*This is Lystra Fay Gull's POV again*
It was rather cruel, I thought, that they made us stand here by the carriages before the parade. All of the tributes were hanging awkwardly about the carriages, not looking at one another, or speaking. I fingered the vines that decorated the carriage of District 11.
"How much longer?" I murmured to Tanner, whose stylist has taken advantage of his beautiful nut-brown skin and made him an almond. With the lighter brown streaks down his face, I can almost believe that I am speaking to a living nut.
Tanner shrugged. "Who knows?"
We fell back into silence. I looked about me. The girl from seven – Mazie, I remembered, smiled at me. I smiled shakily back. She patted her wrist, mouthing the word, 'Time?' I shrugged raising my eyebrows, and she let out an overly frustrated sigh that brought another smile to my lips. Mazie smiled back and at me, and motioned something that I didn't understand. When I raised an eyebrow, she came over to our carriage.
"Hello," she said, smiling at me and Tanner. "My name is Mazie Skiprose, District 7."
"Lystra Fay Gull," I replied, extending my hand to her "District 11."
Mazie shook my hand, and turned to Tanner, who took her hand with a gruff "Tanner Lawson."
"It's nice to meet you," Mazie smiled once more, staring at our outfits "Who are your stylists? I need to go and worship them."
I laughed despite myself. "Really outdid themselves didn't they?"
"You look amazing," Mazie told us earnestly. Then she looked about us, at the other tributes. "I've spoken to all of them – most are surprisingly not friendly."
I laughed again because it was all so hilarious and stupid. "Well, you can hardly blame them."
Mazie suddenly looked serious. "No, I suppose we can't."
The three of us fell into a gloomy silence until another girl joined us, dragging a boy behind her.
The mere sight of the girl made my mouth drop – her stylist had adorned her in a simple scratchy brown dress, leaving her black hair down to fall into her green eyes and face unadorned in makeup. But what astonished me was around her neck, on a simple brown chain – a metal fish that threw off the light in a cascade of colors so bright that I had to look away.
The boy behind her was not too hard to look at either – he was tall, and had light brown hair that framed his face, with green eyes that shone with refined beauty. His brown cow outfit left his chest bare, exposing extreme muscles that didn't seem to match his personality.
"Hey, Mazie," said the girl, taking hold of the boy's arm. "This is Satch." The girl made it quite obvious that she was interested in the boy – Satch, and that Mazie should be too.
"Hello, Satch," said Mazie with easy smile. She sent the girl a warning look, and turned back to me and Tanner. "This is Rayne Issa, District 4, and this is . . ." she trailed off, raising an eyebrow at the boy, indicating that he should introduce himself.
"Satch Collins," his voice was soft and polite "District 10."
"Nice to meet you," I said to them. Tanner muttered something unintelligible.
"How long until they let us out of here?" Rayne asked "I want to get this over with."
The rest of us muttered agreements, staring at the doors that would open when it was time to get into the carriages and shuffling amongst ourselves. Eventually, Rayne and Mazie wandered off to the District 12 carriage, and Satch went back to the District 10 carriage.
Eventually, the doors opened, and everyone got into their carriages. I could hear the cheers as the District 1 kids go out . . . they always were crowd-pleasers . . . I fingered the vines again, nervous. Tanner caught my eye, and we both grimaced at the cheers going up for District 2 . . .
One by one the carriages left, until ours was the next. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and gave the vine one last squeeze before turning to the cheering crowd and smiling. I saw Tanner do the same.
The crowd's cheers were instantaneous, and I heard people calling our names, "Lystra! Tanner!" I smile at them, catch flowers, and blow kisses. The reward me with more cheers, calling out my name. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tanner doing the same, though perhaps a bit more refined than me.
Eventually, all of the carriages reached the square, and the President and his two children walked onto the stage. "People of Panem," called out the President in a loud voice "I am proud to announce the beginning of the 24th Hunger Games!"
There was a loud cheer from the crowd, and the President called out to them, "I think we can promise an interesting Games this year!" Another cheer "So here's to the 24th Hunger Games!" the President raised his arm in a salute to the crowd, and they called, "Cheers!" to him.
The President was about to speak again when his daughter pushed him aside, taking the mike. She put one hand on the mike and one on her hips, and screamed into the mike, "LET'S HEAR SOME NOISE!" I resisted the urge to cover my ears at the deafening roar.
The whole Capitol screamed in approval of the girl's statement, and she called out again, "FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW ME, I'M NICH, AND I'M READY TO GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" More cheers of approval.
The cheers continued for a long time, and Nich occasionally joined in with them. When they died, Nich called, "All right! All right, everybody! All right, I want to make a few shout-outs here! First, to the Gamemakers, for the amazing arena this year!" There were sudden furious cries of jealousy "Yes, I have seen it, and, really, they've outdone themselves!"
"SECONDLY!" Nich screeched "THANKS TO OUR TRIBUTES, BECAUSE WITHOUT THEM, WE WOULD HAVE NO GAMES!" There was a large amount of cheering at this, and all of the tributes stood, abashed. I blushed slightly.
"THANK YOU!" called out Nich "REALLY, YOU'RE A GREAT AUDIENCE TONIGHT! AND, I INVITE YOU AL TO MY PARTY TONIGHT! EVERY ONE OF YOU! BRINGYOUR FRIENDS – WE ARE GOING TO HAVE AN AWESOME START TO THE HUNGER GAMES THIS YEAR!" There was a deafening roar of thanks from the crowd.
"ALL RIGHT! I'LL SEE YOU TONIGHT! THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT EVERYBODY!" the stage went dark, and three shadowy figures moved off the stage.