I found this story that I had half written wayyy back in 2010, and I thought, hey, why not? Let's edit it and try to complete it! (that said I have absolutely no idea how this will turn out)
While there seems to be an element of hunger games in it, I assure you I had never read hunger games back then. But anyways…
Summary: After the war, the Kingdom of Crypton segregated the nobles from the other civilians. Luka who is one of the many orphans stranded in the outskirts, finds herself in the worst situation ever imaginable.
DISCLAIMER: I own none of the characters. Any similarity to any events, books, people, animals, vocaloids, are coincidences.
Ehh, without any further ado, let's begin!
Ice and Stone
The snow fell gently from the sky, floating down to settle on charred buildings and lonely streets. The white blankets covered everything and everyone. Some were in deep sleep, some were alive. For now.
Nestled in between two buildings, or what used to be buildings, were three figures huddled together in an alley. The first one to awake was a pink haired girl, who blinked sleepily before the harsh coldness stung her.
"Snow?" She mumbled, her cold hands coming into contact with even colder slush. She was thankful that the snow had been falling slowly. It probably piled up at night when they were sleeping. Beside her lay a girl with short brown hair, and a boy with long purple hair. Unlike her, they were late risers. The longer they lay there, the less alive they looked. Luka stood up slowly, the cold numbing her bones. She gritted her teeth and shook her two companions.
"Whazatime?" The brunette mumbled, and sat up slowly, her eyes opening in surprise as she noticed her surroundings.
"Is it winter already?" The purple haired teen rose, brushing the snow off his ragged, worn out clothes.
"Yeah, it's been how long?"
"Almost a year." The brunette replied. They were the oldest of their small group here, one of the many groups scattered around the ruined city. There was only one building left untouched by the war. A castle towered above the ruins, far away from where the trio was. A wall separated the nobles and the royalty from the 'vermin'.
"So, shall we go look for food?"
"Gakupo, it's winter. The only place we can look for food…" The pinkette swallowed, not wanting to go near that place.
"The dump." Gakupo replied. His voice was steady and firm, but he was quivering inside. The dump was close to the castle. Too close for comfort.
"Look, they played their sick game yesterday. Today should be fine." The brunette trooped off, her fists clenched tight in fear and anger.
"What makes you think they'll take a break for a day? You never know how the nobles are! The last time we went to the dump out of desperation…" The pinkette trailed off, her already dry throat threatening to crack.
"Luka, calm down, nothing is going to happen." The brunette insisted, but she had stopped in her tracks.
"L-let's just go, alright? The kids need food. If we don't get food, who's going to? I don't want them to be the ones going to the dumps." Gakupo said. "Meiko, Luka. Let's go."
In the merciless weather, the three teens trudged along the rubble, their tracks soon covered by the constantly falling snow.
5 shots rang out in the distance. It was too early, too fast, too…
"Good." Gakupo muttered, licking his dry lips. "I'm sorry about the five… or six of them, but this means we won't get caught."
Meiko rolled her eyes, and Luka sighed.
"They still have bored guards patrolling the walls. Those guards can shoot, and will shoot." Luka reminded Gakupo, aware of the scar on her lower left back. It had just been a graze, but it served as a good enough reminder for her.
"We'll be careful." Gakupo firmly walked on, a long stretch of white coldness before them. Ahead, the castle towered above the ruins, the only unscathed building. The walls surrounding the castle were thick and tall, too high to climb, and even if by some miracle, one scaled it, one would never make it out alive. Few did. However, at the back of the castle, there was an opening for at least 5 people to squeeze in. Once in, people would find heaps of rubbish, trash, leftovers, and more for scavenging.
Sometimes 4 people went in and 3 came out. Sometimes 3 people went in and 4 came out. And sometimes no one came out at all.
The three of them walked on for 15 more minutes, and reached the stone walls. Stone walls their parents might have built. Stone walls that protected the rich only. Stone walls that were a sign that the nobles were afraid of the outside world. Stone walls that imprisoned those lucky enough to be born out of poverty.
She had been tasked with food collection a few times already, but Meiko was still in awe of the great wall standing before her. At the same time, she couldn't stop the bubbling anger and kicked it angrily.
"They're so selfish! It's not fair!" Meiko hissed, and winced as her knuckles came into contact with the wall.
"Meiko, food." Gakupo placed a hand on Meiko's shoulder. He didn't want to be near the castle for long.
Meiko clenched her fist and charged towards the only entrance open to them. The smell of rotting meat, excretion, metal, and death greeted them. If they weren't careful, they would join the rotting pile. They dashed towards the pile, hoping that no guards were on duty yet, and dived behind the mountain of trash quickly.
The ice on the ground bit into their skin, and they hastened their search for food. Gakupo shivered as he dug his hand into the pile, feeling around. Meiko was trying to differentiate the food from trash, and Luka was peering cautiously into the dumpster.
"Meiko… Gakupo…" Luka whispered, her stomach clenching, feeling sick at what she saw.
"It's …"
"Yes." Luka swallowed, ignoring the head, bruised and frozen. It seemed that Yuuma, one of the oldest boys in their area, had survived, and at the same time, he had not. His distinct pink hair was the only recognizable feature.
Luka had to find food, this was not her concern. It was however, a fear. She could end up like Yuuma if she wasn't careful enough.
"I found half a chicken!" Gakupo whispered excitedly and Meiko scowled.
"They really know how to waste good food." The brunette grumbled as she dug through the rotting junk. A few shots fired near them, and all three of them jumped.
"Guys, I think we've stayed a little too long." Luka mumbled, and they all tried to stuff whatever food they found into their torn clothes. The guards were bored but not all of them were out to kill, they had to do their job. Sometimes some guards would fire near the trash pile as a warning more than a threat. Luka took a deep breath, almost regretting it when she smelt the rotting bodies and thought of Yuuma again.
The gunfire stopped, and three figures dashed across the dirty snow, leaving temporary tracks that would only be covered up by the merciless snow.
Luka almost crashed into the wall but recovered and squirmed through the hole.
"That was close." Meiko stood up shakily beside her, pulling Gakupo up.
"Yeah, let's hurry back, I don't want to stay here any longer." Gakupo started to run, kicking up snow as his bare feet touched the ground.
Gunfire exploded near them, and Luka instinctively pushed Meiko away. A few cold potatoes tumbled out of her jacket. She gasped but ignored them and started running blindly. Her long pink hair would attract the enemy more than Meiko's brown hair. She swore inwardly, making a mental note to cut her hair later.
'Why the hell are we being chased? I thought the last round ended not long ago?' Luka gasped, turning around a torn down school, jumping over the rubble and stumbled as she landed roughly. Behind her, she could hear the steady sound of slush meeting boots, and she ducked behind a couple of concrete pillars. From the corner of her eye, she saw Gakupo, oblivious as ever, walking in clear view. The soldier, dressed in a full black uniform was about to turn the corner and see Gakupo. If she made any noise, the soldier could possibly shoot both of them down. But if she didn't…
The soldier turned abruptly, stunning Gakupo, who fell down in shock.
"Pity, I was looking for the girl." The soldier sneered, and Gakupo gritted his teeth, waiting for the worst.
"Come on, don't delay." The soldier pulled Gakupo up by the front of his tattered shirt, and Luka jumped out, screaming as she landed a solid punch on the soldier's back.
Gakupo was dropped and Luka remembered shouting for him to run before she received a kick to the face and blacked out.
"Gentlemen, I present to you, for the first time in a long while, two games in a day!"
A voice rang out, and Luka blinked, her vision fuzzy. Where was she?
She closed her eyes, her head throbbing. Oh, right, she had tried to save Gakupo without thinking. She hoped he was fine. Her arms felt limp, and she barely had time to register anything before someone splashed her with water.
She gasped, and looked around, fully awake now. The water was cold, but not as cold as the weather outside. Wait, outside? She looked around again, noticing that she was in some sort of cage. Rusty metal bars separated her from what appeared to be a mob of men – no wait, they were nobles. Their clothing was a far cry from what Luka was used to seeing. Coats and scarfs and jackets all keeping them warm. There was a metal door leading to the outside; Luka could feel the cold air seeping through the top of the metal door. The floor was very, very red, and Luka knew that that was not rust or paint.
Apart from the men and herself, she was not alone. There was some announcer with blond hair, no, not one, but two. They looked remarkably similar, both around the same height and having innocent blue eyes. They were dressed better than her; one in suspenders and brown trousers, a light brown jacket and a cap, the other was in a similar outfit except this one's hair was tied up in a small ponytail. Luka realized that they were twins, and shifted her attention to the others.
She was the one closest to the door, and beside her were 5 other individuals. A black haired boy who looked much younger than her was shivering and sobbing, clutching onto a white haired boy beside him. Both looked petrified and confused, much like the other three.
Luka's eyes widened when she saw the one standing in front – he had long purple hair streaked with blood, and he was slowly getting up.
Her throat hurt, her head hurt, and she didn't know what was happening. All she knew was that what she did, her struggle, was for nothing. She fixed her eye on the two blondes darting around – how could they be so cheerful in a hellish place?
"Alright, gentlemen, if you've finished placing your bets!" The second blonde shouted, straining his voice to catch the attention of the rowdy adults. The first blonde was busy collecting coins and tickets, grinning as he or she skipped back to join the other blonde.
The second blonde fidgeted, taking out a black box and opening it slowly, making sure that the audience would see what he would take out.
"Today's weapon of choice is a revolver! The bullets have been loaded by our princess herself!"
The first blonde jumped forward and walked past Luka and the other contestants, pulling them up to their feet.
"We shall proceed in a sensible order!" She chirped, and her brother threw the pistol over.
She pointed the gun at Gakupo's forehead, and the audience hushed immediately.
"Should I pull the trigger, or do you want to do it?"
As much as she wanted to run over and wrench the gun out of the blonde's hands and just shoot every noble in the room, Luka couldn't. Her feet won't move, her hands won't move, and she was vaguely aware that she had been shaking since some time ago.
"Round 1!" The blonde boy announced, and Luka cried as she heard the bullet pierce through Gakupo's skull, cried as she heard a choked scream from Gakupo.
She heard Gakupo's body fall onto the ground, and heard the disappointed grunts of the audience. She heard how they called Gakupo a 'wasted bet'.
The blonde took a step closer, repeating her actions, and Luka didn't care anymore.
The second body fell, and the crowd jeered. It was sickening, how they saw this as a game. How they derived entertainment from it. How they played with lives.
The third, the fourth bodies fell, and Luka felt panic rising in her again.
The black haired boy beside her muttered something and the blonde passed him the gun, whispering something that Luka couldn't quite catch.
He pointed the pistol at himself, and laughed as he shot himself in the head.
The crowd laughed, some cheered, and Luka felt all eyes on her.
"Any words from out last survivor?" The girl looked at her, and her eyes were pleading. Pleading what? Did it matter? Luka was going to die anyways. She felt dead.
"Yeah," she managed to spurt out, licking her lips as she struggled to continue. She glared at as many of the men as she could, drawing a few whistles.
"You can all JUST GO TO HELL!" Luka screamed and a rock hit her.
"Now, now, gentlemen, let's not get rowdy before the game ends." The boy shouted again, his fists clenched tightly.
Luka felt the pistol kiss her forehead and she closed her eyes. The blonde's lips moved, repeating for the sixth time.
"I'm sorry."
End of chapter 1
Author: Ahhh I'm sorry what was I thinking? It's like 3 am now, so this is evidently the quality I produce when I am sleep deprived.
Anyways, I hope to get feedback from you, so I'll know if I should continue this story or not.
Thanks for reading!
