reddening snow >> the uprising
Jan 8, 2015 13:07:46 GMT -5
Post by semper on Jan 8, 2015 13:07:46 GMT -5
Snow falls heavily outside of the main ruin building that serves as our main gathering area. In the middle of the room is a fire in a dug-out hole surrounded by a circle of rubble to keep the flames contained further. Not that it would’ve jumped out and burned anything down, considering the floor of the ruin is just dirt and any vegetation inside has been uprooted and used to feed the flames. Some of those sticks, however, had found their way into Colton’s hands, and the four year old sitting next to me is quietly content with creating shapes and digging holes next to the fire, making murmuring sounds and using a collection of dead leaves as both flags and trap doors. There are far fewer people who came back to the Uprising this time as opposed to last winter. Our numbers are dwindling, probably due to the fact that I couldn’t find Griffin to track down older members or verbally communicate to newer ones. Since he wasn’t with me, I had a lot of trouble sneaking into districts with Colton in order to convince residents to join our cause. Communicating with potential rebels proved horribly difficult and no one listens to Avoxes anyway; honestly, I wouldn’t put it past anyone to have turned my offer down solely because of my looks and status: a mute servant, borderline emaciated, three fingers on my left hand, missing right hand with a bent piece of scrap metal strapped to my forearm to act as a makeshift hand. I’ve never been appealing to look at and my current image isn’t any better, obviously. At least Colton isn’t frightened by my appearance. The poor boy has been through so much in his short years of life. Travelling the wilderness with him has proven enjoyable, more often than not, and he’s quickly catching onto my methods of communication and even using the dog-like sounds to respond to me. His favorite activity has consistently been to put leaves and flowers in my hair, followed by a quick joust with sticks that always ends with me pretending to die dramatically. Since we’ve lived in the woods for so long, I was worried about bringing him along to meet potential recruits for the Uprising. Fortunately he did very well, showing an innocent curiosity and watching the other people with eyes that always remind me of his mother. (Oh, Lily, if only you could see our son now. I should’ve let your grandfather keep him.) He doesn’t deserve to be stuck in the ruins of Thirteen with a band of mismatched rebels. Hell, the kid doesn’t even know how to introduce himself, let alone say his name. I’ve beaten myself up many times over that small fact and many more, most having to do with me, an Avox, being his father and primary caretaker. I’ve not been purposefully neglecting his need for someone to teach him to speak—I tried to find Jack in Ten to see if he could teach Colton but he wasn’t there. Not even his mother was present. Honestly, they’re the only ones I wholly trust with my boy, and I would’ve been thankful if Jack could’ve taken care of him. The guy had twins already and I would’ve felt pretty bad for dumping an illiterate four year old at his house but then Colton would’ve had a home, food, proper education, and I would’ve been at ease knowing who was taking care of him. The kid turns to look up at me, holding out a stick with a leaf stabbed onto the end. There’s a large smile on his face but the firelight still magnifies the hollowness in his cheeks, like little ghostly reminders of the dire situation we’re in. A coo-like sound comes from him and he lifts the stick higher, eyes locked onto me expectantly. Breaking from the strain of draining thoughts, I give him a small smile of my own and lightly touch the leaf with my fingertip and nod to show him my approval; he giggles, suddenly excited, and turns back to poke the stick into the dirt, just next to a small pile of crushed up leaves. He needs better than this. I always give more of our food rations to him so that he gets a solid start at life and the constant emptiness in my belly leaves me feeling weak constantly, more so than the usual stress of simply trying to survive. All of it needs to change—everyone needs to be able to have the means to care for themselves and their children. I shouldn’t have to worry myself sick over scavenging enough food just to keep Colton’s small stomach from rumbling and keeping him awake at night. No one should face that, and I know the people that followed me here share the same thought. We deserve as much as the Capitol, no questions asked. My gaze returns to the heavy snowfall outside. It’s much too cold for us to take any sort of action right now, but we can still plan. First, however, it’s more important that we all get to know each other so we can start to develop the ever-so vital trust needed to execute missions properly. I reach over and pull up my backpack from the ground, scrounging through the pockets until I find a small notebook and short pencil. The tip is worn down but it’s exposed just enough to write. Could you round everyone up into the main room and ask them to be ready to introduce themselves to the others? Their name, age, specialties, etc. Whatever they want to say. After stowing the pencil away in a jacket pocket, I nudge Colton’s shoulder to get his attention and then point to the ground, which is our signal to stay put. He nods and continues to play with the sticks while I stand up and immediately begin to search for Aiden in order to deliver my message. |
table by anzie <33
[[Just a quick note: there is no posting order, but I just ask that you allow Anzie to post second ^^ ]]
[[Just a quick note: there is no posting order, but I just ask that you allow Anzie to post second ^^ ]]
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