Hugo Beauchesne // District 7 // Fin

Arrows Retired Staff 3,236 POSTS Pronouns: He/Him last seen May 23, 2023 16:50:31 GMT -5 your resident blonde bisexual boy	Hugo Beauchesne // District 7 // Fin Aug 9, 2019 1:03:47 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Arrows on Aug 9, 2019 1:03:47 GMT -5 the masked boy of the forest 16
	Last Edit: Aug 9, 2019 2:13:52 GMT -5 by Arrows Graphic by the Breathtakingly Talented Stare

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Hugo Beauchesne // District 7 // Fin Aug 9, 2019 1:35:03 GMT -5

Quote

Post by Arrows on Aug 9, 2019 1:35:03 GMT -5

It was a small house, built of oak and scented with the sweetness of lilac. There was a flickering fire and a man who shared his eyes of blue to stoke its furling flames. There was a bird feeder too, nestled into the crook of the porch where the woman with hair as light as his would sit and smile. He knew it well, from every broken board in the floor to every tiny crawl space in the walls. It was his home, filled with his family and surrounded by soft stirring birds of song. A picturesque peacefulness which defined the entirety of his early existence. Yet, in the five years he spent with birds and the quaint cabin, he never had a toy or a room. There was more whispers and silent stares than there were nights spent out in the woman's lap beneath the stars. His bed was a make-shift cushion and his meals were often measured in the length of his growling stomach. Perhaps that's why the man had taken him into the forest that night.

The moon was mesmerizing, grandiose floating above unfurling flows of mist. The quiet concerto of crickets invited excitement into the five year old following the steps of the blue eyed man. Hugo supposes he could call the man his Father, but what happened next burns the title in the same fire he remembers so clearly. They had just passed a bubbling brook bordered by burgeoning cat tails when they came across an elderly oak tree. The five year old looked upon its bent branches and gnarled trunk with an electrified imagination. What magic could the man have brought him here to witness? He found out as he was placed on the moss-mangled roots by the man who shone with a small smile beneath the moon's embrace.

"My dear boy, let us play a game."

The five year old was enraptured in rampant fascination.

"Close your eyes and sing a song. When you've finished, I will be back."

What could the man be going to get? Maybe a surprise! There wasn't even a second of hesitation before young Hugo shut his eyes and started serenading the moon with his own version of Twinkle, Twinkle little star. The perfect example of the absolute trust a child can place into their parents, a trust that they never imagine to be broken. But when the song ended, all Hugo opened his eyes to see was the moon and its mist. He was sure that the man was coming, he said he'd be back. However, the night got cold, even in a thick child's jacket, and the tears came quickly. Time went on, and still he was alone.

Abandoned.

Morning had almost overtaken evening when the old woman arrived. She had awoken early to travel across the forest when she found him. Small and shriveled, cheeks red while lost in a fitful sleep. She stirred him with the softest touch, clung to him as he cried more. And when she had walked him home to discover an empty house and a darker truth, she took him deeper into the forest. At her cottage he could be away from the noise, away from the world which had left a little boy alone. The day before she was a childless old woman, that night she became a mother.

Life didn't fully lighten for Hugo after that though. Even with the new last name of Beachesne and a wonderful Mother, hardship hung heavily to him. His story, his life, became one of myth to the other children of the District. It was spread around at lightning speeds that he was the spirit of a boy lost in the woods after losing sight of his family. It was said that if a child were to even speak with him then he would respond in the tongue of phantoms and they would be taken and turned into one of the masks he wears.

Obviously the story is incredibly false, based only on very vague pieces of truth. He did not get lost, he was abandoned. As for the masks, they became an avid part of his life. His Mother, Myriam Beauchesne, crafts incredible wooden masks with all natural paints. However, not many knew, and still don't know, that she lives in the forest and that she has a son. Thus, when they would, and still do, see a boy in the forest wearing a mask, assumptions are made. As for the final piece of Hugo's legend, it is not a language of the undead. In archaic terms, it is French, but even he and Myriam, who's Mother spoke it to her first do not know its true name. After being adopted, he learned both English and the Myriam's "Language", perhaps the closest to what French in Panem can ever be. When others hear such strange sounds, the idea of the voice of the dead is very appealing to the story.

Naturally, Hugo has suffered from the tale tied to him. Without the extra circumstances of myth, Hugo is already highly introverted and finds himself riddled with distrust. Often he is alone, wandering the same woods he once found himself abandoned in. Yet despite the loneliness he feels, gratitude levels his thoughts. He's alive and lucky enough to have a woman, a Mother, who truly cares about him. He knows he could have died, frozen that night in the forest. It's often undisclosed, but Hugo is simply grateful for the second chance he has been given. Even if it comes with legends and lies.

Away from the emotions of society, Hugo finds security and a pathway for expression through the same craft as his Mother. Every mask he makes is an opportunity to expose the self he leaves hidden away. Any emotion he's feeling he can carve, he can paint. He doesn't need a voice to listen or to comfort him. He can see himself perfectly fine through the skills of his own hands. Perhaps one day he will be more than a broken boy and his masks of emotions, but for now he's content. Hugo knows there is so many words tied to his identity, but even more so than that, he knows only he can truly decide who he is.

Last Edit: Aug 9, 2019 2:10:56 GMT -5 by Arrows

Graphic by the Breathtakingly Talented Stare

Arrows Retired Staff 3,236 POSTS Pronouns: He/Him last seen May 23, 2023 16:50:31 GMT -5 your resident blonde bisexual boy	Hugo Beauchesne // District 7 // Fin Aug 9, 2019 2:13:25 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Arrows on Aug 9, 2019 2:13:25 GMT -5 ripred_bot
	Graphic by the Breathtakingly Talented Stare

Tom Moderator 5,143 POSTS Pronouns: He/Him last seen Apr 27, 2024 2:52:05 GMT -5 OowoO	Hugo Beauchesne // District 7 // Fin Aug 9, 2019 2:22:28 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by Tom on Aug 9, 2019 2:22:28 GMT -5 I want to protect Hugo!
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