Chapter 12:
"Why the fuck did Cato just run off like that?" Marvel frowned, stepping over another fallen branch. He was dressed in a fur jacket and had a hat on his head, yet his lips were still trembling slightly.
"I think he went after Draco." Glimmer shrugged. She was dressed in a black coat, which made a fascinating contrast with her white hair. "Cato must have already killed that roach, anyway. We could have just stayed in the center."
"I don't want to spend another minute with that kid from District 11. Why the hell did Cato want to team up with them?" Clove hissed, rubbing her shoulders. "Did Cato suddenly lose his balls or what? And did Draco get so much on his nerves that Cato had to run off like that?"
"I don't know. That bastard was quite annoying, not going to lie." Marvel scowled even further, staring at the blood dripping from his spear. "I would have loved to kill the man myself, but it's whatever, I guess."
Eventually, the trio got down from the hill, finally seeing a change of scenery. However, it was definitely not what they expected. A huge white shark was lying on the ground, dead. Its eyes were plucked out, making them even more confused.
"What the fuck happened here?" Marvel opened his mouth wildly.
"Did Cato kill this thing?" Clove frowned, looking around. "Where is he?"
"Look." Glimmer pointed at the ground, where they saw trails of blood. It was snowing lightly, so the signs of battle were barely visible, but they weren't indiscernible.
Nodding to each other, they all followed the trail of blood, eventually realizing that it was leading straight toward the shark's mouth. They all nodded to each other, slowly making their way towards it. Marvel walked to the front, his spear at ready. Glimmer and Clove were slowly following from behind.
Marvel grabbed the shark's mouth with one hand. Glimmer nocked an arrow. Clove grabbed her daggers. Marvel grunted internally, pushing the shark's mouth wide open. However, as soon as the sunlight made its way through, a figure dashed from within.
A strange powder flew right towards Marvel's face, blinding him and forcing him to grab onto it. Glimmer was about to knock an arrow, when Draco suddenly grabbed Marvel, beginning to make his way towards the two women with Marvel as a meat shield.
Clove dodged to the side, yet Glimmer wasn't fast enough. Marvel bumped into her, forcing her bow to fly out of her hands. Without any hesitation, Draco forced the spear from Marvel's hands, turning around and dodging to the side immediately.
A dagger flew past him. Promptly, Draco began running towards Clove, who was starstruck at what was happening. Fear unlocked within her eyes. However, she still noticed that Draco was limping and wasn't very fast.
She threw another dagger, but Draco ducked. Yet, another dagger was already flying at him. She was too close to Draco for him to dodge, so he twisted his body, letting the dagger penetrate the side of his arm. And, then, Draco was standing in front of Clove, a spear inside of her stomach.
"I am sorry," Draco whispered, taking out the spear and grabbing her by her shoulders. Ushering all the strength he had, Draco turned around, throwing her body towards Glimmer and Marvel. Glimmer was already holding the bow in her hands, whilst Marvel was standing with tears in his eyes from that powder.
Clove's body hit Glimmer on the head precisely, forcing her onto the ground again. Then, Draco grabbed the spear from the ground, throwing it at Marvel. The man's vision was blurry and he couldn't dodge in time. The spear penetrated his belly, a look of shock on his face, as blood dripped down onto the snow.
Draco grunted, glancing down to see that the injuries on his legs had opened. He was bleeding profusely. A headache and a sense of weakness followed after that. Draco limped towards Glimmer, frowning. She was still on the ground, pushing Clove's body away.
Eventually, she managed, as she crawled towards her bow, nocking another arrow. Yet, Draco's hand was on her bow. Clove's pupils trembled, seeing the bloody Draco standing in front of her. However, deeply hidden within Draco's was some sort of pity.
"I will make it painless." Draco beamed a helpless smile, forcing the bloody dagger out of his shoulder and plunging it into Clove's neck. Her mouth opened slightly, blood making its way through it. Draco held her by the back of her head, as he laid her on the ice below.
Then, Draco grunted, taking a seat opposite her bloody body. This wasn't fun. They were just kids, forced into the games. Yes, they were just characters, but Draco couldn't help but feel otherwise. Draco felt the pain on the side of his arm and in his leg, cursing his life.
He stood up, limping towards Marvel and taking his warm jacket, putting it on top as another layer. Then, Draco glanced at the sky. It was soon going to get dark. Draco had to start walking towards Katniss before it was too late.
Sighing, Draco applied some of that cream on both his shoulder and leg, frowning from the pain. Then, he took two of Clove's daggers, strapping them around his belt. He also took Marvel's spear, using it as a pole to help him walk.
After some contemplation, Draco also took Glimmer's bow, strapping it across his body. He had never trained or used any weapons, so he was an amateur around them, but killing people was much easier with them. After this mission, Draco would probably have to choose a weapon for himself.
"Well, here goes nothing." Draco looked at the hill in front of him, a helpless smile on his face.
-
Everything had gone to shit. Their initial plan with Cato was to occupy the middle and gather a team of the strongest tributes. Then with an overwhelming number of people, they would simply hunt Katniss. Yet, Cato, from the beginning of the game, lost his temper and rushed after Draco.
A stupid bloke of shit.
As soon as Cato disappeared, everything went into more in-depth shit. Since she was in the body of a useless kid, no one listened to her and there was no one to keep the tributes in check, thus causing chaos to erupt. Marvel, Glimmer, and Clove went on a killing spree, murdering half of the tributes who were trying to take supplies for themselves.
Since Cato wasn't there, nobody stopped them. Rue stayed with her mouth shut, knowing that if she acted out of her place, they would attack her as well. Rue wasn't scared, but she didn't want to get rid of valuable assets.
Fortunately, the trio of theirs touched neither her nor her annoying partner, since Cato has made sure that wasn't going to happen. Afterward, the trio left to find Cato, leaving Rue and her partner to control the center.
'And, now, I lost all the connection to Cato.' Rue gritted her teeth, kicking over a box of supplies. That meant only one thing. Cato had died. Not just him, but his true, original form died as well. Did Cato, a Mysthral, lose against Draco? Or was Cato right? Was Draco truly a Mysthral Hunter?
Anyway, whatever happened, there had to be a change of plans. Once that trio came back, they would probably try to kill them, knowing that Cato had died. The plan went to shit indeed. Now, there was no other option than to hunt Katniss by herself.
Fortunately, she knew the general direction in which Katniss had run off and her partner was quite formidable. Thresh was his name. However, considering that she was in the body of a 12-year-old kid, that man would probably not listen to her. Especially, if she asked him to kill Katniss for him.
Rue frowned, kicking the same box again. If only Cato had some more brain and less muscles, maybe it wouldn't have all gone to shit. As Rue was contemplating what to do, Thresh walked out of the metal building. "What are you doing, Rue? It's dangerous outside."
'I am the only dangerous here.' Rue mumbled internally, but instead, she feigned a perplexed expression. She looked around, her voice sounding even more childish than it should. "Thresh, I am scared... I think we should go. I don't trust those people from 1st and 2nd Districts."
Thresh contemplated for a few seconds, clearly not knowing whether it was a good idea or not. Eventually, though, Thresh nodded, looking at the sky. "It's going to be dark soon. Where should we go?"
"South," Rue said, almost letting the killing intent slip out for an instant. "We should take as much supplies as we can and go south."
Thresh nodded, not questioning her resolute choice. Instead, Threst began packing immediately, whilst Rue continued staring at the sky. 'I am not going to be a failure.'
-
Katniss frowned, trembling. It was dark outside already, yet there was still no sign of Draco anywhere. She contemplated leaving for a few moments but decided against it. The only issue right now was the freaking weather. It was so cold that Katniss didn't remember whether she had her fingers or not.
Thankfully, a little jacket she received from the sponsors helped her stay a bit warm. Yet, Katniss knew, she couldn't stay here forever. She was hungry and dehydrated. Eventually, she would have to leave and hunt for some food. Yet, she had no bow.
"I wonder, how is he doing?" Katniss mumbled to herself, then glanced at the sky, looking at the starless sky. "No, rather, is he still alive?" Katniss ran away from the center as soon as the timer went off, just as Draco instructed, meaning that she didn't see where Draco ran off.
"No, if anyone is alive, it's him." Katniss reminded herself of Draco. He always was so mysterious, so ahead. It was almost like he knew everyone beforehand, knew everything that was going to happen. It was, honestly, a bit unnerving. Yet, something in the back of her head told Katniss that she could trust him.
And, so, she did.
As she was going through everything in her mind, a strange sound suddenly reverberated through her ears, and then the sky began to change. Tributes who died today were being showcased to them. First, both tributes from District 10 died.
Seeing that they have skipped both 12 and 11, Katniss confirmed her thoughts that Draco was still alive and kicking. Hopefully, she will come here before she leaves.
Then, as the list continued, Katniss widened her eyes. So many people died in one day that it was unimaginable to her. Both tributes from District 9, a woman from 8, both from 7 and 6, a man from 5 and 4... and everyone from 2, 1.
No...but that didn't make sense. Katniss scowled. Those were the men and women who have trained their whole lives just for this moment. How was it possible that all of them died on the first day?
At that moment, Draco's face popped up in her face, and she opened her mouth slightly. No way. Was all of this Draco's work? He had been taunting them from the first day ever, even attacking them back in the playgrounds.
For some reason, she believed that to be possible, and she didn't know how to feel about that. Draco felt alien to her. What if all of this was just an act? What if he would kill her at first sight?
"No, I am overthinking." Katniss shrugged her thoughts away. The coldness was getting to her. Instead, to keep her mind busy, Katniss began counting how many tributes were left after today.
After a few minutes, she came to number 11, including her. That meant that more than half of all participants died in a single day. She didn't know whether that was considered fast or not for the Hunger Games, but like hell did it feel like a lot.
Sighing, Katniss continued staring at the sky, not knowing the ordeal through which Draco was currently going just to get to her.
-
"The first day of the 74th Hunger Games truly had a lot of surprises! Can you imagine it, people of Capitol, more than half of the tributes died on the first day! Such a shame, or is it?" Caeser held the microphone, pointing at a huge screen behind him. "Now, to rewind a bit, let's begin with the very start, right?!
A rush of excitement from the audience brought another huge smile to Caeser's face, as he continued. "So, this time, a lot of tributes rushed to the center, while, people who were expected to be in the heat of the battle, left! Cowardiness or not? You are the judge of that, my dear audience!"
"Alright, alright." Caeser hushed the applause again. "The first kill went to Glimmer, followed by Marvel and Clove. Truly a frightening trio." Caeser then went deeper into the details of how the majority of tributes were killed right at the beginning. "And it seems like a peculiar alliance was formed, leaving District 11 untouched."
"Anyway, let's finally get down to the juicy parts." Caeser pointed at the screen, where Draco's face popped out. Slightly stopping for a second, letting the tension grow, Caeser glanced down at his watch. He hated summarizing the Hunger Games, it always took so long. What was the point, anyway? Everyone was watching the games.
Besides, he wasn't getting paid for this additional labor.
"Draco Ashvale! The one from whom we expected the most was one of the first few ones to run away." Caeser then changed the screen to show a running Cato. "Yet, Cato from District 1 wasn't going to let him go like that. They engaged in a ferocious battle, during which Draco has indeed proven his abilities, eventually coming out victorious."
"Yet, Gamemaker Seneca tried to make this as fun as possible for us this year, didn't he? There was a shark hidden in the lake, lusting for blood." Caeser opened his mouth wide, changing the screen to Draco hiding and walking inside the shark's mouth. "And guess what? Not only did Draco kill that thing, but he also took a nap inside of it. Truly an exemplary figure!"
The audience quieted down, listening.
"That was not the end of Draco's struggle." Caeser showed the battle between him and the trio. "Clove, Glimmer, and Marvel found him and died at his hands. Turns out that Draco is truly a master of murder, right?"
The audience was quiet, not really knowing how to react. They were star-struck when they saw a District 12 tribute murdering all the top candidates, yet they were equally excited. This was something new, something unique, and they wanted to see it through.
"In fact, why don't we take a look at what this young star is doing right now?" Caeser shrugged his shoulders, hearing the audience come to life again. Curious himself, Caeser opened the live translation. Currently, Draco was still walking in the darkness of the forest, supporting himself with a spear.
His feet were hidden in the snow and he was frowning. Caeser opened the map, seeing that Draco was walking straight towards the camp, where both tributes from District 10 were resting around a campfire.
"Well, well." Caeser clasped his hands. "With such injuries, will Draco prevail or finally fall?"
-
Snow was getting a bit too annoying. His face was numb and his eyes were constantly blurry. His left hand, which he was using to hold the spear, and his feet had been lifeless for a few hours now, and Draco feared that he might not retain the sensation within them if he didn't do something about it.
Sighing, Draco looked at the sky. It was dark, the moon hanging in the sky. He couldn't keep going without putting his body and life at risk. He had been on the verge of passing for a long time now. Fortunately, his leg injury was starting to feel less serious, probably from the cold.
However, Draco needed to take a break. Finding Katniss today was simply not his fate. He would have to do that after at least a bit of rest. Fortunately, Draco knew that Katniss was still alive from that previous countdown, so at least a bit of his worries were removed.
'What's that?' Draco was about to stop when his nose perked up with a strange smell. Looking west, Draco saw a change in the surroundings. There, in the distance, Draco could see the smoke from a campfire.
Draco considered his options, eventually sighing and taking out his bow. He tucked his spear behind his back and into the belt. Slowly limping forward, trying to make as little noise as possible, Draco approached the campfire. Two figures sat around it.
'Wait... I don't have any arrows.' Draco remembers, cursing under his breath. It seemed like his intelligence was slowly deteriorating in this coldness. Putting the bow on the ground, Draco grabbed the two daggers instead. He wasn't that proficient in any of the weapons, but he was strong - that was all that mattered.
With fluid movement, Draco threw the dagger into the male figure, missing his neck and hitting him on the back instead. Then, it was all a mess. Draco ran out of the shadows, plunging his other dagger deep into the neck of the confused female participant and killing her on the spot.
"It hurts!" The male participant was on the ground, tears in his eyes, as he finally turned to see Draco standing, all bloody. Tears began to roll down his cheeks, as his pupils trembled. "Please...no! Spare me!"
"I am sorry, again." Draco threw the other dagger, penetrating deeply into the man's skull and killing him instantly. Seeing the bloody mess he had made, Draco was disgusted by himself. They didn't even know how to fight.
Clicking his tongue, Draco took a seat in front of the campfire, staring at the constantly moving red fire. Then he removed his boots and clothes, letting them dry, whilst he started working on his wounds again. Well, rather, would start once he starts feeling his legs.