AN~ I don't have much to say other than: (Disclaimer) I'm Not Suzanne Collins; if I were, I wouldn't be on here…
Chapter 5:
Its early morning when Marlene comes to wake me up. "What time is it?" I ask groggily, not wanting to get up from the warm comfort of the bed.
"7:50," she answers. "The train is arriving in the Capitol in ten minutes so be ready. There'll be cameras there." I groan loudly and throw a pillow in her direction.
More cameras. Great.
Finnick comes to my room, lifts me up, and drapes me over his shoulder. "Rise and shine, young lady," he says, carrying me to my bathroom.
Wow, was he strong!
"Hey put me down!" I pout.
"Are you awake?" Finnick asks.
I hear Lachlan snickering in the background.
"Yes, I'm awake!" I exclaim. "Can you put me down now?" He finally sets me down in my bathroom.
Lachlan's laughing hysterically now. I walk out of the bathroom, over to the messed up bed, grab a pillow and chuck it his way. It hits him in the face. "Hey!" he shouts. "That's what you get!" I say.
Finnick leaves while I contemplate about hitting him with a pillow too. I walk over to the dressers and decide to wear a pretty light blue dress that hits right above the knee.
I'm done in a matter of minutes, donning the dress with my hair down. I meet the others at the door of the train as it rolls onto the platform. "Ready?" Marlene asks us. The door slowly opens, and bright white lights cloud our vision as we step off the train. Our names are being called everywhere by the attention seeking media. Thankfully Peacekeepers make a shield around us and we're lead off once again into a tall building. The cameras follow us until we're in the building and going up an elevator to our floor, I'm told.
We're on our floor and I'm being led to my room. Once we're there, I'm left alone just like on the train.
Before I have a thought to myself, three atrocious looking people walk in. "Hello!" one of them- a woman with blue tattoos up her arms and neck and long silver hair and eyelashes, says in her high Capital voice. "I'm Glycia." Well the name seems to explain a lot. "We're your prep team!" she says. "So, shall we start?"
I find out that one of the others- another woman, is Trinna. She has short black hair with purple streaks and her eyes are yellow. Her body is thin and angular. She's nice and her voice isn't high pitched like the others, which is a nice change. Although it doesn't help when she's ripping my leg hairs out.
"Ouch! That hurts!" I exclaim.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Their almost out," she smiles reassuringly. The smile doesn't help much since I've been plucked of hair from my legs, arms, parts of my eyebrows, and underarms for at least four hours.
Not only that, but they've scrubbed down my entire body with some gritty foam that's supposed to rid me of dirt, not that there is much. Although turning my nails into nicely shaped 'U's wasn't much of a challenge. "That wasn't too bad, now was it?" Montris, a man with fiery red curls and pale orange skin and the only guy on my prep team, asks. I bite my tongue before answering because really, it was a terrible task. "No," I say sweetly, trying to keep them in their excited mood. "Ooh! Do you think it's time to get Laguna?" Trinna asks, clapping her hands together like a little kid.
"Hm... What about her hair?" Glycia says aloud. She seems like the leader of the group. "Laguna told us not to touch it!" Montris hisses at her.
Every time they use the letter's' in a sentence, it sounds like their trying to be snakes!
"Alright..." Glycia says, like she's pondering about whether to do something with my hair anyway.
"C'mon!" Trinna exclaims rushing out of the room, the others following. I sigh and eye the light sky-blue robe that I've been given to wear off and on.
Maybe if I just... The door opens and the person who I'm assuming is my Stylist walks in. It startles me and I involuntarily take a step back, clutching the robe to me. What startled me is her hair, which is a long, deep blue, and literally flowing. It looks like a river was coming from her head. I guess it shows her dedication to District 4. Other than that, my Stylist looks perfectly normal. Pretty even. She extends a slim hand. "I'm Laguna," she says in a very toned down Capitol accent. I'm starting to like her right off the bat. I reach out and shake her extended hand. "Aura," I say. "Of course," Laguna says politely. "I've met your father during his Games."
Her smile falters a bit on the mention of my father. I don't blame her. I've watched his Games many times, and he was a troublemaker from the Reapings to the final fights. Even during the post- Games interviews.
Laguna strides over to a nearby couch and holds up my Chariot outfit. My breath was literally taken away. It's a soft blue dress, with darker and lighter hues of blue mixed in. It looks like a waterfall, flowing straight down to the floor. Laguna shakes the dress a little, and millions of droplets seem to come flying of the dress. Of course, I didn't get wet.
"It's amazing!" I say. "You're amazing!"
Laguna smiles proudly and hands me the dress and a matching pair of sparkling shoes, which will never be seen beneath the long dress. I change quickly and embrace the soft silk on the dress.
I look at myself in the mirror. I don't want to sound conceited, but I look amazing thanks to Laguna!
I tinker with the seashell bracelet I forgot to take off all this time. Lark gave it to me when he first started fishing year- round. I guess I forgot to take it off when I volunteered. There is only one charm on the bracelet: an angel fish made from abalone, a beautiful shell that's coveted even in the fishing district. The charm's iridescence completes my outfit.
I give my thanks to Laguna as we walk out together to the elevator to meet the others.
I spot Lachlan and the other Stylist, which I learned as Wolfe from the prep team's bickering. Wolfe looks like he could be Laguna's twin. He even has the same flowing blue hair.
"Hello," Wolfe says as we enter the elevator. "You two ready for the Chariot ride?"
Lachlan nods his head, answering for me. Meanwhile, I'm mesmerized by Lachlan's outfit. Well, half an outfit. He is dressed as Neptune, king of the sea. He had a light blue toga on, which is strategically placed to show off most of his surprisingly muscular chest. The crown woven on his head is absolutely majestic with its numerous sapphires and silver filigree Lachlan holds a bejeweled, but deadly trident that looks like it was forged from abalone, which I'm not sure is even possible.
His hair is no longer in a low ponytail, and is now floating over his shoulders in a wavy mane. I scratch my reddish brown hair which although was left to flow down my back, is styled with blue sparkles, which are extremely itchy. I sigh. I can't scratch it in front of the cameras, or the other Tributes for that matter.
I spot Lachlan staring back at my dress, also mesmerized. We are sure to get sponsors. "Um...you look nice," I say, completely uncomterable about our situation.
"What's your angle?" Wolfe asks us.
"What do you mean?" Lachlan asks.
"Are you enemies, friends, star-crossed lovers?"
"Star crossed lovers? Hell no!" Lachlan yells, then looks down at his feet, embarrassed. Lachlan and I look at each other. We've been friendly throughout the while train ride, so we might as well appear friends.
"Friends," I say a little weirded out by Lachlan's outburst
"Good," Wolfe says. "You'll stay together during the Chariots. Once you guys are well into the square, Lachlan will twirl Aura, showing of her dress."
I shrug. It's friendly enough.
The elevator halts to a stop and we step out, our ocean themed Chariot and proud mentors waiting.
The some other Tributes have equally amazing outfits, but we're whisked away before I have a chance to admire them.
Finnick helps Lachlan and I up to our metallic blue chariot. "You look amazing," he whispers in my ear. I blush, and before I can say anything, the horses take off to the screaming crowd of the Capitol.
I now have the perfect opportunity to look at the other Districts' costumes.
District One is dazzling with their bejeweled, outfits. Especially the girl, who has sparkling makeup and gems in her hair.
District Two is somewhat dull in their gray, stone like costumes and Chariot. And the tributes don't look so enthusiastic about it either. That's a first for District 2. Usually, they look glamorous, but ever since their Stylists died last year, two new ones fresh out of design school replaced them. Today was their first day, and they look ashamed.
District 3 caught my attention. They were dressed as nanochips, colorful ones to be exact. They were dressed in a green jumpsuit with silver wire snaking around them. Different colored lights pulsed through the wires every second. Huh, this could actually replace District 2 this year in terms of Chariot rides.
Then, comes us in the line of Chariots. Everyone awes at our outfits, cheering us as we enter the square. That's Lachlan's cue. He takes my hand and holds it up high and I spin around, the droplets dancing around in the air. The crowd goes wild and I stop spinning after a few minutes. Lachlan smiles at me, and mouths "Sorry". I give him a quick puzzled look, but we turn our attention to the crowd and continue our ride.
The District 5 outfits are... unique. Coming from the district that makes muttations, the Tributes are dressed as half mad scientist, half werewolf. Fur grew out of random plodded beneath their lab coats and claws grew from under their white gloves.
On the giant screen held up in the square, District Six enters. Their dressed up like a doctor and nurse, the boy in a white long coat with a syringe in his hand while the girl is dressed in a white silk dress that's a tad short going up the leg. She's made up with heavy make-up and her head dons a hat with a short red cross. If I were a sponsor, I'd overlook this district in a heartbeat. Not very creative in my opinion.
District 7 decided to try something new this year. Since the Tributes this year are both 13 year olds and fragile looking, the Stylists decided to dress them as tree nymphs. The way the girl was giggling and dancing really added to the effect.
Then District Eight shows up. They're textile district and their costumes somewhat lack what they had last year. Maybe their Stylists are running out of ideas. The tributes are wearing a suit and dress, made up of a yarn like fabric. The girl has a pincushion attached to a headband in her hair.
District 9 was nothing special. I honestly can't think of any outfit that would look glamorous AND represent the food processing district. Apparently the Stylists got lazy because the Tributes were wobbling around in their soup can of a costume. Everyone is snickering at them, and the girl is in tears, even though she is a year older than me.
It seems the districts are getting more and more lame at their costumes. The livestock district-
District Ten- tributes are dressed in cow and horse jumpsuits with giant heads attached to the hood. Their trying to make the best of their situation, but give up quickly.
I have to admit, District 11 isn't that bad this year. The Stylists dressed the Tributes as waving stalks of wheat. I would laugh at this, but the costumes are pretty. They are dressed in a golden jumpsuit with swaying stalks of wheat sticking out. The wheat gives the illusion of the Tributes themselves actually swaying too.
District Twelve has the most simplest and uncreative costumes in the entire Hunger Games history. Their coal miners! Gray coats and dusty pants with soot-like makeup cover them. Coal litters their feet and the bottom of the Chariot. People jeer and laugh at them. The girl tribute looks like she's about to cry.
The Chariots circle the square one last time and stop at the President's mansion. He, a small man with snow white hair, gives us the official welcome as the giant screen cuts to all the Chariots in order. When it's our turn on the screen we get a few more seconds longer on the air then everyone else. As the screen continues to the other districts, we start moving towards the Training Center. Looks like the ride's over.
AN~This chapter makes up for the previous' shortness! Please review! Next chapter: Something surprising! Yay!