Long chappie for you guys here! Sorry for the lack of interesting stuff in the boys' POVs, I came up with the idea when I was writing Calamity. Sorry for the not-frequent updates! That's why this is long!

Mark Seashire (D1 Male)

I was so ready for the Games by the time we were escorted to the train. It was a tall, metal-plated thing, slender in structure but giant in size. A plume of smoke curled around the top, coming out of a hole on the top.

I had found out quickly that my District partner was sentimental, not aggressive, and was probably only going into the Games to fulfill her curiosity from books or something. She stood to my right, staring in awe at the train, the glasses perched on her nose magnifying her eyes.

The mentors were complete idiots. They had picked one female and one male victor to train us- not like I needed it. I was already pretty sure I had obtained enough skills from the Academy, and besides, my trainer, Metallic, was clueless. I asked him if he knew how to use a spear and he answered, "By throwing it, of course." Seriously, it was not just throwing it!

We entered the train in single file. While Skyrah looked like she was about to fall asleep, I was filled with energy. I wanted to go into the Games right then and there, I was so sure I could win.

Metallic glanced at me tensely. "So, Mark, you look pretty excited for the Games."

I snorted. "Yeah, I'm excited. Why wouldn't I be?"

Metallic shut up, thankfully. I wilted with relief, not wanting to speak any longer to him because I felt it wasn't worth my time. Immediately I headed for the television, which was in a separate room. A really nice couch that was similar to the one in the Justice Building was tucked against the wall, while the TV sat across from it, looking like it was brand new. I glanced around for the remote, found it, and tested out a few buttons before realizing wryly that the big red button at the top was probably it.

When I clicked the button, the TV instantly turned on, unlike our slow TVs at home. The pictures were clear and distinguishable, brightly, realistically colored, and overall just better. In One, our TVs would make crackling sounds and the audio would go wrong halfway through the program, but now, the worry was nowhere near me.

I checked all the channels, though, of course, all of them were from the Capitol. One channel was a report on District Thirteen, the other LIVE from the upcoming Reapings. I chose it eagerly, wanting to see something about another District, and found that they were wrapping up Eight.

The girl was walking to the stage, her jaw clenched and an indignant, rebellious look on her face. I rolled my eyes. I'd seen enough of that in any District already.

She took the stage with a haughty air, almost impertinent. A smile was set deep into her mouth, a hard, vicious smile that seemed almost forced. Then there was the boy tribute, named Rowley or Ronald or something. He padded slowly to the stage, his eyes darting about. He looked to be around the same age as me, but his starved expression and scrawny, nothing-near-muscled body hinted at something close to desperation.

My eyebrows shot up as another boy suddenly volunteered, his voice loud and almost cracking. Was he volunteering for riches? I sneered at the TV. Well, if that was what he wanted, he wasn't going to get it. I was going to win and everyone knew it.

The boy's name was Rowan Loranger, and I paid close attention to him as he made his way to the stage. He was tall in height, calm exterior, dark-eyed and sable-haired like those tributes from the Seam in Twelve- which I had learned about from my very little education at the school; most of my time had been spent on training.

The girl, who's name I forgot, might pose a slight danger, I thought. I made note to go for her in the Bloodbath. The boy...well, I'd have to see. He just looked really serious, nothing else, but maybe there was something hidden underneath, something that I had yet to discover.

Felix Saunders (D2 Male)

I was feeling really dizzy as I stepped into the train, for some unknown reason, so, desperate to get to my room, I almost tripped over my District Partner, Persefone.

Great.

She was staring at me through beady, angered eyes, but didn't say anything, though there was a tenseness in the air around her. I carefully stayed out of her way after that, not wanting to get infected with her easily provoked attitude. However, later, I would discover that that was just her "serious stance".

Not now, though. Inching away slowly, I slipped into a side room. It looked to be a parlor of some sort, decorated with a red velvet couch. In front of that, expensive-looking china sat on a glass-topped table. I reached out my hand tentatively and brushed my fingers against the delicate china, caressing the pinkish roses. I felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room, replaced by the glory of teacups.

The glory of teacups. Was I going crazy? Sure, I had been diagnosed with epilepsy when I was twelve, but..no, I couldn't be really ill right now! I tried to take calming breaths, focusing on the world around me, the room still spinning dizzily, before I regained control. Good. It was just a brief, what was it called, a panic attack? Nothing associated with epilepsy.

Arm shaking slightly, I leaned against the back of the couch, closing my eyes and humming Jingle Bells. Deep breath in, deep breath out. The headache...would go away...eventually.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but after a while, the door swung open abruptly. My eyes snapped open and my relaxed body began tensing up. The headache came back again in a whirlwind, my forehead began to throb.

It was Persefone. She was staring at me through her usual burning eyes, not a hint of emotion recognizable through the armor. She walked over the threshold and lowered herself onto the side of the couch, all the while looking at me. Wait..was that a flicker of amusement? I wondered.

She sat there for a moment, still as a statue, then spoke up, her mouth barely moving as she did. "That was some interesting yoga practice you did there."

I grunted. "Thanks."

Her eyes flashed. "I didn't mean it as a compliment." She tilted her head. "What were you doing back there?"

"Nothing..," I lied. There was no way I was going to give away one of my weaknesses to a possible opponent. I couldn't trust her, even though she was a fellow Career and my conscience told me to spill so she wouldn't get suspicious.

Persefone's eyes narrowed slightly. "I know you're lying," she said briefly.

"I was," I returned flatly.

She recovered her brisk tone and said solemnly, "There's something about you...are you spiritual?" She smiled, showing all her teeth. "Are you praying to God, hoping he will help you win? Is that it?"

"Yes," I said feebly, fidgeting slightly and hoping she wouldn't see through my fib. To my relief, the tenseness melted from her muscles, the strange onto-something glint deepening into her regular cat-green.

"I'm pretty sure we're all praying to God," she went on. She got to her feet, studied me for a second longer, then padded off. I sighed, burying my face into the couch. She had been so close to discovering..I had to be more careful next time.

Calamity Astrea (D3 Female)

Whoa.

Books. Tons and tons of books filled every shelf, a sheet of dust covering them and signifying their history. I reached forward and touched one, eyes round, wanting to grab all of them and start reading at once. So many stories! So many histories about the Games..about the Capitol...

Haydn chuckled softly. "You're a reader, aren't you?"

I nodded fervently, plucking a book from the shelf and plopping down on a chair. The book's title was: History of District Thirteen. Immediately I began flipping through pages, brightening at each one. Colorful illustrations lined every page, a small caption written underneath that said, Thirteen was the District of nuclear weaponry and graphite mining.

I thumbed through the pages, my spirits rising at each one. Maybe being in the Games wasn't so bad, if I got to look at all of this! This was incredible, better than anything back at Three. I felt like it would all be worth it, after all. I felt like if I even breathed, I would wake up, back in the village.

"Well," Haydn said, tilting his head, "I'll leave you to it, then. Have fun." He left the library, but I barely realized it. I was too mystified by all the books.

"Thanks," I muttered under my breath. I sat up and collected a couple more books, then sat back down to read again. It was so interesting, escaping into these fascinating worlds, with only an imagination to guide me. I was quite the daydreamer, too, and all of these stories held a special meaning to me. The story about the Goat and the Apple- my grandma Sally had told me it right before she died of illness. The story called Mysteries and Legends- I had received a worn copy of the book for my eleventh birthday.

I had read much of these before but I viewed them through a different eye as I flipped through them now. Now, when I was at risk of dying in the Games, I clung to them with a desperation of childhood memories, a wanting to savor as many of them as I could before the time came.

Before the time comes... I thought, and my heart went cold. What do I mean by that? Before..before I die? Before I win? I..I shall be changed no matter what. If I die, I will have done it with an experience. And if I win... I didn't dare hope, but my spirits soared every time I thought of the prospect. If I win...I'll be changed by the death around me. I will have killed at least one person. I'll have seen bloodshed, and gore, and horrors, and I will be happier than ever before, never with an ungrateful thought in my head ever again.

I stopped reading right around lunchtime, heading out of the library to see if there was anything to eat. Would there be my own servant or something? Then I remembered from the stories, that there were prisoners called Avoxes who tended to the victors' every need.

I searched them out but didn't find any, so I just went to the kitchen and made myself a sandwich to eat. I was just sitting down with the sandwich when a small boy came into the room, white-blond hair matted to his head. His eyes were icy cold and his skin pale, pale white. Figuring he was the Avox, I gave a friendly, "Hullo, you're the..the Avox, aren't you?"

He shook his head stiffly, and that was when I could tell he was reeking of sweat. He must've ran from all the way across the train to get here, I observed.

"Then who are you?" I asked.

"Not...the...Avox...," he panted, his ice armor splintering.

I repeated my question to him and he did nothing but stare, eyebrows raised, his voice proving that he wasn't an Avox, but nothing else significant about him. Was he my mentor? I would know who the past victors were, we hadn't had many, after all, and he was not one of them. Both boys who had won were brown-haired and tan-skinned, twins who had won one the year after the other.

Suddenly the boy said, in a haunted voice, "I came from Four."

"Four?" I questioned, so startled my eyes shot up from my sandwich. My full attention was directed at him now, and he nodded breathlessly, hands beginning to shake.

"Azurine...and...Algar..."

"What about them?" I inquired. I didn't know who Azurine and Algar were whatsoever but I figured they were Four's tributes.

"Algar..he disappeared...We don't know where he is...I needed to get help...straightaway...," he said, breaking off into a volley of coughs. I jumped to my feet.

"He disappeared?"

"Yes...District...Four...tribute...he...left...can't...find...him..."

"So tell me who you are again?" I said, determined to get something out of him. Was he Algar's mentor? That was the only reasonable answer...

"I'm...his...mentor...," he wheezed.

"Jeez, you don't look well," I said obviously. "Why don't you, erm, sit down. Sorry, I'm not really a doctor...so if you die here...I'll make sure to get you a good tombstone, okay?"

"You are.. a rather interesting... character," he observed, finally regaining his breath back.

"I know," I said shortly. "But I don't care about that now. First, tell me why you're here and why somebody from Four is in Three's train." There were twelve trains for every District, private to only people associated with the tributes, not one train dropping off at every District, so...there must be a reason. And a good one, because usually Four acted too haughty to pay much mind to Three.

"I told you..already," he said impatiently. "Algar's...gone..."

"So am I supposed to help you find him?" I demanded, bristling at the very idea. "Look, Snowy, I'm not in the mood for looking for one of my opponents, especially if he's a Career and poses a really big threat to me. So now there's one Career down- more chance for me to win. I'm not going to help Four, especially when they're so ugh to us."

"Forget that now," he said tiredly, then raised an eyebrow. "What was that about Snowy?"

I flushed a hot, indignant pink. "Never mind that! Just a nickname, anyway. It's not like you told me your name yet."

"Fine." He seemed to have his mind made up. "The name's Icicli. Ici-ca-li. You can call me Ice, though."

"Icicli?" I echoed. "That sounds like a rather odd name."

"Blame my parents, not me. Now, onto my situation. Algar's missing, and we need you to help find him."

"Me?" I said, surprised. "Surely not me. Why couldn't you go find some lovely, beautiful, sparkly District One girl?"

He scowled. "That's offending, you know."

"Ugh, whatever. Tell me what's going on," I snapped.

"Anyway, we need your help. You have to find Algar and bring him back. We can't show up at the Capitol like this! Think about it. They'll kill me."

"You know, I really don't care if they kill you or not," I stated, "but like I said, I'm not helping. I don't want to be involved with this stuff and District Four's male tribute missing does not concern me one bit. Rather, it's a good thing, because that means one enemy eliminated off my twenty-three-enemy-long list."

He fixed me with an intense blue gaze. "We're not asking much. And why we didn't choose any other District- you were the closest. Your train had barely left yet and we could track you down easily. So I'm asking your help. Please?"

My heart was blazing, No! Don't help this stranger you barely know! but at the same time my conscience yelled, What are you waiting for? This is the perfect opportunity to prove yourself! Or are you going to be a coward all your life?

I stared down at my feet. "Will this take me out of the train?"

"Hopefully not." Icicli, or Ice, didn't look too hopeful. "All you'll have to do is search around, look out the windows, in the train. He shouldn't be far. Our train is close to yours and we'll both search. Or, at least, for this part of the journey. Eventually we'll separate, but for now, we're stuck with each other. Yay."

Azurine Bahari (D4 Female)

Ice darted a glance at me. "You're not thinking of doing it, are you?"

I gazed at him coolly. "Perhaps."

"Azurine, it's dangerous," he said quietly, looking down at his feet, a small amused smile flickering across his face.

"Oh, really! Since when did you start caring about my personal well-being?" I asked coldly. He shrugged, his pale face smooth and showing absolutely no emotion at all, and a hot flare of annoyance struck me for some reason, I didn't know why. Ice was just so infuriating sometimes, his not-knowing-anything shrug, that frosty shield in front of his emotions, the cold blue eyes which were always observing but never saying his true thoughts.

"Azurine, you are a tribute for the 36th Annual Hunger Games. Surely your well-being must be at the top of my list?" Icicli said matter-of-factly. "If you happened to get lost, then the Capitol would kill me."

I stared stonily at him, trying to gauge out some sort of feeling, but I couldn't. He wasn't transparent like all the rest of them, he was solid brick. Eyes narrowing, I responded icily, "Are you sure about that? Or are you just trying to help out the escort? Because I'm pretty sure the escort is in charge of us, not you."

"The escort? Have you already forgotten her name?" Ice raised an eyebrow, a pale look of despondency coming over his eyes. "Don't tell me you forgot her name! I'm pretty sure we inserted it into your head fairly well."

I glared at him silently, and he neither smiled nor frowned. "So you have forgotten," he finally put in, pale eyes slanting downwards in disapproval. I scoffed in my head. Let him disapprove. Let him sneer and do all the things he does beneath his mask. Then my strong need to prove myself kicked in and I started shaking with anger, first little tremors, then vicious rage.

"Well you know what, icicle-headed!" I hissed. "Think all you want. I'll show you in the Games- I'll show everyone that I'm not the incompetent loser you think I am."

Even as his mask shifted slightly, he maintained an unperturbed attitude. "Azurine, Azurine, what must I say to convince you that I am not an enemy?" His eyes glinted dangerously, and I suddenly found myself wondering how he had won his Games. Through intimidation? I snorted at the very idea.

"You can call me Zuri," I retorted stiffly. "Now may I please leave?" A small flame of dismay shattered across his face and I smiled smugly. There was always a way to get back at old enemies, especially by using their own tactics.

"No," he rejected, "you may not."

I resulted to staring at him incredulously. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Then why did you ask for my telling?" he replied swiftly, shooting me the same wide-eyed look that I gave him.

Getting to my feet at once, I stormed out of the room, without even a backwards glance. That is..until Ice offered an..interesting proposition. As in, "Could you help me with something?"

I swiveled around, spitting, and that was when I caught him without his armor. His eyes conveyed so much emotion in them I staggered, and there was a desperate shine that I had never seen before. Heart beating rapidly, I growled, "What?"

"Go to District Six. Find the tributes. And get their help." The way his naked eyes flared, the way his shoulders slumped, pride gone from his being, a surge of determination made me turn back around. I will prove myself by helping find Algar. If I do, I'll throw this back at their faces. Then I'll laugh. I'll laugh a great deal when they appear shocked that I found an ally...and won the Games.

I was out the door before you could let a needle drop to the ground.

8/22/17