Forum Thread

Agria paused just as she was about to sit down again. Kendo had shown her kindness that other than Majoree, no one had shown her in a very long time. Why shouldn't he become her ally? And so, she turned around, and went to stop him, pointing to herself, then him, and clasping her fingers together, hoping it would get the messagae across. Me..You...Alliance?

Meanwhile, their mentor was arriving, a large, tall woman with tan skin and muscular arms. But she had a glassy, unfocused look in her eyes.

---

"..." It took kendo a second to interpret what she meant, but figured it out in a few sonds. "I'm guessing that's a yes?" Kendo let himself have a small grin, as he nodded. "Now let's sit down, yeah?"

---

Agria let herself give a faint smile, then nodded. She hurriedly sat back down just as the woman came in, giving the room a wide stare before her eyes settled on the spot between the two tributes. "So..you must be Kendo and Agria." It was very clear soon that the woman who was supposedly their mentor was actually blind. Agria recgonized this quickly, and tapped the table, signing something out in Morse Code. "Yes Agria, I am your mentor. My name is Xena. And I too am from District Four. Something tells me that both of you are not like the other tributes, no?" She sat down.

---

"Wait, I remember you. You won a few years ago, the blind one from district four." Kendo grinned. "You were always one of my favorite winners. It's really great to meet you, ma'am."

---

Xena chuckled. "Yes, that was me. I was blinded during the first few minutes of the games, but..somehow, I managed to surivve." Her face grew serious. "And that's what you're going to learn. The most important thing of all, above killing or hiding, is to simply live."

---

Title: The Capital

*The Train would stop and Grimm would be whisked away to a dressing room. She couldn’t see but she felt her clothes being changed, she kept her mask on and held her bag close. When she emerged she looked nothing like herself. She was wearing a beautiful necklace


She also was wearing a very large, black dress and hair extensions had been put onto her shorter black hair.

---

Yelena stood rigid and unmoving as her stylist slide a golden dress over her shoulders. The dress had multiple layers, and a huge skirt. "Wow. You look stunning." Yelena gave Nimai, her stylist, a warm smile. "Thanks." she whispered. "Oh don't thank me yet. I'm not done." Nimai disappeared behind a wall and reappeared with... angel wings? He adhered the feathered piece of gold to the back of Yelena's dress. "I was a little worried when I saw you, I won't lie. But you have strong shoulders." Yelena chose to stay silent, unsure if it was a compliment or not. "Step in front of the mirror please, Miss Lux." Nimai said dramatically. Yelena stepped in front of her mirror. She was taken aback. "Wow..." Yelena found she had nothing to say. She almost didn't recognize herself. She gleamed, her skin glowed, her hair was perfect and the wings... oh the wings. The wings were perfect. Yelena was ready to take on the tribute parade.

(something like this)

---

Alora's hands shook nervously. While most tributes spent a lot of time with there prep teams, hers had decided she was near perfect already. They had painted her nails gold, and done a little makeup. "Faven, are you going to give me the same outfit Yelena wore?" Alora asked, her voice hoarse. Faven turned and gave Alora a sympathetic smile. "No sweetheart. I sense you get compared to her enough." Alora gave her a grateful smile. Faven set to work, giving Alora a white dress with an intricate gold top. Faven spent a while on her hair, eventually setting on a long braid that twisted and turned. "I felt it was true to your heritage." Alora just shrugged. To top it off, a golden mask was set sideways in her hair. "You look stunning Miss Lux." Faven paused before adding. "Just like Yelena."
"But I'll never be Yelena."

(this dress, this mask and her makeup looks like this

her rings.
her bracelet
her necklace
her tiara
her crown
her makeup

Lilith”s stylist quite literally had an eye for fashion— she was dressed to the nines. She seemed even more so like one of those really pretty, really elegant ,and very expensive dolls. She had a golden leaf crown, a gold butterfly necklace, several bracelets and rings, and a beautiful dress with many gradients. Even her makeup was gold Meanwhile, Natalia was dressed like this. Simple yet elegant. She practically demanded attention, with her doll like features, and the doll itself. “Darling, you look ethereal. You’re going to capture the eyes of the Capitol for sure” Her stylist remarks, impressed at even her own work.

Faith, on the other hand, went for something much simpler. It was a simple black and blue dress covering only one shoulder.
. However, on Faith’s side, both her and the stylist were simply staring quietly at each other. Faith thought about Aether….was she alright?

---

The moment Asahiko stepped into the designers area, he was accosted by a frantic team. There wasn't much he could make out but from what he could understand, apparently they had thought that they had been given the female tribute and had thus styled a dress. His only response was to grin, showing off his rows of serrated grin and say: "Well? Put it on me." And so, with a little (read: a lot) of tweaking, Asahiko was fitted into a sleek crop top that showed off his toned stomach and slender arms, gauzy see-through fabric with LED lights and sequins sewn in rows draping over lanky legs. Shorts were worrn under the skirt, though they hugged his legs and was slightly uncomfortable with how tight it was. Leather gloves reaching up to his forearm were laced up and light makeup was dusted to his face. Carefully dabbing glitter onto his under-eye and swiping on lip gloss, Asahiko almost looked normal. Finishing off the combo with ankle high boots, he was picture perfect ready for the parade. It was surprisingly nice, considering that it was definitely not made for someone with his body proportions and also showed off what his district was all about. Electricity but also power. The LEDs definitely pushed the former and simply showing off Asahiko's relatively fit, if a little thin, body would send a powerful message.

As he stepped out of the dressing room, Asahiko only felt his grin widen when he saw his district partner. She was fitted in a bespoke suit that flattered her form but also showed off her toned arms. Fairy lights were woven into her hair and pulled up into a sort of up-do. It was definitely one of the better costumes the capital had designed, Asahiko had to admit however grudgingly.

---

On the other hand, Hwa's stylist didn't seem to put in any effort. He had taken one look at her and scoffed before throwing her a random article of clothing on the racks. Buried under a pile of leather, Hwa floundered for a moment before untangling themself. The outfit wasn't bad in the sense that there was nothing offensive about it. Sure the leather was tight and it felt weird to be wearing such a low cut vest but that was it. It was inoffensive. It showed off nothing that was District 11. Dirty, maybe but what kind of designer would go for that angle? The fur around their shoulders felt more like oversized chaff and when she voiced her complaints, the designer snapped back that it was exactly what he was going for.

Pulling the outfit on, they were delightfully surprised to see that they fit the outfit quite well. It wasn't as outrageous as she had originally thought but it still didn't fit the theme of representing her district. Fumbling with their hair, Hwa clumsily pulled it up into a ponytail. The other stylists were much too busy to apply any makeup on the tribute so she simply sat down and waited

---

Those last few minutes she had to endure with the other young tribute from district 10 on the train were painful. Kioto had pretty much pounded his advice into their heads, and he seemed particularly harsh towards Aether. At one point, he even did the unthinkable, poking fun at the dead. "You can't be soft in the arena, too risky and you'll either die from being backstabbed or die from the stress as the victor. Your brother knew that all too well, didn't he, Aether? Heh, no wonder he killed himself. He had always been weak, not just in his body but in his head too, he just got lucky" Those were his exact words, and it sent Aether into a fit of rage, having to be forcibly removed from the train car once they arrived at the Capital. She had to be dragged into the fitting room in handcuffs, surrounded by two peacekeepers. Her scowl was intimidating enough that it drove the stylists away, but they came back soon after. They had a job to do, after all, and that was to make the tributes die as pretty as the could be. Gotta go out in style, after all.

At first, Aether was probably the most difficult person to deal with, but after being surrounded by a bunch of people, she figured it was probably best to do whatever they asked. She hated it, but she didn't exactly have a choice. She was fitted in a short, black and lacy dress with a leather belt around her chest. The black dress had small splotches of red that looked like fireworks, and the belt was a plain, caramel-brown with the latch being a pendant of an iris flower. The designs on both were exquisite, having just the right amount of subtlety while also clearly showing off the main features. Her shoes were thigh-high leather boots that were shoelaced, quite tight around her legs. Otherwise, nothing else was really special about her. Her make-up was simple and her outfit wasn't all that flashy. Of course, it would've been different if Aether fought her way out of a more butcher focused design, leading to whatever this outfit was. All this time, she thought about seeing her brother on the screen, watching as he smiled throughout the festival, knowing he was repulsed at all of it. He looked miserable... Would she have to be the same? Smiling at a crowd who wouldn't care about her existence after she died, looking absolutely ridiculous, her death slowly arriving as she became a lamb going to the slaughter? "Aether? Aether, sweetie, they're waiting for you." Her stylist's words finally began to reach her once again as she snapped out of living in her own thoughts. Great... The only thing left to do now was to see the other tribute. She reluctantly got up and flashed another distasteful look at everyone in the room before heading in the direction she was told to go in. She obeyed, but she held her head low and kept her fists clenched in her pockets on the way there. Unsurprisingly, she managed to run into the boy from her district, who quickly backed away and profusely apologized. Aether, who was pretty much unbothered, didn't say a word and instead let her cold, emotionless eyes stare at him while she sighed. The boy was dressed similarly to her, going with the casual style, but coated in leather. He wore a brown, leather tuxedo that faded to a deep red around the cuffs of the sleeves and the rim of the pants, and his shoes were plain black dress shoes. His dress shirt under the tuxedo seemed to have a faint cow-print pattern, which somehow matched well with the tux. "Uh... Wow, you look great!" He complimented, seemingly scared to do so. Aether didn't exactly care about playing dress-up a looking good, so she gave a simple 'thanks' and walked away.

---

Kendo nodded. "What do you need to know? Our strengths? Weaknesses? Any special training we've had? All of the above?" Kendo started to pace around the car. " I wonder how well we'll fare against the other districts. carrer districts seem tricky, but 12 and 11 have some wild cards as well..." He muttered to himself. "Anyways, do you need any of this information?"

---

Minya Reedshaw.

"Does it matter?"

She snapped at him.

"Why would you care anywa-"

The train suddenly came to a halt.

They'd arrived.

"It's Capitol time, Riggs."

Minya said, shakily.

Capitol. Capitol. Capitol.

Minya whimpered.

The moment she stepped out of the Train, she was instantly swarmed by a group of Capitol stylists.

"Oh! What a small child!"

One exclaimed.

Minya scowled.

"Hmm...we could use her height to her advantage, what to you think Fleur?"

Said a very accented voice.

"Make her look adorable for the audience. They'll love her!"

Replied who Minya thought was Fleur.

They ignored Minya's protests as they ruffled her hair and inspected her clothes, thinking of what design to make her wear.

Minya couldn't bear it, then she had an idea.

"Ooh! Uh- Capitol designers-?"

The small child grinned.

"You forgot about Riggs- my District partner?

He needs to be all dressed up to!"

She pointed at him, stifling a laugh.

---

District 9 Carriage (Majoree Sinclair)

Tik.

Tok.

Tick.

Tock.

Tik.

Tok.

Tick-

With a sigh, Majoree sat up in bed. Her hand flew up to her face and she rubbed the sleep clear, glancing at the clock. The hand hovered at 10PM. Weariness curled up in her chest. She needed to sleep soon. The Capitol had ridiculous sleep schedules, and she needed to be up in time for breakfast-

Would it really matter, though, if I'll be dead as soon as the game begins? she wondered. One missed meal will mean nothing if I don't have time to get hungry.

Great. Now she'd never get to sleep.

Hoping to at least rest her weary bones, she turned on her side. She started, blinking rapidly. Oh- right- Raiyhan must've come in earlier. She bit her tongue, debating waking him up. Selfish, aren't you? Equating him with death already.

"Shut up," she whispered.

But the demons curled around her, wrapping her in a shadow embrace. You're pretending. You have no reason to care about these people. How could they have earned your affection?

She bit her tongue. That was circular reasoning. Right? She was too tired to figure it out, but her brain wouldn't be quiet.

He's going to die and so are you. Why should you fight for morals you don't believe in, when you're already sitting in your grave? Why not enjoy your last few days?

Majoree tore the voices to shreds in her mind until she could understand nothing beyond the meaning and the hideous, silky tone. They were separate. They couldn't hurt her anymore. Warmth ran down her cheek. Crying? Stupid. The voice was her own, and she managed a shaky smile.

Everything would be all right.

She just had to focus on one thing.

Just one thing, and then she could die.

"Goodnight, Raiyhan," she whispered.

...
...
...

Majoree's eyes cracked open to a beam of sunlight shooting in through opened curtains, impaling her in the center of her forehead. She squinted, already knowing that she'd hate today.

Chia? No, Chia's not annoying enough for this... Cotton, maybe? He might want revenge on me for-

She inhaled sharply.

No. She was on the train, heading for the Capitol. This wasn't her home- she wasn't in District 9 anymore, she was in-

She sat up, and lost her breath entirely.

The window opened into an expanse of candied colours, reds and blues and greens of all vibrancies. People in blue and pink and red swirled in pepperments of shapes, their ghostly pale skin having never known sunlight.

With a trembling hand, she touched her own arm. She stared at it for a moment, and then looked out the window again.

A knock came at the door. She jumped a little, and then glanced at it. "Um- come in?"

The old woman from yesterday swept inside.

---

District 9 Carriage (Riggs Oakfrost)

Riggs stared at the various people. Slowly, with each word, his face lightened up. A soul appeared to enter his deadened eyes for the first time.

"D-Dress me up?" he whispered. His voice cracked, so he tried again. "You're going- to dress me up? Like a Capitol person?" His eyes shone with hope. "I get to be- made- like you?"

Then he gave a loud, barking laugh.

"Oh my god, this is amazing!" He leapt down the steps, hurrying up to Minya's side. "Yes! Dress me however you see fit. Do your best, please." He puffed out his chest. "I promise to comply with whatever you think will suit me the most."

---

Minya Reedshaw.

"Oh...come on!"

Minya pouted.

"Let's all get ready, District 7!"

Said an over-enthusiastic voice.

Minya grimaced.

...

....


A while passed.

"You all look great!"

Shrieked Fleur happily.

"Now do a twirl, Minya!

Awh, you look amazing!"

Minya stared at herself in the mirror, confused.



"This...I don't look like myself anymore.."

Minya whispered.



She turned around.

"What about you Riggs? What's your outfit?"

---

Raiyhan Vale.

"Marjoree!

Marjoree-ee!"

The boy shouted.

"The Capitol stylist are here-ee!"

He sighed.

"They're waiting for you-uu!"

Raiyhan was already styled and ready.

He grimaced.



He hated this.

---

District 7 (Stylist's Chamber)

With a trembling hand, Riggs reached up to touch the thick, plastered on layers of makeup which obscured the entirety of his face. "What have they done to you?" he whispered to the mirror. Actual tears started to gather in his eyes. "Your beautiful face..."

Minya was saying something, but he was too busy mourning his vanished features. "Why... would they do this? Riggs... I'm so sorry..."



He gave a groan, letting his head fall into his hands. "Help." His whisper was muffled by the thick sleeves of the Dress? Tunic? Terrifying monstrosity of the Capitol's design? he wore.



How beautiful! You truly are the Capitol's boy! What magic they worked on you! the Capitol-worshipping part of his brain happily informed him.


He was in hell.

---

District 9 (Stylist's Chamber)

"Coming!" she yelled, casting an anxious glance down at her bed. Where was her District token-? Had she dropped it somewhere on the train? She hadn't even realized she'd had it for so long, the slip of Millet's hand into her dress. Did she want it?

She quietly debated this as she got out of bed, tucking the sheets back in their proper place and fixing the pillows. She cast a longing glance back at it as she left the train, knowing only too certainly that she wouldn't return.

She opened the door- and shut it behind her, then turning to face the stylists-

Her face blanched.

Oh god.

---

Minya Reedshaw.

"....oh..."

Minya walked over to Riggs.

"It's okay, Riggs.

It doesn't look as bad as you think.

I think it suits you."

She said reassuringly, and smiled.

---

Raiyhan Vale.

Raiyhan looked uncomfortable.

I'm sorry.

He mouthed to Marjoree.

Look what they did to me to.

He mouthed, gesturing to his own outifit.

I bet you'll look fine, it's nothing to worry about.

---

District 7 (Stylist's Chamber)

Riggs just stared listlessly through her. "My face," he whispered. "My beautiful face." It didn't appear as if he'd recover from the trauma soon.

---

District 9 (Stylist's Chamber)

Majoree gulped, her eyes not shifting from Raiyhan. He looked... strange. The tunic hung off his body in a way that seemed to accentuate the curves of his features- the sharpness of his eyes, and the height of his smile. For some reason, she felt the oddest sensation that something had been missing from his face before this moment. Was it the makeup...? Or...

She snapped back to attention. The stylist was bustling her into another room.

I'll see you later, she mouthed to Raiyhan.

The door shut behind her.

Only screams came from it for the next half hour.

...

...

...

Majoree emerged, extremely, very, traumatized.

---

Raiyhan Vale.

Raiyhan smiled.

"You look...simply fabulous darling."

He said, putting on a fake Capitol accent.

Raiyhan laughed.

"No, seriously, your outfit is amazing.

It suits you."

He added, before turning around, something golden intertwining between his fingers.

Minya Reedshaw.

Minya felt bad.

"It's....it's okay Riggs.

They can change it-"

Minya glared at the Stylists.

"You can, can't you?"

---

District 9 (Stylist's Chamber

Majoree fixed him with a deadpan stare.

"I look stupid. Don't try and say otherwise, or I will bite you." She smiled a little, though. "You look like a disaster too. District 9, terrible costumes to start off terrible games."

---

District 7 (Stylist's Chamber)

Then Riggs buried his face in Minya's shoulder. His entire body shook with sobs.

"N-No! I- My face! Everything! The whole world will laugh at me- I look so stupid- Oh my god, I look so stupid-" He sniffled, already staining Minya's dress with snot and tears. "How will I become a legend looking like this?"

---

Minya Reedshaw.

"Nonono...it's fine.

You don't look stupid.

You look...intimidating-?"

Minya gave a small smile.

"The other Tributes will be scared off you, it's fine.

No clothes nor makeup can change that."

---

Raiyhan Vale.

"I'm...offended.

I don't know how I can live with such a mean statement!"

Raiyhan said mockingly.

Her buried his face in his hands.

"I'm a disgrace!

A disaster as you said!

A mockery to District 9..."

Raiyhan shook his head.

"Oh woe is me!"

He grinned, lifting his head.

"Marjoree you mean, mean, person."

"How could you say that to an amazing, and handsome person like me?

It's so disrespectful."

He tutted.

---