Here's the first chapter of the train rides! These characters are really starting to grow on me, and I'm already dreading the day I have to start killing them off. But anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Train Rides Pt. 1

Lyla Perry, 18, D1 Female

As I was escorted to the train, I couldn't stop worrying about my family. I knew that the second my father was released from Peacekeeper custody, he would find my sisters and take out his anger at the Peacekeepers on my sisters.

Glint didn't look too good either. Something probably happened in the time we were in the Justice Building. Probably one of his girlfriends broke up with him, or something equally ridiculous. Even though I didn't like him much, he was still going to be one of my allies for part of the Games, so I decided I would ask him. Not because I liked him, because I didn't. Because I needed to pretend like I did.

Scarlet had been talking nonstop since we got into the car. It was getting on my nerves.

"Can't you just stop talking?" Glint snapped. It had obviously gotten to him too. Scarlet looked at him, completely incredulous. I started to smile but quickly stopped myself. Getting on Scarlet's bad side probably wasn't the best idea.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if you could please shut your mouth!"

"Who taught you your manners?" Scarlet snapped. "You don't just ask someone to shut up!"

"Well I just did," Glint said, looking her straight in the eyes. Scarlet quickly looked away. Glint definitely could be scary when he tried. This whole exchange made me smile, and I couldn't stop myself.

"What are you smiling at, young lady?" Scarlet asked coldly.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something my sister told me this morning," I said quickly.

"Oh?" Scarlet asked. I could tell she wanted to know more, but didn't want to come off as rude by asking. The car stopped and she looked out the window. She immediately brightened. "We're here!"

"Thank God," Glint muttered. I let out a quick laugh. Glint looked over at me curiously. I knew that he thought that I didn't like him, and he was very confused by me acknowledging him.

"Still thinking of what your sister told you?" Scarlet asked, opening the door.

"Oh, um yeah," I said, not very convincingly. "It was hilarious."

We filed out of the car, through the station and onto the train. A group of Peacekeepers surrounded us until we stepped foot onto the train. Glint was the last one on, and the door slid shut behind him, cutting us off from the world. Me volunteering to go to the Games suddenly became very real. My breath caught in my throat and I couldn't breathe for a second. I stopped and Glint ran into me.

"Are you okay?" Glint asked softly. I turned around and saw concern written all over his face.

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

"Okay," Glint said, not convinced. "Let's keep going. Scarlet's already disappeared."

"And that's a bad thing?" I joked.

Glint grinned. "Not at all."

We continued walking down the corridor until we got to a large room. There were couches and chairs in one half, and a table full of every food that you could imagine. I could picture Pearl squealing with delight and stuffing her mouth with sweets.

"Come, sit!" Scarlet said, obviously relieved that we decided to follow her. She was sitting up against a wall, and Flash and Ruby were sitting on a couch. Glint and I sat across from the two of them.

"Congratulations, you two!" Ruby said. "I know that both of you are very talented individuals, your trainers said as much when we talked to them."

"Thank you," Glint said. I had expected him to say 'I know' or something equally snobby. Something definitely had happened while we were in the Justice Building.

"Ruby and I have decided to mentor you together, if that's alright with you," Flash said, running his hand through his hair.

"Okay," I said. "I think that'll be alright."

It was Glint's turn to look surprised. He had obviously expected me to refuse to train with him.

"Well, I'll leave you four to talk," Scarlet said, getting out of her chair and exiting the room.

We sat in the room and talked for a while, talking about past Games, and our different strengths. Glint was good at pretty much everything, while I was best at ranged weapons.

Now, Glint and I were alone in the dining car. Flash and Ruby had left, to talk about a good strategy for the two of us, then go to bed. They said that Glint and I should talk some as well.

"Are you doing okay?" I asked Glint. He looked over at me, surprised. "I know that they wanted us to talk about strategy, but I noticed that you didn't look too good during the car ride."

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, but it didn't convince me.

"Really?"

"No," he said. I looked at him, surprised that he answered me honestly. "My parents pretty much disowned me. They said that they were disappointed in me. I had to get the Peacekeepers to remove them."

"They don't want you in the Games?" I asked, confused. Glint had been training just as long as I had, and for his parents to want him to back out now seemed a little odd.

"Not exactly," he said, then took a deep breath. "I came out to them. As bisexual."

"I see," I said. That made more sense. "They're not a fan of that, I'm assuming."

"Not at all," he said, laughing slightly. "My mom told me that I wasn't allowed to tell everyone and my dad said that it was just a phase."

"Nice parents."

"Yeah, they're wonderful," he said sarcastically. "You didn't look too good in the car either. Did everything go okay with your parents?"

"Not really." I paused, not certain that I wanted to tell Glint everything. But I decided to, only because he told me what went on with his parents. "My dad has always wanted a son. But instead, he got three girls. So he takes his anger at that out on us."

I lifted my skirt slightly, showing a bruise on my thigh that my father had left. He didn't usually hit us in the legs, but he didn't care that time. Whenever someone saw, I blamed it on a training accident. Glint looked up at me, his eyes widened slightly.

"He threatened to kill my youngest sister if I didn't win the Games. And when I tried to kick him out of the room, he attacked the Peacekeeper. A whole team of them had to come in to get him out."

"That's terrible," he said. "My parents might be bad, but your father sounds a lot worse."

"He's definitely not the best parent ever."

Glint and I continued talking about ourselves, and then we slowly moved into talking about the Games. We talked for hours.

"It's getting late," Glint said, yawning. "We should probably get to bed."

"Yeah, probably," I said, getting up and heading towards the door. But before I left, I turned around, looking at Glint. His blond hair was messed up, and he had taken off both his jacket and his dress shirt, leaving him in just a white undershirt, showing off his muscled arms. He looked completely different than what he usually did. "Hey, Glint."

"Yeah?" he asked, his lips tugging into a smile.

"You're actually not so bad."

"You're not so bad, either."

Julius Augmentim, 18, D2 Male

Vita wasn't that bad. I had met her a few times when I was training, and I met her after Ajax announced the volunteers. She wasn't overly confident in her abilities, but I was pretty sure I'd be able to defeat her if it came to hand to hand combat. I was bigger than her, and was most likely stronger as well.

We were on our way to the train station now, and Athena was talking nonstop about all the different features the train had. About how we both got separate rooms, with king sized beds, and our own private bathroom. It all sounded amazing. I lived in a pretty small house, and even this train seemed like it would be nicer than what I was used to.

Vita was sitting next to me, pretending to listen. She was rich, and the Capitol's luxuries didn't seem to phase her at all. Since she wasn't really reacting to anything Athena said, I tried my best to do the same. But it was difficult. I was excited that I was finally going to the Games, where I would finally be able to avenge Nero.

"We're here!" Athena exclaimed. "The train station!"

We all jumped out of the vehicle and quickly walked to the train. There were a bunch of random people milling around, trying to catch a glimpse of the District's newest volunteers. Peacekeepers surrounded us completely, making it so that nobody could get to us.

"Get on the train, you two," Athena said, pushing us ahead of her. The door opened smoothly, revealing an extremely nice interior. Even the floors looked expensive. I had to force my mouth to stay closed. I didn't want to look like a complete idiot.

Ajax and Ally were sitting on a couch, talking softly to each other. When we walked in, Ally smiled and motioned for us to sit opposite them. I sat across from Ally, hoping to convey that I wanted her as my mentor. I knew that doing so was probably pointless, but it was worth a shot.

"So you two are District 2's tributes," Ajax said softly. "That's a big deal, especially since I won last year's Games. The Capitol will expect a lot out of you throughout the next few weeks. I hope you're up to the task."

"We are," I said confidently.

"Are you?" Ajax asked. "I know that Vita probably is, but Julius, you've only been training a few years."

"So?" I snapped. "The Academy still picked me as the male tribute."

"Because there weren't any better choices," Vita muttered. Ajax nodded, looking slightly guilty. Ally just continued smiling.

"We're not trying to take away from your abilities, Julius," she said. "We know that you are talented. We just aren't sure that you're completely ready for this."

"I am," I insisted. "I've been training in every spare moment I could since my brother was killed in the Games."

"So that's why you're here?" Ajax asked. "To avenge your brother? Nero, was it? Killed by the District 1 male. You do realize that that man is dead, right?"

"Yes, but Nero shouldn't have been killed," I said.

"In the Games, you always have to be paying attention," Ally started. "Nero didn't pay attention for a second, and it got him killed. Let that be a lesson to you. Always pay attention."

"No, the District 1 Male attacked him from behind. Nero had no way of knowing that the attack was coming."

"Okay," Ajax said. "Well, let's tell you two who will be mentoring you for the next few days."

I leaned forward, hoping that he would say that Ally was mentoring me.

"I will be mentoring Julius and Ally will be mentoring Vita," he said, looking at me. Inwardly, I cursed. Of course I would be stuck with Ajax. the one Victor from my district that was soft. It was just my luck.

"Sounds good," Vita said, brightening slightly. "So are we going to continue to sit here or are we going to break up this pointless conversation?"

Ajax looked over at Ally. "I guess you and Ally can go talk somewhere else. I would like to talk with Julius."

Ally and Vita got up and left the room. Ajax turned back towards me.

"You need to give up on this pointless search for vengeance."

"It's not pointless," I snapped. "He should've won."

"But he didn't," Ajax said, running his hand through his hair. "Focusing on killing the District 1 Male the entire time you're in the Arena is only going to get you killed. That is what you're planning, right?"

"No it won't," I said. "I doubt that he'll be any good. It's not like the District 1 tributes last year were very good."

"Those two might not have been great, but you have to take into consideration that it's a completely new set of tributes. Just because last year's weren't amazing doesn't mean that this year's will be the same."

"But the years before that they weren't great either."

"They had two consecutive wins, not that long ago."

"That was a fluke. Neither of them were actually any good."

"Actually, they were. You can learn a lot by watching their Games."

"No, you can't," I scoffed. "They're from District 1."

"This is what's going to get you killed," he snapped. I smiled, because I had finally succeeded in getting him angry. "Assuming that you're better than everyone just because you are from a certain District. Because you're from a Career district. Well, guess what? There are others from the different districts that are just as talented as you might be. Believe me, I know. I almost didn't make it out of that Arena alive."

"That was only because she had those water powers. She wasn't actually any good."

"She might not have been, but she was afraid and extremely determined to get home to her family. And people who are determined can do things that you wouldn't expect."

"I'm not worried. They didn't have good training, and I did."

"No, you didn't," Ajax said. "You've barely had four years of training. All of the other Careers will have been training for most of their life. I did, and so did Ally."

"You know what, this conversation is pointless," I stood up. "I don't know how you won. You're soft."

"Having compassion is a good thing."

"No, it's not. Not when it comes to the Games."

Apple Zurshia, 18, D3 Female

It broke my heart to have to leave. I knew that I would never see my family again, or any of my friends. I was going to die in the Games, and there was no changing that. Everyone else was going to be bigger and stronger than I was. Garrick was completely oblivious. He kept going on and on about how he hoped that he would have a Victor this year. And maybe he would, but it certainly wasn't going to be me.

Milo spent the entire ride to the train station sulking. He was obviously mad that he had been reaped. He seemed like the type of person that was used to getting what he wanted, and since nobody volunteered for him, he was mad. The fact that I had volunteered for someone certainly didn't make things any better. Nobody would volunteer for him, but I volunteered for some little girl.

"Here we are!" Garrick exclaimed. "Now, get on out! Your mentor will be waiting for you inside."

"Wonderful," Milo said sarcastically. Garrick didn't catch on that there was any sarcasm.

"Yes, it is wonderful!" he exclaimed. "The Capitol was generous enough to send you a mentor."

"Wow," Milo said, again very sarcastically.

"He's from the Capitol, so he's obviously very informed about all of this," Garrick continued, still completely oblivious. "I heard that he was even preparing to be a Gamemaker!"

"Wow, let's go inside and meet this amazing man," Milo said.

"Yes!" Garrick said happily. "That's an amazing idea!"

We got out of the vehicle, with me in front, Milo behind me, and Garrick behind both of us. I wasn't sure if letting Milo walk behind me was the best idea, but I figured before we got into the Games he should be pretty harmless.

The doors slid open, revealing the most extravagant corridor I had ever seen. The floors looked as though they were made of marble, the outer walls were completely windows, and there were all kinds of random buttons that I assumed controlled the lights and such.

"Wow," Milo breathed. This time, it was completely sincere. A train was nicer than my own house.

"Wow is definitely a good word for this," Garrick said. "And if you think this is nice, wait until you see your floor at the training center!"

"We get an entire floor?" I asked, incredulous.

"Yep!" he exclaimed. "Each of you will have a private room, with all of the latest Capitol technologies. We want to make sure that you are comfortable during your stay in the Capitol."

"Our stay," Milo muttered. "It's like you think we want to be in the Capitol."

"I'd just enjoy it while we still can," I said.

"Now, let's keep moving!" Garrick said, pushing us down the hall. "Don't want to keep your mentor waiting!"

We walked through another door, this one opening into a spacious room. On one side, there was a table filled with enough food to feed multiple families, all spread across an expensive looking wooden table. On the other half, there were two dark gray couches, with small little pillows on the sides. There were also four chairs of the same color, and looked equally comfortable.

In one of the chairs, a somewhat normal looking man resided. He had jet black hair that was slicked back, a short beard cut to look like there were flames, and he was wearing a normal black suit that looked expensive enough to buy an entire house. He stood up as we walked in.

"My name is Max," he stated. "I will be your mentor for this year's Games. I am honored to work with both of you."

"I'm sure you are," Milo said, sitting down in one of the chairs. I sat gingerly on the one next to Milo. Max sat down where he had been sitting. "So how are you qualified to be our mentor?"

"Well, I have closely studied every single Game, and I have been trained in all weapons," Max said.

"So basically what you're saying is that you have no idea what you're doing," Milo said.

"I never said that."

"Have you lived in District 3?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Were you forced to attend a Reaping each year in which two children were generally sent to their deaths?"

"No, but-"

"And finally, are you a Victor of the Games?"

"No, but I have studied all of the Victor's techniques."

"Face it. You have no idea what it's like to actually be in a life or death situation. You've always gone to bed full. The thought of going to bed hungry is such a crazy thought, it's never even gone through your brain. You have no way of knowing how we live. I don't know why the Capitol thought that having you here would help us at all," Milo spat, standing up and storming out of the room. Max sat there, completely stunned.

"He doesn't even know where to go," Garrick said, dejected.

"Milo does have a point, Max," I said quietly. "You don't know how it is, being afraid that your life could end because the Capitol finds it entertaining."

"No, I don't," he said, admitting it. "But I'm still going to do my best to keep you two alive as long as possible, whether you want my help or not."

"Okay," I said, nodding. "Then what do you think a good strategy for me is during the three days we get to train. I literally know nothing about combat. But I am pretty smart."

Max immediately brightened and began giving me a detailed plan of what I should do each day. Honestly, I didn't retain much of the information, but it made me happy that I had made him smile. He was born in the Capitol, he didn't know anything about what life was actually like in the Districts. And that was okay. Maybe I could help him understand.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review! I'd love it of you could tell me what I could be doing better. Anyways, I hope to get the next chapter out tomorrow night. Thank you for supporting me!

Sponsor System: My sponsor system is pretty easy. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and for each one you get correct, you get ten points. I keep a tally of everyone's points on my profile page, and once the Games start, you can PM me with and item and who you want it to go to, and that tribute will get it in the next chapter!

Questions:

Q1: What does Lyla learn about Glint?

Q2: What does Julius think about Ajax?

Q3: What does Milo tell Max?