Treason is a way of life (OPEN)

[Phoenix Fire]

Dagan stood in the doorway of his home looking at the small haggard buildings that some called home around him. Here was where you lived and died if you were a local in his village, homes where families had lived for decades. Yet in his mind a simple sentence seemed to permeate and eat at him like it did everyday We could all have so much more.

These words were so simple yet so illegal. Even the thoughts that fallowed those words were illegal. The idea that with all that the different families harvested each of them could have WAY more then they did. It was such a fantastical idea that Dagan seemed to let it fill him for a moment with a rush of warmth and some kind of self worth. In his mind lived a world where there was no Capitol, where everyone decided for themselves what they would do and where they would go. It was a world that he went to when he was beaten in the town square, or had to listen to a teacher talk about how amazing the Panem government was. It made him sick to hear those words and yet with this world he had built for himself in his mind it seemed almost bearable.

“Dagan are you going to stand there or go to school?” His dads gruff voice came from they’re makeshift kitchen with an edge of amusement. Shafe Grim knew his sons mind was full of treasonous ideas that could get him killed, yet he couldn’t help but be proud of his son. He had once told him that with his ideas that he could one day shape Panem and even maybe help build a new world. It was a wild dream Dagan knew but as he looked back at his father and smirked, cocking his head in a farewell he walked out of his house and headed towards the school building with a sense of satisfaction. He was someone, and one day he would prove it to the world. He would become someone who would raise up the poor of district 11 and help them cause hell for those peacekeepers who had ruined they’re lives. To the Capitol who controlled they’re food intake with such force. These were Dagan Grims dreams that resided inside his head. Though as he walked with a sudden feeling of self-worth it all seemed to be taken away by a sudden bump that nearly knocks him to the dirt path below his feet.

[lyss]

Ash Owens grabbed her hand-me-down tote bag and raced out of her room. She had to get out of the house, fast. Her mother always made her leave for school thirty minutes before most people did. Her mother always ranted about how ungrateful Ash was because when her mother was her age, she wasn't allowed to go to school. Ash rolled her eyes thinking of the speech. When she reached the stairs, she slid down her scratched up banister that needed an over-due paint job. She passed one of her brothers and raised a finger to her lips as she quietly slipped out the front door.

She slowed down as soon as she as sure her mother couldn't see her from a window or their backyard. She took in the neighborhood that she was passing. It wasn't really a neighborhood, just a group of small houses that looked like they had been there before the Dark Ages. She sighed, for it looked like a nice place to live. Ash's family wasn't one of the wealthiest families in the district. Her family could afford their house, of course, but they could barely feed their whole family. Their house was three stories, but each floor wasn't very big. The first floor had a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom. The second floor had two bedrooms and a bathroom, and the third floor had a small bedroom and a bathroom.

Ash's mother slept on the first floor. Ash had her own room on the second, but her older twin brothers shared the other bedroom on the floor. On the third floor, her oldest brother and her brother that was a year older than her shared the only bedroom on that floor. Ash knew her family would be able to feed their whole family much better if they lived here, but it looked like everybody would have to share the same bedroom. Ash was deep in thought, when she heard something that sounded like somebody stumbling over something. She was about to race down the road, but then she remembered that she should've been at school fifteen minutes ago.

"I'm sorry! I'd help you, but I'm already terribly late!" she shouted towards the direction of the noise and raced towards school. I'll have to find this person when I get to school, Ash thought as her school building entered her line of vision.

[Phoenix Fire]

Dagan heard and saw the girl rocketing to the school and grumbled a curse under his breath. He didn’t recognize the girl but from where he saw her running he started to understand. She lived in the multi-level houses that his family could only dream of having. The only time he had ever been in that area was when he was being beaten in the square and those weren’t exactly memories he cherished. Hell his back was riddled with enough scars that you would never know that there was once smooth flesh back there. It was always for a good cause though, something he hoped would catch fire and spread throughout Panem.

For now though he righted himself and started walking towards the door of the school. A place where the towns kids went to escape the persecution on the streets and fell into the arms of Capitol propaganda. He knew that there were probably some stuff here and there that were probably true but he also knew that there was no way to control a populous without controlling they’re children. This was how he had always thought about things, even before all the pain and misery with his mom and brother happened. His dad had always kept it hidden but he had taught his son to be against the government. He showed him a new path that before the Dark days was called Anarchy. It was everyone for themselves, no government ever telling you what to do. The sound of his father’s words always crossed his mind. and as he walked through the single door and stepped into the hallways of the run down school, moving slowly to his classroom he let his father’s words drift throughout his mind.

”They say that we owe the government our all, that we should be happy we can work in the fields so that we can help feeds the rest of the country. What they don’t say is that even though we work it we get none. Dagan, promise me that in your generation things will change.

[lyss]

Ash grimaced as she entered her school. It was Hunger Games season, and TV's were positioned all around the school. The tributes from her district had already died, as usual, but the Capitol insisted that we still watch. A group of boys Ash's age huddled around a TV and cheered. She didn't have to see it to know what had happened, someone or something had died.

Ash skirted past the boys to her locker. She angrily twisted the lock back and forth, entering her combination, but it didn't work. She tried again and again, furiously twisting the lock and yanking it. She was causing a scene, so she sighed and calmed down. She slowly turned the lock to the three designated numbers and slowly pulled at the lock. It finally clicked open and Ash gave a sigh of relief. She tossed in the books from her bag and grabbed some out of her locker. She stuffed her bag in her locker also, on top of her books.

Ash raced to her class and slid into the only available seat, which was sadly straight in front of the teacher's desk. The bell rang, and Ash grumbled to herself. It was going to be a long day.
****
Ash clutched the brown paper sack that contained her lunch. She spied the lunch room for an empty table and came up lucky. There was an empty table in the far left side of the room. She quickly walked over to the table and sat down. Ash spied the lunch room for her best friend, Eve Sinclair. She came to the conclusion that Eve was, once again, sick, since she usually was at lunch before Ash.

Ash sighed and laid out all her food before her. She poked and prodded at some things, mostly uninterested. She would rather have somebody to talk to than her lunch right now.

[Phoenix Fire]

Throughout the day Dagan moved like he did on a normal bases, passive and interested in only the little things that seemed to be hidden. Lunch time was the only real time he could relax, the only time where no one seemed to be confused by his answers to questions or he was stared at by the peacekeepers like they were ready to drag him away. Well that was only partly true, they still stared at him like this, even now, after he had grabbed his lunch and walked quietly to his normal seat. Yet as he approached the spot he found it taken by none other then the back of the head he had seen after being nearly knocked over that morning.

“So, I’m guessing that you’ve come to either apologize or bother me more after knocking me nearly to the ground?” His words weren’t harsh sounding, more calm and almost amused as he sat next to her and took a bite out of a grain roll on his tray. She seemed slightly agitated or, not interested in much, Dagan couldn’t decide which. Was she just to brain washed to know that the food in front of her was edible or was she just not interested in it? Actually the real question was was his sister right about him needing to stop asking questions of everything that was laid out in front of him like it was a problem waiting to be fixed. She saw it as a problem, he saw it as a solution.

[lyss]

Ash looked up and surprisingly came face-to-face with the boy from earlier.

"So, I’m guessing that you’ve come to either apologize or bother me more after knocking me nearly to the ground?” he asked and sat down next to her.

She watched him carefully as he picked a roll up from his tray and took a bite from it. She turned back to her food and looked at the set of miniature rolls her mother had packed her. Ash finally came to her senses and realized how starved she was. She plopped one of the miniature rolls in her mouth and ate it in one bite. She swallowed and took a sip of water from a water bottle.

Ash turned to him and replied, "I didn't know it was your table, sorry. My best friend is sick for maybe the fifth time this month, so I choose a table as desolate as possible. Oh yeah, and I'm sorry about not coming help you. Niether of my brothers that sleep on the same floor as me woke me up early enough, and my mom would kill me if she knew I didn't leave thirty minutes before I had. Anyways, I'm Ash Owens."

Ash wiped her hands on a napkin and hesitantly stuck out her hand for the boy to shake. She wasn't so sure if that's what people still did when they introduced each other. She added a smile, in case people didn't shake hands when they greeted at her age. She hadn't made much friends after she turned eleven. She had a good handful of friends, and she liked all of them enough to not bother making any new friends.

[Phoenix Fire]

Dagan took another bite of his roll and looked at it. This girl talked to much, or at least said to much in a couple of sentences. She seemed nervous though, like she wasn’t used to people and it became even more apparent when she held out a hand to shake his. Was she so formal that that’s how she greeted people? He just looked at he hand for a moment and chuckled, chewing his roll until he could swallow it down.

“I don’t know how they say hi in your part of town but we just smile, sometimes, and say hi here.” So he gave her a smirk, locking his eyes with hers let them bare into hers like a spear into wood. He always tried to see through someone’s eyes and into they’re soul, trying to decide who they were exactly, and whether he had to worry about them turning him into the Peacekeepers for something stupid.

Finally he broke eye contact and took a drink of water from a flask he pulled out of his backpack. After a moment he looked back at her and offered it to her, completely forgetting she had a water bottle.

“Hi, I’m Dagan Grimm, and if you don’t want problems with the Peacekeepers I’m not the guy to be around.”

[lyss]

“I don’t know how they say hi in your part of town but we just smile, sometimes, and say hi here," the boy said with a smirk and locked eyes with Ash.

Ash looked down, embarrassed with herself. She wouldn't have been acting so weird if she had made a new friend before her brother's passing. She mentally sighed and took note of what the boy said. She waited for him to say his name, so she wouldn't have to keep saying "that boy" in her head. He offered Ash a flask he had brought with him, but she just shook her head and pointed to her water bottle.

“Hi, I’m Dagan Grimm, and if you don’t want problems with the Peacekeepers I’m not the guy to be around."

Ash chuckled and replied, "Well Dagan, I could use a little excitement in my life. I think stirring up some trouble with Peacekeepers with you is just what I need."

[Phoenix Fire]

Dagan shook his head and chuckled. This girl had no idea what he was talking about did she? He took a drink from his flask and turned his head to look at a single teacher standing at the other end of the lunchroom looking at his conversation curiously. He knew the teacher well enough to be a snitch and to love to make him pay dearly for his hate for the government. It was one thing to love the government, it was entirely something else to worship it like this teacher did.

“Trouble is not what I mean. Revolt is what I want.” His words were calm and quiet among the high chatter of kids who found school the only way to escape the chaos and hell at home. These all around him only knew pain just as he did, but unlike them, unlike the girl he spoke to, he did not take it sitting down. And as his eyes stayed on the teacher he smiled ever so coolie with a look of confidence in his eyes. Dagan Grimm knew the time for revolution was not yet, but when it was he would make sure he personally wiped this teacher in front of the world. He would show this teacher the hell he took as a badge of honor and how it feels to be a low man out.

After a moment of silence he turned his attention back to the girl, still with the smile on his face and drilled her in the eyes. Considering the way she looked and the way she stood and acted she was a little higher on the totem pole then he was. A single girl looking for adventure in a drab world where people didn’t really get to do much, that in itself wasn’t what he was looking for.

“You can’t just say you want to cause peacekeepers trouble, you have to actually want to help me.”

[lyss]

(ooc: Sorry it took so long to post. I started school this past Monday.)

Ash flinched as she heard Dagan chuckle. She had heard that kind of chuckle enough times to know what would happen. Soon, words would come out of his mouth. Words that Ash didn't want to hear. Yes, she knew that chuckle all too well. She wished she wouldn't care, and she wished she could start her life over. Ash wanted a life where she didn't have to suffer the pain of two deaths in her family, even if they had both been avenged.

The day of her father's funeral as the day the long awaited deed was done. Mr.Owen's murderer had come back to District 11 that day. There was a rumor saying he would take the corpse, and of course, the Peacekeepers of 11 decided to take action. The man had already killed 5 extra people between the day of Mr.Owens death and his funeral. They caught the man and had him hung in the square later that day. A peacekeeper had told the family that Mr.Owens murderer's name was A.J. Sinclair. Ash's mother had gasped and then broke down in tears. There was more to the story than what Ash knew. Ash wasn't told the correct name until years later. Her mother was afraid of what would happen to Ash.

Ash's best friend's name was Ever Sinclair. Ash's mother was afraid if Ash knew the man's last name was Sinclair, her mother thought the girl's friendship would end. Thankfully, the two wen't related.

Ash's oldest brother's vengeance didn't come until much after his death. It was during the victory tour of the games he was in. The girl that had killed the Owen's beloved boy had also won the game. Viewers all across Panem were furious when the charming boy from 11 died. He had been a favorite since he was reaped. Even people in the highest of districts had loved the boy. When the victor had reached District 2, a Peacekeeper had been planning to murder the girl. He succeeded, but he was taken to the Capitol to be an Avox.

Ash shook her head, trying to toss the memories out of her brain, so that she could come back to reality. She faltered in just in time to hear a few words gently escape his lips.

“Trouble is not what I mean. Revolt is what I want.”

And there it was. The words Ash didn't want to hear. She needed to hear them though. If she planned on befriending Dagan, she would need to know what he does and does not like. She nodded, so he knew she understood. Of course, of course.

Ash wasn't sure if those four words had tumbled out of her lips or not. They sat there in silence, so she guessed they hadn't.

"You can’t just say you want to cause peacekeepers trouble, you have to actually want to help me," he added and seemed to drill holes into her forehead with his eyes.

"Uh-huh. I see," she replied, taking in every word. "Even though I didn't help you this morning, I want to help you now. I don't really know why... you just seem to...interest me... more than most people do. As long as nothing happens to my family, I'll help you. Revolution is definitely something Panem needs. But we can't do it alone, you know," Ash added, the last words coming out in a whisper.

[Phoenix Fire]

Was in nervousness he saw in her eyes? Dagan didn’t know for sure but he could see some kind of emotional connection. Almost like something was clicking as he spoke. He wondered what kind of pain she had gone through, what had caused this girl to now be talking to some crazy moron about Revolt against a government? Whatever it had been it was what would fuel her resolve, which was what he needed. It was nothing to be a rebel without a cause or have cause without rebels, to have one you must have the other. Her next words though brought another smile to his face, this one though was no condescending or anything but understanding.

“This I know to well. I also know that its not necessarily going to happen in our life time. I will say this though, what we can do is start a spark. Start a spark in our district that could be a roaring inferno later.” He watched her eyes closer and closer, wanting to see what she was willing to do, what kind of resolve she had that Dagan would use to help her grow in this new idea.

He had always heard stories of people who had wanted to rebel and had left they’re districts, heading somewhere where they could help build up and fight back. He found that as a cowards route, why not start in your district and work your way out? Yes leaving to somewhere where you could gain more followers was one thing, but who knew such a place existed? It was a last resort, and right now he had all the time in the world to do other things.

“What I’m proposing will cause you pain. I’ve been publicly wipped a lot for the stuff I’ve done. And in the end I have one final plan, something that could shake it all up for the Capitol. That though….” His voice trailed off, thinking about his plan to volunteer to be a tribute for the games and show the world you could defy even under the watchful eyes of the Iron fisted demons in control. Its not her burden to hold. “That’s is not yet, we aren’t there yet.”

[lyss]

Ash noticed how long they had been in lunch, for her stomach rumbled. Lunch would be over soon, and Ash had barely made a dent in her lunch. She popped a roll in her mouth, followed by a few strawberries. She practically drained her water bottle, but she left just a little left so that she could drink it later if needed and wiped away the remaining drops with the back of her hand. She turned back to Dagan, staring into his eyes. She tried to look past the color, past the eyes themselves. She wanted to know what kindled the fiery hatred he had for the Capitol.

“This I know to well. I also know that its not necessarily going to happen in our life time. I will say this though, what we can do is start a spark. Start a spark in our district that could be a roaring inferno later,"he informed Ash.

Ash nodded, feeling her lips flip up into a smile. She could see Dagan starting the spark. When he spoke, she felt entranced. Not as in she liked him or anything, but just by how he worded things. A roaring inferno. It sounded so... so... juicy. She tried not to laugh, since words like juicy sounded so weird to her.

“What I’m proposing will cause you pain. I’ve been publicly wipped a lot for the stuff I’ve done. And in the end I have one final plan, something that could shake it all up for the Capitol. That though…,” his voice trailed off. “That’s is not yet, we aren’t there yet.”

"Pain, huh? I can't feel pain anymore. I'm not even sure what it is. I've been broken and torn to pieces. Trust me, it won't matter," she muttered under her breath. "Anyways, we need, like, some sort of... meeting place or something. Lunch is about to be over, and I'm ninety-nine percent sure that you aren't in any of my classes." She laughs, for she knows that he's at least a good year and a half older than her.

[/blockquote][/color]

[Phoenix Fire]

Dagan nodded as the girl mentioned that they had no classes together and they needed to meet up somewhere. He had a lot of ideas, there were a couple empty houses he had been to that had been cornered off because a family had died there from some food borne illness that ended up being nothing. The only problem with those was that sneaking one person into those homes was enough, having a rebellion meeting in there was probably suicidal. So only one place really stuck completely out to him, a place he had only visited a couple of times so that he could strengthen his resolve.

“The fence, go meet me at the fence that separates us from the forest.” From being able to escape. These last words he didn’t say out loud but he still believed every word. He knew that was probably the biggest reason the Peacekeepers had erected the thing all those years ago, during the first Rebellion. He knew that they were trying to keep people from gaining an upper hand in food and export with other Districts when they didn’t want anyone having contact with each other so that no rebellions could rise up again.

“When you come, we need to talk about trying to get messages to other districts.” This was his goal, to see if he could get help from other districts, or even maybe wanderers who had the same ideas he did about life. Maybe if he could gain an army of wanderers who could funnel him weapons and supplies they might have a chance. Yet even in Dagans mind he knew that his thoughts had a lot of words like might and maybe. He just had to have faith.

[lyss]

Ash watched Dagan's face, seeing how his eyebrows would move a certain way, or his lips would twist. She knew the place must be a good one if he was thinking this hard. She wondered if she knew any good places. There was the obvious place, which was of course, the small plot of land behind her house. Her brothers would be out in the fields and her mouth would be cooking or cleaning to some extent. She was about to suggest her idea, when Dagan interrupted her train of thought.

“The fence, go meet me at the fence that separates us from the forest.”

The fence? The fence. The...what? Ash hoped their meeting place wouldn't lead to more, as in going past the fence. It could be valuable, though. Ash had almost forgotten there even was a fence, since she never needed to pass it.

“When you come, we need to talk about trying to get messages to other districts.”

This shocked Ash. Communicating with other districts? Impossible. The only way was tributes conversing in the games, but they were in an area together, of course. Ash nodded and quickly stashed her leftovers into her lunch sack.

"If you say so," she muttered. And then the bell rang.