The Shadow of Me | Gilly & Caine | | Hunger Games: The RPG

The Shadow of Me | Gilly & Caine | Feb 6, 2018 0:19:16 GMT -5

Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2018 0:19:16 GMT -5

Gillian Imberline

It had started with C’Rizz because—well, you were curious about the older boy from your district, and whether or not the two of you had anything in common. You liked the way he was broody with dad eyes (so-called because the looked the same as your father’s after a long night at the factory), it complimented your effervescence, or rather—it overshadowed it. That was what you came to realize here in the capitol; you were not a fighter of great renown, nor were you a great beauty. There was another twelve-year-old with a fiery red mane; those with recognizable last names. You were just as you’d been in district eight, ephemeral and part of the crowd.

Someone had to fill up the space in between names on the list; someone had to be the face in the sky on the first, the second, on days where there were enough stories to tell and a giggly twelve-year-old would be gone, not forgotten, but disappearing. Were you disappearing? It made you scared, tucked away under your covers and thinking, that there was nothing worse than being lonely, halfway across the world, inching towards becoming a ghost.

So you gave up.

Or rather, you stopped trying to become something that wasn’t you. No more holding a sword, no more shooting arrows; no more telling the difference between poison ivy and regular ol’ ferns. You found a power in saying enough because it was a reclamation. Your time was short, and precious, and while it did mean you stood next to know chance, it made you happy. What would we have expected from you Gilly? Perhaps it was wise to just write your own ending, to face the last few days having as much fun as you wanted.

Being a shadow had its benefits. The older boys and girls tended to let you be and get into their own squabbles. The trainers were pleased not to experience your repeated failure. It exposed you to a new found passion: daydreaming about all of the other tributes. The girls typically became part of your pirate crew (you being the captain, of course), while the boys either were competing pirates, or perhaps dudes in distress (something about the thought of having to rescue a tied up and blind folded Exar made you smile).

Not that they all didn’t have a place in your little beating heart.

You liked the accent that the district ten boy had, and his cowboy hat (weren’t pirates and cowboys a natural match?). The way his hair puffed up, you wanted to ruffle your hand through it and then smell it afterward. You weren’t entirely sure why, but that seemed like the right thing to do. It had become clear by breakfast that you needed to keep tabs on him today to get to know him better. You’d been staring at him across the room, and made sure to keep at least ten paces behind. You hadn’t quite mastered the art of stealth, your heavy breathing and ruffle athletic pants swishing while you walked. So much so, that as he rounded a corner, turned to declare—

Little lady! What do you think you’re doing?

Oh. Oh no! Ohcrapohgeezheknowsohripredohno.

“Uuuuuuhhh…” You put both of your hands into your pockets and your eyes grew wide. “I was trying to follow you without you noticing me, because…” Ohmyripredwhatareyoudoingwhattheheckgilly! “I wanted to know more about you so I could write it down. I mean! So that I could know you better. So that you could know me better. Is that a good answer?”

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