the contemplation [semper/open]

As she sat there, her body motionless, she wondered how long she'd been out. Ash had told Roy, her older brother, where she was going but hadn't exactly specified that she was going out to the forest. Still, it was obvious that she had; where else would she have gone?

She let out a deep breath and leaned against the tree, squinting through the dimming light of the evening. Gradually, her body began to relax...until the sound of footsteps came from somewhere below, startling her. Ash trembled, almost losing her balance, until her hand shot out at the last minute to grab the nearest tree branch. She steadied herself and peered through the leaves.

It was a boy. Well, possibly a boy around her age if not a year older. His chestnut hair stood out under the setting sun, seeming to spring out all sorts of colors. Ash raised her eyebrows questioningly, watching him for a moment, until the boy's eyes turned to meet hers.

She almost fell out of the tree again, but somehow managed to stay motionless and stoic at the last second. The boy, she realized, wasn't wearing the earth toned colors of District 5. The corner of her lips pulled up into a side smile of interest. Although... Ash let the thought hang for a moment. Then - "Hey." She hoped her expression was emotionless enough to pull the impression off like she'd been doing countless of times. "You're not from here, are you?"

The milliseconds ticked past slowly, deliberately. Ash always measured time in milliseconds; she didn't have patience for anything longer. But the boy at least had the right idea to reply right away, even if it was just a subtle shake of his head. No. She leaned back again, satisfied with the answer. Of course, she'd expected it, but seeing it before her very eyes was much better.

Still, she wondered what could be so hard with just a simple No out loud.

That was when the boy made a recognizable gesture, indicating that he couldn't talk. He was a mute, then, or an Avox. But the latter was more confusing and complicated, so Ash stuck with the first. She nodded to show that she understood and said, "Hold on." Quickly and as silently as she could, she made her way down the tree, landing on the ground once she had pushed off of the last branch. Now she faced the boy, tilting her head to one side with implied curiosity. Ash was wondering about his form of communication; to her, communication was uncessary most of the time. But maybe it was different to someone else.

"Can you tell me your name?" she asked, her voice still composed. She just hoped that it didn't sound too rude. Ash wasn't looking forward to anything bitter today.

Devroux. Ash nodded, a satisfied smile on her lips. So this was his form of communication. It made sense after all; scratching out messages was the easiest, simplest way, and wasn't too hard to understand. Ash could feel her curiosity growing but she didn't push it. Instead she waited; the boy named Devroux seemed to be writing something else now on the trail.

I'm an Avox.

Ash felt something jump inside her, but she smothered it down. So he was an Avox. That would explain why he couldn't talk, but it did bring up more and more questions. Ash frowned, contemplative again, and took a seat on the grass. Normally she wasn't this curious or laid-back, but Devroux was an exception. She patted the ground, gesturing for him to sit down as well. There was no need to say anything out loud for that.

"So you're an Avox?" Ash paused, collecting her thoughts, only to say "How did you become one?" in an abrupt, blunt voice. She knew Devroux was probably expecting that question, but that didn't mean anything. She had never met an Avox before and this was her chance to get some answers.

It took awhile for Devroux to reply, mainly because he had so much to write. But Ash was patient, her curiosity ironically keeping her at ease. She waited until he was finished and then quietly read through what he had written.

So he had been a rebel. That made sense, of course. Normally that was what an Avox started out as before they became...an Avox. At least that was what Ash thought. Her dark eyes lingered on the last few words: ...and then thrown back out into the wilderness and left for dead. For some reason it surprised her that Devroux wasn't part of the Capitol now.

"They didn't want you?" She paused, thinking hard. Most Avoxes she'd heard about were servants to the Capitol, helpers to the Tributes of the Games. Meeting Devroux as a sort-of runaway was interesting. Still, there was another bit of his story that bothered her, one Devroux didn't know, or had left out on purpose. "What about your brothers? Do you know what happened to them?"

Devroux's reply came after a few more seconds and scratches as he wrote out his words. Ash ran through the sentence quickly and pursed her lips. It must be horrible for him to live on his own, in a way, without anyone to back him up. Although Ash was more used to being by herself, she still had her brother to help her if she needed it.

She sighed to herself. She couldn't somewhat understand him now, though she was still curious. It seemed with each word Devroux wrote another question would spring into her head.

"Are your parents still alive?" she asked, the words coming out harsher than she had meant them to. But Ash didn't bother trying to soften whatever she was going to say next. Devroux was already lucky enough to hear her talk so much; she rarely got this conversational or curious. In fact, she rarely asked questions at all. She couldn't remember the last time she had said this much.

His parents. Ash let her gaze flicker away for a moment, temporarily distracted. His parents could be dead as well, just like her own. But she knew that Devroux had it worse. With his two brothers gone and the rest of his family possibly dead, it was nothing compared to the very little amount of members Ash still had in her family, and it certainly was no competition when it came to who was taking care of her. She at least had Roy.

For some reason though, Ash tried to keep the pity off of her face. Instead she concentrated on something else this time, which were the letters Devroux was currently scratching into the dirt. A few words form, then a readable question. Ash suppressed a wry smile.

How'd the Reaping go for you?

She thought of Semper and had to hide her grimace. "It was fine." And then, for some reason, she felt compelled to say more. "One of my...acquaintances was chosen though. I didn't know him that well." Ash paused, not entirely sure what point she was trying to make. Finally she ended it with a quick, "Have you been keeping up with the Hunger Games news lately as well?"