𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞 ☦︎ 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐧

𝐓𝐇𝐆 ☦︎ 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

My house is just like I remember it.

The same fire that burns bright in the winter.

The same clock on the mantle.

The same picture of my father hanging above it.

I can see him, as well, walking into the mines with the rest of the workers, getting the packed elevator down, getting told to get out-

BOOM!

The loud noise echoes as I envision the explosion... it must have been loud, and scary... but a painless death altogether.

Then my house explodes, which I can't ever recall happening but probably has at this point. Rubble is everywhere, and the picture of my father is ash, and the fireplace is blown to bits.

Then it all pieces back together, and I can see myself inside it, yelling at my mother.

"Mum!" I shout. "Mom, DON'T JUST SIT THERE AND LOOK AT ME! PLEASE JUST SAY SOMETHING! PLEASE!"

But when she opens her mouth, it's Cato's voice I hear.

"Sage listen, you have to run, I know a safe place but we have to-"

Darkness.

☦︎☦︎☦︎

When I wake up, the first thing I feel is the hard ground below me. I'm not in a tree, because I don't feel the rope round my middle, but I'm also not on the forest floor, because that's soft, and muddy. It's not hard, like this is.

I feel something soft on my arm and neck as my eyes flutter open, and I frown. I look around, very confused at the dim lighting in wherever the hell I am.

"You're awake," I hear a voice say, but I don't think much of it.

"Wh...?" I only say half the word as I reach a hand up to my neck, feeling a... leaf?

Then I look at my hand, seeing a leaf there, as well.

Then, finally, I look to where the voice is coming from, and I don't know what to do when I see him.

Cato.

Sitting in this small... cave, I now see, as my eyes adjust to the low level of light, legs stretched out, arms behind him propping himself up. He looks just the same as always. Same cocky expression, same face, nothing looks like it's changed since he left the Cornucopia without his pack, so I'm still confused as to why he did that.

"What- what's going on?" I ask, my voice gravelly as I look around. My knives and pack are right next to me, and on my other side is another backpack that I know is his when I see the sword, glittering dangerously next to it. My sleeping bag is laid out on the ground and is what I'm lying on, and he is sitting near the cave mouth, keeping watch, presumably.

"A lot," is what Cato tells me. He chuckles before he continues. "If you're asking who's died since you dropped that nest, darling, Clove and the boy from Ten. If you're-"

"Don't call me darling," I snap, my voice easing back into its normal tone. "And no, I was asking why the fuck I'm in a cave, covered in leaves, with you."

I choose to ignore the fact that the last time I spoke to him, he told me he liked me. Thankfully, it seems he is ignoring this subject as well.