Ikaros Vallanso D5 (FIN)

Wings flutter along as the black crows caw. There's a sky full of white gas that moves slowly, covering up the sun. Brown eyes stare up at the cawing birds that vanish into the smoke. A hand reaches up trying to grasp the white air that is above him, but he can't reach. A chuckle leaves his body as he can imagine the birds choking on fumes and falling back to the earth. Dead birds who had flown too close to the sun. Crisp wings that catch flame in his mind as he is soaring past them all. A puff of smoke comes from his lungs as the world twists and his vision can only focus on the subject in front of him.

Sprouting wings wasn't all that hard.

All he needed was his father to teach him how to fly.

Hands push himself off the ground and the wings sprout from his back once again. He's soaring above them all. The problems that laid within the walls of his home. A father who taught him how to soar. Different forms of flight from the special contents of bags. Every day spent listening to his father, following his lead. They would fly together, some days. Other days, he would fly solo while his father watched with a perfect smile that him glow again. Hands going to his pockets and taking the bills to pay for the wings once again. Leaving Ikaros with nothing more than a bill that could feed him for one meal for the entire week.

His mother comes into view once again. Once or twice a year, she comes and visits him with promises to take him away from the father that taught him to soar. Wishes and dreams that he would stop soaring night after night, but she never could stop the addiction to flying. Some days, he would fly too close to the sun and plummet back to the dirty earth that was below. Some days he would soar for long periods of time, never knowing of when he would come down.

She only came the other day to tell him about his father. A demon who provided him with all sorts of devices that'll give him wings, black like the crows that fly through Five. She would tell him that there's demons that lurk underneath his skin, creatures that create his wings with malicious intent, but he didn't believe her. No one could believe her. He flees to his father who's smile creeps him out, but he provides him with wings that allow him to fly. He couldn't listen to his mother. A hand is outstretched as Ikaros pulls the pill off it. It goes down slowly and he can feel the room twisting.

There's no walls anymore, but the blue sky of a non polluted District Five. Black wings spread in bliss as he can feel himself disappearing from the stress and cares in the world. There's other crows that follow him, they become a murder and pull higher and higher into the sky. The wind ruffles his wings and cools his body. He's laughing and feeling great, until the inevitable fall. Wings burning up in the sun as he plummets downwards. He screams out to no one, until he hits the ground. Eyes open and he's awake once again.

He's alone once again.

They left him to live a life on his own.

Some nights, his father would be drunken or high on the couch like Ikaros had been. He'd tuck him in and walk out of the house to work, but there was no father that night. No mother. No father. No way to fly high. There's no cash for the week to feed him and from his father being gone, he knew that it meant he'd have to earn it back again. A sigh comes from his throat as he leans over the counter of the kitchen sink. Hands grip tight on the counter and he feels his body shake in sorrow. Tears slide down his face as he's embarrassed himself once again. Too addicted to the thought of flight to take in reality.

Crows burned up in the sun and pollution of Five.

He followed them when he plummets.

He's known what it does to him. No use in getting Ikaros to do anything else, but let him sleep off the drugs in his system. Mother was always right when it came to his father. The man kept letting his father's demons crawl through his skin. Addiction and failures be damned as the demons crawl through his skin. The man snatched most of his money that was going to be spent on food and living expenses that him and their family would need. Their mother was now gone, with no love in her eyes. He's alone in the kitchen as he cries on the floor. Back pushed against a cabinet that held the special pots and pans that he would use to make dinner some nights.

"Fuck."

It's out of his system now.

He's cried and had enough time to accept what had happened. Now he leaves through the door with a rushed expression. He brushes a hand through his hair, cleaning up his shirt of wrinkles and patting down his jeans as he leaves. He had to get some work now, anything that would get him enough money to provide for himself and his family. The small diner that he worked at wouldn't be open that day. The shop that he would work at on other days was also closed that day. There's so many things he could do. Their neighbor had asked him to clean their house once, but since the perverted women there tried to get him, he's never returned.

There's a rush of wind that brushes his cheeks. Brown eyes glance from side to side as his large hands are stuck in the pockets of his jeans. Brown hair blowing in the wind as his hand slides out of his pocket to brush it to the side. Eyebrows furrowed in confusion as another person tells him to leave. Lips plump as a woman across the street watches him carefully. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to him. His ears are small, but still work, or at least he thinks so. There's a boyish look to his face, but he's grown into more of a man as he's grown older and older.

A lanky, but toned body is what he was born with. A metabolism that's been a blessing than a curse for him. He's got a rugged feel based on his body. His shirt hugs him nicely as he marches through town looking for any odd job that he could find. Arms that are long and toned as he lifts bags of garbage into a dumpster in an alleyway. A sign that he holds to promote anyone buying flowers that day, since it was a rarity from Five with the pollution that the district creates. He's done so many things that he's been ashamed of, but as long as it kept the family together and happy. He would do it.

"I'm sorry Ikky, I don't have anything for you to do."

The owner of the small shop that he's worked at before stares at him with pity in their eyes. Everyone knew who Ikaros was. A boy who used to party when life was normal. When life hadn't taken a dip into shit town as his father learned of addiction and abuse. Ikaros worked like a machine to collect money. Everything had been fine long ago. His mother had been a kind women, who cared about him, until their father had scared her away. Alcohol became her friend, while drugs became his own. Their father had learned of what use he had been to getting cash, but he left for nights over a long time. Peacekeepers didn't know of the drugs that their father sells.

They didn't know of the drugs that he provided for Ikaros, who hadn't cared long ago.

The party guy who did drugs and drank alcohol at parties that people invited him to. It was popular in District Five. That had been back then, when he could soar without a care in the world. That was before his father got him addicted to the taste of flying. Ikaros falls to his knees in front of his friend who owned the small shop. He needed the money. He needed to make sure his siblings had enough to eat and enough to survive on.

"Please, I am begging you. I need just enough to feed us for a week."

The friend who ran the shop was older than him by quite a few years. Older and stronger than Ikaros was, but still he was something else. A man who gave pity upon the Vallanso family as he's seen inside their lives. A sigh comes from his throat as Ikaros can feel his skin crawl in sorrows. He's ashamed of what he's had to do over time, but there's nothing else he could do. People used to talk to him, until he's had to do things to save his family from the stress. Lots of jobs, lots of things to make him ashamed about, and rumors that spread through the district.

"Alright, come inside, I think there's something you could clean."

The rest was too much for him to think about. He cleaned the store from top to bottom and barely made enough to get groceries for the house. The shops were always nice to him and gave him what he wanted as long as he forked over the cash. That is until, the bakery where he typically buys his bread. The man at the front counter stares at him like he's a gang member. The poor weren't treated right all of the time. He knew that the poor weren't well accepted in a district where power got money. He's sworn to never work in the industry of District Five. He's seen too many people injured or killed.

Ikaros approaches the counter with a smile. Voice calm and steady as he stares at the loaf of wheat bread that would provide enough for sandwiches that week. He's calm, but the look in the man at the counter's eyes tell a different story that sends a feeling of worry through him. Ikaros speaks with kind words that would hopefully stay with the man.

"Good morning. It's lovely day today. I would like to buy that loaf of wheat."

The man watches him as he pulls out the wad of change that was enough for the loaf, but it was change. The other man wraps his arms around his chest and looks at him with annoyance. Ikaros can feel his heart rate climbing, but it's not gonna help as the man tells him to leave. Words that shatter his world every time. Poor or not, he had enough money. He didn't deserve to be turned away based on his look.

The bakery disappears from his vision as he thinks to himself.

Looks like I'm gonna have to figure something else out for lunch.

As he enters the home, the younger siblings tackle him with relief in their eyes.

They worry that he may never return one day. His siblings were mostly young. They didn't worry about the reapings like he had to. They remember when Minos had been reaped. They had watched him die by the hands of Justice Fray, who's name was not allowed to be spoken in their house. The last time one of his siblings spoke of his name, it was rude and he wouldn't have them becoming him. Rude words and innocent minds that could be corrupted for whatever their father wanted. He wouldn't let that happen to them.

They go to school together as Ikaros slides onto the couch, worry in his eyes, but this was the only time he ever got to rest. He can remember the youngest telling him something before they left. The words hiding in the confines of his mind. There were demons who hid under his skin that his parents had both given him, but he's made them into his strengths now. There were demons that gave him wings to fly, but the angelic creatures that gave him wings through life.

"You're like an angel, Ika!"

Black wings came with the drugs that sent him into failures and fuck ups, but the will to work hard at keeping their messed up family strong gives him white wings that allow him to soar enough to make the younger ones never have to worry about if they will eat or not. The black burn from the sun, but the white allow his to fly higher than he's ever gone.

Feet resting up on the table as he opens up the book that he's read too many times before, but it was better than doing nothing. It was supposed to be his day off. The early morning had been spent working and getting the money for food for his younger siblings. The rest of the day would be spent relaxing, cleaning, and prepping for when his siblings got home. They used to be better, when their father and mother provided for them. He could party and do whatever he wanted, but everything fell once mother left them for the friend of alcohol and the awful man that she called her boyfriend.

It didn't take much to fly.

Some flights were worth more than others.

Flying with black wings always came with a crash that sent him into a worried state.

The white wings that he's created allowed him to soar more than anyone else that could provide for them all.

His father comes home with whiskey on his breath and drugs in his hand. Ikaros knows what he wants, but he was going to fight it. There's a silence that sits in the room as he feels his hands shake. The thought of a quick flight while the kids are gone comes to his head, but he shakes it off as he folds his arms and speaks.

"What are you doing here?"

The creepy smile pulls at his face. The man who taught him to fly first was now a man who taught him to fall. There's amusement on his father's face and he's both excited and terrified. He didn't want their demons to come to his head now. As his father approaches with the pill in his palm, he's breaking. Hand reaches for the pill as his father allows him to reach for it. His father speaks for the first time.

"Just here to have a good time with my son."

As he swallows the pill, his father vanishes and the black crows come to his vision. The last thing he remembers is his father taking a pill next to him and whispering to no one in particular.

"We can soar together again."

When the flight inevitably ends, he can hear one of his younger siblings speak out loud. Water sits in front of him and there's a meal made already. He feels the worry in his chest come forth as he wants to cry again. He's fallen for the drug once again. Ashamed of himself, he listens into the conversation and feels his chest constrict in guilt.

"You know Ika can't help it. Our dad is a persuasive man. I just worry that he's not going to come to one day."

Guilt runs through his veins as he can feel himself falling again. He takes a deep breath and wipes at his eyes as he stands and walks into the kitchen. Shouts of excitement leave their lips as he makes sure everyone is eating. There's nothing he can do, but act like it never happens, or he'll break. They couldn't afford for him to break. He didn't deserve their love, but he still fights to deserve it. They sit around the table eating now as he smiles and asks questions about their schooling and what happened in their day.

"My teacher is a prick, she gave us homework, after class had ended!"

A smile pulls at his cheeks as he listens to each kid carefully and they all eat quickly as many of them still had to do their homework, since they slacked off while he was soaring with black wings. He also needed to make sure to give medicine to his youngest sibling for the allergies that they had. Pollutants that made children sick, but he's fought to make it better, or better to the best of his abilities for them.

They were his world, even if the want to fly was all he thought about at times.

He would die for each and every sibling that he had.

There's nothing more important in his life than them.

When they all crawl away to their beds, he reads them stories of the good things in life. Hugs and kisses to soothe them to sleep from the nightmares that they may have. Blankets tucked under them as he smiled at them. There were three small kids that weren't of reaping age that he took care of. They needed the most attention of anyone else, so he made sure they fell asleep before he left their rooms. As he lets out a sigh, he grabs his coat and leaves the home.

Stars glitter from the sky as he walks down a windy path to the place that he hated more than anything. As he enters the door, he can hear the drunken people dancing and singing to any tune that the small band played. He puts his coat under the bar as he tucks an apron over his shirt. A smile pulls at his cheeks as he starts serving beers to whoever ordered one. Nights were spent at the bar selling alcohol to anyone and their tips went towards food for the next week. The owner of the bar let him work there, as long as he was good at his job, they didn't care.

As the night grows dark, he can feel the tiredness in his eyes, but he had to get the money for them.

It was this or selling himself to others and he would not let himself succumb to that level, even if it was for his siblings.

White wings spread as he serves up another alcoholic drink.

The stars shine in through the window as he crawls back into his bed.

Small snores can be heard throughout the house as he looks out the window and thinks about what he needed to do the next day.

Small steps of his youngest brother come through the door, he's six now, but still afraid of the monsters that lurk in the confines of his mind. As he steps into his room, Ikaros can feel the small body climb into his bed. Fear in his eyes as the boy falls asleep next to him. A typical night with him. Ikaros only sighs as the night grows dark.

White wings spread out and he's fast asleep.

It didn't take much to fly.

He preferred to fly with white wings.

Soaring along with his family of white birds to be.

This is all he hoped for.

"Goodnight, Ika."

"Hope you have sweet dreams of flight."

They would.