Silas Folage, 18 – District Seven Male
I curl up under my cotton blanket, leaning back on the rocking-chair. I pull the sleeves of my pullover back, checking to see if it's already time for the grand event of the day. Alright, twenty minutes left before the sun reaches the peak of its absolute beauty. The atmosphere is getting rather cool, especially so high up in my watchtower, so I warm my hands on my coffee mug and take a sip, perhaps a little too hastily since I manage to burn the inside of my lip.
My brothers all work on the lumberyard along with the other big, beastly looking men with their bushy beards and the mossy jungles growing on their chest that they like to call chest hair. Even my younger brothers seem to have developed a broader and bulkier stature than myself. Their bodies are suited for lifting heavy axes and swinging them vigorously against mighty tree trunks like barbarians.
If my brothers are considered barbarians, well, I guess you could call me an assassin. Due to my lean body - my family prefers to describe me as lean, instead of admitting that I look like a gangly scarecrow, mere inches away from being swept away by a light gust of air - they sent me up to the treetops where it has become my duty to keep a record of the changes in our ecosystems.
I used to be embarrassed that I didn't get to do the heavy lifting the way a real man in Seven would but with time I began to understand the beauty of getting to sit back, high up in my tower, and simply observe the fruitful innocence that nature has to offer. As stupid as it sounds, sometimes I feel like I'm one with nature. The serenity, it really consumes you and delivers you a whole new world you didn't know even existed in the first place.
I take another sip from my coffee, glancing at my watch. Five more minutes. I can already start to see the shade of orange in the sky, near the mountains and the graceful smoke that's escaping from in between the trees and-
Smoke.
Fire.
I toss my mug to the side, the coffee seeping into the wooden floor, and tear the blankets off of my body. The phone almost drops from my hands as I dial the emergency number in full-out panic. It doesn't take long for the sweat to start dripping down my forehead.
'Yes, a fire north from Westwood. Exactly. No, it's concentrated in one area as far as I can tell. Alright, thank you.' I put the phone on the table, taking out the binoculars.
Thankfully, there aren't any people or buildings in close proximity to the flames so the fire shouldn't cause too much trouble. A few people have already begun to gather at the evacuation spot further east from the fire.
As I set the binoculars away I see a girl running frantically through the woods in the direction of the fire. I hurry to the edge of the tower, gripping the railing to call out to her.
'Hey, Stop! You need to stop! There's a fire ahead! Hey!'
And that's when I notice the red stains, splattered against the fabric of her white dress. She's hurt. I need to help her. I might not be the strongest of the bunch but I'm always ready to step up if no one else is there to do it. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and hurry down the ladder.
Dafne Waldgrave, 16 – District Seven Female
There he is. Tall, bushy blonde hair, quite frankly a very forgettable face if it weren't for the freckles scattered on his pale complexion. I bring my pigtails to the front and ruffle my dress a little. Before making my way to the man, or A-34, the way I prefer to call him, I take one last dive into the dirt, making sure it seems like I barely escaped mother nature's forceful hands.
It's go time.
'P-P-P-Please… I need help… somebody… please.' From what I've been told A-34 likes to be the hero of his story so I knew exactly what role to play.
It doesn't take long for him to notice me, scrambling out of the woods, faux-panic in my eyes. 'Hey! Are you alright?!' he runs towards me, grabbing my shoulders, shaking me a little. 'What happened?' he asks.
I let a few tears drip down my face as I latch on to him. 'My mother… she… she's stuck and I can't help her.' I bury my face in his chest and continue to sob.
'Alright, I'll need you to calm down first. Tell me exactly what happened.' I lift my head gently, making sure to seem as weak and frail as possible. My lower lip quivers a little before I continue to speak.
'my mom and I, we were just walking in the forest, collecting berries. Everything was fine before out of nowhere a tree trunk flew right at us. She pushed me out of the way and…' I continue to sob.
'Take me to where she is, quickly!' I grab on to his hand and lead him into the dark woods, his footsteps following closely behind mine. I hate myself.
As we go deeper and deeper into the forest it gets harder for me to hold back the tears. The real ones this time. Today has been an especially rough day. These rough days, they come and they go. And when they come, they hit me hard.
I made sure to light a fire far away so all the peacekeepers would be busy dealing with that and the area would be evacuated, leaving the two of us in peace. I hated myself for destroying the blossoming environment that defines our District but it had to be done.
I halt and so does A-34 behind me. 'Is that where she is?' he asks. I stay silent, lifting my dress a little from the front. The resentment culminating inside me just keeps growing as I slide the dagger out of its sheath that's attached to my thigh. I don't exactly know what he did to deserve this, I don't know how he managed to upset someone so immensely that they would wish death upon him, I don't know anything about him at all.
All I know is that I have to kill him.
With one deep breath, I turn around and slash at A-34. Surprisingly enough, the target has fairly good reflexes. He gasps, stepping to the side. I only manage to cut his thigh, the blood spewing against my dress. This isn't the way it was supposed to go. It was supposed to be one quick death. He wasn't supposed to feel pain!
The target wastes no time, running away in the direction of the fire.
No, this is bad. This is really bad. I can't have other people seeing him, let alone me. A fire ignites in me as I jolt after him, the dagger clenched tightly in my right hand.
'Hey, Stop! You need to stop! There's a fire ahead! Hey!' a boy shouts after me, somewhere from the trees. A chill runs through my body.
It doesn't take long for me to catch up to the target and kick him to the floor.
'Please, I-I have a family to support…' he sobs.
'So do I,' I say coldly, dragging the weapon across his throat, the blood gushing out in peaceful streams.
And then it all goes quiet. So quiet. Too quiet. In moments like these, I know that it's going to hit me and that I won't be able to control myself any longer. I try to keep a cold exterior but it doesn't work. The tears come in waves and wiping them away won't help since they'll just keep coming again and again.
I close the man's eyelids gently with the tips of my fingers and place a rose on his chest. Before I get the chance to lean back against one of the trees and continue crying I hear the same voice from before calling after me. Before the forest keeper catches me, I manage to weasel away into the darkness.
Shiro, here!
I thought it would be interesting to kind of intertwine these two POVs and I had a lot of fun doing so. Big thanks to ThaMayflyProject and PrinceOfCorinth for Dafne and Silas respectively. I like these two kiddos very much just the way I like all the other tribute sin this story xD Man, this is gonna be hard.
Also, I'd like to clear something up for those who didn't understand yet. You're able to make alliances with other submitters at all times. The earlier the better, so we and you have time to prepare. However, keep in mind, that the tribes will be split at random and not according to the alliances so if you're allied with someone in the pre-games that person might find themselves on a different tribe. obviously, with tribe swaps and all that, there's a good chance you'll reconnect with your old allies if you don't start with them on the same tribe. Please notify us as soon as you've teamed up with someone else so we can keep track of everything :D
Appearances:
Dafne: Caucasian. Brown hair. Has a lean and petite frame. She likes wearing a lot of rings and has a nose piercing.
Silas: Of Asian-descent. He's relatively tall at 6's''. Although he has lean muscles he's pretty skinny and gangly.
I'll be back with District 11!
See ya!