The Unstoppable Force Paradox [Exar/Gilly]

[Deleted]

---

Gillian Imberline

---

⚜

I'm supposed to learn somethin' about fighting, I guess.

You'd come to the conclusion after many long days in the training center avoiding the more grueling stations. The older boys and girls danced this way and that way like marionettes. Some clattered to the ground all clumsy, like their cords had been cut. Others swung this way and that way, always landing blows, never threatened by the ones around them. The way they moved was a combination of rhythms, enough to draw your eyes and hold them. You let doubt and self-effacing confidence get in your way-there was no way someone as small as you could ever hope to have a chance in hand to hand.

What would Shelby do?

You thought about the victor from eight, how she hadn't been afraid even when there'd been fifty-one other tributes trying to kill her. She'd bested the boys, she'd outdone careers, and she was the only person to come back to eight (in your short lifetime). Did you ever feel a sense of pride, or want to have district eight celebrate you? Maybe. They had C'Rizz, and he wasn't afraid of death (a lesson you still hadn't begun to learn). What use did they have with a little girl that when all the lights were off, was still afraid of the shadows that crept and danced on the walls?

But you were not a baby-you weren't a girl-you were a strong, confident woman (well-maybe you weren't that old, but you could still own the fact you were old enough). That day would be the day you stepped into the sparring ring, dressed in your little jumpsuit, hands up in a fighting pose as you'd seen all the tributes use. The trainers didn't shy away from training you, though you couldn't help but think the way they blocked your punches they were expecting less from you. You could find the strength, you could smack someone and bob and weave. It wasn't quite as hard as it looked.

Confidence was like the moon; just as soon as it was full, it vanished to nothing. Rather, your stomach flipped sideways at the sight of the boy from two entering into the ring. They wouldn't make you try to fight him, would they? Folks were pairing off and you paused, hands in your pockets, more than aware that this was not an even match.

"Um." You wondered if you were more along the lines of a fly buzzing around a giant water buffalo, unlikely to go noticed. Your mouth got the better of you, as well as your curiosity. Approaching with a tilted head, you looked up at the boy-beast with wonder. "How tall are you?"

⚜