Cato easily slices through the orange holographic man with his sword, cutting it in two at its midsection and causing it to tumble to the ground in a mess of bright blocks. He likes this new training technology; it's far more advanced than what they had last year.
His session is at an end so he returns his sword and begins walking to lunch, but someone grabs his hand and hauls him to a stop. He swings around and is greeted by none other than Katniss. Her hair is in its usual braid and she looks worried. Cato looks down at her palm and notices that she has some red, sore looking scrapes on her on her hands. He gingerly takes her hand in his, examining it and raises an eyebrow.
"What happened to you?" he asks as he runs his finger over the red blotches, brushing a drop of blood away as he does so.
"I tried to make one of the fishing hooks they have in District 4, but they're a lot more complicated than I thought they would be." she says. He can see the blush forming in her cheeks, most likely from embarrassment.
"Don't worry about it, Kat. It happens to the best of us." He says softly. She's surprised at the sudden tenderness in his voice, something he's never really showed before. Even to her, his friend, he always tries to come off as cocky and arrogant and uncaring. It often works, but not this time. He seems generally... concerned. It's unusual coming from him.
"Are you feeling alright?" she asks, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Yeah I'm fine, why?" He responds, looking up to meet her grey irises.
"You seem nicer than usual, it's kind of freaking me out a bit," She answers. He snorts and drops her hand. "By the way, I thought you were going to come and visit last night. Where were you?" she asks.
Cato tenses and immediately bites his lips. "Ugh, I got... Held up with something, I'm sorry. Let's go get something to eat," he says quickly and grabs her arm and begins towing her out of the training center. She stares at him with confusion; is he nervous about something? What could he possibly be nervous about?
As Cato walks, he prays that he doesn't see Syra. But as they near the door, he sees her to Johanna. He grimaces at the sight of her; the results of their love-making are brutally obvious. Love bites litter her neck and chest, and the white of her skin make the black and purple bruises crystal clear. He can see that she even has a slight limp. She catches him staring and he quickly looks at the floor, red now filling his cheeks.
"Oh fuck," he mumbles.
"What was that?" Katniss asks from behind him.
"Nothing. Hurry up, I'm starving." He responds and quickly makes his way to the door, leaving Syra and the memories of last night behind him.
Katniss watches as Cashmere swiftly battles one of the holograms, hitting it in the head with a dagger and causing it to tumble to the floor. A shiver runs through Katniss because, with her long blond hair and emerald eyes... She reminds Katniss too much of Glimmer. Images of Glimmer's mutilated, swollen dead body fills her mind and Katniss squeezes her eyes shut, desperately trying to block out the gruesome images, but soon those are joined by memories of killing Marvel, Rue holding the wildflowers in attempt to hide the hole in her stomach and Foxface who got mauled to death by Mutts. It soon becomes too much for Katniss and she runs out of the training center, running as fast and hard as she can. She doesn't stop until she crashes into a wall which causes her to fall to the ground. She's covering her eyes with her hands, trying so hard to block those horrible images in her mind but it's all in futile attempt.
Haymitch had seen Katniss run out of this damn place like it was on fire. He was about to go after her, but Cato had beaten him to it. Cato quickly finds her, crumpled on the floor and tears streaming down her cheeks. He kneels down and takes her hands off her face. She sees him, but her grey eyes are so wild she doesn't even recognize him.
"Sparky, calm down! Listen to me, you're safe! You're with me, alright? You're here with me now, everything's alright now!" he shouts, trying to get through to the wild girl. The words finally register with her and she lets out some deep breaths; clutching Cato's forearms so tightly she's starting to cut off the circulation.
"You're alright, you're alright now," he whispers as she slumps forwards, her face buried in his chest.
He knows that the words he's telling her are all lies; they'll never truly been alright. Not after what they've been forced to do... Not after being forced to kill innocent children, because that's what they were. They were all children.
Cato put his arm around Katniss's shoulders, carefully lifting her to her feet. She leans against his shoulder, her dark braid slipping off her shoulders and tickles his stomach. He tightens his grip on her and quickly pulls her through the steely grey hallways. He wants to try and avoid all the other tributes because if they see her, they'll label her as weak. He'll get her out of here for a few hours before their private training sessions so she can clear her head.
He is able to sneak them through the building without running into any of the tributes, he is only faced with a few Avoxes seeing them. He eventually reaches the District 12 living quarters and he hauls her to the couch and practically drops her on it. She pulls her knees about to her chest and buries her face in the couch cushion.
Cato stares at her, wondering what on earth he can do to get her out of this state. Then he gets an idea. He goes to the sink and grabs a glass. He fills it to the brim with icy water, carefully tiptoes over to Katniss, takes a deep breath then throws the entire contents of the glass on her head. She sits up and screams at him, calling him a multitude of foul names. Cato jumps behind the couch, but can't contain a sudden burst of laughter at the now red-faced girl who's screaming at him.
"Glad to see you back, sparky."
They return to the Training Center in time for the private training sessions. Katniss takes a seat beside Haymitch, who's holding his forehead in his hand and his eyes are squeezed shut.
"Hangover?" she asks, a smirk plastered on her face.
"Shut the fuck up, kid." he growls and Katniss snorts and leans back against the wall. She doesn't say anymore to him, only mentally prepares what she will do to impress the Gamemakers.
"Hey, girl on fire."
Katniss nearly jumps out of her skin at sudden voice beside her. Her head shoots to the side and to her immediate discomfort, find her lips on centimetres away from Finnick's. She can smell his breath; minty and sweet mixed together. His sea green eyes sweep over her features and his lips twitch into a smile.
"I haven't seen much of you these past few days," he says, his smile suddenly changing into a pout.
"Well I thought you'd be very occupied with those countless Capitol beauties you have," she responds with a hint of bitterness. It's not that she has any romatnic feelings towards Finnick at all; it's just she hates how he sleeps around with anything that has a heart beat. It's disgusting.
"Hey, don't be so rude," He says. He actually seems angry, but he quickly realizes that and looks away, putting on his usual cocky façade. "Good luck, girl on fire." he says, his lips so close to her ear that her skin pebbles with goosebumps and she shivers. He gets up and joins his tribute partner, Mags. She can occasionally see him glance over in her direction, his eyes always roaming over her body. She shivers again and turns to Haymitch, poking him to see if he's awake. His hand flies up and slaps her in the arm.
"Stupid kid," he grumbles, his voice muffled by his hand.
The sessions are over and Cato is sitting on the couch, waiting impatiently to see the scores. Enobaria is behind him and he can hear her fidgeting with a piece of cloth. He knows she is nervous, but will never ever show that to anyone. The only reason she is even showing it now because she plans on killing Cato as soon as they get into the arena; which is tomorrow. The interviews are tonight and they should be getting ready but Enobaria yelled at the prep team to leave them alone until the scores are announced. He hears Caesar Flickerman on the screen and quickly sits up, eager to see what the scores are. Enobaria steps forward and grips the back of the couch, her nails digging into the fabric.
Gloss gets a nine, Cashmere an eight. Cato gets an eleven. He smiles, proud of the score. During his session, he used his swords to destroy ten holograms. Then he found one of the dummies and he thought he might as well go out with a bang. He ripped the dummie apart, limb from limb. He dumps the pile of plastic on the floor and watches with an arrogant smile as the head Gamemaker stares at him. They dismiss him and he leaves.
Cato is snapped out of the memory when he hears Enobaria snarl. Her score was a nine, like Gloss and she's clearly angry she got a lower score than Cato. She begins to storm out the room, but grabs a vase and throws it at the wall before she leaves. It shatters into a hundred pieces and Enobaria steps on the shards as she leaves.
Cato doesn't leave because he wants to see what Katniss scored. All the other tributes scored relatively well, none of them were below a seven. As they get to District 9, Cato inadvertently sucks in his breath when he sees the picture of Syra. Her chin is held high and her hair tumbles over her shoulders in glossy curls. She gets an eight.
"Fuck..." he groans and looks away from her picture. He's feeling... Guilty. But why though? Lots of people have sex with people they barely know. It happens all the time. He's not dating anyone, and like Syra said, they're only doing it so they don't have to feel lonely before they go into the arena. There's nothing wrong with it... So why does he feel guilty?
"Oh shut the fuck up," he mutters to himself and looks back at the screen. He has to stop acting like an adolescent boy and focus on the task at hand; the games.
It takes another moment for Katniss's score to be revealed, but he's happy with the result. She got an eleven, like him, and her partner got a ten.
He gets up and makes his way out to join the prep team so he can get ready for the interviews tonight. He's interested to see how these are going to turn out.
"Holy fuck..." That's all Cato can say when he sees Katniss that night.
"What?" she asks, her stormy grey eyes glaring at him.
"You look really good, sparky." he says and she looks away, red immediately filling her cheeks. Cato wasn't lying, she did look really good. Cinna didn't want to completely expose her, but he did look a little more... Risque than usual. She's wearing a deep blue dress, because if fire can get hot enough it can turn blue, with shimmering golden accents on the hem and the bust line. She has long golden earings on and a sapphire cuff accompanying her left ear as well. Haymitch is wearing a dark blue suit to match to match her and he even has matching gold cufflinks. The latter soon comes over and puts his arm around Katniss's shoulders, towing her away from Cato.
"Stop flirting, kid." he hisses in her ear. Katniss throws an apologetic look at Cato but follows Haymitch none the less. He hauls her over to Effie, who squeals and starts to fix their clothing.
"Oh, you two look incredible! Definitely far better than any of the other tributes!" she squeals. "Now, don't forget to hold your chin high and smile!"
Cato tries to stand still as his stylist picks at his hair and adjusts his suit. His suit is similar to the color of his Parade outfit; a dark, stony grey. His stylist taps his chin, forcing him to hold it up higher.
"You'll be on in ten minutes, Cato! Now for God sakes, try to help me so I can finish!" the man exclaims. Cato has to resist the urge to punch him in his little, fat face. The man seems to realize that he has angered him, so he finishes his final touches quickly and runs out of the room. Cato breathes in and out slowly, trying to control his raging temper. He really has to do something about it.
"Well, don't you look amazing."
Cato doesn't even bother turning around. It's Syra. He hears the clip-clop of her heels as she crosses the room, and then her hands on his shoulders. She presses a kiss to his neck, her lips lingering on his skin. She begins kissing his earlobe and he lets out an involuntary groan. But then his eyes snap open and he realizes this isn't right. He quickly turns around and grabs her wrists, holding her at arms length away from him. She's wearing a low-cut, shimmering gold gown and he has a feeling that she's done that to entice him even more... As if she needed to. She's staring at him with that innocent look in her eyes.
"We need to stop this. I barely know you!" He shouts at her. She stands straight, ripping her arms out of his grasp. He sees that he has left red marks on her wrist.
"Why does that matter? It's just- it's just sex! Why should it matter if we know each other? It hasn't before!" she screams at him. Her hands are planted on her scalp and she looks like she plans on ripping her hair out.
"Wait, what-"
"It didn't matter that we didn't know each other. It was just sex, that's all it was! You won't have to say you love them, just sleep with them. That's all it is! All it is!" she screams. She's clawing at her face now, her nails leaving bright red marks along her cheeks.
Until now, Cato has watched her with pure fright. This woman has gone completely insane. But soon he sees little drops of blood sliding down her cheeks. He runs forwards and pulls her hands away from her face, trying desperately to stop her from hurting herself. She's crying now. Cato pulls her close, kissing her head and murmuring comforting words.
They may have survived the games, but they're all broken now. Katniss, Syra, Johanna, Haymitch, Cato and even Finnick for God's sake. Cato often finds himself lost in memories, that make him incapable of moving. He finds himself almost unable to breathe. After that he'll do what Haymitch does, drink himself into oblivion. No one knows yet, no one has seen him. But he's scared that one day someone will see him and they'll label him as a weak, broken and just as insane as the rest of them.
Katniss stands among the other tributes, waiting for Haymitch to make his way on to the stage. Her interview had really, really shaken up the audience. She had just spoken to Caesar about how she was sad to be going, how she felt that the Capitol didn't love her anymore. The audience had erupted, screaming that it wasn't true. Haymitch had told her to try to do anything to stop these games, because throwing all these victors into an arena is just hell waiting to break loose. So, that's why Haymitch told her to try to stop these games. She couldn't think of anything other than claiming that the Capitol didn't love her, in hopes the Capitol could maybe riot against Snow. However, that's very doubtful. That wasn't the end of it though. Of course, Caesar asked her to twirl for the crowd. And to everyone's shock, and her fright, her dress began to go up in flames. The satin fabric was eaten away by flames and was replaced by a beaded grey dress. When she spread her arms, wings sprouted from the fabric under her arms. She looked like a Mockingjay, the bird on her pin.
Haymitch comes on the stage and stands beside Caesar, causing the crowed to erupt in applause. Haymitch's face is grim and serious. Caesar tries to joke with him, in attempt to make him smile, but of course there's nothing to make him even so much as twitch.
"So, Haymitch, we haven't seen you fight in almost twenty-five years! Are you excited, nervous, anxious...?" Caesar asks when he realizes Haymitch won't react to his jokes.
"Well, I'm sure as hell not excited and I'm not nervous nor anxious." Haymitch answers gruffly, looking away from the stupid lavender colored man.
"Ah, come now Haymitch! There seems to be something troubling you," Caesar says with his purple lips drawn into a pout.
"I just don't think a pregnant woman should have to go and fight for her life and that of her baby." he says and for a split second there's silence, but then the people explode.
Katniss has never seen an audience react in such a way before. They were on their feet, screaming and trying to run out of their seats to get closer to the stage. Caesar does his best to calm them, but soon realizes it's useless and turns back to Haymitch.
"Who on earth are you talking about?!" he asks.
"My partner," Haymitch responds and points at Katniss. She knows he must have a reason for doing this, so she tries her best to play along. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Cato staring at her, disbelief written on his face.
"Who's the father!?" Caesar asks. He's screaming now, so he can be heard over the shouts of the people. Haymitch glances back at Katniss, giving her a quick wink before he responds.
"It's not my place to say, they want their privacy. Just now they're very much in love and you should all be ashamed for ripping them apart like this. And if they die, it will be because of all of you!"
Katniss stands in the bathroom, trying her best to wipe off the heavy makeup they had on her eyes.
"They won't stop it..." she says quietly to Haymitch, who is sitting on the edge of the tub. He has a bottle of amber-colored liquor in his hand and he takes a swig before answering.
"They might. If the Capitol citizens think it's their fault that all these beloved Victors will die, they could try to stop it. Oh, by the way, I've heard some rumors that many people believe that Cato is the father of the child." he says. He snorts and takes another swig of the drink.
"Of course they do," she grumbles and continues furiously rubbing at her eye but the damn makeup won't move.
A loud knock on the door interrupts her and makes Haymitch jump and tumble backwards into the tub.
"JesusfuckingChristwhothehellisthisfucker-"
Katniss is impressed he was able to get all those words out before he could even manage to get to sit up. She leaves him to pull himself out and goes to the door to see who it is. She opens it a crack, but then someone literally kicks it open. She stumbles backwards and nearly falls over, but someone reaches out to steady her before she can make contact with the ground. She looks up and sees those familiar icy eyes.
"Is it true?" he asks.
"No. Don't tell anyone, but no it's not. Haymitch said that because he thought he could stop the Games. But I don't think they will." she answers.
"No, they won't. Our mentor just came and told us." he says. Katniss takes a deep breath and stands up, rubbing her hands over her face.
"It was worth a try I guess," she says quietly. Cato nods and stands beside her, biting his lip and crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you ready?" she asks him.
He looks at her, and for maybe the third time in the time they've known each other, he actually smiles. It's not a fake smile, or a smirk, or a cocky smile. It's a genuine smile. It show's the wrinkles around his eyelids, it manages to hide the shadows that were under his eyes and makes him look almost happy. She knows that he is rarely happy, not since the last Games, a year ago. She knows that the reasons why he is sad. A year ago, he had a purpose in life; winning the Games and bringing honor to his District. He was well liked and respected. But this year, he sees how terrible the Games are and that winning them would bring nothing but shame and sadness to him personally. And in choosing Katniss over winning, his District now feels nothing but hate towards him now. So that's why he's sad, because he doesn't know what to do with his life now, and has lost all the people he once loved.
Well, almost all of them.
Katniss steps forwards and wraps her arms around his chest. He tenses and looks down at her, wondering what she's doing.
"You're not alone, you know that right?" she whispers.
"What-"
"You heard me. I know you often feel that way, but you're not," she says. She steps away and looks at him, showing him that she wasn't kidding. "Though don't you dare think that I've gone soft!" she snaps and punches him in the arm.
He rubs his arm and nods. Despite being small, she packs a hard punch.
Cato returns to his room, feeling a little better since his talk with Katniss. He was generally worried that she was pregnant, and he didn't know what that would've been like to deal with in the arena. She also told him about the alliance she and Haymitch were planning. He agreed, despite the fact he wasn't very trusting of Finnick. Hopefully, at least for the first day, neither of them will have to use their weapons on each other.
He goes back to his room without bothering to talk to Enobaria, who's on the couch. Instead, he goes straight to the shower. He turns the water on hot ands stands in it for what seems to be an hour. It's relaxing for him. He was about ready to turn the water off, but the sound of the bathroom door alerts him to the other person who has entered the bathroom. Despite the glass of the shower being fogged, the white of her skin and ebony of her hair gives her away.
She opens the sliding glass door and steps inside, looking up at him, not with a wide-eyed innocent look, but a look of determination. She doesn't have anything on at all this time, not even a nightgown. The red claw marks she left on her cheeks have been healed, showing no signs they were ever there.
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier. You shouldn't have seen that," she says quietly. She starts to press her lips against his collar-bone and he doesn't stop her. "Let me make it up to you." she whispers.
Cato doesn't stop her, though he feels like he should. He shouldn't be using her just for her body, but soon his animalistic urges overrule his feelings of guilt.
The next day he stands in the glass tube. He's breathing slowly. He's not scared, just apprehensive. He has decided what his priorities are;
1) Find a weapon.
2) Find Katniss.
3) Take out the most dangerous tributes, which in this case is District 1 and Enobaria.
He isn't going to look for Syra, she told him not to when she was leaving the night before. She said it's not his job to protect her, that she doesn't need it and that she knows that someone else is more important to him, and he didn't argue.
He feels the pedestal beneath his feet begin to move. For several long moments, everything is black. When he eventually reaches the top, the first thing he notices is the smell of salt water.