<<Authority>> {Kale}
Apr 21, 2012 11:31:20 GMT -5
Post by Onyx on Apr 21, 2012 11:31:20 GMT -5
Does, Thinks, Says, Hears
[/color] as it collides lethally with the centre of the cross, but just as I reach, grinning, to get another pebble from the pouch which is now strung at my hips, I hear a noise from behind me. I swivel hastily, sling loaded and stretch, to meet the source of the noise. My spirit deflates when I find it, for I know I’ll need more than a petty sling to fight my way out of this, no matter how well I can shoot.The buzz coming from the Boundary fence matches that inside my troubled mind. Lying in the grass at the edge of the District, I usually feel soothed by the lack of animal life, but this week I am not comforted by the serene hum, and otherwise silent area. Jeroboam should be here to enjoy this with me. I miss him and the other members of our gang dearly, but there’s nothing I could have done to stop them going to become Trainers. I wouldn’t have been so selfish, even if I could. If I am not for others, what am I? And if I had tried to stop them, they would still have gone. Their parents still care about their part in the Games. In a way, I wish I still had a reason to go to these courses with the rest of my friends. That way, I would no longer have to face the painful absences, whiling away the week lying in the fields and listening to the almost-silence, restlessly.
I sigh loudly, and braid more flowers into my daisy-adorned hair. Not even the honey yellow butterfly, which has settled itself lightly by my bare knee, can cheer me up. Poor thing, caught between a District abundant in stone dust and violent children, and a fence that will kill instantly when touched. I capture it in my hand and lift it to my eyes, watching it close its wings lethargically on my finger.
Archer would urge me to kill it at once, or at least give it a reason to fear me. I imagine a butterfly without wings, unable to fly. I imagine a butterfly with no mouth, starving to death. Horrible cruelty to weaker creatures has always driven Archer, who I haven't called 'Father' since the Reaping. Still, Lesley will always be Mother, whatever she has done to hurt me. She put her reputation above her own daughter, but I know many District Two mothers who would do the same. Especially when their daughter was a failure, and they were shamed as a result. Thus goes life for Career children.
I blow the butterfly from my finger and watch it for a moment. Such innocent beauty, it doesn't know what a corrupt society it exists in. I stand shakily and stretch my exposed legs and arms. Still shaking loose grass and petals from my hair and clothes, I half walk half jog around the perimeter of the District, until I get to an old tree. The branches once extended over the fence to freedom, but now all that remains of that hope are swollen stumps, where limbs were severed fiercely to prevent escape. This District has a smarter council than many of the others. Men like Archer, for instance, filled with cunning and taking pleasure in watching us run hysterically around inside the limits they have set us, knowing not what beauty lies beyond the humming fence.
If I really wanted to, I know I could escape. Pack my bags, climb to the top of this tree and leap to freedom. I have the skill to land unscathed, and know how to survive by myself. However, I hastily shake the thought out of my head. I have too much here that I would have to leave behind. Instinctively, my hand travels up the bark to a puckered heart, grown over but still scarring the tree. Inside still remain the curly letters R & J. Jerry… My heart is weighed down with emptiness again. Our lives, and indeed initials, are very much like a fairy tale I heard once, from before the Dark Days. A pair of star-crossed lovers, from rival families but very much together. It is a tale of hate and heartache, told to me so beautifully, I can’t help but remember it. Jeroboam has always been my Romeo, the person who could pull me out of my tough, Career-fed thoughts.
And just as I think this, my need to excel kicks I again. I reach to a branch just above stretching height and, thus hanging on, retrieve a bag of smooth pebbles and a sling. Just like old times. I load the elastic and aim for a cross which I hastily engraved in the bark on Jeroboam and my first visit here, equipped with weapons and a picnic, away from the District centre where we must always stay apart.
The pebble makes a hearty THUNK
Standing before me, fully armoured and wielding a weapon, is a smirking Peacekeeper, just opening his mouth to speak.[/size][/blockquote][/font][/blockquote]
OOC: Hope this is okay for an intro post ^^ PM me if you want me to modify anything to make it easier to follow on from :L
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