Chapter 7:
Aberforth "Abel" Barringer, 18, District Four
Three Months Before The Reaping
Abel's feet are heavy as he slowly gets up the three steps leading to the front porch, his arm wavering as he pushes down on the railing from a day hauling material around the docks. But he pushes through and as he reaches down to help guide his leg up the last step, the porch lights flick on, bringing his attention to the door as it swings open, revealing the dumb grin of his best friend.
"Oh Abel, so sorry that we ate all the dinner, you just took so long!" Leith teases as Abel makes it up the last step, stopping to catch his breath and energy. His body just still can't handle this much exertion, yet he keeps pushing himself harder.
"Very funny, Leith," Abel shakes his head at his friend as he steps towards Leith and pulls him into a hug, patting his back a couple times before letting go of him. Leith follows him back inside and locks up the door as Abel takes off his jacket to hang by the door. "We both know my moms would never let you eat dinner without everyone home."
"Abel? Is that you?" Talise calls out from further in the house and he can hear her footsteps approaching until she rounds the corner, barefoot in her painter overalls and a brush tucked into the mess of curly hair piled on top of her head. She smiles when she sees her son and gives him a kiss on the cheek, just like she's done every day he's returned home the last two years. "Ah good timing, your sisters just finished setting the table. Come on!"
Abel turns to look over his shoulder at Leith, raising an eyebrow at his mother proving his point. Leith just chuckles at him and takes a quick step to walk next to him, throwing his arm around Abel's shoulders as they head towards the dining room. He knows better than to question why Leith is here, his mothers long ago establishing the rule that Leith can stay over with them whenever he wants. But he wants to question his friend today…everyone at work was gossiping about it today. Abel stayed out of it, avoiding the stares by ducking underwater to work, but he couldn't fight the curiosity in him to know the answer too.
But he also couldn't fight the jealous pit in his stomach every time he thought about the victors announcing the names, knowing he should have been there, knowing if everything had kept on track, they would have been calling out his name.
Abel holds in a sigh at this thought, hating the resentment he feels right now towards his best friend. He doesn't even know if Leith was chosen today, anything could have happened. And he has no right to be feeling this way. He had his karma for getting too cocky about training. This is just the last piece of it – never getting the honor of being the volunteer chosen by the victors.
At least he can blame exhaustion from the day of work for why he only has half a smile as he joins his sister and mother at the table with Leith. But when he looks across at Nereida, he knows his twin sees right through him, just like she always does. Abel gives her a pleading look to not bring it up, and she gives a subtle nod of her head before turning her attention to the food she's putting on her plate, but he can tell she's only staying quiet until later when they're alone.
The youngest of their family runs into the room, and Noel lets out a noise of excitement at seeing him back home and nearly tackles him out of the chair with a hug. "You're home!"
"Good to see you too," Abel pats her on the head, laughing as she throws herself into the seat next to him. "You act like I was gone for a month, not just the day at work."
"Yeah, but it's a big day and Leith refuses to tell me yet what happened and I'm dying to know," Noel drags out the last word dramatically, pretending to faint in her chair – always the dramatic one of the family.
"Noelani," Jorah says cautiously, and Noel sits up right away and stops laughing at their mother's tone. "Give Abel a moment to breath, he just got home from work."
"Yes, mom," Noel says quietly, intently staring at the food she scoops onto her plate.
Abel gives her a little nudge with his elbow, getting his youngest sister to barely glance his way. "It's no problem, alright?" He says quietly to her as Jorah starts fretting over her wife sitting at the table with paint all over her.
"Even if Leith is chosen, I bet Abel could still kick his ass," Hali jokes around with Abel before holding back a snicker as she spins their sister Brynn's plate around, waiting for her to take a bite of food while expecting something else. "His legs aren't stopping that."
"Hali, stop," Abel tells her, hating the pride and arrogance swelling in his chest at her telling him that. Brynn frowns as she turns in his direction, always quick to pick up on his mood from his voice. "The trainers made their choice with me years ago. We'll respect whatever decision they made for Leith."
"We still don't even know what that decision is!" Noel whines and Leith reaches past Abel to ruffle he wild mess of red hair. She swats his hand away, laughing as she does so.
"I suppose I can tell you now that Abel's home," Leith says, and the rest of the conversation at the table quiets down, everyone clearly waiting to hear what their honorary member of the family has to say. "Well…I was chosen."
Noel lets out a squeal of excitement and Brynn smiles at Leith, looking so proud of him for being picked as the volunteer. Nereida stares at Abel though, watching his reaction as he forces a smile for his friend. He knew this was the likely possibility ever since he was out of training…he just never expected this sting of jealousy towards someone he considers his brother. "That's great," Abel forces himself to say as he pats Leith on the back. "I'm really proud of you."
And he is…just also extremely jealous of Leith getting the opportunity that should have been his.
Abel's steps are slow as they walk out towards the water, needing the peace and clarity he gets from it after that dinner announcement from Leith. His best friend trails behind him, even as his face shows he's been nervous ever since Abel suggested going outside to talk. Abel slowly lowers himself to the sand, seeing where he's going in the moonlight and ignoring Leith offering a hand out to help him. Sometimes he might accept the offer, but not tonight…
Leith notices the jab right away and sighs as he sits down next to Abel. "I know you're upset so don't even try to lie to me."
"I'm not," Abel tries to say, but when Leith gives him a look, he shakes his head and turns away from him, staring out at the water in front of them. "I don't know what to think right now. I want to be happy for you…"
"But part of you still feels like it should have been you getting picked?" Leith offers and Abel glances over at his friend getting his thoughts spot on. "Yeah I've been thinking that too… Can I be honest with you Abel?"
"I'd be upset if you weren't," Abel responds to him, even though a part of him doesn't want to hear Leith talk about getting picked as the volunteer.
"I don't want to be the volunteer," Leith tells him, sighing heavily at this statement. "I felt like I had to say yes to it because maybe it's like I'm doing it for you. And that got me thinking…if everyone thinks I'm going to be the volunteer, no one will step forward to challenge me. In theory, I could just not volunteer and the spot would be open for anyone…"
"And then you would have the wrath of the victors coming down on you for not volunteering," Abel points out to him. "Don't do something stupid like that, Leith."
"Not even if it was to let you volunteer instead?"
Abel freezes up at this, slowly turning his head to look over at his friend. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"It's not at all," Leith answers honestly and tries to smile encouragingly at him. "Come on, Abel, I know it's been your dream all these years… Why not do it?"
"Because I'm a cripple, Leith, that's why I shouldn't," Abel snaps at him before immediately feeling bad about it. "I'm sorry…it's just not a possibility. I can't win the Games like this."
"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't think you could," Leith tells him softly, but Abel refuses to look at him, letting his emotions swirl and take him down the dark path he used to live in for the first few months after his injury. Now it's only occasionally he feels this worthless and useless, especially now as he sits next to his friend who is perfectly able and was chosen by the victors for Abel's biggest dream. Yet he can't blame his friend for it, not when he's risking the repercussion of not volunteering for him. "I think I should probably head home tonight instead of staying over."
"Probably," Abel whispers, scared of speaking louder and letting his best friend hear all the emotion in his voice. "Sorry, Leith, it's…just a lot to process after everything that's happened."
"I know…" Leith sighs and runs a hand through his hair before turning to face Abel directly. "Are we still cool man?"
Abel turns to him at this, confused by his question. "Dude, why wouldn't we? We've gone through a lot worse things together, like when you broke your pinky toe when we were eleven and you sobbed for hours."
Leith gently shoves him at this, holding back a grin and the tension between them breaks, "We swore never to mention that again."
"You did, not me," Abel smiles at his friend, holding back a chuckle. "I swore I would never let you live it down."
"That's true," Leith answers with a laugh before patting Abel's shoulder. "Whatever you want to do…just know I'm going to keep being your number 2 fan, right behind Noel."
Abel can feel his eyes prickling at this, feeling like a shitty friend for all the loathsome thoughts he had earlier towards Leith. He turns back to the sea, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself before answering Leith. "Thank you."
Leith gives him one last pat on the shoulder before standing up and quietly leaving Abel to sit at the edge of the water and think about what he offered. The dream that was shattered along with his bones two years ago…now sitting right in front of him. The dream that was all but guaranteed to him before he let his arrogance get the upper hand and karma taught him a very hard, but necessary lesson. He had finally let that dream go, knowing he wasn't going to ever get it. He accepted it and started to actually live again.
Yet now that it's presented to him once more…
"You should do it," Nereida says as she approaches quietly, making Abel jump at his twin interrupting his thoughts. She flops down into the sand next to him and Abel just shakes his head at her listening to their conversation. "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, you know. I wanted to make sure you're doing alright with that news. But Abel…seriously, give it some thought."
"I really don't know if I can do it," Abel tells her, finally admitting the fear in him ever since Leith suggested he take his place. "Sure, I can volunteer, but then what? Will the victors support me as a rogue volunteer? Will I even be accepted with the other careers? Can I out survive the others that don't have a physical injury? You don't know how badly I wish I could go into those Games like any other able-bodied person and win like Delmar did last year. But I'm not like everyone else," Abel gestures down at the braces around his ankles and feet, the last outward sign of his accident.
"Yes, you can do it, as yourself, not like everyone else," Nereida takes his hand, trying to get him to believe her. Her voice his harsh, yet compassionate, reminding him of the months after the injury when she would tell him day after day that he can keep pushing through the physical therapy and surgeries. "You have come back from the possibility of never walking again. You've pushed yourself to work in conditions that some men with normal legs can't even do. So I'm sorry, Abel, but you're not convincing me that you can't still go into the Games and win."
"But what if I don't win?" Abel asks her, the fear of death now a reality compared to his arrogant younger self. "I die. That's a worse fate than living this way."
Nereida shakes her head as she scoffs at him, and he knows he's in for some tough love from her, the kind that pushes him to get out of bed still some mornings. "I can't believe you right now. You have spent the last two years suffering to accept that your biggest dream could no longer come true and now that you have the chance to achieve it, you're too scared to take it. I'm scared too, Abel. That's why I dropped out years ago…I knew you would win then, and I still believe it. You're the strongest person I know and you've proven you can overcome worse things in life. You deserve this opportunity after everything that happened."
"I…" Abel lets out a sigh as he hunches over, overwhelmed by all of this. He just doesn't know what to think… "It's just a lot to think about and I don't know what I want anymore."
"Just make sure you take your time really thinking about it," Nereida tells him. "Don't let fear hold you back from doing something you might regret for the rest of your life."
"I won't," Abel says softly to her, staring out at the dark water in front of them and begging for it to calm him like usual or provide some sort of clarity. Even though he dislikes it…he can feel the jealousy rearing up in him at just the thought of his best friend going into the Games instead of him and knows his answer deep down. He knows what he wants to do…yet he's trying to hold back the arrogance he left behind after his accident, the emotion that led to him being like this in the first place.
But if he went into that arena as he is…Abel knows he can do it and prove everyone wrong that doubted him in his recovery. After all, if he can persevere through that, why can't he persevere in the Games?
Nelena Aquillen, Escort for District Four
As the victors take the stage to thunderous applause for the youngest of them, last year's victor, Nelena struggles to hold back her own overeagerness while keeping a balance of still being excited to be back in Four. She's spent years cultivating her public image, making sure the Capitol knows she's professional and polite, wants to do the job but not to bloodthirsty for tribute death… But she is very excited and proud to have brought home a victor last year, their first one after nearly a 20 year drought.
"Good morning, District Four!" Nelena tells the crowd, getting large cheers back in a stark difference to last year. Last year…they'd been so subdued – still mustering up energy to cheer for their volunteers – but nothing like this. She can feel her own grin beginning to form at everything about District Four and stops it from becoming a full grin, self-conscious of what the people back in the Capitol will think of her. But it's good to be back. "It's wonderful to be back here in District Four. What do you say, should we get this Reaping on the road and work towards getting back to back victors this year?"
Nelena can't fight the infectious good mood of the crowd, cheering as she goes to pick the first name. This year, she knows it won't matter who she calls out. But before…she had started to wonder if there would be a year when it did matter who she picked. Luckily Delmar won before it came to that… "Okay our first tribute is Folami Myrvold."
The young girl quickly makes her way up to the stage, not looking afraid of being reaped and cluing Nelena in to there definitely being a volunteer this year. But she'd be surprised if there wasn't after last year. "Are there any volunteers?" Nelena asks the crowd as Folami joins her on the stage, waving at some people to the side of the Reaping area.
"I volunteer," a person calls out right away, and there's little fuss as ze step forward from the front of the crowd, although a few people do give zim a few curious looks as ze take the stage. Ze look rather ordinary compared to other volunteers Nelena has had over the years, with shaggy brown hair all over the place and hanging over zir dull eyes, zir tall frame slouched a bit as ze take the stage, zir hands tucked in the white dentist coat – probably the most remarkable thing about zim – ze wear over a plain button down shirt and slacks.
Nelena takes a quick glance back at the victors to confirm this is the correct volunteer and when nothing seems out of the ordinary, so she turns back to face the volunteer and gives them a gentle smile. "Welcome, what's your name?"
"Orin Rensch," ze answer blandly and the crowd takes a second to react to Orin before giving applause.
"Welcome, Orin," Nelena says in a friendly tone before addressing the crowd once more. "Let's see who will be joining Orin!"
Nelena quickly picks her second name and calls them up, knowing it's just a formality before the volunteer steps forward. "And second we have Rhys Laisne."
This time the boy comes from the older group of children with just a hint of fear in his eyes, and Nelena gives him a reassuring smile and puts a hand on his shoulder for a moment before asking for volunteers. "And will there be a second volunteer today?"
"I volunteer!"
The crowd begins mumbling at the voice, the first indication to Nelena that this is not according to plan. "Okay everyone, make through for the volunteer," a second voice calls out, directing the group at the front to make a path to let the volunteer pass through.
"Leith, what the hell are you doing?" Okeanas yells out to him as she jumps to her feet and approaches the edge of the stage, murder in her eyes.
The second boy – the one Nelena can put together was supposed to volunteer – avoids Okeanas' eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and meeting her gaze as he puts his hand on the shoulder of the boy next to him. "Letting the true volunteer take his spot. I'll take whatever consequences, just let Abel do this." Leith then looks around the crowd near him, fixing them with a look and challenging them, "Anyone else want to face her wrath by daring to challenge Abel? No? Good, go get them buddy."
Abel takes a deep breath before stepping out of the crowd, pushing back his damp dark curly hair as he slowly walks towards the stairs, his gait slightly off as he keeps his legs mostly straight and swings them around instead of fully bending his knees. And for a good reason, due to the leather and metal braces attached to the boots he wears, supporting his ankles as he walks. He keeps his head high and a proud look begins to fill his features as he makes his way up the stairs, using the railing to help himself up, and at the top of the stairs, Nelena can see the emotions in his eyes as he struggles to hold back tears. "Aberforth Barringer, ma'am," Abel tells her when he reaches her, holding out his hand politely to shake hers. Nelena takes his hand, watching as the tears nearly pour over. "It's an honor to be up on this stage."
"Nice to meet you, Abel," Nelena tells him politely before looking over at Okeanas. Even she is a bit afraid of the victor, and she waits to see what she has to say about him volunteering.
"Someone else needs to mentor him because I sure as hell won't be," Okeanas says in a huff as she returns to her seat, arms crossed in anger as she instead glares down at Leith in the crowd.
"I'll do it," Muir speaks up quietly, starting a murmur in the crowd over the victor agreeing to mentor when she rarely does.
"Very well," Nelena says, surprised by this turn of events. She glances at both of her tributes before addressing the crowd. "Your tributes are Orin Rensch and Aberforth Barringer."
There we have District Four! Thanks to TheMayflyProject for Abel and goldie031 and dsalazz for Orin and Nelena! A much faster update this time around for Abel XD And just to clarify, Orin's pronouns are ze/zir/zim.
And with this, we have seen all of the career Districts! Quite the unconventional year in terms of volunteers, with two rogue volunteers. As always, I'd love to hear what you think about the chapter and Abel!
RQ #7: Do you think there will be a full career back or will it be fractured this year?
So good news, the next two chapters should come rather quickly as I have them fully written already! I'll update Senseless first but after that, we'll have two updates for this! And then I just have to crank through two more intros and we'll be all done with them and on to the fun stuff!
See you soon in D8!
