"So, you want to draw the Careers away from the cornucopia… towards these fires, while I trigger the landmines? You want to lead them straight to you guys?" Katniss disliked his plan. Cato disliked her plan. They were at a crossroads.
"If you insist on going to the cornucopia, then yes. I'll bring them to me." He crossed his arms. If Katniss was going to be stubborn, so was he. She scowled at him for a few more moments, before finally conceding.
"Fine." She huffed, throwing the branches she was holding onto their third and final fire.
"How are they going to know we have fire's going? It's the middle of the day." Rue, who had been silent throughout their argument, spoke up. She gently placed her collection of branches on top of their pile.
"These leaves will smoke like crazy when they're burned." Katniss explained. The younger girl nodded, seemingly a bit intimidated by their plan.
"How long do you want me to give you to get there?" Cato asked. Katniss thought for a moment, cocking her head to the side.
"About an hour and a half, give or take. I need some time to find a spot and figure out how I'm going to do this." She answered. The boy nodded at her as all three of them stood in silence. Rue was next to him, bouncing nervously. She looked like a small bird, ready to dart out of the way at any sign of danger.
"We need a signal, in case one of us gets caught up, yeah?" Katniss smiled at the young girl softly in an attempt to comfort her. Rue's face lit up with a smile at once.
"Watch this." She smiled, before calling out a simple four-note melody. At once, the trees seemed to come alive with repetition of the same tune. Cato had never heard a thing like it, puzzled as he looked between the two girls.
"Mockingjays." Katniss breathed out, a look of awe on her face as she looked around.
"That's how we signal the end of the workday in 11. I love how they sing. Your pin, the mockingjay, that's how I decided it was safe to trust you." The youngest tribute smiled at her.
So that's what the bird is on her pin.
Katniss smiled at the young girl, fingertips brushing across the gold medallion on her jacket. Cato reminded himself to ask her the story behind the pin later.
"Well, that's what we will do then. If you hear that, it means 'I'm safe, be back soon' okay?" She spoke softly to Rue, leaning down to wrap her arms around the small girl. The image of Katniss at the reaping, holding Prim in her arms jumped to the front of his memory. The two scenes were eerily similar, a thought that left a sour taste in his mouth.
Katniss turned to him then, forcing a smile on her face as she walked into his arms. He held her close for a few moments.
"Stay safe, okay?" He whispered in her ear.
She sucked in a shaky breath, before pulling back to nod at him.
"You too." Her voice was insistent as her eyes bore into his, "I love you." She told him.
He felt himself smile at her words before leaning down to press his lips to hers for a brief moment. "The moon?" He whispered against her lips.
"I'll wait for you there." She answered, kissing him softly once more before she pulled from his arms. Grabbing her bow from the ground and ruffling Rue's hair she called to them, "See you guys for dinner." And with that, she was walking in the direction of the cornucopia, out of sight in just a few moments.
"So, now what?" Rue walked over to a log a few meters away, plopping herself down.
"Now we go back to the first pile, and we wait for Katniss to signal. C'mon lazy pants." He nudged the girl up, smiling as she giggled at his teasing.
They made their way through the forest, following the path they had taken to get there. They were only walking for a few minutes when Rue stopped abruptly. He panicked for a moment, thinking she had seen a threat, when he followed her gaze to what had caught their attention. About 100 yards to their left, a small grove of wildflowers looked like an oasis in the middle of the arena. He smiled at the girl, before walking towards it.
Thousands of flowers were condensed in such a small clearing. Hues of purple, white, orange, and blue shimmered in the sunlight that poked through the trees. He took a moment to admire the colors before leaning down to pick a small purple flower.
"For you, m'lady." He made a big show of presenting it to Rue, kneeling to the ground and making big gestures with his hands. She giggled as she plucked it from his hand, placing it into her hair and smiling at the blonde.
"Thank you." She blushed, and a smile adorned his face as they continued through the forest.
"Tell me a story." She asked, just as they made it to the first pile. He unstrapped his pack, rummaging through it to find the matches.
Rue, you don't want to hear any of my stories.
"Please" She whined in response to his silence, looking up at him with big puppy dog eyes.
How the fuck am I supposed to say no to that? That's just unfair.
"Okay, okay, jeez." He laughed at her. The girl giddily plopped down on the ground next to him. He leaned against a tree, swinging his pack on his back, and securing it to him as he began to speak.
"Before my sister was born, we had just moved into a new house. My dad was away, for work, and I was really young… only about four or five, I think. Anyways, the house we had really needed painted. The paint was old, and chipping and it was starting to rot the wood underneath it. So, my mom took me to the market and let me pick out the color for the house."
Rue was listening intently when she asked, "What color did you pick?", impatiently.
"Well, my favorite color is blue. They had this really bright cobalt blue, I thought it would look so cool. It was one of those colors that was so bright that it hurt your eyes to look at it for too long." He smiled at the memory of it.
"So, you got to live in a house that was your favorite color! That is so fun, my house doesn't even have paint anymore. It all chipped away." Rue answered him. He thought about what Rue's house must look like, dilapidated, and small. The girl deserved so much better than the life she was given.
"Well, no. I didn't. I ended up picking yellow." He corrected her.
The girl's brows furrowed, and she frowned as she asked, "Why? You said you liked the blue."
"Well, I knew that yellow is my mom's favorite color. She kept looking at this yellow swatch, but she promised me I could pick the color. So, I picked the yellow to make her happy." His voice grew sad as he continued.
How ashamed you must be mom… watching the boy who picked your favorite color to make your day kill innocent children. I never told you the truth… at least you'll know that I still remember. I promise that I remember what you told me.
"That's sweet, did she like it?" Rue questioned, pulling him from his morbid thoughts.
"Yes, she always said that yellow was the happiest color. She painted the whole house, inside and out in yellow. I told her that it was my favorite color too." He smiled at the girl.
"I like yellow, but purple is my favorite." She explained. Suddenly, the birds started singing the tune Rue had showed them. That was the signal, Katniss was ready.
"Wow, that went fast." The girl said as she stood, Cato took deep breaths, preparing himself.
"Here" He placed her small hand on his jacket sleeve, "Hold onto me, and don't let go until I say so, okay?"
The girl nodded, the same panicked look in her eyes from before. He struck the first match and looked at her, "We're going to be okay. I promise."
And then he dropped the match.
They were off just as the first pile went up in a mess of flames and smoke, dashing through the forest. He couldn't sprint fully, Rue was quick, but her small legs couldn't keep up with his. 10 yards from the second pile, he led them into a tight grove of trees with thick foliage and bushes that he had found earlier. They ducked below the tree line as the sound of yelling and crashing footsteps started to echo through the forest. He pulled Rue behind him, peering through the leaves as about 50 yards in front of him, Clove and Marvel ran past them. The younger girl's ragged breathing hitched as she caught sight of the careers plowing past them.
As soon as they were out of eyesight, Cato darted out from behind the bush. His hands were steady as he struck the second match. They had started to run before the flames even fully caught, glancing behind him, he saw that the second pile was fully engulfed now. In the distance, over his own panting, he could hear Clove wail in frustration. He scooped Rue into his arms, speeding up his run to a full sprint towards the third and final pile. The girl's body wrapped around his as he shot through the forest, her hand still holding his jacket in a tight grip.
The third pile was the largest of all, nearly up to his hip in height of massive branches and piles of dried leaves. He placed Rue down beside him, his hands shaking as he pulled the third and final match from the box. On first strike, it didn't catch. A small spark flew, but the flame never reached the flammable wood of the match. On the second strike, the match broke. Frustrated, he threw the useless match to the ground.
"Cato, hurry!" Rue whispered, fear in her frantic voice. She was pulling on his sleeve.
Just as he was about to strike the second match, a deafening blast shot through the arena. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the boom echoed throughout the arena, the ground below them rumbled with the resounding force. Cato stumbled backwards, losing his balance as the arena bellowed.
Just three steps back, taking Rue, who's hand was latched onto him, with him. Only three steps, that led Rue into a snared trap. Suddenly, he was knocked to his feet as a rope triggered just to his right. Rue's hand was ripped from the tight grip she had on him, as she was propelled in the air and suspended in the air. She screamed, struggling to free herself as he threw himself to his feet.
His ears were still ringing from the explosion, but Cato Hadley always knew when a knife was whizzing towards his head. He ducked just in time, Clove's blade implanting itself in the tree behind his head. The girl was barreling towards him before he even had a moment to draw his sword. He braced himself, grabbing onto her as she flew towards him and spinning her onto the ground. He felt her foot come upwards and kick him in the ribs, the same spot that he was sure Marvel had broken earlier. He pulled the girl across the dirt as he growled, trying to free her hand from the grip it had on her knife.
Clove kicked and screamed, throwing herself to a standing position and him off her as she twisted her hand, so his hand caught on the blade. She came back down hard and fast, trying to stab him into the dirt. He felt blood pouring from the back of his hand as he rolled out of the way continued the fight. Above him, he heard the mockingjays start to sing their signal.
After years of training together, Clove was all too predictable. She got sloppy when she was angry, which is what allowed him to gain the upper hand and smash her into a tree. He hoped she was just unconscious, not dead as she fell to the ground before he remembered that he had to kill her.
"Cato! Cato, help me!" Rue was calling to him from where she had remained trapped in the net. Cutting the ties that suspended her there, she fell to the ground with a thump. Just at that moment, Katniss burst into the clearing. She was as frantic as him as she pulled out her knife, starting to saw at the edges of the net.
"Oh god, oh god, thank god you guys are okay. You didn't answer and it scared the hell out of me." She gushed as she worked on the net. Cato drew his sword, the sharp blade quickly creating a massive hole in the net for Rue to climb out from.
"We just had a visitor is all." He explained, his breath still ragged as the youngest girl threw herself into their arms. Katniss and Cato held onto her tightly, their other hands finding their way into the others as the group of allies reunited.
All at once, Rue gasped, her eyes widening as she caught sight of something behind them. The older teens whipped around to see Marvel, a spear in his hand as he was poised to throw. Katniss ducked, drawing an arrow on her way down. Cato stood, starting to run towards the district 1 tribute as he threw the spear. The weapon left his hand, sailing right in-between the pair just as Katniss fired the arrow that impaled itself directly in Marvel's neck. In the very next breath, the cannon fired.
"Oh." Rue's soft voice breathed from behind them.
That was when they felt the earth shatter, as they were met with the sight of Rue pulling the long spear from her abdomen.