Power Over Me ↦ Cato Hadley

xii. day by day

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞

── day by day

          𝔗he arena was putting both Thresh and I on edge. We were tense, every sound making us grab onto our weapons and hold them close. Neither of us wanted to say it yet, but even our friendship was under strain.

The arena was putting pressure on us that left the both of us nervous around each other, but we pushed through. Luckily, to not add to the mounting pressure falling on me, Cato Hadley had not turned up in my dreams, nor had he appeared in the sky for the past two nights.

A couple of the other minor districts had lost their tributes, telling us that the Career Pack was on the hunt, but the rest of us were still alive. That included District 12.

"We should move again." Thresh appeared back from the trees, his eyebrows furrowed. "There's smoke on the horizon. I don't like it."

"Neither." I stood, grabbing the spear and my pack. "Where to?"

"Back to skirt around the Cornucopia. I saw some sort of wheat field over there. It would be more our terrain." Thresh fell in by my side, both of us looking around nervously. 

The woods may be silent, but that does not calm us. The silence means that people could be watching, bar the Capitol, and we could be being hunted. Though I doubt that it would be the Careers.

The only one of them I could ever imagine truly hunting people was Cato, and that in itself was an intimidating thought. He was far too smart to be a hunter, far too calculating and far too strong. If he ever was to hunt, then I could only hope and pray that I was not his target, even if that meant that someone else was to die.

As Thresh and I continue to walk through the woods, taking berries from trees and bushes and sipping slowly at our water, my pace begins to slow. The closer we get to the Cornucopia, the less I wish to go out into the open. Yes, the forest wasn't where I had grown up, but it had the most protection to offer.

To leave it, I feared, would mean certain death.

"Mitzi, come on." Thresh urged, turning to look back at me as I came to a stop. My heart sank, as I looked up at Thresh and realised what I had to do. "Mitzi?"

"I can't leave."

"What?"

"I can't leave the woods." Thresh stalked over to me. "Thresh, I..."

"Mitzi, we have to leave the woods."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Don't be ridiculous!" Thresh looked worried now. "It's just one step after the other."

"Thresh, if I leave the woods, I know that I'm going to die."

"Do you not trust me?" Thresh recoiled like I had hit him, but I began to shake my head in protest immediately. "Then why?"

"I trust you with my life, Thresh." I sighed. "But I don't want either of us to be in the position of having to kill the other. There are less tributes now, and the Careers are hunting. The number is only going to get stronger and then we'll be put in that horrible position. I don't want to do that."

"It's been three days, Mitzi. We've been in an alliance for three days!" Thresh panicked. "We have time. We still have time."

"There are eleven of us left." Geare's final words to me rang in my head. As soon as it got to half numbers, split from Thresh. He had warned me that though we may have been friends outside of the Games, the arena changed everything and Thresh would be the first to kill me in my sleep. "Thresh, we have to split."

He paused, his eyes going wide, before he shook his head and backed off. I watched him go, aching to reach out and hug him but also knowing that he could just as easily stab me in the back.

"I hope I don't see you." I muttered to Thresh, as he continued to back away. 

"Likewise." He didn't even say goodbye, brushing at his face harshly as he stalked away into the underbrush. I watched him until his figure was gone, camouflaged in the trees, before turning and hoisting my pack up.

My heart ached to stay with Thresh, but Geare's words rang through my head. If I wanted to survive, it was better to be on my own.

──⭒─⭑─⭒──

The first night without Thresh, I was jumpy. Any little sound, I would open my eyes, staring at my surroundings until I was sure that I was safe once more. By the next morning, I was shattered, but I pushed through. It took me a while before I found a tree to climb, tying myself in to the branches so that I could sleep during the day time period.

I was calm, more calm than I had been in a while, until something came crashing beneath me.

Everything in me tensed, before I pulled the branches of the tree apart, looking down at the person below me. They were still alive, breathing slowly, but alive. 

Slowly, I grabbed onto the spear, carefully shuffling down the tree, before I approached the figure on the floor. They were breathing slowly, so slowly that I thought that they were dead, but there had been no cannon blast.

Carefully, I turned the body over, before my eyes went wide and I scrambled back. I recognised the face, despite the swelling.

"Help..." Her voice was nothing like it had been in the interview, scratchy against her throat like someone had taken sandpaper to her vocal chords. "Please..."

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know whether I should kill her or save her? Was there any place for kindness in these games, but another thought occurred to me. If I was not merciful then what would I become? I would have lost myself.

So, I did the one thing that I knew I could do.

"You're alright. I've got you." I placed my spear on the ground, grabbing onto the girl's arms and dragging her to under my tree for more protection. Maybe I would come to regret this, or maybe not, but I wasn't going to let this arena change me. 

"Please..."

Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, was injured and despite all of my annoyance with the girl, I wouldn't let her die. She would live for a while longer.

──⭒─⭑─⭒──

Hiya,

So, Mitzi and Thresh have split three days into the games and Katniss has joined Mitzi and now, we're getting into a lot of fun from here on in. I'm very excited for what's about to go out.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx