AUTHOR'S NOTE: And here we see some of the post-parade scenes before the training actually starts. The story starts to put more of a focus on Cato and Clove from here, (and there is a little Clove/Cato near the end), although we do get to see some of the others still. Even without Katniss present, Clove still manages to find someone that irks her-two someones that irk her. Time will well what becomes of these feelings though. Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 4: The Fearless Tributes

Shortly after the president's short words, the chariots turned and made their way back to the tribute tower. Even the quite District 12 pair seemed a bit more confident, and they elicited stares from some of the others as they strode past in their still flaming outfits. Cato and Clove both glanced after them, only to receive a fixated gaze from little Primrose, which was followed up by a calm stare from Peeta Mellark. Clove and Cato kept their expressions surprisingly neutral, but did exude a bit of confidence that District 12 might have been lacking.

Peeta took Prim by the hand and led her to the elevator. Marvel and Glimmer were staring after them, although their attention was diverted once they saw Cato and Clove. The two pairs of tributes gazed at each other for a moment before the District 2 pair received a small compliment from Glimmer and Marvel, who went to the elevators to head up to their floor.

Cato and Clove aimed to do the same thing, but that silent District 11 pair passed them by, with little Rue Keniye and the much larger Thresh Dakara not breaking that eye contact.

Clove couldn't take it anymore. What was wrong with them, and more importantly, why had they not said a single thing the entire time being here? (at least as far as Clove and Cato knew).

"Say something!" she barked, though she was not upset. Instead of saying anything, they just folded their arms at the District 2 pair as if challenging them.

"Can you even talk at all, or did your tongues get cut out?" she continued. Rue responded by opening her mouth and flashing her tongue to show that it was there. A split-second later, Thresh had joined her, though he closed his mouth again before Rue did.

"We're gonna gut you at the cornucopia if you don't say something," Cato threatened, but all it did was cause Rue to blink a few times and raise her eyebrows.

Clove shook her head, and Cato led her to the elevators, where they reached the 2nd floor in a few seconds. Here, they were greeted by Athena, who squealed with excitement over how appealing her tributes this year had looked in that parade. Clove and Cato both basked in this caressing of their egos for a moment before they ate a quick dinner, changed into something more appropriate for the evening, and then rewatched some of the footage of the parade.

Clove's focus was almost entirely on that District 11 pair. They were almost infuriatingly stoic. She could understand how that large young man could be strong and stone-faced, but the girl seemed so small and innocent; almost a bit chipper, even; and yet she was just as unyielding and calm about it all as he was.

"Having fun?" a voice piped up. Clove and Cato glanced over to their left and saw Enobaria approaching them, dressed in calf-length pants and a tanktop. Her feet were bare.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Cato retorted, as he noticed a similarly dressed Elroy appear behind Enobaria.

"Well," Enobaria opened her mouth for a moment, revealing a set of pointed, filed-down teeth, "Death happens, as we like to say. When the Hunger Games are involved, death happens more."
"What makes you think my death will happen here?" Cato raised an eyebrow.

"It's either you or Clove," Elroy quipped, "speaking of…"

Clove was still fixated on the television screen, the reruns of the chariot parade paused at a close-up shot of Thresh and Rue.

"What makes them tick," she muttered under her breath, which, since everyone had instantly grown quiet, was easily heard. She glanced at them, and then repeated herself. Clove was not exactly shy.

"These two," she glanced at Enobaria in particular, "District 11. Do you know anything about them?"

"Why?" the mentor tilted her head, "afraid of some healthy competition?"

"Marvel and Glimmer are a bit too airheaded." Clove noted aloud, "These two are the only ones I can't make heads or tails of. They haven't said a damn thing at all, as far as anyone knows."

"District 11 should not be confused with the rest of their outlying brethren," Elroy warned, "they've had a good haul of victors before… ever since that Girl on Fire back in the 44th Hunger Games, anyways."

"Show her to me," Clove demanded, "there are obviously a story behind that name, and a story behind District 11 with that kind of title."

Elroy and Enobaria flipped backwards through 30 years of Hunger Games recaps. All of it was available for any citizen of Panem to watch, after all—the games themselves, the chariot parades, the victory tours, and the interviews—both from the tributes before the games, and by the victors afterwards.

Seeing the girl during her victor's interview explained part of where her nickname had come from. She was clad in a fiery red gown adorned with red and orange rhinestones and comprised of shimmering fabric that changed hues with the movement of her sleeves or legs. Clove had half expected the fire effect from Peeta and Primrose's outfits to be present here, but there was no such thing.

Seeing the girl speak (to a much younger Caesar Flickerman) though, answered Clove's question about the name in full. This "Sagittaria Svenja" was warm and friendly; but also hot and passionate—a warm but fiery personality. She spoke with such conviction… and with such fondness of her district. Clove couldn't help but respect that, even if she knew that conditions in District 11 were a joke at best.

It was her remarks about the people though, that had her attention.

"We've basically seen it all;" the girl explained, answering a question from Caesar about her home district, "we're used to working hard, eating little, and facing adversity head-on. So… we do just that; cover our emotions and face our enemies head-on, never relenting and never wavering. District 11; District 11; who gives us fruits, gives us strength!"

Clove shut the TV off after that—this was all she had needed to see.

"They're not all like that, are they?" she turned to them.

"I think they did about average my year," Enobaria shrugged, seeming unconcerned.

"A kid from '11 won the games the year after me," Elroy chipped in. "maybe to make up for doing poorly during my year or something. I don't exactly try to remember."
"Why are you so fixated on them?" Cato tilted his head, "it's a big slow dumb guy and a twerp that I could probably literally rip in two."

"Hey, I'm not saying we're not gonna be able to kick 'em in the teeth," Clove countered, "just that they're hiding something, and I want to know what."

Clove took this personally because she felt like it was an attack on her ego. Her pride was hurt from these two fearless tributes who were not reacting to any of their intimidation efforts.

"Don't get so worked up about it," Cato reassured her, stroking both the girl's ego and her hair, which, oddly, calmed Clove down a bit. She had been getting worked up over this.

"Cato, I swear if they score higher than us…" she trailed off.

"Clove, relax." Cato reassured her, still running his hand through her hair, "they were just lucky they got picked. We were chosen from the best of the best. We'll show them who's boss in the training center tomorrow." It was not that Cato was trying to solely comfort Clove; this was also helping his own ego. He honestly did not see why Clove was so worked up about those two though—he personally thought that they'd just be more bloodbath fodder. There had been no demonstrations of their skills so far, and courage only got a tribute so far. Besides… he was the best, and even Clove would have to die for him to be able to prove that point. It would be said, but that was just the name of the game.

"I need a moment," Clove sighed, sounding suddenly very depressed. She got up and headed out to the balcony. Cato looked equally confused, for this seemed very out of character for her—where had the arrogant, violent, powerful girl he met at the District 2 stage gone?

He did not take long to find out. A few minutes later, Clove stepped back inside, her knuckles dripping with blood. She looked furious, but apart from her hands, seemed unhurt. Had she just punched the walls or something?

Cato was this close to opening his mouth to ask her what happened, but she beat him to it.

"Long story," she was heading for her room, "I'll tell you tomorrow or something."

Cato shrugged. Perhaps it was best not to get involved, so he put a positive spin on it, as best he could and in one of the only ways he knew how.

"See ya in the training center tomorrow," he called out, smirking as he decided to get ready for bed as well. "Let's remind Panem who the best tributes this year are."
While Clove only nodded, it did bring a smile to her face. She disappeared into her room and fell asleep rather quickly, excited for what tomorrow would bring.

AFTERTHOUGHTS:

1-I'm not necessarily huge on 'shipping', but what are your thoughts on the relationship (romantic or otherwise), between Clove and Cato, and would you like to see more of it or less? (or the same amount as there currently is)
2-Clove has already started developing a fixated obsession with that District 11 pair. Does it feel out of character, or is she justified in her paranoia against what she sees as a threat to her chance of victory, as well as her ego?
3-I've always felt that while Clove is very clever, strong, and intelligent, that she is very unstable on a mental level. Am I wrong in making this assumption, or does the character still feel like the one we're familiar with?