Her dress grew heavier and heavier as it soaked up water like a sponge. She kicked her feet, trying to stay afloat but to no avail. Her heavy dress was greatly affecting her buoyancy and she was sinking, fast. Her head bobbed up and down, under water, above it, under water, above it, under water... Her lungs worked overtime, trying to fill themselves up with air before being swept under again. She came up again, gasping and sputtering for breath. Tossing her soaking wet bangs out of her face, she searched for a ship, a person, anyone in this normally populated area. She turned her head and sucked in another breath. It was different from the rest of her deep breathes, though. She breathed so deep because of her fear. Fear of the wave of huge magnitude that was coming straight at her. It raced over her head and came crashing down, forcing her under water with its pressure. She went down again. She didn't come back up. Her legs were kicking, her hands scratching her throat. She resisted the impulse to release the tiny amount of air she still had and take a deep breath, to fill her lungs with fresh new air that she desperately needed. But there was no fresh air to fill her lungs with. There was only the blue water that surrounded her on all sides and kept getting darker and darker as she went deeper and deeper. Her thrashing limbs calmed, choosing instead to relinquish as her body begin to shut down from the lack of a very important thing; air. Her eyelids began to feel weighted and slowly started to slide shut. She struggled to stay awake; she tried to focus her blurry eyesight on the fading light. But she was unsuccessful. Her eyelids finally slid shut and darkness encircled her world. Her arms fell from her neck and her body took a huge shudder and let go of her one last bit of air. A small bubble took form and floated up to the surface. Slimy seawater slithered into her mouth and filled her lungs. Her small frame sank into the depths of the black ocean and she disappeared into the darkness.
***
She awoke to the smell of apple pancakes. She slowly opened her eyes than shut them again, her mind not used to the brightness of the sun yet. She opened her mouth and yawned, ignoring the tears that started in the corner of her eyes. She stretched her arms above her head and waited for the satisfying pop. She brought her arms down and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and into the soft rug that lay next to her bed. She blinked her eyes open, squinting a little, but eventually she just opened her eyes up all the way. She pushed herself off her bed and slowly padded to the door, but her navigational sense was a bit off. She cursed as she rammed into wall right next to the door. She shuffled a bit to the right and opened the door. She followed her nose down the white walled hallways and into the airy kitchen. The bright sunshine of the morning shined through the huge windows and into the sky blue walled room. A corkboard bulletin board was on the far end of the room, a calendar pined up on it. One date in particular was circled in bright red sharpie. Her eyes widened and she quickly moved to the calendar. Her finger traced the black x's that came before it, her finger landing on the circled date.
She heard a soft chuckle behind her. She turned suddenly and met the knowing eyes of her nurturer, her mother. "Feeling apprehensive, Mar?"
She blushed and turned away. "No- no of course not. I know I'll do fine." She replied, though it seemed like she was trying to reassure herself more than her mother. "This is what I've been trained my whole life to do. People depend on me. If I do anything less than perfect, then I won't be the only one getting chastised. I must do prefect!"
Her mother smiled, happy about her reaction. She turned her back and walked over to dish out the apple pancakes. Mar studied her for a second, she watched the braid of brown hair sway with the rest of her mother's body as she hummed a little tune and then she looked back at the calendar. Her hand unconsciously formed a fist. She couldn't fail!
"Mom," she said demanding her mother's attention. She got it. Her mother looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "I need to get ready. Thanks for making the pancakes, but... I don't think I have the stomach for them." With that she ran back up the hallway and into her room.
***
"Mar! Come on out! It's time!" Her mother called, knocking on her door. When she heard no answer she knocked louder. "Marlene!"
The opening of the door cut her off mid- knock. Mar stood there, one hand clutching the front of her dress, the other holding the back together. She smiled sheepishly. "Can you lace me up?" Her mother smiled, happy to know that her daughter still needed familial interdependence. She waltzed into the middle of her cluttered room. Drawers pulled open, articles of clothing falling out onto her rug covered floor. The doors on her wardrobe swung on the hinges haphazardly, dresses and sweatshirts falling of the hangers. Her mother looked a Mar, an amused smirk on her face. Mar blushed. "I- I didn't know what to wear, okay?"
Her mother didn't answer, instead choosing to walk over to her, jumping over the prominent piles of clothing. She stepped behind her and took the laces from her hands. She tugged on them, hard and Mar wheezed out, "To- ...tight." Her mother again didn't say anything, but loosened the laces and tied it into a neat bow. She took Mar's blonde hair out of the messy bun it was formerly in and brushed it with her fingers. She strode in front of her and smiled, satisfied with her work.
"You look gorgeous, Mar. Don't disquiet; it doesn't fit your calm disposition." Her mother said in a soothing voice, trying to calm her fears. "The Congregation of Elders would be crazy if they didn't choose your request."
Mar's head shot up sharply and her eyes widened. It was a serious transgression to disrespect the Elders. Though it does depend on how disrespectful the infraction was you still could get arrested. She knew her mother was only trying to make her feel better but she could do that without insulting the Elders, couldn't she? They were lucky that the Elders were kind and didn't infringe on their privacy.
"But- But they'll choose you because they aren't crazy!" Her mother smiled nervously and looked around the messy room again, half expecting to see someone jump out of the walls and arrest her. She stared at the wall for a few seconds and Mar moved to touch her shoulder, worried. Her mother spun around and looked at her shocked.
"What are you still doing here Marlene? You have to go now or you're going to be late!" She said, shooing her out of her room and down the hall. "Be yourself, don't embarrass yourself and be careful!" She shoved her out the door and proceeded to trip on the flat surface. Mar bit back a laugh and smiled at the irony of the situation.
She waved to her mother and called back to her. "Wish me luck!"
Her mother smiled and got up off the floor. She pushed off imaginary dust and looked up at her. "I would but you don't need it!" she yelled jokingly. Mar turned back and focused on the road. Her mother was right. She didn't need luck because the Elders were sure to choose her.
***
She arrived last. All of the other representatives were there, most older than her and a mix of genders. Everyone there was meticulously fixing their hair or adjusting their clothes. A few looked up to stare at her but not many. She obviously wasn't worth their precious time.
"Who are you?" A nasally voice asked. Mar sighed. Okay, so maybe she was worth the time of one whiney girl. She perked up at one thought. If all of them are like this then I'm guaranteed to get chosen! "Hull-low! Anyone in there?" Mar was interrupted from her thoughts. A snicker. "If all of them are like this than there's no competition!"
Mar looked up at the nasally speaker, who happened to be a girl, in annoyance. She was a little angry for being forced out of her thoughts. This was a big event and she had to be prepared. She breathed in and out, succeeding in calming herself down. She forced a smile on her face. "Hello. I'm Marlene Adams of Fisherman District #4. And who are you?"
The raven hair girl looked at her, her thin eyebrows raised and her hazel eyes clearly unimpressed. "The Fisherman District? Pu-lzee. Who cares about them? As if we need them."
"Considering the fact that most families eat fish every night, I would indeed say we need them. Now, if your goal here is only to poke fun at my district and I, I would prefer it if you did it further away so I won't have to listen to your amazingly annoying voice. Run along now." With that Mar turned around and stalked away, leaving the flabbergasted girl behind. She walked over to pearly marble steps of the large capital building where the Elders met and chose which request and representative to choose.
"Nice job." A male voice whispered in her ear. She spun around, tendrils of her hair whipping her face. In front of her was a young man, mostly likely in his early twenties, late teens. He had messy brown hair, laughing green eyes and a smirk permanently etched on his face. "Most people don't have the guts to stand up to Miss Rose, considering that she is the daughter of one of the Elders. I applaud you." He leaned in closer and Mar could smell the cinnamon, sap and pine needles off of him. His eyes darkened. "So I'm guessing you're in on it?"
Mar's face was pale white. Elder's dau- daughter! Would this affect her chances? Could one snappy remark affect their choice? Sh- She can't fail! Mar pushed the young man out of her way silently thanking him for telling for telling her about this. She'll go apologize to Miss Rose and then her slate will be wiped clean! Prefect! And it won't affect her chances at all! As she was caught up in her thoughts, she failed to notice the young man she left behind. She failed to notice his smirk disappearing and the assumed look in his eyes gone. She even failed to notice him calling out to her, "So I guess not, right?" and then under his breath, "Darn. I kind of liked her."
***
They had been waiting for a long time. Too long. She looked around and noticed all that almost all of the representatives were gone. They could have just left! She thought. This is too important to each district. You'd be a major disgrace if you just left!
The semi- serene environment that had been in place before was replaced with panic. The Elders were taking much too long to even show up. What if they weren't choosing this year? What if something happened to them? What if the rebels broke in? Whispered murmurs were spread throughout the crowd. Muttered rumors, none too good, were passed from ear to mouth, almost like a game of telephone, getting more twisted as it went along.
The only rumor Mar paid attention to was the last one. The rebels possibly invading the capital. They were a group of people who were unsatisfied with the Elders and the rules they placed over the country. Why would they be, Marlene had no idea. The Elders were good people who did what they thought was best for the country. For the people. Before the Elders, there was chaos. Violence. Killing. War. With the Elders came peace and prosperity. They separated people with their families, into different districts were they would all play an important part in society. And every year, the Elders held a meeting where all the representatives from all the districts came forward and requested a change for their district. The requests, of course had to be reasonable and something that the Elders could help with. The elders would choose which request to grant by who needed it the most. Some years, the Elders even choose to grant two requests. The rebels were people who were unhappy with the part they played. Most of them were from Miner Districts and Factory Districts, a few from Hunting Districts, Planting Districts and sadly Fisherman Districts. Even fewer were from Entertainment District, Teaching District and Healing District. Mar knew that some conditions in some districts were less then great, but that's hardly a reason to rebel. If they were so unhappy with their districts, they could bring it up to the Elders and ask to be switched. If their conditions were that awful, that could be their request, to have better conditions. In Marlene's opinion the rebels were just silly people with no real cause to rebel.
A scream rang through the air. Mar's head jerked up and she started to shove people out of the way, trying to see what was going on. She hated being short. After ducking under armpits, dodging elbows and literally crawling through legs, Mar made it to the front. There on the marble steps lay Miss Rose, daughter of an Elder and the one who Marlene basically told to bugger off. Her neatly combed raven hair was windswept, like she was running. But what was she running from? Her hazel eyes were wide with fear. What was she scared of? Only the Elders were in the capital building and that was obviously were she just came from. What could she- Realization dawned in the eyes of many. The- The- "The- the..(pant).. REBELS!" She was panting, so her breaths came out in gasps. But everyone heard her words just fine. It started out as silence and then there was a crescendo of voices. And chaos erupted.
"The rebels are here!"
"What about the Elders?!"
"We have to save them!"
"Those violent men! How dare they do something as low as keeping the Elders as hostages!"
"Ridiculous, right?" The young man was back at Marlene's side. "Rebels invade and they immediately panic. Complete adherence. They'll do anything to get their Elders back. How pathetic. It will be the end of them. But they don't have to worry about them being kept hostage. Like the rebels would sink as low as keeping people hostage." Mar glanced over at the young man. His arms were crossed and his face was impassive. He was the only one of many who didn't seem to care about the Elders. In fact, he referred to the Elders as "their Elders". Her eyes widened and stole another glance at him. He couldn't be- "They'd kill them."
"What?! They'd kill them?! How could you say that so nonchalantly?! You're- You're one of them! One of the rebels!" She screamed all while backing away from him. All of the representatives turned their gazes to them, the anger and fear palpable in their looks. She cringed at their looks, but he, he absorbed them. His smirk was back and it was obvious that he loved the attention. He put his hands in the pockets of his dress pants and laughed.
"How rich! Just one rebel stands in your midst and you choose to fear him instead of charging him." He spread his arms wide. "Come on. Against all of you I'm defenseless, I can't win." No one moved. He let his arms drop and the smirk was replaced with a look of boredom. "How boring. You're all cowards. How are you supposed to save your precious Elders if you can't attack one rebel?" He sneered, his upper lip curling and his nose scrunching, forming a most unattractive face. "There are thousands of rebels, you wouldn't stand a chance. I was supposed to recruit some more rebels, but I don't want cowards as friends. Good- bye." He turned around and waved his left hand, showing the tattoo clearly imprinted on it. An eagle being overrun by spiders. The sign of the nation being killed by creatures too low for it to even eat. The sign of the rebels.
Marlene cursed. Why didn't she notice that before? It was right on his hand! He wasn't even wearing gloves! He was showing it off to the world, waiting to see if anyone would be observant enough to see it! If she only noticed it earlier! If she did, he would have been arrested and the choice would have been made. The Fisherman District would have been chosen, she would have gone home and her mother would have been proud of her. But he and his stupid rebels just had to go and ruin it for her, didn't they? They did! And now what are we doing? Letting him walk away? Letting him go home unscathed? He just said that he was going to kill the Elders! They can't let him do that! In her fury, Marlene slid her nude pump off her foot and chucked it at his head. The heel of her shoe dug into his head and bounced off. He turned around his eyes shining with excitement as he stared at Mar who was holding her other shoe in her hand. "How dare you go after the Elders!" She threw the other shoe. "For the Elders!" And she took off running, straight at him.
The other representatives looked at her for a second before they all charged at him as well. "For the Elders!" was the constant battle screech. The young man was right. Although he did dodge the first few punches there was no way he could dodge the others. Especially if there were about five dozen more people than him. It felt good at first, charging at him and fighting, but it also felt violent and too natural. Like she was made for beating people up. It felt wrong how easy it came to her. And then he couldn't even defend himself. It was disgusting to see them beat up an already beat up man.
After all the representatives made sure that the young man was unable to even lift a finger, they raced up the steps and into the capital building. She could hear their battle cries from all the way outside bouncing off the marble walls. She moved to go in to help them, but a usually strong grip circled around her ankle and didn't let go. She looked at the ground and saw that the hand was attached to the bloodied body of the young man looking straight at her. She blushed. "You- you better not be looking up my dress." She stammered out. He looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Then he burst out laughing, which ended up with him coughing his lungs out.
"Of- all- things- to- be- worried- about- you're- worried- about- me- looking- up- your- dress?" He wheezed out between coughs/laughs. He managed to calm down, but with no help from her bright red face and stammering protests.
"Why are you stopping me?" she asked when he was calm and his face turned the other way, due to her insists. His hand was still wrapped around her ankle, refusing to let her go.
He didn't answer, choosing instead to think carefully about his answer. "You wouldn't be able to win."
She looked at the back of his head, shocked. She too knew that she or any of the other representatives wouldn't be able to fight the rebels and win. The rebels were trained fighters, whereas the representatives tended to be peace loving people, who avoided violence at all costs. She was a little surprised at how fast they all jumped into battle. Maybe they all realized that there was no other choice. No other way to save the Elders. And although fighting came naturally, she wasn't even on par with the young man without the others holding him back or without the element of surprise. And there were most likely men in there who were far better than him. None of them would stand a chance. But then a question arose in her mind. "Why do you care if I get hurt or not? What do you have to gain?"
He hesitated again. "I like you girl, you've got spunk. I would really like it if you became my friend.-"
Mar saw where he was going. "No way in hell, buddy. I'd rather die than join you're little gang of rebels."
He snorted. "Little gang, that's funny. Thanks to recent acquisitions, our "little gang" is practically guaranteed to win. You lap dogs stand no chance."
"Lap dogs?!"
"Yea, you know, because you do everything the Elders tell you to do. You believe everything they say. Heck, if they told you there was no war you'd believe them. Like I said before, it's pathetic."
She was about to make a snappy retort, but then she realized that he was kind of right. The districts did do everything the Elders told them to do, without questioning them, ever. The Elders told them the rebels were bad, the rebels were bad. Maybe they weren't so bad; maybe they did have a good cause, maybe... Mar shook her head, even if it was a little true; it did a big number on her pride. "Why do you fight?"
His head turned, his eyes clouded with confusion. He had definitely not expected that question. He searched her eyes, looking for a certain something, before he turned her head again and sighed. "Because-"
She wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were focused on the capital building where there seemed to be a reprieve in battle. No yells, no screams, no sound. "Everyone?" she whispered. The heavy doors of the building were opened and people came stomping down the stairs. Miss Rose had long ago run off. People came pouring out of the doors and each of them had the rebel symbol tattooed somewhere on their bodies. "No..." Each of them were laughing, high fiving each other. One was even saying "Did you see all those people come in? They didn't even know what they were doing!" He started laughing again. "Everyone no..." She searched the crowd for a familiar face of a representative. There was none. She turned to the young man. "This is your fault!" she hissed. "If you didn't taunt us, if I didn't attack..." She stared mournfully at her hands. "This is my fault. I led them into battle and you stopped me from meeting my end as I should have!" she cried tears in her eyes, her voice growing louder and louder. The rebels had all stopped to look at her.
"Girl shut up!" He hissed. "You want to get yourself killed?"
"Yes! I should have died with them so what is wrong with dying now!"
"Damn survivor's guilt!" He muttered.
He heard the heavy clonking of boots coming their way. The rebels. "Leo!" They cried out when they saw him. "What happened to you? Did- did this little girl do this Leo?" His voice turned into a threating low growl.
"No pops! It's-"
"Yea," The girl stated tonelessly, "I did that to him."
Leo looked at the girl again, her face a blank slate. "Oi! Girl! What-"
"Noone messes with my family little girl."
"I could say the same thing. Except you didn't only mess with the Elders, but also my friends." In the making, she thought to herself.
"Girl shut up! Pops! Listen to me!" Leo started but was ignored again.
"Hey boys! Why don't we teach this girl never to mess with our family again!" A chorus of "yea's!" rang through the crowd.
"Pops!" Leo tried again. "Girl! What are you doing!"
She looked at him, but again her expression was unreadable. "My name isn't girl Leo. It's Marlene from Fisherman District #4. Please stop calling me girl, it's annoying."
Leo hissed. What is wrong with this girl! What did she think she's doing? Who does she think she is messing with? They're going to kill her!"
"Fisherman's District, eh? So I take it you can swim, Miss Marlene?" His voice was thoughtful, something very unnatural for pops' voice to be. It sounds so wrong, Leo thought, pops thinking. That's going to end bad for everyone. Marlene! Stop this!
"Nope," She said popping the "p", "Never learned."
"Then maybe it's time, Miss Marlene." And everything went black for Mar.
***
Dun Dun Dun Duuuuuun....
So there's my second story. I'm not sure if I want to make this a one- shot or not. I have it registered under not completed, so I might had more to it. I don't know. Maybe if I come up with more ideas for it.