The Huntress

The Call Out Another book finished and just as it always has done, the play written in book form has caused a spark of questions within me. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet but what is this love he speaks of within the play? What emotion could be so powerful to cause such an unfortunate ending? No matter how many books I seem to read that speak of this emotion, I never truly understand it. From what I have seen in my short life, only hatred, death, war and despair remain in this world. Something like that can’t be found in a world such as this one, a world engulfed in the hatred. I glance out of the window to see that sunrise is near, the Call Outs will be soon and I may be dead by this afternoon. I climb out of bed and return the book to the shelf. I stare down at it proudly for a moment, it’s one of the few connexions I have with my mother. Silently, I hope that if I survive the Call Outs, one day I’ll be able to find her, speak to her, perhaps maybe develop a mother and daughter bond with her just like the ones I’ve read so much about. From what I’ve been told, she was highly intelligent and agile, that’s why she was chosen in the Call Outs. They’ve never aloud me to see the video of her year, never even aloud me to see a picture of her. All I have is the hologram but even then, I can barely make out her face. I know she has the same black hair as me, but sometimes I wonder whether my emerald eyes come from her, or my elven blood. There are so many things I wish to know about her but unfortunately, the only way to gain answers is by surviving this day and we’re all in the same situation. Each of us separated from our parents at birth just as our parents were, trained from being a small child, having to survive experiments that change your genetic structure for this. This day. The alarm bell rings as sunrise arrives and the wall, in front of my bed, opens up to reveal a silver suit and several silver weapons. We have until just after sunrise to arrive at the training hall otherwise we are exterminated in our rooms. I move quickly, knowing I don’t have much time, I take down the silver suit and begin to put it on. It’s armour. It’s feathered into a skirt at the bottom to make it easy for me to move and the metal never seems to make a noise. Upon the chest plate, which reminds me of a corset, are strange, elven symbols carved into the flexible, unique metal. Swiftly, I grab the black belt and have it resting on my hips before I begin placing the throwing knives into place. I slip my feet into the silver, knee high boots that also have the markings. I throw the silver quiver over my shoulder and grab my bow. I’m ready. As I approach the door, the hologram begins playing and automatically I panic. Have I taken too long? Are they going to exterminate me? “Dear Miss Devotion, you have proven yourself to be quite devoted and well organised, are you ready to leave for the Call Outs?” The hologram of my mother says in a strange robotic female voice, the voice I’ve heard all of my life and now seems unusually comforting to my ears. “I would appreciate it” I mutter and the doors open. I rush out of the doors and straight to the training hall to find myself being the first one there. Nothing new then. “Miss Devotion, do you wish to train?” The hologram asks, and I nod. I remember how they had told me that they had based my hologram on my mother but even still I don’t know what her eye colour would be or whether she would be of elven blood or not. All I know is that her is long and black and from what I can make out, her skin seems unusually pale. Her face in the hologram is distorted and so I can’t quite make out what she would look like. A dummy seems to grow out of the floor and appear in front of me. I take out the first arrow and begin shooting, soon I find myself shooting arrow after arrow. Never missing where I aim. The second candidate arrives and stares at me. “Devotion, aren’t you scared?” Asks the shy, young voice of the second candidate. She’s no taller than five foot and her long fiery red ringlet hair is tied back into a ponytail, leaving only her block fringe in her face. Her skin is pale and her cheeks are rosy, giving her the illusion of innocence. She stands there, shaking nervously. Both of us know what could become of our fate. “If I must be honest with you Innocence, I’m terrified” I reply as I draw back the string of the bow. I exhale slowly and release the arrow. “You’ve always been one for training, if I’m betting on anyone being chosen, it’ll be you” Innocence replies “I hope that I will be and the same for you,” I reply as I retrieve the arrows from the dummy, “you are by far the best among us when it comes to traps” “Thank you” she says with a nervous smile. The dummy returns beneath the floor as the room floods with nervous teenagers. All of us are seventeen to eighteen years old and each of us are clearly terrified of what could possibly become our fate. The hall seems to fill with a feeling of dread that hangs heavily in the air. I take a large gulp of air as we begin to file into perfect lines and stare up at the wall. It opens to reveal a group of males and females behind a glass shield all of them were once in the games, each of them once survived the Call Outs. A male stands proudly in the centre and begins to speak, “Hello my training champions, you each know of the two possible fates that may become yours. You have each proven your strengths and proven that you are each strong however many of you have shown weaknesses and this is something that can’t be accepted within the fate you all wish upon yourselves,” my mouth becomes bone dry and I clutch the bow with all of my strength. “Elves and humans, no matter what race you are, you have proven your worth and you should each be proud of what you have achieved” the man steps back and a female steps forward. “I am Delusion, a huntress from the fourth games,” the woman begins, “I proved myself worthy to become a huntress through my illusions and deceptive ways. I am of elven blood just as many of you will be. The first of you whom has proven yourself, in physical strength and cunningness is Conquer” I look behind me to see Conquers large, muscular build. His jaw clenched at first but soon relaxes and his dark sinister look, deteriorates. He is safe. I step out of the way and allow the largely built human male to step past me. His long, shaggy black hair covers most of his face, hiding it from the world, his dark skin makes him seem almost like a shadow as he moves towards the wall. He places his sword and guns on the floor and the wall opens. He steps through and the wall closes again so that no one can follow him. The woman steps back and a male steps forward, “I am Fusion, a hunter from the twelfth games. I proved myself worthy through my strength, speed and ability to kill with my bare hands. I am of human blood just as many of you will be. The second of you whom has proven yourself, in intelligence and speed is Innocence” I look to my right and smile proudly at Innocence as she takes a sigh of relief. She looks to me and smiles comfortingly, “good luck” she whispers and I nod. I watch as she walks towards the wall and places her rope and knives on the floor. The wall swallows her up and silently I pray that I too will be chosen.