Chariot Rides


Gamemakers

Pages and pages of work were spread out across Clem's desk. Previously he had been tidy, keeping everything in order, but now, the only way he could deal with things was through chaos. He had no sense of time anymore, no collected thoughts, no organisation. It was just a constant mess of trying to survive and do the best for both the tributes and the Capitol at the same time. The three things canceled each other out, there was no way to save his own skin and please the Capitol without letting the tributes die, and there was no way for them to all go home without there being a huge bounty on his head.

Oh how he longed for the days back where he had absolutely no morals.

"Clem, you need to see this." Mox rushed into the man's office, a screen in hand, images of the scene on the balcony repeating over and over again. She glanced quickly across the table, her eyes lighting up at the plans Clem was formulating, content that he was finally taking the games seriously.

"I've seen it Mox, I've fucking seen it." This was perhaps the worst day in Clem's career. Not only were his tributes, most of whom hadn't met, already rebelling, but he had been spotted by the District Nine girl whilst helping Todd see his nephew. Of course she hadn't recognised him, but it was only a matter of time before she connected the dots.

What was even worse for Clem, was that he was willing this rebellion to be successful. It had been brewing ever since the 76th Games, he knew it would happen sooner or later, and he couldn't help but feel that the tributes were almost justified. Of course, he would have prefered it in a year where his life wasn't on the line. Maybe the Nine girl seeing him would be to his benefit, at least someone knew that he wasn't completely against them. Maybe that was the way they could all be successful- id Clem helped their rebellion, showed they were in it together. It was risky, then it may not be the districts that wanted his head but the Capitol, which was way more dangerous. He sighed, tipping backwards on the chair, his head swimming with a million thoughts and scenarios, nothing ending in a solution with everyone happy.

"What are you going to do?" She breathed out, nervous for the man that she cared about so deeply, but confused her so much.

"Right this second?" Clem stood up, pulling down the blinds to his office and slamming the door. He took the tablet from Mox, switching it off. "Right now, I'm going to take my shirt off, kiss you and forget about the games. Is that alright with you?"

"Perfectly alright."


Diva- District Three Female

This was what Diva had been waiting for. Of course every little thing about participating in the games made her feel sick, but at least this would be fun. She felt like royalty, something she had always dreamed of, and longed to hold onto the feeling for as long as possible. Diva couldn't wait to hear the crowd cheer for her, to lap up every second of it, feel popular and wanted even throughout the Capitol. Her outfit served it all so well, she felt more beautiful than she ever had before.

Her dress brushed along the floor, a crisp silver, encrusted with diamonds, supported by a large silver tiara. She loved every inch of it. Diva had worn clothes of a similar standard at home, to the parties her parents were invited to, but nothing like this, it was beautiful.

Her district partner wasn't feeling the same excitement, he instead sat resting his back against the wall. Diva walked over. In the past, she would have completely ignored him, not letting anything ruin her moment. But since hearing her name called at the reaping, everything had changed. She wasn't above anyone else in her district, her name had been in the bowls just like there's, being rich or privileged hadn't changed that. And here, amongst the tributes, money meant nothing, it didn't give her a better chance at survival. So she let it go. She let go everything that had made her Diva in the past. Here she wasn't some rich girl who had had a free pass through life. She was a member of district three, a tribute, and above anything else, a friend to those who needed her.

Alfred had helped her realise that, and as he sat trembling, mere minutes before they were meant to climb aboard their chariots, she knew she had to say something. In the short time they had spent together, Alfred had changed her, made a person she wasn't afraid to be. She was confident and passionate and outspoken, that would never change, but maybe it was time she gave some of that to her friend.

"Hey." Diva spoke tenderly, sliding down next to the man, for once not caring about the way her dress crumpled. "It's only three minutes. Just hold my hand and look at the floor." She took the boy's hand. "We can do it."

Alfred shook his head. "I'm going to look like such an idiot. I can't let my parents watch their only son make a fool of himself, Diva, I can't do it. I can't show them all that I'm a coward."

"A coward?" She spoke, receiving a nod from Alfred. "You are anything but a coward. Alfred, you saved me from myself, you spoke to me and showed me kindness when anyone else would have just run away. That shows courage, it shows a brilliant person. It shows humanity, and we all know the Capitol needs a little bit more of that. So we go out there, we hold our heads high, and show then that in trying to tear us apart, they've brought us together."

"You sound like a poster, one of those motivational posters they stick in exam halls to motivate you." Alfred smiled, standing up and brushing off his suit, tailored to match Diva's dress perfectly.

"Worked though, didn't it?" Diva laughed back, pulling on Alfred's hand to help herself up. "You clean up well, Mr Goddard."

"As do you. Our chariot awaits, shall we?" He offered out his arm, and Diva grasped onto it, suddenly nervous. "We can do this." Alfred whispered, more for the girl than for himself.


Dina- District Five Female

Everything was a lot harder than Dina had thought it would be. All throughout her journey here, she had gone over plans in her head, plans of what she was going to do to the Capitol, the people that had made her mother a refugee and murdered her family members. The people that had taken what should have been her life and bown it up, they hadn't just crushed a rebellion, they had crushed a district. No matter how welcoming District Five had been to the Isaacs, it would never be their home, DIna had Thirteen blood in her veins and no amount of time could dull that.

Of course being sent to the Games wasn't top of Dina's agenda, but it was the hand she had been dealt, and she had adapted to it. Whilst she was here she was going to kick up as much attention for what the Capitol did to District Thirteen as she could, make it clear that in silencing a rebellion, they created a thousand new enemies, out for blood. But being here was different to thinking about it, and the plans she had were quickly forgotten in fear. They were constantly watched and monitored and all hopes Dina had of taking a stand were destroyed. Everything here reminded her of what they had taken, what she had missed out on, and she couldn't concentrate on anything other than making it through the day.

And another nail in the coffin of her beautiful, beautiful plan, was the uselessness of her District Partner. On the journey here, all she had talked about was District Thirteen, and how all she wanted was to make sure the world knew what the Capitol had done, and the response she received from Newton had been nothing. She understood that he was scared and nervous, but she had expected a little more. And so, Dina had given up. Newton was a helpless case, they were too different. She had a spark within her, a need to fight and change things, and he had already given up, before the hard part had even really started.

"I made you something." The small voice alarmed Dina, and she spun round, finding Newton a few steps behind her. She hadn't seen him all day, and for a moment she had thought that he wasn't even going to show up. The boy looked dashing, in an all silver suit, made of reflective material, and as the lights of the stadium shone down on him, it was almost like he lit up. Dina wore a similar jumpsuit, but was sure she didn't look as good. "It's not very good, and I'm not some sort of revolutionary, but I thought it would make a statement." Newton reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of card, decorated to match the metal of the chariot, simply the number Thirteen written on it. He walked forward, fastening it onto the front of their cart over the number five.

Dina could have kissed the boy right there, the only thing stopping her was the twenty year age difference, and the fact they were being pushed onto their chariot by a collection of Peacekeepers. "Thank you so much, Newton." She whispered to the boy when they were shoulder to shoulder. "If you need anything, you ask me. I've got your back."


Ezra- District Six Male

Ezra watched the other chariots leave the hall, eagerly anticipating his turn. It wasn't the excitement that fueled him, but rather the desperation to get it all over with. He wouldn't give the Capitol anything special, they didn't deserve it, he couldn't focus on attempting to win the citizens over or gain sponsors. All he could think about was all the patients he had left behind. No matter how much Ezra tried to convince himself that it wasn't his fault, he couldn't bring himself to let it go. He had failed them, they were at the weakest and trusted him to help them, and he had let them down.

His district partner wasn't helping the guilt. Every time he looked at her arm, he was reminded of all the things he could be doing at home, all the advancements he had to make but would never get the chance to. Ezra still felt ashamed at how he had acted when he first met Lya, the way he had gawped at her and reduced her to just the metal on her arm, not caring about her personality or what made her special. He could feel himself doing the same thing in his mind, as he watched her approach, and he forced himself to snap out of it.

"You look amazing, Lya, wow." Ezra smiled at the girl, already knowing her shy nature and trying to make her feel more comfortable in the presence of the host of tributes in the room. It wasn't the chariot rides Lya was afraid of, she was used to being in front of a crowd and showing off, but all the meaningless introductions and conversations with the other tributes and Capitol citizens put her on edge. Most people knew who her father was, knew most things about her, there really was no conversation to be had.

Straying from the usual outfits of Six, this year, the focus was on Lya's history. Her father was somewhat of a celebrity around here, he had fashioned most of the cars the Capitol drove, it was almost as if they were showing off that they had captured his daughter. And so, the pair were dressed as race car drivers, a tight red and white suit clung to their bodies, the only thing missing was a helmet, which their stylists had opted against.

Ezra felt impossibly out of place in his outfit, whilst Lya was used to it, the doctor was usually found in baggy coats and jeans, he had never worn anything like this before.

"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself." Lya's face blushed a shade of red, not used to being complimented on her appearance.

"Are you kidding? I look like a rejected Power Ranger." Ezra laughed, recalling the countless hours he had spent watching the show with her young daughter. He felt tears welling up in his eyes just thinking about Hannah, and her future, that he would miss every second of. "I look ridiculous." He shifted the attention back to the chariots, knowing that if he thought about his family for any longer, he wouldn't be able to keep the tears back.

Lya couldn't deny that the look probably wasn't for him, but she appreciated him going along with it nonetheless. "Come on, don't think about how awful you look, think about the big bottle of champagne at the end of it."


Florence- District Seven Female

"Hey Sellotape boy." Florence called, walking up behind Flynt. She had adopted that nickname for him last night, and although he had complained about it at first, Florence could tell Flynt appreciated it. It reminded them of home, geve them something to hold on to whilst everything else was ripped away. "Can you believe this is really happening? After tonight, we are officially tributes, it all feels so real now." not that it hadn't felt real before. Everytime Florence closed her eyes she heard her name being called, and the shrieks of her family. Everytime she stopped moving, even for a second, she felt the cold grip of the Peacekeepers gloves on her arm or the tears of her father brushing against her cheek as they hugged for the last time. Florence knew that the second she stepped on that Chariot, the Capitol owned her. She could have no sense of person anymore, she would be shaped and molded until she was exactly what they wanted, their precious little puppet. She knew no matter how hard she fought, there was no way she could stop it. Florence could feel her face drop at the reality of it all, that even though she knew there was never any way out of the games, they were real now.

Flynt could tell what the girl was thinking about almost instantly, the same thought had been crossing his mind, so he walked over, wrapping her up in his arms.

"This fucking sucks." Flynt spoke simply, pulling away from Florence, and straightening out her dress. The District Seven stylists had really branched out from trees this year, if you'll pardon the pun, and instead onto bushes. Florence wore a green dress, with a skirt resembling a tutu, joined with a flower crown. She felt like an idiot, but she couldn't possibly have looked worse than Flynt, whose green suit was covered in… leaves. It looked like an eight year old's art project, and Florence couldn't look at the man without laughing.

"Such a beautiful way with words, Flynt, wow. I think that's my favourite thing about you so far." Florence's sarcasm was met with a light (or rather very hard because he was a big man) punch to the arm, and she stumbled backwards, pretending to be hurt. "Also, if you're going to make out with me or something on the chariots, I would like to know now, because my parents are probably watching."

"You're a dick." He answered, climbing up on the chariot and holding out his hand to pull Florence up. "Completely ruined the surprise." He held his hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt. "But actually, what are we going to do out there?" For a second the mood turned somber, as the pair remembered just exactly why they were dressed like foliage.

"I don't know, just pretend like we're not scared and pray they throw roses instead of tomatoes?"


Doug- District Nine Male

Doug had managed to convince himself that he was going to fall off the chariot. He was sure no one had ever done it before, which was exactly why he was going to be the first. All night he had barely slept, imagining the hundred things that could go wrong, all of which he would probably manage to do. He wasn't built for dressing in fancy clothes and showing off, he was built for working, for manual labour, for spending all day getting dirty and sweaty and not caring what the hell he looked like. But here he was, being forced to plaster on a smile and act like he wanted to me here.

Everyone here already seemed to have someone, someone that they could trust or rely on or even talk to. The District Two and Eight pairs were set, they already knew each other, and a majority of the DIstrict Pairs had bonded well. Doug, however, was more the strong silent type. Lana was nice, but she was just that. She was too full on for him, Doug just wanted to watch things happen, while she wanted to make them happen. They were too different, there was no point trying to force it.

"If you keep up a frown like that, the Capitol will hate you." A girl stood a few metres away from Doug, with perfect posture. Every inch of her was the perfect tribute, she was calm and smiling and sure to capture the hearts and wallets of those ready to sponsor. "Salome, District Two. You looked lonely, I thought I would say hello." Doug accepted the hand she held out to him. District Two that explained it, of course she was prepared for the games. She looked too young to be a career, but that didn't mean that she wasn't trained. It would be nice to have someone like her on his side, whether or not he had the confidence to propose that was a different matter.

"Doug District Nine. I'm not exactly cut out for this if you couldn't tell." He laughed, nervously, kicking his feet in front of him, scuffing the brown shoes he wore. "I'm not used to being on show."

"They can smell nerves. That was what my mother always said about the Capitol. So just pretend you're okay, even if it's all bullshit." Almost as quickly as Salome was there, she was gone, boarding her chariot next to her father. Doug didn't feel any more comfortable about the whole thing, but regardless, he smiled and pretended like it was just any other day at the office.


Vivian- District Ten Female

She focused on the horses. They were her favourite thing back home, her family owned two of them, and right now, they were the only things that made sense. As long as she stood and stared at the horses, nothing bad could happen to her, everything would be okay. Vivian had been told time and time again what was happening, Ronin had made sure she knew what was going on every step of the way. Tonight, they were meeting the people that would watch her on TV. She was getting all dressed up, currently in a pink princess dress, to go on a parade. Vivian knew exactly what was going on, but none of it made any sense. Why was she on TV? Why were the people watching her and not joining in the parade? Why wasn't her other there to watch her and cheer her on?

"You okay there, sweetheart?" That wasn't Ronin's voice, she didn't know if she could trust this man, she needed Ronin to tell her if he was a good one. She searched for him everywhere, but she couldn't see him here yet. Slowly Vivian began to panic, worried that Ronin had left her just like her mother had. "I'm Luster, from District one." The man bent down beside her, despite his knees screaming at him not to. "I just wanted to tell you how pretty your dress is. Are you excited to go out there?"

Excitement hadn't even crossed Vivian's mind. She had been too focused on the nerves and trying to make sense of everything. But when she really thought about it, Vivian was kind of excited. It wasn't often that Vivian was able to get dressed up and feel pretty. She didn't have much need to at home, she seldom went anywhere that allowed for it. But here, the Capitol was giving the small girl a chance to feel pretty and so she should embrace it.

"I'm also scared." Vivian spoke, nodding her head. Luster reached out, placing his hand on the girl's elbow.

"We're all scared sweety, even me, and I'm old." He joked, standing up straight, as Hypatia signalled for him to return to their chariot. "But they're all so excited to see you, so give them a smile and a wave okay?"

As the man walked away. Vivian felt herself relax slightly. He was a good one too, and she smiled at the fact that she now had two people she could trust, hoping her mum would be proud of her.

"Hey, Viv!" Ronin walked over, dressed in a suit of identical colour to Vivian's dress. The stylists had moved away from dressing their tributes like cows, and they now resembled pigs, not exactly the most flattering imagery, but Vivian didn't seem to notice. "Are you ready to see the people?" He asked, lifting the girl up onto his hip and stepping aboard the chariot. He went to set her down beside him, but the girl clung on.

"Ronin, will you hold me?" She asked, resting her head against his shoulder. Vivian may have seen the excitement in it all now, but that didn't mean she wasn't utterly terrified about the whole situation.

"Of course, Vivian. I won't let you go."


D'ante- District Eleven Male

"You don't have to stick with me." D'ante sat on the edge of his chariot. "You know that, right? You're my district partner not my carer."

"No matter how many times you say that, my mind isn't going to change. I need you just as much as you need me." Aila nudged D'ante, as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

He felt so incredibly guilty. This hadn't been the plan at all. D'ante was supposed to have kept himself to himself, not getting involved with anyone, he wasn't going to be the tribute that let his alliance die because of his own weaknesses. But that hadn't happened, Aila had shown him so much kindness before he even got the chance to tell her no and of course he was thankful for it, but he knew in the long run, it wouldn't help either of them. And so he tried, he tried time and time to push her away and tell her to leave him. She was just too kind natured and ready to help, something D'ante knew would lead to be a curse, not only a blessing.

Aila let her head rest on his shoulder, steading her breath at the nerves of being on show in front of the Capitol, ready to be judged, like a cattle at market. It was sick, almost as sick as the games themself.

"We're going to wave, at the start, and then you're going to grab my hand and raise it in the air, okay? It'll get you some sympathy for looking after the old guy, taking one for the team and all that." D'ante had thought the plan out, doing everything he could to give the girl the benefit she so deserved. She was prepared to risk her chances of winning to help him, something he knew he could never repay.

"It's not taking one for the team, D'ante. You deserve to win this as much as anybody here, don't ever think otherwise, okay? Promise me when we get into it, you'll fight? Promise me you won't just give up and die. I can't cope with you dying on me."

"Oh honey," D'ante stood, following the other tributes, ready to board the chariot. "As long as you promise to do the same."

This was it, D'ante was finally going to see what the Capitol thought of the older tributes. He assumed they would have sympathy and shock, nothing had even been done like this in the Games. But equally, they could laugh, they could spit at him and get excited at the prospect of watching him be slaughtered. He wouldn't put that past the Capitol. Whatever happened, D'ante was just glad to have Aila by his side.


Jordan- District Twelve Male

"This is meant to be fun, okay?" The District Twelve escort Katniss cried, pulling at the cape around Jordan's shoulders, having no use at getting it to stay in position. She turned her attention to Lilac, who had remained mostly quiet, going along with almost everything the stylists had suggested. Apart from the heels, she would not give in to the heels. "So don't pull any of the shit you did last night." She hissed, moving closer to Jordan's ear. She was supposed to be treating the tributes with respect, they were precious cargo, but in all her years of working in the Hunger Games, she had never met anyone like Jordan, something she was becoming more and more thankful for.

The pair were dressed in a black leather suit, a cape painted with fire thrown across their shoulders. Lilac looked flawless, but Jordan could tell he looked like an idiot. The girl was almost taller than him, and the outfit was baggy around his shoulders, unlike the tight way it fitted her. He just had to get this over and done with, play along with this until he could get out and formulate his plan for the games, that was all that mattered.

"What, exactly, are we supposed to do out there?" Jordan gave in with struggling to get out of the whole engagement, it was a convention and one he sadly had to adhere to.

"Make them like you, get sponsors, become their favourite." Katniss answered, an answer she had rehearsed and provided every year. She was met by a blank look from Jordan. Being popular was never his thing, or something he had needed to do. In fact, his whole life had been built around being completely and utterly unknown, he was by himself, working for himself, and that had always been successful for him. That fact was becoming more and more apparent to Katniss, as it dawned on her that this was going to be a lot hard than she had previously thought. "Well, laugh? Smile? Wave? Just pretend like you're having a good time, okay? This is for your own good, not mine, so just try your best." She turned, walking over, praying that her tributes would pull through.

"You heard the woman." Jordan plastered a fake smile on his face and walked towards the Chariot, Lilac following close behind. "We smile. We laugh. We pretend like the people watching us aren't making bets on how long we'll survive." He tried to remember the parades from previous years, not that he had watched many, trying to recall exactly what the tributes did. He could take Lilac's hand, show solidarity, but that would look fake. Eventually he settled on a motion, a simple and easy one, but one he was sure hadn't been done before.


Lyric Chamberlain

This was always Chamberlain's favourite part of the games. You could only learn so much about a tribute from their Reaping. Here, you could see how they reacted to the Capitol, to the games, to being on show and to each other. He loved the tributes that blossomed in front of the eye of the Capitol, that loved the attention. But equally, Chamberlain also looked out for the nervous ones, the one that shied away and looked uncomfortable. It was fun to see how they would be in the games. Most of the time they died in the bloodbath, but occasionally, that was where they really shone, became confident and ruled. They were his favourite tributes, the ones he longed for every year, the ones he watched out for in the parades.

He spotted that tribute almost instantly, the District Nine girl. She was looking down at the floor, refusing to give in to the boos of Capitolites that echoed around her. Chamberlain could easily have written her off and dismiss her, but as he glanced down, he saw the way her hands balled into fists. This was it, this was his girl, the one that would provide the excitement in the games, the thrill. She looked like a killer, while a majority of the other tributes that had passed looked too timid to even consider it.

As Minister for the Hunger Games, he sat in his own box, apart from the crowd, a laptop pulled close against his lap. The Gamemakers were relying on him here, to provide ideas for the tributes, work out their personalities and feed it back to those in charge.

For a second though, all responsibilities of the game were forgotten, as he scanned the crowd, desperately looking for Clem. He had never trusted that man, Lyric was sure he never had what it took to be Head Gamemaker, and sadly, for Clem, it was becoming all too true. Mox had been feeding him information of Clem's ever growing conscience, and now it was too late to replace him,

The District Twelve pair rolled out, and Chamberlain hated him almost instantly. Jordan, the boy that had seemed so much like a promising tribute, but now posed a threat to the Capitol he wasn't sure he could handle. He became nervous at the prospects of this chariot, what surprise they had in store.

The man didn't have to wait long, as the boy lifted his hand, saluting the Capitol with his middle finger. That wasn't too bad, they could deal with that.

Chamberlain looked down at his laptop, frantically typing. What he missed, was Jordan slowly peeling off the cape around his shoulders, exposing the writing on the inside.

"Fuck the Capitol!" He cried, holding up his cape, with matching writing on it.

Lyric's head snapped back up, staring down the boy as his eyes filled with glee at the shock he caused the Capitol. For now he was winning, for now he was on top, but the Minister vowed to put an end to that soon.

Chamberlain's eyes were drawn away from the boy still on the chariot, and towards Clem. For a man whose life was on the line, he looked too happy, and Chamberlain's blood ran cold. His Head Gamemaker was smiling, smiling at the start of a rebellion. A rebellion that had the power to destroy the Capitol and all of the rebuilding they had done. He pulled out his phone, snapping a picture of Clem.

Lyric Chamberlain had heard all the warnings about Clem- about his developing morals and neglect of the games. He hadn't acted on them as of yet, knowing it would jeopardize the games, and they mean too much to him.

He didn't know whether they could have a Hunger Games without a Head Gamemaker, but it just might be time to find out.


Apparently, the Power Rangers exist in the Hunger Games universe, that's cool!

So this chapter is over 5000 words and the whole SYOT is over 50k, that's so wild to me, I never thought I would manage something like this, go me, and also go you for sticking with it and actually ready, it is much appreciated. I love you reader, hugs for you (but only fake ones because, you know, social distancing...).

I hope you enjoyed this little look into the Chariot Rides, and the experience of eight tributes. I know a couple of these are a little... bad I was just losing inspiration and wanted to get something up today, because I'll have little chance over the next few days. For this chapter, the interviews and the party chapters, I'm trying to do 500 word POV per character otherwise it will take forever, and then start/end it with a third party looking in. There was a bit of action here as well as character building, and I promise there will be more excitement in the coming updates, which I hope you are as excited as me for! This chapter title is another quote from the same movie as before, but is a little harder to guess, I think. It was really hard to find a fitting quote for this, so it's a bit lame,,, sorry.

As always, thank you so much for the love, and I hope you are all safe and well.

Until next time,

Alice xxx