Finally Facing Faces {Victory Tour, Kind of open?}
Jun 29, 2011 12:01:55 GMT -5
Post by Tsarashi 2.0 on Jun 29, 2011 12:01:55 GMT -5
The Victory Tour. Even the name of it sounded grand and inviting. The food was phenomenal, at the parties people laughed and danced, the outfits were beautiful and the gifts extravagant. Even though all of these things were going on the current Victor couldn’t help but shy away from it all. At some point, maybe in District 8, she realized that she was the only one having such a terrible time. Or at least, she felt that she was on that same low level that the families of the other Tributes were, only lower.
When she had arrived home in District 12 Heron was greeted by her parents and many other people that she knew from the District. There were cameras, lots of chatter and even more faces that she couldn’t take it all in at once. There was everything but the one thing that she had been looking forward to since the day she left. There was no Fletcher. Or at least, she didn’t see him before she was ushered off to her new home; a god-awfully large building with the ugliest furnishing which she would hope to change once she got the chance.
Nightmares haunted her at night so logically she found herself sleeping during the days. Heron had slept so much that she didn’t even know how many days had gone by. Sleep was inviting and terrifying at the same time, but it kept her from the reality and was the first stage in her readjustment back into family living. Her parents hovered over her whenever she came into consciousness and they worried at her bedside, completely relieved to have their daughter alive and safe only for her to come home and catch a fever.
Fever?
Right, Heron thought back, that was another reason why she had continued to fall in and out of consciousness for an untold amount of time. She was sick, though she continued to speculate that it was a mental illness caused by her nightmares, she wouldn’t have been surprised if it was. Nobody was allowed to see her for fear that she would only become worse, which included Fletcher. Heron had been within such a tangible distance of him for who knew how many days and yet she had yet to see him even once.
Then the next thing she knew Mima was there clicking her tongue impatiently at the state of her designer project. Having hair ripped off of your body certainly does wake you up, regardless of your state of health. Her people, whom she still didn’t know the names of, were disappointed that Heron hadn’t been working on a talent. She’d get right on that, she’d told them, between the sleeping and the nightmares she would make absolutely sure to get right on that.
Once they were on the train her staff began to slowly introduce to her an estrogen pill that, with time, would fix the hormone imbalance that had made her so masculine. Heron hoped that it wouldn’t change her too much, but if she was going to live as a woman she might as well go all out. With that in mind the tomboy actually took two looks at a frilly green dress that Mima had made her before denying it. Baby steps. Instead she chose a silk blue pantsuit that felt otherworldly with a white under blouse.
Also on the train they forced her to wear the fake legs that had been given to her and were forgotten about since she hadn’t been away from a bed in some time. It was awkward and difficult to get used to them. But she surprised everyone when she started to walk on her own around District 8. It was still wobbly at first, but once Heron was determined to do something she wouldn’t stop until it was complete. Even if that meant practicing to walk on a moving train so that she didn’t have to rely on any of these annoying people any more. Her independence was her first priority. She was sturdy by the time they got to District 6.
Stopping through all the other Districts felt like a terrible, painful chore to Heron, like she was being forced to pick up a large amount of tiny barbs but not knowing where they are, constantly being pricked until it was a dull pain. She didn’t know those Tributes, so she had nothing to say about them which made her feel bad, but at the same time she didn’t want to care about what all of these people thought about her. That way of thinking was hard to keep when there is a camera in your face. All of her smiles were fake, if she bothered to smile at all that is. She just wanted to go home and finally see that boy. Her afternoons and evenings on the train were spent daydreaming and ignoring her stylist.
That was when they made their next stop, one that she was looking forward to the least and the most at the same time. District 5, Storm’s home. He had a good sized family, that was all she knew. Throughout all of the time that her and Storm had spent together they didn’t really get into too much detail about their family lives. Heron wondered what she would see when she stepped out onto the veranda that overlooked the city that was a strange combination of factories and farmland. It wasn’t as big as 11, and it wasn’t as industrialized as 9, in fact, it seemed rather comfortable compared to what she was used to.
Nothing she had imagined in her mind could have prepared her for the sight of his family. If anything she had imagined him to have at least one brother, but no, apparently he had sisters. Several sisters. All of which looked strikingly similar to him. The oldest looked to be around her age, and briefly Heron wondered if there were any similarities between herself and that girl that Storm had seen to urge him to continue helping her. “Heron…you are going to go home and you will be back with your family.” Heron shook her head to rid it of the memory that decided to emerge at such a bad time and continued to listen to the Mayor’s speech.
“Just get it in your head, Europa!” Heron stiffened and surreptitiously peered down at the girls again. Which one of them was Europa? There was still so much that Heron wanted to know, but it choked her up thinking about it. When it was her time to talk she did so quietly, reading what was on the paper in front of her. She couldn’t force herself to look up again; the tears would have come if she looked at the girls. Storm had meant to much to her in the arena, but she was the one who took him from them. They must hate her. After the small speech she was allowed to say some personal things, she knew that, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. She just stood there biting her lip.
Thankfully Heron didn’t have to stand there awkwardly for too long, the Mayor concluded the piece with handing her a bouquet of flowers, flowers that she thought were obtrusive. The flowers were cut, dead; she felt as if he was giving her corpses and their sweet fragrance was transformed into the stench of blood and sweat in her mind. The black haired girl turned around to walk back inside, but after only three steps she found herself running for the first time in a long time. Sure, everyone in the District could see her cowardice, but that was better than seeing the hot tears that were threatening to fall for the first time since she had left the arena.
Heron continued to run awkwardly, still getting used to her legs, flowers in hand. Nobody chased her; they trusted her to come back to the dining hall at the assigned time. There weren’t many peacekeepers around, not that they would punish her anyway. She despised the special treatment that they gave her. Doors flung open and she found herself outside, the sun shone brightly and she needed to block it from her eyes before adjusting. Heron continued, not caring if she was allowed outside or not, she continued past the houses until she found that she couldn’t go any further. A fence blocked her way, which she only noticed after ramming into it. A few petals fell to the ground from the flowers in her hand.
Heron took her time to catch her breath, which was made difficult with the stream of moisture falling from her clouded eyes.[/size] ”Stupid. This is so stupid!” She cried to the empty field in front of her. Slowly she felt herself sliding to her knees, the plastic of her false legs was cold through on her thighs. ”Who the hell thought this would be a good idea!?” Now that she was down Heron didn’t know if she would be able to trust herself to stand again, it was difficult enough without the choking and the tears. So she just sat there against the wooden fence that housed who knew what kind of animal, waiting for the tears to stop.
(ooc=So, I am finally back and decided to do a few Districts for the tour and I'm starting at 5. Sorry for taking so long, just know that I'm back now. Sorry that I didn't write what they said, it would have been rather generic anyway. Also I sort of wrote this forgetting about the whole 'no leg' thing so I hope no one is too angry that I sped up the therapy process a tad)
When she had arrived home in District 12 Heron was greeted by her parents and many other people that she knew from the District. There were cameras, lots of chatter and even more faces that she couldn’t take it all in at once. There was everything but the one thing that she had been looking forward to since the day she left. There was no Fletcher. Or at least, she didn’t see him before she was ushered off to her new home; a god-awfully large building with the ugliest furnishing which she would hope to change once she got the chance.
Nightmares haunted her at night so logically she found herself sleeping during the days. Heron had slept so much that she didn’t even know how many days had gone by. Sleep was inviting and terrifying at the same time, but it kept her from the reality and was the first stage in her readjustment back into family living. Her parents hovered over her whenever she came into consciousness and they worried at her bedside, completely relieved to have their daughter alive and safe only for her to come home and catch a fever.
Fever?
Right, Heron thought back, that was another reason why she had continued to fall in and out of consciousness for an untold amount of time. She was sick, though she continued to speculate that it was a mental illness caused by her nightmares, she wouldn’t have been surprised if it was. Nobody was allowed to see her for fear that she would only become worse, which included Fletcher. Heron had been within such a tangible distance of him for who knew how many days and yet she had yet to see him even once.
Then the next thing she knew Mima was there clicking her tongue impatiently at the state of her designer project. Having hair ripped off of your body certainly does wake you up, regardless of your state of health. Her people, whom she still didn’t know the names of, were disappointed that Heron hadn’t been working on a talent. She’d get right on that, she’d told them, between the sleeping and the nightmares she would make absolutely sure to get right on that.
Once they were on the train her staff began to slowly introduce to her an estrogen pill that, with time, would fix the hormone imbalance that had made her so masculine. Heron hoped that it wouldn’t change her too much, but if she was going to live as a woman she might as well go all out. With that in mind the tomboy actually took two looks at a frilly green dress that Mima had made her before denying it. Baby steps. Instead she chose a silk blue pantsuit that felt otherworldly with a white under blouse.
Also on the train they forced her to wear the fake legs that had been given to her and were forgotten about since she hadn’t been away from a bed in some time. It was awkward and difficult to get used to them. But she surprised everyone when she started to walk on her own around District 8. It was still wobbly at first, but once Heron was determined to do something she wouldn’t stop until it was complete. Even if that meant practicing to walk on a moving train so that she didn’t have to rely on any of these annoying people any more. Her independence was her first priority. She was sturdy by the time they got to District 6.
Stopping through all the other Districts felt like a terrible, painful chore to Heron, like she was being forced to pick up a large amount of tiny barbs but not knowing where they are, constantly being pricked until it was a dull pain. She didn’t know those Tributes, so she had nothing to say about them which made her feel bad, but at the same time she didn’t want to care about what all of these people thought about her. That way of thinking was hard to keep when there is a camera in your face. All of her smiles were fake, if she bothered to smile at all that is. She just wanted to go home and finally see that boy. Her afternoons and evenings on the train were spent daydreaming and ignoring her stylist.
That was when they made their next stop, one that she was looking forward to the least and the most at the same time. District 5, Storm’s home. He had a good sized family, that was all she knew. Throughout all of the time that her and Storm had spent together they didn’t really get into too much detail about their family lives. Heron wondered what she would see when she stepped out onto the veranda that overlooked the city that was a strange combination of factories and farmland. It wasn’t as big as 11, and it wasn’t as industrialized as 9, in fact, it seemed rather comfortable compared to what she was used to.
Nothing she had imagined in her mind could have prepared her for the sight of his family. If anything she had imagined him to have at least one brother, but no, apparently he had sisters. Several sisters. All of which looked strikingly similar to him. The oldest looked to be around her age, and briefly Heron wondered if there were any similarities between herself and that girl that Storm had seen to urge him to continue helping her. “Heron…you are going to go home and you will be back with your family.” Heron shook her head to rid it of the memory that decided to emerge at such a bad time and continued to listen to the Mayor’s speech.
“Just get it in your head, Europa!” Heron stiffened and surreptitiously peered down at the girls again. Which one of them was Europa? There was still so much that Heron wanted to know, but it choked her up thinking about it. When it was her time to talk she did so quietly, reading what was on the paper in front of her. She couldn’t force herself to look up again; the tears would have come if she looked at the girls. Storm had meant to much to her in the arena, but she was the one who took him from them. They must hate her. After the small speech she was allowed to say some personal things, she knew that, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. She just stood there biting her lip.
Thankfully Heron didn’t have to stand there awkwardly for too long, the Mayor concluded the piece with handing her a bouquet of flowers, flowers that she thought were obtrusive. The flowers were cut, dead; she felt as if he was giving her corpses and their sweet fragrance was transformed into the stench of blood and sweat in her mind. The black haired girl turned around to walk back inside, but after only three steps she found herself running for the first time in a long time. Sure, everyone in the District could see her cowardice, but that was better than seeing the hot tears that were threatening to fall for the first time since she had left the arena.
Heron continued to run awkwardly, still getting used to her legs, flowers in hand. Nobody chased her; they trusted her to come back to the dining hall at the assigned time. There weren’t many peacekeepers around, not that they would punish her anyway. She despised the special treatment that they gave her. Doors flung open and she found herself outside, the sun shone brightly and she needed to block it from her eyes before adjusting. Heron continued, not caring if she was allowed outside or not, she continued past the houses until she found that she couldn’t go any further. A fence blocked her way, which she only noticed after ramming into it. A few petals fell to the ground from the flowers in her hand.
Heron took her time to catch her breath, which was made difficult with the stream of moisture falling from her clouded eyes.[/size] ”Stupid. This is so stupid!” She cried to the empty field in front of her. Slowly she felt herself sliding to her knees, the plastic of her false legs was cold through on her thighs. ”Who the hell thought this would be a good idea!?” Now that she was down Heron didn’t know if she would be able to trust herself to stand again, it was difficult enough without the choking and the tears. So she just sat there against the wooden fence that housed who knew what kind of animal, waiting for the tears to stop.
(ooc=So, I am finally back and decided to do a few Districts for the tour and I'm starting at 5. Sorry for taking so long, just know that I'm back now. Sorry that I didn't write what they said, it would have been rather generic anyway. Also I sort of wrote this forgetting about the whole 'no leg' thing so I hope no one is too angry that I sped up the therapy process a tad)