Other Fan Fiction / Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction / Realism Fan Fiction ❯ The Melodies of War ❯ Sparks and Shadows:The parade of Innocence ( Chapter 4 )

For the next few hours, I sat in my room, no longer crying, but in a daze. By the time I come to, it is sunrise. I get up and look out the window beside my bed. We’re here. In the capital. There is a knock on my door, and I hesitate before going over to it and opening it. Kactus was standing outside the door. She looks at me and smiles warmly. “Hey, you missed breakfast...And your prep team is waiting for you.” I nod and she leads me towards two people, a woman and a man. The woman has short puffy curly mint green hair. Her skin is light yellow, and her eyes are light green.  

The man on the other hand, has short wavy blond hair with olive green highlights and green eyes. His skin is a light velvet color. The two of them look at me and squeal, pulling me out of the train and towards a location that I can’t put my finger on. I barely have time to check my surroundings before I’m ushered into a building, into a bathroom. 

 The woman walks over to the bathtub and starts running water and putting liquids in it. And the man stands in front of me, tilting his head, observing me. “Get the wax strips. I’ll get the hairbrushes and makeup supplies!” He squeals, his capital accent easing it’s way in his speech and the woman nods as she moves from the bathtub, filling with water, to the large mirror and opens it, taking out a few yellowish strips, the man following closely behind and grabbing hairbrushes, powder, foundation, lipstick, concealer, the whole makeup bag. Well, I’m screwed, I think. 

 “Can you...Uhm...” said the man, gesturing to my clothes. I look down at my clothes and realize what he’s asking. When I undress, the woman with the wax strips walks toward me and places one on my arm. No! That is all I can think before she rips off the wax strip from my arm, pulling my hair. I let out a yelp, jumping back and grabbing my arm, rubbing it. “Sorry dear, but it must be done.” she said, placing another on the back of my arm then ripping it off at once. I scream this time, my ears perking up, my tail twitching.  

After minutes of screaming and ripping, I am finally done. With the wax part of course. The man steps forward with a hairbrush and starts brushing my hair, brushing the knots out of my roots and ends. I am yelping for minutes again. Then he puts my hair in pigtails with white bows. The pigtails reaching down to my shoulders. Then, finally, all that’s left is makeup. The man and woman start to talk about what to do with my face and I do not pay any attention to their conversation. The only thing on my mind is getting out of this room. Once their conversation ends, they start on my face. Powder here, eyeshadow there. Some lipstick here, some highlighters there. And then I am done. When you take away the amount of time taken on my body hair and head hair, it only took minutes to finish. Then, Honey came in holding a white skirt with a leather belt sewed in it and a white button up shirt with white 4-inch heels. Honey has sunset orange skin, grey eyes, and black hair. 

 I tilt my head. “What’s with all the white?” I ask. Honey hands me the clothes and fidgeting with her fingers. “I... I had an idea for your parade outfit. Just...Just trust me...please?” she pleads. I nod, wanting to help her feel comfortable. I put on the clothes, and she led me to the Remake Center. 

 All the district tributes are there getting onto chariots pulled by a team of four horses, from district one all the way to twelve. Our horses are blond and white to represent electricity. I glance around and see Kai wearing a white shirt, white pants, and white shoes. Honey and Dew, the one with sea green hair, grey eyes and black hair, help us onto our chariot. 

 They direct us to stand side by side, looking forward. I fold my arms across my chest and hold my head up high. For final additions, I smile. Kai stands to my left, expression cold, hands in his pockets. The opening music begins, and massive doors slide open reveling the crowds on the streets.  

Not directly in the streets, there is a clear pathway for us to get through. District 1 tributes are carried off first, then 2, then us. The second we are outside; my blouse and his shirt start to shake slightly. I flatten my ears on my head, in shock and glance at Kai. Kai glances back at me and before we know it, electricity is sparking out from our upper clothes. The electricity is multicolored. From red to purple, green to pink, golden yellow to silver white. Then, our lower clothes are electrified as well. 

 The electricity flies out into the streets, not actually close to the crowd, but fairly close. Then my bows are electrified. I flinch, expecting it to hurt, but it does not. I look up and see a large television screen screening us. I can see Kai, how the light makes him look dazzling and brave. His shirt and pants are letting out red, purple, and amber lightning bolts. When I look at him, I think of strength, bravery, passion. ambition, boldness and courage. Then I look at myself. My button up shirt and skirt are releasing white, red, orange, yellow and pink. When I see myself, I think of shyness, embarrassment, caution, kindness, determination, and innocence. 

 My face does not help my case. We look like fireworks. He looks ready and capable to win the games, but I look helpless, weak even. What is Honey trying to do? Make me lose sponsors? And then I think deeper. I could lose and gain sponsors looking innocent. It is fifty fifty. The way I act can make or break me. I act innocent, I can lose or gain sponsors. If I act brave, then why do I look so innocent? Everything needs a reason. I must find mine quickly. What will be my strategy for the games? 

 I glance at Kai. He still has his cold expression present on his face. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and turn to him. He glances at me and raises an eyebrow. “What?” he asks. I wrap my arms around him, looking at the television screen before we completely pass it. Now all I can see on the screen is a little girl clinging to a man, hoping he will protect her. Kai looks down at me then looks back up, his gaze back on the District 2 chariot in front of us. He wraps his arm protectively around me. Just as the screen passes, I see our image one last time.  

It looks like the man has decided to protect her. My ears flattened on my head makes a perfect addition to the picture. We pass the television, and I smile to myself knowing my plan is working. I hear people ooh and aw, people squeal and shout, people jumping with joy. The twelve chariots fill the City Circle. Our horses pull our chariots right up to President Snow’s mansion. President Snow himself walks out on a balcony above us. 

 The music ends, and my face hardens when I see him on the balcony above us as he welcomes us. The anthem plays and my eyes don’t pry away from President Snow. I hardly noticed them trying to do a cut around each pair of tributes. I glance away from Snow and my eyes meet a camara, focused only on me and Kai. We paraded around the circle one last time and disappeared into the Training Center. 

 The doors shut behind us and everyone’s prep team appeared to take their tribute. Honey and Dew are helping us off our chariot. When my feet hit the ground, my ears perk up at once and my tail sways side to side. Honey pulls out a remote with colorful buttons and pushes one. The electricity that surrounded us flied out, striking everything in its path. Though it didn’t hit anyone or hurt anyone, it was still messy. I let go of Kai and play with the pigtail the man made for me.