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I'm on a boat in the middle of the ocean, I can feel the spray of the water on my face, my hair getting damp with the mist. Nothing but the waves and the sky as far as the eye can see and the rocking of the boat back and forth, back and forth- until, shit, seasickness. I wake up to my stomach churning and bolt out of the tent before I end up puking all over Cato or the precious blankets. I make it to the edge of the woods before I can't hold it in any longer and throw up at the side of a tree. Oh God, I really hope none of the careers heard me get up and leave. I feel like complete shit. I lean up against a tall tree to regain my composure. I'm beginning to think that I lucked out and no one noticed me leave, when I hear Cato's voice calling out for me back at camp. Well that surely woke everyone else up. I quickly use my boots to cover up my vomit with some dirt before heading a bit deeper into the woods, away from my sick.
"Clove!" I hear Cato's voice closer now and can tell he's panicked. He spots me and comes running towards me, sword drawn.
"What happened? You just ran out of the tent?"
"I thought I saw another tribute." I lie, "I ran into the woods to investigate." Cato surveys the area, sword leading his actions.
"Did you see anything in here?" He asks.
"No, although I did hear some rustling over there." I say, pointing deeper into the woods in an attempt to make my lie believable. Cato jogs over to the area I was referring to and the imaginary sounds. He's busy scanning the area when I feel another wave of nausea come over me. I turn and try to hide behind a tree, out of Cato's view, as my stomach turns inside out for a second time. I'm not as lucky this time and Cato sees me.
"Clove!" He says, sounding alarmed and concerned. I find myself falling to my knees as he runs towards me. He never makes it though as a wall of fire springs up between us. I scramble backwards to avoid the flames and cry out Cato's name. Suddenly fears of Cato becoming suspicious that I am pregnant are the least of my worries. I hear him call out my name in return and I at least know that he's ok.
"What the hell?" I hear Marvel's voice from behind me and see that the rest of the pack have made their way into the woods as well. I quickly turn my head to the right and left, searching for a break in the fire but see none. It's alright though. Even if I can't get to Cato right now, he's fine.
"Clove." He calls out again, "Is everyone fine?"
"Yes." I holler back, "Are you hurt?"
"No." I hear him respond, "But we need to-" His answer is cut off as I hear a large cracking noise followed by an echoing thud as a tree falls to the ground, shaking the earth.
"CATO!" I yell, but there's no answer. Frantic, I turn to my allies.
"Guys, we have to save him. What can we do?" I see Glimmer and Marvel exchange glances.
"Clove, he's as good as dead." Glimmer says, "Look, everything around him is on fire. If the tree falling didn't crush him, he'll surely burn to death." I turn to Odessaly, not wanting to believe Glimmer.
"Come on Clove, let's get out of here before there's no way to exit the woods."
"What?" I say, "You aren't even going to try to save him?" I find myself on the verge of tears now and it's hard to think rationally.
"He's the toughest competition on the games." Marvel says. "It's best if we can get rid of him now. We won't have to worry about fighting him later."
I can't believe what they are saying. Some Allies. The fire around us is growing larger and we are all finding it harder to breathe.
"Let's get out of here." Odessaly says and she turns and runs back in the direction of our camp with Marvel, Glimmer, and Lover Boy behind her. No. I can't leave. I'd rather die right here with Cato then just abandon him. I put my jacket over my mouth and nose so I can breathe better and run up and down the length of the wall of fire keeping me from Cato. At least I haven't heard a canon yet. He's still alive, but for how long?
And then I see my chance. A gap in the flames appears off to my right. I brace myself, knowing the fire will undoubtedly scorch me, then jump through. I let out a yelp as the fire licks my right shoulder and left thigh. I get on the ground and roll to put out my flaming clothes before getting to my feet to look for Cato. I see him on the ground 15 feet away from me. One of the larger branches on the tree had knocked him over as the tree had fallen. There were branches on top of his stomach and upper body, one big one must have hit his head and caused him to loose consciousness. I run over to him and put my head on his chest, listening for a heart beat. I feel the promising beat of his heart and thank God that he is still alive. Coughing from the smoke, I use all the strength I have to roll him out from under the branches. I finally get him dislodged and look around for a way to get him to safety.
To my right I see the fire is dying down. Not only that, but there is also a stream. I lift Cato's torso up and drag him over to the water. When I manage to complete the task, relief washes over me, but the feeling is short lived as I see hoe badly Cato is burned. The whole left side of his face is blistered and his back is a charred red. He's still unconscious as well. I know that I only have one option to try to save his life. I don't want to leave him alone in the forest, but I have to. I run back to our camp and frantically search through the supplies for burn medicine. I find a first aid kit and look inside, only to be discouraged as I find nothing of use. I dig deeper into our pile of medical supplies before I finally lay eyes on a jar of burn ointment. I snatch it up in my hands and sprint back to the stream I left Cato propped up in.
With shaking hands, I take the lid off and quickly slather the cream on Cato's face and back. I automatically see some improvement as the Capitol medicine works its magic. I then prop open Cato's mouth and try to get him to drink some water. It doesn't work obviously, since he's unconscious, but in my hysteria it seemed smart. I collapse in the stream as I realize my efforts were probably futile. He doesn't seem to be improving. I hadn't been quick enough. I put my arms around him and place my head on his chest, letting the tears fall. He's gone. My plan to get him out of the games alive had failed. I could never live with myself after this. Maybe Marvel or some other tribute would show up right now and take me out of my misery.
I grip the locket Cato gave me tightly in my hand and somehow through my tears, anger and confusion, I am able to put my thoughts together. I look down at my locket as realization washes over me, the gamemakers had known about Cato and I all along. All the tribute's tokens must be cleared by the board. Surely they put two and two together when they saw my locket with the picture of Cato and me and Cato's heart-shaped rock with our names written on it. And if the gamemakers knew, all of Panem knew. I remember during past games the announcers would do segments on all the tribute's tokens during the slow moments. Not only had I lost Cato, but I hadn't been able to be myself with him during our last days together. We had been trying to hide what all of Panem already knew. It was all my fault he was dying too. This whole situation was all my fault. I had pointed him deeper into the woods, knowing there wasn't anybody there. We wouldn't have gotten separated if I had just told him the truth. Looking back, all this was avoidable and I take all the blame.
I do question the timing and location of the fire, though, It happened at one of the only moments that Cato and I were apart. Then, wasn't I only able to reach him after the other careers had left? Had the gamemakers planned the whole thing? Surely they had. They wanted to see my reaction to Cato being put in harm's way and then they wanted me to rescue him, but only when we were alone. Their plan was flawed though, as Cato and I would clearly not be reunited after the fire. All I can manage to do is cry, holding onto Cato, not wanting him to die and not allowing the hoovercraft to pick him up when the time comes. As I lay there I feel something hit my back lightly. I turn to my left and see a parachute. I try not to get my hopes up as I open the package, praying for something to save Cato. To my frustration, I see only a bag of bath salts, not medicine. What could I possibly do with these? I examine them and conclude that they are not bath salts, but some other unknown substance. Am I supposed to feed these to Cato? I sniff them to see if they seem edible and am overcome by the strong scent. Then, I realize what these are, they're smelling salts.
I shove them under Cato's nose and hold my breath, waiting for something, anything to happen. His eyelashes flutter and by some miracle his eyes open. I let out a sigh of relief that is more like a sob. Cato brings his hand up to his head which is no doubt in pain and winces as he touches where the branch must have hit him.
"Clove." His voice is weak and sounds a bit like a croak, "You're ok." I find myself smiling through my tears, he was on the brink of death and is concerned for my well-being.
"Cato." I manage to choke out, "What kind of medicine do you need? I can run and get painkillers." Cato points to the burn medicine and I apply a second coat which makes his injuries seem far less frighting.
"Do you want me to go get some medicine for your head?" I ask him, more composed (at least I've stopped sobbing, although I can't seem to stop the flow of tears down my face). He nods and I run back to the camp and grab the largest first aid kit there. When I return I give Cato three pills and hand him my canteen so he can swallow them. Cato is definitely improving and he reaches a large hand out to wipe away my tears.
"I thought you were dead." I say, and he feebly responds,
"Not today," with a slight smile. I get onto my knees and lean in towards him for a hug. I wrap my arms around him and close my eyes, thanking God over and over for keeping him alive. No longer concerned about the reactions of the audience or gamemakers, I pull out of the hug a bit and draw his face towards me. Without thinking I find myself kissing him. And while a thousand thoughts should be flying through my head (i.e. relief that he's alive, how the viewers will react, whether or not our alliance members were near) all I could think about was the feel of his lips on mine. It felt so right and Cato never questioned it for a second. He must have been fed up with out pretend indifference as well, or maybe he just trusts that I know what I'm doing and must have thought it through.
I feel Cato wince against my lips as I grip his back and quickly detach myself from him. As he helps himself to another two pills, I can't help but feel so thankful that we can now face the games together.
Hope everyone liked it! I'm glad that I can finally write them as a couple again! I would really appreciate it if you could submit a review, even a short one always makes my day and helps me to be motivated to write the next chapter!