UPDATE FROM THE VOID:

I say I'm going to update faster, but... then I vanish for two weeks. Yup, contradictory me. But as soon as I've got time, I try to write something. I've going through winter sports, and other important writing projects, and the NaNo thing...

But here's the first of the Capitol chapters. Enjoy, and review, because I don't want my writing efforts to go completely to waste...

Capitol POVs have been completely random. Tributes that don't get a Capitol POV will get a bloodbath POV.

~MEGALOR9

Kacyan Ciova, age 15, District One

There are several words I could use to describe the security of the Capitol. Number one is stupid. Number two is tight. I'm pretty sure they don't want us, the reaped tributes, to be stabbing each other before the Games start. So they've searched everyone three times, probably more. That's where the stupid part comes in. Some Peacekeepers found my hidden arsenal of weapons, that I've stored in my sleeves, boots, and even the one I had sewn into my pants.

And so I'm bummed. If someone attacked me right now, I'd have no defense. Does the Capitol want me to be weaponless?

I just rant. There's no way I'll be able to get my blades back. I'll have to find some way to make my own, maybe from the training center. In the party of the few going down the elevator to the training center from District One, three are grinning. Metallic, Excalibur, and Yuu. Barbie whoops with joy once the elevator arrives and opens.

"Ready to kick some butt?" Barbie yells.

"Yeah!" a couple people answer.

The yellers and Barbie immediately run into the room to test out the weapons stations. District Two arrives next, and they head to weapons as well. But the training stations I see available are the survival ones. Stations like how to build a fire, poisonous berries, camouflage, and gathering. I walk over to a saddened and depressed looking trainer at the edible insects station.

"Wait, you want to learn what insects are edible?" he asks.

"Well, I'm over here, right?" I say back.

"But... but.. all the other Careers are at the weapons stations. Why aren't you?"

"Ah, weapons are boring," I answer, trying to keep a straight face. I'm really into weapons. But if I'm to make another blade, I don't want any Careers watching me.

"Oh... great! Thank you so much for visiting! Alright, so the first rule of edibility in insects is the outer exoskeleton. If it's tough, then the insect is probably edible. Probably," the trainer starts out, and then proceeds to lecture me in everything that every happened in the entire history of 'insect eating'. This guy does not have a life apparently, because he tells me he went to a high, advanced school to study insects.

"That's great," I tell him. "What school is that?"

"The Institute of Panem, the world's largest school, right here in the Capitol."

I think back to District One. After you finish the regular schooling, there's not much you can do other than just work in the mineral mines. That's what most graduates do. But if you're extremely smart, then you can study to become a politician or a government worker. But there's no higher-up school of anything in One.

After an hour of listening to this guy, I say goodbye to him, and walk over to the traps and snares place. The trainer seems disappointed that I'm leaving, because apparently I'm his only student so far.

At the snares place, all I do is grab some springs, rope, and tie them together to make a basic snare that sends a knife through a target. A tripwire based trap, designed for people to fall into. If I don't get a knife, this will probably how I'll go through the Games. Trap people, watch them slowly die.

Then I finally head over to the knife station. For an hour, I practice throwing the knife, over and over, until I can at least hit the target every single time, and stick the blade into it. The only person at that station is Metallic, and I doubt she'd notice me just taking the knife, and reaching ever so slowly into my back pocket...

"Hey! Are you trying to take that knife?" Metallic yells.

"Quiet! You don't need to yell," I whisper forcefully to her. "And no, I'm not."

"It looks like it," Metallic says, before going back to throwing her knife at the target.

While she throws, I quickly put the knife into my pocket. It was a near, close shave for me. Then, with that, I go back to the snares, and work on making a spring loaded knife launcher before lunch. But I'm interrupted by lunch anyways.

I sit down with my food at the tables that were set out for the tributes to sit in. Almost everyone eats by themselves, but there's one bigger one, the brute of the tributes, who has seemed to gather his own group. A Career Pack. Those usually form during the Games. But how do you have the Career Pack when... we're all from Career Districts?

So those will be the people controlling all the weapons from us normal tributes. I see two girls with the brute from Two, and a couple of guys. They laugh and talk loudly, and I spot Excalibur and... Darkus sitting with him. I assumed Darkus wouldn't be able to be in an alliance... he seemed pretty mentally unstable to me, the times I've seen him. Maybe it's a ruse?

After lunch, I finish up building my spring-loaded knife launcher, and set it up right next to one of the knife throwing targets. After loading a knife into it, I pull out the trigger and it fires, sending a knife into the target. Right where I aimed it. Into the target's 'heart'.

"How'd you do that?" Metallic is still at the knife station. She's in awe.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just smarter than you," I say. Her target is full of punctures, but nowhere vital. Not like mine, which would kill someone.

After my success there, I look for some other station to challenge my intelligence. Turns out they've added some things since I remember a shot of the training center at the Capitol. There's a swimming pool in another room. There's one tribute in there. And there are guns. Like shotguns and pistols, in another firing room.

Guns. Who would've thought. Even though I'm definitely sure there will be no firearms in the actual Games, I think Corix might want to be here. He would say, "Told you so." Maybe I'll get back so I can tell him that.

Mesa Stone, age 17, District Two

Nightmares do come true. Half the people from District Two have run off to train with huge swords. I know straight from the start that I won't even be able to pick up one of those. I might be able to use a knife, though. But that won't help. I know straight off that it'll be a rough life for me in the Games, and I'll just have to run from the bloodbath with absolutely nothing.

So I try a skill no one seems to be going for. Swimming. The District Four tributes know how to swim, but none of the other Districts teach that. So that's two-thirds of us that can't swim, and if there's a water arena, I'll be set to go. There is a separate room for the pool, accessible from the main area.

I see nothing to change into to swim in, so I'll just have to use my jumpsuit to swim in. The trainer there introduces themselves as Cresselis, and instructs me on just paddling in the water, and kicking my feet in the water while holding onto the side of a wall. Then I try actually swimming the length of the pool. It's the hardest thing I've ever done, trying to manipulate the water so I can move, and it takes me almost five minutes to get down and back. The worst part is that it takes so long to do the exercise, and an hour drags by extremely slowly. half an hour later, I'm still struggling, but it only takes me four minutes to go down and back. And by the time I'm taken out of the pool to go eat lunch, I can swim down and back in two minutes.

That's nowhere near as good as the District Four kids. I'm still a novice when it comes to swimming. But at least I won't drown like some of the others. Lunch is pretty basic, for the Capitol, as it consists of a red, tomato flavored soup, and assorted vegetables in it.

After lunch, I feel tired like never before. I've never had to work this hard before. I guess you can say I'm a little bit spoiled based off of that. But I've not had any training whatsoever, and the exertion just makes me tired. What I want to do is take a nap right now, but I'd get mocked, and never be able to seriously compete in the Games. No one would take me seriously, and I'd have to fend for myself when it comes to sponsors. I try learning to shoot a crossbow.

It takes longer than swimming to actually start to hit the target with a crossbow. Why does it take me so long to get these things? I see Cyrus just walk over, pick up a spear, and chuck into the target, getting a straight bullseye. He's trained, I tell myself. He gets an unfair advantage. Not me.

I'm now glad that I wrote those letters. I don't think there will be another chance for me to do so. I'll have to train non-stop. I want to get home to my family, so I will. I drop the crossbow, and try running a few laps around the training center. Yes, I really am out of shape. I can barely run laps without tiring out and panting, trying to recover my breath before attempting to run yet again.

I have bleak hopes for these Games. Why'd I have to be reaped? The odds aren't in my favor at all.

Adrianus Johan, age 16, District Four

"Adrianus, I suggest you get the hell out of here before I stab you. Or get Elvira to do it."

"You're such the charmer. Why can't you be nice to me? After all, for the moment, right now it's just a friendly competition," I say.

"What competition?" Luminesque asks.

"Oh, just the one that some of the other Careers had earlier. You know, Cyrus Fitz."

"What competition?" she repeats.

"It was an archery competition. Whoever could get the most points on the standard target won, and got to be the leader of their 'Career Pack'."

"And so why are you talking to me?"

"I wanted to finally set our differences apart, and end our constant bickering. I'm really a nice guy when it comes down to it," I say. "You do an hour of archery lessons, and I will, and we'll shoot before lunch. Whoever gets the most points gets bragging rights that they're better."

"You're a nice guy? Bullshit."

"Hey!"

"Have you ever shot a bow before?" Luminesque asks. "I mean, it'd be unfair if you have and I haven't."

"Only twice. I'm not good. And I assume this is a new skill for you?"

"Yeah. And I'll take your bet. I'll beat you any day," Luminesque says as she walks off to the archery station. I follow, so I can learn the bow too. I only thought of this competition so I could get rid of this girl. She seems to try and fight me or start an argument over anything I do or say. She promises to kill me in the Games. So maybe, if she wins and gets the superiority, and bragging rights, she won't feel as inclined to trying and stab me in the heart.

Plus, this is actually even. I saw the Career shooting contest this morning, and they didn't train at all. But the only one who constantly got every arrow on target was Cyrus Fitz, so of course, he was the leader. I don't think anyone else could do that.

Learning the bow is more difficult than it seems. It requires a lot more work than swords do. You don't swing a bow around, you have to pull back, and the muscles you use to do that feel weak.

Plus, you have to make sure that the arrow doesn't fall off. That seems to be the hardest part for me, because the arrow falls off of my bow at least twenty times in the first half hour. When I finally shoot, the arrow flies off over the target, or just goes off in a random direction. Lumi seems to be having the same amount of luck, because we both look about equal. New people to archery.

And it's the afternoon that our hour is over. It's time to shoot. I've only been able to hit the target a couple times.

"Ready?" I say, and grab the bow I've been using, and nine arrows. "You shoot nine arrows, and get the score. Simple enough, right?"

"Let's go, Adrianus. I told you, I'll beat you at anything."

"I doubt it, Lumi."

"Don't call me that. I will rip your head off."

"Just start," I say, and pull back the string on my first arrow. I aim, and release. The arrow strikes the outer ring of the target. I smile smugly. Luminesque's next arrow hits the second to outer ring, giving her a better score than me.

"You were saying?" she wears the same grin. I've already fired my next arrow, which misses the target completely. Her arrow hits again, in the outer ring.

Over the next few minutes, we both string up our bows, taking turns firing on the target, and half of both of our arrows miss. But of the hits, I have the closest one to the center. Luminesque has more hits. It comes down to one arrow that will probably decide the whole shooting contest.

I string up my last arrow, and remember why I even started this. This competition was supposed to create peace, and not start arguments. I might be able to beat her now. But to create peace, I'll need to let Lumi win this one. I fire, and intentionally miss the shot.

"Ha. Were you looking into space or something? I thought you were trying to hit the moon," Lumi taunts as she fires her arrow and actually hits the centermost ring, not a bullseye. "Beat that! Oh wait, you can't," Lumi makes a pouty face. "You got beat at your own game, Adrianus. So I'm the best now, aren't I?"

I look down as if ashamed, and reply, "Yes, yes, you're of course the best. After all, I lost."

"That's right, loser! I've got other things to try out here, so see ya later! Maybe in the Games, you'll die in the bloodbath because you can't shoot a bow." Lumi leaves me and heads to some fire-building station.

I'm not sure that turned out for the best, but I think she doesn't want to kill me as importantly as now.

Alright, there's the first day of training, and I hope to see some reviews for this chapter, and waiting for the next chapter. Sorry for the absence, and because I might not have all the time in the world to update, I've decided to shorten up the Capitol chapters a bit, so I can get to the Games faster.

There will be no changing of the bloodbath deaths now. Those have been decided. There will not be a poll.

~Megalor9