A/N: Oh my goodness. I had six pages done this evening, and then I typed up another 7. It's 11: 45 pm right now. xD
Anyways, this was a fun chapter. I love writing. *giggles*
Enjoy! :)
Cato:
I have trained for everything that I would ever need, even this. Even if I don't have a mask, I know what to do.
Two quick breaths. I quickly blow into Katniss' mouth. And then I draw back to see if her chest rises.
It does, but she does not continue breathing on her own. Her chest falls and stays still. I sigh softly and lean down again.
This time it is easier to mold my mouth over hers and deliver another several short breaths. I stop after a second and lift my head again, to see if she has started breathing.
Still…no. I stare down at Katniss, who looks exceptionally serene as she lies on the ground, eyes closed. Her braid was undone while we were fighting the current, so the dark hair fans out on the grass, some wet strands sticking to her cheeks. The rain continues to softly mist downwards, creating the illusion of fog swirling around us.
She is so cold. And small. I can't even pretend that she's a pillow anymore. The thoughts run through my head as I open her mouth slightly and push my lips against her soft, cold ones.
But I also can't believe that she's the Fire Girl.
Katniss:
The first thing that I notice when I wake up is Cato. And…his mouth is on mine. I feel air being blown down my throat, and nearly cough.
He continues breathing into my mouth, oblivious to the fact that I'm awake. I can't say that the feeling isn't enjoyable. Cato's lips are firm and cold, but as he presses them into mine, I can detect warmth.
Finally he lifts his head.
"Oh, you're finally awake." He smirks.
"You were kissing me." I say slowly, eyes flicking up to Cato. He is all wet, as am I, and there is a small scratch on his cheek.
"Correction. I was saving your life. You passed out and weren't breathing." He replies, speaking just as slowly, probably to just annoy me. I glare at him, and he grins.
"Don't you use a mask for mouth to mouth?"
"Well…" He stops mid-sentence as a silver parachute drifts towards us. It lands by my hand, despite the billowing wind that almost sways it from its path.
There is a "2" printed on the side of the metal cartridge. Cato reaches over to grab it and pops open the top.
Inside is a thermos, a note, and…a rubber mask. He hands the thermos to me and removes the mask from the cartridge.
"Wow. Thanks, Enobaria. This would have beenuseful if you'd gotten it to me a few minutes ago." He calls sarcastically.
I stare at the translucent rubber mask as Cato mumbles curses under his breath while reading the note. I don't even bother asking what it says, he'll tell me if he wants to.
"So there's your mask." He finally says, ripping the note to pieces. I watch the shreds of paper blow in the wind and stick to the ground as the rain wets them.
"You were still technically kissing me." I insist. The thermos is hot, and I wrap my hands around it.
"Maybe. But in that case…I took your 'first kiss', didn't I?" Cato smirks. The way that he says it makes me think that he doesn't believe in any of the gooey first kiss stuff. I consider this, and then scowl. Just my luck to have my first technical kiss happen while I'm unconscious.
"And your second one. And third, fourth, and fifth." He continues, tilting his head while he thinks. "I stopped counting after a while."
I stare at him in disbelief. Did I really stay unconscious through all of those?
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. What's in there?" He gestures towards the thermos in my hands. I momentarily forget my annoyance and unscrew the top of the thermos. There's soup inside. Hot, steaming soup with vegetables and chunks of meat floating around in it. I hold it out to him.
"Soup. Do you want some?"
"You and Clove can have it. I'm not hungry." He refuses my offer flatly, not even looking interested.
"Suit yourself." I sniff, staring at the creamy surface of the hot broth.
"We should probably get out of the rain. Not like it matters anyways." Cato chuckles, getting up and moving his bag to under a tree along the bank. I scoot over, careful not to spill the hot soup.
It is a little drier under the branches, and less rain reaches us, but like Cato said, it doesn't make much of a difference. We're both already wet and cold.
"What happened while I was out?" I ask. All I remember is falling towards the river and seeing darkness as the icy depths gripped me.
"You fell into the river, I jumped in and got you, and then you weren't breathing, then Clove refused to do CPR on you, so I did." Cato says it all in one breath, watching as I pour half of the soup into the cap of the thermos and start sipping the other half.
"Oh." I mutter between sips. He saved my life, for the…I don't even know how many times he's risked his life for me.
I hope that someday I can return the favor.
Cato:
I roll my eyes and get a match from my backpack. Clove put a few in there at some point. It's drier under here, so maybe a fire can be started.
There are a few large sticks further into the forest, and I gather them. They are a little damp, but dry enough to fuel a small fire.
After a few tries, a looking, pitiful little flame is slowly licking at the wood. Good enough. It's not like we'll be drying up anytime soon with the rain still going.
Katniss moves closer to the fire, still taking tiny gulps from her half of the soup. She keeps on flicking reproachful glances towards me. I pretend not to notice and just stare at the rushing river.
"Oh my god. Where's my bow?" She suddenly bursts out, nearly dropping the thermos. She looks around wildly, eyes wide.
"In the river, probably." I answer. Katniss stops searching and stares at the water for a moment. Then she turns back to her soup sullenly.
"And I only had it for a day." She scowls.
I don't answer. What am I supposed to say? The bow apparently means a lot to her.
At this rate with this damn excuse of a fire, neither one of us will get dry.
"I'm going to take off my shirt, so don't freak out, ok?" I don't even know why I bother to ask her. Probably because she acted all weird back at the lake. If I was with Clove, she wouldn't blink an eye even if I went completely naked. Not like I have, obviously.
"Sure. Whatever." Katniss is still sulking about her bow, and keeps her eyes on her soup.
I wince as I pull the shirt away from my cut and over my head. The bandage is wet, and I can see red blossoming across the tight cloth.
"I'll get you another bandage." Katniss lifts her head to stare at the blood and dejectedly retrieves a new one from my bag.
"It's worse. You really need some medicine for this, you know…" She tells me once the old bandage is off. I guess that it's worsened, probably because my arm was smashed against those rocks. The wound has opened up again, and there's blood everywhere.
"None of those when you did CPR counted, ok?" Katniss mutters as she dresses the wound. "None of them."
"Of course they didn't. You weren't even conscious, airhead."
"Although I did technically take your first kiss." I smirk. She glares at me, but I can see a hint of red creeping into her face.
"You shouldn't say that to someone who's bandaging your wound." She growls, purposely jostling my shoulder. Pain shoots down my arm, but I continue smirking.
"And did I have the honor of taking yours?" Katniss continues sarcastically. My first kiss, she means. I almost laugh out loud, but contain my amusement in a quiet snicker.
"You wish, Fire Girl."
Katniss:
"Well then." I fire back. I jostle Cato's shoulder again, and secretly smile when I see his fist clench ever so slightly, although his face stays obnoxiously indifferent.
I mean, I've fallen into a river, lost my bow, and been given mouth to mouth by the most dangerous tribute in the 74th Hunger Games. All today. Does he really have to be so cocky and annoy me even more?
I tie the bandage and sit back down and start sipping at my soup again. I know that I'm sulking and may be overreacting, but I can't help it. I've lost one of the only advantages that I had.
I re-braid my wet hair and hunch down, frowning.
.
Just then, there is a rustling from the trees, and Clove appears, cursing and brushing leaves off her clothes.
"You…" She storms up to Cato and throws her knives down on the ground near the fire.
"He wasn't there. I ran around like crazy trying to find him, but he was nowhere." She hisses, glaring at him. "You totally did that so that I wouldn't be there to see you kissing Fire Girl."
"Shut up, Clove. I was not kissing her." Cato replies, annoyed. "And you know that I didn't like it any more than you did."
Oh. Thanks, Cato.
"And now I'm all wet and cold and miserable." Clove sniffles, sitting down next to Cato. She adds several pieces of wood to the fire, and it blazes for a few seconds before shrinking down again.
"I wish that it would stop raining. It's getting really annoying." She continues, stripping off her jacket.
Just then, the misty rain stops. It slowly recedes, clearing away the fog. All that is left is the cloudy, gray sky.
"Thank god." Cato mutters. I stare at his exposed torso while he adds more pieces of wood to the fire.
"I wish that…I was better with weapons than Cato." Clove muses, looking up at the sky. I almost smile at her hopeful expression.
Cato shoves Clove lightly, just enough to unseat her and push her to the ground.
"We all know that'll never happen." He smirks. Clove sits up indignantly and rolls her eyes at him.
"Don't blame me for trying."
.
"So you're alright." She turns to me and regards me coolly, all playfulness gone. The change in her maturity level is so sudden that I have a hard time believing that the serious brunette in front of me had been messing around with Cato only moments ago.
"Yes."
"He could have just let you die." Clove continues quietly. "Then he and I could have become partners."
"I know.' I growl. I honestly don't even feel like giving her the soup anymore. Maybe I should just eat it all as payback.
"First you fell into the river. Then for some reason, he just had to jump in and get you. Do you even know how strong the current was? It almost swept both of you away. But then Cato got to shore." Clove's eyes are narrowed and her voice is almost a whisper. I blink slowly and stare at her.
"And then you weren't breathing and for another strange reason, he decided to save your life again. Let's see now…is this is third time?" Her voice is trembling a bit.
"If I didn't know better, I would have though that-" Her words are cut off when Cato grabs her from behind and claps a hand over her mouth. She is still staring at me with those narrowed eyes.
"Calm down." He says softly to her. After a few seconds, she nods and he removes his hand.
In the silence that follows, I quietly hand her the thermos of soup. She takes it hesitantly, and inspects the contents closely before taking a sip. She watches me warily.
I remember a day back home when I was hunting alone. It is the same look that a wild dog gave me once while considering whether I was dangerous or not. I stood there, motionless with my bow in hand, slowly pulling back the bowstring. The dog continued watching me with its bright black eyes, sniffing at the air. But right when the arrow left my bow, the creature leapt away into the bushes.
I have a feeling that, like the wild dog, Clove is hard to trick. And even harder to catch.
Cato:
"District 3 can't be far. Let's go get him." I say. My body wants to lie down and just sleep, but my mind wants to feel the exhilaration of taking down another opponent.
Clove and Katniss both give me a quizzical look, soup in hands.
"Are you serious?" Of course it's Katniss who questions my motives.
"Yeah Cato…you're totally not up for that right now." And of course it's Clove who sees through me.
"There's time to rest later. Clove and I will go." I make my voice hard and commanding, a tone that leaves no room for negotiation or protests.
Clove knows this voice. She knows that I won't listen to anyone.
"Fine then. But if you pass out, I'm not gonna carry you anywhere."
"I won't pass out." I reply. Katniss is scowling, as always. I look at her. "And you're probably still weak, so just stay and guard the stuff."
"In other words, he doesn't think that you can keep up." Clove smirks, gulping down the last of her thermos.
"Just shut up and leave."
"Clove, give her one of your knives." I command while pulling on my still-wet shirt. Clove turns to me with a look of disbelief.
"No way. No. Way." She gathers up the pile of knives on the ground and holds them to her chest with tight hands.
"She lost her bow and her knife when she fell. Clove, give her one. Now." I use the same commanding tone, and Clove hesitantly opens her coat and selects an ornate gold blade with a ragged edge.
"I really like this one. Don't you dare lose it." She growls, handing it to Katniss.
"I really like that one. Don't you dare lose him." Katniss mimics in a low voice, staring at me.
I raise my eyebrows.
"Ooo…so that's how it is." Clove giggles, excitement in her voice. She's definitely going to be teasing me about this later.
I stare at Katniss' defiant expression for a moment. Then I turn and walk into the forest. I don't look back.
...
"Maybe I should call you Lover Boy now."
"Hehehe..."
"I knew it! I knew it from the beginning!"
"Hey, do you like her too?"
"And you technically kissed her today!"
"Aww…this is too cute!"
.
Clove either snickers or giggles manically with each new outburst. I have stayed silent through her ramblings, and find her to be annoying.
"Shut up and pay attention. Where did you last see him?" I snarl, silencing her periodic bouts of chuckling.
"Well, I saw him run towards a cave near the river, but then I had to bring you your stuff, so I didn't follow him."
"You are such an idiot, Clove. You should have finished him then and there."
"I honestly didn't feel like lugging your stuff around while trying to chase him and you would have been furious if I hadn't shown up." She retorts, rolling her eyes.
She's right, and I leave it alone, and instead make my way out of the trees. Clove follows and we emerge and find ourselves back on the ledge that we were on earlier today.
The sky is still cloudy. It must be evening now.
"There." Clove points to a small, dark opening in the face of a stone ledge down below. I wonder how the boy got down there without falling into the water and washing up. Then I study the ledge we are on.
Yes, if we go down onto that rock there…and then jump onto that tree root…and then skid down that little slope…that part of the river doesn't look too deep, we can step across…and then a simple jump away is the bank next to the cave.
"I got this. Follow me."
We maneuver our way down the ledges, each step planned out in my head. One thing I like about Clove is how she knows how to follow orders when it's time to.
"I block the entrance while you kill him." I murmur once we are standing in front of the cave entrance.
And then we surge forwards and step into darkness.
.
It takes a few moments for our eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light. And as our pupils dilate, I notice the pair of eyes staring out of the darkness, gleaming. A flash of metal attracts my attention as well. The boy has a knife.
But one knife is nothing against Clove's many.
"Cato! I can't see clearly, it's too dark. You wound him for me first." Clove's familiar hiss comes from my right.
I move out of the entrance while her smaller form takes my place. My sword is in my hand, and the hand of my injured arm is at my belt, ready to retrieve a dagger or knife.
"L-leave me alone. I have a knife." The boy's wavering squeak portrays his fear.
"Drop the knife and I won't kill you." I snicker. My night vision is better than Cloves, and I can vaguely see bright bags piled in a corner of the small cavern.
There is hesitation, and I lift my sword.
"Wait! I'll drop it!" He cries, releasing the knife. It falls to the ground with a clang, and the boy shrinks back, slowly raising his arms above his head.
"Y-you said that you wouldn't kill me…" He sounds terrified, and I feel a smirk spreading across my face.
"Exactly."
Then I slash my sword across his chest.
…
The blood pours out immediately, spraying into the air and completely drenching the front of my shirt.
The boy falls with a groan, hands desperately clutching at his chest, trying to close a wound that will never heal.
I only skimmed the skin and sliced open a thin layer of flesh, not enough to kill immediately, but more than enough to cause immense amounts of blood loss.
"There you go, Clove." I step back as my district partner scurries forward, letting light back into the cave.
While she whips out her assortment of knives with surprising speed and stabs the boy's arm, I check the backpacks and pile of objects next to it.
Hmm. There are two bags with a variety of supplies in them, although there aren't any sleeping bags or jackets. Then in the pile of supplies, I find rope and a pair of glasses. By the look of it, they have night-vision lenses. We use them back home sometimes.
Then, underneath another large coil of rope…a bow and a few arrows. Katniss' bow and arrows. I grab the backpacks and the bow, and stick the few arrows in my belt. There are only four, and the feathers are no longer straight, but are splayed out and roughed up. Too bad for her.
"Hah!" Clove snickers as she runs the tip of her blade down the boy's cheek. There is a growing pool of blood collecting around his savaged body.
"Clove, that's enough." I say, heading towards the entrance. She looks at me, and there's madness and glee in her dark pupils.
"Clove! Enough!" Clove doesn't stop, and I roll my eyes. It's been too long since she's killed something.
But the tiny whimpers and groans that emerge from District 3's bloody mouth is getting quite annoying.
"Clove, if you don't finish him now, I will." I threaten.
"Fine!" She stabs downwards once more, and the body stops jerking. A cannon sounds, and I stride out of the cave and into the daylight once more.
Katniss:
I was so bored that I started counting the number of weapons in Cato's backpack. 1,2,3…17 in all. 6 knives, a very short spear, a pack of poisoned darts, 3 daggers, a mace, and several other sharp and deadly-looking objects that I hope to never see again.
When the cannon sounds, I quickly put them back and zip up the backpack. Hopefully Cato and Clove completed their mission, and the cannon was announcing the death of the District 3 boy, not one of them.
.
When they finally emerge from the trees, the sky is getting dark, and I've started a fire.
"Oh my holy god." I gasp. They are both covered, and I mean completely covered with blood. In the glow of the flames, they look terrifying.
"None of it is ours. Well, most of it isn't." Cato snickers. He walks to the edge of the water, which has calmed since the storm passed; and splashes water over his head and arms.
"Good that you weren't there. You would have screamed your little head off." Clove smirks, following suit.
"I would not have, Clove." I retort. But eyeing the scarlet substance that rolls off their skin and colors the river water, I wonder how violent the entire scene had been.
"Cato totally wouldn't have done any of the things that he did if you were there though. He probably would've just nicely stabbed the little twerp." Then as an afterthought, Clove giggles. "But where's the fun in that?"
After washing out most of the blood, they sit down by the fire, sopping wet. It seems like they didn't get a single scratch. It must have been pretty intense a killing for all that blood to have come from the victim's weak body.
"So…you apparently like Cato a lot, hmm?" Clove leans forward, lips curled up to reveal a row of small white teeth.
"Did I say that?"
Cato rolls his eyes and drops all the stuff on his back in a pile with our bags.
"Yes, you said that you 'really like' him." The brunette girl makes air quotes and grins at me mischievously.
"No, I was talking to Cato's sword. I named it…uh…" I stop for a moment to think. "I named it Moe." I feel immensely stupid, and remember to add a surge of sarcasm at the end of the sentence.
"You're getting weirder and weirder every time I'm with you." Cato snorts, snickering at my feeble attempt to hide up what I said earlier.
"Umm…yeah." Clove agrees, smirking. Luckily she leaves it alone and instead fishes around in the food bags.
"There's nothing good in here. Just bread." She tosses loaves of bread to Cato and me.
"I'm not keeping watch tonight, just to let you know." Cato says matter-of-factly as we eat.
Clove nearly jumps up in glee. "Yes! Finally you're being selfish! Yes!" I personally think that it's a strange reason to celebrate.
Cato growls softly and then smirks at his district partner. "How 'bout you keep watch then, Miss Selfish?"
"What? No! I need sleep!" Clove stops bouncing up and down and glares at him.
"I'll keep watch, ok?" I interject.
"Probably just wants to see you sleeping." Clove snickers, nudging Cato. He nearly spits out his food, and gives her a strange look.
We both say the next words at the exact same time.
"Shut up, Clove."
Cato:
I wake up in the middle of the night for some strange reason. I turn over and see Katniss sitting there, looking bored. She is still holding the knife that Clove lent her…I haven't given her the bow yet.
I sit up, and Katniss snaps her head up at the sudden motion. When she realizes that it's just me, she relaxes.
"Why are you awake?" She whispers. Clove is still sleeping peacefully, her back to us.
"I don't know. I'm just checking if you've eloped with my sword." I answer softly, sarcastically.
She stays silent and just stares at me. She really does remind me of an owl, with those seemingly unblinking eyes.
"Staring is impolite, you know."
"And kissing someone while they're unconscious is impolite too." Katniss answers. I send her a look that says that doesn't even make any sense.
"I thought that none of those counted."
"Except for the last one. I felt that one."
"Did you now." I murmur, smirking.
Katniss:
I am seized by a sudden urge to jump into his warmness, but hold myself back. I mean, what kind of stupid love-struck girl does that?
You. The voice in my head says. I tell it to shut up.
Instead, I slowly get up and scoot my way towards him. Clove is using my sleeping bag, but Cato is just lying on the lush grass.
He doesn't even blink or move a bit as I finally sit down next to him. We stare at each other and I notice how his hair looks silvery in the moonlight. It looks so soft, I want to touch it.
Ok, Katniss. Stop thinking strange, creepy thoughts.
Of course I don't listen to the little voice, and reach out a hand tentatively. Cato lies back down, staring up into the starry sky. His eyes flick towards my approaching fingers.
"If you're going to do something weird, do it quickly." He smirks, blue eyes still trained on my hand.
Finally my fingertips brush against the blond hair, and I quickly run them through. I was right, Cato's hair is really soft.
"I really don't know why I'm not completely pissed off right now. I would normally have snapped your wrist if you did something like this." Cato murmurs, closing his eyes.
I don't say anything, but just continue carefully stroking his hair.
And when he falls asleep, my hand is still lightly running through the blonde strands.
But it isn't the same. He isn't there with me, it's like having a conversation with someone that never answers.
I stop and draw my hand back.
.
I know what it must have felt like for him to kiss me while I was unconscious. I wasn't there, therefore he wasn't either.
A/N: There you go, hunnie-buns. I hope that the fluff is suffiecient enough to dull the cravings a bit? Idk...Anyways, thank you all very much for the reviews on the previous chapter. I still feel like it's always the same people giving me feedback. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think, even an anonymous review is recieved with much gusto and happiness. C:
Please review with any thoughts, comments, critiques, suggestions, or just some feedback! And if you've never reviewed before, think about it please?
...
Oh yes...what would you guys do if Cato died while trying to save Katniss or Clove? Or by other means?
And, if I did a AU fanfic of the 75th Hunger Games (which may or may not include Cato), would you read it?
...
Lastly, if you're looking for a Finnick Odair/OC fanfic on the 65th Hunger Games, please check out my other story.
Until the next update...farewell! *hugs*