What a Laugh [Cilae]

[cass]

My feet landed silently making no sound on the forest floor. I had been trudging through the forest all night having lost my way. Now is the district seven fence came into view I stared at it wondering and uncertain if I want to go back in. I had ran into the forest as my farther and I had argued we never argued we were so close no one could separate us. Know I stand meters away from the fence not wanting to face my farther. I had brung up the subject of my mother the lady who had ditched my family four years after I was born four years after she realised she was having twins, Kiah and Latisha. I loved them, but part of me sadly hated them for I blamed them for my mother’s disappearance.

Why? I could not say it was pathetic childish really. I couldn't think of the alternative that maybe, just maybe it was my fault. I banished this thought out of my mind. The cold air bit at my exposed skin, I sheltered under an old maple my thoughts racing in my mind. My father would be worried about, as i haven't returned. Maybe he isn't I thought bitterly. I don't know how long I sat there for, but the sound of a twig snapping bought me back to reality. My first thought is to get up and run, but my feet stay firmly planted on the ground. I satisfy myself by taking refuge behind the maple. A rabbit hops int my view, every muscle in my body screams for me to chase it, but stand there patiently waiting for it to come closer it looked so good . My stomach rumbles at the thought of all that fresh meat. My dad would cook it make it into a stew... If he wanted me home.

I let out a frustrated sigh. I curse out loud as the rabbit runs for shelter. Steaming I stomp to the front of the tree. For the first time a take a good look at where I'am. I look around confused unfamiliar woods surrounded me.Where am I? I ask myself of course I get no reply. The forest is dark and forbiding I stare blankly at the clumps of trees trying to get my bearings. I sigh heavily worry momentarily taking over my fustration. My feet shuffle on the ground and with only a moments hesitaion I head of into the unknown. The branches rip my face as I stumble and fall scraping my hands and knees. I look down at my bloodied hands, I wince as I attempt to clench them into fists. I've been walking for two days, lost. My throat aches for water. My stomach continuously rumbles, hollow and empty. I stumble into a clearing sinking to my knees. "Help." I croak."HELP."

[Northern Lights [Cil]]

What a Laugh

These thick, dense woods were the only place I could fully release my emotions in. I did so. After what seemed like aeons of crying, sobbing and wailing up in a deciduous tree, I slithered down as a snake and landed in a nice soft pillow of moss that comforted my large body. For some reason, I didn't want to return to aid my dying parents, maybe it was this comfy natural cushion. The way I left them though... In the morning they were asleep. When I came back from school, I didn't bother to make them food or give them water even if they were still asleep. I felt another pang of emotional pain and alot more salt water streamed - no, rivered out of my (probably) reddening eyes and strained down my face. It dissappeared as the spongy, soft moss soaked it up, though. In fact, the moss was so comfy, If I didn't hear the strangest noise, I wouldn't have been able to stand up.

At first, I thought it was a mockingbird or maybe a magpie or songbird. However, the second time around, I had a chance to pull myself together and listen up. From what I heard, it didn't sound animal. A cry for help? My heart thumped a tad too loud for my liking. I thought I was alone. Someone needed help, but who? where? why? Another time, another cry. I could clearly hear the words this time. It was definitely a girl who made the noise, and there was certainly agony in the very little speech. I wiped away my drying tears that must've made a mark on my cheeks and rubbed my sore, somewhat baggy, eyes. As I opened my mouth to breathe, only then I noticed that the air was cold. My breath was converted to a misty steam that hurled out every time I collected oxygen.
"Hello?" I press my voice a bit louder. "I'll help you!" I thunder into a sprint, carefully dodging the whip of brown. Obviously, the branches here are low; these are the youthful trees they planted only a couple of years ago. Mostly coniferous trees, easy to spile, and a few purple maples that give off beautiful scents of syrup running through their bark protected inner veins.

After a while of racing, I become certain that the agonized girl is nearby. I call one more time, making sure she heard my call, and I hear a shuffle of some sorts only meters away. I rush towards what I supposedly heard and arrive at a thick shrubbery that decides to block my view of whatever's behind it. I inhale deeply; I stumble through the bushy obstacle, gaining minimal scars where the clothing did not protect my body. A macabre clearing is revealed with a single dishevelled girl bleeding bang-smack in the middle. In no time, my knee is on the floor beside the face-down female. I spin her over to reveal her scarred face. Low branches. She is a complete stranger to me, never before have I seen this girl around. I pass her my canteen of water, hoping she accepts it with no violence.
"Im no danger," I whisper to the dying girl, seeing that she is in a far worse condition than I could've imagined. Her body thin and almost certainly underweight. "My name is Castanea, and I'm here to help you."

[cass]

I knew I was dying; every breath I took caused pain to race through my body. The air stabs at my exposed skin making my predicament slightly more unbearable. My legs fold giving away. I lay face down in the dirt. With what strength I had left I turn my head. My breathing comes in shallow gasps, white clouds that float out of my view. I wish...I wish I could see my farther again; I want to hug him and hold him. With the last of my strength went the last of my hopes of someone coming to my aid. I didn’t want to die, my sisters and farther needed me. A branch snapped in the distance. The sound became closer. Something inside me registered this sound, my thoughts were clouded and I didn’t make sense of it. I squinted my eyes in concentration. My gut told me this...this sound was important. It proved right when a figure wavered into my view, it was fuzzy barely visible. A feeling of fear creeps into me; what was it? Some sort of animal here to finish me off? I try desperately to move, but it was a hopeless attempt. The figure moves forward.
“I’m no danger” it says. The voice is unfamiliar, although it belongs to a girl, a young one at that. Probably my age.

Oh dose it really matter, I think, I’m dying, why should I care?

Then it hits me this...this person could save my life. She talks again barley more than a whisper I have to strain to hear what she is saying “My name is Castanea, and I'm here to help you." Slowly and cautiously the girl walks up to me. She kneels down beside me. Her hand reaches forward in her grasped was a ...drink bottle.

Water, water get the bottle and drink idiot!

My conscience screams at m. With a great struggle, I raise my head. The drink bottle finds my lips. A cool stream trickles into my mouth it races along my parched tongue filling all the dry cracks and crevices. It then races down my dry throat. It feels so pleasantly good. I try to drink faster, but a strong arm keeps me back. After I’ve drunken the whole bottle, I lie there gathering my strength. Eventually I work up the energy to move. Slowly and haltingly I move into a sitting position like an old lady. For the first time I feel hope. I hope that I will make it home and see my farther; I’ll see my little sister again. I smile at the thought, momentarily comforted. For the first time I get a good look at my saviour. My vision is still fuzzy so it’s not a clear picture; her arms are strong and well muscled. Even when she’s sitting I know she’s taller than me-it’s not hard to be taller than me- she’s unfamiliar to me, I’ve never seen her. I don’t recognise her from anywhere. She looks somewhat tomboyish, she looks like a nice girl. A person I would like.

I stare at her as she attempts to make a fire.A smile to myself as I watch her unexperienced hands. Obviously shes more use to the matches and finds it difficult using the stone and stick. I slowly crawl over to her. As walking seems like to bid a task.

[Northern Lights [Cil]]

What a Laugh

I look down at the scruffy girl, probably lost for days, that literally throws the water down her parched throat. Her thin lips are curled around the mouth of the bottle as she struggles not to consume the entire container. I let myself smile a bit, a good deed of karma done yet again. I study her one last time. She doesn’t seem like a wanderer because she has the good old look of District 7 on her face. Green –no, emerald – eyes that have little leaves of autumn flurrying inside of them, dark brown hair and tea coloured skin. Her eyes have dark bags encircling them, like mine, caused by sleepless nights. I leave her to drink in peace while I work on my worst enemy. Something that could’ve killed my parents. Heat emanating curves of red hues. Fire.
Rubbing wood against rock, boring, hard and painful. If only I had a match, everything would be so much easier. After what seemed like hours of attempting, I noticed- out of the corner of my eye- the girl hunched over the empty container, examining my very unsuccessful attempt at making fire. I let out a nervous attempt of a laugh. Castanea, the girl who can’t make fire.

[/b][/color] My cheeks rush red as I hastily turn back, my hair tickling my brow. A high pitched noise is produced by the two solids causing friction, doing a bad job of piercing my ear drums. I barely made a little puff of smoke out of this, and I give a great sigh as I rest my flaming hands. If I burnt anything, It was my hands, not the materials I salvaged from the earth.
Cold sweat breaks out on my skin as I feel like giving up. The grass behind me rustles as the girl crawls over, like a toddler. I hand my stick and stone over to her, biting my cracked bottom lip. I rub my eyes in the dark and let them creak back open. I can’t really see since the sunset makes the woods so dark. Only a single drop of sun slices through the small, circular clearing. I watch the girl, working arts of survival. To me, she looks so small. She is atleast half a metre shorter than me, and her shoulders are far narrower than my masculine joints. I must be a giant to her. My hand scrambles for the wet moss near me; I suck from it coolly. My body turns to dig amongst the foliage, moss dangling out of my thick lips and I manage to scavenge a thick stick of maple, bark half peeled off. I start the peeling process again, hoping some sap still remains, as I don’t want to leave the girl alone just to spile some tree. I am unaware if the girl started the fire or not, but I keep scanning the undergrowth around the clearing, searching for any food I can find. I let out a little cough and cover it with my long-sleeved, checked shirt.
“So, what’s your name?” [/b]I question, hoping she has enough of a voice to reply, “You're from District 7, right?” [/color]I asked cautiously, still not trusting anyone to easy. After all, what if she was an avox or wanderer, even if I highly doubt it?[/size]

[cass]

I stare at Castanea her hair falling messily on her back. She drops the sticks fustrated and grabs some moss. She sucks on it before moving around to find more food. I look down at the stick and stone she had been using. Slowly I reach down and grab them it feels familiar. I get to work on the fire and in my experienced hands I coax a fire out in no time. The warmth feels welcome so very nice. I sit there and watch as Castenea wonders around searching for food. I wonder if she has realised I have started a fire. I shrug oh well she'll see it soon enough. I grab some sticks and weakly chuck them into the fire. The smoke that comes out dosen't bother me the fog will hide it.

Castenea talks breaking the long silence "So, what’s your name?” She dosen't what for me to reply before saying,“You're from District 7, right?” She pauses, I cough before replying hoping my voice will sound strong.
"my names Arya, Arya Wood. And yes I am from district 7," I shrug slightly pleased to find my voice steady, but far from confident or strong. She takes some time to digest this news so I decide to continue. "Are you from district 7?" Once I start the questions come out. "How come I've never seen you before? well if you are from district 7, I mean" stopped myself before I embarressed myself anymore.
The suns last rays settle over the tree tops before disappearing for the day. The forest is plunged into darkness. I move closer to the fire seeking its warmth not wanting to feel the cold.

[Northern Lights [Cil]]

What a Laugh

I shudder as my hand strokes a slug. I don’t find them disturbing, I just don’t like how they surprise you when you try search for food. My hand worms through the pine needles and earth, making my hands dirty and my nails grimy. I am very hygienic, but this little forage messed my grabbers a bit. I crawl to the girl, my eyes widening with fear. Approaching it, I just slowly let myself plonk onto my bottom without going near the presence of it. I quickly come to my senses and notice I’ll have to cook on the red demon. I fumble for my findings; after my little undergrowth hunt, I manage to discover a few full-of-sap maple sticks, some edible mushrooms, leftovers of bread in my pocket and a small edible crickets my colleagues told me how to eat. I wasn’t entirely sure the girl would want some, but I would definitely ask her. I hear a cough, which rouses me from my thoughts.

“My name’s Arya, Arya Wood,”

[/i][/color] She replies formally to my questions, despite the state I found her in. Perhaps she just needed water. “And yes, I am from District 7.” [/i][/color] Her voice is stronger than that strained yelp I heard earlier. I make a broad smile, I feel like I actually helped something for once. I fiddle with the maple sticks and peel the bark ever so carefully, my chewed nails not helping the situation. She starts another sentence, “Are you from District 7? How come I’ve never seen you before? How come I've never seen you before? Well if you are from district 7, I mean.” [/i][/color] She adds, her cheeks tinting peach. I know this is the cold and embarrassment piling up, because I always have this awkward feeling whenever I get shy. I furrow my brow, only to notice I have to shift uncomfortably close to the tingling heat of orange. The darkness hanging over us, united with fog, makes such an eerie forest. A barn owl seems to make an uprising by hooting multiple times while I answer her,

“I am from District 7,”[/b] I pass her a maple stick, trying hard to contain my smile as I watch her struggle a bit with the stick syrup dripping all over her hands. I give her a quick, silent tutorial. “However, I do work twelve hours a day, that makes five hours of school, seven hours of lumber cutting from six in the morning to six in the evening. Saturday I get the day off, and I spend a long time at the lumber yard to pass time, and the rest of free time I just run here to let my feelings out, I suppose,” [/b] You’re telling her too much, silly Castanea.[/b][/color] I thought to myself, But you should trust her though… [/b] “I don’t know why you haven’t seen me in school. Maybe it’s because I go around with my friends a lot… though they are mostly colleagues.”[/b]I see the girl shaking slightly, a big question whirring in my head as I lick off the dropping sap beads, “Why are YOU here though? How do you survive?” my eyes begin getting that sore feeling and I give in. I sit beside the fire, zipping up my puffy jacket and I start heating up the mushrooms to rid of bad bacteria clinging onto it. I want to take off my cover and hand it to her, but I’m far too cold to do that. Summer nights in District 7 tend to freeze up like this.[/size]

[cass]

I feel the blood rush to my face, I know I'm blushing. I sigh as I feel the fires warmth seep into my body. I feel safe, no longer lost or in trouble. My stomach grumbles painfully I wince hoping the girl hadn't seen. Even though I was in this state I didn't want to show anymore weakness. She takes her time before she answers “I am from District 7,” I strare at her curious I hadn't seen her before. So it surprised me when she said shes from district 7. I shrug remembering I don't see many people at school, I don't have many friends at school. No I don't have any friends anywhere. We sit there in silence she surprises me when she goes on to say, “However, I do work twelve hours a day, that makes five hours of school, seven hours of lumber cutting from six in the morning to six in the evening. Saturday I get the day off, and I spend a long time at the lumber yard to pass time, and the rest of free time I just run here to let my feelings out, I suppose,” She pauses. Wow, she really must trust me. I smile foolishly happy no one has ever talked to me like that before. I feel so happy that I almost forget where I am till she continues. “I don’t know why you haven’t seen me in school. Maybe it’s because I go around with my friends a lot… though they are mostly colleagues.” Huh so the girl does have friends. The air seems to drop several degrees and I find myself shaking the cold air seeps through my jumper freezing me to the bone. Castenea moves closer to the fire. She wraps her jumper around her warding off the cold. She passes me a stick with sap on it. I try to get it in my mouth, end up getting it all over me. “Why are YOU here though? How do you survive?”

The question catches me off guard, and I freeze startled. Suddenly I'm worried, Oh my god my dad, crap I forgot, I have to get home. I don't move I just sit there thinking over Casteneas question. After a long pause I finally reply.
"It happened about three days ago. I was talking to my farther...and..." I stop lost for words."...and we were talking. We got onto the topic of my mother..." I'm going to have to tell her about my mum, I think. I take a deep breath and continue "My mum, she left my farther after my little sisters were born. Dad says he left because she found another man." I felt sick thinking of the words my farther had siad. " I strated to yell, I didn't want to believe it." I fell the warm tears roll down my cheeks, but now I have started the story I'm determined to finish it. "My dad yelled and it turned into a screaming match. Me and my farther never argued...it wasn't right, si I just ran out of the house. My sadness and anger keept me going. We I feelt better I didn't know where I was." the las tsentence is barely a whisper."I got lost... I was dying till you found me." I look at Castenea and smile, so happy that I've told someone. So happy that it was Castenea the person who had saved my life.

[Northern Lights [Cil]]

What a Laugh

Her response was nothing. She was frozen until a panic hit her cheeks. In a second, I was about to stand up and collect some branches, knowing that maybe it was uncomfortable for her to respond. However, she coughed before croaking.

"It happened about three days ago. I was talking to my father...and..."

[/b][/i] She pauses to shake her head slightly, she loses my eye contact, "...and we were talking. We got onto the topic of my mother... My mum, she left my father after my little sisters were born. Dad says she left because she found another man.” She raised her voice a tad loud, I was about to tell her to calm a bit but I decided to leave her, by now, she has some tears rolling down her cold-nibbled, reddening cheeks. I can tell by her expression and continuous head shakes she doesn’t want to carry on, but she still does, "My dad yelled and it turned into a screaming match. I and my father never argued...it wasn't right, I just ran out of the house. My sadness and anger kept me going. We I felt better I didn't know where I was. “[/b][/color]Her voice dropped to a light whisper, "I got lost... I was dying till you found me."[/b][/color] She gives me a glance and she lets her lips widen into a smile. The orange fire caresses our sides and illuminates our bodies. Her tears have dried now, or have they frozen? My drowsiness starts to take over my mind. I really need a well-deserved sleep, but I still have questions.

“It feels good to vent.”I am definitely sure I put that in the wrong tone, and an urge envelopes me to ask, “Where should we sleep?”[/color]Wrong words at the wrong time, typical.[/i] I sipped the maple stick and gripped it in-between my teeth. I searched for wood just nearby and started collecting thick branches and thin logs, trying to take in what Arya just said. Her father sounds loving, but rather broken hearted. I bet Arya feels a bit heart-shattered as well, her mother leaving her and her father falling out of sanity. My jacket doesn’t feel right as it sits on my back, so I push it to Arya and I wrap my double layers around me harder. I manage to dig up two suitable branches, which would be really easy to make into a make-shift tent or cover, if we sleep on the floor, trees or canopy. I have a feeling going back to District 7 today will be hard for the both of us, but I can’t be too sure, so I let the wood rest beside me as I sit close to the fire, facing Arya yet again.
[/size]

[cass]

Arys Wood

My smile falters as a wave as tirdeness and coldness rushes through me. My eyes focus on the fire, I believe our conversation was finished until Castanea goes on to say.
“It feels good to vent.” Her tone makes my head snap up, I look at her strangley. So she wasn't that much different to me. What I see on her face is a look of kind understanding, it was as if she had gone through what I had, or maybe something like that. I feel new respect for this girl I hardly new.
“Where should we sleep?” I almost laugh at the strange question. Well at least I wasn't the only one who asked strange questions. She seemed embarrassed, and once again the conversation dropped into a comfortable lull. Castanea begins to busy herself with collecting sticks. I'm further more surprised when Castanea chucks me her jacket. I think of refusing it, but am stopped by the cold chill that reaches my bones. Hurriedly i put the jacket on, I'm engulfed in warmth. The heavy weight that had been holding me down, about not sharing my feelings with anyone has lifted slightly. I feel more light. Happy. Maybe just maybe Castenea was the right person, someone who understood more than anyone else.
What if this girl is my... friend... we could be...
I banish the thought from my mind, I hardly knew the girl.


Castanea continues to dig around in the dirt, searching for something. My thoughts wonder to my home, my sisters they would be so worried, they wouldn't have a clue where I was, they would be so lost... Guilt stabbs at me, I feel tears well up in my eyes, but I force them to stay in. I take a deep shuddering breath settling my mind. Why do I keep crying? fustration coarses through, I'm acting like such a whimp, I'm better than this.
Get over it you got yourself into this situation

I hope they are alright. They will look after each other, I will see them soon.
This thought helps me.
They have each other no need to worry.

I repeat this thought in my head a few times till I've made myself believe it. I bring myself back to the present where Castanea has found some sticks and has begun creating a kind of shelter. She pauses then moves to sit beside the fire, once again we are facing each other. After a pause I decide I'll start the conversation.
"So... Castenea, I've told you all about me...Why were you out in the forest when you found me, out there all by yourself?

OOC: Writers block...


This is kind of what Arya looks like...kinda:)