Elle Lester

Elle sat and tried not to resist as the prep team pulled at her hair, weaving into a beautiful, yet paiful, updo. Whenever she visited the Capitol, she allowed Kitty, her sister-in-law, to play with her hair, so she was able to endure this. She'd hear that Two was one of only three districts who weren't putting their tributes' hair in identical styles. She'd seen Luna and Galinda's hair. Luna wore beautiful flowing waves, while Galinda's hair was done up in a high bun atop her head. The boys all had simple hairstyles, but they were still different.

Elle was brought back when she felt a stinging on her arms, legs, and neck. It really hurt.

"What is that?" she asked. One of the members of her prep team, Hazel, placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her.

"It's just a nourishing scrub. It's stinging because it'll help us rejuvenate your skin by removing a layer of dead skin." He said it confidently. Elle was thankful that the trio was being kind to her. After a few more minutes of holding still through the stinging, they finally scrubbed the gel off of her. The scrubbing hurt as well, but as Sally and Pride scrubbed, Hazel went over her skin with a cooling balm, and in that moment, she loved the man. When they finished, she was allowed to sit up and robe before being led back out to the holding room.

Elle wasn't a fan of the way the tributes looked at her. She knew their reasons. Not only was she not a part of their elitist group, she was well known as the girl who was close with the Capitol. The only face that wasn't hostile towards here was, oddly, Paxton's. She remembered his cousin telling her that he was supposed to ally with her. But could Elle trust a girl who was a Career, and known now for backing out of the games? Could she trust Paxton? Elle would have to trust her judgment over the next few days. She knew that she'd need help to stay alive in the arena, but would the help have to come from him?

Mitchell Descosne

Mitchell groaned in discomfort as Gia combed through his hair. She was trying to make something decent of the curly mess, and it was taking a while. Ly had a tough bristled brush in each hand, rubbing his skin raw. He knew that every tribute went through this, so he tried his hardest not to be that one tribute who complained all the way through. These three would be asked questions by high standing Capitol citizens, and if he made himself out to be weak in front of them, they would pay it forward and possibly lose him any sponsors he currently had.

"I think he's as ready as we'll be able to get him." Said Char, trying to get the comb away from Gia. She relinquished it to the older woman, begrudgingly, and went to grab Mitchell's robe.

"Go wait with the others, we'll go call Lindal and Siobhan and tell her them you're ready." Mitchell went back to the holding room and waited with the other tributes. Kariette was poking fun at Marshall, who looked odd in his formal do. Kariette, even though she was younger like Marshall, looked very grown-up after her time with the prep teams. Mitchell sat down next to Kieran. They'd agreed to be allies in the arena. All of Six was planning to stick together, but eventually, when the numbers dwindled, they would have to split apart. If they made it that long, that was. Mitchell looked around, wondering if anyone in this group would die in those first few minutes of the games.

"Welcome, tributes!" He heard someone call from the other side of the room, when he looked up, he saw the stylists. Lindal styled for the girls, so they followed her from the room, while Siobhan directed the boys down a separate hallway.

Siobhan looked as if she was in her late twenties or very early thirties, but from what he'd seen of the Capitol so far, aging wasn't a very popular thing. Still, Siobhan looked natural under her lightly tinted skin. Her hair reached down to her knees. Each curled gradated from the normal black to a bright, random color. Each one was different. Mitchell was glad the prep team hadn't done anything that extreme.

As they reached another room, about two levels below where they had been, Siobhan closed the door and ordered them to strip. Each one hesitated in taking off their robe, but Mitchell saw four costumes hanging on the wall. They were underneath a covering, but they very definitely the chariot costumes. He removed his robe, and Siobhan brought over the first of the four costumes.

"I hope I've done District Six proud with these," she said happily.

Alpha Wild

Alpha and the other girls followed their stylist, Maricella, down to the Costume Room. What would they look like? Maricella was new to being a stylist, as this was her first year. Alpha begged silently that the costumes would look decent.

She had to force herself not to play with her hair as they walked. The prep team hadn't let her see it yet, but she saw the other three girls in long waves that glittered as they passed under the overhead lights.

In the Costume room, Alpha gasped at the sight of the costumes. They were gorgeous! Four dresses hung on the wall, shimmering with each movement Alpha made. Maricella smiled at the girls' reaction to her designs. She took them down off the wall and handed the dresses to the girls. Alpha took hers, disrobed, and tried slipping into the gown. It was tighter than she'd expected. Eventually, Maricella had to go around to each one of them and help them dress. When they were all in their chariot costumes, Maricella called in the prep team to do last minute touches.

Bren Wrane

"You'll want to hold onto this bar," said Isata, pointing to the bar in front of me, "and wave with your other hand. I want all of you waving. You too, ladies." The woman stepped back down off of the Chariot. "Don't shake your head too much, or the headdresses will fall." Bren looked up at the grain-made wreath crown that was laid in his hair. Every tribute from Nine had a similar one. The costumes seamed to be woven out of grain stalks, but it wasn't actually grain. He didn't have words to describe the material, but it wrapped around him, from the waist down and across his collarbone and arms. The girls were in dresses of the same design.

Bren watched as the first two chariots – with so may tributes, each district had two chariots – started moving forward. The parade was starting.

Sorry this chapter was so short. It was hard to continue with the prepping and not make it too repetitive. I couldn't really drag it out anymore without actually getting into the tribute parade. The next chapter will be the tribute Parade, and I'm going to do it from the POV of Finneon Flamecrest, accompanied by the two top Gamemakers, the Head and Asst Head. It should be up by tomorrow.