FootyGuy13
That Guy in the Back Corner
- Feb 21, 2018
- 6,093
- 19,530
- AFL Club
- Melbourne
MWPP was having a bad day. It might even be in the running for the 'worst day of the year'.
tony's first reaping was in a few months, and as a result, her “mother's” depression was making a quick return. Muddiemoose, her best friend, was off with some random girl instead of helping her hunt, and to top it all off, it was raining, so all of the game was hiding.
MWPP decided to go over the snare line, seeing as how it was the only thing she could do. She was about halfway done the hour long trek (which was taking triple the time it normally did) when there was a massive flash of neon green light.
'Oh goodness, is it a Capital hovercraft? Have they seen me?' She mentally panicked. She hid behind a nearby bush, hoping that she hadn't been spotted. She knew that she would be covered in leaves and twigs when she left the bush, and the woods in general, but so many people knew ( or at least suspected) that she went past the 'electric' fence and into the woods.
After the neon green light had dimmed, MWPP peeked out of her place in the bush. She was able to see a shaped outline on the ground, but nothing that looked remotely mechanical.
She heard the thing on the ground moan, and it uttered a curse. 'I wonder what git…Fire-whiskey, means.'
The rest was easy to figure out. 'Invades my house, tries to kill me…' She wondered who was trying to kill it.
MWPP cautiously made her way over to it, and saw that it, no he, was either a very fish looking Capital creation, or just a talking fish.
His clothes were ripped, especially along his left shoulder and back. It looked almost as if he had been whipped by a blind man.
She rolled him off his injured shoulder so that the wounds wouldn't get any dirtier than they probably were.
MWPP was ready to throw up the little breakfast she had eaten at the sight of his back. It was covered in a disgusting combination of blood and mud. There was a reason she wasn't around when tony and her “mother” were with one of their patients.
"What happened to you?" Shem managed to choke out. 'Please speak English, please speak English, please speak English.' She chanted over and over.
"I have no bloody clue. Where am I?" The seemingly young fish asked her.
"You're in the woods, just outside of District Twelve." MWPP told him, figuring she might as well be truthful with him.
"What's District Twelve?" The young fish asked.
MWPP's temper flared. She knew that if it weren't for the coal mines that District Twelve would be even worse off. The fact that their last victor won the Hunger Games 24 years ago, not many people cared about District 12; but to be completely ignorant of its existence was an incomparable insult.
"Did you hit your head?" MWPP asked, giving him a small escape route. He was injured, and probably wasn't thinking straight.
"Yes, multiple times, but none of those occurrences are recent." The fish said. MWPP growled at him, but let it go.
"Not, that this conversation isn't enjoyable, but I'm in a lot of pain, and would appreciate some help." The fish said. MWPP glared menacingly at him, and he cringed.
"Sorry, the filter that runs between my brain and my mouth doesn't work when I'm in pain." The young fish told her.
"Must be a common occurrence," MWPP mumbled, mostly to herself.
"You'd be surprised," The fish mumbled back, sitting up and using his good arm to wipe the water from his face.
He turned his head to the side, and looked at his wound. MWPP expected him to faint at the sight of his ripped flesh, or at least throw up, but all he did was mutter,
"Damn, I liked this shirt."
MWPP gaped at him.
"How are you not concerned about that?" MWPP asked, gesturing towards his wound.
"I've had worse." The fish muttered, drawing a pocket knife from his pocket.
"What are you doing?" MWPP nearly screeched at him.
"Calm down, I'm turning what little is left of my shirt into make-shift bandages." He said, using his one arm to peel off his shirt.
"Oh," MWPP said, relieved that his knife wasn't going anywhere near her vital organs.
"Can you help me with this? I can't exactly reach." The fish said cautiously. He had obviously seen her face when she had seen his wounds the first time, and didn't want to make her uncomfortable.
"Y-yeah, I-I'll help." MWPP stuttered, taking the first strip of cloth and applying it the way that tony, or her “mother” would have.
Within half of an hour, the fish's shirt was mere strips of cloth, holding the shredded pieces of skin on his back together. MWPP had almost thrown up at least five times, but the young fish didn't seem to mind.
The 'bandages' were drenched in water and blood, but they held his skin together decently, so the young fish decided not to complain about the terrible job MWPP did.
"You need proper medical care." MWPP said, pulling the young fish to his feet.
"You know anyone good?" The fish asked.
"My mother and sister; it'll take about forty minutes to get to my house from here in the rain, but it beats dying on the forest floor." MWPP told him, hoping that he wouldn't faint halfway home. He was just taller than average, but he was undeniably well built.
The young fish didn't tire until they had re-entered District 12. MWPP had to support a bit more of his weight than before, but it was nowhere near enough to make their trek difficult for her.
By the time MWPP and the young fish had gotten to her house in the Seam, the rain had stopped.
"Just my luck," The fish muttered.
The pair entered the kitchen, and the eldest Everdeen gasped at the state of the young person.
"tony, come in here! And bring the medicine kit!" The elder ‘woman’ said.
"MWPP, clear everything off of the table, and put the kettle on." Her “mother” told her. MWPP watched as her “sister” came running in, carrying the box that held all of their medical remedies.
"Lie down on the table sweetheart." Mrs. Everdeen told the young man. It was now covered in a clean sheet, so that there wouldn't be any blood on the table afterwards.
The man did as he was told, although he seemed very uncomfortable. MWPP's “mother” unwrapped the 'bandages' MWPP had put in place, and gasped in shock.
"I didn't think old JoshWoodenSpoon had it in him to whip someone." She muttered.
"It wasn't JWS, mother. I found him in the woods." MWPP told her.
"I didn't think the wolves would-ʺ the “woman” began.
"It wasn't the dogs either," MWPP said impatiently.
"Never mind," The “woman” sighed.
After an hour of stitching, cleaning and wrapping later, the young man was under strict bed rest.
"You're a pretty good healer, kid." The young man said to tony.
“She” smiled shyly at the man before thanking him.
"So, what's your name, darling?" MWPP's “mother” asked.
"Tamias sibiricus, but everyone calls me Chipmunk." He said, taking a sip of the mint tea that the Everdeens had offered him.
"I'm Matera92; it's nice to meet you, although I wish it was under different circumstances."
"As do I, Matera92." Chipmunk said, realising that they have cross-dressing here as well.
"So Chipmunk, where are you from?" tony asked.
"England." Chipmunk said, receiving blank looks.
"Chipmunk, there isn't any proof that Europe still exists." MWPP said.
"First of all, I said England. Secondly, what are you talking about? Of course England still exists." Chipmunk said.
"There isn't any proof of that," MWPP began stubbornly. "Panem, which is made of a Capitol and twelve Districts, ("There used to be thirteen, but the thirteenth got blown up." tony added) and they take up the land mass that used to be North America. We haven't had any recorded communication with any other 'continents' in centuries."
"Wow, and we're in District Twelve?" Chipmunk asked for clarification.
"Yes. The only time people leave their District is for the Hunger Games, or if you're insanely rich." tony said.
"And what is the Hunger Games?" Chipmunk asked.
"Well, 74 years ago, the Districts rebelled against the Capitol, and the Capitol won. As a reminder and a warning of what happened, and what will happen if there is another rebellion, the Capitol came up with the Hunger Games. Every year there is a reaping, and each District has to send one male and one female tribute to fight to the death in a Capitol-created arena, and the last person standing is crowned the victor of that year's games." Matera92 explained.
Chipmunk was staring at the Everdeens open-mounthed. These people were tortured. Kept under control by the threat of their loved ones dying in an arena. Not even NaturalDisaster was that sadistic.
"How does the reaping work?" Chipmunk asked.
"Every year, starting on a person's twelfth birthday, they have to go enter their name in the reaping pool. The last year you have to do so is on your eighteenth birthday. Anyways, for every year your name is in the draw, you have to add your name again. tony, a Third-year rookie, only has to put her name in once. I, a Tenth-year rookie, have to put my name in five times. Then there's tesserae. Basically, if you put your name in, you get one year's supply of grain and oil for one person. The problem with that though, is that it is accumulative. Every year you apply, it keeps your name in the reaping that many times. Tesserae for the three of us (at this, MWPP gestured to herself, her “sister” and her “mother”) has earned me an extra fifteen entries. My name will be in twenty times this year." MWPP explained.
"Suddenly, I'm glad I don't have any relatives here in Panem." Chipmunk said.
"Well, it's getting late. Chipmunk, feel free to take the bedroom through the door to your left. The kids and I can share." Matera92 said, effectively ending any possible conversation.
"Hang on, you guys haven't eaten." Chipmunk said, slowly getting to his feet.
"Dear, it's okay, we'll just eat a little bit more at breakfast tomorrow." Matera92 said.
"Nonsense, you guys are allowing me to stay the night. Providing dinner for you is the least I can do." Chipmunk said, effectively dismissing Matera92's comment.
He reached down and pulled up his pant leg.
"Um, Chipmunk," tony began.
"Don't worry tony." He said, removing some kind of stick from a holster looking thing on his calf.
"What…" Matera92 began.
With the wave of the stick, a meal of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans and dinner rolls (hot with melted butter) appeared.
Chipmunk picked up one of the rolls and bit into it.
"Needs salt, but otherwise okay." Chipmunk said, inviting the Everdeens to come and eat.
After everyone was full, and the leftovers had been packed away, tony said what was each of the Everdeen’s minds.
"How did you do that? Is that stick a Capitol creation?" She asked, eyeing the stick. (which was currently on the table)
"No, but I can't tell you guys anything unless you promise not to tell anyone about this, got it?" Chipmunk said.
The Everdeens shared a quick glance, and then promised that they wouldn't tell anyone about his food-creating stick.
"You see, some people, over in Europe, Asia and Australia have the ability to use magic. I am one of those people. We use wands to focus our magical energy, and get it to do what we want it to do."
The elder two Everdeens shared a look of doubt, but tony's face lit up.
"So, can every magic person make food out of thin air?" “She” asked.
"No, only people with vivid imaginations and good memories. You see, what I just did was called conjuration, and basically, you're taking an idea from your head and making it a reality, but it doesn't work unless you have a very good eye for detail."
"Why?" tony asked.
"Because, let's say someone wanted to conjure some milk. Now, when you think about milk, what do you think of?" Chipmunk began, slipping into his 'professor mode'.
"A white liquid." tony said, not understanding where he was going with this.
"Okay, but that could be unpasteurized milk, or normal milk, or goat milk, or a mother's milk. Maybe it could be watered down to make it less fatty. You have to have a specific kind in mind, as well as how it looks, smells, and tastes."
"Oh, okay." tony said.
"That's not all there is though. Say, you got the milk right. You need a place for it to go after you've conjured it." Chipmunk said.
"You put it in a glass, or a jug, silly." tony said.
"Yes, but you can't conjure something to be inside something else. It breaks the laws of Physics to an extent that not even magic can defy. You would have to conjure the whole glass of milk."
"That's a lot of work for one glass of milk." tony said.
"Yes, so do you see why not many people can do conjurations?" Chipmunk asked.
"Yeah." tony said.
"Is all magic that complicated?" MWPP asked.
"To a certain extent, but most spells or charms are based on saying an incantation and waving your wand."
"Why is conjuration different then?" Matera92 asked.
"Conjuration is a branch of magic going in between Transfiguration and Arithmacy. Transfiguration is when you turn one thing, like a chair into something different, like a coat hanger. Arithmacy is the magical version of math, basically. You have to understand the different math-magical formulas as well as have a very good understanding of the laws of transfiguration in order to be a good conjurer. You see, tony's 'out of thin air' comment wasn't actually that far off. You are transfiguring the very particles in the air into something not even remotely similar." Chipmunk explained.
"Spells are slightly different though. You don't have to understand the Arithmacy behind the spells in order to cast them; you just have to know how to push your magic through your wand. The incantation controls the magic for you when using spells. You just have to provide the magic itself." He added.
"What if there wasn't an incantation?" tony asked.
"Every spell has an incantation. But to cast the spell without saying the incantation requires you to understand the Arithmacy behind it. Not everyone wants to spend several hours reading over and memorizing different formulas just to save themselves a little bit of talking, so the number of people who can perform silent magic is growing smaller as the population grows lazier." Chipmunk said.
"Alright, that's enough for tonight. It's time for everyone to get some sleep. MWPP, tony, you two have school in the morning." Matera92 said. It was eleven o'clock already, and tony was never allowed to stay up that late.
"Can you tell me more about magic tomorrow, Chipmunk?" tony asked.
"After you are home from school and done your homework, sure. I can even perform a test to see if you have enough magical ability to cast spells if you want me to." Chipmunk said.
"You can do that?" tony asked, her voice filled with amazement.
"Of course, if it's all right with you Matera92." Chipmunk answered.
"I don't see a problem with it." Matera92 said, ushering tony towards her room, so that she could get her things.
That night, each of the Everdeens dreamt of magic.
Earlier that same day… maybe.
"I need to go out and clear my head," Chipmunk said, wanting to get away from eth-dog, his supposed best friend.
"Don' try an' walk 'way Chipmunk!" eth-dog said, going to grab Chipmunk's arm. Chipmunk spun around and looked eth-dog in the face. He could smell the Fire-whiskey on eth-dog's breath.
NaturalDisaster was gone, for good, and Chipmunk had foolishly believed his problems were over for the most part. He hadn't thought that por_please_ya would dump eth-dog and kick him out on the street.
eth-dog couldn't afford his own place, and his ego was too big to allow him to move back in with his parents, so he had decided that he would move in with Chipmunk.
Chipmunk hadn't gotten a say in the decision, as he had been in Waverley with MannumPower, trying to get the young man back to the way he was before the death of his twin, thewizardmelon. Chipmunk had come back to a hung-over and unwanted room-mate.
Chipmunk had taken a few bottles of Fire-whiskey home from BLUEALLTHRU, and it was the 300 galleons-per-bottle stuff too. Several months' worth of booze gone within weeks, thanks to eth-dog. He had just finished off the last bottle when Chipmunk decided to leave his own flat.
"I can bloody well do what I want, eth-dog. This is my flat, my booze," at this, Chipmunk ripped the empty bottle out of eth-dog's hand and threw it in the recycling bin. "and my life. If I want to go out for a walk, then I'll bloody well do it."
"Yur spos't tuh be my best mate, Chip'r. You shou'd be helpin' me out mate." eth-dog slurred.
"No eth. You ruined your chances with porps, and you are the one drinking your life away. I took you in, against my better judgement, so as far as I'm concerned, my job is done. If you want support, go home to your mother." Chipmunk said, before slamming the door in his drunken friends face.
eth-dog glared at the door. He looked out the window, and saw Chipmunk exiting the building through the front door. Without thinking, he picked up his wand, opened the window, and shot the only dark curse he knew at Chipmunk. The curse hit Chipmunk the second he disapparated.
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Next time on "Unexpected Allies"...
