Clove and Cato were waiting calmly on the platform in the Capitol station. Their luggage was being unloaded at this very minute.
Actually, Clove was only pretending to wait calmly, and was doing a terrible job of it as well. She knew the Capitol was big, but no way was it this big! She suddenly felt like an outsider. Although District 2 had earned the nickname of the Capitol's lap dog, she herself had never seen the Capitol.
Or the people in it. Everyone's hair and skin was dyed in some odd color. Red, blue, green…even a rainbow person! They also had shimmering jewels implanted in their skin accentuating the most outrageous outfits. Clove felt like she was the odd one with her mousy brown hair and pale skin with freckles.
Suddenly, a train pulled in across the platform. Both Clove and Cato turned to observe the incoming Tributes. There was a giant "1" emblazoned on the train with the district symbol next to it.
The door slid open and the District 1 tributes gazed at their surroundings. The male tribute climbed down from the train carefully. The female tribute…gracefully flew down like a swan doing ballet.
Clove's fawn-colored eyes widened. "Holy cow…She's so beautiful…" she said in awe. Suddenly, Clove's eyes and the tribute's eyes met. The other girl smiled, noticing that Clove had come from the train labeled, "2." Clove's reaction was…slightly different. All Clove could manage to do was blush like a silly schoolgirl and glance at her toes.
"Why am I acting like this!" Clove thought angrily. "It's just my fellow Career tribute! I'm not supposed to have a crush on her! Oh no…already…"
"Marvel, why were you so worried?" Glimmer asked her district partner as they put on their costumes for the annual Tribute parade.
"Like I said, that girl from District 12. We need to keep a very close eye on her from now on."
Glimmer grinned like a cat. "Yeah, but did you see our fellow careers from District 2? The guy looked really tough and the girl…" Glimmer felt her face flush a bit, "She was cute, but she also looks like she can do some serious damage in the arena. Cato and Clove are their names, I've heard."
"Well, we'll find out just how good they are once training begins." said Marvel cautiously.
"Yeah." Glimmer said as she adjusted her feather hat. She and Marvel stood in front of a giant mirror and checked themselves out. Normally, their outfits would be called outright ridiculous. (Well, unless they were in Vegas, but that town had been destroyed over a century ago.) But this was the Capitol, and outlandish things fit right at home here. In this case, bright pink feathers, fluff, and sequins were perfect for the occasion.
An Avox girl leaned in the doorway and motioned for Glimmer and Marvel to come outside. She gestured towards a pair of black horses and a chariot. Marvel hopped inside and the Avox helped Glimmer up.
Glimmer and Marvel each took a deep breath.
"You ready?" Marvel asked.
"Yes. We're District 1, you know. We are the perfect representations of our District." Glimmer replied before tugging a strand of hair back to its rightful place.