#sorry if this was sad

[the-sun-and-the-sea]

Annie Cresta Week Day 5: Into the Unknown

As soon as they settle into camp, Annie starts cleaning the blood off her knife. 

Nobody likes to watch dirty weapons on screen. Yes, taking out the competition leads to more sponsors, but there’s no need to linger on it once the deed is done. She’s not sure whose blood coats her knife because the initial fight at the Cornucopia is always so chaotic. It could be anyone’s. 

Her stomach lurches. She doesn’t want to think about how the knife felt when she pinned down the little girl from Six and—

“Hey,” says her district partner Caspian, coming up to her side. “I volunteered us for first watch. I hope that’s fine.” 

“Yeah,” says Annie, but it comes out shaky. At Caspian’s concerned look, she says, “I’m good. It’s just adrenaline.”

The last thing she needs is to look weak on the very first night. 

The tributes from One and Two quickly settle in for the night, leaving Annie and Caspian to sit against the gleaming Cornucopia and keep watch. It may feel like nobody’s around for miles, but rule number one of the Hunger Games is that somebody is always watching. 

“It’s been a crazy day,” he says conversationally. “Can you believe we were waking up at the Training Center this morning?”

“No,” she answers honestly. “Everything feels different.”

The truth is that Annie has spent the last decade training for this very moment. She’s ready. She can use any weapon, handle any weather, and beat any opponent. That’s why the Academy selected her to volunteer. Caspian is just as capable, as are One and Two. 

And yet she’s the only one who can’t stop thinking about how it felt to kill that girl. There must be something wrong. Something defective that the trainers didn’t catch. But it’s far too late to back out now. 

“It’s cool that you can see the stars,” Caspian says softly. 

If she squints, she can make out the shimmering stars in the night sky. They’re probably manufactured by the Gamemakers, but for what purpose? “They’re pretty,” Annie responds, because it’s all she can think to say. 

As if on cue, the Panem anthem begins to play. Faces flash in the sky, and Annie is struck by how young they all look. What was she doing when she was twelve? Talking with Piper Rivera about who they wanted to take to the school dance? It feels like an eternity ago. 

Caspian coughs awkwardly when the boy from Eight appears. 

“Did you…” she begins, but the words don’t come out. 

“Yep.”

Everything about this feels wrong. District Four may not be as bloodthirsty as Two, but performing well in the Games is supposed to be something to take pride in. “I got the girl from Six.”

His responding silence does not help. Eventually, Caspian whispers, “I hated it.”

Something in Annie’s chest loosens. “The bloodbath?”

“I know we trained for this,” he continues, looking straight ahead. “And I was efficient about it. But it didn’t feel like I thought it would. I saw his eyes. I don’t know.”

“We knew this was going to be hard,” she says. She’s just glad to not be the only one feeling this way. Maybe it’s a normal thing after all. “That doesn’t mean we can’t do it.”

“I think we can,” Caspian replies, voice stricken. “That’s the worst part. I just don’t think it’s in our nature to do that to people.”

Tell that to the Capitol. Still, his words stick with her. His thoughts buzz around in her head for the first week of the Games, and Annie can’t let it go. He’s right. Her training goes against her instincts as a human, no matter how much preparation she’s done to get here. 

It’s not until his head rolls to a stop at her feet that Annie realizes she never told him he was right. 

[twinliches]

cannot stop thinking about the french man who during dinner responded to a person asking "should we be naughty and get desert" by pulling a face and going "naughty? it is chocolate, it is not an, uh, threesome"

[timetravelsong]

𝐈𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞.

excerpts from a book I’ll never write

[luminixx]

“Your mom” gone wrong. Not the right person.

this is lowkey so unserious don't kill me. it's a reference to all that stuff about his mother that I am seeing.

[chloesimaginationthings]

Pomni and Gummigoo reunite in TADC!

[dappermouth]

a few minutes ago, at exactly midnight, i heard soft distant honking and looked out the cracked window to see a group of trumpeter swans flying low over the fields, huge and white and unearthly, their shadows flung crisp-black onto glittering snow by the moonlight, and then they were gone and a moment later their voices were gone too and in the wake of them was a sort of loneliness that is hard to quite get words around

[keferon]

Don’t mind me I just like to see him go bananas about cartoonish Autobot rules

Maaan…..if Prowl was in tfp he would spontaneously combust at least once a day

[lungthief]

sometimes u just gotta remind yourself that while ace attorney is about law and justice and stuff it is also about a bunch of young adults living in [CALIFORNIA]

[choccymilllk]

is that a bird is that a plane WRONG. BIG SUBSCRIBE BUTTON GO

^this is from technos enderchest.. number one sellout foreber i care him so much

[wojtekaneko]

That's how it went

[the-phantom-peach]

🗣️ huh?? what do you mean I haven’t posted any Link signing propaganda yet??

[arckalia]

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

[camilleflyingrotten]

[shymebox]

I present to you, Pearl trying to kill gem for 5 minutes straight but i sped it up and added cartoon chase scene music

Damn you Australian ping

[saccharinehell]

I did my best to be lovable.

[chloesimaginationthings]

Michael doesn’t like Halloween anymore in FNAF..