Unwanted Company [[Lulu]]

the tombstones were waiting, they were half engraved

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Nothing excited Kiara Mason more than a run through the woods. In the shadows of the towering trees she felt at home; the common forest noises were more familiar to her than the sounds of her lifelong home, District Eleven. With a knife at her belt for protection, she felt safer here than anywhere; here in her own world of green and brown nothing could get her. The biggest scare this deep in the woods would be a bear, or maybe a wolf. The young teenager preferred those because they made themselves apparent right away. They were things that one could fight, obstacles that one could rid themselves of just by learning the proper technique. They was nothing like the threat that loomed over the heads of every citizen in Panem: the Capitol. Unpredictable, unknown, ever-changing. No one had any way of knowing when they would strike next.

Or who would be their next victim.

Oftentimes Kiara considered leaving. But she'd never ran away before, she'd only ran. The difference was that she'd always returned, no matter how much time she spent away. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle escaping for good. It wasn't that she was unsure of her ability to survive on her own in the wild; she'd be able to do that, no problem. She was small, incredibly fast, good at hiding, and practiced in the art of hunting. She had deadly aim with a throwing knife, and could kill a small animal from a distance, no problem. No, she'd be able to survive. But there was something holding her to society, keeping her from leaving...her brother's spirit would remain here.

Of course, he was gone. He'd died some years ago in the Games, and no matter how long she mourned him, Kiara knew he wasn't coming back. But he was here; when she was home in District Eleven it wasn't hard to feel him with her, in the Orchards, the Fields, in their small but quaint little house. He was there to her, even though to everyone else he wasn't.

In the woods, however, it was harder to feel him with her. It was like...she lost him every time she crossed the District line. And if she left, that was like leaving him behind forever along with everything else. It was stupid, yes. But he was her brother, her only sibling. And if there was some way to keep him with her, any way at all, she would do it.

So that was why the pixie-like fourteen year old's frequent trips into the woods always ended with her running off back to home once again. Maybe she'd leave one day, but that time hadn't come yet.

She'd only been out for a little while today, and she didn't plan on staying out long. Sometimes she was in the forest for three or four days at a time, once even a week. But today she was just going for a run, hunting a bit as well. She'd return soon.

A bird cawed somewhere to the right of her, and as she snapped her head to the side to find where it was perched--if it was on the ground she could catch it, maybe--movement in a clearing caught her eye. An animal? No, as her gaze focused she noticed a spot of color, a flash of fabric. Animals didn't wear clothes.

There were humans in the clearing.

Her insticts screamed at her to run away; they'd never catch her. But she was curious to see what someone was doing this far into the forest, when no one else was about. So she stole over to a thick area of trees and peered out to where the humans were.

There was two of them, an older girl and a younger boy. The boy had a knife, the girl had...an axe. Kiara felt a twinge of envy, but pushed it away immediately. She'd tried axes before, but they just didn't work as well for her as daggers and throwing knives did. Too heavy, too clunky. She preferred lightweight weapons that could slice easily through the air. Out of habit her fist clenched tight around the knife at her belt, although these humans didn't look dangerous at all. Just in case, though, she'd remain hidden. The black-haired girl took a step backwards to further conceal herself behind the tree...

Crack. There was a snapping sound, earsplitting against the silence of the woods, as she tread on a fallen branch. Crap. They'd know for certain she was here now. Oh, well. At least they seemed fairly harmless. Holding on to this assumption she stepped out from behind the tree, just a little bit, enough so that they could see her. She wouldn't come out fully, yet. If they thought she was dangerous, they'd run. If they didn't, they'd approach her.

She would wait.

they knew it was over, just didn't know the date.

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These strangers in the woods clearly were not expecting someone like her to make an appearance. Of course, when you're expecting something dangerous and you've got your weapons at the ready, seeing a girl in front of you who looks to be about eleven is a bit of a letdown. At least, it would be for Kiara, anyway. If she wasn't the 'little' girl herself...

Sometimes it was useful, being such a small fourteen year old. She was built for speed, and her size aided that. It was very easy to hide when you stood only at five foot. And it was easy to convince others of your innocence, when you looked years younger than you were. Even if you weren't innocent which, with Kiara Mason, was usually the case.

Other times, though, her build infuriated her. For one, as much as she wished it, she wasn't physically strong. Heavier weapons troubled her, which was why she stuck diligently with her knives. They were light and, in the right hands, deadly accurate. But bigger things, axes, clubs, maces, things of that sort, were difficult for the small fourteen-year-old to manage. She'd only tried homemade ones, too; she imagined the real things would be three times as troublesome.

And then, also, there was the assumptions people made when they saw her that made her raving mad; she was always treated as the child, spared from the hardest jobs by those who 'took pity' on her, while others her age, younger even, were treated like adults just because they were significantly larger and stronger. People didn't realize the things she could do, the way she'd managed to get around her limitations. Apparently the only skill that mattered in Eleven was strength for harvesting and planting.

The older girl introduced herself and the other one, the smaller boy, but Kiara did not do the polite thing and announce her name as well. She ignored the hand held out to her as well. The only comment she really noted was the one about the weapons. "Weapons are good," she replied coolly. "For all you knew, I could have been a maneating animal." The emerald-eyed girl took a few steps in the direction of the two people, though hardly leaving the safe haven of her tree. "Or worse."

[/color] Peacekeepers. Vicious convicts, escaped from their districts. Capitolians themselves, ready to execute you for trespassing. The possibilities were endless, really. And none would result in a good outcome.

Kiara watched as the girl instructed her young companion to pocket his weapon. He'd kept it up longer than she had. Smart kid. He obviously had better instincts than she did; what if Kiara really had been dangerous? The girl who had let her guard down so fast would be dead, while the boy, at least, would have put up some sort of fight. He needn't have lowered it now, either. Kiara herself wouldn't have. And besides, she was used to having weapons pointed at her; it was common when you were openly hostile to anyone you ran into. [/color][/size][/blockquote]

It took every ounce of willpower Kiara posessed not to let out a snicker. Really, did this girl honestly think she'd meet anyone in those woods who would give her a handshake without clawing her eyes out first? "Oh, really?" Kiara responded, making her voice sound interested in a very mocking kind of way. "Well, I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

[/color] She let her gaze travel upward so that her exasperated eyeroll could not be seen. She still didn't put her hand out for a shake, though, nor did she introduce herself.

She looked the girl and the boy over searchingly, trying to determine how old they were. The older one was...maybe her age? Even younger, probably, as Kiara was nearing fifteen. She looked rather reckless with that axe, although the young teenager had to admit that being able to hunt with a weapon like that was really something. Kiara's own aim with an axe was far from perfect, and she'd never be able to target a moving animal with one. The boy was a lot younger, she could see, though he was built fairly stocky. All in all, it was a strange pair to find this deep in the forest surrounding District Eleven.

It would have been hard for Kiara to miss the expression on the girl's, Marcelene's, face as she looked the small, black haired girl over, as she'd seen in many times on various other faces. Disbelief, amusement. Like she didn't think Kiara was much of a threat at all. Of course, that was why she'd been so quick to lower her weapon. It figured. No one stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, her size was an asset to her. Nope.

This time, as the girl standing opposite her 'dared' her to make a move, Kiara couldn't help but let out a snicker. It was probably an extremely inappropriate response for someone who had an axe blade parallel to her throat, but Kiara had long since forgotten the correct response to a threat. She didn't get that sinking feeling of fear, only a rush of adrenaline or, in many cases, she remained completely indifferent. That was bound to get her into trouble one day, but, well...she would deal with that when it happened.

"You dare me?" Kiara raised an eyebrow, ignoring the axe pointed in her direction."Well, I wasn't planning on attacking, that would be why I'm hanging out behind this tree."[/color] Her mother, on the off occassion she saw her, often insisted that sarcasm was the language Kiara spoke most fluently. It wasn't her fault, though. People liked to mess with her.[/color][/size][/blockquote]

The young teenager watched as Marcelene smiled. Smiled? Why the hell was she smiling, out in the woods and speaking to a stranger? Of course, maybe it was normal. Kiara hardly smiled at all, not real smiles, so maybe it was just the abnormality of seeing someone else smile that surprised her. Then Macelene seemed to be searching her over, just as Kiara had done before, trying to decide what to think of her. This gave Kiara some satisfaction because it was next-to-impossible to come to any conclusions about her; small, skinny, young-looking girl, cynical personality, clutching a knife? What assumptions could anyone make just by knowing those three simple facts? Not many. Bottom line, Kiara was hard to figure out. And she liked it that way.

The little boy was staring at her as well. What was with these people and staring? Someone had to tell them that most of the time, if you looked at someone the wrong way in these woods, animals and humans alike, chances are they'd probably attack. And indeed, if she'd been looking for a fight she'd probably would have been pissed off by now and would have broken out the knife already.

The girl then asked Kiara if she was from District Eleven. Well yes, physically she was. Her childhood was there, her work was there, her parents were there. But really, as time went on, she felt less and less like a resident of the agricultural district and more like she belonged to the forest, a place where the swift-footed girl always knew what to expect. Her spirit was here, even though my proper place was there. But that was far too difficult to explain, so all she said was, "Yes. I suppose I am." For once there was no sarcasm in her voice, just a hint of perplexity, as if she was unsure whether or not her words were entirely true.

And then, to Kiara's mild surprise, the girl began to lead the boy away. "Well if you refuse to say anything useful, me and my brother shall be off." The black-haired teen rolled her eyes. "What do you mean by useful? I feel like we've had some pretty stimulating conversation already,"

[/color] she said with a snicker. Not that she really cared whether or or not Marcelene and her brother stayed. It didn't bother her either way, and besides, she preferred her own company. It was dangerous in these woods, to be accompanied by another person. The noise, the extra footprints in the dirt, the extra scent...it all added up to a bad idea. But still, Kiara rarely ever got to talk to anyone anymore. Oh well. "Alright. Be that way,"[/color] she muttered, her voice most likely too low to be heard by the speedily retreating pair. The fourteen-year-old slid down the trunk of her tree into a sitting position and began to aimlessly shave off the bark of a broken branch with her knife.[/blockquote][/justify][/size][/color]

Kiara asssumed the strange duo was gone for good, now. They couldn't possibly have any reason for hanging around. If she'd been the one conversing with a hostile cynic she would have left the first chance she got, too. Then again, though, she was the hostile cynic. So the entire thought was completely irrelevant.

As she continued working on her pointless project, though, she thought she heard the sound of two pairs of footsteps growing louder once more, as if they had turned around and decided to come back. Upon looking up she saw that her speculation had indeed been correct; there was She sighed internally. There was no way they had changed their minds because of her natural charm or particularly fine skill with people. So why were they staying?

"Hello again."The fourteen-year-old reverted her emerald gaze back to her work to show that she remained indifferent. Thin shavings of bark sliced off of the branch, floating down slowly and forming a small pile just beside her knee. She pretended to be utterly entralled by this so that she could avoid looking up and being dragged into further useless banter. This Marcelene chick seemed to really want to talk. It seemed impossible, the way she appeared to be unable to pick up on Kiara's irritation.

The smaller boy speaking caught her attention, though. "You have my mother's eyes." It took her a minute to piece this statement together, and even then she wondered why he had said it. What significance would it be to her, having the same eye pigments as the mother of these two...people? She couldn't have possibly have came across as a fountain of knowledge, eagerly anticipating any new informaion she could get. Nevertheless she still lifted her gaze to look at the pair and read their expressions. Marcelene was seated on a tree stump a few feet away, axe just by her feet as if she was trying to prove that she knew how to defend herself. She had her own eyes locked on Kiara's, as if those brilliant green orbs meant something to her. Kiara stared back, more out of boredom than anything. So, their dear old mum shared her eye color? She had to admit, it wasn't a tint you saw every day. "Oh...really? Huh. Small world, I guess."

[/color] Her voice was not dripping with its usual sarcasm, though she probably would have found this conversation much more entertaining if it had been.

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This girl was tap dancing on her last nerve, which was unsurprising, considering Kiara Mason could be pushed to her limit far too easily. Didn't this Marcelene realize how annoying she was being? Really, Kiara had just come into the woods to escape her rather irritating life in the eleventh district and now she was being assailed by affronted comments from a girl who apparently took offense to everything.

The pixie-like teenager hadn't always had such a low tolerance of people; she'd been told that she used to actually be happy and enjoy the company of others. It was hard for her to remember such times, but really it hadn't been so long ago; Colton had only died just over three years previous. This was a time when someone, presumably her mother or Cadence or Ember would advise her to thrust aside her frustration and treat this girl like the respectable human being she probably was, as she would have done earlier in her life. But doing so now didn't appeal to her in the slightest.

"Do I look like a damn history book?' Kiara rose to her feet, shaking her head and glaring. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure your past is interesting, and all. But considering I only just met you, I can't really be expected to know everything about you, can I?"

[/color] Really, how the hell was she supposed to realize that the parents of this girl and this boy were dead? It bothered her immensely that Marcelene would assume so when they'd been talking for all of five minutes, and neither had said more than a sentence or two at a time until now. And Kiara had a tendancy to fly off the handle when someone snapped at her.

Turning around to look away from the pair for a moment, the black-haired girl took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Though Marcelene was more exasperating than the imbeciles who led the apple-picking teams in the orchards, she supposed a civil human conversation was something she needed to practice. And what better opportunity than now? "You want me to say something useful? Fine, then. Name's Kiara, I'm from Eleven. 'Cept I hate Eleven, at least as of late, so I spend the majority of my time out here."[/color] She had to work to keep the disdain out of her voice, and she was still speaking with her back to them in order to compose herself. Finally she turned around, and her eyes focused on the axe buried in the trunk of the tree, and she watched as Marcelene went to go remove it.

Kiara could not help her next comment. "Nice axe,"[/color] she observed. "Do you actually know how you use it, or do you just fling it around to look badass?"[/color] Though her tone was definitely cynical, this was still her way of being curious. She really wanted to know, because though it was hard to admit, she was intrigued by someone who could possibly possess the ability to use such a clunky, heavy weapon.

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