Welcome the Forth Chapter of the Untold Hunger Games. As usual here's the disclaimer; I don't own the Hunger Games or any of it's characters. Now that is done, please leave a comment, question and/or review. I'll even pm you back or address it in the chapter after the one you commented and/or reviewed :3

This chapter and the preceding it are all about the chariot rides, I had fun with this and decided to remake all the outfits, apart from Twelve's, it took a lot of work but I happy to say that it turned out great. Thanks to Destiny for helping with making the description flow and writing the ones for Two, Six and Eight. She really wanted to do them, so I thought it would be nice to let her.

All the descriptions were based off designs by Deviantartist, Tryaki-chan, the links to all the designs I described can be found on my profile page if you'd like to take a look, because what's a Hunger Games without gorgeous chariot costumes :3

Without farther ado let's move to Chapter Four.


I'll tell you how I felt about fire being anywhere near me; very nervous.

But only a few hours later Cinna had me in my costume; a simple black unitard that covered me from ankle to neck with shiny leather boots laced up to my knees. My face was almost clean of makeup with a few highlights here and there. My hair was in its usual single braid. Flavius had wanted to do my hair with lots of looped braids, but when Cinna saw the picture of the hairstyle, he waved it aside politely – saying it looked too much like Princess Leia – who ever that was.

But it was the unseen cape behind us that defined the costume. Cinna planned to light it on fire just before our chariot rolled out onto the street.

"It's not real," he assured me. "It's synthetic fire that we just cooked up. It wouldn't burn you, your outfits are designed to protect you from the flames, it's perfectly safe." I still wasn't convinced. "I want people to remember you both as the tributes on fire."

I was relieved when Peeta showed up in an identical costume. His blonde hair was slicked back and free from hiding his bright blue eyes that I adored. I held myself back just barely from running towards him and wrapping my arms around him. Possibly even planting a big one right on his lips. Sometimes it sucked to behave.

We were brought down to the bottom of the Remake Center which was where the chariots and horses were housed before and after the opening ceremonies. The pairs of tributes all stood next to their chariots. A pair of horses pulled each chariot; ours were coal black.

All the horses were genetically modified to have the colours of the District whose chariot they pulled. They were also well trained and needed no instructions when it was time to pull their assigned chariot, which would be in another half hour.

My eyes soon went straight for the tributes but I was sad to see that besides Peeta and myself, who were already dressed in the colour, every tribute wore cloaks of black over their shoulders. I looked at Haymitch who had now joined us with the many other mentors, asking him why that was.

Haymitch smirked but it was Cinna who answered my question. "Hunger Games stylists like to cover their tributes so that their competition doesn't see their designs until the last minutes. It's been a tradition for about 49 years now. I believe it started during the Second Quarter Quell as a new rule added to the pre-Games," he explained, looking over our capes one more time as he did. "Since I didn't want you in those ridiculous capes I decided to make the main feature of your outfits hidden."

I could tell he was putting a lot at stake from doing that, since the other stylists were giving Cinna mocking glances and glares. Cinna noticed this and smiled, "Don't mind them, they're just jealous."

A light laugh escaped my lips and I tried to avoid the glares directed at my costume and my stylist, instead I focused my attention on the rare chance of seeing the victors of other districts close up. Though part of me wanted to put a cape on to ensure that nothing happened to Cinna for this bold move. But I'd believe him when he told me not to mind the others. Perhaps nothing would occur.

I was surprised to see the Shine family was present this year, all in matching shimmering blue clothings. It was odd because usually the newest victors would be mentoring the tributes and despite the fact that Cashmere and Gloss were newer victors, they weren't the newest. There were three victors from more recent games, two young women and a young man.

I looked over at Effie Trinket, asking her the question I had been wondering. "Why is the Shine family here? Shouldn't Marvel and Glimmer be mentored by newer victors?"

"Well that because Glimmer is a Shine, Katniss."

I looked at her in disbelief before Cinna corrected her. "She's the daughter of Satin Azura-Shine, the oldest of the Shine siblings. Gloss and Cashmere are the youngest of their their three other siblings, Satin, Calix and Blaze. They're also the only two of their siblings to be reaped into the games. Though Satin and Blaze have both had their names called."

"Someone volunteered for them?" I asked looking at the beautiful family as they spoke to Marvel and their tribute relative. It surprised me that someone would even think to volunteer for children of two victors. Cinna nodded, and turned back to working on fixing my unlaced left boot.

I turned to look over at District Four, a young woman stood beside the most well known mentor and victor Finnick Odair. He was the youngest person in history to win the Game, he was also a Capitol favourite and I could see why. His good looks and smile were something I'm sure the Capitol loved a lot. His clothes were expensive and fit snug to his muscled figure, making it more noticeable. If he was the male mentor of the District Four tributes then the woman next to him, with her wild red hair and frightened look in her eyes, must have been his fellow victor, but I wasn't sure as to what her name was.

Before I could look amongst the rest of the victors and tributes, Peeta and I were ushered into the chariot while the prep team fixed every little tiny microscopic thing about us. Soon they left us alone and I was thankful for the reprieve. "What do you think about the fire?" I whispered to Peeta.

"I rip off your cape if you rip off mine."

"Deal." I smiled while resisting of urge to pull him into a kiss right then. By the look on his face he was thinking the same thing. Sometimes I hated keeping secrets. If we weren't in the Games, I'd want the whole world to know that Peeta belonged to me, and I to him.

Soon I could hear the opening music and the massive doors to the streets opened. The well-trained horses would carry us to our prison… I mean temporary home... in order of District. Soon District One's horses began to pull their chariot onto the cement streets. I could hear the cheers as each chariot pulled out onto the streets. It was this moment I started to actually get a good look at the costumes that were designed for this year as their capes had finally come off.

I sometimes considered myself a designer in my own right taking ideas from the chariot costumes of each year. I also kept it secret from others though. I had too much depending on me to tell them about me being a closest designer. If I wasn't on my way to my death I would have been excited to be able to study the designs up close.

If any of the tributes were going to make an impression on the Capitol though, it was going to be the ones from the richest and most privileged District. And District One, the luxury centre of Panem, didn't disappoint. Their chariot was solid white and trimmed in blue with diamonds and colourful gems scattered across the ancient vehicle. The horses pulling the chariot were huge and solid white. Their manes had been braided and fell down on the side visible to the crowd. Their tails were brushed and long, barely touching the ground. I moved my attention further back to the people in the chariot.

The first thought that hit me was that the attire, Marvel and Glimmer were adorned in, was most definitely luxurious. A thick cloak of cascading fur swiped down Marvel's back. With just the cloak I could picture Marvel bathed in riches and honour, it sent a chill down my spine. Despite the cloak's neutral colours of white to black, he still felt menacing to look at. It reminded me that though Marvel was nice to look at, his heart was black, if he even had a heart. I shivered, though I tried to play it off. But if I was being honest, Marvel scared me. He tried to hide his true self behind humour and good looks, but I knew that he had a black soul. He was terrifying and his outfit portrayed that. This was probably because the rest of his glamorous garb was jagged, as if made from the diamonds District One was notable known for.

Arm gauntlets of shining blue were cut from a material I'd never seen before. They looked as hard as stone, probably even able to punch through one with ease. His pants looked extremely uncomfortable, as I assumed they were made from the same material as his gauntlets. Their jagged line at his hip angled up to reveal much of his left hip. Whatever it was with the Capitol and half dressing the District One tributes, I never understood.

And nothing proved this better than Glimmer's half naked appearance. Glimmer's cloak was the first sign, sure it had the thick white fur at the top that Marvel's cloak had but only at her shoulder and the thick black trim at the bottom. In between that was a clear fabric laid with small crystal gems, the fur trim ending just above her knees. And if one wasn't bad enough, her stylist had designed the skirt with yet another layer of the clear fabric, this time flowing to the floor in a flutter of crystals and diamonds.

The dress she wore, if you could really call what she wore a dress, was nothing more than a wrapping of the shining blue material around her body only being held up by unseen cups that clung to her breasts. Though it looked like the right cup wasn't supporting anything and was only there to cover her breast. Unlike the gauntlets worn by Marvel, Glimmer had on clear fingerloop gloves only made noticeable by the fabric of her short cloak. The only pieces of Glimmer's costume that didn't show any skin were her high, coral-like collar and matching lily shaped headdress in her bejewelled, flowing blonde hair. Even her boots, similar to Marvel's, showed skin. They were as blue as with all the other clothing they wore, apart from their expensive furs, and jagged, wrapping slowly up each leg only to stop their ascent just above the knee on one leg and below it on another.

I quickly move my gaze to District Two's stone grey chariot, pulled by similarly coloured horses, as District One pulled out of sight. The horses and chariot were kind of dull and did nothing for me. I couldn't believe the stylist hadn't done better. I was disappointed, but then once the horses hit the light, I saw the specks of glitter and watched as it made the horses shimmer. It was neat and now I knew why the stylist did it. They wanted to surprise everyone, and it actually worked on me.

Both Cato and Clove had their skin spray-painted a light stone grey. It made them look as dull as I thought their chariot and horses had, but with their attitudes and persona, it was hard not look at them. My gaze travelled down their forms, taking in the rest of their outfits. A thick cord matching the colour of their skin was wrapped tight around their waists, highlighting their slim, muscled stomachs and holding up a cloth that covered their private parts. Cato had cloth draped around his chest, hiding his pecks. It trailed over his shoulders to flow down behind him. The breeze from the moving chariot made it flap in the wind. His feet were wrapped in the same material but almost mummy style. Gaps were here and there, showing off his grey skin.

Clove was dressed almost the same, but a slit went up both sides of the cloth hiding her private parts, giving a peek at her upper, outer thigh. I knew she was doing it to draw attention to herself. Between that and the cloth that draped over her shoulders to barely hide her breasts, she was a pleasant sight for the males of the Capitol and all watching back at home. Her feet were wrapped the same way as Cato's which surprised me. I expected her to have heels on. The last thing I noticed about her besides the smirk on her face, was the braid that started on the left side of her temple and ended on the right. It was a brilliant design and one I might ask for in the future. Resting on the braid is a Greek style wreath. I glanced back over at Cato, noticing that he had the same one and I'd missed it before.

It was harder than I thought to peel my eyes away from District Two but I had no choice as their chariot rode out. This did help give me a reason to turn my attention to the tributes from District Three, Sextus and Cida. They were standing upon the digital chariot pulled by two black horses with electric blue lines that shone over their coat. The chariot was... floating. Actually floating above the ground. I found it kind of worked with the simple costumes that Sextus and Cida wore. I actually liked their costumes. They looked like fashionable scientists with square, blue glass monocles covering their right eyes and black, suede flats covering their feet.

Sextus was dressed in a short, thin black unitard covered with flashing green digital coding, his pants falling just down to his knees. Covering the straps of his unitard was a pure white lab coat with short sleeves and long collar that was opened to get the full effect of his clothing underneath. Cida looked like a cute schoolgirl in science class with long pigtails topped with green bows and wearing a short dress that flipped up at the sides to show off her thighs. The dress was barely four inches below her waist and covered with the same digital coding as Sextus's outfit. Far too short for my taste. Her lab coat fell off her shoulders with the long sleeves bunched up at her elbows. What made her look the most like a schoolgirl, almost reminding me of Madge's school clothes, were her long white socks that were at least seven inches above her knees. I'd never seen socks that long and it caused me to laugh.

When I saw District Four, I almost got a chill from just looking at their costumes; armour made entirely of enlarged fish scales that shone when the light touched them. With their chariot built with real crashing ocean water and dark sea-blue horses with manes and tails that looked like water, they appeared to look almost like the merfolk I heard tales of from the fishermen whom I sold meat to in the Hob. The only difference was they had legs instead of tails. Each part of their armour was built from different fish that I would sometimes catch in the forest lake. Their breastplates were made with the silvery blue scales of haddock matching well with their pale skin. Auricula's just barely covered her breast and then did a "v" dive to the top of her navel showing off the middle of her stomach. Wade's completely covered his thin chest with gold trimming the top edge.

The plates of their armoured skirts were comprised of rainbow tuna scales, glistening a different colour each time the light reflected on them. Their arms were covered by gauntlets created with black sea bass scales, pointing sharply at their elbows, giving off, what I thought was, the appearance of a shark fin. The point looked sharp enough to hurt someone, making them look menacing but at the same time fashionable. Their knee high boots were created from salmon scales, with two fin-like attachments on the backs. Strapped to their knee with grey leather were gold, diamond shaped knee plates. Their shoulders were covered with the same material, with chains dangling off Auricula's. She also had a diamond-shaped collar and a blue bubble headdress sat upon her long braided hair. Both ensembles sent a shiver down my spine as they were as menacing looking as District One's jagged clothing.

District Five's golden yellow chariot with spokes carefully place on the frame were pulled obediently along by two shimmering golden yellow horse with specks of silver braided into their long golden white manes. The chariot costumes themselves were skin tight, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. It almost made me blush, but I quickly turned my gaze into one of a designer or critique. The short sleeved, turtle neck outfits were unique to say the least. The male tribute, I think his name was Haynes or Hynes, was dressed in an outfit that was bright yellow with thin blue lines running in all different directions centered from a solid bluish grey orb on his chest. I took the lines to represent electricity and power. The boots on his feet were electric blue, matching the lines. Upon his wrists were bright yellow wrist gauntlets that had the emblem of an atom on the surface of each. His hair was standing straight up almost as if he'd been electrocuted.

Fox's outfit was the complete opposite. Where her fellow tribute was dressed in bright and cheerful colours, hers were dark and mysterious. Black fishnet tights appeared out of her knee high black boots and disappeared under her skirt. Her hair was just as wild as her partner's but black material with grey lines representing static were attached to a headband. Her outfit was made up much of the same black material with swirls of grey and white running throughout the bushy fur of her skirt while the top was tight and strapless. Some of the same busy fur was wrapped around her right upper arm with the swirls of grey and white. The white throughout her outfit looked similar to lightning bolts but weren't as defined. On her hands were black leather gloves sporting the same atom symbol that were on her fellow tribute's gauntlets.

Before their pewter-like silver horses with manes of oil black pulled them onto the asphalt roads in their metallic chariot, I gazed wide eyed at the chariot costumes of District Six. They had a very futuristic feel to them. Thick wool covered the shoulders of the tributes, stopping just at the elbows. They each wore futuristic glass visors over their eyes and a leather collar around their necks; deep red for the male tribute and blue lavender for his partner. The girl's collar looked more feminine as the leather seemed to sparkle to match her outfit. The guy's was more dull, and masculine. A smart play for the stylists.

His thick wool was sewn on the shoulder gathered to make them seem bulkier and sturdier. His chest was covered with a black tee and I assumed the wool was attached to the long sleeved shirt. I liked that his torso and lower arms were just black. I was a little put off with the wool on his legs. They were so thick, it almost made him look like he was wearing a skirt. But it didn't turn me off from the outfit. I think this by far was my favourite. His outfit was complete with a pair of black leggings and boots that met the wool on his thighs.

The female tribute had the wool of her costume sewn to the shoulders of her short dress. The bodice was narrow and tight, pushing up her breasts. It showed off her slim waist line before poofing out around her hips. The same wool trailed behind her and the wind fanned it out much like Cato's cloak. Her arms were also adorned with black material but her legs were bare except for the high heeled boots. The one thing I didn't agree with was letting part of the wire hoop from her dress skirt show. It was extremely noticeable and showed off one of her thighs completely. The longer I stared, the more I noticed that the skirt was kind of cut at an angle. I guess since the designer was going for futuristic, it matched. The crowd didn't seem to mind it, and who was I to judge?

What really gave the costumes the futuristic look to me were the picturesque galaxy scenes covering the wool on their outfits. I assumed it was a Digital Reality Alterer, or DRA, mostly used by Capitol women who were large in size and wanted to appear thin. Basically it projected a clear, crisp picture overtop any surface, in this case wool and fabric. As they moved the galaxy's shimmered and the stars seemed to twinkle. It was beautiful and I was in awe.

Were those even horses? My gaze was drawn toward the things pulling District Seven's tributes. Honestly, to me, it looked like trees with legs. The horses, if they were under there somewhere, were covered in vines that were twisted around and around to form trunks. The bark was a different shade then the tributes costumes, but was unique enough that it didn't matter. The funniest part to me were the brown fluffy, hair-covered feet. The horses feet were humongous and their feet were no different. One wrong step and you could lose a toe… or a foot. I winced just thinking about it. But part of me was curious to see if the horses were fluffy all over or it was just their feet. Next my eyes fell on the chariot as I realized that I needed to quit looking at the horses lest I miss the tributes.

The chariot was almost as unbelievable as the horses. Wild vines wrapped around the dark wooden frame tighter and tighter to look like more trunks had been used to make the old chariot. Leaves could even been seen at the top of the chariot, as if it was a tree itself. I was caught so much in the look of the chariot and horses that I almost didn't see the very costumes I wanted to look at, and they were amazing. They reminded me of maple trees and the sweet sap that flowed from them. As the wind blew past them, it brought with it the sickly sweet scent of maple syrup. It made me think of pancakes and waffles; two delicacies I'd never had the chance of exploring until just recently. I shook my head to clear those thoughts and got back to studying their outfits.

Female tribute's first.

Now her outfit was both modest and revealing. While it covered most of her skin, it also revealed some with her see through skirt. The darker material that made up her bodice and part of her skirt was dark enough not to reveal anything. It even had lighter lines to make it actually look like bark. But as the material lightened around the edges of her poofy skirt, it became light enough to see through. But luckily she'd donned dark brown leggings to match the colour of her bodice. But the dark brown was only up around her thighs.

As the leggings went down they became the lighter reddish orange tones before disappearing into her dark orange bootlets. Her hands were each fitted with the lighter coloured fabric and were thick enough to cover her whole wrist and standing a good three inches off of her skin. To top off her outfit, a headdress of branches and the dark orange material sat high on her hair. Her hair was tangled in the branches and wrapped around the orange material. It was both neat but unruly at the same time.

The guy's costume had the same material around his wrists like his partner's did. To me it looked like he'd punched through a basketball and it then got stuck on his wrists. The mental image caused me to snicker and Peeta to glance over at me. I smiled at him and acted like nothing happened as I went back to taking his outfit in. The top was designed like a turtle neck and was the colour of liquid gold. It slowly darkened as it went to his shoulders and down the tops of his arms.

The fabric wasn't cut neatly, but instead looked like it was wet and running down his arms. His chest was reddish orange and looked like sap. It again was edged roughly like the sap was running down from his shoulders. His pants were edged around his top and made it look like one whole unitard if you weren't looking closely. The pants matched the female tribute's bodice and had lighter lines to make it look like rings on top of a tree stump. His boots covered part of his pants as they stopped just below his knees. They were the colour of the liquid gold up around his neck and added just enough colour to the brown pants. My eyes raked back up his outfit to his head. Around his head was a hollow tree stump the same colour as his pants. It was like a crown to symbolize his future win, though it was impossible to tell who would really win the Games.

District Eight's costumes always looked odd to me and this year's was no different. Their horses were once a beautiful light brown colour until the stylists had inked spiralling designs of pale yellow, light blue and faded green onto their wonderful coats. I had to admit that the story the designs told was bold. It spoke of the fighting and war that devastated the world and led to the districts. The way it was woven onto the horse's coat spoke of reverence toward the fighting, something the Capitol looked down on. I wondered if anyone would notice. The chariot was beautiful with swirling designs painted on top of off white paint. If you looked hard enough, the designs told a similar story to the one inked onto the horses. I didn't have time to study it, and tore my gaze away to admire the strange outfits of the tributes. They stood upon it, both had flowing capes of... tapestries? I thought at first that I was going crazy from the scent of District Seven's costumes still in my nose but I wasn't. The stylists for District Eight this year had dressed poor their tributes in capes of tapestries spread to over half their own heights. As the chariot moved they flapped in the wind almost as if they were dying to tell their own story and get the attention they needed.

And if that wasn't bad enough they're skin had been adorned with intricate black tattoos that looked like flowers. The tattoos were inked onto their necks, wrists, and ankles, leaving their feet bare besides the intricate ink. I almost winced at the sight. Part of me hoped that those weren't real. I couldn't imagine getting inked myself, especially in those tender areas. It gave them almost a Gothic feel that was counteracted with the bright gaudy tapestry cloaks.

At least their stylists had the decency to dress them in non revealing clothing. The guy's tight black pants were trimmed at the bottom with fancy black lace. The girl's tight black crop top and similar coloured shorts let all her natural curves show. The lace of her tight clothing was trimmed on the top and bottom of both her top and shorts. Her orange hair was shaped and moulded into a bow on the back of her head. Black lace wrapped around the center and dangled down behind her, fanning out as the wind blew past them.

The black lace guided my eyes to District Nine's chariot with stocks of golden wheat placed seamlessly onto the frame, their tops swayed from the breeze as the beautiful blonde horses pulled the chariot. Their manes and tails had been brushed long to sway with the wheat of the chariot. Now if any word could be used to describe the style of District Nine's chariot outfits that word would mostly definitely be Ancient Greek. Yeah I know that's two words, but that was what described their chariot costumes. The male tribute wore a short tunic around his waist with a line of braided rope slung over his shoulder and attached to the tunic almost seamlessly. Specks of gold, pale brown, and pale yellow spotted the bottom of his tunic, fading into white as the specks climbed the tunic. By the time they reached his waist the specks were gone and only the white of the fabric and rope remained.

Two thick gold necklaces, one layered on top of the other, hung around his neck. They had the same speckled design as the bottom of his tunic, only this was far more pronounced with the colours bold and sharp as the colours layered. The long cuffs over his wrists, and the layered plates strapped to his feet, ending with thick diamond plates, were similar in design and colours to his necklaces.

His partner's short but flowy tunic was not so different than his. Her tunic has the same specks that faded into the white of her tunic as they climbed up. Although her tunic was held up by pale brown rope sewn to the top it. Her jewellery was the same. Half inch heels that had a sheet of the plating over her boots and end with no diamond. Resting in her Greek styled hair was a simple Greek wreath made of nine stocks of wheat. Resting on the male tribute's head was a similar wreath matching the wheat inspired tunics, footwear and jewellery.

If District Nine's one word was Ancient Greek than District Ten's was... cows. Of course District Ten was always dressed in some livestock inspired getup; last year it was sheep. Oh sure the small 13 year old, female tribute looked adorable in her fluffy wool clad outfit, but dress a fully grown 19 year old guy in wool and ram horns and it's almost comical. Funny thing was he was the victor of last year. Maybe the Capitol just liked sheep?

The horses just matched perfectly. They were brown and white and looked like dalmatians. It was quite comical how perfectly they matched. One top of their heads were horns where their ears should be. I almost felt bad for the creatures until I saw one twitch and realized the horns were their ears. I smiled and shook my head. My sight ended with their braided tails before raising an eyebrow at the chariot that followed the horses.

I wanted to cover my eyes. What were they thinking? The chariot looked like a giant bull. The stylists for District Ten needed to retire. I mean the chariot even had a bull head and the Tributes were seated on its back. They each sat on one side of the giant bull and held on by holding onto the horns attached to the bull head. I laughed out loud as I saw the chariot even had a tail… And it moved! After all that, I couldn't wait to see what the tributes were wearing. I turned my attention to them. It was funny how different the costumes were from the horses and chariot. I almost felt sorry for the tributes.

This year the outfits weren't comical except of course for the huge and probably extremely heavy bull and cow horns atop the heads of Canwarn and his fellow tribute. Added with the tails made of whips glued to their bottoms and they were a sight to see. Okay I lied, they were comical, but if you removed those comical bits, the rest of the outfits weren't so bad.

Canwarn wore, what I think the Capitol referred to as, a short sleeved bolero jacket. Basically it was a jacket of black and white leather that was opened wide to display the chest of Spanish bull fighters; which was where it originally came from. His arms, from wrist to just below his elbow, and waist were bound with more light brown whips. I was surprised the poor guy was able to breath, but it looked like he managed it some how. Underneath his whip wrapped waist and dark brown leather boots were a pair of simple tan brown leather pants that looked much more loose than the whips round his waist.

The girl was dressed in a matching attire to Canwarn. Her bolero jacket of white and brown leather barely covered her chest leaving me afraid she might accidentally flash the crowd if she wasn't careful. Her whip bound arms and waist were a darker shade of brown than Canwarn's, possibly to match her jacket. Her skirt sloped down her body, starting just above her left knee and ending above her right, dark brown, leather boots which matched Canwarn's perfectly. Her hair was in a ponytail with a small cut of yet another whip wrapped three times around the ends.

I watched as District Eleven's deep mauve horses trotted into place and let Thresh and Rue onto their leaf covered chariot of golden red. When his cape came off, Thresh almost blended in with the leaves. His right shoulder was covered with autumn coloured leaves of oranges, deep reds, crisp browns, and golden yellows. Along his arm and neck he sported realistic leaf tattoos with orange ink. An arm gauntlet of even more leaves rested on his left arm. His pants were also made of the foliage and they wrapped down his legs, cut open in places to show off more of the orange tattoos of leaves on his upper calves and knees. The pants even trailed around his boots like a snake made of leaves. Upon his head was a crown of more autumn leaves.

Rue's costume was oddly different then Thresh, instead of being covered with leaves, she was cover with white calla lilies, probably due to her last name being Calla. Her short, wide dress was littered with the sweet smelling flowers, and they traveled up her chest to her high collar and stopped in a small bouquet atop of her frizzy black hair. Her white half inch heels, which stopped 4 four inches above her ankles were also lavished with the flowers. A bracelet of lilies on her wrists was the last thing I noticed before the horses pulled them out on the road. I was glad that they hadn't made her costume revealing. Rue was still a child and one of the youngest in the competition.

As the mauve horses pull the chariot carrying Thresh and Rue away, I see Cinna appear behind me with a lighted torch and with a smooth motion he set our capes on fire. "It works," he sighed. That made me nervous. Did he think it wouldn't work? I swallowed hard, trying to fight my nerves. I could feel a tingle on the back of my neck. "Remember heads high, they'll love you." Before he climbed down I caught his ear and whispered in it. I hoped I was doing the right thing by telling him my secret. He smiled as we pulled out and shouted something I couldn't hear.

"What did he say?" I asked turning to Peeta, whose ears were far sharper than mine. I gasped at how amazing he looked with the fake flames.

"He said to hold hands," Peeta whispered.

I smiled. "Love to." I took his left hand in my right just as our coal-furred horses pull us through the tunnel and into the screaming crowds of Capitol citizens.