casting shadows // jf(d) day 1

[Python]

﹙   m i r a g e   v i g i l  ﹚

It was easy to get caught up in adrenaline. That was when people made the most mistakes, feeling indestructible and thinking without consequence. Mirage didn't want her heart to take possession of her - it is the brains of the operation that will lead her to what she needs. With Itzal at her side, they were able to traverse the sands of the bloodbath and avoid the petty scuffles. Petty they were, because she didn't hear a single canon for as far as they walked. "Sounds like we're not missing much," she said, jadedly.

She thought of Dyno and his confidence. "Watch your backs! Happy, fucking Hunger Games!" He was either selling a classic story of bravado, or he was deluded out of his mind. She liked delusion in a man. The cloudier their thoughts, the harder they fell. Mirage didn't think she would be the one to kill Dyno, but boy did she want to be there to witness it. No offense toward him - she just figured it would be funny to watch. He was an amusing guy to be around.

She felt the same way about Adan. Good company, but wouldn't last more than two days. She had her own bets on how long everyone would last. It would be fun to see who surprised her.

What she truly hoped was that Itzal wouldn't be a disappointment. She had chosen him to become an ally of hers, something that finally made her District Nine enoutrage shit up about her strategies. As they wandered into a stair-step series of grassy ledges, she remembered why he had volunteered in the first place. "So, did you ever find any clues about your father?"

There was a rustle of leaves nearby. For a moment, she thought she saw blood, but then something dark and round bounced out of the bushes and landed at her feet. Mirage remembered these from watching several games during her childhood - Seelies, they're called. Usually harmless, sometimes willing to sacrifice themselves. She patted the top of its form as it hovered closer to her chest. "I won't say no to a friend," she lied. 'Friend' was a loose term. She had people she used, and people she didn't use. Now she had a Seelie.

"Ugh, what now?"

Thunderous buzzing had her gazing at the skies. She wasn't used to such open space; her sector of nine was nothing but tall, withered buildings that cast shadows in every direction. Standing so exposed and so out in the open, it was different. In a way, basking beneath sunlight, it was nice. But it was also a bad idea to stay here. Insects and storms were brewing about. Shelter would be wise by the end of the day.

[marguerite harvard d2a (zori)]

I t z a l

Am I a masochist, resisting urges to punch you in the teeth
Call you a bitch and leave?
Why did I come here? To sit and watch you stare at your feet?
What was the plan? Absolve your guilt and shake hands?

I couldn’t tell you what had happened in much of the bloodbath.

When the countdown had finally finished, the tightness in my chest had twisted so much I thought my heart was about to rupture. Despite not running into the fray with the rest of them, my shirt stuck to my back slicked with sweat.

This shit was real, and we’d only just begun.

“Yeah, guess it wasn’t as serious as I thought,” I gave a glance back over my shoulder. We had come down to the steps toward the fields, though I couldn’t be sure if we were the first ones to make it here.

Not a single cannon fired which – I guess I should’ve been hoping that there’d been at least one. But I don’t want to wish death on anyone just yet. A faceless sky tonight felt fair. Felt like we should at least give one another the odds of one last chance. A time to say our prayers before we got to bed. To at least sit in front of the cameras and tell the people back home we never really meant to wind up here.

It's easy walking alongside Mirage, if only because I know she probably feels the exact opposite of how I’m feeling now.

I might be a little bit stupid, but I’m not a complete idiot. Mirage walked through life the same way thunder comes after lightning. Her energy’s gonna carry her no matter the moment. I just wondered if she’d let herself breathe when she needed to.

When her seelie came into view, I’d stopped, half ready to bash it with my fist until Mirage called it a friend. Mine wasn’t far behind, a rust red color. It chirped and rolled around, and I managed my first smile since the morning.

“Huh?” I stopped at the edge of a ledge and took in the steps of fields before us. “Oh. Yeah.”

Last night, I’d gone down to the library of the training center to pour over old records and reports from the districts. It’d been easy enough to search for my father’s name, for the company that had been tasked with refining natural gas and oil, and if there’d been any headlines from the last time he’d come home.

“He’s dead.” I wiped a hand underneath my nose and stared up toward the sky. A hum called out as if to signal we were far from alone. “Pretty much what I thought.”

ELEGANT

[Python]

﹙   m i r a g e   v i g i l  ﹚

Mirage remembered when her father died. By then, she had numbed herself to to the idea of having nobody. That was how it felt anyway - they left for "work" and returned after she was asleep. They spent such little time with her, it was easy to twist that pain into armor. She stopped caring about them, stopped worrying about when they would walk through that front door.

Itzal probably cared more about his father than she did. His bloodied body had been a horrible sight, but she only remembered thinking about where she would go next, not about how sad she was that he was gone. With the tiniest candle flame of hope smothered, there wasn't much to feel afterward.

"You're sure?" she asked, because it was easier than faking an apology right now. She had to admit she was the least bit curious about how he discovered that information, and how his father died. Now that he had closure, what was his plan? She already knew he regretted volunteering by now, but that wasn't an excuse to become useless.

[marguerite harvard d2a (zori)]

I t z a l

Am I a masochist, resisting urges to punch you in the teeth
Call you a bitch and leave?
Why did I come here? To sit and watch you stare at your feet?
What was the plan? Absolve your guilt and shake hands?

I stepped forward into the brackish water. What would I do now that I was certain my father had died? This whole misadventure had been on account of him, hadn’t it?

“If he wasn’t dead, he’d have come back to us.” My father had never been on bad terms with my family. What little I did remember of him broke through the clouds like the sun, warm and gentle. He liked a strong cup of coffee and playing cards. He bet on too many things but never any real money. His voice was gravel against grain, and he smelled like forest wood.

They’d done this – not just the games, but they’d let him be a sacrifice. And what was worse is that as far off as it had all felt, it came clear into focus to know the truth. He was just another in a long line of people that would die for this country.

Maybe that’s what real evil was. Not some sinister person demanding our bodies piled up for the whole world to see. Evil was just another step in a long line of everything as it was; we had to pay for living, didn’t we?

“It’s good to finally know.” I pressed forward toward the steps. “It means I don’t have to feel bad for what I’m about to do to everyone in here.”

ELEGANT