{So} We//Meet\\ Again {Shrimpeh~Morgana}

Redge Kemping

You show up like a hurricane, all hungry-eyed and weather-stained

Redge never was one could call "brave." Oh, you could say that he was brave for standing up that day in the town square and shouting about the injustices of the Capitol. You could say he was brave for enduring the whipping that followed, or for escaping the Peacekeeper that was going to take him away. Brave, for going into the wild in the first place, without any knowledge of how to survive there. A person could even call him brave for attempting to break into the Capitol. But Redge had a word he though fit much better: Coward.

He never should have run. It was a stupid thing. If he'd let the Peacekeeper take him to the detention center, he only would have been gone a week, or maybe a month. He could have gotten back to Savannah quickly. He wouldn't have spent the past two years afraid to go back. That was another piece that proved his cowardice. He probably could have gotten back to her by now, but he was afraid of what he'd find when he got there. Would the Peacekeepers still be searching for him? Or worse, what if Savannah didn't need him anymore? What would he do then? Just keep wandering around aimlessly, waiting for something interesting to happen to him?

As Redge and Ariadne walked, he was too busy with his own thoughts to pay attention to her. He was too busy recounting the last two years, trying to pick out the moments when he'd almost gone back to Savannah, only to find himself walking deeper into the forest. He hated himself for those moments. He loved Savannah more than anything in the world. He should have gone back to her, no matter what. Even if the scars on his back started throbbing again whenever he started heading back to District Ten. They'd long since healed, but every once in a while, Redge imagined they ached. Sometimes, he'd wake up in the morning thinking he was back in those first couple of weeks in the forest, his back burning, the wounds closed up in the night, but jerked open again as he began traveling. His determination to get away from the Peacekeepers had beat the pain of his wounds.

They hadn't been walking for too long when they spotted a train sitting on the tracks, just about to depart. They clambered onto one of the cars, which ended up being full of livestock. The heavy animal smell reminded Redge of home. He wondered for a moment if they were outside District Ten, but he knew they weren't. He could tell by the state of the animals and their car that they'd been traveling for a while. Besides, he would have recognized the forest around the District. He settled down into a bit of hay that looked relatively dry and comfortable. It was sick, how poorly taken care of these animals were. The Capitol didn't care about them at all. They just wanted their food and clothes and things, and the rest didn't matter. The Capitol was disgusting, and for a moment, Redge wondered why he'd agreed to go there in the first place. No doubt he'd find multitudes of things to repulse him. It would be a wonder if he could get through a day there without starting a riot.

As the train started rolling forward, Redge became aware of the silence, filled only by the occasional bleats and shuffling feet of their travel partners. The train was moving so fast, it almost made Redge sick. He was glad he couldn't see outside, otherwise his small breakfast was sure to make a second appearance. He'd never been in anything so fast-moving. It was terrifying, maybe even more so than the prospect of being caught once they got to the Capitol. Partially to fill the silence, and partially to distract him from his own nausea, Redge started asking questions.

"What happened to you, anyway?" It probably wasn't the best question, but it was all he could think of. Ariadne didn't answer, so he reiterated his question. When that didn't work, he tried something else. "Last night you said, 'Don't make me go back there.' What did you mean?" Silence. "Where were you before I met you?" Still silence. He tried a few more questions, but Ariadne wouldn't answer any of them. She didn't give any indication that she'd even heard him. Eventually, he gave up, leaning up against a wall of the car, his arms crossed. He almost nodded off once or twice, but when he remembered what had happened the last time he did that, he was wide awake again. He didn't want to repeat that again, not so soon.

It was already night when they reached the city. Redge hadn't expected the journey to take so long, and he was suddenly grateful to Ariadne for finding the train. It would have taken much longer had they been walking. They jumped off the train, avoiding the burly workers that were unloading the cars. They were only walking for perhaps five minutes before they were in the middle of it all. Redge stopped abruptly, gaping at the enormous buildings crowding the streets. There were people here, too, more than Redge had ever seen in one place all at once. One would think it would be dark at night, but here in the Capitol there were so many buildings, and so many lights that the streets were almost as bright as day. Redge finally pulled himself away from the buildings and turned his attention instead to the people.

He had to fight hard to keep a look of horror off his face. These people had metal shoved into their faces everywhere and skin pulled tight over the bones in their faces in a vain attempt to look younger. Their clothes were too revealing and gaudy, their hair was dyed in all the colors of the rainbow. How could they fit in here? They were too plain, and besides that, they were dirty. All the people here were clean. Even the streets and buildings were clean. Redge was a little surprised they didn't sparkle.

Ariadne grabbed his arm and pulled him along. He tried to look into the windows of the shops they passed, but he could barely see anything. Then something caught his eye. A square piece of paper in a store window, with red numbers. He jerked away from Ariadne. What was this? Looking at the paper again, he realized it was a calender. And those big red numbers, that was today's date. His stomach lurched. Could it really be? He didn't want to believe it was true. It couldn't be. If the date on the calendar was correct, it meant that today was-

Ariadne yanked on his arm and pulled him into a narrow alley. He had two sentences on his tongue. He wanted to ask her what they were doing int he alley, but he also wanted to tell her what he'd just discovered. He was about to open his mouth to speak when Ariadne gestured for him to follow her. They set off down the alley, going the opposite way they'd entered from. He struggled to speak the words that were just there, waiting to come out. He sensed that this was a time to be silent, however, so he held his tongue. He wanted to say it so badly, though, even knowing how little it would matter to Ariadne. He wasn't even sure if today held any meaning for him anymore. It should. Today was a landmark, or at least in normal circumstances, it was.

They reached the end of the alley, and Ariadne motioned for Redge to follow her. She'd barely moved when she stopped again, and Redge nearly ran into her. He tried to follow her eyes and figure out what had made her stop, but he couldn't. There were too many people, and they were all moving along so fast, too quickly replaced by someone else. Maybe now he should tell her. It would be easy. He didn't know why he hadn't told her already. It wasn't a big deal, and he'd said things far more significant without even thinking about it. So why was this different? Maybe he was just worried what her reaction would be, especially after the night before. He couldn't know how she would react to anything he said. "Ariadne, I-"

"Follow me," she said, cutting him off before he'd barely had the chance to begin. Maybe she just hadn't heard him. It was loud here, and something was clearly distracting her. He headed off down the street, a step behind Ariadne, since she was still dragging him along. They were part of the crowd now, twisting through it. Ariadne definitely had a destination in mind, though Redge couldn't say what it was.

"Today's my birthday," he blurted. He wasn't even sure if Ariadne had heard him. It probably didn't matter if she did. Ariadne didn't seem like the kind of person that cared about birthdays, or even acknowledged them. But to Redge, it meant something. It was his second birthday he'd spent outside of District Ten. This year he was twenty years old. So even if he wanted to be young for once, as he'd said last night, he knew he couldn't. He'd waited too long to be young. He was an adult now, inescapably. Whether he liked it or not, it was time for him to grow up. He wasn't allowed to have moments of weakness anymore. It was time for Redge to become who he'd been back in District Ten. He had to be strong, protective, one who doesn't go back on his promises. He didn't have any excuses for running anymore. He had to be that person, even if he wasn't sure that was who he was any more.

Redge was twenty years old, and it was time for him to grow up.

The clock forgets to tick and I the same