| General TW: This story contains violence, death, suicide, mild swearing, yelling/caps, food, and trauma, among many other things. If one also has exotrauma from Hunger Games, please avoid this and later chapters /srs /g /neu |
| You have been warned! /nm /srs |
| If anyone would like a pin for later chapters, please comment below. You are allowed to withdraw from being pinned at any time. /g |
| If this isn't allowed or is too heavy, please inform us and we will delete it /g /srs |
| Entire story written by Gale /g |
| Now for the story! Enjoy! :) /g |
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The cameras flashed and some reporters went as far as trying to push into the train car. Peacekeepers held the crazed paparazzi away from us as we walked out of the train station. Pippy and Bronze led us through the crowd.
I jumped at the sound of a gunshot and instinctively ducked. One of the capitolites was shot by a Peacekeeper for being too close, and their body was being carried off. No one seemed bothered or unfazed by the shooting, so it was normal. Which made it worse. I froze in fear. More members of the paparazzi gathered around me, pressing against my ribs and lungs. Cameras and microphones were shoved in my face.
I could feel it falling apart. My already short patience. Peacekeepers started to pry them off of me, but for each person removed, two more came. I felt a velvet-gloved hand grab my wrist and pull me out. It was Pippy. She practically dragged me into the limousine that was a mere few feet away. She slammed the door shut, and the car started to move.
I threw my head back against the seat, panting. “Good grace, Secret,” Pippy said. “Why did you freeze?”
“I… got scared… they shot someone, did you not- did you guys- did you guys not see that?!” I said exasperatedly.
“Hard not to see,” Bronze commented.
“Why did no one care? Someone was shot for…”
“Getting too close to you,” Bronze finished.
“Yeah, but… why?”
“Capitol doesn’t want their game pieces broken before the game even starts,” he replied.
We’re just their game pieces… I thought to myself. Of course we were! What else would we be? I knew that, we’ve always been their toys but…
“If you’re gonna panic and freeze over that you won’t survive the first ten minutes,” Ruby remarked, staring down her nose at me.
She had a point. I needed to be ruthless. I shouldn’t overthink things. I should kill. I won’t hesitate. I won’t let my emotions get in the way. After all, what else have they ever done for me?
ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : The First Victor
1:43 ───|────── 6:66
↺ ᴿᴱᴾᴱᴬᵀ ‖ ᴾᴬᵁˢᴱ ≫ ᴺᴱˣᵀ ˢᴼᴺᴳ
volυмe : ▁▂▃▅▆▇▉
I slept lightly for most of the car ride. Fingers jabbing me in the ribs awoke me. It was Bronze. He was outside the car.
“Hello, sleeping beauty. Let’s go. Your prep team is waiting for you,” he said.
I blinked in confusion. “My… prep team?” I undid my seatbelt and got out of the car.
We were in a parking garage. We started to walk. “They’re job is to make you all pretty and stuff for the parade,” he explained and he opened the door to the building for me.
“Parade?”
“Yup. All the tributes are paraded down a street called the Avenue of Tributes on a horse pulled carriage. It’s very important as it’ll make a good impression to gain you sponsors.” He clicked the elevator up button and we stepped inside. “They also prepare you for interviews and the Games themselves. Interviews are where you’ll be interviewed by someone on live TV the day before the games,”
“And when do the games start, exactly?”
“In two weeks. Until then, you get training. Training’ll help you learn to fight, use weapons, hunt, gather safe plants, make shelters, etc.”
So they do train us. I thought to myself. That would be helpful. I was probably already at an advantage to the other tributes, but the more I know about survival the better. And I might not be able to get a bow and arrow.
The elevator dinged and the door opened. I walked out, but Bronze remained in the elevator. “See ya in a few hours, kid,” he said, and then closed the door. I tried to make it to the elevator before it shut, but I was too late. I pounded on the door.
“BRONZE YOU LITTLE-” I screamed, but was interrupted by a hand reaching out and touching my shoulder.
It was a woman with bright pink hair and large lips. “Darling, is something wrong?” she asked, and looked genuinely concerned.
Another woman came over, this one with short neon green hair. She wore a tight-fitting green suit. She licked her teeth. “Your Secret Braun, right?”
“Oh!” said the pink-haired lady. “That does look like him! Darling, we’re your prep team. Come sit on your table and we’ll get you all ready for Zeus,”
She wrapped her arm around me, and instinct kicked in. I bolted. I don’t know why, but it was too late. I was already running. The two women shrieked and called for back-up.
I bolted down the stairs and through the hallway. People stared at me. They think I’m crazy. I thought to myself as I ran blindly through the huge building. How is this helping?
A plump man was pushing a cart of food down the hallway. I could hear running footsteps behind me. I looked behind me. Peacekeepers. I skidded to a stop by the cart, grabbed a steak knife and threw it at the Peacekeepers. The man pushing it fled.
They dodged it and it flew into a painting of President Ravinstill. The Peacekeepers pulled out dart guns. They can’t hurt me. They’ll be killed if they do. I realized, which comforted me that they wouldn’t fill my body with a bunch of bullets. I grabbed another knife from the tray and held it up.
“Put the knife down,” one of the Peacekeepers said. “You’re surrounded. We aren’t going to hurt you. All they need to do is fix up your appearance.”
This is stupid. I look stupid. But it was too late. I lowered it slightly, but refused to put it down. I tilted my head to the side and squinted at them. My heart was pounding in my chest.
They’d shoot me with a dart. I closed my eyes and licked my lips anxiously. There was a slight whistle in the air, and then a prick in my hand and thigh. I flinched and dropped the knife.
I looked at the one who shot me. “What’s your name?”
“Leto,” he replied calmly. “Leto Springsfield.”
I smirked. “When I get out of the arena, I will kill you. And no one will miss you,” I let out a small chuckle and fell to the ground.
ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : The First Victor
1:43 ───|────── 6:66
↺ ᴿᴱᴾᴱᴬᵀ ‖ ᴾᴬᵁˢᴱ ≫ ᴺᴱˣᵀ ˢᴼᴺᴳ
volυмe : ▁▂▃▅▆▇▉
I woke up on a metal shelf, with my arms, legs, and torso tied down. There was a bright light above me, and I was wearing a blue gown. To my right were the bright-haired ladies, now dressed more casual.
After my little episode, they were quiet. And so was I. I remained silent as they trimmed and washed my hair, plucked my eyebrows, waxed my legs, put a gloss coat on my nails, and more. After a few hours of silent but clearly hard work, they took off their gloves and left.
I laid there silently for a few minutes, staring at the ceiling. Eventually, there was a knock at the door, and it opened. A man, maybe in late 20’s, entered the room. He had dark skin, black hair with white streaks, and a perfectly shaved beard. He had long-ish pink nails and wore sky-blue eyeshadow.
“Hello,” he said. “I’m Zeus. I’m going to be your head stylist,”
I ignored him, and stared at the ceiling. He bit his lips and sat in a chair. “You can tell me when you’re ready to talk.”
“Don’t patronize me,” I said, not even bothering to make eye contact.
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m saying you can take your time until you’re ready to talk. But first, why don’t we take those restraints off. Or would you prefer to keep them on?”
“Really?”
“Well, it’d be hard to get your measurements when you’re tied to a table. Also, they’re probably agitating, no?” I nodded my head slightly. “Just promise just to run off or throw knives at me?”
I chuckled a little. “Okay,” He smiled and came over, quickly undoing the restraints. I sat up and he started to get different measurements of my body, such as hip width, chest size, and foot size.
He explained to me how the chariot rides would work. They would enter the streets in numerical order, starting with District 1 and ending with District 12. He explained that he and the rest of the prep team would have to make a costume that reflected our district’s main industry, which was luxury. And the chariot we rode would be designed after District 1’s main industry.
He lead me into another room with Ruby. There, we are outfitted with a white leotard. Ruby was given a flowing amber gown with red accents and rainbow jewels embedded in it. She was given thick, dark blue high heels to make her even taller; and more fearsome-looking. Jewels were glued to her eyebrows. Heavy makeup was put on her face, such as bright orange eyeshadow, mascara, and red lipstick. Fake black nails were glued to her nails, and her red hair was tied into a loose and messy bun.
I was given a traditional black business suit that transitioned into a flowing black dress. I also wore black fingerless gloves made of silk. I was dressed mostly in black to be a contrast to Ruby. My lips and nails were painted black. Glittery grey eyeshadow was applied. Black mascara emphasized my eyelashes. My nails were painted a shiny shade of black. Heavy onyx earrings hung from my ears.
After the stylists finished preparing us for the parade, Pippy came in and brought us out to the limousine. “You look nice, Secret,” Bronze said, without any sarcasm in his voice for once.
“Shut your mouth, idiot. You left me at the Remake Center,” I said, infuriated, marching up to him.
“Listen, kid, it’s not that big of a deal. They were just going to be dressing you up. Not kill you.”
“YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE SOMEONE LIKE THAT WITHOUT WARNING!!!” I yelled back.
“That was no reason to throw knives at Peacekeepers,” he said.
Pippy pushed in between us, creating a barrier. “Please just get in the car. We are going to be late for the parade,”
I wrinkled my nose at Bronze, picked up my dress, and got in the car.
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