District 10 Train

The Luxury of the High Speed Train awaits its Tributes...

I wander through the train until I find the dining car. At first, I wasn't really planing to end up here, but I guess this would be the best place to wait for my mentor or someone else to show up. I look over the small buffet laid out and decide that I might as well eat something.

I choose a plain looking roll and pour myself a cup of some type of juice, deciding that I shouldn't eat too much of the Capitol food. Then I sit down at the table and eat my small snack. I find that the roll is much sweeter than I expected, obviously it must have been dipped in a buttery sauce of some type. The juice tastes similar to apples, but something's different about it, although I'm not sure what. I finish the rest of my meal quickly and I'm about to get up to get another roll when the door to the dining car opens and I quickly sit down again.

[Only admins are allowed to see this image]

Asher walks into the dining car, only to find the new female tribute already there. "Hello," He says, lifting up his hand in greeting.
Asher sat down, and pored himself his traditional glass of wine.
"It's Ashley, right?" He asks the tribute, recalling the reaping from an hour or so ago.

"Hello," I say, returning his hand greeting. "Yes, that's my name," I continue as he says it, "so, you must be my mentor then?"

"Well, someone's impatient." Asher says, smiling and then taking another sip of his drink. "You remind me a little bit of the last tributes. And the girl, Estrella, almost won." He says, remembering how Estrella didn't like his tactics.
"First of all, what story do you want to tell? Thats what the capitol wants, a story."

I watch as the boy tribute, Brandon I think, comes up and demands to know how to win. I listen intently for advice but at the moment our mentor's words are nearly useless to me. Then Brandon goes on about how he has to win for his girlfriend and I can't help thinking that if that where to happen, I'd never get to see district 10 again. I push that thought away and lean back in my chair to watch the two, waiting to hear some useful information.

"So, you want to go for the tragic love story, huh? It's a little over-used sometimes, but I'm pretty sure you can pull it off."
Asher leans in a little closer to the male tribute, Brandon. "Whatever you do, make sure you say 'This is for you, and then say her name. Whenever you think the cameras are on you, make sure you say 'I miss you, see you soon. Now," Asher says, giving advice to the male tribute, he looks to the female, Ashley. "What about you? What story do you want to play?"

When Asher asks me what story I want to tell, I have to think for a moment. There's not much of my life that would be appealing in the way of storyline. My only motivation to win is to get home and see my family; there's not much plot in that. So I just shrug and say, "I'm not sure yet. I don't really have much of a story to tell."

Asher thought for a moment. "Don't worry, that's when we begin to improvise. I'm sure we can think of something soon." He said, optimistically.
"Now," Asher said, standing up. "Why don't we eat? That'll get our minds working."

I let a small smile slide across my face. "Well, as long as it's not to extreme, I'm fine, " I say, then I look back at the food table, wanting to have another one of those rolls, but knowing I probably shouldn't eat too much before dinner. I stay seated, saying simply, "I've already eaten."

Asher shrugs. "Sometimes extreme wins."
Then, Asher goes over the the table with food, and grabs a plate. Then, he starts filling it up with food, because he hadn't eaten all afternoon.
"Really? Capitol food is better then District 10 food. Believe me, I ate like a pig when I was tribute."

You're eating like a pig now, I think, but decide not to say it out loud. But he's changed my mind already; I could do with some extra food before I have to starve in an arena. "Alright, you've convinced me," I say, standing up and heading over to the buffet, where I grab a plate and start picking out food that I actually recognized. "If I get a stomachache from all this stuff, I'm blaming you," I say after I realize just how much I put on my plate.

"Well, I never said to eat that much." Asher said, taking a bite from the food on his plate. "And," He says, wiping his mouth with a napkin and then facing Brandon. "Sorry, I don't believe your allowed to write letters to your family back home. That's why they give you an hour for good-bye's." He says, taking a bite of his sandwich.

You're still getting blamed anyway, I think, even though i know Asher's right. But I was a lot more hungry than I realized. I don't say anything, because I'm already eating one of those rolls, and I'm not going to present myself as not having table manners. When Brandon asks about writing letters to home, I have to stop a flood of memories of district 10. I won't think about what I'll probably never see again, only what I need to know to survive.

Asher nods, and puts his plate in the sink for someone to clean up. "Yea,we each have our own room. Don't worry."
Asher gets up, and brushes crumbs off of his pants and then points to the car to the left of him. "I believe your room is over there," Asher points, speaking to Brandon. "And, I believe your room," He continues, now speaking to Ashley. "Is over there." He finishes, pointing to the other end of the car.

I've also finished my plate by the time Asher points us to our rooms. I look over to the door he indicated as my room. I nod in acknowledgement, but I don't make a move to go towards it yet. I'm not ready to sit in a room by myself yet. When I'm alone, my thoughts wander, and I can't have that happening now.