Jasper McCoy, 16.
District 12 Male.
Jasper McCoy was trapped underground, completely and utterly alone.
It was entirely an accident; he'd slipped while climbing and tried to grab out, but his hands found nothing but slippery rock, which came tumbling down on top of him. Pinned beneath a rock deep in the depths of the mines, where not a sliver of light reached, there was nothing but himself and his own wit to keep himself alive. Jasper could shout, scream, do anything he could possibly think of, but nobody would hear him or come to save him.
Jasper gritted his teeth, craning his neck to look further down the narrow tunnel which he was stuck in. He took a deep breath but only found stale air, smelling of damp mildew and earth. The rock and stone pressed in so close to him, and as he tried to roll over, to loosen himself at all, the sharp crags dug into his back. He let out a choked sob, although no tears came. There was nothing but him and his cries, his pleas for help which fell on deaf ears. Jasper desired to be anywhere but there, anywhere but deep beneath District Twelve.
Oh, how Jasper wished to see the world.
"Jasper?" A familiar, harsh whisper bounced down towards him. He couldn't tell how far away the voice was, due to the strange way sounds echoed and bounced, but whoever it was knew him. Maybe Jasper would live to see another day, rays of the sun on his back and the dewy grass beneath his feet.
"Y-yeah it's me, I'm stuck," Jasper managed to stutter out, his throat dry and parched despite the cool dampness of the stone which surrounded him, trapping him in a tomb which could've very well been where he stayed for the rest of time. He'd been there for who knew how long; minutes, hours, maybe even days slipping past him. His flashlight had gone out - or he'd dropped it, he couldn't tell which - so he'd just been stuck there in the darkness with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.
"We have to go down there and get him!" another voice responded. This one Jasper most definitely recognized as Ethan, meaning the first was likely Morgan.
"I know, we just have to be careful about it. We can't afford getting stuck ourselves, you know," Morgan replied. "Jasper, how much can you move?"
"Uh, well, a little bit. My one shoulder is stuck but other than that everything else is fine," Jasper replied louder, his voice finding itself again with every word he spoke. He could hear the pair talking some more, their words not quite reaching his ears, before a beam of light landed on the wall next to him. He squinted slightly at the brightness, barely able to make out a figure approaching. It was Morgan, he soon realized as she appeared at his side, placing a hand on his free shoulder.
"Alright, let's get you out of here, then. Ethan, it's safe, you can come down," Morgan called softly over her shoulder. Jasper was glad to see his friends, despite the circumstances. He didn't want to be a bother or waste their time, or even worse, put them in danger, but they were here anyway. The three had always done everything together, as being an orphan in such a place as District 12 was certainly not easy. They'd been looking out for each other for years, watching each other's backs at home (or what they were forced to call home) and at school, and then in the mines.
"Hey buddy, you alright?" Ethan said as he came to a sliding halt next to Jasper. Jasper managed a nod, and Ethan smiled down at him before turning to Morgan who stood hunched over nearby. "Ready?"
"Ready," Morgan replied with a nod, and they each took up a grip on the large stone. With a great deal of force, they began to roll it off of Jasper, the trapped boy shifting the rest of his lower body out of the way. The boulder finally tumbled down off of Jasper, lodging itself further down in the tunnel and cutting it off. which was likely for the best. After all, the tunnel was clearly not safe.
Jasper was one of a group of teenagers tasked with scouting the safety of the tunnels under Twelve. Of course, the job itself was not all that safe, but teenagers were best for the job, as they were quick, agile, and smaller than most full grown adults. (Not to mention that they needed some way to get rid of their older orphans, and this just happened to be the out). When they turned sixteen, the orphans were given a choice; work in the mines until they turned eighteen, or get thrown out on the streets. Most took the job, as they were at least paid well for it, but it was dangerous at best, and outright deadly at worst.
"C'mon, let's get you up," Ethan said breathlessly, reaching a hand out to Jasper, "How's it feeling?"
"Not too bad," Jasper replied, letting Ethan pull him to his feet. He could feel his body loosening up as most of the tension and worry left his body, soon replaced by an entirely different kind of worry. Jasper hated being a burden to his friends, hated being seen as weak, sickly... fragile, and yet that was all he ever managed to be. He was good for nothing but getting himself into situations where he needed to be rescued by Ethan and Morgan. And yes, he knew they didn't mind coming to help him, but he couldn't help but wonder why they didn't drop him. Why bother with him when all Jasper did was cause inconveniences and put them in danger again and again and again?
Why bother lifting him up when all Jasper did was weigh them down?
"Alright, let's get the hell out of here," Ethan grinned, turning and making his way back up the tunnel. Jasper turned to look at Morgan.
"Go on, I'll take up the back," Morgan whispered, gesturing for Jasper to follow Ethan.
"You sure?"
"Of course I am. Now get moving."
With those words, Jasper did indeed get moving, as if there was one thing he'd learned in the time he'd spent with his friends, it was not to mess with Morgan. She was one of the most skilled scouts, and as such was often tasked with finding, exploring and documenting new sections of the mines rather than just checking on the existing ones. Jasper always wanted to be like her, fearless and strong and stoic, or like Ethan who despite his sheer stupidity always pushed on, always striving to be better, stronger, to protect those around him despite putting himself at risk. Jasper knew he could never be like them, no matter how hard he tried. He would never be fearless, he could never be strong.
"Where are we going?" Jasper asked as the tunnel twisted and turned, seemingly opening up and getting wider and higher. He was able to straighten up slightly more with each step forward taken.
"Back up to the surface, right, Morgan?" Ethan replied.
"Really? All the way to the surface?" Jasper gasped, his eyes going wide. It wasn't often they went all the way to the surface, as it was hard to secure the proper permissions to do so. They lived the majority of their lives beneath the surface, sleeping, eating, and socializing under tonnes of dirt and stone. He'd managed to sneak out a handful of times with Ethan and Morgan, though they had to beg and plead with him quite a great deal. The other two snuck out more often without him than with him, but Jasper didn't mind, as he didn't want to risk getting caught.
"Yessir, all the way to the surface. We do need to get you checked out by a decent apothecary, you know?" Ethan said as they turned corner after corner, each leading into a new tunnel which eventually deposited them onto one of the central paths. Jasper could hear distant clanking, the dull ringing sound of metal clashing against stone somewhere far off in the maze. There were lanterns lining the walls, and the path was wide enough now that they could walk three across rather than single file. Ethan and Morgan fell into step on either side of Jasper, the three walking shoulder to shoulder as they always did. It was familiar, comfortable, the most comfortable he'd felt with people ever since his parents had been killed many years before.
They just wanted to see the world. What was so wrong with that? Why should they be killed for just wanting to see what was past the fences of District Twelve? They shouldn't be punished for simply wanting to see the world.
There shouldn't be anything wrong with that, and yet they were punished for it nonetheless.
"Did you two hear what happened to Martin's crew?" Ethan said, turning and walking backwards up the pathway, facing Jasper and Morgan as he talked.
"No, did something happen to them?" Morgan replied, tugging the scarf which sat around her neck tighter.
"Well yeah, Uriah caused a cave in, almost got them all killed. They're still lookin' for Ashbie."
"That doesn't surprise me, he's a fuckin' klutz," Morgan said with a shrug, "Do you think they're gonna find her?"
"I doubt it. You know they really don't care about us," Jasper chimed in quietly. He'd always liked Ashbie and her crew, and he wanted her to be found, but he knew deep down they would never find her. After all, they didn't care about the kids or value their lives. They were sent there as cannon fodder; their lives meant nothing, were worth nothing to their higher ups.
"Well, we can hope I guess, right?" Morgan said, a reassuring tone to her voice.
The path opened out into a wider cavern, many branching tunnels weaving in and out of the giant room. The roof soared far above Jasper's head, stalagmites reaching up for the stalactites which hung from the ceiling above, eternally trying to reach each other but never succeeding, in sight of each other but never touching. The cavern was empty, save for the supply tracks which crossed through the space, connecting the various tunnels which came in and out. Every few minutes one a cart would fly in through one tunnel and out into another, rattling by Jasper as they made their way through the cavern.
"Where are we goin' from here?" Ethan inquired, turning to Morgan who knew the tunnels like the back of her hand, better than anybody else. Though that wasn't a high bar given the company that Morgan kept; Jasper wasn't the best with directions himself, and after the one time Ethan had nearly gotten them lost, Jasper wouldn't trust him to find his way out of a paper bag.
Morgan squinted at the multitude of options around them, any one of them could lead to any number of places. "Uhh- shit let me check," Morgan muttered, pulling a map out of her and Ethan crowded around her as she unfolded it. The maps were always quite confusing looking, but Jasper was able to figure out where they were quickly enough. This map in particular covered the entire north-eastern quadrant. Jasper had never been a particularly skilled scout, but he was certainly good at creating maps of the intricate, interwoven tunnels, caves and supply tracks. Jasper always had a knack for sorting things out, and he knew that he was valued for that, since most of the other workers weren't skilled enough to do it properly.
No. He had to focus; he couldn't afford to worry as such. Jasper just needed to take it a minute, an hour, a day at a time.
"It looks like we're going that way, over to the lift out of here," Jasper said, tapping his finger on the only lift in that sector.
"Yup, that's the one, which means it's through that way." Morgan responded, squinting and pointing at a nearby tunnel off to their left. Morgan began marching towards the tunnel, Jasper and Ethan trailing behind.
"How did you two even know where I was?" Jasper whispered to Ethan as they made their way into the next tunnel.
"Well, we knew you were assigned to scouting, so when you didn't come back in time we asked Ez," Ethan replied, his low voice echoing through the tunnel around them, surrounding them in noise as it reverberated. Every little sound made was like that, wrapping them in a blanket of white noise. After the complete silence Jasper had faced for who knows how long, it was a welcome comfort, taking his mind away.
"Ez knew where I was?"
"Of course he did, he's Ez." Ethan motioned. Indeed this did make sense as Ez was like a manager to them, the one who organized everyone doing things. He wasn't much older than they were, but he did his job wonderfully, almost always picking the right person for the right jobs. Jasper had worked alongside him many times, and Ez was one of the kinder higher ups. So of course Ez knew where Jasper was; he was the one who sent Jasper there in the first place.
"But I went off the path, didn't I? How did he know about that?"
"I don't know, but he was the one who let us come and get you."
"Were they gonna send out a search party?"
"Nope," Morgan chimed in from further up the path. Jasper turned to Ethan who shook his head in agreement.
"They really don't care about us, huh," Jasper said, scrunching his nose up as he did so.
"Of course not," Morgan agreed, falling back from her spot in the lead to join their discussion, "They've never cared about us."
"And they never will," Ethan murmured solemnly. The trio went quiet, leaving them with only the sound of their footsteps echoing down the corridor as they walked out of the depths of the mine. There was an unspoken understanding amongst them that nobody but them would ever care about them. All they had was each other, and each other was better than nothing. They were worthless, and so the only solution was to find a way to make themselves valuable. In the back of Jasper's mind, he knew that no matter how hard he tried, he'd never find a way for his life to matter in the end.
Jasper was truly and utterly worthless, nothing more than dirt beneath the feet of the Capitol.
Eventually they found themselves in front of one of the lift tolls, where people came in each morning and left each night. Morgan stepped up to explain things to the Peacekeeper manning the station. After the riots that had happened in District Twelve a few years prior, and the subsequent massive cave-in over in the south-west quarter of the mines, there was increased Peacekeeper presence everywhere, not just in the mines, but also in the towns and cities. You could no longer go far in Twelve without seeing sleek white armor. Morgan returned, as the Peacekeeper lifted the bar which stopped people from passing through without stopping, and the trio stepped onto the lift. The Peacekeeper hit a button, and the creaky old thing began moving upwards, slivers of sunlight beginning to make themselves apparent, the smell of fresh air soon replacing the musty smell that was all that Jasper had known for so long.
Freedom was in sight, a light at the end of the tunnel. All Jasper had to do was claim it, and he would not - no, he could not be afraid.
Jasper McCoy would be strong enough to stand on his own.
Aithne Hastings, 17.
District 12 Female.
Aithne had never been one to follow rules like she was supposed to; no, unlike most of her peers, she far preferred to run against the grain. She reveled in the thrill it brought her, in the feeling of adrenaline coursing through her body. No matter the risks that came with stepping out of line, the rewards for Aithne were far greater.
As Aithne slipped behind the large stone pillar, watching the Peacekeepers marching nearby, she couldn't help but suck in a joyful breath. She'd never gotten the chance to do something like this, and she doubted she ever would again. It was rare there were so few Peacekeepers in the District, but according to what she'd heard in the market, many of them had been seen departing on the trains, leaving en masse. Aithne didn't know why, nor did she care to know why; all that mattered to her was that the Peacekeepers passed her without notice, which they thankfully did. Their boots clinking receded as Aithne pulled her jacket tighter around her. She set out towards the chain link fence, not deterred by the lock holding the gate shut. Not deterred by the lock, she looped her fingers through the links, frosted metal sticking and pulling against her skin as she scaled the fence. Going over the fence into the mines was the most dangerous part of the whole thing. Sure, if anything happened to Aithne deep in the mines, she wasn't likely to be found, but she'd rather never be found than be thrown into jail and risk her family's safety. No, she couldn't do that to her father, who worked so hard for them, nor to her younger siblings who'd grown up without a mother to care for them. Aithne knew she wasn't just carrying the burden of keeping herself out of trouble; no, her family could be at stake too.
But that just made the thrill so much more exhilarating.
Landing soundlessly on the other side, Aithne's boots crunched in the frosted blades of grass as she made her way towards the pitch-black entrance to the mine nearby. The few lamps scattered around the field barely held on to the light they gave, flickering in and out occasionally, unable to break through the veil of shadows surrounding the entrance. Aithne quickly approached, grasping in the dark for the railing as she stepped into the mine. She had always wondered what she would find down in the depths. She knew there was likely nothing of interest down there, at least nothing of interest on the levels she could get to, but Aithne couldn't help but be drawn to them anyways. Following her next birthday, she was likely going to get a job in them, and she wanted to see what she was getting herself into. Aithne's family could use the money, and as well as that it would give her a good (and legal) way to explore the mines.
Stepping into the entrance, she could feel the walls pressing in around her, suffocating her in their weight. Aithne followed the path, past the entrance deeper into the tunnels hallway curved, and as she followed it, she realized she could hear the distant echoes of voices. A dim lighting emanating from somewhere - she couldn't really tell where - glowed softly, illuminating her path as she followed the noise. Aithne had never gotten this far, and she doubted she ever would again, so she had to make the most of it while she was here. And she only had a few hours to do it, since she had to be up for work in the market tomorrow. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, pressing against her ribs in a bid for freedom. Her hand trailed loosely against the wall, like some sort of safety net, although Aithne Hastings didn't need a safety net.
No, she could rely only on herself to get out of situations if they went bad. You could never be too careful where you placed your trust, and Aithne wasn't stupid enough to put anybody she loved into harm's way.
Aithne's hand fell away from the wall as she pushed onwards, met with only air. She stumbled, nearly tripping over her own feet as she turned to look into the opening which had surprised her. Poking her head in, she could see racks upon racks of helmets, flashlights, and other various equipment stretching far throughout the large room, lit by only a few dimmed lanterns.
Aithne ducked into the room, beelining for the first flashlight she could get to. She grabbed it and turned it over to find the switch, absently flicking it on to see how it worked. Aithne had seen this kind of device before, but never one this big. The light was near blinding, illuminating a wide expanse in front of her. It was a powerful source of light, but she knew she wasn't meant to take it. She'd have to deal with the dim light from her own helmet, but she didn't mind appreciating the bright light while she still had it.
And that was when she heard the footsteps.
Aithne quickly flicked the flashlight off, blinking the spots out of her eyes as she looked around the room. She could hear them growing louder, bouncing down the hallway towards her, accompanied by voices which grew louder with every passing second.
Aithne had to hide, but where? She had to get away; what if they came in here? What if they found her? Were they Peacekeepers, or even worse, what if they were something else? There were always rumors about things living down in the mines, but she never believed any of that shit; they were only rumors after all. As Aithne pondered, she spun on her heel, spotting a large set of lockers which appeared to have a gap behind them. She moved quickly, trying to make as little noise as possible as she ducked behind them. It was a tight squeeze, but it'd have to do, since there was no time to get anywhere else. Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but poke her head around the corner, just enough so that she could see and hear whatever was going on, hopefully without being spotted.
Aithne heard a door open, dim light spilling into the room from somewhere she couldn't see, accompanied by voices she didn't recognize. The faint shadows of three figures appeared on the opposite wall, one of them holding some sort of lantern that flickered occasionally. An unfamiliar male voice said shakily, "You didn't have to come out here with me, you know? You could've just stayed back."
"No, it's okay, Jasper, we don't mind," A second voice, this one clearly a girl, replied, "We know how much Ashbie meant to you."
"At least Uriah and Martin are okay…" A third voice, male again, muttered quietly, barely audible from Aithne's vantage point.
"Yeah… it could be worse," The girl agreed. "And at least they found her."
"I know, I know. I just wish I could've done more." The first voice, evidently Jasper, sighed, "I... I just feel like I could've done more for her."
"I think we all do, Jasper. We should start heading back, they might notice we're gone," The girl said, the second boy agreeing with her.
"Yeah, you two go on ahead, I have some... thinking I'd like to do," Jasper said.
The group moved out of the room, the flickering light receding until Aithne was alone again. She could feel her heart beating out of her chest, breath catching in the back of her throat as if she'd been holding it the entire time without noticing. Aithne slid out from behind the lockers as quietly as she could. She didn't know what she'd just witnessed, couldn't make sense of it.
Maybe the rumors of things living in the mines weren't as wrong as she thought they were.
Aithne Hastings had more questions now than she knew what to do with. But she was determined to find her answers by any means necessary. Even if it got her in more trouble than she could anticipate.
hey guys it's brooke and i'm here to deliver to y'all jasper and aithne. [sets them down in your lap] goldie, laney, logan, will and i had a goddamn field day clowning on this goober. like what the fuck is "adrenaline rising in the back of my throat" but i digress. and with that, POGGIES, INTRO HELL IS OVER BOYS!1! thank you everyone for submitting to phobie's sexy ass syot! unfortunately i regret to inform that this will be the last hotcock sunday in the foreseeable future because phobie's taking a fat fucking hiatus while you guys catch up. can we get a doot doot in the chat.
on a totally different note, if you liked ellie's appearance in the district one intros from way back, i've got news for you! phobie's working on an epic side project called prosperity about ellie and how she fucks shit up in her games. it'll be out uh eventually so keep an eye out for that [finger guns] and with that we're done cut the goddamn cameras i don't get paid enough for this sh-
$wag im out this bitch,
boob
