#the same castle

[lostintowords]

Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle.

A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin

[emberfox-d12-blog]

different roads sometimes lead to the same castle || ember & pyrus

Dressed in the black spandex suit that was her training uniform, Ember ran her fingers along the windowsill of her apartment. Cold, she thought to herself as she watched Capitol citizens roaming the streets below, noticing two children, a boy and a girl, laughing along with each other hand in hand. She couldn't help but feel jealous--jealous that they would live their life in peace and wealth, never having to go to sleep on an empty stomach, never having to answer when death was knocking at their door.

"Come come, child! Training time." She whipped around as soon as she heard her escort's high-pitched, capitol-accented voice. Her red hair tied up in a tight bun, she had her partner at her side, a young boy Ember had never seen before. Exchanging with him a wary glance, she curled her hands into fists as she boarded the elevator with them.

"You'll have several days to train and give the Gamemakers a first impression before your private training where you'll be scored. Oh, and please don't fight with any of your fellow Tributes, or you'll be in big, big trouble..." The escort's chipper voice soon drowned out and the only thing Ember could hear was her heartbeat and her quick breaths. As she walked out of the elevator and into a long, dark, hallway, she couldn't help but think of the boy she had been talking to. Pyrus, from District Seven. She shook her head, clearing her mind from thoughts of him, remembering her mentor's words to not get attached to anybody. Don't think of them as people, she had said. Yet she would be dead soon, so what was the point in acting like that? She wanted to make the best of what she had left. 

"Now I'm going to leave you two here. Do heed my advice, children." As soon as the escort had walked off, her heels clacking against the metal floor, the door in front of them opened up to reveal the training compound. They were the last ones to arrive, it seemed, as she watched the other tributes wield swords and throw daggers. Nobody seemed to notice their arrival, to her relief, as she slunk off to the empty camouflage station, where she had promised Pyrus she would meet him.

He wasn't there yet, so she took time to dabble her fingers into a brown, mud-like mixture. She lifted it to her nose. It smelled fake, like plastic, yet looked exactly like mud. Smiling, she smeared it across both of her cheeks in a warpaint-like style. That was when she heard footsteps behind her, and she turned around, her muddy cheeks turning red. "Hey!" She said. "Oh gosh," she laughed as she exchanged a smile with Pyrus, "I didn't realize you were here. I look like an idiot, sorry."