Ryan Brookes @ryanbrookes-games - Tumblr Blog

And Then There Were Three (Task 4)

Rye felt Morgan's weight shift as she lifted herself from his chest. Despite getting nearly a full nights sleep, he felt so drained that he could have easily lain in the warm sunlight all day. His back felt numb from laying on the unyielding ground for so long, the dust sticking to his arms and legs. He heard a sound, a hushed voice that sounded distance, somewhere to his right.

Rolling over, he tried to ignore the voice but then a scream pierced the silence. Immediately his eyes snapped open and his head whipped around as he looked for any signs of danger. The sudden exposure of light to his eyes meant he had to blink quickly in order to focus his vision and get rid of the sun spots. Another voice joined, screaming what sounded like his name. Recognising it was Morgan, he stood up, squinting at the figure before him.

From where he was standing, he saw her side on; her dark hair tumbled to her shoulders. But Rye was looking at her face which was so drained of colour it was if she had headbutted a bag of flour. His eyebrows knitted together as he tried to figure out why she was shrieking, why the were in danger. He followed her gaze to the water. "Morgan, wha- Oh my God."

As he looked at the surface of the water, the surface disturbed and broken, he saw a mess of white and red under dozens of shiny body's that writhed and snapped. It took him a moment to connect it to the first voice he had heard, a girl's. Tia. His head whipped round again, counting only the three of them. "No." His voice was soft, barely a whisper.

Now Morgan was approaching the edge of the water, taser in hand. He panicked, afraid she too would be pulled apart piece by piece by the carnivorous creatures but instead she held her weapon to the water and pulled the trigger. The water calmed and became still. They were wither dead or stunned. Now, with his focus off of the water he saw what Tia had been doing. At the other end of the lake was Flora.

Stunned, Rye looked at Pate, but he was frozen to the spot in shock. Then, kicking off his shoes, he dove into the water. It was surprisingly warm, almost like a giant bath. His arms and legs pumped wildly as he swam to Tia's mangled body. Of course it was too late, nonetheless he felt at her bloody neck for a pulse.

"Flora!" He cried out in vain. Rye didn't know what he had expected her to do, wade in to kill him maybe, but she had already fled. It wasn't like he wanted to fight her, to exact revenge or anything, all he felt was sadness for the dead girl in his arms even though they had barely known each other. His mind when to Pate, and he knew he couldn't let him see her like this. Carefully, he held her body under the water, letting the air bubble out from her lips and nose until he was just left in a pool of her blood, streaked by her dark, black hair.

As he made his way back to the others, rinsing as much of the red away as he could, Rye couldn't help but feel a small twinge of hope that Flora hadn't tried to peruse him. He left the water, and gave Pate a small nod, not saying anything. What could he say? People died here and none of them could change what had happened, so why try.?

Silently he picked up the kit and put it on his back. Not having a weapon, he thought about retrieving Tia's mace from the river but thought better of it. Somehow it seemed better it stay with her. The three of them began walking in search of safety, haunted by the girl's sudden death, and he couldn't help but wonder which of them would be next.

#t;andthentherewerethree #LATE AGAIN #SOWEEEEEEEEEEE

Promise Ring (Task 3)

Rye stared down at his bare hands. Dirt had found their way into the deep grooves of his palm. The sky was peppered with clouds that shielded the camp from the overhead sun. They had no means of telling the time but if he had to guess he would place it in the late afternoon. The tension was so palpable you could cut it in half with a knife. The four of them were in constant silence. Rye could almost hear it as if they were screaming. It clawed inside his mind, splitting his head open. Yet for some reason he couldn't utter a word. Each time he tried to twist his mouth into making a sound, his throat felt so dry it was like swallowing sandpaper.

Then, as Pate and Tia left them, he and the girl were left alone. Their absence left a little room to breathe. Sighing he rose to his feet a little unsteadily. The gentle gnawing in his stomach reminded him he hadn't eaten but he ignored it. It was cruel the way he had been hungry his whole life but in the weeks before the arena he had gotten used to regular meals. Rye needed to go somewhere, anywhere. He wanted to walk, just walk, not stopping until he found the edge of the world and just took that one step that would plummet him into the unknown.

Outstretching his hand, he offered it to the girl. She blinded, wide-eyed, as if he was interrupting her from some profound thought she had become lost in. Wordlessly, armed only with a torch he found in the pack , they began to climb up the side of the volcano. The accent wasn't too steep but it was noticeable enough for them to have to take slightly longer strides. They remained in silence, just taking one step at a time. Rye felt his shoes resist each step; still stiff. Then he heard a small voice next to him. It took him a moment to recognise it, to remember her name; Morgan.

"I'm a murderer."

"I know." His voice was hoarse and strained as he struggled to utter each letter. Reaching out, he felt the warm skin of her hand underneath his fingertips. Rye interlocked their fingers together, their palms pressed against one another.

"I-I didn't mean to." Hearing her voice break her stopped and turned. As he cupped her small face in his hands, he stared into her eyes.

"Don't." Rye's voice was now stronger, his tone level. "It was an accident. It's do or die, Morgan, and there's no way you're dying. It's all going to be ok." Slowly he added, "I promise"

He wrapped his arms around her fragile frame, hugging her to his chest. Soon he felt his shirt soaked in her tears. Morgan's sobs made her whole body shake in his arms. Then his own cheeks were wet with silent tears. The two of them just stood there and they both understood more than in they had put their thoughts into words.

What felt like hours passed as they both embraced each other on the side of the volcano. Pushing her gently he looked down into her eyes again. Pinching the sleeve of his shirt between his fingers, he dabbed at her cheeks. "Feel better?" She made a small shrug.

"Can we go back? I n-need to sleep."

"Sure." As he turned to make his way back to where they had come from, Morgan stopped and pointed to something that glittered on the floor. Bending down, she scooped it up.

"It's a ring." In her surprise she seemed to forget her misery. "What's this doing here?"

Rye took it from her and held it up the the fading light for a better look. "I don't know." He gripped her right wrist and slipped it onto her fourth finger. "Maybe it'll bring you good luck."

---

Once they had made it back to the camp, the two of the were exhausted. They had talked briefly about the ring. Morgan seemed to think it mean't something but he wasn't all that interested.

They all but collapsed on the ground. Rye pulled her up onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist protectively. Pate and Tia still hadn't got back but he didn't mind, nor was he worried. The sky had grown dark as it got late. He felt like he could fall asleep like this. Morgan was so light he didn't mind she was on top of him.

"Rye?" He mumbled tiredly something that sounded like a reply. "Thank you."

"It's ok Morgan. I'm here now, I can protect you." She curled her body into him, burying herself in his clothes. It wasn't long before he heard her soft snores as she let the exhaustion overtake her. Ryan brushed a small hair from her forehead.

"I'll protect you."

#t;promisering

Boy Next Door | Interview

Rye sucked air deep into his lungs, trying not to pass out. The roar of the crowd was deafening even from backstage. He hated being the last one to do everything; the suspense was torture. After his score he had cheered up a little. Sure there had been higher, but he had made an impression. James, his mentor, assured him it would greatly help with his sponsor points. Now all he had to do was to go out there and make them fall in love with him. It wouldn’t be easy of course but he had to try his best if he was ever going to get home.

Watching the games had taught him a lot about what the capitol did and didn’t want see, however, it also would have helped the others too. Somehow he had to make them like him without being too boring. Praying Caesar asked him all the right questions, a final cheer went up for Caitlyn before he felt himself push on stage.

Light; that was the first thing he registered. Light flooded his vision making his sight blurry at the edges. Hurriedly, he put a hand up to shield his eyes, but changed his mind and turned it into a wave to the crowd. As he reached out a hand, he felt for Caesar’s arm. Rye felt vulnerably disorientated, wanting to lean on him for support but knowing full well it wouldn’t look good. Instead he cheered loudly, hugging the man tightly as if an old friend. Of course Caesar played along, never caught off guard.

Rye sat down in the oversized chair. Slowly his eyes adjusted and his stomach flipped as he saw the thousands of capitol citizens, their eyes hungrily focused on him. He wasn’t entirely convinced by the way they looked at him, that they didn’t want to eat him! Still he smiled so wide his cheeks ached until the deafening roar dulled to a quiet mumble. “Hello Ryan, how are you doing?” His first question was simple and open, starting easy before he threw him into the lion’s den.

“Fantastic Caesar!” he exclaimed, his voice a little louder in the hop of conveying confidence, “But please, call me Rye. That’s what my friends call me and we’re all friend here.” Chuckling he was pleased to note the crowd’s reaction. Keep going; just say what they want to hear.

“That we are! Those pictures you had with Pate Hamming made quite the impression on Panem. Mind explaining them a little bit?”Rye was glad he was so busy trying to smile he didn’t give a chance for his face to register his surprise. True, he knew that the Capitol loved nothing more than some juicy gossip but the question blind-sided him a little. How was he supposed to answerer that? It wasn’t like he could exactly make out like they were having some sort of secret affair!

“Well Pate and I have become fast friends” Rye hoped he wouldn’t pry too much. It was a little awkward for him to talk about this to the whole of Panem. But Caesar didn’t seem to be done talking about the topic.

“The fans are all calling you two Ryte! Do you think the both of you would have ended up being an item if the games weren't happening?” Yup secret affair is what they want to hear, damn it. When in doubt make them laugh.

“An item?” He teased waggling his eyebrows at the crowd. “Well obviously it’s a private matter and all,” Rye leaned in towards them all as if indulging them with a secret, “Though I do think we make a good team, the two of us.” Smiling he threw up his hands and added, “It’s a shame he’s out of my league!” Citizens burst out in laughter. It was infectious and he found himself laughing with them. He was thankful and he relaxed a little into his seat, not so much the deer caught in headlights any more.

“Now you know just how to work the camera. Do you think you’ll have any problems with sponsors in the arena?”

“Work the camera?” He put his hands to his face, pulling a dramatically shocked face. “You think so Caesar?” Rye twisted in his chair and pulled some mock poses: looking over his shoulder; pouting at the crowd; crossing and uncrossing his legs. “Maybe I should look into modelling! As for sponsors, I guess I’m a bit of a wildcard, wouldn’t you say? But I’ll tell you something Caesar,” placing a hand on Caesar’s shoulder, he winked, “I’m not just a pretty face.” And with that, he was pulled to his feet, his hand locked with the other man’s as they raised their intertwined fingers to the sky.

“I wish you the best Ryan. Have fun out there! Ryan Brookes: District Eight!”

Rye was panting slightly and his heart pounded like a jackhammer as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. With the crowd chanting his name, he felt unstoppable.