Hamato Yoshi sweeps down the elegant train hallway, ready to awaken his tributes. He stops by Destiny's room, the first one on his way. However, when he knocks lightly, there is no response. His whiskers twitching lightly, he leans closer.

"Destiny, my child? Are you awake?" he calls softly.

No response. He gently opens the door, seeing that her bed is empty, although obviously used. His ears swivel a little as he turns and heads towards Leonardo's room. Without any hesitation, he opens the door and peeks in as stealthily as he can.

Destiny remains curled up against Leonardo's chest, her head tucked under his chin. He lays on his side, holding her against him as if protecting her from the terrors of the night. Yoshi's face softens, silently wishing that he didn't have to disturb them from what little peace they have left.

He moves to the bedside, gently placing a hand on Leonardo's shoulder and shaking gently. The turtle stirs, blinking wearily as his body slowly wakes up. Destiny cuddles against him even more.

"Oh, hey Splinter," he mutters, his morning voice still deep and drowsy. "Did we miss something?"

The rat chuckles at the sound of his given nickname. "We have almost arrived at the Capitol. I suggest waking her."

He gestures to Destiny, smiling once more at his son before turning and leaving the room. The automatic door slides shut smoothly, returning the air to silence.

The currently maskless turtle rolls onto his shell and yawns rather loudly, making Destiny's nose wrinkle as her eyelashes flutter. She wakes up, blinking drowsily as the turtle next to her groans.

"Morning," she mutters, shutting her eyes involuntarily as she rests her head on his chest.

He smiles lightly. "Morning." He glances towards the window, where the trees can be seen flashing by at top speed. "Splinter says we're almost there."

Destiny hugs him tighter, as if trying to hide. "I just want to stay on the train longer and never actually have to go."

He wraps an arm around her shoulders as his lips brush her forehead. "Yeah, I know."

----------

"Raph! RAPH!"

Raphael groans loudly, rolling over and mashing a cushy pillow over his head. Scarlet crawls onto his bed and sits on his shell.

"We're almost at the Capitol," she tells him nonchalantly, fiddling with her long brunette braid.

"Do I look like I give a shell?" he grumbles from beneath the pillow.

She bounces on his shell lightly, just enough that he's shoved into the mattress a little with each movement. He growls and lurches upwards, causing Scarlet to shriek and roll off the bed.

Raph spins around, his face still clouded with sleep. "Okay, I'm up! I'm up!"

Scarlet giggles from the floor, undeterred by his reaction. "Aren't you excited to see the Capitol? It's supposed to be absolutely beautiful."

He looks out the window, frowning. "It's only beautiful for those who aren't going there to die."

Her face falls. "Come on, can't you just try to see things like the glass is half full?"

The red-masked turtle meets his little sister's deep brown eyes, his heart aching.

"I could, except I feel like they took that glass and drank all the water," he mutters.

Trying to lighten the mood, Scarlet hops onto the bed and wraps her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek.

"Look at you, being all deep," she teases. "That's why I love you, big brother."

He smiles and gently kisses her forehead. "Love you too, little sister."

-----------

The train starts to slow as it pulls up to a tall building, the tallest in the Capitol by the looks of it. Annalise and Elsie eagerly press their noses to the glass of the train car, in complete awe over the sight of such an extravagant feat of architecture.

The train stops and is unloaded swiftly, the twenty-four tributes being led inside the large building with Capitol residents cheer nearby. The pairs stick together, wary of their future opponents nearby.

Shelby keeps her teeth gritted, the anxious atmosphere putting her off. Tyler gently grasps her hand, despite the fact that she doesn't like contact, and rubs circles on her palm with his thumb. The air cools, Shelby's shoulders relaxing.

There's hologram TV screens mounted over certain places, where the Gamemaker's voice with Cesar Flickerman can be heard.

"What's your favourite part of the Reapings this year?" Cesar inquires. "I, personally, quite enjoyed District 7's lover pairing."

"That was certainly a rare occurrence," the Gamemaker agrees. "I liked District 4, with the interrupting volunteer."

"Quite hilarious. Quite hilarious indeed."

Tyler flashes a grin at Shelby. "Look! I'm already famous."

"Shut up," she mutters, her cheeks red.

"What do you think of the batch this year?"

"I think it's quite interesting. There were a lot of volunteers for family, heartbreaking revelations. Districts 2, 3, 6, and 7 were all very emotional, and I expect the Games to be the same."

"Where's Xever?" Tyler asks, looking for his mentor.

"Right here," the pink fish responds as he appears behind them. "Are you ready to prepare for the chariots?"

Shelby groans, having forgotten about that little thing. "Chariots..."

"Costumes and grooming," Xever confirms with a wide smile. "Don't worry, you can release all your anger during training and the Games."

Shelby sighs once more. Tyler grins as he looks around at the other tributes.

"Hey, one guess at who District 7 is," he whispers to his sister.

She looks up, scanning the crowd until she stops on the wolf-raven and blue-masked turtle with their hands intertwined.

"The ones holding hands?" she guesses.

"Ding! Okay, guess who-"

He stops as he notices a turtle in an orange-mask looking at them. The terrapin smiles widely and waves, causing Tyler to respond the same way. Shelby only shakes her hand in a short and hardly noticeable gesture.

"He seems nice," Tyler comments. "That's Michelangelo, right?"

"District 11," Shelby says immediately.

"Oooo...you remembered," he teases.

She blushes a little and punches his arm. "Shut up."

Meanwhile, Michelangelo goes back to scanning over the other tributes being ushered inside. Swift remains indifferent to his perky attitude, while he searches for the third person he wants to ally with.

"Cutie number one...now cutie number two..." he mumbles to himself.

Then, he sees her, right next to an adorable mutant fox. He grins as she looks around, noticing his gaze. He waves happily, and she returns. The blonde nudges her companion, who waves just as exuberantly as her partner.

Donatello tugs at his long mask tails, noticing how so many of the other tributes look so much more confident than him. Yukiji nudges him lightly with her shoulder, making him jump.

"Geez, calm down, nerd. You need to be less nervous or people will target you," he hisses.

He rubs his shoulder. "I...I...uh...I can't help it."

"You should be able to. Just swallow it and act confident."

He swallows, straightening up and stopping his fidgety movements. Something brushes his arm on his other side as two girls move past, their bodies contrasting noticeably considering one is rather pale and the other has fair coppery skin.

"That's District 3," he remembers. "Hold on."

He jogs a little, catching up to the two girls and tapping their shoulders. They turn around, eyes locking, making him suddenly weak.

"Donatello, I presume?" Sarina questions. "I was hoping to meet you."

His cheeks flare up with heat. "Oh...uh, yeah. That's me. You're Hazel and Sarina, right?"

"Yeah," Hazel answers sweetly. "You look nervous."

"Lots of people, I guess."

The younger girl moves to his side so that he's sandwiched between the two girls comfortably.

"Well, we're nervous too," she admits. "You'll be okay."

He smiles at her gratefully, then turns his head towards Sarina only to find that she's already looking at him. She remains straight-faced, something that almost puts him off.

She notices his discomfort and smiles, her eyes flashing lightly. "Sorry, I'm usually not this stiff...it's my way of showing nervousness."

He relaxes too. "Oh, good to know."

A hand grasps his shoulder from behind, making him jump as he notices a ticked Yukiji.

"This is not the time to be making friends," she hisses, dragging him away.

He waves sheepishly at the two girls, who smile and wave back.