if there were a moon | {hunters of artemis day one}
Jun 20, 2019 13:31:38 GMT -5
Post by dars on Jun 20, 2019 13:31:38 GMT -5
She could not put her finger on it when the door opened. It was not the fact that this room was the cleanest, pardon piles of glass. It was the empty glass cages above them, she finally realized. Several were more than able to accompany a human body, some smaller, some larger. The emptiness, to Harper, was concerning. Because several of the glass sheets were still completely intact, creatures peering down at them with hunger or fear or some mixture of the two, while some were decorated with giant, shattered holes in their centers. As if whatever was inside these things had grown tired of waiting for rescue and found a way to save themselves.
For a moment, she wondered what would be waiting for her beyond every turn, and she refused to let her finger off the trigger for fear that whatever else was in this room would see her as an easy meal, the smallest of the herd so, possibly, the weakest. Then she thought about what she would have done, were she finally free of the cages she'd been raised in. Like these creatures, like a rat in a labyrinth, her own freedom had always been something she could only wish for. If ever she had the opportunity to escape being seen as weak because of her size, weak because of her gender, weak because of her background, she would have. She would have ran, and ran, and ran, and she would have never looked back. Anything that had gotten free of its cage in this room was likely long gone; she found a bit of peace in that. In the freedom.
One day, she would join them.
That was why she was fighting. She reminded herself of it over and over again: to fight the oppression. To prove that strength was a matter of circumstance and then to change the fucking circumstances. To help every little girl who had the courage to look up at the stars and wish. She did not fight for a crown; she fought for wings.
She looked up at the darkness of the ceiling, the quietness. She missed the sky but, to be fair, it wasn't ever on the list of things she would no longer have. She had not anticipated an enclosed arena, and she kicked herself for it. She missed Hunter pointing out the constellations to her, missed her dad telling her which stars would always bring her home, her mother telling her all the stories about the moon. "The moon has no home. It is too busy helping us to ours in a time when we are most vulnerable."
If there were stars, I'd know my way back, she thought, and her mother's words echoed in her head.
Maybe she was never a star, but if there were a moon she'd never have a home again. There was nothing here now, not a single blink of light. Only the darkness. She could be the moon, she decided, if it helped the world to see.
"We'll stay here," she said, trying her best not to sound pushy. It had been a long day which had stretched into what she was now guessing was night time. They needed every bit of rest they could afford at this point. Harper herself was so exhausted that the mere idea of pressing forward made her eyes grow heavier with fatigue. There was a set of cubicles that had fallen free of their holdings up above; they looked a bit like the inside of a beehive. She crawled into one of the spaces and sat her bag into her lap, nodding to the others.
"You can all sleep," she said, hating herself for it even as the words came out of her mouth, "I'll take first watch."
For a moment, she wondered what would be waiting for her beyond every turn, and she refused to let her finger off the trigger for fear that whatever else was in this room would see her as an easy meal, the smallest of the herd so, possibly, the weakest. Then she thought about what she would have done, were she finally free of the cages she'd been raised in. Like these creatures, like a rat in a labyrinth, her own freedom had always been something she could only wish for. If ever she had the opportunity to escape being seen as weak because of her size, weak because of her gender, weak because of her background, she would have. She would have ran, and ran, and ran, and she would have never looked back. Anything that had gotten free of its cage in this room was likely long gone; she found a bit of peace in that. In the freedom.
One day, she would join them.
That was why she was fighting. She reminded herself of it over and over again: to fight the oppression. To prove that strength was a matter of circumstance and then to change the fucking circumstances. To help every little girl who had the courage to look up at the stars and wish. She did not fight for a crown; she fought for wings.
She looked up at the darkness of the ceiling, the quietness. She missed the sky but, to be fair, it wasn't ever on the list of things she would no longer have. She had not anticipated an enclosed arena, and she kicked herself for it. She missed Hunter pointing out the constellations to her, missed her dad telling her which stars would always bring her home, her mother telling her all the stories about the moon. "The moon has no home. It is too busy helping us to ours in a time when we are most vulnerable."
If there were stars, I'd know my way back, she thought, and her mother's words echoed in her head.
Maybe she was never a star, but if there were a moon she'd never have a home again. There was nothing here now, not a single blink of light. Only the darkness. She could be the moon, she decided, if it helped the world to see.
"We'll stay here," she said, trying her best not to sound pushy. It had been a long day which had stretched into what she was now guessing was night time. They needed every bit of rest they could afford at this point. Harper herself was so exhausted that the mere idea of pressing forward made her eyes grow heavier with fatigue. There was a set of cubicles that had fallen free of their holdings up above; they looked a bit like the inside of a beehive. She crawled into one of the spaces and sat her bag into her lap, nodding to the others.
"You can all sleep," she said, hating herself for it even as the words came out of her mouth, "I'll take first watch."
[harper fills her thermos with purified water]
[harper collects a medkit]
[harper collects 3 bundles of med plants]
[harper gives elite and fayre each 1 bundle]
[harper uses one bundle on herself for -2]
[harper uses f/a on herself for -3]
[harper uses 5 ft bandages for -1]
[harper collects a medkit]
[harper collects 3 bundles of med plants]
[harper gives elite and fayre each 1 bundle]
[harper uses one bundle on herself for -2]
[harper uses f/a on herself for -3]
[harper uses 5 ft bandages for -1]
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