Oh god.

Not only did I get 3 reviews... But I got 4 reviews! Thanks! Now, this is Chapter 6! In this chapter, its MOSTLY about training, but something else happens too... Read to find out! This is by far, the longest chapter I've written, almost 3,000 words! (not including author's note.) I'm trying for 5 reviews by tomorrow, (easy, eh?). If I DO get 5 reviews, I'll make a The Hunger Games one-shot on Cato's feelings after Clove's death and such. Its a one-shot, meaning its only about as long as a regular chapter.

Well then..Here's chapter 6!

Disclaimer: All characters, ideas, etc.. belong to the amazing genius, Suzanne Collins! However, this writing, belongs to me..

Chapter 6 - Training

Throwing spears quickly becomes boring, for me, anyway. Cato seems to love it. Of course, I'm decent at this My father trained me in every weapon available to us. But the spears are so heavy, and after about half an hour I'm ready to move on.

"Where next, then?" Cato asks, after throwing a huge spear into the heart of a dummy. I grin, and we head over to the knives.

The only other tribute at this station is the girl from Nine, and she's awful. She's aiming for a dummy about ten or twenty feet away, and can't even get a solid stick. I come up to her and it's obvious she's petrified already.

"Want some help?" I say sweetly. The girl nods, looking relieved, and I pick up a knife. "Here, let me show you." Like Im actually going to help her, I think. I fling the blade at the dummy, and it sticks right in its heart.

The girl stares for a moment; then she scurries away, clearly frightened. Cato cracks up. I grin.

"That was great," he laughs. "Did you see the look on her face?"

I laugh, too. "Yeah. The tributes from Nine are always pathetic."

Cato smirks at me. "Okay, well, let's see what you've got."

I raise an eyebrow in disbelief. "Um, hello? Did you not see what just happened here?" I say sarcastically.

He rolls his eyes. "Of course I did, Clove! Your good. But I'm sure you can do better than that."

I suppose he has a point. I pick up a short, very sharp blade and look around for an acceptable target everything is so close! Then I spot the girl I just scared off over at the rock wall. She's clearly an okay climber, since she's already gotten halfway up the wall in the short time since she ran from me. But right now she's just hanging there, unable to reach the next foothold.

I think I'll help her out.

I judge the distance she's about forty feet away. It's far, but I've been using knives since I could talk it's within my range.

"Need some help again, sweetheart?" I call out to the girl. The tributes from Twelve look up at something I've said. I smile smugly at them, anticipating their reactions. I turn back to the rock wall the girl from Nine is staring at me fearfully.

Taking a half step forward, I fling the knife toward my target. I'm not actually aiming for the girl, of course it's against the rules, and I don't want to risk disqualification. No, the blade buries itself in the wall, halfway between the foothold the girl was reaching for and the one she's grasping now. Just as I knew it would, of course.

It's one of my best throws in years, surprisingly. the blade isn't visible at all, just the hilt. I wink at the girl, who's still staring at me, petrified. Grinning, I toss my hair back behind my shoulders and turn back to the other knives. The deadlier ones.

Cato, who I've all but forgotten about, nudges me in the arm. "Look at Twelve!" he hisses.

I look over at the two tributes they're at the camouflage station. Camouflage? I stifle a laugh. The girl- Katniss I hear the boy call her, is staring at me with wide eyes as she should be. As everyone should be. The boy looks scared, too but he's looking at her.

"What the hell?" I whisper to Cato.

He shrugs at me. "I.. Don't know, do I? Looks like he wasn't faking at the opening ceremonies, though, don't you think?" he says.

I scowl and stalk over to another target, taking as many knives as I can carry with me. The target is relatively simple it's just a larger version of a dartboard. I picture Katniss's face on the center of the board, and hitting the bulls-eye is effortless every time. I never, ever miss.

I'm aware that several tributes are watching me, and that makes it even more important that I never miss. And I don't, of course. I am a professional. But after a while of aiming and throwing every single knife, it gets a little repetitive, so I turn to Cato.

As if he's bored, which he probably is, I ask "Want to try?"

He nods, grinning as he picks up a large, serrated blade. Then he walks back to the dummies and aims for one that's maybe fifteen feet away. The knife doesn't stick, but it does slice open a large portion of the dummy's chest. I give a thumbs up in approval. It would be a fatal wound.

I'm pleased to see that Cato, though adequate with knives, isn't nearly as skilled as I am. As if reading my mind, he turns to me. "Save it you're better at this. But I could take you with anything else!"

I roll my eyes. "You're on."

For a few hours, we try to go to every station with weapons. At least, that's the original plan but we figure out pretty quickly that it takes too long for us to determine a winner with every skill. This will probably take the rest of today and a good portion of tomorrow.

So far Cato has beaten me with maces, archery, and, of course, spears. However, I'm the champion when it comes to axes and knives and I'm about to win at the machete station.
A chuckle escapes my mouth. "Fine!" he huffs. "You win at this."

I smirk. "Of course I do!"

To be honest, I'm really surprised at how well Cato and I have been getting along. I mean, I always thought he was mad, but he's surprisingly not. It's really easy to just talk to him, joke around a bit, and not be uncomfortable. I feel like, if we were anywhere else but here, we could be friends.

And that scares the hell out of me.

I bite my lip, uncertain. I know it's a bad idea to become close to Cato at all. Because we can't be friends. Anywhere else, absolutely. But not here, where in the next few weeks one or both of us is going to die.

And it can't be me who's to die.

Our conversation is interrupted when we're told that it's time for lunch. We immediately look around for our allies, and we all grab a table when we find them.

One of the simplest ways to intimidate other tributes is to build a large alliance and show it off. Of course, Career tributes have been using this strategy since the Games began. Cato, Glimmer, Marvel, Tori, Cole, and I should be great at this.

"So, what do you think of everybody, now that we've gotten to see them up close?" I ask Glimmer, who I've taken a seat beside.

"They're all pathetic," she snorts. We all laugh loudly. The other tributes who are, for the most part, sitting alone glance up briefly, then swiftly look away. It's nice to know they're already scared of us, even though there's still days left until the actual games begin.

"Nice stunt with the knife earlier, by the way," Marvel compliments me.

Tori snickers. "For a second there, I actually thought it was going to hit her! Too bad that's against the rules," she sighs.

Marvel nods. "Yeah, it's a shame," he says. Then he adds loudly, "Then again, they'll all be gone within a day or two. There may not even be a point in us forming an alliance at all!"

We all laugh again, but this time it's forced. That's not a smart this to say to your allies like, at all even if it is effective in scaring the other tributes. Still, I decide that Marvel isn't my favorite ally by a long shot.

Cato seems to be thinking along those lines as well. "Watch it," he says, so quietly that at first I doubt that Marvel even heard him. But then Marvel looks up, and the expression on his face is terrifying.

The rest of lunch is pretty awkward. Sure, we act as if nothing ever happened, so we don't raise suspicion but there's tension. I notice that Cato keeps shooting Marvel death glares when he thinks that no one is looking.

Lunch ends after about half an hour. I'm grateful, but then again, it might be a bad idea for me to be around Cato any more today. Then I have an idea.

"Cato, we need to split up," I whisper almost silently. "I don't like having Cole and Tori together. It seems like they might be planning something," I whisper suspiciously, glancing at them.

This, of course, immediately puts him on the defensive. "They better not be!" he hisses back in my ear rather loudly.

"No worries, I have a plan," I tell him. Then in a louder voice, I say, "Girls, come with me. We're going to separate from them for a bit."

Cato nods. "Marvel, Zen, with me."

After they've gone, I grin to myself. That, I must say, was a pretty brilliant move on my part. This way, I can stay away from Cato and the boys for a couple of hours just so I can clear my head.

I turn to Glimmer and Tori and decide to act a little bit, in some sort of nicer tone. "Thank you so much for agreeing to this," I groan. "He was driving me crazy!"

Glimmer rolls her eyes. "No worries," she says. "Marvel's an idiot, too, so I was actually pretty happy when you said we were splitting up."

"And Cole's a fool, of course. It's good to get away from him," Tori scoffs. "He's so overprotective!"

That surprises me. Cole's a small pesky boy, but I didn't think he would be in anyway overprotective.

"What do you mean?" I ask curiously.

Tori sighs. "Why don't we go over to the edible plants station, and I'll tell you there. Cold wouldn't go earlier, he only wanted to try out all the weapons and camouflage."

Glimmer and I quickly agree, and when we arrive, Tori sighs once again. "See, Cole is technically my cousin. Though - he doesn't act like it, he acts super overprotective of me, well, I'm three years older then him, I can manage myself!" she says rolling her eyes.

I just look at her, stunned. Cole.. Is her cousin? That's odd. I think back to when we first met the District Four tributes, and Tori was irritated with Cole when he tried to speak for her. It makes sense.

Did Tori just make all of that stuff up? Are they cousins? Or are they just lying..

I stifle a groan, with a bit of difficulty. That'd be just great, because Cole would have to be in on it too. And if they thought they needed to pretend they were cousins, they're almost certainly planning something. Something bad.

Yeah. That's just great.

I look over at my allies. Tori seems to be interested in this edible plants stuff, somehow, asking multiple questions. Glimmer, though, just looks plainly bored.

I have to take Glimmer's side on this. I honestly try to pay attention, but everything the trainer tells me just goes in one ear and out the other. Good thing Tori will be with us in the arena, she can be in charge of this stuff, as I don't think Cato and the others care about this stuff.

Finally, we get through all the plants and get ready to move on. "Where do you want to go next?" I ask Tori and Glimmer.

Glimmer shrugs. "How about we go tie some knots?"

Tori and I are fine with that, so we head over to the knot tying station. There's no one there at the time, so the trainer looks pleased to have some people interested in knot tying.

It's always irritating to find out that I'm not good at something, but I really suck at this. I peek over at Tori and Glimmer. It's obvious that Tori's great at this, because she already has a large pile of different knots. Glimmer is okay, she's successfully made a trap that leaves someone dangling by his or her ankle. But I'm struggling to make a simple noose.

I turn back to the rope for a few minutes, but I simply can't get the hang of this. As I throw it down in frustration, I hear someone sigh next to me.

It's Tori. She grabs the incomplete noose and works on it for all of ten seconds, and then it's finished.

I look at her in awe. "How are you so good at this? Did you learn in District Four?"

Tori surprises me by the feel in her face is looking a bit sad. "Finnick Odair is my uncle," she mutters quickly.

Fantastic.

This just gets better and better. One of my opponents no, two, because Cole must be also two of my opponents are related to Finnick Odair. The famous victor surely trained them for this yeah, this is not good, for me and Cato.

But the worst part is that now I have to tell him everything.

Im distracted as the rest of training drags. I keep glancing over at Cato he, Marvel, and Cole are back at the machete station. I'm actually having a decent time with Glimmer and Tori, but Cato needs to know what I've learned. Immediately.

Ugh, but I wish that wasn't necessary! Because of course I can't trust him. But for now, we're on the same team. Sort of..

When training ends finally I march straight over to Cato. Grabbing one of his arms, I drag him onto the elevator without a word. It's not until we're safely back on District Two's floor that I take a deep breath and say, "We have a problem."

He scowls. "Yeah, we do. Cole is a little son of a "

"Not him!" I say impatiently. "I mean, yeah him, but it's Tori, too." I quickly repeat what Tori told me, about Cole being her cousin and all. "And we were at the knot tying station, and she was really good, so I asked if she had learned it in District Four or something. And she said Finnick Odair is her uncle," I moan. "And if everything she's said is true, that means Cole is related to him, too. We're dead," I finish despairingly, covering my eyes with my hands.

Cato stares at me, stunned. Then his eyes narrow into menacing slits. "They didn't mention anything about that at the reaping! What the hell?"

I shake my head. "I don't know! Maybe we should go talk to Brutus and Enobaria "

He nods. "Probably. They should know what to do. Enobaria's a genius, anyways."

We find our mentors in the dining room, waiting for us. As fast as we can, we tell them about everything Tori had told me throughout training.. When we finish, I collapse into a chair next to Enobaria. Cato remains standing.

"Okay, first thing: calm down," Enobaria commands us. She doesn't speak for a couple seconds, but her face shows annoyance. Finally, she says, "Alright. You said that Tori is cousins with Cole, and that Finnick Odair is Tori's uncle. Correct?"

I nod disapprovingly. "We're dead!" I say bitterly, poking the table cloth with a sharp knife. "First the idiotic Katniss and Peeta from Twelve, now two careers from FOUR?"

I start to hyperventilate. Enobaria looks at me, concerned. "Clove? Are you all right?"

"No," I manage to choke out. "Oh. My. God. He's their mentor. We're dead."

Enobaria looks at me, irritated. "Of course he's they're mentor. He takes the job every year, I would know!"

I shake my head violently. "No! Don't you see? I know every mentor wants to bring their tributes back, but he'll have a legitimate reason this year, something besides the fact that they're from the same district!" I'm a little hysterical at this point. "He'll work even harder to make sure either his niece or nephew gets home! We're dead!"

I meet Cato's gaze for a second, knowing that he sees it too.

Enobaria slams her hand on the table. "ENOUGH! I'm very disappointed in both of you! For one thing, you should know better than to fall for something like this! First of all, do either Tori or Cole bear ANY resemblance to Finnick Odair whatsoever? No! Do you really think that you wouldn't have heard about it if two relatives of Finnick Odair were in the Hunger Games in the same year? Don't you think I would have told you? I'm your mentor, and I would have done will do just as much as Finnick ever could to bring my tributes home. How can you not know that? I'm very good at my job. I needed to know how well you could handle both pressure and the chance that someone could pose a threat to you! And guess what? I'm not pleased with the answer I got. You're Careers, dammit! You need to start acting like it!"

I stare at her. What? She made this all up? But then, she must have set it up with Finnick himself, for Tori and Cole to go along with it..

This was a test. And we just failed it.

Author's Note:

Well, thats it.. for now! I've obviously already written chapter 7. It will be uploaded tomorrow!I really need to know what you think about this chapter, because its longer, and I guess Clove is a little... too OOC at the end. But, as I said, Im trying for 5 reviews by tomorrow! (4 right now). Tomorrow, Im going to go through ALL the chapters so far and correct any spelling mistakes and punctuation marks. Ive realised some already, but I dont have much time today, since its Sunday to go through everything.. SO, tomorrow, Ill read and correct everything, AND add Chapter 7! Well then, for now.. Rate & Review!

~ I-Clove-U