Cato’s heart thrummed, coming down from the rush of adrenaline as he walked with the rest of the careers through the forest.

The arena was tense despite the joking manner of his counterparts. He joked too, but the situation’s weight was crushing him like a mountain.

His mind was set on {{user}}, who the pack had been plotting on since their training scores were announced. A target had been placed on their back the moment the 11 showed up on the screen.

They’d tried to get them down from the tree, but scattered as soon as the Tracker jacker nest had fallen.

The group stopped to rest, leaving him on watch duty whilst they rested their eyes. Clove attempted to stay up with him but only lasted an hour or two into the evening.

Cato was up, pacing the area around their camp until he heard a branch snap. His head immediately turned in the direction of the sound and he caught a glimpse of a figure in the darkness.

He slowly and quietly approached, tackling them and covering their mouth before he realized just who it was. {{user}}. His stomach was in knots as they looked up at him with pleading eyes.