District Tours: Train Ride

[etcircenses]

Prior to their departure, the Tributes have to suffer a photoshoot, a few interviewers asking them a thousand questions about how excited they are, and more than a few members of their style teams asking the Tributes to bring back mementos. "Don't worry about quality, dears, we can get that all here - we want you to bring us souvenirs for the novelty of it!"

The day of the trip, Tributes are roused bright and early, well before sunrise, and driven in Peacekeeper vans to the train station. It's all rather dour, and not like the start of a vacation at all; if one didn't know what was going on, and if the Escorts and head Stylists weren't chattering excitedly, they might think they were being hauled off to a war zone.

The trains, on the other hand, are plush, fancy things, and there is one per District. There's a single blockaded car for cargo, another for maintenance, driving and Peacekeeping staff, and then several others which are open to the Tributes. A dinner car serves three meals and has small snacks available throughout the day. Another car is an entertainment center with a selection of Capitol-approved films, and a the last one is the Tributes' temporary room. It has a bunk bed for each with sheets that was a truly intense threadcount, and a single massage chair in the back. The Stylists, Mentors and Escorts sleep in the same car, although separated by a partition.

Unfortunately, all the Tributes have to share the sleeping quarters, and it's first-come, first-served.

For the most part, the trip is so smooth that the surface of a glass full of water would not be disturbed. The trips to the closer Districts are a little under a day, but the furthest Districts - 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12 - take nearly 48 hours.

[OOC: For Tributes accepted during the District tours, you can assume they arrived before the departure so they can participate in the District festivities. During the train ride there is still network access. There will only be this post and the party post from the mods for this event, so players are encouraged to make their own of their characters exploring their surroundings and enjoying the Districts.]

Comments

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[splendid_roman]

Ian had discovered the dining car and was making use of it, tucking into something that resembled bacon and eggs for breakfast. There was nothing quite like being starving in the arena to make him dislike being hungry. Besides, he was still trying to wake himself up after the early morning.

He was looking forward to this. It would be something new to see at any rate and who knew what opportunities there might be in District 3.

[tis_allgood]

Cuthbert is sticking to coffee, at least for the moment. It's too early for him still, at least, it's too early after the party he had made himself a part of the night before. He looks somewhat the worse for wear, but it hasn't stopped him from trying. He's also watching Ian eat like he's part of a joke that no one else is privy to.

[splendid_roman]

"Not a morning person?" he asked Cuthbert, sounding amused, even though he wasn't much of a morning person himself, given the choice.

[tis_allgood]

"Not after the night I've had." He responded, a little disappointed that his shit eating grin didn't get at Ian the way he had expected it to. But there would be other opportunities to needle at his district mate.

"They're taking us to see the place we're supposed to be fighting for, aye? Any ideas of what to expect when we get there?"

[splendid_roman]

Ian had seem the same sort of grin in his classroom and had found that the best thing to do was to ignore it.

He shook his head. "Not really. Do you think they'll still be watching and listening to us there?"

[tis_allgood]

The harder it was to get a rise out of Ian, the more rewarding it would be when he actually did. And he fully expected to get it eventually.

"Do you really think there's a chance they won't? We may have a smaller audience, but I cannot imagine it will be so small as to disappear."

Cuthbert reached out slowly and then snatched a piece of fruit off the table so fast it was almost inhuman. He was just showing off.

[splendid_roman]

Ian raised an eyebrow. But it wasn't for him to complain about the snatching of fruit and besides, it was free for anyone to take.

"No chance, I suppose." With the last bite of his breakfast having gone, he set down the knife and fork and pushed the plate away from him a little. "At least we're getting to see somewhere new. Somewhere real and not manufactured."

[tis_allgood]

He was trying to show off his speed more than anything else. He rolled the little orange around his hands a bit and then started to peel it, slow and even.

"That will make for a remarkable change of pace. Not that I expect much. Since when is anything here NOT manufactured? I suspect there will be precious little lying out under the stars for us in the days ahead."

[splendid_roman]

He didn't think they would get much free time there, but Cuthbert's mention of the stars had made him think about them and now he was disappointed not to be lying out under the stars. "That's a pity. You can't see many stars in the capitol with all the light pollution."

He had a point about everything being manufactured, though. "I suppose they'll have laid on parties and trips for us while we're there." The district would be expecting them after all.

[tis_allgood]

"Is that what it is? I simply assumed we were in a place where there were no stars to be seen."

He mulls that over even though 'light pollution' doesn't totally make sense to him.

"So long as they have laid on alcohol, then they can drag us to as many parties as they wish."

[splendid_roman]

Ian laughed. Alcohol was a help to forget the arenas, the people watching their every move and the parties, which weren't generally Ian's sort of thing. "Don't drink so much you forget everything you see," he said, still grinning. "You might not get another chance to come out here."