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The train ride to the Capitol was long, boring, and the ideal time for mentors and tributes alike to rest up and take a break from being in the exhaustive public eye.
Naturally, this was the perfect time for anyone worth their salt to plot and scheme.
——
District 11:
“I trust you know what to do, 78?” Lucien swirled his signature cup of wine lazily. To the untrained eye, Lucien appeared nothing more than a sloppy drunk, which was just how he liked it.
Elle wasn’t fooled. She scoffed from where she was hanging upside down on the top railings of the train car. “Yes, your highness. I know how to follow orders.”
——
District 9:
“Now, remember, all you have to do is-“
“I know, Merlin.” Britt rolled her eyes, secretly a little glad she had a excuse to act like a teenage girl again. “You’ve said this a thousand times. Get the sword, and we all go home.”
Her advisor, loyal friend, and now Mentor just smirked in an insufferable sort of way. “I was going to say ‘survive’ but that works too.”
Britt just smiled back. “I would have thought that was a given.”
——
District 7:
“Make allies.” Bridget ordered, standing on the table to tower over Roy as much as she was able to. “You’re strong and capable enough in a fight, so others will want to team up with you in spite of your terrible personality.”
“Gee, thanks. Is that what happened with you?”
Emerys crunched loudly on his snacks. Bridget and Roy had been doing this stupid, passive-aggressive thing for hours already, and if he was going to be forced to be here, he might as well eat.
——
District 5:
Blanche wouldn’t even meet her eyes even as Angelique tried to appear as non-threatening as possible.
“Is there anything at all that you think might help?”
Blanche shrugged. “I like to watch cloud patterns.”
Angelique sighed and hoped Evariste was having better luck with Donaigh.
At least one of their tributes should have a chance to make it back.
——
District 4:
Aisling, the female tribute, sneered. “And how exactly is a mute supposed to teach me anything? They could have at least given me a Mentor who didn’t win by accident-“
The starfish to the face that Dylan threw with devastating accuracy shut her up in more ways than one.
——
District 3:
Kit stared at Solus Miles. Solus stared at Kit.
“…so, what made you choose a Hunger Games MMORG?”
~*~
(*Somewhere at the border of District 12, far away from the Capitol’s eyes*)
“Isn’t this a pleasant surprise.” The girl with hair white as bone bared her teeth in a distinctly wolfish grin. “You know the Packs don’t take kindly to those from the Districts, Chase. Even for you.”
“Please, Pip.” Chase normally prided himself for his stoicism, but desperate times called for desperate measures. “You know we wouldn’t have come if this weren’t our last resort.”
“We need their help.” Chrysanthe interrupted. She and Rigel had argued fiercely for who would accompany Chase to the edge of the realm, where the border of District territory met the wild wild woods where the Capitol was rumored to throw away their failed experimentations. “We need District 13.”
Pip eyed them both for a long moment, before huffing and turning to the long shadows cast by the grove of trees which surrounded them.
“What do you think, Greyson?”
Out of the shadows, one of the Capitol’s muttations, a giant white wolf, prowled out, golden eyes gleaming with a distinctive human cunning as it circled the girl almost…protectively. Chase didn’t flinch, even when Chrys gripped his arm and stepped slightly behind him. He couldn’t afford to show any weakness.
Pip scratched the giant wolf’s scruff with no sign of fear, a more contemplative look replacing the earlier wariness in her eyes. “District 13…there’s only one reason anyone would want to go out there. What business could you possibly want with the Snow Queen?”