𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚁𝚃 || 𝚃𝙱𝙾𝚂𝙰𝚂

𝚃𝚆𝙾

❝But with my double vision, how was I supposed to see the way?❝
— Gilded Lily (Cults)

The journey to the Capitol was the least pleasant thing Iris Darnell had to endure for a while. What started as a silent carriage, turned into one full of arguments and small fights. The two district 9 tributes would not get along. They sat on opposite sides of the darkened cart, listening to the train screeching against the tracks. The carriage was full of hay and stingy smells, it was obvious that animals were held in here and Iris hated that. The second she was reaped, she was treated like shit; not to mention how annoying her district partner was. Iris just wished that this would end as quick as possible. Her eyes felt heavy as she tried to stay awake, weary about peacekeepers or Asher attacking her in her sleep. Until she succumbed to her body's demands and rested.

Iris was torn away from her slumber when the cart doors opened, she squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. There were peacekeepers outside and they were shoving around two people, the district 9 girl thought that these were some of the other tributes for the games. One wore a striped headscarf with an orange cape-like piece of clothing. The girl had a face full of anger and Iris couldn't blame her. The other one wore an outfit that reminded Iris of a cowboy, his face had a look of annoyance as he was shoved towards the carriage. When the two of them made it to the door, they were immediately pushed inside, causing the cowboy to bump into Iris. He apologised profusely, even after Iris forgave him countless times.

After a while the train started running, and the screeches reappeared once again,
"So what district are you from?" The cowboy asked,
"Nine, you?" Iris replied turning to look at the boy,
"I'm from ten" he said over the ear-piercing sounds of the train.
"Explains the outfit" She smiled,
"What's wrong with my outfit?" He asked, looking shocked,
"Nothing! It just looks like something a cowboy would wear." The district 9 girl defended as the boy chuckled. As much as Iris hated the situation she was in, the conversation lightened up her dreary thoughts and mood.
"So, what's your name, cowboy?" She asked him,
"Tanner, let me guess yours is Panlo or something like that" Tanner laughed causing Iris to as well,
"No! what kind of name is that, it's Iris." The girl replied still giggling at the name. She noticed Asher glaring straight at her, still pissed off at the last argument they had.
"That's a nice name,"
"Thanks! Your's is alright too." They both smiled as the carriage entered another silence. Iris noticed the other two in the cart have drifted off to sleep which triggered her eyelids to grow heavy, inevitably she fell asleep as well.

»»———►

Atlas had been abruptly awoken by his alarm, his hand slapped the alarm- stopping the horrendous noise. The boy slowly got out of bed and started getting ready for the day, he had woken up early to meet his tribute when they arrived at the train station. He wanted to be the only person there; to get ahead of all of his classmates. After Atlas had finished his toast, he left a note on the dining room table that read:

Good Morning!
I am off to the train station to meet
my tribute that i'm mentoring.
I won't be back before classes start
and i'm taking some food to give to her.
See you later today!
—Atlas

The boy rushed to make some sandwiches and picked up some leftovers from the fridge. He stuffed them into his bag and ran to the door. Atlas kept a quick pace as he was walking, the train station was a 10 minute walk from his house but with how quickly he was moving, the Capitol boy made it in around 7 minutes. When he made it to the station, he noticed someone wearing the same school attire he did, that meant that he wasn't the only mentor to show up. He felt annoyance building inside his chest as he approached the boy. Atlas had advanced to the platform when he noticed the boy was Coriolanus, of course it was.
"Hello Coriolanus." Atlas engaged as the other turned to look at him,
"Hello Atlas, what a surprise it is to see you here." He replied,
"Same goes for you," Atlas noticed a delicate white rose planted in Coriolanus' hand, "I see you've got something for your tribute, it's a nice gesture." The Carlson boy slightly smiled.
"Yeah, I thought it would be a nice welcoming gift for her, have you got anything" Coriolanus replied, hoping to get the upper hand by bringing his tribute a gift.
"I only brought some food but I hope it's enough for my tribute to trust me." Atlas sighed, he hoped that his gesture would work and soon he would find out.
"Anyone else coming to meet their tribute?" The Snow boy questioned,
"Not that I know of" Atlas explained, both letting out a small sigh of relief.

The Carlson boy looked around the train station, lots of smoke lingered around the place as the floor had traces of dirt plastered on it. The sound of the train's horn echoed through the station as people walked from platform to platform. Atlas rocked from heel to toe out of boredom, he hoped that the tributes would be here soon so he could make it to the academy on time. He noticed the growing sounds of a train nearing the platform he was on. As the train slowed, smoke covered his line of sight. When the smoke cleared, he began searching for his tribute praying that this was the right train.

»»———►
words- 978

A/N- sorry for such a short chapter, I want to try to write as many chapters as I can for each act which means some chapters will be shorter that others :).

I also have a playlist for this fanfic which includes every song that is shown at the start of each chapter!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Q5WBOwQ4NJliCCD34CGpF?si=DZiX8HTGRWiHSE8iRxabyg&pi=e-sQphHj2dTJ2k