Silence and Sound ~ Pj & Sarella

Roland had been traveling for a little over two weeks. He had made his escape from the Capitol just by the skin of his teeth and the journey hadn't been easy at all. On his way out he had almost been caught, several Peacekeepers had been told to keep watch on him since he entered the Capitol, as they were told to do for every new Avox, but as time wore on and it became more and more clear that he wasn't going to cooperate the watch on Roland had been tripled and they knew something was up with him. He had had it all planned out, the several weeks supply of food and a blanket and even a change of clothing to get out of his uniform when he was free. But they had been smarter and he had lost everything when they ambushed him. Everything except my life, which is the most important I guess. The thought brought a grim kind of smile to his dirty, scrubby face. It sure would have been nice to have all the luxuries of life that he had planned on bringing; things like food and warmth and some way to protect himself, but who needs those things? Certainly not a stubborn little Avox like Roland that's for sure!

He was standing just outside a huge clearing, still hidden by the trees. District 13 had been his destination ever since the first whisper that the rebellion was still alive had reached his ever-alert ears. And now he was finally here. And there was nothing. Nothing! He could hardly believe his eyes. Pain and sorrow and disbelief and self hatred and forward thinking all tried to crowd his tired brain at once. There is no time for despair. His resolve injured, but not out of the fight, returned little by little and he was just about to turn around and look for a way to make a shelter for himself here. During his childhood outdoors training had not been a priority, and now Roland sorely wished it had been because he was going to be forced to live off the land he had basically ignored his whole life.

Then there was a sound. Roland ducked behind some trees, eyes wide and wildly scanning the clearing for any kind of threat. When a hatch opened and someone began to climb out from underground his breathing stopped and it seemed like his heart was pounding loud enough to alert the whole of Panem. Then a girl came out. She was a few years younger than he was it looked and it seemed like she was having a bit of trouble walking. She carried herself like someone who had seen a lot of pain and lived through it. She looked like someone who could tell you something about everyone around her, but seemed to escape the minds of her peers. His heart went out to her.

A huge bug entered his field of vision and tried to land on Roland's face. Caught off guard (and a little scared of bugs) Roland fell backward and made a LOT of noise in the process. Getting back up Roland found a pair of eyes that looked just as scared as he felt staring back at him. He hadn't caught the initial part of what she said (and wouldn't have understood even if he had heard it) but he heard her shakily introduce himself. Judging that this girl with a limp wasn't going to attack him viciously he cautiously stepped further into the clearing. Cora... the name sounded good in his mind, warm, like something that belonged there, and he was only sad that he couldn't answer back.

Roland took a few steps toward her, becoming suddenly very aware that he hadn't bathed in weeks and hadn't shaved and his clothing was torn and caked with dirt and his long curly hair was a tangled rat's nest. She looked clean and pure and everything he wasn't. Stopping about three yards way, Roland thought of how to answer her. He didn't have a pen or paper with him to explain his situation and there was nothing around that seemed to be of use to him. Finally, after several long seconds of silence Roland just opened his mouth to show her his severed tongue. It was a crude, and disgusting, way to inform her of his status, but it was the only way available to him at the time.

Roland eyed the girl suspiciously. He had thought that there would be more than one lone girl running District 13. There was supposed to be a rebellion here. This was supposed to save Panem from the Capitol? It is foolish! No matter what Roland felt about the girl, his hurt over a lack of force in District 13 was too great. His large grey eyes filled up with tears, tears of anger and sadness and hopelessness. He made a guttural noise of anguish and turned away from the girl just as she was lifting up her dress. He didn't see her knees through his anger. Everything was red, his body was weak and he had lost his family for what? For a girl eating lunch in a meadow. Roland turned and pressed his forehead against the nearest tree, beating his fists against the trunk, growling in frustration, gritting his teeth against an all out howl.

Roland only let his despair rule him for about thirty seconds, after that he turned back toward the girl, rubbing the sleeve of his shirt across his eyes to rid himself of excess moisture. His light grey eyes were bloodshot and full of pain. He met those of his opposite and saw that she was offering him something he hadn't had since he had become an Avox: milk. Creamy and white and delicious, Roland remembered that it was one of his favorites, but his mutilated tongue meant that he couldn't taste anything except for a few faint traces. It was this reason he had refrained from eating nearly as often as he should.

This gesture, the offering of milk, seemed to mean a lot to the girl who limped. He sat down near the carton and smiled at the girl who offered it to him. God it felt so good to sit down and just kind of relax. His senses had been on such high alert for so long, picking up each noise and analyzing it for threat level. He sank into the soft grass and his woes about District 13 melted away. He wanted to tell the girl who he was sitting with that she was beautiful. Something about the look in her eyes made him feel safer than he had in a long long time.

Roland took the milk and took a sip of it. The taste was negligible, and that made him sad for when time was simpler, but it felt good on his raw throat. It wasn't that it was hard to eat as an Axov, food just didn't have the appeal that it used to. He put the carton down and did his best to smile at the girl. He pushed the hair out of his eyes and picked a twig out of it. I must look like death. Compared to the girl who was clean and well-fed. The only flaw was her limp but Roland didn't see that as a flaw at all. Imperfections only made her more perfect. Roland put his hand on top of hers.