Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update, but Christmas and skiing and figuring out what each tribute would be wearing took time. I had to go through every submission to find what each tribute would wear, and some people left theirs blank. Others put too little detail, or too much detail. That meant I had to be creative, and had to make sure the outfits reflect the district's industry. It was tiring. Thank you guys so much for reading!
Colia Peridon
The Capitol
Tonight was the chariot rides. Daddy works with President Snow, who is, like, the best president ever, so my friends and I get front-row seats. We also got to be backstage before it started, watching the tributes talk to one-another. Which means we get to see the alliances that are forming, and the conversations they have!
Luster, who is wearing wearing a silver, silk dress that slowly turns gold, and that went down past her ankles, with a white fur shrug, shimmering gloss accented her full lips, while her hair was pushed to one side, with glittering gold 6-inch stilettos and a silver headband, is talking to Coralie, who is wearing a ocean blue gown that turns into a lighter, sky blue as it flows down with a train that hangs down gracefully behind her and that drapes over her shoulders and crossed once in the back around her body, leaving two open side panels of skin and a open back. On the back and cut outs of her dress, there are pieces of blue and green sea glass that cover the openings, with a light blue lace netting overlay. Her hair is up and in a curly updo, with her makeup consisting of mascara, a natural smokey eye and a nude pink lip.
My eyes wander over to Primrose, who is absolutely adorable in her black getup. She is talking to Tessa, who is wearing a dress made from a blend of silk, cotton, polyester, lace overlay, all of the textiles are blue, with the lace overlay a lighter, white-blue. The mentors from 1, 2, and 4 are huddled together, obviously discussing alliances. Katniss and Peeta are talking to Johanna, from 7, and Haymitch is deep in conversation with Chaff and Seeder. Luster and Coralie walk up to Tessa and Prim, who look nervous.
Courtney, wearing gold armor that was shaped like a dress, with cutouts on both sides, while her hair was left flowing down her back, is talking to Jacob, and Cruise. they seem to be talking about their mentors, and how they can't trust Hale. The guy in question, Hale, is wearing a silver, silk top and pants, with a white fur vest, and over by the District 1 chariot, talking to Gaius, who I know is his uncle, while Jacob dons gold armor and Cruise has on a deep blue netting that wraps around his waist over a seaweed-like fabric, with no top. He has a pair of blue armbands that twist up his arms, like the waves of a ocean.
Akina, Grayson, Lyla, Alder, and Anato are talking, seemingly about the ways they could either ally with the Careers or kill them in the arena, and who is on the Careers' hit list. Akina's stylist dressed her in a dress that looked like it was made of light up Tetris pieces, with a high ponytail holding her hair back. Her makeup consisted of a white, shimmery eyeshadow and pink lip gloss. She wore a pair of kitten heels that were covered in bright white LED lights, while Grayson got a jumpsuit covered in bright, flashing lights. Lyla got a silver, fitted dress covered in crescent moon designs, while Alder is wearing a black shirt and pants, with bits of wire, generating small sparks. Anato has a blue cape made from a range of textiles, with a simple blue shirt and pants underneath.
I eavesdrop on Kamber and Omri's conversation. They are talking about their costumes. I look at the outfits in question; Kamber is dressed as a cow, while Omri is dressed as a bull. I can barely contain my laughter.
"The Careers and fire girl's sister look deadly, but what do I get to wear? A cow! Of all the things, it's a stinking cow." Kamber cries, clearly not happy with her outfit.
"Well, at least mine isn't that furry." Omri replies jokingly.
"Ugh," Kamber stomps away.
"Wait, you have a tail too?" he adds. "That..that's hilarious." I can't help but giggle myself.
Looking around, I see Grace and Greco Hix, dressed as train tracks, talking to Ash, dressed in a white and red plaid shirt, brown pants, and a fake axe, and Ean, who gets to wear a gold jumpsuit with grain designs, a wheat hat, and brown boots, while Rosemary, wearing a golden dress with grain designs, amber makeup, a amber headband, and amber-colored flats, hangs out with Spectra, donning a dress that starts brown, and becomes a deep green at the waist that flows to her knees, and Bellya, wearing a short olive dress, a laurel necklace, and laurel bracelets.
Kamber is now trying to talk strategy to Rye, who is wearing an olive shirt, brown pants, and a laurel wreath on his head and staring fixedly at her curves. I look away.
Dad comes up behind me. "Honey, we should get to our seats now," I follow him, and my friends join me.
"Did you hear what Luster said to Prim?" Claire asks. "She said 'Why don't we become allies?'" My jaw dropped.
"But the Careers never ally with anyone outside of the Career pack, generally, especially 12." Katarina mutters.
"I heard the mentors from 1, 2, and 4 discussing aligning together and with 12," Sophia adds.
"Wow," I say. "If the Careers align with Prim and Aaron, that could mean… I don't know what that could mean."
"You shouldn't. It makes for better television if we don't know what will happen. Now shush," Alyss, my bff, said. "It's starting." We all stopped our conversations and turned our attention to the tributes. I already saw all of them, but the chariot rides make their outfits look cooler. I still barely pay attention.
District 1 looked as amazing as always, with Luster in a beautiful dress, and Hale in a silk shirt and pair of pants. I already saw all of the tributes' outfits, so I simply enjoy myself and let my eyes wander.
District 2 looked absolutely breathtaking. Courtney had gold armor that was shaped like a dress, which I thought was pretty cool, because it was actual armor. Jacob wore full gold armor, as if he was going to run to the Cornucopia like this and take down the rest of the tributes with ease.
District 3 looked….interesting. Akina had a dress that looked like it was made of light up Tetris pieces. Grayson had a jumpsuit made of bright, flashing LED lights. Okay...
District 4… what a designer they got this year. Coralie wore a ocean blue gown that turns into a lighter, sky blue as it flows down with a train that hangs down gracefully behind her and that drapes over her shoulders and crossed once in the back around her body, leaving two open side panels of skin and a open back. On the back and cut outs of her dress, there are pieces of blue and green sea glass that cover the openings, making everything look gorgeous under the lights, with a light blue lace netting overlay. Cruise is wearing a deep blue netting that wraps around his waist over a seaweed-like fabric, with no top. He has a pair of blue armbands that twist up his arms, like the waves of a ocean. I think the rest of the stylists will have a hard time following Districts 1, 2, and 4.
I lose interest and check my phone. I pull up the odds for each tribute. The Careers all have pretty good odds. The outlying districts have worse odds, especially Akina. She looks like she could barely lift a weapon, let alone use it, and she seems to be, well, unable to take care of herself in a arena. Continuing to stare down at my phone, I check the estimated training scores, and the sponsors for each tribute. Dad told me that I could give a tribute up to $3000 in sponsor money. I think about it, and split it. $500 goes to Luster, $500 goes to Courtney, $500 goes to Coralie, $500 goes to Prim, and I save the last $1000 to give to another tribute when they need it.
I look up in time to see district 11 go by, dressed in olive-colored clothing and wearing laurels.
Prim and Aaron are next. I gasp. Their outfits are amazing. Both of them are wearing black suits, like last year, and they are on fire, like last year, but Prim's fire is lit with soft, blue and yellow flickering light, candlelight, while Aaron's is lit with raging orange, red, and blue, a bonfire.
"And this year, from district 12, we have the girl who glowed and the boy who burned. Aaron Mellark and Primrose Everdeen," Caesar announces. He is right.
All the chariots are in front of Snow, and he begins his speech. I tune him out. Boring. President Snow is awesome, but his speech every year? Everybody practically knows it by heart. The tributes' chariots turn around and leave the Avenue of Tributes.
"Well come on, guys," Sophia cries. "Let's go eavesdrop on the tributes." We all head backstage with my father. The tributes are talking. Courtney, Luster, Coralie, Jacob, Hale, and Cruise converge on Prim and Peeta. The mentors of 1, 2, and 4 are talking to Katniss and Haymitch, while Aaron is deep in conversation with Omri, from 10.
Dad hurries us back home, and all my friends sleep over. Saturday night is the night the training scores are revealed, and the night after that, the interviews. Then the games start. This is going to be so much fun!
Author's Note: Yes, this is a very short and corny chapter. I wanted to do the chariot rides in just one chapter, so I did it like this. It was hard figuring out how to write in a capitolite's POV, and I didn't even bother trying to figure out the mechanics behind her overhearing the tributes' conversations, or why she should be allowed back there. Sorry about that. FYI, I had to change some outfits to A. correspond or relate, and B. reflect the district's industry. Also, I described them all while they were backstage, and I didn't go into a ton of detail for some of them, but for others I got too much detail. Some questions:
1. Whose outfit did you like the most? The least? Why?
2. Do you want me to continue using this POV for certain parts?
3. Did you like the hints I dropped(Careers allying with 12, tributes from 10 don't get along, guy from 11 likes girl from 10)?
Thank you guys so much for reading!