Shadows in the forest {Open}

The forest was quiet, even the birds neglected to sing. A full moon cast eerie shadows on the forest floor, providing just enough light for the ninteen year old boy to tread quietly and without worry. He had been traveling for two years now, since he was sevnteen, and had rarely encountered another soul. Not that he could blame others for not choosing to ecape the dsitricts, wnadering wasn't the most desirable lifestyle, but perhaps it was better than facing the risk of being chosen to brutaly murder twenty three other innocent kids.

For someone of his size, Josh moved pretty quietly through the brush, disturbing only the crickets who were busy with their songs. Perhaps he should settle down, make camp, but why bother? He wasn't fatigued. Hiking his rucksack up on his shouder, he continued forward. Sleep may not have been necessary, but food was definately on the agenda. A bush loaded down with berries sat a few yards away, but upon closer obsevation found they were not edible, but the poisoness berry known as nightlock. Instead, Josh turned to a nearby pine tree, and scraped away the tough outer bark, until he reached the softer inner bark. It was a little tough to ge down, but he'd eaten plety in the past couple years, and it would enough to tide him over for a while.

A quick glance at the surroundings and he moved off again, striding on for aout five minutes before he caught the distinct smell of smoke. Brow creased, Josh moved closer where a small fire could be seen glowing between the trees. In it's flickering light, the ninteen year old could make out a lone figure huddled against the cold by the small blaze. The brush underfoot rustled softly under his shifting weight as he moved into the faint light, the sound promtly answered by a fearful female voice. "Who's there?" The young man stepped better into the light, a girl about his age coming into focus. "Take it easy, sweatheart. I'm not gonna hurt you."

Slinging his rucksack to the ground beside him, Josh settled down a few feet from the girl, leaning back against the trunk of a tree, legs stretched out in ffront of him, crossed at the ankles. A relaxed position, perhaps making him look a bit overconfident, seeing as he was around a stranger. This girl, about his own age, seemed a bit unsettled by his presence. Her expression agreeing with her wary tone. He couldn't blame her, really. You never knew who you might run into in the woods, and, well, a six foot tall, ninteen year old male appearing during the night might not be the most relaxing event. "That's better." He muttered to himself, as she lowered the hunting knife ctutched in her hand.

"First of all, who are you? Wandering the woods at this time seems kind of dangerous." He spared her a friendly halfsmile, raising his eyebrows and giving her a sideways glance. "I'm Josh." He replied. "You're right," He began again, turning to face her more fully, more seriously. "Wandering the woods at night is dangerous. But..I haven't got much choice. Don't think the Capitol,"He sneered the word, "Or my District for that matter, would much appreciate it if I came crawling back to them." He finished, a hint of sarcasm in his words, the last thing Josh would would be to go crawling back to One. Capitol'd probably turn him into an Avox anyway.

"So, would you care to enlighten me? For example, who might you be?" He aksed, real curiousity lightening his words. "And what's a pretty girl like you doing hanging out here in the woods, alone?" He looked at her expectantly, green eyes breifly flitting to her face, then back, probing the eerily silent forest. He might be a bit of a goof at times, like he usually was around new people, but Josh wasn't totatlly imprudent. God knows what might be lurking in shadows beyond the reacch of the fire's glow. He'd learned that lesson the hard way, and still had the faint scar to prove it.

"My name is Shadow and I also come from District 1. I didn't really have a choice in becoming a wanderer because my mom left the district when I was like five and took me with her so I haven't really known any other way to live." She began, voice bitter. "I can never return to District 1 because my father is a peace keeper there and if he ever caught me, he'd turn me in right away and I'd be an avox for sure." Josh looked up as she spoke, wondering why here mother had split. Father a peacekeeper, eh? Seemed like it wouldn've been a pretty soft life. "So whats your story?" Ah, well he should have been expecting this question, no? Twisting his mouth in thought, he began running through it in his mind.

"Well," He began, "I'd lived in One my entire life, my father," He spit the word, "was an important man, if you will, not to mention a big fan of the Hunger Games. Just as eager to watch his son risk his life in an attempt to slaughter twenty three innocent kids." He paused, averting his green eyes and glaring into the black forest. "We had different views when it came to the games, I hated them. But, none the less, I was a career. It's illegal really. We train in a special academy until we're eighteen, then volunteer. Ya know, learn stuff like this." Whipping his hunting knife out of his belt, Josh threw the blade across the clearing, burying the tip into the bark of a small tree about fifteen feet or so away.

"That was where the conflict arose. So, when I was seventeen, I left." He shrugged, moving to retrieve the dagger before settling back down again. "That's 'bout it. Been wandering ever since." A length of silence followed, broken only by the crickets inn the brush. Josh sat in the eerie silence a moment longer, twirling the knife in his figers, beofre tucking it safely back into his belt. Glancing up, he noticed Shadow's yawn. "You should probably get some sleep." He said matter of factly, stiffling a yawnn of his own.

"If you want, you can rest here for the night." Quite a generous offer, considering they had just met, but he could hear the trace of reluctance in her voice, sense that she didn't trust him. At least, not completely. Couldn't blame her though, and Josh couldn't say he trsuted her comletely either, though she would be hardly a threat in a fight. He nodded once in thanks as she slid into her sleeping bag. Josh settled in himself, adjusting his position against the tree, gazing blanky into the darkness of the forest. It was almost dead silent, if not for the wind high in the trees, the occaisional crackle of the dying flames. He sighed, knowing he should get some sleep as well. Glancing over at the girl, he could tell she was already out cold. Closing his own eyes, he dozed off for the remaing hours of the night.

-------------------------Time Lapse-------------------------------

Josh was always a light sleeper, escpecially now that he traveled the wilderness on his own. Nowadays, the slightest of sounds jolted him awake. Surprisingly, he made it through the night. Josh came to conciousness just as the faint light of dawn began to illuminate the forest. He stood, moving about stretching, putting his limbs, strong and sure, back into working order. It was fall, but he made eerily little sound as he moved. Practice. He could manuever the woods like a phantom, and that could come in handy, especially when a meal was on the agenda. Shadow was still sound alseep as expected, the sun wasn't even fully up.

He paced several yards into the forest, knife in hand, eyes probing the land for a potential food source. A scruffy bush, loaded down with berries just waiting to be picked, and a few more feet into the woods..ah yes, just what he was hoping for. A rabbit, plump in its preparation for winter. It sat like a statue. Slowly, Josh raised his arm, then he let the knife fly. Appraoching his kill, he was pleased to find he hadn't punctured the body. He retieved the creature and returned to clearing, preapring the rabbit, and stoking the fore back to life and setting the animal to roast. Shadow was still asleep, or at least appeared to be, but her face still seemed to hold a serious expression. So much unlike the over confident, goof of a boy who took little seriously, even out here.

"Good morning." He glanced up, finding Shadow's broght blue eyes trained on him. "Mornin'." He replied casually, watching the charred wood in the blaze crackle and stir, throwing sparks into the frigid air. Josh's gaze shifted out and away, towards the woods. The forest had been so quiet lately, almost unnaturally so. Originally he'd assumed it was because winter was closing in, the dropping temeratures promising the season's first snow, but even this close to it, there was usually still some sort of life. His brow furrowed in thought, wondering what could possible be the reason. Josh tipped his head up slightly, whistling a short tune. He waited a few moments, and usually he was rewarded with a chorous of bird calls.

He cocked his head, listening, but he didn't get much of a response. He shrugged it off, deciding it wasn't of any worry to him, at least not yet. "Were you planning on sticking around?" He turned back to the girl as her voice rang through the clearing. Josh pursed his lips slightly, then shrugged. "Guess so," He began. S'not like I've got somewhere else I need to be." He replied, judging her reaction to this, half expecting her to shoo him out. Wouldn't be all that surprising if she did, but she had to get lonely at some point too, and it would be nice to have some company, at least for a while. He studied her for a moment, taking in her expression. Looked a bit stiff. "Something else bothering you?" He asked curiously, perhaps the silence of the forest irked her as well, or pehaps it was still in reaction to his own presence.

"Yeah, the silence in the forest. It's eerie." She said something else after that, about it being so quiet, but he didn't linger on it. "I agree." Was all he said in response. "But," He began again, tone lighter, "I don't think it's anything of concern, I mean as long as there's game." He shrugged. Of course, when the snow came and covered the forest floor, it buried many potential food sources as well. But he'd scraped by for two years now, and Shadow, well. A short silence followed, broken by the girl scrambling out of the sleeping bag and returning it to her bag. Pulling out her knife, she turned to face him.

"I'm going hunting for something to eat." She announced. Josh only nodded, and she vanished into the woods. He sighed, leaning back and trying to relax. Befor he knew it, Josh had dozed off. Perhaps an hour or so later, Shadow returned to the clearing. He immediately snapped back to conciousness as she settled across from him. "So.." A blush colored her pale skin as her eyes flitted to his face. Josh closed his eyes, to tired, or rather, lazy, to do much else. He might live in the woods, but that didn't change is un-serious personality. Besides, he had company, though it probably came across a bit arrogant at time"Why the blush?" He asked without hesitation. Oh, he was really pushing his luck today.

Josh opened his eyes again, finding Shadow to have turned an even darker shade of red. "This is the first time since the big argument with my mom that I've actually talked to someone. To top it off, I'm talking to a guy. If my mom ever knew or if she was even around, she'd kill me." He had to laugh a little himself, it had been forever since he'd spoken with another person, since he'd laughed even longer. Appearently, it was the same for her. He wasn't surprised, how often do you run into others out here? I haven't laughed like that in forever. Sorry about that." "Me neither." He said, grinning, silencing his own laughter. It was great to have company again. Real company, not like the Hunger Games fanatics at District One.

He realized for moment, he no longer thought of the district as home. It was just another place, long way off. Then again, was One really a home? He didn't think so. The forest appealed to him much more, especially now he had a companion, and one he got along with. Before long, Shadow's voice broke into his thoughts. "I think I need to laugh more often." She gave hima genuine smile, and he returned it. "I'll try to keep the jokes coming." He snickered. Finally, Josh sighed, catching his breath a bit, turning a bit more serious. "So, what happened with your mother?" He asked quietly, he didn't doubt it might be a touchy subject, but he was honestly curious. "And why might she kill you for talking to me? I mean it's not like I'm a peackeeper." He said, a cracking a grin.