take it to my {grave} [erica/oasis]
Sept 1, 2016 19:32:14 GMT -5
Post by lance on Sept 1, 2016 19:32:14 GMT -5
erica
She knew she shouldn't wander by the Victor's village, but she couldn't help it.
Even today, years after the victor triumvirate had claimed their impossible streak of victory, she couldn't help but be awed by them and their accomplishments. Katelyn Persimmon and her inner strength, Kirito Miristioma and his tenacity, Harbinger Rhodes and his perseverance.
They all embodied the best of Eleven, three people who had overcome the odds and given Eleven three years of plenty, three years of happiness, three years where the burdens of everyday life were lifted from the shoulders of everyone else, if just a little.
They had given so much to Eleven, and that was a debt that the District would never be able to pay back.
She'd learned to admire them, even knowing the risk they had inevitably brought on the rest of the district. Such a winning streak could only bring repercussions, especially with Eleven's position as one of the poorest districts.
But it hadn't been on the rest of the district like she had originally feared. Instead, it had been on the Victors themselves, as first a Miristioma and then a Rhodes were reaped in back-to-back Games.
To add insult to injury, Katelyn herself had become the star of a Capitol reality show, most likely against her own will, forced to become one of the Capitol's playthings yet again, as if once wasn't enough.
And there was nothing she could do about any of it.
She was just an ordinary girl from Eleven, unable to assist those to whom she owed a debt, unable to even sacrifice herself for their families simply because of her gender. She had watched, helplessly, as the Miristioma boy had been struck down by a pair of older, stronger tributes. She had watched, helplessly, as the Rhodes boy had stepped up to meet his fate, only to be overwhelmed by a swarm of attackers swarming from every possible direction imaginable.
She wanted so desperately to help, and yet she was utterly helpless.
She took one last glance at the three houses of the Village occupied by the triumvirate, currently dormant and silent. Within a few days, the show will have ended, the victors would return home, and it would be life as usual for the next year until the Reapings once again came around.
She let out a breath she didn't know that she had been holding, before removing her gaze from the Village and resuming her journey down the beaten path to the town square. Her mother had sent her off on an errand to pick up some supplies from the market, and she had delayed long enough.
Still, she was troubled. How many more years would this trend continue? How many more years would a Miristioma or a Rhodes be "coincidentally" reaped each year until the Capitol was satisfied? How many years would the families of the victors be forced to suffer, caught in a situation where they either lost or they died?
She was so caught up in her train of thought that she didn't even notice the other girl until she ran into her - literally.
Body ran into body, and suddenly she was on her rear, eyes wide in surprise.
Not a lot of people traveled the path from the Victor's Village to the town square and back, which was part of the reason why she traveled it. Her first thought was disbelief over the fact that she had actually ran into someone on this road of all roads. Her second was that she didn't know of the Rhodes having any sisters, and who else but a Victor relative would be traveling on this particular path?
Then she caught site of the other girl's face, and the pieces fell together.
She'd only seen the girl once or twice before, just outside the Miristioma household in the village itself. She hadn't recognized the girl, and had figured that it was a girlfriend or an extended sister of some sort.
Now, with her not five feet away from her, she finally got a good look at her face. She was pretty and looked to be a bit older than Erica herself, but even up close she didn't even recognize the face itself, much less the identity of the girl behind it.
How strange.
An idea came to her suddenly, a spontaneous idea that could potentially kill two birds with one stone, sating her own curiosity and apologizing all in one.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, hastily getting to her feet. "I didn't notice you there, this road is usually empty." Brushing herself off, she leveled her chocolate gaze with that of the girls. "I'm truly sorry, Ms..."
Two birds with one stone, indeed.
Even today, years after the victor triumvirate had claimed their impossible streak of victory, she couldn't help but be awed by them and their accomplishments. Katelyn Persimmon and her inner strength, Kirito Miristioma and his tenacity, Harbinger Rhodes and his perseverance.
They all embodied the best of Eleven, three people who had overcome the odds and given Eleven three years of plenty, three years of happiness, three years where the burdens of everyday life were lifted from the shoulders of everyone else, if just a little.
They had given so much to Eleven, and that was a debt that the District would never be able to pay back.
She'd learned to admire them, even knowing the risk they had inevitably brought on the rest of the district. Such a winning streak could only bring repercussions, especially with Eleven's position as one of the poorest districts.
But it hadn't been on the rest of the district like she had originally feared. Instead, it had been on the Victors themselves, as first a Miristioma and then a Rhodes were reaped in back-to-back Games.
To add insult to injury, Katelyn herself had become the star of a Capitol reality show, most likely against her own will, forced to become one of the Capitol's playthings yet again, as if once wasn't enough.
And there was nothing she could do about any of it.
She was just an ordinary girl from Eleven, unable to assist those to whom she owed a debt, unable to even sacrifice herself for their families simply because of her gender. She had watched, helplessly, as the Miristioma boy had been struck down by a pair of older, stronger tributes. She had watched, helplessly, as the Rhodes boy had stepped up to meet his fate, only to be overwhelmed by a swarm of attackers swarming from every possible direction imaginable.
She wanted so desperately to help, and yet she was utterly helpless.
She took one last glance at the three houses of the Village occupied by the triumvirate, currently dormant and silent. Within a few days, the show will have ended, the victors would return home, and it would be life as usual for the next year until the Reapings once again came around.
She let out a breath she didn't know that she had been holding, before removing her gaze from the Village and resuming her journey down the beaten path to the town square. Her mother had sent her off on an errand to pick up some supplies from the market, and she had delayed long enough.
Still, she was troubled. How many more years would this trend continue? How many more years would a Miristioma or a Rhodes be "coincidentally" reaped each year until the Capitol was satisfied? How many years would the families of the victors be forced to suffer, caught in a situation where they either lost or they died?
She was so caught up in her train of thought that she didn't even notice the other girl until she ran into her - literally.
Body ran into body, and suddenly she was on her rear, eyes wide in surprise.
Not a lot of people traveled the path from the Victor's Village to the town square and back, which was part of the reason why she traveled it. Her first thought was disbelief over the fact that she had actually ran into someone on this road of all roads. Her second was that she didn't know of the Rhodes having any sisters, and who else but a Victor relative would be traveling on this particular path?
Then she caught site of the other girl's face, and the pieces fell together.
She'd only seen the girl once or twice before, just outside the Miristioma household in the village itself. She hadn't recognized the girl, and had figured that it was a girlfriend or an extended sister of some sort.
Now, with her not five feet away from her, she finally got a good look at her face. She was pretty and looked to be a bit older than Erica herself, but even up close she didn't even recognize the face itself, much less the identity of the girl behind it.
How strange.
An idea came to her suddenly, a spontaneous idea that could potentially kill two birds with one stone, sating her own curiosity and apologizing all in one.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, hastily getting to her feet. "I didn't notice you there, this road is usually empty." Brushing herself off, she leveled her chocolate gaze with that of the girls. "I'm truly sorry, Ms..."
Two birds with one stone, indeed.
Tom
