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d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel
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call me jaded

destination nowhere | d6 train Feb 9, 2020 9:01:46 GMT -5

Post by d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel on Feb 9, 2020 9:01:46 GMT -5

If he were out there, right now will be the best time for Walter’s dad to reveal himself. Today is not the day. Cass already said his goodbyes when he pushed Walter into the line, a young calf sold at the market; forgotten as soon as money hits the pockets. Walter does not expect any visitors in the justice building. But he really does not expect the hand delivered package from a peacekeeper when they escort him out of the room. There is no trace of its sender on the brown paper packaging that clearly hides away a very thick book. There is no time to open it as he is whisked away.

Walter grips onto the gift with both of his hands, two peacekeepers hold his elbows just as firm as they pull the little boy dressed in a yellow frilly dress to the platform. Every motion has gone so quickly since he digested the bowl of cold porridge this morning. He is not even sure if the words I volunteer even fell from his mouth. What is happening?

He still comforts the wrapped-up book as he is seated on the train. Walter thanks the peacekeepers as they depart, they were kind enough not to leave more bruises on his limbs with their mishandling of his small frame. The train clicks and vibrations run up Walter’s skeleton as it begins to move. He is quickly drawn to the window, amazed by how fast it can travel.

”Well, I am Walter Blake” He introduces himself to the figures that swarm him, a familiar Teddy Ursa and a collection of Capitol folks. Walter finally let’s go of the package on the table, there really is no impulse to open it yet. Maybe it is a secret guide on how to survive this. ”Tell me this is an adventure . Tell me that I should not have stayed in the grimy ruin that I can never call home and nobody calls me by my real name.”

credit to dars for table <3

Last Edit: Feb 9, 2020 15:04:54 GMT -5 by d6a georgie cham 🍓🐢 frankel

D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza]
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destination nowhere | d6 train Feb 12, 2020 15:47:40 GMT -5

Post by D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza] on Feb 12, 2020 15:47:40 GMT -5

I wait to see my family for what feels like ages, and I wait and I wait but nobody comes. And the peacekeepers try to tell me that the window for them to say goodbye is closing, that the sky that had held me so tightly for so long is falling—but I don't want to believe them.

I do not want to fall in any direction, let alone the wrong one. To have no one there to catch me makes me feel smaller than ever, so insignificant, so hopeless that even the word hope gives up and I just feel less.

When they usher me to the train station, I convince myself that they were denied access. My parents had a habit of losing identity forms and surely the peacekeepers wouldn't just let anyone into the building to say their goodbyes—they probably weren't allowed. Yes, that's it, because I know them and they know me: that's what makes us family.

Except, family would fight. Where there's a Yille, there's a way—that's what my dad always said—but now that the distance between us grows by the mile and it feels like forever since the moment we last locked eyes, I can't even hear his voice in my ear. There's just a gap, a wide, lonely, exhausting gap that threatens to swallow me whole. And it's telling me to think the worst because it is probably the reality. Because silence is an unforgiving thing, never golden, only tarnished. Nightmares have taught me that.

But usually, I can wake up from those. They may be vivid, feel more like a memory than a fantasy, but I can always count on waking up. Being set free from the workings of my mind and being able to live as peacefully, as usually, as normally as everyone else. This time, it is different—it is like the nightmare is consuming me piece by piece, and the darkness that once lingered only in my room when the lightbulb gave up on me has snuck out from under the door and is following me, chasing me.

Part of me is scared to turn around because I think it will be there—it will be behind me, the darkness, darker than ever before.

There's no time to look back, though. Because the world around me changes by the second: home morphs into peacekeepers and the white of their suits shifts into a static feeling around me. Electricity is contained in the air, and when I step onto the train, I feel the shock whir up from my toes straight to my chest. And my heart stops for a moment because all I can think about is how real this moment is, how really real it is, and how there's no way to wake up, no nightlight to numb the pain.

I sit across from the boy. He brands himself brave enough to save someone else's life—I wonder if he'll be able to save his own too. The engine starts and we sit in silence for a moment, watching everything we've known fade away through the glass, and I wonder if home is a place I'll only see again in my dreams.

"Well, I am Walter Blake," he says rather confidently, clearly unafraid of how powerful silence can be. Or perhaps, unaware. He seems young, little in fact, and there's a twinkle in his eye that could make even the brightest stars envious.

But I think we've both already had our adventures—this is the last one, and sure, it is big, but it is dark and deep too.

"Annemie. I like Mia, though. What's in your parcel?"

It's probably from his family, and we are probably different because of that. He probably has people that care.

Last Edit: Feb 12, 2020 15:51:15 GMT -5 by D6f Carmen Cantelou [aza]

Tom
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destination nowhere | d6 train Feb 13, 2020 1:00:07 GMT -5

Post by Tom on Feb 13, 2020 1:00:07 GMT -5

Waving goodbye to his family once more hurts. An echo of the pain he feels every time he thinks back to his early years, where a storm took his mind from him, only for Teddy to find it in the fire of the seventy sixth arena, while tearing down others. Ree Fer's haunting voice replaying in his mind, night after night. Emberly's peace burnt into the backs of his eyelids, reminding him why he's still here, why he still fought to be here. And of course, Luxa Pelotte still cuts into his scars with that desire he had to tear down in order to survive. Saying goodbye to his family, always reminds him of the pain he's suffered.

A silence fills Teddy as he walks through the carts, staring at the food that Six never really had. The luxury of the capitol that he had never wanted, but has. He really should bring home some of the sweets for his sister. Hell, maybe Malachi would want some of them. Instead of reaching for something to eat, he pulls the glass of wine, staring into the pleasant red for a moment. Daring himself to take a sip from it and ignore the worries in the back of his mind from the reaping he just watched.

Annemie Yille and Walter Blake.

Innocent children, who he's sure he'll have to watch die. Victors do not come from six. Though, he's still here. He's the only one over what must be hundreds of dead bodies now. Keeni, Einfallen, Eckhart, Graves, Bloom, Taurus, Rhodium, Casovnik, Ivashkov, Woulf, Donner, O'Connor, Samuels, Isley, Fennel, Khiev, Daisy, Kight, Varley, Alexander, Neptune, La Roux, Rivero, Liddell, Bauer, and so many others. What made him live over them? Teddy was still searching for that answer. Victors do not come from Six. He would crack the code one of these days.

For once, he didn't feel like drinking.

Letting the glass sit on the cart, before walking away from it and into the cart where he lets himself relax. His coat now left hung over a seat, as he waits for them to come, ignoring Star's glance and the others around them. He's only ended up failing, never a success on his hands, but he's going to make a change. Eyes reach the two tributes as they enter the car. A calm and relaxed version of himself just waiting for them to make themselves comfortable.

Walter is the first one to speak. Too young to volunteer for the games. Vesper and Faline ringing through his head once more. A reminder of the capitol's lack of care for them. A chill runs down his spine as he stares to the parcel Walter Blake carries. Introductions are not his strong suit. The awkwardness of talking to teens as if he could really save them always made him flustered.

"Well, I am Walter Blake"

Eyes turn to the window, following what Walter had done and remembering how interested he had been in the train's speed and functions.

"Tell me this is an adventure. Tell me that I should not have stayed in the grimy ruin that I can never call home and nobody calls me by my real name."

If Teddy could tell him this was all an adventure, he would in a heartbeat, except this wasn't one. This was a fight to the death. A fight where the stakes are they highest they've ever been. For a moment, he watches them, takes in the way they relax, if he could even call it relaxing. Everyone is on guard, him included. An adventure is what kids always want, but none of them ever get one. The capitol wasn't an adventure.

It would never be an adventure.

Even for the victor.

"Annemie. I like Mia, though. What's in your parcel?"

Mia. She reminded him of Leticia or Rabbit. Softer than some of the others. Different from Ronan and Aeson. She could be more like Ansel, but only time could tell on that. Teddy Ursa's unsure of what to do about her. There's a lot of struggles with being the District Six Female, especially since a single one hasn't won yet. The parcel was a mystery. His eyes already glancing to it and back to his tributes. A rush of heat forms over the edges of his skin. The volcanic ash sticking to his hair like muck from the rain as Ree Fer tells him to forget him.

He wouldn't forget these kids like Ree.

He cared too much.

"Wish I could tell you this was some grand adventure with a happy ending."

No happy endings. Only suffering, no matter the outcome.

"Why did you volunteer?"

Instead of waiting for an answer, he turns to Mia. Finger tapping lightly against the table in front of him. He could really use a glass of wine, but he needed to deal with this first. Wine could come later, after he's done all he can. A moment to process what he's thinking is all he needs before he starts speaking.

"Alright, tell me, what are you both good at? Skills, hobbies, anything. Anything can be helpful to getting sponsors or in the games, I'm gonna do all that I can for you."

The volcanic heat fills his heart.

He's tired of failure.

"Victors may not come from Six according to the capitol, but we're gonna prove them wrong."

He cared too much.

Lux was right.

He has too much heart for this.

^{[ DARS ]}