Bolt Eisen, District Eight
As he stepped off of the train and into the busy Capitol station, Bolt decided there were far worse ways to die. The actual moment would probably be unpleasant, whether from starvation or a spear through the chest. But before that, there was a sprawling city that seemed eager to talk to him.
Barricades had been placed between the twelve arriving trains and the rest of station, with people crowded up against them as if they were watching a parade. Bolt waved to the Capitolites closest to him and there was a dull roar of applause. He felt like he was someone noteworthy, someone who had actually accomplished something, rather than just another body fed to a hungry machine.
Death was something that was always on his mind, despite his mother's attempts to distract him. Ever since he was a child, he could feel it coming up on him, steady and unyielding. When his name was called at the reaping, it felt inevitable. Comforting, even. Bolt wasn't sure he truly wanted to die, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to live either. He had so many emotions he was never able to truly express banging up against his skull that the thought of silencing them was a welcome one. It felt like fate, being here in the Capitol. His whole life he was just waiting for this moment, the moment where he died.
The crowd began to murmur excitedly and focus a few feet down the platform from him. Bolt turned to see what the commotion was about and came face to face with the most beautiful boy he had ever seen.
The boy was of average height, perhaps even on the short side, but wore bright magenta heels that lifted him up at least six inches. His suit was purple, sequined, and complete with a jeweled cape that attached to his shoulders. Yet even without the spectacle, he was gorgeous. His bleached platinum hair was pulled up in a ponytail, which gave Bolt a good look at the man's slender neck and high boy caught him staring, and with a dazzling smile walked forward until they were less than an arm's length away from each other.
"Hey cutie." the boy said, "I've got a deal for you. I need to make an impression here, give these lovely people a show. If you help me it might help you survive."
Bolt didn't particularly care about surviving, but the thought of giving the crowd a show intrigued him. He had been thinking about his own death his entire life, and came to a conclusion long ago that since fatality was so close to him he would try to make the most of it. If he was going to go out, might as well go out with a bang.
"Go ahead." He said.
The words were scarcely out of his mouth before Bolt felt a tug against his shirt as the boy pulled him in for a searing kiss. His heart skipped a beat and he leaned into the touch, ignoring the hollers of the crowd around him. For once, the crashing waves of his mind calmed down, the great swirling whirlwind of possibilities stopping to clarify into one single thought: he liked this.
The boy pulled away and smirked at him. "You've done this before I see."
Bolt shook his head. "No, actually."
"In that case you are a very talented beginner."
"Do I get a name out of this?" Bolt asked.
The boy laughed. "Frazier Nelson. And you?"
"Bolt Eisen."
"Well Bolt Eisen." Frazier said, "With a mouth like that I'd love to see your other talents. Come find me during training."
With that the boy left, leaving Bolt stunned on a platform as camera flashes went off all around him.
Gideon Farlane, District Nine
"Hello everyone, and welcome to your home away from home, the Tribute Center." Kallia Haversham stood in the center of the circular lobby, though a small microphone by her mouth made it sound like her voice was coming from everywhere at once. Gideon was sitting on a bench nearly twenty feet away from her, near a wall with a mural of a charging ram on it, yet he could hear every single word perfectly.
"This building was built with this very Quell in mind," Kallia continued, "The training center is below us, and is three entire levels. One for survival, one for combat and one for general fitness. On top of the normal training sessions, each day shall consist of an Exploratory time period. During this time some of our special areas shall open up. There is a library, a pool, a chemistry lab, and many other areas that I suggest you ask about."
Gideon couldn't find himself too bothered about what the face of Panem was talking about. To him, she seemed like all authority figures: demanding to be listened to even though they had nothing important to say. He hated people who demanded respect just because they thought it was owed. This was a dangerous character trait to have in a place like Panem, where dissent could be punished harshly. But obedience merely wasn't in his nature.
Instead, he looked over at a boy next to him that wore an eyepatch and many bracelets. "Hey, want to see something cool?" he asked.
Up until this moment, the boy's hands were clasped together and he was murmuring something underneath his breath. He opened the eye Gideon could see and shrugged. "I guess."
"Perfect. Now watch closely." He said. As Kallia rambled on about living arrangements, Gideon pulled out a pencil. He broke it in half, then held the two pieces in each hand. Placing his hands together, he slowly drew them apart until he revealed a completely intact pencil.
"How did you do that?" The boy asked, fear in his voice, "Are you in league with demons?"
Gideon tried to hold back a sigh. There were always ignorant people in the world. Still, he wished that he didn't keep running into them. "No, no it's just a magic trick. An illusion." he reassured the boy.
"It's an affront to God." he said.
After years of showing off his magic tricks to everyone who would watch them, Gideon had learned when not to push things. Unfortunately he wasn't always the best at listening to that input. "It's not an affront to anything. It's a hobby. Like drawing, or singing or… or anything really. I just wanted to cheer you up a bit. You don't have to be so mean about it."
The boy paused and bit his lip slightly, "I hadn't meant to be mean, as you say." he said, "But I have seen things like that before. It was always before something bad happened."
"Well this time, it happened before you met me properly. So in this case, something very good. I'm Gideon Farlane."
"I'm Rudy Jackson." The boy said, "And I don't sense any dark traces on you. So perhaps you are telling the truth."
That was an incredibly weird thing to say, but Gideon was willing to ignore it. He shook Rudy's hand and once again shifted his attention to Kallia's speech.
Valency Adamant, District Three
It was difficult for Valency to decide just what she wanted to concentrate on. In the center of the room, Kallia was explaining that this year the tributes were not going to be sorted by District this year, but by categories they chose and named after ancient Zodiac star signs. On the walls of the lobby of the tribute center were great murals of the very signs she was talking about. She was sitting underneath a picture of her own sign, Sagittarius, and looking around to find all of the imagery in the lobby. Which meant that she was dividing her attention between the welcome speech and the design of the Tribute center.
Well, the welcome speech, the design of the Tribute Center, and the other tributes all around her. Valency knew a few things about each district due to her time in the geography track at Baudelaire a year or so ago, but it was a different thing entirely to see them here in the same room as her. Across from her were a group that she guessed from their clothes was District Two. She technically already knew where they were from, since she had replayed the reaping several times before she got here, but it was fun to try to make assumptions from other things.
Valency wondered if the tributes from District Two would want to be in an alliance with her. She was technically a career, after all. Although she only went to the training academy after school. But the other volunteers didn't know she was a part timer. They didn't know the rest of her time was spent studying at Baudelaire. They probably didn't even know what Baudelaire was.
"Now don't be too worried if the Constellation I assign you doesn't fit with your star sign, if you know it." Kallia Haversham said, "While we based it originally on your birthdays, some signs had more people than others."
"So many Virgos." a voice next to Valency muttered, and she turned to see a figure leaning against a wall next to her. They were of indeterminate gender, though leaning more towards the feminine side of was sure they were a capitolite, based on their jet black hair that faded into a pale Cyan at the ends and large silver glasses that flickered with more than just reflections. If she were to guess based off of her semester in the computer science track, the person was using an augmented lens.
"Did you help organize the groups then?" Valency asked the figure, "I'm Valency by the way. Valency Adamant. Valency is the ability for an atom to combine and form bonds. So I'm always quite interested in how things are sorted. Was it difficult, given the short notice? Did you sort mentors by their star signs too?"
The figure looked over at her with a thoughtful gaze. It was mildly uncomfortable, but not aggressive. "Valency Adamant." They said, "I've heard of you, even before the reaping. This building itself is using at least six of your patents. All in different fields of study. Patience is not exactly one of your virtues is it?"
She shrugged. Patience was overrated. "Is that a problem?"
"More for you than anything. Because yes, it was difficult to assign everyone a constellation on such short notice. But if you wish to know the answer to your other question, you are going to have to wait."
"Oh come on. It can't be that much of a secret." She begged, "And if it is I won't tell anyone. I'm great at keeping secrets."
"Are you?"
"Well, no. But I can try."
The Capitolite smiled slightly but said nothing in response. Valency was about to try another tactic when Kallia called her name.
"Valency Adamant and Nate Fowler: Sagittarius. Elevator to your dorms is third to the right in the East Corridor."
Valency watched as a quiet boy stood up and made his way to the East Corridor then turned back to the Capitolite. "What's your name?" she asked.
The figure smiled again, "Nautilus Plume. But you should get going."
AN: It feels like forever since I've gotten a chapter out. I'm pretty sure it's only been like a week. But still. Thankfully I think I've got my groove back. This chapter we got to meet Bolt by Lunasfanworks, Gideon by Scherhazade96 and Valency by Galewrites stuff. We also got to sort of hear about The Tribute Center, which has been my worldbuilding sink for a while now. Just watch, like none of it's going to end up in this story. Anyway, thank you very much for reading!