Vincent Peresone

Vincent scarfed down the food in front of him as quickly as he could. It felt too good to be true, having all this food available to him. He felt as if at any moment, it would all disappear, and he would go back to living his life in starvation. Of course, he'd rather have that and be home with his family than be here, eating the finest food in Panem.

"Can't you at least act civilized?" barked Eunia. He looked up from his plate. She was eating the same kid of cake that he had in his hands, and for a moment he thought her comment was directed at him, until he saw Dahl and Yvaine doing the same thing. Dahl had frozen, too, but Yvaine kept shoveling the cake into her mouth. Only when Valeria pushed a piece of paper in front of her with something scribbled on it did she stop, stare at Eunia, and then proceed to eat the rest of her food with her fork. Vincent couldn't imagine how hard this all must be for Yvaine, having to deal with the Game and not being able to hear anything.

Everyone at the table was now eating in an awkward silence, thanks to Eunia's dependable annoying superiority complex. She couldn't completely understand the lives of her tributes, who never had a full plate of food in their lives, so to suddenly put one in front of Vincent was almost teasing. He felt like as soon as he picked up a utensil, the plate would vanish, and he'd be told to go to bed without eating, which, of course, he was used to.

When everyone was finished, a few of the tributes vanished down the hall and into their rooms. Ten's Reaping was always the last of the day, so it was late and everyone was tired. But Vincent wanted to see who his competition was. Eunia, not wanting the noise from the television in the main car to wake her, gave Vincent and his roommate, Nolan, a small portable projector. They set it up in their room, and they, along with Valeria, Aurelie, and Marien, pulled the blankets and pillows onto the floor to watch the Reaping Recaps.

Yvaine Oronue

Yvaine just wanted sleep to come to her. She layed in her bed, wrapped up in the comfort of the blankets. She wanted time to move slower, or better yet, to not pass at all. She'd be content to live in this moment forever, because at least she'd still be alive. Yvaine knew she wouldn't win. She wouldn't be able to hear if an attacker was coming up behind her, or if an ally yelled to her to watch out.. She wouldn't even be able to prepare for the starting gong, or participate normally in the Interviews with Finneon Flamecrest.

Yvaine drifted off into a dream. Despite what people thought, she did understand the concept of sound. She could hear in her dreams, even if it was muffled and off. She was in her interview with Finneon, and thought she highly doubted that the bold, honey-coated voice was actually his, she listened as he asked her about the games. He was talking about them in the past tense. They had already happened. She had won.

"Yvaine, tell me. What do you think was the biggest surprise when you came back to the Capitol, although I think we all know what the answer will be." He placed his hand on top of hers, which was seated neatly on her black and white chiffon gown. She could only try to contain the excitement on her face.

"Yes, you do know. I'm just glad that I have better response time in this interview. Remember when we first met, and you were only able to get in three questions because of the signer? It was so horrible." She loved her newly repaired ears, fully functional and giving her an experience she hadn't had in thirteen years. They laughed together, and the Capitol audience joined in, and then Finneon started up the recap of Yvaine's finest moments of the games. She took out seven tributes. Seven! She felt bad for them, but she was alive, and she'd be able to go home to her family. Home. She couldn't help but smile at the thought of home.

Yvaine woke up, still in the middle of the night. All the sound was gone again. She was back in reality. She looked over at Valeria's bed. Empty. She couldn't have been asleep for that long. She rolled over and tried to go back to her wonderful, audible dream.

Dahl Ledorian

Dahl couldn't sleep. He'd been up all night, thinking about how many possible ways there were to die in the arena. He didn't want these thoughts in his head, but every time he closed his eyes, they appeared again. Speared, stabbed, axed, decapitated, a single blunt blow to the head. So many ways, and Dahl would have to face them. He already knew that his plan would be to run, and pray that he had enough sponsors to send him some sort of weapon in his hiding place. He knew the Gamemakers would try and force him to fight, but as long as he stayed close to a tribute, they shouldn't have reason to.

Oh, an arrow to the chest. He added that one to the list. He thought about his cousin back home. She was more of a sister to him, having moved in with his family when her parents died when she was little. She was probably already a nervous wreck, crying in her room . She cried every year for every tribute, so he knew this time would be a lot worse for her. He looked across the room at Casson, asleep in the other bed. Had Lucina begged him to keep and eye on Dahl? Or was Casson nice enough to team up before even seeing Dahl's lack of skills. He would place his money on Lucina's begging. He knew Casson, and he knew that even though they were close, Casson looked out for himself first and others second. This game was life or death. He wouldn't ally that easily. But Dahl would argue. He'd take what he could get and hope that it was enough to save him out there.

Marien Eckings

Marien looked out her window. Dawn was approaching fast, and as the sun reached over the horizon, she could finally see the landscape. They must have been passing through Two, because she could see rock quarries, and right beyond that, the fences and towers that surrounded the main living part of each district. She saw small lights moving near the quarries, and realized that they were people, who must've been working through the night.

The train moved fast enough that they were out of Two's region within twenty minutes, and she figured they were now in One. Again, she saw quarries and mines, but with the sun fully over the horizon, even just barely, she could catch the gleam of its light bouncing of the rough, precious stones in the carts that were brought up from the mines. Marien thought that districts One and Two were supposed to live a higher quality life than the outlying districts, having been so close with the capitol, but know she knew they lived like everyone else. The Career must come from the upper classes, where they don't have to work, shipped by bus or beat-up train to come dig in the dirt for stones every day.

When they were past One, there was only water. It must have been lake after lake after lake. The water was clear, and Marie wanted nothing more than to be able to jump in and go for a swim. She was lucky. Hardly anyone from any district knew how to swim. Maybe she'd be able to survive that way. Get out in the water and avoid most of the tributes. But suddenly she got the image of an event that happened five years ago stuck in her head. A boy – she couldn't remember what district he'd been from – had swam out into a lake to avoid the mutts that had been released into the arena. He felt safe when he realized they couldn't swim. Marien had been rooting for him. She never liked seeing a tribute die. All of a sudden, though, a large fish or snake mutt thing pulled him down into the water, and a canon went off. Marien had screamed at the sight of it. She hoped that it wouldn't be sitting in the bottom of an arena lake this year.

So, the tributes are getting closer and closer to the Capitol with each chapter. Out of these four, who would you bet on to survive the longest? Who would die first? Remember, there is a poll up on my profile. 'Which tribute is your favorite?'. Vote vote vote! hahaha. Two more chapters until we reach the Capitol, and then things will speed along until we get to the Games. I promise.