Puzzle Pieces • Finnick Odair

C H A P T E R 6

Upon arrival, Jessica and Dale were taken to separate areas, one room had been marked 'female' one 'male'. The rooms were long and quite narrow. There were curtains separating each bed, a peacekeeper stood, silent as always, opposite each bed, watching with almost dead eyes. Their was about two or three people per person.

Her skin was scrubbed red raw until deemed clean enough, legs waxed, eyebrows plucked, hair washed and brushed until she looked presentable.

She sat on a bed wearing her blue 'hospital' gown waiting for someone named Brayden.

As the door opens and a dark skinned man enters, Jessica's head shoots up, looking at the man, "hello Jessica, I'm so sorry your here, I'm Brayden and I'm here to help you in any way possible."

"Thank you."

He sends her a warm smile, Jess has always been a good judge of character and she could tell, Brayden was a good guy with good intentions.

"So tonight is the Tribute Parade. Time to show you off to the world."

"So you're here to make me look pretty."

"Honey, I'm here to make you stand out, to accentuate your natural beauty. Now usually people from 4 wear scales or fins or something revealing or frilly," the thought of wearing something that out her on show made her shiver, "but I'm not gonna do that. Because real beauty, comes with confidence."

His warm smile never left his face, his dusty brown eyes full of care as he led her out the room.

She was then introduced to Valeria, Brayden's sister, who was just as lovely as Bray. Val was her makeup artist who, to Jessica's relief, kept it fairly simple but 'out there' enough to please the crowd and bold enough to leave an impression.

She wore a sandy coloured tube top with matching heels and a long skirt with a slit down one leg, which was a mix of blues reminding her perfectly of the ocean back home. She looked radiant. Her face consisted of light blue eyeshadow with some silver glitter, and black lashes that looked rather natural, just like she had mascara on.

She was the picture of perfect.

Dale was wearing a sandy shirt, with the first two buttons undone, navy blue pants, like the sea at night, and sandy coloured sandals to match.

As Dales designer spoke softly to him, Brayden caught her attention, "don't be afraid girlie, remember to smile. You are a pearl in a pile of stones, show them what Jessica Miller is made of."

She smiled gratefully at the man in front of her before stepping onto the carriage with Dale on her left.

As the carriage began to move forwards, Dales hands started to shake, Jessica took his right hand in her left, giving it a tight, reassuring squeeze, the crowd watched them, clapping and cheering, throwing flowers towards the tributes as they lifted their hands up towards the air, receiving an even louder reaction from the crowd.

'Well would you look at that! District 4 is looking gorgeous this year...'

She zoned out the voice of Caesar booming over the speakers as she focused on her breathing.

Breath in. Breathe out. Just like Mags taught her.

As they reached the more open area, the horses stopped as the other tributes filled in.

President Snow waves to the crowd with a fake, sadistic smile on his face, "Welcome. Welcome. Tributes, we welcome you. We salute your courage and your sacrifice. And we wish you, Happy Hunger Games. And may the odds be ever in your favour." 

Once we got off the carriage, we were greeted by Elaine, Finnick, Mags, Brayden, Valeria and Dale's team.

Brayden embraces Jessica in a side hug, "that was amazing girlie," to which she returned as real a smile she could manage.

"Right, let's go upstairs," Elaine ushers them towards the elevator.

As they walk, Finnick quickly, and easily, falls in pace with Jessica's walking, "you look beautiful by the way," he speaks nonchalantly, she smiled back ignoring the butterflies fluttering around her stomach, the blush that would no doubt have shown if she wasn't wearing so much makeup, "thanks."

"Each district has their own floor," Elaine explains as the group enter the elevator and go up to their assigned floor.

When the elevator doors open, Jessica notices the rather odd decoration. It looks typically Capitol: unnecessarily expensive decorations. Elaine gives a quick tour before telling them all to go freshen up before dinner.

Jessica was shocked to say the least when she saw her room. It was huge. After having a bath in the pristine white bathroom, she walks into her room, dressed in a white shirt and black loose lounging pants.

The room was District 4 themed, a beach painting hung over the king sized bed which had way more pillows than needed and a soft white blanket over the duvet, a soft beige sand like rug on the floor, unrealistically soft on her feet, and a dresser in the corner with a large mirror. One of the walls was a window from roof to floor with a controlled remote to change the settings, she messed around with it before finding a beach. She could practically hear herself and her brothers running down the sandy shore, splashing water at each other and laughing freely. She shut it off, going back to the actual overview of the Capitol outside before sighing and pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind.

The next day, everyone was gathered in a room ready for the first training session.

"In two weeks, 23 of you will be dead. One of you will be alive. Who that is depends on how well you pay attention in the next four days, particularly to what I'm about to say. First, no fighting with the other tributes. There will be plenty of time for that in the arena. There are four compulsory exercises. The rest will be individual training. My advice is don't ignore the survival skills. Everyone wants to grab a weapon but most of you will die if natural causes. 10% from infection, 20% from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife."

And with that, training began.

AN: if I didn't explain the parade outfit very well, I got my inspo from moana so just in again something a bit like that but different colours.