`~D9 Plot~` .-Not.-Down.-Yet.-

[Rosetta]

Aaden Gorozine

I hate when people trick me. I hate when people lie. Call me a hypocrite, but doesn't mean I can't like it done towards me. So, as soon as I saw the rules, my heart dropped into my fury-filled stomach. Least amount of meat offered equals death. Death? No, no, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a nice competition. A nice thing for food, just food, I wasn't supposed to die! I couldn't argue, I didn't have the time. That awful, loathsome man began to speak again. I stood there, glowering up at him, doing my best to replace my fear with anger. But, the fact that this was a contest to the death seemed to distract me for some reason. I had left without saying good bye to my mother...or my step-father, not even James! A sinking feeling was developing in the pit of my stomach. It was that same feeling I'd gotten after James and I...well, did it. I knew I'd made a mistake. This wasn't right. And at the moment, I felt I was the only one to blame.

Lemme tell you guys a secret. Hear that, another secret! Come in real close now. Good. Well, sometimes, I really hate myself. I mean, not to the point that I’d hurt myself, just to the point where, well…I’ve cried. Curled up and cried. Why do I hate myself, you ask? Well, I guess because I’m a bit apt to screw things up. Hiding huge secrets can do that to you. You’re more vulnerable to slip-ups. Like the time my mom found my stash of booze I’d foolishly hid underneath the bed. See? I made a mistake. A better place would’ve been underneath the loose floorboard near James bed. But that was a few months ago, and there was no way I was going near him. The mistake I made most recently? Signing up for this competition.

Didn’t it seem just a bit fishy to me? Some guy giving away free meat just for no fee…now, thinking about it, something was up. I mean, who would do that? Just give away food to complete strangers? Call me selfish, but not me. Please, we barely have enough to eat as it was back at my house, and we were better off than half the District. So, now, looking back, I realized I’d screwed up. I should’ve thought about it more, held some sort of suspicion, but I didn’t, and now I was going to die…well, not if I did something about it.

I strode forward, yanking my assigned bow and sheath of arrows from a guard with so much gusto, I nearly snapped the bow. Then, I turned quickly towards my door and pushed through it. The forest greets me, trees rising up around me, and the sun filtering through the branches. I shouldered the sheath, and held the loaded bow at ready. My mother had taught me how to use one, a bow and arrow. It was the kind of weapon she favored the most, while I rather preferred a spear.

“Arrows give you the advantage of distance,” she’d said to me when I was a young boy, guiding me through the movements of shooting. Her soft hands didn’t fall victim to the forest, but they did much later to the plastic factories. I miss their softness now, their gentle touch. The truth was, I missed my mother already. Now don’t you call me a mama’s boy. Put yourself in my shoes! C’mon, try it out. I’d happily switch place….no takers? I thought so.

I tip-toed, slowly, through the forest. My mother had always told me to move like a shadow, soft, like the animals do. Set the illusion that you are one of them, and they will believe you. Barely ten feet in, and right on cue, I saw a rabbit. My heart leapt. Just what I wanted. I slowly raised the bow, the animal, unaware that it was about to lose its life so I could keep mine. Another piece of advice my mother: Kill as quickly as possibly.

I took another step forward, but I didn’t notice the branch in front of me. The rabbit was running off even before I hit the ground, this time flat on my face. Alright, alright, quiet with the laughing! It still hurt! And pissed me off more than I already was. I leapt to my feet, my face red as a cherry, ears ringing. “Come back here, you stupid rabbit!” And I took off running.

[Prince Inigo]

(I'm extremely sorry for the wait, Rosetta. Dee was originally assigned to you, but we decided to switch threads. ^^;)

Aldicarb & Ouabain, the rabbit and fowl

Daybreak had happened just when the rabbit awoken from his slumber. He saw his children huddled together near their mother, twitching as they breathed softly with eyes closed. While the awake rabbit did not particularly want to go out just yet, he always knew that his little ones were always so hungry when they were aroused. If there was never a time to take on a food trip, it was now. Before they could plead for him, beg him, and his mate to complain as well, Aldicarb struck out for the journey for satiation. He was the type to explore rather than be cooped up in the cavern anyways; that was just his style.

Aldicarb left the lair with a twitch of the nose and blink of the beady eyes, staring out into the peeking light. He scooted out, shaking his body off of dirt. Already the smells had hit him, and the rabbit whisked himself away towards areas that he remembered held some important edibles for rabbits such as himself. On his back paws, Aldicarb reached to snag some leaves from a branch; but, as he was about to get a couple, his ears perked to a broken branch, and, immediately, his heart was racing and so was the body, not even thinking if the being in question was another of his kind or something else entirely. Either way, Mr. Rabbit had scurried away from the source, going over and under forest debris to the best of his ability, even if he had to fall and trip a few times. If there was one thing he did not want at the moment was getting killed on the job.

Survival of the fittest, a true philosophy beyond human civilization. As a little rabbit, he would probably have no chance; he had to try, though.

---

Oh boy was Ouabain angry past reason. Not long ago did his sibling steal his precious rock and hide it from him; not only to add, his mother agreed with him because he (his stupid little brother) was the youngest. His father, a great fowl among the community, had died to humans. Prior to the death, he had given the rock to Ouabain, as a sign that he, too, would be a great bird recognized by the rest. Just because his sibling was younger, his mother helped the brother more. It really ticked him off.

Ouabain left his family to stroll around, peck at the ground a few times, and attempt to collect his emotions. He was expected to be so many things, but he could not yet become his father. Without any means to know what it was to be awesome, Ouabain was just expected to be a magnificent fowl. Well, he could not be. He was just a little young bird, a bit reckless at times, a stubborn fool the most. Expressing his scorn in clucks, the bird continued to pick at the floor even as a rabbit headed towards him in a hurry. In his rage, he did not notice such a mammal approach him for no odd reason. Neither did he particularly care.

[Rosetta]

(It's fine, don't worry about it)

Aaden Gorozine

“No way,” I laughed, grabbing the picture from James’s hand and holding it up to the light as if to search for forgery. “Kyle Nadar actually drew this?” I chortled some more as James nodded.

“He left it on his desk,” James told me with a mischievous grin. “It’s not stealing.”

“Look, he’s even labeled it!” I fell back in laughter now, still holding the drawing high. Kyle Nadar was the most talkative kid in our class at school, although he looks like a single gust of wind could knock him down. He has always been mean to this girl, Susie Kingston. And I mean mean. Like he always trips her, or pulls the obnoxious blonde pigtails she’s worn since she was six. It’s not like Susie’s not the nicest either; in fact, Susie is an extremely sweet girl. She always smiles at me, but I personally think it’s because she’s had this huge crush on me for the longest time. Well, tough luck, Susie.

Anyway, so this drawing…well, it was of Susie. And not only was it an extremely flattering picture of Susie, there was also a huge heart around it. Looks like little Kyle’s big secret is out! “This is really great,” I cried to James, who stared back at me, suddenly as if lost in thought. I sat up, my eyebrows knit at him. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head and looked away. “Nothing.”

“Does it have to do with the picture?”

He shook his head again, and I leaned in closer to him. His cologne wafted over me, and I soaked it in. I’d always liked the smell of his cologne, liked how it seemed to settle over my skin too when I was around James. Light filtered in through the dirty windows, the rays directly hitting James’s blonde hair and making the lighter streaks in it stand out for than ever. You know how they say, “seeing someone in a new light?” Well, that’s what was happening…literally as well as emotionally.

James really had always been someone I’ve looked up to. That’s another literal thing, folks. He’s a lot bigger than me, but he’s always been a bit more mature than me…there you go, I’ve admitted it. The first Reaping we attended together after our parents were married, he seemed so strong. Of course, though I’d never show it on my face, I was scared out of my mind. When that Capitol guy started groping around in that glass ball for a name, I was thinking the exact same thing every other kid was thinking, don’t let it be me, don’t let it be me, don’t let it be me. And it wasn’t. Throughout it all, while the rest of us stood pale-faced, James remained tough, remained blank. When I asked him about it later, he told me, what happens happens, and you can’t do much about it, so why dwell on it? No, he had said, you have to fight, you have to try. If you don’t try, you’ll just fail.

That just popped into my mind as I stared at James, his own brown eyes staring back. It was the same curious look we’d given each other a few days ago, when I’d walked in on him in only his underwear. It really wasn’t that bad, but all of a sudden, I got this kind of tingle in my stomach. I wanted to scrutinize every muscle on his body, every birthmark, everything. And for a moment, it scared me…but then I saw him giving me that same look, as he is now…

“Uhm, James…” I began, but then his lips met mine. We were kissing, we were kissing! It was my first ever kiss with another boy, and heck, it didn’t seem bad at all. In fact, it was great, wonderful, beautiful…with James! I didn’t want him to pull away, but eventually he had to, and the warmth that previously spread through my body evaporated. Again, we stared at each other, almost in shock. I’d kissed James! There was an awkward moment that hung tense in the air. Neither of us even dared to breathe. And then, abruptly and without a word, he left the room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My daydreams had gotten the best of me as I stumbled through the forest only to find that the rabbit had disappeared once more. I knew I was thinking of him too much. I needed to push him from my mind. I couldn’t let him distract me. Now where did that stupid rabbit go?

I scanned the forest floor, and just found it, scurrying ahead of me. Shoot it, I thought, kill it quickly. I gripped an arrow from the sheath, loaded and took aim. My mother had always scorned me for my haste at shooting with a bow and arrow. “Even if you’re on a chase,” she’d always reminded me, “there is always time to stop and take perfect aim. You can’t mess up then most of all.”

So, taking a deep breath, I eyed the rabbit’s position, still moving swiftly towards it. Just a little more to the left…perfect! I chewed on my lower lip, drew the arrow back and fired.

[dice=200+4000]
[arrow in hand-dead rabbit]

Despite myself, I cheered and raced forward to retrieve the slaughtered rabbit. A bit of blood trickled from its wound, but I didn't care as I wrenched the arrow out, and picked the rabbit up. One down, one more to go.

I straightened up and looked around, watching the skies, knowing my next target would be a bird. But, something else pecking at the ground caught my eye. A young fowl was only several yards away from in the shadows. Excellent, I thought, and determined not to scare it away, I pulled out another arrow, loaded my bow, and tip-toed slowly and carefully towards it...

[rand=046924675514170515762690188135597702107259482732329587197938350235]

[Prince Inigo]

Could he not have had a little sister, or someone that would not be as annoying? If it were not for foxes getting at the nest before he and his siblings could have hatched, Ouabain would have someone to sympathize with from time to time. In the past, he had spoken to other fowls of his age group who were only children thanks to life, and they would comment on how having a brother or sister would have increased their survival. If anything, the company would be beneficial - even more healtheri - than being a single bird, else the foxes say otherwise. Even Ouabain acknowledged that having bigger numbers meant a longer life in the early stages - when they were still dependent on their parents in a way - but how could he appreciate that simplistic beauty when he had him as a brother?

His younger brother was not only a spoiled brat of a bird; he was given the least amount of responsibilities. Ouabain was not even given such a luxury when he was his brother's age (which would not be long ago, considering they were born on the same day). Just because he was a few seconds early, the currently-angry fowl had to take all the burden upon his wings and, practically, be the man. Why could his brother not at least obtain half of his workload since they were not that off in age? The notion only made the older bird that more irritated with the world, his mother, and his little brother. If only his dad were still alive, maybe he would not have been as enraged - since he knew his dad would not have given that much leisure for the youngest offspring.

Ouabain's spite at everything blinded him further. He continued his rage pecks despite a maddening silence filling the environment, accentuated by the death of a fellow woods critter. Some of his thoughts told him that everyone should be dead - or, at the very least, himself. His mother would not have to yell at him to let his little brother do whatever he pleased. His father would have some company in fowl heaven, smiling and laughing with each other when they got there. Also to note, his little brother would get every possession Ouabain had upon being killed.

It almost seemed the best to just die.