The two tributes from District 4 made such a scene that even Chayonna looked up from her book to watch it play out. As the train rolled up to the station, the boy had tumbled out the door and was now laying on the concrete train platform as the girl walked indignantly away from him. The two mentors from four, the ever-popular Finnick and a shy girl that none of the careers really knew all that well, hurriedly stepped off the train to help the boy up as the responsible party bounded away. She was a small, thin girl and her dark red curly hair bounced off her shoulders as she trotted toward the group of tributes from District 1 and District 2.
"What a pig." the strange girl spat as she pulled up between Konstance and Amagi. "Ugh, he was hitting on me the entire trip. It was unbearable." She directed this last statement to Amagi who was snickering at this girl's complete lack of concern. Then she turned to Konstance, who was eying her with worry. "Oh, get over it. He was going to fall eventually anyway. That leg of his is completely worthless."
The girl then turned her attention to Chayonna, who still had Flash pinned face-down on the cold concrete floor, and gestured toward her. "See, this girl knows how to handle them."
She walked up to Chayonna and held out her hand. "Hey, I'm Cassida. It's nice to meet someone else who doesn't take nonsense from these pigs."
Chayonna jerked Flash's wrist one last time, warning him not to try anything funny or she would do worse, then adjusted her thick glasses and stood up. She stepped over his sprawled body to greet the newcomer. When she looked into Cassida's golden brown eyes, Chayonna thought she saw a flash of manic fire burning deep within them, but it only lasted a second before the warm smile once again dominated her small, heart shaped face.
Flash had gotten to his feet by this point and was clearly quite irritated from having been overpowered by a younger, nerdy girl. He pushed Chayonna out of the way and pointed an accusing finger at Cassida. "Look, I don't know who you are or what you think you're doing, but if you know what's best for you, you would get back to your own group where you belong."
Flash stared down the small, child-like girl and, for a second, Cassida seemed to tremble and her face fell. However, it only lasted a few seconds before the manic smile that Chayonna had glimpsed earlier in the girl's eyes spread across her face and she stepped boldly up to Flash. He had clearly expected the girl to back off and didn't really know what to do when his intimidation backfired.
Flash was flustered by this, and began to strike back in the only way he knew how. He lowered his voice to a growl and scowled at her. He began to barrage her with a series of threats, hoping to scare the girl into leaving.
Though Flash had meant it to take her aback, Konstance could tell that it was exactly the reaction that Cassida had been going for. Though she appeared astonishingly child-like, Konstance could see that it hardly reflected her personality at all. As Flash berated Cassida, her menacing smile only grew broader. Though she was absorbing the boy's harsh words, converting it into a sort of maniacal energy, Flash ignored this, choosing to believe that his harsh words were tearing her down.
Konstance watched the event play out for a bit before jumping in. "She's just trying to push your buttons, Flash." He turned his gaze to Cassida, but still addressed Flash. "And you're letting her do it." Konstance narrowed his eyes at the girl, studying her reaction.
Cassida raised her eyebrows at Konstance, as if just noticing him. Turning her attention to him, a brand new toy to play with, she cooed, "And who are you?" She put a seductive emphasis on the last word of the question, while placing her finger gently on his chest.
Konstance could tell that she was playing some sort of game with him and he wanted no part of it. He stared at her coldly, without averting his stare, and responded "Konstance Lowe. District 2."
Cassida smiled playfully at the new challenge. "I saw your reaping on the train on the way here. Volunteer. Impressive." She ran her finger gently down his chest as she said this. Her hand momentarily paused over his abdomen, and she looked back up at him, biting her lower lip.
Konstance remained unmoved, and stared back at her emotionlessly. He knew that any response would only egg her on.
Cassida held his gaze for a few seconds and the two stared each other down. She waited for a response from Konstance, but was disappointed when she didn't get one. Seeing that her new toy wasn't going to play with her, she quickly lost interest. The large grin suddenly returned to her face and she beamed at him.
Still smiling, she raised her eyebrows and purred at Konstance, "Well, I have to get back to Annie, but I'll catch up to you during training!" As she said it, she brought her finger back up and dropped it onto his chest. She winked at him, then spun to leave.
As she turned, Konstance caught sight of a tattoo depicting several black birds flying up her arm. They were quite expertly drawn to give the impression that they were breaking out of her arm and into the freedom of the open air.
The four career tributes watched as she bounced away, joining Annie, Finnick, and Tomas Waters, who was finally back on his feet.
It was Amagi who broke the silence. "Well that was weird." Then, after a pause, she added, "She seems alright. What do you guys think?"
Flash immediately made his view of extreme distaste for the girl perfectly clear, making sure to argue loud enough for Cassida to hear it from across the station. Chayonna and Flash argued about it, Flash insistent on the fact that outer district tributes were inherently weaker, and Chayonna insistent that she could easily throw him back to the floor if he continued to be obstinate. In the end, they came to a compromise. They would wait to see how she did in the training sessions, then go from there.
Konstance kept out of this particular argument. He had seen enough of Cassida's personality to realize that it didn't really matter whether or not the careers agreed to allow her to join their alliance. In the end, he knew that Cassida would choose to be wherever she wanted to be, whether or not she had been accepted into their alliance.
By this time, the trains bearing tributes from other districts had begun to arrive. As if on cue, the door to the holding area swung open and Vierra walked in with the stylists for District 1. She politely informed them that it was time to prepare for the opening parade.
The tributes split up and went with their various stylists, meeting up again in full costume just inside the giant stadium where they would all be revealed to the Capitol audience. It was also the first time that the tributes were all gathered together in person.
Flash and Chayonna made their way to the front of the line blanketed with shimmering jewels and gems. Chayonna's glasses had been modified to look like a jeweler's scope, as if she were about to examine the imperfections of a diamond necklace. Flash stood tall, his gems aligned in such a way that it brought out his muscular upper body.
Konstance glanced down at his own outfit, which was covered in gray foam painted to look like giant boulders, making him look like a formidable stone golem. Out of curiosity, he glanced over at the chariot for District 5 and saw that instead of trying to clear Berton's acne, the clever stylists had found a way to string lights around his head that made the red splotches on his face glow radiantly. On the other hand, the poor tributes from District 12 were huddled in embarrassment. They had one of the most ridiculous costumes that he had ever seen in the Games. He again felt a pang of pity for the tributes from District 12, who really probably deserved better than they normally seemed to be treated.
Otherwise, he observed that the other chariots were decorated more or less as they were every year. He did notice a few things that he noted for future reference. The boy from District 7, who was dressed as an oak tree with flaming orange and red leaves, seemed constantly out of breath and kept raising some device up to his mouth and inhaling from it. Just behind him were the two tributes from District 3. Both of them were relatively small and, though they were covered with shiny flashing devices designed to attract attention, they both were huddling down in the chariot, making themselves easy to overlook. Behind them, he saw Tomas Waters, the boy from District 4. Now that he was closer, he could see that the boy's left knee bore a large scar and it refused to bend correctly. He had to be helped into the chariot by Finnick, and winced as he swung his knee into place.
Cassida was there too, dressed as a mermaid of all things, conspicuously showing her disgust at being forced to stand within a hundred meters of Tomas. Once she saw that she had Konstance's attention, though, she proceeded to blow him a kiss. Konstance ignored her, and brought his eyes forward as the chariots began to move and the tributes were pulled out into the open stadium.