Deep into the woods [yOya/Gaby]

I stare up at my ceiling in a confused silence. Am I awake? Was I just asleep? What was I just dreaming about? Blinking a couple of times, the dream slips further and further away from my memory the longer I try to remember. I give up a little bit longer. No point trying to remember something that doesn't want to be remembered. But it was such a good one, though. It felt as though I wasn't even sleeping. Why can't I remember this one? I shake my head and sit up. It's only a dream. Those aren't that important.

Sitting up, I glance at the time. God dammit. It's 4:20. Stupid freaking body. Why must you wake me up this early? For whatever reason, I've been waking up earlier than usual during the summer. I have no bloody clue on why my body does this. It's just a stupid bitch. Wait. Maybe it's because of the long naps after work. Is it? Should I stop taking them? Nah. I like them. Probably not them anyways.

I get myself out of bed with more energy than expected. The energy didn't last that long, though. As soon as my feet hit the ground, most of it vanished. Of course it would... Why couldn't I be this tired in bed? I grimace as I move my body towards the shower. Maybe this will wake me up. I turned it on and went on in. It did wake me up a little bit, but I worry that it won't help me when I get out of the shower. Who cares if I'm tired? I'm always tired it seems, at least recently I have been. I get out of the shower as soon a the water gets cold and grab a banana before heading outside to go for a walk

There is one definite good thing about waking up early: No people. I wander around aimlessly through the town, looking at all the closed buildings, trying to remember what they look like when they're open. I wonder if any of the shop owners forgot to lock the doors to any of them. I glance around to make sure no body was around before attempting it. A pastry shop that I like is conveniently nearby. I head over to it, turn the handle, and fail. The handle barely moves. Maybe the next one.

I'm about to head on over to the candy shop before I hear movement. Shit. Is somebody there? I quickly hid in an alleyway between the shops. I glance around the corner just in time to see somebody walk by. I breath again, not realizing I was holding my breath. That was close. I'm really glad that that person didn't see me. Was that a peacekeeper? It didn't look like a peacekeeper uniform. Hmmm. What're they doing up so early? Like the typical idiot I am, I decided to follow them.

I don't know how long I followed them, which I figured out was a girl due to her hair, but she finally stopped at the fence. What's she doing here? There isn't any-- NO. SHE CAN'T DO THAT. Or can she? There isn't really anyone here to stop her, is there? I watch her glance around before heading through it. If she can do it, so can I. I quickly get out from behind my hiding spot and run up to the fence to chase her some more. What was she looking for anyways? There isn't anyone awake at this time anyways.

Once outside of the district, I feel... open, free, scared. I've never been out here before. It both excites me and scares me at the same time. I take a deep breath. No one is going to catch you. Just stay calm. Look for the girl. I get my senses back and continue to look for her. Where the hell did she go? She was just here. She might have started running somewhere. But where could she have gone?

I aimlessly walk the woods, trying to find this covert "spy". I don't even know why she's out here. She could be just running away. But wouldn't somebody who's running away take more than what she had? Maybe, but that's just me. I nearly give up after 5 minutes before I crash nearby. I get down. Is that an animal? Crap. I really hope it can't smell me. Please go away. I don't move for what feels like eternity. When I think it feels safe again, I stand up slowly to continue my search for her.

Nearly giving up after nearly 10 minutes, my luck kicks in. I find myself face to face with the girl. Well, we're not face to face at first, but after she turns around we are. A small grin appears on my face. She appears to be a little bit nervous to see me. Maybe I can mess with her. Yeah.I'm gonna mess with her."Hello. Nice to meet you. Why're you all the way out her in the wilderness? Why leave District 7? Are you running away? I should report you, you know? For running away and everything." I hold my grin, hoping she doesn't see through my bluff.

    She appeared to get angrier and angrier the more I talked, which made my smile even bigger. She actually thinks I'm serious. Ha. Good riddance to her. I'm close to laughing at her expression, until she speaks. "Who do you think you are, spying on me like that? The king of these woods or what? Maybe the head Peacekeeper or the President himself? If you report me, you'll have to explain why you were here in the first place. By the way, note that I can report you as well. In both cases it won't bring any good to both of us. So why don't you just keep your mouth shut? As for me being 'all the way out here in the wilderness'"

    Shit, she's right. My urge to laugh fades, but my smile doesn't. I still believe that I have the upper hand. Does she know who I am or who my family is? I really hope not. I've never seen her in my life, but that doesn't mean she does' t know me. If she knew me, would she have gotten scared when she saw me? I don't know. How can I use that to my advantage? Could I do something about peacekeepers? Maybe. Let's find out.

    "Would you talk to that way to somebody who has connections with the authority? For all you know, I might just be a peacekeeper spy. So once again, why're you out here?" The words just fly off my tongue, my brain not fully processing what I said until after I said it, nor does it realize how hard my heart is beating either. Was that good enough? Why am I nervous? I've messed with people loads of times now. Why does it matter now? It's no different than before...

She takes in my words, her face unchanging except for the minor changes that I could easily be mistaking. No, her face is changing slightly, even if they are for milliseconds. I've seen people do that before. I wonder who... doesn't matter now. Her response makes very little sense to me when I hear it, and confusion spears across my face. "Connections with the authorities or not, it doesn't make you any better. I'll talk that way every time I meet a jerk, whoever he is. There's also a fifty percent chance you're no spy, and I'll take it. Go back where you came from and don't meddle in my life anymore." What? 50%? Where did that come from?

"Okay. How the fuck did you get 50%? Is there some math problem that now proves how many people are loyal to peacekeepers and how many aren't? Or is it because there are two options, so it has to be 50/50?" Wait. I actually know what I'm talking about. I'm gonna try to confuse her now. "Just because there are two options doesn't make it exactly 50/50. It's like flipping a coin. Most people think that it's 50/50, but due to the weight of the face side, it's more of a 51/49, in favor of the heads. Get your stats right before trying to make assumptions."

I take a breath, realizing I said all of that in one breath by accident. I also realize that she's walking away. "Fine. Walk away. And how does it not make me any better? If I work for the authorities, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't that make be better than you?" Saying that leaves a vile taste in my mouth. If it means messing with her, you gotta say crap like that, okay Marcus? You're not dead, and you won't die, so it'll be okay. She's also walking away, so she must be really annoyed. A sincere grin replaces the fake one I've been holding onto for a little bit now. Good job! You've won. Now what? Not sure really what to do, I awkwardly watch her hide behind a bush. She better not be peeing... I just shrug and take a sit on the nearest tree for her to come back up.

Sitting at at a base of a tree never felt so relaxing. It might have been the sleep catching up, but I felt myself slowly drifting into sleep. No... must... stay... awake. Don't want to get caught... but it's so comfortable... I keep on nodding as I try to keep myself awake. Please just stay awake... fine... maybe 10 minutes... I continue to valiantly fight until sleep eventually overtook me and won.

What's going on? What's happening? I appear to be right outside of my slouched body, watching it's (my?) chest rise and fall. This is so weird. I love it and hate it at the same time. What do I do? Is this even real? Am I dead? No, that can't be. How can my body still be breathing? This must be some really weird dream I'm having. It has to be. How do I move? Oh. Just like normal. Except I can fly. After what feels like only a minute or so, I get the hang of moving around completely. I wonder where that girl went.

Flying around in and out of the nearby bushes, I finally find her. She's sitting in a bush or something making a mesh of sticks and rope. On second glance, it's just rope. The sticks I thought I saw were just sticks right in front of my face. I watch as she continues to fail miserably at making the rope, letting out a laugh. Shit, she might have heard me. Dumbass, she would have heard you when you entered the bush. You're dreaming. This probably isn't even real. A blood stained cloth on her leg takes my attention next. Is she okay? Should I help her? Can I help her?

My body jerks awake. What the hell just happened? Damn, my head's sore. Never going to sleep on a tree like that again. I stand up, about to head back home. However, instinct decided to move my legs in a different direction. Where am I going? I don't even know how to get home, so this might be the right way? No, I came in a different way. What's so special over here? A noise in a bush nearby answers the question. I slowly crouch and duck walk towards it to see what it is. Shit. It's her. Isn't her arm bleeding? Or was it her leg? "Are you okay?" WHy'd I say that? Since when did I become kind to people I don't know? I did meet her, but I don't think she likes me. Oh well.

Turning around, her face shows tiredness more than anything. The anger seemed to have gone, to be replaced with sweat and determination. Behind her, what she may have been working on, looked like some sort of trap. Damn. How does she know how to do that? If the peacekeepers knew, she definitely would be thrown in jail. Or wherever they send people. Is that why she's here? Oh. She must be getting food for her family. That's stupid. Why risk your life for food?

"If you've come to discuss stats again, I'm not exactly in the mood for that. Besides, I'm totally fine and really busy, so why don't you leave me alone?" Taken aback from those words, I'm stunned for a couple of seconds. Before saying anything more rash, I breath. I don't feel like starting another argument. Her leg also makes me think that she has something that has more importance than something as stupid as a fight.

I clear my head before responding. "Look. I'm not here to tell you any more math. I hate math, and have already have had enough of it for one day. You're leg is injured, and I wanted to make sure it was okay. Okay?" I give her a small smile, one that isn't kind, but it's no closer to hateful. What's the word for it? Sincere? I really wish I payed attention more when I was still in school. I decide to sit next to her to watch her. She turns around to work on the possible trap, and I could have sworn I hear a quiet sigh and "damn," but it could just have been my imagination. "Would you like any help?"

What I heard next shocked me. Her face showed signs of annoyance. I think it was annoyance. It looked like annoyance. It took a couple of moments for her to reply as well. I thought she was going to explode on me. "Fine. Could you hold these two branches for me?" Stunned, I didn't saw anything at first.Did she just accept my help? Then again, I did offer to help, so I guess we're better now? I guess. I'm too tired to try to mess with her anymore. What's the point anyway? I'm gonna need her to get back. I know I don't get lost easily, but I've never been out here before, and I did take a nap, which kinda messed up my sense of direction.

"Okay. Sure thing." I place my grip on the two branches and wait for her to finish making her trap. I wonder how long she's been working on this? Or how long she knew how to make traps? Maybe I could take lessons from her. Nah. I don't need any lessons. It would be fun to learn, though. No. I can figure it out on my own later. I don't need to know now.

"So what type of trap are you making?" I kinda blush as I realize it's a stupid question, but I was curious. It might be useful if I ever decided to go back out here. Or I could read about it. Are there any books back in District 7? I don't think so. The only district that could possibly know would be District 5, but they don't do hunting anymore. How'd she learn? "How'd you learn how to do this? Who taught you? I don't think there would be any books back home, and I'm sure it would be a little hard to practice back in the district." I realized after how rude it may have sounded, but I didn't mean it that way. I was just curious. Should I say I was curious? Nah. Hopefully she'll figure that part out.

As soon as she finished, she snapped at my last question. Not a typical snap, but more of a teacher snapping at a student. {Are there different kinds of traps, Mister Spy? And where do you think I could learn such stuff? It's not taught anywhere, so the only thing you need to learn how to make a trap is some brain in your head." What? I get slightly offended to her comment. Jeez, don't have to be so harsh, bitch. "Well, sorry about that. I didn't know that starting conversations is considered rude." I bite my tongue, remembering that I'm gonna need her help getting back.

I blink a couple times, choosing the right words to avoid her snapping at me again. "Sorry, just was curious." Didn't realize you had a brain. "If it bothers you that I'm talking, just say something. Wanted to make time go by faster. Good job on the trap by the way." I bend down to inspect the trap she made, trying to avoid setting it off. Did she just learn how to do this? I truly have never seen anything like this. I wonder if she's met any wanderers before. That would be cool, having friends on the outside, but also illegal. 

I hear her make a noise. As a reaction, my eyes snaps up to her face, which shows pain. "Look, you need more help than just the trap." I point at her blood soaked bandage. "You're gonna need to change the bandage by the way. My sister's a nurse, and she taught me a couple of tips and tricks along the way." I tear off a part of my shirt. "Here you go. I'm also here if you need any help walking." Why the hell should I help her walk? I already offered her part of my shirt, which I already regret. This was a good shirt. Why did I do that? Stop being so nice. Wait, I need to. I hate being nice.