You are defined by the way in which you treat the people you love. And, the people you hate.
- iwrotethisforyou
#################################################
dear froggy,
I hope you have a Happy 17th Birthday. LOL YEAH I LIED. I'm sorry I wrote this at last minute, and my exchange fic will hopefully make up for that. I felt like I rushed this peice, but I will definately make it up to you. I would just like to say, thank you very much for always putting up with my ups and downs. You are special to me, because you were there from day one, when I first got into writing fanfiction for real, and I really appreciate that. I hope we get to stick around with each other more to the point I have my chance to perhaps write your 18th birthday present. By then, I'd have planned something big. I'm sorry for my tsundere tenancies, and I hope you won't grow to hate me in the future. I love you very very much, okay? And it takes a lot for me to admit that!
lots of love, yuuki.
#################################################
and from yesterday; - a fantasy streampunk!au (sibling!thresh/rue)
#################################################
Rue's head was laid on the desk, and wanted to hide herself with her hat from the sunlight that was pouring in through the glass windows. But that attempt didn't last very long.
"Hey, Rue! Rue! Get up! There's a new student in our class!" Aurora began. She then moved the bolt which had replaced her dead eyes, which took over her left eye. Her right eye still looked normal and human, but it looked too perfect, and not once did it move. That's right – Aurora's eyesight had gone so far to the point the bolt on her left eye controlled the eyesight of both her eyes – and she would move it if she wanted to zoom into anything she wanted to see. Rue wasn't sure how she controlled the bolt to make her look left and right, or anything to do with seeing that she took for granted throughout her life.
Rue didn't want to ask how it felt like – to have machinery implanted into your body. But perhaps she does. She just didn't know how to feel about it, since it was there ever since she could remember.
The patch of metallic gold which was where her gut should be.
Every time she thought about it, it made her frown and made her stomach flip, if that made sense. She could never imagine stomachs doing back-flips – but eh, that was how it felt like.
But looking around her classroom – which consisted of thirty rows of long tables and chairs that went underneath them, but with each row a bit higher than the one below – there were many people who had machinery implanted all around their bodies. It was becoming some sort of fashion, having golden, metallic metal that replaced parts of human flesh. Rue found it ridiculous, but that's what the rich kids liked to do – splash out their cash and make the poorer people of the city feel even worse of themselves than even before. But then again, there were often many people of different descriptions found in classes.
This was the only school building in the whole city. There were fifteen classes, and each class was considered to be complete depending on the subject, but they would never last more than three years. People were free to drop out any time they liked, as the school took tuition and if you failed to pay them in time they would expel you immediately and make you pay their doubt, but the classes themselves had no age limit, but school was only allowed to people under the age of nineteen. So it was not rare to have a mix of different ages across classes, and most of the people would never make it to graduation. About ninety per cent of the people quit school when they were well qualified for jobs, or got to a certain age, or some other reason.
Rue in particular, however, was in her last year of school. She had five other siblings, and most of them were nearing the age of school, and already, Rue had the pleasure of an extra year of school anyway.
But she would miss Aurora, who would go on for another two years. Aurora was different. Unlike most of her classmates who walked around with bolts on their neck and clock faces on their cheekbones, Aurora's eyesight was torn away from her. Rue heard that Aurora lost her eyesight by an accident at work, and that was all she wanted to say about it. The incident was very mysterious, but Rue didn't push it. Sometimes Aurora got depressed because of her bolt and her dead eyes (the bolt cost her family a fortune) but since she was the main supporter of her middle class family, she had to study and work at the same time.
Rue was amazed she didn't break down at all.
"Oh, really?" Rue asked, in a drowsy voice. She ended up staying up last night to do her best studying for her End Of Chapter Test. It was a test that had to be performed after every chapter of the subject class which they were taking, but they were very important. If you did exceptionally well, you could get a full year's scholarship and a considerable amount of money too. All the students who longed for an extra year in school worked hard for it, but the group of rich kids would never bother, not that they wanted them to.
Aurora inched her head closer to Rue. "Don't push yourself, okay, Rue? We all want it, but there's not point if you push yourself too hard and pass out before you even start writing."
Rue rolled her eyes and let out a small laugh.
Aurora felt inclined to point out the new student with a finger, even though it was a very rude gesture. There was a small crowd of girls around him, asking him questions Rue did not even bother try to hear.
The boy looked like a man with his huge build – and he had the same toned skin like she had. He looked kind of ordinary actually, and if he behaved like some of those Sky Pirates did, then he'd probably be really scary. His eyes were mixed with a subtle warmth that Rue found she liked, very much. His hair was brown to the point it was very closely connected to black, while hers were a few shades brighter. He wore a loose shirt which showed off his collarbones, but Rue could tell by experience that the shirt was very roughly washed and he was probably no richer than she was.
He was quiet, and did not say a word to the girls who seem to want to ask him everything. He quietly flicked through a leather bounded book, until the girls gave up and left him alone.
Rue was sure he was at least eighteen. Nevertheless, the class she was in gave out a very good qualification, so he was probably here for that.
Thankfully, Aurora stopped pointing at the man, or boy, excessively and started to talk about anything, and Rue tried to pretend she was listening. Oh, sometimes she was really glad that Aurora was her friend. She became a distraction, and Rue wouldn't look like she was staring at the other man. (She would settle calling him man, after all, he is legal)
All chatter stopped as soon as the teacher stepped in. Nodding briefly, she quickly made it onto the teacher's desk and with the aid of the huge blackboard and the movable staircase, taught another two hour lesson quickly and swiftly.
No one messed around (even the rich kids wouldn't act up) during lesson time. Not only was it a form of much required respect for the teachers who worked for long hours, tuition wasn't exactly a walk in the park, and children knew that in order to get work, they must come to school, or they would end up in a factory with long hours and unsafe conditions or end up drinking your life away on the streets of the main city.
This city, and many more, weren't safe. The whole country of Panem was riddled with thieves, pirates, prostitutes, and it felt like nowhere was truly safe. Every now and again there would be a horror story plastered on the papers, overexadurated to cause more unnecessary unease and discomfort of the people.
Rue found her eyes scanning from the blackboard to her notes, and she was extremely thankful of her blessed eyesight.
The sun was beating down onto the city, and it was unbearable. Rue shouldn't have chose the dress with long sleeves, after all. (Not that she had a lot to chose from of course – she only had two dresses to pick from for school, and she was considered lucky)
Rue used the back of her right hand to wipe off the building sweat on her forehead. Luckily, she had tied up her hair today, or else that would be another hindrance.
She had no idea what time it was, but seeing the sun dropping just a little made it just past midday, she supposed. She had to get home soon, get dressed in her work attire. She had two shifts today at two different places – she was to help out at the local chocolatier and work at the farm that was several miles away from the city, which meant she had to take the often congested train, which was never anything exciting. But, she magically held on anyway since she was small in size. Even being small had it's ups, she supposed.
Rue clutched onto her two books tightly, as she scurried past people, streets, markets, to try and make it home. The nice lady who her mother bought food from waved at her, and she smiled back and waved back. Rue always felt something familiar about the woman, but she honestly did not know her very well.
It was common sense to avoid the main streets – that was what her mother taught her, and she stuck by it very well. The main streets were where the Sky Pirates would hang around, along with Sea Pirates. However, their relationship was nothing like sea and sky, always meeting together and getting along fine – the Sky and Sea Pirates hated each other's guts. They would often fight as soon as they saw each other, and often debate who was best. A debate of who had the best Captain was very common too – but debates only really happened when both parties were drunk beyond repair. That meant Bars and drinking places made a lot of good money from the Pirates, but they would also have to be armed, just in case. In daylight, things were better, but it didn't mean the main streets of the city were safe. Pirates also visited during the day too, only not as often as they did night.
Rue has seen many cases where the Pirates' battles caused several innocent shop owners killed – and many times, passers by were just as likely to die if they were unlucky enough to encounter a battle.
And so, Rue's heart almost stopped when she saw two Sky Pirates (she could tell by their fancy clothing and air goggles on the man's forehead – full of colour and patterns – the 'skies' were usually wealthier than the 'seas') walk toward her in her direction - and she wanted to run, badly, but there was nowhere to go. No one would help her even if she would cry out – so she looked left and right frantically for a place to go. So she ran, not taking a second to think, for she knew a second wasted would be the second she would be found dead, as fast as she could, down the maze of back-streets even though she knew where she was heading was a dead end.
She could not possibly run away from the two.
"Hay, Marvel. Is that the little girl you wanted to kill?" The woman, asked, who was draped on the man's arm, as she pointed a loose finger toward Rue. From the glimpse of what Rue saw, the woman Pirate was very beautiful. She was tall, with long blonde flowing down to her back and sharp, emerald eyes. But Rue also knew the woman was deadly, it was some sort of sixth sense she was born with. She was deadly not only as a Pirate (females were often looked down upon in the profession – unless you were extremely good) but even if she wasn't a Pirate, she looked like she would be in the outlaw business anyway.
"It looks like it, Glimmer." He chuckled. "I've been looking for her for weeks." The Pirates started running after her. Rue could tell – Rue could pick up every word, every footstep despite the loud screeches of machinery moving – she was near a place with lots of businesses, after all. Steam was pumped into the otherwise clear air from the blocks of buildings.
Maybe... maybe... she could stumble on a back door and pull herself in there. She had no other choice! She was in the back streets, and for some reason the two Sky Pirates were out to kill, and Rue could bet that they weren't drunk.
After seeing around five back doors of several different businesses, she decided she would jump in the next one and apologise later. She checked for steam coming out of the top of the building, just so have an idea if they were open or not, and quickly opened the door, praying that the Sky Pirates didn't see her coming in the door.
She was shocked beyond compare – just like how the man in front of her was acting – since he had dropped the bag of flour he was carrying. This was probably a bakery, she supposed.
"What's wrong Peeta?" A woman's shrill voice called out. She was probably referring to the man in front of her, since he looked frantic, almost.
Deciding she couldn't wait, the woman who was calling him from up the stairs dashed down to the back of the bakery. It was probably a storeroom, where Rue happened to stumble upon. Something like that.
"Well," the woman surprisingly grinned, looking at Rue. "What do we have here?"
"I... ran into some trouble. I'm very sorry!" Rue cried, moving away from the door and bowing like her mother taught her, when she was meant to apologise for something she had done wrong.
The man named Peeta then smiled lightly. "Katniss, sweetheart, I think you have to get your bow and arrows out."
"Oh, Rue, you don't have to worry about that! It's fine, really." The woman named Katniss said. Rue found her fascinating, so different to the people she had met. Katniss Everdeen had a strong aura, she thought. She was very nice, and looked like a strong character.
"But," Rue began. "I've intruded on you so much! You even gave me something to eat! I'm.. very thankful." She tried to choose her words carefully, for some reason. She was probably still very wary from the Sky Pirate incident that just happened.
"Don't worry about it, Rue. It's a pleasure for another to enjoy my food." Peeta, who was probably Katniss' husband, smiled. Peeta was most likely considered handsome in some of the rich girls' eyes. He had bright blue eyes, and soft blonde hair. His presence reminded her of the spring, but for some reason, he felt very out of her reach.
Rue had been invited by the couple into their kitchen, where they were going to have a spot of lunch anyway. Katniss told her that Peeta had cleared his worktops beforehand anyway, and when they deicded to have a light lunch, they would always just take one or two of Peeta's creations and wash it down with some fresh orange juice.
Just upon seeing the size of the kitchen, Rue could tell the couple were doing good business, and could probably considered to be higher than middle class. All the equipment looked fairly expensive, but they did have an age to them. The kitchen was fairly large and airy, with a good amount of space to move around with. Overall, it was a very neat and tidy place. But what caught Rue's attention the most were the photos on the far wall. They were all framed with the same mahogany wood, and they were of several people. One was perhaps a family photo of Peetas, she guessed – with the man and woman dressed in baker's attire and three boys, and one of them looked a lot like Peeta. There was another family photo, of a woman with a kind smile and a man with his arm around her, and two young girls, one of what she supposed was a young Katniss, and the other girl... the other girl.
The other girl looked like her.
Katniss noticed her staring at the photos. "Yeah, those photos are our most prized possessions. It's all we have left of our friends, our family."
Rue turned to Katniss. "I'm sorry for being so rude."
"It's okay, Rue. Yes, you do remind me of my little sister, Primrose. I'm afraid she's gone though. I don't where she is."
Peeta looked worried, and Rue didn't know what she was doing, but she walked over to Katniss and wrapped her arms around the woman. "I'm sorry."
Katniss' voice turned into a soft whisper. "Don't be."
Rue left the bakery through the front doors that time, as she didn't feel comfortable walking out the back door. Peeta was nice enough to give her a box full of his pastries, which would surely make her siblings at home go over the moon with joy.
Before she headed toward the main counter however, Katniss told her to stop. Rue waited for a few minutes, and Katniss came back with a short knife and a case. She handed it to Rue.
"No, I can't -"
It was then did Katniss' eyes show a hint of darkness. "Take it. It's better to be armed than not. I believe you can't afford protection? Please, take it. It would save me from worrying about you at night."
At that, Rue nodded, and took the knife. Luckily, the case also had a round loop where she could fit the case on her thigh so the weapon could stay out of sight.
"Do come again," Peeta smiled. "We'll welcome you and your family any time! Katniss gets a little lonely when it's just the two of us." He than laughed, while Katniss turned a shade red.
Rue laughed along with him, then waved at them before heading toward the main counter. She opened the flap, and noticed a familiar face.
Thresh insisted on walking with her. Although she didn't mind, he didn't look like any one menacing, but by instinct she was wry of people. She only made exceptions when she was sure of them.
But maybe it wasn't that. Maybe she was just shy.
"So," Thresh tried to break the silence they were keeping up. "You work?"
"Yes. I work down at the farm a few miles away from the city and at Lydia's chocolate shop." She talked slowly.
"Lydia? You mean Seeder's granddaughter?"
"Yes. I thought you might know her. Her chocolate shop is very famous around these parts." Rue smiled.
"The pay must be pretty good then." The paper bag which contained a loaf of bread was crumpling in Thresh's big hand.
"I only got lucky and got picked for the job, that's all. What about you, Thresh?" Rue's eyes then turned to look up at the other boy.
"I work at the same farm as you. When I have extra time, I help out here and there."
"Oh!" Rue's eyes widened in understanding. "I didn't know you worked at the same farm as me! What a coincidence!"
"I suppose."
They walked together, after that, in a forced pact of silence. Rue could tell there was something else under Thresh's words, but she knew they would meet again, strange circumstances or not.
There was no lessons scheduled for the next day, so Rue decided to stay at the farm for the night, and work most of tomorrow too, since Lydia didn't need her help on a Sunday, where business was traditionally slow.
The farm is large in size, and employed over a hundred people to take care of different areas – some took care of the animals, other the land and crops, some worked in production, and others worked at the orchards (this is where Rue worked). Work would often last long hours, but the pay was very good for a farm – Rue knew that other farms paid their workers a lot less than they did here – plus, they had large shacks all over the land for workers who chose to live there for a certain fee which was taken from their work salary.
The owner was very nice toward his workers, but, if anything was stolen from the crops, the animals, anything at all, the punishment was heavy. What the punishment itself was never the same, the workers knew this, but the workers who received it in the past mysteriously disappeared, which only fuelled the mystery.
In each shack there were five beds, and well, the bed amount would increase depending on the size of the shack. The people who Rue shared a shack with would often change every now and again since many, like her, had an apartment in the city and didn't live in the farm.
The night was long, and the least of her expectations after a hard day at work was a dream – a strange one.
She was in a shack just like the one on the farm, and her family was there – mother, father, and her five little brothers and sisters. She didn't know why, but fear was gripping her chest tightly and wouldn't let go.
She could hear screams somewhere, and she said a silent prayer.
Then she seemed to have leapt through time, and now she was... somewhere green. Her eyesight isn't working well with her. Her eyes feel heavy – that's it, she's crying. For a reason she doesn't know, but she's crying.
"Don't cry." The voice is soft, but rough and deep. She turned to look at the voice, which belonged to a tall man... boy, she couldn't tell. He looked tall and menacing, but she could tell he wasn't so. Mother always told her that looks told lies all the time.
In him, she found the courage to try and wipe her tears, but then she remembered why she was crying in the first place – her hands were stinging. It was numb now, it didn't hurt as much as before, but it still hurt.
The man's rough hands wiped away her tears.
"Don't cry. Don't let them see that you're weak. You're strong, you hear me?"
She looked up at him and gave him a nervous smile.
It was Thresh.
The dream kept her thinking all the way throughout her work hours, which might had been a good thing, if she could also concentrate. It made her almost miss the moment in which she was meant to signal to the other people working in the orchards that the day was over, with her 4 note song.
After a quick shower at one of the main buildings (waiting for half an hour was worth it), Rue hung onto the next train to get back into the city. The ride was very bumpy, and there were a lot of people jammed onto the bus.
Thresh was waiting for her at the Train Station. He was dressed in an old cap and the same shirt as yesterday, with smart black pants.
Rue waved at him despite her growing fear and suspicion. She was incredibly unsure of herself. Why was Thresh in her dream? Why was he so familiar, like she knew him all her life?
Why?
And when she walked toward him as everyone else got off the train in a hurried manner, instead of giving her a casual greeting like she would expect him to give, he grabbed hold of her hand and dashed off.
Rue only understood his actions once he stopped, and dragged her inside a café several miles away from the station and the centre of town.
There was an airship.
Airships were rare, even Rue knew that. It was often unknown how the 'skies' would park their ship, but they always managed to come to the main streets. (They thought themselves better than everyone else so they rarely visited the back-streets)
"Marvel, Glimmer, Cato and Clove have come to attack you." Thresh snarled, and it was somewhat frightening. At that moment, Rue knew that if anyone came to the wrong of Thresh, he could be very deadly.
"Why have they come to get me? What have I done?" Rue asks, in panic. She recognised the name Marvel as one of the Sky Pirates that came to attack her with that pretty woman.
Thresh went silent for a moment, probably trying to find the right words to say.
"This is your world, Rue. And it just happens to be the very place all of us happened to be drawn into."
"What? I don't understand." Rue looked at Thresh for answers, but his face did not reveal a thing.
"You, me, and numerous others, we used to coexist in another world, another time." Thresh's voice was gentle, like a big bother she never had.
Even though his words made no sense to her, it... sort of did. It would explain why she felt some sort of familiarity with certain people – like Peeta, that baker, and Katniss, his wife. She might not have known Peeta that well, but it felt like she knew Katniss all of her life. And that woman from the market – she knows her, but she doesn't even know her name, and she had only saw her a few times in her whole life. And at Lydia's chocolate shop – her grandmother, Seeder, personally picked her out of the crowd, and even to her did she feel a strong emotion about.
"You probably don't remember what happened in the other world, but I don't either," Thresh began. "But I'm sure that they don't belong here. Marvel, Glimmer, Cato and Clove. They caused nothing but suffering for you, especially Marvel."
Rue thought of the strange Sky Pirate who wore sky goggles on his forehead who showed a strong aura. He... did say he was looking for her, wasn't he? He did say he say he wanted to kill her, did he?
Rue felt a rush of panic surge through her veins. If this was her world, was this how she was going to die? Doesn't she have some sort of superior power then? Control over her own world?
"You have no control over your own world. Your own world is built with desires you've always had, but never realised. Your world is built within your subconscious. You can never leave."
Rue felt like she understood now. "Why?"
"Because you were killed. You are dead."
Thresh had explained that it took time for the four Pirates to come and get her. He also said that they would come for him, also. That fact made her stomach hurl, and she wanted to be sick.
Instead, she gripped onto the small knife Katniss gave her, and thought of the big sister she would never have.
"Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark survive. Katniss was very important to you, so she was shown to represent her role in your past life."
So, was none of this real?
Maybe dying in the hands of those Sky Pirates might be better. Sure, she loved this way of life, but she hated the fact that nothing was real. It was like staying in the best prison on the world – but in the end, it was still a prison.
Every person she walked by had parts of their bodies replaced with cold, heartless metal. If she could remember correctly, Peeta had a metal leg. One of Katniss' ears was covered in bronze.
Maybe... maybe... she should just forget it all. She knew it wasn't a dream, she could tell. And that dream she had in that shack – well, she had an idea what that was now.
Her past life.
She wanted to cry, she wanted to sob, but where would she go? There was no one to turn to. Aurora wasn't real. The ruthless Pirates that made the main streets unsafe weren't real (most of them weren't, anyway). How could she tell what was real? How could she tell what was fake?
"Think about it. This is your reality. Don't think of it as anything else."
Rue fell asleep in their family's apartment with Thresh's parting words in her mind.
The next day, Rue went to class hoping to see Thresh sitting at the table he did the day before.
He wasn't there.
Rue felt empty. She ignored Aurora, but still took notes from the lesson. Old habits die hard, after all.
The day after that, Rue tries to find Thresh at the farm. She asks the main building for which part he worked in, but they say
"There is no one that is named Thresh Evans working here, I am sorry."
At Lydia's chocolate shop, Rue almost dropped a whole basket of chocolate. She apologizes to Lydia, but Lydia is sick of her. Seeder's funeral was last week.
"You're fired."
Rue stays at home and thinks.
Rue thinks of Thresh, and cries.
She had classes the next day, so she went for the blind hope that Thresh was there, again, and everything was normal. Nothing was said between them, nothing was lost, nothing was remembered, everything was exactly the same.
Her memory ends by the time she walks out of class.
She wakes up cold and breathless, and she realised within an instant that she was somewhere high – she could even see the clouds! Although, within normal circumstances, she would be excited. But how could one get excited about being tied on a pole while sitting on an Airship?
"Ah, this one's awake." A woman's bored voice announced. "Do it quick! Before her memory records everything!"
"With pleasure."
It was Marvel. When he forced the spear into her gut, she couldn't even cry out. Unexpectedly, she wasn't even hurt. She felt no pain, but she felt as light as the clouds surrounding the ship.
She could hear a song.
It... could be... Katniss? Katniss was singing to her? Nevertheless, it was beautiful. Every word rolled off her tounge in a beautiful manner, and it echoed, and echoed, and echoed...
Suddenly, Rue was transported mentally, physically, whatever, to a large place with flowers. Every colour she could think of, it was there. Every single type she had ever imagined and more, it was there.
"Rue."
It was Thresh.
A/N I'm sorry for the mistakes. I really am.