Maybe Foxface Is The Real Opponent Here~

16-Cato Hadley and Finch Alinta

Cato's P.O.V

BANG.

I spin around, frozen. That can only be the sound of a cannon. That means there's three left, including me. I try and convince myself it's not my Finch, even though the rapid and unfaltering beat of my heart says otherwise.

She couldn't be dead, she has supplies.. But what if Katniss or Peeta fought her? She had no weapons, as far as I know.. I need to know. I see the hovercraft faintly in the distance, although it's too faint to work out who's inside.

The armour in Thresh's pack is extraordinary. Yes, I took his pack. I managed to find the pack just after the hovercraft took him away. It protects my chest, shins and arms as well as other places. There was also lots of other stuff, mainly food.

I trample across fallen trees, bloody patches and nettles when I finally find a small cave by the river. It's small and empty, but there are crumbs and tiny bones at the back. 'Maybe a mouse died here' I think. But when I observe the bones they look a lot like a fish's, and the crumbs are from bread almost definitely. I wonder who ate here. It might be Finch, but it could just as easily be Katniss and or Peeta, maybe even a long-dead tribute. 

I find myself crying, but wipe away the tears quickly so that the Capital don't see me cry. I need to look strong. I need to be strong, if Finch is still out there.

That's when I remember. The Capital hasn't revealed who it is yet, but they soon will. An hour later, I keep myself awake to hear the anthem of the Capital. 

Tributes dead, one.

Finch Alinta.

*~*~*~*~*

'CACAWW!' The cry of a bird scares me. The light from the sun is still rising as the cave is flooded with light, revealing a long red hair on the base of the cave.

It's hers.

Finch was here. This could be the last place she slept before.. It happened. It angers me so bad that I feel the need to do something, distract myself. That's when I have the perfect solution to my anger.

I'll kill Katniss and Peeta. Of course, it had to be them that did it, that or the Capital got bored. But they'll suffer for her. For me. I grab a spear and what's left of my food, and start my way searching in the woods. Every bramble clicks under my foot, so often that even when I sat down to eat a dead rabbit I caught, I ignore the fact that the cracks and clicks of branches underfoot are still audible. I sit, unknowing, that something's there. Right until I see the face. The fur. The eyes.

A low growl rips through the animal's mouth. I know I should run, but it looks scarily like her. Like my Finch. The red fur, glistening and real. The eyes, amber like hers, strangely human yet on the body of a massive wolf.

At this point a tear ripples across my cheek, only when more brambles crack do I turn around.

Another growl echoes around the wood, and another wolf creature emerges from the forest. This one, with light glossy fur, a small nose and emerald eyes. This one is like Glimmer, and even as a wolf she's pretty.

Turning on my heel without my spear, I run, run, run straight into Peeta and Katniss. She shoots an arrow at my chest, but it simply bounces off, and, without stopping, I continue, yelling and I hear their own screams of terror as the beasts tear through the forest, following us as we stumble across open land, in the middle of which is the Cornucopia. There are dozens more, at least one for every tribute, growling and barking and yowling.

'Go, Katniss! Go!' Peeta waves up to the cornucopia.

The pure gold surface has been designed to resemble the woven horn that we fill at harvest, so there are little ridges and seams to get a decent hold on. But after a day in the arena sun, the metal feels hot enough to blister my hands.

I am the first to the top of the Cornucopia, followed by Katniss. I lie on my side, panting furiously. My whole chest feels like it's inside out, and my gasps for air prove unnoticeable. I hear the whip through the air as Katniss pulls out her bow, but something distracts her. Peeta cries out, the creatures right behind him.

I try to cough out 'Can they climb it,' but my voice fails me and Katniss can't hear.

'What?' She shouts.

'He said, 'Can they climb it?'' Peeta answers, and the sound of scraping paws over the surface and then making high-pitched yipping sounds to one another fills the arena. This must be how they communicate because the pack backs up as if to make room. Then the one that resembles Glimmer, a good-sized one with silky waves of blond fur takes a running start and leaps onto the horn. Her back legs must be incredibly powerful because it lands a mere ten feet below us, pink lips pulled back in a snarl.

Katniss shouts stuff at him, my ears pounding I can't hear them properly. Then Peeta lets out a terrible cry of horror and pain as one creature bites him. 

'Kill it, Peeta! Kill it!' Katniss yells. She starts pulling him up the cornucopia, and I regain my footing, standing unsteady yet tall above the two.

Katniss turns from the beasts back to face me when I jerk Peeta from her, his blood splattering on Katniss.

I stands before her, holding Peeta in a strong headlock, cutting off his air. Peeta’s clawing at my arm weakly, as if confused over whether it’s more important to breathe or try and stem the gush of blood from the gaping hole an animal left in his calf.

Katniss aims one of her last two arrows at my head, but I just laugh. She can shoot me, but she'll loose the only thing she wants. 'Shoot me and he goes down with me.' I know there's a look of madness in my eyes, but it's only anger and broken-heartedness.

She knows she can’t shoot me without killing Peeta. I wish I'd had the choice that she does. Her or him. However, I can’t kill Peeta without Katniss killing me too. We both stand motionless, the yapping of the things below consistent.

My lips are smiling, but inside I may as well be dead. Nothing matters anymore. Peeta raises a bloody finger and makes a deliberate X on the back of Cato’s hand. I pretend I can't see, knowing Katniss will shoot me there any second, but I can't hold the smile and seconds later her arrow is piercing my hand. I cry out and reflexively release Peeta who slams back against me. She dives to catch hold of Peeta as I lose my footing in a heap of Peeta's blood, slipping into the beasts below.

I hit the floor with a thud and the mutts instantly attack.

 I can hear the snarls, the growls, the howls of pain from both me and beasts as I take on the whole pack. The body armor protecting me from ankle to neck is impeccable, and I know that I may be here for a while. I fight blindly with my pocket knife, slicing at the creatures so that on occasion there’s the death scream of a mutt or the sound of metal on metal as the blade collides with the golden horn. I try to outrun them around the cornucopia, weeping and groaning as I go.

My screams eventually die down into tears of loneliness. They killed Finch and now it's me. The mutts are just too many, and my body is dragged inside the cornucopia, where my shrill cries keep Peeta and Katniss far from peacefulness.

I beg to Katniss, 'Kill me, kill me please..' but she stays quiet on the roof of the cornucopia. I moan, scream and weep until the day is a new one. I'm in agony, and every bit and tear is like it's been set on fire. My face is bitten to the extreme, as are my bloody hands and feet after they managed to tear off my shoes.

No viewer could turn away from the show now. From the Gamemakers’ point of view, this is the final word in entertainment. My bitter agony.

I don't sleep that night, and all through it until the morning sun, all that slips my bloody lips are the words, 'Finch, I-I... Love y..You. '

An hour or two after I hear them wake, I can barely see Katniss over the edge of the cornucopia, her bow in hand. I say barely, the blood pulsating through my oozing wounds is smothered all over my face and eyes.

I see her distraught expression, and the arrow's release. My last sight. The cannon proceeds me. 

I am Cato Hadley, and I died for Finch Alinta.

*~*~*~*~*~*

 Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favour.