"Brutus, I think we might have ourselves a decent pair of tributes this year." A tall, lean woman says to a stocky built man I'm guessing is Brutus.
Brutus...? I know that name. He won the a Hunger Games a few years back.
"I think so, Enobaria." Brutus replied in a scruffy voice.
Enobaria too had won. I remembered her Games where she bit almost all her competition. Now her teeth were solid gold that shined every time she smiled.
"I'm Enobaria and this is Brutus. We are your mentors for this year's Games." Enobaria smiled.
"Sweet. Hey aren't you the one who bit people?" Cato laughed.
"Boy, I'd advise you to shut your mouth. We have to see what we're working with." Enobaria snarled and Cato snickered at her scolding.
"Names." Brutus says squinting at us.
"Cato."
"Clove."
"Boy, how strong are you and what is your weapon of choice?" Enobaria glared at Cato.
"I can lift 300 pound weights and I can kick ass with a sword." Cato replied arrogantly.
"You will do fine." Brutus says barely looking at him.
"What about you, girl?" Enobaria jabbed her finger at me.
"I'd rather show you." I smiled remembering the knives in my hair. I aimed for a painting with many colorful flowers that had a small black dot in the center. "I bet you, I can hit that dot." I gloated.
"Don"t lie to me, girl." Enobaria snarled. "You don't even have weapon!"
I took the knives from my hair and my ponytail become undone.
"Knives?" Brutus smiled.
I aimed carefully. Breathed in and out and cleared my head of all thought except that dot. And finally I just...let go. It hit the painting with a hard thump. Enobaria and Brutus went to check it hit the dot. It did.
"Amazing. These year's victor will be from District 2!" Brutus cheered.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Enobaria growled. "Alright some raw talent. Go away and come back at 6 for supper. If you're late you get nothing. You do things on my time or you don't do them at all."
With that, they left. I sat on a nearby couch and stared into space. After a couple of minutes, Cato came and sat in front of me. "How did you cheat?"
"I didn't. It's called practice." I mumbled.
"I practice 24 hours a day." Cato glared.
"Is big boy jealous of the girl with the knives?" I pouted.
"Shut up, princess." Cato smiled.
"Fuck off. I don't want you pity and I don't want your presence. Go away." I wanted to be left alone.
"I think I'll stay right here." Cato says cheerfully, Damn, he knew how to push my buttons.
"Go to hell." I growl.
"That's a pretty dress. I like how much skin I see." Cato eyed me up and down.
I looked down at my thighs being exposed. Shit. I covered them as much as I could. Then looked Cato in the eyes and stood up.
"What do you want? My weaknesses? My secrets?" I looked straight into his eyes. Those once again dazzling sapphire eyes.
"Relax princess." He stood up and I felt tiny in his presence. He must have been at least 6'3. "I want us to be friends."
"Why? We are all going to die anyway." I tried to look as menacing as possible.
"Exactly. If we are friends, they best chance one of us will leave the arena. And it will be me but still you'll come in 2nd." Cato laughed harshly.
"I don't want your friendship." I rolled my eyes.
"Then let's not be friends, let's be allies."
"Deal." I say.
"Oh and princess? Keep that dress on. I love to see that much skin." He pinched my thigh and bit his lower lip.
"You bitch!" I whined.
He laughed and walked out of the cart.
He is a nice ally. He'll protect me and I'll kill him when the time comes. Easy, I thought.
In a few short hours, we made it to the Capitol. I looked at Cato gawking at the view. People with lime green eyebrows and crimson hair. I wanted to puke. They were all like Octavian. The Capitol, with towering skyscrapers and buildings and weird bizarre people. Wow, it was nice for a change. Too bad, we were all only here to kill, otherwise I'd might have actually enjoyed myself.
