Taiya stood quietly whilst her prep team walked around her, studying every inch of her body.
"She is very pretty," Pippa noted.
"Work still needs to be done," Phoenix shook his head. Taiya immediately glared at him, but he ignored her. "You wax her, I'll deal with her hair," he said.
"What's wrong with my hair?" Taiya exclaimed.
"Sweetie!" Phoenix gasped. "The sun and saltwater bleaching is a mess, so uneven. We'll fix it up for you, give you a nice glow. We'll need to make you perfectly pretty before we let you see Tigris," he giggled.
"Tigris?"
"Your stylist. She's absolutely wonderful. Although it'll probably be her last year," he mumbled under his breath. "Let's get to work."
2 hours later Taiya looked in the mirror and was stunned. She didn't have any hair below her eyebrows and her hair was a much more uniform blonde colour. Her entire body had been scrubbed raw and covered in luxurious creams and oils.
"My masterpiece!" Phoenix cried as he clapped his hands. "You did well my girl," he smiled as he grabbed her shoulders. "Pippa, go get Tigris. She's ready."
Phoenix fluffed Taiya's hair one last time before turning to leave the room. "Thank you for your help," Taiya called after him. She wanted to impress him, if he talked about her favourably it would certainly help her popularity with the citizens. As soon as he left the room, Taiya snatched up the robe they left lying on the bench and tied it up around her.
The door suddenly opened and a horrifying looking lady walked in. Her face and neck were covered in tiger stripe tattoos, she'd had her nose surgically flattened and had large whiskers sprouting out of her face. She embodied the name Tigris perfectly. As soon as Taiya saw her, she gasped.
Tigris slinked into the room gracefully, barely making a sound. She came to a stop in front of Taiya and purred, making Taiya's eyes widen. "I'm Taiya," she stuttered.
"Tigris," she hissed back.
"It's nice to meet you."
"Cat's hate water. Did you know that?" Tigris asked.
"Um… yes."
"I hate styling District 4. But I'm no longer good enough for District 1 or 2," she said in a gravelly voice.
"I'm sorry," Taiya frowned, not sure what she was meant to say. She didn't seem like a friendly lady.
"We'll make do," she smiled. "Follow me," she beckoned, calling Taiya through a door and into a room with a window overlooking the city. "Have lunch first and then we'll talk," she said gesturing to the table that had a couple of sandwich's laid out. Opposite the sandwiches was raw meat that Tigris pulled towards her. Taiya watched in astonishment, unable to comprehend the astounding way of life for Capitol citizens.
Another two hours later and Taiya was ready for the parade. Her eyelids were covered in various hues of blue and every angle of her face and chest was covered in highlighter. The front parts of her hair were braided back and her hair was weaved with pearls with a large blue tiara placed on top of her head. Her dress was beautiful. It was a blue tulle dress with lace embroidery at the top, the bottom of it flared out in a mermaid style. Her outfit certainly had more sex appeal than in previous years. Usually, District 4 tributes were dressed in blue togas with large headpieces. Taiya walked through the Remake Centre to the room where she'd be reunited with Theo. As soon as the doors opened and she saw him waiting she went to try and run to him.
"NO!" Tigris hissed, grabbing her arm. "You will not ruin my costume," she warned and Taiya nodded reluctantly. Quickly walking up to Theo, but not being able to hug him, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"You look ridiculous," he said looking at her outfit.
"As do you," she smiled. Theo's stylist Rhodes hadn't changed the status quo for his outfit, he was dressed in the usual blue toga style.
"Chariots!" Rhodes clapped them. "Let's go, let's go." Taiya reached out to take Theo's hand as they followed Rhodes and Tigris into the area where all the other tributes were being loaded into their respective chariots. As they reached their chariot Taiya squeezed Theo's hand tighter. This was it. The Hunger Games were starting and she was in it.
Theo released her hand as he jumped up into the chariot. "I'll give you a pull," he said holding his hand out for Taiya to take. Before she could take it, Tigris spun her towards herself.
"Smile," she whispered, "make them love you. Wink, blow kisses, I don't care, just make sure they adore you," she hissed, looking around wildly, as though expecting someone to jump out at her. "You'll do amazing," she finally whispered before quickly turning and walking off.
Taiya stared after her in confusion, she couldn't figure Tigris out. "Tay," Theo called out, snapping her back to attention. Taiya turned back around and he helped her jump into the chariot. Only a moment after the opening music began, the chariots began to move. The entire ride lasts 20 minutes as the chariots travel through the streets of the Capitol. Taiya and Theo spent the entire time smiling at the crowd, occasionally waving and giggling, enough to keep them hooked.
Taiya caught sight of the two of them being displayed on a large screen and laughed, they looked amazing. "Look!" she yelled at Theo, pointing to the screen. As the ride continued Taiya began winking at people in the crowd and blowing enthusiastic kisses, and they were going wild for it. Flowers were being thrown at all tributes, left, right and centre. Her's and Theo's names were being screamed out from all around. As soon as they reach the City Circle is when they need to bring their A-game. That is where the richest people of Panem sat.
Theo poked her arm gently and she turned to look at him. 'Trust me,' he mouthed at her before taking her hand and throwing it up in the air as he let out a loud cheer. As soon as he did, the roar of the crowd became even louder in appreciation.
Eventually, the chariot comes to a stop in front of the President's mansion. Taiya looked around, trying to take everything in when she caught the eye of a young man standing in amongst the sophisticated crowd of the upper class. He looked about 5 years older than her and he was watching her intently. Unsure what to do she smiled at him and gave him a small wave, making him smile back at her. Her attention was then very quickly drawn to President Snow as he stood up to give the official welcome from his balcony.
The Panem anthem then played over the speakers and the chariots make their way back to the Training Centre. As their chariot carried them away, Taiya looked back one last time at the man who had caught her eye. He was talking to another man, presumably his father and pointing towards her. He spared her one last look and smiled as the doors to the Training Centre closed, blocking her from view.
Theo immediately jumped down and turned around, grabbing her waist and helping her down. Rhodes and Tigris come up to the two of them and nod approvingly. "You did well," Tigris smiled.
"Thanks," Taiya stuttered. "I was feeling kind of panicky out there," she laughed lightly.
"Hey," Tyler called as he ran up to the two of them. As soon as Tigris and Rhodes saw their two tributes were in the hands of their mentor, they took off without a word. "You guys did great! I've already had people approach me wanting to sponsor you two."
"Where's Finnick?" Taiya asked looking around, failing to spot him in amongst the other mentors.
"I sent him upstairs to our floor," Tyler answered quietly. "I don't want to encourage the rumours of him and you."
"Is that a bad thing?" Taiya asked, briefly looking over at Theo to see him staring at the floor.
"Yes. We've had this discussion before," Tyler dismissed immediately.
Taiya looked over to the doors that separated them from the rest of the Capitol. "Question. There was a man out there. He looked about 5 years or so older than us, he was standing in the crowd at the mansion. Do you know enough about those kinds of people to know who he is if I describe him?"
"Was he standing to the left or right side of the balcony?" Tyler asked.
"Right. He was standing really close to the balcony. He was in the section closest."
"It's usually the elite families who stand there. Why are you asking?" Tyler asked and Theo looked up at her curiously.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "We made eye contact a few times and I just felt there was something there maybe. I'm not sure."
"Hair colour?" Tyler asked.
"Dark brown. He was with, who I presume, are his parents and another boy, probably a brother."
"Crane," he gasped. "You probably made eye contact with one of the Crane boys! There are Seneca and Romulus. The family doesn't sponsor every year. Taiya if you've pulled one of them in that's groundbreaking!"
Taiya's face lit up. If she could attract a high profile, rich sponsor like the Crane family, it upped hers and Theos' chances in the games.
"Tayla!" a drunken voice yelled. "Tayla!"
"Oh boy," Tyler groaned.
"Who's that?" Taiya asked.
"Just a drunken mentor," Tyler groaned. "Let's go," he said ushering Taiya and Theo towards the lifts.
"Tayla wait!" the voice yelled getting closer. "Tayla!" he yelled and grabbed onto Taiya's arm.
"Woah, buddy what are you doing?" Tyler yelled, ripping Taiya out of his grip. Theo grabbed her and pulled her a few steps back while Tyler got stuck into the man. "You don't touch my tribute, you hear me? Touch her again and I'll take out your eye."
"Oh my god," Taiya gasped. She recognised him. She pulled out of Theo's grip and walked towards the drunk. "You're Haymitch Abernathy?" she asked, stepping around Tyler.
"Tayla?" Haymitch drunkenly stuttered as he looked at her.
Taiya shook her head. "My name is Taiya. My aunt's name was Tayla Kelpin. She was in the games with you."
"An ally," he mumbled, his eyes full of sadness. Her aunt had teamed up with Haymitch to take down the ruthless District 1 female when it was just the three of them left in the 50th Hunger Games. The District 1 female killed Tayla in front of Haymitch. "I'm sorry," he groaned, blinking rapidly.
"Don't be," Taiya shook her head. "I never knew her. I was born a few months after her. My name is to honour her," she smiled.
Haymitch's eyes widened, "you're a tribute," he realised and she nodded. "No," he stuttered as he stepped away. "No, no, no," he cried out before he took off, stumbling into the elevator, leaving the District 12 tribute's alone.
Taiya watched him sorrowfully, she'd been brought up to hate this man. Her mother had despised him for winning when her sister could not. But looking at him now, broken and a drunk, she couldn't hate someone that damaged.
Nxrdist: Thanks so much, that's very sweet of you to say
Sparky She-Demon: Yep! Rigged. It'll come up again in the next few chapters
HungerGamesFan36: THANK YOU! Definitely going to be a Finnick/Taiya discussion in the next chapter
LuaMinguante: Obrigado!
Guest: Stay tuned for the next chapter, there will be a roof talk in there