Another fast update, i'm on a roll! Remember that I will be needing pairs in soon. Of course, you don't need to do it but it helps you have your say. I currently have three in at the moment and I will admit, there are some interesting pairs. Voting ends 5th June :)

Cerulean Westwood, 16

Capitol Station

The Capitol train pulled into the station with a clatter and clank. Although, it was hardly audible over the sound of the adoring crowd.

I peeked out through the thick, silver curtains and grimaced at the sea of colour outside. Even being from a textile District, I had never seen such rich and vibrant colour. Not just with their clothes but their skin, makeup, even the station's bricks were awash with every colour of the rainbow.

Their teeth, so white it was unnatural, shimmered in the early morning sunrise like they had been studded with diamonds. It was only on closer inspection I realized some of them did, in fact, have diamond studded chompers. Some also had gold, silver even teal, I didn't even know teeth were customizable.

Peacekeepers tried their best to hold the crowd back yet some of the more persistent ones were able to clamber upon shorter citizens and slam on the windows, cheering the name of our District. They didn't know our names.

I shouldn't have taken it to heart. Afterall, twenty-four hours ago, I was a nobody, even I couldn't learn Tribute names that fast. Yet, the thought that they were cheering on our death, they could have the decency to learn twenty-four names. Minus those who volunteered, out everyone, they deserved to be remembered the least.

I shivered at my own thoughts. That after only a night away from home as a Tribute, I was already gaining the mentality of me against them. It wasn't a bad thing to develop but still, they were still children like me. Brainwashed, deadly children but children nonetheless.

"It's amazing!" Mikeo exclaimed, popping up at the window beside me. He was older than me yet he seemed far less mature. Not in a negative sense but more in how he viewed the world. I saw the people outside as my killers, he saw them as a thing of wonder. "Oh, look!" he scoffed, pointing to a middle-aged woman dressed in what could only be described as ghastly clothing.

She looked like a baked potato, her plastic coat resembling on. On Top of her head, she had followed the same earthy pattern, like the unwashed, baked vegetable. I had enough of them back in eight to know the sickening colouration.

The poor woman didn't seem to pick up on the humor we found from her clothing, instead, she hopped up and down on the spot like an excited child, causing a stampede of colorful people to charge forward, also expecting to garner attention from Mikeo and I.

"Children!" a high pitch voice called, like nails on a chalkboard. "Spit spot, you are needed in the medical center-"

"Why?" I asked. I was training to be a nurse and as far as I could see, there were no health risks, none that would affect our performance during the Games. My Eight standards, we were the fittest they came.

Our escort, Marianna growled under her breath. "I don't know dear, but it happens every year, you will be fine." I turned my head away from the window for a moment, to catch Woof standing by the door. The pitiful look in his eyes told me they didn't do this every year. This was new and to him, as a mentor, it was concerning. "Now come on, otherwise you will be behind every other Tribute!" the way her voice went up on the final word made me wince. Yet, it was enough to pull me and Mikeo away from the window and shuffling towards the door.

As we stood in front of the door, Marianna maneuvered in her heels, far too high for her tall frame and stood to face us. "It will be busy out there, people will try and grab out, hug you, talk to you, ignore the reporters until after the chariots. If you get cornered by one, just state no comment to every Question, even if it is as simple as your name. Do that until a Peacekeepers comes to your aid, which should not be long. I have yet to lose a tribute to that mob outside and you two, well, you will not be my first. So hold hands-"

"I'm not holding his hand!" I shot back.

"It is only so we don't lose each other, it will honestly be until we get inside of the building, then you don't have to touch each other again if you please." I glanced over to Mikeo who gave a shrug before quickly holding out his hand. I was

Hesitate, not wanting to allude to anything between me and Mikeo that there wasn't. "Honestly child!" Marianna squeaked. I gave a sigh as I took it in mine, just as the doors opened.

The screams of the crowd seemed much more defining as the train door opened. In fact, it would be a task to pick them individually apart. All seemed to hold the same qualities, high pitch and annoying.

It left an agitating ringing in my ears as Woof and Cecilia pushed us towards the doors of the medical center. Each nudge on the back sent me tumbling forward, threatening to send me tumbling to the ground. However, Mikeo appeared to have more control over me than I did and kept my body upright. Marianna tugged on his arm violently, pulling him away from the scene as reporters and fans alike screamed questions at us. The probes into our lives ranged from our sexuality to family life and everything in between. Even previously happy Mieko was starting to seem agitated by their flood of questions as we finally entered through the heavily guarded door of the medical center.

Psyche Wells, 18

Capitol Medical Centre

My body was shaking by the time we made it to the medical center. Crowds had never bothered me before but the swarm of people at the station was suffocating. Even adrenaline drunky, Gary, looked rattled by the experience.

"Was there a more privet way to bring us in?" Gary growled, rubbing his arm nervously.

Cogs cast his eyes to the ground, his body still fairly shaky. "Maybe, most likely," he said through gritted teeth. Hex quickly moved next to him, her meatless hand being placed firmly on his shoulder.

"Those people pay Snow good money to get the first real life view of the Tributes-"

"You make us sound like cattle," Gary shot back with venom. Hex didn't reply, no one did. But the look in their eyes answered our question. Tributes were the name for human cattle.

Without saying a single word, our Escort and Mentors pressed forwards, although Cogs seemed to do it more by duty than choice. They lead us down a winding maze of hallways, the right side always guarded with a wall of Capitol branded Peacekeepers. The best of the best.

The only sound was our footsteps and Cogs' faint mummers whenever something changed, like a bend in the path or a Peacekeeper moving. It was very clear to me and Gary that he didn't handle tight spaces well. Considering none of us, even Glisten, our Escort who was about the size of Polybotes, could not stretch her arms out either side of us. That and the fact that each Peacekeeper held a large, black gun with pride. Well, Cogs was close to a breakdown. In fact, I had no doubt that if Hex wasn't there, we would have lost him at the door.

As we came to the end of our directed path, we came to two doors, about twenty feet apart. Both had a large, silver Six engraved onto the plane, pine. As we stood in wonder, the spotlights above the door giving off a menacing feel, Glisten turned to us with her wide, orange smile on her arms out wide.

"Well, this is goodbye, for now, I am afraid, but don't worry, I will see one of you after the chariot rides!" she almost sang. I thought about her words as mine and Garys respective mentor pulled us close. The pairs would be sharing Escorts, pairs we would be assigned to between now and the Parade. "Now, I wish you both luck and as always, may the odds be ever in your favor!" and with that, Glisten vanished from view, hurrying down the hallway she came. That left just four of us.

Hex gave a quick nod and a smile to Cogs before pulling me towards the right door, Gary being led to the right. The red-headed male mouthed me a final good-look as the doors swung open, blocking each other from view.

I turned to look inside the room, only to find a dark skinned woman with dark purple hair and blocked, black eyes. She smiled at me with her filled teeth as she wriggled her bony hands into a pair of surgical gloves.

The room was a blinding white, a stark contrast to the warm glow of the wooden hallway outside. Along the wall were various medical machines, none of which I knew but each one terrifying in its own right. In the center of the room was a single, metal framed bed that was like nothing I had seen before. The base looked more like a crane so it must have moved up and down. Attached to the bed was a large, circular light that at the moment was turned off.

As we moved to enter the room, the purpled haired woman gasped, shaking her hands wildly in front of her face. "No mentors!" she laughed. "You should have left with your Escort!" Gary must have experienced a similar experience as I could hear Cogs murmuring as he moved towards us. Hex didn't seem amused.

"As a mentor, it is my job to oversee my tributes experience at the Capitol-"

"Presidents orders!" a plump man with mint green hair bellowed, pulling a surgical mask over his face. A very different vibe from the usually chirpy Capitolite. Hex gave an understanding nod as she started to back out the room.

"Wait," is whispered, grabbing her arm tightly and pulling her close. "Please don't leave me." Her frustrated look became one of pity as she broke free from my grasp and backing fully out of the door.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she shut the door. "Good-luck." And with that, like a vacuum, the sound I had taken for granted, like the buzz of the lights vanished from the room. Every sound that did occur seemed amplified from the ticking of the intricate metal clock behind the doctor to the sound of everyone breathing.

"Take off your clothes dear and pass them to me," the dark-skinned women said with glee. I recoiled back, crossing my arms across the plain white dress I wore. The women must have seen the fear in my eyes as rather comically, she placed her hands over her mouth and shook her head. "Oh, don't worry," she said, sounding on the verge of tears. "We will give you some more clothing when you have been shaved-"

"Shaved?" My back was completely against the door now, my breathing audibly more panicked.

"Yep," the purpled haired woman grinned. "But don't worry, it always grows back!" The doctor only sighed at his assistant turning around and fiddling with some form an of the scanner.

"W-why do I need to be shaved?"

For the first time since I had entered the room, the doctor smiled, pulling down his surgical mask as he turned to me. "Well, we can't conduct the surgery with all of that on your head, can we?"

Ellie Nimrod, 18

Capitol Surgery Room

I was a mess by the time they had used the scanner to laser remove my hair, my think, dark hair. I watched with tear stained eyes as the remaining charred pieces started to cover my naked lower half. If you had asked me a few hours before if I was attached to my hair, I would have laughed, I used to cut it myself when I got bored. However, having it shaved completely off by the same people who wanted to see you die, it felt like some twisted form of control. Like they were taking away the last few things that made me who I was. I wasn't Ellie Nimrod anymore, I was whatever they wanted me to be.

I looked at the doctor's assistant with teary eyes he pulled away, supporting his head with the palm of his hand as he looked at his handy work. "Now," he said followed by a click of his tongue. "I think I have everything...Claudia?" His fellow assistant, who I assume was named Claudia, turned to him, her golden eyes scanning my head. With a wave of her hand, the man asked me to turn around, I could do nothing but comply. After a few seconds of looking over her colleagues work, I was allowed to sit back around.

"It looks very good, ready for the next stage. I will get Doctor Ninx," she chuckled before quickly exiting the room.

I looked back to the man, a large smile on his face. "Well, you can get dressed, we made sure they were warm for you!" he paced across the room, picking up a thin stack of clothes and walking back over to me. He placed them tenderly beside me and looked back at my naked form with a polite smile. After a few moments of not moving, the dim bulb seem to come to a startling revelation. "Oh, would you like me to leave?" I offered a weak, teary smile and a nod and to his respect, the man quickly left, apologizing as he went.

I sat still for a further minute, looking at the clothes placed before me. The fabric was indeed warm but the fabric seemed designed to cool the body, in fact, the style was made to keep you cool. tight-fittingng vest top with equally as tight fitting booty shorts. Both grey and bland as possible. My mentor mentioned something about the Capitol making me a blank canvas for my Stylist. My hair, my style, all of it was just another step in sucking any outside trace of my personality away. No doubt if I was to win, there wouldn't be much of my current personality left in any capacity. Every victor seemed to be a shell, a pretty shell with hardly anything inside. The worst thing was the sense of being trapped. That there was no way I could break free and stop what they were doing to me.

As if they had been watching me, the moment I pulled the vest top over my body, Doctor Ninx and his assistants hurried into the room like they were running out of time. Claudia hurried over to my pushing me back onto the bed while her assistant pulled my right arm towards him. With little effort I tugged causing Claudia to clamber onto the bed behind me, gripping my shoulder. She became tighter every time I tried to pull away.

"Calm," the male sighed, his skinny frame and illusion to how strong he really was. "This will only hurt for a second-"

"Hurt?" I whimpered, the grip Claudia had on me becoming tighter.

The male hushed me. My eyes widened with fear when Doctor Ninx turned around, a small pinky sized syringe in his hand. As he moved, the blue liquid violently swished around the container. I tried to pull away but the pair of assistants held me in such a way that it was almost impossible to break free.

"Don't worry, it is like a small prick, then you will go to sleep for a small amount of time-"

"Fuck off!" I growled, violently turning my body away from them, only to be yanked back into place and pinned down with even more force. A few moments of my hand being still was all they needed to place the needle into a vain in my hand and pump the blue liquid into my bloodstream.

Oddly enough, it wasn't the needle that hurt as much as the liquid racing through my body. It was like a cold, sharp pain shot up my arm. I let out a scream as it moved up my neck and although I swung my fist at Doctor Ninx, breaking free from Claudia's grasp, my body shut down before it had even made it to his face.

When I woke up, Doctor Ninx was gone, only a grinning Claudia and the green haired man where left. They watched as I started to wake up. Slowly, my legs and arms waking up with my brain. By the time I had sat up, the pair were waiting with a hand full of gifts.

In Claudia's hands was a whiskey sized glass of water and in his colleague's hand was a basket full of plain bread.

"You have to drink some water, eat and pass urine before you can leave," As they spoke, my hand raced towards my head where I was able, to my surprise, to feel a head full of hair, down to my shoulders. "Oh yes, we told you the hair would grow back didn't we!" as with seemingly everything in the Capitol, the happiness was short lived. As my shaking fingers moved across my scalp, I started to feel something cold and metallic. The object covered the front my head, finger width, across my forehead and joining either side of my head, just above the ears with a round metal plate.

"W-what did you do to me?" I whimpered, my stomach turning with a sick feeling.

Claudia smiled, turning to her partner then back to me. "You look beautiful!"

"You are officially a Tribute of the 75th Hunger Games sweetie, congratulations!"

Now, I am not going to say what the metal band is just yet (that comes next chapter) but I will give you some more information.

The Tributes where out for about four days. Using Capitol technology during that time they grew their hair back and healed the surgical wounds. Every Tribute now has hair down to their shoulders. After this factor, they were given two days to come to terms with everything. Next chapter will take place two days down the line. They also had a weight check up before the whole head shaving.

Question: What do you think the metal band is for?