Darrah Arinori 12

1 day before the reaping's

All around me leaves brush and flow against the soft, dusty forest floor, shifted by the wind which is acting as their guide. Leaning against one of the many thick trunks in this seemingly endless forest, I scratch the last detail on my sketch of the trees around me. Then I spot a squirrel darting between the trees like it is in some desperate, nervous hurry. I imagine he is in such a rush because he needs to collect nuts to bring back to his family. I'm gonna say he has three kids and looks like a very stressed, neurotic dad… a little bit like my own.

The voices of my friends suddenly echo through the forest, bouncing against the trees.

"Darrah!"

I toss my sketchbook down when the sound of their footsteps against the leaves gets closer, until finally, they appear from behind a large trunk. My three friends finally found me leaning against my tree, Yuli, Adeline and Elmore and they brought… my brother?!

"We've been looking everywhere for you!?" Elmore exclaims, her cheeks red and her forehead dripping with sweat.

Despite being only 12, she always acts like she's older than the rest of us for some reason.

"What did you bring my brother for?" I question.

"We were worried about you," Yuli answers with concern in her tonne and eyes.

I flip my sketch pad into my bag, brushing myself down as I stand.

"You guys need to chill," I laugh.

A warm, beaming smile fills Abilene's face and she moves to my side, hugging my shoulders to hers.

"Darrah's right… we're in District 7… what could possibly go wrong?"

The sound of a vicious snarl suddenly begins behind me, it is deep but sharp sounding like a cat. I can tell by the horror on everyone's faces that whatever's behind me is not good news. My feet hesitantly shuffle around until I'm facing a large fanged beast, resembling a mountain lion, however it is bigger, with broad muscular shoulders and legs and piercing, fiery yellow eyes.

"You just had to jinx us didn't you?" I murmur to Abilene.

"Darrah, get away from that thing!" I hear my brother call!

We all instantly split in the opposite direction to the mutt. As it begins to pursue me, me and Abilene are split off from the group. It is hot on our trail now, I feel the air exhaling from its nose and the stretch at the same time. Then, I am suddenly swallowed as the ground beneath me gives way!

CRASH

Moments later I find myself crumbled into a hole covered in leaves with Abilene on top of me.

"Get off!" I groan, pushing her heavier body away.

She hastily tells me to be quiet as the cat mutt prowls above us. I catch a glimpse of its brown, fuzzy fur my mind starts going to work about how our paths have crossed on this fateful morning.

"I think she's looking for her cubs… yeah that's it, they were taken by some humans and she thinks it's us," I whisper under my breath.

Abilene's gaze slowly turns to me.

"How…how do you know it's a she?"

I shrug.

"It just feels right," I respond.

"Just keep quiet, we need to find a way out of here," I can feel the panic in her voice start to come through under the leaves.

I can hear the creature sniffing through the air now and against the leaves above us with its wet, slimy nose.

"I think this might be it…" I hear my friend sniffle, her voice croaking with sadness.

All of a sudden I can feel something shoot through my heart, it's a feeling at the sound of the despair echoing in her voice. She doesn't want to die! Neither do I come to think of it but the fear in her voice is the thing that prompts me into action! Yes! An elaborate idea rapidly forms in my mind!

"Well, I for one don't plan on being kitty cat food," I whisper, rummaging in my sachet until I can feel my hand around a wooden instrument.

"On my mark you run… understand?"

"But…"

"I'll be right behind you! Just trust me!" I affirm, looking her dead in the eyes!

She nods slowly and then takes off back towards our village, I see the cat turn it's hungry eyes towards my friend however before it can pounce I press the wooden device to my lips, when I blow through it the woods is encapsulated by the awful sound of a snarling monster resembling something of a bear. Panic replaces the predatory eyes of the mutt and it turns in the opposite direction. I watch it flee into the trees, disappearing in the darkness. I feel a smirk crawl across my face as I pick myself back up out of the hole, flipping the wooden device in the air and smugly catching it with my right hand.

"And that's the advantage of being from a wood carving family," I say to myself, my voice echoing through the now otherwise silent woods reminding me that I'm now alone. I think I might have overstayed my welcome here now, time to catch up with the others before a bear mutt or something jumps out.

After about half an hour I was able to regroup with my panting friends and brother.

"Are you ok?" My brother questions, resting his arm on my shoulder to catch his breath.

"I'm fine, I'm fine…" I reassure him.

"Although, when that cat mutt was facing me head on, my life flashed before my eyes… it was so boring, I had to stop watching after 8 seconds," I joke.

My friends burst out laughing and my panicked brother even chuckles slightly. That's what I'm good at, brightening up an otherwise terrifying situation. Although I'm only partially joking. Yes, to me being stuck in the confines of district 7 is boring. I long to escape from here and explore the world! See the other districts! See the Capitol! And, even see what's beyond Panem! I've created many different ideas and theories in my head for what's out there but there's only one way to know for sure and I have to find the answers!

There is something better out there. I know it. Beyond the oceans or across the mountains. There has to be.

"Well, I'm glad we're all ok. That's what matters…" My brother finally smiles.

I can't help but disagree with my brother in my mind. Being chased by the cat mutt was one of the most exciting things that's happened to me in a long time! There's no fun in being safe and living out our lives, stuck here until we die.

I take a deep breath and open my mouth to answer my brother "Have you ever heard the story of a man that climbed up a mountain with no oxygen?" I ask.

My brother shakes his head.

"When he came back down someone asked him why he went up there to die. He answered "I didn't go up there to die, I went up there to live."

Later that day

That evening I spent almost the entirety of dinner time explaining the events of the day to my family in detail while shoveling food into my mouth from my wooden bowl.

"We're just glad you're ok sweetie," my mum says, rubbing her hand across my shoulder and planting a kiss on my cheek.

"You never even mentioned how you escaped anyway," my brother comments over a spoonful of food.

I raise my finger up with a smirk.

"Ah ha."

Those are the only words that come out of my mouth. The magician never reveals her secrets, or in this case the woodcarver never reveals her secrets.

"At least we know, there won't be any more near-death experiences in the family this week," dad says with a confident smile to the table.

Elijah Axenfros, 17

Three Years Ago

I stroll through the town with Rocke, for no real reason other than to get away from my parents. Despite their somewhat good intentions, they can both be suffocating.

As we get closer to the center of town, I hear a boy laughing in front of the local bakery. I quickly spot him out of the crowd as he stands on the stairs of the shop and rises a few inches taller than the other boys. I immediately recognize him from school, and I can already deduce what's happening.

He waves a loaf of bread over the heads of the boys that stand below him. A few of them reach up, trying to get it. As they lift their arms over their heads, I can practically count some of their ribs peeking through their poor-fitting shirts. The sight disgusts me.

"Elijah, don't-" Rocke holds my arm but I quickly pull away and walk towards the scene. I push the boy off the steps and he collapses to the ground. The bread goes flying out of his hands and lands on the concrete nearby. Without hesitation, one of the kids grabs the bread and runs off with it.

I sit on top of the boy, holding him down as he squirms underneath me. I raise my fist and punch him in his side, over and over and over again. He yelps, begs, pleads for me to get off of him. But his words don't resonate with me.

"Elijah, get off!" Rocke yells from behind. But I can't. Why would I stop? I can't sit by and watch someone, day after day, show off their superiority over those of us who are poor. That's how the Capitol keeps its grip over us in the Districts. But to do it as a District civilian? They're no better than the Capitol. And since the Capitol won't do anything to stop them...

After a short time, a force pulls him off of me. I go flying back on the ground, my head hitting the ground hard. A headache immediately forms and my vision blurs. Through the blur, I see the telltale white of a Peacekeeper uniform walking over to me. With no strength to fight back, I am helpless as he drags me through the town and straight to the square. As I'm being dragged, I see Rocke pulling at the Peacekeeper's coat, begging him for mercy. I reach my hand out to Rocke, but it's quickly yanked back and before long, my hands are bound to a wooden post. I hear the snapping of a whip and feel the sharp pain in my back before I even see the whip. I hear screaming from someone nearby.

As my vision blurs and the pain spreads, I realize those screams belong to myself.

Present Day

I focus on my breathing with each step I take, determined to finish my mile strong. It helps for me to admire the nature that surrounds me on my path, the birds chirping in the trees above me, the smell of the grass after a heavy rain, it's one of the only good parts of this district.

As I reach the end of the train, I slow to a stop and let my lungs catch up. I remember years ago, after my first whipping, I couldn't go most places without one of those damned Peacekeepers keeping a close eye on me. It didn't take me long to learn they wouldn't follow me out in the forests. Maybe they didn't want to be too far from backup incase I got any ideas. Or maybe the creatures that find their way inside our fence scare them too much. It didn't matter to me. Once I realized I was safer here, I found any excuse to go deeper and deeper. Not that I haven't enjoyed the runs…

Even after the whippings stopped, I kept it up. A place where I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not, a place where one wrong move won't end with another whipping.

Once my breathing has steadied, I turn around and alternate between walking and jogging back home. As much as I'd prefer to stay out here longer, I don't want to give the Peacekeepers any reason to take out their frustrations on me. I've been on a good streak, can't ruin it now.

I get out of the woods and see a small group of kids from my class sitting and talking. Although I don't recognize them immediately, they seem to recognize me. One of the boys stretches out to wave at me and the girl turns around, doing the same. I smile, nod and wave back at them. Even though I can't place my finger on their names doesn't mean I can't ruin the facade I've built for myself.

Even after my punishments were done, I noticed Peacekeepers would find their way to group up around wherever I was. They gripped their guns a little tighter and never let me out of sight. My dad was the first to explain to me why.

"As long as they see you as a loner, to them you'll be more likely to cause trouble. Unless you show them otherwise, they will always see you as a ticking time bomb. They can't have loose ends in the District. How do you think they keep us under their control?" He explained to me. At first, I was annoyed. But after some time, I realized he was right. So I changed their view of me. I made friends with anyone I could and remained as unremarkable as possible. It took a while, but the Peacekeepers eventually stopped doing a double-take anytime I walked by. They followed me less and less. Even though I will never be truly free of their glares, I've reduced it as much as I can.

Another fortunate thing to come out of this was learning how words could be more powerful than actions. Instead of, say, beating someone senseless to get them to stop doing something, all I had to do was whisper a fabrication into the right person's ear, and those words spread like wildfire.

I reach my house and head to my room, grabbing clothes for the reapings and taking a quick shower. Once I'm done, I get dressed into a nicer blue shirt and jeans. I brush my blonde hair back, knowing it will dry in the sun as I walk to the square.

I leave my house and begin the long walk to the reapings. After a few minutes, I see Rocke leave his house and start to head in the same direction as me. I slow down and let him catch up with me.

"Hey, man. Are you nervous?" He asks. I shake my head.

"I try not to think about it too much." I tell him truthfully. There's already too much to worry about each and every day here in the district. I don't want to spend any willpower worrying about an event that only happens once a year. Hopefully I'll make it through these last two without any incident and then I'll be free to live out the rest of my life without having to think about the reapings ever again.

We get to the square and check in together. I keep my focus on Rocke, making sure to feign as much happiness as I can. I don't want to give the Peacekeepers any reason to do a double take on me this year. Another year without incident would be great.

Rocke and I take our spots just as the reapings begin. I smile at those around me, not paying too much attention to whatever's happening on the stage. It's the same shit that happens every year, I'm used to it by now.

I'm so lost in my own world it takes two nudges from Rocke to bring me back to reality. I look at him confused, and I'm about to ask him what's up when I hear the escort repeating the male tribute's name. My name.

"Elijah Axenfros?" She says, looking around the crowd. A path has already cleared its way for me to take my spot on the stage.

I keep my face emotionless as I take the path and stand up on the stage. My mind shuts down, only focusing on the facts. Elijah Axenfros. That's my name. And I will be the male tribute in the 95th Hunger Games.

Hey we're back! Sorry for the month delay but it is what it is. This chapter was slightly shorter yes but sometimes it fits better with certain introductions. Thank you to disembodied dragon for Darrah who was written by Nautics and Pacecca for Elijah who was written by Team Shadow! See u soon!