The tributes finish their training for the day. Cato and I head to dinner with district two. They will do all the talking and not expect me to say anything. Finn will look after our tributes. He has done it before. I do it generally if he has a nightmare. He is usually alright the next morning, but not having the pressure is nice. She sits down and the tributes sit after.
"What are we doing on our free day?" The male of two says.
"You will be learning how not to flirt and show off." Brutus says. "A show off in the games is a dead show off."
"But Cato showed off in his games." He says.
"No, Cato didn't. He worked hard and took care of business." Brutus tells him.
"He also had his lover helping him out," the female glares at me.
"Do you think you two will win with no support. Because I can just not send you any sponsor gifts." Enobaria says to her.
"I can definitely win on my own. My win will be that much better then." She says with a cocky tone.
"I will love some gifts." The male says.
"Alright, any gifts you receive are only for you then," Brutus says. Enobaria nods agreeing.
"So, what will I be working on? I know I'm perfect. I will probably just take it east all day. I have worked hard, so I deserve the day off." She says. We all give her a what the hell look. Does she really believe that?
"You will be doing drills. This isn't a vacation. This is real work," Enobaria says.
"But I've worked hard," She whines.
"At what?" Cato asks. Brutus and Enobaria laugh I just eat my muffin that Cato brought up for me.
"Everything. I'm perfect at everything." She says confidentially.
"Tell you what if you can beat Cato in a sword fight you can have the say off," Enobaria offers. The female looks nervous.
"Fine, you will see." She agrees then storms off.
"We will see." Enobaria mocks. "Let's do the fight a little later tonight while Thresh is in the pool and running the track. That way she won't run into him."
"Sounds good. I'm ready whenever she is." Cato says. "Come on, Aqua. Let's go give my brother some dinner."
He leads me down to the training area where Duncan and his partner are standing.
"Dude your brother is amazing. Always bringing us food" he partners says as he takes a plate. Cato hands his brother the other.
"Yeah, my little brother is pretty amazing." Duncan says.
"I'm gonna be sword fighting the girl from two." Cato says.
"We will stay out of your way," Duncan says nodding.
"But Duncan, they aren't supposed to." His partner protests.
"One he brought us diner twice and breakfast. He didn't have to. Two, this is how distract two works things out. You don't want to mess with a system that you already know works," Duncan explains. "Mind if we watch?"
"I'll have Aqua save you a seat. Maybe it will teach your partner a thing or two." Cato says. Putting his hand on the small of my back, leading me into the training room. I can hear his brother laugh as the door closes. "I'm going to go warm up, then mess around with the sword for a bit." He tells me.
I nod my head. I head for rope tying and make a complex trap. Thresh comes in and comes over to me.
"I heard what happened. I'm sorry. Will you be joining me?" He asks. I shake my head then point to Cato. "Cato?" he asks confused.
Cato looks up. "Oh, she's going to watch my sword fight with two. You can watch from above if you want. We just don't want her to see that you're here. We want it to be a surprise for her," Cato tells Thresh.
"Alright thanks man. I'll go swim my laps," he says.
"I'll come join you," Finn says walking in, "That way you aren't alone."
"Thanks man," he says.
They both walk off. I continue my trap.
"Is this the trap you made in your games?" Cato comes over and asks.
"Yeah," I whisper finishing up.
"Wow, I've never seen it in person." He says circling around it and pulling on certain areas of it. "This is impressive."
"Thanks," I whisper.
Brutus, Enobaria and both tributes from two walk in.
"What's that disgusting dumb thing?" the female asks.
"That's Aqua's trap from her season. That allowed her and her brother to win." Enobaria says in awe circling around it. "You gotta being this up to our room, please." She begs. I nod my head. She cheers.
"What morons. I could break out of this in minutes." The female tribute from two says getting cocky.
I open my arms welcoming her to step into it and test it out. She does, getting pulled up. The net keeping tight from her weight. She struggles to get out for a while well we all laugh. I finally let her down after feeling that we have laughed enough at her.
"Whatever," she says storming to the ring. The rest follow after still chuckling. Duncan and his partner walk in. I sit beside them.
"Ready for the fight?" Duncan asks me.
I nod excitedly. I love watching Cato sword fight. He always looks so noble. He grabs his sword. We all know it was made for him. It has his name etched into it. He had my name added when we married. She grabs a sword that's just as heavy. That's her first mistake. They both gear up in armour. Enobaria heads into give the rules. They all step into the ring.
"No hitting anywhere with no armour. First person to lose their sword loses or if you end up on your knees with the sword at your throat." Enobaria says. The male sits on my other side with Brutus beside him.
"She should have picked a lighter sword, right?" the male from two asks looking at Brutus for a response.
"The first of probably many of her mistakes," he replies. "I know Aqua is excited to see Cato's brother is excited to see him fight."
"That's Cato's brother?" The male asks, looking at Duncan.
"Yes, that is his older brother." Brutus says. "Enobaria get out of the way and let them just fight. Cato will make sure neither one gets anything but bruised ego's" Brutus yells.
"Fine, fine." Enobaria yells back.
She scoots in between the male tribute and me. I look up and see Thresh and Finn watching Finn waves to me. Thresh looks at him confused. Finn points to me and Thresh waves as well. I nod to them not wanting to draw attention to them.
The female and Cato start circling each other. She starts taking swipes at Cato. He just dodges barely. Saving his energy letting her use hers. He knows that using a heavier sword will tire her out faster. He also knows from earlier that when she gets tired, she slows down. Being tired causes you to make mistakes. He is using that to his advantage.
This is also the safest way to take her out. at one point he steps on the edge of her sword trapping it. he then lifts his foot. He is playing with her. Letting her know he can end is whenever he wants. He keeps playing with her for a little while. We can all tell she is getting tired and slowing down.
Cato finally decides to end it. HE uses his sword to pull hers out of her hand. He turned her around put her on her knees facing away from him. He puts his sword at her throat. We all clap for him. He hops out of the ring and comes over to me. He picks me up, spinning me around and kisses me.
"I turned her towards you, so she didn't see Thresh and Finn above us." He whispers in my ear still acting like we are celebrating. "Yes, I saw them. She didn't though."
He pulls my notebook out of his gym bag. He pulls out a pen as well. I quickly write in that she needs to e more aware of her surroundings. He chuckles and kisses me again. I smile up at him. The female tribute finally gets up and storms off. Brutus, Enobaria and the male follow her.
"Isn't Cato coming with us?" he asks.
"No, I think he's gonna stay here and practice more. There is never too much practice." Brutus tells him.
"Don't forget to bring the trap up to our floor," Enobaria reminds me.
I nod to her. Telling her that I understand. The mentors can decorate their floors how ever they want. Ours has the aquarium and a larger TV then most. In my room I have a desk and bookshelves. I also have a smaller TV just in case I need it to watch the games. My bookshelves have survival books and my notebooks on them.
Enobaria probably wants to put my net up on their floor. She has a few other of the victor's weapons. She has Beetee's wire, Finnick's trident and Cato's original sword. I think she's trying to collect them all. She loves to support her victors. She will probably put one of Katniss's arrows up. Oh, and she has Marvel's spear and Cashmere's knife. Enobaria is very supporting and motherly. She's always wanted to be a mom. But because of her age her uterus was pulled out at the academy. When I went there, I stopped that practice. I knew how much it effected Enobaria. I didn't want to see anyone else upset because of that.
Cato is fighting a target now just practicing his stances. Making sure they are perfect. Duncan and his partner left back to their post. They didn't get in trouble. Thresh and Finn came back down.
"Coming to the roof tonight?" Finn asks him.
"The roof?" He asks confused.
"It's where all the victors got to talk freely. We all meet up there to offer advice or guidance if we can," he says.
"You'll be there," he asks.
"Yeah, so will Cato, Aqua, Brutus, Enobaria, Gloss, Cashmere, and most of the other. You will get to meet them all." Finn says.
"Yeah, I'll come up then. After training." Thresh says.
"Well, I'm just going to reteach you the knot you were struggling with earlier. Then we can head on up." Finn tells him.
"That's all that's left?" he asks shocked.
"For today," Finn tells him.
"Wow, I guess we are coming up to the games shortly." He says with a sigh.
"That's true and while it will be hard and scary. Just know one of us will be always watching cheering you on. I can also bet Aqua has your kit picked out and ready to buy it the moment the games start. You don't have to be a part of the bloodbath." Finn says.
"Thank Aqua. I know it will have everything I need to and some comforts." He says.
I smile knowing that's exactly the case. Finn teaches him the knot just like dad taught us when we were kids. Once he does it a few times by himself. We all head up to the roof. We stop at the fourth floor for some drinks and snacks for us all. Everyone trickles up and Finn introduces Thresh to them all. Even Katniss joins us. She stays close to Peets. Peeta walks over to Cato and I.
"You brought snack?" Peeta asks looking confused.
"Yeah," Cato agrees.
"Of course, they did. Enobaria would have been pissed if they didn't." Gloss says coming over with Cashmere. They are both holding two drinks. Gloss hands his extra to Peeta. Cashmere hands hers to Katniss.
"Thanks," Peeta says.
Katniss just looks confused.
"Why would Enobaria be upset?" She asks.
"She wouldn't anyone to go hungry." Cashmere tells her, "In all get togethers Enobaria makes sure we have seating, food, and drinks."
"Seating?" Katniss asks.
"Yeah, Brutus, and I carried couches up here with blankets." Gloss says.
"Why you two?" She asks.
"We all have our jobs. Brutus and I are one of a few that can carry couches up here. Usually, Finn and Cato help but today they had different tasks." Gloss explains.
"You all seem to be working like a well-oiled machine," She compliments.
"We have been working together for multiple years. Any new mentors usually are quickly pulled into the fold and helped to learn to work with us. We are no longer fighting. Why not work together to make our lives better and easier?" Cashmere says.
"Do you have lots of get togethers like this?" Katniss asks.
"Yeah, but usually they are in the lounge, not up here. We have maybe one a year up here." Cashmere tells her.
"Why?" Peeta asks.
"You will see," Gloss says.