when he woke up, the other side of the bed was cold. stretching his fingers out to the empty space beside him, he searched for his sister.
"Kata?" he called helplessly into the dimly lit room. "we have the callings today, Kata. we'll get punished if we miss that."
a quiet sigh was heard behind a curtain.
Tino smiled. "and," he said, walking towards the curtain. "i have a present for you."
a little blonde head popped out from the worn black curtain. "presents?"
Tino reached his arms out for his sister. the six year old scrambled into them, looking at her big brother expectantly. "present?"
Tino shook his head. "pop downstairs and feed Pepper, then i will give you it."
Kata squealed, and ran down the stairs, looking for their old cat. Tino followed quickly after.
she settled on the floor, playing with the cat, while Tino took out a wrapped box from one of the drawers in the tiny kitchen. a small pink bow he bought from The Greenhouse was nestled perfectly in the middle of the box. Tino smiled. his sister forgot her own birthday.
"Kata, I said feed Pepper, not play with her." Tino stuffed the box in his back pocket, and pointed to the kitchen. "please feed her."
Kata nodded. she loved her big brother dearly, so she didn't usually disobey him. she led the cat into the kitchen, and went on her tiptoes to get to the cupboard.
this gave Tino some time to lay out all of the highly expensive food he had traded his home remedies for. a small apple sat on Kata's side of the tiny table, along with four baby crackers, and a strawberry. the present was situated in the middle, as a white candle sat in between them for her to blow out.
Kata was holding the old cat, who was purring gently, as she stepped into the small dining room. her eyes widened.
"happy birthday, Kata." Tino said, picking his sister up, and placing her at the table. her mouth was wide open in shock.
"you got me baby crackers?" she picked one up, making sure it was actually real. her eyes darted to the bow in front of her. "and a pink bow? all for me?"
Tino nodded, and kissed his sister on the top of the head. "I got a good price for them." he lied. to tell the truth, he gave up all his meals today, as well as three dollars, which was quite expensive, to give this to her.
Kata placed the cat on the ground, and threw herself at her brother. "Fanks Tino! This it the betht birfday ever!"
Tino laughed, spinning her around in a circle. "I wanted to make today extra special."
the two family members stopped, when they heard a bell toll outside of their shack. Tino's smile faded.
"Kata, you can wear your blue dress. go get changed, and I'll put your pink bow on when we get to The Centre." Tino ordered, more serious this time. "Mathias is going to sit with us today, so we both have to look somewhat presentable."
Kata nodded, making her way up the stairs.
Tino watched her go, his brown eyes full of worry. it was the second year, so The Branding was going on in the center of the small town. Tino had narrowly avoided starvation, just to protect his sister from being branded and sent off to The Government to be studied, trained, and put into The Bubble. he had heard of the stories that were going around their town, about another town that had seven of their strongest warriors who were waiting their whole life to be branded. watching what happened in The Bubble gave Tino the chills. one girl fought her way out by smashing their faces in with a frying pan. she was the only one out that year, and she is still living in this very town. Tino sighed, and tugged on a shirt.
Kata came down the stairs in a dress, and small shoes.
Tino smiled at her sadly, and took her hand.
"It won't be either of us this year. I promise."