{Words}, |Wars| -and- \~Symphonies~/ {-Siberia-}

Hunger.

A sharp pain shot through her abdomen, Tank had gotten used to the feeling. The pain wasn’t too hard to bear as long as she wasn’t tempted by food, and as long as she kept smoking. Though the weed made her feel peckish, it filled her in an odd way. When she smoked, her brain told her stomach that she wasn’t hungry, or rather; she wasn’t as starving as she usually was. Her parents had spent all the food money on cigarettes after cigarettes, so when her brother died; all the money he made working suddenly disappeared. Yet, her parents kept smoking and smoking, as a result, Tank had to find a way to fill her belly on her own.


So, the fact that she was leaning against the brick walls of the foreign food stall, puzzled even Tank. She couldn’t remember how she had ended up there, whether her brain had told her body to move en route for something to eat or she had just decided to torture herself with the thought of an actual meal. She wondered what foreign foods were, Tank wasn’t even sure if the District received ‘foreign’ foods. It was such a delicacy these days; the shop she was resting on was doomed from the start.


There wasn’t much to say or do in the alley. A few people passed by, not so much as giving a glance as they stroll pass. It was as if she blended with the bricks behind her, she was always invisible to society. The passerby’s were much too busy worrying about themselves, in any case, to care about a lowly street rat that smelled of a mixture of sweat and smoulder. They did notice the smell, though. A few people even had the nerve to comment on the stench; though they never mentioned the fact that it was radiating from the lanky, bizarre girl they walked by. Tank was destined to be ignored her entire life... not that she complained.


Tank pulled her helmet closer to the tip of her nose, her eyes hurt from examining the people coming through the alley. There must have been a new shipment of food or something, since there was now a forming crowd of people in the plaza; she didn’t know how the exchanges worked in the market. She assumed that all the food came from a different district, she was told some time ago, but she couldn’t remember the words that came out of her father’s harsh mouth. They had sent her to the market for food only once, but that was before her mother decided they had to leave, which Tank was still waiting on. Not that it really mattered to her, as long as she could stay in the shadows and live her life simply all was fine and dandy.


“Hey Kai! Whatcha doing here? And… just wondering Kai, why are you dressed like that? It looks nice, but I didn’t think you owned clothes like that…” A voice? Well, there were many voices coming from the plaza, somehow, Tank felt this one was directed at her. She turned to the feminine tone. A girl, about her height, was striding, eagerly, toward her. She was white; white hair and white face, but deep red eyes. Red eyes that made Tank want to shrink back into the rushing crowd behind her. She was brilliant, this girl, Tank’s eyes were arid at the first glance toward her, yet she couldn’t look away. What was the word? She couldn’t remember, was it Albino? Yes, that was it, but she had never seen someone who was considered an Albino in her life. So why was the girl calling out to her... and what was with the strange nickname? Kai... perhaps the girl was confused?


“I..I believe you, uh, have the wrong p-person."Tank muttered, looking down at her dirty green shoes and wiping the ash off her fingers with anxious gestures. It seemed like everyone in the district was suddenly in on Tank’s plan to blend. She felt distant eyes on her, and she cowered to block away the watchful feeling. If she could just get away from the blinding girl, she could go back to being neglected, and then finally smoke in peace...