Cato/Clove pairing; before the Hunger Games. Cato and Clove have dedicated their lives to becoming the tributes for District Two but before the games what could have been between the two?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, solely the plot to this story.


There he was, the huge blonde boy with the smirk on his face as he approached me from the other side of the huge room. It was the biggest training room in the district with the most weapons too. A whole wall was dedicated to every sort of weapon and useful equipment you could imagine. Of course it was against the rules to train tributes before the games but getting into the 7th training course only meant one thing; you were in consideration along with five others to become a tribute.

"Welcome to where the big kids play," the boy leered, "I'm Cato."

Cato. I remembered my mother talking about him. He'd been trying to become the District two tribute for the last four years and apparently this year was his year. All bets were going to be placed on Cato. After watching him train, I wouldn't blame them.

"I'm Clove, the replacement for Librae," I said as I put on the protective armour that was handed to me by a trainer.

I had been moves up to the 7th training course as a substitute for Librae after she was critically injured. Apparently she was in no condition to compete as tribute.

"I know, stabbed her pancreas myself," said Cato with a hint of pride while jabbing the ground with his spear absentmindedly, "accidentally of course but I mistook her for a dummy and she wasn't very good at defending herself. Hardly tribute material if you ask me."

"I didn't ask," I said shortly and walked off towards the weaponry wall.

I picked out a handful of wide combat knives and examined a ballistic knife which could fire a blade with the push of a button while the other members of the class walked in. There was Blossom who had the body of a hulk and an ironic name, Wade who was famous for his skill with a mace, Thorburn who, like Cato, used a spear as his weapon as well as the sword and Silver Baxwoll who was known for bribing her way into the 7th training course but not really for much else. They all seemed friendly with an outward glance, especially with the laughter and teasing but I could see a guard of mistrust and watchfulness in their eyes. I didn't want to be another one of them.


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