>{It's more than meets the (eye) - cam}<
Nov 27, 2010 16:16:54 GMT -5
Post by shrimp on Nov 27, 2010 16:16:54 GMT -5
[/size][/color]>{anastasia}<
All you could hear was the soft clunk of arrow against targets. The rest of the room was pure silence, for most of the other Careers had already retired for the evening, bragging to their peers about their fighting prowess and whatnot. But instead, she stayed behind, deciding to work on her archery skills instead. Perhaps she could have decided to join the fellow seventeen year olds, but that hadn't seemed like an option for the girl. She just wanted to be alone for a while.
The trainer watched as she slowly raised her arm, a stance which she dreaded profusely. Inwardly, Anastasia wondered why archery was even a skill that tributes needed to learn. There never seemed to be many bows and arrows in the field; more swords and knives were up for grabs at the Bloodbath. Ana even felt likekinkywhips were more common than arrows at times. However, none of this reasoning would do her any good in the arena, on the off chance that she was chosen (or forced to volunteer). What would happen if she had to use this weapon.
So she aimed, her bow pointed towards the little yellow circle in the center of the parchment, and released. The arrow shot forward, much faster than she had anticipated, and lodged itself in the wall above the circular target. With groans from both parties, Ana looked at the trainer, who seemed to be attempting to burn a hole into her forehead. Sheepishly, the girl tried again.
THWACK!
The arrow cut through the outer ring of the target. Well, at least it hit something, the girl thought as she went to retrieve her weapons. As the arrows slowly slipped out of the holes that they had created, Anastasia wondered why she couldn't shoot arrows to save her life. She could wield a sword and a trident, so why not flimsy sticks of wood that was practically thrown at someone with this odd device?
The girl prepared to shoot again, but the trainer stopped her, insisting that he had to go and eat dinner. Apologizing, the man ran off, asking another trainer to lock up. Typical, Ana thought. That specific trainer always ran away when he had to be helping someone who was helplessly incompetent at archery. Clearly, the girl fit into this category. Ana quickly packed up her belongings and also fled, hoping to get home in time to actually do her homework in a timely fashion. Besides, she didn't want to continue to shoot arrows in a helpless fashion.
The sky was an indigo-like color as she continued to travel along the street. The stars themselves weren't visible; District 1's factory smog covered most of the sky up, only revealing the hue of the atmosphere, but not the pretty lights. A cool breeze blew her hair to and fro, causing strands of dead cells to become stuck in her mouth. Spitting them out, she reached her neighborhood. She had always like the different colors that the residents painted their houses, especially here. Her neighborhood always had a tendency to look like a rainbow.
Unfortunately, the girl's house was on the other end of the street, but she didn't mind. During the late afternoons, she could walk down the lane, looking at the different colors, wondering just how many shades could combine to make a specific color. She was no artist, but she found colors to be fascinating sometimes; visible light wasn't a term that she liked to use, but it astounded her that light could be seen differently depending on the wavelength.
As she neared her house, she spotted someone standing across the street, gazing at something. Slightly intrigued, the girl continued to walk home, gazing in the male's direction. Slowly, the girl made her way to her walkway, but then stopped. She didn't recognize the man. Muscular, with tangled hair. Hmm. It intrigued her; people from District 1 didn't really have messy hair to begin with - many simply liked to comb their hair, making sure that they looked amazing everyday.
Perhaps he was a wanderer? Ana had never actually seen one up close, but she was sure that the man would attempt to attack her or something if she went up and simply started at him. Who was he? Maybe he lived here before? There had been some family living here, with two kids. Yes... Ethan and Monaca? Something like that. But yes, Ethan did have dark hair... He seemed to be around this man's age as well. But she couldn't be sure.
So Ana simply stood there like a buffoon, watching the man stare at the house, which housed a new family; one that wasn't of any importance to her, but may be important to him. It's interesting, she pondered.
It's interesting how one thing could mean so much to one person, yet nothing to another.