Who Dares to Love? Chapter Five by patricia51
(Meeting by Moonlight)
(Clove)
I stifle a yawn and blink my eyes. Well it's been a long day to say the least. And I didn't get much sleep last night. A smile tugs at my lips as I remember exactly why.
That smile fades away as the four of us continue on through the night time woods. We're hunting, looking for other tributes and when we find them we have every intention of killing them. What if the next one we find turns out to be Katniss? What will I do? I made myself a promise the other night and I intend to keep it. I just don't know how.
As was expected we had left the immediate area of the Cornucopia once the blood bath was over so the Game Makers could retrieve the bodies. The cannons sounded shortly after and the four of us returned and began to take stock of our supplies. Quite a lot of them. We decided to move them closer to the lake so we would have a source of water. Then we rested so we could spend the night on the hunt.
Each of us took a turn keeping watch. I'm not sure I trust Glimmer at that. Normally after the first fight the survivors scattered and are no threat to the careers. But you never know when one might sneak back. Particularly I worry about Thresh, the big guy from District Eleven. I saw the weapon he grabbed and how he took down a tribute with a spear as handily as Cato could have. He went off in a direction no one else took, one that could allow him to come back unobserved. I don't think he will but as our mentors taught us "don't rely too much on what you think your opponents will do. Expect the unexpected". So Glimmer's nodding off worries me.
Not that there's anything I can do about it although the temptation is there to go ahead and get rid of her now. But it's a little early for that. Plus she's cozied up to Cato and he likes a warm bed partner out her in the wild. He's deadly but he doesn't always think with the big brain. I'll have to watch that as we get closer to the end. I always figured it would be the two of us squaring off at the end but under the influence of that big boobed blonde he might decide to take me out before her. None of that will be happening until we're closer to the end though. Doesn't mean I won't keep an eye on them.
Twilight comes and we head out. Part of our training, in District One as well as Two, is moving quietly through the forest in daylight or night. We often stop to look and listen. For the majority of the night nothing happens. Then Glimmer spots a wavering yellow light through the trees. Some idiot has lit a fire!
Oh damn. What if it's Katniss? I'm really not ready to take on the other three just yet. Or really at all. I'll have to get Cato first, that's a given and then see about the others. Marvel is more dangerous but Glimmer has the bow that Katniss had her eye on. I saw her shoot, she's so-so with it but that does give her greater range than I can throw.
Even as these thoughts run through my mind we are all slipping up on the fire starter and if no one notices that I've fallen slightly behind and have a knife ready in each hand, well that's all the better.
Of course it's not Katniss and I should have known she would have better sense than to post a "here I am come and kill me sign" like that fire is. It's the District Eight girl I think. Or maybe Seven. Regardless she just sits there with her mouth open in shock while Cato offers Glimmer his sword. You can bet Katniss would have done more than give a single scream before Glimmer cut her down.
Marvel picks up her pack and dumps its contents on the ground. Nothing there we need. Cato mentions we need to clear out so they can pick up the body so we start back towards the camp. We have gone only a short distance when I see something on the ground and my blood runs cold.
(Katniss)
I can't believe that someone almost in my lap is all but jumping up and down and shouting "here I am" with a fire in the middle of the night. I know it's cold and probably whoever is out there doesn't have a sleeping bag. Too bad.
As I'm laying here contemplating murder I jerk upright at the scream coming from the fire. It was a girl. And obviously "was" is the operative word. My hand finds the knife that Clove threw to me and I grip it tightly as I hear first footsteps and then laughing voices coming my way. It's them.
I remain as still as possible, barely breathing as the group passes right underneath my tree branch. First comes Marvel, swaggering as always. My heart leaps as Clove follows; then almost stops as she suddenly halts, her lowered eyes riveted on something. She casually steps out of the way of Cato and Glimmer. Almost imperceptibly she quickly kicks something farther into the brush.
"What is it?" I hear Cato ask.
"Shouldn't we have heard the cannon by now?" Clove replies.
"We should have."
"I know she's dead. I stuck her right," Glimmer declares.
"You all go on. I'll check." Without waiting for an answer Clove starts back towards the fire. Marvel shrugs and heads off. Glimmer and Cato watch both ways until they seem to feel they're alone.
"When are you going to do that little bitch?" Glimmer rubs her breast against Cato's arm as she half whispers and half blows in his ear. "She gives me the creeps."
"Not yet," Cato replies with a grin as he reaches down with the hand not gripping the sword and squeezes her butt. "There's still time and we may need her skills before the end. Don't worry though; I'll do her for you."
They move on. I wait, my heart pounding until I see Clove's slender form slipping back down the path. Before I can say anything she stops right under me, looks up and whispers. "They're gone."
I don't hesitate. I don't think. I snatch at the quick release loop I tied on the rope holding me on the branch and drop lightly beside her. We don't exchange any words right away. We can't because we're in each other's arms in an instant and the kisses are too frantic to allow for words.
It's a ridiculous thought to have at this moment but I have it anyway. Now I know that I can love and hate at the same time, in the exact same moment. I know without any doubt that I love Clove. And I know that I hate the Capitol; hate it with a burning rage because no matter what happens the two of us will inevitably be separated forever in just days at the most. Then I throw those thoughts to the wind and concentrate only on her.
"You need to be careful," she chides me quietly. "Your pack must have been open because I found fresh cooked something or other right there under your branch. I knew you were up there."
"Rabbit," I answer automatically. "DAMN!" I'm upset with myself for two reasons. Not only did I leave a sign as to my location but I lost food and this isn't called "The Hunger Games" for no reason at all. Then I push that aside for something more important.
"Clove," I say urgently. "Glimmer and Cato are going to try to kill you. Or at any rate Glimmer is urging him to do it and he told her he would when the time was right."
"Well I knew THAT was going to happen," she replies with utter calm. "It's just a matter of time. But I don t think that time has come. Not yet. Rest assured I will be alert and watchful and when the time comes we'll see who ends up dead. I don't think it will be me."
(Clove)
By now I know that any cover that Katniss and I had has been blown wide open. I can practically hear the cameras being zoomed in on us. While alliances of all kinds form during the games I can't recall any that I ve ever seen that involve a Career and a non-Career, much less two girls. Much less so much more than just watching each other's backs and wiping the competition before turning on each other.
The audience must be breathless. Of course I am too. My God she is so beautiful.
I act. I pin her against her tree, my lips meeting hers again and my hands searching. One finds her breast and the hardness of her nipple under shirt and underclothes is still unmistakable. The other slips into her pants and finds her sex, so wet and eager.
I say I pin her but she has me just as much as I have her. Her touches are as wild and as passionate as mine. We have no time, no time to be slow and please each other, no time to undress and explore the body of the woman I love or let her do the same for me. At any moment we could be interrupted. Cato could return. Another tribute could find us. The Game Makers might end this themselves. SO all we can do is take what we can snatch right this moment.
But isn't that how it has been, how it will be? Unspoken is the thought that there is only one ending. So we touch, strain together, shower kisses over every exposed inch of the other's skin until we both quake and slump against each other.
Three times. That's all we have had. But those three times are more than some people get in a lifetime. So I will take it. They fill me more than my entire life has so far.
I kiss Katniss once more and touch her face.
"Remember your promise to Prim," I tell her as I slip away, hearing the faint sounds of her climbing her tree again. I don't tell her about my own promise. Aftedr all that was made to myself. But I will keep it, one way or another.
(To be continued)