Empty Spaces [open]

The young man rattles on about us having no skill, blah, blah. I ignore him, his words literally going in one ear and out the other. I catch his last few though. I give a tense chuckle. Physical power is nothing against an arrow. Speed is. Haysel chews him out herself, then dashes into the forest. I frown, noticing the gash in her arm. My gaze follows her until she vanishes into the trees, then a pad quietly after her. Before long, I find her collapsed in a heap on the frigid ground. My heart skips beat. I stare down at her body. Cadaver. Corpse. She's gone, bled out from the injury. Her flesh has gone pale and cold. A wave of sorrow hits me, and I feel tears well up in my eyes. Why I am mourning this girl? I knew her but a few minutes. Perhaps because there was a possibility I could have prevented her death? No. What else could I have done? My sadness turns to a burning hatred. For the Capitol. For the boy that interfered. I shouldn't blame him, I know it's wrong. But I can, and I do.

I put the redheaded girl out of my mind, it'll be better to try and forget, the same way I do the games. I compose myself and stride back to where I left the other two. What I find, sends another wave of shock and panic through me. Rose has blade held to her throat, the metal glinting in the sunlight."H...Help.." She chokes out. Reflexively, I raise my bow, but she manages to wriggle free from the man's grasp, somehow also succeeding in taking the knife with her. She flings it at him, than goes for an arrow, but her grip is slipping. All I can do is stand there, stunned, with my own weapon pointed at the stranger. It's been merely an hour, maybe two, since I arrived in the woods this morning. I had expected nothing more than my usual hunt, but there has been a wild change in events. I come to my senses just as the girl shoves the arrow into the creeps torso, scrambling back behind myself and the young man whose name I have yet to learn. I can hear my pulse thumping in my ears, feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I manage to force myself to focus, steadying my aim.

notes:
outfit: here

My senses are gone. I can't see, hear, feel. The calming, peaceful sounds of the forest are gone. the only thing I am aware of is my pulse, slamming against the inside of my chest. I'm dizzy, the trees are spinning around me, faster, faster, until they become a brown blur before my eyes. The stress of the past couple hours is getting to me. The scout mutts, Haysel's death, now this. A lifelong expanse of memories rushing by in my head. How many times will I watch my brother be slaughtered before my eyes, relive the day I all but lost my family. My bow is raised, pointed..pointed at something..someone. What is it? Who? I can't remember, I can't, I can't. Are there others here, who am I defending, who am I fighting, what am I doing?! My knees are weak, I feel my legs crumple beneath me. My vision blacks out, and the ground rushes up to meet me.

Where am I, how long has it been? It's the only thought I can comprehend. Seconds, hours, days? Slowly, slowly, it comes back. I'm in the forest, hunting. Alone, just like always. I'm on the ground. Why on earth am I on the ground? Did I fall asleep? Fall out of my tree? No. Nothing feels injured. I hear a voice, and panic rushes through me. Who is it!? Who's there!? I scream in my head. Another voice. And everything comes flooding back. I push myself to myself unsteadily to my feet, pick up my bow. I ran into people out here, one is dead. Dead. The word echos in my head, but it doesn't mean anything to me. Something else, something that requires my attention registers with me.

Through my fuzzy vision I make out two figures. One holds a blade. I immediately try to nock an arrow, but instead of one I see three. I manage to focus on another figure to my side. The young man, the one who tried to help us before. And then Rose, who stands just behind me, fear in her eyes. I lock on her face, blinking, squeezing my eyes shut. The dizziness is fading, I can see again, feel, hear. I draw back the bow string, and take aim. I release my grip, but something is wrong. The arrow travels in slow motion. Well, at least there isn't three. It flies straight. Does it connect with my target? I think so, I'm a good shot. But in this state? Maybe. What...do you want from me!? Rose. Your life. These words are old, I heard them, but only now do I realize their meaning, why I set loose another arrow.

Is she safe, Rose? I think so, if my arrow met its victim. But, this..this killer is only after Rose? It seems that way, but he doesn't, didn't, seem to see the danger. I'm armed, ready to shoot. My head is gradually clearing. I'm becoming more aware, my composure returning. I pull another arrow my quiver and nock it. If I loose this one, I'm confident it will hit. The seconds tick by, and I vaguely wonder how long my fainting episode lasted. It seems like forever, but it must've happened withing minutes, because little in my surroundings has changed. Rose's fearful words replay in my head, and for some reason this jerks me almost fully back to reality. I pull back the string again, the arrow tip pointed at the heart of this stranger, my eyes narrowing in concentration & anger. If I did the first time, I will not miss again.

notes: holy muse xD
outfit: here

I released my arrow, without even realizing I'd done so. The stranger utters a few final words as he collapses to the ground. I killed him. I killed him. I killed him. My bow tumbles from my grasp, and I stand there in a daze. I catch a soft cry from the young girl, but I'm still not fully recovered. I sway on my feet, staring at the man I killed. My doing. He's dead because of me. Should I have killed him? I had to, he had a knife. Was going to kill her. Me. This is the second cadaver I've seen in a day. In an hour. I press my fists hard into my eyes, trying to clear my head, forget the gruesome images. I killed him. I killed him. I killed. I have never taken a life before, not that of a human. A wave of nausea hits, but after a moment it passes. I remove my fists from my eyes. "W-what happened? I mumble, almost inaudible. But I know perfectly well what happened, but I don't want it to be real. I don't want today to be real.

I can hear Rose crying, see the sorrow on her face. I can't even imagine what my own must look like now. Confused. Devastated. I feel an icy rain begin to patter down through the leaves, slowly soaking my clothing. A thought briefly crosses my mind that this is odd weather, it's winter now. I don't dwell on it. It must just be too warm for snow. "Come on! There's not enough time!" I can hear the pain in her choked words. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I'm not sure who I'm really talking to. Rose, or the man whose life ended because of me. Perhaps both. The girl has taken my hand and is beginning to drag me through the forest. I fumble, and grab my bow, then resume stumbling through the woods behind her. Her words, is she talking about the fence? She must be. I notice how far we must be out in the woods. Being away from the scene helps, I'm almost fully recovered. Well, from the fainting. I'll never forget today, not as long as I live. But I'll try.

Finally, I make it all the way back. "Rose." I say. "Rose!" I take hold of her hand and pull her to a stop. "I-I'm sorry." I stutter. "Y-you shouldn't have..have to-" I can't get the words out. I feel tears sliding down my face. She shouldn't have had to see that." I wrap my arms around her, and pull the girl into a hug. My body is quivering with sobs along with hers. "I'm s-so sorry." I choke out again. But she's safe. I'm safe. I know now if I was ever to reaped, I would a goner. I don't think I could ever kill anyone. But I'm not in the Games. Instead I stand in the rain, seperated from the crumbling civilzation the Capitol call a country only by a broken down wire fence. In the rain, trying to soothe a young girl who I wish had never come into the woods today. Never have to wittness what she did.

notes:
outfit: here

I feel the young girl's skinny arms wrap around me, and for a few moments we just stand there, hugging each other. I hear the fence buzz to life, but I banish the thought that we might not be getting back into the district. I guess they've decided to provide us with electricity for a few hours now, since it's dark, and not to mention cold. "Nola......i-it's...a man..." Her voice is just a faint, nervous whisper. I look up, my gaze immediately focusing on the figure, still several yards off. I recognize the uniform of a peacekeeper, and my stomach knots. I could be publicly whipped on a daily basis for crossing the fence, probably executed for hunting. I'm not sure what to do. We have yet to be spotted, but if we move now, we'll be seen. Then, thank God, he sneezes. Rose lunges for cover behind a tree, and thankfully she still has a hold of my hand, and jerks me after her. If she didn't, I'd probably still be standing there, dumbfounded.

We cause a bit of a racket, my fault really, and he spins back around, waving a flashlight beam around the trees. I don't even dare to breathe. Apparently, he fails to notice us, for the beam of light vanishes, and through the pounding rain I make out his silhouette striding back to whatever pit he came from. What an inconvenient time to regain electricity. "How...do we get out?" Thunder crashes in the sky, nearly drowning out her voice. I have to contemplate this for a while. There's no way we're getting back under the fence. One touch and we'd be fried. I don't think we could get over it either. The barrier is probably twenty feet high. There might be a tree with an overhanging branch, but it's still a long way down, and from what I can see, there aren't any trees like that nearby. There's several feet of scruffy meadow between the forest and metal linking.

Lighting flashes, illuminating the sky. I can feel the temperature dropping, and the downpour is not helping. "I..I don't know...I'm not sure we can." I speak a little hesitantly, I don't want to frighten her. I've spent the night in the woods before, but not in this weather. I take Rose's hand and lead her a bit deeper into the woods, the opposite direction of our, ah, earlier position. I don't want to be in sight when the sun rises. I trudge forward a couple hundred yards before I decide we're far enough, and well out of sight. I'm lucky enough to find a large, wide pine tree. "Can you climb?" I ask, raising my voice slightly to be heard above the storm. I feel certain she can, after all she's a hunter too. It'll be dryer, under the shelter of the needle filled branches then under the desolate deciduous ones that dominate the forest. And safer. In a tree, we are less vulnerable to any wild creatures, not that there will be many around tonight, but still.

notes:
outfit: here

"Yes. I can." Her voice is surprisingly steady. She fastens her small hands to branch and pulls herself up. "Right behind you." I reply, barely audible above pounding storm. By now, the freezing water has soaked through my clothing and my hair is plastered against my face and neck. Rose's condition is no better. Rain turns to hail, and for a split second, night becomes day. During dryer months, it might unsettle me to think that such a storm could spark a fire, but in this downpour, the thought is just a flicker among a blaze of other issues. I hear Rose exclaim, but I'm unable to make out her words. She clambers higher into the tree, and follow, but it's slow going. The branches are slick, and the wind isn't helping. I take care to ensure solid footing before hoisting myself upward. We're quite a ways up now, and the branches are slimming. Even soaking wet, I'm plenty light enough to scurry up the slender limbs, so long as I stick close to the base.

I'm part way through my next step up when I hear Rose call out to me. I glance upward, squinting through the rain to find her silhouette, and that's all it takes. I'm not focused on my footing, and place my boot a bit too far out on a weaker branch. It cracks under my weight, and I rush to cling onto another branch. The limb collapses beneath my feet. I let out a sharp cry as I slam against the rough bark, my boots scraping against the trunk in a desperate attempt to find purchase. My frozen fingers barely manage to keep my weight aloft. If I lose my grip, it's all over. I wouldn't be surprised if I was suspended thirty feet in the air. After what feels like an eternity, I manage to find a foot hold, maybe what's left of the branch that snapped before hand. As quickly as I dare, I heave myself up onto a limb I take extra care to ensure is sturdy enough to hold me. Slowly, I lower myself into a relatively comfortable sitting position, and take a moment to catch my breath. That was close. I lean gently against the trunk, my one hand still gripping the branch to steady myself.

notes: n/a
outfit: here

The storm is relentless, battering me from all angles with wind and hail stones. I've barely caught my breath when a high pitched scream pierces the air. I look up in alarm, but Rose is gone. My God! I scramble up and begin clambering frantically down the tree, my bow seming to constantly catch on swaying limbs. The earth seemes to be shaking, and it's not helping my descent. Multiple possibilities fly through my mind. A twister is my first thought, yet I never noticed the sky take a green hue before hand. I suppose it is just the wind.. I fumble in my desperate attempt to reach the lower limbs of the tree, my sopping hair whipping against my face. My clothes are soaked through and heavy, and my limbs are growing weaker from exhaustion. The adrenaline rushing through me and the thought of Rose plunging to the ground are what keep me going.

She's not dead. She's fine. I tell myself as my face finds another branch for me. Finally, I hear another cry. "Nola. HELP!" Relief floods through me, but the feeling doesn't last. I scamper down the few feet to find the young girl suspended from her jacket on the edge of a surdy branch. "Rose!" I call out, so she knows I'm there, that I was fast enough to reach her. I drop down another foot or so, scooting out as far as I dare. I can almost reach her. I shift out another few inches, stretching my arm out toward her. I make a desperte grab for her wrist, and I'm lucky enough to get a good hold on her. I've got you! Can you get a hold of me with both hands?" I yell above the storm. If she can get a solid grip on my arm, I'll be able to free her jacket, and pull her back up to safety. I confirm I have sure, solid footing on my branch, and brace against it in preperation.

notes: n/a
outfit: here