X. SILVANA AND OTTO
Nor when the wretched Icarus his flanks
Felt stripped of feathers by the melting wax,
His father crying, "An ill way thou takest!"
Silvana Ildron. 17.
District Six Female.
Silvana Ildron was so fucking grounded the minute she got home and she knew it too.
"You'll be safe right?" Her mother was under a false impression of what the District Six girl really did with her friends.
"Of course I'll be safe," Silvana smirked, not knowing what would happen that very night, "I'll be with Elowyn after all!"
Elowyn wasn't safe that night (or any night but that was besides the point). She picked Silvana up on her shiny black motorcycle, revving the engine several times before she walked out the door. The seats were a fancy leather that the two had refurbished together, and "E+S" was scratched in a heart on the left side.
"Good evening babe," Elowyn winked, the fluorescent street lights making her eyes extra green, the beaten leather on her jacket taking on a certain sheen, "How goes it?"
"Better now that you're here," Silvana sighed, kissing her girlfriend on the cheek, "I got into a fight with mom earlier today."
"When don't you?" She laughed before gesturing to the space behind her on the motorcycle, "Hop on; we have a wild night up ahead of us."
Neither knew just how wild it would be as Silvana straddled the leather seat and wrapped her arms around Elowyn, trying not to tickle her stomach with her slender fingers. She severely underestimated just how safe she felt as her girlfriend applied pressure to the pedal, whisking them away from the suburbs and into the night life they had both grown to love oh so very much.
Silvana met Elowyn almost a year prior after driving past her on her personal motorcycle which she had fixed up from old parts at a protest against Peacekeeper brutality, immediately draw to her carefree spirit and the fire in her eyes whenever she yelled at a Peacekeeper or just generally showed her passion for something. She was wickedly charming and Silvana fell fast, especially after Elowyn allowed her to integrate into her gang of bikers known as The Pistons. She was her ride or die, and there was often more riding than dying.
"So what are the plans then?" It was hard for Silvana to speak when she was on the bike due to the loud noises but she tried anyways, "I heard there's a riot downtown after the shooting incident at the doughnut shop."
The District Six girl saw on the news earlier that day that Macintoshes, her favorite place to get doughnuts had been shot up by Peacekeepers after it was discovered to secretly be a cartel for selling morphling. Funny enough, she had no idea and just really liked their glazed doughnuts.
"Where do you think we're going?" If there was one thing that Elowyn enjoyed more than anything it was a protest, "You loved that place, right? Don't you want to take action."
She did, she really did, it was just also the night before her seventeenth birthday and she was hoping that Elowyn could perhaps take her to a nice candlelit dinner or something in that regard but of course not! With her it was always "protest against this" and "protest against that" and while Silvana had the same desire to take action, she couldn't help but long for the times before she was so politically involved and could just be a kid, even if she felt a need to go against the grain and all the injustices that District Six had to offer.
"I do!" Silvana reassured her girlfriend, not wanting to kill the mood (if there even was one to begin with), "I'm excited; I promise."
There was a nervous energy in the air as the girls rode closer and closer to the middle of the town for the protest. The District Six girl felt that something major was on the horizon, if only she could place her finger on it.
"Almost here," Elowyn announced, putting her head behind herself and onto Silvana's shoulder, "This is going to be amazing! We're going to have so much fun."
The girls hopped off the bike to approach the remainder of the gang. They too had just gotten off their bikes and they were eyeing the gas and the lights that was just a few meters in front of them.
"Good evening ladies," Vulture, the leader of the gang curtsied and extended his hand at them, "You really to cause some trouble?"
Why is it always about causing trouble and not just making an impact? Do they even care that I'm here, that tomorrow's my birthday? Am I just another body to them?
She appreciated the Pistons even if they, much like Elowyn had somewhat questionable motives and tactics to get what they wanted, which at the end of the day was justice and positive change.
"Sup' Ildron," Rogue, followed by Switchblade and Axel, three of the other gang members approached the duo, "Happy early birthday, by the way."
"It's your birthday soon?" Just as Silvana knew it, Elowyn had forgotten the significance of the day, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Are you fucking stupid," She rolled her eyes, "Why didn't you remember?"
"I'm sorry…" Elowyn hesitated before wrapping her arm around Silvana with a sense of pride, kissing her on the cheek, "I'll make it up to you somehow."
"I guess there's trouble in paradise after all," Axel laughed, ignoring the obvious tension.
The District Six girl didn't care to address the lack of unity in their relationship that day. The discussion would come later, when it naturally had to happen, but that day they just wanted to get the justice they felt they needed more than anything.
So she grabbed Elowyn's hand. She grabbed Elowyn's hand as they headed feet first into the corruption of the world around them, sirens screaming for the mercy they wouldn't let them have. For a moment or two, Silvana looked down at the taller girl's rebellious grin and remembered it was the exact thing, the way her lips curled in chaos that made her fall in love with her in the first place…good lord, I'm useless.
Elowyn let go of Silvana's hand and ran towards the crowd, cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, "When our town is under attack… what do we do?"
"–Stand up! Fight back!" The rest of the Pistons chanted in response, Silvana echoing along with them.
The calling and responding continued as her ears began to ring. Elowyn didn't once look back to see if she was okay as her chanting became more and more aggressive, "Smoke dope! Get high!"
"Peacekeeper pigs have got to die," Switchblade yelled back. She was always the loudest one besides Elowyn.
The words slurred more and more until Silvana had no idea what anybody was even saying, it was just a mish-mosh of "fucks" and "bastards" until they finally got to the center.
"Please, stand back," A Peacekeeper pleaded with the group as they began to approach. They were too busy restraining other protesters and they clearly didn't want to be bothered by the Pistons. They indeed had a reputation for being troublemakers, never to be messed with.
Fuck that! I do what I want!
Silvana readied her left fist, brushing it against the Peacekeepers shoulder as she leaped past him, "If you're going to be a pig then you should move to District Ten."
She laughed at her own joke even though it was stupid as hell before getting back into the chanting of the main group, even leading her own at one point, "If we don't get it."
"–Shut it down!"
Silvana got carried away for a moment as she often did when she was protesting as she looked at all the people around her. They were such a beautiful mix of young and old, white and black, straight and gay, and they were all coming together over the same thing. It was just as beautiful as it was fucked up, the fact that so many people banded together over the lack of support for the numerous addicts of District Six. The way that nobody seemed to care about anything as long as everybody was submissive to the Capitol. It was disgusting and as much as Silvana loved being there, she hated why she was there.
She was lost in thought for a bit too long…
Where's Elowyn?
She hadn't seen her in at least five minutes.
"Where's Elowyn?" She called her girlfriends name, hoping that she would get a reply.
As she waited she scanned the yelling crowd once more, still no sign of the girl who took her under her wings when she had felt so lost, so hopeless. Silvana knew that Elowyn had the tendencies to get carried away at the protests, but she hoped that she was at least staying safe, "S-Silvana!"
Judging by the tone in her voice she was indeed not staying safe. Silvana ran towards the noise until she saw her girlfriend on top of a Peacekeeper, pinning him to the ground like he wasn't human. It was kind of really fucking hot, but she couldn't get distracted now.
"You need help?" Silvana mauled through crowds of people until she reached the altercation gasping as she saw tears in Elowyn's eyes and a handcuff around her wrist, "What the fuck happened?"
"This bitch tried to take out my eye, that's what fucking happened," The Peacekeeper rolled over to reveal a crack in his face shield, "Do you know her?"
"She's my girlfriend!" Elowyn pleaded with the struggling officer, "I won't hurt you again; just let me go."
The Peacekeeper grabbed Silvana with his free hand, which was of course holding Elowyn's knife. She braced for impact, trying to somehow fight back but she had no idea what it would take to get rid of him. She just wanted him, and all of the rest of the pain to go away but instead she felt a tear in her back as the knife pulled her down to the ground.
"I can tell you're just a good kid who does bad things," The Peacekeeper tried to reason with her as he let go, watching as the screaming Elowyn finally submitted to him, "She's the real trouble maker here so she's coming with me."
As he dragged off her screaming body, Silvana heard Elowyn mumble something along the lines of "happy birthday."
As if this was ever supposed to be a happy birthday.
Otto Wiley. 15.
District Six Male.
If only Otto Wiley could fly.
He spent days upon days in that abandoned warehouse that his Uncle Harrison had gotten him access to for his 11th birthday just a few blocks away from their house in the suburbs trying to get Project Icarus right.
It's what I've got to do for Silas after all.
Not a day went by where he didn't remember Sy, his older brother and the one person that he could actually consider a friend. The one person who didn't mind when he spent all day in his room just tinkering around with random objects until he managed to create something that would do anything to help him. It had been over a year since he was killed in the Games by that bastard kid from District Four, yet whenever Otto messed up with whatever he was making, he would still hear Sy's infectious laughter.
"You don't have to rush over everything Otto. Just take your time and it'll all turn out just the way we planned it."
(But it indeed wasn't going to turn out the way Otto and Silas had planned it since it was always just supposed to be the two of them against the world until the very end. It was just supposed to be them who got to test Project Icarus for the first time but instead Otto was accompanied by their uncle.)
It wasn't that Harrison was a bad man by any means, since he was kind enough to take care of the Wiley boys after their parents died in a fire when they were just toddlers, but he was just frustrating at times. Otto knew that he cared, or at least that he tried his very best to care, but it just came out as anger, though he certainly didn't blame the dude for being an overall unpleasant person. He lost his brother and his nephew after all.
"Alright, so when are you doing this thing?" He was as impatient as ever as Otto finished the wiring for what would be the first test flight.
Project Icarus was the "Secret Codename" for a pair of fully functioning human wings that the boys had been working on for what seemed like years. It all started when Sy was able to use his impeccable drawing skills to create a design that would allow them to gain the ability of flight that they had so desperately desired for so many years.
It would just be neat, to be able to tower above everyone in District Six, in all of Panem and whatever the hell else there was, not caring what anybody thought of him, and that he was a "nerd" or something like that. He could be above all of that and after experiencing so much hurt, Otto Wiley sure as hell wouldn't mind being on top.
I'm sure when you're flying, nobody gives a fuck about who you are or where you've come from. It sure as hell doesn't matter that I'm worth jack shit if I'm flying –right?
It just… it would have been so much better if Silas was there for the historic day where Otto took flight for the first of what would be many times, but he wasn't here, and there was no sugarcoating it anymore. Even when Otto woke up in the mornings expecting to see his brother's smiling face from across the bedroom they shared, smiling like an idiot and making some off the cuff remark about how he drools in his sleep. Then Otto would laugh and ask his brother why he's watching him sleep and Silas would think of some smart thing to say and then they would laugh and play wrestle and it would all be okay since they would once again be reminded that they have each other.
They could just pretend that it was them against the world instead of Otto against the world and then he would be happy as he lifted from the ground into the sky.
That's the only way I could be close to him now since he'd be pissed as hell at me if I killed myself.
Ever since Sy died, Otto had practically locked himself away in the warehouse, trying to perfect the wings, but it was hard without being able to ask Sy any questions since he simply couldn't, yet Otto was able to manage anyways, as hard as it was. He had to do it all by himself.
I just want to fly…
Otto strapped the wings to his body, unsure about what the results would be to his little experiment, his test flight. He wanted to reach the sun, Silas, and he was determined to do it that day on an empty field next to a small hill, "It's only going to be half an hour or so; I just want to try this."
He moved his arms back and forth like a bird of sorts, hoping that the wind would propel him to be lifted off of the ground and into the air, and for a moment it worked as he ran across the field and slowly hovered, "Holy shit, I'm doing it!"
"Watch your mouth!" Otto didn't care what his Uncle was saying, his hypocrisy very apparent in those moments. He didn't have to care what anybody thought because he was actually flying.
It seemed as though he could see all of Panem, the clouds, the small houses in the distance, the sun higher in the sky than ever before. The wind ruffled his hair as he looked over the land that he felt he was the ruler of. Even if he was maybe ten or so feet in the air, Otto felt like he was invincible.
Well, he felt invincible until he didn't.
The more time that Otto spent in the sky, flapping his wings and looking over everything, the more the wind intensified. At first he didn't mind. It was just a friendly breeze and it was only propelling him to new heights. Soon he was fifteen, twenty, thirty feet into the air, the wind now pushing him towards the mountains.
Maybe I should be scared?
He tried to lower himself to the ground but he couldn't. All the wind wanted to do was terrorize the poor boy into it's submission. The wind didn't even care when it pushed Otto into the mountains at a speed that seemed to be quicker than 100 miles an hour, "Fucking hell."
If the mental pain that Otto felt when Silas died was bad, the physical pain he felt when his right leg collided with the rocks was the worst thing he could have ever imagined. It was caught in between two and the District Six boy couldn't get it out. He could barely use it through the agonizing pain but when he looked down and saw blood gushing from the wound, redder than the wound he saw in Sy's throat when he watched him die on television, he wanted to pass out or vomit or do something, anything to get rid of all the hurt in his leg.
"Otto?" His Uncle chased him, gasping in horror once he saw what had happened to his nephew's leg.
The rocks had penetrated his leg and his bones were beginning to expose themselves from beneath the flesh. All Otto could do was scream. Uncle Harrison removed the limb from the rocks, resting Otto's head on his chest when he finally revealed the full extent of the injury.
It was the worst thing that Otto had ever seen.
He could barely recognize his own leg, instead only seeing blood and cuts so deep his bones were exposed, nerves out in the open for everybody to see. The god he had so recently claimed himself to be had been slain so quickly, and the only thing that was left was pure and utter pain.
Otto screamed as he tried to lift his leg, and his yelling only worsened when it detached itself from his body and started rolling down the hill, "I think we need to see a doctor or something."
They couldn't afford a doctor, and his leg was almost certainly gone so Otto had to "tough it out" as his Uncle slowly stitched together his wound using a sewing needle and thread, hoping that the wound wouldn't get infected somehow.
If only Otto Wiley could walk.
He was convinced that he would never be able to do it again and he was becoming more and more bitter as a result of it all. While he had felt useless before, this was far worse. Otto knew that he would get out of his previous feelings of uselessness, but this accident meant that he was useless for the rest of his life. He couldn't help but wonder, If Sy was still here, would this have happened?
He channeled his brother when he took the pieces of the failed Project Icarus and turned them into something that he could use for himself. He used old metal rods and was successfully able to create something that he would actually be able to consider useful for himself. Otto was thrilled that he could actually make himself his very own leg.
He became obsessed with his leg as he taught himself to walk over and over again, tweaking tiny details with meticulosity as too perfect the device. It would finally give him freedom to exist on his own terms without worrying about being a crutch to anybody else and he wanted so badly to be happy.
But walking was never enough for Otto. He still wanted to fly. He wanted to touch the stars and give his brother a high five even if all logic said that he was unable to.
I've just, I've come so close before, I'll do it the next time.
Uncle Harrison always had to tell him to get out of his warehouse and focus on himself instead of Silas' legacy but he refused. He needed to fly for the sake of his brother, even if it was the last thing he ever did. Otto didn't know what he would do once his wings would finally be able to work, but he knew that it would be brilliant.
Silvana Ildron. 17.
District Six Female.
As if my life couldn't get any fucking worse?
Silvana was in a rut and the Reaping was just the icing on the cake. Ever since her seventeenth birthday, her life seemed to be falling in pieces. She had constant back pains as a result of the incident with the Peacekeeper, and even as those improved, everything else got so much worse. Her parents were so mad at her and she could hardly blame them, she disappointed them and she got hurt as a result of it. No parent ever wanted to see their child get hurt. Elowyn went off to jail, and while she was only there for a few weeks, the first thing she did upon her return was break up with Silvana. This of course made things awkward in the Pistons, significantly reducing the time that she spent with them, and now I'm being sent off to my death!
"I just," Her younger brother Oswin was furious in the Justice Building, "Why do they have to take her away?"
The siblings were never close, the two of them and their older sister Evie, so the boy actually agreeing with them was a stunning yet equally awful moment.
"That's just the world we live in," Her father Alvis tried to comfort him but it was so clearly a lost cause, "I'm sorry, son."
"Are you not going to apologize to be or something?" Silvana couldn't help it but snap at him, "I am the one dying after all."
"I'm sorry this is happening to you Silvana," Her mother Ophelia tried to soothe her by patting her back even if it didn't work, "I hope you can come back to us."
What kind of shit saying is that? Bitch, I hope I can come back too!
"Whatever guys," Silvana scoffed and decided she was done with her family and ready for whatever it was that the Capitol had to offer.
Otto Wiley. 15.
District Six Male.
The parallels between Silas' Reaping were terrifyingly present. The same overly pampered woman adressed the crowd of people in poverty, giving the same spiel about how the Hunger Games are so important or whatever and how being chosen is a great honor to "represent everything beautiful that District Six stands for."
As if District Six is even close to beautiful.
Their District Parters were even similar, vaguely intimidating girls with pale skin and broken smiles. Surely she wouldn't talk to Otto, but Otto really didn't want to be spoken to.
Once his name was called he did the exact same thing that he did with Silas, he began to scream in his seat, kicking his legs, screaming for mercy only this time it wasn't for Silas, it was for himself.
The Escort called him a handsome young man and then whisked him off to the Justice Building so he could say goodbye to his Uncle, another eerily familiar situation.
"I have no idea what I am supposed to say to be perfectly honest," He said upon their reunion, "Otto, buddy, you're a great kid. I don't know why this happened."
It made enough sense. His life was already shitty and of course it just had to get shittier. That's just unfortunate common sense. Disgusting.
"I don't know why either," The District Six boy's had mainly subsided, but not quite, "If the good die young then maybe I should have been worse."
Nothing would be able to help him now, not Sy, not his Uncle, not anything. If only he could find his own way out…
Sorry this was a large gap between Chapters but Huzzah! It's District Six! I hope you all enjoyed meeting Silvana (courtesy of symphorophilian) and Otto (courtesy of TheMayflyProject) as much as I enjoyed writing about them. The next Chapter will be a checkin with the subplot characters but then it's straight on over to District Seven.
Have a nice day,
Linds