Chapter 11: Clove learns to trust nature
I walked back to find Marvel and Rue still lying on the grass. I noticed that Rue had flowers decorating her body. Where Katniss had found the time to do that, I have no idea, but it looked gorgeous. I looked at Rue's tiny form and I closed my eyes and muttered a quick prayer to her family. She didn't deserve to be here. She was too young and innocent. I turned to Marvel's dead body, twisted by the way he fell, the bloodied arrow still in his hand. I gently retrieved the arrow and snapped it in half, vowing to kill her. I said a final word of farewell to Marvel,
"Bye, Marvel. You were absolutely marvellous. You were an amazing friend and I'm sorry to see you go. I'll see you again sometime." And with that, I turned away.
I was walking blindly, going no-where in particular. Cato and Clove made no move to stop me. Clove didn't really know anything about Cody, but Cato did. He knew everything. My daydream was interrupted by the booming voice of Claudius Templesmith,
"Hello tributes! Congratulations on making it this far into the competition. There has been a slight rule change,"
I perked up more. A rule change? There was only really one rule; don't step off your plate before the gong sounds. I suppose that there is the unspeakable rule about not eating the fellow tributes,
"If the two tributes remaining at the end of the Games are from the same district, they will both be declared winners!" He paused and repeated the new rule change, "Now then, may the odds be ever in your favour." He finished, leaving the arena quiet again.
I stole a sly look towards Clove. She smiled devilishly at me, though I knew we were both joking. She threw a knife at me, but it intentionally hit the tree 20 centimetres to my left.
"Oh, you don't want to be doing that Clove!" I smirked, "You two wouldn't last a couple of hours without me!" She returned my smirk.
"Watch your back 15!" She said, before we started bursting into peals of laughter. Cato stood there shaking his head.
"You two are funny." He said sarcastically.
Clove and I died our laughter down and re-evaluated the situation we were in. We had no food, water, no sleeping supplies; no nothing, apart from my small backpack which consisted of; a water container, some water purifier, piece of rope and a first aid kit with some vital medicine. We only had our weapons which I guess had to be enough for now. Twilight was clear over the horizon so we had to act fast.
"Why don't we hunt for some food, and then light a fire so we can cook it and have some warmth throughout the night?" Clove pointed out.
"I would agree, dear Clove, but that would lead Katniss straight to us." Cato said, half sarcastically, half amused.
"I agree with both of you. Yes Clove, which would be a great idea, considering we are the Careers, but we are dwindling and that's when I agree with Cato's argument. Katniss has the bow and arrows. She could shoot us and run away before we knew what hit us."
Clove realised this and pouted. She turned on her heels and walked away. After about 15 metres of walking, she turned around to face us and sat down.
"It's too dark to hunt too!" I nodded. With swords and knives anyway, I thought. If only I had a bow. I was always able to use a bow and arrow, even in the dark, Alec would know that for sure. He had been with me when I trained back home.
"We should all get some sleep at least." Cato stretched out on a bed of leaf litter, "Huddle up too because that would keep us warm." He smirked in my direction. I scowled but inside I knew what he was thinking. He gets a chance to hold me again. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm taking first watch." I announced.
"I'm taking the last watch!" Clove said hurriedly. I smirked. We both hated waking up in the middle of the night to take watch. Cato rolled his eyes.
"Well, I suppose that I'm taking the second watch. Wake me when you're ready Alexis." He gently spoke and then winked at me before he closed his eyes and started to faintly snore. Clove nodded her goodnight and snuggled up to a tree.
I glanced around and pricked my ears. No sound was protruding the quiet silence. I kept my eyes moving but stayed completely still in the bushes near where Cato and Clove were sleeping. Something moved in my peripheral vision and I snapped my head to the side but didn't gaze at that particular spot. I searched that whole area, seeing if I could spot anymore movement and finally, a small rabbit hopped out from behind the tree. I quickly resumed by post as lookout and then Cato started stirring. I knew that it was almost his turn to watch so I quietly climbed out from the bushes and walked over to a tree not far from his slightly stirring form.
I looked at the sky and realised that it was his turn to watch. I gently shook him, knowing that he was already half awake. He rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up. He shook his head and regained his focus on me.
"Morning sleepy head!" I mocked him. He smiled,
"Shut up you." Before I could get away, he wrapped his arms tightly around me and forced me down, onto his lap.
"Come on Cato, you've got two sleeping girls to watch." I gave him a pouty look. He grinned cockily and kissed my cheek.
"Alright then, you win. Get some sleep." I nodded and curled up into a ball as Cato perched himself up next to the tree. I felt my eyes flutter and close and that was all I knew for tonight.
I woke up to feeling Cato's arms around me. I smiled with my eyes closed and snuggled into him. I could tell without looking that he was still asleep, due to his breathing pattern. I gently opened my eyes and found myself looking into a sleeping Cato. I smirked and pulled my hand up to brush a stray strand of hair out of my eyes. I looked around to see Clove trying to reach some apples that were high in the tree.
I noticed that she kept looking down at us, just to check we were alright. I gently opened Cato's arms and slipped out. I quietly called up to Clove.
"Need some help there?" She looked down and saw me standing at the base of the tree. She nodded.
"I can't reach these damn apples!" She snarled, pointing at the bright red fruit.
"So I noticed." I swiftly climbed up the tree to where she was. I reached out and plucked three apples off the branch. She glared at me.
"Shut up. Just because I'm short and small and I can't reach!"
"You have talents in other areas sweetie!" I retorted back before descending down with two of the apples. I stated eating one as I waited for Clove to come down with hers.
We continued this process for about an hour. One collects food while the other takes watch. I wish Cato would just hurry and wake up. It was nearing around ten o'clock and he still hadn't stirred. Clove and I looked at each other, worried. I gently shook him.
"Cato?" I said. I poked him. "Cato." I started to raise my voice. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but Clove took over.
"Cato, you useless bag of lump, get up before I sit on you!" She bellowed. I nodded my head approvingly at her, but still Cato made no sound.
"That's it!" She said, "I'm sitting on you now!"
"Wait!" My piercing voice stopped her. I noticed a feather sticking out of Cato's collar and pulled it out. Just as I had dreaded, it was a sleeping dart.
"What is that?" Clove asked, pointing straight at the dart.
"It's a sleeping dart." I answered, matter-of-factly, "There's only one person in the arena who would know about that!" I snarled.
"Who?" Clove asked.
"The girl from 5, the one I have dubbed Foxface because she's sly and kind of looks like a fox." I said bitterly.
"Will he be alright?" She asked, slightly worried, mirroring my thoughts. I sniffed the end of the dart.
"Yeah, he'll be fine. It's just sleeping syrup." I stated lazily, but another smell caught my senses.
"And...?" Clove left the question hanging, knowing there was something else, due to my worried face, "What else is in there?"
"Don't freak out because it's not as deadly as if you eat it straight from the berry. It's nightlock cleverly disguised by sleeping syrup." Clove's eyes widened.
"Is he going to die?"
"No, unless we don't get the antidote to him in ten hours." I said, too casually for her liking.
"Don't sound so casual!" She shrieked, "He's about to die! Do you even know what the antidote is?" She screamed at me.
I rolled my eyes. We used this poison at home all the time. I knew how to make the antidote easily.
"Yes Clove, I do. The antidote is simple but you're going to have to help me." She calmed down a bit. "First, we need a bunch of the leaves of a nightlock plant. Do you know what the plant looks like?" She shook her head. I nodded. "That's ok." I rummaged through my pack and pulled out the container, "Fill this up with water please, Clove. Cato will have to stay here by himself while we collect the ingredients." I smiled. She nodded and sprinted off to the lake.
I made my way to a nightlock plant and pulled leaves after leaves off, making sure I had enough. I ran back to our little makeshift campsite. Clove was there with the container full to the brim. I pulled out all the nightlock leaves and tore them up into little pieces. I then dropped them into the water. The leaves, just as I expected, fizzed and dissolved, turning the water into a gooey, green sludge.
"Now what?" She said, "Is that it?" I scoffed.
"Nowhere near. Now, we need to get some sap off an oak tree." She curled her lip in disgust.
"This isn't going to taste nice is it? I smirked.
"No, it isn't. At least you're not the one having to drink it."
We wandered through the woods, trying to find an oak tree. We had camouflaged Cato's body in the leaf foliage.
"Is that really going to work?" Clove asked, obviously not trusting nature's products.
"Yes it is, believe it or not. It all reacts together, but it had to be the right amount of quantities otherwise it won't work." She nodded.
"It's surprising what nature can do for you."
"Well, starting from today, I have learned to trust nature." I nodded, knowing that trust might not last long.
We managed to find an oak tree after hours of walking. We had drifted painfully far from Cato and I was now starting to worry. It could only be a couple more hours and he would succumb to the poison of the berry.
"This stuff is so sticky!" Clove whined sarcastically as she dripped it into the mixture. It fizzed again and turned a bright shade of orange.
"That is so cool how it does that. It's like magic." I smiled
"We'd better go. Cato would only have a couple of hours now." We started to run back to the camp when I realised that I needed one more thing.
"Nightlock berries, idiot!" I said as I slapped myself on the head.
"What about them?" Clove asked suspiciously.
"I need them in the antidote."
"Oh, I've got some." She pulled out a giant handful of dark purple nightlock berries. I raised one eyebrow and she grinned, "I found a bush while I was waiting for you and decided to keep some just in case I was attacked. I suppose his need is greater right now. I could always get some more." I breathed a sigh of relief. It sounded really strange to cure someone with the poison that created it but truthfully, the leaves and the berries are both poisonous, but together along with oak sap, they create an antidote.
"Thanks Clove." I responded, grabbing the berries and counting how many she had. Exactly 10, the number you need in the antidote. I breathed another sigh of relief and dropped the berries into the antidote. It stated bubbling dramatically and turned a violent shade of deep purple, the same colour as the berries.
We ran back to our 'campsite' and dug Cato out from his little hideaway.
"Are you sure that's safe?" She asked. I knew she was worried about the colour. Most people would think it's deadly, due to the colour resembling the berries.
"Positive that it's safe." I replied, "Now, hold his nose because it doesn't smell or taste good." I said, slightly holding my breath.
Clove pinched his nose and tilted his head back. I slowly dripped the antidote down his throat. It was half empty when he started spluttering.
"What the hell is that stuff you're trying to make me drink?" He glared at us. Clove and I couldn't contain my joy and we hugged him tight. He hugged us both but quickly pushed Clove away. He pulled away from my death grip, slightly confused.
"What was that for?" He asked
"You were poisoned." I stated simply. He smiled,
"And you fixed me...?" He left the question hanging, though he already suspected the answer. I simply nodded and he wrapped his arms around me. He gently breathed his thanks in my ear, and then Clove interrupted.
"Hey! I helped save your ass too!" She bellowed to Cato. He smirked and slowly stood up.
"Thanks Clove. I owe both of you my life."
"Yes you do you big useless bag of lump. Lucky I didn't have to sit on you!" She yelled in Cato's face. I smothered a huge laugh as Cato looked confused, looked at me to get an answer but I refused, so he looked back at Clove again. Clove looked at me and we burst into laughter.
Cato crossed his arms and sat down on a log, glaring at us.
"You were asleep and wouldn't wake up so she tried to wake you up by saying that." I laughed. He looked so unimpressed but that made the situation a whole lot funnier.
"Loosen up Cato, it was a joke!" Clove giggled at his face.
"Hahaha!" He said sarcastically, glaring at the two of us. Really, in my mind I thought, he's not angry. He's glad he's alive, and that he's been saved by me. I got up and sat beside him. He put his arm around my shoulder and brought me in. He rested his forehead on mine. His hot breath ran over my lips. He edged closer, but I just pulled him in. He was shocked, but then calmed down and kissed me back. It was horrifying that I had almost lost him and I was glad to have him back.
"Get some sleep beautiful." He said, kissing my nose and stroking my hair until I closed my eyes.
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Ok this was just another gap filler. I had to re-write this chapter so many times. I had no idea how to write it.
*Do not try the medicine at home!!! It will not work!!!*
The medicine recipe is gay. I had no idea how it should be. Oh well my imagination ran free.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed my gap filler :)
-MissXanderLudwig