A Thousand More (Sequel & Clato Fan Fiction)

Chapter 11 "The Feast"

Clove’s PoV

We run away from the hovercraft laughing, adrenaline rushing through us from our kill. The trees go past us in a blur until we were out of breath. We stop for a rest and I unexpectedly decide to do something. I walk up to Cato and place my hands gently on his warm cheeks. I gaze dreamily into his enchanting blue eyes and slowly close mine. I use my toes to reach up so my lips can connect with his. One of his hands is holding on to my lower waist and the other on the back of my head. I could feel and hear sparkles in the air, like a billion little shining stars twinkling around us. My leg was slowly lifting itself up from the contentment of this kiss. The grips of his hands loosen and I move my arms back into place and lower my leg. We stare at each other awestruck from the moment we both shared.

“There’s that kiss you wanted.”

“You’re the best kisser in the world.” He says breathlessly.

“That’s because I’m the only person you’ve ever kissed.” I say flirtatiously.

“You’re still the best.” He winks and I lace my fingers through his. We walk back as the night and cold winds start to set in.

“I’m hungry.” I say while my stomach makes bizarre sounds. Cato starts looking through the backpack and throws out our jackets and sleeping bags.

“Nope, no food. I’m not hungry though, you can hunt while I set up though.” He suggests while beginning to prepare the sleeping bag. “Take the jacket, it’s going to be cold.”

I nod while putting my jacket on and walking freely into the forest. I stare at the countless trees and listen to the crackling leaves as animals wonder around. I lay down on my stomach trying to set up a trap for a rabbit. I fiddle my fingers around with the trap and it falls apart in the next few seconds after I’m done with it. I feel frustration burst through me and I kick the trap down. I could see something standing out, it scattered away when I lay my eyes on it. I pull out a knife and walk quietly towards the animal. I was sure I would slaughter it on my first attempt. I follow after it, sneakily. It stops and feeds on something on the ground. My eyes trace it and it stands a far distance behind me. I flick my smallest knife back and hear it land. I turn my head and smirk; the rabbit falls on its side, instantly dead. I talk my knife out and wipe it on the ground. I take the rabbit by its feet and walk back.

“Ew.” I comment as the blood drips on my shoes.

Cato’s PoV

A rabbit lands at my feet, after I had just finished setting up the fire. I look at the wound on it; she definitely used her throwing knives.

“I’m guessing you used your throwing knives?” I say while chuckling a bit.

“Yeah, I did. I fail with snares and knives are easier.” She answers while throwing one of her knives just so it lands next to the rabbit. “Hurry up and cook now!” She says cheerfully.

I start using her knife to cut up the rabbit that secretly made me feel sick but I was scared to admit. Clove entertains herself by throwing her knives at bugs, usually crickets, splitting them in half.

“Clove, here.” I hand her some of the rabbit. “You’d better finish it, I’m going to sleep.” Just before I close my eyes, the anthem starts playing and the District Ten tributes appear in the sky. Suddenly there is an announcement from the familiar voice, Claudius Templesmith.

“Ahem. There will be a feast commencing tomorrow, midday at the Cornucopia; this feast has a variety more than food. It includes also weapons and medicine but only a limited amount. That is all.” The anthem plays once more and I fall asleep.

“You snore, pretty loudly.” Clove says while brushing her hair with her fingers.

“I don’t.” I answer quickly.

“You so do.”

“No I don’t.” I argue.

“But it’s cute so you don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”

“Oh.” I laugh. “So, are we going to the feast?”

“I could always use a few more knives and we could get some medicine for later. If we’re lucky we could also get a kill.” She says while tying her hair up in a high ponytail.

“Let’s go make our way to the Cornucopia then.” I say while leading the way with her fingers wrapped around my hand. I walk in one straight line where I estimated the whereabouts of the Cornucopia was and to make sure we didn’t go in a giant circle. The heat always made me feel queasy, I was always used to cold weather back in District 2. I could feel the heat reflecting from the golden shine of the Cornucopia. The aroma of the food could almost make people drool from miles away. I could taste the sweet and sourness of everything there. Clove runs over and smells the food. She murmurs something to herself and walks back to me.

“Something’s poisonous so don’t take anything there, it’s too risky.”

I quickly take all the medicine I could possibly hold, leaving nothing for the other tributes. Clove takes an array of knives and puts them in her belt, jacket and backpack. I hear the Careers approaching us and I zip the bag up quickly and run. Clove follows behind me while slinging her backpack on her should. We hid behind a bush while the Careers arrive. They take some of the food, not knowing it was poisonous and lastly weapons. Unfortunately for the boy from six, he arrived promptly; little did he know that his death was near.

He runs towards the Cornucopia and takes a sword. The Careers were busy taking other things while he gobbles up large amounts of food and stuffs them messily in his backpack. Silver looks up and spots the boy taking the food.

“Tribute boy!” She screams out, alerting the boy that she was there. He glances at her in fright and runs. Silver splits from the Careers and chases after him, taking her axe. She throws her axe, which only landed a centimetre away from his foot. He keeps running with all his energy left. Silver was faster though and she quickly caught up with him and picked her axe from the ground. Beads of sweat started forming on both of their faces as the heat grew.

“He’s not going to make it.” Clove mutters.

“Why not?” I ask, kind of already knowing the answer.

“Firstly, it’s Silver he’s up against and he’s about to die from heat and exhaustion.” She explains quickly while we keep spectating the fight. Clove was right; the boy from six starts collapsing but he holds himself just to run a few more metres. Silver catches up and he spins around while she swings her axe. It goes into his abdomen and blood gushes out all over the grassy floor. The Careers clap and appreciate what she had just done. They leave as the cannon bombs, also when the girl from 11 arrived.

Clove’s PoV

“Should we get her?” I ask Cato.

“Not in the mood.” He answers honestly.

“Yeah, me neither.” I say while we start walking back. As the sun began to set, the heat was dying away into the unbearable cold winds. I shiver while holding my arms around me, my teeth clattering against each other while the full moon starts to shine over us, entrancing us with it’s colour and shine.

“I’m so tired Cato.” I say while panting. My eyes began feeling heavier and my legs were weaker. My body felt useless and Cato’s holds me just when I was right about to fall. “I can do this.” I whisper weakly. I didn’t understand this, I had barely done anything all day. I think about everything that could’ve made me feel this sick. I realise it was the sudden weather changes every night.

“You can’t do this.” He says while leaning closer to my ear. Cato’s muscles flex as he cradles me up with one arm. He uses his other arm to push my hair out of face. My head falls on his shoulder, which couldn’t feel more perfect. He presses his lips against my forehead while the trees start to cave in, now I know I was falling into a coma.