Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I had a problem with writers block :(

Well here it is!

Train rides

-District 1-

My mother came to wish me good luck, but my brother did not. Which was expected. But what surprised the most was that the young boy came, and even gave me my token. I stared at the small, red ball that was in my hand and his words came back clearly in my mind.

"Have this," he said smiling at me, as he handed me the ball, "it will help you be strong, like you were for me."

With that, he gave me a toothy grin before he sped out of the room. I sat there, dumbfounded, for a minute, before a smile crept up onto my face. And for once, it was a sincere smile.

But now I sat in a Capitol train, with the crazy Capitol lady, the two mentors and the boy tribute from my district that I was supposed to be in an alliance with. I did not know how I was going to do it, for I couldn't stand him. I looked at the ball in my hand. Then, without a second thought, I threw it at him, hitting him squarely in the back of the head.

He turned around angrily, rubbing his blonde hair; his brown eyes squinted into slits, "what was that for?"

"I was bored, and your ugly head was fat enough to be a descent target," I replied, giving him a smug smile, "Does it really hurt that much, Blondie?"

"My name's Onyx," he spat at me, "and you know what? You could at least try to be a little nicer, since we're going to be allies and all."

"Why should I?" I snapped back, the smile growing wider on my face, "I'll probably just end up killing you anyways."

He looked taken aback at my comment, for it was not something careers often discussed. However, it was true. If someone else didn't end up killing him, I would gladly do it. I had to win these games after all, and I would do anything to do just that.

"Whatever," he grumbled, attempting to regain his composure. He then left the room, mumbling about needing to take a shower or something.

But he didn't fool me. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. The games had not even begun, yet Blondie was already intimidated by me. Things at that moment were going perfectly.

"I'll assume your going to play up the 'bad girl' role for the games?"

The sound of my mentor's voice disrupted my thoughts, "Sure," I shrugged, "Seems fitting."

"Yes indeed!" the crazy Capitol lady piped, "Dear, you gave me quite a scare! You sounded so serious! Haha!"

Just. Shut. Up. Stupid Capitol chick.

"You'll probably get plenty of sponsors like that," Onyx's mentor said thoughtfully. He stood up and straightened his pants, "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to find Onyx. We should also start discussing strategy."

With that, he left the room, leaving me with my mentor and the Capitol lady. Two down, one more to go, I thought, glaring at the capitol lady. No words could describe how annoying this lady was to me. I could not wait to get rid of her. Anyways, I needed to speak with my mentor, Crystal, I think her name was, and I did not want my escort to be blurting out everything we discussed.

"I guess I'll leave you to alone then!" the Capitol lady squeaked, as if she had read my mind. She took out a stick of bright pink lipstick, "I need to reapply my lipstick anyways, and there are no mirrors in here. Looks like it rubbed off on my cup. How cheap! I paid fifty dollars for this! Can you believe it?"

"Yes, terribly cheap!" I added, making sure to layer the sarcasm on thickly. She didn't seem to notice, however because she left the room still ranting on cheerfully (if that's possible).

Crystal laughed, "You have a sense of humour too, but you may want to be careful," I raised an eyebrow, "mocking the Capitol will only ensure your death."

"Well the Capitol seems to be filled with ignorant airheads who can't tell the difference between whether someone's laughing with them, or at them," I scoffed, looking over at the Capitol lady, "so I think I'm good."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Crystal said, her voice becoming sharp.

"Fine, I'll try and hold my tongue," I mumbled. I would have argued further, but at that time I had more important things to worry about, "can we talk about game strategy now?"

Crystal looked at me for a moment, as though she was contemplating things in her head. I guessed she was trying to decide whether or not to drop the issue, but eventually she came to a conclusion, "Alright, I'll tell you how not to die."

-District 11-

I sat in Melissa's room, cradling her in my arms. She was crying hysterically, and I was desperately trying to calm her, although I knew there was no way that I could. We were in the Hunger Games. One of us was sure to die. I felt like crying as well, but I had to be strong for Melissa. I hated seeing her like this, her usual composure gone, and her smile driven away by tears. Her body shook as she sobbed into my shirt. She clutched onto it like it was her lifeline. I rapped my long arms around her tiny body tighter, and whispered in her ear, "It's alright Melissa, everything is going to be okay. I'll protect you, don't worry."

I continued to do this until Melissa eventually fell asleep, her body exhausted from all the crying. I brought her over to her bed and tucked her in.

She looked much calmer in her sleep, despite her red and puffy eyes. I couldn't help but sigh. How were we going to get through this?

A knock came from the door, "Melissa? Samuel? Dinner!"

I got off the bed carefully as to not wake Melissa, and opened the door to find Frel, our escort, standing on the other side. He had changed from his earlier clothes, and was now wearing a pure yellow suit and a matching yellow wig. He was fixing the curly wig, for it must have slid off when he walked over. I laughed inwardly. I could not have helped myself from noticing his resemblance to a banana.

"Oh there you are!" he boomed, causing me to flinch, "it's dinner time! Where's Melissa?"

"Sleeping," I said quietly, as I walked out of the room. I made sure to close the door before I continued, "Please don't wake her. She can always eat later right?"

"Oh yes! Yes, that's fine," Frel whispered, trying to stifle a giggle. I really did not know what he found funny in a person sleeping, but I did not want to ask, "come! This way!"

I followed Frel as he bounced down the hallway and into the dining room. As I saw the food I almost ran back and woke up Melissa. There was so much of it! It looked so good too, with steaming soups, fresh bread, frosted cakes and a whole variety of drinks to choose from. I sat down astonished, not bothering to hide my surprise. My mouth watered just from the smell, and it took at my will power not to reach across the table and shove everything into my mouth.

Catherine must have noticed my anxiousness, for she said, "go ahead!

Dig in. Though, if you ask me, you should start with the beef stew, it's my favourite."

I smiled at my mentor sheepishly before I greedily grabbed the beef stew Catherine had mentioned and dumped a whole bunch onto my plate. I did my best to refrain from stuffing myself, and completely forgetting my manners. Melissa would have scolded me for that. But it was difficult. We never had food like this back in district 11, and I didn't know if I would ever get the chance to eat like this again.

I know the chapters have been short (especially this one)but I really just want to get to the games! Thank-you LivingInTheNow for favouriting and Arcticmist for reviewing. Next chapter will be the chariot rides. Please R&R!