Wattpad deleted this chapter as well, so I need to redo it again :l WHICH I REALLY HATE-
Sorry, it'll be a bit longer than last probably.
꧁ꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥꕥ꧂
"We were all deep in the jungle, where I thought it would be safe," Johanna started, growling in anger.
"That's when the rain started. I though it was water. It was blood. Hot, thick blood, it was coming down, it was choking us! Hah, we were stumbling around gagging on it blind!" She stopped to take a deep breath, looking up towards the pink tinted sky. "That's when Mags hit the force field..." You frowned, a bit disappointed the old woman didn't make it. But, she was going to die at some point, that you knew.
Wiress was stumbling around with a bloody face, muttering, "Tick tock," Out loud, saying it to anyone. Johanna shook her head at you, obviously pissed off at her.
"What's wrong with her?" Katniss asked. "She's in shock. Dehydration isn't helping, do you have fresh water?" Beetee asked, cleaning his head and glasses with the saltwater.
"We can get some," Katniss responded, watching as Johanna had enough of Wiress - who was gripping on her shoulders - and shoved her to the ground hard. "Stay down!" Johanna ordered to the carefree woman. Katniss, however, didn't approve. "Hey!" She cried, ripping Johanna off her. Johanna, still enraged, slapped Katniss so hard that you think her cheek would be purple.
You quickly intervened, picking Johanna up and dunking her into the saltwater. Johanna cried out in defiance and tried to strangle you, sputtering colourful words to you. Not reacting at all, you shoved her into the water and watched her float to the surface, glaring at you.
You rolled your eyes, just before Cato went over and picked you up, dangling you from your feet. "Wha, hey-!" You cried before he dunked you into the water. You could hear Johanna call out, "Hah! That's what you get!" From under the water. You stared at Cato's rippled appearance thanks to the water and crossed your arms, using your core strength to surface yourself.
You deadpanned to Cato, as he smirked and released your legs, laughing when you fell in the water. You resurfaced and gripped onto Cato's shoulders. "Oh, it's so on!" You cried, shoving him into the water as well.
Katniss - during the commotion - cleaned up Wiress. Whilst everyone else came back to the beach, the lightning strikes that same tree again. You couldn't hear, but Katniss had gripped Wiress's shoulders, smiling happily. The two got onto a rocky path and called the rest of you over, explaining their new knowledge of the arena.
"This whole arena seems to be laid out like a clock, with a new threat every hour, though they only stay within their wedge. It all starts with the lightning. Then the blood rain, fog, monkeys, that's the first four hours." Katniss instructed as you all made your way to the cornucopia.
Whilst everyone else was talking about the clock, and where each threat is where, Wiress sat down at the outside of the island, humming a song, like a warning bird. You decided to check and see if there were any weapons that could be proven useful to you. Your axe had been dulled up and damaged thanks to those stupid monkeys, so you could definitely use a better weapon.
Looking through the piles of weapons, you spotted a long battle axe, the blade probably as long as your arms. You picked it up by the handle, feeling it's weight. No doubt it was heavy, but you could get used to it quickly. Twirling it in your hands, you positioned the axe back, aiming at a piece of the metal cornucopia. You then released the axe with great strength, making it dent into the metal, causing a loud bang in satisfaction. Everyone jumped in alarm, hearing the loud sound and investigated. Katniss had an arrow strung, but gave you a half-lidded glare once she found you as the culprit for the loud noise. You smirked, pulling out the axe and headed over to see what everyone else was talking about.
"It doesn't matter, as long as we stay clear from the jungle, we'll be safe." Peeta said.
Suddenly, Wiress gasped. The warning bird stopped singing. You all turned to see Gloss pull a knife out of Wiress's shoulder. Katniss immediately fired an arrow at his heart, causing him to fall back. The careers were here.
Just then, you noticed from the corner of your eye the sister - Cashmere - running towards Katniss with a knife. You pushed her out of the way and used your new axe to slam her head down into the rock, cracking open her skull. You then turned to see Enobaria slash Finnick's leg. Katniss and Johanna ran after Cato's district partner. You lowered your hand down, and that's when you could feel it. The island started to rumble.
Realizing this, you called out to everyone. "Stay down!"
No one could react to your warning before the island started to rapidly spin clockwise. Everyone had to drop down and grab onto whatever rock they could, holding on for dear life. You could see the waves quaking violently, if anyone falls, you would definitely get pulled into a riptide.
You looked up to see a sickle coming straight at you. You moved your head to the side, avoiding the weapon from grazing you.
Finally, after what felt like hours of a heart pounding event, the spinning slowly stopped. The water finally settled, as you inhaled a large gulp of air. You slowly stood up, a little shaky from such fast movement in one moment. You walked over to see Katniss slowly standing up, her hair even wetter than before. You could only assume she got caught in the riptide. It's a good thing she was still alive...
"Let's just get what we need and get off the bloody island." Johanna remarked, everyone seeming to agree.
Everyone decided to settle back into the beach, trying to take a rest at what's been happening. You and Cato sat down beside each other, cleaning off any grime from your weapons.
"So besides Enobaria, who's left?" Katniss asked. "Maybe Chaff? Just those two." Peeta responded.
"They know they're outnumbered. I doubt they'll attack again. We're safe here on the beach." Finnick said, leaning off a branch.
"So what do we do, hunt them down?" Johanna asked impatiently. You knew she wanted her axe to be buried into someone's face by this point.
A small, frail girl's scream rang from in the jungle, causing Katniss to rouse in panic. The girl cried Katniss's name. "Prim!! Prim!" Katniss screamed in horror, grabbing her bow and running into the jungle. You blinked, didn't an hour just past...?
"Katniss, wait!" Finnick cried, running after her. You bit your lip in confusion, surely there was no way Katniss's sister could be sent into the games. They were never shown at the beginning, there would've been no time for the Capitol to bring her here. Someone would've noticed.
Moments after, you all could hear Katniss's and Finnick's screams. Assuming the worst, you all got up and headed into the jungle, meeting with Katniss and Finnick trapped in a certain wedge of the arena. Many blackbirds had been swooping in, attacking them as they covered their ears. You've heard of these birds - jabberjays. A unique Capitol mutt created to spy on other's messages and report back to the Capitol in the Dark Days, mimicking ones voice easily. You've heard they've been abandoned into the wild, so the only thing you could assume was that the gamemakers were putting up a show, horrifying the two from screams of the people they loved.
You had to watch blankly as they were tortured for the hour. The jabberjays finally got bored torturing them, and left. As Katniss was getting comforted by her fiancé.
During the whole shenanigan, you noticed one more jabberjay staying behind. And when it released a sound, it made your blood run cold.
It screamed the same way that Clove did when she pleaded for you to save her at the feast.
You couldn't move. You got to hear her screaming your name, pleading for you. Her screams echoed through the air while you didn't react. Your grip around your axe tightened, realizing the stupid mutt didn't even come down to scream in your ears. What a coward.
"Are you gonna continue mimicking someone's scream who's dead?! I hope you and your stupid gamemakers realize that Clove is dead! You killed her!!" You snapped, silencing the bird. Some of your allies flinched in surprise, shocked that you'd snap out like that.
The bird didn't move, giving you the opportunity to send a knife to its throat, making it fall down to the ground. You stabbed it once more for good measure, angered that the bird would mimic someone who died. It was as if they were mocking you over the fact that you couldn't save Clove.
No one said anything. You couldn't say anything. Your hardened glare softened a small bit, gripping your axe tighter, looking over to Katniss. "I'll get you some water," You said sternly, walking into the forest. The revolting feeling still in your stomach, the utter agony you felt when you saw Clove's corpse doubled now. You wanted to rip each and every single gamemaker who dared to treat her like a piece in their game.
Cato however, knew you were lying. He was the one who had the spile. He nodded towards everyone else, walking towards you.
After the two of you walked deep into the jungle, where the others won't hear, you stopped, facing Cato. You dug your axe into the dirt beside you.
"Want to talk about it, (Y/N)?" Cato asked, looking at you. You looked into Cato's beautiful eyes, before looking down in hatred.
"I'm just so...disgusted by what the Capitol did. Treating her like a piece in their game. Mocking me for something that I could have prevented..." You clenched your fists together, your knuckles were soon turning white. Cato shook his head.
"You couldn't stop that. Thresh was there first." Cato told you.
"But, I could've gone to the Feast. Then Clove would still be alive. And then, she wouldn't be dead, she'd still be here with us!" You cried. Cato bit his lip before pushing you against a tree, trapping you with his arms. You looked up at him blankly.
"She sacrificed herself, because she knew that I couldn't lose you. She did it to protect you. You can't just doubt yourself for something that she chose to do." Cato said, staring into your eyes softly. You sighed in response. "I'm sorry..." You murmured.
Cato moved some strands of hair out of your face. "You and I promised that we'd get out of the games alive for Clove. For us."
You couldn't respond until seconds later. "You're right..." Cato leaned even closer, his lips only centimetres from yours.
Neither of you two could move. It was as if you were both trapped in some sort of spell.
"We'll get out of these ones too, ok?" Cato reassured, though those odds were low, you two could still get out of this as well.
"But what if only one winner is allowed?" You asked. In this case, what if Katniss dies, and it's down to the rest of the alliance?
"Then it'll be together, or not at all." Cato said, running his fingers down your cheeks. You smiled to him. "Together or not at all." That was all it took for Cato to kiss you deeply. It was one that made you want more, the passion and love you two shared for each other being shown in this one kiss. You tilted your head to give him a better angle, deepening the kiss even more. You gripped onto Cato's arms, holding on, nervous on what will happen in the future.
You two pulled back, slowly opening your eyes to gaze into each other's lovingly. Cato softly smiled at you - a rare sight that only he showed you.
"Come on, we need to head back to the others." Cato said, as you grabbed your axe, and took his hand in yours. You also collected some water for Katniss on the way.
When you two got back, Beetee already seemed to gather everyone for a plan. You handed Katniss the water you held in a leaf, as you all discussed a plan Beetee came up with.
"Where are the Careers the safest?" Beetee asked everyone, just like a teacher instructing their pupils.
"The jungle's a nightmare." You responded.
"Probably here on the beach," Said Peeta.
"Then why aren't they here?" Beetee asked once more.
"Because we're here. We claimed it." Cato responded.
"And if we left they would come?"
"Or stay hidden in the tree line," Finnick commented.
"Which in just over four hours will be soaked by the 10 o'clock wave. And what happens at midnight?"
"Lightning strikes that tree," Katniss muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Here's what I propose: We leave the beach at dusk. We head to the lightning tree, that should draw them back to the beach. Prior to midnight, we then run this wire from the tree to the water. Anyone in the water, or the damp sand will be electrocuted." Beetee stated, giving you, Cato, Finnick, and Johanna a look, meaning this move had something to do with Katniss and Peeta.
You four all exchanged glances with each other. "Well, it's better than hunting them down." Johanna mumbled.
"Yeah why not? If it fails, no harm done anyway, right?" Katniss said to Beetee.
"So what can we do to help?" Cato asked, a small silence overcoming the conversation.
"Keep me alive for the next six hours? That would be extremely helpful." Beetee responded.