Summer's Intention(Open)

[Solace]

Summertime now ruled District Eight. Flowers were in full bloom, the sun shined brighter then ever, and the night were full of lighting bugs. Best of all, the food sent to District Eight was harvest at it's near peak at this time of year. All of these things gave Vincent a reason to love summer. Winters were much to harsh for him. The cold and lack of light was something he hated with all his heart. Vincent had finished his daily work in time for dinner. Now that dinner was over, the rest of hid evening was free. So he had picked to go to a place not to far from the fence. It was a small hill right outside his little neighbor hood. It was a place Anthony had often brought him too.

Vincent shook his head when Anthony had came to mind. Don't think about him....you'll just end up crying again... Vincent scolded himself. Yet, he just couldn't help it. He loved Anthony more then he had loved any other, but he was gone. Vincent also scorned himself for his self-pity, but that was something he couldn't help either. With thoughts of his love and tears streaming down his cheeks, Vincent Solace fell asleep.

Once Vincent woke up, it was nighttime, though it appeared to just be turning because only the red rim of the sun was visible. He wiped his eyes to find dried tears covering them. A moment later, Vincent sighed and got up from his spot on the ground. He took two steps home before realizing that he was being followed. He froze in his tracks and took out a small pocket knife his dad had given him for protection before saying "Who's there?".


WORDS; 0287
TAG; open
MUSE; 095%
MUSIC; give me novacaine by green day
CREDIT; thavron @ caution

[Micra]

Darrien Ward

It hadn't taken too much effort for Darrien to give her older brother the slip for about the third time that day. It wasn't that she didn't love her brother. No- Daniel was her closest and only friend. But sometimes Darrien needed space. She could take care of herself. After all, she was twelve years old now. That meant if she wanted to, she could volunteer to go live in the Capitol all by herself when the ceremony came to town.

But for now, it was enough to escape Daniel for a little while, and take off giggly madly for the fence. When she reached the metal barricade that separated them from the danger of the woods, Darrien stopped. It was near nighttime now, and she knew she ought to be getting back. Trouble was, she'd forgotten which direction to take. She often got too distracted to be bothered with directions, and Daniel barely ever took her out of the community home anyway except to stroll through the town square.

She nervously smoothed the skirt of her green dress and looked around for any clue as to which way to go. She was lost, yes, but not scared. It took a lot to scare Darrien. She was a brave girl and she knew it. A shadow caught her eye in the dimming light, and she moved closer. A boy sat there. Maybe he knew how to get home. She was sure he would help. The back of the boy's head did look awfully nice. She came up behind him just as he stood.

Darrien chuckled inside her head. Maybe she could make a game of this! She'd follow the boy until he led her back to town. She fancied she was an excellent, very stealthy spy. She could track anyone without them knowing. Unfortunately, before she'd taken three steps a pesky branch ruined her plans by crackling underfoot.

The boy wanted to know who she was. Darrien couldn't stop giggling at the euphoria of being caught and her game ended.

"My name's Darrien. I 'scaped my brother and ran out here. What's your name?"

She wouldn't ask him how to get home. Not just yet, anyway. She didn't want anyone knowing she was lost. That would ruin absolutely everything.

[Solace]

Vincent could not even express his relieve when it turned out to be nothing but a small child he had never seen before, so he just sighed. The young girl, perhaps no more then eleven, giggled alot as if she was playing a game he didn't know about.. Vincent gave the girl a kind smile when she introduced herself as Darrien. "Hello Darrien. My name is Vincent Solace." he said gently. Vincent introduced himself with his full name solely out of habit. He supposed he would end up taking the girl back to town and help her find her parents before returning to his own home.

Just then , what almost was a peaceful evening went wrong. He was about to ask the girl if she wanted to go back into town when, of course, a Peacekeeper showed up. He was hadn't seen any of them yet but would soon if they didn't get out of there. They would both be whipped, none was supposed to be this close to the fence but Peacekeepers. Vincent turned back to his young friend. That's a Peacekeeper. We need to go. Now. Vincent whispered to her quickly. He took her by the hand and started half-running half-walking back into down. Vincent glanced at the Peacekeeper one more time and saw he was running.


WORDS; 0220
TAG; open
MUSE; 098%
MUSIC; give me novacaine by green day
CREDIT; thavron @ caution

[Micra]

Darrien Ward

So his name was Vincent. Vincent Solace. Darrien thought it was a funny sort of name. Well, the Vincent part was funny anyway, but she knew better than to poke fun at it. People had laughed at every aspect of her own self much too often for her to turn right back around and do it to somebody else.

"It's a pleasure t' meet you, Vincent!" she chirped.

Vincent didn't answer her, at first. He seemed to be distracted by something in the distance. He was completely turned around, as if he were looking for something. Darrien waited patiently, blinking as she sometimes did when she was bored.

And then everything went wrong. Without warning, the older boy's hand enveloped her tiny one, and he was whispering something to her. Whispers were reserved for secrets, for words that were dangerous or terrifying to actually speak. Words like... well, like Peacekeeper.

"I know all about Peacekeepers," she whispered back solemnly. They were at a leisurely pace, not too slow and not too fast.

"They take you away sometimes, if you break the rules. Daniel told me so. And if you do somethin' really bad, like forget to be quiet sometimes, they make it so you can't ever talk." Darrien's eyes grew wide as she spoke. It was the most terrible punishment she could imagine. But she didn't really believe that anyone could do anything bad enough to lose the privilege of talking. It was just a ghost story, something Daniel told her to scare her into being quiet and not running off. Of course, she had run off anyway.

Darrien tugged Vincent's hand lightly. "He's getting closer."

[Solace]

A smile almost reached his face when the young girl Darrien had said it was a pleasure to meet him. If it wasn't for the fact a Peacekeeper was chasing them. The smile finally got him when Darrien talked of Peacekeepers as if they were mythical monsters that haunted kids dreams. This girl may be to naive for her own good, but the innocence of it was kind of cute. Like in a puppy or kitten kind of way.

Upon seeing the Peacekeeper running at them and hearing the young girl's eerie whisper of how he's getting closer, Vincent spat out "Shit!" and picked up Darrien. It was a fairly easy task since the girl did not weigh more then a hundred and twenty pounds, there was no way she was more then that. The Peacekeeper was now yelling at then to stop. Vincent would be an idiot if he actually had listened. He just ran as far as he could with Darrien.

They reached town shortly after. Vincent put the girl down but still held her hand. If they were lucky, they would lose the pursuing Peacekeeper in the large crowds. Vincent swerved through groups of people with Darrien in hand. Once they were fair concealed in the crowd, Vincent turned to Darrien and said. "Do you know where your house is?"It wasn't as if he hadn't enjoyed the girl company, but if Vincent got her safely home she would be safe and Vincent would be able to avoid the Peacekeeper much more easily.


WORDS; 0254
TAG; open
MUSE; 100%
MUSIC; give me novacaine by green day
CREDIT; thavron @ caution

[Micra]

Darrien Ward

Darrien's small whisper of warning had barely passed her lips before she found herself five feet off the ground.

Not to mention, that word that Vincent had used. The word he said was even worse than the word Peacekeeper. It wasn't a scary word, the same way invoking the name of the law enforcement sent shivers through her body. No, Vincent had used a bad word. Daniel said that if she ever used a word like that, the Peacekeepers would come and take her away. Maybe that's why the man was coming for them. Maybe her kind companion had used the word more than once.

But, the word hadn't been directed at her, Darrien was sure. The hands that held her felt more protective that threatening, and to be honest, Darrien was much more worried about a man with a gun who took people away forever than a boy who used forbidden language. She didn't even bother to scold him, she just tightened her grip and hoped Vincent didn't drop her as they took off away from the forest.

She could hear the Peacekeeper calling after them, demanding that they stop. Maybe he would give up. Maybe they would get away. All Darrien knew was that if they got caught, Daniel would kill her. That is, if the Peacekeeper didn't take care of her first...

And then she was on her feet again, but Vincent still had her hand. They were in town now, but not a part that Darrien recognized. She hadn't ever been out in the dark before. At least, not without her brother to guide her. She did her best to keep up as Vincent weaved in and out of crowds of people. It wasn't too difficult to keep his pace. Darrien was pretty fast and light on her feet. But at the same time, the crowds made it disconcerting and hard to make her way through the square without hitting people. After several squeaked out "Sorry's" and "'Scuse me's" from Darrien, the fugitive pair slowed their pace.

Vincent addressed her, asking if she knew where her house was. Darrien blushed and looked down at the ground.

"I don't have a house. Daniel and me, we live in the community home."

It was nothing to be ashamed of, Daniel had told her. Plenty of kids lived in the home. But nobody at school seemed to agree with Daniel. Living in the community home made her less than the others, and she knew it. What she didn't know, is whether she could find the place on her own in the dark.

"I think I can find it. Maybe."

[Solace]

Vincent was grateful for the girl's cooperation. If she started to scream and cry they both would be done for. He listens while going through the crowd to the girl apologized to those Vincent rush through. Even though the situation they were in could have them both killed, Vincent couldn't help but smile at the innocence of it. Once they were fairly concealed and Vincent asked the girl of her home, he couldn't help but wince. The Community home would be where that sonovabitch Peacekeeper would look first.

They had one chance to hide. They both may get in worse trouble for it, but it was their only chance. Without another thought, Vincent raced off with Darrien in hand to the District Eight Victor's Village. Vincent may have considered taking Darrien to his home, but even if they made it there without getting caught his father would kick Darrien out onto the street. This was something he couldn't allow.

Victor's Village was in sight now. They raced as fast as they could towards it. only about half of the house in the village were taken and it wasn't very hard to tell the difference. They hid in a small clump of bushes by one of the empty houses. Vincent turned to her. " Stay here. I'm going to sneak around a bit and see what the Peacekeeper is doing. he told her. With that, he was off.

The Peacekeeper, Vincent realized when he found him, had an idea where they were but obviously was not sure. His guess was way off too. He was looking deeper into town. Vincent couldn't help but smile smugly before the Peacekeeper turned his way.


WORDS; 0276
TAG; open
MUSE; 100%
MUSIC; give me novacaine by green day
CREDIT; thavron @ caution

[Micra]

Darrien Ward

Darrien wasn't always the most observant, but even she saw the small wince when she mentioned the place she had to call home. A lump rose in her throat. Vincent was going to leave her here or make fun of her. Nobody ever wanted to talk to kids who didn't have families. But before she could start crying, Vincent had her hand, and they were running again. Darrien's panic faded. He hadn't left her. He hadn't so much as said a word about her shelter situation. The thought made the smallest of smiles rise onto her face.

She was panting when they reached their destination. She saw a long street of houses that were obviously much nicer than anything else in the district. But she had never seen this part of the District before. She wondered what kind of money you had to have to live in a place so huge. These houses looked like even the mayor couldn't afford them.

"So you live here?" Darrien gasped. A sudden longing filled her body. She wanted to live here one day. She wanted a beautiful home.

Vincent didn't answer, but instead pulled her to the bushes. Darrien blushed, remembering that they were supposed to be quiet. And obviously, if they were hiding in the bushes, Vincent didn't live in one of the spectacular houses. In fact, the one they were hiding next to seemed to have nobody living in it at all.

Vincent told her quietly to stay where she was while he went to spy on the Peacekeeper. Then he was gone.

For awhile, Darrein sat in the dark, obscured by bushes. She was trying to rub the dirt out of the skirt of her pale green dress. Daniel was going to let her have it for sure when she got back home. She didn't need to have her dress all dirty too. But before long, Darrien got bored. She crawled out of the clump of bushes and wandered down the path she thought Vincent had taken.

A few steps into town she was rewarded. She could see her companion across the main square of the District, but he was distracted. Her eyes followed to where Vincent seemed to be staring. And she saw as the Peacekeeper turned toward him, and took a step forward in obvious recognition.

"No!" she cried. It was more of a squeak, but it was enough to make some of the people in the square turn to look at her. Darrien realized what she had done. Now they'd get her too. She froze in the square, not sure what to do next. She wanted to help Vincent, of course. But he was much more able to take on a Peacekeeper than she was. All she really could do was look from Vincent to the law enforcement, afraid of what would happen next.

Maybe she should have stayed in the bushes.

[Solace]

They were both in trouble now. It was bad enough to have been caught by a Peacekeeper with some type of sixth sense to know Vincent was right behind him, but Darrien had to make her presence known! The squeal from her lips had sealed her fate. Vincent wasn't ready to give up yet, though. The Peacekeeper shot at him once. The bullet missed tearing Vincent's ear of by about half an inch. He ran towards Darrien and picked her up. Then he ran. Vincent wasn't sure which way he was running, he just knew it was away from the Peacekeeper with the apparent sixth sense.

Vincent had resigned himself to punishment. At this point, he didn't see any way out of it. Vincent was set on getting Darrien out of this. The Peacekeeper had gotten a pretty good look at him, but Darrien had better luck with that. If and when she got away, they would have nothing to go besides her hair, which looked similar to many girl's hair in District Eight. In short, Vincent was screwed while Darrien still had a chance.While lost in thought, Vincent ran into a tree. He swore like a sailor and shook his head. Darrien hadn't hit the tree too, thank God. He picked Darrien back up and started to run again, hopefully to a place to hide.


WORDS; 0225
TAG; open
MUSE; 085%
MUSIC; give me novacaine by green day
CREDIT; thavron @ caution