A/N-Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I never thought that I'd ever get 100...dawww, you are all so amazing. I had lots of trouble thinking up something for this chapter, but finally I decided to neglect my schoolwork and type this up today. :)
Katniss:
The boom of a cannon wakes us. I scramble up, muscles tense. The others also have jumped up, weapons in hand.
"I hope it's Marvel." Cato remarks quietly. He is the only one who is still sitting calmly against the tree. I look around, and notice that Marvel is the only member of the alliance that isn't here.
"Where is he?" I ask. Everyone is looking at Cato, confused, although not upset.
"I sent him to track down the girl from 5."
"You could have sent me…" Clove mutters. She is still sulking about yesterday, and she glares pointedly at him.
"She had a pretty wicked knife with her. Perfect for throwing." He grins. Clove giggles.
"That's what I thought." She smirks. I realize what they're saying. Cato wanted Marvel out of his way, and this was the perfect opportunity. If Marvel killed the girl, good. If the girl killed him…well, wasn't that the entire point?
"You are soo evil." Glimmer purrs. It seems like she has not given up yet. "Just my type."
Cato rolls his eyes. "If you want, I can do something really evil and prearrange your death as well."
That shut her up.
Cato:
"We need to leave. I want to get Lover Boy today." I get up and put my sword into my belt.
"What? Why him?" Katniss stares at me as she hoists her bag over her shoulders.
"Aww…Lover Girl doesn't want her boyfriend to be killed. How sweet." Clove, on the other hand, seems quite happy. She is packing everything into her rucksack.
"He's going to die sooner or later. I'd rather it be sooner," I reply, smirking. Katniss turns away and mutters something unintelligible.
"Do you think that he's in the forest? Or somewhere else?" Clove's voice is full of excitement. She can be so childish when she's happy.
"I don't know. We should split up to look," I reply. By splitting up, we have a greater chance of finding Lover Boy. The arena is huge, and he could be anywhere.
"Are you serious?" Clove's grin falters and she looks at me questioningly. She probably was hoping that I'd have her back, like always. Just like her to expect me to be with her all the time.
"Nooo…I was just joking," I answer sarcastically.
The three of them look at me, waiting for orders. I love the feeling of control, of them depending on me when I can easily kill them all.
"Clove, you're with Glimmer. Katniss will be with me."
"Wow Cato, thank you so much for actually referring to me by name." Katniss rolls her eyes.
"You should be thankful that he's with you." Clove hisses. "You probably won't even have a scratch on you when you get back."
"Shut up, Clove." I growl.
"You probably just chose her because you don't want Glimmer up your butt. Literally." Clove snickers as Glimmer gives a little gasp of shock.
"Shut up." I say again. Clove stops snickering, but a smirk is still on her face.
"For that, I'm not going to save him for you if we find him first." It's my turn to grin.
Clove narrows her eyes. "Cato, I swear, if you kill him before I get there…"
"You'll do what?" I smirk.
She crosses her arms and glares at me, a pout forming on her lips. Although she seems tough, Clove is still a little girl inside. I sigh, relenting.
"Fine. Whoever finds him will send up smoke. And if you don't get him, set up camp and continue searching tomorrow. We're not stopping until he's dead."
"Lovely plan." Clove is smiling again. "Let's go, Glimmer."
Clove dashes away into the bushes. Glimmer pauses for a moment before following.
"You know, Cato…it's not too late to change your mind."
"Let's go." I grab Katniss' arm and sprint out of the clearing in the opposite direction. When I look back, Glimmer is still standing there, mouth open in shock.
Katniss:
"Hey, can you slow down a little?" I try to catch my breath as we run. Cato's been sprinting ever since we've left Glimmer and Clove.
His pace slows a tiny amount. I sigh.
"I mean, can you slow down a lot? You're running as if we're being chased by mutants." I take a few breaths as he drops back, now jogging.
"Clove can keep up," he smirks, as if it explained his irrational speed.
"Well I'm not Clove!" I snap.
"Of course not. I forgot who I was with." He replies quietly. I glance at him, and he actually seems serious.
"You care about Clove a lot, don't you?" I'm genuinely curious. He abruptly turns his head.
"Do I?"
"Not in that way. You look out for her like she's your little sister." He does. I've seen him give up what he wants and do what Clove wants when she starts getting upset. And she's the only one who he seems to trust.
"Maybe. She can be really annoying sometimes, but she's a good ally."
"And you'll just kill her if you're the last ones left?" I question.
"If that's what it takes to win." He replies stiffly. But the way that his fists clench ever so slightly, I can tell that it won't be so easy.
…
"It's getting dark," I say quietly. The past few hours we've been following the river, and looking around at the areas along the banks. Knowing that Peeta would most likely be somewhere near a water source, I had tried to convince Cato to turn back to the forest, but with no prevail.
I remember the conversation.
"We should get back to the forest…"
"I'm not stupid…Lover Boy will be somewhere near water. He's definitely not near the lake, so this is our best chance." He replies.
"I'm aware." Cato keeps jogging. The sun went down half an hour ago, and it can't be long before the anthem starts and the projection is shown in the sky. We heard a cannon around noon, but there was no smoke in the sky, so Cato didn't seem too worried.
"Can we stop for the night?"
"God, you really aren't Clove. She'd want to keep going." He mutters. He seems to be tired as well, I can tell because he's talked normally to me for the past hour. No smirks or smug looks. I remember that he basically hasn't slept at all since we've been sent into the Arena. The past two nights he's been keeping watch.
"Starting to regret dragging me along now?" I raise an eyebrow.
"You're way better than Glimmer, at least." He pauses for a second. "Fine. We'll stop for tonight."
We find a small spot under a huge willow tree with graceful swaying branches. No sooner had we set down our bags, did the anthem start to play. I dart out from under the curtain of leaves and take a few steps forward to get a better view of the sky.
The seal of the Capitol is projected onto a hidden screen, and then comes the pictures.
Marvel and the girl from 5. That's all. The sky goes dark.
"Looks like she killed Marvel and then someone else got her after," I say.
We get back under the canopy of branches, and set out our sleeping bags.
"Shoot. We can't light a fire, or Clove will think that we've got Lover Boy. We only have one match anyways…" Cato says.
He slumps down against the tree, head down. He must really be exhausted.
"You do realize that no one in the arena will attack us, right? They're all too busy trying to stay alive."
Cato lifts his head, eyes reflecting the shafts of moonlight filtering through the swaying branches. "No one?"
"You really don't have to keep watch. Even if something does happen, we'll probably wake up before we get hurt."
"Probably? Relying on chance, aren't you?" Even as he questions me, he walks over to his sleeping bag.
"Just go to sleep, Cato." I roll my eyes and yawn, climbing into my own bag.
He doesn't answer, but I know that he is awake. I seem to be having trouble falling asleep myself. Gusts of icy wind whistle against the leaves, and the temperature seems to have dropped at least forty degrees.
Even as I snuggle into my sleeping bag, I feel the chill against my body.
Seems like the Game makers are trying to freeze us, because the temperature soon drops another ten degrees.
I start shivering involuntarily. Stupid sleeping bag. If only it was made of cotton or wool or something, not just this scratchy waterproof fabric.
As my teeth then start to knock together, Cato's voice comes from my left. "Stop shivering. It's getting annoying."
"S-sorry. It's just so c-cold." My teeth chatter, making a small clicking noise. I see my breath forming in the air, a white cloud of fog.
"It's because you're so skinny," Cato replies matter-of-factly. I lean up on my elbows and stare at him. He's sitting in his sleeping bag against the tree, a knife on the ground near him. He doesn't even look cold.
"They really must be desperate." He mutters to himself.
I curl up into a ball and try to wrap the thin fabric around me. Still, the cold seems to grip me.
I hear Cato sigh. "You can sleep next to me if you want." He finally says.
I poke my head out. "Really?"
"Do you want to freeze to death?" He sounds annoyed.
I scramble up and position my sleeping bag so that I'm leaning against the tree too, about a foot away from him. I can feel his body heat from here, and I resist the urge to move even closer. That would just be awkward.
"Aren't you cold at all?" I ask. He looks at me, amused.
"No." He grins.
"What's so funny?"
"The Capitol makes really nice padded sleeping bags." He replies, still grinning.
"Wait…your sleeping bag is padded?" I cry, indignant. I reach out to feel the dark material. But it's the same as my sleeping bag, thin and scratchy.
"I never said that it was." He snickers. "You should see the look on your face."
"Haha…very funny. Guess I'll be freezing to death after all." I reply dryly.
"Stupid Game makers. What the hell are they doing? Good that I'm not with Glimmer." He mutters to himself again, this time so quiet that I have to strain to hear it.
"W-what are you talking about?" I ask, confused. The shivering has started up again. I stare at a patch of moonlight as I wait for his answer.
"You can be so stupid sometimes. Isn't it obvious?"
"Umm…no?" I reply slowly. Is there something that I'm missing.
The temperature seems to lower even more in the short silence that follows.
"They're just going to keep lowering the temperature until I do what they want." He says quietly.
"W-what?"
Suddenly Cato's arm is around my shoulders, and he pulls me towards him. My heart pounds in my chest, and the sudden warmth is surprising. I start struggling, and his grip loosens immediately.
"What the hell are you doing?" I demand. I feel my cheeks going red.
"Trust me, I hate it too. Bet that the Capitol is loving it though." He replies scathingly.
As if in response, the temperature plummets downwards again, and the wind picks up.
"Fine. But don't you dare try to do anything to me." I try to put on my most serious voice as I scoot closer to him again.
"Actually, nevermind. I really don't care if you freeze." He smirks and moves away, blue eyes flashing.
"Seriously? You're horrible." I scowl.
A particularly cold gust of wind sweeps through the leaves of the willow tree, sending another round of shivers through my body.
"Persistent, aren't they?" He replies innocently.
"Like you said, they're just going to keep trying to freeze us until you do what they want." I say. In truth, I didn't really mind being so close to him. It made me feel safe.
I scoot towards him again, but this time he stays stationary. When there is only a few inches between us, I stop.
I can hear Cato snickering under his breath. I ignore him and try to take in the warmth radiating from his body.
"Looks like the Girl on Fire still needs to rely on others for warmth." He smirks.
I do not answer, because it's true.
How was it? Lots of you guys asked for some fluff, and here it is. Not bad, eh? :D
Anyways, the story is picking up a bit now... Please leave a review if you enjoyed reading, I absolutely love getting them, and they inspire me to update faster.
I'm probably being ridiculous, but would you guys be able to scrape up 150 in all by Friday? If you do, I'll update Friday/Saturday night. If not, see you next week!