Birdie

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ⁷

(Word Count: 1913)

Aura walked into the room, smiling and giving a small twirl as Aspen clapped.

"It looks even better on you than I imagined." He said, smiling and walking over to her.

Aura looked at herself in the mirror. The dress she wore for her interview tonight was mostly blue, the skirt being made of a fabric that resembled a Blue Jay feather. Aura ran her hands down the skirt of her dress, making sure the feathers were neat.

The top of the dress was made of a soft fabric and was the same blue on the back. The front of it was plain white, and she wore a small locket over her dress.

The locket she had gotten from her mother, who had gotten it from hers, and so on. It was something she treasured deeply.

She smiled and looked at Aspen in the mirror. He looked back with pride in his eyes, putting his hand on her shoulders.

"I think it's time to go, Birdie."

---

Aura walked with Elliot back to behind the capitol stage. She could hear the audience talking from back here, and she wanted to just go back to bed.

Elliot looked over and attempted a smile, reassuringly wrapping an arm around her neck as they walked to stand by the wall, observing the other tributes.

Aura hadn't talked to most of them. She didn't know most of them all that well anyway.

She smiled to be polite as many tributes walked about, chatting to others and trying to make sure they were ready.

The Tribute Interviews were very important, and even though this year was different entirely, the preparation of the tributes was still the same.

Most tributes were more glammed-up than prior years, as the capital saw them already as more than just tributes. All these faces were familiar to the capitol.

And the tributes planned to use that.

None of the victors wanted this. None of them wanted to have to be thrown back into the games they had already been through, but what choice did they have? Except to get the capitol to rebel.

Aura looked up at the screen backstage, watching as Ceaser Flickerman walked on stage. The audience clapped and cheered him on, and Ceaser smiled at them.

"Thank you, thank you. Thank you for being here tonight on the eve of the 75th Hunger Games!" Ceaser said loudly, the crowd once again cheering and clapping him on.

"We have never seen anything like this, and we will never see anything like it again." He continued. "Because tonight, on this stage, 24 of Panem's brightest stars will vie for the ultimate crown. Tonight will be their final opportunity to express their thoughts, our final opportunity to express our love, and heartbreakingly... to say goodbye to all but one."

The crowd begins to express their upset at this, and Ceaser flips his switch right back to happy.

Aura watches the screen as Gloss and Cashmere take the stage. She sighs and leans against the wall, completely zoning out.

She got lost in thought on Madison and Stella at home. What would happen if Aura were to die in the arena? Would they take care of Liza? Would Liza be safe from Snow? She couldn't risk testing that.

No one was safe, not from the games, not from the capital, and most importantly, not from President Snow.

She was snapped back to reality by Elliot placing a guitar in her hands. Her guitar.

She smiled and looked up at him. She had known she was going to sing. Obviously, she would. Bur having her guitar from home gave her a sense of comfort. She played a chord quietly, tuning the guitar slightly and repeating the note. That's better.