Scars Of Our Love | Cato Hadley X Male Reader | Vol. 1

19 ~ Domino

"No. No, I-I," Cato pauses before punching the tree next to me. My hands push me slightly toward the right as his hand comes into view. "I need to see him. I promised I would protect him," he says in a muffled tone. "What about Ezri? What would she think of this Cato? You promised her something too!" Clove yells quietly, careful not to draw too much attention to herself.

My mind races with ways to escape but Clove's words stop everything. Who was Ezri? Clearly, it was someone important to him.

My heart was telling me not to believe it but as I thought my head pieced together the harsh truth. He was only acting like this for sponsors, he had to be. This girl, Ezri, what if she was his lover? I had fallen for him, and as Johanna said, he was using me. "Come on," Cato says coldly, "Marvels probably about to kill our lookout by now."

The sound of their footsteps is far enough, I let out a large breath. I had to get back. My feet are light as I quickly move toward the squirrel, pulling it up by the knife skewered through it before running back the way I came. The thought of destroying Cato's supplies was now the only thing on my mind, I needed to get back to the others.

I retrace my steps back to our camp. Both Katniss and Rue were now up, a small fire next to them. "I got a squirrel," I say, handing it to Katniss as she quickly makes use of it. Cutting away its skin and gutting it.

"She thought you ran away," Rue says with a laugh. I smile a bit, looking at her. "I just wanted to get us something to eat," I say, "but while I was out I overheard Cato and Clove." I shuffle around on the log I sit on, Katniss's attention is now turned toward me. She had questions, I could tell. "Like you said Rue, he was looking for me," I say, deciding to leave Ezri out of the conversation. The two give each other a quick look.

"We should destroy their stuff after we eat, the sooner we do the better," Katniss says while sticking the squirrel over the fire. It pulled me into a trance, spinning the stick in circles, roasting over the fire. "Wait!" I say loudly as an idea comes to mind. Back home there were many dangerous things in the forest, it was easy to get lost or stranded, but we came up with ways to survive. One way to find help was by making a flare. Certain leaves make more smoke than others, when lit they basically made a beacon, one that can be seen from extremely far away. "We can make a distraction," I say, "We have someone light fires to make smoke. We'll draw them away, then all we have to do is get rid of the supplies somehow."

I grunt as I toss the final branch down into the pile we made. "Alright, light this one last after the others," Katniss says to Rue. She stays close to our side, her eyes looking as if she would cry at any moment. "Ok," she says in a shaky voice, "We need a signal." Katniss draws her eyebrows together, "Like what?" Both of us watch as she opens her mouth to sing a quick high pitched melody. Within seconds it echoes through the forest, the birds around mimicking the sound of her voice. "Mockingjays," I say, amazed that they were in the arena. "Yea, we use them all the time back home. You try," she says.

Katniss draws her lips together, letting a low whistle escape. Again they echoed her hum throughout the forest. As the silence comes back Rue's eyes fall.

"We'll be back together by supper, promise," I say while leaning down to hug her shivering body. Her arms wrap around my neck and the only person I think of is Ana, it was like I was back in that room, saying my final goodbyes to everyone I cared about. I slowly let go and she is quick to latch onto Katniss, "We'll be ok."

With that, we go our separate ways. Rue skips off to find the first "distraction" we set while Katniss and I run toward the cornucopia.

We quickly make it to the outer edges of the center, the cornucopia in view as well as the careers. "Damit!" I say quietly, Katniss turning toward me. "What?" she says. I lift my hand, pointing out a scrawny boy who sat on a supply crate next to the careers. "I forgot to tell you, I overheard Cato say they had a lookout. Even if Rue lights the fires they'll still leave him here to keep watch," I say.

She turns back, spotting the boy, but also seeing something else. "There is something around their supplies," she says. My eyes draw close together as I study the field. There were many piles of dirt spread throughout, it looked like they had buried items around their mountain of supplies, but what was it?

A large cloud of smoke emerges from the trees, Rue had lit the first fire. "Hey look," Marvel yells while standing. The others spot it quickly. "Stay here," Cato demands the smaller boy before running away with the others toward the smoke.

We take this as our sign to step forward and make our move. "Go keep a lookout, make sure he doesn't try to mess me up," Katniss says. I nod before sneaking away. I came to a clearing in the trees, it was hidden enough for me to not be seen. My knees hit the cold dirt as I kneel, the head of my axe on the ground as my hand rests on its handle.

Katniss was not too far away. I watch as she slowly moves from her position, getting closer to the crates. She is about to shoot before something stops her. I turn to look and notice a girl running out from the opposite side of the forest. She was quick to jump around the dug-up parts, it looked like she was doing a funny dance. Her hand reaches out to grab a bag and she is gone after that.

Mines! I got it, as I look around the pedestals I also notice dug-up parts. They had taken the mines from around our pedestals and repurposed them to work as a defense. All we had to do was get them to detonate. I hope Katniss realized it too.

She raises her bow and focuses on what lay ahead of her. Her hands let go allowing the arrow to cut through the air, barely missing a bag of apples at the top. The boy sitting there noticed, and I quickly leaped forward, "Hey!" He turns toward me and breaks into a sprint. His only weapon was a spear, but I had no idea how good he was with it. Suddenly a loud boom sounds through the arena, The mines around the supplies erupted. Large spikes of fire came together to form one glowing beam that splintered off in every direction. My ears ring.

She did it! He turns back to me, "What did you do!" My instinct forced me to turn and run, but I was stopped. The head of his spear splits open the fabric of my right sleeve, cutting through my upper arm. I scream before falling to my knees, clutching the cut with my left hand, trying to stop the bleeding. I feel pressure on my back as he pushes his foot into me, I fall to the ground. This was it, I am going to die. I close my eyes waiting for a final stab but nothing happens. The boy's weight is lifted off me as I turn. Cato stood above me, my head was throbbing and I could barely hear. He was talking but all I heard were muffled screams, his hands reaching out to clutch the boy's neck, quickly snapping it. His body falls to the floor. Cato's bright blue eyes now turn to me, softening as he looks at my weakened state. He mouths something I can't hear. "Y/n!" I finally hear as the ringing slows. I stare only a minute longer before grabbing my axe and running away. I didn't dare look back, but I knew he didn't follow. My blood was seeping much faster than it should and I could barely stand, but all I wanted was to keep going. Keep going and find Rue, I had to make sure she was safe.