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As the ripping sound made its presence again, Dove kept her mouth shut, trying not to yell the to stop. It had been two hours since the torture had begun. At least, this is the last step until I meet my stylist. Dove thought.
"You're doing so great!" Neari, a woman from her prep team, encouraged her. She had her black skin filled with tiny white tattoos. Her face, however was a tad different, since there were fewer tattoos, and they were a golden colour.
"The youngest tributes are always the ones who whine the most. It's unbearable, it's a good thing District Four barely has any of them." Quedell, the only male member of her prep team, complained. His light blue hair was in an odd position, it almost looked like a wig. Dove wanted to ask if they were in charge of the last year's girl, but she didn't want to get mad at them so early in the day.
"Perfect! Let's call Ohan!" Mareshah, the last member of the team, exclaimed in excitement. Her skin wasn't as dark as Neari, but it got pretty close. All her prep team had a darker skin than her. It wasn't too complicated since Dove's skin almost resembled a blank paper.
The team left the room in a hurry. Dove looked around, only white walls and floor, nothing special. To her astonishment, Quedell had confessed to her, they weren't allowed to even touch her hair. Which now was in a loose side-braid, that she had to do herself since the team were scared to go against orders. They had asked her to braid it for the comfort of reaching to her back without pulling her hair in the process.
The door opened, revealing a young man. Contrary to Dove's initial thoughts, he wasn't as extravagant as the others from her prep team were. He had few tattoos around his left arm, most were sea-related. His dark brown hair reached his shoulders, and his grey eyes stood out thanks to the soft dark make-up he wore around them.
"Hello, Dove. I'm Ohan, your stylist," he said rather quietly for a Capitol person. "Hi," she answered with the same tone. Ohan circled around her once, analysing her.
"You're the new one, aren't you? I've never seen you around in Four," Dove spoke up, the silence in the room was getting her awfully nervous.
"Yes, this is my first year in the Games." he replied once he was done staring at her.
"They gave you District Four, Career district. You must be proud, but maybe Two would be better," she spoke again.
"I asked for District Four. Put on the robe, we'll go to another room to have a chat," Dove did as he said, still wondering why he would have chosen District Four over Two. As he guided her until a sitting room.
Through the glass wall she noticed it was nearly noon. Then, as Ohan sat on one of the room's couches, he pressed a button making dinner appear in front of them. Funny, wasn't it? People in her own District and others were starving and here they had a button that made food appear.
I've never found myself in the situation of starving since I was found at the beach, so I am probably not the best to talk. Dove thought. "You're a strange career tribute," Ohan said, mostly to himself. Her eyes went to his, trying to understand why he had told her that.
"Doesn't matter. So, Dove, about your costume. My partner, Kala, is the stylist for your fellow tribute, Edric. And our idea for you two is to dress similar but not in complementary attires," Ohan says. "Kala wanted a more attractive approach to her tribute, to which I didn't agree for you. But, as you know, it's customary to reflect the flavour of the district."
So. . . I'll be a fish. Dove thought bitterly, not liking the idea, although it was better than being half naked.
"Have you ever heard of mermaids and goddesses?" Ohan asked her. Dove remember once reading a fairy tale about a mermaid, but the fairy tales were hard books to come by, since those were scarse, even District Four had a hard time to get them.
"I know about a mermaid fairy tale, but wasn't there only one God? Like a sort of male God or something. My mum taught me some things about her religion years ago. Although, I don't believe in it," He chuckled at her response.
"It's true there were many religions. Some had only one God, and others had more than one," Ohan explained. Dove looked at him surprised. She had never heard of different types of religions before.
"There was this particular goddess, Salacia, she was the personification of the calm and sunlit aspect of the sea. The goddess of the sea, if you prefer that as a tittle," he added. "And about the mermaid. Do you remember the story?"
"It was a tale about a mermaid changing to human for love. I don't remember the ending, though." Dove replied. Not knowing why he was interested in that information.
"Great, we know the same tale. You see, when I saw you, those two powerful women came to my mind. A calm and composed sea creature who sacrificed everything for love." Dove liked Ohan's idea. If carried properly, it could be a nice outfit.
"So. . . I'll be a mermaid goddess?" Dove asked jokingly. She hoped the get-up would look better than it sounded. Ohan laughed slightly at her face before replying. "Sort of,"
Hours later, Dove walked alongside Ohan to the chariots. As she walked to where her brother was, Melo turned around, gasping at the sight of his little sister. That action, surprised Finnick, who was with him, making him turn around too. Once he had seen her, he muttered something which Dove didn't catch, but it didn't seem it had been intended to her.
She was dressed in a simple sea-green gown. Her skirt slightly resembled a mermaid's tail in form, and her shoulders were covered by a softer blue cape. She wore a simple shell tiara. There weren't many decorations in any of her pieces of clothing, but her hair was a different thing.
Her hair was loose, and decorated with blue and purple Lotus flowers in each side of her head. The flowers had small pearls as decoration, which shined brightly in different colours.
A detail Dove loved was the scales that were painted around her face and arms. They didn't cover all her skin, but they were still notorius enough to get the idea. Even though, overall the outfit was gorgeous it never left the innocent approach Ohan wanted for her to have.
"Well? How do I look?" Dove asked once she was in front of the boys.
"Wow. You look beautiful. I have to say your stylist has outdone all the other District Four stylists." Melo replied, looking at his sister up and down. "Can you even walk with that skirt?" he asked once his eyes got to the bottom of her dress.
"Small steps, yes. But I don't know how I'll get on the chariot." Dove was nervous, even though the dress was beautiful, it could be a hassle in some aspects. She caught Finnick still looking at her with a surprised face.
"Don't worry, I can lift you to the chariot. It's not a big deal," Her brother said with a light chuckle. Dove nodded and thanked him, there was still time until she had to ride it, so she decided to stay on the ground.
"Hey, Finnick. What do you have in your hand?" She asked, trying to get Finnick to turn back to his senses again. It worked, he blinked a few times, before looking at his hand and then back at her.
"They're sugar cubes. They're supposed to be for the horses, but I like them," He replied. "Would the goddess of the sea want some?"
"Sure! Give me two, I want to feed a horse." Dove said, placing a hand in front of him, waiting for him to place the sugar cubes. Once he did, she ate one and gave the other to one of the horses carrying District Four's chariot.
Minutes later, as Ohan explained to her the strategy for the ride, Dove caught out of the corner of her eye her district partner. He was being closely followed by his stylist.
The boy was barely wearing anything. He was shirtless, with only a shell necklace that didn't cover much. He definitely wasn't a fish. The stylist hadn't done a good job at keeping the main idea Ohan had told her they were going with. The boy looked like the beach itself.
Everyone got to their places as the opening music began. Dove walked to her chariot, looking for her brother to give her a hand and lift her, but he was no longer there.
"Do you need a hand?" Finnick appeared out of nowhere.
"Yes, please." She replied, placing his hands on her waist, and hers on his shoulder, Finnick lifted her to the chariot. "You look beautiful". He hadn't said anything, not even a tiny whisper. He mouthed the words, for only her to read.
Dove smiled and mouthed a quick thanks before straightening her position on the chariot. It would be embarrassing if she happened to fall off. Once they were outside, in front of all the cameras and Capitol people, she smiled and waved calmly.
Ohan had told her to look calm and not over do it. He had bought the whole illness situation, and didn't want her to get stressed. Furthermore, if she seemed too excited, it would be out of character for a young sickly child.
As Dove glanced from the cameras to the people, she saw how much they loved her outfit. To be fair, Ohan had exceeded all her expectations. There was nothing better than being simple, compared to other tributes, to get everyone's attention.
After the long twenty minutes the ride took, they were finally at the City Circle. The president made his appearance, as always, from his balcony, to give the official welcome. The cameras always took the opportunity to have clear shoots of the tributes faces during the speech.
Dove noticed how she had got more than it would be normal airing time for a career tribute to have. Everyone loved the mermaid idea. As it got darker, it only made her stand out even more, her red hair glowed with the decorated lotus flowers, making colour flow everywhere. She was like a torch in the dark. No one could take their eyes off her, even if they tried.
Finally, the national anthem played, letting them enter the Training Centre. Where they would spend the next week before the Games. Once Four's chariot entered the centre, both tributes were approached by their prep teams. Neari praised her hair while Mareshah and Quedell praised her perform.
Then Ohan walked to her, helping her down the chariot and praised her as well. Once she was on the ground, Delia appeared out of nowhere, telling both tributes to follow her to their own floor.
It was easy to remember, the fourth floor was for district Four, and so on for other districts. They reached there riding a glass lift, which impressed Dove seeing how many people could fit there.
As Dove entered into her new chamber a thought crossed her mind. Why is it that the closer you are to your death the fancier the rooms get?
Looking at herself in the mirror, she stared at her outfit. Couldn't she wear it forever? Dove loved everything about it. From the simple dress, although a loose skirt wouldn't be bad either, or the cape. Even the tiara was beautiful.
She placed the tiara on the bed with the lotus flowers, planing to wear them later for supper. It would be best to act like the child she was from time to time. After taking a quick shower she stood in front of the dresser, trying to decide what to wear.
She decided to have a break from dresses and skirt for the night, and got a pair of black trousers and a sea-green blouse. She put on her tiara and the flowers the best she could, and exited her room just as Delia was about to call for her.
The dinning room had a glass wall, letting them look outside to the streets. Almost everyone was there. Once Ohan caught her wearing the tiara he chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief.
"What? I wanted to wear it a bit longer. I feel like a true goddess with this," she replied with a laugh. Her mother looked at her confused.
"Goddess?" She asked her. "Yes, Ohan told me. It seems there are other type of religions a part of yours, mum. Some have more than one God. In the Parade I was dressed as Salacia, the goddess of the sea, and the mermaid from the story you used to read to me." Dove replied, the grin never leaving her face.
Her mother appeared surprised at her statement, and looked the stylist with a small smile. "I always thought there was only one religion. I guess you'll have to give us some religion classes now, Ohan." she said. "It would be my pleasure," he replied.
A woman, who she guessed was an Avox, approached her with a wine glass. But before Dove could say anything, the glass got taken from the woman. "I'll be taking that," Finnick said, while sitting next to Dove. "You're too young to drink this," he added.
"You too. Give it here," Her mother said, extending her hand. Finnick pouted but still gave in, which made Dove snort as she tried to contain her laugh.
"Dove! Those aren't the manners of a lady!" Delia yelled at her, scaring both Finnick and Dove at the sudden raise of her voice. "May I remind you all why we're here? What about their strategies?"
"Delia, relax. Dove already knows what she has to do, and the other one seems to not even care about them. He'll go with his career idea until he's dead." Her mother replied. It was true what she said, since her partner didn't seem to care about appearing to the supper.
"I just came for the food." Dove spoke up, grinning at the exasperation look from Delia. "What? Food is the best thing in the world," she added.
"Better than the sea?" Finnick asked, smiling. "Don't make me choose," Dove replied with a chuckle. Melo glanced at his friend, the same way he had done the day before. He was sure now. Something was up between the two. He would ask Finnick about it later.
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