Author Games: Written in the Stars

Task Two - Elementary, My Dear... - Males

AQUARIUS - Aura Caelum

Aura had never seen a tornado before.

He had experienced wind several times. In Aquarius, he had grown to love the slight breeze that could tussle his hair and make the winds on the trees rustle and whisper to him. In fact, the movement of the air was one of the few sensations that could cause a bright smile to spread across his face and a tinkling laugh to escape his lips. However, the tornado was far different from what he had ever experienced before. He could feel the breeze that he was used to but it was so strong it threatened to pull him off his feet. It created the sound of a howling wolf, clearing a path of whatever stood in front of it; Aura was among those items threatening to be crushed and blown away.

There was one specific trait, on the other hand, that caused Aura to feel a level of fear he had not experienced before. A chorus of screams accompanied the sound of the strong wind, signifying the poor, unfortunate people that had already been claimed by its power. If the tornado grew to close, it could sweep you off your feet and pull you into the air; this was not necessarily deadly, but you certainly met your end when the wind tossed you back towards the ground or compressed you between many other pieces of debris. The clouds soon became tinged by crimson, signifying the fallen. Aura only had one option.

He ran.

When put into a comparison, the other tributes were a considerably smaller problem than Aura's current situation which meant he was happy to escape in any direction. However, it was impossible for anyone to outrun such a threat, especially for a small boy who still did not understand where he was or what he was supposed to be doing. He preferred to think things over logically, allowing himself to deconstruct every experience into a selection of stories and statistics. He never had chance to do this with the tornado. Instead, he was completely certain that the tornado was only constructed of danger.

Aura needed shelter but the clouds would offer very little. There were no buildings were he could run or call home, protected by the structure that would have surrounded him. Instead. there was only an open area where the tornado could continue to pursue him. Where was he supposed to go? The screams of the others continued to ring through Aura's mind, a constant reminder of what exactly awaited him if he did not escape. Aura may have been confused but he was beginning to understand death.

He continued to run, his feet refusing to make a sound on the soft cloud beneath his feet. He was not particularly fast but, luckily, the tornado was slowed by the unfortunate things that were caught in its path. They were crushed and dismantled beneath its power but they granted poor Aura a few more vital seconds. He was almost certain that the wind had turned on him, deliberately hunting him down as if it was a very one-sided version of tag or hide and seek. Aura did not want to play.

Unfortunately, he still lacked a choice. Aura's only option was to keep running, even when the thought of danger awaited him around every corner. His lungs would burn if he continued to run for too long, his heart threatening to beat so hard that it would escape from his chest. He lacked stamina; he could not keep going if the tornado was going to pursue him. This was one threat that he could not attack with a knife.

Death had already been caused by the powerful force of nature. Aura was aware that his life - one of the only things he had left from before whatever game he was being forced to play - was almost being snatched away from him. He did not think that was fair. The wind had far more advantages than he did. That was not a quality that made a good game to play: the loser had already been decided.

PISCES - Conway Douglas

"You remind me a bit of one of my sisters."