What Happens in the Woods, stays in... {Naya}

Juniper's eyes fluttered open to receive the blue-gray light of the early morning. As she rolled over and faced the window, Juniper snuggled into the warmth of her scanty sheets to escape the brisk April air. With baited breath she listened intently for her favorite part of spring. It came with the gentle winds through her small window, rising above the stillness. First one voice, then another; the lonesome melody of the songbirds swelled to an antiphonal chorus. A sigh of content escaped Juniper, she could lay here all morning. But she didn't.

Instead, Juniper swung her legs out of bed to brush the cold dirt floor. Time for morning inventory. Legs?
Juniper stood up and gently walked around the room. Just a bit tight. Better than they have been anyway. Hands? She looked down and tried to make a fist with her bloated fingers. Ew, not even close. As Juniper continued to stretch out her muscles and test her joints, she decided that she was well enough to train this morning. Dressed in a simple pair of light pants and a faded beige tunic top, Juniper crept into the kitchen and grabbed a hunk of grainy bread for her breakfast. Once she had picked her favorite axe and hatchet, Juniper ran off into the woods.

---

I am stronger than this. I am stronger than my disease. It does not define me, I won't let it. Such were Juniper's thoughts as she trained. There was no point in denying the excruciating pain in her arms and hands, but there was no point in giving in to it either. Forcing herself to concentrate on a target for her next blow, thinking about how much stronger she was getting, these were the thoughts that kept Juniper going when her body begged her to stop.

Sweat poured from Juniper's overworked body as she continued in her calculated rhythm. She loved the feeling of her own muscles, growing ever stronger, rippling with each strike. The day smelled of cherry blossoms, the air whispered whimsical secrets in the budding trees, the earth re-adorned herself in her colorful array, but Juniper had ceased to notice. Her entire world was folded up in these precious moments; after all, this training could mean the difference between life and death.

And block. Spin. Duck. And Swing- THUD. The sound of Juniper's axe hitting wood sent up a flock of nearby birds. Juniper left the axe lodged in the tree and prepared to throw the hatchet. But instead of throwing directly at a sapling as she had intended, Juniper's eye was caught by the plumpest bird of the flock. Instinctively, without stopping to think, Juniper readjusted and threw her hatchet right at the bird. Accurate, Quick, the hatchet found its mark. Juniper's first reaction was pleasure. She ran over to where the bird was lying. The kill had been clean. Wasn't this what she had been practicing for? But dread filled Juniper as she looked down at the bird. Oh damn. My gosh, what did I just do? Deep down Juniper was still elated by her skill, but hunting was a criminal offense. And she hadn't meant to kill anything. Okay, just chill... After grabbing her hatchet from the bird's body and the axe from the nearby tree, Juniper returned to the bird to try and decide what to do. That's when a girl emerged from the nearby bushes. Juniper forgot to be surprised and instead lost herself in observing the girl's ears. They were pierced, like in the Capitol. Well that's a little freaky. Freakier still was the expression on the girl's face. Juniper couldn't tell if this stranger was about to yell in anger or cry in fear, but she was about to explode on some level. Better just wait it out...