Despite having only two hours of sleep, Synavius Chuttargia enters the stage as gracefully as he can be. He has crimson red eyes and curly green hair. The top sides of his face shine in a golden yellow. His attire is all cream, from his collared shirt to his slacks, and even his boots! However, like usual, he has his favorite cotton green hoodie on over his cream-colored clothing. He wears green gloves to match his sleeves, but his signature piece of clothing is his huge green and yellow cape, which he wears over his hoodie. He wears it majestically like a royal robe. It is yellow on top, and the yellow goes to the end on one thin but evident line at the center. The rest of the cape is green. At the end of the cape is a leaf-shaped 'tail' attached to it, also in the color green.
He taps the microphone carefully. "Hello District Nine…" he trails off awkwardly. "My name is Navi, and I am your new escort this year…" He scratches his head. "Ummm… I hope y'all don't die on me, even though I expect otherwise. It's my first year, and my fellow escorts told me about it so… Here, let me show you a video."
A video about the history of Panem is presented to the whole district. It discusses the war from decades ago, followed by former presidents doing their best to unify the country, until they finally succeeded. As a tradition, while also serving as a symbol of unity, fourteen districts and the Capitol must offer one boy and one girl, both within the age range of twelve to eighteen, to compete in a virtual national event until one is left standing.
"Per the rules of participating in the Hunger Games, I shall pick a name from the girls' bowl and a name from the boys' bowl. Without further ado, let's pick from the girls' bowl."
Among the many pink slips and the few yellow slips in the bowl, Navi picks out a pink one. He unrolls it and reads the name aloud.
"Raenu Pyrite, please come to the stage."
A girl with a heart-shaped face from the seventeen-year-old section looks slightly miffed at her name being called. She has almond-shaped blue eyes, golden skin, and a long wavy blonde-brown ombre like waves of grain for her hair. She is short for her age, at 5'2". She makes it to the stage with her plain tan shirt and jeans. She does her best to hold back strong emotions, to not look weak, while smiling and waving regally.
"Now, the boys' bowl."
Among the many blue slips mixed with a few yellow slips, Navi picks out a blue one, unrolling it first before announcing the name on it.
"Flash Meadow, please come to the stage."
Although the boy with light colored skin with a relatively slender build is surprised with being picked, he accepts his fate and takes it in his stride. There's a cheeky look to his brown eyes, and he has a mid-length black hair that is normally messy but styled for the day. He is 5'6" and has an evident jawline. Onstage with his gray-blue button-up and jeans, he shows the crowd that he is determined to come back.
"Is there anything you two would like to say?" Navi sighs softly.
Flash pulls the mic closer to his mouth. "Trust me, we're gonna grain a victor from this." It earns a few chuckles from the crowd, and he does this in hopes of alleviating the tension and looking less afraid of the situation he's in.
Navi groans. "Thank you for that, Mister Meadow. District Nine, our tributes for the 19th Annual Hunger Games!" Navi raises both of their hands up, before turning his back from the audience and speaking to the two softly, "Now go and shake hands, please."
Flash tries to stay confident with a smile, while Raenu also maintains her professional smile. When the ceremony is over, the two are led to individual rooms in the Justice Building.
After the goodbyes, Navi walks closely behind Rae and her district partner as they are led together into the train.
"Okay, do you want to be mentored together, or separately?" Navi adjusts his cape.
"Separately," says Rae abruptly.
"Well then, separate it is." Navi lifts a finger up, then he points to the next train car. "We'll take that one. Flash, we can talk later."
"Alright," Flash responds.
Navi and Rae take this time to discuss her skillset. Navi suggests that she can use her shortness to her advantage. That strategy makes her uncomfortable, so she shall take it with a grain of salt. Other than that, since she works on the fields, she has more endurance than people like Navi, who never spent a day on the fields.
When it is time for lunch, the whole district team sits together. They watch the recaps, and a few tributes stand out. Rae and her partner, not so much, unless they count him trying to make a terrible pun.
After lunch, it's now Flash's turn to be mentored by Navi. Rae looks outside the window to see the world outside District Nine. She finds peace in it, and a sense of adventure too. There's much more in Panem that she hasn't seen, having never left District Nine her whole life. Now, this is her chance to see more of what this country has.
Time must have passed too quickly though, as the District Nine train arrives in the Capitol. A group of three stylists, who form a prep team, escort Rae into her room, with a separate team escorting Flash to his.
The prep team cleans her up, which includes waxing off any body hair she didn't mind keeping. It is all done without her consent, but she doesn't mind all the pain before getting thrown into a tub to be scrubbed off even more.
When that's done, she meets her stylist, who gives her a golden dress with a flower crown made from wheat.
"You still have time, but be ready for the dinner party."
"We have a dinner party?" Rae didn't know there was even one!
"Yeah, the banquet, where you get to meet your fellow tributes, potential sponsors, and fans."
"Oh…" Rae likes parties. Hopefully she enjoys this one.
"Please welcome… District Nine!"
The crowd cheers as Flash and Raenu enter the ballroom. Both of them put up a smile on each of their faces, as they are led to their seats on the long table, but are told not to take their seats yet. Rae is seated across her district partner and between the girls from Eight and Ten, the latter of which arrives just seconds after her. When the pair from District Thirteen reaches their seats, the president gives a speech and welcome message, before everyone is allowed to take their seat. Dinner is served immediately after.
For the most part, Rae eats her dinner quietly. When the dinner part of the banquet is over, she gets to move around freely and talk to fellow tributes.
That is, until she gets called by photographers and potential sponsors, so now she gets to interact with non-tributes as well. She's having a good time here. It makes her feel like a queen, and just as the opportunity arises, she takes out her token – a woven gold-painted crown. She puts it over her head, in which her wheat crown is still visible. People take pictures with her every now and then, and with this crown on her head, she feels unstoppable, like a queen dominating a chessboard.
