So I've come to realize that my little joke at the end of the last chapter was taken a little seriously by some. Honestly it's flattering to hear your concerns, but there is no need to worry. I'm a master of procrastination. Anyway Chapter 12.
"What's that noise?" Clove asked. The eerie howling waking her.
"Sounds like wolves." I answered. I've never seen one, but leave it to the capitol to throw something like them into the mix. As if we didn't have enough to worry about already. "Try to go back to sleep. You'll need it."
She nodded, "Wake me up in an hour, I'll take over watch."
She curled back into me, trying to find a warm spot in the bitter cold. Our heavy clothes didn't let much heat escape, but the little that did started to warm the sleeping bag slightly.
The howling was consistent as it echoed across our frozen world. They came from all directions. I couldn't tell if it was their echo or not, making my head spin. It was amazing that Clove was able to fall back asleep with the terrible noise ontop of the cold. I shuffled slightly, my feet starting to fall asleep from my lack of movement.
I pulled out the marble, noticing my hand was still ungloved. I must have lost it in our hurried escape. The marble was warm in my hands from my pocket, mimicing its true owners effects on me. Peeta, I hope you're staying warm. I wanted to stop wasting time, brave the night, and find my baker. It was a stupid thought, the cold would overwhelm me. Not to mention whatever waited in the dark to take me.
It was too quiet all of a sudden. The haunting echo had stopped. My hand started trembling as I thought 'the calm before the storm.' I darted my gaze across the landscape, catching darker sillouhetes in the already dark night. Were my eyes playing tricks on me?
I watched them more closely. They weren't moving but that didn't mean it wasn't trouble. Reaching for my sword was all I could do to calm my nerves. I didn't want to wake Clove quite yet, it might turn out to be nothing.
There was no need to wake her, both of us shooting forward at the blood curdling scream that filled the night followed by vicious snarling. The noise was to close for comfort.
"What's going on?" Clove shouted as she fumbled with our sleeping bag.
"Quiet!" The screaming was growing weaker, but the snarling louder. There wasn't anything we could do expect hope Clove's scream went unnoticed by whatever was out there.
Why didn't the cannon sound yet? Clove pulled on my arm, probably thinking the same thing. "Cato," her voice soft, barely able to distinguish against the growls. "Don't let me die like that. Let it be quick."
"Don't talk like that, Clove." I whispered back to her, taking my arm from her grasp and pulling her close to my side. "I won't let you die on me."
It seemed to quell her fear slightly, even though she knew it was a lie. In order to save her, I'd have to plan to die myself. It did nothing to help my own thoughts. What if that was Peeta? Instantly, I regretted my earlier choice to stay here instead of attempting to find him. What if he was so close only to be torn apart by the fiends in the darkness? It would have all been my fault.
I dropped my sword, feeling my hands strain around its handle. As comforting as the death grip was, I wanted the reassurance from the marble. I held it in my hand, not feeling the warmth I was hoping to find, but finding its touch chilling.
The cannon finally signaled the poor bastard's death. It was irrational to think it, but I felt like it truly was Peeta out there. Only confirmed by the now cold marble in my hands, as if his essence just disappearred taking its warmth with. Part of me rationalized that it was just the weather that naturally cooled the marble down, but my mind still raced.
"Cato." Clove was pushing at me, "I don't think we should stay here any longer." She was trying to escape the sleeping bag. Grabbing her arm, I pulled her back.
"Why?" I asked her. I didn't want her to panic, but my reaction and question only made things worse.
"I don't want to stay here." She shouted. I never saw Clove so spooked. "Those 'things' are close. I don't want to endure that torture or wake up to find you being mauled."
She was panicing, I didn't want to stay here any more than she did, but where would we go? Especially in the middle of the night. We were in the arena, there's no such thing as safe here.
"It seemed so much easier to battle someone head on. It's what I trained for! I thought I'd be safe with the other careers and wouldn't have to worry so much about dying in my sleep. Or.. Or, being torn apart." She was falling to piecies. The strong Clove at the cornucopia that brutally slayed the others was reduced to a whimpering mess. "I never thought it'd be easy. Now all I have is you, and I can't know for sure if you won't flip a switch or something and kill me when I least expect it! It's not supposed to be like this!"
"Clove, knock it off!" I nudged her, hoping it would help knock some sense into her. "I know, everything sucks right now. Freaking out won't fix it!"
I just noticed that we had been shouting at eachother, stopping to listen. There was nothing. I quick shot a glance towards the previously forgotten sillouhettes. They were gone and it was too quiet. "Grab you're stuff. We have to go."
Silence was never good after someone was brutally killed by animals, especially if the noises of the carnage seemed so close. Our sleeping bag was rolled up, but we lacked the patience to roll it correctly making it difficult to fit into our pack. It wouldn't fit right and we didn't have the time to re-roll it. I pushed Clove off directing her to gather the rest of our things while I mercilessly shoved it in, crushing a second loaf of bread in the process.
I watched the horizon, hoping it all was in my head and there was nothing to freak out about. Clove pulled me along, eager to start moving. Turnning, we adjusted the packs on our backs. My marble rolled in my fingers a few more times before I returned it to my pocket.
The cold feel of my swords handle in my hand made me feel a little safer. At least now if we were attacked, we were both ready to fight back. We started a jog, to nervous to walk and not knowing where to run to. We might run out into the middle of ice again.
A second cannon caused us both to jump. Someone else had died? Then a third. We were dropping like flies. I wondered what could have killed them? Maybe the wolves got them? I didn't hear any howls, and judging from the first kill, it was unlikely both of them would have died so close to eachother. It was also too early in the game for anyone to have died from the cold. They must have run into some of the other tributes.
I was thankful we were moving, the artificial safty that Clove and I assumed was obviously wrong. It seems the other tributes are out tonight. It was stupid to think they wouldn't be.
Our jog quickly turned into a full out run, neither of us knowing where we were going; only wanting to leave the horror of our camp behind. We ran for what felt like most of the night, but there was no sign of dawn. Darker shadows were infront of us, their elongated shapes reminded me of trees. I turned to Clove by my side, hoping she could see my excitement. The feeling only lasted a moment when I saw the black shape approaching us quickly.
"Clove, get down!" I shouted, sword held high as I slid across the ice in my attempt to stop. Clove instantly dove to the ground, sliding onto her back. Her knives were drawn, one in each hand. I stood next to her, protectively urging her to her feet as the shadow erupted on us.
Arking my sword in a wide swing, I misjudged the distance and missed entirely. Its body collided with mine, causing us to fall to the ground. Its snarls bloodcurdling and exuding the scent of blood. The claws were sharp , I felt them slide through my jacket and knick my skin. The warm wet scensation of blood started to cover my chest. "Clove!" I shouted, barely dodging the beasts bite.
The beast wailed and its weight dropped on me. It was still fighting me, but its attention was somewhere else. My sword arm was freed by the beasts' thrashing. The muffled groans of Clove were coming from the creatures back. Her dark form was thrown off the wolf's body from its shaking. "Stab it Cato!"
I tried to move my arm while the beast recovered from Cloves injury. Pulling my arm back, I dug the tip of my sword into the creature's abdomen, feeling it trash harder. It's claws were digging into my jacket again, this time not making it through to my skin. I pulled my sword out only to thrust it in a second, third, and fourth time. I didn't stop until my attacker wasn't moving.
"I think you got it." Clove said, crawling her way over to me.
"Help me get this son of a bitch off me." Wasting no time, Clove started to push it and I kicked it off. The fiend rolled over with a dead thud, Clove pulling her dagger from its carcass.
"Are you alright?" Clove asked, catching a glimpse of my jacket. Even in the darkness, looking down, I could see the damage done clearly. Climbing to my feet, I gave the animal one last kick for good measure and nodded to Clove.
"Should we take it with us?" Clove asked, "Maybe for food, or at least an extra layer of clothing. It has a thick hide."
I thought about it before disagreeing with her. This wasn't an ordinary wolf; it was much bigger than anything I had heard about. "It's much too large to carry, and we don't have the time to sit around and butcher it. If there's one there is probably another." The howls from early in the night reminded me that this wasn't the only one.
"Which means we shouldn't stick around to find out. Let's head over there. We might be able to find some shelter." Pointing to what I thought was a forest.
We started running towards the growing shadows, the first slivers of sunlight appearing confriming it was indeed a forest. We made it into the trees, not wanting to stop incase another of the creatures was following us.
The sun's rays brought back the familiar colors of dawn, temporarily blinding me as I smacked into something solid. Falling to the ground thinking 'fucking christ, if I end up on the ground one more fucking time…'
"Cato!" Clove shouted, "Watch out! It's one of the other tributes!"
"Uhhg, Clove?" wait… That voice. "Cato?"
I stayed on the ground, in shock. Thinking my ears were playing tricks on me. The person infront of me couldn't possibly be…
He stood up, looking at both of us before taking his facemask off. Blonde hair and blue eyes mixed with the yellows and oranges of the sunrise.
"Peeta?"