"Acton."

The seventeen-year-old boy ignored this, shoveling a massive fork of steak into his mouth. He speared a couple pieces of asparagus and crammed them in next to the steak, chewing noisily.

"Acton."

Working his teeth furiously, Acton finally swallowed. He jerked his head to the side, swinging a few stray strands of his hazelnut-colored hair out of his eyes. "Yes?" he asked, already collecting another mouthful of food onto his fork.

"Could you stop eating for two seconds? We have things to discuss now that Yuki is back."

Acton slid the food off his fork and onto his tongue, putting down his fork as he devoured the meat. He looked up expectantly at his mentor, Rose. "Get on with it. I'm still hungry."

"Watch your mouth, boy," Rose snapped. Her forest green eyes held a hard glint in them as she glared at Acton. "You'd to good to listen closely to what Yuki observed. It could be the difference between life and death."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Acton faked a meek nod. Rose smiled and turned to face Rhodochrosite, who was bouncing slightly in her chair. Her zebra-striped hair jiggled slightly as she did so, her green eyes wide and bright. "Would you calm down?" Rose asked in an exasperated tone. The escort stopped moving abruptly and nodded once. Rose shook her head, chuckling.

Yuki cleared her throat. "So can I get on with my report?" she asked impatiently. Rose nodded, her bobbed dark brown hair shaking. "Okay," the girl said, running a hand through her own black hair. "The girl from District 1—Ciara—seems to be a bit of a dimwit. She seems more concerned with vanity rather than survival. She says that she wants to form a career group, but she doesn't seem to have the wits to get very far in the Games.

"The boy from District 12 is has potential to be a pain. He's twelve-years-old and obviously has violent tendencies. He thinks he's going to win. I think he could be an asset if he gets his shit together, but he has the air of a bomb that's ready to go off.

"Willow's the girl from District 12. Looks to be about fifteen. She seems too soft to make it far, but that could end up being a positive feature to a team. I think she has little siblings, judging by how she was treating Cedar, and probably knows valuable information on healing and cooking.

"Those were the only three that I heard say anything. But I also saw the redheaded boy who I think is from District 9. Looks young and scrawny, but attentive enough. If he applies himself, he could be a contender in the Games. The chick from District 10 looks like a force to be reckoned with, as does the boy from Eleven and the girl from Eight."

Rose had been nodding dutifully through this whole speech. When Yuki fell silent, she took a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking. Acton stole the moment while she was glancing at the table to stuff another pile of food into his mouth. Yuki shot him a disgusted look while he chewed quickly, covering his mouth with his hand when Rose looked back at the two tributes.

"I'd stay away from the girl from District 1. Ciara, did you say her name was?" Yuki nodded. "She seems like she'll just weigh any allies she makes down. I agree with that you said about the boy from Twelve, Yuki. It is possible that he could be a burden, but he might also be a formidable opponent that you want on your side. I would keep an eye on him in training and try to stay on his good side.

"His District partner isn't worth it. You'd be better off learning basic medicine during the training sessions. The boy from Nine is the same deal; he might be useful at some point, but in the long run you'd better just learn what you can and hope it's enough.

"As for the last three, I'd just keep an eye on them. If you feel it'd really be beneficial, ally up with them. Sound good?"

Yuki nodded. Acton took this as an okay to take another bite of his cooling steak. He heaped the remains of the meal onto his fork and ate it, chewing contentedly.

"Sound good, Acton?" Rose pressed.

"Yes, ma'am," Acton confirmed around a mouthful of food, spraying tiny bits of it all over his plate. All three of the women in the train car recoiled slightly from him simultaneously. The boy merely shrugged and took a massive slice of apple pie for himself. He drowned it in whipped cream and began to eat.

Yuki sighed. "This is disgusting. Can I leave?"

Rose nodded. "Sure. Take what I said and work with it. You want to make allies early; you'll be at an advantage in the way of trust when it gets down to the final few tributes." Yuki flashed a quick smile of understanding at the District 3 mentor before escaping the room.

Rhodochrosite was trying her best not to watch Acton. "I think I'll go look for one of my sisters," she decided, getting to her feet. "Later, Rose, Acton..." The bubbly escort flounced out of the room, silver dress still sparkling furiously.

Glancing out the window, Rose got to her feet as well. "It's looking like it might rain. I'm going to try and get some sleep before any storms come." She headed out of the mini-dining room towards one of the four small bedrooms in the abnormally large train car.

Abandoning any trace of manners he may have had, Acton wolfed down his slice of pie. He then helped himself to three scoops of chocolate ice cream from a little cooler on the side of the table. When that was finished, he popped a few strawberries into his mouth, enjoying their tangy flavor. He got to his feet and stretched his arms out over his head. "That was good," he decided aloud.

Observing the train car with a bored expression, Acton decided it was high time he went and mingled with some of the other tributes. Yuki was already on a second round. Not bothering to push in his chair, Acton grabbed a last handful of strawberries before heading out the door.

In the hallway, there were two doors. Acton looked left and right, shrugging. He stepped a little ways out into the hallway, spinning a circle. Finally, he decided on his age old method of decision making, usually used in picking which hot girl to flirt with. "Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers, let him go, eenie, meenie, miney, moe. My mother told me to pick the very best one and that is you red white and BLUE."

Acton glanced at his hand, pointing towards the door to the left of him. "Well, guess I'm going this way," he said decidedly, heading off down the corridor and pushing open the door that it ended in. After walking through the connector between the two cars, he found himself in a hallway identical to the one he had just been standing in. Shrugging, he walked lazily down this second hallway.

He pushed open the door into the connector piece just as the door on the other side swung open. The tall boy found himself face-to-face with a girl a head shorter than him. Acton stood there stupidly as the walking porcelain doll watched him with her dark blue eyes. She had curly dark brown hair that fell a little ways past the shoulders. Surprisingly, Acton found it almost easy to continue to stare at her face rather than her boobs.

Definitely the hottest chick I've ever seen. Hotter than Rhodochrosite and Yuki combined.

"Hey," Acton finally said, making his voice a little deeper than it was naturally.

The girl smirked, flashing her bright white teeth. Acton bit his lip with concentration as the girl fixed her top to show a tad more of her chest than it had been when they first bumped into each other. "Hi," she returned.

Come on, man, Acton thought wildly to himself. You have this in the bag. You've got seventeen years of experience behind you. You can talk to hot chicks. But he drew a complete blank. He couldn't just ask her name or her District. That wasn't interesting. This chick needed to fall for him, and fall for him quickly. Out of habit, Acton tensed his muscles slightly to give them a bit more definition.

"Are you flexing?" the girl giggled, poking one of Acton's arms playfully. The boy quickly relaxed, feeling a little color rush to his cheeks.

"No, I'm just naturally that attractive," Acton said with a cocky grin. The girl giggled again. God, she's hot when she giggles.

"You're cute," she told him, smiling. "Name and District?"

It sounded almost business-like, the way she said it. Acton shrugged this off, answering, "Acton Cuthbert, District 3. Yourself?"

"Anja Nadezhda of District 2," she replied. Acton blinked, trying to figure out whether he imagined her moving just a bit closer to her or not. She merely continued to smile at him, and he finally got it through his head that he should return that smile. This made her laugh again, and Acton's ego swelled.

"So," Anja said. Despite her actions, her voice was still calm and had a meeting-type air to it. "You planning on being a career?"

Acton merely shrugged. "I dunno. Depends who the other careers are going to be, I guess."

"That isn't a winner's attitude."

"Try me."

Anja stared up at him, her dark blue eyes displaying an emotion Acton couldn't put his finger on. After a moment, her face broke back into her dazzling smile. "Can I hold you to that offer?"

"Please do."

Skye picked aimlessly at her scallops. She had picked the dish because she thought it would make her feel better to eat something familiar, but the seafood didn't taste at all like home, and it only depressed her further to think about her parents back in District 4.

"Eat."

The redheaded girl looked up, her face going pale as she noticed that the tall and muscular man leaning against the wall had spoken to her. She merely watched him with wide brown eyes. He narrowed his own icy blue ones. "Did you not hear me? I told you to eat."

Fumbling, Skye picked up her fork and took a bite. The flavor was excellent, but it tasted so far from the scallops she grew up loving. She swallowed, the food feeling awkward and foreign in her mouth. She glanced up at her mentor, who had stopped watching her.

Citrine had introduced him a few minutes ago as "47." Skye was positive she had misheard the escort. Either that or the yellow-haired woman hadn't said his name at all and merely told Ash and Skye his age. But why would she do that? Skye wondered, taking another miniscule bite of her food.

Either way, the man terrified Skye. He had short gray hair and a gray mustache. He was far taller than Skye's 5'4", with more muscle than Skye could ever hope to have. Probably more muscle than two of her combined. His mysterious name didn't help the cause.

Ash seemed completely unaware of this "47." He was tearing hungrily through a full rack of ribs. The thirteen-year-old boy was eating like he had never eaten food in his entire life. Skye took another teeny bite of her scallops just so that her mentor wouldn't speak to her again.

"I want you two out of the cabin in ten minutes," the man said suddenly, leaning away from the wall and taking a few steps towards the table. Skye flinched, staring determinedly at her plate.

"Why?" Ash piped up.

"You need to start meeting other tributes," "47" told them. "You'll be better off if you do."

Skye grimaced at her meal. She wasn't fond of meeting new people and making new friends. These facts were supported by the notion that one of the people on the train with her was going to murder her. I'm going to die, Skye reminded herself quietly, taking another bite in hopes that it would stop her from crying.

This failed spectacularly, as the bitter reminder of District 4 shoved her unceremoniously over the edge. Tears leaking out of her eyes, Skye jerkily pushed her plate away and got to her feet, spinning around quickly so that "47", Ash, and Citrine wouldn't notice her tears. She hurried down the hallway, kicking off her Reaping shoes and closing the door of one of the four tiny bedrooms behind her.

She sat down on the bed, rubbing her eyes and trying to stifle her sobs so the other three wouldn't worry about her. She stood up and locked the door before sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning with her back against the bed.

The room really was quite small. The bed occupied most of the space. Next to the end of it was a little desk coupled with a rolling chair. There was a window above the desk that showed the landscape whipping by as the train sped towards the Capitol. The sky was quite dark, but Skye was sure it wasn't late. As if to answer her question, a few raindrops splattered against the window. If Skye listened close enough, she fancied she could hear the downpour beating steadily on the roof over the roaring of the train.

"I want to go home," she moaned quietly. She got up at sat down in the desk chair. She pulled out the drawer, giving a weak smile through her tears as she found a stack of paper and pens. Selecting a red pen and a sheet of paper, Skye closed the drawer and began to write.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I hope you're doing better than I am. I've only been away from District 4 for a few hours and I already miss it more than I can say. I had some scallops earlier and they didn't taste like they way we used to make them. They were spiced and heavy, rather than natural and light.

More than the food and the ocean, though, I miss you. I know I'll never see District 4 again, but it's you that I'll miss the most.

Because, frankly, I'm going to die in the arena. My mentor told me to meet tributes, but all I can think about is how one of them is going to kill me. I know that if I talk to anyone aside from Ash, all I'll be able to think about it how the person I am talking to might be the one to kill me in a few days. Even Ash could kill me if he wanted it badly enough.

Mum, Dad, I love you. I don't think I ever said that to you enough. I love you, and I don't want to die.

Before Skye could finish the letter, the handle of her door rattled and then opened. Panicking, she crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it into the corner. She swiveled around in her chair to see Ash standing there.

"Was I interrupting something?" he asked hesitantly, glancing at the faulty doorknob.

Skye shook her head quickly, her face red with embarrassment. "No," she rushed. "No, no, no, you're fine. I was just being stupid. I'm being stupid." She rubbed the last tears away from her eyes roughly, trying to smile at Ash. The boy was thirteen. He was too young to know how to comfort girls.

"Oh, okay," the short boy said awkwardly, confusion plain in his brilliant green eyes. "Well, 47 figured that I should tell you I'm leaving to meet some tributes."

So I guess 47 is his real name. That's odd. "Okay," Skye said. "I think I'll stay here a bit." Ash nodded, closing the door. Skye could hear his footsteps as he walked back to the dining room and exited the train car.

I guess I'll have to go out there eventually, Skye thought with a tiny sigh. She got to her feet, noticing a mirror on the wall next to the door. She picked an eyelash off her face, holding it up to her eyes on her forefinger. I wish that I will make back to District 4 alive, she thought, blowing on the eyelash. It twirled off her finger and out of sight. With a final glance at her appearance—which still betrayed that she had been crying—Skye opened the door and stepped out into the little hallway.

She avoided looking at 47 and Citrine as she passed by. The two stopped their conversation abruptly as Skye walked past. The red-head looked away determinedly, opening the door and exiting the apartment-like compartment.

She turned left in the hallway, figuring it would lead her up front. She passed through three hallways identical to the first one before she finally pushed open a door with a different view. The room was like a party room, with sofas and a buffet. There was an open space and what looked like a music player in one corner.

Tributes were scattered all about the room. It certainly wasn't all twenty-four, but it was still frightening to Skye. She covered her face with a hand, sitting down on the first couch she could see. She folded her hands into her lap and stared at them intensely.

"Are you okay?"

Skye jumped as the voice sounded a few inches away from her. Her head snapped to face it. She found herself face-to-face with a boy who had the same flaming red hair as she did. He looked to be about her age, maybe a little younger. His eyes were light green, and they looked earnest and worried.

"I'm fine," Skye told him, forcing a smile.

"You sure?" he pressed. "You look a little green."

"Do I?" Skye asked fretfully, patting her cheeks.

The boy nodded a couple times, wincing as though to show he felt her pain. "I'm just terrified of strangers," Skye admitted. "And the group of people who will kill me was a bit much to handle."

Oh, God, what if this boy kills me? He could be the one that kills me.

"Maybe we should get a medic; you're looking worse."

"I'm fine, I promise," Skye told him quickly. He still looked concerned, so Skye figured she ought to just try and steer him away from the topic. "What's your name?"

He blinked. "I'm Chester. I'm from District 9. What about yourself?"

"Skye. I'm from District 4."

Chester smiled at her. "Well, Skye, you seem really nice," he complimented brightly. Skye flushed a deep shade of red, which made the boy chuckle. Skye forced a little laugh, feeling awkward.

Before she could say anything frightfully stupid, another voice broke in. "You wouldn't happen to of seen October Tyne, my District partner, would you?" Skye turned to see a blonde, tall, and muscular boy watching her and Chester with bright green eyes. Skye shook her head, not wanting to make a complete fool of herself like she had for Chester.

"That's a shame," he sighed. "Would you mind letting me know if you do? I'm Marshall from District 10, by the way."

"Skye, District 4," she whispered.

"And I'm Chester, from District 9," the boy beside Skye chirped.

Marshall smiled at the two. "It's nice to meet you both. October's fourteen and rather short, with thick brown shoulder-length hair and green eyes. Okay?" Skye merely nodded again, trying her best to keep her mouth shut.

This seemed to amuse him. Why is being shy so hilarious? Skye thought, exasperated. "See you around," she finally said softly. Marshall smiled at her.

"Will do."

AN: I hope you liked this chapter. I had a good amount of fun writing it. Reviews are always appreciated~