TWO

Chapter Eighteen

The training rooms are below ground level of the building and the elevator ride is almost less than a minute. Cato and I are both quiet the whole time in the elevator. I'm dressed in black pants and a black shirt, whereas Cato is in black shorts and a tight white short-sleeved shirt. When we step off the elevator, we get the number two on a patch pinned to the back of our shirts then make our way over to where two others are standing.

Their patches have the number one on them, so Cato and I already know we'll be spending some time with them. As we approach the tall lanky boy, Marvel elbows his partner and nods towards us. I glance up at Cato who crosses his arm and smirks a bit, "One."

"Two." Marvel looks at me then Cato.

"I'm Cato," he hums.

He reaches his hand out for Marvel and he abruptly shakes it, "Marvel."

The blonde girl next to him smiles sweetly when Cato turns to look at her. Her hair is parted into two braids, "You must be Glimmer." Cato's smirk grows.

"That I am." She coolly responds, standing up a bit straighter.

Marvel directs his attention back towards me and crosses his arms, I glance at the boy before crossing my arms as well, "Got a name?"

"Clove." I snip.

"She has a bit of an attitude problem," Cato remarks, "just saying."

"Only towards you." I sass. Cato rolls his eyes and looks at the two tributes in front of us again.

As more tributes file into the training center, a woman named Atala directs us to all form a small half circle so she can begin instructions. When I look around I notice how small all the tributes really are. The girl from eleven is much smaller in person, but her district partner is a monstrous bulky dark-skinned boy. I don't remember his name however, since I had no desire to pay attention to the names people called out. My eyes finally rest on the red-headed girl I saw on TV. Her body is actually fit, her orange hair pulled back makes her look mouse like, blue eyes wide and glancing around the room.

Cato and I are almost twice the size of half the tributes in the room. Although I'm short, my muscles make me appear a bit bigger, and since I actually had food on my plate at night my composure is much straighter and strong. When the doors to the training room slide open again, we all turn our heads to see her.

Katniss Everdeen, The Girl on Fire.

My blood boils as she walks towards us. Her hair in the stupid braid she wore during the parade and during the reaping. Peeta, the boy, is in the same outfit as her. Katniss is much smaller in the outfit she is wearing. Her bony structure appears frail, but Peeta has some muscle to him. Which is normally uncommon for Twelve's men; they all mine coal. I retain a snort and glance up at Cato, who slowly watches the two of them get into the circle. My eyes are glued on the girl, until Atala begins to talk.

Experts in each skill, will remain at their stations to help guide us if we need any extra help. We're free to travel from area to area as we choose, per our mentor's instructions. Some of the stations teach survival skills, others fighting techniques, and then in a far corner are benches if we so choose to do nothing. We are absolutely forbidden to engage in any combative exercise with another tribute, which downs my mood a bit. I was hoping to lodge a knife into Katniss before the gong. However there are assistants on hand if we want to practice with a partner for certain exercises. When Atala finally releases us, I head straight towards the knives.

Brutus and Enobaria rules were simple. Engage with District One; get to know them, watch them train, and see if we notice any weaknesses. We're also supposed to seek out any other tributes that might help us form an alliance in the arena. So far, the boy from Eleven is on my radar. I also want the girl from Five, but I know damn well that bringing that up to our mentors would leave me as a laughing-stock.