The mindscape games (on hiatus/possibly discontinued)

Qualifications

(This chapter contains my OC Sides, a.k.a my Logic, Creativity, morality, e.t.c. If you want to know more about them, then go to my profile page and read the story I'm working on for them before reading this).

Virgil's POV:

District 6, yep I'm in the lowest district and I am hating it. Most of the time the rest of us are starving our asses off instead of 'preparing' for the mind games like the higher and snobbier districts. But I'm trying not to focus on that right now, this is the first deer I've seen in months and I was not about to let this one go. I aimed my bow quietly at the deer's heart and took in a deep inhale. On my exhale I let the arrow go and it struck directly where I had meant it to strike. The deer cried out in agony as it fell and tried with the remainder of its life to struggle. I trotted up to it quickly and knelt by its side only to pull out my dagger to finish the job. "I'm sorry, let me put you to ease..." I whispered to it as I stabbed my dagger in its heart, not like it could understand me anyway.
"that's a pretty big catch gurl!" A voice said and I jumped up out of surprise and a little bit of fear. I turned around to find none other than my best friend Remy.
"don't scare me like that you jerk!" I said laughing and went back to clean my knife of the deer's blood.
"you know I can't help myself babes, want me to help you with that?" He asked and I nodded my head so he trotted over as well and knelt to my side.
"this is the first one I've seen in months, Janus will be pleased to see I brought some more money home." I told him and he nodded his head as he heaved the deer corpse over his shoulder to carry as I packed away my dagger and settled my bow on my shoulder. "Thanks for helping Remy, today has just been taking a toll on me" I said to him gratefully. He frowned and walked with me back to the district border.
"it's taking a toll on all of us, it's Janus's-"
"yeah it's Janus's first year being qualified for the games" I finished for him as we slipped under the border gate. "Let's just say he's been stressed a lot" I told him, we entered the butchers shop and Emile the owner greeted us with a happy smile.
"Wow! You got a deer! Haven't seen you bring one in for some time now" Emile exclaimed as we lay it on the counter.
"It's the first one I've seen in ages too, kind of a coincidence that it shows up today of all days" I joked as Emile examined it and put it on a hook. "How much do you believe that one's worth?" I asked and leaned against the counter.
"in the condition it's in which is near perfect, I do have to say you make incredibly clean cuts and cause quick deaths. If you are ever chosen for the hunger games I'd now you'd be a champion" Emile stated and I flinched at the statement. "So I'd give it a cost of... 45 cons to buy it off of you" Emile stated, me and Remy's jaw dropped to the floor in shock and I laughed in disbelief.
"you're serious? Oh my god Emile thank you!" I said in pure joy. Emile just smiled and dropped the promised amount into my hand.
"happy mind games, I guess?" Emile joked and we all laughed. I turned to Remy still with a stupid grin on my face and pocketed the money.
"I want to go to the market and get something for Janus before I head back and get ready." I told him. "Go and get yourself something from the bakery," I said after handing him a portion of the money.
"Virgil you're not serious right? This is your hard earned money not mine," he protested but I still pushed it back into his hand.
"I'm very serious and you deserve to get something nice for putting up with me," I joked, he rolled his eyes and just accepted it instead of arguing further.
"I'll hopefully see you after the qualifications," I said to him as we went outside.
"same to you Virge!" He shouted as he ran off to the bakery. I chuckled and started to walk over to the market with a little pep now in my step. I looked at the little trinkets and assortments laid out but they were all too expensive to get. I was losing hope in getting Janus something before his first qualifications as I looked at the scrapped crap in front of me that I could afford. That is until I looked at a pin and my eyes stuck to it. Engraved in the bronze accessory was a symbol I couldn't recognize. I picked it up and examined it further with curiosity.
"It's the light sides symbol," a woman said and I looked up to find it to be the shop owner of these assortments, her name was Audrey if I remember right.
"Sorry, did you say light sides?" The woman nodded and I looked at the symbol even closer. "What does that mean?" I asked her and continued to look at it. She bent over and pointed over to the four symbols on it.
"the light sides were what ruled the mindscape capitol long ago, each side representing a trait of pure good personalities in a man. There was creativity, the master of imagination and motivation, Logic the master of reality, truth, and common sense. Morality the master of kindness, empathy, and drive to make others do right, and last there was Anxiety, the master of fear, paranoia, tendency to fight or flight, and the one who knew when his others or himself had reached their limits. There is also the dark sides such as Deceit the master of lies and deception along with creativity's twin Intrusive Thoughts, the master of madness and chaos. The last dark side is long forgotten from history but those are the sides that are still remembered. It's been quite awhile since I've seen someone so interested in that pin" she said to me with a chuckle. "Now it's nothing more than a forgotten scrap of accessory that is used as a sign for hope," she finished explaining and I nodded my head to show I understood. "You can take it" she said after a while and I looked up to her again, shocked.
"no, no, no let me pay you for this, that isn't right" I objected but she lifted up her hand to stop me
"I insist sir, there's something different about you that makes me feel you'll come to achieve great things. So do take it, I won't get much luck selling it elsewhere or to anyone else." She explained to me and I smiled.
"thank you miss, I can't thank you enough!" I said and shook her hand.
"Happy mind games, I believe you should be heading back to clean up for the qualifications soon" she reminded me and I nodded my head as I took off back to the shack I and Janus lived in. As soon as I opened the door I found myself being tackled to the floor by my rascal of a little brother. He laughed as I picked him up and looked at him with a playful evil smirk.
"Well look who decided to tackle their big bro to the floor, how rude of you!" I played with him and tickled his sides.
"ah! Stop, please! Mercy!" He cried as he wriggled around while giggling uncontrollably.
"and mercy you shall receive, what have you done today?" I asked and picked him up only to put him back on the ground.
"hm, I didn't totally pickpocket some strangers," I smacked him on the back of the head and he rubbed it while looking at me with a glare. "What did I say about stealing AND lying?" I asked him and he hung his head with guilt.
"not to do it" he responded and kicked his foot to scuff against the ground.
"and why did I tell you that?" I asked and crossed my arms sternly.
"because it's bad, mean, and I might have taken something that meant a lot to that person who needed it more than us" he finished and looked up to me with sorry eyesl. "I'm sorry Virgil, I just thought that maybe I could get something for you... since you're always doing a lot for me" he explained and I smiled softly to him and ruffled his hair,
"now I do appreciate the thought, and that was really sweet of you to think of me but you know I got us taken care of Janus, and you wanna know what I hunted down today?" I asked him and bent down a little to his level.
"Ooh what'd you catch?" He asked excitedly and I chuckled.
"I caught a deer! The best part is I got 45 cons for it, 45 cons! So on my way back here I made a stop and... got you a little something special" I told him and placed the pin into his hand. He turned it over and looked at it with a confused look.
"what is it?" He asked and I took it back to place it in the palm of his hand.
"this one is creativity, that one is logic, this one is morality, and this last one is anxiety. These all represent traits in a human being, but it's mostly just used now as a token of hope. So I want you to have it, whenever you feel like something is impossible, or draining, or too difficult. Whenever you're scared and feel like you're in the dark, I want you to look at that pin and think of something that makes you happy, and whatever that happy thing may be, you turn that happiness into hope." I told him, he smiled at me and clipped it to his shirt.
"Thank you Virgil" he said and hugged me tightly.
"alright you little snake, we need to get cleaned up, you have your clothes laid out right?" I asked and he nodded his head. "Ok you get all scrubbed up in the bath and once you're done you dry off and finish getting ready" he nodded his head again and walked off in the direction of the bathroom. "And that means combing your hair too!" I shouted after him and smiled as he answered back with a groan. I unloaded my bow and quiver full of arrows into their rightful place and set my dagger in its sheath on the table. I opened up a cupboard that was mostly empty except for the sticky cobwebs and canned food that inhabited it, only to slide off the backboard to reveal a hidden compartment. I reached into it and pulled out a box that I kept our savings in just to be safe. I took the money I had left and counted it. I had given Remy 15 cons so that left me with 30, I placed it into the container and looked at the money saved in it. If I did my math right then I'd say me and Janus had 78 cons in total. I was saving up to get us a better place maybe for us to stay in, or to have a decent Christmas dinner with our friends invited, it was taking a long time but we were slowly getting there. I put the savings away and sealed the backboard shut and closed the cupboard. I stood up while dusting off my legs from kneeling when I saw Janus leave the bathroom with his hair wet and combed with a towel around his waist. I went into the bathroom myself and started to undress, it wasn't really a bathroom. It was basically a side room with a wooden tub filled with water as a bathtub along with a water tap and bucket to use to wash your hair or hands. I sank into the water and started to scrub all the dirt I could see off of me. It was a tedious task and not to mention I went in and scrubbed everything from out of my fingernails. Next was my hair that was tangled, greasy, and oily, it was painful just thinking about combing through it. Eventually I was finally all washed up so I towel dried myself the best I could and picked up a comb off of a shelf that held bathroom assortments we'd use from time to time. With each painful tug I wanted to scream bloody murder from the pain in my scalp but resolved to painful grunts and the occasionally whispered 'ow's, yet after a torturous long time I finally succeeded in getting through it all and stepped out to go change into my own picked out clothing. It was my fanciest shirt which was just a buttoned up black one, my best pants which were just simple dark denim jeans, and my purple sneakers. Janus was waiting for me by the door looking nervous and I could tell he was bursting with anxiety for the coming event. Not like I could blame him at all, I felt the same way, maybe even worse my first time being qualified for the mind games. I bent down a little to get to his level and placed my hand on his shoulder to give it a tight reassuring squeeze. "It's ok, I was nervous my first qualifications too, to be honest I'm still nervous about it today" I confessed and he nodded to me. "We don't want to be late, let's go" we left our home and walked to the selection ceremony area, we saw kids, teenagers, and almost adults who were still of age walking along to the same area as us. Parents were crying at their doors, while some just sent them off and closed the door. I gave a slight wave to Emile who just gave a nod to me with a worried look. We were getting closer to the front of the line to be accounted for when Jan-us saw what they did to register. I followed his gaze and squeezed his shoulder a little tighter as he started to breath faster. "Hey, hey, it's nothing, it's just a little drop of blood and then it's over, all you feel is a little poke and that's it" I said quietly to reassure him but he was still panicking, we were almost to the front now "you barely feel it Janus, it isn't going to hurt" it was finally his turn and they took his hand, pricked his finger and pressed it to the page with his name on it. They did mine next and I caught up with him, "see? It wasn't bad, go over to the other kids ok? I'll see you once it's over ok?" He nodded and gave me a tight hug before going off. Once every one was settled our district's representative stepped forward to give the speech. It was the same every time except for the annual year being changed. The woman put her hand into the female name jar and pulled it out.
"Reina Storm!" She announced, there was silence for a few seconds before I saw her walking up to the stage. I didn't know her that well, She was always quiet and reserved like myself and only left her home if she had to or was forced to. "and for our male tribute!" She reached into the jar and I felt my breath catch in my throat. "Janus Shade!"