Gladiators -- Clato

-I'm Sorry-

Hi everyone! I would like to tell all my readers that I have started a new book which is basically just a compilation of my writings regarding the Hunger Games, if you guys are interested. Please enjoy this chapter and comment, your feedback is what keeps me going!!!

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His lips are close to mine now, almost touching. Something about the moment makes me feel almost intoxicated, under the influence like I was with the whiskey.

We're close now, too close for the cameras and speakers to pick up what we say.

"Your eyes remind me of home," He whispers. I smile. Back in two, they're called "quarry stone eyes." A muted gray. Mine have a touch of green, like moss on stones. A common feature among the working population of Two.

"Do you miss it?"

"No. Do you?"

"No."

"Brick Dust," he says, and the two of us laugh, remembering the disgusting black dust that carpets the entire district.

"God, I don't know why I hated you for so long."  I smile.

"Because I beat you during every sword tournament."

"Please." I roll my eyes and blink. "I was the best in my year."

"How about-"

"don't say Zetta," I growl. "You saw how I beat her ass. That stupid paid admission brat." I cover my mouth, realizing she's probably watching and cursing my name right now. I suddenly feel shy. "And when we get home?" I say quietly. "What then?"

Cato moves close to me, lips against my neck below my ear. "We'll live in a big house in the Victors Village. We'll get engaged too. No one has to know," He murmurs.

The words send shivers down my spine. "Cato..."

"Hey. Don't argue." he smiles, and I smile back. "I'm sure of it."

"You know I come from the east side, right?" I say quietly.

"Yeah," Cato mutters. "I don't really care."

"You don't?"

"You think I asked to be born into this?" he says bitterly. "A family that sends it's sons and daughters off for glory?"

He's whispering, and I really hope that over the wind and the far proximity of the cameras no one can hear him.

"No. you didn't." I say. "But Hadley is a strong name. You have victors' blood."

He blinks, and I see the desperation in his eyes. "You believe that?"

"I always have," I say quietly. "The way I acted towards you was never hatred. I was jealous you had a name for yourself you didn't need to fight to prove."

"I was jealous too," He admits. "Of the way you just had that raw talent. No amount of trading would make me as good as you."

I shrug. "Guess it doesn't matter all that much anymore. The raven eats-"

"The same breadcrumbs as the mallard," Cato finishes the District Two saying. "I haven't heard that one in a while." He laughs, and I couldn't be any gladder to have someone from home by my side. 

The initial excitement wears off quickly, though. We're very low on food, although sponsors do send us a small bowl of bread which we ration off.  We agree to go hunting and see what we can catch, although the Game makers seem to be cutting back the amount of prey they're supplying to us. My stomach growls in protest as I stalk the dense forest surrounding our clearing. 

As I hunt, my mind whirls. No way this rule change would be allowed. Yes, they may favor us in District Two, but when it comes down to it, we are just as "District" as the pair from Twelve. Who knows what they're doing now to win Panem's favor. No doubt they'll believe the rule change. 

I desperately want to as well. The idea of going home as dual victors is enticing. I imagine Cato and I, bathed in gold and affection. Those same people who spit at me? Oh, they'll be chanting my name now. Wanting a just a graze of my power. 

But of course, that only comes through winning. With Katniss now supplied with her bow and arrows, armed with the promise of victory, our only threat is no longer just her. It is also the people who rally around her. 

I manage to catch a rabbit and some sort of foul. It's all I can carry, and I lug them over my shoulder back towards our camp. I stop in my tracks when I reach the edge of the woods. 

I see Cato. He's walking back to our makeshift camp with deer faun draped on his back. He tosses it down and wipes sweat from his brow. I see him grind his teeth and stomp the ground angrily. 

So he knows it too. It is going to come down to the two of us, no matter what they may say. Cato may be hard-headed but he's not dumb. He knows as well as I do that these Games are fair to no one, not even the Careers. Watching him grow ever angrier makes me bite my lip nervously. 

And then a terrible, horrible thought pops into my wicked head. I could kill him right now. Right here. Run at him and place a knife in his temple before he even has time to react. It would be quick, painless. A blink of an eye. 

As soon as the thought comes, I have to hold back the scream that comes with it. I draw my knife and press it down on my forearm until it breaks the skin and blood begins to trickle from the cut. I breathe heavily, gripping the hilt of my knife as if it would fly from my hands at any moment. 

"Fuck, pull yourself together," I whisper, and slap myself three times across my face. I feel crazy. What's wrong with me? 

I have to go back to that clearing. I hold the game close, wipe the blood from my forearm on my coat, and make my way towards Cato. 

He sees me with the rabbit and foul, and smiles. It's so forced. I can't see it any other way now. 

I drop the animals at my feet. Cato looks at me, confused. I struggle to hold back the tears, try not to look him directly in the eye. God, what the fuck is wrong with me?

"I'm sorry," I whisper, and unsheathe my knife.