"Finn!"

Tinker cried as soon as she spotted me over the growing number of heads. The previously empty room was not only filling with people - who I presumed were tributes, escorts and Capitol workers - but there were also thirteen vintage carriages, each pulled by two pure black horses. I presumed they were there to pull us for the parade. "Finn!" repeated my escort, grabbing my arm. To my great surprise, she intertwined her fingers with mine, dragging me through the crowd. I would have pulled away, had she not been speaking to me in such a fast tone I had to concentrate to keep up,

"Finally, you're done. Did they have to do more work on you? Nyxie's been out for about a minute," I was going to inform her of my little conversation with Crym, but she didn't give me a chance, "As you can see, the place is really filling up now. All these people are part of the parade; some of them you'll even see in the Arena. But there's no time to think about that, now. Did I mention you look absolutely gorgeous? Don't ruin that, please. The Capitol are going to love you," She grinned breathlessly up at me, pulling us to a stop.

Looking up from her face, I spotted Nyxie leaning against a wall, a less than euphoric expression on her face. If I had thought the Stylists did a good job on me, they had done an absolutely amazing job on her. The dirty, rough-edged girl I had known back home was completely gone - instead, she had been replaced with a real beauty. They had somehow managed to make her silver-blonde hair gleam even more than usual, two long plaits hanging by each side of her face while the back stayed long. Her dark gothic make-up made her royal blue eyes smolder like the fiery coals District Twelve had once been known for, before the mines were blown up in the war my very parents fought in. Or maybe it wasn't the make-up; maybe it was the general displeasure she was taking from this moment. Although her dress, tight and short and glimmering with the same fiery patterns as my outfit, looked gorgeous on her, the way she stood, defensive and tough in some way, made it seem for nothing. "You're going to need to work on that attitude of yours, if you want the crowds to like you."

"I'll leave you two to it, then," Tinker said, pushing me toward my fellow tribute, "I have other matters to sort out." With that, the redhead was gone, merely a bright flash in the crowd somewhere else. Turning to Nyxie, I rubbed my head awkwardly, trying to think of something to say.

"Umm, hey-" I was cut off by a flash of searing white pain as she bought her palm up to my face, slapping me hard across the cheek. The world spun for a moment, my eyes going unfocused. Shaking my head, I bought a hand to my now tender cheek, feeling the heat beneath my fingers as it throbbed slightly. "What was that for-"

"You idiot!" Once again, Nyxie cut me off, although thankfully not by violence this time, "Four years, not a word, and now you come up to me as though nothing has happened? As though no time has passed?" She deepened her voice, imitating me, "'Oh hi, Nyxie. Good to see you again. Sorry I haven't talked to you in over four years.' You could have been dead, for all I knew!"

"But I'm not, am I?!" I relayed, voice growing into a yell for the second time that day, "So get over yourself and just be nice, okay?! Or at least stop making trouble!"

"Trouble?!"

"Yes! Which is exactly what you're making now!" She opened her mouth to retort, but both of us suddenly noticed that the people around us had stopped moving and talking, instead staring at us arguing. Her olive cheeks, even under her make-up, when a pale pink color. Stepping forward, she grabbed my hand, dragging me through the starers and over to one of the carriages, out of their sight.

"Finn, I saved your life. And then you just-"

"Yes, you saved my life. Yes, I am eternally grateful for that. But I'm not as helpless as I was back then, Nyxie! I can look after myself, now. I'm standing here, aren't I? I don't need your help." A second after I said that, I realized it was a little harsh. Taking a step back, I gave in, softening my tone, "But believe me, Nyxie. No matter what, I'm always going to be thankful."

"We're going into the Hunger Games together, Finn. How can you be-"

"I'm baaaack!" Tinker's irritating voice broke in, the fiery haired woman appearing behind Nyxie. She looked at us, taking in the expressions on our faces, and frowned for a moment. before clearly brushing it off and continuing with what she was going to say. "So, are you two ready? The parade's about to begin. The other tributes are just getting on..." Tinker paused, getting onto the tips of her toes to look over the many heads, "...now," She finished, dropping back to her normal height. "Which means you two should, too. Here, this one will do. Up, up you go," She began to usher us on, pushing forward so we had no choice but to get onto the carriage.

Despite being slightly rickety, standing on top of the carriage was quite something. Looking down from the high vantage point, I saw many different people milling around down below, at least half of them with strangely colored hair of red, blue, yellow, green, nearly every color of the rainbow. In front of us, the horses rigged to the carriages snorted and tossed their heads, their annoyance becoming more noticeable by the minute. Only a few more minutes now, I thought, more for myself than for the horses. With a shake and a rattle, Nyxie climbed up next to me, tossing her braids over her shoulder as she did so.

"Ready?" She asked, voice quieter than before.

I nodded. "What about you?" She nodded too, and I turned my gaze forward again. "Good," I breathed.

"Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"I really don't want to kill you." I looked at her again in surprise, not expecting her innocent tone.

"Well, I don't really want to kill you either."

"Can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"We don't kill each other unless it's just us left. No matter what."

"Okay, that sound's good."

"I'm not kidding, Finn," She looked up at me, eyes serious beneath the eyeshadow, "No matter what situation we're in, or what it may put us in, we don't kill each other. That means both you and I. Promise?"

"Promise."

"Say it like you mean it."

"I promise, okay?!"

"Good."

Looks like I had a lot of promises to keep.