「 BLOOD BENEATH THE STORM • CATHAROS’S PARADE 」 catharos, 15, d12, he/him . . . . . ◟੭ styling room, ??? catharos’s amazement for this whole place had been yet to wear off no matter how many hours he spent wandering and observing. it felt like he had just seen the vivid colors of the sky for the very first time, but this feeling was wrong. it wouldn’t last. when he lived in district 12 on the streets, everything was dark and murky and gray and sad. he hated it. but this place? the food here tasted unlike anything he had ever tasted. the air was so crisp and clear. the bright colors, the polished texture. this was luxury. he would even go as far as to say this place was amazing if it weren’t for the reality of the situation. right after all this luxury nonsense was over, he would be sent straight back into the gutter to die a painful death. those rich creeps called it a funny game. it was ridiculous. a reminder that underneath all the temporary frills and pearls and velvet curtains, his life would never be good. you cannot mourn what you do not have, but once you have seen the light for the first time, you cannot simply return to the darkness. catharos wished he never saw that light. anyways, the parade. that activity where you were supposed to twirl around and smile and dance for the rich. catharos would not dance in a million years, and certainly not for the capitol of all people. apparently it was to garner public favor and get sponsored, but it didn’t matter to catharos wether they liked him or not. if they wanted him in a ditch, that was their problem, not his. he had been seated in one of those fancy chairs for what, 15 minutes now? right as he was ready to just get up and leave, his stylist calmly hovered behind him. “what colors would suit your preference?” he would just say his favorite colors. “uhm… blue and green.” “and what shade will it be?” “the kind of blue in my eyes and my tail band. and dark green.” catharos’s tone was curt. “toss in some velvet red there if you want.” the stylist had been nodding along with his words until he got to the dark green part. “er—are you certain that is what you want?” their grimacing face told nothing positive, which made catharos’s blood boil. why was it such a problem that he wanted indigo and dark green on his outfit? “yes, just get on with your styling thing!” he snapped. “okay.” the stylist sighed, but catharos could tell they were used to being given such an attitude. “any accessories?” “a hat… a bow…i don’t know! just do something cool for me, will you?” after a moment of silence, the stylist’s clipped reply finally came. “okay.” despite him growing more infuriated with this process by the second, he was truly curious to see what the result would look like. maybe he’d look pretty. maybe he’d become someone’s favorite underdog—no. who even cared about what they thought of him. but maybe he would be wanted. wouldn’t that be nice? . . . . . ◟੭ parade, ??? being unfortunate enough to be born in district 12 meant that catharos—alongside the other tributes from his district—was assigned to the back of the line. he wasn’t sure what to expect with the transportation, but he couldn’t suppress a gasp of shock when he saw the steam train. yes, he’d been on a train once before when he was transported to the training hall, but that didn’t make this any less exciting. and it would probably be his last time on a train too, so he should probably try to cherish it. catharos boarded the train, not paying much mind to the other tributes. he’d taken only one quick glance at the mirror before leaving, but he was absolutely certain that he looked the most extravagant out of all of his district members. the wool dark green clothes weaved with indigo clashed against his fur color, but that was good, wasn’t it? he wasn’t a genius—or a fashion designer for that matter, but he read once that contrast is good in a magazine. and yeah, that made sense to him. gotta make parts stand out, right? silky velvet frills cuffed his front sleeves, while lace cuffed his back ones. the asymmetry, as well as the difference in material would probably keep whatever rich person looking at him guessing. unlike his clothes, his hat primarily used that indigo color with a band of red sitting above its brim. the red was neither the same shade nor material as the velvet frills and laces on his sleeves, but who would even pick on such a minuscule detail like that? only some detail obsessed freak, that’s who. a forest green and indigo bow placed on the hat band and base of his tail really tied together the look, and he was almost proud of his wise decisions. / good job, catharos. you must be the prettiest tribute here. / a clamor abruptly came within his earshot and broke catharos out of his thoughts. he stiffened. was a fight breaking out or something? but then the sounds grew closer, and he realized they were cheers. [ cont in n+c ]
[ cont, read instructions first! if you’re a mod please don’t start reading here or you’ll miss relevant information ] oh right, he was still in this parade. he should be practicing his best smiles and waves, but instead he was a deer in the headlights, standing there with a perplexed look as the symphony of cheers drew steadily near. catharos didn’t want to smile and wave anyways. he wasn’t here to please anyone. and now in front of him was a massive crowd of pretentious clowns who were probably betting on him screwing up if it meant they could have something to laugh at. as catharos continued to idly stand there, his districtmates stepped forward and begun singing their speeches. smiling, dancing, waving, putting on a show. that was his first good look at their outfits this whole train ride and he felt a twinge of… now, disappointment was a word too pitiful for him—he hated being pitied—but there was no other way to describe what he was feeling. he saw ideas so creative that he wished he could get his paws on a time machine only so that he could come up with them first and call them the copycats. a stare in his direction made his heart quicken. he stared back at them, almost hoping the awkwardness of the situation would make them look away, but their eyes stayed glued to him. “the one wearing the blue hat is weird.” they finally spoke to their companions, gaze not leaving him as though they knew he was listening but just didn’t care. when the cat’s friends nodded in agreement, catharos scoffed in appallment. “why is he just… standing there? not even a speech?” another feline piped up from somewhere in the crowd. he didn’t even notice they were looking at him until they spoke up. “the red on his hat doesn’t even match the red on his sleeves!” so someone did notice that single detail! fury rose inside him. if his tail had been twitching before, it was now lashing. “dark green clothes and then dark green bows…seriously? what even is the main color of that outfit?” “what capitol stylist would let him wear random junk from his poor, broke district 12 closet?” someone booed. it could have been for anyone, but from the way their eyes burned into catharos’s, he could tell it was for him. this was absolutely absurd and cruel. here he was being humiliated while these no-lifers would probably curl into their rich person’s bed tonight, thinking about how funny it was that they were all collectively bullying some poor kid who was being sent off to die in a few days. “shut up…” catharos muttered, but it easily went unnoticed underneath all of the capitol’s cacophonous waves of noise. he tried to not scream in rage, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult every insults and boos and condescending laughter hurled his way. “get off the train!” shouted a black furred feline wearing a bow tie and some posh top-hat. their green eyes showed nothing but contempt. something inside catharos finally snapped. that was it. he couldn’t take this humiliation anymore. “SHUT UP!” his shout hardly counted as a warning. his paw shot forward before the capitol cat even had time to react. the capitol cat let out a cry and fell backward like a weak coward, clutching a paw against their left eye. “my eye!” their stupid hat plummeted onto the floor like a broken crown. horrified gasps rippled through the crowd but catharos could only see red. nothing else mattered to him at the moment except for his rapid onslaught of blows. none of them were as potent as the first, but he could still hear cracks of bones. “where’d the guts to talk trash about me in front of my own face go? does your rich sheltered self still find this funny!?” the peacemakers finally kicked catharos in back legs, causing him to collapse and bringing an end to his attack. he should have been scared, but instead he couldn’t help but grin at the way that capitol cat squirmed in pain until the train moved them away from his vision. “hah, that’s right, who’s laughing now!?” but as quickly as it begun, his moment of wrath was over, leaving behind fatigue in its wake. he sighed, picking himself up and withdrawing to the darkest corner of the train where he could hardly be seen by anyone who wasn’t purposefully picking him out. he was aware of peacemakers’ eyes on him, but he avoided them. the rest of the parade continued normally, or as normal as it could be after his little stunt anyways. cheers for the better, more lovable tributes. a few disgusted and frightened glares his way yes, but no one dared to speak directly against him this time around. fearing they would end up with the same fate, he guessed, but the damage was already done. all of catharos’s pent-up rage put into one single strike. might as well call it a catharsis. haah…how ironic. he felt anything but pure right now. he was tired. and a fool for thinking this day would go the way he hoped it would. . . . . . ◟੭ end of srp (look inside project for an extra excerpt)
