| A Twisted Fate ❀ Cato Hadley |

Wasps and Foxes

 Chapter 8

Wasps and Foxes

A true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.

It's early when I decide to get down from the tree, maybe six or seven in the morning. I walk around the woods for a few more minutes, while munching on the remainder of the crackers and berries. I drank only half of the water in moderation, although I was planning to go back to the lake and fill it up again.
Ever since yesterday, there wasn't a minute that passed when Troy didn't cross my mind. My feelings were all jumbled up and I didn't know how to make them all just go away. Letting myself mourn and sob hysterically wasn't much of an option at the moment. I can't risk letting my guard down. Until I get out of this arena, I can finally let it all go. I know that there was more I could've done. But I was a second too late. It wouldn't have been an easy feat, that's for sure. I replayed multiple scenarios in my head, either attacking Cato or distracting him, just so that Troy would get away. Maybe there was a malfunction of some sort in my brain, because each and every time, I died with him. Nothing would work. If I tackled Cato, he'd grab my shoulders and toss me over a metal table of blades. If I did succeed on injuring Cato, Clove would chuck a knife through my head.

I can't decide if maybe that's just the way things worked the way it was supposed to work. That despite if I had even done something, he still wouldn't have made it. And I possibly wouldn't have, either.

The only thing I can do now is win. Win for Troy, and my family.

I stop behind a tree when I hear something... Not quite anything like an animal. Humans. And not just one.

Voices. Multiple voices, distinctly talking to one another with calmness. They sounded so normal and unafraid, that I almost forgot we were in the arena. My mind goes blank, and I force myself to quickly gather my belongings back into my backpack. I shakily zip it closed, my eyes darting frantically at my surroundings. Hide. I lunge behind a couple of bunched up, green bushes, hoping they would be enough to conceal me from the Careers.

The talking was growing closer... Closer...

I sink lower behind the shrubs, not daring to move at all.

I hear the footsteps approaching me.

No, no, no, no.

But, before they could pop out and kill me at that exact second, they stop. The conversing still continues, and I think they're completely oblivious to my presence.

"Loverboy, you're sure you saw her go this way?" My heart stops briefly, hearing that certain person speak. It's Cato.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I'm taken back. Peeta is the one speaking. What happened to him being madly in love with his district partner, Katniss? Was he betraying her?.. I didn't think a boy like him could have it in him to do such a thing.

"You better be." Clove mutters with hostility. I gulp quietly.

Cato instructs for them to keep moving, and I finally relax. As their footsteps begin to descend, I take the chance to sneakily peek my head from around the shrub. All of their backs are turned away, walking farther away from my hiding spot. I'm caught off guard when Marvel turns his head back, glancing around the forest for God knows what. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move. I was frozen in fear.

His eyes flew past me. He paused. His sapphire blue eyes were boring straight back into mine.

We stayed that way for two seconds or so, both of us utterly stunned at the sight of each other. I hold my breath, bracing myself for an inevitable death. He was going to alert the rest of them, and I was going to attempt to escape four menacing, deadly killers. Five, if you include Peeta. But, I'm still refusing to believe he's that way.

Yet, the oddest thing happened.

Marvel tears his gaze from mine, taking another glimpse at the nature around us. He turns back around and continues to walk with them, as if he hadn't seen his fellow district partner hiding from them. I'm sure that I was wanted by them. I was one on their kill list. He still didn't say anything. Had he just protected me? There was no reason for him to do so.

I suppose, just maybe, in his eyes we had somewhat of a bond. A weird one at that. Not completely connected or understanding of each other, but possibly because we both reminded the other of home. I didn't think of it now, but it's played a big factor on the two of us. I'm not dead because of it- because of him.

When they're finally gone, I relax my muscles and close my eyelids. I may have been safe from the Careers, but too bad it wasn't for everything else that was just as dangerous.

Bzzz. Bzzz.

I turn my head to the side at the annoying sound flowing through my ears. It was coming from inside one of the bushes. Bees, maybe? The noise was growing faintly closer to my hearing. I squint my eyes, carefully peering through the leaves. I nearly choke at what I see.
A tracker jacker's nest lays in the center of the brush. I instinctively jump backward, frantically pushing myself away from it. My boot accidentally slips, plunging right into the leaves. 'How did the nest even get inside of there?! Why is it there?' It must be the work of the Gamemakers. Well, congratulations to them, because it's surely gotten me into trouble.

I wait a second or so, waiting to confirm if I had disturbed it or not.

Nothing happens, but I'm still on edge.

Bzzzzz.

The humming noise causes me to let out only half of a scream, resulting in something that sounded like a high-pitched squeak. In my peripheral vision, there's a large, golden colored wasp hovering right at the side of my ear.

I completely lost it.

My arms flailed everywhere, desperate to prevent it from stinging me. But I know better. Tracker jackers aren't any normal wasps. They don't let you go that easy. Once they have a target, they will follow that person far away from their nest.
There's a sharp, stabbing sensation in the back on my neck, sending a wave of alarm over me. I quickly clasp my hand over it, while crazily trying to swat anymore wasps away from me.

And then I was running. Running through the endless forest of all too familiar looking trees. My body began to feel like it was floating. Wherever I looked, the image was constantly becoming more and more dizzier and blurry than before. For a second I even thought I was on fire, making me impulsively rip off my jacket and toss it on the ground carelessly.

"Rosalie?"

I fall against a tree, depending on my hand to prop myself up against it. I look up to the source of the voice, freezing when Spark comes into view, looking the same way she had for the Reaping. I shake my head wildly, hoping that my eyesight would slightly clear up. I can't let her stay here. My wobbly legs carry me toward her, ready to grab her and hide her somewhere- anywhere but out in the open.
Spark isn't Spark anymore. Right before my eyes, she starts transforming into what a first looks like a wolf. I know that she isn't a wolf though, because the canine-like animal continues to grow to an even larger size, staring me down with it's ferocious fangs barred. It then clicks. It's a lion.

I'm stunned. Once again, I shake my head madly, squeezing my eyes shut and avoiding looking directly at the large carnivore trailing after me. I sprint dizzily for another minute, before I trip over my own feet and crash harshly on the ground, landing on my back.
I can see another body is standing at the sidelines, frozen and not moving at all. I almost doubt if there's a person really there, or if I'm imagining it. My assumptions are confirmed, seeing the silhouette step closer into my view. A girl. Red hair. Facial features sharp and intent, just like a fox.

"Please," I can barely speak. "Please." I'm not exactly sure of why I'm telling her this, or what I'm even asking for. My mind is hazy and I feel overwhelmingly exhausted. As my eyelids start to droop, the last thing I'm left with is the same lion, glaring down at me as it's face hovered over my own.