Flames Can Tell The Truth [rumiel]

Rumiel Ruiz

Narration: Normal
Thoughts: [blue] Blue and cursive [/blue]
Dialogue: '' Quotation Marks ''
****

[blue] How did I get myself into another mess? How?! [/blue] I cursed quietly as I looked at the fire just a few dozen yards away from me. I was nestled once again in some bushes; I was looking for viable escape routes, it'd taken me all day and I had found a couple of good spots, and I promised myself I'd go home after searching this area. But, due to this girl, I was rooted to the spot. One girl had already found out that I was up to something, I didn't need another one getting suspicious..

She'd been sat there for quite a while now; it was quite surprising seeing her make the fire by herself. Everyone knew how difficult it was to make a fire from scratch, no matter how experienced you were.. It occurred to me that the girl was rather crazy, considering that Peacekeepers would be roaming the District at this time at night, and a fire in the outskirts? It looks a bit out of place, I must admit.

I'd have left ages ago if it wasn't for her stupidly good hearing.
The slightest twitch, and she'd look around like a squirrel, scanning her surroundings in look for an enemy. Most of the terrain was bare, so creeping my way out of this place wasn't something I was going to risk. Even in this darkness, that fire could still reveal shadows.

The slight snoring continued once again. I looked down and sighed. Toro was peacefully sleeping after he realised that we were going to be stuck here for a while.. We'd joined up a few hours ago to do the last scenery inspections; he was a lazy bugger, always moaning and wanting me to hurry up. I'd found it a relief when I heard him snoring away, but even in his sleep he'd mutter to himself.. Luckily it was just whispering, so the girl hadn't been alerted.

I nudged him slightly on his back, he could be the loudest snorer in Panem if he put his mind to it, and that's not what I needed right now..
'Hmm.. wh-what?' He whispered, yawning while scratching his rear; you wouldn't think he was 18.. He slowly made himself sit upright, staring through the bushes towards the dark haired girl.
'Nice looking, ain't she? How old do you think? 16, 17?' - Toro said, winking at me with a grin on his face.
'I don't know, and I honestly couldn't care less.. I just want her to leave' - I said through clenched teeth, you could see I was starting to get irritated.

'Hey you!' - Someone shouted from across the terrain. The girl cursed and ran off towards the edge of the District, where the electric fence stood. The deadly fence.
'Let me guess, you're going to save her, aren't you?' - sighed Toro, yawning once again.
'You know me too well, my friend' - as I said this, I took off through the bushes. I ran through the greenery to make sure neither the girl or the Peacekeeper could see me, who was catching up quickly.

The girl got to the fence, but was smart enough to hide inside a hole that was nearby. I reached one of the houses next to the fence and slid through the gap between two houses, the darkness concealing my body. I saw the Peacekeeper reach the gate; he was confused about the whereabouts of the girl. Then, out of nowhere, a rock hit him in the head, causing him to lean forward for a slight second.
He quickly turned around and saw Toro, who was wearing a mask, throwing a rock up and down in his hand. He was taunting him, as per usual.Now quit showing off and get him out of here![/blue]

The Peacekeeper went for his gun; in this moment Toro ran back into the bushes to hide himself. He was too big to hide, but he was far enough so he could get a good lead on the Peacekeeper. Fuming due to the embarrassment, he ran after him, shouting threats about his head being separated from his shoulders when he was caught.

Once he was out of sight, I quickly ran towards the hole, and saw two eyes glinting in the darkness.
'Danger's gone. For now, anyway.' - I stretched out my hand so the girl could get out, hopefully she was as friendly as the girl from before..

I noticed the girl's discomfort. It seemed that I'd woken her up from being unconscious; no wonder she was scared.
'Wait.. you don't think I'm a Peacekeeper do you? Aw come on, I'm not that ugly am I? hahaha' - [blue] Have to admit, that was the best joke I'd told in a while [/blue].

''I'm not going to hurt you, I promise'' - I said, trying to give my most sincere look. I had to break the tension somehow, she wasn't coming out this easily.. if she didn't, the Peacekeeper could come back at any given moment, Toro could only spend a certain amount of time messing around with him.
''So, what's your name then?'' - I crouched so her face was aligned with mine, though I kept my distance so I wouldn't scare her. Once again, personal space was vital in these unforgivable times.

'Oh- steady there- Careful!' - I said to the girl as she stumbled side to side, I held onto her so she wouldn't fall to the ground and crack her head open. That was the last thing I needed on my conscience..

I needed to make sure we went somewhere where we wouldn't be found.. It was risky, but I had to take her to the base.. I couldn't just leave her here. She needed fixing up, she was bleeding pretty bad.
'Ok, I don't care what you say but we can't stay here I'm afraid.. Now, hope you're ready for a little ride hehe' - I leaned over in front of her and held her sides. 'Hop on and we'll go for a midnight stroll' - 'It's close by, so don't fret, you'll be back home before you know it!' - I turned my neck and smiled at her, hopefully she'd trust me enough to follow my lead.

I had saved her after all, though that didn't gain everyone's trust unfortunately.

The journey took longer than I thought it would. There were - as I should have expected - Peacekeepers everywhere; every corner I took, there'd be one waiting with a pistol in their holster, it's like they knew we were coming. But no, they wouldn't be able to alert so many without everyone in the District finding out.. I was just getting paranoid.

"a-A-Are w-we almo-ost th-there?" - she said; I was surprised she was playing along; she kept falling asleep and then waking up, I'm sure she was in great pain but then again, everyone in District 2 went through serious amounts of pain during their lifetime.
'Shhh, I'll tell you when we get there, ok?'

After another 10 minutes of careful sneaking, making sure I stuck to the shadows so the Peacekeepers wouldn't see me, we were in 'forest' territory.
Any good gang needed a 'base' or 'headquarters'. This place couldn't be out in the open or it'd be discovered, but it couldn't be so well hidden that it'd take us hours and hours to reach it.. That's why this place was perfect.

The crunching under our feet as we stepped through the dried leaves stopped all of a sudden. I looked straight ahead and smirked at our glorious fort.


It wasn't really that big, from the outside anyway. It just had some dark corridors and a little watchtower on the top. Nothing special, but the inside contained our hidden secrets, it was a beacon of light in these dark times.

[blue]Our leader is going to kill me for bringing her here..[/blue]
I stepped into the cold fortification and pushed some leaves aside with my foot, revealing a trap door that led to the base. I crouched carefully, making sure the girl wouldn't fall, and I opened the trapdoor with a great big heave. [blue]Damn, we need to put some oil on these hinges.. [/blue]

I grabbed hold onto the string ladder that went down into the dark tunnel, only a few torches giving light to my path. Coming here so late always gave me the chills.. But you had to do it, you just had to forget about the things that lurked in the darkness and just go for it, head on.. Shame I wasn't like Toro in these situations.

The ladder swayed from side to side dangerously, it wouldn't break apart because it was well attached to some metal cylinders that were stuck into the rock formation, but you still couldn't happen to think what would happen if- [blue] Just carry on Rumiel, don't think about it[/blue]

Within a couple of minutes we were on the ground once again, I was panting due to the exhaustion, carrying a body down those ladders was murder for your lungs. There was an oak door in front of me, i knocked on it 6 times, 2 knocks every 3 seconds. It was our secret code, it wasn't too difficult to find the secret entrance so we needed a different way of letting strangers know that they were in the wrong place.

The door creaked as it opened, but only slightly. There was a metal chain that allowed the insider to look at whoever was calling, and oh boy were these eyes shocked to see me..
Lance stared at me with open eyes at the sudden realisation that I'd brought a stranger to the fort.
'What the hell are you thinking Rumiel?!' - He practically hissed at me as he undid the chain, letting the light from the inside fill the tunnel. The much needed light.

'I know, I know.. you can kill me for it later. Right now, we need to fix her up' - I pushed past him and hurried down the narrow corridor until I reached the central room where all the gang hangs out - when not planning something that is.
At this time, I wasn't surprised to see so few people; only One-Eye, Linda and our leader were in the room; all of which were sat down at the stone table (luckily, some furniture was crafted into the fort when it was made, so we didn't have to bring too much).
Our leader's eyes suddenly widened and he stood within an instant; he pointed a trembling finger towards me and started huffing through his nose. I knew what was coming, so I quickly placed the girl onto one of the stone stools and moved away.

'Wait, I can explain - seriously, just -' - our leader had grabbed me by the front of my t-shirt, lifting me up slightly.
'You know the rules, Rumiel, how dare you bring a stranger here?! She could be a spy for all we know?!'
'Now, now, calm down' - A soft voice coming from Linda appeared from behind. She was in her early twenties, she had short blonde hair and an innocent face, she was basically the mother of us all, the one that kept us in place. As well as this, she was an excellent nurse.

'Let's make sure our guest here is comfy, and then we can start beating Rumiel up, ok?' - she said as she winked at me. She lifted the girl onto her back and started carrying her towards the infirmary. 'Wait- let me help you-' I quickly said as I rushed towards her, hoping I could get away from our leader.
'Don't worry, she can manage by herself' - the leader said, a hand placed firmly on my shoulder. I turned my neck and saw his eyes staring into my soul - I wasn't going to get out of here unscathed.

Our leader waited until the door to the infirmary closed on us, his fuming eyes still staring into mine.
The door closed, indicating the start of his tempest.
'What the hell do you think you're doing? You know the rules. You don't bring ANYONE to the base! Let alone someone who you probably don't even know.'

His shouting seemed to go on for hours, I tried to listen at first, I always embarrassed myself if I got called upon, so I would respect whoever was shouting at me and hope that in the future I wouldn't make the same mistake. But this was being ridiculous.. I thought he was going to run out of air if he kept on shouting; my face was covered in saliva from his bellowing shouting, but I was too scared of even moving a muscle in case he'd chop it off with his knife.
Instead, I looked down at the floor, hoping that this nightmare would be over soon.

Silence.
He'd finally stopped giving me the talk. With one incredible sigh, he sat down - all his energy gone - on one of the stone stools around the table.
'Let me tell you this once, Rumiel' - he murmured as he panted heavily due to the exhaustion - 'If you ever, EVER, disregard one of the rules, you will be out of this gang before you even know it. Understood?'
'Yes..' - I murmured, my foot brushing the dust from the stone floor.
'Now, go and check on your 'friend'. As soon as she's better, put a blindfold on her and take her somewhere where she can get home. Don't let her see everything again; she might not remember anything because of the hit to the head, but I doubt we'd be so lucky a second time'.

'Lance' - he called. 'Get out and hide the trap door, you know the rules'.
'But-' - Lance pleaded, appearing from the corridor that led to the well-like tunnel - 'No buts!' - the leader shouted with the breath he'd recovered.
'Calm ya horses big man- I'll go' - said One-Eye, who up to now had been silently watching what had happened. 'The fresh air'll do meh good'
With this, he walked towards the narrow corridor. As his name suggests, he only had one eye. The other one was a mechanical sphere that seemed out of place but seemed to act as a second eye, though he said that rather than make his sight better, it had f*cked it up even more.. The blue circle that was the inside of his eye flickered towards me as he walked past, putting me on edge; he'd always scared me, I never trusted him, there was just something about him..

I walked towards the infirmary at a quick pace, my head still looking towards the floor. [blue] You're such an idiot.. Toro is going to be laughing at you for weeks now.. Why didn't you put a blindfold on her or something?! Seriously, I sometimes wonder if you have a brain or not.. [/blue] - I opened the door slowly, its hinges squeaking.

Linda was folding up some bed sheets as I opened the door, she turned around and smiled. 'Can you wait with her? I need to go and tidy the armory- you all leave that place looking like a battlefield every time you use it!' - she said with a sarcastic tone. If there was a 'tough-mother' award, Linda would win it.

She placed a hand on my shoulder as she walked past me: 'I know you're meaning well, just be careful next time, ok?' - she whispered into my ear. I nodded and walked towards the bed where the injured was laying.
The door finally closed and I saw the handicraft work that Linda had performed on the girl's head. She'd bandaged the injured part of her forehead, and made a great job of it. I was sure that underneath the bandage was some pretty difficult stitching involved.. The leader must have been shouting me for a long time indeed if Linda had enough time to stitch such a bad cut..

I sat on the stool that was next to the bed and sighed. [blue] Was it worth saving her? What do you accomplish being a goodie-two-shoes? [/blue]
I then waited for the responsible of this mess to awaken.

I dozed off after realising that she was going to be out of it for quite a while, my head drooped over my shoulders and I started to enter a nice dream. But then the screams woke me up.

My eyes shot open as I heard a high-pitch scream coming from the body in front of me. She was still asleep, it looked like she'd been possessed; her limbs were flailing as she screamed and screamed.
I got up from the stool and shook her by the shoulders, trying to wake her up, but she carried on. She shouted things about her parents, Peacekeepers, even something about 'the boy with the blonde hair' which I immediately thought was aimed at me.

I grabbed hold of her arms and pinned her down, her hands were getting tantalisingly close to my face..
The door burst open and the leader came in wearing some boxer shorts, followed by Linda who was still fully clothed, and Toro, who was - unsurprisingly - carrying a bottle of wine in his grasp.

Linda pushed me aside and picked up a syringe from the desk. 'Don't just stand there, hold her down!' - she shouted at all three of us.
I grabbed hold of her right arm as the leader grabbed hold of her head and left arm. Lastly, Toro staggered across the room, left his bottle of wine on a table close by and pinned the girl's legs down. Linda then proceeded to carefully inject the substance into the girl's right arm, the liquid disappearing as it entered her system; hopefully she'd quiet down now.

And indeed she did; the medicine made her fall asleep again. Hopefully she was in a peaceful dream, and if it was a nightmare, please let it be a quiet one?

[white]'Well, you're a deep sleeper, aren't you?'[/white] - I said with a smirk on my face. [blue] What did you say that for? Not really the time for jokes, don't you think? [/blue]
[white]'Right, erm sorry.. You were having nightmares, really bad ones by the sound of it. Anyway, how're you feeling?'[/white] - I looked around me and saw that Linda was staring at me intently, with a hard expression on her face. She was making sure I did the right thing, which I would of course, I couldn't lose everything I'd achieved.

[white]'Anyway.. I'm sorry to make you move but if you're feeling a bit better, I'm afraid I'm going to have to get you out of here. This place is meant to be.. a secret.. So erm-'[/white] - Every word I said made it more and more awkward, the inevitable question was about to pop up. I held a black piece of cloth in my hand, the material was starting to get humid due to my sweaty hands [blue] And now you're nervous, great job Rumiel! [/blue]

[white]'Would you mind if I put this around your head so you can't see? We don't want you tracing your footsteps to this place.. Not that you would of course! - I mean - I.. ah.. tell me when you're ready, ok?'[/white] - I looked at Linda as I awkwardly pointed towards the girl; she nodded, acknowledging that she'd keep an eye on her, so I placed the blindfold on a night-table near where she was sat and I walked out of the room. I sighed.
[white]'Well, well, well, look who got the hottie into a bed, huh?'[/white] - Toro said, putting an arm over my shoulders, his breath reeked of alcohol. I'd rather have a nightmare like that girl rather than spend time with drunk Toro..

[white]'I didn't think you had it in ya- I always saw you as the sissy type, y'know? Staring from far away, too shy to try anything *hiccup*, but Rumiel, my man, guess I was wrong'[/white] - his speech slurred more and more for every word he uttered. I looked around, seeking help, but everyone was either asleep or in their own homes.

I shrugged him off and sat at the stone table; I folded my arms across each other and camouflaged my head on top of them, though this didn't muffle the sound of Toro's speech about ''how much his bro had changed''.

[blue]I wish the ground would just swallow me whole[/blue]