A/N: Can't believe I forgot to describe most of the people in this story (What can I say, I was so caught up in the actual story)! Thanks to the reviewers that pointed out my description needed some work, and also thanks to any other reviewers!
Disclaimer: I still haven't managed to buy the rights for the Hunger Games universe from Suzanne Collins, so all it all belongs to her. One day….
The First Night
The Training Centre was beautiful. Even though it would be our prison until the games, it was hard not to gasp when you saw the magnificent glass building, with the light from a full moon glinting off it. We had no time to just stand and admire it though, as we were whisked inside, and up to our floor. It was tastefully decorated – unusual for the Capitol – in muted colours. We had a lovely dinner of beef stew with dumplings, then we were given hot milk and honey by the Avoxes, who both had pale skin and light blonde hair. "How delightful!" Crooned Glissa, who had somehow managed to get changed since we got off the train. "A matching pair!" She was now wearing a silver wig, and a figure-hugging metallic dress, that looked like it was made of tinfoil. "Glissa, how did you manage to get changed again!?" Jonas said exasperatedly, his shaggy brown hair falling over his eyes as he shook his head. Glissa simply gave him a withering look. Aliana chuckled. "Look, Lyra and Barry, you'd better get to bed – you've got a busy day tomorrow." I looked to Barry to see his reaction, and to my surprise, he was staring at the wall, with tears in his eyes. As soon as he realised I was looking at him though, he sprung back into his usual arrogant persona, shaking his head, his ginger hair all over the place, and said "PHAAA! I don't need sleep!" he burst out, laughing quietly, at the preposterous thought that people needed sleep. Unlike him though, I was, despite my nap on the train, so I crept off, leaving them to deal with Barry's idiotic claims.
In my room, there was a whole wall made up of mirrors, which, when touched, opened to reveal a seemingly endless supply of clothes. I rifled through them for a few minutes, until I found some decent pyjamas. I then peeled back the covers and snuggled into the deliciously soft and warm bed. I fell asleep almost instantly, much to my surprise.
The next morning Aliana woke me up. Her long, thick, chestnut hair was in a single plait down her back. "Hey Lyra" she said softly, "You'd better start getting up, you've got to be in the Remake Centre in an hour." This shocked me – the tribute parade wasn't until quite late tonight. "But surely it doesn't take all day to get ready for the parade?" I asked, groaning inwardly. "'Fraid so." Replied Aliana. She left the room, and I made my way to the shower, pressing the first button I came to. Luckily, it wasn't freezing cold or boiling hot, but the shampoo reeked of roses. I dried myself and dressed in a simple t-shirt and slacks, figuring I'd be wearing a paper gown for the best part of the day. I went into the dining room looking forward to breakfast, and I wasn't disappointed. There was some lovely lamb stew and rice, and a delicious warm beverage that Glissa called hot chocolate. Barry looked exhausted, despite his allegations that he never needed to sleep. After I had tried and succeeded to fill myself to the brim with food, we left for the remake centre.
The Remake Centre
There I met my prep team, who wore an extreme caricature of the Capitol style. Aurelius, the leader, was dressed in an electric blue maxi dress that matched his wig, and Teena and Leena, who were twins, both wore matching lime green ballet tutus, that, like Aurelius' outfit, matched their hair. They had also died their skin lime green, so unsurprisingly, they both looked like limes. Together they waxed and painted, and primped and preened me until my skin was raw, and I stank of some noxious chemical they'd made me bath in. I had absolutely no concept of time while I was in there, but I don't think it took much less than 5 hours. When they thought I was suitably pretty to meet my stylist, they ushered me into a sparsely furnished room, where I sat on a cold metal chair. After about 5 minutes, the stylist, Flavia, came in. She was wearing a scarlet wig, and a clingy gold dress. Thankfully, she didn't have any crazy face alterations, and her skin was perfectly normal, if a bit pale. She wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be, and after measuring me, brought in my parade dress, in a black bag. She blindfolded me, obviously wanting it to be surprise for the parade, but I realised that unless there were mirrors in the stable, I wouldn't be able to see what I looked like properly. After a few minutes of asking if I could take off the blindfold, she gave in, but only on the condition, she said, that she did my parade make up and hair as well, so I could get the whole effect. I agreed with this, because it didn't seem like much else to ask for. So she did my make up and hair fairly quickly, then took off my blindfold. She had left my brown hair in it's trademark ponytail thankfully, and the few strokes of multicoloured eye makeup perfectly complimented my plain, grey eye. The dress was a green maxi dress, with different coloured threads running through it, making it look like a circuit board. Oh well, at least I wasn't naked. On my feet were grey lace-up combat boots. These I liked, and I hoped we wore something like these in the arena.
After I put my paper robe back on, I was taken to slightly nicer room, with a plush sofa and wooden table. In here I was given a lunch of some kind of soup, with crusty bread rolls. After I'd finished, an Avox came in and took me back to my prep team. Evidently they weren't finished with me yet. After a few more hours, they were finally finished, and I was taken to Flavia again, this time to get changed for real. This time, she threaded coloured threads that matched the ones in the dress through my hair, finishing the outfit perfectly. An Avox escorted me to the ground floor of the Remake Centre, the stables.
The Tribute Parade
Barry was already down there, in a tunic that matched my dress. He looked nervous, and was scratching at his collar. He had heavy bags under his eyes, and looked close to tears, but as soon as I arrived, back up went the arrogant façade. I asked him how his prep team and stylist were, but he just said "Cool", so I gave up. I cast my gaze around the stables, and my eye fell on a small girl, who couldn't have been more than 13. She had wavy red hair and light blue eyes. I knew she was from 7, because she was wearing a dress that looked like it was made of leaves. Poor kid. She didn't look like she'd be much of a rival. I carried on looking round the room. There was another girl, from 3, if her silver dress was anything to go by. She had a tough look in her eye, and looked quite smart. I made a mental note to have her as an ally if I changed my strategy. Then I came to a boy with massive muscles and styled blonde hair – a district 1 career if ever I saw one. He was wearing sunglasses even though we were inside, which made me dislike him even more. There were a couple other tributes, including a girl from 12, judging by her miners hat, and a girl who was wearing a dress that looked like stone – obviously from 2. She looked like a ditzy blonde, but there was no way a girl could be from 2 and not be an amazing fighter, so I also took a mental note of her, as one to watch. By this time our mentors had arrived, and were shepherding us into our chariots. Our horses had a beautiful chestnut coat, and coal black mane and tail. Barry, was now sweating profusely. I asked him if he was ok, but he just snorted.
In no time at all, the first four chariots were gone, and it was our turn. As soon as we were out of the doors, a wall of screaming and cheering hit me. It took me a moment to realise they were cheering for me. I stayed expressionless, and stared ahead, but this seemed to make them even more crazy. Barry, on the other hand, was waving and smiling, so maybe that was what made them go crazy. Before I knew it, we had pulled up outside the President's Mansion, and he made a speech. I didn't really pay attention to it, I'd heard it many times already. Soon the horses jerked into action again, and we were taken back to the stables. Aliana and Jonas were there to meet us. "You guys were great!" Exclaimed Aliana. Jonas didn't look quite so impressed, but congratulated us nonetheless, with a gruff "Well done, kids." Then we went back to our floor, and had a delicious dinner of roast chicken and vegetables, of course it was the Capitol, so there were a few crazy variations, but it was good. After that we went to our rooms. I pulled on some pyjamas and flopped on to the bed. As soon as my head touched the pillow I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review! Sorry it's so short, it seems so much longer in Word!
