Immanuel Quin (IQ) ; Wanderer; Fin

Immanuel Quin (IQ) ; Wanderer; Fin Jan 7, 2016 11:15:13 GMT -5

Post by * on Jan 7, 2016 11:15:13 GMT -5

Immanuel Quin (IQ)
Age: 20
Wanderer
(Mentions/hints toward districts: 7, 10 and 12 though)
Height: 6'2
Weight: 149
FC: Ben Dahlhaus

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, said someone one time. From there, I've wondered what that really meant. Would it be the little girl who sees through the burn marks on her friend's face from a fight gone wrong with one of her parents or maybe the look of a child whose born without a limb? Perhaps, there is something more to beauty than just outter appearances and beauty will be seen in the darkness of the night and covered with silence? To touch someone and see who they really are. To touch the cool skin of their nose and the dry, cracked lips from a day without water can tell their story. How does the feel of their skin effect the way we look at them? Hardships outnumber them all and yet no one bats an eye and cares for them in the littlest way possible. The games still take them away despite their needs to live longer, but for some, it's a blessing to be taken away and given an early death.

Not me.

I live out here on the land. I depend on no one. The beauty I behold comes on the mornings of sunrise, just when the sun is starting to peek over the horizon. The pink hue of the sun wanting to say hello is masked still by the darkness of the moon's capture of the sky. Slowly... the sun will have its glory, showing everyone that beauty can come in all shapes and sizes; all different colors. No two sunrises are the same. And no one is like me.

I remain of the land. I hear and feel the push and pull of the wind against my hair and as it flitters through my long growing beard. I feel the sun warm my cool, rough skin with the first rays of light after a chilling night. In the hammock, I am safe from the frosted dew on the ground, keeping me from feeling the everlasting bite of winter. And with the thought of yet another winter, it makes her face come out again. Owena used to love to wake up to the morning's crisp air and wrap her arms around my thin, mountain tamed body. She used to nuzzle her nose into my neck and put her cold lips against my neck to wake me up. Her voice would send me away on a journey through our multiple districts we had came across. The miles of forest that harbored dangerous creatures and lands that were flat with animals galore. We gained a companion for a short time, a small boy named Fliss. He was our little adopted brother and shortly after joining us was sentenced to life with the light.

Owena and I didn't realize that he had escaped his district only to perish among the free spirited people and just so that his spirit would live on, we gave him what he so desired. A mountain top hill that overlooked a lake, where the first rays of sunshine would grace him every morning and every evening the sunset would kiss him goodbye. It was bittersweet and distructive in the way he left Owena, but we managed to move on. We had to. One can not stay in one place for long because when you are traveling on foot, it's best to leave no trace of your presence and explore to your hearts content.

Months went by, and we gained and lost many companions. Mostly, they left to seek their own destined path of life, however, Owena seemed to desire to go back to her own district of twelve. The thought that she wanted to go back tore me up. We had spent years out here, and suddenly, she'd rather go back and face the reapings. This life wasn't made for her and she wasn't made for this life. Unwillingly, I had to let her go.

She walked away from me.

She touched that bordering fence and slipped through it's biting teeth and waved goodbye to me from the other side. She walked away, leaving me broken and alone. Yet, she gave me hope that everyone's path is different. The pain lasted for all of a few weeks, when I set up camp near her bordering district lay in case she changed her mind, but she never came. I never heard that whistle of need. I never saw her again, and forced myself to come to terms with the outcome. I am of the land. She was not.

So, I set off as a mountain man to see what else life had in store for me. What strange and fantastic adventures awaited me in this huge world. It wasn't until this past summer, that I found my reflection in the still pond left behind from days of rain. The glistening sun echoing off the surface. My eyes growing small to shield from the damage of the harsh light and that's when I saw the white suits.

Fear escalated.

My fingers dropped the berry I had pinched between my fingers and I lunged for my bag. The footsteps that began to follow me came as quick as I was. However, the difference between the men in white and myself is that I knew the dirt and the trees. I could see the paths clearly marked for my escape and any place that would be used to keep them at bay. Hungry, ravenous mutts made their sounding attempts to frighten me into submission, but it only proved to push me faster; more agile. Every leap was based on faith that I could trust my limbs to carry me onto the next rock; the next hill.

"You'll not catch me." I muttered under my breath and ducked beneath every branch until I came to the ledge. A cascading waterfall stood in my way of freedom and capture. For a mere moment frozen in time, I saw the face of Fliss and the face of Owena. I saw the companions that never stayed by my side because their paths were their own. Who am I to decide my own path? I am here for a reason and that reason is never to be examined. I live. That's my purpose. I close my eyes for only a moment and take a deep breath. Upon opening them, my hazel eyes peered down into the free flowing river of uncertainty and dove in...

The memory remains as clear as the blue sky without a cloud. A voice spoke to me when I was covered by the deep, rushing waters of the rapids. It said that I had more to do. I had more to accomplish. When the end of my journey came to a halt on the banks of a rocky shore, I found that I could no longer remember where I was going. Who I really was. I remembered my name, barely, but I became IQ. Owena's face slowly disappeared from my memory and Fliss faded with the sunset that night. They were of the past and I was in the present. If I wanted to make it to my future, I had to let them go.

Out here, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I wouldn't change this for the world.