Wave ~ Hunger Games [1]

thirteen

+ parade +

We walked through the long stony corridor which led to the large open space, filled with 12 chariots and 24 horses which would be pulling the tributes through the parade. There were a few tributes standing around, no one talking to each other above a small whisper except from both 1 and 2, who were grouped together as they obnoxiously laughed at something which they were talking about, their voices bouncing off the walls.

Velvet and Valour were clad in a shimmery silver material, like togas the way they were pinned around their bodies, as if they were gods among us. Nolan and Ashlor were wearing almost a gold like armour, like warriors ready for battle with large headpieces like helmets. My shoes scraped across the concrete, everyone turning to look at me, including the career pack who had stopped having a conversation, looking over at me as I tried to divert eye contact with them.

I walked to the forth chariot, which I'm guessing would be ours, my eyes locked in front of me as Ridley followed along behind me, looking around at everyone. The black horses were standing, shaking their heads slightly with their manes pulled through headpieces to make them look like battle horses. I stood beside the horse, brushing down its nose with my hand as I clicked my tongue at it, causing it to look at me as I smiled down at it.

"Both of us are just servants in this place" I said to it gently as I took a step in between our chariot and the one in front, petting the horse gently as Ridley stood by the chariot, not knowing what else to do. "Nice legs 4" I heard a new voice say from behind me, scaring me a little bit as I didn't turn around, closing my eyes as I took in a deep breath quickly before turning around.

Ashlor stood there with his arms crossed, looking down my body as I stood tall under his gaze, not wanting him to know that I was scared of him, even though I was. "Can I help you?" I asked him, turning my head back to the horse as if I didn't care that he was talking to me, continuing to pet the horse as he stood there. "There's a lot of ways you can help me" he said to , taking a step closer to me, his body too close to mine for my comfort as I took a step away from him, turning back to look at him.

He chuckled deeply shaking his head as he let his arms fall to his side, placing them on his hips as he looked at me with squinted eyes. "I'll see you around 4" he said to me, winking quickly before walking away, back to his pack of friends who were all watching him talk to me, breaking out into a conversation again as i let out a breath, turning around as I closed my eyes shaking my hands out in front of my lightly.

"Tributes, 2 minutes" a deep voice boomed over the large concrete cavity, causing us all to fall silent at the wanting. I opened my eyes, walking to the carriage as I took a large step into it, holding onto the side as Ridley hoped up next to me quickly, looking over at me. "What did he want?" Ridley asked me as I shook my head at him, letting out a small laugh as I looked ahead of me. "Nothing, he just said something stupid to try threaten me" I replied to him as he nodded his head, letting out a breath as he stared ahead of us as well, not saying anything else.

District 3 came running to their chariot, large grey headpieces attached to their heads, their black outfits covered in wires as. I saw Fuse running up to catch up with the female tribute from 3, hopping up into the chariot just in time. "Tributes go" the voice said, the horses started to walk towards the cheering crowds which we could hear now, the chariot jolted as the horses pulled it forward, Ridley and I losing balance a little bit as I cling onto the side.

"Smile and wave" I told Ridley, a smile already plastered on my face before we had even entered the large stadium. I could see the light against Velvet and Valour's outfits as the sunlight hit them, the beat of the drums matching the click of the horses hooves. Next Ashlor and Nolan, the crowd going wild as the tributes came into view, cheering coming from all directions as I squinted my eyes at the bright sunlight, blinking a few times to let my eyes get used to the light.

As our chariot entered the stadium the crowd went wild causing us both to smile and wave to the crowd, turning in all directions to make sure I was waving at everyone. I knew that everyone back home would be watching this as well, listening to Caesars commentary as we rolled passed the countless cameras which were documenting this whole process. Hopefully mom would be proud, seeing me all dressed up, but I knew deep down that she would be crying into either Dad or Kai, who were trying their best to comfort her.

President Snow was sitting at the end of the stadium, above all of this behind his podium in his golden throne like chair, sitting back as he watched us approach him. The uppers around him had smiled on their faces, magnifying glass like gadgets letting them see what we were wearing from far away, all of them talking to each other. "Keep waving" I whispered as Ridley's arm faltered a little, as if he was going to drop his arm, which neither of us could do at this point, the sucking up officially beginning.

"Waverley" I heard someone yell, turning to wave in their direction as we passed them, their cry of my name scaring me a little bit. Everyone here knew who I was, of at least knew of me, which was unimaginable considering that only a few days ago I was no one to all of these people, just a normal girl from District 4.

The chariots reached the end of the path, coming to a stop as President Snow stood up, the crowd falling silent at the lift of a hand. All the tributes looked up at the president, no longer smiling for the cameras as I stared at him, awaiting his annual speech which was never very inspirational. "Welcome to the 64th Hunger Games" he boomed, the crowd going wild with the announcement, banging off of stone and cheering filling the whole stadium once again.

Snow raised his hands, indicating the crowd to quiet down, which they did almost instantly, which was quite impressive. "I would like to thank all the tributes, we welcome you to the Capitol with open arms" he said to us, looking down at us as he motioned to us with his hands. "We salute your courage and your sacrifice" he added, taking another breath, long enough for the residents of the Capitol to start screaming once again, pumping their fists in the air.

I glanced at Ridley, as he did the same to me, his eyebrows furrowed as I looked forward once again to look at Snow. "And most importantly, we wish you a Happy Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favour" he said, bowing his head towards us the crowd cheering once again for us, shouting names out as loud as they could as they slapped their hands together. As Snow lifted his head I could of sworn he made eye contact with me, staring at me before looking away quickly, the chariots moving once again as they pulled us out of the stadium.

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A/N: this chapter was extremely long so i've had to cut it down into a few different once, I really did used to write mammoths of a chapter how did I even do it
please vote and comment and i will see you soon