scouts honor :: remus

[Arrows]

Assignment #8 :: In Between Districts 4 & 5 :: Scout Corps 1.A

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REMUS

The sun was just cresting over the canyon transforming the marine mists into an iridescent display of natural ambrosia. Per section 7.B of the Scouts Code of Conduct, Levi Parknell undertook the lead position while Remus Jørgensen positioned himself in the rear reconnaissance. Both boys had been beyond District Four on Assignment 8 for over a week. The job was simple enough as long as safety was secured: relay a message marking specific troop designations to a rebel camp just outside of District Five. Both boys had taken the routes to the neighboring District multiple times. This log entry was submitted by Remus Jørgensen on the day directly preceding the Reaping of the 2nd Annual Hunger Games. 

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There was a stream that seemed to be sculpted by fallen fragments of the Sun. Its surface was a stunning spread of sunlight spilling over a babbling brook. Levi accounted the stream as a directional dictation due east, but I was more entranced than he was. The stream sang to me in an ethereal essence, enchanted by the blessings of nature. When my fingers fell into the cold current of glimmering gold, the liquid metal morphed around the intricacy of my touch. In that shifting stream, the euphoria of my dreams appeared possible instead of fractured and fictional. I broke every possible protocol as I shed my cocoon of clothing for nothing but the breeze as my blanket.

Levi languished at my actions, but I buried my head beneath the moving metal. Although it was only an illusion of reflection, I felt as though I was swimming through the speckled stars of space. My furling fingers were the spiral spines of the milky way. In such a moment of ascension, my heart had never been so steady in its beats. I sought the satisfaction of my searching soul in that stream.

When Levi came clamoring over me, I curled my fists around his collar and pulled him into the water. I watched while he baffled at first before breaking into the light laughter of a child. Somewhere along the gun shots and burning buildings, he had lost the boy to the soldier. Seeing my friend filled with something other than sadness or the designation of duty was worth breaking the parameters of our protocol. That was when we found her, Second Sergeant Danielle Folridge.

I had a sent a strong splash into Levi's face forcing him to return fire. The sudden surge of water sent me slipping several short skips down the stream to where Folridge's fingers laid frozen through the reeds. Her body had long stopped bleeding and her injuries indicated a muttation attack. Protocol came back right then. Levi drew the sketch and then we pulled her from the pool of water to be buried as best we could. After that, I never heard Levi's laugh again. We had buried the boy with her beneath the stones.

I minne, 

Remus Jørgensen