I decided to go through the boys and then the girls so here's some train rides with the first few boys!

Nero Inculta- District Two male- 18

My father's ring felt strangely heavy on my finger. Everyone had assumed I'd take the original Nero's token. I always said that I was going to but actually I wanted something of my own. So when Reaping day came I left the old token- a stone pendant- in my room and my father gave me his ring, which I'd asked him for a few weeks earlier. I thought it would connect me to home and remind me of what I was fighting for. Instead, I felt like it kind of made me think of all I was risking. It was such a small little gold band. One little gold band represented the promise of a lifetime, and a lifetime spent carrying out that promise. That was the Games, I guess. A few days that determined the rest of my life, one way or another. A commitment. No going back. I wasn't scared- I was still sure I'd win- but it did make the whole thing seem more real.

"Hello, I'm Nero," I said when Gallant sat down across from me. I was reminded of the ring again when the handshake pressed it into my finger. "I'm excited to work with you."

"Yeah," Gallant said. He scratched his chin. "The first few minutes are always weird, not gonna lie. It's like I'm supposed to teach you, but you already trained, you know? So, anything you want advice on?"

"I did already train a lot." I admitted. "I'm pretty confident I can win this, not to jinx myself. Anything can happen in the Games, but I'm pretty prepared."

"So why'd you volunteer? That's one thing I always like to ask."

I shrugged. "It's a pretty boring answer for me. I wanted the honor and glory and all that. All the cliches about Careers are pretty much me." Asking someone from Two why they wanted to volunteer for the Games was like askign someone from Three why they wanted to go to college, or someone from Ten why they wanted to farm. It was all we knew. We didn't even really think about it. It was just what we'd grown up with, ever since we were born.

"I guess that's usually the case, isn't it? Looking back, I kind of wish I hadn't volunteered." Gallant got a sort of faraway look.

"What, you don't like the Games anymore?" I asked.

"No, no, of course I love the Games." Gallant tried to put a lot of enthusiasm in his voice, like he was afraid I might not believe him. "It's just... you know... there's more to life, maybe? I could have done plenty of other things."

"Yeah, you could have worked in a quarry until you were old and broken, or until you got run over by a bulldozer." I said.

"Sometimes all the choices are no good." Gallant mused.

I didn't entirely agree. It was hard for people who weren't strong or people with tender hearts, but I didn't think I'd regret going into the Games. I was ready for this. I'd spent all my life preparing. I could do this and afterwards I wouldn't regret it.

Anthony Morgan, District Four male (18)

This was a mistake. I shouldn't have done this. I'm gonna die oh my god I'm gonna die and it's too late. I had my whole life ahead of me and I threw it away. There's no going back. Too late. I'm going to the Games and there's no way out.

As the train pulled away from Four it hit me. I stood up to run out and jump off the train, but it was too late. I'd volunteered. I was going to the Games. I sat back down and watched, my stomach more and more queasy, as Four disappeared behind me. I leaned over in my chair until my forehead smacked the glass, trying to keep watching Four for just a few more seconds. It was smaller. Smaller. It was going to be gone in just seconds. Seconds passed. Four was gone. There was nothing but grass, and buildings, and the train track narrowing into a point as it hit the horizon.

It's gone. For the first time in my life, I'd left my home. I had never been so far from my house in my life, and it was only going to get farther away. I was going to the Capitol, a strange new world of skyscrapers and weird accents and people who wore circus tents for clothes. But no, I was going to the GAMES. Where people died.

Why is this train so bumpy? Hell, can't we make a train that's smooth in this day and age? We've had trains for like two hundred years! The car was shaking underneath me. I didn't know how anyone could feel at east rocking around like they were at a rodeo. It was turning my stomach. That was it. That was why I felt like I was going to throw up.

And it's badly insulated, too. Too insulated or something. There was no air in here. I started breathing heavier, just to get enough air. Which made my stomach feel worse. I'm freaking out. I realized. I'm losing it. I'm gonna panic...

What was happening to me? This wasn't me. I didn't panic. I'd seen people have panic attacks at school, all breathing fast and crying and shaking. That wasn't me. But then I couldn't think about them anymore. I could only think about going to the Games and the Arena and...

Talaysa walked into the car. I looked up at her like she was a life preserver in a stormy ocean.

"I don't want to go." I gasped. "Is it too late? Can I go back?" I scooted away from her after I said it, overcome with shame and regret. I was being a baby. I was embarrassing myself and my family. Imagine if people saw Nero's nephew crying like a coward.

Talaysa didn't even pause. She sat next to me with a calm expression.

"Don't worry. This happens to everyone." She said.

"What?" I asked. Everyone DIED? Everyone regretted it and knew they'd messed up? I felt my stomach cramp again and focused on not throwing up.

"It's okay. We all freak out. Sometimes it happens later when we're in our rooms so no one sees it and we can say we didn't, but we all do. Don't worry. It will pass."

Just her saying it made me feel way better in an instant. My stomach was still fluttering and I still felt nervous but all at once I could breathe again.

"Take a minute. You're leaving home for the first time and doing the most dangerous thing in your life. Take a second to process it."

I took a few deep breaths. All at once it felt like I'd turned on the light and seen that what I thought was a monster was just a shirt draped over a chair.

"Okay," I said after a minute. "I'm good now. Let's start training."

Preji Soultier- District Three male (17)

I sat at a dining car table with my arms folded, glaring down at the table. I wasn't going to waste time pretending to be optimistic or excited. I'd been ripped from my house and sent to my death for something I had nothing to do with. None of this was fair and I just wanted to be left alone.

Some guy I barely recognized from television walked into the car and stood by my table. He stuck out his hand.

"Hi, you must be Preji. I'm Alesandro. I'm here to help you out." He said.

I didn't take his hand or look up. "Go away," I said.

"Okay." Alesandro said. He turned around and started toward the door.

"What? You're just going to leave?" I asked. He was supposed to be my mentor! Even my mentor was going to ditch me?

"You said go away." Alesandro said. "Obviously you don't want my help."

"You're just gonna leave me to die?" I asked, turning around in my seat to stare after him.

"Looks like you're doing that just fine by yourself." Alesandro said.

I lost it. "Well what do you want me to do? I'm just minding my own business and I get hauled away from my family to go get killed in some stupid grudge match! This isn't fair!" I stopped myself before I could say more, afraid the Capitol would get even more vengeful if I said anything bad about them.

"Right. I wouldn't know anything about that." Alesandro said.

"Yeah, so you know how it is. It stinks." I said.

"Yep. And yet here I am. You know why? Because I sucked it up and kept going. But you don't want to do that. You want to be a self-pitying woe-is-me whiner. So go die and get it over with. Sounds like you won't be any worse off." Alesandro said flatly. He turned again to leave.

"Hey!" I called after him. He turned around with a cautiously expectant look.

"This still isn't fair, but maybe I don't want to let them win." I started. Really I wanted to say I was sorry but I was too proud or at least too stubborn. "If I get back home that will show them. So I guess maybe I should try."

"Well all right then." Alesandro said. He took a seat across from me. "So what are you good at?"

That perked me up. I guess most people like to talk about the things they're good at. "Sometimes at work I messed around with the electrical stuff to mess with my jerk boss. Maybe I could do something with that."

Dionysus Bacchus, District One male (17)

"Hey! Good to see you!" I waved when Enigma came in. Of course I knew about Enigma Fenn. She was the youngest Victor so far, and it wasn't even just because she hid out and everyone killed each other. At thirteen years old Enigma Fenn had killed her own District partner, fellow Career Tiger Cahill, to earn her victory. So, weirdly enough, Enigma was only one year older than me after having been a mentor for four years. It was weirder than I could say to see my grizzled old mentor was barely old enough to vote.

"Hello, I'm..." Enigma wrinkled her nose and drew back a little. "Have you been... drinking?"

"I just had one shot to calm the nerves. You know, just-leaving jitters." I said.

Enigma looked at me with that seeing-right-through-you analysis that got her through the Games. Then she relaxed and smiled. "Oh yeah, sometimes you need to unwind, right? At this point I can drink five or six shots and barely feel it."

"I know, right? It's hardly a day for me unless I finish a bottle," I joked back.

Her face went cold and I realized I'd been trapped. "That's alcoholism. You're an alcoholic." she said.

"What? Don't be so serious. It's just having some fun." I said.

"Fun doesn't win the Games." she said flatly. "Fun gets you killed. I don't have energy to waste on people like you. Tell me right now: do you want me to train you? If you do, no more alcohol. None. Not a single drink until the Arena. Yes or no? Now."

"Oh come on..." I stopped when I saw she was about to turn and leave. "Okay. Fine." It was just a few days. No problem. I'd be my own self as soon as the Games were over.

She gave a rather foreboding smile. "Come see me in three days. Then we'll talk."

Dionysus needs two POVs to make sense so he'll be getting two short ones. Preij's just turned out kinda short because it was a natural place to stop so I'll remember him in further pre-Games chapters. Also Anthony's POV is not at all meant to foreshadow his time in the Games. I just wanted to show that Careers get scared too and he's the one I happened to pick.