Rick~

The ride to the Capitol is... not pleasant for any of us.

Our (Lucelle's and my) mentors are of no help to my cause. Lucelle's, Ivy, goes into her room to watch her while she... gets over her shock. I shot her a grateful glance as she walks past me, and I think I catch a glimmer of a sad smile. I hope she knows how to treat her. There is no treatment, really.

I don't even know the name of my mentor, as the Reaping Ceremony was cut short. All I know is that he shut himself in his room and refuses to come out. Not that I care; I've got better things to do than listen to a mentor blab.

No, I need to talk with our escort.

 
I knock on Bonnie's door and she chirps, "Come in!" I do without any further ado aand stand by the door. She finishes what must be the millionth application of blue lipstick today, smacks her lips together, and says, "Well, Richard. What can I do for you?"

"Please, call me Rick," I say coolly. "And the problem is Lucelle."
"Oh, yes!" she says, spinning around in what I realize now is a swivel chair. "Very delicate, very dangerous! Are you nervous around her? Is that the problem? We can surely arrange for you two to stay apart-- anything to keep my tributes happy--"
"No!" I shout, appalled by the very idea of being kept away from her. "I want to pull her out of the Games."
Bonnie looks about as appalled at I am. "Honey, it can't be done!"
"It can be done! Of course it can be done! And it will be done!"
"Honey," she says calmly, "I'm just an escort. I have no power over the Capitol's descisions! Besides, rules are rules-"

"I don't care about the rules!" I scream. "Get Lucelle out, and get her out now!"

"You're getting a bit hysterical, dear. Sit down and we'll talk about it."
I stubbornly stay standing. "She's mentally disordered and mute. The audience won't get much of a show from her."

Bonnie sighs. "I can't do anything, dearie, even if I wanted to. This conversation is over."

"Fine!" I yell. I turn, but then turn back. "And I told you to call me Rick."

With that, I turn and slam the door. 

She's from 1. I accidentally did 3 in one post.

Ariana ~ I sit down as far away as possible from Thrawn. Otherwise he would kill me. Or something like that. The girl sitting on my left has dark brown hair. She reminds me of Shine. How I miss her. The girl on my right won't talk.* At all. Yerno, my mentor instructed me to try to "make allies". Might as well start with this girl.

"Um, I'm Ariana. Levine." I say, the words falling out of my mouth.

"I'm Gena Silver." The girl next to me says.

"I like your name."

"Huh. What district are you from?"

"I'm from District 1." I murmur softly.

"I knew it." Gena says, her voice hard.

"What District are you from?"

"Five."

"Oh. Wasn't District 5 the winner two years ago?" The same year my sister died.

"Yeah."

"My sister died that year." I whisper softly.

"Oh?"  Gena says, turning towards me.

"Her name was Diamondshine." I say softly.

"What a ridiculous name. No offense meant."

"We used to make fun of her name when our parents weren't around." I say, smiling sadly. A tear trickles down my cheek, falling into my green dress. 

Rick~

Against my wishes, we soon arrive at the Capitol, Lucelle and all. I meet my mentor for the first time, finally; he seems very distant and sad, with scars all over his body. I wonder what happened to him but I don't dare ask; Bonnie warned me he was quite emotional when it comes to his Games.

I meet my stylist, who informs me that all the tributes will be meeting for dinner that night. He hands me a suit that I take grudgingly. I don't like suits; they're very tight and containing and they make me feel like I should walk like a Peacekeeper. But he insists and I finally put it on. He raves about how amazing I look, tells me what number to press on the elevator, and shoos me out.

"Lucelle?" I say to his retreating back. We were separated as soon as we got to the Captiol, by which time she had woken up.

"Already there," he replies.

I walk down stiffly and examine the row of tables for a promising glint of red. Unfortunately, both seats next to Lucelle are already taken, but there is a seat across from a very thin brown-haired girl. She reminds me of a rail. Rails lead to tracks, tracks lead to trains, trains lead to Lucelle... I stare at my plate hard, trying to fight back tears. What will happen to Lucelle?

_____

(I'm assuming the "girl who won't talk" is Lucelle.)

Lucelle~

I like my stylist and my mentor. The mentor's name is Ivy, and she held my hand for the whole ride to the Capitol, or as much of the ride that wasn't in white mist. I think Rick likes her, too, but I never got a chance to ask because Bonnie insisted on moving us to seperate cars. I don't like Bonnie very much, although it's not only that. It's the way she talks and the way she dresses and the way she acts... she seems kind of eccentric, and odd, and too optomistic to be real. I contemplate whether she's an atomaton, but I think she isn't-- not even robots are that weird.

And my stylist, Harriet, is nice but rather bossy. I don't feel comfortable around her like with Ivy, but at least she isn't frightening, as I've begun to think of Bonnie as. She insists that my slim shoulders are my biggest asset and proceeds to show me a bunch of dresses that are quite literally sleeveless, all of which I turn down. Then she suggests black to go with my firey hair. "Fire is made out of coal, and fire is red, and coal is black, so red and black must go together!" were her exact words. I begin to contemplate whether she is actually not just a second version of Bonnie.

However, I do like black, and we soon find a nice dress for me to wear (although I hate dresses anyhow). It has sleeves that end at the elbow and a skirt that almost-but-not-quite touches the floor. It isn't perfect like my white one, which used to be the only dress I would ever wear, but at least it isn't sleeveless. 

Harriet waves me off with a cheery "Well, I'm going to suit you up with a nice sleeveless one for your parade, anyhow!"

Definitely another version of Bonnie.

I make it down to dinner before Rick and sit next to a rather short girl with curly blond hair. When the food arrives, I eat, but I listen. Like I always do.

The girl next to me is named Ariana, and she's talking to a girl named Gena. They start talking about a girl named Diamondshine-- her parents must be like Bonnie, too-- when I notice a body in a suit sit across from Gena. Rick!

Lark ~ After a little while my hunger leads me to the dining room. It is quiet except for the clink of silverware. I take a seat next to a girl with dark brown hair in a bun and very grey eyes and a very tall boy with blonde hair. 

I count about twenty people around that table and identify their districts. There are three I am uncertain about and one of them is the girl next to me. I clear my throat and say softly"  Uh...Pardon me, but who are you?"

" My name is Gema. Who are you? "  

"Oh I'm Lark. From District 11." I trail off. 

We stop talking and I concentrate on my plate. It is filled with the most delicious food that I have ever tasted. My favorite thing about the meal is the carrots roasted in butter. After dinner I walk back to my room so I can meet my mentor. She is tall, has pink hair, and her name is Penelope.  She won the Games eighteen years ago. The other tribute whose name is Kay comes in a little after me. 

After a long and mostly boring talk our mentor sends us to bed. I don't think she thinks we, District 11, have any chance at winning this year and I think that I mostly agree with her.  

When we get to the Capital I am amazed at everything I see. It is so diffrent from everything I have ever known.  We walk into a large building and Penelope and Kay leave me in a small room. In a few moments my stylist comes in. She is a short woman with black hair and twinkling blue eyes. She measures me and writes about a hundred things on a clipboard, while talking endlessly about everything. Finally she leaves the room and comes back and says, "I think I have two possible she ideas for your costume. You can tell me which one you like better. You can go as a ladybug," she shows me a picture of a bright red costume woth black dots.

I feel my heart sinking as I say, "Or?"

"You can go as an apple tree." She holds up beaultful picture of a flowing brown and green dress. I gasp and my eyes widen. 

"I think I like the tree," I say. If I am going to die I should at least wear one beautlful dress first.  

Ariana ~ I get up, starting to sob uncontrolably. Everyone starts giving me uncomfortable looks. Thrawn grins at me. I start crying even harder, running out of the room. Now everyone is going to think I'm too fragile. 

I stop just out of the room and shout, "I won't honor her memory that way!" I start crying again, harder then ever. I crouch down,so that I won't trip over anything. someone* crouches down next to me, whispering, "It'll be alright."

~~~

*This can be anyone.