Fields of Grain (D9 F Opening Ceremonies)

[Elletnah™ The JabberJay]

Is it just a dream...?

After a particularly quiet night the train arrived in the capitol to anything but quiet. Achlys was eating her breakfast quietly when they first caught sight of the capitol. It was amazing to her eyes, it looked like her entire district could fit inside this one city and it was daunting to think about. Her hair hung loose around her face and her head was slightly tilted forward to hide it from her table mates. The squeals of delight from outside the train is what drew her out. 
She looked up sharply in disbelief and cringed at the crazily dressed people craning to get a glimpse of the pair from nine. Achlys stood up and approached the window waving uncertainly and crowd went nuts just at the sight of her. "This is kind of disturbing." She muttered to the others. 
When the train pulled into the station a pair of peace keepers entered the train to escort the two tributes off. Achlys quietly followed and nearly shrunk back onto the train with the roar of the crowd reached her ears, her peace keeper grabbed her firmly by the elbow and escorted the frightened girl through the crowd and into the remake center, he didn't let go until her remake team showed up smiliing broadly the eased his hand off her arm and lead the frightened girl into a very sterile and clean looking room. 
First the scrubbed her hair and scalp, but some citrusy smelling stuff in her hair then wrapped it in a plastic bag, they said it was to make her hair more vibrant. They scrubbed her more than once, waxed places she would prefer not to mention then scrubbed her again. It took several hours and by the end of it all when she looked in the mirror her hair was a more vibrant shade of red, and it appeared that her skin glowed, all the inground dirt she had all over her was gone and she looked amazing. The team were smiling at her reaction to her self.
They gave her a thin robe and shoes and introduced her to her stylist. The woman was dressed in all Yellow and looked like a walking sun, Achlys guessed she was trying to represent district nine and their feilds of grain. Achlys just hoped her tribute parade clothes looked a little better then the gawdy thing this woman wore. After a brief discussion of how she was going to make her beautiful She was ushered into another room with more mirrors than anything else and her team went to work to make her beautiful. 
First they twisted her long red hair into a beautiful updo with little golden pins whose tips looked like wheat. Then they got out gold make up and dust her upper chest and arms in it making her look like a plant sneezed on her, they gave her fake eye lashes that flared at the ends with little designs, the latest thing apparently. And over the gold dust they painted swirls all over her chest and down her shoulder. When they were finally finished the pulled out a delicate white and gold gown whose floor length skirt was sheer with a white sheath dress underneath. They dressed Achlys in the sheath dress first, at first glimpse is looks simple but upon closer inspection you can see the tiny flowers and leave embroidered into the fabric in white thread. The team then secured the sheer dress over the top of the sheath dress and secured it to the top, the bodice of the sheer over dress had golden leaves and a few of them fanned out into the long train behind her. 
Her stylist disappeared into a suitcase and came out with a pair of golden shoes, Achlys looked in disbelief, there was no way those delicate things would hold up. Her stylist grinned like an idiot and instructed her to have a seat while she strapped the things on her feet. She gestured for Achlys to stand and she uneasily got to her feet and looked in the mirror. She looked rather spectacular and she smiled brightly to her stylist before giving her a big hug, "Thank you." the stylist looked taken aback, "For what sweetie?"
"For making me beautiful." Achlys said smiling.
The stylist just smiled and patted Achlys lightly on the head before heading out the room and motioning for her to follow. They went straight to the staging area where the other tributes were waiting. Achlys heart nearly stopped when she looked around at the others, they all were dressed as equally stuningly as her, how was she supposed to stand out in a crowd like this, how would she make it? The stylist directed her over to the chariot where Cess stood uncertainly. She smiled shyly at him and looked around the large room. Several of the tributes were adjusting their head pieces or putting finishing touches on their make up. "Oh! I almost forgot!" Her stylist said brightly and pulled out a gold tiara that resembled a stalk of wheat. She carefully arranged it on her head and smiled at her handy work.
"Okay everyone on the chariots, they are getting ready to go." One of Achlys's makeover team drug over a set of stair for her to use to get on. The other then proceded to drape the train of the dress over the edge of the chariot, Achlys looked worried but her stylist just shook her head, "Dont worry the fabric is light enough so when you get move it will flow in the breeze, giving the effect of waves of grain. It won't get caught on the chariot." She said brightly to the worried Achlys as Cess climbed aboard as well.
Achlys started to nibble on her gold nails and thought better of it when her stylist gave her a dirty look. The chariot was led forward and positioned behind the group from eight. From this point Achlys could hear the crowd screaming to get a glimpse and she swallowed hard and stared forward clenching her teeth. 
When the chariot finally moved forward it took Achlys a moment to steady herself and plaster her best smile on her face as she waved to the crowd, and they ate it up. She was genuinely smiling by the time they made it to the square where the president stood on a balcony attached to the training center. He welcomed them to the capitol and wished them all luck before turning away and heading inside. The chariots lurched forward of their own accord and before they knew they were beneath the place they would call home for the next few days. 
The stylists and prep teams were on them quickly when the chariot stopped, "You were great! The crowd loved you two!" the escort said brightly. Achlys smiled uncomfortably as she gingerly climbed down. "I was terrified I was going to fly off." She said steadying herself on the ground. The gathered capitolites laughed at the absurdity and they were all led to an elevator as the button labeled 9 was pressed.
When the door opened Achlys looked around in awe, the place was huge. Achlys was pretty sure she could fit five of her house from back home in this place. Her prep team lead her to her room and helped her out of her dress and showed her how to set her shower so she wouldn't burn herself. She watched as the gold paint washed down the drain and she changed into a airy light blue dress that matced her eyes and a pair of matching flats.

The Opening Ceremonie