Arrows in the Dark

Cinna

I bit down hard on my lip as Venia jerks the wax paper form my leg ripping out the hair. "Sorry!" she squeaked. "There's just so much hair. It's just everywhere." i wanted to slap her. Hair was natural. Why did they feel the need to pluck themselves clean of it? Now that was un-natural. It was like plucking a bird of all it's feathers. It left me feeling bare. Unprotected. They had waxed every inch of me. My arms, legs, underarms, torso. Even parts of eyebrows. Seriously! This was just too much.

I hadn't tried to argue with them, or complain. I was trying to be a good little tribute and do as Haymitch said. I imagined Peeta going through the same thing and wondered how he was fairing. If he had put up a fight. I haven't even met my stylist yet. Only the assistants. I surveyed them now. Venia has aqua hair and gold tattoos above her eyebrows. Is she suppose to look elegant? Is that what she was going for? I didn't want to ask. It might upset her. Flavius was a guy and he had extremely curly orange hair. He was also wearing purple lipstick. Octavia was a plump little woman and her skin had been dyed pea green. It made me want to throw up. This was fashion? I did not want to be apart of it if it was. I could only imagine what my stylist would look like. "One more!" squeaked Venia as she put another piece of wax paper against my leg. Bracing myself i dug my nails into the table i had been sitting on. With a final rip she tore off the rest of my leg hair.

"At least you haven't complained." Flavius said motioning for me to stand up. "We hate when they whine." i'm guessing he was talking about the past tributes. He starts to take off my robe. This whole time i had been wearing a thin robe off and on. I was very self conscience about it. The people here at the Capitol probably had no problem running around naked. I did. I wasn't much to look at to begin with. I could feel their judging eyes on me. "All right. Grease her down." Flavius says. Veina and Octavia rub me all over with a lotion that soothes the burning itching feeling i feel all over my body. I'm almost grateful. I just wish they would stop touching me. Slowly they circle me with tweezers ready to pick of any stray hairs. They find a couple and i make a face as they pull them off. "There's the human being i knew was in there!" Flavius says with a flourish of his hands. I nod.

"Thanks. This feels a lot better than it did before." i say as nicely as i can. When really i just want to rip their heads off.

"Of course it does dear. It's so barbaric in those District's i don't know how a lady survives." Octavia says with a shake of her head. I nod and smile like i agree. They would see barbaric in a couple minutes if they didn't shut up.

"Now that all that filth is gone let's go get Cinna!" Veina says excitedly. They all rush out of the room. I breath out a sigh of relief. I turn to look in the full length mirror they have set up in the room and look over myself. I don't look very different but i feel it. My nails are in perfect uniform shape and i would swear my skin was glowing. Probably because they had removed a couple layers of it. I smelled like Prim did when she was a baby. That new baby smell. I guess it was appropriate. New me after all. I heard the door open and i turned to see who would walk in.

I don't know what i expected but not the person who stood before me. After seeing images of the Capitol's people i expected something over the top and crazy. The man before me was nothing like that. He had short hair that looked to be it's natural shade of brown. He wore a dark shirt and pants. The only thing "Capitol" about him was the gold eyeliner around his eyes. "Hello Catora." he says mildly.

"Hello." i reply a bit shyly.

"I'm your stylist." to my surprise he reaches out to shake hands with me. I slip my hand into his and he gives me a firm shake and a squeeze. I drop my hand.

"You can put your robe back on. Walk this way." he said motioning to two leather seats off to the side by a window. I grab my robe off the table and quickly tie the belt around my waist. He's already sitting down when i get there. I lower myself in the chair and sit across from him. My eyes never leaving his face. "Who did your hair? The day of the reaping." he asks pointing at me. I blink in surprise. That wasn't a question i was expecting.

"Umm my mother." i answer slowly.

"It looked good on you. I think that's what we'll use for the rest of the games. It'll be your trademark. Something people will recognize you by." i nod taking in every word. It was hard to stand out in a pool of 24 tributes. Especially with all the Careers who are trained in killing. Cinna wasn't anything i thought he would be.

"Are you new?" i asked. "I don't think i've seen you in the games before." i explained. He nodded.

"Yes this is my first year in the Games." he answered.

"So they put you with District 12." i said feeling a bit bad for him. He didn't sound like a bad guy. Cinna shrugged.

"I asked for District 12." i looked back up at him. He didn't explain what he meant. He asked for us? Nobody in their right minds would ask for District 12. At that moment there was a flurry of movement as servants came in with platters of food for our lunch. They placed everything on a long table nearby then left the room with a bow. We both got up to go eat the food provided to us. It's chicken cooked with oranges and some sort of sauce. All of it is resting on some sort of grain. Rice? I've heard of it before but never had it. Green peas and onions, rolls shaped like flowers like i've seen in the bakery. Dessert was pudding, the color of honey. I stared at all the food.

I wondered how much work Katniss, Gale, and I would have to put in to get a meal like this. It would take an awfully long time and a lot of trading. It may take a week just to prepare something as fancy as this. Must be nice living in a world where you don't have to worry about anything. Where food is on silver platters and you don't have to worry if you'll be able to see your children grow up.

"We must seem so small to you." startled i looked at Cinna. He had been staring at me gauging my expression. He might have guessed what i was thinking about. With a shake of his head he went back to the matter at hand. "So about your costume for the opening ceremonies. Portia, Peeta's stylist, and I have been thinking of dressing you two in similar outfits." I lifted a forkful of chicken into my mouth. Matching outfits. I was fine with it but what would it look like? Would Peeta want that? I swallowed my food and picked up more. I tried to not look like i hadn't eaten in years.

"As you know it is customary to to wear something that reflects the District you hail from." i thought of past years tributes. Coming from District 12, with mining as our main industry, our tributes have usually been in some scandalous mining clothes and hats with headlights. I guess the whole miner jumpsuit thing wasn't flashy enough for everyone. A couple years back the tributes had even been naked, completely covered in some sort of black and gray dust. They were suppose to represent coal dust.

"So a miner's jumpsuit?" i asked lightly. I was trying to imagine what it would be like to stand completely naked in a chariot next to Peeta. I think i would rather die than do that. Cinna shook his head and i could practically hear my heart fall to the pit of my stomach. Suddenly i couldn't eat. I just stared at him.

"Not exactly. Portia and i think the whole coal miner thing has been blown out of proportion. We're trying to think simpler." i swallowed. My throat felt dry. Naked. We were going to be naked. How much simpler could you get? "As your stylists we see it fit to make District 12 as memorable as possible." i had tuned him out slightly. I didn't want to be naked. "So we're not focusing on coal mining but the coal itself." Naked with black dust covering all the parts i don't want the world to see. "And coal burns. I hope you're not afraid of fire." he says a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Wait, what?" i asked suddenly more concerned than ever. I was going to die before the games even started. Wonderful.