Glimmer of Hope: Cato's Story
Chapter 1
Cato noticed her right away when she joined their cohort at the Tribute Academy. Nobody just started training at fifteen. Formal Academy selection occurred at ten, but most of them had been preparing since birth. Closer examination revealed so many oddities in the new girl that she captured all his attention for awhile. She had really long hair. Most girls began growing out their hair at fifteen, but hers was already a golden sheath. Then there were her eyes: diamond bright, smart, cunning, but not like the other girls, honed from years of training. Her eyes were almost feral like the animals they sometimes hunted in preparation for the Games. He had never seen eyes like hers on another Tribute candidate, only on Champions.
"Her name is Glimmer," Thor said.
Thor was the only boy in their age cohort that could match him. In a few years it might come down to the two of them for the honor of representing District Two, but until then they couldn't stop from being friends. Even though Cato's father didn't think much of him, Thor had his virtues. He was an unstoppable sparring partner and smart in an describable way that had more to do with predicting what people would do and calculating hidden odds than formal logic. Thor's biggest flaw was he thought about girls too much. So, it didn't surprise Cato in the least that Thor already knew things about this new one. Glimmer? It suited the way her hair reflected the light, but it didn't sound right for a Tribute from their district.
"They say she was found in the Vicehood," Thor said.
Cato had never heard of a Tribute coming from there. The Vicehood, it was, well, just that: blocks of bars, gambling dens, and strip clubs. The people in that neighborhood were skinny and weak like Tributes from the outer districts. Glimmer's body was quite well defined. Not as muscular as some girls, but the proportions were right to use every pound of muscle at maximum force.
Thor lowered his voice to almost inaudible. "They say she's already killed a man. Possibly more, but they know of at least one."
She's already made a kill! She had an advantage over all the rest of them. Cato knew in the Games he would become the greatest killer of all the Tributes that year, but like all the other Tribute candidates, he had not crossed the barrier to taking a life yet. His mind raced with the possibilities of what he could learn from Glimmer.
He wasn't able to approach her until lunch. She sat alone, also unusual. Meal times were good for practicing social skills, which were very important in attracting sponsors. She ate rapidly consuming everything on the tray, rather uncouth in the Tribute Academy Dining Hall, but probably a useful skill in the Games. He sat down at her table and started with the easiest question he could think of. "How did you get the name Glimmer?
She gazed up at him with wary eyes. "My mother gave it to me."
"What did your father say?" Cato asked. He couldn't imagine a family where the father didn't have final say over everything important.
"He wasn't around," she replied.
More unusual still. Almost all Tributes candidates had two living parents. It took two incomes to afford the tutors and coaches need for the early years. A few like Cato had generations behind them stretching back to the beginning of the Games. Of the thirty-nine Hunger Games Champions from District One, twenty-three of them had been members of his family. A girl without a father, coming from the Vicehood, who had already killed a man, she must have mad skills! And he had very little leverage to convince her to share those skills. He thought of something else to say, something that should please her also. Most people liked it when someone complimented their families. "She must have worked very hard."
Glimmer looked puzzled. "Who?"
"Your mother. After your father died, she must have worked very hard for you to get the training needed for the Academy," he said.
But she wasn't pleased. Her mouth turned down. She shoved her tray across the table knocking it into his, stood up, and walked away. No one flung trays across tables in the Academy dining hall!
He didn't see Glimmer again until after sword practice when there was a free period between the end of formal classes and when the Dining Hall served evening meal to the dormitory cadets. Cato had already found out from Thor that she lived in the dormitory. Only cadets from the far corners of the district did. Again something odd, if she was raised in the Vicehood, didn't that mean her mother had a home in town? He found her in the Great Hall of Champions. That he could understand. There were few places else in all the Training Academy that he liked better. Along the length of hall hung the formal portraits of all District Two's Champions. In a few years his portrait would hang among them. "I didn't mean to offend you in the dining hall," he said quickly.
She seemed startled at this voice. Apparently, she had been really concentrating on the portraits. "Did I say I was upset?"
Her eyes cut through him. Pure predator. For a moment he didn't know what to say and that was dangerous. Luckily her gaze turned away to his older brother Ajax's portrait.
"He looks like you. More muscular, but it's nearly the same face." she said.
Despite extra hours in the gym, he still didn't have the same dense muscular bulk Ajax had hefted at his age. Their father said there was still time to grow however. "That's because he's my brother, Ajax. He was Champion in the Games nine years ago," he said.
Her gaze returned to him with genuine interest. He might have something he could leverage after all for information about killing a man. "Really?"
"Of course, check the history rolls," he said. He walked a few meters to another portrait. "This is my father, Severus." Cato could never look directly at his father's portrait without thinking he should genuflect. Hardly anyone did that in religious houses anymore, but the Hall of Champions was holy ground. These were sacred images, so he dipped his head toward Serverus's portrait. He pointed to another portrait. "This is my mother, Livia, Champion the year after my father." He could tell she was impressed.
"Your family really has history in the Games," she said.
"Twenty-three Champions. My grandfather, Marcus, was the first Champion from District Two." He led her to the beginning of the portraits. Now his father he respected out of duty and fear, but his grandfather was different. He would have knelt out of admiration and love remembering the old man that sat with him in the garden telling stories of past glory.
"Why is there fire and rubble in the background of his portrait?" Glimmer asked.
"It was one of the earliest Hunger Games. The Rebellion had just been crushed and the District was still being rebuilt. He wanted it shown that way in his portrait, so people would be forced to remember how far we had come from those days." Cato knew every detail of his grandfather's portrait, including the ones they didn't put down in the history books. His great-grandfather had been a Rebel officer. His grandfather's victory restored not only District honor, it reformed the entire family with the Capital. With one victory they went from being the children of traitors to the family of a hero.
"Why are you talking to me so much?" Glimmer asked.
"I want to learn from you," he said.
She laughed at him. "You learn from me? You're the best student at the Academy."
"But, I've never killed anyone," he admitted.
She stopped laughing. The rumors were true. "What do you want to know?"
He gazed into the cat gleam in her eyes. His stomach felt funny. It wasn't fear, but something else, something he had never known before. "What does it feel like to kill a man?"
She smiled. "It feels great!"