Just like candy ✔️ Treech

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District seven arrived quicker than expected for the two tributes, as they stood up, feeling the familair air bustling into the cart, almost the entirety of the district was waiting for them outside, cheering them on, waiting for someone to appear in the doorway, but after a few minutes the cheers stopped. The doorway remained empty, and they only spotted, a young boy who stood up peering outside, before ducking his head back into the cart and walking to the other side.

Mizzen glanced back to the pair, raising an eyebrow as he saw they werent moving, "Your legs broken?" Treech let out a chuckle, it was obviouse He was nervouse.

Lamina stood up quickly, heading to the open clearing, that seperated her and freedom, and she stepped down, almost imediatly being engulfed in her family's arms. They're sobs echoing into the cart.

Treech inhaled a unsteady breath at the noise, but he made no move to get up. The two from District four stood infront of him, raising a skeptical eyebrow at his hesitance.

"What if they hate me?" He spoke quietly, his voice so unsure, it made the pair frown.

"They're not gonna hate you, man." Mizzen shook his head, crouching down infront of him, coral following soon after. By now the district had dropped dead silent, waiting for the boy to step off. They didnt even know if he was alive, they held hopes he had survived this far, but those hopes were dwiddling, every second that passed. Lamina frowned, turning away from her parents arms and glanced back towards the cart.

"Im a murderer." Treech explained.

Coral rolled her eyes, but yet she still looked at him sympatheticly. She grabbed his arm pulling him off the dirty floor, and patted him on the back, "own it." She told him, and Treech looked at her confused. "Act like it doesnt affect you, stand a step taller than all of them, they cant tear you down if you dont let them."

Mizzen's face lit up at the familiar words, and pulled Treech into a hug, pushing just a glimpse of his body into the opening at the force, "I'd listen to her, a very wise person came up with it."

Treech gripped onto him strongly, becoming close with Mizzen in the short time, he trusted him, "I'll see you soon, Four."

Mizzen laughed, "You better, lumberjack." Mizzen gave him one final push into the clearing by the door, as Coral slapped him on the back, but Treech didnt step down just yet, as he glanced back to his district who was waiting for him to get off the platform, and then back to the pair.

"Thank you." He said, to both of them.

"Yeah whatever, Treech. Go see your family." Coral rolled her eyes, leaving Treech to smile, she had never called him by his name before.

"Bye coral." He nodded, stepping off the platform, but before he could even look at his family, he turned around, facing the train again, "Wait Mizzen!" He called out, and the boy appeared in the clearing, glancing skeptically at the district, before he crouched down infront of Treech, Coral standing defensivly behind him.

"Yeah?" Mizzen frowned, and Treech reached to his neck, pulling off a chain, and holding it out to the boy.

"Its your sisters." Treech told him, "You should have it."

Mizzen didnt make a move to grab the necklace, peering at it confused. "She gave it to you?"

"Not really." Treech laughed, and pushed it further out to the boy, "but it belongs to you, now. It's important to her."

Mizzen grabbed the necklace and sighed, "its Kirke's." He said, "Never thought she'd let it go. She never took it off, back in four."

"Yeah, she didnt mean too." Treech ran a hand through his messy hair, glancing back at his district, who waited impaitently, staring weirdly at the interaction between the two boys. "She lost it when she snuck into the arena. I didnt have the chance to return it to her."

Mizzen nodded understandingly, "Thanks for keeping it safe." Mizzen looked towards coral, and nodded to her, and both of them stepped into the darkness of the cart. "Get going, lumberjack." He heard them call out, loudly, and he let out a laugh, stepping away from cart and towards his family.

His mother rushed forward, sobbing as she held him in her arms, but Treech didnt cry, only consoling the woman. "Its okay, Ma. Im okay." She told her, patting her on the back, his mind was too occupied to even think like himself again. He only looked towards Lamina, who shook her head understandingly, not leaving her family's grasp. Both the pair's family noticed the tension between the two of them, but they didnt bother asking what had happend, knowing both of them must've been scarred from the arena.

Treech departed from his mother, turning to his father, who he expected to just brush him off, but he was unexpectedly pulled into a hug, "Good job son."

"Nothing to be proud of." Treech couldnt hug him back, only tensing up at the touch, and pulled back rather quickly, nodding to his siblings, who were crying in happiness. His older brother Henry looked at him confused at his hesitance, and lack of emotion. Treech was too overfilled with guilt at the thought of what he had done in the arena, and his head tipped down. "Lets just go home." Treech said, suddenly. Pushing past his family, and the rest of the district, who excitedly congratulated him, but as he ignored all of them and stalked off, they're calls became silent. Watching him dissapear into the district without another word.

His family stared confused, what was with the sudden hatred, he had to be happy to go home. They had seen him be so normal with the two kids at the train entrance, but he was so diffrent when it came to them, and it worried them.

"Ill talk to him." Henry told them, holding his mother who was still sobbing, and the family trailed off after Treech.

AUTHORS ANNOUCMENT

THE PLOT MAY BE STIRRING....