Enjoy. (:

Cato Vindisi

I wake up - the blankets surrounding me in the tent smell like her. I can't even say her name, it's too depressing. It hurts.

Alright, Cato. You've loved and you've cried your tears. Now you have to kill again.

I grab my sword. No mercy.

For her.

I trudge in the woods for about two hours. The sun is hot and it bakes my skin, but that doesn't stop me from hunting and avenging her. My sword is worn and a bit dull, and I make sure the cameras can see it. I'm in need of a sponsorship from the Capitol, and I know with my amount of fans, it'll come soon.

The ever-familiar sound of leaves crunching catches my attention. "Cato!"

"You can't catch me, Cato!" she giggles and runs away. I know this voice; it belongs to Chloe.

That's not possible. "Get back here!" I growl. I start chasing after her, and within a half an hour, she's lead me back to the open field - the Cornucopia.

"Who are you?" I hold my sword out defensively in front of me. "Chloe's dead. Who are you?" I repeat. She's just standing there, in the center of the field, wearing a short pure white dress, her hair in a very high curled bun, and a bridal headpiece. She looks beautiful, like she never died. All of her injuries were treated, and she's brand new. Her soft, shiny blonde hair is too real, I just want to reach out and touch it, but she's too far away. She motions for me to walk to her. Should I approach?

"Come here, Cato!" she chortles. Her voice is like wind chimes blowing in a cool summer breeze. I raise my sword and stalk over to her, ready to attack, just in case…

As I stride closer, she fades more and more until she's gone, disappearing into thin air. "Chloe?"

"Cato," I hear a hiss from the other side of the field - Peeta Mellark, dubbed 'Bakerboy' or just simply 'Mellark.'

"Where's Katniss?" he grunts. "I just saw her! She's not dead!"

"Are you kidding, baker?" I roar. "This has 'Gamemaker trick' written all over it. I saw Chloe. You saw Katniss. They're… they're both dead."

"Katniss isn't dead," he chokes out. I smirk.

"Yes, she is. I don't regret killing her," I snap, suddenly agitated again. "Katniss Everdeen deserved to die."

"Say that again!" Mellark snarls. "Say that again and see what happens!"

"I said, Katniss Everdeen deserved to die. Sorry if you can't face the truth," I shrug, smirking. And then he starts sprinting towards me, and I can't help but laugh. "Hey, baker, slow down there!"

"You can do this, Cato baby," it's her voice again, and whenever the wind blows, I hear it. This is a sick Gamemaker trick. She's dead. You don't need to rub it in my face.

"Katniss!" Suddenly Peeta stops in his tracks and listens to the wind. "Katniss, please, if you're here, show yourself!"

"She's not here," I snarl. "How stupid are you? This has 'Gamemakers' written all over it."

"No, Cato. You don't understand. Katniss is here. I feel her!" Peeta exclaims, turning all soft again.

"What do you not understand, Mellark? This is a trick!" I advance towards him, and he soon readies himself. "Even if Katniss were here, I would kill her again with my own hands." Now I'm really adding fuel to the fire. It's always fun battling an enraged opponent, as I've learned in my Training Center back home.

He grabs my shoulder to hold me in place and knifes my stomach. It stings, but not by much. Mellark isn't that stealthy, let's just say, and I'm taller than him by about six, seven inches, so I know I can easily take him.

"What about that little girl from 11?" I ask, grinning. "Weren't you allies with her, too?"

"Until your little plaything killed her!" Peeta yells. "Rue was only twelve! How could she be so heartless?"

"Enough with the talk," I smirk again. I thrust my sword in his direction and it meets his abdomen. Mellark shrieks in pain, like a little girl. "Tell me, 12, how did you manage to last longer than the bloodbath?"

He doesn't respond, as he is pondering that himself.

"Ready to join Katniss?" he shakes his head, afraid. He doesn't want to die. No one dies.

"Please, Cato," Peeta's bawling. "I promised her I would win. Please let me win!"

"How about…" I begin, letting the words sink in, "How about I take you on as an ally. Two-person Career pack, just this once. We'll find Thresh together and kill him in cold blood."

I think this is a pretty good compromise, but of course it's a lie. I would never ally a District 12 Tribute, so I'll just kill him when he helps me murder Thresh. Good plan, Cato. Good plan. Your trainer would be proud.

"Fine," Mellark grumbles.

"Great," I smirk. "Let's hunt."

LINE BREAK

There's a section of the Arena where the grass is as tall as Peeta's shoulders, where no Tribute would dare to enter. It looked like it was a good source of water, food, and protection.

I should have kept Chloe here.

"Tributes!" A rough voice shouts over the wheat stalks. It can only be one person: Thresh.

Death is near for two of us. This is the final battle of the 74th Annual Hunger Games.

Peeta tries to flee, presuming that we'd both kill each other and he'd win, but I grab his arm and he stumbles. "Where you going, baker? The fun's just starting!"

He's balking, refusing to die. I punch him in the stomach to stop him from moving, then wrap my arms around his head and jerk it to the side, his neck broken.

Cannon, check.

"District 2," Thresh huffs. "Career."

I stifle a laugh, even in this dire situation. He steps closer to me until we're a good battling distance away. All of Panem has been anticipating this moment from the start.

Thresh waves his sickle in front of my face and it lightly drags across my arm. "Is that all you got, 11?"

I smirk and jam my sword towards the brute, but he reflects it, and my sword flies behind me. I've been disarmed. Relying on my strength now, I grab the sickle from his hands, but his grip is tight.

"Give. Me. The. Sickle," I demand. I rip it away from him, thinking about what he did to Chloe.

He killed her. Now I'll kill him.

Thresh is now weaponless, so I slash the sickle across his stomach, blood staining his coat scarlet. I have some spare rope in my jacket pocket from Chloe's backpack, and I whip it out. It's a good ten feet long, so it's a bit hard to maneuver.

What can I do with this?

I don't have a lot of time to think about it; Thresh's fist meets my head and the impact blows me to the floor. My head is spinning and I can see clearly, but I have to win this. I've come this far.

He steps closer to me, regaining his sickle, and is about to bring it down to slice me open, but I quickly wrap the rope around his legs and pull. He lands backward on his back, temporarily paralyzed. My sword is a couple feet away, so I race to it and return to Thresh. Fear flashes through his eyes - he probably has a family, maybe even a girlfriend who he plans on proposing to.

Would I want to be killed if I were in his position?

His black coffee-colored eyes bore into my mine. He says nothing, but he's begging me not to die. The rope is wrapped tightly around his legs. He's helpless.

Why are you thinking so hard about this? Kill him! The Capitol is watching; your making a fool out of yourself!

"Do it, Cato," the wind blows again, and her voice rings. It puts me over the edge.

I bring my sword down on Thresh's torso, cutting his upper and lower body in half.

The final cannon of the Game fires.

"Ladies and gentleman, I give you Cato Vindisi of District 2, Victor of the 74th Annual Hunger Games!" Templesmith's voice bounces off the walls of the ghost-like Arena.

I did it. I won - for Chloe.

Again, this story isn't over yet. There's still going to be a couple chapters left!

DEATH REPORTS

DISTRICT 11 MALE [THRESH SAFFRON]
Cut in half by Cato Vindisi's sword

DISTRICT 12 MALE [PEETA MELLARK]
Neck snapped by Cato Vindisi

CONGRATULATIONS TO CATO VINDISI, WINNER OF THE 74TH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES!