what they say about the young// open

[Raseri]

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Whoosh.

My feet hit swiftly and quietly against the pavement, tapping out a staccato rhythm to the metronome of my breathing. In, two. Out, four. In, two. Out, four. Breathing, Sabian says, is one of the most important things to learn when sprinting long distances. Matching your inhalations and exhalations with your steps, cycling oxygen like an engine to keep your muscles going even when it starts to hurt and you just want to stop and sit down. ”You’ll only get stronger when you push a little longer,” that’s our motto. Your muscles only grow when they’re repairing. Your calluses only get harder when you work them harder.

The tree that I had marked as my 400-meter point slowly faded into view, its tall branches breaching the morning fog to raise their leaves to me in silent salute. Just a few more seconds. Lengthening my stride, I kicked it into gear, giving the home stretch all I had to give. The road blurred beneath me as my shoes flew over it, and for a moment, my body no longer held a girl within its limits. It was a train carrying a tribute into the sparkling city of the Capitol, speeding down the track to her victory.

Click. As I zoomed past the finish line, my finger pressed into the button of my stopwatch, locking in my time. Four digits, 49.67 seconds, looked back at me from the tiny screen, waiting for approval. I smiled back at them through heavy breaths, slowing my pace to a brisk walk. Not bad, I thought. My best this week was about 50.2, so I was improving. Slowly, maybe, but improving nonetheless. I let the stopwatch drop back to my chest where it hung from a cord around my neck, freeing my hands so I could link them together behind my head. Deep breaths, I told myself.

After walking further down the road, I came across a cobblestone wall, about five feet high. I reached up to the top and felt around for a handhold, grasping at a rock that stuck out a little too far and then digging the toe of my left sneaker into a gap in the cement. In one quick movement, I hoisted myself up and swung my right knee on top of the barrier, then turned and plopped my butt down on the smooth stones. Much better than your average park bench, I reflected with a little smile, indolently kicking my legs against the wall so my shoes made thudding noises, just like when I was little and mom would tell me to stop kicking my chair under the dinner table.

My stomach rumbled noisily, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten breakfast. It was probably about eight o’clock now, the sun having risen and started on its daily way to the top of the sky. This was my favorite time to run on a Saturday, when everything was calm and quiet, and the rest of the District was taking advantage of the opportunity to sleep in. Me, I’d rather take advantage of the opportunity to get things done.Extra sleep was overrated; you only needed a certain amount of it in order to function. I wasn’t going to lay around in bed all day when I could be improving myself.

I swung my drawstring backpack off of my back and un-cinched it, then reached my hand in and fished around for the sandwich I’d packed. Wheat bread and peanut butter with grape jelly. I liked turkey better, but this was alright too. As I took my first bite, I thought I heard footsteps coming towards me. Straightening up and swallowing, I peered down the road, wondering who else could be up and at it this morning.

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{sorry this was a bit longer than I'd wanted it xD}

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[Raseri]

{ooc- bumping this because it's open now, since it was never replied to and xxfox is gone. Any decent reply is welcome :)}

[Jack Lexington]

MATTHEW DUNHAM

'Why wouldn't they listen to me?' The thought simply didn't leave me alone that night. I'm not used to people disobeying my orders. If they do I usually reward them with a good beating but today things were different. Against all my believes I had agreed to training two of the younger girls at the career center, just like I had been trained by an older career when I first joined the program. What a mistake that decision was though. Turns out these two were nothing but trouble and had one big weakness. They just wouldn't listen.
So I quit.
Yet my mind keeps wondering about them while I keep quietly telling myself: They are just girls anyway! Who wants anything to do with girls?
As I stare up at the wooden ceiling of my bedroom with my arms behind my head I start counting the cracks in the wood. It's my version of counting sheep.
When everything else fails I make my way down to the garage to pound my heavy bag. That does the trick. It wears me out enough to be able to find some sleep.

Not enough though as I rise with the first sun raise on a Saturday morning. My day off from work. Great!
I decide to use this very cool morning to work out, somewhere away from the training center as I don't want to take the chance of running into THEM.

The light on this morning is a cool shade of pink. While I keep jogging at an easy pace I can see cold clouds of my breath travelling away from me. A run always make me feel free. Just me...out there.

Until I spot a man running like the world behind him is on fire. Holy shit. That dude has speed. It's a well paced, powerful run that I'm witnessing from afar. I wish I could sprint like that.
Pausing with my hands on my thighs for a moment I watch him dissappear behind a row of trees in the distance.
"Not bad." I admire him and then continue my path.

My own much slower pace continues to take me down the dirt road that I've taken one million times before. My green eyes wearily watch the scenery for signs of danger as I should be. Not that district two is a particularly dangerous place but it could be, under bad circumstances, for a guy who liked making more enemies than friends.
Out of the corner of my eye I catch somebody move on top of a cobble stone wall.
I turn my head just to see that 'man', whom I admired only minutes ago, up there eating a sandwhich. From a distance it had seemed like this person was taller and more broad shouldered but to my great surprise I'm looking at yet another GIRL.
Baffled I slow down my pace to greet her. "Did you just run like...somebody was chasing you?"
I knit my brow while drawing in a few deeper breaths while my heart is pounding heavily in my ears.
"That was really fast." I state the obvious.

OOC: So, since I'm over eager to thread in d2, here I am. Hope this works for you.

[Raseri]

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The boy slowing to a stop in front of me was tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and blond hair. Just like every other freaking boy in the district, I thought, tossing my hair over my shoulder with a snap of my head. I recalled seeing this one around the training center before—I was pretty sure he was the one always pushing people around and getting into fights, although I wasn’t positive. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to talk to him or not. I knew his type, so probably not.

He struck up a conversation, though, as soon as I took another bite of my sandwich. ”Did you just run like… somebody was chasing you?” He paused, taking a breather. Oh yeah, because he had been running so fast. I fought back a smirk. ”That was really fast.” And you are really observant! Good job, I wanted to say. So far, this kid wasn’t striking me as the brightest bulb in the box. I glanced down the road, wondering whether or not I’d be able to lose him if I jumped off this wall and took off. Probably. Then again, that would be rude, and mother was always telling me not to be so rude. Not that I usually listened.

I swallowed more peanut butter and jelly. ”Nah, no one’s chasing me, I told him, taking the civil route even though I couldn’t exactly call myself a conversationalist. ”I always sprint four hundred meters in the morning. Gets the blood flowing.” That wasn’t the only reason, though; Sabian has always taught me to train outside of the Career center as well as in it. If you wanted to be better than the other Careers, you had to go beyond their regular schedules.

That could have been what this boy had in mind, too—that running on a Saturday morning was much more productive than sleeping it away. At least we had one thing in common, I had to hand him that. He didn’t seem too smart, but he hadn’t said anything annoyingly arrogant yet, either, like some of those other egotistical oafs back at the training center. I could stand to talk to him for a little longer. Maybe.

”What about you? You going somewhere?” I inquired, taking another bite of my sandwich.

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[Jack Lexington]

The girl up on her ledge keeps chewing her sandwhich while looking down on me...and yeah, I said 'on' on purpose because that's what it feels like. She's one of those stuck up bitches that are the reason that I never talk to girls. Those herd animals, who giggle and secretly say stuff about me while they turn their backs on me like they have something better to do, a better place to be, despise me for fighting too much or getting another A in school. I don't get them, they don't get me and I'm sure she's one of them....or isn't she?

Today I decide to make an effort to be friendly to a female since I left two standing in the rain only yesterday.
So she likes running in the morning. That doesn't sound so bad and she wants to know about me.
I motion down the road to the other side of the hill we're facing. "To the creek and back. Takes me about an hour. I jog though...for endurance...just some sprints in between."
My breathing is slowing down now as it should because I'm in decent shape.


Wiping the sweat from my face with the bottom of my shirt I take a moment and then look up at her. I can barely see her because the sun's almost behind her and pretty low in the sky these days. Winter is not that far away.
Squinting I shield my eyes from the sun and ask.
"How much further do you go? Do you want to race?" The idea sounds fun, at least for now.

[Raseri]

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"To the creek and back. Takes me about an hour. I jog though...for endurance...just some sprints in between."

I nodded politely while he answered, swallowing the last mouthful of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Jogging for an hour… that was some serious endurance. Distance running was definitely something I needed to work on if I was going to be in the Games, in case I would be chased by someone, or something. So far, though, I was just a sprinter, which was a lot different, because it required more oxygen to be used in a shorter period of time.

The boy pulled the hem of his t-shirt up to soak up the sweat from his face—eww?—flashing me a quick glance at his stomach (Abs. Surprise, surprise.). Then he squinted up at me and asked me if I was up for a race. I had just eaten, so more sprinting probably was not a great idea. But then again, I had been challenged, and I had never been the kind of girl to back out of a challenge. Especially from a boy who probably thought I couldn’t beat him. I smirked. ”Sure, I’m down for a race,” I told him, throwing my bag over my shoulder and jumping down from the wall.

My sneakers thudded against the sidewalk. Standing next to the boy, I finally realized how much shorter I actually was compared to him. This wouldn’t be as easy as I’d thought. Craning my neck, I peered down the road towards the hill he’d gestured to. There was a tree about 250 meters away that I was pretty sure I’d have a fair chance at beating him to.

”Race you to that tree!” I exclaimed, pointing. ”Aaaaaand go!” I added without warning, taking off and leaving him in the dust.

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[Jack Lexington]

"To the creek and back in an hour". For a moment I think about that distance and how long it would take me. It's quite far and I'm more of a sprinter but as usual I comment. "I think I can beat that."

Once she's swallowed her last bite she actually accepts my challenge. Fun! I like races and I shouldn't have a problem against a girl, not at sprints anyway. While I'm still flashing her a smile the chick pulls a rather unfair move by announcing ”Race you to that tree!” and takes off before I can even agree.
"Shit." I set myself in motion but she's got a good head start. I hate unfair moves. Instantly I feel my good old friend, anger boil up inside and fuel my run.
With a few fast strides I catch up to her about half way to the tree. Her shorter legs are pretty fast but I pass her without a big problem.
I can win this race, no question, but I'm angry, so I extend my hand while I pass her and deliver a slight push shouting. "If you want unfair, you can get it." Without looking whether she's falling or not I pick up my feet and head straight for the tree.

[Anatra]

Tyren Orca

He woke less lazily than expected. His eyes slipped open at the sound of birds outside. It wasn't that sweet out there, it was just quite a coincidence really. Tyren slept in a black t-shirt and some grey sweatpants. Once he had roused himself from the well kept bed, he took a stretch to then brush a firm hand through his short brown hair, his equally brown eyes seem to reflect a little in the daylight.

Mornings weren't usually Tyren's best time. He must preferred evenings in that he could relax a lot more. He often found that deep conversations at night were better than loud music or parties. Something that wasn't a common with his kind of person - typically strong, works out a lot, does little in terms of academics. You would expect him to be all-for the sports.

He changed his outfit into something current consisting of a black well-fitting jacket over a plain white t-shirt. He wears similar grey sweatpants from earlier, yet different. He takes this outfit outside on his body, which is athletic yet in a more modest way. He doesn't show it off.

He gets onto the front porch and looks out at the mountains, and down the road he goes onto his normal saturday walk. A bit down the way, more into the woods now, he feels a bit more relaxed, only to hear someone - ”Aaaaaand go!”. His eyes move before his head and they see the girl set off, and the boy not. A quiet smirk is made to himself at this, no way needing to appear like one really. He thinks to himself - "Missed a good opportunity there Ty. Could have done some training." He shrugs it off by beginning to walk down the little road a little to where a bench is, he sits just as the boy begins to catch up with the girl. He pretends he isn't really watching, but he is quite intrigued as to who actually wins.

((Edit)): After some time of watching, he finds he should pursue some other duties in his spare time. He leaves the seat and continues his walk.

(( Sorry for the dramatic monologue x.x I thought I'd throw myself in somewhere and see what happens. ))