HAVEN AND THETA WERE THE FIRST of the District 4 group to arrive in the tunnel where the chariots stood. Haven glanced around, noticing that about half the tributes were still missing. Theta leaned in and whispered, "Not to be biased, but I think you win best dressed." Haven giggled, looking right over at the poor District 10 tribute who was dressed as a cow. Some Districts clearly had it worse off than others. The Cleary girl shifted her focus from the bovine tribute and began petting the horse in front of her, her actions piqued with curiousity because she'd never seen one before in District 4. She was entranced, stroking the mane of the animal.

"Oh look, the princess and her pony. How fitting." Haven snapped her head up, and saw Collin chuckling at her, clearly amused by his joke. The pale girl's cheeks turned bright red as a reaction, to which Collin responded that he was only kidding. The other District 4 mentors slowly made their way over, and finally a few minutes later Spencer arrived with his stylist. Her partner was dressed with a similar theme in mind, or should she say half dressed. The brunette was shirtless, with only a thin, shimmering fishing net draped over his shoulders. His pants mimicked Haven's skirt, with the same multi chrome scales. The two looked perfectly in sync, at least in regards to their clothing.

"Alright you two. The Tribute Parade is one of the main ways to get the sponsors' attention. And trust me, you want it. Their help can make the difference between life and death in the arena." Mallory spoke to the two tributes. "Haven, what you did on the platform earlier was great, keep that same energy." she continued. "They're always head over heels for the charming tributes. Just look at Finnick, that's exactly how he won his games." Garrett added. "Awfully kind of you to forget about my cunning work with a trident and instense knowledge of survival skills." Finnick shot back sarcastically, before popping a sugar cube into his mouth.

"Aren't those for the horses?" Spencer asked. "The horses didn't win the Hunger Games, Cade. I did, I deserve this in exchange for my trauma." the blonde victor replied, with a hint of sharpness in his voice. Spencer didn't respond, only shooting back a flare out of the corner of his eye as he turned towards Collin. Haven stifled back a laugh, the tension between the two fighting to be the alpha male was so thick that you could slice it with a knife.

The blonde girl was about to burst, but luckily for her the tributes were told to get into their places. Spencer mounted the chariot first, before giving Haven a hand, as it was much too tall for her to do alone. She mumbled a thank you to him, which he gave a soft smile to. "Alright. Smile, wave, whatever you do make them love you." Chlöe said to the tributes, right as their chariot began to move.

Startled by the uneven movement of the horses, Haven clutched tightly onto the handlebar of the chariot, her knuckles turning white. They exited the tunnel, and instantly the two were bombarded with the screams and cheers of the Capitol spectators. Remembering what their mentors told them, Spencer and Haven both plastered huge smiles on their faces and waved to the crazed fans. The sights of the insanely colorful Capitol people, mixed with the sound of huge drums and the cheers was extremely over stimulating. "Smile and wave. Smile and wave." the blonde kept repeating in her head, blocking out the distractions. They kept this up as the chariots moved all the way down the path, before stopping in a circular formation.

The Cleary girl shifted her attention to the balcony above her, and found herself looking directly at President Snow. She'd seen the white haired man on television countless times, but something about seeing the sadistic leader in person sent chills down her spine.

"Welcome. Welcome. Tributes, we welcome you." the President called. "This is the Sixty-Seventh year of the Hunger Games, in penance for the uprising against the Capitol. Tributes, we salute your sacrifice to Panem, and we welcome you." Snow finished, before gulping back the drink he was holding in his hand. His words left Haven feeling quite uneasy, and the girl could tell Spencer felt the same way by his tense body language. She tapped his hand and smiled, attempting to calm the both of them.

Right on cue, the chariots all began moving back into the tunnel. Haven and Spencer resumed their waving, not stopping until they were completely inside the tunnel again.

"Fantastic job you two, let's go upstairs and discuss some things." Sebastian said to the group, wrapping an arm around each of the tributes in a congratulatory fashion.

➸

The glass elevators were extremely quick, and only a few seconds later the group stepped into the District 4 apartment. The blonde girl's eyes grew wide, the apartment made the sophisticated train look practically like a shack in comparison. The huge room was complete with sleek, modern furniture, in front of a backdrop of the entire city, thanks to the entire wall of windows. Haven glanced around more, noticing the decor was ocean themed. Her lips formed a miniscule smile, relishing in the small bit of comfort the sight brought her.

The nine of them sat at the long dining table, and Haven realized how ravenous she was, not having eaten since the train. "Better get used to this." the blonde thought to herself, knowing that food would be hard to come by in the arena. An Avox placed a steaming plate of food in front of Haven, who fought every urge to swallow it whole, not wanting to be made fun of again.

"Okay. We need to discuss some strategy for training tomorrow." Mallory said, taking a break from chewing. "This is the first time you'll really interact with your fellow tributes. If you appear weak in training, people will probably just put you on their kill list. Conversely, if you show off too much, they might hate you and also want to kill you. It's a fine balance." she continued. "I suggest you spend your time improving the areas you're lacking in, and save your strengths for the private session with the Gamemakers. You don't want the other tributes to know what tricks you have up your sleeve, got it?" Collin added on.

"It's still early because you haven't met each other, but tomorrow I want you both to think about possible allies. In past years, the Careers are typically the tributes from 1 and 2, but in many years 4 has been as well. It's all up to what you decide." Garrett explained. "Eh, I don't trust the Careers. They're always a bunch of assholes." Finnick interjected, his mouth full of mashed potatoes. "Hey, watch it. I was part of the career pack in my games." Sebastian shot back. "Exactly my point." the Odair boy smirked, making the other mentors laugh. Haven and Spencer awkwardly stared at each other, holding back their laughter, not wanting to get involved and make any of their mentors hate them.

The rest of the meal passed without much fanfare, and everyone silently excused themselves to their separate rooms. Eager to wash off the layers of glitter and makeup from the parade, Haven immediately went to shower after dinner. The buttons on this shower were even more complex than the one on the train, with probably a hundred different settings. "Damn, how hard is it to get some regular soap around here." the Cleary girl muttered to herself, as she pushed random buttons until she found what she was looking for. After she scrubbed every spec of glitter, and probably a layer of her skin off, she toweled herself dry and dressed in a pair of blue silk pajamas she found hanging in the massive closet. The blonde crawled into the large bed. She noticed a remote on the nightstand, and started pressing the buttons. The far wall in the room came to life, displaying the scenery of a lush forest. Haven kept fidgeting with the settings, finally stopping when the screen displayed a video of the ocean. She stared at the waves, the image sending her back to the morning of the reaping. In a matter of a few days, her life had changed so dramatically. The girl didn't realize that she had started crying until she put her hand to her face, and was met with damp cheeks. Her heart ached to be home in Districf 4, surrounded by her family. She knew it was extemely unlikely that she would make it home, and that this would be the closest she would get to it for probably the rest of her short life. Not wanting to spiral any further, she clicked off the screen, and closed her eyes, drifting asleep in a matter of minutes.

➸ ps! i made a playlist for eye of the storm. it's at the bottom of the very first chapter (the introduction). check it out if you want!

// author's note
a bit of a longer chapter! i loved the moments of haven & spencer's friendship forming :) and finnick's line about sebastian being an asshole is probably my favorite line i've written so far.
please leave some comments if you're reading & enjoying the story :) i LOVE reading them!
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