❤️💜3kkkkkkkkkkkk💜❤️

"So, just to remind you, this isn't real fire." Emily smiled at the two, holding up a stick with a burning flame twisting on the end.

"It looks pretty real." Cross muttered warily, his hands running down his District outfit. Emily had dressed him completely in black, the only coloured parts of him being the white of his bones and his golden locket which hung around his neck. Thankfully Emily had been understanding with his situation of how important the locket was to him, and let him keep it.

He was dressed in a black fabric that had a scale-like texture to them, giving the illusion of snakeskin or something. It currently fascinated the smol to no end, and he constantly found himself subconsciously running his fingers down the sleeves just to feel its cold and sleek texture.

He'd also been wrapped up in a long black cloak with the same texture, the fabric purposely made to flow out behind him as their carriage pulled them along. And he also wore a comfy pair of black boots to replace his old worn shoes that the staff from earlier had probably tossed in a fire to burn.

"Are you done touching yourself up?"

Cross jolted, looking up in surprise to see Nick staring down at him. "H-Huh?"

"You were stroking yourself and floating off into space." He snickered, rolling his eyes.

"O-Oh, Sorry um, my bad." He looked down in embarrassment, but kept his eyes trained on Nick.

He was dressed similarly to Cross, covered in all black with the scale-like fabric and long cloak. The only difference was that his cloak had a large hood that was pulled up to cover over his face completely. It cast an even larger shadow over his face than before, making it almost impossible for Cross to see any of his facial features other than his mouth when he talked.

"Hey, Nick...?"

"Yeah?" The boy glanced over at him, having been staring at the door at the end of the room where their carriage would be waiting on the other side.

"Why do you always wear a hood over your face?" He asked softly, ignoring the look that Nick's stylist suddenly shot him.

He went silent for a moment, his gloved hands raising helplessly and he shrugged. "Scars."

"Scars?" He blinked softly.

"Yeah. There really ugly, so I like to keep them hidden so people don't get disgusted."

"O-Oh, I wouldn't be disgusted." He said, shaking his head.

"Yeah but it's not about you, is it?" He said, his voice gruff. "The sponsors are looking for perfect clean candidates, not ugly scarred people like me. Once I'm in the arena it won't matter, but while we're still here in this facility, it's better if they didn't see."

"I guess..." Cross mumbled, looking down at the floor quickly. "Sorry for asking, I shouldn't have been so nosey."

"Nah it fine." He shrugged once more. "Beside, it makes me look more mysterious, doesn't it?" He smirked, glancing over at their two stylists. "Right?"

Both Emily and her partner nodded, giving small smiles. "It does indeed."

The man stood with her was called Kieran. He'd been appointed to Nick, just like how Emily had been appointed to him. He was dressed in mainly black, with brown messy hair falling over his eyes. One of them was scarred, a long pink scratch mark raking down his right eye.

Cross frowned, wondering if Kieran had seen what Nick looked like behind all those dark clothes and the hood. I mean, he would have had to in order to style him. And so would the staff that cleaned him, surely. He almost felt rude for being so curious, but he couldn't help it.

Maybe he'd see them once they were actually out in the arena. If he even lived long enough to glance over at him. He'd probably be shot down with a bow or stabbed with a sword before he could even consider his first move. What a disgrace he'd be to his district.

"Right guys! That was the announcement let's go!"

Cross jolted, snapping out of his thoughts to see Emily and Kieran motioning frantically to come over to the large double doors at the other end of the room. Nick was already stood by their side. "Coming!"

He ran over to the three of them, clutching his cloak against his body so that it wouldn't flow out dramatically behind him. He would have found that rather embarrassing.

"Your carriage is just behind these doors, okay?" Em said while fussing over the two of them and checking everything was up to standard with their outfits. "District One will go out first and then the rest will follow. You'll be last, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be watched. Make sure they know that you're not just some poor coal miners. You're proud to be part of District Twelve. Oh and don't panic or anything okay?"

Cross gulped, giving a quick nod.

Nick did the same.

"Okay great! Now hurry up or you'll miss your bloody queue!" Kieran hissed, pushing the two of them roughly out of the door. "Go!"

The smaller yelped and stumbled, almost tripping as he was pushed though the doorway and into a large black room.

In the centre, a black carriage was stood, looking like the ones that the Romans would use for travel. It was made from twisted metal, the surface having been painted black to match their dark clothing theme. Attached to the dark carriage, two jet black horses stood, tossing their heads impatiently and stamping at the floor as they waited for the two tributes.

At the other side of the room a large entrance stood, its double doors stretched wide open to reveal a long runway. Even from here Cross could hear the screams and shouts from the Capitalists and the sponsors that were sat in the stands, all cheering on the Tributes that had already gone.

"C'mon!" Nick hissed, grabbing onto Cross' wrist and pulling him up to the carriage.

He squeaked, rushing after him onto the carriage. He had to grip onto the side tightly, the slight rocking motion that getting on caused making his head spin a little bit. In front of him, the Tributes from District Eleven has just set their horses off, the carriage slowly being pulled out to the crowds which made the crowds volume increase slightly. It wasn't much; they'd already seen the Tributes they were interested in.

"Don't throw up." Nick muttered, glancing around the carriage before grabbing onto the horses reins and snapping them against their backs.

The two horses let out a loud neigh, pushing themselves up onto their back legs before pushing forwards and starting to trot forwards.

Cross didn't respond, afraid that he'd do just that if he opened his mouth. His grip on the carriage increased heavily as the carriage lurched forwards, pulling them along out of the room and to the brightness of the staged runway.

Just as Emily and Kieran had said, the fake flames burst into life behind them, clinging to their cloaks and giving the illusion that they were on fire.

He shivered in surprise at the feel of them. They weren't hot like he'd assumed, the flames actually felt cold against his back, the tips of the flames licking against his cheeks. Though he was terrified, the smaller tried his hardest to keep a straight face as the carriage pulled them out into the open and in view of the cheering crowds.

Up front, Cross could make out the other eleven carriages with their tributes stood proud. They were bathing in all the attention and cheers, wide grins on their faces.

But then a ripple of gasps spread through the crowds in a wave as one by one the audience turned to see the two flaming tributes of District Twelve.

Cross watched as all eyes landed on them, some people standing up and cheering at the sight of the two. He couldn't help a little grin form on his face.

Beside him Nick looked as serious as ever, glancing around a bit to see all the cheering crowds. He almost looked bored by all of it. He looked over at Cross and smirked a bit, his gaze travelling down to the smol's free hand that was hanging loosely by his side.

Cross jolted as he felt something brush his hand, his expression going confused as Nick suddenly grabbed onto it. "Wh--"

"Trust me." He interrupted, grinning as he squeezed Cross' hand before pulling it up into the air, holding their hands over their heads together.

The crowds for whatever reason seemed to love that, going wild and cheering. The fact that the two District Twelve Tributes we're sticking together in unison despite knowing what they were going into sent the crowds into a frenzy. It seemed they liked the thought of some actual friendship between tributes.

Cross looked around in surprise, his grip on the carriage increasing as they slowed to a halt in their carriage and stopped in line with the other eleven districts.

He let out a huge breath he didn't even realise he was holding as Nick let their arms drop, shivering immensely. Behind him, he felt the faux flames finally die out and flicker into nothing once more.

All around them the other tributes shot them dirty looks, not happy that they'd stollen their attention and potential sponsors.

The crowds were still yelling and calling behind them at the time, but suddenly a hush rang over them as a figure stood at the top balcony stepped out.

Cross blinked rapidly, craning his head back to look up at the tall figure that stood at the railings, their white gloved hands gripping onto the twisted gold.

They waved a hand over the crowds, finally silencing them before smiling warmly down at the twenty-four tributes. "Welcome newcomers! How glad we are to welcome you into our Capital."

The smol shivered, not trusting their smile at all. It looked like the sort of grin a shark would give you just before ripping your legs off and tearing you ruthlessly apart.

"I must say we haven't had a tribute parade like that in quite a while." Their eyes rested on Cross and Nick, burning right into them accusingly. "And let's hope we don't have another one like this in quite a while as well."

Small laughter rippled through the crowd, sounding more nervous than anything else.

The person smiled that shark grin once more, their eyes finally moving on from Cross and Nick to gaze at the other tributes. "I have a feeling that this Hunger Games will be most exciting, that is all." They waved their hand again and stepped out of sight.

Immediately the crowds started calling out again, throwing all sorts of flowers down at the kids to try catch their attention. A few fell down at at Cross' feet at the carriage, two roses and a lilly.

The smaller smiled softly, turning to wave back at the cheering crowds and holding one of the roses up as Nick snorted in amusement and flicked the reins so that the horses pulled them along into a separate room.

Once they were all inside the doors slammed shut, sending the yelling noise from the crowds into a dull roar.

From the other side of the room Kieran and Emily ran over, clapping and silently cheering as they reached the two teens sides. "Yes! Perfect! You two stole the whole show!"

Cross smiled weakly again, feeling a little wobbly as he stepped off of the carriage. "Do you think so?"

"Sweetheart, we know so. And great move with the hand holding, who's idea was that?"

"Nick's."

All three of them glanced over at Nick, taking in his usual emotionless stance.

The boy wasn't paying attention to them, his focus resting on the representatives of District One and Two.

They were glaring over at them, clearly not happy with their sudden success. God they looked like they wanted to kill them right then and there.

"Right." Emily frowned, gently guiding Cross out of the room while Kieran did the same for Nick. They'd both clearly noticed the threatening looks. "Let's get you back to your rooms, you look like you could collapse right in front of me."

Cross nodded softly, the thought of sleep being the nicest thing in the world. "Yeah..."

He didn't really listen to anything said as they were pulled back to their rooms, everything being fuzzy in his mind. He managed to mumble a quick "goodnight" to Nick and the others as he stumbled into his room, but as soon as his body hit the bedsheets, he was out like a light.

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2,140 words?

Sure, don't mind if I do :3

This chapter was weird to write for some reason, I'm not sure why though 🤷‍♀️

It's done now so oh well

Anyway tomorrow's chapter is one I've wanted to write for a while now >:3

uwu

And yes, Nightmare will be here soon

-Jess-