Hunt and Chase

Parade

Vera was a long blonde-haired woman, with dark eyebrows and violent violet eyes. She had tattoos covering what of her body I could see. She wore a white suit like jacket with visibly nothing underneath, a violet belt around her waist with a silver clasp, a tight white mini skirt printed with an iridescent triangle pattern where the tops of the triangles intersected and a pair of ridiculously tall violet heels that clicked against the marble floor.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Hunt," she said as she walked towards me. I stuck out my hand for her to take it and she shook, her long box-shaped nails wrapping my hand. "Likewise," I said. "Are you a former stylist?" I asked as she took measurements of my figure. "Indeed, I've seen many from District Four come and go, I was lucky to survive the war when we were attacked," she shared. "It's past us now," I said in an attempt to console her. "Indeed it is, may I say, you young man, have great proportions," she complimented. "Thank you," I responded. I didn't see where the compliment came from, I was your standard male, broad shoulders, decent jaw, big bones, long legs and arms, slight abs gracing my mostly lanky body, I was the Capitol standard for a man my age but, I guess that's worth complimenting now. "I'm sure you're hungry, let me grab you something," she said as she sat me down on the couch. She walked over to the wall and spoke into a tube and out came a hot dish in the one next to it, I forgot the Capitol still had technology like this, it wasn't common in my childhood home that we used the tube system unless it was for ingredients, my mother loved to cook, she always found the simple things in life fascinating, something I always admired about her.

Vera returned with a platter of steaming dinner rolls with sweet cinnamon butter, I reached for one, savoring the taste. "Missed it haven't you?" she asked. "Suppose so, the district had some interesting dishes but, eating is better than starving," I replied. "Smart man, that's the kind of thinking to start you through the games. To be honest with you, I doubt many kids will make it past the first few days, mostly due to their pickiness, raised in a life of luxury, you don't get it taken away from you," she said. Spoken like district folk, this woman confused and intrigued me but, I choose to let things unfold themselves.

Vera soon set to work creating my outfit, it seemed like your standard District Four costume, fishing net, seashells and the what not but, there was something interesting about my wrist piece.

"This is a modular piece, you and your district partner will connect these to two others on your chariot. The chariot will be taken over by a hologram of my creation to add a little, oceanic flare, let's say, to the whole ordeal," she semi explained. "What do you mean oceanic flare?" I questioned. "Don't worry darling, you'll see," she responded in a sweet tone.

I was then rejoined by Amaris dressed in an off-white almost chiffon colored dress. The dress was decorated with a green belt that was cut to look like seaweed, the bottom was decorated with a few strings of fishing line decorating the bottom with snow colored pearls adorning the strings, the dress flowed around her knees. She wore a necklace with the same fishnet and pearls that fell on her chest, wooden sandals, identical to mine, her module being disguised in her belt though.

The elevator ride to ground zero felt long and silence loomed in the packed space. We were escorted to our chariot, other tributes bustling with their teams, making last-minute touches to their costumes. Our chariot was a brilliant golden color, probably made of it too, reused from previous years, the floor, however, was made of beach wood. A chariot ahead of us Chase and her district partner, a shorter sandy brown-haired boy with a curly bowl cut. Their chariot was a brick red color from what I could see. Chase wore a dress with the color of the chariot, something was pinned in her curled hair falling over her shoulders, gloves were covering her forearms. That's about all I could see of her but, she seemed significantly taller than before.

Glancing behind me, I could see distant faces and two kids with lightbulb headbands. I snorted trying not to have an all-out laughing fit at these kids, then the chariot started off and I stumbled back and nearly fell out. The parade had started and somehow the clopping of horse hooves escaped my ears. I regained my balance and faced forward as we exited the waiting tunnel and begin the parade. People were cheering despite their sorrow of the situation as we passed around, just before we rode up to the presidential balcony we connected our modules to the cart, giving each other a nervous smile.

The cart was engulfed in the image of a beautiful coral reef filled with thousands of colorful fish. Two water geysers had popped up on either side of the carriage creating swirls and magnificent shapes. The crowd roared with applause and cheers as we lined up with our competitors.

The president gave a speech that I care not to remember as I was almost too focused on something else to keep track of what she had said. Chase Free was still grabbing my attention, with every little flutter of her hair or movement of her dress, I just wanted to see her eyes, I wanted to see her in that beautiful dress from more than just the back. I shook my head trying to regain my focus, my heart freezing over again. She was a distraction, and I knew it, I hoped she would die in the blood bath at the Cornucopia, but, I also hoped she lived, for some reason valuing her life, nearly a stranger, over mine. I knew both hopes were futile since I wished both and did not wish both but, there's no middle ground in life or death.

The rest of the night that followed the parade was relatively quiet, except for our teams congratulating us on our parade performance over dinner. I tried my best to stay within the confines of my room but, it didn't work for long. I roamed the halls of the apartment, sat for hours humming and staring out the giant windows, watched television despite nothing good being on, not something I had missed when I was in District Four. I had finally run out of things to look through in the apartment, knowing I should have been sleeping, I crept my way up to the garden on the top floor of the center.

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So, you'll notice I had to go back and make changes to the last chapter because I completely fucked up how The Hunger Games works, I had to go back to the first book for reference but, it's all good now. As for this chapter, it's a chapter, I don't know. I promise I'm trying to get to the Games as quickly as I can but, there's a certain way this is going to play out that I kinda need to drag out the beginning and I mean, we're all fans of The Hunger Games here and we know that drags on in some spots (like Katniss shaving for like four paragraphs) anywho, I think that's all I've got for you as of now so, I bid thee good day. Have a nice day guys, thanks for all your support on this.

~ Tori