A Game Called Revenge ✭ Cato Hadley

Twenty-Six - Let's Kill Tonight

"ᴀ ᴛʜᴇᴏʟᴏɢɪᴄᴀʟ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʙᴏᴍʙ, ꜱᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢᴏ ᴏꜰꜰ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴅʀᴀᴍᴀᴛɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴇQᴜᴇɴᴄᴇꜱ."

After what can only be a couple of hours, Cato gently shakes the girl sleeping on his chest awake and she lifts her head, crawling off of him so that they can switch. The jungle is only getting colder throughout the night as Clio lies flat on the floor, using the tree roots as the hardest pillow she could have, and Cato's head lays in her lap. She turns her head to look at Cato whose eyes are fluttering shut as he fights sleep, before turning to look up at the stars through the thick canopy. It hurts to look at him because she knows that it's all ending and she can't quite believe how quickly this games has passed. Eight tributes remain after only two days in the arena - with this speed the show could be over in a matter of hours. He will be going home in a few hours.

"Cato..."

"No." To anyone watching his words could simply just mean that he wishes to get some sleep, but Clio knows him, she knows what she means. No, I don't want to talk about it right now. No, we need to focus on taking out the others tomorrow. No, I can't even think about this right now because the thought of leaving you, of losing you, makes me want to stay here. And it's not just him, she feels it too.

His sleep is restless and only lasts a few hours, less than four at least, before he shivers enough to shake himself awake, bare back exposed to the cool touch of the tree roots. Once he's awake he sits up almost instantly, having already decided he needs to go and search the cornucopia for blankets, extra clothing or anything else that will signal a sudden switch in the climate. "I'm gonna go back to the cornucopia to collect our stuff."

Clio nods her head, shifting to move. "Alright, let's go."

"You're gonna stay here."

"What? No, I'm coming with you." She argues.

"I'll collect the supplies and come straight back." He holds his hands out to cut her off as she begins to protest again. "You nearly drowned yesterday, just relax and let me get this."

"How am I supposed to relax when you're out there by yourself? I feel fine, I can come with you." She moves to stand up, attaching her flask to her holsters again.

"I'm asking you to please stay here." He almost pleads as he steps back, rubbing his eyes and heaving a frustrated sigh. "Scream for me if something happens."

"Don't you dare laugh at yourself." Clio replies, holding a hand out as he stifles a laugh. She shoves the hilt of his sword into his hand, before sitting back down on the floor and nodding in the direction of the beach. She watches him head down the hill towards the water, where the trees start bunching together in the distance, along with the vegetation, dragging his sword quietly behind him to keep as straight a line as possible and leaving some kind of marking in the soil before his body disappears behind the foliage. This was such a bad idea, she thinks as she leans her head against the rough bark of the tree for a few minutes before her brain kicks back into gear and she jumps to her feet. She knows that going running after him would be an even worse idea, and would only alert the others to where they're camping out so she shoves her left foot into one of the footholds of the large tree she climbed earlier to get a higher vantage point.

While Clio struggles to push herself up the tree in the low light of the arena, Cato cuts at the low vines on the floor as he comes to the edge of the jungle. Peeta and Finnick sit side by side, waist deep in the water, but facing opposite directions. Finnick watches the water and the cornucopia while Peeta's eyes scan the long treeline. Their weapons are planted upright in the sand, within arms reach in the shallow water as they engage in half-hearted conversation. Positioning himself behind the larger trees, Cato walks sideways, careful not to trip, so that he can position himself as far into their section as possible and away from the two men sitting on the beach. Using the rocky spoke as a guide, he lines himself up with the strip and waits for Peeta's eyes to flick over to the other side of the arena. When the boy from Twelve looks over at the other line of trees, Cato uses it as his opportunity, slipping past the trees and onto the beach. The sand, soft under his feet, is silent and neither of the men notice his presence until his boots make contact with the rocks as he runs towards the giant metal structure as fast as he can. Finnick is the first to react, head snapping towards the noise but instead of picking up his weapon, he simply lays back into the water, leans on his elbows and watches. Once Cato reaches the cornucopia, he rifles through the piles of the supplies that they'd organised on their first day. Some of the stacks remain untouched, neither affected by the spinning motion of the island the afternoon prior whilst others lay on the floor in disarray. There is no extra clothing, no blankets or resources to start a fire. Fucking nothing he thinks as he rummages through the items, finding only the remains of their food from the first night, hidden underneath various items that had fallen. He can feel the eyes of the two men on the beach, watching his every move in case he tries to attack them but he knows they can't be too worried when he realises they've yet to move from the water. He can't see the other three members of their alliance though. There's movement from the jungle, and noise follows.