Forte Merino, 17
District Eight.
"Why don't you move this a bit?" Forte asked, shifting her own patchwork dress over slightly. "Hmm?"
"I don't see why not," Enza, the prep team member, responded with a shrug. Forte grinned as the Capitolite offered her a hand, helping her down the stairs towards a mirrored wall. "What do you think?"
Forte looked over her own reflection. It wasn't the kind of outfit Forte would pick for herself; it was too lacking in pink. But the dress combined with the gaudy, heavy handed makeup made her look somewhat like a ragdoll, the kind every little girl in Eight had.
"I don't mind it at all," Forte said. "At least I'm clothed."
"That much is true," Enza nodded. "It fits you well."
"I'd like to hope it does- the last thing I'd want to do is go out there in front of all of Panem in ill-fitting clothing!"
Enza chuckled, brushing his silvery hair out of his face. "I think you're ready to go now. Somebody will show you the way to the hangar once your District partner is ready."
"Okay! Thank you for everything," Forte exclaimed before making her way towards the door. It was what the prep team deserved, a tribute with decent manners, especially when they'd treated her well. Forte was lucky, she couldn't be sure the other tributes were treated with as much respect.
Other tributes. Forte wasn't looking in from the outside this year- she wasn't watching from the sidelines. No, she was one. Instead of watching the train crash and burn, hardly being able to tear her gaze away, she was on the train, and it was her turn to be sacrificed.
No. Forte couldn't let this consume her and refused to let it haunt her limited time in the Capitol. There was too much to see, and too many people to meet to let that gloomy cloud hang over her.
As she stepped into the hallway, Forte collided with something- or more accurately, someone. The boy caught her by the shoulders with a grunt of surprise.
"Oh, sorry!" Forte chirped, taking a step back to right herself.
"No worries, you did sort of just appear out of nowhere, but that's whatever," the boy responded, brushing his costume off. He was dressed in what looked like a shaft of wheat, and although it wasn't something Forte would pick herself, the boy managed to pull it off.
"Yeah, sorry, I was thinking about- well, about lots of stuff," Forte apologized.
"Well, that's not a problem. I've been hoping to run into somebody. I can't figure out where the hell I'm supposed to be going; it's a bit of a maze in here."
"Oh, my stylist told me what to do," Forte said. "Would you like to walk with me?"
"Sure. I'm Rowdy by the way," Rowdy grinned, offering her a hand. "From Nine."
"Forte, I'm from Eight."
She took Rowdy's hand, shaking it firmly, and Rowdy bent down bringing his lips to her fingers.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Forte," Rowdy complimented. Forte giggled; she hadn't given much thought to how any of the others would be, but if they were all as kind and good-looking as Rowdy, she might just have a hard time making enemies of them.
"You flatter me, Rowdy. Shall we walk?"
"We shall."
Forte set off down the hall, Rowdy following beside her. He was right, these halls were confusing. But the instructions from her prep team were simple enough: two lefts, and they'd be there. She could practically hear the roar of the crowd from here; the cheers of the Capitol would be thunderous.
(They would cheer for Forte- she'd make sure of it.)
"So, how did you find the train ride here?" Rowdy asked after a moment of silence. "Personally, I thought it was a great time. They really went all out considering we're only on them for a day."
"I liked it. The food was to die for," Forte gushed. "My mentor said the food in the Capitol would be even better though."
"Oh, really?"
"Really. And I can hardly imagine how it'd be better than what we had on the train."
Rowdy laughed, a musical noise. "I'm sure with all their fancy… well, fancy everything, they've got a way."
"You raise a fair point."
"Thank you, I try."
Forte turned and Rowdy followed. She certainly hoped her prep team hadn't led her astray. No, that would be no good, when she had potential right next to her.
(Rowdy had the chance to be something good, Forte was sure of it. An ally, or maybe even a friend.)
As they walked, Forte could hear voices echoing down the halls. She doubted they were the only ones trying to find their way to the Chariots.
"I wonder if anybody's ever missed the chariots because they got lost in here," Rowdy pondered aloud. "'That'd be pretty funny, huh."
"I guess so. It'd be memorable for sure."
"Well, the Capitol loves memorable, don't they?"
"Sure do,," Forte agreed.
"I think you will be very memorable," Rowdy stated, and Forte nearly stopped in her tracks- he'd only known her for a few minutes, but still sounded so genuine in his compliment.
"You really think so?"
"Well yeah, of course. You really stand out- how often do they see a tribute like you? It can't be often," Rowdy explained. "I think you're gonna do great."
"Oh, thank you," Forte giggled, as they rounded the second corner into the hangar. The chariots were lined up in order, with a few tributes milling about. She couldn't make out her District partner Neith in the crowd, which made sense considering how small they were.
"Our chariots should be right up here," Forte noted as they passed the last District chariots, approaching the Nine chariot. "Suppose this is where we part ways."
"Suppose so, but I've got a proposition for you. How about you come find me tomorrow morning at training?"
"Thanks for the offer," Forte beamed. Getting to know him better would be a good idea, especially if she wanted him as an ally. "I'll see you there!"
(Forte was sure of it now- she would be something.)
(They would be something.)
Tanwen Bast, 16
District Twelve.
Tanwen would've liked their outfit more if it wasn't a dress.
It hung uncomfortably off their frame, and it was suffocating in its weight. The crystalline outfit shifted with each step, and if they moved too quickly, the momentum of the dress would send them toppling over.
At least it was shiny- that was one thing Tanwen liked. According to their prep team, it was based off "amethyst". They weren't sure what exactly amethyst was, but if it did look like her dress, Tanwen could see the appeal. It was a swirling mix of lighter and darker purples, the false rocks sharp as daggers, gleaming in the harsh light.
Thankfully, their chariot was the closest to the entrance, at the very back. Awkwardly shuffling up to it, their District partner came up beside her: Orion. He was dressed similarly, although his outfit was far less restrictive-looking. It had pants instead of a skirt, in darker hues of purples and grey. Wordlessly, he offered them an arm, which she didn't take. Instead, she lowered herself to sit on the edge of the chariot.
"I'm going to take a walk around," Orion declared, pulling his arm back.
"Okay…?" Tanwen trailed off. It didn't matter to her. They hadn't talked once during the train ride, so why did it matter if he told them?
"I just wanted you to know just in case, uh, the mentors come looking."
"Okay."
With that, Orion shuffled away, leaving Tanwen alone. Peering around the corner, Tanwen could see most of the other chariots in the arrangement they were in. There didn't seem to be many others around yet, so she turned her attention to the hangar itself. The room was vast- it could probably fit the whole town square of Twelve inside with room to spare. And not just that but it was pristine. She'd never seen a place so clean in her life, so void of coal dust which caked every surface in Twelve. Tanwen too, was without dirt or grime. Their skin still burned from all the scrubbing the prep team had done. At some point, she'd started to think they'd never get to the bottom of it all, that after all the years they'd spent in the mines, the coal had permeated their very being, never to be stripped away.
But it was all gone now. All signs of their home and the mines, gone as if the years had never happened at all, nobody but Tanwen to know of their passing.
(Would Tanwen ever get the chance to tell their father all they'd done?)
Reaching under the sleeve of their dress, they clamped their hand down onto the watch which hung loosely from their wrist. They would- they had to. Dad had to know; they'd been so close, so close they could practically feel his presence.
But they were farther than every from him now. They couldn't let all those years go to waste. Not when they'd been so close to finding him.
(The depths were their home. One way or another, they'd return to them.)
Something bumped into their leg, and Tanwen's head shot up. A girl stood in front of them, attempting to navigate past their legs. She was clad in a spindly brown outfit, which they quickly recognized as something spider-like.
"I'm sorry, did I bump into you?" the girl asked, attempting (and failing) to heft her skirt higher.
"Yes," Tanwen nodded, looking closer at the girl's dress- it was rather beautiful, something Tanwen would much rather wear than her own getup. "Your outfit. I like it."
"Oh really?" the girl asked eagerly, her face lighting up. "It's a spider- a brown recluse. Very interesting species, one of the few found in Panem with venomous bites."
Tanwen quirked an eyebrow- venomous bite? They weren't entirely sure what that meant, but they doubted it was good. "Venomous?"
"Yes, they, uh- well, they have necrotizing bites. So if it bit you, it'd basically eat away at your skin and muscles and you'd probably die," the girl stated, her tone as factual as it'd been through the whole conversation, and yet she seemed so eager to share such a disturbing fact.
"Gross," Tanwen said, wrinkling their nose. "But interesting."
"Isn't it? Oh, what's your name?" the girl asked, offering them her hand. "I'm Sabai, from Seven."
"Tanwen," Tanwen responded, ignoring the offered hand. "Twelve."
"Oh, District Twelve? I've always wanted to go there- you have all sorts of wonderful friends in the mines there."
"Mines?"
"Yes, the mines are the perfect place for many interesting and rare species due to its dark and cool environment. We don't have anything like such an environment in Seven, so I've always wanted to visit."
Tanwen shrugged. They'd spent more time with the creatures that crawled around the mines than perhaps anybody else. They'd always particularly liked the larger beetles, with their shiny shells.
"Would you mind telling me a bit about what you know?"
Tanwen stilled at this. Was this little conversation really worth giving up their knowledge? They'd kept it all inside for years; why would they go risking their chances of telling a complete stranger what they knew now? And when their life- their father's life- was at stake, why would they risk it?
"No," was the response Tanwen settled on. She shook her head and Sabai's face fell.
"That's alright. I'll leave you to your devices then," Sabai stated, and in an instant, she moved along.
Tanwen wouldn't let such trivial things as friends or the Games stand in their way. At the end of the day, only one tribute went home. Tanwen would do everything to ensure it'd be them, even if it meant being alone a bit longer.
(They wouldn't be alone once they were home with Father.)
Loezan Feyer, 16
District Five.
"Man, I hate this," Loezan grumbled. First, they'd taken her lucky knife, and then they'd stuffed her into a stupid cramped train. And now, she was stuck into a dumb costume to be paraded around in front of the entire country.
"I know," Klein replied simply. He seemed much less bothered about their stupid costumes: glowing arcs of electricity around a tower. The tower was a sort of metal frame fitted around their bodies, and Loezan couldn't stop bumping it into anything and everything- walls, people, other tributes. "We only have to wear them for a little longer, though."
"Yeah, but they suck. I can't even move."
Klein snorted. "How do you think I feel?"
"Worse," Loezan sighed, plopping down on the back of the chariot next to him. "But they didn't take your lucky knife, did they?"
"Well, no, but they did debate taking my leg."
"Exactly! How am I supposed to do anything without my lucky knife? I'm cursed without it!"
Klein shrugged. "Maybe you're only cursed 'cause you think you are."
Loezan paused. Maybe Klein had a point. She didn't want to go into the Games thinking she was cursed; that sounded like a one way ticket to the worst time of her life. If she thought she was lucky instead, maybe she would be.
"Huh," Loezan grunted. "Maybe you're on to something here."
"I might just be," Klein agreed. "Or it might be the nicotine withdrawals."
"Let's just pretend it's you being onto something."
Klein laughed, and the two fell into comfortable silence. Loezan liked Klein- a lot, really. He was her only slice of home here in the Capitol, and it helped that he was just like Bodhi. She wasn't sure if they'd be sticking together, but deep down she hoped they would.
(Loezan didn't want to be alone.)
"How much longer do you think we'll be waiting?" Loezan asked.
"Dunno," Klein responded. "I think I've had enough of sitting around on my ass. Maybe we can find somebody who'll tell us."
"Sure," Loezan agreed, doing a little hop to get off the chariot. Klein did the same, but not so gracefully as Loezan, as he tilted under the weight of the costume. Loezan couldn't react in time to help before Klein was toppling over, hitting the ground hard.
"Fuck!" Klein yelped, as Loezan moved to his side.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine- only thing bruised is my ego," Klein groaned. "I hope nobody saw that, stupid fucking costumes…"
"Erm, excuse me?" a soft voice spoke up as Loezan moved to help Klein. "Are you alright?"
Loezan turned to see a boy standing no more than five feet away, leaning on a cane. Evidently, somebody did witness Klein's tumble.
"Undecided."
"Would you like some assistance?" the boy asked.
"Sure," Loezan agreed. "Klein, we're making a new friend!"
"Damn," Klein rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Maybe you should just leave me down here."
"Well, I'm not going out there on that chariot alone."
"These costumes are rather… impractical," the boy commented as he stopped next to Loezan. "Although they look quite impressive."
"Thanks. They also suck to move in," Klein responded, showing off his full range of mobility by rolling on the floor.
"Here, take my hands. And you, new guy- just stand there and make sure he doesn't go down again," Loezan declared, reaching down and grabbing Klein's arm. "Ready?"
"No."
"Great!"
Loezan yanked as hard as she could, pulling Klein off the ground. He righted himself, getting his feet under him, and now he stood once again.
"Thanks," Klein sighed, dusting himself off and shaking out his limbs.
"Does everything feel okay?" the boy asked. "That looked like quite a hard fall. You may require medical attention."
"I think I'm fine, just- hold on," Klein grunted with the effort of sitting himself back on the edge of the chariot. He pulled up his pant leg, revealing his prosthetic. Loezan thought it was pretty cool, all things considered. If she ever lost a leg, she'd replace it with a cool one too.
"Oh!" the boy lit up. "I recognize this model."
"Huh? Who even are you?" Klein questioned, looking his leg over.
"Ah- sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Credence Voltaire, from District Three," Credence explained. "If you desire to forget your fall, we can call this our first meeting."
"I won't forget it. And I guess we didn't introduce ourselves either. I'm Loezan, and that's Klein," Loezan grinned as she introduced them to Credence, Klein shooting her a look. "You know about legs and stuff?"
"Well- um, yes, sort of. The man who designed that prosthetic is my guardian," Credence explained. "I've come to know his designs quite intimately. So, um, if you'd like, I could look it over."
"Woah," Loezan exclaimed. "So you're super smart?"
"Um- well. Not as smart as Dr. Hendler, he's a brilliant man."
Klein cleared his throat loudly. "So if there was something wrong with it, you could fix it?"
"Um, maybe. Depends on the issue and, uh, I don't exactly have many tools at my disposal here."
"Well, it's had a bit of a weird… feel to it recently," Klein explained, popping his leg off into his hands and offering it to Credence. "Like somethin's loose."
Credence struggled to hold the leg in one hand, and put it down next to Klein to inspect it. Loezan peered over Klein's shoulder- she'd never met anybody this smart before, at least not somebody this kind of smart. She'd also never met anybody from another District before- Three seemed to be an interesting place if it produced somebody like Credence.
"Your prosthetic is in remarkably good shape, considering it's an older model. I'm surprised you managed to get ahold of this in Five," Credence noted as he scanned over the apparatus. "It was loose, you said? Where?"
"The knee joint," Klein answered curtly.
"Don't be so rude, Klein, he's being nice to us," Loezan scolded.
"Uh- well, it's okay, I'm not bothered-"
"No, Klein is going to be nice to you because I like you," Loezan reasoned, pointing at her District partner, who looked like a deer in headlights.
"Ah- sorry…" Klein sighed. "I don't mean to be rude."
"Don't worry, it's been a stressful few days for you, I'm sure. Ah, and I think I've pinpointed the issue- some of the screws in here have worn down with use. I'm sure I could replace them if I had the right tools. I'm just… unsure where I'd aquire them."
Klein shrugged, taking the leg back and snapping it back into place. "Thanks for looking it over anyways."
Loezan paused, thinking for a moment- certainly there was a way to solve this issue. The last thing she wanted was for Klein to be going into the arena with his leg all out of sorts. And as Loezan pondered it for a moment, she came to a realization-
Maybe, just maybe, there was a way.
"Well, don't we get tools and stuff at training?" Loezan piped up, breaking the awkward silence. "Maybe you could find something there."
"Ah!" Credence exclaimed. "That's a wonderful idea, Loezan."
"Thanks, I came up with it all by myself. Should we come find you tomorrow then?"
"Um, that sounds good," Credence nodded. "I'll, uh, take my leave now."
"Alright, good luck!"
"Bye- and thanks, I guess,," Klein chimed in as Credence turned away from them.
"Well, that could've been far more humiliating," Klein muttered as soon as Credence was out of earshot.
"You aren't very good at making friends, are you?" Loezan said, turning back to Klein, hands on approximately where her hips were under the costume. "Do you even want allies?"
"Undecided," Klein shrugged. "We'll see what tomorrow brings us."
"We will."
Calypso Castellanos, 18
District Four.
Calypso twisted her hands in her lap. Surely, the others would show up soon. So far, it'd just been her and Tavi, waiting side by side in heavy silence.
"I wonder what's taking so long," Tavi spoke up with a sigh.
"Don't know," Calypso responded. "Maybe they just have more complicated costumes than us."
Tavi snorted. "They glued individual scales onto us. I'm not sure what could take longer than that."
Calypso couldn't argue with that- he had a point. Her District partner had been nothing but cordial on the train, and remained that way even now.
(But she'd been there that day- she'd seen what he'd done to that boy. All the blood… how could it really have been an accident?)
(She had no choice but to believe it.)
"At least we aren't wearing nothing," Calypso decided to say, before falling back into silence staring at her glittering hands in her lap.
"Yo, you guys are Four, right?" a voice spoke. Caly raised her gaze to see a familiar boy: Capo, from Two if she remembered right.
"Yeah," Tavi responded. "You're… Two?"
"Bingo."
"Are the others coming?" Calypso said. Capo nodded.
"Atalanta told me to wait by the One's chariot," Capo explained. "So that's what I'm doing. You guys can come if you want."
Tavi shrugged, sliding off the chariot. Calypso followed suit, falling into step between the two boys.
"Atalanta, she's your partner, right?" Calypso inquired. "And you're Capo?"
"Yeah. You're… Calypso? And Octavius."
Tavi made a disgruntled noise- she'd found this out the hard way, too. "Tavi."
"Alright. But you're probably gonna have to explain that again, once everyone else shows up."
Tavi sighed as they came to what she could only assume was the One's chariot. It was all gold, shining so brightly it could probably blind.
"Man, they got a swanky ride this year, huh?" Capo commented, slapping the side of the chariot. "Hope we're ready for another year of One stealing the spotlight."
Calypso laughed. Somehow, it didn't surprise her that Two and Four felt the same about One. They'd had more victors in the past 20 years than Two and Four combined- they were on some kind of streak. She'd never been too invested in the politics between the Districts, but she still held some pretty basic knowledge about such things.
They all lapsed into silence again. Capo didn't seem like much of a talker, but he was nice so far. Caly could respect that. She wasn't so different herself, really. Maybe they'd get along.
After what felt like an eternity, the chattering of voices caught her attention. She turned to see the entire other half of the pack moving towards them, and really, how could she miss them? The Ones were clad in golden armour, shining like the sun.
"Yo!" the One girl greeted them from a distance: Adonis. "What's up!"
"Nothin' much," Capo responded.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show up," Tavi commented as the two groups merged with each other.
"Nah, we were just talking with Atalanta here," Adonis said, gesturing to the Two girl. "Seems like you guys were getting well-acquainted too."
"Eh," Capo shrugged. "Not really."
"Aw, you waited for us? Thank you," Gucci chimed in with a grin.
"Adonis and that's Gucci since he probably won't introduce himselfm," Adonis said, gesturing between themself and their partner. She pointed individually to the rest of them as she spoke. "You're Capo, Octavius and Calypso, yeah?"
"Tavi," Tavi retorted sharply.
"That's fine, Tavi. Octavius is a mouthful."
It seemed like the Ones were perfectly content to carry the conversation, and she was fine with letting them. She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself at the best of times, and now she was feeling the full weight of her dress- the dampness of her palms, the fact that everyone was looking at her, and-
(Why did they have to stare?)
"So, we're training together tomorrow right?" Atalanta asked, a little too enthusiastically. "I was also thinking we should do something tomorrow night, to get to know each other better."
"Like a summer camp?" Capo asked.
"Yeah, sure!"
"Doesn't seem like anybody is averse to the idea," Adonis responded, clunkily folding her arms before her. "Maybe tomorrow, we can split off into smaller groups for training too."
Everyone muttered their agreements, Calypso contributing as well, even if she sounded like an impostor compared to them. Her allies all seemed so capable, so confident. How pathetic did she seem to them in comparison? All she wanted to do was run. There was nowhere for her go, nowhere that the gaze of the Capitol wouldn't be on her.
(She'd have eyes on her the rest of her life, whether she won or not.)
"You good?" Adonis asked, nudging her arm. Calypso snapped back to the present. The others had broken off into smaller conversations it seemed, leaving just Calypso and Adonis.
"I- I'm okay," Calyspo responded shakily. "A little nervous."
"That's okay. It's nerve-wracking meeting the people who you'll have to ally with," Adonis said, leaning their arm against the chariot. "It's likely we'll have to put our lives in each others hands."
"And even more likely we'll have to stab each other in the backs," Calypso retorted.
Adonis laughed- it was a heavy, deep laugh. "Sure, but that's later. We're cool for now, right Calypso?"
"Caly. You can call me Caly."
"Oh, Four likes their nicknames this year. Well, in that case, you can call me Donnie," Donnie said, offering her a hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Calypso eyed their hand, and then took it. Their grip was firm, and the metal gauntlet was heavy against her hand.
"Since we're, uh, splitting up tomorrow, would you maybe want to stick with me?"
"Oh- uh, yeah? Sure." Caly stammered- Donnie was upfront, almost too much so, and seemed so sure of herself. It was clear why she was chosen to volunteer.
"Great, see you there!" Adonis exclaimed, clapping her shoulder with a heavy hand. As she did, the five minute warning rang through the room.
"Okay guys, get to your chariots, we'll reconvene tomorrow! Good luck out there guys!" Gucci exclaimed. The group broke apart, moving towards their own chariots.
Maybe Calypso could keep up with Adonis tomorrow. But would she be able to keep up with all of them?
(Or, would they find her out for what she was- a fraud?)