harvest moon // adepti [day one]

[dars]

AUTUMN ;

Well, now. I won't lie, I'd been ready to show up and show all these city-slickers how to harvest your own food like Momma and Daddy taught me, but then I got a bag of rice crackers instead. And if I could get by without getting my hands dirty, then that's what I should've done. I'd somehow managed to make it out of the bloodbath without sustaining anything other than scraped knees which were easily enough covered by my skirt. So if the only thing I would be remembered for was my beauty, it was important to preserve it in my eyes. Or it needed to be important, I guessed.

There was a part of me that felt like I should be taking advantage of it, using it more to my advantage instead of leaving well-enough alone and hoping for the best. My looks, a weapon like any blade. But then I remembered that no, despite people's assumptions about me, I was also more than that. Even walking around with the group earlier, I realized that I knew a lot more about surviving than I'd even realized before coming here. Some of it was taught to me, some of it came just from growing up in Ten. Some of it was common sense that, apparently, others lacked.

Though I'd managed to escape unscathed, all three of the people I was with were less lucky. I looked at the little girl, who happened to be closest to me. She was such a little enigma, that one. Youngest tribute in the games, highest score. I wasn't sure whether to make heads or tails of her going in. Half of me expected her to be some unbridled killing machine, but then she'd gone out and been a big target for those too chicken to take on someone their own size. She seemed to be doing fine despite, but she still had some obvious injuries. Though I worried I would regret asking, I did anyway:

"Y'alright, hun?"

My eyes flicked between the other two while I assessed the little one.

"I reckon we're more than acquaintances at this point. I'm Autumn."

I unshouldered my backpack and pulled out some of the bandages I found, began unwinding them.

"Thank y'all by the way, for not... you know. For earlier."

[autumn collects things]

[✨ zozo.]

She only trusts Adan. Pretty girls are dead girls. Francine is sure of that. All her ghosts are pretty, after all. So she stays close to Adan's side as she patches herself up, takes stock of her gifts - a pipe, smoke and mirrors, she can play that part. These Gamemakers see something in her that she's always known is there. Spooky girl, freaky girl, she can blind another in an instant and won't feel sorry for it. Hands wrapped around the pipe, she smiles. Blood stained teeth and it hurts to breathe in, but she's alive and so is Adan and the skies are silent for now. No new ghosts. For now. Pretty girl with the accent comes over to help, all cheeks and big brown eyes. Francine just stares back at her, wide-eyed and disassociating (you cannot trust them! they do not want us to win!). Her ghosts swarm, hands touching, you're alive. You're alive. They crowd around her, then part for pretty girl as she wraps a bandage around her arm. (isn't the moon lovely?) She is, she is - they tell Francine that she can trust her. For now. So she whispers back her name "Francine," voice hoarse from groaning against her wounds as they ran. Autumn has no ghosts. How strange.

table by elegant graphic by me 

francine collects things, receives bandages from autumn ty queen

[[nyte]]

adan finch.

In spite of it all, he is alive.

Breath burning in between his lips, tasting bitter and metallic. He keeps his eyes on Francine as they run, scared after every blink that she will melt away into the exhausted shadows creeping into the corners of his vision. Ashes to ashes, he is burning - a grin on his lips because they do not know what other shape to take. Terrified and just a little bit fond as he puffs out a pained groan.

In spite of it all, he is not alone.

Promises are not often kept. Not to boys like Adan, more insignificant than nothing and with a habit of being more trouble than they're worth. The gamemakers had stated their odds, seven steps in between them and yet she was by his side and not in some career pack with more supply than they know what to do with.

He thanks her in the way he steps in front when Princess draws closer, her body blocked by his. No more than the promise to hurt in her place, for all the times he failed to do so in the bloodbath. "Y'alright hun?" But she is kind, a pristine little thing whose eyes dart between himself and the other who fled alongside them.

His grip tightens around his sword as he steps back, assuring that Francine is okay with being touched and tucking Princess' name under his tongue for future reference. "And I'm Adan." Not one without the other, shallow sutures half knotted. He trails his gaze up and down the length of Miss Oakley, not even attempting to hide the examination, "Aren't you lucky." He huffs, hand giving a throb of protest when he tries to adjust his grip.

Broken.

Nothing he can't work with.

But it's not Princess' fault - she soothes Francine's wounds best she can and he's grateful for that. Even if he can't trust her kindness, he'll revel in the warmth for as long as she's offering. "You and the other one - uh, Trigger Finger," He's seen the way her hands yearn to hold something that devours - there were lots like her back home "didn't try to kill us. We didn't try to kill you. Match made in heaven as far as I'm concerned."

"oh, i am tired of abiding by your rules"

♪

[arx!!]

steele cassidy 

I'd been so focused on trying to make sure my heart wasn't going to explode—"Y'alright, hun?"—that I'd forgotten introductions. And how to breathe. Not that it seemed to matter; everyone agreed killing each other wasn't a viable option.

"Thank y'all by the way-"

For the moment, at least. And I'm so fucking grateful—"Francine."—that teenagers have the audacity to be as terrifying as they are.

"And I'm Adan."

It's always given me the chance to stop and catch my breath.

Even if all I can think about is home. My home. Not this wetland full of strangers and insects and soggy fucking clothes. But I still can't figure where to go. It all seems...

Huge. Untouchable, even in the face of certain death. I'm certain I'd never find the edges of the forcefield even if they stretched this game into weeks, months.

"Agreed," I nod, setting my jaw and taking a deep but calculated breath so that the gash along my back doesn't reset itself, soak my belt further. I'm exhausted.

"Let's just not kill each other."

"Great suggestion."

"they're not a bad kid, but they had to do it, they couldn't, no"

♪