Chapter 7-The Girl on Fire
Cato's POV
"Ha! We've got you now Katniss!" Clove shouts gleefully as we begin the chase having finally found miss 'girl on fire'. We'd started the days hunting an hour ago and we were getting worried, no-one had died since the girl we found who ended up being from district 8 and were worried the gamemakers would send something. Luckily, then we found her, right by a small pool. We'd started shouting excitingly at once and the chase began, she'd caused so many problems and even if I had imagined it being just me and her in the end, the 'final battle' as it were, I couldn't care less right now; the sooner she died the better.
We skidded to a halt by a tree as she pulled herself up and I couldn't help but cross my arms and smirk up at her. "That won't help you Katniss."
"Oh? Then come up and get me."
"Gladly." Bitch trying to mock me? Yeah, she's fucked. I put my sword between my teeth and instantly began to climb the tree, though to my annoyance she only climbed higher. I kept climbing and half way up I stretched out my left hand reaching for a branch just above my head but it snapped and I fell crashing to the floor.
"Well done Cato…" Clove looked at me and rolled her eyes and all I could do was glare.
"Glimmer! You've got a bow fucking shoot her."
"Don't boss me around!"
"Oh so you want her to live?" She looks at me, about to open her mouth but closes it. Good. She turns to the tree now and knocks an arrow, then pulls the arrow back and after a second of aiming, releases it. Even more annoyingly, Katniss dodges it with ease, not that it was very well aimed, and doesn't even get grazed. I half snarl now, pissed as fuck until 12 speaks up.
"Come on… just wait her out, she's not going anywhere and when she does come down, we'll kill her."
"Fine. Marvel get wood, Glimmer fuck off and collect some more water."
"Oi! I'm in charge."
I go up to her now my sword in my hand and tower over her. "Not, anymore." With that I turn away, dismissing both from 1 as they go off to do their jobs (if slightly annoyed about it). Coral, 12, get some wood too; we won't need food as we've got plenty for the night. Clove and I will stick here."
Both of them nod as Clove and I go to make camp a few metres away from the tree though not so far that the branches don't offer shelter.
"So… someone got a bit bored of miss prissy from one?" I don't answer her. I know if I want any hope of winning in this arena I can't stay close to Clove, and with Katniss gone, I'm probably her only competition, especially if Blondie can't get a decent weapon.
"Saw her fail in the training centre too. Maybe the bows not her strong suit?"
"Idiot shouldn't have grabbed it then." Clove smirks at me and looks up at Katniss before dropping her voice.
"How long do you think she'll last?" I don't answer her at first, I don't know how many supplies she's got, but she can't stay in a tree forever, I just hope the gamemakers start a hurricane or something that brings it crashing down, would speed everything up at least.
"I say 2." Clove smirks wickedly up at Katniss and I know she's picturing the 'oh-so-great' girl on fire being brought to ash, but I won't imagine anything, I won't pay attention, I'll just wait until she's down and then I'll kill her, simple as that.
Clove's POV
Enobaria warned me on the day of the reaping that this could happen, that if friends go in together it can go two ways, they either become closer than they ever have before or they just… drift apart.
Cato and I have been friends for years; we met in my first few weeks of training when he was fighting that boy… that asshole. From the next year onwards, we grew closer and closer, becoming friends, close friends, and then best friends. I learnt more about him as he learnt more of me, he told me of his dysfunctional family, how his brother died in his hunger games a few years ago and all her parents wanted was the money.
In nearly every spare moment Cato and I had outside of training, we would spend together, usually in the park, district two luckily being rich enough to have such luxuries though only old and rich people ever seemed to go there, but there was one place that was ours…
"Cato and Clove's…. Tree. There! Done!" I turn to beam at Cato as he smiles at me.
"Cool! Now it's official, this is our territory ain't it Clove?"
"Yep!" I flop down on the grass at the base of the tree beside Cato smiling.
"Hey C, when you win the hunger games, swear you'll get a house in the victors village? And reserve one for me right next door?"
"Clove it's only your first reaping you can't be thinking about entering already."
"Why do you think I train knucklehead?"
"Who you calling a knucklehead, knucklehead?"
"Very mature using my own words against, oh I shake in fear and burst into tears at your harsh words!"
"Oh Shut up." The 14 year old Cato goes to hit me across the back of the head smirking and surprisingly this time, I let him before making a pout in his direction.
"Aww did the wittle 12 year old get ups- OW! Shit Clo you sure can punch."
Shaking my first I smirk at him "Of course I can, I was taught by the best wasn't I?" Cato smirks at this; he'd helped me with extra training for years, especially in wrestling though I was awful in sword fighting. In return I helped him with agility, he wasn't the best at climbing but it was better than knife-throwing, first time he tried that he nearly took someone's eye out.
"You never answered my question though; swear to save me a house?"
"Hmm, yeah all right."
"Not next to Enobaria though!"
"Aww I thought you liked her?" This of course earned him a sceptical look; no-one likes Enobaria… Enobaria is only feared. She cares for no-one and no-one really cares for her they only care for themselves.
"Come on it's the reaping tomorrow we better go."
"Oh yeah… families will want to celebrate."
"Yep! Not long until our turn Clove!"
"Yep!" I grin at him as we begin to make our way back to our respective homes though we part soon enough, back then we lived a few streets away from each other.
"See you tomorrow!" I call after him as he turns away, his dirty blonde head slowly becoming smaller and smaller. He raises an arm in response calling "Will do!" before turning the corner and vanishing from sight.
A huge pile of wood is dropped in front of us as I raise an eyebrow. "Wow, couple of nights max and you bring all the dead wood in the forest."
"What, not good enough for you, two?!"
"Oh calm it Blondie. Coral you got any matches?"
"Course" I hate to admit it but I like Coral, not too talkative, not too annoying, and thankfully, not an idiot, though just because I don't hate her doesn't mean I won't kill her if needed. She chucks the matches my way and I catch them, unsurprisingly, with ease, quickly started up a fire as the sun began to set. We'd decided ages ago that setting up a fire would do nothing that would harm us, we always had people on guard so any tribute stupid enough to come looking for the source would only end up dead, if anything it would help us.
"Who's taking first watch?"
"I'll do it." Coral usually always has the first watch… why have I only noticed that now?
"Alright I'll do it with you." Looking up at the sky I see that night has nearly fallen and the sun is barely within sight. "The Anthem will be playing soon… After the anthem anyone not on watch should get some sleep. Cato and 12 can take the second watch." In response 12 just nods as for Cato… all I get is a grunt in response. Fine then.
The anthem plays though of course no faces appear in the sky, there hasn't been a cannon in days, though thankfully now that we have the girl cornered and stuck up a tree the gamemakers won't surprise us.
"Well no-one's dead. Night!" Coral and I take up positions by the fire, back to back so we can watch both sides, a weapon in each of our hands. Once everyone's asleep, we take up the usual meaningless conversation that takes place when on watch. "Do you ever miss your home district, Two?"
"Yeah, yeah I do four… do you?"
"Yeah… There's a beach not far from where I live where my little sister and I used to always go as kids our parents would take us you see."
"Sounds like fun."
"Yeah… You have anything to go home to?"
"Me? No… just two sisters, one of which I haven't seen in years, same with my father, and an odd mother. Nothing special, but if I go home I go home a victor and that's all I need."
"You really do consider this a proper honour don't you?"
"But of course, why? Don't you?"
"No. We may be a career district but the Hunger Games takes too many of our own…. Not something to be celebrated. I heard one person say you never win the Hunger games, you just carry on living, the memories never leaving you."
"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine." She smirks and we continue talking, until eventually we wake up 12 and Cato and I drift into a dreamless sleep.
"AH! Get them off me, Get OFF!" I sit up confused as my ears are suddenly hit with screams, shouts everywhere, and buzzing so much buzzing around me. In confusion I stagger upwards trying to stay focused as the screams of what I presume to be Glimmer fill my ears and buzzing, continuous buzzing fills the air. Shit.I turn and grab my pack and knife jacket and run, just run, tripping and stumbling as I go, the world shifting before my eyes.
Tracker Jackers. Hazily I form together what must have happened within my confused thoughts; the girl was in the tree, I thought I heard sawing but the anthem drowned it out… perhaps my mind wasn't playing tricks on me, yes, yes she sawed through the branch. The branch had a nest, the nest fell on us and the Tracker Jackers inside stung us… is that what happened? Yes… must be.
Already I feel giddy, dizzy, and disorientated. Back at the training centre in district 2 you get given Tracker Jacker venom when you reach 17 in short bursts, try to build up an immune system… they didn't know I'd be reaped with no volunteer so this is my first time but I know what will happen. Dizziness is first, as well as the pains its worse if you don't- oh shit. Quickly I pull out the stingers that cover my body, cursing for having not done it sooner.
Hallucinations… I know they'll come next. And I'm right, ahead I find my sister Bex running through the forest shouting. My other sister comes in crying. "Why don't you come home Clove? We need you at home." I shake my head yet that only makes me feel worse and I know it won't be long before I pass out and I need to get somewhere safe, somewhere secure. I need to find Cato.
Ahead I can see what I think is Cato… yes, the dirty blonde head or… heads… is ahead. I follow that before he collapses to one knee and it's only a few more seconds before I hear another thump, someone else is with us but then I fall to my knees my hand falling forward into… blood? I try hard to stay awake. I look around again, and then I collapse entirely, and Darkness takes over.