Amber Knight, 18.
District 1 Female.
Amber slid into the seat she'd sat in the night before at diner, the Avox she'd encountered placed a cup of coffee in front of her. It was early, probably somewhere before 7. Her internal clock woke her up, so used to getting up early to get out of the house to train before her father woke from whatever drunken stupor he was in. She took a sip of her coffee, it was admittedly one of the richest cups of coffee she'd ever had, as she gazed out the window, watching as the sun rose into the sky fully, pink and orange turning to a clear blue, fluffy white clouds floating above the scenery that was moving by in a blur.
"Good morning. I wasn't expecting to see you up so early." A voice said, accompanied by footsteps. She turned to look at who it was, and unsurprisingly it was her mentor, Sarmiento. He rubbed his eyes, yawning as he walked into the small kitchenette off the dining room.
"So what's the plan for today?" Amber asked, watching as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Well, we'll be on the train for a bit longer, we'll probably be getting to the Capitol around noon or so, and then you two will get carted off for the parade prep stuff," Sarmiento replied, walking to the table and sliding into the seat he was occupying the night previous.
"Oh, what is that like?"
"Parade prep? Actual hell. The actual chariot ride? Pretty fun, just make sure to hang on to something. I think Jade and I spent the whole ride clinging on to the sides of the chariot." Sarmiento said, a smile of remembrance crossing his face briefly.
"That's pretty funny. You know my sister was originally the designated female volunteer for your Games right?" Amber said, raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of her coffee. Sarmiento froze up slightly, his expression one of distinct confusion.
"Oh. You're related to Almandie Knight. I thought your name was familiar." Sarmiento said, his forehead wrinkling slightly.
"Yeah, that's my sister. And she's dead."
"Damn, sorry to hear it," Sarmiento replied. Amber didn't exactly want the apology, it was all she'd been hearing for three years, about her mother, sister and now her grandmother. She didn't want the pity.
"It's whatever, there's nothing I can do about it at this point," Amber said with a shrug, gulping down the last of her coffee and standing to go back to her room.
"Breakfast will be soon, I'll come and grab you when it's ready," Sarmiento called to her back as she walked away. In all honesty, she just wanted to get to the Capitol, rather than being stuck on this train any longer. She was eager to meet the other Careers and to see the Capitol. She rounded the corner to the hallway where her room was, and as she did so she collided with her District partner, Echo.
"Oh, sorry." Echo said, jumping back slightly. She had no respect for him, being from the least respected family in District 1.
"It's fine. Just stay out of my way down the line." Amber snapped, she didn't want this kid getting in her way of victory. All he was is someone between her and 1st place.
"What?" Echo replied, squinting slightly in the bright morning light shining through the windows.
"Don't get in my way in the arena. Or anywhere between now and the arena." Amber repeated.
"Oh, okay. I just want a cup of coffee." Echo said with a yawn.
"Good luck with that," Amber muttered, stalking back to her room. She couldn't wait to get off this damn train.
Zienna "Zen" Mantrogi, 14.
District 5 Female.
Zen leaned back in her seat, watching her District partner, Revan fiddle nervously with a small coin of some sort. He was nervous, he had been the entire time they'd been on the train. They'd just finished breakfast, and their mentor, Circia, had stormed off to her room to take a break from them calling them "the most disrespectful pair of children I've ever had the displeasure to mentor." Zen didn't know what her deal was, all she did was call Revan a bitch. Nothing new. But Circia didn't appreciate the sentimentality she figured.
"Chill out, bitch. Nervous you're making me." Zen said to Revan, a pleasant smile plastered on her face.
"We're on our way to the Capitol to be slaughtered. What is there not to be nervous about." Revan grumbled back. Zen certainly did not like his negative vibes, and she did not want them near her.
"Get your vibes in order you must. Want your bad vibes I do not." Zen replied with a giggle. Revan flicked his coin into the air, before shoving it into his pocket with an exasperated sigh.
"I don't know what kind of bullshit you're spouting, but it's freaking me out so I'm going to my room," Revan said standing and moving to return to his room. Before he got far, Zen grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"Wait, do you want to be allies?" Zen said, jumping to her feet, her goofy tone dropping off, turning to something far more serious.
"No, no I don't," Revan replied, nodding his head and ripping his arm out of her grasp, turning and stalking off towards his room. Zen sighed, slumping back onto the couch. She wished she had a yoga mat, but out of the hundreds of things on the rich Capitol train, and a yoga mat was not one of them. She dragged herself up off the couch, padding through the various train cars to the back of the train. If she couldn't have yoga, she could have at least a little fresh air, she thought as she arrived at the back of the train, pushing the final door open to the small, fenced-in porch at the back of the train.
"What a bitch." Zen muttered to nobody in particular except the wind, sliding down to sit on the cold metal floor. If she couldn't do yoga, she could at least get some meditation in, she thought, watching the scenery around her whip by as she folded her legs beneath her, shutting her eyes.
"Zen? Zen, there you are. Get up, it's lunchtime." A voice said, she felt something tap her shoulder. She peeled her eyes open, gazing up at the figure in front of her. It was Revan.
"Lunchtime it is?" Zen mumbled groggily. She finally opened her eyes all the way, realizing how different the light and scenery looked around her, she must've been out for a little while.
"Yeah, Circia sent me to find you. Let's go before she gets even more pissed at us." Revan said dryly, gesturing to the door. She nodded, and pulled herself to her feet, following Revan into the train again. She felt much better now, much calmer. And that was surely a good thing to be feeling, as they steadily approached the Capitol.
Amethyst Colour, 12.
District 6 "Male"
Amethyst shoved another forkful of spaghetti into her mouth, slurping it up loudly. Her mentor, Dare, gave her a strange look from across the table.
"I know it's good food, but could you be a little quieter about your eating?" Dare said, furrowing his brow slightly.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Amy replied, through a mouthful of spaghetti. Dare sighed, sipping his cup of tea with an exasperated look on his face.
"So we'll be getting to the Capitol soon, right?" Impala chimed into the conversation, her plate before her already empty.
"Yeah, probably within the hour." Dare replied, squinting to look out the window. She was excited to get to the Capitol, she'd seen what it looked like on TV, and it was prettier than anything she'd ever seen, with it's shining multicoloured buildings and their strange-looking inhabitants. It had always intrigued her, the Capitol, it seemed like such a faraway place from the grimy, back alley streets of 6.
"So what are our stylists like?" Impala asked again, she was very curious always asking questions. Amy didn't mind, it just meant that she didn't have to ask herself.
"I have no clue in all honesty." Dare said with a shrug. He'd been a pretty helpful mentor to this point, other than getting easily exasperated with her. She didn't really understand what the problem was, but Dare was still willing to be helpful. She figured he was better than some mentors at least.
"So I'd like to talk to you two about how you want to be trained. Together, or apart?"
"Apart. I want to keep my options open." Impala said, cutting Amy off before she could say anything.
"I was going to say I'd like to be trained with you," Amy replied. Both Dare and Impala turned to look at her.
"I want to keep my options open. And I also don't want to be stuck with a little kid to look after." Impala said. Amy turned to Dare for help, but he shrugged.
"If she doesn't want to be trained with you, there's nothing I can do." Dare said.
"Just 'cause I'm 12 doesn't mean I'm completely useless!" Amethyst cried out.
"Well kids your age don't exactly have the best track record, and I don't want to babysit," Impala replied her tone calm. Amethyst tossed the fork she was holding into the half-eaten plate of spaghetti, the copious amount of tomato sauce the noodles were being drowned in splattering on the white table cloth. She pushed her chair back, storming off to her room. She pushed the door open, it banged against the wall behind it with a loud thud. She flung herself onto the cushy bed. It wasn't fair, she was just a kid. She didn't want to die. She drifted off to sleep with the thought of the child murder games dancing in her dreams.
"Amy! Come look, we're almost at the Capitol." A voice rang out, startling her away. She sprang out of bed. They were near the Capitol.
Cerdiwen Cadwaller, 17.
District 9 Female.
A knock rang out at the door. Cerdiwen looked over from the TV screen here eyes had been transfixed to for the entire day. There was nothing to do on the train except eat, sleep, read and talk to the other people on the train. And her District partner, Cassian, was horrible. The first night she'd asked him to ally, and he'd freaked out and slammed the door in her face. So, she decided to leave him alone. The only other option for a decent conversation was their mentor, Jillar, who had accidentally gotten far too tipsy at dinner.
"Yeah?" Cerdiwen said, standing and pulling the door open. Jillar was standing in the doorway, head in his hands, most likely still hungover.
"We're like 5 minutes from the Capitol," Jillar said, gesturing with one of his hands towards the main living room space where they boarded the train from. She nodded curtly, and Jillar moved out of the way so she could walk by him, which she did. She stepped into the living room, Cassian was situated on the couch so she, rather than sitting, leaned up against the wall, gazing out the window. The rocky terrain was soon swallowed by a tunnel, the train being plunged into darkness save for the lighted wall sconces in the train. She could feel the train slowing, and the dark tunnel suddenly turned to blinding sunlight. Through squinted eyes, she could make out sunlight bouncing off a lake, and bright bubblegum colours, buildings of vibrant pinks and blues, all the fabulous colours of the rainbows. Her eyes finally adjusted enough that she could pry them open fully.
"Quite the sight, eh?" Jillar said, leaning against a nearby wall, watching their reactions.
"It's even prettier than I thought it would be," Cerdiwen replied, a stupidly goofy grin crossing her face. She turned to see Cassian's reaction, and he looked just as floored as she thought she looked.
"We're going to be living here?" Cassian said the stony look that had held for the past day finally lifting away to reveal something more like childish wonder. The train pulled in to the train station, the iridescent buildings being blocked off by the brick and metal walls of the station.
"Okay you two, get over here," Jillar said, gesturing to the space in front of him where they'd first entered the train.
"What's about to happen?" Cassian asked as they moved to stand where Jillar had indicated.
"Well, you're about to get off the train. There's gonna be a giant paparazzi outside the door, and their cameras are bright."
"So what do we do?" Cerdiwen asked as they took their places.
"Smile," Jillar said. The door slid open, and there was absolutely nothing going on outside the doors.
"Uhh. That's weird." Jillar said, looking very confused. A peacekeeper walked up to the open doorway, and he waved his hand a little, clearing his throat.
"Hi. So uh, there's no media here this year because of safety concerns, so y'all will just be coming with me." The peacekeeper said nervously. Cassian shrugged and bounced down the steps, and Cerdiwen followed. The peacekeeper turned his back to them, leading them into the building before them. They approached the door and it slid open, revealing a stark white waiting room of sorts. Scattered around it were a few pairs of tributes and their mentors. Cerdiwen recognized the pairs from 1 and 2 huddled in a corner together, their mentors nearby talking as well. The pair from 7 was across the room, sitting near but not next to each other, their mentor leaning against a wall nearby looking annoyed about the whole situation, and the pair from 11 were right next to the door. The entire room consecutively looked up as they stepped in.
"Welcome to the Capitol. Sit wherever you want, the show will begin soon." The peacekeeper said with a smile. Indeed, the show would begin soon.
Train rides 2 electric boogaloo. Here it is though, hope y'all like it! Anyways, next chapter will be parade prep with *clears throat* Pedro, Aru, Cassian and Breccan. I'll see you all soon with those! Signing off, -Times.