Toy Soldiers {Oliver + Ash}

grant
Merchant

175 POSTS
Pronouns: He / His
last seen Jul 2, 2022 19:16:44 GMT -5

Just text and tables

Toy Soldiers {Oliver + Ash} Apr 18, 2021 14:04:01 GMT -5

Post by grant on Apr 18, 2021 14:04:01 GMT -5

Just a craftsman working at his craft. Oliver whittles at the makings of a wooden bird. One half is finished, he just has the match the other side to it. The right wing is intricate. It has detail beyond that of the eye - that's because Oliver has put part of his soul into it. Or rather, his time. They're the same when your main passion is creativity. What burdens the kid most is that most of his time is spent being told to be proud of Lenox Lachance for making it so far. He saw as she stepped to the podium, and he remembers what her face looked like before screens took over his memory of her. He didn't know her at all. He likely never will. How can he be proud of that? It's just propaganda, but it's the law regardless.

Perfection comes at a price. Talent must be honed and you can't do that while listening to the jargon of the education system. Control is not something that Oliver allows. He's sat not too far from the school that he goes to. He's seventeen, so leaving early or skipping class has become easier. Who is going to hunt down the kids that are basically leaving school for the last time anyway?

That's when the kids start leaving their classrooms, and its time to sell enough of his wooden crafts to be able to afford food next week.

He doesn't ever approach anyone, instead he simply sets out the figures. Some are people, some are mutts from the games but converted into nicer versions of themselves, and some are just symbols are shapes. Stars, trees, those kinds of things. There's about fifty of them, all the size of a palm. Laid out for anyone to see, but nobody to steal.

Then somebody comes over.

Characters

marziel
Hunter

76 POSTS
Pronouns: they/them
last seen Jul 3, 2021 14:08:11 GMT -5

Toy Soldiers {Oliver + Ash} Apr 18, 2021 21:12:29 GMT -5

Post by marziel on Apr 18, 2021 21:12:29 GMT -5

Ash was never exactly in a good mood by the end of the school day. Some of the things they learned were alright, Ash supposed. But the vast majority was just propaganda. It felt like a day full of manipulation and Ash despised it. They had a very hard time keeping their mouth shut all day and had gotten into pretty serious trouble once or twice.

It always felt so much worse during the games, too. When what would normally be their breaks were filled with the required viewing of children killing eachother. At least it was almost over, Ash supposed. But it was hard to be grateful for that when all it meant was that another 23 kids were dead.

Ash pushed the thoughts away as they stepped outside and took a deep breath of fresh air, glad to be out of the school building. They glanced around, about to turn towards home. When they saw a boy sitting out with a bunch of wooden carvings. Ash found themself wandering over. "Wow," they said, voice unusually soft as they looked at the figures. "These are beautiful." They reached out their hand to run it over one of the delicate carvings of a tree.

grant
Merchant

175 POSTS
Pronouns: He / His
last seen Jul 2, 2022 19:16:44 GMT -5

Just text and tables

Toy Soldiers {Oliver + Ash} Apr 24, 2021 12:20:59 GMT -5

Post by grant on Apr 24, 2021 12:20:59 GMT -5

Someone comes over, and Ollie looks up with half a smile, before looking back down to the carving he's making. "Wow," he hears. It's a soft wow, genuine. He almost believed it for a moment, because who could be impressed by these? They're not masterful to him, they're barely worth the time he'd spent on them.

But that's his opinion, and he's the best critic of himself. Perfectionist through and through. Nobody can do better at critique of oneself.

"These are beautiful" they say, and he stops whittling. Raising a brow upward at the kid.

He stumbles a short laugh. "These?" He peers at the tree he'd made a long time ago. "That's about five years old." He grins. "Not counting the years the tree lived, of course."

He wonders about them. Why they chose to stop. How their standards of artistry could be so low. That's the inner turmoil in his head; he doesn't understand what people see in his items, and he questions almost every sale. He felt like such a trickster each day that now, he even questions the motives of his buyers. He does like to think on them: Where did they come from? What part of their lives need fixed? Who are their friends?

But, it's different for the kids. Those that are younger than him need protected at all costs.

"Take it," he goes to grab the tree and hand it to them. "If you get bored you can try and make one a bit better than me. It passes the time, especially in class." He rolls his eyes at the very thought of learning about numbers and words again. He's far too practical for logic. Even if there is logic in design, he is a natural craftsman.

"What's your name?"

Characters

marziel
Hunter

76 POSTS
Pronouns: they/them
last seen Jul 3, 2021 14:08:11 GMT -5

Toy Soldiers {Oliver + Ash} Apr 25, 2021 10:16:56 GMT -5

Post by marziel on Apr 25, 2021 10:16:56 GMT -5

Ash smiled brightly at the offer. "Really?" they asked. They'd been assuming that the boy was trying to sell them or something. Everyone always needed money in District 7. As in almost all the districts, Ash assumed. But Ash, of course, couldn't spare the money for something as nonessential as a figurine. So they were very grateful for the offer. It was really very kind. "Thank you."

They held the little tree in their palm, still admiring it. They smiled a little at the suggestion and admitted, "I tried my hand at wood carving a small amount when I was little. I haven't done it in ages, though." Maybe they should pick it back up. They didn't have much time. But the suggestion of carving in class was a good one. It wasn't like they wanted to actually pay attention to their teachers and the utter rubbish they spewed.

Ash looked up from the figurine to add, "I'm Ash."

grant
Merchant

175 POSTS
Pronouns: He / His
last seen Jul 2, 2022 19:16:44 GMT -5

Just text and tables

Toy Soldiers {Oliver + Ash} Apr 28, 2021 5:38:25 GMT -5

Post by grant on Apr 28, 2021 5:38:25 GMT -5

"Thank you" they say, and Oliver nods back with a polite shrug. "Don't mention it," and he means it, because he really doesn't see the tree as impressive. "I'm Ash."

"I'm Ollie," he tells them. "I take it you're just out of class. Are they teaching anything interesting?" He knows the answer. They're teaching the exact same thing they teach from age twelve. Propaganda. The Capitol is the greatest manmade invention to have existed. The Districts are essential, but so is compliance. It's all the same to Oliver, who knows nothing more than what is within his bubble of being. To live is to craft, and to craft is to have callouses on his fingers.

He can see the other kids making their way home. The sun is collecting its thoughts for a second, the clouds rolling in only slightly. It could rain today. There's a few kids walking by, looking at the figures that Oliver has made, turning their noses and walking off. He thinks it must be the product. It can't be the price, they're going for only a couple dollars each. It's hardly expensive, especially for the time that he's put into them.

It's more that he's just a typical District Seven kid. He looks woodwork, how groundbreaking. Maybe if he put this passion into something more worthwhile he would make something of his life, but is that possible in such a place as this?

Characters

marziel
Hunter

76 POSTS
Pronouns: they/them
last seen Jul 3, 2021 14:08:11 GMT -5

Toy Soldiers {Oliver + Ash} May 6, 2021 12:02:43 GMT -5

Post by marziel on May 6, 2021 12:02:43 GMT -5

Ash snorted in response to the question. "Do they ever?" they wondered. 'Interesting' was not a word they would use to describe school on the best of days.

"I haven't found anything they have to say in school interesting since I was a kid." Back when they were too young to know better. When the propaganda and downright lies rang true. And before they'd learned so much about trees and lumber that there was little left for their teachers to tell them that wasn't repetitive. Not that Ash didn't love trees. But learning about them in a school environment was very different from actually being around trees.

Ash shook their head and asked, "Have you graduated?" Ollie didn't look much older than themself. But they supposed they only had a few years left of school, so he needn't be much older to have left school.