what does the fox say? // demelza vs porcufox

The day passed quickly, the eternal dusk transforming slowly into night as the two moons rose above the horizon, casting a silver glow over the arena as their watchful faces appeared in the sky. The hollow breeze still groaned and whistled over the looming mountain, sending swirls of snow dancing across the snowy earth, glittering in the light of the moons as it danced with the breeze. The tree’s shivered and creaked in the breeze, making them seem alive as a hollow darkness fell.

Demelza shivered at each noise that echoed through the almost empty arena, the hair on the back of her neck prickled as she heard a twig snap somewhere among the trees. She allowed her gaze to scan the distant silver darkness that leached away the golden glow of the campfire if you went far enough- shadows played tricks on her mind, shadows moved among the trees and it took a couple of seconds for her to realize that each seemingly human body she saw moving between the trees was only the shadow of a tree itself- or another tree beyond it. Sometimes, though, she swore the shadows looked too real to be just that, shadows.

With a small sigh, she turned her attention back to the fire which continued to dance and lick at the midnight silver world around it, hungrily consuming the cold as in turn it emitted warmth. Tugging her knees closer to her chest, Demelza watched the embers of the fire flicker and dance as they rose into the silver twilight, before fading away into nothing as they were stolen away from the breeze. In this world she found herself in, a world of eternal winter, she had never seen something so beautiful as a fire unfurling itself on wood, creating light, heat, warmth for her to survive nature's cruelty. Strangely, it reminded her of home.

In her little house back in Five, the main room- both the kitchen and living room- consisted mainly of a large hearth that had been constructed by Demelza’s great grandfather some seventy years ago. It was rarely used, rarely lit as firewood was hard to come by in a district that used most of its fuel on the factories that burnt relentlessly into the night, casting smoke into the sky and blocking out most of the stars. There was no real need to light the hearth though, as winters were rarely as cruel as the one that had embraced this arena, the factories somehow created a warmth that kept snow from settling and when it did, by morning it would be slush.

Glancing down at the few items she had collected, her gaze immediately fell on the flower. Picking it up, she examined its delicate perfection, its petals almost as white as the snow which surrounded her- in the light of the moons and the fire which burnt before her, the flower looked almost like it had been carved by some celestial being, created by the hands of an angel. Yet even something created by perfection itself had its flaws. On closer inspection, Demelza could see that the petals were drying, curling away from the center as it slowly starved. It was wilting- her heart sunk at the realization that by games end, if the frost had not taken it, then the petals would all be but gone.

Demelza was drawn from the flower and the thought of it falling apart, by the thunderous hail of music that rained from the sky. Her whole body tensed as she looked up to see the anthem slowly unfurl in the midnight sky. It casts the world in a sickly emerald green, even the moons silverlight and her fires golden is drowned out by it as the symbol of panem fades away and is replaced by a face. Despite having spent most of her 17 years watching the games, seeing the anthem play on her screen at home, nothing could prepare her for the sudden punch to the gut as a smiling child's face appeared in the sky. The first is a careers- a face she does not recognize but as the girl’s face faded, it was the next that almost knocked the breath out of her.

The blonde felt a lump form in her throat as Johannes’s face replaced the girls from one, his lopsided grin filling up the night sky. She had not known him well, but the days they had spent together on the train and in the apartment back in the capitol had reminded her of home- he had been kind to her. Now, as she watched his face fade from the sky to be replaced by another, she realized that now that would be nothing more than her last memory of him; she told herself she should have at least felt grateful for not having to be the one to kill him. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes as she tugged her knees closer to her chest, resting her cheek against the top of her knees as she just listened to the anthem fade into the night to be replaced by the silence and the crackle of her fire.

The morning came far too quickly. Demelza woke suddenly, unsure and confused for a few moments before she remembered where she was- her sleep had been intermittent and as the wind howled she had been lulled in and out of it. Blinking, she saw that snow was delicately falling around her and that it had already buried what remained of her fire. As she pushed herself up into a sitting position, pressing her hand to her forehead as she tried to muster some sort of alertness, a soft beeping carried on the wind.

Looking up towards the overcast clouds, she saw a tiny parachute sinking from the sky. Rising to her feet, Demelza jumped up to grab hold of the silver parachute as it sunk towards the ground, rapping her hands around whatever it was carrying. Her brow furrowed as she turned the strange looking glasses in her hands, tilting her head to side as she tried to decipher what the hell they were. Detaching the parachute, Demelza slipped the band and the goggles over her face, putting them over her eyes. She stifled a giggle, as the world was suddenly cast into an odd shade of burnt orange.

As she stared through the pair of goggles at the world now in sepia tone, she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. Turning, Demelza found herself face to face with an incredibly cute and fluffy creature. She smiled weakly as she pulled the goggles off, resting them against the crown of her head as she knelt down to smile at the little fox creature. “Hey there,” she said with a small smile as she reached out to pet the animal “You look too darn cute to be a mutt…”

Her naivety almost cost her. As if it were listening, the creature suddenly growled, and its soft fluffy fur suddenly turned into hundreds upon hundreds of tiny icy needles. “Oh shit.” She hissed as she suddenly swung her foot round to strike the creature with the sharp points of the crampons she had been gifted the day before.

table by Briar