front of the Cornucopia. Her bag was medium sized, green, with the number 3 on the side; it definitely contained a new ankle brace. Maybe it would be sturdier, reinforced with materials far more robust than the easily snappable acrylic that currently held her left foot together.
She adjusted her broken ankle brace, but she had barely taken two steps forward before Finch darted out. Nova dived back into the trees, scrambling to safety, despite being mostly out of Finch's line of sight anyway. It wasn't Finch she feared, after all.
Finch was in and out within a few seconds. Her speed was unmatched. No one went after her either. Her item in hand, she vanished out of sight, probably retreating back to her secluded hiding place, wherever that may be. Nova guessed the contents would include some food, judging by how famished and thin she was looking. Maybe the squirrel she'd given her really wasn't enough to make a difference after all.
During that time, Nova had circled the trees, intending to approach the Cornucopia from behind and disappear again the same way. It lessened her chances of being caught and slaughtered between entering and leaving the feast.
She ran forward, but it was just as she reached the mouth of the Cornucopia that she heard footsteps. She threw herself onto the ground and shuffled out of sight. She was in no state to hold her own in a fight against anyone. Even someone like Chase or Rue would be able to take her out in her current condition.
She sat back against the side of the Cornucopia helplessly. Hobbling back would make her location known to just about anyone nearby, and Katniss had Glimmer's old bow and arrow, so it would be all too easy to take her down from a distance. The only fighting chance she had relied on her staying out of sight for as long as possible.
The sound of steel in flesh caught her attention. Nova crawled on her hands and knees around the side of the metal structure and warily peeked around the corner.
Clove had Katniss successfully pinned down, although their obvious size difference gave Clove an unfair advantage. She waved a knife around in front of Katniss' face. The soft morning sunlight glinted against the polished blade.
"You've probably got him strapped up in some tree while you try to keep his heart going." Clove pouted at her. "What's in the pretty little backpack? That medicine for Lover Boy? Too bad he'll never get it."
Nova reversed away and sat back on her heels. She'd have to put her grievances aside and wait this one out. Eventually their confrontation would end, either by Katniss killing Clove or vice versa. The latter was so much more likely.
She listened as intently as she could without wanting to throw up. Clove was deciding on how to go about slicing Katniss' lips off. Apparently Cato wanted Clove to give the Capitol a show, and she couldn't deny that something like that would be an . . . interesting watch to say the least. Although she knew she was in no place to judge on killing methods, especially after what she'd done to Finch's district mate on day 1.
Thresh barrelled onto the scene with such vigour that Nova didn't hesitate to flatten herself back against the Cornucopia, her eyes wide. She couldn't hear what was being said or shouted, but Clove was screaming for Cato. There was genuine, unabashed terror in her voice.
A loud heavy smack was all it took for Clove to be silenced permanently. Nova's mouth went dry. She felt violently ill. Oh shit, that was Clove.
At some point, Katniss ran through the corner of her vision carrying a bag with the number 12 plastered on it. Thresh had left the scene too, carrying both his own bag and District 2's, although why he'd bothered to spare Katniss she didn't fully understand.
Nova had effectively sat through a full bloodbath, spectating. She'd earned herself a front row seat and she hated it. Ankle brace be damned, she'd give anything to crawl back into those woods and never return.
Only once she was completely certain that everyone had cleared off and Clove's cannon had sounded, she left the safety of her hiding spot behind the Cornucopia and approached the mouth. The table was empty. Her bag was long gone.
Even once she'd safely made it back into the dark depths of the forest and sat against the base of a tree with her backpack between her legs, she was still seething. She munched on some chocolate and muttered bitterly to herself about Cato, the undeniable culprit. The small woodland creatures that hid from view were the only listening ears.
"That's just unreasonable. He doesn't even need it." She bit into another chocolate, making no effort to slow down and savour the taste. "Selfish cunt. What a bastard. Fuck him. He can suck a dick."
She defeatedly chewed on some dried beef strips for lunch, anything to occupy her mouth and loosen her tense jaw. Her next step was obvious now. She needed to find Cato, in one way or another.
And for that she needed a plan.
She didn't exactly know where Cato was, nor did she have the energy to search for him. With so few remaining tributes, he could be just about anywhere, doing just about anything. There was no group to watch out for, no voices to listen for. It was just him, hidden somewhere in the forest.
Her Hansel and Gretel-esque plan was quite simple and involved minimal effort too. Anything to lessen the pain in her ankle, she supposed. In one of the front pockets of her backpack, she'd rediscovered a stale loaf of bread. By sprinkling large chunks of it in a widely-spaced trail from the Cornucopia, she could lure him towards her instead of having to venture out herself.
Her plan was far from foolproof though. Anyone could stumble across her trail. She just hoped that most people would have the sense to ignore it, assume it a trap, and continue about their own business.
The final piece of bread was directly beneath the tree she'd decided to take shelter in. The tree method had worked for Katniss. Granted there were no tracker jacker nests in this particular tree, but what was the difference? It kept her safely out of reach for as long as she needed.
Her meal that night consisted of squirrel and some dried pear slices. She examined the beige-looking fruit in her hand. The taste reminded her of her time back in the Tribute Centre, sharing a pear with Finch while Marvel stole their cake as part of a bizarre dare. It pained her to remember how much easier her life had been even then, while she feared for her own wellbeing within a few days. She'd still had good food, shelter, safety, and Chase.
This time Clove was the only deceased tribute that appeared in the sky. The national anthem accompanied it as usual, as if anyone needed yet another reminder of the tune. She took a bite out of another sweetened pear slice.
"I've yet to find Thresh."
Nova looked down. Cato had crept up on her so silently that she genuinely hadn't been expecting to see him so soon. She'd assumed she'd have another day at least before he chose to target her once again. He leaned back against the base of her tree with his arms crossed.
"But I found you," he said. "A kill's a kill."
"Clever you." She untied herself from the branch and sat up. "You found me. I hope the breadcrumb trail wasn't too cliche."
"What's that about anyway?" he asked.
She slid down the branch, catching herself with her feet against the side of the trunk. Her arms were crossed over her chest. Hopefully her sass was something the Capitol were enjoying.
"I want my item back, Cato," she said.
Genuine bemusement crossed his features. "Um, no."
She simply nodded. "Figured so."
She watched his face carefully. His gaze caught the knife in her hand. She had no intention of using it as a weapon obviously. The only reason she'd gotten it out in the first place was to force open a sealed plastic bag of dried fruit.
"What? Your plan is to somehow . . ." Cato's uncertainty only grew. It was as if this situation was so unexplainably baffling to him, "stab me from 30 feet in the air?"
"Nope," she replied. "Not my plan."
"Then what are you doing?" he asked.
"I've thought about it." She stood up on the branch, bracing herself against the trunk. "Like you said, I'm smarter than I let on," she reminded him. "And I really came to realise the predicament we're in. I mean, Katniss and Peeta are reunited once more. Even if you incapacitated Peeta successfully a few days ago, he'll be fine now. Katniss retrieved his medicine. Clove got too cocky with–"
Cato interjected coldly. "Your point?"
Nova smiled just barely, with her free hand that she wasn't using to balance herself resting on her hip. "My point is we proved at the start of the games that safety in numbers works. In case they don't teach you this at school in District 2, two is double one."
He was clearly too shocked and amused to pay any mind to her insult to his intelligence. "You wanna form an alliance? Are you kidding?"
She frowned in thought and shook her head. "I don't think so," she remarked.
"And why would I agree to that?" he questioned.
"I have a lot of supplies," she told him. "All of those things I stole from you at the Cornucopia, I have loads left. Food, medicine, first aid, tools. Your tracker jacker sting is looking gnarly. I bet you're still having venom-induced hallucinations. I'll help with that. And in exchange, once it's just us two left in the arena, you can have at me."
His eyebrows nearly rose to his forehead. "Seriously?"
"Yep," she confirmed. "You versus me. You can give it your best shot. I promise not to run this time."
"Show me your backpack," he ordered.
She didn't hesitate to comply. She had nothing to hide. She crawled along the branch and unhooked her bag from underneath to reveal to him the contents she'd bragged about, one item at a time. Her first aid kit looked almost untouched, she had a completely unused and sealed iodine bottle accompanying her regularly used one, and she still had plenty of sleeping pills and painkillers, far more than she'd ever get through by herself. Sharing them was a risk she was willing to take.
From the look on Cato's face, she could only assume these negotiations were going according to plan. His expression was as steely and cold as it always was, but he seemed calculating and thoughtful too.
He gave her knife a glance. "Drop your weapon."
Without much hesitation, she let her knife fall from her hand. It landed on the forest floor with a soft thud, just a foot or two away from him. He placed the sole of his boot over the handle and kicked the blade across the ground until it was completely out of reach.
"Both of them," he said.
Nova picked up her axe from where it had been balancing between some wide branches and shook her head. "Not until you drop your sword."
They'd reached a stalemate. She knew Cato wouldn't want to drop his weapon, but she had no desire to part with her own either. This far along into the games, the arena had become a bloody free-for-all. It would take just one person on a crazed killing spree to bring the games to an abrupt close. She wouldn't drop her axe for anyone.
Cato slowly lowered himself until he had one knee resting against the ground. He placed down his sword next to him, securing it beneath his foot upon standing up again. It would still be all too easy for him to pick his weapon up in less than a second, but she supposed a deal was a deal.
She let go of her axe and watched it plummet to the ground far louder than the knife had. It didn't appear to have sustained any damage from the fall. She would've been surprised if it had, considering everything she'd put that thing through already.
She began to warily descend the tree. It made her uneasy to have her back turned to a man who'd made a very recent attempt to end her life, but she needed her ankle brace back. Without it, she simply didn't stand a chance. For the ability to walk and run again, she was willing to take any risks necessary.
Her feet landed securely on the ground. A shot of pain coursed through her left leg originating from her ankle, but she didn't let it reach her face. A display of weakness like that would be like asking to be killed on the spot.
Cato hadn't moved yet. Her relief was combined with surprise. Maybe he needed her help more than she'd realised.
"Do we have a deal?" she asked.
"You waited until you reached the bottom of the tree to ask?" He crossed his arms. "It's a miracle you're still alive."
She mirrored his position. "I knew you'd say yes."
He raised an eyebrow. "And what if I say no?"
She nodded in encouragement. "Go on. Say no. I'll let you deal with that stab wound in your back by yourself."
He didn't move or speak. A second later, his sword was back in his hand. She scrambled for her axe, gripping it defensively. She recoiled away as he thrusted the sword forwards, but she quickly realised that he wasn't aiming for her at all.
"We'll head back to the river," he said, pointing coincidentally in that direction. "I need to refill my water."
Nova struggled to hide her beaming grin from her face. She was already limping a few paces ahead of him.
"Let's go, team!" she exclaimed, a sarcastic reference to her insincere comments and jokes at the start of the games.
"We're not a team."
"We're a team."
She slumped down against a boulder and slid her left boot off. Cato was in the process of refilling both of their water bottles, plus his two spare flasks, although only the contents of their larger bottles were purified.
He turned around towards a movement in the corner of his eye. She had her hand out expectantly. Her deformed ankle brace had been sliced into pieces in the process of working it off her foot.
His eye roll didn't go unnoticed. He opened his backpack and reluctantly tossed her the green District 3 bag that had been left at the Cornucopia that morning. She didn't hesitate to tear it open and attach the new brace to her foot. It was so much sturdier than her broken one was, properly reinforced with a metal splint and shaped perfectly to her foot. She wondered if the item had been designed specifically for her and her measurements.
She gasped in discomfort as she fastened the ankle brace into place. With all of the walking she'd done on a busted one, her ankle was feeling far more tender than it had before. It didn't help that she was needing to work around some resultant swelling too.
"I thought you injured that ages ago," Cato said, looking bemused at the sight of her foot.
"Yeah," she agreed. "I did. Broken bones take a while to heal."
He squinted, scrutinising. "It doesn't look broken."
She pursed her lips. "Thank you, Doctor Hadley."
She tossed him her pack of batteries as she reached into her backpack for her flashlight. It was getting much darker now, and the air temperature was going down by the second. She wouldn't have been surprised if they woke up to the river and lake completely frozen over.
"I'm starting a fire," she told him.
He didn't object. The simple fact of the matter was that it was absolutely freezing, and the only way they were going to comfortably make it through the night was by generating some heat somehow.
But it was as she stood up that she felt a large droplet of water land on her head. A crack of thunder prompted a substantial barrage of water to come crashing down from the darkness above. The rain immediately drizzled down her clothes and soaked her hair. Her numb hands were shaking.
Cato shone his flashlight in her direction. Despite the state the rain had gotten him in, he was visibly amused by her frustration.
"Still want to start that fire?" he asked, just as a wide bolt of lightning hit a nearby pine tree with an echoing bang.
She swallowed. "Maybe not."
⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰
Author's note: I don't know about you, but I'm already missing bestie Clove. And bestie Marvel. It's just Nova and bestie Cato now.