Chapter Ten

A/N: No reviewers. (Are you still reading?)

As the lift doors opened, revealing the training rooms, Glimmer all but sprinted from the space.

Over the past minute since they had entered the lift, the young woman had been forced to stand in the company of only Marvel and an Avox. In all honesty, she would rather have been trapped with all six of the lowest Districts' Tributes than with the boy that had left her brother in an almost fatally wounded state, as if she had spent just one more minute with him, she had been certain that only one of them would have emerged alive, most likely her. However, she had managed to keep a lid on her emotions, and had managed not to kill him before she was permitted to do so. 'There will be plenty of time for that in the Arena.' she told herself. 'Not long now.'

Arriving alongside the other Tributes who had gathered, Glimmer began to scan the crowds, to identify if there was any true competition that she would need to assess during the days that would follow, to ensure that she knew their weaknesses and strengths for the Arena, to ensure that they were cut down as soon as it would be possible to do so.

Only a few seconds told her that over half of the Tributes alongside them would be no threat whatsoever, and were merely innocent children who had been chosen against their will. However, this time also brought the fact that there was some stiff competition from others to her attention, specifically from the District Two Careers, the attractive blonde boy and the vicious dark haired girl.

The girl wore the same sly smirk on her face as she had done the very first day she had seen her, as if it had remained fixated there since the parade. However, though the boy also wore a similar smile, it was evident to Glimmer that he was a lot less predatory than his District partner, or seemed to be, at least. For now, that was good enough for her, as she did not know any better, having not met the boy properly in the flesh, only having met him through a flash of a smile during the Tributes' parade.

She walked across to the other side of the room, not wishing to be within a close distance of the girl from District Two, as she would not put it past her, at appearance alone, to break the rules and make an attempt on her life before the Games had even begun. 'It probably would not even bother her.' the girl thought, almost too terrible to think, but she had done so nonetheless, as it was most likely the truth. 'To kill me would merely make the chase a little easier when it came to the Arena, and would give her one less Tribute to fight off. I wouldn't put it past her to kill any one of these children, from her District partner to the twelve year old girl cowering in the corner.'

A long speech had ensued within the next five minutes, led by the woman that would be leading the preparation and ensuring that the regulations of the training were followed at all times, a message that she seemed to be intent to drill into the Careers more than anyone else in the room, something which Glimmer found to be a little offensive and stereotypical, as she had judged the group before she had met them, due to the certain reputation they had built up over the years of their two Districts offering training and their achievements in the Arena that had been obtained through viciousness and bloodshed. Whether this year's Tributes had decided to behave that way in their minds was beside the point, as the woman did not know the decisions they had made, and should not have judged them before she had gotten to know them a little better, or until she had seen them fight, at least.

Once the speech was completed, the Careers did not move an inch, watching the younger children scramble for the weapons, as if they were fearful of the elders doing the same and reaching them first, using them to kill off a few of the weaker Tributes before the Games in the Arena had even begun. They were far too young to know that the Careers never rushed to the weapons stores, but that they always got their weapon of choice, whether the other that held it handed it over willingly or otherwise.

Within a minute, the dark haired girl, who Glimmer now knew to be called Clove, had acquired a set of throwing knives, the blonde had acquired a sword and Marvel, who had joined them out of expectation alone, had found himself a newly sharpened spear. She, meanwhile, had no weapon, as a young girl who had come from District Three had taken the only bow in the room.

"What's your weapon?" asked a voice from behind her, shocking the young woman more than a little. She turned immediately to find the source of the sound, her braids swinging quickly as she turned with equal speed, and was almost dumbed in awe as she saw the District Two boy himself stood behind her, leaning on one of the counters beside him in a sign of almost a suave look of boredom with the events occurring around him. 'It isn't boredom at me.' she thought with relish, a smile appeared to rival the smirk he gave her in return.

"A bow. I won the Golden Bow this year." she responded, unable to resist slipping in her achievement, in an attempt to impress the man. Luckily, it seemed to work, though he made no more comment about it.

"Here." he said, producing a silver bow from behind his back, the hold and string looking not at all dissimilar to the one on the wall in her bedroom at home, except for the colour of the metal. He threw it carefully, so that it was simple for her to catch it, though she had resigned herself to the opinion that she could most certainly have done it anyway.

"I'm Glimmer." she told him, before he had a chance to even move in the direction of the dummies.

"Cato." he answered, and the girl felt her heart swell with the fact that he had cared enough to do the same. Throughout the remainder of the session, that feeling remained, only one thought entering into her mind.

'Cato.'

A/N: Finally, the pairing begins. Please review!