Prim's POV:
After I got a total of four hours of sleep, as well as Rue, we decided that it would be best to start our Hunger Games day: checking snares, getting food, and staying away from other tributes so that we could avoid murder as much as possible.
Rue surprised me. She, just like me, killed someone yesterday. One of the guys chased her into the woods during the bloodbath, where she climbed a tree and threw a knife down to scare him off. The only thing about scaring him was that it didn't work, and the knife ended up lodging itself into the guy's head. It was obvious that Rue was taking her kill the same way I was, but she was much stronger and was able to keep her emotions on the inside.
After we drank the last few sips of water and ate a very small portion of our food, Rue and I situated our weapons before walking back to check our snares. I was hoping that we caught something, although I wasn't too sure on how to skin them. I stayed away from that section in training only because I didn't want to either puke or cry.
Once we reached the snare setups, we found that one of them actually caught something: a rabbit.
"Rue, it actually worked!" I semi-yelled. I knew that I was probably more excited than I should have been, but I was very hungry and I didn't want to eat what I had unless I absolutely had to.
"Yeah, I know. I didn't think that it would happen," Rue said, smiling brightly. It was like we won some sort of lottery.
"Well, let's get it out."
Rue bends down to detach the rabbit while I stood guard. My back was to her as she worked the snare around the rabbit's foot. We had survived this long so I was hoping that we could make it last longer.
"I hope you know how to clean that thing. The most I can help with is cooking, and even that I'm only okay at," I said over my shoulder to Rue. I heard her laugh.
"Yup, I can. Even though it's the worst station in training, I made sure to get at least one lesson," Rue answers back. I turn my body around slowly, an arrow ready to keep me and her safe.
"I don't get it," I say, making my second circle around. "How did you not cry?" I joked, even though I was kind of being serious. Hurting a poor, helpless animal was not something I would like to witness. Although, the circumstances are different now. I don't have to watch it being prepped, but I couldn't wait to eat it.
"Well, I just tried to-" Rue stopped talking abruptly.
"Rue? What's going-" I turn my body around to face her. She was standing next to me, her knife poised to something in front of her. My eyes traveled to what she was pointing at. She was pointing at the boy from District 4, who was poising his blade, ready to attack.
I couldn't see them, but I knew the rest of the Career pack was out there somewhere, watching him, watching us all. And, I knew Cato was somewhere out there too. I poised my arrow at him, ready to let it go if he made any movements toward us.
"You guys won't win," he sneered, eyeing us down. "You can't beat me. I'm a Career. So why don't you put down those weapons, and let your death come to you?"
My chest rose and fell heavily. "No. It's us two against you. What makes you think that you can beat us?" I ask him. I knew the Career pack had to be nearby, but they weren't here now, and if I worked quick enough, I could kill him before one of them got to me.
"Because in the time that it takes for the other to attack me, I will have one knife lodged into your neck and the other swinging to hit the other. Just give it up," Four spits back at me, watching both of us as if he was trying to anticipate our moves. I was not going to make a move unless he did, and hopefully Rue would not either.
"Why don't you make us?" Rue asks slyly, and it makes the guy furious. I could see his nostrils flaring with anger as Rue and I laughed. "Don't underestimate us because we're not six feet tall."
"Alright then," Four says, answering my nightmare, "why don't we see just how great you two are, huh?"
Four bends his knife back and gets ready to throw it, and it that same millisecond, I let go of the arrow that I had ready. Everything slows again, just like yesterday when I killed the other boy. I close my eyes, not fast enough as the arrow lodges itself into Four's head. Once my eyes open, I see Cato.
There's the sound of ripping, and then I feel a sharp pain in my arm. A scream rises up my throat and I feel it escape my mouth as the knife finds a new home in my right arm. Rue's eyes widen at the sight and she tugs on my other arm, pulling me away from the scene. A cannon sounds as my eyes focus once again on Cato, who I did not imagine. His face was contorted into a look of anger and pain as I was pulled by Rue and ordered to run.
"Prim, c'mon, we have to go. I can see the other Careers coming," Rue pleads to me. I heard the rustling and shouts for Cato and Four, but my feet were glued to the ground.
Cato ran to me, putting his hand up hesitantly. "Rose." My heart swelled at the mention of the name Cato came around to calling me. "Kitten. You killed him," he says with obvious disbelief.
"Don't call me that," I said, looking away. I don't want him to add to the many satisfying memories that could keep me stuck in this spot and cause my death.
I stand silently, watching how comfortable the machete looked resting in his hand. I looked at the small spots of dried blood splattered on his jacket. I imagined the smile on his face when he makes a kill. The ease of his muscles. Sure, I've killed two people, but I felt a piece of me being ripped out when I rip the breath out of that human being. Cato? He sees excitement. Fun. I don't know why I thought that he wouldn't be the way that I used to see him. He is who he has always been. Thirsty to kill.
Cato's hand goes to touch my neck, and I remember the way his fingers wrapped around the neck of the girl yesterday and snapped her to her death.
I felt my body flinch and I looked up at him with so much fear. "Please. Don't touch me," I whispered to him, turning and making sure that my eyes didn't meet his. This is not how I thought our first meet up in the arena would be. Never did I think that I would be rejecting him.
"Prim, let's go!" Rue yelled. I could hear the voices getting closer.
"No. Rose. No. You told me that you would never be afraid of me," I heard Cato's voice say. I looked up at him, and sure enough, there was the pain that I saw at the mention of his father. The anger, grief, suffering. It was all there.
"Cato!" I heard a girl yell. I could see blonde hair flying in the distance.
"Prim, let's go!" Rue yelled again. She pulled me, a lot harsher than before. I felt another scream rise out of my throat at the sharp pain that came from the knife still in my arm. Rue still pulled, though, forcing my putty legs to move in steps and speed that resembled running.
I ran away from Cato, getting as far away from him as I possibly could. We ran fast and hard to get away from the Career pack. Other than the occasional seer of pain my arm experienced, I felt nothing. I wasn't upset about killing someone. I didn't know how I felt about Cato. I just know that I didn't feel anything.
Rue and I ran back to the cave, breathing hard. I collapsed on the hard rock ground, feeling blood trickling down my arm at rapid speed. I threw off the backpack, my weapon, and wrapped my arm around the blade, ready to pull it out. Just touching the blade caused a series of agonising jabs that made me bite my tongue hard to stop the tears from flowing down my face.
"Here, let me help you," Rue says softly. I let go of the knife and let her hand replace mine. "Turn and face the left, and I want you to count to 10, okay?"
I nodded my head. "Okay." I turned to face the entrance of the cave and took a deep breath. "One, two, three, fou-"
I let out a scream as I feel the blade being ripped from my skin. Rue mutters a sorry while pulling my jacket off to see the damage. The cut was large and pretty deep. She pulled out a first aid kit, cleaning the cut and wrapping a piece of cloth around it to stop the bleeding. It was unfortunate that I didn't have any medicinal herbs to rub into the wound for the pain, so I had to stick to the pills that came with the kit. I made a mental note to keep an eye out for any plants I could use for medicine.
"Better?" Rue asks as I shrug my jacket back on. Her expression was sad, and just from that alone, I could tell that he wasn't exactly talking about my arm.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I answer. The numbness and shock still hasn't rubbed off yet, so anything that I probably should feel isn't there. I had a feeling that it would never be there, unless Cato could convince me otherwise about himself. I don't think that's going to happen.
"Are you sure?" Rue asks again.
I nod. "I'm fine. I would like to eat the rabbit we caught though. And get some water," I told her with a smile. Rue eyes me warily, like I was some sort of mental patient.
"Okay," she said slowly. And suddenly, it was like all was forgotten, except for the occasional pain in my arm. "Are you gonna watch me skin this baby?" she asks holding up the rabbit.
"Gosh, no. If it was possible, I would become a vegetarian in this arena. But if I did that, I don't think I'd survive very long," I joked, shielding my eyes from the limp rabbit hanging upside down in her hand.
"Fine. I'll go outside and do it. Make sure you watch my back." Rue walks outside and begins to do her job, skinning and cleaning the rabbit while I watched out for any sneaking tributes that could attack her. My arm hurt badly as I held up my bow, but I ignored it, knowing that keeping Rue safe was more important than pain.
Once she was done, we took the rabbit back inside to create a fire that would be hidden, and after maybe 15 minutes due to Rue's ability to start a quick fire and my experience with cooking rabbit, we were munching on juicy rabbit.
Everything was peaceful, for once.. well, everything but my mind of course. Just the experience of seeing Cato, and knowing that I caused the same amount of pain that this mysterious man known as his father gave him. I couldn't help it. There was so much fear that I had for him in that moment. His hands seemed so huge, way bigger than I had ever noticed.
He seemed surprised when I shot his friend in the head. I know that sounded graphic, but it's what I did. I remember Cherche's words telling me that I had to accept who I was the moment that bomb went off, and I think that's what I need to do instead of beating myself up about becoming someone that I'm not. Truth is, I think I've always been this person, but it just took coming here for me to notice what was actually forming in my mind.
Anyway, Cato was surprised that I killed his friend. I don't understand why though. I specifically told him not to underestimate me, and I guess he did. I'm sure he saw me kill that other boy yesterday, so the only reason I could come up with for his reaction today was because it was so close up. I don't know. Things are just so confusing right now, and I just.. I dunno.
My fear for Cato seemed stupid. He looked like I had just lodged an arrow in his heart. I wanted to wrap myself into his arms at that moment because I knew that he was the only person in this Games, in this world, that could keep me safe. I watched the way he face contorted when he saw the knife piercing my skin, but I didn't let him save me.
This is the Hunger Games. I can't depend on others to save my life because then it seems like I can't do it myself. I'm more than capable.
I don't need Cato. I don't need him.
Too bad I couldn't get my mind to agree with the four words that escaped my lips.
Suddenly, we saw hands and arms hoisting themselves up into our cave, and in rapid speed, Rue and I were ready.
But as soon as I saw Peeta's face, I couldn't help but yell 'Are you kidding me?" into the air.
THE PICTURE IN THE SIDEBAR OMG I DIED.
I think this one is shorter than the first HG chapter, but nonetheless, I would love your opinions on how my writing of HG moments is.. I need to make sure I keep it entertaining.
Anybody hoping for a Cato POV yet? ;)
Anyway, yeah. Someone asked me if there was going to be a sequel, and the answer is YES. But, that all depends on who survives the Games in the end. And yes, I know how this book will end and who will get out. (It's pretty damn good if you ask me. I really think you all will love it. Hopefully)
As always, I love you all more than breathing. So vote, comment, share, follow and thank you so much for reading!
Cheers 😉
Myesha xx