Taking a Walk (Cinder)

Jezebel Winston Strange was on an adventure. She had left a long while ago, for where she did not know. All that she had known was that Jez was trapped in an average life with average people who thought she was special. What made her special, she did not know. Red hair fluttered in the wind behind her, desperately trying to catch her attention. Me! Me! It called excitedly, thinking it was the reason why people admired her. Red hair was not uncommon though. Her mom, Alika had had red hair. Her siblings Aleksander and Anyandita had red hair. Most of her cousins too, the girl Rashta had even brighter hair that curled and shimmered like it had been styled in the Capitol.

She was an Angel, thats what it was. When Jez bothered to doll herself up she looked like a small figurine that should be locked away behind a thick glass wall so that all could see her, she could see all, but nothing could touch her. The boiling-hot fury Jezebel felt at times was enough to drive her off the edge. And into the wild. Jez had tapped on her glass wall for awhile, testing its boundaries and carefully planning her escape. She was a doll escaped, a woman on the run from a life she no longer found joy in living. People told her she was charitable, but she could not help everyone. Her siblings told her she was cherished, but nobody would come near her for fear of provoking her father and all his Peacekeeper connections. She fascinated and disgusted all. They feared her, they did not love her.

So in the dead of night a handsome, young Peacekeeper in a cloak allowed her to climb aboard a train headed for the Capitol. 'Stop here,' he told her, thrusting a map into her hands. 'And I'll meet you here,' he said and pointed to another spot, this one in the middle of the woods. She was destined to leave District Twelve and join people who did not ask so much of her. Capitolites would only ask of Jez where she had gotten her hair dye and colored contacts. That was as far as they would care about her. She could fit in nicely with people like that.

Jez rode on the train for what seemed like forever, but was only possibly a few hours. She awoke at just before noon and waited for the train to stop in District One. This was where things got tricky. When Jez got off the train she had approximately three minutes to get to the border of District One where an unknown person would lead her to a whole in their fence. She would go through and hike for two hours in a certain direction labeled on her map. The good-looking Peacekeeper would be waiting for her. From there he would lead Jez to the Capitol and beyond.

So much for being just another pretty face with no brain.

By the time Jez reached a creek she was sweating and tired. It had been about an hour. She was half way to paradise by the looks of it. And thats when Jez spotted a boy, not her Peacekeeper friend, along the creek. He spotted her--how could you miss her red flag of hair?--immediately, calling out questions. Jezebel had not been told about wanderers, this was all new to her. This boy was not an illegal hunter, he was too well-dressed and unarmed to be one. He wore no uniform. What was he?

A threat. Jezebel circled around quickly and fled, feeling like an animal that had narrowly avoided a hunter. Slightly smug, still scared and ready to run for days to avoid this boy. Of course her pack had other ideas. She made it maybe seven feet before a fallen branch that was jutting out caught on the strap of her bag, scraped her arm and ensnared Jez. Her stuff was in here! No way she could leave now, so instead she shed the pack and faced the enemy, only just realizing that things had been a lot safer and maybe better in the small, glass box Jezebel the delicate doll had called her home for fifteen years.

"Hi? I'm Jezebel!" She chirped nervously and lifted her bleeding arm up to catch a stray hair that had found itself fluttering about her face. Oh the agony. This was torture if she knew the meaning of the word...

Inspired by Jezebel.

Jezebel had received some odd greetings before. Boys gave her long, slow hugs and girls would beam at her for minutes, assessing Jezebel with jealousy and hatred. Adults got down on their knees and kissed her hand. Jezebel was a coveted item, to state the obvious. Still this boy was by far the strangest she had ever met. Miss Winston Strange found her mind scrambling to respond as the tall boy seized her by the waist and pulled her into an impromptu kiss as the rain fell down around them.

How romantic, how exciting! Jez knew she should be horrified and worried about the mental condition of this forest dweller, but she had been planning on going to the Capitol just to spice up her life. Kissing cute boys in the rain was like an appetizer before the entree that was the Capitol. Of course, her mind was faster than her body so while the stranger kissed her Jezebel was as unresponsive as a plank of wood. It was a shame too, because this boy was a good Kissing in the Rain type. He was a good kisser in general. Not that Jezebel had a lot of experience, but she had been with her fair share of boys who were clumsy and dry-lipped. Not fun.

She felt like her childhood doll, Dolly (Original name, right?) Dolly had somehow found herself in a shipment of small, cheaply made toys. She was a porcelain wonder made in District One, along with all the other fineries of Panem. Alika, her mother, had been set on selling Dolly but tiny Jezebel was not one you denied. As soon as she caught sight of the blue-eyed, curly haired doll, she had gone over to it and clutched it to her chest. She had understood what it was like to be a doll, had whispered secrets into Dolly's ear for years until she was put away in storage. About the same time Jezebels mother had died, when Jez got stronger than she'd thought she could ever be.

Now Jez was the doll. This boy had seen her, coveted her and taken her as his own. He had clutched her to him and had not let go. Oh, the irony! Jez had escaped her glass box prison only to be claimed by a random crazy in the woods. The doll on the run had not been fast enough. She had been caught by... well, had he told Jez his name? Her curious blue eyes searched his face, looking for an answer as he apologized.

"Please, its alright as long as you don't do it again,"[/b[ she quietly told him, guessing he was just a sane boy with no self control instead of a potential, new stalker. She had had one of those once, not exactly fun. "I didn't catch your name, by the way," she half-asked, half-stated. Jez was a wreck, her mind had been short-circuited. It was entirely possible that after he had stolen that kiss, he had stated his name. How was she to know? Jez was staring back at the boy, her thick lashes half falling over her eyes from squinting in the rain. A thought had occurred to her, just then--she was glad she hadn't worn any make-up today.

ooc- terrible post

Satisfaction coursed through her veins. Jez always gotten what she wanted, and right now she wanted Looslic to let her be. She had just broken out of a possessive relationship with her whole family, now was not the time to be kissing boys in the woods. Besides that, Jez was headed to the Capitol and she really could not handle long-distance relationships. Especially with insane psychopaths. Not that Jezebel consciously thought of Looslic as an insane psychopath. Her gentle mind translated those words to misunderstood and in need of an understanding friend.

So when Looslic walked out of her life, she was appeased. A fiasco avoided! Bravo! For once her ability to get whatever she wanted and bend people to her subconscious will was doing something for the shopkeepers daughter. Of course, the universe had another thing coming at her. As Jezebel looked through her stuff for the map that was helping her find her destiny, she realized Looslic had not picked it up. Torn, muddy and soaked through and through, the sheet of paper had fluttered a few trees down the way. It was nobody's fault, except maybe the tree branches, but suddenly Jezebel found herself desperate and alone.

She gasped as comprehension flowed into her mind, body and soul. It replaced the satisfied feelings over Looslics decision to leave. She found herself scrambling, clawing at trees and trying to make her way toward the disappearing boy. "Wait!" she wailed in her great impression of a crying baby. People never got angry at a baby for crying, they only ever picked them up and appeased them. Jez spoke with the tone of a crying baby. The only way to appease her was for Looslic to turn around and face her. Eventually help her, of course. And that he did, or at least the turning around bit.

"My map was damaged and I really need to meet a friend. He'll be waiting for me in about an hour. Worried, no doubt. I hate to ask this of a stranger when I'm sure you'd like to be home and in some new clothes, but please Looslic, would you help me?" she gently begged him. Her red hair was plastered to her skull, that pale face was glistening with the water that had fallen onto it, gently misting her skin like a sudden peppering of wet, clear freckles. The small body of a girl and not a woman poked out from beneath her curtain of hair and the back-pack slung across her body. She resembled an innocent child. An ignorant child at that, one who had escaped the man with candy who drove a white van, only to ask him for a ride home a few moments later.

She had escaped danger, but the mischievous, playful girl who dwelled within the childish, lovely Jezebel reared her ugly head. No! She screamed as she watched a brooding, young man walk away. A handsome, good-kisser to match his bad boy complex. How could Jez ever let adventure pass her by? For a moment there had been satisfaction, but now the part of her that had driven Jez to attempt to run away from home and join her true people was once again calling the shots. She might miss her ride to the Capitol, but Jezebel had found something more than just the promise of a glitzy, glamorous life with oodles of scandals. She had found a truly worthy companion to cheer her up and brighten the long, dull days that awaited her back home.

She would take Looslic home like a stray or a hungry bum. She would be the cat to his mouse, play with him for awhile then find her absent-minded self throwing him out like last years used, worn out clothes. None of it would be intentional, rest assured Jez was a wonderful person, a Saint down to her core, but there would always be that nice-girl-mean-girl complex to her. Miss Strange would get bored of Looslic and send him away from District Twelve. First he would follow her home, then he would claim to love her--just like everybody else--and finally she would ditch him.

Her life was like clockwork. So boring, so average. If Jez had known how predictable she was being at the precise moment she chose Looslic over the Capitol, she would have strangled herself. But for now, all was fresh and new and dewy. She was ready to take on this boy. "Please," she breathed with as much seduction and charm the Faerie Child could muster.

Time flies when you're having fun, but when you're stuck in an unfamiliar forest with a raving madman who is convinced he's in love with you, it passes at a painfully slow rate. The agony was almost too much for Jez to bear, she just wanted to be away from these woods and this boy. Looslic. Of course, with no map and no good sense of direction Jez found herself with no other choices left. She had to follow him home. For some reason that dumbstruck her, for hadn't Jez been thinking about Looslic following her home like a stray animal? If Jez had had a better sense of humor, she would have seen the irony and laughed her head off.

As it was, time was passing slowly in her damp, depressed world. Dreams of riches that awaited Jez in the Capitol were all gone. Dreams of any future were gone now, she did not know how to get home! District Twelve was ages away from the land of diamonds and jewels, commonly referred to as District One. There would be no train to carry her home. Jez was a lost girl, but that thought alone depressed her, so she pushed it almost out of her mind. First thing first: Miss Strange had to stumble across civilization. She was fairly certain with a little bit--scratch that--a lot of charm and some good, old-fashioned luck.

Jez drifted behind Looslic, careful to keep him in sight without getting too close. Jez recalled a saying about boys being like boomerangs. They always came back to you. Looslic needed space now, but he would come around. He would help Jez, he had to, even a crazy Career like Looslic had to have a heart. She did not even begin to contemplate what would happen if Jezebel did not find her way home.

Again with the irony though, really she needed to develop an odd sense of humor right about now. The fiery haired trickster found life to be full of entertainment. She had escaped her prison-cell life... only to want it back so badly in only a day. She had been convinced Looslic would follow her home, and now she was hot on his trail.

Finally Looslic stopped to rest. He slumped up against a tree and gently shook. Tears. Jez did not have much experience with boys crying before her very eyes, but she had plenty of girls who had cried over guys. Did that count? Jez hoped so, she hoped with all her might because suddenly she was trudging toward Looslic. What happened next would change her life forever.

ooc- gotta go now and wont be back till friday so I had to post this terrible thing >.<

The wind whipped Jezebels hair around her head, like a fiery halo. That analogy fit her perfectly; she was the demonic angel, the angelic demon. A girl with a halo, but a halo made of fire and all that is not nice. A contradiction. That word summed her up pretty well, Jez thought to herself while her lips curved up in a wry, yet sad grin. Jez almost got to pitying herself for being the confusing girl that she was when Looslics mouth moved. The wind carried his exact words away from Jez, leaving her in the dark until a sudden cry erupted.

He had most certainly seen Jez. She eyed her red halo with distaste. Thanks a lot, Jez silently told her hair while her eyes communicated an equally quiet threat to take a pair of scissors and chop her tangle of hair off. Really, what did it do but attract unnecessary attention and get caught in things? Nothing. That's the answer. Jez thought it with an unusually high amount of conscious spite and disgust. She had shocked even the sub-conscious trickster that lived within--Jez was many things but never was she pessimistic. Not in her nature, to tell the truth.

So it was not surprising that when Jezebel scrambled toward Looslic, she had evicted that creepy smile and in its place had a goofy grin. I'm waiting, I want your help. You'll give it to me. Both him and her knew how this would turn out--they would apologize, Looslic for taking advantage of her and Jez because she genuinely felt guilty after hurting his feelings. The two of them would end up friends and finally, hopefully soon, Looslic would escort Jezebel to a train headed for District Twelve in the dead of night.

Maybe she would kiss his cheek before she left. The boy really was cute, in his own way. Anyways, now was not the time to show even the slightest bit of interest! She was supposed to come off as a regal Ice Queen in need of help. Later--after he had assured Miss Winston Strange that he would not leave her to rot, out in these woods--that would be the time for rewards.

"Yes?" Jez calmly asked Looslic upon arriving within ear-shot of him, her whole being screamed aloof except for her glittering, excited eyes. She stood a mere few feet away from him, but still found herself half-yelling. The wind threw chunks of hair into her face, rattling Jezebel and making her shiver from the cold, wet surroundings. Her Capitol-arrival clothes were ruined, not that she would be heading to the Capitol anyways. That dream was gone--even her optimistic outlook on the universe could not bring it back. She had forsaken all hope of joining the true people of Panem.

She eyed Looslic warily, wishing she had pockets to shove her hands into. She also wished their was a photographer near by to immortalize this strange moment. They were looking at each other, eye to eye, now that the much-taller Looslic was sitting on a rock. With only a few feet between them they could spring apart or come together. The rain, the whistling wind and the leaves that were being blown around only served to make a more beautiful picture, at least in Jezebels mind. What a viewer would probably see were two drenched, soggy teenagers glaring at each other while stuck together in the middle of nowhere.

What happened next, Jez did not know. She kept looking at Looslic until everything changed, once again.

She had finally been reduced to tears. Jezebel was not one to consciously draw attention to herself when she had nothing to say or do. Looslic had not noticed her softly shaking shoulders and messed up mascara yet, although he would probably notice it when she turned her face. Jezebel could see to her side a large, rough hand being held out toward her. She had not realized they were so close to District One, hardly any time had passed since Looslic had first called out to the red-haired maiden. Not in her mind. In the state her head was in though, things could be wrong. She was mixed up, time was irrelevant and a simple nuisance now. She was sick of time! Time is of the essence! Meet me at this exact time. She hadn't known Looslic for a long enough time to respond to his sudden kisses and silent declaration of love.

All of this led Jez to the sudden decision to ignore everything having to do with time. The first thing she ignored was the ages-old taboo her mother had taught her big sister, and her big sister had taught her. Don't kiss boys! Get to know them first! Jezebel eyed the hand Looslic was loosely holding toward her, she grabbed it with one hand and pulled herself closer to him, judging that by his height he weighed to much for her to pull him anywhere. Jez laced her much-smaller fingers through his while putting her other hand to his face.

And she kissed him. It was nothing exciting or romantic, just a rough kiss, as rough as Jezebel the Saint could be. When it was finished, her eyes were clear, she had stopped crying. Jez was looking at Looslic with this unimaginable expression on her face. "Satisfied? Is that better?" Her electric-blue eyes narrowed with spiteful feelings. "If I told you I want you, would you believe me? Looslic... I don't know what I want, I don't know what you want but I'm finished playing games. Lets get to know each other, lets see what can happen..."

Her words trailed off as reason and sense returned to Jezebel. She was suddenly wide-awake, torn between seizing hold of Looslic and kissing him, or punching the boy in the gut. Her small body quivered with sudden passion and emotions Jez couldn't quite name. She tugged her hand from Looslics and pulled her arms over her chest, turning away from him. Only then did the tears return, and boy did they come back. Jez could hardly stop the hiccups that kept bubbling up from within her. This was certainly not the way her day had started out. Jezebel Winston Strange had had her adventure, she was done now, ready to return to normalcy.

But of course her sudden change of heart did nothing to sway the universes decision. Jez was stuck here with a boy she might like, her lips puffy from way too many kisses in way too short an amount of time. The rain was still falling, causing her to shiver and stumble. Wind battered her and red hair got everywhere. Jez was Jez and Looslic was Looslic, but there was a subtle change between them, the way they were acting, the way Jez no longer shuddered and turned away as he approached.

Her eyes tilted up as Jezebel faced Looslic again. She wiped her face with the back of her sleeve and waited for him to say something. Jezebel needed words to help return her logic. Maybe he had realized just how wrong and odd it was for them to be attached to each other after only about an hour. Maybe the kiss had given Looslic logic and he was going to gently explain to Jezebel that kissing complete strangers was impolite and strange. But at the same time, Jez secretly hoped the two of them had gone crazy and these feelings weren't going anywhere.

Crazy, right?