{ the lesser of two evils } | jacinta v. ansel v. josephine
Nov 26, 2017 13:46:34 GMT -5
Post by я𝑜𝓈𝑒 on Nov 26, 2017 13:46:34 GMT -5
[presto]
[/presto]
i'm the lesser of two evils
or am i, am i tricking myself nice?
who's this man, who's this act i hide behind?
there are two ways to skin tonightShe doesn't dare fall asleep beneath the open canopy of stars with Hayden and Cynthia again. Rather than succumbing to exhaustion, Jacinta lays awake for an extra hour, wondering if she will awaken to a knife to her throat if she stays. It was what she had once planned to do with her allies once it was final eight, after all.
The anthem has already passed. She had watched it earlier with Cynthia and Hayden. Atlas's face was up there, a boy who she killed — it is such a strange sensation. Jacinta doesn't know exactly how she feels, but she does know that she doesn't feel powerful. Now that there is blood on her hands, she feels more heavy than anything. For some time, she thought it might make her feel more alive, but it is the exact opposite.
There is no use feeling guilty, but she feels that desolate weight anyway. She wishes she could just shrug it off like Ansel seems to.
She spends a few more minutes looking from her allies, the stars, and back to them again. But instead of awaiting her possible death, Jacinta picks up her bag and leaves their campsite. Before she disappears into the woods, she looks back one more time at the darkened figures of Hayden and Cynthia, wondering if the next time she sees them will be in battle or in the sky. (Or maybe neither, maybe never again.)
Jacinta wanders for several minutes through the darkness, holding up Atlas's lantern to illuminate her path. Eventually, she finds a hollow beneath a great tree and slips down into it, laying out her old costume as bedding. Before closing her eyes, she flips the switch to her lantern and the light dies, leaving her completely in the blackness of the everlasting night.
She dreams of Clementa Lowe. Jacinta can almost smell her hair, the way it was after she would shower in the training center — citrus and lavender. She re-imagines her perfectly; the long locks of her hair, colored honey and red, her copper eyes that always seemed to teem with embers a fire. Her skin was so sunkissed and smooth and dotted with freckles, like dark drops of sunlight. Jacinta imagines that her lips would have felt even softer.
But dreams, no matter how beautiful, always inevitably fade. They crumble into nothing but ash and are hastily carried away by the winds of time. When she awakens, she cannot recall what exactly the dream was about, just that it was about Clementa and her citrus-scented hair. Whatever the dream was about, she wishes that it could have been real.
BOOM.
Canon fire — it forces her eyes to snap open, and she nearly jumps to her feet but then remembers that she is beneath the trunk of a tree. Jacinta gasps, but catches her breath. As the seconds go by in complete silence, her once racing heartbeat begins to slow. Her eyes dart about her surroundings, but she is completely alone, just as she had been on the fourth day.
The day has barely started, and someone is already dead.
She crawls out from the hollow and stuffs her makeshift blankets and Atlas's lantern back into her bag. Just like all the other days, she begins her aimless trek, only this time, she finds herself back at the cornucopia. It's been how many days since she's been here? Jacinta counts in her head — six. It's been six days but it has felt like six months.
It is not long before she hears the crunching of twigs to mark the footsteps of other tributes. Jacinta takes cover behind a tree and watches carefully through the underbrush as Josephine and Ansel appear, almost at the same time, into a clearing.
She shows herself, despite the fear that eats at her with acid-drenched teeth. She will have to face them no matter what; there would have been no use in running.
"Ansel," she says, nodding to the boy. "I had a feeling I would see you again." Her stomach twists with overwhelming anxiety. This fight could go either way; she and Ansel aren't exactly friends, but Ansel and Josephine had also fought before. Jacinta had never once raised her weapon against Khiev, although she has considered it many times.
Jacinta's eyes dart between the two, both potential enemies. Her focus eventually settles on Josephine Emerson, whose ally she killed. Ansel could swing either way in this fight, but Josephine is almost certain to attack her.
"I told you I'd get back to you on whether we're equally bad, didn't I?" Jacinta continues, drawing her axe. But she does not point it towards Ansel Khiev. She needs a game to play, and so she makes one. Guilt aside, it may just save her life. "Tell you what, if I kill Josephine, then we're equals — both cold-blooded killers. But if you kill Josephine, you're officially, without question, the most lethal tribute in this Arena. Or the most merciful, however you want to twist it." (She doesn't really care — she just wants to live another day.)
Josephine Emerson — an innocent, but a danger nevertheless. A danger that would have to be eliminated. Only eight tributes remain; Jacinta cannot afford any immediate risks now. She doesn't even wait for Ansel's response before engaging with Josephine, circling around the tribute and poising herself to strike.
Those green eyes of hers look so innocent and bright — it's almost a shame that Jacinta has to suck the light out of them.
Just let it go, Jacinta tells herself. No one is really an innocent here, not when they pose such a threat. If she kills again, it may keep her up at night, but at least it will also keep her alive.
"I expect you still hate me after yesterday's ordeal," Jacinta says. She would not presume anything less; she sought revenge after Clementa's death, despite Jacinta's better logic telling her that Ment would have died anyway, that she was expendable. That Ezen Moreno did both her and Ment a favor. "And that's alright. But I can't let you kill me over it."[Jacinta attacks Josephine; axe]
XLqJsd2zaxe
[11027 -- Shallow Cut on Right Hip -- 3.5 damage]let's see whose road gets there faster
this is a game, no wrongs, no right
only a winner and a loser
you and i, oh you and i
