Broken Pieces {Asher/Preston Day 4}

Asher Rainer 7m {tribsit}
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last seen Jul 26, 2015 11:28:43 GMT -5

Broken Pieces {Asher/Preston Day 4} Jul 6, 2015 7:52:41 GMT -5

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Post by Asher Rainer 7m {tribsit} on Jul 6, 2015 7:52:41 GMT -5

Something beautiful

ASHER RAINER

or something free?

TAG: WORDS: 442. NOTES:

The screaching sound of the train as it flew down the tracks only brought music to his ears. It reminded him that he was alive - for now. The sound of his feet pounding against the floor of the train faded in the distance as cannon after cannon sounded. Part of him wanted to know if the younger boy was still alive, yet he couldn't bring himself to turn around to look. Had the kid he spent his entire time in the arena protecting, the only person he ever trusted, attacked him? Asher couldn't tell. He couldn't figure out if it was the lookalike, or if it was the real Preston.

Sighing to himself, he stopped leaning against a rail staring into the fog. Blood continued pouring down his forehead, and it spewed between his fingers as his grip tightened around a stump of an arm. All he could see was the face of a Preston slicing clean through it. Mixing with the blood running down his face was tears. The chances of him winning just fell through the drain. How could he win with one hand? Back home his family had probably given up the moment the blade sliced through the bone. But his body was numb. Using his imagination, Asher tried to will hand to move, but nothing was there.

Slowly, the district seven tribute lowered himself to the floor. He had nothing to clean it with. Nothing to take away the pain. Nothing. Bringing his knees to his chest, he placed the palm of his only hand against the cold, metal floor. Maybe he should just jump from the train. Maybe he would fall down through the abyss leading to the underground. He didn't want to die. But who wanted to die? Not a single person here. Every tribute wanted to survive.

The memories, the scars, the pain, won't leave his mind. The way he begged for Preston to realize he was the real Asher. The way he ran away after his own lookalike fell. The words he said. All of it. Maybe had overreacted as he had no way of knowing if it was him. And how would he know which Preston was alive?

He wasn't sure what to believe. The viel separating reality from fiction tore in half the moment he saw a mirror image of himself standing in front of him. Taking a deep breath, his head dropped to his knees. Violent shrieks filled the air, and for now he didn't care if someone killed him because his will to survive flew away with his arm.

His only hope was his family understood.

flyss
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Broken Pieces {Asher/Preston Day 4} Jul 6, 2015 15:38:56 GMT -5

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Post by flyss on Jul 6, 2015 15:38:56 GMT -5

DAY FOUR | WORDS: 839| HP: 30.5

I spent not a moment more than necessary reliving the nightmare that pulled him out from under my fingertips; Asher was the only thing I had that felt normal in this arena and like so many other things in my life, he was gone.

I guess home just isn't something that I'm allowed to have.

A gentle laugh tumbled out of my mouth at this; how terribly untasteful of me, to think that I even had home in this boy. He was just another tribute, good as dead to me, wasn't he? After all, in order to go home, he had to die alongside 22 other children who I'd come to know over the past weeks and that was just the beginning.

After that, I would have to go from district to district, staring each set of parents in the eyes with bubblegum smile and eyes a shade too bright for what I had gone through. Lies would tumble from my lips about how they were so sweet and how well I'd come to know them in the weeks that I had spent here, when in reality, I never even spoke a single word to them.

"I'm sorry for your loss." A true broken record, I'd be after that. Those words would haunt my every waking moment, down until the day that I put myself to rest, a bullet in my head and a gun wrestled loosely in the callouses of my hands.

But when I reached them- his parents- would I treat them all the same? Would I tell them how brave he was to have taken me under his wing and how terribly kind he was to have let me be his ally? Would I tell them that I'm sorry that I couldn't protect him back with the same vigour that he protected me with? Or would I just hope that they see me as just another kid and not the boy that set their child up for death from the second that my dopple ganger chopped off his arm like a slice of a butcher?

The thing is, I am a butcher; ever since I could walk, I was taught how to wield a sword, a knife, a trident, the urge to kill threaded deep within my genes- my entire upbringing was ultimately a courteous reminder of my loathsome heritage and the darkness that came with it, but I turned it into something as bright as the sun.

Why couldn't I feel that UV warmth now?

***

With my lips pressed into a gallantly obtuse line, I let each of the Rapiers in my hands drag behind me like a funeral procession composed of just me. Everything about my aura felt so solemn now, even though no-one but those muttations had died, and even when I attempted to force a smile onto my mouth, the edges of it crumbled into an oblivion not even I knew yet.

When I reached the door leading to the next cart, I moved both of the swords to one hand, the other moving up to feel the empty space where my ear was not even ten minutes ago before lying still on the handle as if it had no motivation to push me into the next chapter of this twisted game.

Asher is in there- what will he think when he sees you?

A soft sigh escapesdthe confines of my lips and quietly, I closed my eyes. Did I really want to do this and risk sending both him and myself over the edge? To be honest, at this point I didn't care; I didn't want to lose another person, and hell- I couldn't lose another person.

Without another drop of hesitance, I pressed my full body weight forward and nearly fell into the next door. I can do this, I pleaded to myself and with that, I pressed the handle once more.

I need to sort some shit out first, then we can be normal again, I promise.

This time, when the door opened, I found myself able to walk in with semi-stable steps. For a moment following my entrance, my vision moved in and out of focus in a vertigo of blur, but once it came back to me with steady intent, every inch of my focus moved to the boy I knew so very well by now.

"A-asher.. I'm.." I could feel my bottom lip trembling as a spoke because holy shit- he was missing a limb and even though I knew it wasn't my fault, I couldn't help but pin the blame on myself. Before I knew it, my vision was blurred once again, this time from the tears welling up at the rims of my eyes. He looked so hurt and hell- he probably was.

One silent sob racked my shoulders like an earthquake and every inch of my existence knew that my facade was over; I had collapsed onto the ground in a mess of sobs.

Sometimes, I still have to remind myself that I'm only a child.

Sad song - we the kings

Without you, I feel broke
Like I'm half of a whole
Without you, I've got no hand to hold
Without you, I feel torn

credit to nat of adoxography.

Last Edit: Aug 7, 2015 23:37:45 GMT -5 by flyss

Credit: Shrimp

Credit: Avalon

"I could have been so much more than just Neptune.
I could have been a whole damn
galaxy."

Asher Rainer 7m {tribsit}
Seam Resident

33 POSTS
last seen Jul 26, 2015 11:28:43 GMT -5

Broken Pieces {Asher/Preston Day 4} Jul 6, 2015 22:03:41 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Asher Rainer 7m {tribsit} on Jul 6, 2015 22:03:41 GMT -5

Something beautiful

ASHER RAINER

or something free?

TAG: WORDS: 688. NOTES:

It was truly amazing what the gamemakers could do. In a matter of seconds the world spun out of control. Sending lookalikes into the arena was almost a perfect idea except he didn't see it that way. The trick created to destroy everyone in the arena had become a huge success. It wasn't just a pathetic excuse of a mutt; it was brilliant, yet Asher couldn't see it that way. It had cost him his arm. A vital part of his body was missing. It was lost somewhere back on the train in the car he fought in. Funny. He matched his own lookalike. The gashes across his forehead, a missing arm, but unlike his impersonator, he had survived. Yet it left him lifeless and hopeless. His death was near, and nothing would change it. All that remained of the kid from seven was a shell waiting for its fate.

It was silent except for his sobs echoing through the abandon compartment. Inside and out he wanted to stop breathing, yet his lungs denied him over and over. Blood plastered inside his shaggy hair caking it to his face and the side of his head, yet the tears and sweat tried to clean it all away. White fire shot across his arm with each breath as his hand wrapped around it tighter and tighter while he did what he could do to stop the bleeding. The precious liquid needed to stay inside his body instead of erupting from the arteries sliced clean in half. How much longer did he have? How much more blood did his body have?

The clicking of an opening door, the screeching of the hinges bled through his mind as he willed his sobs to end as he focused on the metal sliding against the metal. Closing his eyes he counted every time a foot hit the ground. Soon it was silent again. He couldn't move, and even if he tried, whenever was behind him would surely finish him off like the monsters every single being in the arena became. Even inside of the boy he trusted was a monster waiting to prance.

"A-asher.. I'm.."

A single voice broke sliced through the silence, but it wasn't any voice; it was Preston. The kid he was find of. The kid he vowed to protect no matter what. He almost turned around to face the Preston behind him, yet every warning signal was shouting through his mind over and over as one simple thought came to mind. What if this isn't the real Preston?

Yet when he heard the body landing against the floor with a this much louder than the one his arm made, Asher couldn't resist any longer. He needed to know if the kid behind him was real or not. Sighing silently, he carefully raised his head before opening his eyes to look around. Genuine emotion fell from the boy from four, but a battle raged on inside of him. What if it was a trick to get him killed? What if the fake Preston killed the real one? But as he looked at the kid, his eyes fell on the missing ear. His heart sank into his stomach flipping around. No wires or mechanical robotic pieces stuck out like it had when fake Asher's arm fell off. This Preston laying on the floor was the real Preston.

All his doubts and fears flew through the door as he scooted himself across the metal floor. The nails of his fingers frantically searched for a grip to keep him from sliding away as the train flew at a speed faster than his own heart could ever beat. "Pres..ton?" His voice was quiet and calm as the words slithered past his cracked lips.

Fear slowly crept its way up his body as the face of a Preston slicing his arm off flashed before his eyes. And his own voice echoed through his ears over and over. "I trusted you." Fighting against the urge to run, Asher gently placed his hand on the back of the only person he had.

"I... Are you okay?"

flyss
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last seen Oct 6, 2023 20:50:54 GMT -5

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Broken Pieces {Asher/Preston Day 4} Jul 7, 2015 2:37:16 GMT -5

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Post by flyss on Jul 7, 2015 2:37:16 GMT -5

DAY FOUR | WORDS: 475 | HP: 30.5

All I want is nothing more
To hear you knocking at my door
'Cause if I could see your face once more
I could die a happy man I'm sure

His hands on my back feel exactly like that UV warmth I was missing all along, and like clockwork, every inch of me begins to melt back into some form of what I used to be- human, I would call it if I were feeling exceptionally confident. Just as I began to let myself relax in the mould of my hands, though, everything came crashing back into reality; the words flung at me like bullets, his fearful eyes when I tried speaking to him back in the mess of our downfall, the way his fingertips rung out hesitant to me when coming to a rest on the place they had become accustomed to fall.

Even when I heard him overcome the fear I knew to be weighing him down, I couldn't muster a reply to what he had said to me with a slight waver in his voice.

"Pres..ton?"

No matter how hard I tried, how much force I applied to eliminate its memory from my head, I couldn't forget how hurt he sounded the last time that name fell victim to his lips. It was like everything about him reminded me of those events and even though they happened not even a full ten minutes ago, I couldn't help but wish to hell that they would vanish with the blessing of sleep.

His voice played on repeat in my head, all the things he had said in the past coming back to haunt me in an abush of hurt and pure despair.

"I trusted you."

"I trusted you."

"I trusted you."

Then, without expectance on my part, I heard the reality of his words break through the barrier of thought.

"I... Are you okay?"

At first, I believed it to be my imagination; after all, why would he be talking to me when for all technicalities, I was at fault for his pain? With a soft sniffle and a hard blink, I raised my head just enough to let a few words tumble out, a singular, dry laugh falling from my lips like sandpaper.

"I-I think. But I don't think that I'm the one we need to be worrying about." While fighting back a sob, I allowed my eyes to fall rest on the still-open nub of his arm, the nearly-empty contents of my stomach threatening to spill out with every shallow breath I took.

He would never get to feel that limb again and like so many times before, today, I convinced myself that it was my fault. After all, Asher's doppelganger never even laid a finger on me.

When you said your last goodbye
I died a little bit inside
I lay in tears in bed all night
Alone without you by my side

Sad song - we the kings

Without you, I feel broke
Like I'm half of a whole
Without you, I've got no hand to hold
Without you, I feel torn

credit to nat of adoxography.

Last Edit: Jul 7, 2015 15:27:39 GMT -5 by flyss

Credit: Shrimp

Credit: Avalon

"I could have been so much more than just Neptune.
I could have been a whole damn
galaxy."

Asher Rainer 7m {tribsit}
Seam Resident

33 POSTS
last seen Jul 26, 2015 11:28:43 GMT -5

Broken Pieces {Asher/Preston Day 4} Jul 7, 2015 15:13:40 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Asher Rainer 7m {tribsit} on Jul 7, 2015 15:13:40 GMT -5

Something beautiful

ASHER RAINER

or something free?

TAG: WORDS: 490. NOTES:

For the moment, all he could see was the thick fog making its way across the tracks and into the train clouding all in its path; the sky wasn't even visible. The gentle chill of it flew through his veins, and man he was tired. All the fighting had destroyed him on the inside wearing his frail body down by breaking a fictional spine beneath its weight. The last few days had become a lot. He fought along side a kid he grew close to protecting him in whatever way he possibly could. Oh how Preston reminded him so much of his younger brother back home.

Home.

Preston made him feel at home. Asher had no worries of trying to impress anyone. A bond was formed so tightly that for the longest time it felt like nothing could snap it apart until today.

A strange sense of calm ran through his body. Just placing his hand on the back of the kid brought so many memories back to his mind. Fleeing the bloodbath, spending the night in the abandon factory, killing that robotic dog, fighting the cornucopia, watching tribute after tribute appear in the sky, sleeping while the other kid stayed awake, and finally the trick set up to destroy any possible relationship formed in the midst of the arena.

His mind was stained with the harsh words he said before he left the fight. Before he left Preston for dead. Asher never wanted him to die, and to this point, his ultimate goal was for his young friend to make it home alive - could he even call Preston a friend right now? Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes as pain and agnoy swept through his body over and over, yet he fought endlessly praying it would end. Praying nothing else would happen.

"I-I think. But I don't think that I'm the one we need to be worrying about."

Whatever trust there had been unraveled faster than he could ever imagine. Perhaps he had overreacted. Whoever thought of the saying words cannot harm me was a complete fool. Words leave scars much deeper than any knife or sword could ever slice into a person. Physical wounds could heal over time, however, the emotional scarring sliced through the heart won't ever go away. Words linger in the back of a human's mind forever.

Asher wanted to apologize to the younger kid with everything that he had inside of him, yet he couldn't bring himself to. He couldn't force himself to realize that it was his lookalike who severed his arm.

Even if he did apologize, would Preston ever forgive him?

With a tear streaked face, he turned his gaze towards the ceiling.

"Preston, I'm..." Before he could even finish the sentence, his words broke and the world came crashing down as his heart broke in half. The strong boy he pretended to be broke into a sobbing mess.

"...sorry."

flyss
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last seen Oct 6, 2023 20:50:54 GMT -5

hi! miss u guys

Broken Pieces {Asher/Preston Day 4} Jul 8, 2015 2:31:56 GMT -5

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Post by flyss on Jul 8, 2015 2:31:56 GMT -5

DAY FOUR | WORDS: 537 | HP: 30.5

Help, I have done it again
I have been here many times before
Hurt myself again today
And the worst part is there's no one else to blame

At the age of seven, I thought that I must have been a princess in my past life; after all, the storybooks I read in the arms of my woolen blankets told me that you can only be something good once and I certainly wasn't anything of that sort right now. Of course, I had to take into consideration the fact that perhaps I just hadn't let the light that was fastened deep inside of my existence shine yet, but now, as I had the one person that I could trust sobbing in my lap, I wasn't sure that I was ever going to make it to that bright period.

***

"I.. I'm.. I'm sorry, too." Every last word that tumbled from my lips was chopped into centipede portions and stolen like the packages I willed them to be. Everything about this felt almost natural but still, I kept my mental distance from the District Seven boy in case his trust had shattered just as badly as mine had.

Hell, there was no doubt that it had; after all, his arm was clean cut from the elbow down, and the image that had embedded itself into his mind was that of me wielding that Rapier like a bar of judgement, weighing his goods from his bads and ultimately deciding to screw him over. If I were being honest with myself, I wouldn't have trailed him into this cart, but apparently I can't follow orders very well, either.

He was the only thing I had and I was too selfish to let him go.

Why hadn't I let him go? Perhaps it was that I feared what was to happen if I was left alone again; I mean, alone was such a vague concept to me and unlike so many other things I had come to know well in my years on this earth, it was one of the most complex hypotheticals that had ever come to bite me in the ass.

To be honest, I knew that he deserved better in this arena, with his kind smile and sun-glow eyes, but there was no better to be found. We were the best that either of us could do in this damned place and was I about to let that crumble? Not a chance in the world.

Just as I began to truly get lost in my thoughts, though, I felt the loud boom of a canon erupt in the distance, the rough noise stinging my bare ear like a whip. That could have been Nat, or even Gunner- the true last slices of home that I had to deal with. Hell- it could have been that Lily girl and it still would have scared the shit out of me because that could have been me.

But it wasn't.

And as I had come to figure out just in that moment, engulfed in his embrace, wasn't was good enough for me.

Ouch, I have lost myself again

Lost myself and I am nowhere to be found,

Yeah, I think that I might break

Lost myself again and I feel unsafe

{OOC notes: Sorry if this is super choppy- I wrote this kind of late and as I read over it each time, everything began to get somewhat blurred. I hope it's not too terribly bad <3}

Sad song - we the kings

Without you, I feel broke
Like I'm half of a whole
Without you, I've got no hand to hold
Without you, I feel torn

credit to nat of adoxography.

Last Edit: Aug 7, 2015 23:54:21 GMT -5 by flyss

Credit: Shrimp

Credit: Avalon

"I could have been so much more than just Neptune.
I could have been a whole damn
galaxy."

Asher Rainer 7m {tribsit}
Seam Resident

33 POSTS
last seen Jul 26, 2015 11:28:43 GMT -5

Broken Pieces {Asher/Preston Day 4} Jul 9, 2015 13:38:44 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Asher Rainer 7m {tribsit} on Jul 9, 2015 13:38:44 GMT -5

Something beautiful

ASHER RAINER

or something free?

TAG: WORDS: 518. NOTES:

Sobs ran through his body like a tornado sweeping through the plains destroying everything in its path. Tears poured from his eyes like droplets of rain. Memory after memory of the last week or longer rests heavily on his mind.

"From District Seven, Asher Rainer!" President Snow's sickening voice rang through his mind over and over. He condemed the child to death along with every other tribute who has been placed in the arena. It was beyond his comprehension of anything he could possibly find at the Capitol, but he found a couple of people he trusted. Gunner, and Preston.

Where are you Gunner?

From the bloodbath, to the train ride on day one, to spending the night in the abandon factory, to fighting the robotic dog, to fighting the giant cornucopia, to watching two peopl fall right before his eyes, to watching the faces of the fallen appear above as the anthem rose through the arena, to getting on the train, to spotting a mutt that looked like himself, to fighting against both Preston's, to watching his arm fall to the ground.

Asher became fond of Preston thinking of him as a younger brother.

The trust he gained for him shattered before he could even stop it.

"I.. I'm.. I'm sorry, too."

Meaningless words. Just a sentence with heartfelt emotions as the world spun around over and over, yet each word felt so distant. Had he really meant it? Was Preston sorry? He had no reason to speak those words. Preston hadn't done any wrong; it was Asher. His harsh words. They still echo through his mind over and over along with the image of his arm falling to the ground as a sword sliced striaght through the bone. It caused more pain that he could ever imagine. A pain that probably wouldn't ever go away.

For the longest time, he sat on the floor untying the laces of his boots looking for a way to make a tournaquet or something to control the amount of blood flowing through the gaping holes. His fingers stumbling around while his mind forced other objects into his mind. Death was crawling around the corners aiming straight towards him. Could he win with his arm missing?

The odds weren't in his favor.

The sound of the cannon firing through the arena caused his skin to jump, and his eyes immediately shifted towards the district four tribute wondering if he was still alive. His skin crawled around as the end of the lace fell from his hand.

Three cannons sounded so far. Three. Eleven total. Eleven are dead. Perhaps he could outlast the other twelve standing in his way of returning home to his family, but if Asher wasn't the victor, all he wanted was for Preston to return home to his family because he was deserving of it.

Sighing silently, he picked up the lace he dropped on the floor of the train and tried wrapping it above the stump, yet with one hand to work with, it wasn't working anything like he had planned.

"Can you help me tie this?"

Please.