5
Sasha pulls out an elegant gown for me to wear. As tradition goes the costumes of the tributes must represent the flavor of the district you represent. That means being from district Twelve we have to represent coal and mining. Normally our tributes would be naked in coal dust or in coal miner uniforms. At least until my parents came along. In their first Games a synthetic fire set ablaze from their costumes. Their second time in the Games they wore black leotards that gently lighted from red, to yellow, to an orange like coal burning.
I can't explain why but I trust Sasha. He seems gentle and kind. There is this nurturing vibe he gives off. My parents seem to approve of him. So at least for a little while I won't be scared. The outfit he puts me in is a black silk gown. The sleeves wrap around my neck and the body drops to the floor.
Sasha speaks to me, "What does coal do when it's being mined?" I looked at him. I've never been in a mine and it's not like I'm going to work there. I have my father's bakery to work in if I make it back home. And even then, being a victor gives you a life of luxury and you don't need to work. "Nothing?" he asks. I nod again. Sasha explains, "When coal is mined it sends off sparks, if you're using the right tools of course."
"You promised you wouldn't make me blow up," I remind him.
He responds, "Yes, yes, I know. I can assure you not a single spark will touch your skin." He giggles and smirks, "That's why I made the gown cover almost every part of you!"
I didn't really see it like that, but I guess he could be right. I reluctantly agree, "Okay."
Before the tribute parade began we were all assembled in a waiting area. Everyone in our team advised us to stay away from our opponents. "You two have a big target on your back," Haymitch informed.
Kaien answered, "We don't have much of an advantage over anyone here."
"I'm not trying to scare you, but you have more than just a group of teenagers watching for your next move," Haymitch explained. I know exactly what he means. It means the Capitol will be watching every move we make to make sure we don't follow our parent's rebellious ways. They will most likely be watched too, scaring them out of rebellion. The only thing is the Capital is yet to take from them is Kaien and me. If they succeed, there will no longer be a reason for them to stay quiet. Well, at least he wasn't trying to scare us.
Haymitch gets distracted, he starts talking to some of the other mentors. They are probably old friends of his. Kaien and I glance at each other. We haven't talked directly to each other since the reaping. I want to say something, anything to bring back a sense of normality. We're still looking at each other, I'm about to talk when a hand touched my shoulder.
"Hey Kaien, Prue, you miss me?" a voice called from behind me. I turn and see Thy standing beside me. He is wearing a golden armor that has a feather design carved into it. His head piece is gold too with, what looks like wings, coming up from the sides. This costume made him look like a living Ares, the Greek God of war.
Kaien and Thy approached each other with smiles and did some weird handshake. "Hey man, how's it going?" Kaien returned.
"I think we've all been better," he confesses. I never would've thought after being distant for three years this would be our reunion. We won't have time to get into long discussions about how much we've done or how much we've missed each other. I barely anticipated a passing 'hello'. The only contact I expected to have with him was to end in murder. Honestly, I wanted to avoid him completely in the arena if I could. "What's the matter, superstar?"
Music was always an escape for me. I could sing all day and be at peace. I am very shy, and never wanted to share my talent with anyone. It was something for me, myself, and I. One day, on accident, Thy overheard me singing in my room. "Whoa! Was that you?" he shouted through the doorway.
I jumped, blushed, and turned away. He wasn't supposed to hear me. No one was to ever hear me. "What? No! It was probably something downstairs," I covered.
He raised an eyebrow at me. "I don't think so."
"It was not, now leave!" I hollered.
Thy smirked, "It wasn't bad." The complement felt good, but it didn't make me comfortable in front of an audience.
I caved, "Maybe it was a little bit me." He gloated a little bit repeating 'I knew it' over and over again to a song and dance. "Don't go telling anyone!"
"Fine, I won't. Just remember me when you hit it big time," he requested. "Catch you later superstar." Then he walked out the room and went on. He never did tell anyone, he just proceeded to call me superstar until the day he left to never come back.
He added to his question, "Still haven't hit it big? That's alright. Just get home and all your dreams will come true." What does that mean? He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Remember, you have to go through me first." What does that mean? Thy stood straight, announced his exit with a "goodbye", and walked past Kaien normally. He was looking straight and didn't break his stride.
Kaien looked at me panicked, "What did he say to you?" I must have looked scared or dumbfounded because Kaien grew up adoring Thy and would never be concerned about anything he did unless I was. Especially here.
"I'll be right back." I start walking. I want to find someone and tell them how I feel. It can't be my family, or strangers who won't put their money on a wimp. Sasha. He's the only person I can think of telling about this. He can't bet money, so I can't screw that up, and he doesn't come off as one to judge.
As I find him and walk closer he turns me around. "Come along, the parade's about to begin." We get back to our chariot and climb in. Kaien's on the left and I'm on the right. We are now joined by Kaien's stylist, Amarelle. Sasha instructs, "When you get halfway to the circle I am going to push a button that is synched to a pack in your costumes. This is going to start a round of small but noticeable sparks that will progressively get bigger and go higher the further you go. Once you get to the center, I'm going to push the button again and two giant fireworks will shoot up into the sky. Understand?" We nod. "Don't flinch or look scared, no one likes a wimp."
The music starts playing as the doors open and the chariots proceed out. We are last to exit. You hear the roars and the screams for the Capitol kids (home field advantage) and Careers. We slowly start rolling forward. "Good luck," Sasha whispers.
We enter and everyone bursts into a wave of the loudest screams and cheers to ever hit my ears. I felt like a turtle. The attention, the fact of knowing the whole country is watching me right now made me close up in my shell. I kept my head held high, but emotion was gone. My body tensed up. It seemed that at any moment I could jump out of this thing and run to hide away.
Before I knew it we were in the center and the sparks begin. This leads to more cheers and more eyes off the other tributes and onto us. My body begins to tremble. It may be the chariot or my nerves, but pretty soon I won't need to jump to get out of this thing. The sparks grow, as do my nerves. How long can one road be?
I feel something grab my hand. It's Kaien. He knows I get scared around crowds. He grasps my hand in his, and then raises it high in the air. We look at each other; he pumps his other hand in a fist, and bobs his head while making a duck face. It gets me to laugh and forget about my fears. The laughs from the crowd sounds like background nonsense to me. He heals me.
Kaien straightens out and puts on a sweet smile for the big finale. Our hands are still together, high in the air, even though my arm is going numb I refuse to let go. The fireworks finish and we slowly lower our arms, but don't release. If I do I might faint. We stay in the circle for five minutes as people throw flowers and other gifts at us. A blue rose lands right by my hand. I want to grab it, but don't. If I get distracted by something pretty now I won't last later.
We slowly exit in the order we entered. Kaien and I are last. The doors close behind us, the parade is over. We are back in the room we came from. My body is still tight. I can't kill him. I just hope he can find a spot in his heart to spare me.