Teagan Kinsley, 14

District Ten Female

The wind whipped through her hair, and Teagan let out a loud whoop as she nearly lost the hat right off her head. She barely caught the brim, hearing a laugh from beside her as Mary noticed her predicament. Teagan just grinned and leaned forward, urging her horse, Gypsy, faster. She couldn't let herself slip; she couldn't let Mary catch up to her. Even if they were just racing for fun, Teagan felt overwhelmed by the desire to win.

Teagan managed to cut her friend off at the next turn, taking the lead as she went around the fence surrounding her property. She could hear Mary protesting behind her, but all she could do was throw her head back and laugh.

She wasn't sure if she'd ever felt true freedom before, but this moment had to come close.

Above them, the sun shone dazzlingly bright, making Teagan glad she'd managed to hold on to her hat. One hand was planted firmly on the top of it, keeping it on her head as she nudged Gypsy with her feet again. The grass beneath them shone like emerald under the sun, and Teagan briefly wished she had the talent to capture it on a canvas like Mary could.

A hill loomed in front of Teagan, and she immediately shifted her grip on the reins to turn Gypsy before they could crest the hill. She knew that her house was on the other side, and while she figured her parents would come out and catch her sooner or later, she also knew that by avoiding her house entirely, she could prolong this little expedition. Even a few more minutes of freedom was better than none at all.

Might as well head back to where they began this race and beat Mary while she was still plenty ahead.

Recognizing that the end of her freedom was near, the farm around Teagen didn't feel as bright as she headed back, but she lingered in every moment she could. Part of her was also on the lookout for fresh flowers in the hopes that she could grab a few before heading back up to her house.

Hearing Mary start to gain on her again, Teagan leaned forward and rubbed Gypsy's neck. "Come on, we're almost there," she murmured, urging her horse faster once more. The end was in sight, the fence post that they'd started this whole race from. Teagan knew she was well in the lead, but she'd never let Mary have even a shot at winning; the only choice was to shut her out entirely. Teagan lived for the thrill of winning, whether it was a win that truly mattered or not. This was all for fun, but the real fun was turning back at the end and seeing Mary still headed for the finish line.

It proved that Teagan wasn't a failure, that she would never be a failure. She would never stumble and fall; no, she would always keep pressing on.

Teagan pulled back on the reins, letting Gypsy slow to a stop. The horse was panting beneath her, in need of a rest. The animals that her parents took care of were more for show than anything else; they housed animals for others and the ones they did have weren't used to the racing that Teagan was prone to. Gypsy would require a rest after this, but it was all worth it to Teagan. She'd won, after all, so what more could she ask for?

Sliding off of Gypsy's back, Teagan let out a soft groan, glad to get off of the horse. It took a toll on her after a bit, as riding without a saddle could make her entire body feel sore, particularly when she was going fast. She stretched out her legs, wincing as she felt a couple bones pop. Her eyes softened as she looked over Gypsy, smoothing out the horse's fur. She relished in the feeling of the coarse hair under her hand before grabbing the reins again and tying them to one of the fence posts. "You stay here, okay?"

She could hear Mary's bright laugh behind her, turning to grin at her as her friend got off the horse. "Looks like you win again, huh?" Mary remarked, not seeming too bothered by another loss. "Maybe one of these days I'll come closer to you!"

Teagan ignored the twinge of irritation that she felt at Mary's comment. Closer? Teagan didn't want Mary to come closer; she wanted to continue increasing the gap between them. The very idea of Mary gaining on her meant that Teagan was closer to losing than anything else, and she couldn't stand that thought.

"Maybe!" was all she ended up saying in response before wandering away from the fence. She didn't wait up for Mary, knowing that her friend would follow. Sometimes it was like they were the only two in the world that understood each other, so they couldn't leave each other behind. Teagan found an odd sense of comfort in their connection, even if she would never admit it to Mary.

Teagan brushed that thought aside. The only thing that mattered now was the feeling of grass being crushed beneath her feet, the bright rays of the sun on her face. She caught her hat before it flew off again, holding it tightly in her hand, the straw scratching her fingers. Her mother would tell her that it wasn't very ladylike, but Teagan didn't care what her mother thought right now. All she wanted was to keep running, to see what all was in District Ten, but she knew it couldn't last forever.

Teagan soon found herself in a field of flowers. The hat hung limply from her hand, but she refused to let go of it. Instead, she just sighed and collapsed in the flowers, spreading her arms out and taking in the bright blue sky. Leaves and petals tickled her arms, the pollen floating up from beneath her nearly making her sneeze. She couldn't be bothered to move, however, as this slight discomfort was still better than the stifling home she'd have to return to otherwise.

One of her hands absently reached out for one of the flowers, taking in the bright yellow petals. There were reds and oranges and yellows all around her, but this one caught her eye. It was clearly missing a few petals, making her frown at it and roll the stem between her fingers. For some reason, it made her think of the silly game that some of the other children at school would play, where they'd methodically take petals off of the flower and somehow that would tell them if whoever they loved felt the same way. It was ridiculously childish, but Teagan found herself doing the same thing, even if she had no one in mind for it. They love me… they love me not. She didn't dare say it out loud, not wanting Mary to stumble upon her like this, in what was undoubtedly a moment of weakness. She couldn't figure out exactly why she felt that way, but…

They love me, they love me not.

Teagan hadn't counted the flower petals beforehand, though she'd known some children that would undoubtedly rig the system in their favor while playing the silly game, so she was left with only one petal in hand by the time she came back to they love me not. Teagan wasn't sure how that made her feel. She didn't have anyone in mind, but she didn't know if that made it worse or not. Maybe she was silently hoping that someone would come to mind, or maybe that the game would end on they love me and it would be proof that out there, someone did.

Or maybe this was just a ridiculous game and she should stop thinking about it.

"What are you doing?"

Blinking in surprise at the intrusion, Teagan stared up at Mary for a moment before brushing the flower petals off of her chest, hoping that her face wasn't turning red. It's not like she'd been doing anything wrong, anyway. Mary just gave her a patient smile, her straw colored hair falling into her face as she leaned over Teagan, blocking the sun from hitting her face.

"Nothing particularly ladylike," Teagan replied with a delicate sniff, imitating her mother.

"But that doesn't bother you, does it?"

"Not at all," Teagan laughed. "I don't give a rat's ass what my mother thinks."

Mary just laughed with her, tilting her head to the side to peer down at Teagan. "Mind if I join?"

With a shrug, Teagan just shook her head and grabbed another flower to methodically pick the petals off of, this time a vivid red one. She didn't bother trying to play the game again. She figured she was better off not knowing an answer.

Silence stretched between the two for several minutes, though Teagan could see Mary gazing around out of the corner of her eye. She figured that Mary was taking in the sights around them, probably trying to brand them into her mind so she could paint them later.

"Why'd you want to come out here this morning?" Mary finally asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

Teagan just shrugged, barely able to keep the slight grin off of her face. "I practiced sewing on fabric from a dress I was supposed to wear out tonight. I didn't want to be around when my mother discovered the giant hole in it."

Mary immediately collapsed into giggles, even though her face displayed a more horrified look. "You cut a hole in it?" She reached over to smack Teagan on the arm. "Your parents will kill you!"

"Maybe temporarily," Teagan said, gazing up at the sun once more. "But they have enough money to just get another. And another, and another. They have the money for it, I know they do. And besides, that one was pretty ugly. I'd like to not be seen around in it."

The dress was actually rather lovely, but the thought of Teagan having to prance around in it with her parents and their snooty friends made her hate it more than she could describe. She almost dreaded her mother's reaction to finding the dress, but she also knew that they'd find a way to get her to the outing anyway. They were always more than willing to show off their perfect little daughter, after all.

"If I could, I'd make you a new one," Mary declared. "It would be the prettiest dress you've ever seen, and all of District Ten would be jealous."

"Mary, you don't know how to sew," Teagan reminded her.

Mary was not to be deterred, just raising up enough so Teagan could see her lopsided grin. "So? I'll draw one for you. Maybe a whole bunch of them. We could try to do something together."

Pressing her lips together, Teagan hummed as she thought about it. In truth, it wasn't a bad idea, but she still found herself resistant to it. Maybe because it wasn't your idea? the little voice in her mind whispered, making Teagan pause. Did she really only resent it because she wasn't the one that came up with it?

"I'll have to think about it," she muttered, the sun blinding her with its rays as she looked to it for answers. It didn't appear to have any for her. It never did.

Mary seemed more than content to lapse back into their comfortable silence, but she didn't seem to notice the tension that Teagan could feel now. She was restless, unable to pay attention to the color of the flowers that she tore apart, the petals falling onto her clothes as she frowned at the sky, watching the sun inch its way across the sky.

Deep down, she knew that she should go back home, but that's exactly why she didn't want to go. She didn't want to have to be under anyone else's thumb anymore, out here it was only her and she could just be.

If her parents tried to force her to be their perfect little daughter again, Teagan got the feeling that she would start to crack.

Crush Xing, 17

District Twelve Female

The only sights Crush grew up knowing were the slate grey of stone and her brother's familiar figure. Everything else faded into the grey of her surroundings, soon to be forgotten. None of it was notable, her eyes skimming over the desolate shack they were confined to but unable to commit the details to memory.

In the midst of the greys, there was Clamor, and Crush was very accustomed to his presence. They were each other's only playmates, finding it hard to make friends with anything besides the rocks that surrounded them. It was as if they were slowly being entombed, but as children, they couldn't be aware of something like that. They only knew that the loneliness they felt was tangible and so they had to cling to each other. Their only other option was the mountain they lived on, and neither of them trusted what lurked outside their home and the area immediately around it.

There was some brightness, of course. Even grey could have light spots, places where the sun could touch them, and Crush and Clamor basked in those. In a world full of nothing but grey, deviation from the normal was not only important but crucial.

For seven years they lived this way, and in those seven years Crush also learned that something else could be just as important. Entertainment. The sound of rocks around them could be mind numbingly boring, and they ached to fill in the missing pieces with some kind of noise.

Crush was the one that came up with a way to pass the time when her parents brought back some rocks from the mine and she picked out one that was vaguely shaped like a person. She proceeded to name it after herself, Crush, and declared that her and Clamor were going to play House together, so he had to find a rock as well.

Of course, Clamor had the option to say yes or no. But he also had the option to get a rock thrown at him, so he always chose yes. Crush liked it when he said yes to her ideas.

"That's not right."

Clamor looked up at her with wide eyes, two rocks in his hand. He had taken them to be the parents, but Crush remembered specifically telling him which rock was which, and he had the Crush rock in his hand. She could nearly see red, her eyes narrowing on the rock in his left hand. She had also told him that he wasn't supposed to touch her rock, and now she'd have to remind him why.

A few minutes later, Crush quietly hummed to herself as she put their rocks away, tucking them all back into a corner under a blanket where they'd be safe. She took extra care when placing her own rock back, making sure to inspect it to make sure Clamor hadn't done anything to it.

She frowned at a spot and rubbed at it until the red mark flaked away before smiling. "Much better," she muttered to herself. "That'll show him."

A few feet away, Clamor watched his sister with dark eyes, not daring to go near her again. He absently rubbed at his arm, wincing as he brushed against the fresh cut again. He'd have to find a way to get the blood out of his shirt.

"Hold still," Crush hissed, scribbling down the answers from the paper in Clamor's outstretched hand. "What're you so nervous for, anyway? It's not like anyone cares."

Crush didn't care, that was for sure. She could tell by the antsy way that Clamor's eyes darted up and down the hall that he did care, but she just ignored that. She'd already been caught drifting off in class the past few days, so she needed to have something to show when their teacher inevitably came around and collected papers. She didn't figure her parents would care either way, but it would be way easier to go through school if she could still use Clamor as her crutch. If he managed to get ahead of her… well, she figured it would be a little inconvenient for him to do everything all over again for her.

Just as the teacher stepped into the room, Clamor nervously yanked his paper back towards him. Crush just shrugged; this was as good as she was going to get anyway. She didn't care if she made a perfect score or not (that would be too suspicious at this point, anyway), and she didn't think her teacher expected much out of her anymore. Crush was perfectly capable of whatever she put her mind to, but she didn't feel inclined to do anything school related when she could find other ways to occupy her time better.

"Attention, everyone pass their homework up to the front."

The rustle of papers was heard all over the room, and Crush barely managed to finish scrawling her name onto the paper before handing it to the boy in front of her. He tried to offer her a smile, but she just scowled at him. Crush was still irritated that their assigned seats for this class hadn't put a pretty girl right in front of her. This just felt… not right, and Crush didn't want to have anything to do with the boy that sat in front of her, who had turned around with a disappointed sigh.

Instead, Crush opened her notebook and let herself smile again. She'd filled up plenty of pages of it, and she was determined not to let a single one go to waste. Not a single one of those pages had a note for this class (or any); rather, every page was filled to the brim with drawings.

Her fingers carefully traced the marks her pencil had made on the paper, only barely registering her teacher droning away at the front of the class. Out of the corner of her eye she could spot Clamor trying to pay attention, but his gaze kept flickering back to her. She didn't care about any of it. All she could think about was the face still lingering in her mind from this morning.

She could recall it perfectly, knew that this girl was new and different. Not different in a bad way, no, she liked this one just as well as the others. Crush didn't have a name - she never did - but that didn't matter to her at the moment. All she wanted was to perfectly capture the face on her page, memorializing it next to all the others she'd encountered over the years.

When her pencil touched the paper, Crush hunched over her desk, already an awkward and gangly girl at the age of ten. She completely tuned out her surroundings, letting herself be drawn in by the girl that had so enchanted her this morning. Her free hand absently picked at the skin of her lip as she recreated the image in her mind.

Perfectly even eyebrows… a dark black, that she could at least capture with her pencil. The hair was parted straight down the middle, each side having a slight but elegant curve as it fell against her shoulders. The nose had been slightly upturned, delicate and perfectly straight. On each of her cheeks there was a mole, right below the outer corner of her eyes. Crush had only gotten a glimpse, but the eyes had been a bright blue, so she kept note of that in her mind. The lips had been on the thinner side, but her blinding smile was what really caught Crush's attention. It might have only lasted for a second, but that was long enough to leave a lasting impression on her.

Leaning back in her chair, Crush tilted her head to the side to examine her latest drawing. Close… but not quite. She could name at least a dozen things wrong with it, even if it was an impressively accurate rendition for a ten year old.

Oh well, that was fine. Crush wouldn't forget the girl's face, she never forgot any of them. She could always try again.

The bell rang to signal the end of class, the nose rattling in Crush's skull as she slowly got to her feet. Clamor hesitantly rose up by her side, as they shared the next class as well. That made it more convenient for her after all, she could tune out the teacher all over again. Not that she would be paying attention in the first place.

Crush reflected back on the details of the girl in her mind, admiring how symmetrical her features had been. Truly an admirable thing, one that Crush would not soon forget. Anyone could be beautiful, but symmetrical? That was an enchanting prospect.

Twelve was an important age, a landmark for some. There was always something that happened at the age of twelve, something monumental that shook the foundations of what people knew.

This was no different for Crush and Clamor.

"Father's on his way back," Clamor called from his chair, staring out the window while Crush hunched over her notebook again.

"So?" was the only response Crush bothered to give. It's not like their parents came back at a different time every day. There was never any difference in their schedule, so she didn't understand why Clamor would bother pointing this out to her.

"Ma isn't with him."

Crush's head snapped up at that, though she didn't outwardly display what she was thinking. She wasn't even sure what she'd outwardly express, as all she could feel was a swirling sense of unease that threatened to tear her apart from the inside.

They always came home at the same time, sometimes bringing home rocks that they left outside, resting against the walls of their shack of a home.. It was like clockwork, always the same day to day, no day different from any other.

The clock that distantly ticked still read six o'clock, but it didn't bother to offer Crush any sense of comfort. At that moment, all she wanted to do was tear it off the wall so it would stop its incessant ticking, or maybe she could grab the rock out of her pocket to chuck at it. She was sure she could reach it from here; she'd had plenty of practice throwing with this rock before.

The sound of the door opening brought Crush out of her own mind, and she looked up to see that Clamor had vacated the room, leaving her all alone with the ticking of the clock, the door softly clattering against the doorframe. She gritted her teeth and gripped the rock in her pocket, relishing in the feeling of the ragged edges digging into her hand. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she knew it couldn't be good. She could feel it, deep in her bones, a sense of foreboding that threatened to overwhelm her.

Stepping outside, Crush could see her father for herself, taking note of his ragged breathing and the way he kept running his hand through his hair. He seemed distressed about something, and Crush found herself slowly moving closer to where he was standing.

Clamor reached their father first, and while Crush couldn't make out what he said, she could guess. She let herself move faster, the dread knotting in her stomach not enough to keep her away.

"An accident… mine… collapsed… don't know…" was all Crush managed to make out, but that's all it took for her life to fall apart.

That was the thing about being surrounded by rocks. They were incredibly resilient, but when one cracked they all began to crumble.

Crush didn't listen to what else her father had to say, taking note of the single rock in his hand. She felt a flash of irritation that he hadn't gotten more, then got mad at herself for feeling that way. Right now? Your mother is trapped or dying or dead and all you can think about is rocks?

Visions of her mother, trapped beneath the earth and never to return, flooded into Crush's head. There was something wrong with all of them, and Crush couldn't figure out what until she realized that she couldn't perfectly imagine her mother's face. Whatever rocks her mother had been trapped with probably knew the woman better than Crush did.

Her gaze lingered on the rock in her father's hand once more. It would be a reminder of today, a remnant of what once was. There was supposed to be nothing special about today, but fate had something else in mind. Crush's entire world had begun to fracture, and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

Crush wondered if those rocks had captured her mother's screams, if there was anything left of her mother at all. Her head tilted to the side as a thought came to mind. She wondered what all those rocks could capture.

Surveying the scene in front of her, Crush summoned the image in her head once more and realized that this wasn't perfect either. The eyebrows were just slightly too close together, throwing off the flow of the entire face. If the eyebrows were too close together, she couldn't place the eyes properly, and if those weren't in place then the nose and mouth would be miles off as well.

With a sigh, Crush shoved the chunk of rock to the side, enjoying the noise it made when it hit the ground. She couldn't believe she'd gone so wrong from the start, that she'd already started carving out the other features around ones that were never right to begin with.

"This just won't do," she muttered to herself, picking her way out of the station she'd set up for herself behind their shack. "Guess I'll have to start over again."

This particular sculpture had been her third try, and Crush could sense that she was getting closer even as the insatiable part of her gnawed at her bones, insisting that nothing would ever be enough. Nothing would be enough unless they were living and breathing, right in front of her and all hers, but Crush knew that couldn't happen. Not yet.

For now, she'd do what she could. And she'd been trying. She'd been growing increasingly disorganized, the fragments of rock all around proof of that. The small fragments were just shavings as she carved out her perfect specimens, but the big ones were all her past projects, finished or unfinished. They were scattered around her yard, no rhyme or rhythm to them at all. Only she could tell what everything was supposed to be, and once she'd heard Clamor mutter that if she only spent this much time concentrating on school she'd probably be a genius by now.

She'd paid him back for that. Clamor hadn't made any comments like that within her earshot again.

Not that he didn't make them at all. Crush was sure he did, but he was always the smart one and knew not to make them by her anymore.

Picking her way through the pieces, Crush recalled all of the faces she'd set out to recreate. As she'd started her sculptures, she'd also started taking note of the names. There was Aria, whose short blonde hair had floated around her head when she smiled at Crush one day before math class. Then there was Talia, who had the brightest red hair that shone like a ruby in the sun when Crush walked behind her on the way home from school. After that was Elara, whose vivid green eyes had drawn Crush in, and Iris, whose kind smile and gentle demeanor had been instantly attractive to Crush.

All of them were exquisite, but the thing that made them truly ethereal was the symmetry in each of their faces.

Crush couldn't just craft a sculpture of anyone, after all. She only picked the ones she was drawn to, and even then some girls could catch her eye and not keep her attention.

As she stalked around her backyard, nudging old pieces with her foot, Crush ran Skyla's face through her mind again. She had to get it right this time, had to get her creation to spark with the same joy and life that Skyla was overflowing with.

Finally, Crush reached the section of rocks that she hadn't begun carving away at yet. She surveyed the untouched chunks of stone in front of her, making sure she picked out one that felt right to retry her latest project. It was heavy in her arms as she carried it back across the wasteland of discarded and unfinished statues, but Crush paid them no mind. This one will surely be right, she told herself as she set the rock down on the stand she'd created for herself. Crush stared at her untouched canvas and picked up her mallet and chisel once more.

Her surroundings were deadly silent, as both her father and Clamor knew by now not to bother her when she was working. They also knew not to touch any of her projects, even the ones that lay undisturbed. Those were the two crucial rules, and her father and Clamor had learned not to break them.

The frown was encroaching on her face again, and Crush twitched with a pent up restlessness that she knew she wouldn't be able to get rid of. The instant before she started anew, a thousand thoughts flooded her head. She wondered if any of her creations would ever come close enough to the flesh and blood they impersonated, she wondered if any of them would be right. Some days, Crush wondered if she'd crack open a rock to find her mother trapped inside, freeing her from her eternal entombment. Other days, she wondered if the rocks her mother was likely buried under could conjure up a better portrayal of her face than Crush could, as she couldn't even remember her mother's face anymore. There had to be something profoundly unremarkable for Crush to be able to remember a multitude of faces but not her own flesh and blood.

But she always brushed those thoughts aside and placed the chisel on the stone, readying herself with the mallet. The sun slowly began to sink down in the sky, casting shadows across Crush's face as she worked, the steady hits from her mallet and chisel against the stone echoing through the mountains. Inspiration would strike one day, she was sure of it. And she'd be ready to chase it to the end of the earth, ready for liberation.

i am. free? this is freedom? i am free of intros? damn. that's really crazy actually what even comes after intros maybe i should think about that a little. just kidding i have a whole ass spreadsheet for chapitols we are gonna have a fun time y'all.

right, right! thank you to foxfox12 for Teagan and Flawless Catastrophe for Crush! thEY WERE REALLY FUN I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE (in case you couldn't tell since it hasn't even been a week between updates oops). UHH idk when i'm gonna update again because life tingz but i'm back at school for june 3rd so probably around then! yeah! goodbyes, ft. makani/nash/jack/thay, in that order. we are getting down to business folks, shit is about to start happening! *softly* we aren't in the districts anymore, toto...

farwell! i hope you enjoyed! i'll see you on the other side of intros with the goodbyes!

-de laney is out