Alright, it took me a little longer than I thought it would to make this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it all the same. Now, the next few chapters will begin to introduce the tributes and I REALLY could use some ideas! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND ME A TRIBUTE! Include as many info as you see fit.
Have you ever had a really rushed day, where things didn't go the way you thought at all? That was kind of what I felt, only on a much larger scale.
After the reaping, the train ride, the insane crowds of people and the car ride, I longed for something normal. I think that was why I stuck so close to Katniss, Haymitch and Russell. They reminded me of home. Gray eyes, olive skin, black hair. Even Russel, with his fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes, made me think of district twelve.
I now knew the true meaning of home sick. I didn't belong here. I belonged in the woods of twelve, hunting down squirrels and other animals with my hunting partner.
Ash. I'd hardly thought about him since I left. Guilt settled itself into my stomach, but I brushed it away. Feeling bad wasn't going to get me any closer to him. Instead, my fingertips found the beautiful crystal pendant he'd given me.
Ash's last words to me lingered in my head. Don't forget. Don't forget. Don't forget.
"Tiny!" Haymitch yelled. My headed jerked over to him, startled. Katniss was looking at me, her eyes both puzzled and slightly concerned.
"We're here." she told me. My district partner and his mentor opened the doors and headed out into the building. I was about to as well, but Katniss held me back for a moment. Making sure no camera's or anything were near, she spoke in a quiet voice.
"Your stylist and prep team are going to do things that you won't like, but you have to go with it. Do whatever they say." she paused for a moment considering what she'd said. "Unless it involves rearranging your bones." I almost mutely laughed, but her serious face made me stiffen. It wasn't a joke.
She led me down the halls and to a door marked 'District 12 Female Tribute' in light coal letters. I placed my hand over the doorknob, glancing over at my mentor. Receiving a nod, I took a breath and entered the room.
Now, I didn't know what to expect for a prep team. They were so rarely seen in the games and it wasn't like I knew I would become a tribute one day. Four overly excited, overly enthusiastic, overly dressed women surrounded me at once. If there was anything 'over', these girls had it.
"Hello! You must be our tribute Lynnia!" the first squealed, her voice rich in capitol accent.
"Her name's Lyn." I heard Katniss say before she had to leave. "She can't speak." Dozens of gasps were shared throughout the room, as well as 'How terrible!', 'Poor dear!', 'I can't even imagine not speaking, the horror!' and 'I wonder what Solon will do.'
I quickly learned who was who. It's kind of difficult when everyone talks at once though. Celestia's dark blue skin first caught my attention. Bright and shiny stars danced around her arms, legs, shoulders and created several patterns over her face. Her hair was platinum blonde with little shimmers and shines laced into it. She seriously looked like a piece of the night sky wrapped onto a person.
Sparkle and Dazzle were twins and looked exactly alike, except for their colors. Sparkle had light pink, shimmery skin, where Dazzle had lavender (she made it very clear to me that it was lavender, not purple). Everything about them was either pink or purple/lavender. Yes, this included their eyes!
Finally, there was Iris. A rainbow of colors splashd her hair and her eyes seemed more like a color wheel. However, her skin was still normal, as far as shades went. Still, I could've sworn I saw her shimmer a little what she was directly under the lights.
And so, the 'preparations' began.
I had at least five showers and two layers of skin scrubbed and wiped off of my body. Sparkle practically had a panic attack over my nails, saying that she'd never witnessed nails so short. I had. Lots of girls didn't grow their names out much in 12. There wasn't really a point to it.
Still, that didn't stop them from covering my fingertips in nail growth. Then again, neither didn't the faint tears in my eyes when they ripped every hair off of my body, save for my head. My eyebrows were plucked, although there wasn't anything wrong with them to begin with.
They also had me remove my clothes, something that took a long time of convincing to do. When they gave me a white robe, I practically snatched it from them and wrapped it around myself in less than five seconds. Still, they didn't look hurt. In fact, Iris smiled lightly as if she found my self consciousness adorable.
"I'll go get Solon!" she gleamed. The twins dragged me over to a mirror while she did that. I thought I looked the same, except more raw and bare. They thought I was ready for my stylist to see.
I was then seated into a comfy white leather chair. My prep team left me to my thoughts as I waited for my stylist, 'Solon'. Those minutes were spent praying that I wouldn't be surgically altered. Just the idea of it terrified me.
"Hello Lyn." a new voice spoke. Spinning around, I laid my eyes on a young man, no older than twenty. He amazingly didn't look like a normal capitol person and his accent was limited. I remembered that Katniss had mentioned something about how her mentor was like this too. His skin was fair and his hair was a dark gold. There was no way you could call it dirty blonde.
"I'm Solon, your stylist." he smiled kindly at me. "But call me Sol." Sol was dressed in a simple dark gray t-shirt and some jeans. They were probably top of the line, but he still didn't look half as crazy as Sparkle and Dazzle. The only makeup he wore was a dark coal colored eyeliner.
I wanted to speak to him. Someone as kind and gentle as Sol seemed, deserved a reply. Disappoint must have faintly shown on my face because my new stylist noticed. He sat down in a chair beside me.
"This is my first time being a stylist, you know. Cinna mentioned that you were mute, but I honestly don't care." I glanced up at him. Sol didn't look like he was lying, something I'd quickly learned to detect in people. Especially when it was about my being mute. "I'm happy to be here and even more to be your stylist. So don't worry about not being able to speak. There's an old saying that actions speak loud than words anyway."
I couldn't help it. A small smile excaped from my lips. This only made him happier.
"Such a lovely smile too." he chimed. I tried to sign to him, but he didn't understand. Instead, Sol handed my a pad of paper and a blue pen.
'You're not going to surgically alter me, are you?' I wrote, nervously. He chuckled at my words.
"No, I would never do that. It would take away too much of your character and individual traits." he replied. "Besides, Cinna has taught me better than that."
'Cinna? You mean Katniss's stylist?' I jotted down on the paper.
"Yes, Portia is my aunt, you see. She and Cinna have been together for almost three years. He's the one who inspired me to be a stylist. They taught me everything I know." I could tell by the tone of his voice that Sol had great respect for Cinna. He stood up from his chair. "Now, could you please disrobe?" My eyes widened at his words. What did he say?
Once again, Sol read my thoughts.
"I mean you no harm or disrespect Lyn. This is only how we stylists inspect our tributes. See what we have to work with and what designs will be best." Sol assured me. "And if you like, you may go put some underwear on." The offer sounded like a blessing. Apparently, self consciousness in the Capitol was as limited as normal people. After changing into some underwear, Sol mearly glanced at me, walked around me once and allowed me to put my robe back on.
The prep team was called back in only a few minutes later.
"What would you like us to do Solon?" Iris asked, her voice full of happiness. They all seemed excited to help Sol. He turned to them with a different smile than what he'd given me. This face looked more business.
"Celestia, could you get the solar shine?" he asked her, only to receive an immediate nod and an 'of course, right away!'. "Sparkle, Dazzle, please bring my design and the dress. Iris, will you get started on Lyn's hair?"
"I memorized it as soon as you gave it to me, Solon." she grinned.
"Thank you. I really appreciate it." he replied as her led me to a salon like chair. Iris seemed flattered with his praise and quickly started on my hair, promising me that it would be amazing.
Everything was zoomed into fast forward again as my hair was finished into long waves, the final adjustments to the dress were made (although I had to wear a blind fold for that part) and my makeup was finished.
The leather strap of my necklace was replaced with a silver chain, but Sol promised me he'd hold onto it for after the opening ceremony. He said that if it made me more comfortable, then he would not get rid of it. His kindness made me feel a little more at ease.
Before I went to the opening ceremony, Sol had me stand in front of a mirror to see if there was anything I wanted changed. When I looked at my reflection, I gasped silently.
I'd never really tried to look pretty before. There was never much of a point in district 12. The most I ever did with my hair was have Rosa play around with it when she was alive. She loved to braid my hair, curl it, put it up. Since we didn't have many hair tools, we really just used a brush.
You should've seen her reaction when she found out that my hair dried wavy after being in the water. Still, that was when I was five. When I went hunting, I normally pulled it back into a ponytail to keep it out of the way, but that was about it.
Sol was a professional. My hair was down in long, loose waves, lightly sprinkled with sparkles that faintly dazzled in the light. My dress was amazing. It was a dark gray spaghetti strap dress that flowed down to my ankles. It too was glazed in light sparkles. My makeup wasn't too much either, just some shimmery gray eyeshadow, light pink lip gloss and a little accenting of certain parts of my face.
I don't think Sol was expecting the hug I gave him, but he smiled all the same. Dazzle and Sparkle oogled at their work, going on and on about how the solar shine was was going to be great. I looked to my stylist, curious about this 'solar shine'.
"It's this stuff I've been working on. A long time ago, people used solar energy to make things work." he explained. "So after tampering with it a little bit, I got it so the shine with sparkle at a certain heat." My eyes widened, but I didn't even have time to even think about how that would work or about that 'certain heat'. We reached the chariot in no time. Russell was already there, dressed in a dark gray tux and a lightly sparkled top.
Surprisingly, Katniss and two others were there. They all smiled when they saw me.
"Hello, you must be Lyn." the man spoke gently and friendly. I noticed how he and the woman, like Sol, didn't have strong accents and were dessed pretty normally. The man had dark brown hair, gold eye liner that brought out a little bit of gold in his green eyes and was dressed in a simple black shirt and pants. "I'm Cinna."
"And I'm Portia." the woman introduced herself. Her hand was in Cinna's.
"Cinna." Katniss seemed a little worried. "You're sure this will work?"
"Of course. It worked with your opening ceremony, didn't it?" he ginned. "Fire is so exciting." Russell and I stared at him, not sure if we'd heard correctly. Fire? Sol helped me as I nervously went onto the chariot beside Russell.
Together, Sol on one side, Cinna on the other, they set the chariot on Fire! Strangely, it only lit on certain parts of the chariot, but I could still feel the faint heat behind me.
"Don't worry. It's just cinthetic fire! Smile and wave!" Cinna encouraged us. I did my best to look calm as we were brought into the city. Thousands of rows of people coated the sides, all amazed at the fire. Cheers break out and I realized that the fire was making my dress sparkle brightly, shimmering happily as the district 12 black horses carries the chariot further and further into the Capitol.
I did as Cinna told me to, smiling and waving. Once, I even blew a few kisses. That sent the crowd leaning out of their seats, trying to catch my kisses. Someone tossed a rose into the chariot and I caught it, pausing.
I hope you're proud, Rosa. I sign with my free hand, but low enough so the people don't see.