"Gryff'!" Stephen squealed excitedly, throwing himself at Gryffon. "Where are you going? Can I - "

"The Capitol," Gryffon smiled as he picked the boy up and gave him a tight hug. "And no, little one, you can't come. You need to take care of Ma and Andie for me." Stephen's grin fell, as well as the brightness in the kid's light brown eyes. "Think you can do that?" Gryffon asked again and repeated, "for me?" The four-year-old groaned, but allowed himself a little nod, which frankly, was a relief to the tribute. The less his brother complained and held on, the better.

"Don't - "

A knock on the door interrupted the little boy and a Peacekeeper appeared. Gryffon looked from his brother to the white-clad man at the entrance and back. His arms seemed to become tighter and squeezed the boy to the point where he squeaked and asked to be put down. "See ya', Stephen," he started as he lowered the kid, "love you." Gryffon lightly nudged Stephen's behind toward the Peacekeeper and smirked. "I won't be long, okay?"

"Promise!?" Stephen ordered, looking over his shoulder only to have the door shut on his pleading face.

No . . . He didn't promise. How could he? If he didn't came back - which was the plan - he didn't want his brother to have that idea in his head . . . Maybe if there was no promise, no return expectation, it'd be easier for the little kid forget he ever had a brother and would grow up with his two sisters without any grief or confusion or curiosity.

Oh, that was the last thing Gryffon needed to worry about. He just had to keep his mind on the immediate future and focus on the task ahead. Which brought him to another problem . . . He glanced across the babbling escort to Jay but wasn't able to catch her eye. Since they had left the reaping she had refused to look at him. Why? Didn't she understand what he was going to do? That he was going that for her?

Aside from Vinyel's talking, the ride to the train station was silent and tense, and when they finally reached the huge silver monstrosity that was the train, Jay rushed inside and disappeared into a compartment without acknowledging anyone.

"Oh, goodness," Vinyel breathed behind him, the man's voice dripping with the deepest worry Gryffon assumed he could manage. The tribute rolled his eyes and turned to head toward the room Jay vanished into when a hand landed on his shoulder and held him back. Ready to whip around and snap at the escort, Gryffon came face-to-face with a woman about half a foot shorter than him with dark, coffee-colored eyes and shortly cropped hair that curled around chin-level.

"Leave her be for now, Gryffon," she ordered, "she can join us when she comes out." Annabelle, he remembered, was one for isolated-healing. But Jay wasn't like that. "Come on."

Already? So soon? Had the mentor been born premature to be in such a rush? Gryffon gave one last glance toward the compartment door, heaved a little sigh, and followed Annabelle into their district's main car where a table with enough spaces for five people and various foods sat in the center with sets of four couches on either side. Annabelle lead Gryffon to one of the couches, ordered him to sit before sitting across from him. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, must make you very happy to see us here. Together," Gryffon shot back sharply, his tone wry. "Wanna catch up on old times?" Annabelle's thin lips curled up in a smile, her eyes glittering as they always were: indifferently.

"Later, honey." She crossed one leg over the other and raised a brow, merely staring at the boy with that stupid smile on her face. "So, Gryffon . . . " He narrowed his eyes at her slow tone and raised a brow.

Go on?

"Mind explaining to me why you volunteered? With your . . . What? Girlfriend?"

"Sister," Gryffon corrected with a scoff, but couldn't help the shifting of his weight at the mention of Jay being his girlfriend. They had been teased often enough about it, that the idea of it was both absurd to him but still . . . It was engraved in his mind - that possibility.Aaaanyway . . . "To get her out of here alive . . . "

"You realize you have relatively no skills, right? Aside the ones your father gave you? And compared to the Careers you'll be facing, basic offense is shit," Annabelle shook her head, "your brother and her sister are going to end up with no one because of you, Gryffon."

Gryffon groaned, his heart beginning to hammer more forcefully in his chest. Did she have Gryffon-counseling sessions with his dad? "You beat them, didn't you? You didn't even have basic offense, and yet you managed to outlive them all at thirteen. Why wouldn't I be able to do the same?" he retorted quietly, his tone challenging and defensive. "Jay and I think well together . . . If I can just get to the end with her, I could - "

"You want to ally, Gryff'?" He turned his head to where the choked question came from and bit his lip before answering with a slight nod. "Then how would either of us win? . . "

"If we don't, how would I help you?" he returned. "That was the whole point of - "

"Volunteering?" Jay asked rhetorically, ending the one-word question with a dry laugh. "I didn't ask you to volunteer, Gryff' . . . I didn't want you to. I thought you had given up on the idea . . . I was relieved because I was in, because I thought you wouldn't want to volunteer because of that, I didn't want you . . . Don't want you to . . . " The girl's words fumbled over each other, her muscles tightened, and the tears began to well in her eyes, renewing the burn that had been flashing behind them all morning. "I told you since forever not to . . . "

Gryffon sighed and slumped down into his seat. Annabelle was no help . . . She knew them too well to be of any help . . . And Jay . . . What the flipping fuck? "Too bad, Jay, can't do a thing 'bout it now. Sit down, let's talk."

"Ahg! You're so!" she hissed, biting her tongue to stop herself. "Okay." The girl dragged her feet over the plush carpet and sank down beside Annabelle. Gryffon blinked at the blonde, finally noticing how red her eyes were. Was she really that upset that he volunteered to have a little fit of tears and minutes after come to throw yet another tantrum? Even if it was to protect her? And why didn't she think he would volunteer since her name was called . . . Because he would want to be with her when they came out? Because they were 'siblings'? Please . . . She believed in herself as much as he doubted her: Jay wouldn't have the slightest chance without him. At least Gryffon was convinced of that. And he would have to stay convinced of that if he didn't want to regret his decision.

"Anyway," Annabelle called, almost completely unmoved by the little scene that unfurled there. "An alliance between the two of you would definitely swing in your favor, as long as you aren't trying to chop each other's heads off the entire time. One acting to protect the other would actually be kind of cute, and would make the sponsors want you two to get farther." Her dark eyes flickered over to Jay, making the girl roll her eyes. Neither of them really wanted to listen to Annabelle's advice; she was only going to spew out what they already know . . . Or at least she'd be yapping on and on about things Gryffon could already assume, or thought he could.

"Do you have anything to say that won't be repeats of what we've heard already?" Gryffon asked, glancing up at the window as it suddenly got darker. They were in another district already, before the next morning they'd probably arrive in the Capitol.

"Yeah, stay alive, maybe? Don't kill any other tributes before you get to the arena, and Gryffon." He tore his eyes away from the window and raised his brows at her. "Do more than just play with the weapons. Survival skills will do more for you."

"Says the one who won against two-year-olds," he scoffed, pushing himself up and excusing himself from the little group. He could feel Jay's glare on the back of his head all the way to his compartment until the door closed, which was probably when she turned back to Annabelle to keep talking to the woman. Gryffon shook his head and slumped down onto the bed, his eyes narrowing. This was going to be a long five days if they all kept bickering and disagreeing and targeting each other, and it wasn't going to do any of them good in the arena. He and Jay had to find their breakevens and she had to get over whatever it was she was going through, but Jay seemed to hold harder grudges than he did at times, especially when it was him that did something 'wrong'.

* * *

A few hours went by before a hard rapping hit the door that stirred Gryffon. "Up up up, boy, we're here!" With a groan, he pushed himself off the bed and slid back to the ground, putting his shoes back on before dragging his feet to the metal door, which chssshed open at the press of a button. "Oh, let's go, let's go!" Vinyel took ahold of Gryffon's arm and pulled him to the dining room of 11's section. As soon as they reached Annabelle's and Jay's side, the car grew dark for a few moments before exploding with a rainbow of lights and cheers. "Ooooh, sooo excited! Aren't you, children? This is so excit - "

"Vinyel, please," Annabelle cut him off, lightly putting her hand on her tributes' shoulders and leading them closer to the door. "Smile, look appealing, look pleased, you're on camera, and you will be for the next few days. You want them to like you," she started with a glance at Gryffon, "not laugh at you." He rolled his eyes, but had to interrupt his train of retorts when the doors parted and the wave of Capitolite screams hit them. Gryffon was instantly engrossed by the whiskers, the body paints, the hairdos, the clothing. He glanced at Vinyel, surprised at how simple, but green, he looked. Aside from the man's obsession with the color, he was the most normal Capitolite there, at least from what Gryffon could see.

"Look lively, kids, and let's go," Annabelle whispered and urged Jay down first when the Peacekeepers looked up at them, indicating they could begin to walk toward the Training Center. The cheering of the Capitolites grew louder and more vehement as the tributes got closer to them. Hands reached out to touch their new batch, scaring Jay a couple of times so she went slower. Gryffon chuckled at her reaction, not at all minding all the attention. He thought it was going to be so much worse, so much darker, but the city was bright and colorful and so were the people - maybe it was to mock the tributes since all but one would be dying within the next three weeks, but it was a way to keep the tributes as ease while they were there. If that wasn't halfway considerate of them, Gryffon didn't know what the Capitolites could possibly find considerate.