Hey everybody! I am soooo soooo sorry it's been so long! I've had so much going on! I start school on Tuesday, first year of high school! I will try to update regulary around homework! Please R and R! Thanks for all the support!
Cato's POV
Water plants brush up against my face as Clove sits up beside me. The sun has yet to rise and the air near the lake is muggy and thick. That's right, today is the feast. Today is the day Clove and I could receive something, anything, to help us defeat our competitors. Today is the day we might be able to kill off Peeta and Katniss. Today is the day, with any luck, we just smite Thresh.
"Cato, sweetie, are you awake?" Clove coos as she adjusts her knives in her belt and canteen around her shoulder.
"I'm up," I reply, trying to keep the nervousness creeping its way from my body into my voice. Today might be a wonderful, productive day, but it could also be the day Clove leaves this world forever.
I shake the thought from my head as I grab my swords. That will not happen. Not while I'm protecting her.
"We need to make a plan," my wife says. I pull her down next to me and kiss her, letting all my anxiety of losing her pulse through my lips. She pulls away and I see her frightened eyes trying to avoid mine. "So here's what I was thinking," she continues. We go on to plan our run into the Feast. I will stay about 30 feet into the woods and try to surprise attack any tribute that is making their way to the Cornucopia. Clove will wait for Katniss to appear, then attack her. Katniss is our main threat right now besides Thresh, we must take her out as soon as possible.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" I ask her, lifting her chin so that our gazes meet.
"I will be fine, I will just surprise her from behind and kill her. I'll make it slow, so the audience will have a show," she reassures me. Her voice hardens at that last part, a hint of cockiness added in. "The second I kill her and grab our pack, I'll come find you alright?"
Her eyes are slowly filling with Academy Clove, full of that bloodlust and hatred my wife does not truly posses. The sparkle fades from her expression. I nod and give her one last quick kiss before we head to our positions. She heads off in the direction of the Cornucopia, her fists clenched at her sides. I watch her walk away, having a new confidence that she will be alright. Clove stops in her tracks, back towards me. Her head turns in my direction slightly, as if she is debated to look back at me or to continue walking. I can see her left thumb turning her wedding ring around on her finger. She lets out a heavy sigh and continues walking away.
I make my way through the edge of the woods while the sun begins to rise. A leafy willow tree catches my eye and I hide within its green curtain. I can see light begin to glint off the golden horn. I am in a perfect position , if any tribute were to run directly through the woods past me I could slice them before they notice I'm here. The sun has fully risen now, cleared the horizon. I prepare my sword and put my Game face on, because the next few moments could mean life or death for my beloved wife.
Clove's POV
My eyes complain at the early sunlight shining off the Cornucopia's opening. I squat behind a bush at the edge of the clearing, tensed and ready to sprint at the first sight of Katniss. The girl from Five races from the forest and grabs her backpack, then is gone in the blink of an eye.
A vicious grin fills my face as Katniss makes her way into the clearing. Adrenaline pumps through me and before I know it I'm propelling myself behind her. I toss a knife at the back of her braided head, but she moves just before it lands in her skull. My legs continue forward as Katniss raises her bow and releases the string. A blast of pain hits my upper left arm, blood spurting forth as I yank out the sleek silver arrow. It's a good thing I'm right handed. Leaving only two knives in my belt, I send another razor at her head. The blade scrapes her forehead, knocking her backwards. I take this chance to tackle her, pinning her struggling limbs to the ground. My training seethes into my mind, and Academy Clove decides to make Katniss suffer in every way possible. Her voice takes over mine, leaving me to helplessly listen to the taunting words coming from my mouth.
"Where's Lover Boy? Sitting helplessly dying while you run off to save him?" I tease. Her eyes fill with panic and pain, blood trickling down her face. "Don't worry, he won't suffer much longer. Cato is probably taking care of him right now," I chide gleefully.
"Peeta!" Katniss screams at the top of her lungs. She screeches his name over and over, trying to wrestle free from my grasp. My fist makes contact with her throat, cutting off her wails.
"It's no use, honey. We're going to kill him. Just like Marvel did that little girl from 11," I snarl. Suddenly her face goes from helplessness to raging anger. Her body tenses under me. A smirk takes over my face and I begin her slow death.
My hand grabs my second to last knife, a serrated blade perfect for carving.
"Why don't we start with you lips, hm? You won't be needing them anymore with you boyfriend dead and all," just as I place the knife to her face, two hands roughly yank me to my feet. A scream of shock and horror escapes me as I come face to face with my worst nightmare. Thresh lifts me by my collar and brings my head close to his. His dark eyes are orbs of fury.
"You killed that girl? You killed her like you were going to just now?" he bellows into my face.
"I didn't' kill her! It was Marvel!" I yell, trying to kick my way free. He tosses me to the ground and picks up a medium sized rock. What he plans to do with it horrifies me. I wail Cato's name, praying he comes to my aid.
"Clove!" I hear my love scream back at me, just as Thresh lowers the rock to my head and the world goes black.
Cato's POV
I enter the clearing just as Thresh runs off, Katniss scrambling away in the opposite direction. I don't focus on anything else though except my Clove, my precious Clove, lying motionless in the dirt with a rock next to her blood covered head. Terror pulses through me as I sprint towards her, searching for any signs of life. As I kneel next to her, still calling her name, I can see the subtle rise and fall of her chest.
My hands grip her small one in mine, maybe if I can squeeze it enough she will wake up perfectly unharmed. Maybe if I yell her name loud enough she will wake me up and tell me it was just another nightmare, that this is all just a bad dream. Clove's head lolls to one side and I begin to sob at knowing she is still alive. It may not be for long, but she is alive.
I scoop her into my arms, her blood seeping onto my jacket. I grab our pack from the feast table and race to the lake, trying to run smoothly to avoid worsening Clove's injury. We reach the small clearing where we spent the night last night and I gently set my wife down on her back.
A million thoughts surge through me at how best to help Clove. Fist I need to clean away the blood to inspect what damage has been done. I quickly run to the water's edge and take off my shirt, tearing it to rags and soaking it with cool water. Clove's moans cause me an almost physical pain that sears through my heart. Her blood stains my hands in a grotesque slime, my tears dripping in the pool of red forming under her head. As the wound on her head becomes clearer, I see the large gash cutting almost to her skull. Hate surges through my veins for Thresh. I don't think Clove's wound is to the point of fatality, but anything could happen I suppose in these Games.
I use the remainder of my torn up shirt to bandage Clove's wound. As I gently finish off dressing her head, I notice the puncture wound in her arm. Just the size of an arrow head. Fury flashes across my mind; I will kill Katniss before these Games are over.
Clove's POV
Numbness is the only word to describe how I feel. My mind is full of a grey haze, my thoughts drifting lazily without notice. The pain I felt as the rock met my head has been replaced with a dull painless throbbing. Heat pulses through my entire body. I have the faint sense of someone kissing me, telling me everything will be okay. I must be hallucinating. I drift in and out of my world of sedated blackness, wondering if I will ever escape this dreary place that is my mind.