Writer Games | Masquerade of Martyrs & Family Ties

Task Six: The Plagues/QF - Males

District Five - Avner Emerson

DID NOT HAND IN. VALID REASON BUT EH.

-----------------------------

District Twelve - Egan Agni

There came a mighty big  rumblin' comin' over the sky. Like them thunderclouds and them lightnin'  strikes back home in Twelve, it was nearly that loud. I couldn't see  much. I knew I was back in my own lil' field an' all, but else than  that, I knew nothin'. The sky was a pretty blue, like my ma used'ta  like, so I was mighty confused 'cause there ain't supposed to be no  thunder 'xcept when it's dark. And it certainly wasn't dark, I'll tell  ya.

I was sittin' there,  listenin' to them grumblin' and buzzin' and humming of them clouds  coming over an' then right above me, if you would believe it, I saw this  cloud, a dark cloud, moving right fast across the sky. Jus' zoomin'!  Boy, was that ever a sight! I nearly forgot about my whole weird dream  an' all as I stared at it. It was mighty mesmerizing an' I stared an'  stared as it grew bigger an' bigger an' bigger. I didn't hear no one in  the distance, so I assumed the cloud was a mighty nice cloud, but still.  I leaned right back and rested my head in my hands as it just grew and  grew so it covered the sky. It didn't look like no cloud back home, but  it was still nice. It certainly cooled me down, since that sun was  beatin' down real hard.

I almost thought that  the cloud was comin' right at me, to be honest with ya. I saw these lil'  flyin' things start flyin' down, like the cloud was right disappearin'.  Alluva sudden, though, I'll tell ya, I heard this little buzz in my  ear, and when I blinked, alluva sudden there was a great swarm of bugs.  We didn't have much bugs back home, an' truth be told, I wasn't mighty  fond of them. They were gross and loud and alluva sudden the cloud was  right near my face and I realized it wasn't no cloud at all! It were  these lil' critters, and before I knew it, they were all up my nose an'  creepy crawlin' around me. I tried t'scream, but boy, those lil' buggers  tried to get in my mouth, too!

Boy, I'll tell ya I  hadn't the faintest clue what to do. Ma wasn't here no longer, but these  lil' critters, they were scramblin' and munchin' down on my field  stalks and on my clothes and they wriggled down right close to me. I  squirmed, but they jus' kept comin'. They were large, like them crickets  back home, but slightly different. I was mighty afraid, to tell ya the  truth. I couldn't see an' I couldn't breathe so my heart was racin' real  quick. I felt like my heart was gonna explode, it was mighty  terrifying. I hate them bugs an' I was terrified an' I couldn't see so I  jus' had to wait, 'xcept I couldn't wait 'cause I couldn't breathe.

Suffocating, the lil'  critters kept coming an' I heard this mighty cannon an' for a moment I  thought it was someone destroyin' all the buggers but it wasn't 'cause  they didn't go away. An' so I just laid there, an' I tried to breathe  through my nose but they kept comin'. An' kept coming an' comin' an'  comin. They wouldn't never stop, but I just did what ma always told me  an' I just laid right still and waited. Patience, ma said, was very  important. So I did.

-----------------------------

District Thirteen - Ashley Fission

When Ashley finally awoke from the nightmares that haunted his sleep, the world around him was dark.

However, instead of  simply being dim as if someone had turned out a light or blown out a  candle, it was almost as if the sun itself had been extinguished  completely, leaving behind a land of perpetual night. A cold wind blew,  seemingly from nowhere, and not a single sound penetrated the cloak of  darkness that engulfed him.

If Ashley reached out  to feel in front of him, his hand became swallowed in the darkness and  he was unable to see it. If he dared to stand up, he lost his feet  beneath him. Every time he blinked, he was not sure if he even opened  his eyes again.

Anything could have been surrounding him.

Ashley made himself  as small as he could. He could feel the rough bark of the tree that he  lent against but it's branches were lost above him, possibly hiding any  number of threats or monsters that were waiting for the opportune moment  to take him out of the Games. Any tribute could be hidden around him,  brandishing any sort of torturous weapon and controlled only by the  desire to take down one more competitor.

Throughout his sleep,  tears had finally managed to find their way down his cheeks accompanied  by the nightmares he continued to relive whilst not in the land of the  awake. However, once his eyes were open, the world around him seemed to  be more terrifying and of a bigger concern. Almost as if he had been  locked away, isolated from anything else around him, he felt completely  alone.

He could easily have been dead.

At least, that was  certainly what it felt like. Within the darkness, there was no sound or  movement to indicate any other living thing. The only sensation was a  cool breeze, a chilling reminder of death itself. Ashley could not even  hear the sound of his own heartbeat or feel the blood rushing through  his veins. He wanted to call out, even just to hear the sound of his own  voice, but something seemed to smother his mouth and prevented from  making any sort of noise. All around him, there seemed to just be  nothing.

Was this what Aries was feeling?

Even in the midst of  panicking about everything around him, Ashley's mind quickly stretched  straight back to his twin. Before, he had tried his hardest not to think  about Aries simply because he knew he would never stop; if he allowed  himself the luxury of remembering his twin, he would not be able to stop  and would simply spiral down a route of regret, remorse and  broken-hearted anguish. Now, he had reached that point. He had fallen  into the abyss.

Within the darkness,  Ashley wanted to lash out. He finally wanted to release all of the  uncontrollable emotion that was building up inside him, full of anger,  rage and a desire to pretend none of this had ever happened. In his  brother's name, he was certain he would have been capable of taking down  everyone that had anything to do with this torture they had been forced  into. Instead, the black that surrounded him seemed to lock him into  position, forcing him to stay still and fear for his own safety.

Unless, of course, he  was already dead. That might have even been the preferable option,  locked within a world where there was no light or warmth, but also were  there was no pain or regret. If he was dead, there was no pressure on  him to win these Games for his brother because he had already lost. He  would not have fought for Aries but, in Ashley's own little way, he  would have escaped.

Even though no one  could see, Ashley's tear-stained face became graced with a smile. Even  if it was brought by death, an escape sounded good to him. After all, he  would have been allowed to leave the Games without having to make a  single direct kill. He could not imagine the anguish of seeing the  bloodshed at the very beginning of the Games or feeling your own blade  drag slowly against the delicate neck of a screaming competitor, their  crimson blood dripping slowly down onto your hand.

No - instead, Ashley had the murder of his own brother weighing him down. Indirectly, of course, but the regret was still there.

The darkness  continued to stretch out, trapping Ashley within it's cold, heartless  grasp. Even if he had wanted to move, he was almost certain that he  would not have been able to. Instead, he was forced to stay still with  nothing but his own mind to torment him. There was no other sort of  stimulation, only his growing and unfamiliar emotion that seemed to  surround everything.

He could not have  been dead. In the afterlife, there was meant to be no pain whilst Ashley  still felt as if his own heart had been ripped into two jagged pieces.  The mere thought of having to endure the torture of life itself for just  a moment longer was almost soul-destroying but, as much as he hated it,  the promise that he had made his brother to win still stood provided  that his heart continued to beat.

However, despite this  realisation that his own life continued, Ashley forced a small amount  of happiness to remain on his face. He remembered the face of Aries,  beaten down, broken and ready to give up but still with the childish  glint that he had always had right up until the moment he had chosen to  die.

If Aries had taught his brother anything, it was that heroes greet death like an old friend.