Chapter 14- Her Through His Eyes
*Cato's P.O.V.*
I hopelessly hope no one had seen.
I don't know why I had done it. Never mind, I do. And there isn't a doubt in my mind I would do it again. The thought of her... Dead... Well, it didn't sit well for me, that's for sure. I had run into the thick of the fighting after I had killed that boy, and the thought of any one of them killing Alexandra had me killing them like a mad man.
Needless to say, many died at my hands that afternoon.
I had then formed my alliance of a boy named Catcher, from One, Clove, from my district, and Drake, who is from Six. The rest... Well, we have to have some prey, now don't we? I'll kill these three after they have helped me with the dirty work.
"Who to kill first..." I mutter to myself.
"What about that pesky girl from Eleven?" Clove pipes up.
I let no emotion cross my face, even if I wanted to kill Clove right then and there. "Nah. She's not a threat. What about that boy from Eleven though, or the one from Twelve? With them out of the way, we'll only have the easy kills left to deal with."
The others agree, whether they really think that way or not, and we go and hunt them down. Laughing and joking, high on power, we head towards the woods, where any sensible person would go. The boulders and mountain behind us may hold a tribute or two, but they'd be dead by the early hours of the morning from the cold. They don't have all the good supplies- we do.
Just then, the Capitol seal appears in the sky, and the faces of thirteen tributes that were killed today shine in the sky. I barely pay attention, already knowing who was dead. Then it ends, and the night goes quiet again. We head on.
Pretty soon, I hear a branch snap, and I motion for everyone to be quiet. I hear the slightest rustling of leaves, and my head flicks to the direction it is coming from. I soon spot a pair of blue eyes, and wispy blonde hair, and I've got my next victim. I break into a run, sliding my sword out as I do, and after only a brief moment, I've got her. She's screaming her head off, and I slit her throat quickly. Her screaming had probably scared away anyone else that was nearby, which irritates me. The sight of blood pouring out her neck has me questioning just how sane I am. But only for a moment.
The cannon fires, and we move on, searching for our next victims. Ten tributes in the arena and technically nine left to kill- but not if I can help it.
I honestly don't know how I plan for both Alexandra and me to leave the arena alive, but it was either that or... Well, I'm not sure what else I could do- besides kill myself, which was on the table... But I don't exactly love the option.
I listen to Catcher go on and on about himself and how amazing he is, and realize I am the only one paying any attention to where we are going. I look at them, seeing Drake flirting with Clove, and Clove acting disgusted by him. They were all more a nuisance than anything. I consider killing them all now, but I grudgingly see that if I were to kill one, the other two would probably try and kill me. No, easier to kill them in their sleep. The next tribute we come up on, I'll let them prove just how valuable they are.
I am still the only one paying attention, and I look around us, as well as up in the trees. I don't know how well the other tributes could climb, so I give them the benefit of the doubt.
We've walked miles before I notice something up in the trees. The others are still not paying attention, and for once, I'm glad. I think of something to steer the others away, seeing as it would be my luck they decide to look around now.
"Okay." I say, speaking up to break their conversation, and so she could hear me too, hopefully. "We're getting nowhere heading this way. Let's start heading that way," I point east of the direction we are headed, "and if we don't find anyone in the next mile, we'll stop for the night. Sound good to everyone?"
They all nod, going back to the previous conversation, but start heading the other way, as I had said. Of course, Catcher notices.
"What are you doing?" He asks.
"Just keep going. I dropped my knife around here somewhere and I want to find it in case someone else should come this way and pick it up. I'll catch up with you when I do."
Catcher shrugs his shoulders, and continues on, Drake and Clove following.
I kick the ground, moving leaves around and walking a little each way, in case they did bother to look back at me. It is getting dark, though, and after a few seconds, I can barely see them anymore. I know I can find them again- they leave a clear enough path in their wake- but even if I can't, I don't really care. I don't need those fools.
I drop the act, and look directly up to where Alexandra is hiding in the tree. It was a good spot, and only someone looking hard enough at just the right angle could have spotted her. I am surprised that I had.
Her bright, green eyes are wide awake now, her long hair pulled away from her face. If she had been tired before, I can't tell. She had pulled her bow out when I wasn't looking, and has an arrow notched and aimed right at me.
I'm not exactly great at knife throwing, and since she is so high up, I know the chances are slim that I can kill her. Plus, she would shoot the arrow at me before the knife had even left my hand. Or at least, that's what anyone else would do. But then again, any other tribute would have shot me by now. I was defenseless and standing right in her line of fire. I take a step forward, and when I don't feel an arrow piercing my heart, I take it as a good sign.
I take several steps towards her, and with each one the bow moves slightly downward, keeping it a release away from a kill shot. I am at the base of the tree now, and think, to Hell with it. Even though I know she can kill me at any moment, I tell myself she would have done it already, and small part of me hopes she doesn't want to. I start climbing the tree.
Damn. I have never really climbed a tree before, and she had picked a hell of a one to hide in. This is good for her, but not so great for me. I look up at her each time I make it a little higher, and find a small smile playing at her lips. Somehow, I make it to where I'm less than a foot below her, and even I have the sense to realize that this is the last branch that can support me. I look up at her, and find her eyes staring back into mine. We stay that way, until she finally lays her bow down.
I find I can't think of anything to say, without the possibility of sounding stupid. Luckily, she breaks the silence.
"Wouldn't have thought you could make it up here," she tells me.
"It took some effort," I admit.
"I could have killed you in a heartbeat," she says.
"But you didn't," I counter.
To her credit, she doesn't break eye contact. "I'm still trying to figure that part out," she whispers.
"Let me know when you do," I tell her softly.
She breaks away, her eyes leaving my face, and down to her bow. She picks it up, and I try not to flinch. She only takes the arrow off the bow though, and drops it back into the quiver full of others. She then tucks both the bow and quiver back up above her, in a crevice in the tree.
She leans back against the tree, away from me completely. I can only see the right side of her face, and watch her eyes travel the forest, and up to the stars. "I at least deserve to know," she says suddenly.
I choose my words carefully, aware we are being watched, and probably being broadcasted to all of Panem right now. "Know what... Exactly?"
She thinks too, smart enough to come to the same thought I had. "Why you decided you fell in love with me, when this is our first conversation ever, and before we had made eye contact maybe five times."
"Nine times, actually," I correct her.
"What?" She turns to look at me, startled.
"Nine times. My eyes only got to meet yours nine times, before tonight." I tell her.
She blinks a few times, regaining her composure. What I would have killed for to be able to tell what she was thinking! Finally, she speaks again. "Still, that wasn't the point."
I sigh. "Honestly... I have no good reason to have fallen in love with a girl I'd never met before. I just... The first time I looked into your eyes, I felt something inside me, and I didn't know what it was. But I found myself drawn to you, and every thought and dream of mine consumed by you- and they still are, by the way."
I can see hardly anything, but I think I can make out a blush on her cheeks. "Well... I'm not so quick to trust people. You'll have to excuse me for not opening up to a complete stranger."
"I'd like to change that," I tell her.
"What?" She asks, confused.
"I don't want to be a stranger to you." I tell her.
"Wouldn't that make this easier?" She says softly, a sad look in her eyes.
Then, just then, I can tell she feels the same way I did. She loves me, even if she isn't able to admit it yet. She isn't the type to hope for something, only to have it come crashing down on her. I don't know what in her life made it that way, but I find myself wanting to know. I want to know everything there is to know about Alexandra Cade, and I am determined to find a way to do it.
"Sometimes, the easiest choice isn't the best." I tell her. "And I for one like to make the best choices that can be made."
And with that, I make my way down the tree, far from graceful as one can get. I turn and look back up at her, finding her staring back me. I break away, sprinting back through the trees, back to where the others had gone.
I have a plan forming in my head, and it was just crazy enough that it might actually work.