A Game Called Revenge ✭ Cato Hadley

Twenty-Five - Girl That You Love

"ɪ ᴀᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀʀɢᴜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜ - ɪ ᴀᴍ ᴛᴇʟʟɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ."

Cato places her down, feet first this time, onto the soil of the jungle when they reach the first line of the trees. The air in the rain forest is immediately thicker and warmer than the air surrounding the beach and almost has them wishing they'd stayed at the cornucopia.

"Are you still going to stab me?" He asks her as they stand behind a thick, low hanging tree and watch the five remaining tributes each pointing at different spokes of the wheel. Whether they're trying to work out where the two careers have run off to or finding the safest segment of the arena, they can't tell. They wait and carefully watch as the group follow one of the spokes near the tail and cautiously walk up the beach to peer curiously into the jungle; looking for signs that could tell them there's something in there. They watch Peeta's mouth move as he explains something to the others and Johanna pulls a large stemmed leaf from a tree, handing it to him before they all sit down, using the stem to draw something in the sand.

"No." Clio resigns, pushing herself forwards, moving a little further in the jungle to keep themselves hidden. There's only one other tribute not with either alliance, and it's not one they're particularly worried about. If they find them then they can kill them. It's clear to them where they need to be, and without even discussing it they move in the direction of the other alliance, wanting to trail them at a safe distance where they can devise a plan and attack once they inevitably split up.

"Good." Cato says, seemingly unbothered by the events of the previous attack. But with the career alliance gone now that Cashmere and Gloss were killed at the cornucopia, the thought that herself and Cato were in danger in his arena only intensified as the two wandered through the jungle. The other alliance now outnumbers them and as much as they both have faith in their fighting abilities, they know that they can't take out Johanna, Finnick and Katniss at the same time if they stay allied up. Cato's words from the train car linger in Clio's mind; as much as she can plead him to be careful, and look out for himself over her, she knows that in this ticking time bomb of an arena her words will do very little to protect him from harm. Years of training has taught them both to do the 'right thing' in the games, to remove threats no matter how dangerous; yet his previous words are telling her that he would attack those against him, while protecting her beside him. Even if his safety is on the line. She hates it.

It has been one of the sources of their arguments ever since the quarter quell had been announced. Before they were even reaped, he was telling her that he valued her safety over his in there, that with her actions over the past year and the choice words she's directed at the pair from Twelve, people would more likely be targeting her than him. At first, Clio let it go, thinking that his words were just that, words, and that once the stress and adrenaline of the arena drew them back in, the promise would be long forgotten.

The turning point, however, was when he threw his girlfriend over his shoulder and removed them from the cornucopia, running away from the fight. He'd protected her, valued her over his own kills. It's easy for Clio to recognise that Cato could have disposed of the other tributes and then her, claiming his victory on the second day. He could've had the quickest victory in the history of the Hunger Games but instead he saved her. She's pissed off. Clio considers herself fairly immune to death, that considering how brutal her games were she didn't really have a say in the matter. But there was just something about seeing the dead body of someone she could have considered a friend if they were given the chance to form more trust. There's something about watching her friend roll into the ocean with an axe nestled in the centre of her chest due to a plan of attack that she helped construct that leaves fear running down her bones. She had found herself almost paralysed with fear, unable to think when the rock fortress had begun to spin, frantically clutching at the surrounding rocks and plunging her into the water; leaving her wondering whether Cato had been submerged.