Isis Ambergayle is on a balcony of a building near where the Tribute Parade will take place. Some audiences are on the street below. Others are also inside the buildings, likely watching from the rooftops and balconies. She sees the audience excited to get the parade started.
"Isis?"
She turns around to see a familiar face, her predecessor. "Sylvia!"
"Hey! Ready for the parade?"
"Absolutely!"
"Great! Mind if I join you tonight?"
"No problem! Now I'm even more excited to have a co-host for the Tribute Parade."
"Awesome! Do the people here have an extra mic?"
"I do."
They get help from the other technical media people to get the second mic to work as well.
"Mic. Test. Three. Two. One." Sylvia taps on the mic as it's not working. She speaks again, "Mic. Test. Three. Two. One." She gives them a thumbs up as the mic is now functioning.
Isis announces, "The tribute parade will start in three minutes. Tributes, please be on your respective rides."
"You're doing good! I'm so proud of you."
"Aw come on, it's nothing. I'm already used to this."
"My baby has grown up so fast." Evezleya goes closer to Isis and gives her some pats and a hug.
An avox goes to them and gives them a drink each.
"Thank you!" says Evezleya. She toasts with Isis and says, "Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
They chit chat a little bit more until it was thirty seconds before time.
"Here we go! Here we go!" Isis excitedly says.
"Three, two, one," counts down Evezleya.
"Welcome everyone to the Tribute Parade of the 140th Annual Hunger Games! I am Isis Ambergayle, your host for tonight. Here with me is your ever-loving former masters of ceremonies, Evezleya von Evezelle."
"It's wonderful to have a co-host like you, Isis! You know, I miss doing this, and I wasn't even up here doing all the talking last year."
"True. Twelve years having you as the masters of ceremonies has been delightful."
"Isis, tonight is not about me though. We're here to talk about the twenty-four wonderful tributes of this year's hunger games."
"Oh yes! That's what we're here. Now shall we get started?"
The music starts playing in the background, and the crowd's cheers are growing louder.
"We always start with District One," says Evezleya. "And this year, they are..."
"They are shining bright!" Isis continues.
As the golden chariot rolls out to the scene, two shining objects on the chariot remain stationary. Upon closer inspection, both tributes are not there waving like they are expected to.
"But wait, where are they?" Evezleya wonders.
The two shining objects, which are gold and silver tombs in a standing position, start moving. One tomb opens up and it shows Annaleigh completely in gold. Her skin is all gold, even her hair, but she is covered with countless strips of a paper-like cloth that are covered in silver. It almost looks like a strapless dress. She smiles and waves to the crowd in a sweet manner, while Argentum gets out of his tomb as well.
"Wow!" reacts Evezleya. "District One this year sent two mummies from the ancient times."
"They are covered in gold and silver, as the district of luxury," added Isis.
Evezleya adds, "Aside from that, when they mummify people in the ancient times, they leave valuable things with them, especially if they are coming from a higher class."
Argentum acts friendly and charming. He's delighted to be there coated in silver from head to toe beside his silver tomb. He is wrapped with several strips of the same material, but in gold. It almost looks like a chiton. He ecstatically waved to the crowd and blows some kisses to them.
"Well done, District One!" says Evezleya.
"Wanna see what District Two has this year?" says Isis.
"Of course!"
"They are right over there!" Isis points at a shiny midnight blue chariot. It carries the tributes in two different outfits.
"They are fighting!" says Evezleya in a shocked manner.
On one side is a small figure on a full shiny gray metal armor. It is inspired after those from the medieval times. The knight raises the helmet's cover to reveal that it is Rufus. On the other side of the chariot is a figure half a foot taller than the knight. It is Brenna, but with green skin and a lot of makeup. There is fake blood on her face and on some parts of her body, while the makeup near her face makes her look injured, wounded, probably dead, or rather like the undead. The silky medieval-inspired dress she is wearing is white and reddish brown. The dress is tighter on the stomach area, and it is dirtied and ripped on many sides. While wearing the reddish right contact lens and the almost-white left contact lens, Brenna acts loosely and crazily, pretending to attack Rufus the knight who tries to fight off Brenna.
"This is so cool!" says Isis. "We have a knight and a housewife turned zombie inspired from the..."
"The Middle Ages!" Evezleya continues.
From the chariot, Brenna holds a bottle and smashes it to the chariot wildly. The chariot is now on fire! Well, at least it looks like it.
"Whoa! Did you see that?" Isis reacts in a surprised manner.
"I'd be blind if I didn't," says Evezleya. "It looks like the chariot is on fire."
Zombie Brenna remains calm and stops fighting Knight Rufus. He waves to crowd and bows to the audience, feeling honored to be in the Capitol. Meanwhile, Brenna looks at some of the audience and makes a fierce face with a salute.
"It's all an act!?" Isis comments.
"That... was HOT!" Evezleya adds. "Fake fire on the fighting knight and zombie!"
"I know right!? I hate to interrupt you from that amazing performance, but District Three is coming."
"Their chariot is in a dark purplish blue, covered with small light yellow stars. Hmmm... it reminds me of bedtime stories."
Tira waves to the crowd in a regal manner while Chip looks at the crowd in a strong and cute manner. They are dressed as dark gray robots wearing purple bedtime clothes covered with yellow stars. Tira has a glass object floating above her worn from the back part inside the robot outfit, while Chip has a tail similar to their outfit's design. Their robot outfits have hard shells in the shape of an arc that look like capes, but with the width of the shells decreasing from head to toe. They each have three shells, and Chip's "tail" is also made of that shell.
"That kid is so ADORABLE!" Isis reacts.
"I like how he is trying to be strong yet he is coming out as cute," comments Sylvia.
"Meanwhile, I love that relaxed yet professional manner Tira waves to the crowd."
"Oh wait, what's this?"
Tira and Chip stand in a serious manner, like it's a stance. They put their arms forward and press the dark red button on their outfits. They each make a quick and graceful spin before Tira faces the left side then bends forward. Chip does the same too while holding on to Tira by the hips. The shells on their backs start to enclose them and the true form of their combined outfit reveals a telescope.
"OH MY GOD!" Evezleya reacts. "OH MY GOD!"
Isis responds, "OH MY GOSH! DID YOU SEE..."
"I KNOW! I KNOW! THAT WAS AMAZING! WHO ARE THEIR STYLISTS!?"
"IN AN INCREDIBLE FEAT BY DISTRICT THREE, THESE CHILDREN ON THEIR BEDTIME OUTFITS ARE NOT JUST CHILDREN WHO WANT TO DREAM ABOUT BECOMING ROBOTS."
"THEY ARE ROBOTS WHO SHOOT FOR THE... OH MY GOD!"
"OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!"
The shells on their combined outfit is then covered with light, colored in light blue stars spinning around the telescope.
"THEY ARE LITTLE CHILDREN WHO SHOOT FOR THE STARS IN THIS AMAZINGLY ASTOUNDING ONE OF KIND OUTFIT YOU CAN CALL A TELESCOPE!"
"I AM SCREAMING RIGHT NOW! THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST OUTFITS THEY HAVE EVER HAD IN YEARS."
"I NEVER HAD SOMETHING THIS BIG IN MY TIME AS A HOST! THE STYLISTS FOR THESE TWO HAVE DEFINITELY NAILED THE STARRY THEME."
"WHAT A CLEVER OUTFIT!" Isis wipes off some tears from her face.
"Oh my god. You're crying too?" Evezleya wipes off her tears too, hoping not to ruin her makeup.
"You can never beat those little robots transforming into a telescope with stars all over them," Isis tells.
As Tira and Chip return to their original positions and angles, the District Four chariot painted in two-thirds sea blue and one-third sky blue from bottom to top shows up.
"Oh, we have District Four up next," Isis says.
Evezleya says, "Let's not overshadow them just because they came after that telescope."
On the said chariot is Jeanne, sitting on top of a gold and red treasure chest in a seductive and flirtatious manner. She winks to some people in the crowd and blows a few sexy kisses while in her blue green grass skirt made of different types of fiber as well as her strapless bra composed purely of different types of tropical white, pink, and red flowers woven together. She is wearing two pink, green, and white lei garlands, one as a necklace and another as a headdress. On the other side of the chariot is Horden in his blue pirate outfit, composed of a white long sleeved polo without the collars and the top two buttons, silky federal blue pants, black leather vest, brown leather belt, dark brown leather boots, federal blue coat reaching his knees, black pirate hat with a skull painted on the front, and a black eyepatch. He smiles and waves to the crowd, blowing a few kisses in hopes of catching the attention of some female sponsors.
Evezleya speaks, "Amazing! We have a Hawaiian lady and a pirate for District Four."
"Is Hawaiian the..."
"It's a historical place with volcanoes, culture, and all."
"Nice!"
Jeanne flirtatiously gets some coins from the treasure chest and drops them on Horden's hands, as she still refuses to touch him since he's a janitor coming from a lower class. Horden gets a handful of coins from the chest and sprinkles them on the chariot's floor, like what a pirate would do. They then throw some coins to the crowds.
"Over here!" says Evezleya.
Horden gives her a wink and she reaches for the coins from the balcony.
"YES! These coins were from Horden Tanase of District Four."
Isis continues, "Up next, we have District Five in their black and electric yellow chariot."
"Those electric yellows seem to glow. In fact, they are blinking in style."
"Neon lights! Those are neon lights."
Ciara and Filly are on the next chariot dressed in a black spandex tight suit with neon yellow lightning bolts blinking wildly around the suit.
"Wow! They even have crowns," Sylvia comments.
Isis adds, "Yup! Both Ciara and Filly are wearing crowns made with these lightning bolts put together. But wait, they are both holding lightning bolts too."
"No wait, look closely."
As the two try to observe what they're holding, Ciara plays the neon yellow saxophone that looks somewhat like a lightning bolt. While Ciara is busy with the saxophone, Filly enjoys the process, smiling and waving to the crowd to get as much sponsors as he can.
"Music!" says Isis.
"She IS a saxophone player after all," says Evezleya.
This time, Ciara waves and blows a few kisses to the crowd while Filly tries to play the neon yellow flute that looks more like a lightning bolt.
"More music from this district is making my night better!" Isis adds. "I know we have parade background music, but their music just adds up and supplements the background music."
"Now those were wonderful musical performances," Sylvia says. "A blind person would appreciate that."
"Indeed. Let's move to District Six, shall we?"
"The chariot has different shades of gray, probably replicating some metallic transportation."
"What can you say? It's a chariot after all."
"Oh my god! You're right. Hahahaha!"
On that chariot is Kylie and Thomas. Kylie is wearing a silver-esque gray short-sleeved blouse under a dark blue vest bordering black for the top. She has a dark blue skirt over her black slacks, both made from the same silky material. On her head is a dark blue cylinder with silver circular lines and a short translucent black bill. She pumps her left arm while making a few sexy winks to the crowd. Thomas is "below" her, however, dressed as a blue train. His face is colored silver-esque gray while he has a black chimney on the head. His neck is colored black, and the rest of him is the rest of the train, in blue. He stands up from his low position and transforms into a blue robot that is happy, excited, and curious for the parade.
"WOW!" exclaims Isis.
"Another robot!" Sylvia reacts.
"That was so cool though. You'd think he is only a train and probably stuck as a train."
"Yeah, but if you look closely, that's not just a one-piece plastic costume of a train. That is a ROBOT that transformed from an accurately structured train."
"His back says it all," points out Isis. Thomas' back side of the costume is the top part of the train, and the wheels have been folded away at the moment as he is smiling to the crowd.
"Aha! I remember now."
"What?"
"Thomas is dressed as Thomas the Train!"
"Who?"
"You don't know Thomas the Train?"
"Not really."
"Awww... I guess I'll show you some of my toys later."
"Toys!?"
"Maybe pictures. Whatever. Let's move on to District Seven."
The green chariot is covered with some leaves, and it looks more like a bush from afar. Susie is wearing a dress made of paper. It is multicolored in green, yellow, orange, and light blue. The poofy bottom part of the dress is patterned with leaves of different colors, mostly with pink, green, and orange, but there are also a few branches on the design. As for Orion, he is wearing a formal attire also made of paper, which includes a white polo made of paper, a paper vest over it with the same color theme as Susie's dress, and a pair of paper pants similar to the leaf motifs on Susie's dress, except it slowly fades to brown from three-fourths of the slacks down. He silently waves to the crowd.
"Very creative output from District Seven!" Isis says.
"I know right?" responds Evezleya. "They may be on typical formal attires, but as part of the lumber district, District Seven also gives us paper. If you know how important paper is, you will keep District Seven in mind."
"Oh! I once saw this ad about a man telling his wife to switch to tablets and other electronics because she's solving sudoku, taking notes, and doing everything on paper. At the end of the video, her husband was asking for toilet paper, and she gave him a picture of a roll of toilet paper on his tablet!"
"HAHAHAHA! This is why paper is SO important."
"Oh also, if you notice their color scheme and leaf motifs, you can see that the theme is on the four seasons."
"You're right!" realizes Evezleya. "Those do show spring, summer, fall, and winter."
"Isn't that cool?"
"It is, Isis!"
Susie, still in fear of Kevin, tries to show strength and fearlessness. She faces the crowd but shakes in anxiety. She can't give what she doesn't have, so she just tries to no avail. As she turns to her right, she accidentally gets hit in the nose by Orion's fingers. She looks at him shocked, but Orion just dabs left and right while on the chariot.
"Is he dabbing? IS HE DABBING!?" Isis says.
"YES, YES HE IS DABBING!" Evezleya confirms.
"Oh my gosh!"
Orion continues to dab left and right, and he is getting the crowd's attention with his delivery.
"Holy cow! I LOVE HIM!" Sylvia says.
"He's sure to get some sponsors for that," adds Isis. "I think it's District Eight's turn to shine." She points at the next chariot appearing.
The District Eight chariot is draped with different shades of violet and red, while not covering parts of the original black color of the chariot. Lainey smiles proudly in her glossy oversized crimson robe with a hood that is black on the inside. She has makeup that makes her look tough, evil, and intimidating. She is also wearing red contact lenses to raise her intimidation level. Ingeo, on the other hand, is dressed in a soft cottony purple robe with stars. It is slightly oversized too. He wears a pointy purple hat with stars as well while holding a shiny wooden stick with a small yellow star on the end he is not holding.
"A witch and a wizard!" Isis says.
"I love how District Eight made great use of their textile industry with the witch and wizard outfits," comments Evezleya.
"Those are very clever, I have to say."
"They also look good on them."
Lainey shows her tough side with a prouder and fake-evil smile. Ingeo follows with a smile too, but he can't replicate the proud and tough manner as he is feeling more nervous. Lainey takes the hood of her robe off to reveal her soft brown hair. She takes out a crimson red pointy hat decorated with hearts on a slightly lighter shade of red and wears it. She also takes out a deep red orb in the shape of a heart and smashes it on the chariot's floor. Red smoke surrounds the District Eight chariot.
"That was awesome!" Isis says. "Doesn't it remind you of the flaming chariot District Two has, Evezleya."
"Yes and no, because they are two different things with similar strategies."
"These are really cool. Now it's time to see District Nine's."
District Nine's chariot is coated in gold and bronze, as shiny versions of yellow and brown respectively. The little Macy twirls and skips happily on her place. She is wearing a sleeveless wheat dress along with a wheat headdress on top. It is knit in a simple manner. Beside her is a giant corn, wrapped in green tulle and fiber. No Dorian is visible for the audience.
"She's so cute!" says Isis.
"I know right!?" Evezleya replies.
"It may be simple, but adorable little Macy here happily smiles and waves to the crowd."
Macy uses her cuteness to her advantage as she continues to skip and twirl. Not too long after, she takes out a bundle of wheat stalks tied properly together. She uses it as a wand to tap on the corn beside her. The green material peels away as Dorian jumps out of it in a charming manner with his yellow and brown long-sleeved plaid polo along with his plaid slacks in the same color and pattern. He puts on his brown cowboy hat, but takes it off to bow to the audience. Once he wears it again, he waves to the crowd charmingly and confidently. She gives Macy a pat at the back, and her dress glitters slightly. She continues to skip adorably, and not long after, her large wings slowly pop out from her back. They are made of wheat, weaved intricately.
"WOW!" surprisingly says Evezleya.
Isis comments, "Now that... that I didn't see coming."
"Macy is apparently not just some happy wheat girl twirling and skipping in place."
"She is the wheat angel! She must've grown those wings after helping the corn grow."
"Speaking of the corn, that is a very nice way to show the district's industry."
"Both of them together made such an enlightening performance!"
"Now is District Ten's turn."
The next chariot that rolls out is covered in brown leather. Arlenna is wearing a brown leather fringed dress. She has a bright blue beaded necklace that serves as the culturally appropriate jewelry that goes with the outfit. She is also wearing a brown and white feather headdress on top of her long straight brown hair that is braided back. Beside her is Kobe, who wears a brown leather fringed shirt with a pair of pants of the same style. He also wears a similar headdress, but with the feathers in black and white instead of brown and white. Both their fringed outfits have a belt of native patterns around the waist. They both have identical face paints too, with two lines on each side of the face, one light brown and one dark brown per side. They both have traditional brown moccasins to cover their feet, but those are not too visible to the parts of the crowd that are too far.
"Amazing!" comments Evezleya. "It brings me back to the past somehow."
"District Ten has shown us a wonderful representation of history, with their native outfits from several centuries ago," Isis describes.
"It's cool how we got to see them here. I haven't seen them in so long."
"It's called a lost part of the past, Evezleya."
Arlenna stood confidently and waved to the audience, while Kobe looked down in an angry manner. He glares at the crowd from time to time, but he is looking down more often than not for being so bitter with what his stylist told him.
"Wow, we're almost done, Isis!"
"Yes we are. Now let's get to District Eleven."
Painted in white and green, the District Eleven chariot holds Owen and Poppy. Owen is wearing a white toga underneath a green chiton while also having laurel leaves on top of his head. He holds a cornucopia with fake fruits and vegetables in it. Poppy, standing beside Owen, smiles and waves to the crowd energetically. She is wearing a white and green dress that has flowers and butterflies scattered on different parts of the dress. She has pink heels that can't be seen by the audience that are too far, but her colorful fruit-bearing flowers headdress is visible to all. She blows some kisses from time to time.
"District Eleven seems to be dressed nicely too this year," comments Evezleya.
"I like the butterfly dress," says Isis. "And oh, the cornucopia with perishable goods for props are great!"
"I like how Poppy seems calm and warm-hearted as she tries to get the crowd's attention," adds Evezleya.
To add to that warm-hearted vibe, Poppy holds Owen's hand and raises it up with hers. The crowd loves it, showing that they are in this together. Owen smiles shyly to the crowd with that attention.
"That was great!" Isis comments.
"Okay!" says Evezleya. "Last but not the least, bring it out for District Twelve!"
The metallic dark gray, but soot-covered, chariot rolls out. Corinna charmingly waves to the crowd while she and Dante are on their black miner costumes. They have a smooth and shiny texture. They have dark gray overalls over the black long-sleeved shirt. They each wear a pair of shiny black gloves and a yellow hard too. Their faces have dust on them for a more natural look. Dante wants to make himself small and forgettable, so he holds on to the front of the chariot and keeps his head down. Corinna tries to hold his hand and raise it up too, but she only ends up confidently raising the lantern he was holding. She gives him the pickaxe instead, but he refuses, since he's holding a shovel anyway, although he's hiding it too. Corinna can't do anything about him not cooperating, so she makes herself confident, charming, and likable to the crowd.
Isis announces, "Corinna raises up the lantern of hopes and dreams!"
"Corinna, over here!" Evezleya shouts from her balcony.
Corinna sees her and waves before blowing a kiss.
"Awww yes!" says Evezleya before twirling around once.
Isis announces, "District Twelve this year has a mining costume, but with props too."
"That lantern should surely light their way to the finish. I'm so proud of my children!"
"Yay we're done! That's all twelve districts."
"And that... people, pets, and everyone else, is the end of the Tribute Parade!"
"No it is not."
"Why so?"
"Because they will all meet Doctor President from her balcony."
"Let's switch the live broadcast then."
The live broadcast indeed switches to the president from the balcony she's standing on. She clears her throat before she speaks.
"Citizens of Panem, it is with great honor for me to welcome the twenty-four tributes of the 140th Hunger Games to the Capitol. As I have said in past years, I apologize that you are here not for fun, but rather for a competition... of a lifetime. Well, maybe some of you may have volunteered for the thrill or honor, but I hope you will all enjoy your stay here in the Capitol for the next couple of days. Thank you."
The live broadcast switches back to the two hosts.
"Well, there you have it folks!" starts Isis.
Evezleya continues, "It is officially the end of the Tribute Parade of the 140th Hunger Games, correct?"
"Yes it is indeed. We will see you all again in the Tribute Parade next year."
"But we will see these tributes again during the interviews, correct?"
"Yes we will, Evezleya! I am very excited to meet and talk to each of them in person."
"I know! If you enjoyed it last year, this year won't be any different with our twenty-four wonderful tributes."
"Of course! With that, this is the end of the Tribute Parade. Good night everyone!"
"Good night, and I hope you all enjoyed the parade like we did!"
"Yes, we hope you enjoyed it too."
"We want to know your thoughts, so let us know what you think! Just state everything you want to tell us in the comments section down below."
Isis looks at Evezleya questioningly.
"There should be a comments section down below!"
"What are you talking about? This is live on TV right?"
"Yes, yes it is, but there has to be a comments section down below." Evezleya winks.
"Whatever," responds Isis. "Once again, good night everyone!"
"Good night Panem!" ends Evezleya. "And Happy Hunger Games!"
AN:
Yay, my "summer" goal is complete! :D Credits to ShunKazamis-Girl for giving the idea of the D11 costumes. For all costumes, I followed some of what's on the form, but I made most of them better, or at least I hope I did! :D
I have closed the poll. You can check out the final results if you want while it's still there. The optional guess-the-submitter challenge is still ongoing, so you can still go for it if you want some sponsor points.
Speaking of sponsor points, I have the updated sponsor points list below. I'm not sure whether I'll be updating the price list for sponsor goodies since I made that more than a year ago, but I'll most likely be copying the everyday increasing prices from tracelynn's Blow Me Over and CelticGames4's Danzón.
This story has been running for more than a year already, and I'm not yet in the arena for so many reasons, so if you've stayed with me all the way here, I greatly appreciate your support. :3 Reviewing is not required, but I'd like to know whether you're still reading or not. For this, we're gonna have a check-in or checkpoint. This has been happening in a lot of stories lately, but I first saw this from goldie031, so thanks for the idea! You can answer the questions through PM, in a new PM thread or in any old PM thread available. I'd prefer an old PM thread so not too many message threads will clutter in my inbox, but a new message thread is fine too. I won't mind the message subject if it's an old one. Just make sure to have "Check-in" or "Checkpoint" on the 1st line of the message, so I can easily see it. If it's a new message thread, then just indicate "Check-in" or "Checkpoint" for the subject. There's gonna be at least another one some time in the future.
The check-in questions for tributes are supposedly parts of the form I forgot to ask, but with an additional fun question:
(1) What is your tribute's sexuality? This may or may not be used in the story, depending on the subplots. I only have Macy's so far, so this can be skipped for Macy's submitter.
(2) On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your tribute's stamina? Again, I may or may not use this.
(3) The fun question! If your tribute has a chance to freely go around the Capitol for 1 day, where would they go?
If you submitted at least one stylist, you can answer this question too. You don't have to since I can decide on my own with creative liberty, but if you wanna fill this part out yourself, it'd be great too!
Question: Will they stay with their tribute for the nights or will they go home? It can be a mix of both too.
If you're a random reader who doesn't have a stylist or a tribute in the story, I wanna know your thoughts on the story so far. :D
Now we're getting to the fun part! I'd like to know which outfit stood out for you and which tribute stood out with the angle. If you have other predictions, feel free to state them too! :D
As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :3 Now for the updated sponsor points.
CelticGames4 - 600
Golden Moon Huntress - 555
SilverflowerXRavenpaw - 545
DaughterOfTigris - 535
AmericanPi - 460
HogwartsDreamer113 - 380
LiveFreeOrDie - 325
DarthDyos - 270
goldie031 - 205
dreams and desperation - 155
tracelynn - 90
MMJ. Rich - 85
ThomasHungerGamesFan - 80
PotatoInUrFace - 55
IVolunteerAsAuthor - 45
Witch of Mockingjay - 45
SilverAshes13 - 45
Mystical Pine Forest - 45
LokiThisIsMadness - 40
Beauthg03 - 30
JaymanRepublic - 30
Alexcias - 30
Xx-Katerina-xX - 25
Astronaughty - 20
Too Lazy To Think Of Something - 20
Calebbeers21 - 15
ShunKazamis-Girl - 15
Iamnotatimelord* - 15