A/N: Hello Everyone! Sorry for the wait and thank you for your patience! I had been without my beloved wifi, but we are up an running again so here is Chapter 8. Thanks again to everyone and I hope you Enjoy!

CHAPTER 8

The waiting room was large and opulent, like most things in the Capitol, however the people in the room were anything but cohesive in the room's style. She saw an array of people and personalities milling about the room, some with the staple colorful clothes and hair, but the others were more muted and less obnoxious looking, they were Victors, she realized, they were waiting for their tributes too.

Darya looked around for Finnick, Ron, or Pumpernickel, she was much easier to find, her bright wig easier to spot amongst the more subtle colors surrounding her. She was sitting with another purple-haired escort, who on closer inspection Darya realized was a man with very effeminate features and not a woman as she had first thought. Sitting next to them was a well-muscled man with, albeit a bored look, a kind face, but next to him sat a woman Darya's age, one who she recognized immediately, the winner of last year's games, Johanna Mason. She looked miserable, and as if she hadn't slept well in days, a scowl permanently placed on her face and her arms crossed firmly over her body, as if willing her arms to not latch on to the nearest Capitolian and strangle them to death. Darya felt a fleeting sick pleasure at the thought and felt disgusted with herself, but a quick flash of Fen's smiling face and Annie's carefree laugh, not to mention what they did to Finnick, and her guilt was greatly assuaged. As she stepped closer, she realized that Finnick and Ron were seated diagonally across from Johanna and the kind-faced man but had previously been out of view because of an escorts ridiculously large hat.

"Darya, darling, done already, well I'm not surprised one bit, you were practically perfect already!" Pumpernickel declared loudly.

Pumpernickel was the first to notice her, jumping up from her seat and announcing her presence to the whole room, Darya never felt so mortified and tried desperately not blush. Darya was known for her patience but Pumpernickel was definitely testing hers and despite herself she wanted nothing more than to tell her to shut up and maybe throw her shoe at her head or something, but she didn't. Instead she gave her what she hoped was a convincing smile, but one that she knew was probably at best strained, before reaching the group.

"Hello." Darya said quietly.

"Oh, she is too precious, and such nice skin," The purple-haired man said, his smile artificial looking, and his tone almost passive aggressive as he perused Darya like if he were window shopping, " you were right Pumpernickel, she is very appealing to look at, a worthy contender, but can she fight, you know my two tributes are just vicious with an axe."

"She's, from a career district, Bartholomew," Pumpernickel scoffed, her tone condescending, "of course she can fight, and just wait until you see Gillian."

Darya was uncomfortable with the whole situation, most of the room's attention was on her, thanks to Pumpernickel's loud introduction, and the back and forth sniping of her Escort and she assumed District 7's, was not quenching the mutterings and interested looks sent her way. Luckily, it seemed, she wasn't the only one who looked uncomfortable, Ron looked more than annoyed and just slightly wary and Finnick looked almost murderously infuriated at Pumpernickel. She chanced a look at the kind man and Johanna, the former looked exasperated and weary but the latter looked almost gleeful at the spectacle, if her snickering were any indication.

Darya figured if it were happening to anybody else she might laugh too, at the absurdity and redundancy of it, but as it was pertaining to her and her insipid Escort had basically announced she should be a target to a room full of career districts, she wasn't in a very laughing mood. Exhausted and with very little patience left, Darya sighed and decided she should sit down, as it seemed that her Escort would not be making proper introductions. Making her way to Ron and Finnick and ignoring the stares being sent her way, Darya was determined to keep her sanity for as long as possible, her patience, however, was thinning precariously.

"Move," Darya commanded shortly, Finnick and Ron both scooting and making room for her, "how much trouble do you think I'll be in, if I throw my shoe at her head."

She heard Johanna cackle in front of her and Finnick and Ron snort.

"I think at this point, you can get away with anything Princess," Ron said, "in fact you'd probably be proving your "fighting" prowess, and they'd just go at it again."

"We could always blame it on Johanna," the kind-eyed man joined in, "she does have a history of throwing things at people's heads."

"Hey, they deserved it," Johanna scoffed, a small smile still on her face, "and you can't say it wasn't funny, the smacking sound alone was enough to get me through the stupid tour."

"Regardless of the hilarity, I think for now it's best to keep your shoes on Dar," Finnick said amused, "this is Blight and Johanna by the way, they're from District 7, mentors."

"Well, you're gorgeous, sponsors will be a breeze for you." Johanna said by way of greeting.

"It's nice to meet you Darya," Blight added kindly, shaking his head at his partner's antics, "don't mind Johanna, she has no filter between her mouth and her head."

"Isn't that the truth," Ron muttered next to her under his breath to which she scolded him for it by way of her elbow on his arm.

"Be nice." Darya said quietly from the corner of her mouth.

"Yeah, be nice Stafford." Johanna said sarcastically, her eyes narrowing at Ron, she had clearly heard them.

Ron scoffed and rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else, sitting back on the couch he looked away and scowled.

Clearing her throat, Darya decided to engage them back into pleasant conversation, she had never been to District 7, but she knew, like most, that they were in charge of lumber. District 7 and District 4 were close to each other, each side always barely making each other out in the distance, especially when they were in the water. Darya, like most others, had always been tempted to swim out and get closer, just to see the tree forests, but she had never done it, in fear of the repercussions. It was not allowed to visit other districts.

"Is it true that the trees are so big in 7 that they block off the light?" Darya asked curiously.

Blight and Johanna looked at Darya, both of them seeming to relax their shoulders just a little at the question, Johanna even offered up a softer smile before Blight answered.

"Yes, the canopy, that is, the leaves on top are so many that there is barely any light that comes through at times, it means the area has been untouched and the trees have grown freely." Blight said smiling.

"It smells amazing." Johanna added quietly, almost reminiscing, "like home."

"What does it smell like?" Darya questioned.

"Like Pine, mostly, but also earthy, warm and crisp," Blight described, "the Pine trees, the leaves are needle like and a very vibrant green, and they smell fresh and cool, kind of like mint."

"It sounds beautiful," Darya said sincerely

"It is," Finnick said looking at her, "you would love it Dar, and I bet you'd be able to bottle it in one go."

Darya smiled at him, he knew her so well, that was her first thought as soon as Johanna had mentioned the smell, and after Blight's description, Darya had her heart set on experiencing and replicating the smell.

"Bottle it?" Johanna asked confused.

"Perfume," Finnick answered, "Dar likes to make cologne and perfume, there hasn't been a scent she hasn't been able to replicate, she's really good at it."

"You're exaggerating Fin, it's just a pastime I enjoy," Darya said humbly, "I'm not an expert or anything, I just do it for fun."

"I'm not exaggerating Dar, it's true." Finnick said matter-of-factly, causing Darya to smile and roll her eyes affectionately.

"Somehow I get the feeling he's right," Blight added, "when it comes to you Darya, I don't think Finnick was exaggerating."

Darya didn't know what to say to that, she supposed she ought to feel flattered maybe, but she had a feeling Blight wasn't referring to her scent making skills, before she could ask him to elaborate, Johanna cut in.

"All right, we'll meet again soon, it looks like our team is done for the day," Johanna said, "see ya, Finnick, Darya, Stafford."

"Goodbye," Blight said, "It was nice to meet you Darya."

"Bye." Darya said quietly.

It wasn't long after, that Gillian rejoined the party and they were finally able to leave the waiting room and head to their rooms.

Darya was excited to have the time to sleep and rest for longer than a couple of hours, she was already exhausted and wished for nothing more than to lay her head on a pillow and be dead to the world. Unfortunately, as soon as they stepped into the space, she saw two mannequins decked out in beautiful and sparkling matching outfits sitting in the center of the living room.

"Ahh, lovely, Tenebris and Auerlius have outdone themselves," Pumpernickel exclaimed cheerfully, "we can do the fittings now and have some extra time for ourselves tomorrow!"

Clapping her hands twice, Pumpernickel summoned two young people dressed in white tunics, Avoxes, and Pumpernickel ordered them to bring partitions, to give Gillian and Darya some semblance of privacy. When that was done Pumpernickel forced both Darya and Gillian to try on their outfits.

If Darya had been described as a mermaid before, she definitely looked the part now. The dress was very form fitting, almost like a second skin, the material felt very thin and light and when the light hit it the whole garment sparkled like the sunlight hitting the sea. The bottom of the dress, the only part that flared out, was just slightly too long and would definitely have to be taken in a bit more, but other than that it fit Darya like a glove.

Though Darya was not one to wear very tight-fitting dresses, she thought herself lucky that Tenebris at least had the thought to make the otherwise heavy looking outfit lightweight and comfortable to wear. She was also glad; she wasn't made to step out and show the rest of the team the dress. Pumpernickel took note of all the slight adjustments on their outfits and then helped Darya get undressed.

"Any specific alterations you would like, dear," Pumpernickel asked, "we could make it shorter, let you show off a little leg."

"No!" Darya answered firmly before remembering herself, "that is, it won't be necessary, it's lovely just the way it is, but thank you Pumpernickel, maybe for the interviews."

Pumpernickel smiled, pleased at her suggestion and with a pat to her head left her to get dressed.

When Darya finally stepped out, she saw that Ron and Finnick had gone, Gillian was sitting on the couch and Pumpernickel was flittering about the room trying to organize dinner or something.

Sighing, she sat on the couch too and offered a small smile to Gillian in greeting, who returned it tiredly. It seemed the day was taking its toll on him too, she expected it had been hard on everyone, but only Gillian and her had their days counted, she figured he didn't want to spend the last of them trying on clothes either.

"Want to watch some games, then?" Gillian asked half-heartedly.

"Sure." Darya answered.

Gillian stood up and grabbed a remote, fiddling with it for a while, he finally got a game going, this one being one she hadn't seen before, it was an older one. It took Darya a minute to realize why Gillian had chosen it, until she saw a young curly haired girl carving out a hook, it was Mags, it was Mag's games. At the reminder of the older woman, Darya touched her hand to her chest, where she could feel the shuttle touching her skin. She had forgotten, briefly, but a lapse in memory nonetheless, that Mags had given her an advantage, one that made her more likely to win, to come home. And she would, watching a young Mags on screen fighting for her life asserted that for Darya, she would fight too, as ruthlessly as she could to go home too.

Still she couldn't help but be nervous about tomorrow, tomorrow would make everything just that more real. She would be able to see all the other tributes, all of them together for the first time, all the other people that had to die if she were to survive, all the other people that she would have to kill.


Well there you go! Things are starting to get darker and just a little bit more more intricate. Hope you lot enjoyed, things will start to pick up soon and before you know it, you'll be in the arena. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think, also feel free to share some ideas about the type of arena you would like to see. Till next time folks!