Hey guys! :D

For an unknown reason, I had lots of inspiration for this chapter, despite fo the very few reviews on chapter 15

Anyway, it's very long but I couldn't stop writing!

Enjoy!

Chapter 16

We don't talk much more. I feel like we have more to tell each other, some things we're not able to say on live television. Like how it soothes me down to have his back against mine now. How I feel understood whenever he's around. How painful it will be to have to kill him. There are words that are better unspoken.

This time, I'm the first one to be woken up. Damn Marvel, I'll kill you soon for snoring so loud. Now, my first concern is to find food. I guess it's time to show the audience that I can fend for myself.

I travel the woods until I find a place to stand, half-hidden by bushes but still with a scope of movement for when the time comes. I stay still, only listening to the sound of the wind through the foliage, seeing on the corner of my eyes the sun slowly starting his arc in the sky. I hardly ever breathe, as silent as I can, gripping my knife's handle, ready to throw.

I only have to wait ten minutes for a rabbit to show up. It isn't very big, but I guess it'll be enough for a decent breakfast. The little thing must desire its passing very much as it comes even closer; and in a blink, it's dead. The blade pierced its neck, it's a perfect shot. I stay a little more at my spot, shoot another rabbit and make my way back to the camp.

I manage to start a fire; I happily had the great idea to learn how to do, and peel the rabbits' skin. The boys finally get out of the tent when it's almost cooked. Marvel stretches out but suddenly goes hysterical seeing the flames

"Are you crazy?" he tries to smother it but I unsheathe my knife and threat his throat "They'll see us!" he barks

"Then, let them come by us" Cato shrugs

"Yeah, it's been a while since I didn't have the chance to slit someone's throat"

He backs down, probably hungry too and we cut pieces of the rabbits to eat for breakfast

"District One's rabbit is better" Marvel says with his mouth full

"Well, as you may have seen, we're not in a cooking contest, so you swallow or you might be the next meal"

"Still. District One's better"

"You should be glad I brought back food, spoiled rottenness"

"I'm neither spoiled nor rotten!" he rebels

This time he's really getting on my nerves

"Want to bet? I'm sure if I cut your stomach open we'll see how much of a decayed fruit you are!"

I pounce on him, ready to eviscerate his annoying being. He's screaming like a little girl, trying to reach his spear, his precious spear, but it's too far away.

"Calm down Little Lamb!" I hear Cato says behind me. That makes me even angrier. He's not supposed to call me like that when everyone can hear it! He's not supposed to call me like that at all!

"Yeah Little Lamb, get off of me!" Marvels mocks

With a furious cry, I hit him. But not fast enough. Cato had anticipated my motion and had dodged the blow by pouncing on me. I only cut a little Marvel's flesh; and my rage is far from soothed. Maybe having Cato so close would not have disturbed me in other circumstances, but now I struggle like a fury to roll him to the side as he's over me. He's not moving though, holding on to his position, not letting me go.

"She's crazy! She's a crazy bitch!"Marvels shouts, watching closely his arm

"Let me show you what real pain is!" I groan

I scratch Cato like I could make my way through his guts to finish off Marvel. I've been holding back too long for me to control myself anymore. When there's blood under my nails, he eventually reacts.

"You calm down!"

"No! It's your fault! Let me go!"

"So that you would kill him? Never"

Only then I notice Marvel's backpack is no longer at his place. So is Marvel. He's heading straight to the wood's edge, spear in his hand and backpack on the shoulder

"Marvel!" Cato barks "Come back!"

"No! She's way too insane for me" and with that, his silhouette has vanished between the trunks. Cato waits for another minute before finally getting off me. There are aunts in my arms, where his knee was and I shake it vigorously to clear them. I'm not able to shoot anyone. Maybe that's why I don't run after Marvel to finish him.

It takes me a few minutes to back down, but I'm still not appeased.

"So, I guess we're the only Careers left" Cato gets closer again and reaches his hand up to my face. I catch it and twist it, bad actually "Are you crazy or something?" he exclaims, massaging his wrist.

"You don't touch me" I articulate

"Ho, really?" I can see he's getting angry too. He tries again to touch my cheek but I parry and lower his arm, keeping it down. Mine is outstretched, fighting to control him and to keep his hand up to my knee.

"I would not have any remorse killing you right now"

"You lie" He takes a step closer

"I don't"

He comes closer, his chest almost touching mine. I nearly feel him breathing.

"Someone once told me that everyone lied around here, unless of being an idiot. You're not an idiot Clove, are you?"

I was not expecting that. At all. I stay quiet, open-mouthed, staring at him in disbelief.

"That's what I thought"

And it's over. He gets rid of my hold and leaves to the other side of the camp.

I can't believe he saw I was lying. I can't believe he did it thanks to me, thanks to an argument I found so great. I could have carried on, getting deeper in my lying, but for an unknown reason, I couldn't. Just as I could not deal with him hating me for now.

I grab a first aid kit in one of the backpacks and breathe deeply. I still have my knife; just in case.

"Here" I swallow.

I sit next to him on the fresh grass and hand him the wallet. He stares at me in a blank tone. It hurts much more that it should be.

"Look, I shouldn't have scratched you. But you shouldn't have called me Little Lamb on live TV" He smiles; the wave of relief flooding me is anything but normal.

"Is it the closer to an apology you can do?"

"You wouldn't manage better"

His smile widens, revealing his white teeth. A little bit lower, red strips of skinned flesh mark his neck. I soak a piece of cotton with medical lotion and hand it to him. He doesn't move though.

"You did it, you heal it"

I sigh and apply the medicine on the scratches. They turn a brighter shade of red but Cato isn't moving a finger.

"Done" I announce

"Could have been worse"

"Still. I shouldn't have. You're my ally"

He rubs my cheek with his thumb, grinning; this time I don't stop him

"It's a reminder. That your knives aren't the only sharp things you've got" he adds like he was telling a secret.

It's my turn to smile now. He seems satisfied. Well, almost

"Actually, I'm the one who's thankful. Marvel was starting to get annoying" he admits

"He's always been; you just didn't realize"

"Maybe you're a little easy to irritate" he grins

"Them maybe you shouldn't try to get on my nerves"

"Is that a threat? Dear Little Lamb, you know as much as me you won't be able to hurt me"

He's right. But I'm certainly not approving.

"Just like I would be unable to hurt you" he whispers

I don't know why I come closer to him. I don't know why I suddenly have goose bumps. I don't know why he wraps his arm around me. But we do. Maybe it's because it's been six days, six days in the Arena and as much I didn't have a proper sleep. Maybe it's because no one has ever act this way towards me. Maybe it's because it seems the right thing to do. Maybe it's because it offers me a brief sensation of comfort. Why, I don't know; but the last thing I'm aware of before drifting into sleep is that I don't want it to end.

I open my eyes to the violent pain in my left arm. I can't move it; a long blade is pinned in my flesh. A sword. I try to remove it with all my strength, but the more I struggle, the more it hurts. What's going on? Someone unzips the tent's entry and gets in. I suddenly feel so small in front of the huge muscle mass that overhangs me. Cato.

"Help me!" I choke

"Help you? Why would I help you?" he grins, in the way he did before the Games "You're nothing. Nothing to me. Nothing to anyone!"

He sticks another blade in my right arm. I let out groan of pain. Why is he doing this? I can feel my throat tighten

"Did you really think I liked you? Ho dear, that's a good one! 'I guess you're the good kind of jerk'" he simpers "You're pathetic!"

Another blade pierces my stomach and I scream; but nothing could hurt more than his words. I didn't want to die like that. I didn't want him to kill me. Before I can stop it, I feel a single tear running down my cheek.

"You've been so easy to fool. Poor little Clove believed she meant something. She even believed someone could like her. Now look at you! You're miserable!"

I struggle as he leans to pierce my neck. I can see in his eyes the glimmer of madness he had when killing District Three. And now it's my turn.

"Clove! Clove!" When I open my eyes again, it's noon. Bright light is blinding me and I can feel someone shaking my shoulders.

"It's okay Clove. It was just a nightmare" First, I'm tempted to take a step back from him. But then I know he's right. It was just a nightmare.

I can't move. I'm still in shock of what just happened

"Clove? Is that alright" I look into his eyes. There's no trace of madness anymore. All I can see is concern.

I get on my feet

"You should have waked me up earlier. It's at least noon"

He gets up too, hesitant

"Yeah, it is. You didn't miss anything though"

"Fine" An awkward silence follows my words and I get away from him without even knowing why I feel this urge.

I had a nightmare, for the first time in my life since I can remember; because I've never been afraid of anything. My father used to tell my brother than being strong meant being fearless, so I decided I had to be too. And now I just awoke from a nightmare. I'm finally scared of something. That simple fact makes me feel horribly weak, but not as much as the rest. I'm scared all of that might be wrong; that the only person that ever cared for me could be lying. The Cato of my dream was right. I'm pathetic.

The moment I go back to him, a cannon sounds. Someone was killed by a non-Career? Or maybe that was Marvel spearing a tribute; I doubt so. He's too weak. A second one fires one minute or so later.

I glance at Cato. He's looking at me too. What just happened? A reciprocal kill? That hardly ever happens. So that leaves the idea of a tribute killing the others.

"One must be Peeta" I think aloud

"You must be right. But who's the other?" he asks

"I hope it's not Fire girl. I want to kill her with my own hands"

We spend the rest of the afternoon wondering for whom the canon fired. The discomfort due to my dream is gone; we both decided to act like nothing ever happened. We're now both focused on the Games, and that's fine, because I don't want to talk about it. Tell him I'm afraid he might be the one to kill me in front of the whole Panem? That's surely not a clever thing to do. Maybe if we were back in District Two…

But you're not

That's right. And I have to sort out my priorities. Winning is the only one I have now.

Finally it's dawn and the Capitol's seal appears. The first face to be shown is Marvel's. It's quite a shock. I didn't expect him to die that fast; Cato neither judging by the look on his face. Saying I feel guilty or that I'll regret him would be lying; I just thought he would survive I know Cato won't blame me for pushing him out of the alliance.

After him comes the tiny girl from Eleven. I guess it's impressive she stayed alive for so long. But her death means something else: Peeta is still alive. How did he manage to survive? According to Cato he's badly wounded, but it's been three days now!

"I can't believe it!" Cato hits the fabric wall of the tent

"You said he was not able to hurt anyone!"

"And that's true! You can't possibly imagine he killed two tributes without one of his legs!"

"No, he couldn't. That leaves Fire girl" I start counting on my fingers "The huge boy from Eleven."

"Who's the third?"

"I think there's still another girl, from Five or Six maybe" I try to remember

"So" he says after a quick pause "Time to think about what happened"

"First Peeta is not dead and couldn't kill anybody; he's not in" I lower my index

"That girl you talked about, she didn't kill anyone did she?"

I take a few seconds to think about it "Not yet"

"I guess she's not in either" he supposes, taking my middle finger down

"That leaves Eleven and Fire Girl"

We think about it in silence for a few minutes, picturing all the possibilities in our heads.

"You know what?" I ask "I think both from Eleven were allies, there's no way the little girl could have survived otherwise. So I think Marvel killed her and big bog killed him"

"I… I don't know" he stutters "They didn't even train together. No, I'd rather say Fire Girl."

"Why?" I don't understand. They didn't even know each other before the Games.

"Because, she volunteered for her sister, remember? She's the kind of the weak sentimental type" he explains.

The more I think about it, the more it seems likely to be it. I can't believe Fire Girl is stupid enough to ally with a twelve years-old girl.

"Well, you must be right. Go and have a sleep now, I'm not tired" I offer

He nods and gets into the tent. It has not been ten minutes than trumpets sound all over the arena. That can only mean one thing: a special announcement.

"Goodnight tributes of the Seventy-Fourth Annual Hunger Games! As you may know it, there are six of you left at the end off the sixth day. Congratulations!"

Is that all he's go to say? Because I already know it.

"Tonight, is a great night. After consultation of the Gamemakers panel, we've got some news for you. This year, tributes, you're part of something Panem has never seen before. This year, a rule has been changed and some of you may participate into something outstanding. This year, both tributes from the same district can be crowned victors. So talk with your district partner, this is a unique chance to be unforgettable. Good luck!"

Here it is! I hope you enjoyed it! :D

I'm not totally satisfied with the final speech of the Gamemakers but I didn't see how to express it otherwise

About the Marvel/Clove fight; Have you ever wondered why Marvel was alone when he killed Rue? Well I have, and this is my little hypothesis ;)

I'll try to update soon,

I love youuuu :D