the girl who played with knives || clato ✔️

23

Clove

The first thing I take in as a robotic voice starts to count down from 60 is the smell of pine trees. The things can be seen to my right and behind me. Across from me is a lake and to the left is nothing, so I presume there is a cliff of some sort.
The tributes are arranged on pedestals in a semicircle around the iconic golden cornucopia, which has weapons, food, water, and other supplies spilling from its mouth, which is at least twenty feet high. My pedestal is between Marina and Marvel, with Marina on the left and Marvel on the right.

I spot a set of throwing knives about halfway between me and the cornucopia. I position myself to run for them as the clock ticks down, my heart hammering, my eyes locked on the spot.

"Ten... nine... eight..." The voice says. A holographic cube shows the numbers as the voice utters them.

"Good luck," Marina says as the clock hits zero and everyone runs. About half go to the cornucopia and the others run for the woods. I sprint straight for the knives and reach them just before another does- the girl from 3. I consider killing her but have a double-take. The fear in her eyes... and she's such a skinny little thing. The mercy I give her ends up being worthless, as Marina takes the chance and slashes her leg with a sword, nearly severing it. I turn away and notice two tributes fighting over a backpack. The District 9 boy and...

Katniss... I run towards the two and fling a knife at the boy. An explosion of blood emits from his back and throat as he falls to the ground. Katniss recoils as a spray of blood hits her face. She notices my knife in his back, then looks up and locks eyes with me, just ten yards away, a dozen knives clutched in one hand. She grabs the backpack and turns to run. I fling a knife at her head, but she hitches her backpack up and blocks it. I curse under my breath.

I never miss.

I chase her for a few seconds before realizing I'll just have to deal with her later.
I turn back to the cornucopia to see the fighting has died down, but only slightly. Most of the tributes are fleeing now. Marvel spears a girl, Glimmer stabs a guy. And then it's over. Everyone's gone. Either dead or running to the winds. I swallow the lump in my throat as I walk slowly towards the golden horn.

Then I gasp and stop walking, because Cato has just killed Jonah.

Cato

My breath catches. I killed him. I killed Jonah. A twelve-year-old. I just have to keep telling myself, it's better this way. It's better this way. I'd killed another boy too. I don't even know his district.

"Cato." I jump and turn around, barely missing Marina as I instinctively swing my sword. She gasps but keeps her composure. "Thank you," she says. I manage a small smile. "Let's go." I nod and we walk towards the others, who have gathered near the lake so the bodies can be picked up from the cornucopia.

"Okay, guys. That was pretty good. We knocked quite a few out. But there are still some strong competitors out there," Glimmer says. I frown, and Clove actually recoils in disgust. "Mainly-"

"Hey! Guys there's someone... it's Twelve!" Marvel yells, having gone back to the horn to make sure everyone was dead, I suppose.

I can see that Clove is exhilarated out of the corner of my eye as we all walk towards Marvel. Is it Katniss? We wonder, as she is one of our biggest competitors.
But as we arrive at the golden horn it's merely the boy.

"Don't kill me!" He exclaims. "P-please... I can help you find Katniss," he says.
We observe him questioningly.

"What about the whole star-crossed lovers thing, eh loverboy?" I ask, tossing my sword in the air and catching it firmly by the handle, filling my position of malice. He swallows.

"It was an act. For sponsors," he says. But why would he reveal that? To us and all of Panem because we are surely the main attraction at the moment. Maybe he's trying to use some sort of reverse psychology.

"Okay," Glimmer decides.

"Yeah, we can just kill him if he's any trouble. But for the moment... we can find Katniss," Marvel adds.

We all nod and return to the lake, Loverboy trailing behind.

Clove

It's late afternoon when the cannons start sounding.

"Eleven?" Marina counts.

"Yeah," I confirm.

Cato, Marina, and I are supposed to be scouting and hunting, while the others sort through the stuff at the cornucopia.

"Okay, so..." Marina takes one last look back towards the cornucopia to make sure no one's listening, even though we're miles away. "Should we leave now?"

"I don't know. It's kind of perfect, but... is it too early?" I ask.

"Maybe," Marina says.

I nod, then look over at Cato, who's barely uttered a word since we left and has trailed slightly behind us. I slow down and place a hand on his arm. How I want to kiss him and to hold him...

"I'm fine," he says coldly. There's a pause.

"Is it Jonah?" I ask. He nods slowly.

"Clove... I killed two people today. They... they were like us. They had families and at least a glimmer of hope that they could get home to them."

"Maybe," I start. "But we're different... we aren't going home." Cato stares at me and I stare at him. I sense Marina approaching slowly. Then Cato asks the question that has been tugging at my subconscious since the bloodbath.

"Then why did we kill them?"