"Remember, be fierce." Enobaria said as Cato and Clove got on the chariot.

"Like that's a challenge." Clove scoffed, "We got this in the bag Cato…Cato?" she turned to her district partner who was staring at his reflection on his helmet.

"Cato!" She yelled punching his arm, "What are you doing? We're about to start moving."

"Huh?" He looked at her, "Oh I was just checking to see if my makeup was too noticeable. I don't see why they need to put any on me, my face is fine without all that cosmetic crap." he replied putting his helmet back on while Clove rolled her eyes.

The pair were clad in gold gladiator armor with matching winged helmets. Except the armor wasn't really armor, the fabric was just meant to shine to create the illusion that it was metal. Both tunics were sleeveless, much to Cato's pleasure, and came up to their knees. The real problem was creating gladiator sandals that fit Cato's calf size. They were suppose to go up right under the knee but for his sake, they made him wear ankle ones instead. Cinna wanted to make them look like gods and he definitely succeeded. Clove looked absolutely ethereal, the gold bringing out the light brown flecks in her eyes while Cato looked like a god of war and every bit the warrior that he was.

He took another glance at the blonde blue-eyed boy, his first impression being that he was brutal. But after learning what Brutus had said about him he was a bit surprised to find out the truth. Though the boy's face was cold and calculating, he could see why he and Katniss made a good match. He had finally met the boy that fueled her fire, and he understood perfectly now how their temperaments didn't clash. He could imagine Cato being brash and angry while Katniss kept a cool head to calm him down.

Cinna had gotten to know the girl on fire and marked loyalty as one of her best attributes. He remembered the first conversation they ever had when he met her. It was two years ago, the day of the tribute parade.

Cinna was walking towards District 2's designated wash station to drop of some supplies when he heard smashing and screaming coming from the room that tributes were suppose to wait in.

"WHERE IS IT? GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" he heard a girl shout and opened the door. He raised an eyebrow at the scene before him. The girl was holding a hose and pointing it at the prep team while they had their hands up.

"We needed to take it off so that we could—" Flavius tried to reason with the girl but she cut him off.

"I DON'T CARE! JUST GIVE IT BACK…NOW. Before I blast your faces away." She scowled and Venia shrieked. Cinna was surprised at the girl, what was so important that the prep team took from her.

"I don't think that's necessary…Katniss, is it?" Cinna interrupted trying to end the confrontation. Katniss nodded but otherwise kept her grip on the hose.

"Who are you? You look too normal to be from the Capitol." She stated her eyes scrutinizing his appearance. He chuckled and held out his hand.

"Cinna, I'm your stylist." She looked at his hand and reluctantly let go of the hose to shake it. He smiled at her and she returned a timid one.

"Now Octavia, why don't you give Katniss what belongs to her. I'll handle it from here." Cinna requested gesturing to the other stylist.

Octavia eyed Katniss warily but otherwise did as she was told and gave her back the object. When she handed it back, Cinna was intrigued to see that it was a ring. The prep team filed out of the room leaving him alone with girl. He noticed that as soon as she put it on she visibly relaxed and started to twist it around her finger looking deep in thought.

"It's very pretty." He said eyeing the silver piece of jewelry, "Is that your district token?"

Katniss bit her lip and her eyes started to water but he could tell that she wouldn't let any tears fall. She took a deep breath to compose herself before answering.

"Yeah, it's the only thing that'll get me home." She answered, her eyes never leaving the ring.

"Why's that?" Cinna was interested now, this was probably the first time that a Career had shown any other emotion besides arrogance.

"I made a promise," she looked at him then, "and I intend to keep it."

He saw the fire in her eyes and knew right at that moment what his muse was. Her fierce dedication to whoever the boy was made her determined and willing to do whatever it took to get back to him. What tipped him off that it was a special someone was the style of the ring, Cinna could tell it was a promise ring by the simplicity of the style. Engagement and wedding rings were too flashy to look like her ring. He made a promise to himself that he would try his best to get her home. It had only been ten minutes and she had already wormed her way into his side.

The blare of the trumpets announcing the beginning of the tribute parade pulled him out of his memory. Cinna watched as the young man that held the key to Katniss' heart was pulled into the square. He hoped that Cato would win; maybe the boy would finally find peace with himself knowing that he'd won for her.

If only he knew the truth, Cinna thought.

"I didn't know they had a bird nest in District One." Cato smirked and Clove laughed. He was referring to the fact that every inch of their tributes were covered in feathers. I mean he understood that they were the district of luxury but this was just going overboard.

As him and Clove were brought into the light the screams turned deafening, and Cato had a strange feeling of numbness. He saw the capitolites jumping up and down yelling for his name and attention. He could see Clove next to him smirking in satisfaction at all the attention they were getting. His expression however remained blank and stoic. When he glanced over at a group of women waving their arms to get his attention he winked and a couple of them fainted. Cato chuckled, as if any of these colorful freaks could catch his interest.

The parade continued as such, the best friends exchanging their quips and opinions about the other districts. Soon their chariots were lined up in front of a colossal podium where President Snow stood to give his welcoming speech.

"Welcome tributes, to the 74th Annual Hunger Games! We thank you for your great courage and sacrifice. Happy Hunger games! And may the odds be ever in your favor."

With that, they were pulled back into the building to their awaiting mentors and prep teams.

"You guys definitely stole the show." Enobaria grinned showing off her gold teeth.

"Told you we would, was there ever any doubt?" Clove joked and the two laughed and started talking among themselves. Brutus excused himself which left Cato alone with Cinna.

"You don't look too happy, you did great out there." Cinna stated, he wanted to know a bit more about his personality and hopefully his response would give him a clue.

"Thanks," Cato replied gruffly, "It was the costume that they liked though."

Cinna smiled and nodded, "Your welcome." The boy's reply was half what he expected. He could tell that Cato wasn't use to compliments and wasn't good at giving them either. That was as close he was going to get as far as a 'good job' from him.

Cato ran a hand through his hair; to say he was uncomfortable was an understatement. He wasn't use to getting praised by others anymore. He was about to interrupt the girl's conversation to talk to Clove but he felt someone staring at him. His head whipped around to face the culprit.

It was a girl from District Seven dressed in a paper mache looking thing. Wait paper? Oh right, that district produced lumber, he thought. She looked like a deer caught in headlights as he stared her down, he couldn't tell if she was afraid or entranced but at the moment he couldn't care less so he just shook his head and looked away.

After about five minutes more of mindless chatter between the districts mentors, Enobaria rounds everyone up to go back to their floor. As his group walks to the elevator he feels a pair of eyes on him again, in fact the same pair of eyes that were staring at him earlier. This time though he didn't acknowledge her. When both District Two and Seven waited for the elevator he simply crossed his arms and stared at the doors. Clove nudged him and he looked at her, she tilted her head towards the girl and he looked. The girl realizing she got caught again lowered her gaze and blushed. Cato groaned while Clove snickered.

"Looks like someone has a crush on you." She whispered as the doors opened. He rolled his eyes and stepped in, everyone else trailing in behind him. Clove was dying of laughter on the inside, a pathetic girl from seven had the hots for Cato. This was just like in training when all the girls were pining over him after Katniss left. She couldn't help but let out another giggle before blanking her face again. She noticed that everyone had stared at her like she was crazy, Clove loved it. She grinned to herself hoping to creep them out even more.

Cato sighed at his best friend's antics, he had good feeling that he knew what she was laughing about. He felt the girl staring at him again so when the elevator dinged announcing his floor, he stopped in front of the doors and looked over his shoulder.

"See something you like Seven?" he commented then continued to walk onto his floor the doors closing behind him leaving a stunned redhead behind.

A/N: So not that happy with this chapter but I've rewritten it too many times to care anymore. Don't worry, I won't have Cato flirting with any other girls during the games but the one in this chapter is going to play a big part in this story. Her character will officially be introduced in the next chapter. Thanks again for the reviews and follows. (:

Til next time.

~Alis-May