Head Gamemaker's Office

Franco Creswell, 24

For the first time in days, the control room was calm and all the gamemakers knew what to do, where to go and how they were going to do their job. Also for the first time in days, Franco Creswell was sitting in his office, calmer than ever as he looked down on the papers on his desk with a crease in between his eyebrows as his eyes looked through each and every detail on the papers he held.

The telephone on Franco's desk rang and slightly irritated at the disturbance, he clicked a button on the telephone that enabled the Franco to hear and speak to the speaker without having to go through the hassle of taking the phone and putting it by his ear.

"This is Franco Creswell in the head gamemaker's office. All calls are to be sent to my secretary at this time of the day for I am very busy–"

A high-pitched demanding tone then interrupted Franco as he spoke. "Franco, this is your mother!"

"Wha– Mom, I'm at work!" Franco said with a scowl. "Can you please call later when–"

"Franco, the replays of the reapings are on! Isn't it the head gamemaker's job to know the tributes for this year's games?"

"Yes, but it's not exactly required for the head gamemaker to watch the –"

"Oh, you just missed District One! Two is next, Franco. I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to watch Two."

Franco hesitated, his blue eyes darting from the phone and to the flat screen television set in his office.

"No, mom. I'm doing something else at the moment," Franco said quickly.

"But–"

"Bye, mom!"

He pressed the button that would end the call and he immediately put the phone on busy so no one would be able to call him. Sighing, he stared at the blank television for a few minutes before finally making up his mind and picking up the television remote.

Before he could press the on button and start watching the reapings, someone unexpectedly barged in his office.

"Mr. Creswell, the tributes have arrived!"

It was Carter Jennesen, one of Franco's best gamemakers. His hair was neatly brushed; a pair of clear spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose and looking through the lenses was a pair of wide dark menacing eyes. Ever since the last Head Gamemaker was publicly executed for going against the Capitol, Carter was expected by everyone to become his successor. Franco could still remember that glorifying moment when he was appointed as head in front of the citizens of the Capitol and was broadcasted all over Panem.

He was twenty-four years old, the youngest gamemaker to ever receive a spot as head. Even he himself was surprised at President Friselbee's decision. He was also very aware of the fact that unlike all the other gamemakers here, Franco wasn't born and raised in the Capitol. In fact, he grew up in District Two where he was forced to train for the games and volunteer when he was eighteen. When he finally reached eighteen, Franco unfortunately surrendered to fear and doubts and he didn't volunteer like he was expected to.

Disowned by his father, Franco ran away to his mother, sneaking into the train that was normally occupied by workers in his district visiting the Capitol. He only ever visited the Capitol once to visit his mother who was a rich Capitol woman. He only met her twice then, the second time was him begging for her to take him in as her son, claiming his father had disowned him after he let his cowardice show in his last ever reaping. Out of mercy and compassion, Vivian Creswell let her only son in the comfort of her home, changing his whole being completely so nobody would be able to recognize the fact that he came from a district.

At twenty-four years old, Franco was a new man and he accepted the job as head with pride. He would not show the same cowardice as he did before.

"Are all the tributes in the Remake Center?" Franco asked Carter, looking over the papers of the tributes one last time.

"Last time I checked, Districts One to Six were already in their respective centers and the rest were just coming out of their trains."

"Very well. Thank you, Carter. You may go."

The spectacled man exited the office. Franco exhaled heavily and leaned back on his chair. Finally, he was able to turn the television on and District Three's reapings were showing. He had missed his home district's reaping. He couldn't help but feel relieved.

Arrival Of Tributes

District 1

Necali Reinerston, 18

If Sapphire says one more word about her "good chances of winning", Necali was definitely going to throw a knife at her goddamn throat. Surprisingly as Necali continued to sent his district partner vicious glares, Sapphire did stop speaking although her mouth was wide open as she stared outside the window of the train. A crease appearing in between his eyebrows, Necali turned to see what exactly made her shut that loud mouth of hers.

Being from District One, the distance between the district and the Capitol itself wasn't too far so people from other districts would expect the citizens of District One to visit the Capitol every so often. Necali, though, has never stepped foot on the rich, precious grounds of the place, nor has he seen it with his own eyes.

Necali definitely wasn't disappointed when he first laid his eyes on the breathtaking architecture of each building and the city atmosphere he had never felt before in his isolated district. Open-mouthed, he stared at the hundreds of Capitol citizens gathered in the train station, cheering for the tributes. He could even see people at the back jumping just to catch a glimpse of the train and hopefully the tributes themselves.

"There's so many of them," Necali whispered in awe as he watched each citizen scream for his attention.

"I don't see why you're so surprised," Sapphire lightly laughed as she waved at the screaming people outside.

"I'm sorry, but I never really thought Capitol people would be so welcoming," Necali said, rolling his eyes.

"You'd better get used to it then. You can't possibly believe these people would treat you here like you're a normal citizen. We're practically celebrities now."

Necali sighed, knowing that she was right.

"You know, Necali, we're probably going to be allies in the arena," Sapphire continued to speak, turning away from the citizens just as the train slowed to a full stop.

"You think I don't know that?" Necali murmured.

Sapphire shot him a glare. "I've known you since we were little kids, Necali. I assure you you'd rather have me as an ally than any of the others who you're just about to meet."

He would never admit straight to her but if Necali were to choose the one person he'd really want by his side in the arena, it would be Sapphire. In the arena, he couldn't really trust anyone, but Sapphire should be the person he would definitely be close to trusting. It would be wrong to lose her as an ally as early as now.

"Right," Necali said with a nod. "We're going to be allies. You watched the replays, didn't you? How were the rest?"

By "the rest", Necali obviously meant the other careers they were expected to ally with. Necali was just praying that they wouldn't be controlling idiots. He's dealt with enough of them back home. His father was number one on his list.

"Usual," Sapphire answered with a shrug. "They're all volunteers. District Two looks more impressive than Four though. The girl from Four looked pretty small to me. She's a volunteer though so hopefully the academy there had enough sense to pick the best out of all."

"Don't underestimate her."

Necali and Sapphire turned to the door that separated the eating area and hallway in the train. A dark-haired woman stood tall by the open door, her small black eyes fixed on the two tributes with a calculating stare. She wore a blood red tank top with a pair of tight jeans and shiny heels. Unlike the rest of the victors of District One, she hasn't exactly stayed in the Capitol that much and liked to stay in the comfort of her home district. She was Beryl Messerschmitt, the victor of the 49th Hunger Games.

"Four has a thing for giving tributes that always have something up their sleeve," Beryl said with a slight drawl to her tone as she walked to the long table of different breakfast foods. She picked up an apple from a basket of fruits and took a large bite, chewing noisily as the two tributes simply watched her.

"I never liked Four," Sapphire muttered.

Beryl shrugged. "They're still useful. I've to say Two looks more impressive. The boy looks like a fine piece of work if you asked me." She sent Sapphire a wink.

Necali was fully aware that Sapphire was very uncomfortable in Beryl's presence and he held back a chuckle. Beryl's dark eyes then turned to Necali himself and they scanned him from top to bottom. Necali tried his best not to show that her lingering gaze on him bothered him.

"You don't look too bad yourself," Beryl said. "Let's just hope your attitude's as good as your looks."

Necali sighed in relief when she finally started to walk out of the room. Before she completely left, she turned around with raised eyebrows.

"Well, the train's stopped," she said. "Are you guys coming or what?"

District 2

Kellisa Partage, 16 – Ares Hammersmith, 18

The automatic doors of the train slowly opened to reveal the tributes of District Two to the citizens. There was a thin way through the train station with ropes as borders to keep the colorful citizens of the Capitol from ambushing the tributes. As tributes of Two, it was normal for the citizens to expect a lot from them. They've trained their whole lives for this and they had the most number of victors. Unfortunately, one of the victors was the disgustingly arrogant Raegan Hammersmith who irritated Kellisa Partage to the core.

The scowling brunette was roughly pushed aside as she stood by the entrance of the train. Raegan began to make her way through the crowd, her hips swaying and her lips puckered as she winked flirtatiously at the cheering people. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about whom they were actually going to cheer for in the arena.

"What a show off," Ares Hammersmith crossly said as he stepped down from the train and joined Kellisa.

"And to think, she's going to be the one helping us for the games," Kellisa grumbled, her hand twitching as she desperately wanted to get a hold of a bow and shoot an arrow on Raegan Hammersmith's head.

"You're just lucky you don't have to deal with her as a sister, Partage," Ares snapped, pushing Kellisa out of the way with his muscular shoulder and making his way through the crowd like his sister did with an overly cocky grin on his face, winking at anyone who cheered for him.

"Hammersmiths," Kellisa mumbled irately to herself, wondering how exactly she was going to deal with two of them before she would finally be able to step in the Hunger Games arena.

As Kellisa finally followed the Hammersmiths through the crowd, Ares was enjoying his moment in the spotlight. Ladies of the Capitol were practically throwing themselves at him and he felt like a god. This was the life he wanted. This was also the life Raegan. Instead of girls though, single boys practically lined up just to see her and she had the money and the fame. Ares would be getting all that soon. He won't be in Raegan's shadow any longer.

As he winked at another colorful Cpaitol lady who screamed for his attention, Ares noticed Kellisa finally caught up to him and was even waving to a few people. He snorted at her forced smile and uptight figure. Her eyes were wide with anxiousness and it was obvious she didn't want anything to do with these people at the moment.

"You look particularly ecstatic today, Partage."

Immediately, a scowl took over her forced features and Kellisa threw a punch at Ares' muscular shoulder. Refusing to show weakness to his possible sponsors, Ares bit his tongue to keep himself from yelping and his hand nearly shot up to hold his arm in pain. He shot his fuming district partner a glare but his usual smirk appeared once again, his blue eyes glinting.

"How come it's so natural for you to look so angry and you can hardly even smile?" Ares asked.

If it was even possible, Kellisa's scowl deepened and she lifted her fist up again. Before she could do anything though, Ares' hand immediately enclosed around her wrist and the two pierced into each other's eyes.

"You've already shown the people here how easily I can rile you up," Ares said. "Why don't you try to give them a smile for a change? It can't hurt."

Kellisa was absolutely furious at how Ares was making her look right now. There was a camera right above the two of them and it was documenting every word Ares was saying and every action the two were doing. She stared up at Ares' sparkling blue eyes and confident smirk. This boy was the biggest douche she has ever crossed paths with. Problem was, he was a well-trained, clever douche who was currently embarrassing her in front of the whole of Panem.

Realizing this, Kellisa forcibly pulled her arm back to get her wrist out of Ares' grip. Huffing, she turned to walk again and as she turned, her brown hair whipped Ares' annoyingly arrogant face. It successfully made his smirk disappear and Kellisa nearly sneered out of satisfaction. She then heard Ares sigh behind her and a few Capitol women sigh dreamily with a couple of "awes". Kellisa stopped dead in her tracks, her ears straining to hear what he'd say next.

"I was only trying to help her," he said sadly. "At this rate, she won't even survive in the bloodbath!"

More "awes" and cries came from the crowd.

"You can have me, Ares!" a Capitol woman shouted.

"You can have me too!" another said.

"Alas! If only," Ares sighed dramatically.

Trying not to let the anger show on her face, Kellisa turned around with a wide fiery eyes and her shoulders shaking in fury. Ares sent her a subtle wink but immediately returned to his dramatic and depressed act. She stood in the middle of the crowd, completely oblivious on what she'd do now. Ares already started on his tactic and that was to make her look so weak and in need of his help. There was no way to bring these people on her side since Ares already had them around his finger. She wasn't going to let him do this to her. She was not weak. She had to think of her own act to get these Capitol people on her side. That couldn't be too hard. Ares Hammersmith could think of one after all, and Kellisa definitely saw herself as an equal.

District Three

Relly Jay, 14

Beckham Lester was already taken to his own Remake Center. Relly barely even saw the twelve year-old in the train. She was completely oblivious to why he wouldn't even look at her. She wanted to have a good start with him. She wanted to have at least one friend in this whole situation. That was all she wanted. All she thought about was how lonely she would be the next few days. She didn't dare think of the possibilities inside the arena. She just wanted a friend, and Beckham did not even try to approach her ever since both their names were called.

"Relly?"

Relly lifted her head up to her mentor, Cassavera Tratten. Cassavera was petite with long flowing midnight black hair and big speck-filled brown eyes. She was barely into her twenties and it showed. She actually looked only a few years older than Relly. Relly could look up to her though. She seemed like a very nice person. That was exactly what she needed. She just needed someone pleasant and kind and she would be able to keep her sanity.

"You can go in your Remake Center now," Cassavera said softly. "Your prep team is going to be in there. Don't be afraid of them. Just do whatever they say."

"I'm sure they're nice," Relly said with a smile.

Cassavera made a face, but Relly didn't really dwell on that fact. She was excited to meet new people. Her mentor lead her to a large glass door in a deserted hallway and through it, she could see three people with their backs to her. They were bending over a long white table that was situated in the middle of the room. The place was designed with glass and all white. The walls were painted white and there were about three large glass windows around the room. The room was very big, but there seemed to be no furniture in it except for the long white table and three small tables surrounding the long one. Cassavera sent Relly one last nod before she walked down the hall and out of sight.

Taking a deep breath, Relly stepped in the room with a smile and immediately, the three people in blue uniform turned. She was surprised at their sudden attention and at their different appearances. The girl by the left of the long table was narrow-eyed with long multi-colored curly hair and her face covered with pink make-up. The boy who seemed to be wiping the long table with a rag pierced Relly's light eyes with his own bright yellow ones. He was completely bald and his scalp and entire body was sea green. He wore brightly colored clothes and high-heeled shoes despite the fact that he was obviously a man. The last in blue was another girl who was older than the first two. She had short platinum blonde hair that was neatly brushed; her bangs gelled to the side. Her skin was flawless and completely white. Her eyes were almost as pale as her skin and the intensity in them gave Relly goose bumps.

"I'm Relly," she introduced herself to the three with wide nervous eyes.

"We know who you are, love," the first girl with the colorful hair said kindly. Her voice was so soft and sweet that Relly trusted and liked her almost immediately.

"Come here so we can start on you," the boy snapped impatiently. "We can't wait all day, can we?"

Their accent was evident as they spoke and Relly tried not to giggle, but she ultimately failed as she let out a laugh after the boy spoke.

"Is there anything funny?" he asked irately.

"You speak funny," Relly bluntly said as she continued to giggle.

The second girl with the pale skin openly laughed.

"You hear that, Maxim?" she said, still with the funny accent. "You speak funny!"

"Really, because I don't find it funny at all," Maxim retorted.

"Relly, let's just get started on you, shall we?" the first girl said, giving Relly a hand gesture that obviously meant for her to come closer.

Still smiling, Relly walked over to the colorful-haired woman. She introduced herself as Fedora and the other was Oasis. Fedora instructed Relly to strip off the clothing she wore and lay down on the table for them to start their work on her. Relly bit her lip as she slowly followed Fedora's instructions. She didn't wanted to feel so exposed to people she didn't know yet.

"I– I'm scared," Relly said softly, her hands clinging on to the bottom of her shirt, not wanting to lift it over her head.

"We won't hurt you, Relly," Fedora said before glancing at her two partners.

"Yes, of course we won't," Maxim nodded with an all too fake smile as he pulled out some sort of tape. "I'll just be in charge on getting all that hair off your skin. That wouldn't look too nice to the sponsors, now would it?"

"Don't scare her, Maxim," Oasis said with a roll of her eyes, slapping the boy's arm before turning her attention to the fourteen year-old. "Don't worry, Relly. Waxing won't hurt as much if you stay still."

"You're both scaring her!" Fedora screeched at the two and she immediately tried to calm herself with deep breaths after and turned to Relly once again. "Just lay on the table, Relly. It's all going to be very quick."

All three pairs of eyes were directed at her, all expecting her to strip down and lay in the middle of the three of them. Sighing, Relly finally took their word and complied.

District Four

Terra Johansenn, 15 – Reif Larken, 18

Terra was in her own Remake room and she already lost count on how many times she hissed curses at her prep team. They didn't have a very good start either. As soon as Terra stepped in the room, they immediately blurted out ideas on how they would be able to get all the tattoos off her skin. The dark skinned fifteen year-old nearly strangled the three women right then and there.

The prep team wasn't exactly her biggest fan either.

"Is waxing supposed to hurt this much?" Terra barked unkindly at the three women who worked on her.

"Oh, no, it isn't actually supposed to hurt that much," the pink-skinned, wide-eyed woman named Samanda who waxed her said with a slight drawl to her tone.

"Then why is it?" Terra said through gritted teeth as her dark eyes narrowed furiously at her.

The Samanda simply shrugged with a smirk on her face. If Vanilla, the woman who worked on her hair, were not holding her head back, Terra would have completely pounced on her.

"Stop moving!" Vanilla snapped, pushing her dark purple hair behind her shoulder to keep it from covering her freckled face.

"Your nails are so dirty!" came Sesame's shrill complaining as she examined Terra's fingernails.

Terra irately pulled her hand away from Sesame's judgmental eyes.

"Oh, give me that," Sesame snapped, roughly taking Terra's hand again and started to scrape the dirt under the nails and cutting them so they didn't seem as long.

After what felt like a lifetime, the prep team finally kept their hands to themselves and Terra lay on the table, clean and flawless except for the tattoos that were left untouched. She was about to sit up but Samanda crudely pushed Terra back down which resulted to her head hitting the table hard enough to cause her eyes to water in pain.

"Oops, sorry," Samanda said, not sounding sorry at all.

Terra opened her mouth to cuss at her once again, but another woman suddenly entered the Remake Center . The prep team immediately stood tall and alert as the woman approached. She appeared to be a usual Capitol woman, but Terra already knew she was her stylist. Her strawberry blond hair was tied up and very frizzy. Her eyelashes were unusually long and she wore shiny bright yellow eye shadow. Her dress was short and puffy with intricate patterns sewn on the gold fabric. Her heels clicked noisily in the room as she strolled closer to the table where Terra lay.

Surprisingly, the fifteen-year old kept her mouth shut as her stylist examined her naked body on the table. Her narrowed eyes simply watch the woman as she circled the table.

"Come with me," the stylist finally spoke, taking a robe from one of the shelves and handing it to Terra.

"Where are we going?" Terra asked with a slight frown, not trusting this woman in the slightest. She accepted the robe though and immediately put it on, covering herself once again.

"We're going to my brother," she said with a smirk.

The stylist started to walk away and Terra just watched her go. Vanilla glowered when she spotted Terra still seated.

"What do you think you're doing? Follow her!"

"Wha– Oh, I knew that," Terra said indignantly as she hopped off the table and pushed Vanilla out of the way with her shoulder.

In the room where Terra and her stylist were off to, Reif Larken sat petulantly on the velvet couch holding up a glass of champagne. The room wasn't especially big, but it definitely cost ten times more than the money he would get if he sold his own two-story house back home. The floor was carpeted red and a glass coffee table was positioned in the middle of the room. There was one couch, which was occupied by Reif, and two tall stools placed on the other side of the coffee table, opposite the couch.

On one of the stools, a light-haired man sat with a bit of scruff and his skin colored by a sickly shade of green. He too held a glass of champagne. His eyes were fixed on the glass door as he waited for his sister to come in with the other tribute.

"Is your sister usually late to these kinds of things?" Reif asked infuriatedly.

"She'll be here soon," Reif's stylist said.

At that moment, the other stylist entered with Terra following behind her. The stylist took her seat beside her brother. Terra's eyes darted from the stylists to Reif. Snarling, she took the seat beside Reif on the velvet couch but she kept a considerable distance from him. Reif was satisfied, not wanting the girl to get anywhere nearer.

"Well, I'm Alpha and this is my sister, Aero," the male stylist started with a kind smile.

Aero nodded, her eyes boring into Reif's as she kept a straight face.

"We are the stylists of District Four," Alpha continued. "Our styles are actually very similar which was why we were partnered up. Before we get into the details of what you are wearing, I'd like to know your names."

"Terra Johansenn," Terra immediately introduced herself.

All three turned their attention to Reif who continued to stay silent, his gaze wandering off somewhere else. He then started to feel the gaze of the others and brought himself back into the conversation by shrugging, assuming they were asking his opinion on something. He then returned to blocking himself out of the discussion. Alpha looked from Terra, who openly glowered at her district partner, to Reif, who stared blankly at the ceiling. Sighing, he knew this was going to be a long day.

District Five

Drew Perrin, 15 – Langston Calder, 15

While waiting for the stylists, Drew took the opportunity to start a conversation with her district partner. In the train, the two didn't really talk very much as they both had their own mentors and were mostly separated throughout the trip. This would actually be the first time the two would talk alone. He didn't look too bad to Drew. He had a good build and she even remembered him to have quite a few scars on him before he the prep team did their work on him.

Drew could definitely remember how she refused to take her shirt off despite being willing to take everything else off. Her prep team practically took her shirt off themselves revealing one of her biggest secrets. The three of them alarmingly stared at her hip. The tiny bullet was clearly seen although from afar, one wouldn't realize what it was at first. The skin around it was dead and dark, clearly ruined. The prep team did not know what to do with it at first, but Drew told them they didn't have to do anything. She just needed to cover it to keep it from being seen. They seemed pretty satisfied with that and continued with their work on her.

So far, only her prep team and her stylist knew about her secret. She couldn't let anyone else find out. That would practically be suicide once she steps in the arena. Whoever would want to kill her would obviously target the bullet. It would weaken her greatly if someone was able to take it out or even just touch it or make it go even deeper.

While Drew dealt with her problems of being dangerously injured, Langston was dealing with something else. One thing he was sure of was the fact that he had to get an alliance in the arena. He needed one. He knew he couldn't survive alone, so his best option was to survive with a partner or maybe even a whole group. Problem was, he could barely even talk to anyone here. How in the world could he start his own alliance, or at least join one?

"Hi, I'm Drew," the brunette beside him sitting on the couch introduced herself, unable to take the silence.

Langston blinked. Maybe it wouldn't be too hard after all…

"Langston," he said nervously, holding out his hand.

Drew took his hand eagerly with a wide grin.

"I saw you once," Langston said. "You passed by my house and you were singing a song…"

"You heard me?" Drew said with a gasp.

"Well–"

"Of course you did. You just said that," Drew answered herself before Langston could finish his sentence. "You won't mind if you kept that a secret, right? Just between you and me? Mom would kill me if she knew someone actually heard me sing it. Though before she could kill me, I'd probably be dead…" She ended her sentence with a sad chuckle.

"You'll never know. I'd probably die before you."

"Ridiculous," Drew waved him off. "I'm sure you'll do fine. If you live The Other Side, you're a survivor. I'll probably die in the bloodbath. Maybe dying in the bloodbath would be better than going far in the games. I would probably spare myself from getting killed in a more brutal manner."

Langston listened as Drew continued to speak of her family. She'd make a few jokes from time to time but he wouldn't laugh and she would only chuckle a bit. Langston could tell her being reaped affected her real persona somehow. Although despite the fact that they only just met each other, Langston already wanted her to be his ally in the district. It was always best to be allies with your district partner. You'd understand each other somehow and would create a bigger bond than with any other tribute.

"–Then there's Avery whom surprisingly, I really miss–"

"Would you like to be my ally, Drew?" he asked, interrupting her in the middle of her sentence.

She blinked at him and immediately a smile lit up on her face.

"Yeah, absolutely!"

Smiling back at her, Langston nodded.

"We're totally going to kick ass in that arena," Drew laughed in delight.

This made Langston grin. He was very glad he made at least one friend. He couldn't have asked for anything better.

District Six

Macy Zimmer, 16 – Percy Eden, 16

The different tributes from different districts got ready in their own little circle with their escorts, mentors and stylists. Percy watched the others, his eyes scrutinizing and piercing. He barely listened to the mentor he and his district partner shared. This quite irritated him and snapped his fingers in front of Percy's face to get his attention.

"What?" he snapped, turning to the messy-haired blonde in his early thirties.

"You listen to me when I'm talking, Eden," his mentor, Cadmus Trevers, said coldly.

Not wanting to argue, Percy turned away from the other tributes and focused on his mentor. Macy stood beside him in a strange costume where the bottom of the gown was puffy and blue with patterns resembling waves in the ocean; above this was a series of gray straps going around her stomach revealing some skin and this signified roads or land even; lastly, the top and sleeves were completely white and blue and her headpiece resembled the clouds. Percy could see its relation to transport since anyone could use water, land and air for transportation.

Sadly, Percy wore a similar costume. His headpiece was even giving him an itch.

"Just smile and wave, okay you two?" Cadmus said. "They're going to love you out there."

"Yeah," his district partner, Macy, said obviously trying to act positive.

"I doubt," Percy said aloofly.

"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine," Cadmus said with a fake smile. "Listen, kid. That kind of attitude isn't going to get you anywhere in that arena, especially with allies."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Okay."

Macy Zimmer, on the other hand, had to be honest. She was absolutely terrified of Percy. Ever since the train ride, she's been to shy and afraid to introduce herself to him. The two obviously only knew each other's names because they were announced in the reaping. Percy was very quiet and he liked to stay in the corner by himself reading a book. Macy would stay away from him but she would often debate with herself whether she should approach him or not. In the end, she decided not to. Now, the two were barely even acquaintances. It was like they were invisible to each other.

Cadmus left to look for their missing stylists. Macy knew their stylists were a couple so she had an idea why they were both gone at this time. It was a bit awkward because their escort Trek was busy flirting with the other escorts who were women. Macy was left with Percy alone. She stared at him for a bit, watching him as he directs his gaze to the other tributes, particularly the careers.

"Look at that girl from One looking so full of herself," Percy started to speak which startled Macy. She didn't think he'd ever even start a conversation with her.

Macy let her eyes follow Percy's. The girl from One did indeed look confident as she stepped up on the chariot with her head up high. She and her district partner wore very colorful costumes. It shined in different colors that could probably be seen from a mile away.

"I'm more afraid of the pair from Two," Macy admitted, her gaze leaving the tributes from One and directing it to the muscular tributes of District Two.

Percy turned around to finally meet Macy's eyes.

"Careers aren't exactly the brightest in the bunch," he said. "They're more of brawn over brains. Well, most of them have no brains at all."

"How would you know?" Macy asked, her gaze still lingering at the muscular careers.

"I don't really," Percy admitted. "But it's quite common if you watched the past games."

"I never watch the games," Macy mumbled, her hand twitching at the thought of actually watching children die on television.

An uncomfortable silence arose and Percy and Macy just stood there, not knowing what to say. Maybe that was more of just Macy. Percy's analytical gaze lingered at Macy. It seemed like he was thinking of something and Macy opened her mouth to ask but he spoke before she could.

"I believe making alliances before the games start is quite useless," he said. "How do you think you'll be able to stick together in the whole chaos of the bloodbath? You can talk of a meeting place, but nobody knows how the arena looks like until they're in the arena themselves. The only tributes that can successfully make an alliance before the games are the careers. That's only because the cornucopia is practically their ground and they automatically own it, wherever it is. They can stick together there."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want us to be allies," Percy bluntly stated. "But again, I can't make an alliance with you now. In the arena though, let's assume we both survive the bloodbath. If ever we cross paths, we can form our alliance from there. What do you say?"

Macy couldn't believe this. Someone actually wanted to make an alliance with her. Percy was pretty smart as well. He would definitely be useful in the arena. Macy could only pray to meet him again during the games. She'd even look for him if she had to.

"I'm in," Macy said with a smile.

"Brilliant," Percy said with a curt nod.

Both tributes of Six then noticed how the others hurriedly helped each other up on their chariots. Cadmus finally returned and ushered the two to their chariot. It took them a while to realize that the Tribute Parade was finally starting.

Hello! Here is the first chapter of the pre-games! Yay! Now you know how I'm going to write it all. It's actually like a chain of events and each district gets their own. You can probably guess that the next six districts would be able to see the chariot rides in their perspective. Tell me what you think of this set-up! I just thought to do something a bit different and doing one scene e.g. the train rides with all the districts getting their own perspective will take really long.

There will be scenes that each district will have to have their own! One will be the private sessions for their scores. :)

Again, for those who didn't vote yet, please do! There's a poll on my profile and you can vote up to three tributes. Please do! And don't vote for your own to avoid biases! Thank you!

Tell me what you think in a review please! They help loads. :)

~jess