#teaching your small child how to hunt - not with guns or bows or even knives but just Pounce N Chomp - is Not Normal

[the-faultofdaedalus]

love creating characters that should rightfully be traumatized or at least a little bit fucked up by their parent's parenting style except instead they're just, like, fine

[tothewaterhq]

ACCEPTED // DAHLIA HORNBY

district twelve → tribute → lola flanery fc

pronouns: she/her strengths: agile, durable, tactical weaknesses: social skills, physical strength, maturity weapon of choice: hunting knives token: a few pages torn from her family survival guide (to be confiscated when she reaches the capitol)

tw: murder, tw: death, tw: guns, tw: language

did they volunteer? if so, why?: No

bio:

Marta and Eldon Hornby were two good people born in a bad world. When they met they knew that there were alike in so many ways. Both were orphans, both detested the capitol and both had people they knew reaped for the games on the same year. Eldon was a natural survivalist who spent his childhood trying to navigate poverty and looking after his younger brothers after his parents death. He’d always tried to teach his two younger brothers survival skills in case they were reaped for the games. His younger brother died before he reached the age of twelve. The elder was reaped when he was fifteen. He had never met Marta before. She had been alone most of her life. No siblings, no parents. Her best friend was her family. Her best friends name was called right afters Eldon’s brother. They both died in the bloodbath.

Eldon met Marta during the District Twelve stop of the victory tour they were both obliged to go to. He stopped her tossing a Molotov cocktail on the stage. They married a year later. It was as if tragedy had drawn them together. That and a burning hatred for the capitol. They bought a small shack of a house close to the fence. Together, they made plans. They wanted to escape panem, escape district twelve. To do that they needed money and security. Eldon started digging an escape hatch underneath the floor of their shack using tools borrowed from his mining profession. That took him around a year to get perfect. Then the pair of them started trying to track down other rebels through signals they’d leave on trees. They wasted another year on that. It took them three years to put together everything they needed to make there move. However the day before their escape, Marta discovered she was pregnant. So another nine months was added to the time frame. Enough time for them to have their daughter, Dahlia Hornby.

A baby was a new variable they had to take in to account before. They had never planned to bring a child into panem. Not whilst the games were still in place. They thought about hiding her. But that was no way to bring up a child. They thought about fleeing with her. However the risk was too great. So they stayed. Eldon raised his daughter the way he raised his brothers. It may not have helped them. However Dahlia would be prepared for both the games and escaping panem. Whichever came first.

Dahlia, or Lia to them (and only them) was a happy kid who loved both of her parents ‘to the moon and back’. That’s what her mother would say to her every night. She was also reminded every night that, soon they would ‘be in a better place.’ As soon became too long, Dahlia grew impatient. So her father upped her training routines. He even took her out in the woods occasionally to give her a taste of freedom. She was never allowed outside the shade of their house though. That’s something that frustrated her. Dahlia could start fires, tie knots, cook animals and do all sorts of things but waiting? That was a different story.

She was seven when she got the chance. Her parents were busy doing idle tasks. The floorboards guarding the passageway were up. What did the child do? She went outside.  She started off slow but was quickly just running through the woods, distracted by all the places she’d never seen before. She heard running water splashing against some rocks in the distance. She was totally encaptivated by the sounds. She didn’t hear hushed voices moving towards her. Before she knew it her father grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth as they hid behind a tree, just in time for them to hide from view as a peacekeeper walked past. That’s what Jervis had heard. Marta joined them quickly as they moved silently into a nearby cave. They had no way of getting out without being seen or heard. As her mother cradled her head, Dahlia whispered,

‘I’m scared mama.’

Marta grabbed hold of her quickly, whispering words of comfort in her ear. The usually mantra about loving her to the moon and back. Neither Marta or Eldon knew what they were going to do, one thing for sure was, they weren’t letting Dahlia get captured.

The plan was for her to run back to the house as Marta ran in the opposite direction to distract the peacekeepers. Eldon would hide and find his way back to Dahlia later, who was instructed to hide until he got back. So she ran back in the direction she came. However Marta didn’t get to run. She tried. Before she knew it the peacekeepers had cornered her. Things were not going as planned, Eldon watched on as his wife was captured. He couldn’t let that happen, so he lunged for the peacekeepers.

As Dahlia sprinted back to her home, she was startled by two gunshots.

When she returned home she hid in the small cabinet under the sink for what felt like hours.  It didn’t matter how long she waited, they didn’t return. She wasn’t brave enough to venture back out into the forest to look for her parents until two days later. She went prepared with a swiss army knife. She searched all day and woke up the next morning freezing in the forest. No matter how many times she came back without any more information, Dahlia continued to do this every morning. She lost track of time, not realising that an extended period had passed until her shoes grew too small for her feet. Then she ran out of food. She wasn’t sure about going to the market places, so she stuck to the forest. The first thing she found was a squirrel but the six year old didn’t know how to kill it. That was until she watched a spider pounce on a fly. Smothering it to death.   It was better, a lot less bloody. Following the technique,  she ate well for a while. Then winter hit and the small animals that she could actually catch disappeared.

Something strange happened during winter. Someone left a dead rabbit outside her house. Then another, then another. All winter the stranger left them for her. She caught a glimpse of them occasionally. Then they were gone again. When spring came back around Dahlia went back to the woods. Spring left the woods full of animals and she couldn’t help but watch them. She tried to emulate a squirrel by climbing up a tree, she copied a rabbit who drank from the stream. She even growled at a wolf. The animals were raising her in a way. At least someone was.

A year passed, Dahlia fell into bad habits. She didn’t wash,  she didn’t wear shoes, she ate with her hands. Rumours spread in district twelve about an animal child living in the woods. It wasn’t until she started going to the market that she realised it was her. She was covered in dirt, looking like a wild animal. No one stopped her stealing things. Even the peacekeepers. Especially after she sunk her teeth into one of them when they came across her lifting an apple from a fruit stand.

‘They don’t pay me enough to deal with this feral little bitch!’

Expecting them to chase her, she ran back to her house.  They didn’t come. Those words played over and over in her mind. Was she feral? She knew the word meant wild. And what about all those whispers she’d heard in town? The animal girl. The girl in the woods. She caught her reflection in some water. Suddenly, it all made sense.

The realisation that the animalistic behaviour was the reason no one had come to collect the parentless child got the wheels turning in Dahlia’s mind. She spent more time in the woods, crawling around like an animal. It was almost fun for her. She liked to test her luck in the district as well. See how many people she could fool. The answer was a lot. Then again, District twelve were preoccupied with something else at that time.

Katniss Everdeen they called her. She recognised her immediately; the woman that left rabbits outside for her. Suddenly she was engulfed by the hunger games.  She was rooting for the girl on fire just like everyone else, sneaking out to the square to watch the live showings. She was destined to win — except she didn’t. In a fit of rage, Dahlia kicked her wall. Out fell a book with a note attached,

‘Dahlia, I hope I never have to give this to you. I hope that by the time you turn twelve we’ll be far away from this wretched place. I hope that we’ll all be safe. In a better life. If you’re reading this, that hasn’t happened yet.’ It didn’t take her long to recognise the phrasing and handwriting. It was from her father. ‘Today is your first reaping day. If all has gone well, your name is only in there once. Your mother and I wouldn’t have it any other way.’ They got one thing right. She’d never taken tesserae. It wasn’t like the small girl needed that much food. The letter continued. ‘I hope I’m there reading this to you, but Panem is unpredictable. If not I’ll present it to you in writing. This gift, a book that’s been in my family for generations. The Hornby Survival Guide.’  

The book was a collection of loose paper and sketched. There were a few dried up plant clippings. But it was the content that was of most interest. A compilation of survival tips. All the stuff her dad had never got to teach her.

With the book and the memories of Katniss, Dahlia found a new figure to emulate instead of the animals. She even braided her hair (to the best of her abilities) to look like Katniss. Whilst she didn’t have a bow, she threw a knife, that she’d stolen, around like it was an arrow. She climbed the trees like she did. Even slept in them a few times. Dahlia started practicing sneaking around. Her time in the woods became less about hunting and more about training. As she got older she got sneakier, just like Katniss.She taught herself to fight, albeit a tree that gave her a dozen splinters. That still counted in her mind though. Most importantly she studied the book cover to cover. She was going to be ready just in case she got reaped. Of course, she wouldn’t be reaped on her first reaping. So she had time.

Wrong. She went to her first reaping because she didn’t want someone showing up at her house and forcing her to go. wasn’t sure even her fake feral-ness could keep them away.  She didn’t braid her hair or clean her face. She was wearing a moth eaten cardigan and skirt combination that didn’t go well with her fathers old boots. She didn’t look anything like the formal kids in the crowd. No one expected district twelve to have lavish clothes though.  Like cattle she was hoarded in to the pens they put aside for the girls. Surrounding her were teenagers, all of a much larger height than she. Her mind didn’t know what was going on. All she knew was someone was calling her name. No one knew Dahlia’s name though. The slip of paper from the bowl hadn’t said ‘The Girl from the Woods’ If that had been the case people would’ve recognised her.

Dahlia’s first mistake was attending the reaping in the first place. Her second was trying to creep away. In hindsight, it made her look guilty. Before she knew it she was being dragged up to the stage. Staring out into the crowd of lucky faces who hadn’t been reaped. Then again, luck had never been Dahlia’s friend. As she was dragged on to the capitol train started to kick and scream. That’s what she planned to do right until her last breath. Give them hell. After all, the capitol had taken her mother, father and Katniss Everdeen. They weren’t taking her too.

PLAYED BY // JO

[lucisfavoritedemon]

Fate & Destiny: The Meeting

Pairing: Dean x Nelly

Characters: Dean Winchester, Nelly Charles, David Charles, John Winchester, Sam Winchester (mentioned), Mary Winchester (mentioned), Darryl Charles (mentioned), Bobby Singer (mentioned).

Summary: The day Dean and Nelly first met.

Warnings: Slow burn, fluffy child cuteness, mention of kidnapping, mention of death of parent.

Word Count: 1648

A/N: This is the first official part of Fate & Destiny. All mistakes are mine. Feel free to reblog and give feedback. I hope you enjoy

Fate & Destiny Masterlist

It was a stormy summer night in late May of the year 1992. More specifically it was May 21, 1992. It is the most important date in a little girl’s life. At first she dreaded the whole hunt because she really didn’t want to go for fear of a screaming fest between her father and this other hunter.

This may be just a date to most people, but to Nelly Charles it was the night her life changed forever. Though, at the time, she didn’t know it. She wanted it to be over with already so she didn’t have to endure the pain of hearing another hunter tell her that she didn’t belong.

Nelly Charles is eleven years old, born October 31, 1981 to an unknown mother, and David Charles. Nelly doesn’t know her mother because she disappeared 6 weeks after she was born, leaving her father to raise two children on his own. Her brother Darryl was born June 12, 1979, but went missing at the age of 9 leaving it just Nelly and her father.

Nelly was trained from the age of seven to throw knives, which by the age of eight was like a 30 year old professional who had been doing it their whole life. She also learned how to hunt with a bow, and shoot almost every type of gun in existence. Her dad taught her everything she knows and they grew closer because of it.

Traveling down the road in a beautiful silver 1967 El Camino. It was a two seater perfect for the father and daughter duo. Nelly was still nervous about this whole thing and David could clearly see the worry on his daughters face.

“Nelly sweetheart, what’s bothering you?” He was concerned about his daughter and wanted her in the right mindset so she wouldn’t get hurt.

“I just don’t want to hear another speech about how this life isn’t for me. I’m getting a little tired of hearing it.” She vocalized finally over the fact that she isn’t some little kid anymore.

“I know, but trust me John won’t say anything to you about that, you wanna know why?” he asked looking to Nelly for any indication that she was intrigued.

“Sure dad. Why don’t you tell me why another hunter won’t say that I’m too young to be hunting,” she sarcastically remarked.

“John is bringing his oldest son who is just two years older than you. Still pretty young to be hunting, so you have nothing to worry about. I promise though, if you still don’t want to hunt anymore after this, you just say the words and I won’t drag you around the country anymore, okay?” he reassured her, making her feel a little better about this. She still had some doubts, but was willing to do anything to prove she was mature enough to handle this.

They pulled up to a small run down motel on the side of the highway in River Falls, Wisconsin. A tiny town with a Wendigo problem, which is why they were here. 

Her dad pulled into the spot farthest away from the door, that way if he needed to make a getaway for any reason they didn’t get his license plate numbers. Nelly was still having a hard time with working with other hunters. She liked it when it was just her and her dad. To be honest though she wanted out. She hated the life more than any hunter she’s met. She vowed herself that this was her last hunt, and that she would tell her father that she didn’t want this, that she wanted to be normal, and grow up to have a normal life.

“Nelly stay in the car please. I’ll be right back, but just in case stay here till I tell you okay?”

“Yes dad.”

Nelly, no matter how weird it seemed, she always did what her father told her. She respected him, but also wanted to make him proud.

Lost in thought, she didn’t notice someone had approached the drive side window. That is, until they spoke up.

“Hey there,” the boy spoke startling Nelly.

“Oh, hi. Who are you?” she kind of snapped.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I wanted to come say hi. Well I was told to sit on the curb, and I saw you sitting in here by yourself. I’m Dean by the way, Dean Winchester.” He extended his hand through the open window, and she took it hesitantly.

“It’s nice to meet you Dean. I’m Nelly Charles, and you didn't scare me. It takes a lot for someone to scare me.” She lied, but this would be the only time that she would ever lie to him again.

“It’s nice to meet Nell. It’s alright if I call you that right?”

“Of course.”

This wasn’t a lie, though all of her life she hated that nickname, but for whatever reason this Dean character was different.

Dean Winchester, born January 24, 1979 to John and Mary Winchester. When Dean was four his mother died in a horrible house fire. Ever since Dean had been taught how to hunt, and fend off anything that even remotely looked like a monster, to keep his brother Sam safe.

Dean wasn’t one to talk to strangers, and this would be his first hunt with his dad. Sam would be with Bobby at this time while they were hunting. Dean would never count this as his first hunt though.

“Want to come sit out here with me?” Dean offered.

She thought about it, but remembered what her father said, “sorry I can’t my dad told me to stay here till he told me otherwise, and I’m not about to disobey him for someone I just met. No offense.”

“It’s okay. I get it, so why don’t I stay here with you then, and keep you company until your dad says it’s okay to get out.” He offered opening the driver side door, and started to climb in.

“I’d like that actually.”

And there they sat for an hour and a half talking about nonsense and making a promise to always have moments like this whenever they saw each other again.

David called to Nelly telling her that it was okay for her to get out of the car so they could unload. Like always she did what she was told. Dean looked to her, smiled, then got out of the driver's side door. This did not please her dad, but he let it go.

~*~

The entire time Dean and Nelly were left in the motel by themselves, giving them a chance to get to know each other even more.

"So what's the real story behind you becoming a hunter?" Dean asked Nelly wanting to know her more than he did.

"My brother disappeared when I was 7, and my dad didn't think that his disappearance was natural.”

"Why's that?"

"He was taken from our bedroom on the second floor of our house."

"Yeah that doesn't sound natural." Dean responded giving her a small smile.

"Now enough about me how'd you get into the life?" Nelly asked curious about Dean's life.

"I usually don't like to talk about it, but when my brother and I were young we lost our mom in a house fire, but our dad didn't believe it was what the firemen were saying."

"Well I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I'm sorry for your loss."

This should've made Dean mad, he didn’t like people to pity him. He thought it made him look weak, but it made him feel good that someone actually cared, and understood what he was going through. It made him feel good that someone felt bad for everything he's been through.

"You know no one has ever said that let alone cared that much before. So thank you for saying that, and also sorry for your loss. Losing a parent is one thing, but losing a sibling is something else. I don't know what I would do if I lost Sammy."

"I mean it was a loss, but he was a totally different person leading up to his disappearance.”

“That’s really sad. Not just for you, but your dad as well. It must have been really hard on you.”

“It was at first, but because of this dad and I have grown closer than we’ve ever been. I didn’t really have a good relationship with him up until Darryl disappeared. It’s sad to say, but it’s true.”

“Yeah it really is. I’m glad you and your dad have a good relationship though, even though it took you losing your brother for it to happen.”

This was a majority of their conversations, but the more they talked the less Nelly wanted to get out of the life, and in a way this was a good thing for her to make more friends to keep her going.

~*~

The day of departure was one of Nelly’s hardest days. She wanted to get to know Dean even more than what she did. This was the hunt she would never forget. They both would never forget it.

In a week they both would be in different parts of the country; Nelly and David would be in Texas hunting a poltergeist, and Dean and John would be at Bobby’s trying to catch a new case. John would be going on the case and sick the boys on Bobby so he could teach them the practicalities of becoming a true hunter.

They would never forget each other though no matter how far apart they were. They were connected on a level they both have never felt before. It was weird and wonderful for them to have this new profound bond with someone who knows exactly what they have to go through. It makes them an even more perfect pair.

Fate & Destiny Taglist:

@atc74 @bella-ca @ericaprice2008 @mirandaaustin93 @snffbeebee