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צאצאים
tze⬩eh⬩tza⬩eem
progeny
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"Now. Where was I?"
"Silly Kesem! You were telling me about The Adventures of Kerem and Ella! Like always!"
"Ah, yes. Right, right, I remember now. Ahem. Ahem hem hem. Once upon a time…"
~.~.~
The television's on loud again.
Ella doesn't like TV; she would rather make up her own stories with her dollies and her brother than watch someone else's. But her parents seem to watch a lot of it. Every time Ella hears loud arguing from downstairs, Kerem reminds her that it's the silly Capitol reality shows that they like to watch. Though she's never understood why they like to watch characters argue so much – and besides, it must be weird to watch a TV show that has characters with your names. Either way, Ella never has time to think much about it; as soon as the TV turns on, Kerem is there to whisk her away.
And sure enough, just as Ella starts to hear yelling from downstairs, there's a knock at the door.
Finally, it's time for an adventure! That's Ella's favorite time of day.
Quickly, she shoves her dolls under her bed and rushes to open the door. Her brother slips through, closing it again before any of the shouting can meander up the stairs and into Ella's haven. "Are you ready, Lala?"
"Yeah! Where are we going today?"
"We're going through the magical portal to the land of the fairies."
"That's my favorite…"
"So let's go! Through the portal!"
"Through the portal!"
Quietly, Kerem slides open Ella's window, the portal to the land of adventure outside of her four walls. Ella holds his hand as she climbs up on the sill, then flips around and scrambles down the ladder that Kerem nailed to the side of the house. Just a moment after she reaches the bottom, she hears Kerem land beside her, feels his big hand slide into her smaller one.
Sister and brother lock eyes, matching grins spreading across their faces. And then, they take off.
They fly through the fields of Ten, vines and trees and bushes blurring in the little girl's vision; Ella's six-year-old legs are not long, but whenever she runs with Kerem, she feels like she's going at the speed of light. She glides through glades and bolts under branches, levitates over logs and soars across streams, all without letting go of her brother's hand.
She wouldn't change a thing about this for as long as she lives.
The two stop in front of a large, familiar tree, its massive trunk splitting at the bottom into gnarled, winding roots. "We've arrived at your castle, my liege," Kerem proclaims. "Would you like assistance in ascending your throne?"
"Why thank you, kind sir!" Ella giggles. "But I think I can do it myself."
"As you wish."
Nimbly, Ella scrambles up the roots, positioning herself so her back is against the trunk. "Good sir, fetch me my royal scepter."
"Only the finest for my liege," Kerem replies. He considers for a moment, then selects the prettiest stick he can see and presents it to his sister. "Is this one to your liking? I imported the gems all the way from District One."
"It is exquisite." Ella waves the scepter around her head, then gently boops her brother on the nose. "And with this scepter, I dub thee Kerem the Great, Knight of All Panem."
"It is my honor to serve you, Your Highness." Kerem bows, grandiosely sweeping his hand along the forest floor. "May I approach your throne?"
"With pleasure!"
Another giggle escapes her lips as Kerem reaches for her arm, planting a gentle kiss on the back of her hand. She can't help herself; Ella leaps off of her perch, throwing her arms around her brother's neck and her legs around his neck and squeezing as tightly as she can. There is nowhere she would rather be than right here.
"Ella," Kerem pants, "you are squeezing all of the air out of me."
Without missing a beat, Ella drops her arms so they're around Kerem's waist instead, nestling her head in the crook of his neck. For a moment they stand there, breathing as one, safe in the embrace of the woods.
(But nothing good can last forever.)
Gently, Kerem lowers Ella down to the forest floor, crouching so that their eyes meet. "I think today is the day that I let you in on my biggest secret."
"You have more secrets?!"
"I'm full of them. But this is my best one of all. And you have to promise not to tell a soul."
"I promise, I promise!"
"So let's go! Follow me."
The air around them grows darker as they plunge deeper into the forest, deeper than Ella ever remembers going before. Boughs cast long shadows over the path ahead of them, and the rustle of the leaves is more intimidating than welcoming. Ella shivers, but she holds her head high; Kerem is here, so nothing can hurt her.
Kerem is here, so nothing can hurt me. Kerem is here, so nobody can hurt me.
The more she repeats that in her mind, the more she can almost believe it.
Eventually, they come to a clearing where the canopy overhead isn't so thick; the sun's rays just barely manage to weave through the cracks between the branches, casting a soft, near-ethereal glow on the forest floor. Kerem drops Ella's hand, then steps around to face her.
"Welcome to the Fairies' Glade."
Ella's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. "Are there really fairies here?"
"Do you want to know a secret?"
"Yeah!" Ella exclaims, jumping up and down eagerly. "Tell me, tell me!"
"Alright, but we have to be very quiet. Can you be quiet?" Ella nods her head violently as Kerem ducks down to her level. He looks left, then right, then whispers right in her ear:
"I have no idea."
Ella pulls away, shocked. Kerem knows everything about everything. How can there be something that Kerem, smart, big, best brother Kerem, doesn't know?
Maybe he's just pretending not to know so that they can have a better adventure. He has a plan of a way for them to find out together, and then he'll take her to where the fairies live, and she'll get to have a pet fairy, and…
"But," Kerem continues, "I know how we can find out!"
"It's like you read my mind," Eila marvels. "I wanna find out! I wanna I wanna!"
"Shh, you'll scare them away!"
"Oops," she half-whispers, clamping her hand over her mouth.
"Better. Now, here's what we need to do to find out. We need to work together to build a house for the fairies. They need things like food and water and a place to sleep and be safe. And then we have to leave."
"Why?"
"Because then, tomorrow, we'll come back. And if the water and the food are gone, then we'll know the fairies are real!"
"But can't we wait to see the fairies themselves?" Ella whines.
"Fairies are scared of humans because we're really big and they're really small. So they're not going to come out if we're here. If we go away, then they'll come out and see all of the nice things we left for them! And maybe someday they'll realize we're the ones giving them food and water and shelter and they'll come out while we're here. We just have to be very patient and keep coming to give them what they need."
"What if they don't come at all?"
"Well, then maybe they didn't like the food we gave them and then we'll have to try something else."
"Ohh. That makes sense. But maybe we can get a whole bunch of foods now and see which ones they pick!"
"Yeah! Let's see what we can find."
So Ella follows Kerem into the woods, eyes scanning every nook and cranny for the perfect food for the fairies. Her arms fill with pretty flowers and picturesque mushrooms, acorn caps for water and wide leaves for shelter. It's moments like these, where nature envelops her in the truest sense of the word, that make Ella the happiest. Hours could pass and she wouldn't have a care in the world.
And hours do pass. It's not until the sun begins to set, casting a golden glow over the forest, that either sibling realizes just how late it is. Hand in hand, they bid farewell to the fairies' home, and make their way out of the forest.
They're five minutes from home when Ella freezes. "My scepter."
"What's up, Lala?"
"I left my scepter in the woods. I need it back!"
"Do you wanna go get it tomorrow when we check on the fairies?"
"My scepter…"
Ella looks down, trying not to let Kerem see the tears that well up in her big brown eyes. That was the scepter that Kerem picked out for her! If it isn't there when they come back tomorrow, it'll be gone forever, and maybe he won't be able to find another one and then…
"Here. You go run back home. I'll go get it for you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Go right back to your room, OK? I'll be back soon."
Ella throws her arms around her brother. "I love you the mostest."
"I love you too, Lala."
Ella watches for a moment as her brother rushes back towards the woods; it's not until the trees swallow him up that she turns and races home. She scrambles up the ladder, slips through the window, snatches her dolls out of her toy chest, and settles down onto her bed.
And then, she waits.
And she waits… and she waits… and she waits…
~.~.~
"And she waits, and she waits, and she waits, and she…"
"Eila, dinner's ready!"
"Coming!"
She picks up her dolls again. They take up much more space in her hands than when Kesem gave them to her. "Aw, Kesem," she exclaims, pitching her voice as high as she can - the same pitch she imagines her voice had when she was a child. "You never tell me the end of the story!"
"That's because I'm waiting for the right moment," she continues, dropping her voice much lower. "If I don't finish it, Lala, Kerem and Ella's adventure will never have to end."
"Just like yours?"
"Just like mine."
The girl clutches her dolls tightly to her chest. She gives each a kiss and places it in its bed, first the Kesem- Kerem doll and then the Ella one. Then, with a sigh, Eila Merel slips out of her room, closing her door gently behind her.
She's lost track of the number of days she's been waiting for Kesem to come home, to finish the story they started that day out in the forest. All she wants is to hear about the things he's seen since - why else would he leave her behind, after all?
(She's only been asking herself that for ten years.)
Rarely is there a day that Yonah Howard makes it home before sunset.
In the summer, the animals on Murmuring Creek Farmstead head out to pasture at dusk, right around the time the sun sets; nighttime is the only time when it's safe to deep-clean their stables. Meanwhile, in the winter, when the animals go out during the day, preparing feed and taking inventory have to happen at night.
There's a reason Yonah sets aside a small portion of her pay each week to maintain the headlamp on her bicycle: she cannot remember the last time she rode home while it was still light out.
Today is no different. If anything, Yonah's leaving later than normal, courtesy of the herd of cattle that refused to move out of the horses' pasture. By the time she finishes emptying her wheelbarrow into the compost heap behind the barn, there's barely a hint of color left in the darkening sky.
Yonah sighs. If she had the time, she'd love nothing more than to lay down in the pasture, listening to the brook babble as she watches the stars in the sky. But Yonah knows how anxious her mother gets when she returns home any later than dusk. So, with only a hint of reluctance, she returns to the barn to collect her tools and return them to the supply shed.
When Yonah reaches the central square, she's unsurprised to find that the line of workers waiting to enter the supply shed already wraps around practically the entire plaza. After all, Murmuring Creek is the second largest of the fifteen hub farms that sprawl across District Ten. Not even the best system could speed up the process of each worker checking in with the supply managers so that they can return their tools for the night so they can receive their clock-out voucher so they can bring it to the Lodge so they can be properly paid.
Really, the only thing that could make the process faster would be hiring more supply managers, a suggestion that's floated to the farm's upper management at least once a month, but the response is always the same: there is no room in the shed for any more people. So when Yonah sees a figure walk out of the supply shed, she can't help but groan; surely this will add at least half an hour to her wait time.
That is, until she realizes that the person is heading right towards her.
Yonah brightens as she realizes who it is: Thea, her best friend and the youngest supply manager. Thea rarely works this late, so the chance to see her at the end of a long day like this makes Yonah feel a little less bothered by the wait. She reaches out and waves in Thea's general direction, figuring that if she can see who Thea is, Thea should be able to figure out who she is.
Sure enough, Thea finds her way to Yonah's side. But even in the dim lighting, Yonah can see the worry that floods Thea's face. "Is everything okay?"
Thea swallows hard. "I… I need you to come with me."
"What's going on?" Yonah asks.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. Your name was just on the list of people I was asked to bring to the Lodge."
Yonah nods, a chill running down her spine. Thea's the lowest on the totem pole of supply managers by far; this is obviously a directive from someone far higher up. There's really no choice but for Yonah to leave her spot in line and follow Thea.
The two girls walk in silence to the Lodge, the building in the center of the farmstead that serves as its administrative center. But instead of going around to the back processing windows, where workers drop off their clock-out vouchers and pick up their mail and pay, Thea leads Yonah to the front of the lodge, to its main doors. She knocks three times on the front door; a moment later, as the door opens, Thea takes the tools out of Yonah's hands. "Good luck. Let me know what happens, if you can."
Taking a deep breath, Yonah steps inside, and is met by a Peacekeeper holding a clipboard. They lead Yonah to a small room, with hardwood floors and sky blue walls. Two black leather couches sit on either side of a small glass table, which sits on top of a thin blue rug. The whole space looks too clean, as if it's used once a year, at most.
(Rather than forcing everyone to come to Ten's Center City for the Reaping, each hub farm gathers the eligible citizens who fall in its governance area for simulcasted Reapings. Any Reaped tributes say goodbye to their families in their farm's central building, before being brought to the train station by car to leave for the Capitol.
The room in which Yonah is sitting must be one of those rooms.)
(It occurs to Yonah that she does not know the last time that a tribute was reaped from the Murmuring Creek governance area.)
An eternity passes before anyone joins Yonah in the room. Yonah looks up as the door opens, admitting another Peacekeeper, who holds a single envelope in their hand, sealed with the symbol of the Capitol. "Ms. Howard?" the PK confirms, gently closing the door behind them.
"Yes. That's me."
The PK's voice is stern, but tinged with a hint of compassion. "Good evening. I am here as a representative of the Bureau of Transportation and of the Department of Hunger Games affairs. It is my duty today to inform you that you have been placed on a Reaping Statute for the upcoming 130th Hunger Games, and by extension, placed on the Restricted Travel list for the same duration."
"A Reaping Statute?" Yonah feels her stomach drop. She still remembers the broadcast during which the new Statute System was introduced. Yonah can't say she remembers all the details – there were a lot of them – but she remembers the gist: fucking up in the Capitol's eyes means extra chances to be Reaped.
(Her whole life, Yonah has done nothing but stay in line and work hard. To bring in money for her family, to ensure that her family would not have to take tesserae.
(to prove herself in her father's eyes)
What will a Reaping Statute mean for her employment prospects? What will her parents say when they find out?)
(what could Yonah have possibly done?)
"All of the details are in this envelope," the PK explains, "You are welcome to read it here or to take it-"
Yonah doesn't even let them finish. She tears the envelope open and pulls out the packet of pristine white paper inside. Yonah flips through it quickly – there's an introductory letter for whatever reason, an overview of how statutes are calculated, enforced, and distributed, and then…
𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚜
𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎: 𝚈𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚑 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 | 𝙲𝙸𝙳: 𝟷𝟶-𝙸𝙳-𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟾𝟷𝟾𝟸𝟷
𝙳𝙾𝙱: 𝙼𝚊𝚢 𝟸𝟹, 𝟷𝟷𝟻 | 𝚁𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛: 𝙵
𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜: 𝟷
𝚂𝚎𝚕𝚏-𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜: 𝟶
𝙾𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜: 𝟷
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝙸𝙳: 𝟷𝟶-𝚂𝚃-𝟿𝟸𝟾𝟺𝟿𝟷𝟸𝟸 | 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎: 𝙴𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚣𝚣𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝙲𝚊𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚘𝚕 𝙵𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜
𝙰𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘: 𝙺𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍 | 𝙱𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚛(𝚜): 𝚈𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚑 𝙷𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍
Yonah jerks her head up. "What does this part mean? Assigned to and Bearer."
"It means that one of your parents committed a crime considered severe enough for you to have been assigned a statute because of it. The statute threshold for crimes committed by adults is much higher than-"
Yonah cuts the Peacekeeper off. "Is that all you are here to discuss with me?" she asks, perhaps more sharply than she should.
"I am here to answer any questions you may have."
"So can I go?"
"You may. Please read carefully the…"
Yonah barely listens to the PK's trailing-off voice as she throws the door open, letter clutched so tightly in her hand her knuckles turn white. She's sure that people are watching her as she bursts out onto the central plaza, beelines for her bike, hops on, and pedals away, as fast as her legs can carry her. But Yonah could not could not give any less of a fuck. Right now, there is only one thing that Yonah has any interest in doing.
One person with whom Yonah has any interest in talking.
(She's worked so hard for years to keep herself as far away from the Hunger Games as possible. For her family's sake, of course, but also for her own sanity. Yonah does not have the time or the energy to think about all the ways another child might dismember her or poison her or slit her throat in her sleep, not when there's work to be done day to day.
But now, those thoughts have been pushed to the forefront of her brain. Images of herself on a chariot, on the interview chair, waiting on her pedestal for her certain demise flash through Yonah's mind like lightning.)
(If she was able to be at all rational, Yonah would remind herself that it is not a guarantee that she'll enter the Games, that her statute simply represents an increase in her odds. But the only thought that runs through Yonah's mind is that the person who's supposed to protect her from harm has put her closer to harm's way than she's ever been before, than she has ever wanted to be.)
She swears she makes it home in record time. Yet she still finds her mother waiting on the porch in a thin robe, as she always does when Yonah arrives home late. Normally, Yonah would at least pretend to humor her mom's worried fretting and flitting as she ate the dinner that was always warm and waiting for her.
But Yonah has no patience for her mother today. Instead, she goes directly into her parents' room and slams the letter down right on Kaden Howard's chest.
"You have some fucking explaining to do."
hehe hi everyone! Good to see you all back here again for my more or less monthly updates. Thank yous are in order this time to District11-Olive for Eila and to Team Shadow for Yonah! I hope you are enjoying watching each other's reactions to this chapter and I am sure you're not both freaking out about it.
As always, a small plug for the SYOT Verses Discord server! SYOT Verses is the current hub for SYOT authors and submitters, as well as for those who are writing fics with their own THG OCs. It's my baby and I am always so happy to welcome new members in! You can check it out through this link, just delete the spaces: discord . gg / mUXHvTzxq6
I know it's taking me Ages to get through intros but I really appreciate everyone's patience as I go through it! As I write this, I've made some progress into D9, and am hoping to have that chapter ready by the end of April. I can't wait to see you then!
xoxo, xxxi