There were thousands of people... Thousands of people of all religions, races, sexes, and ages sitting in the tower like bleachers that lined the sides of the silver and black road that hosted the Hunger Games annual Chariot Rides, the ultimate symbol of how the Capital had veiwed the deathes of
1,725 young children, as a nothing but a show and a game.
Many people in the stands were joyous, as they watched the beginnings of what was about to be their games. A game of revenge for seventy five years of having their children mercilessly slaughtered by the iron fist that was the almighty Capital.
And of course there were those who carried heavy and solemn souls. Those souls who suffered watching their "innocent" children enter into the games that would most likely end their lives in a bloody and disturbing way that no one should ever face, man, woman, adult or child.
For many years they cheered during this event, but now they cry and mourn.
Suddenly the spire like street lamps activated, illuminating the road with lights of blue, purple, and pink hues. Light reflected off of the dullsilver Mockingjay engraved into the tremendously wide road. This was it. The Final Hunger Games were officially started, and a great deal of souls were crushed as their nightmares became a reality.
Suddenly a soft but disturbed voice rang out through the crowds. It was the once beloved Peeta Mellark.
"Good Evening Everyone... It's Peeta Mellark, a víctor from the 74th and 75th Hunger Games" the young man mumbles into the microphone. At first the Young Victor from 12 was excited to get revenge, but every time he took his PTSD pills he changed. A part of him wanted revenge... Another wanted to sympathize with these children and save them...
"Welcome to the official beginnings of the Capital Games." he says trying to sound excited but utterly failing in the eyes of everyone on board the Game host crew.
Suddenly a strange sound, of hushed bickering and shuffling echoes through the stadium as one of the most darling of victors pushes the young man out of the way.
"Welcome back you f***ing morons" a much more harsh and femine voice rings out. It's Johanna Mason, taking over. Many people hoped she wouldn't lose it again, but most people knew that was very unlikely.
"Let us begin this shit show." she spits out, her anger and sarcasm never ceasing. In general Johanna was fairly kind but when it came to the capital, she was almost a completely different person.
Then as her microphone turned off for a few moments the music started. Everyone, including the districts themselves, expected the Panem National Anthem to blare throughout the stadium, setting an epic and "entertaining" to the games . That's not what they got... Instead the infamous Hanging Tree had begun its dark and sympathetic tune truely setting the mood for these final bloody games
"Are you, are you coming to the tree? "
The first Chariot to come out was pulled by two young colts, one shadow black the other pale as snow. The cart they pull is made from sheet metal and on the sides are inscribed two words, the theme of this Chariot "Child Labor "
Two young boys stand in the small Chariot, Hugh Wellben and Finnian Calibur. Finn wears a pair of denim overalls, his pale shoulders and upper chest visible. On his head is a straw hat, With a thin leather strip keeping it in his head. His face and arms are painted to look sun burnt and he's covered in dirt.
Hugh wears black and brown clothes that are obviously loosely fit and hand off of his body. He's completely covered in coal dust and he's wearing a bright yellow mining helmet that illuminates the horses in front of him.
Not all people see it but the boys are holding hands. Over the past two days they had grown close. Not romantically but in a friendship way.
"Where's they strung up a man they say who murdered three..."
The next Chariot is pulled by two brown and white spotted horses, who have spray paint on their under sides to make them look super bony and skinny. The Chariot they pull is a wooden cart filled with fruit and two tributes. Burnt into the wood is the word "Starvation"
Ruby Terrace and Rayna Alicya Hart stand side by side, Alicya slightly towering over the much younger girl. They were both dressed in similar outfits, old dresses that were similar to the dresses of the long lost 1950s. Part of their dresses were translucent, exposing their sides and ribs. Like the horses their bones were excentuaited to look even bonier and their faces looked sunken in from the light paint.
The two girls waved to the crowd. They both knew the importance of winning the crowds support. If the Capital didn't like you there was no hope... The only ones to ever broke this almighty law was the Mockingjay Rebellion.
"Strange Things are happening no stranger would it be..."
The third Chariot is pulled by two light Grey horses, armed in the bullet proof armor the peacekeepers had on their horses. The two young and robust horses pull a slick white metal Chariot in which Rebekah Lockwood and Kaden Woods stand. Printed into the side of the Chariot are "Peacekeepers"
Both teenagers have a white marble pillar in front of them and have thick black rope tying them to the pillar. Kaden is shirtless and has a whole bunch of makeup effects on his back,creating the effects of whip scars and open wounds on his back.
Rebekah is dressed very similarly, with the obvious exception of a small black bra covering her breasts. Her pants have been cut into ribbons similarly to Kadens
The two teenagers are blushing like crazy. They felt absolutely humiliated and it showed. This only increased the powerful message of the torture and public humiliation that the peacekeepers provided to the Districts.
"If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree"
The next cart... Was a shocker to say the least. There wasn't much gasps and such, during the previous Chariot Rides but the two young women bought the attention of the entire Continent.
Two pure black horses pulled a golden Chariot covered in black and silver filigree. On the sides, etched in bold silver letters, was the shocking phrase"Prostitute our Victors!?".
Two young women stood on the Chariot wearing nothing but cracked glass crowns and gold undergarments . It was Shea Prescott and Bettina Clark, two of the younger female tributes.
While of course nudity was never a big deal in the capital and nude Chariot Rides had happened in the past noone waa expecting this from the Districts, but the message was sent as Johannas voice started once again.
"You may know this you miserable asses, but while you praised our traumatized victors a good half of us were forced into Prostitution by your beloved Snow!" she screams before the microphone cuts out. She said no more as the next Chariot went.
"Are you, are you, coming to the tree?"
The next two horses were pale white and covered in red body paint. They pulled a small white cart with the tributes Armie Stranger and Serenity Moore in it. Both of the women were dressed as Avoxes, and the crimson red words along their cart read exactly that, "Avoxes"
Armie was had paint all over her body, to make her beautiful Carmel skin a much more pale color. Serenitys body was left the same due to her pale complexion. The girls hair were pulled back into a tight bun and a crimson red ribbon was tied around both of the girls mouthes.
Once the rebellion had overthrow the Capital all Avoxes were set free but no matter how they tried their sufferings and tortured pasts always came back to haunt them.
"Where's a dead man called out, for his love to flee"
The next Chariot to ride out into the colorful spotlights was a large bright white metal cart, but with hundreds of scuffs, scrapes, dents, and tears. Pulling it were two black horses, each one a complete mess. Their hair was frizzy and messy and their was dirt in their hair. In the side of the chariot written in pitch black paint were the words "Disease"
The teens, Colin Cini and Kota Jackson, stood side by side both wearing similar outfits. Colin was dressed as a capital doctor. He wore bright blue scrubs and a face mask that glowed in the dark. He was carrying a whole bunch of medications as opposed to his partner Kota, who wore dirty regular scrubs and no medicine on her. Many people in the audience didn't understand it, but it represented the difference of medicine availability in the Capital.
"Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be..."
The next Chariot... It was the one that was remembered for the next century. It carried more than tributes, it carried a message.
The audience was met by 12 horses, all of different colors, patterns, and sizes. The Chariot they pulled was huge, it was six times as large as the other ones and twice as captivating. It was smooth and a slick black color and was covered in bright golden symbols, each one representing one of the twelve districts that suffered through the games. This theme of the districts continues throughout the tributes costumes.
There were 12 tributes in the cart, each one representing one of the districts.
Patricia Kooti was District 1. His tan skin was covered in beautiful bright gold paint that wrapped around his arms and neck. He wore luxurious silver silken clothing that hung loosely off of his body. But he held something in his hand that showed the true nature of 1. A dull metal pickaxe was his hand, representing the horrible world that killed many in the mines of 1.
Merla Nik was District 2. She wore slick white military armor. It had short sleeves that cut off at her elbows, thus allowing to show ger District' duality. Her forearms are burnt and peeling from building on the sun and her hands are covered in dry clay from brick making outside.
Pluto Ryder represented District 3. The small boy wore a suit that was covered in neon lights and flashing strobes. It was harder to see his duality but it was there. His skin was sickly and pale and his slightly curly hair was covered in grease and dirt. In District three often times people would rarely leave the factories and would suffer terribly from sleep deprivation, sun deprivation and would go weeks without bathing.
West Coast took on the identity of District 4, one of the more successful districts. The young man held a huge golden trident in his hand that sent beautiful reflections of the colorful lights all over the Chariot. But despite having a beautiful weapon he was dressed in rags. District 4 was often the victims of horrible hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters. And despite the Capital "loving" its precious sea district they were never supplied with any relief efforts.
Rosaylan Addella Sandler portrayed District Five. She wore a silver jumpsuit that had a strange illuminosity to it, as it glowed a beautiful yellow gold color.
But very similar to Pluto, who represented 3, Rosaylan looked very sickly and unhygienic as the poor workers of district five often did.
Marisa Smith was next as District 6. She wore a green military jumpsuit that was covered in red, yellow and green lights. It wasn't the most original but the duality if it was there. Her left arm had been made to look amputated, pointing out the fact that the leading cause of death in District 6 was factory accidents.
The unforgettable Ark Lade was next of course as a representative of District 8. His coustume was quite simple, but it worked. He wore a suit, but it wasn't any normal suit. It looked to be made of pure previous metals. Gold, bronze, and silver light reflected off of the boy whenever he entered the light but similarly to both District 3, and 5 he looked very pale and sickly. Obviously over working and undesirable living environments were a huge problem for the districts.
Amelia Shrader took on District 9. The stunning young woman a metallic golden top and a huge skirt made from dried corn husks and dried out wheat. But her duality shows the ineffective but torturous ways many young children labored in the fields. Her arms were burnt and were covered in tiny scratches and cuts and she held a dull sickle in her hand. Eversince the 57th hunger games most wheat products had been seen as unimaginable unhealthy so the Capital decided to take away most harvesting machines from 9,leaving them to go back to the old methods of the past.
Park Crawley was the one to represent District 10. He wore a royal blue, silver, and white cowboy outfit, with a cowboy hat on of course.
But his hands were dipped in blood and splattered across his arms and chest was also a huge amount of blood, of thousands of animals of course.
The next person to be highlighted was Hunter Gallowind. The 15 year old blonde was the one to symbolize District 11. The very attractive young man wore no shirt, but had instead of pair of silken green pants and wore a golden straw hat. In his left hand was a silver hoe and in the other a golden straw basket. But strewn across his back and across his arms were hundreds of scars that represented the years of suffering the peacekeepers put them through.
Bore Flickermen represented the final of the twelve districts effected by the games.
He was dressed as a coal covered miner. He wore a golden mining hat and held a silver pickaxe on his hand. Along his bare arms and legs were synthetic burns, representing the bombings that destroyed the District. The brunette boy looked even sadder than after the Reapings. It was as of he was spiraling into a slow depression...
That was the end of the District Chariot. But there was still one more.
The last Chariot to come out was pulled by two brown horses with white spots. They pulled a bright yellow Chariot that had the radioactive symbol on the front and the number 13 on the front.
In the Chariot were two tributes, Zella Holland and Blaze Templesmith. They both wore hazmat suits to represent the nuclear annihilation of District 13 seventy six years ago. The both were surrounded by a synthetic green glow. No words were said by the commentators as they went along.
Once all 26 tributes had found their chariots parked in front of the training center a woman approached a tall black podium, on a balcony that stood almost a mile high above the tributes. It was Katniss, the Mockingjay. She approached the podium and a small microphone switched on.
"Hello Ladies and Gentlemen..." she started slowly speaking into the microwave.
"Welcome to 76th and final Capital Games... I would like to formally begin these games with a promise..." she says pausing for a brief moment.
" These games... Will be the last. This is a new Panem and we will -"
"F**k you, hypocrite!" Blaze Templesmith shouts out Katniss barely hearing the boy. He says no more and Katniss continues.
"And we will rise above these games... But now. Now we seek revenge."
Hey guys, thanks for reading this chapter! I know there was no drama or action but if you guys love the symbolism the Chariots hold then maybe you'll appreciate it! Please leave a vote and comment your thoughts.
PS.
The next chapter is gonna be the tributes first night living in the training center.