( PIPPA WILDER, D. 2 )) - FINISHED ✭

Name :: Pippa Leann Wilder
Age :: 14
Gender :: female
District :: 2


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APPEARANCE

"Pippa, where are you going?"

The girl followed like a dog, her stupidity was amusing. I like people like her, empty slates. You could pull them into shape if you knew how to."Out to the meadow, where the sky will rain down upon us." I flipped my head back and smiled at her, my uneven teeth shining against my wheat colored hair that flocked around my small shoulders. The look of confusion still reined over the girls face.

"Are you sure its safe," her voice was shaking, what a pathetic human. Resisting the urge to make some sort of sarcastic comment, I fixed my face with a small parting of my lips. I resisted narrowing my eyes, it would make her see the side of me that everyone else saw, everyone but the naive girls like her. Mom told me once that it is impolite to try to change people. She said that if I want friends, I should make some, be honest with myself.

That day, I had looked at her, her eyes piercing through mine. They were soft and green, I knew how icy they could get. I used to cry when I was little, translucent tears dripping down my porcelain skin as she would smack me, her eyebrows furred and her eyes pure evil. I have always hated that side of her. She is such an actress. I guess that's where I get it from.

"Its safe, I promise." I waited for her to catch up. The wind was strong, it pulled at the soft cream-colored dress that adorned my small figure, my knobby knees just peeking out from under the fringe at the bottom. A small white rose was tucked in my hair, frayed ends of locks catching onto the shriveled petals as the wind threatened to carry it all away, into nothingness. I have always wanted to visit that place, the place of white. The best I can have is the sky, the silvery color that reflects down upon my hair, making it glimmer. The girl, I believe her name is Andrea, her hair is muddy. No sunlight dares to touch it. I wouldn't either. As soon as she is my friend, I will do something about her hair. I will change her around to a new person. A new lady. She will be a replica of me.

"If you say so," her eyes still showed weariness, her hair fell in front of her face, it curled ever so gently at the end. I wish my hair was like that, instead it just billowed around me, a cape of my own. It would never be tamed, just like my personality. Not even the most perfected trapper could change me, I was as hard as a stone, changing was not a thought I would ever dwell on.

It didn't take much longer to get to the spot I was looking for, a small clearing where the wheat was pushed down to create a sitting space. I came here often, I could tell by the look an the girl's face that she didn't want to stay, it's what they all looked like. As they entered my domain they suddenly became silent as the golden plants ringed around them like a trap and the sky pushed on them.

They always hated it here.

"This is your first test, Andrea"I smiled, my cracked lips parting. My narrow face, dimples shining as I tipped my head. Walking over, I reached into a small hole in the ground. Inside was a basket, it was woven with fresh saplings and carved wood, it was mine. It was inside though that was what always scared them the most. Laying at the bottom, three roses, one pink, one red, and one white. Beside that lay raw wires, the ends sharpened to a point. I saw her eyes widen. "Don't be afraid, its not what you think it is, really."

I have only had three people get past this part of the test. Humans were so weak.

I set the basket on the ground, my hand jutting out to motion to her to sit down. My bitten down fingernails glinted in the light and the ridges in the top looked like small mountains. "You have to build a cage, darling." She looked at me before sitting down, I could tell that she was surprised that I didn't stab her with a wire or something. The thing she doesn't understand, I want her as a friend, I just want to know that I have a friend who I can trust. Why would I hurt a possible friend. I guess some people really don't think about anything.

"Okay, I guess" I can see her attempting a smile as she begins to pick the wires up one-by-one. I stand there, my eyes focused on her like a hawk. One mistake and she's out. Most girls have run by now, I see their hair flipping in the winds as they try to make it out of the maze. "She's mad." that's what they say. "She should be locked up."

I believe them sometimes, as I watch them screaming and running. I stand there, my hair all around me. I guess I am kind of scary. Its not my call though, its everyone elses, its how they see me.

If they see me as mad, with my doll-like face and blue-silvery eyes. Then that's how it is. They can't change me. I can't change me. I am Pippa, I am me.

She passed, her fingers weaving in and out of the wires as though she had done it before. The look in her eyes though told me that this was her first time. She had completed my first task, but for Andrea it was only the beginning. The next task she would find difficult, I knew it. Matilda never liked people, I had a feeling that she wouldn't like Andrea much either.

"This is my room"I threw open the door as the light pink of the walls reached my eyes. They were painted when I was only quite small, i have always liked the color though, it makes my room lighter at night. I hate the dark.

To me, what was inside of the room was totally normal, it was my home and my place of solitude. Others didn't seem as welcome though, I always watched them as they would walk in feverishly trying to advert their eyes from what was on the ceiling. You see, I like cages and my obsession took over my room quickly. Mom and dad hardly ever come in here, they don't care that I keep sharp, metal wire traps strung to my ceiling with only a ribbon.

This next test though, it involves what waits inside of the looming caves of silver and air.

Walking over to my farthest wall I place my hand on the ladder sitting there. The bars across the frame are rotted, light pink paint adorning several spots unevenly. Carrying it with steady hands, I slowly make my way to the other end of the room.

Supporting the ladder on the wall, I begin to climb to the first cage. It has slightly rusted wires that fit along the edge of a cardboard box. Inside of it though, a rat with matted grey fur and beady eyes.

"Look," I instruct the girl.

Reaching over to a nearby shelf, i pick up a handful of food, the small brown pellets molding to the shape of my hand. Looking over the sign on the front of the cage, it read "Maggie". Moving my hand slowly inside of the cage, I deposited the food into the rats food dish. Easy for me, hard for Andrea.

"Its all you have to do," I smiled. "You just have to feed the rats and mice. Easy enough?" I add a twinge of sarcasm to my voice to make me sound almost joking. This always works.

"Okay," she still seemed nervous, smart girl. She knew there was more to this challenge, I liked her.

"I have one question," Andrea's muffled words came to me as she carried the ladder to a nearby cage. "Why do all their names begin with the letter M?"

I didn't answer her at first, if she was going to be my future friend though, she had a right to know. "M is my favorite letter, Maria, Malice, Maggie, Mary, May, Marcia, and Marina. They are my favorite rats, named with my favorite letter."

"Okay," she answers, her hands slipping on the ladder rungs as she tried to position it just right. "Try moving it over an inch," I instruct. I always thought the most difficult part would be the feeding part, my rats were violent, you see.

"What do you get when you mix a mouse and a rat?"

It was always a question that burned in my mind. I knew that the capitol could accomplish it, the were so smart and everything, weren't they. Pfft.

And still she waited there, the girl with the round, doe-like eyes. What a sucker. Insults were useless at this time though and I forced myself not to open my mouth.

She must have really wanted to my friend, the thin line of blood trickled down one of her knuckles, obviously one of my rats found her repulsive, I knew I would have to take that into account. It was always important what they thought, they were the rulers of this place too, they were my princesses and I was the queen. Little Andrea, trying so hard to step up to where I sit on my throne. She will fall though, they all do, their bodies littering the floor as they are wasted and the checklist becomes smaller and smaller. Climb the ladder, I know it is something that she will not accomplish.

And still she stared, ever so patiently waiting for the next task, already I could see the blisters on her hands and I knew that she had endured much. The tests get harder, to the point of inflicting self-pain. Andrea has to show me that she would stand up and fend for herself, that she wouldn't be put under by the cruel people that try to block her in. To me though, there has only been one way to do this, to cut yourself.

"Come over here, 'kay" I smiled at her, Already I saw Andrea's face turning ghostlike as I pulled the small knife out of a compartment hidden in the moldy floorboards. It had a cream handle with flowers carved into the sides. The blade was fresh and sparkled as I waved it tauntingly in the air.

"I'm not going to kill you, I'm just going to give you the opportunity to step up the ladder and join me. You can look down at everyone too. You don't have to be rugged at the edges, you can be full. All you have to do it show that you're good enough." I handed her the knife as she nodded slowly, it was a bit repetitive. Over and over again her head bobbed as her knuckles turned the color of snow, she grasped the knife firmly, as though she were going to throw it to the ground.

And then she did.

"I can't do it," I hardly heard her muffled whispered as she faced away from me. "I just can't do it, how cruel are you, having people prove themselves to you. You are oblivious to the people around you." Her choked sobs began to fill the air. "You see no one but yourself, you think that you're the queen, don't you?" Her voice turned almost mocking-like. "Well, you're not. We are ruled by people already little princess. Learn it."

Then she ran, from my sight forever. Not even staying long enough to see the silent tear that fell down my face.

She knew nothing.