clash of legacies [carter&cedar]

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Tom
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clash of legacies [carter&cedar] Jun 4, 2019 7:34:03 GMT -5

Post by Tom on Jun 4, 2019 7:34:03 GMT -5

A name can mean a thousand things, with legacies attached that many don't want.

Carter's own carries virtues that he's never been able to live up to. Reasons to fight for and live for, but he's a selfish man with a relief that waivers in his chest. No more reapings. No more death. Escape. Freedom. Life. At least, that's what he'd tell himself in order to soothe his beating heart with the sounds of his footsteps rushing over the white floors of the justice building. The sight had been a guilt ridden punch to his stomach as he pushes Jack away from him with a a desire of anger and frustration in his eyes. Everything was crashing like a rerun of families tearing on the edges.

The Laws were safe. He should feel relieved to know no more of his siblings were going in. Carter should be celebrating with a round of beers with Jack. His father would show up with a deck of cards and tears in his eyes telling him that he did good, that he's alive, that he'll never have to suffer through that again. The Laws were safe, but Carter can't let his heart stop beating. He can't let his feet stop moving. He can't stop the glare towards every single peacekeeper that he passes.

The Laws were safe.

Cedar Halt was not.

Deep down, Carter knew why he's so angry, but he can't let it go. Arbor Halt's face sent the punch to his stomach. Living while Cedar Halt will never get to makes him sicker than he thought he could feel. The rose in his hand just another reminder of that guilt and selfishness that eats away at him, even years later. Nico Thorne had come back to them. All he could hope for is that Cedar does the same.

Pushing past the guards who almost question him when he opens the door without asking, he leaves them with a glare that stops them in their movement. The door closes behind him and Carter can feel the sound of his heart in his chest. The rose in his hand feels heavier than before, the green color signifying life, according to the book he'd checked out of the library. A silence fills the air as Carter stands among the walls he's been in. The walls where he screamed at his brother. The walls where he watched Mitchell Laws leave behind a shattered legacy. The walls that Jayne and Gabriel left him in. The walls that were his last reminder of home before death and rebirth.

The walls that would be Cedar Halt's last piece of home.

"I..." Words don't feel right on his lips as he sets the rose on a chair. "Fuck."

The weight of Mitchell's cards in his pocket still feels heavy on his soul. The legacy that he's supposed to live up to was not as large as the one on Cedar Halt's shoulders. Arbor Halt is a legend in District Twelve. Even Carter's own father talked about Arbor Halt as if he were a legend with such an honor attached to that legacy. Carter's own hand comes to rub at the side of his head with the pounding of adrenaline rushing and a headache forming.

"I don't care if you've decided to die. I don't care who your father is. I don't care about the legacy you have on your shoulders."

Fists clench in anger towards whoever made this real. Snow, the escort, forces beyond their fucking control. No matter who it was, they could fuck off because their victors didn't need anymore of this shit. He got to see that first hand in the reunion with Twelve. He can remember Aranica's words from that first night being alive and going home. He can remember the pain he's heard from so many. Fuck. This was just as fucked up as before and he thought he was over this hatred for himself, but the world seems to revolve over and over again.

"I'm not gonna say you'll live because we both know better than anyone what it's really like."

His voice feels heavy in the air.

"I just want you to know that you're not alone. You'll never be alone."

Arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm sorry that you were the unlucky soul who was reaped."

Silence.

"Is there anything you'd like to know? Anything I can do to help?"

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clash of legacies [carter&cedar] Jun 4, 2019 20:42:30 GMT -5

Post by gm bourgeois decadence [aya] on Jun 4, 2019 20:42:30 GMT -5

[attr="class","cedarPostWidth"]

rylan you should try to get some sun
there's a little bit of hell in everyone

There is a block of time in between the reaping and when the Capitol-bound train pulls out of District Twelve's station, normally reserved for last-minute preparations and logistics. Victors and their belongings are loaded onto the train. The escort staff makes imperceptible adjustments to fixtures to ensure everything is camera-ready. The conductors and engineers make one last inspection — once the train starts down the track, it stops for nothing and no one.

And the tributes are given some time in the Justice Building to say goodbye to their family and friends. Cedar Halt had expected to take the time to calm his hammering heartbeat, to inhale away the bright fog that hung in his vision. For someone whose family was coming with him to the Capitol, he'd expected this period to be a wait. Nothing more.

What he hadn't expected was the rose laid on the chair. "I..." It's hard to tell if Carter Laws looks sadder or angrier. "Fuck." Cedar wonders how much of this is actually about him. This was the last hurdle the boy who came back needed to clear before his resurrection could truly be considered permanent. Lips pressed into a thin line, he offers a weak smile of congratulations.

"I don't care if you've decided to die. I don't care who your father is. I don't care about the legacy you have on your shoulders."

Regardless of his input in the matter, unrelated to his upbringing, disconnected from class or status or celebrity, Cedar Halt is a boy facing certain death for no good reason. The injustice of it wouldn't be greater or less if his name were Nico Thorne or Carter Laws, or Gabriel or Alejandro or Alfie.

"I'm not gonna say you'll live because we both know better than anyone what it's really like."

Does he? True, there hadn't been a single tribute who'd lived the entire span of years he'd tagged along to the Capitol. But tributes had eventually started coming home again — even the crownless, like the boy standing in front of him. Who's to say that Cedar Halt isn't just everyone's bad luck charm?

It wasn't as if it's the same, counting children like sheep — four! six! eight! ten! off they shoo, two-by-two, and don't come home again — and being sent to the slaughter himself.

"I just want you to know that you're not alone. You'll never be alone."

He nods his thanks for the gesture. The statement feels significant, heartfelt, from the boy who was abandoned by his friends to be devoured by wolves, and he appreciates the meaning behind it. But Cedar is lucky. Somehow, someway, he will have his dad with him — all the way to the end. He can't die alone, not really.

"I'm sorry that you were the unlucky soul who was reaped."

He shrugs.

"Is there anything you'd like to know? Anything I can do to help?"

What can Carter Laws do to help him?

When he speaks, Cedar's voice sounds gravelly — like he's yelled himself hoarse, like he's just woken up, like he's never said a word in is life. "Aranica likes it when you come over to use her phone. You should keep doing that. And when you're in the neighborhood, my —" he clears his throat, trying to shake the gravel loose, trying to lose the warble "— my dad doesn't get a lot of company. It —" he swallows hard, knowing he's doing a bad job of keeping his composure "— that would be good for him, I think. If you could stop by every once in awhile. If you remember."

rylan — the national

[newclass=".cedarPostWidth"]width:460px;[/newclass]

{characters}

certified kindergartener
stranded in "beach" "city"
leader of the crystal gems

Tom
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clash of legacies [carter&cedar] Jun 5, 2019 9:28:49 GMT -5

Post by Tom on Jun 5, 2019 9:28:49 GMT -5

The reruns of the 80th still play over and over in his head.

The gnarled teeth of the mutts tearing him apart. Carter had watched it over and over at home, recognizing where they went wrong, where things went right, and it was haunting to do. The reruns of those memories make him feel heavy over it all, but out of everything, the Justice Building is always the last thing to come across his dreams. The sight of Jack having made him so sick. His dad having come and hugging him goodbye as if it were the last time he would ever get to.

Cedar Halt had more than Carter Laws did, but was that better than his own journey.

He wouldn't have wanted his father to see him break like he had. Cedar's voice feels heavy on Carter's heart as he patiently listens. Living up to a legacy is hard enough already with the deaths of siblings, but having to face your father everyday while training would have broken Carter down to his core. A silence fills him as the sound of his heart beats in his throat as Cedar's words shatter Carter.

"Aranica likes it when you come over to use her phone. You should keep doing that. And when you're in the neighborhood, my —" Aranica. She wouldn't be handling this well. "— my dad doesn't get a lot of company. It —" Fingers tread lightly with the want to comfort Cedar's composure. He's been there in that moment. He's been there in those shoes worrying about who will tell his family the things he would never get to tell them. "— that would be good for him, I think. If you could stop by every once in awhile. If you remember."

Arbor Halt. A legend according to his father, but out of everything he's ever heard, Carter knew deep down that all of them were just human. Human with so much emotion and the reaction on stage had shattered Carter's heart. Almost enough to want to wish his name to have been called instead, but deep down, he's a selfish asshole who just wants to live. Eyes glance to Cedar Halt as they stand there. Carter wants to reach out. He wants to comfort in the only way that had helped him, but his feet stay planted to the ground.

Wander had hugged him at the first sight of living. Living in that vault with others who had lost just as much. A shiver fills his spine as Carter lets himself spill over the edge of the metaphorical emotional cliff. Carter's composure being broken down by the words and the memories as he lets himself breath for a moment. Despite everything, he's angry. He's angry at all the sacrifices they've ever made that feel pointless now.

He didn't physically die to suffer through this. Some days, he feels like he's still in that hellish vault wasting away to nothing. Some days, he feels like there is no grasp to the world around him as if he's just floating in the space between twelve. It's a calm moment before Carter lets out his words with heavy assurance.

"I will remember to."

For as long as I get to live.

The rose on the chair feels emptier than ever. Green for life. Life that Carter hopes will let Cedar Halt come home. Arbor Halt didn't deserve more heartbreak. Almost twenty eight years later, the man was still suffering from the games that he didn't deserve to suffer through. The Laws were safe, but the cost of what they'll lose feels heavy. His dad had told him to respect the victors. They've gone through enough, he would say. Every single word hangs to his ears now as he lets his voice escape broken by the emotion in his throat.

"J-Just don't give up." Eyes stare at death once more. Remembering what it was like to have her follow you. "You'll always have a home here." Clearing his throat as Carter's weight shifts to the other foot. "J-Just do the best that you can, Cedar." A smile on his lips as he gives that reassurance that he once wished for before leaving. "We'll be right behind you the entire way."

You were always going to be special, Carter.

"You're going to be special, Cedar Halt. I feel it in the air."

A friendly smile to clear the heaviness in the air, trying to remember how heavy everything felt before he left. Cedar Halt will have too many intense days in the future. He would end up walking the same path that Carter Laws had once been on. The same path that Mitchell Laws had walked on. A moment before he decides to let a comment slip into the air.

"Just watch out for the mutts, okay?"

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