Chapter Eleven
A/N: Thank you to TheSoulGirl for reviewing the last chapter.
The presentation day had come and gone, and Glimmer had been extremely pleased with her training score of ten, though the rumours were that a stranger to the Games, from all the way out in District Twelve, had achieved a score of eleven, far above any score than her homeland had ever seen. Her partner, a stupid boy by sight, had only achieved an eight. It was high by anyone else's standards, but not by a Career's. To her, it was low, and that meant that he was not at all a threat. The girl, however, could very well be. She was well worth keeping an eye on.
As they returned to their training, this time doing so in their pairs, according to their District, so that they could have the advantage of practicing some skills which would remain between themselves, in order to have the upper hand on any unsuspecting children who did not know where their true skills lay. Glimmer was dreading the training, as it meant that she would have to be alone with Marvel for the entirety of the time until the Games began, when she would most likely be able to kill him, or the other way around, long before the time was up.
However, she arrived at their tuition room, to find that it was merely a large cavernous chamber, with only a table of weapons along one wall, and a group of training dummies along the opposite one, a couple of ominous looking holes in the chests of them, which looked to have most certainly be caused by repetitive stabbing, though by sword point or dagger, she did not know, and did not wish to in truth. Yet, as her gaze swept further across the room, she found that the terrible personal training standards, when the cameras and publicity were taken away, were not the most shocking thing in the place.
Only a few feet away from where they stood, Cato and Clove stood with their arms crossed across their chests, as if they had been waiting, rather impatiently at that, for a great deal of time, just for the District One Tributes to arrive. The first emotion that entered the girl's mind was confusion. 'I thought that this is meant to be private District partner training. What are a couple of District Two Careers doing here? Shouldn't they be training as a pair, not joining us as a quartet? None of this makes any sense.'
Luckily, Florentina Chickeree soon saw fit to explain, which she did with a smile on her face that even Glimmer, whose main technique had been to flirt her way through the public stages, found utterly sickening, particularly in a circumstance when they were training to kill children, some not even older than little Jade, back in District One. 'No, don't start me thinking on my family again. I can't let them become my weakness.'
"We have decided that, given that you are both Career Districts, and that you tend to pair up in the Arena anyway, the Gamemakers have come to the decision that Districts One and Two are going to train together this year, to increase your chances of survival in the Games." The explanation seemed to be a lot more of a shock to the District One Tributes than it was for those from District Two, who had presumably been told while they waited for the former to arrive. The look on Cato's face clearly suggested that he thought the plan was a good one, and so the blonde forced a smile to her own face, in an attempt to look as if she agreed, when in fact she did not want to train with Clove any more than she wanted to train with Marvel.
"Alright, fair enough." she told her escort, though she tried not to sound overly enthusiastic, as no one else seemed to overly mind who they trained with, as long as they got to hone their killing skills for a couple of days, without the watchful eyes of the younger children, and their silly use of the weapons which were not toys, and may very well be the ones to cause their deaths in under a week's time. "I think that it's a good idea."
"And so do I." Cato responded, stepping forwards to stand by Glimmer's side. Obviously jealous, Clove stood forward also, to stand by her District partner's side. For a moment, it seemed like she was intent on standing between them, but one glance from the blonde man, and a sharp one at that, and she moved around to his other side, shooting a glare at the young girl as she did so.
Over the next few hours, they trained, fought, and destroyed the targets, so that they were able to discover the strengths and weaknesses of those who would be their companions in the Arena. Their skills sets fitted together perfectly, as Cato was proficient with a sword, Clove with throwing knives, Marvel with a spear and of course, herself with a bow. Together, they had all ranges covered, and their expertise meant that they had them covered well.
That evening, once they had finally finished their work, the two darker haired Tributes rushed off, clearly eager to eat, as they had not done so all day, by the orders of their shared trainer. Glimmer was not surprised, as she knew the brunette boy well, despite the fact that she disliked him intensely, and was aware of the fact that he very much enjoyed his food. She did not doubt that Clove was the same, though she did not appear to be so.
However, as they waited for the lift to return to their floor, the two blondes' eyes caught each other's, and for a moment, it seemed as though there was a connection between them, a spark that the young woman had never felt before.
Then it was gone, and they stepped into the lift. They never spoke of it again.
A/N: Please review, guys, please!