After their visiting time was up Cato and Clove were ushered from the rooms and out of the justice building. Peacekeepers separated them from the crowd as they were led to a shiny car that looked like it was only seconds old. Florins slid into the middle seat and the two sat on either side. They stared resolutely out the window of the moving car that was taking them to the station, both determined not to look at the other for fear they may break down. Florins sat between them, chattering on and on about the capitol and how lucky they were, totally oblivious to the uncomfortable tension that hung between the two teenagers. After what seemed to be an age the car pulled up at the station, a small building that while less grand than those that were probably in the capitol it was still one of the best looking buildings in District two.
Clove exited the car feeling numb and bordered the train behind Florins, tripping on the giant stairs that were hard for her to climb with her small frame. A warm arm wrapped around her stomach while a large hand appeared against her back to steady her. "Careful there little one," Cato whispered, helping her up gently, she knew he didn't mean for her to hear what he said so she ignored it and continued climbing the stairs, stepping through a door that slid open at her touch into a large carriage. There were lots of comfortable chairs scattered around the room as well as several tables, a fireplace, couch and a large TV against the wall with cabinets full of old hunger games tapes lined underneath it.
"Come along my dears, you sit here and let me get your mentors, they will want to start right away," Florins voice was less squeaky once it wasn't amplified but still more high pitched than both Cato and Clove were used to. They hesitantly took their seats in the soft armchairs as they waited, Clove bouncing up and down impatiently. Her Aunt Enorbia would be mentoring her through this and because she hadn't seen the older woman since around Christmas she couldn't wait to see her again. "Clove!" an excited shriek came from the doorway and Clove turned just in time to be swept up into a pair of soft arm, so different from those she had woken up in that very morning. "It's good to see you again sweetie, I can't believe you were chosen, oh you're going to get them all Clove," Enorbia cheered, tugging on her niece's arm incessantly until the younger girl relented and let herself be dragged from the room, leaving Brutus and Cato to talk without her around.
The instant Clove was gone Cato turned to Brutus and glared him down, "I don't care what I have to do to make it happen but that girl is going to win these games and you are going to help me do it," he growled and Brutus smirked, crossing his arms and leaning against the fireplace, "So you're going to give up your chance to live a life of glory, riches and honour for a girl?" he teased, cocking an eyebrow. "She's not just a girl. And yes I am, because without her there isn't a me," he huffed, standing up and copying Brutus's pose, "Fine Mr Muscles I'll help the girl come out alive, you know you're probably not the first lovers to come through these games but I bet your going to be the first to try and give up his life to let their partner win," he grimaced at the thought and brushed it off, holding out a hand, "I'll help you on one condition… you do everything I tell you to do to save this girl," Cato nodded and shook Brutus's hand hoping that it would be enough to keep Clove alive.
Meanwhile Clove was talking to her aunt about the best way to win the games, how to collect supplies she would need and how to gain volunteers. "So what angle were you thinking of for the interview?" Enorbia asked, happy to be able to see her niece once again. It had been a while since the older victor had seen the young girl, having been kept busy in the capitol as she prepared to mentor her next tribute, imagine her surprise when she found that it was her very own niece. "I have no idea Aunty, I wasn't going to volunteer this year and I certainly wasn't expecting to be picked as tribute," Clove sighed, clenching a pillow to her stomach as she sat up against the headboard.
"Well I think we should go with sweet but deadly, you can be nice to the other tributes, find out their weaknesses and strengths but in the end you will be the one to stab them in the back, literally. Your small frame will be used against you by some of the larger tributes but otherwise I think we're good. They won't expect you to be so strong because of how delicate you look, and stop scowling at me you know it's the truth. The capitol will love it all you have to do is pretend to be the sweet, innocent girl who is deeply honoured to be in such a marvellous place and would love if she was able to come out alive and spend the rest of her days surrounded by such wonderful people." Enorbia grinned menacingly and Clove caught a glimpse of the side her aunt always hid from her, the ruthless woman who had ripped out a person's throat with her bare teeth to win the games.
"So basically act like a sweet person who loves everyone, especially the people sending her to her death?" she questioned flatly, knowing in her heart if it came down to her and Cato she would allow the blonde boy to win without a second thought. "No Clove, you are not going to die in these games. I will do everything in my power to get you to win, you are my niece and I love you like a daughter. You will win Clove, I will make sure of it," Enorbia promised, holding Clove so her head was resting on the older girls chest, rocking her gently. Clove nodded though she was barely listening, wondering how her aunt would feel when she realised Clove was giving up her life for the safety of the man she loved.
After a few more minutes of Enorbia stroking her hair they pulled apart, Clove holding onto Enorbia' arm as they headed towards the mutual living carriage where there was the big TV screen they would use to watch the reapings. She was afraid that if she let go of her aunts arm she would be unable to control herself from jumping into Cato's arms the minute she saw him. Upon entering the room a pair of oceanic blue eyes flickered up to look at her and she nearly cried out at the amount of pain in them before they moved back towards the screen that was slowly starting up, the blank screen flashing to life moments after Clove and Enorbia had taken their seats on the couch beside the one Brutus and Cato were sitting.
A flashing sign came up with the crest of the Capitol of Panem before it faded away replaced with a picture of a balding white haired man "Good afternoon tributes of District 2. I am President Cornelius Snow and I am at this moment in the magical capitol where you will soon be joining us. You have been picked for a great honour, the task of representing your district in the annual Hunger Games pageant. You will be placed through several tests before you will be allowed to enter the arena. The first of these is the tribute parade; your stylists will design an outfit for you that they think compliments your districts theme and you will then be displayed in front of the people of the capitol and surrounding districts. The next step will be three days of vigorous training supervised by professionals and observed by the gamemakers."
"You will then be put through a solo session in which you will display your skills to be evaluated and graded by the game makers. The final step in the process before you enter the arena is the interviews. The interviews are designed to allow the citizens of Panem to get a glimpse of the people that they will be sponsoring throughout the games. As you are the closest district to the capitol you shall be arriving first followed by the other districts including district 1. The final district, district twelve, shall be arriving at around 1 o'clock tomorrow. I wish you luck tributes. Happy hunger games and may the odds be ever in your favour." The screen turned off abruptly, leaving the four to stare at it in silence for a few moments.
"I guess we better get something to eat before you get to the capitol, once we get there you won't get a chance to eat until after the tribute parade. Let me give you both a little advice, let the stylists do whatever they want, if you complain then it can only get worse," Enorbia said, tugging Clove from the room by her hand and taking her past several carriages till they reached a large open space with a large table full of food. They smell was overpowering and Clove hurried to take a seat, piling a little bit of everything on her plate as she inhaled the delicious scents wafting from the buffet of food laid out before her. Enorbia sat beside her at one of the long sides of the table while Brutus sat across from her; Cato was seated down the other end of the table so he was directly across from her and kept sneaking looks when she wasn't paying attention, his own plate piled higher than if she stacked three times the amount on hers.
"After dinner we will be watching today's reapings then you shall be going to bed, we arrive in the capitol at around 6 in the morning so I expect you will want to look alive when you get off the train and the citizens see you for the first time," Brutus said, turning back to his dinner as the group ate in silence. Once they had their fill they moved to the living carriage, settling comfortably in seats around the room. Clove grabbed a pen and pad from a nearby table, neatly dividing a page into four columns: their district, name, strengths and if they were a threat or not. The Panem symbol flashed on screen and the anthem started up, fading out when the screen changed to a view of district one, the potential tributes shuffled in their places, milling in a large crowd ranging from twelve to eighteen as was the protocol. The escort stepped up on stage and read out the name of a small fourteen year old only for them to instantly be replaced by a tall seventeen year old boy called Marvel, his brown hair was cropped close to his head and his features looked a tiny bit too wide set to be considered handsome. The girl tribute was another volunteer this one in the form of a golden skinned blonde hair girl who introduced herself as Glimmer, Clove internally scoffed at how stupid she sounded for a 17 year old girl.
She watched as herself and Cato were reaped, holding on a fraction of a second to long in the handshake, barely noticeable unless you knew it was there. The next few districts 3 through 10 were nothing special, the redhead from 5 looked cunning but a quick thinker never really won the games if they lacked killer instincts, the crippled boy from 10 would be dealt with quickly, Clove almost felt sorry for him, he stood no chance of surviving. One of their main threats was a large boy from District 11, when he was called he mounted the stage, glaring fiercely at the screen, he announced himself as Thresh and the stats on the bottom of the screen informed Clove that he was 18 years old, one more reaping and he would have been free of the games.
Clove held back tears as she watched a small twelve year old girl from 11 board the stage, she was so delicate and fragile, she wouldn't last a day in the games and Clove prayed that she would meet her end quickly, she was named Rue and she waved sadly to a group of kids that looked just like her in the audience. Cato chanced a glance over to see a single tear roll down Clove's cheek, the brunette quickly wiping it away as she kept her eyes glued to the screen, the corners of his lips tilted up as he saw the compassion written on her face for the little girl, careers were meant to be heartless, Clove was anything but.
The final district was never really worth watching but this year she stared in shock as another twelve year old was reaped, a small blonde girl who was so pale and innocent looking it was heartbreaking. A fuss was suddenly started in the crowd as a much taller and fiercer looking girl pushed her way out of the masses, screaming her demand to volunteer as she swept the blonde girl out of the peacekeepers hands and into a tall olive skinned boys arms, who carried the girl back to her mother screaming. The dark haired girl mounted the stage and introduced herself as Katniss Everdeen, Clove's eyes narrowed and she paused the recording, zooming in so that Katniss took up the whole screen, ignoring the looks of confusion that the other three and her mentor threw at her.
"She's different," she said bluntly, her eyes assessing the dark haired girl. "Of course she's different Clove, she volunteered for her sister, the first one ever in that pathetic district," Brutus growled, rolling his eyes at her obvious statement. "No I mean she's a threat," Clove hissed back, flipping to a new page on the pad and scribbling several assessments she made. "How so?" Enorbia asked, she knew Clove and if her niece said the girl from twelve was a threat then she was a threat, the others watched with interest as Clove rattled off what she had observed.
"Looks at her arms, she had muscle tone, not the kind you get from labour like in their mines but more suited to training, she's been doing something violent and straining for several years. And look at her body shape, she's small but sturdy not thin and malnourished like most of them in 12 which means she has found a way to survive. Her hands as well, look at them, callouses, so she's been training with some sort of weapon. The position of her feet, it's like she's about to run so she's alert and probably quick on her feet. See her eyes, most of that district have this thin glaze over them, like they've already submitted to the fact they're going to die, you can see it in all the adults, most of the kids too, but her are focused, to cautious, it's the look a cornered animal gets right before it begins to fight for her life, making it dangerous. Mark my words, this girl will be one of our biggest threats and there's one main reason for that." Clove said quietly, allowing the film to play once more, a blonde haired boy called Peeta the last of the tributes.
"And what's that?" Cato asked, joining in the conversation at last. "She volunteered," Clove stated simply, beginning to get up and leave only to be stopped at the doorway by Brutus's question. "Yeah we know that. So what, doesn't mean she's tough," he sneered and Clove rolled her eyes, gripping the doorway with her fingers tightly. "She volunteered for that little girl Brutus which means she loves her too much to let go. That girl will fight to the death to get back to that little girl and we've just forced her into the corner, how much damage do you think this cornered animal will do?" she smirked sardonically and let go of the doorframe, her nails leaving imprints on the wood as the door slid shut behind her.