The Tribute Parade:

Once we are off the train we are led into a massive building shaped like a hexagon. The first sector of the building is called the remake centre. The remake centre is where the tributes go to have themselves transformed into something that meets the Capitols standards of beauty. I remember in previous years, I wouldn't even recognize some of the tributes from reaping day because they had been so totally destroyed by stylists who looked as though they thought they were decorating wedding cakes rather than people. Once inside Cato and I are led into two separate rooms. In my room I am greeted by what I am told are to be my prep team. One man is skinny and tall. He has dyed his skin a sickly shade of green for some bizarre reason and his jet black hair has been piled on top of his head like an ice cream swirl. He tells me his name is Bale. Next to Bale there is a short, overweight woman who is decorated in interesting baubles that are coloured pink and yellow. Her name is Tinsley. Stupid name for a stupid looking woman I think. On the other side of Bale there is another woman named Shea. The combination of her dark skin and bright orange outfit causes her to sort of resemble a Jaffa. Tinsley bounces forward and screeches is an irritatingly high voice how pleased she is to meet me. She thrusts her hand in my face obviously meaning for me to shake it. Not at all in the mood I snarl at her "get that thing out of my face before I chop it off". Tinsley gasps and takes a step backwards. I can tell Bale and Shea were already keeping their distance. They obviously know of district 2s reputation. This pink and yellow ball however seems to be entirely incompetent or else just plain stupid as she attempts to grab my arm and pull me over to the table. "She's new" Shea apologises to me. "Let's just get this over with before I use her as a live target practice for my throwing knives" I sneer to Bale and Shea.

Once I'm on the table they prepare what I can tell is a hot wax used to remove hair. "I don't have much hair on my body" I tell them quickly. Back home I shave regularly with razor blades I steal from the medical ward of the academy. "I'm an athlete so if my body is hairless it creates less friction when I'm running and makes me go faster" I explain. I tried to teach Thea how to shave with a razor blade once. Sure it's nothing like those fancy shavers they use here in the Capitol, but it's still not that hard to use. Thea acts as if it's a poisonous snake every time and refuses to touch it. For someone who loves knives she sure is scared of razor blades, but we all have things we can't handle, for me its rats. Once you've been locked in a drain as punishment by Craven with nothing but rats to keep you company and gnaw at you all night it's understandable. I know Craven has a passion for razors and maybe that's why Thea detests them. "Well that's a pleasant surprise exclaims Tinsley; it really cuts our job in half". "We can just get onto your hair and make-up then" says Bale. Suddenly I can hear screams coming from the other room. Some are Cato and some are scared capitol citizens obviously trying to get out of his way. As far as I can tell they are trying to wax him. It's funny how someone who can endure 7 hours of strait torture at the hands of Craven can't handle a little hair removal.

For two hours I lie there while they work on my hair and make-up. It would have been quicker had Tinsley not been pretending that my hair was full of tracker jackers that were going to jump out and sting her. "You really are quite beautiful says Bale; the combination of your features are somewhat of a rarity you know? Very few people with hair as dark as yours have such pale blue eyes and such pale skin". He must think I'm going to slice him if he criticizes my looks so he's sucking up and complimenting me instead. I don't like compliments very much. I never believe people anyway when they say nice things about me but since his opinion means nothing to me I shrug it off. I turn to the mirror instead and think I look twice as terrifying as I looked when I came in. That's good though because I would have had to kill them had they made me look frilly and girly like some prissy district 1 tribute. District 1s specialty is luxury so their tributes are always dressed in something over the top and "glamorous". My eyes are rimmed with thick black, my normally dead strait hair is hanging loosely in glossy curls almost down to my waist and my lips are painted in a shocking shade of blood red. My eyes in particular look so haunting they startle me. People have always told me that my unusually coloured eyes are ghost like or demon like, but with the thick black around them they look almost inhuman. "Are you going to remove my scars? I thought you capitol people like your tributes smooth and shiny" I say not particularly wanting to part with them but curious to see what I would look like without them. "Oh but darling, the scars make you look all the more frightening and that's the exact look we are going for" says Bale. They leave me to mull over my new look while they go and get my stylist. She is some woman whose name is Eloise who I have seen on the TV before. She has been a district 2 stylist for years.

Eloise is relatively friendly but keeps her distance just like the others. We don't talk much as she fits me into my costume. It's a gold gladiator type outfit with a matching headdress of gold olive leaves. I had seen similar outfits in the history books about Rome (an ancient city thousands of years old). The gladiators were people who were ordered to fight to the death in an arena against each other for fame, fortune and glory. Seems wildly appropriate I think. I can tell this outfit is going to be the most terrifying by far. Gladiators were meant to look that way to intimidate their competition. "Perfect, you look like a roman queen, beautiful yet deadly" exclaims Eloise. I can't help thinking that she's right as I examine myself in the mirror with an expression of smugness on my face.

Once she's done I'm sent into the hall to wait for Scarlett and Cato. Scarlett comes to check on us but seeing that Cato is far from done, hurries of at the risk of saying something to provoke me. I spend my time thinking of ways to talk to Cato without sending him into one of his rages. Judging by his screaming in the next room I can tell he won't be in the best of moods. He takes another hour and a half before he joins me in the hall. He's obviously had to have had a lot more work done than me. His skin is tinted slightly pink and not from dying it either. It's as if they waxed every inch of his body and I can tell he's not too happy with the world right now. His outfit matches mine. It's a gold gladiator skirt with gold boots and a gold olive leaf headdress. The most interesting part is that they've chosen to make him go shirtless. His chest is egg shell smooth from the waxing and his scars stand out like connect-the-dots on his bare chest and biceps. His muscles really are quite impressive I think, and the gold headdress matches his blond hair nicely. "Can we talk?" I ask almost in a whisper not wanting to set of his temper knowing that he's in the right mood for it. "Got over yourself did you" he snaps. "Okay I deserved that I reply; however we need to stop what where doing Cato. We can't run in circles acting like mentally unstable children. I can see his mood softening. I'm not even going to start on whose making it out of this alive but if we want either of us to survive we need to pull our heads in and learn some self-control when where in public. No more outbursts, picking fights or hurting capitol citizens. Ok?" "Fine he answers without even putting up a fight; you always were my voice of reason Clove. I'm sure I would be dead by now if you hadn't always been there to talk me out of killing people you knew I couldn't. He gives one of his sweet smiles he only ever gives me. You look like the most beautiful creature in the world right now by the way". He winks at me just as Scarlett walks up to us. "Very impressive you two" she trills as she claps her hands, "Let's get you off to your chariots". She turns and practically skips down the hall expecting us to follow.

We are led into a large room with spiky metal chariots and large black horses waiting for us. All of the other Tributes are here and I realise that this is the first time I have seen them. I didn't even bother to watch the recap of the reaping and I have been so self-absorbed for the past couple of days that I haven't even given them a second thought. They all seem to be petrified at the sight of us however and I am glad our costumes and our reputation are having the right effect. Cato, clearly reading my thoughts points some of them out to me. Unlike me he actually did watch the recap. Apparently district 12 has had their first ever volunteer. Her name is Katniss Everdeen; a name I think is more suited to someone from district 1. Her district partner has large arms but apart from that is seemingly unremarkable. The girl from district 1 (Cato tells me is called Glimmer) has to be the most strikingly beautiful girl (or should I say woman) that I have ever seen. She has a mass of golden curls teeming down her back. Her eyes are bright blue and her skin is tinted golden from the sun. She is tall for a girl and her slender legs seem to go on forever. She is busty and curvy in all the right places and I can tell that all the capitol boys will be tripping over each other for a chance to sponsor her soon enough. "She's one hell of a beauty" I say to Cato. "Sure, if you like that sort of thing. I prefer my girls to be exotic and interesting, like you, he winks at me. I'm not a fan of blonde bimbos either" he replies. I hide my surprise. I know Cato loves me more than anything but I never thought he would find me more attractive than someone like Glimmer. "That really has to be one of the worst names I've ever heard though" I state. Cato smiles at my response. Compliments make me uneasy and he knows it. He stopped insisting I was beautiful years ago. The next one he points out is the girl from district 5. She has bright red hair and skin as pale as mine except dotted with orange freckles. The reason he picked her out was because unlike the others, she didn't cast her eyes to the floor in fear when we looked at her. She's not as afraid of us as she should be and I want to find out why. Glimmers partner (Marvel) is some cocky looking boy who is grinning and waving to everyone. Clearly he thinks he is the greatest thing here and is treating this as one big joke. District 4 looks unimpressive for careers and the only other district that stands out is 11. The boy from 11 (Thresh) has to be almost as big as Cato. His muscles are huge and he towers over the others. The girl (Rue) is tiny and must only be 12 or 13. I don't think it's right when first years are put in. Mainly because it gives us no solid competition but also because I know they stand no chance. District 1 is dressed in a ridiculous mass of pink feathers that resemble a pair of flamingos. The other outfits are similar to what they do every year. Mine and Cato's outfits are the only ones that don't make us look like some wearable arts model, except for maybe district 12, but then again plain black suits are pretty boring. Even if they are meant to be coal miners, their stylist could have been a little more creative than that.

District one is in their chariot and is making their way out the gates when Scarlett orders us into our own chariot. We stand side by side as our horses follow district 1 and as our chariot goes through the gates I find myself holding Cato's hand under the rail where no one can see it. That one touch is what's going to get me through this I think. The parade hall is filled with people screaming and cheering our names. District 2 is already a crowd favourite as the crowd starts to chan 2. Our gladiator outfits seem to have worked. People are going crazy over the terrifying and intimidating couple from district 2. Some are cheering Glimmer's name but most are calling for us. Marvel seems to be getting no attention at all and I feel no sympathy for him as his arrogant grin is turned into a pouty frown. None of the other districts get much attention as Cato, Glimmer and I seem to be getting all the cheering from the crowd. That is until district 12 makes their way through the gates. I turn around to see their black suits are ablaze with what can only be fake flames. All of a sudden, the banners which held our faces now show the faces of Katniss Everdeen and her district partner Peeta Mellark. They are smiling and waving at the crowd like a pair of awe struck idiots and the crowd is now cheering only for them.

We line up in our chariots in front of a podium at the end of the hall. At the podium is President Snow himself. He proceeds to give his speech he gives every year about the glory and honour of the Hunger Games. I don't even concentrate on his speech because all I can think of while standing their squeezing Cato's hand is how much I want to crush that "girl on fire" and her partner and how they will be the first to die for stealing our thunder.

Once the speech is over our chariots leave into another room and we are told to go to our suites. All the other tributes are dispersing into elevators pretty quickly, wanting to get this long day over and done with. Each district has a level on the building that is only for them. We make our way to the elevator and press 2 just as Katniss and Peeta step in after us. Peeta reaches for the number 12 when Cato grabs his hand. "You should grab another elevator "Cato growls. I'd listen to him if I were you, I join in not wanting Cato to break the rules and get himself arrested. I know he's just as mad at them as I am. "Unless you want the cleaner to be scraping your corpses of the walls of this elevator come morning" I add. Peeta tugs back his hand and rubs his wrist as if hurt. I hope he isn't because the game makers would penalise us for that. They both shrink back out of the elevator, looking down so as to not make eye contact with us. "What happened to not starting fights Cato" I snap at him, you know what will happen if you hurt them now. I want them dead just as much as you do but we have to save it for the arena ok?" He doesn't answer but instead turns away. He knows I'm right and he seems upset that he almost lost control. So he should I think and turn away from him. However we are so raging mad and electrically charged with adrenaline right now, only a miracle is going to get us through the next few days without hurting someone I think.