Willow A. Lindber

Willow Aubrey Lindber - Official Escort - District 7 Originally from the great forests of district seven, Willow is the the older sister of the famous deceased tribute Branch Lindber of the 117th Hunger Games.

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Task 002: Rebel Questionnaire

Do you associate with the Black Eagles at all? Have you in the past? If you no longer do, why not?

“I actually joined the Black Eagles shortly after my brothers death, I wanted to protect my nephew and other children from dying in senseless violent displays like the hunger games... No one should have to loose a family member for the entertainment of others.”

If you did work with the Black Eagles, what actions did you take for the rebellion? Why did you feel drawn to these tasks?

“Over the years I have worked as an informant for the Black Eagles, moving information between the tower and the rebels. Other than that, I have preformed several missions for the cause. Such as letting loose ships in district four, blowing up factories in district seven and helping workers fight against peacekeepers.”

What was your opinion of Primrose Everdeen?

“As someone who’s also lost family to the Hunger Games, I felt a great deal of respect and empathy for Prim and her cause. I hope to continue that fight, bring peace to anyone who has lost someone important, and put an end to the Hunger Games and for good.”

Was anyone in your family associated with the Black Eagles?

“My mother will help heal injured rebels or hide them as necessary, but other than that I try and encourage her to stay home... Not just because she’s my mom, but also due to her age. She’s still working a job, she doesn’t have the energy anymore to do that and fight as well.”

Would you turn someone else in for their rebel association?

“Heck no. I’d rather die then give up someone else’s life to the damned capitol government and their tyrant!”

What do you think is vital for a successful rebellion?

“Honestly I think recruitment is the biggest issue, as well as the lack of weapons and funding... Not to mention that there is really no official headquarters anymore, which means things are a tad disjointed one district to another...”

[willow-tree-lindber]

nothing-is-safe​:

“Now I get to be the stray,” Ashton teased. “…I can’t wait.” He managed to grin “And I’ll beat you in a snowball fight.” He spoke confidently, knowing full well he would probably get bested. “Not to invite myself to your holiday celebrations, but.” Ash gave her tired puppy dog eyes. He imagined he’d see the whole crew there. The whole idea of it sounded cozy. Most of the mentors and escorts were like a second family to him. Some of the stylists, too. He’d wondered, on multiple occasions, what a holiday party with everyone would be like. With no Capitol involvement,  no required attendance, or fancy outfits. 

There was an involuntary cringe at Willow’s words ‘you didn’t mean to hurt her.’ He probably misunderstood what she was trying to say, but it hadn’t stopped him from going down a rabbit hole. He’d absolutely meant to hurt her. They were the only two left after Lance took his own life. He’d pushed her to her death. “I could’ve let her win, I–” The mentor had to stop himself before he said it. ‘Should’ve.’ The man hated that he kept talking about it, not for himself, but for Willow. The idea of taking up space gave him anxiety. 

Ash closed his eyes when she patted his back, a couple of tears falling down his face. “Thank you.” He buried his face in the crook of her neck. With her arm wrapped around him and her head resting on his, he believed it. “I want you to know that I’m here for you, too.” His arms wrapped around her tightly. “You’re not limited to only caring for people. You deserve to be cared for.”

.

Willow laughed “I’m sure my mother and I can managed to squeeze you into the house, maybe even pull out the sofa bed for you.” She teased softly, and then mocked gasped as he said he’d beat her in a snowball fight. “-I’d like to see you try Declan.” She smirked softly, but let him have it, he needed the ego boost for now.

“You know who’s fault it truly is...” Battenberg, the capitol and their fellow monsters. She wanted to keep arguing to stop Ashton from his own horrible thoughts, to stop him from blaming himself but she couldn’t... There was no way she could stop that. Ashton had to mentally be ready to accept that fact, but he wasn’t so she let it go. “Shhh... Shhh... No don’t say that, you’ll break my heart.”

“Thank you.” Willow replied softly as she held him tightly she never really worried much about herself. Her entire life had always been focused about other people. First her mother and brother, then life was all about protecting Ophelia and Hawthorn, and now she added Ashton to that list as her best friend. “-I’ll get my turn when I need it, right now I’m fine.”

[willow-tree-lindber]

nothing-is-safe​:

A massive frown came across his face. “That’d be awful, even I’d melt.” There was a bit of humor in his tone. He watched her thoughtfully while she spoke about home. “Thank you…” The thought of snow excited him. While they did get some, farther north, there wasn’t much. It was always just an inch or two of powder. Not enough to make snowballs with. 

“I- killed a friend, during the games.” Ashton covered the lower half of his face as he spoke, his words full of shame. It was even more alarming that he could say it without being ridiculed. “Tatiana….” He spoke her name quietly, afraid that, if he spoke too loud she’d come back to haunt him. “She took me with her, this time.” He could still feel nail-like claws digging into his chest as she fumbled for the fabric of the toga. The river Styx burned at his skin like dry ice. He’d woken up drowning, gasping for air. 

“Agree to disagree, then.” Ash had always revered Willow, she’d always been one of the most brave and determined people he’d ever met. He leaned his head on her shoulder. “I am, and I’m glad you’re here. Maybe things will be better than last time.”

.

Willow couldn’t help but laugh a little “I think we’d both melt a little...” At least if they melted, they could melt together, Willow didn’t very much like being alone for too long and Ashton was always good company. “-next time, we can cause some trouble for my mother back in seven; heck maybe one winter I could teach you how to make a snow man.”

Willow nodded her head, she had seen most of the games by this point, and being the same age as Ashton she remembered his quite vividly. Branch of course wouldn’t participate for a few more years, but she had watched most of the games to study “Ashton... I know it’s hard, but you didn’t mean to hurt her, It wasn’t your fault. None of it was.” Willow knew that Ashton was no murder, he didn’t have the heart for it.

Willow sighed softly, wrapping her arm around him gently and patting his back as he rested his head on her shoulder. “I’ll be whatever you need me to be Ashton... At least, when I’m not busy with protecting my own tributes.” She offered, before resting her chin on the top of his head.

“It will be alright... I promise.”

[willow-tree-lindber]

nothing-is-safe​:

“Too fucking hot…” He rubbed his eyes, trying to pull himself out of a haze. ‘What time was it?’ “Maybe it’s time I pester you for a vacation to Seven… I’m starting to feel bad for turning the AC down.” There were five other people in that dwelling and he had to share the thermostat, not everyone liked it cold.

Ashton sighed softly, scratching the back of his head. There was no mood to dampen, but he still hated to make it heavier. He rarely spoke about his problems with anyone. Everyone was going through something, and he felt obligated to stay happy around them, regardless of how he felt. “…Nightmares.” The young man spoke both sheepishly and shortly.

The despair on his face shifted to a delicate smile. “You’re a saint. Y’know?” He took a sip before handing it back.

.

“I mean it could always be worse, we could be in district ten right now.” It was true, district ten was much further south.” At least living on the coast gave both districts some sort of wind coming in from the ocean, poor district two was hot and had no big bodies of water other than some rivers and lakes. “You are always welcome in seven if you’d please... Though, you may find it a tad colder than your used to. Lots of snow.”

Willow didn’t mind the occasional mood dampening, after all Branch hadn’t exactly been the brightest ray of sunshine. When he mentioned the nightmares, her expression softened “Did you need anything? Is there anything I can do?” Willow was always hopeful to find a remedy for anything, or at least comfort people as necessary. “We can talk about it if you want, but I understand if you don’t want to...”

“No... I was simply born to mother people.” She argued, shaking her head. She had too much blood and pain on her hands to be called a saint. She accepted her coffee back before taking a long sip. “You at least happy to be home?”

[nothing-is-safe]

Ashton tucked himself under a throw blanket he’d pulled off the couch, and walked down to the beach. His nightmares always got worse when the games came around. The walls of the resort were suffocating; his blankets were too hot, damp from sweat. The only thing he enjoyed about the dwelling was being right on the shoreline. As he stepped off the porch, his feet were immediately covered by the lukewarm sand. Mornings this time of year were cold, but the ground always absorbed the heat of the previous day’s sun. 

He’d sit there, in the sand, holding his knees to his chest; and focus on the sounds of the waves. Watch as the high tide lapped over his feet and the sunrise. It was one of the only things he could do to clear his head, now in days. Grief would swallow him whole if there wasn’t something to wash it away. 

His thoughts were a creature that chased after him, no matter how easily he shook them away, they always managed to find him again. Ash wrapped his arms around himself and ran his thumb along the side of his neck, in an attempt to self-soothe. He could hear footsteps behind his as someone crunched through the sand. The young man didn’t even look up. “Hey… What’s got you up this early?” 

[willow-tree-lindber]

Willow hadn’t really been sleeping well in the heat of district four, it was absolutely wonderful but going from the bitter winter of seven to the sunny weather of the coastal beaches. So when she woke up in the wee hours of the morning; Willow sighed deeply... However, at this point she might as well wake up and enjoy the cooler morning temperatures.

She rolled out of bed, before then throwing on her beach attire, once she was prepared she made her way out to the lobby to get an iced-coffee to enjoy on the beach. With her beverage in hand she made her way out, she was a tad surprised to find a familiar face along the beach. “Ashton?”

She heard him respond, so that was a good sign. She walked over to him, sitting down in the sand next to her friend “It’s too hot, and I’m too hot... So you know, makes sleeping hard.” She explained in a groggy voice before yawning. 

“You?” she asked, before taking a long sip of her iced coffee. “Coffee?” she offered him a sip if he so pleased.

[willow-tree-lindber]

Willow - District 7 - Reaping Day Outfit

[willow-tree-lindber]

everettlance​:

“Etiquette,” he said, “sounds boring as hell. I’m sorry. I mean, maybe you liked it, but that’s… I’d fail out, for sure.” It was very different from the type of schooling he’d received growing up.

“You… you dance on them? On the logs? In the river?” He tried to picture it but found that he couldn’t quite.

“No, I mean, I tried being dead for awhile, that was interesting. Before that I was training to be a Peacekeeper. After… well, now I’m just. You know.” He shrugged. What the hell was he doing?

.

“It’s can be very boring depending on the context, but I think of it as a challenge, there is fun in trying to get the smallest of details right...” Willow also liked some sort of control over her life, etiquette had allowed her to have some sort of control. “I’m sure you wouldn’t be that bad. Just takes practice! Right Paul!?”

“It’s an old expression from seven... You’ve just got to have fast feet; essentially you are running on logs as they spin on the water. You run on them, and push them down to the mill where they get turned into whatever is needed.” It was a trade that wasn’t exactly popular in seven, but it was still very much necessary. 

“Hey, just think of it this way; you are probably one of the few professional zombies in the world.” She said with a giggle as she took another big sip of her cocktail quickly emptying the martini glass of the sugary liquid. “Actually once upon a time, when I was a little one of my many career dreams was peacekeeping... I had just heard rumors that my grandfather had been one; so I was always intrigued by them.” Normally, Willow wouldn’t share that much with someone she just met but the alcohol had all but removed her oversharing filter.  “Then they made them all into robots... Literally.” Willow was happy it didn’t actually work out in the end, she was more than happy to fight for the rebellion and work as a covert agent... 

[willow-tree-lindber]

hestiaember​:

She nodded slowly, wrapping her head around the new word. She was sure as soon as she got home she’d hear three of her kids– Slate included– already using it. “Honestly, I’m not sure how much I enjoy being underground, but it’s close to home this time. So I’m seeing the bright side.” She offered a smile.

.

“Oh yeah, I guess that must be true... We had to pass through twelve to get here.” She thought about it a tad more, thinking about the train ride all the way from district seven with her own team. “Lots of maples and like hilly terrain would make sense for the area... Or at least from what I learned in school.” Not to mention the stories her teachers had told her about the distant district. 

“Do you guys also get a lot of snow? I assume you do... You know, given your geography. Do you guys collect any syrup in the spring?”

[willow-tree-lindber]

mrsdanbur​:

“Exactly like an Eastern white pine,” she agreed, despite not being familiar with trees and their particularities. However, it wasn’t difficult to guess that Willow found something she knew well to make a parallel to. The explanation made sense. It was simple, but it did sum it up. 

“Dalbergia…” she repeated, as if to memorize the term. Lara was, unfortunately, not at all acquainted with nature, despite her family having inherited a botanical garden within the Capitol. “The only difference between that wood and me has to be that you’re working with me as we speak, at least. Hopefully on our way to making great artworks too.” She didn’t count on it, but she cheerfully planned it, happy to earn another friendly face in the crowd, no matter who it was.

.

Willow nodded her head, happy that her analogy made sense. Or at least in her drunkenness' she believed that her comparison had made sense to her stylist. “I understand now... We are delicate but also versatile and tough.” She nodded happy with the look a lot more now that she felt more tree-like.

“It’s a very pretty wood, some really nice red hues and rich warmness.” She added in hopes that Lara understood it as a compliment, and not that she was softwood or something silly. “You are right, trees do not speak... They are pretty darn quite most of the time. You would also probably make a very bad coffee table as well...” Willow had heard tales of talking trees, but those were all from fairytales.

“My only request is a tad less frill on my sleeves, it makes drinking hard. I enjoy my drinking at parties...” She said wiggling her arms around like a wild balloon advertisement. 

[willow-tree-lindber]

lastpetals​:

“i’m okay with just talking.” she didn’t like the taste of alcohol, and she was happy to just sit with willow and let her talk. willow wanted to take it slow, she said, so wouldn’t that be fine?

she nodded when willow expressed some sympathy. “it was.” but when she asked another question, addy shook her head. “oh! yeah, we’re triplets. but they’re my twin brother and twin sister. there’s three of us, though, so together we’re triplets.” she didn’t know if that made sense, but it was how she explained it.

.

“Talking is fine, I can do talking.” Willow had always been happy to talk, she enjoyed socializing and parties more than most people. It was funny, as extravagant as capitol parties were, these balls seemed a tad gloomy and dark; maybe it was the executions or something. “Was there anything you wanted to like talk about? I realized we’ve never really spoken much before”

“No no, that makes sense. I mean, from an outside perspective there is three, but I guess it would make sense as a member of that trio referring to the other two as like... Other?” Willow could see the point of it all. It made sense, at least logistically. 

“Do you all get along? Like the three of you?”

[willow-tree-lindber]

mrsdanbur​:​

Lara smiled harder the harder she felt her tail stepped on. Most times, she took things too personally, and Willow’s face upon dressing into her hard work’s result, doubled by the seemingly innocent question, did not help. However, Lara smiled. She had infinite patience, and knew she could provide with a satisfactory answer. “I’m happy you asked. It’s important to know what you’re wearing. It brings together the fragility of the human nature and the harshness of the times we are living. Think of lace as skin – we’re all wearing our skin armors first, and the bulletproof vests second. You cannot possibly tell me soft and kinky cannot describe the same thing. It’s edges. I wouldn’t have put you in a provincial prom dress. It would have been like dismissing all of your fire.”

.

“Ohhhhh...” Willow exclaimed softly, her drunk mind still absorbing all of the information Lara had just provided her. She was never really, artistic beyond cooking or baking so the metaphor was a bit out of reach for her at the moment. The skin armor was a tad strange to think about, almost made Willow itchy thinking about it... 

“So like kind of like an Eastern white pine?” She had no idea if Lara knew anything about trees, however when Willow was lost and confused she often referred back to trees. “Hard bark on the outside, but a softwood on the inside?”

“I do like it when you accent my fire; I’ve been told I have a lot of it.” Willow often did, she was wild and passionate most of the time. She knew how to charm people and manipulate however, it was one of the reasons she made such a good escort. “Thank you... You are kind of like Dalbergia. I’ve never worked with it, but I hear it’s beautiful; it makes for great artwork.”

[willow-tree-lindber]

lastpetals​:

“drinks are over there.” Clementine didn’t like the taste of alcohol much, but she’d drink it if others asked her to. she’d rather swallow it down than be rude, especially because her only qualm was the taste itself and not the actual effects of the stuff. “i’m glad you’re all good. I was… scared for my twins.” it felt wrong to not be close to them, especially in what was definitely the most tereffying time any of them would ever experience. but they’d been reunited. all three of them, in the end. she was glad it turned out well, not just for her family but another’s.

.

“Oh thank you, but I think I’m going to try and take it slow.” Willow... Would not take it slow. Not in the slightest, but that was a story for a much later time. “Unless you wanted a drink that is, I’d be fine to share one with you.”

“Oh my god, I can’t imagine how scary that must have been.” Willow had lost a brother, it had been horrible but at least now she wasn’t worried about him running off and getting himself killed. “-Are they twins? I thought you were triplets, sorry I didn’t know. Please, correct me if I am wrong.” Willow tried keeping up with the Bellerose family but it was just so confusing.

[willow-tree-lindber]

treelish​:

Addy let her hold on, rubbing her back and neck gently with her hands. so far underground, and with a room that seemed to spin, of course that would be scary for her drunk friend. Addy rested her chin against the top of Willow’s hair, and let her cry and wail it out.

would she die here? well, that was a feeling Addy knew. she shook her head, into willow’s hair, letting her friend feel her shaking her head. no, the world wasn’t ending. no, willow wouldn’t die here. she’d see safety again. Addy might not, but it felt good to comfort her, to promise that one of them would.

.

Willow held onto Addy like it was the last stable anchor in life, her tiny pale hands clung to her friend in desperation for stability as the alcohol twisted her reality into nothing but fear as it made the world cave in around her. “Addy, I don’t like this... Not to mention there are stupid cypress trees and they have a stupid texture.” Willow liked to touch trees, especially while drunk it seemed.

“Thank you... Thank you.” She responded softly as Addy rested her head on top of her own, still clinging to her friend for another moment before letting go and sticking her hands up “It will be okay, It’s okay.” She mumbled softly under her breath, before then looking at the girl with big green eyes clouded with redness from drinking “-where is my room?”

[willow-tree-lindber]

skyxhartley​:

“It’s just a little warm and loud.” Sky told her, letting out a small laugh. Sure, that was the kind of environment she grew up in with the orphanage but she wans’t a big fan of the dynamic. “Wow, that’s so many!” Sky said surprised. She had no idea that Willow had been around for so long. She wished she would have been able to join back then, too, but she was happy to be an escort now no matter what. “What made you want to get a job as an escort?” She asked her curiously. 

Sky then laughed at the girl and shook her head. “Thank you, but that’s not really necessary I guess. He’ll come around and be the best big brother ever, you know? I just need to give him time and to take in the news.”

.

“You eventually get used to the noise, as for the heat you honestly just pray not to be in ten layer's of fabric underground.” She said referring to herself with a small laugh of her own, she wasn’t too horribly warm actually but it was much warmer underground than it was above ground right now. “I’ve only been doing this for four years... So two games a year, four balls every year. So, that’s fourteen right? Are you good at math?”

“Oh my brother... I want to help tributes from seven win as much as possible, if that means guiding them through the capitol world, then I will do my best.” In reality she was here on behalf of the rebellion, as an informant for the leaders in seven. “What about you?”

“It takes time to process the news... It took me a while to really, absorb the fact that Ophelia was having Branch’s child. I love Hawthorn more than anything.” That was especially true, she really did love that boy more than anything else in the world which made her fight that much harder for freedom. 

[willow-tree-lindber]

everettlance​:

“Escort school?” He was kind of intrigued by the concept of that, and what they learned. Had Ariadne gone to that? “Pushing logs around… where? For what? Sounds difficult.”

He took another sip. “Nah, I think it’s an acquired taste,” he decided. “And it’ll get me drunk faster. So i’m all good.”

.

“Well there is like no physical building or anything, but you are taught very specific rules and etiquette, everything must be perfect.” The capitol expected perfection, and if she could teach her tributes anything than hopefully they could get sponsors and funding. 

Willow raised an eyebrow, but then realized that he was from district two; not exactly known for their logging knowledge. “You know, you dump a bunch of logs in the river... And then you kind of just dance on them down the river to the mill, pushing them along with a hook and peavey.” She explained it so casually like it was like riding a bike. “-You end up swimming the first few times.”

“Okay. Good stuff.” She said taking another long sip of her drink. She then turned to him with an excited expression “-what about you? Do anything interesting in two? Before all this.”

[willow-tree-lindber]

apricottie​:

“i’m not drunk enough for dancing, not even just a wiggle,” apricot shrugged, inadvertently handing her an answer, a solution, right there and then – that maybe he just needed to be more drunk, still. what was another few shots on a bad night, anyway ?? apricot frowned. “is that how it works ?? you just.. say the word and we’re friends ??” he knew better than that, thought he did at least. even the people he did consider friends were hardly.. people he trusted, people he’d think of as friends, people he’d call when he needed them. even this, just this simple notion of dancing, was something worthy of distrust in apricot’s eyes. not because his stupid short legs would look silly ( they would, though, definitely ), but because it felt like giving in. and if there was one thing apricot was known for, it was that staunch goddamn defiance that seeped into his every move. including, well, the lack of movement then. he stood frozen to the floor. “i’m really not dancing, willow.”

.

“Well then get drunk...” She said with a pout, before then gesturing to the bar nearby. Apricot seemed like a real stick in the mud sometimes, she wished she could get through to him cus he didn’t give Willow the bad person gut feeling... 

“Yeah, isn’t that how most people become friends? There is no like official paperwork or anything stupid... You kind of just decide you like to be around someone, and bam you’re now friends.” She argued, knowing that she had many friends and no one ever seemed to complain before nor even question friendship; it just was a thing. “We could be friends... You just got to try.”

“Okay then wiggle legs, let’s go get drinks instead!” She exclaimed with enthusiasm before the doll like woman dragged Apricot from his spot, over towards the bar where she had been spending a good portion of her evening. “Bartender! One more round for me and my new friend!”

[willow-tree-lindber]

everettlance​:

“Who’s they?” he asked, taking her hand and shaking it, knowing there was no need for him to introduce himself, as strange as that still was to him. “I guess I do, don’t I?” He pulled a face that showed his own personal distaste for his history.

He took a sip when the drink was handed to him, and tilted his head as he swallowed it. “I don’t know… maybe it’s good?” He took another sip. “I might prefer straight cider, honestly.”

.

“The capitol makes sure we are trained, all escorts have to be trained at like escort school. Classes and training, the whole nine yards...” She said thinking back to her time as a log driver, long before any of her escorting. She paused after a moment, thinking about the good old days on the river as simple as they were “-I don’t have much of a history, mostly pushing logs around with a giant stick.”

“It’s very sweet, I like it.” She said taking another sip, before smacking her lips softly as she thought about it’s taste. She then turned to him with a concerned look; “I could call the bartender back over if you’d prefer cider. I’m very loud, my mother’s told me many times.”