Kiss of Death

Alder escorted the tributes to the front of the train. They stepped slowly out into the sun, which seemed to shine so differently over the Capitol. At the sight of them, the citizens cheered, waving scarves above their heads and shouting.

Scout kept her eyes away from the crowd, staring only at the back of Reed’s blonde head. His hand moved back and forth, in a half-hearted wave, and they were soon at the foot of a building tall enough to reach the tops of the mountains.

The door opened before them, in a greeting of its own, and Alder motioned for them to follow. They walked down a long hallway, until they reached the end. In front of them were two doors, each on opposite sides of the hallway.

Alder motioned for Scout to step into the room on the left, while Reed took the one of the right.
Scout stepped into the large metal room, the door shutting softly behind her. A large metal slab sat in the center of the room, surrounded by equipment covered tables.

A group of a few purple-haired women stood in the corner of the room, sifting through items on one of the tables. In one fluid motion, the women turned together, each of them facing Scout. They approached her quickly, motioning for her to lay on the table.

The women surrounded her, many odd looking tools in their hands. One reached to her face, using metal clasps to pull the hair from between her eyes. Another ran fingers through her hair, rubbing the dead tips between her fingers.

After a lot of poking, prodding, washing and waxing, the group stepped away from Scout’s sensitive body and wrapped her in a white sheet. Her body was now soft, hair free, and virtually flawless.

The group left the room and another woman entered behind them. The blue-haired woman approached Scout, reaching her hand out to her.

“I’m Parlom,” she said. “Your stylist.”

Scout smiled at her, shaking the woman’s hand.

“I’ve got a lot planned for you. Have a seat.”

Scout followed Parlom’s hand motion and sat on a stool in the corner.

The woman moved quickly around Scout, gluing brightly colored leaves to her body. Parlom’s hands moved with such precision, placing leaves in all the right places.

In just a few moments, she was covered with the bright leaves. Her stomach was left uncovered, as were most of her legs. The leaves were placed precisely on her body so that she looked appropriate, while still looking primal. There was much more of her body showing than she would have liked, but she knew better than to argue with her stylist.

After Parlom announced that she was finished, she escorted Scout out of the prep room, and towards a long concrete hallway.

The hallway served as a road, and was very open, with high ceilings and wide openings. The bright chariots were lined up, one after another, and for the first time, Scout saw her competition.

As Parlom walked her down the hallway, Scout kept her gaze fixed forward, avoiding the stares of the other tributes. She could feel their eyes on her, sizing her up, then quickly dismissing her.
Luckily, the pair didn’t have to pass the chariots of Districts 1 and 2 in order to reach District 7’s chariot.

The District 7 chariot was painted a bright green, attracting much more attention than Scout would have hoped. Reed stood on the opposite side of the chariot, Alder and Kari standing with him. Parlom guided her to them, before quickly stepping away.

Reed’s outfit was almost identical to Scout's except he was covered in far less leaves than her. His leaves were placed strictly below the belt, and didn’t leave much to the imagination.

He chuckled at her, catching her eye.

“We match,” he said, holding out his hands in presentation.

She nodded, a small smile on her face, and held out her hands in a similar fashion.

Alder laughed at them both. He turned to Scout and held out his hand to guide her into the chariot. She looked around and found that the other districts’ tributes were each taking their places in their chariots.

Using Alder’s hand for balance, Scout stepped forward, slipping onto the chariot carefully. Reed followed closely behind her, and when the two stood side by side, she realized for the first time how similar they looked to the many tributes that had come before them.

The chariot moved forward, slowly at first, but quickly gained speed. As the chariot moved through the threshold, the sound of the cheering people of the Capitol could be heard.

Scout’s breath caught in her throat, her nerves getting the best of her. Her face was flushed; she knew that much. As her eyes moved to those of the Capitol’s citizens, she found her fingers shaking. She turned to Reed. He looked back at her, giving her a soft smile, and reached for her hand. He squeezed it twice, as they had done when they were children.

She attempted to gain control of her breathing as the line of chariots moved further down the long road. The cameras panned to each of the tributes, giving the Districts a view of each of the competitors in this year’s games.

The chariots continued moving, while the Capitol shouted at them, until they were lined up in front of President Snow’s seat high in the sky.

When they came to a stop, the cheering ending, and President Snow stepped out from behind his red curtain. The people clapped, in a fashion that was much more respectable than when the chariots had been moving down the aisle. The President stood for a moment, waving out at the people, then looked down at the tributes. He appeared to have a small grin on his face.

President Snow stopped his wave, and folded his hand in front of him. The crowd fell silent as he began to speak. Just his voice was enough to make Scout’s blood run cold. The speech was the same as it had been for many years, but it ignited the crowd nonetheless.

The President thanked the tributes for their brilliant arrival into Panem, and assured each of them that he looked forward to seeing them again.

When the speech was over, the citizens cheered once more.

After the president’s dismissal, the chariots began moving automatically away from the man. Each of the tributes waved a good bye to the cheering Capitol, as they made their way back through the threshold.

When the chariots had come back to their original place, they came to a complete stop, back in the same lines they were before. The tributes moved slowly off of the chariots, each of them heading towards their respective mentors.

“Well, done,” Alder said, placing his arms around Scout and Reed’s shoulders. “Now comes the hard part."