It had been a long year, and many things had changed for Cesil Taprose. His family had not only gotten older but gotten bigger, his brother Onyx having married the sweet young farmer girl he had come to know so well. Gywin Cavani had become Gywin Taprose and with her came her red headed child that belonged to none other than Micah Pierce. Mariah Amira Pierce was everything her namesake suggested, from her vibrant red hair to her strange green eyes. At first Cesil had expected himself to hate her, but Cesil could never hate anything that came from Gwyin or so strongly resembled Amira. So instead he had adored his niece, spoiling her rotten and promising her that the moment she turned eight they would be down in the woods, teaching her how to shoot. For a while they had all lived in the small family home, but when Gwyin grew pregnant once more Onyx picked himself together and came up with enough money for the family of three to buy a lovely little cottage on the outskirts of the forest. It was something from a fairytale, and the family quickly settled down before being joined by yet
another set of twins. Mison Micah Taprose and Marvix Viktor Taprose both honored the family traits with their names, having the nearly patented russet colored hair and stormy blue eyes. They were eagerly celebrated by all sides of the family. Vick and Veck had gotten older as well, turning fifteen and altogether deciding to leave their home and Cesil behind for a chance at education. They moved to stay at a Boys School in the richer portion of District 9, hoping to find a more secure way of making their way through the world than the Taprose's that has preceded them. Despite the slight sadness he felt over losing the twins, Cesil couldn't have been happier. Everyone was doing fine, everyone had advanced and continued down the linear lines of their life. Except him. No, Cesil had never moved on.
His days were spent hunting in the woods with his two dogs. Callie had turned into a fantastic hunting dog as she aged, and had been a surprisingly good teach in return, for she had quickly learned Daisy in the ways of hunting as well. The beautiful golden retriever was pushing at one and a half now, and was the best water fowl dog he had ever seen. With his companions Cesil would stay out in the forest for weeks to months at a time, rarely resurfacing except to visit his family or make repairs on the house. His behavior had the entire neighborhood worried, Onyx especially. The fact that he had more or less abandoned civilized society was a common topic of discussion for his former friends and neighbors. Onyx was the most patronizing, telling him that it was clearly time to grow up and pull himself together and move on. He was past eighteen, nearly nineteen and was more than of the prime age to make something of himself. Nearly every time he visited Onyx tried to pull him under the wing of his newly founded game business, ignoring his older brother as he more or less preached to him the benefits of getting a job and meeting a nice girl and settling down and having children. Cesil would merely shake him off, bid farewell to Gwyin and his niece and nephews and be off. He was tired of being told to pick himself up off the ground and move on, tired of being told that mourning was acceptable, but only in small doses. They didn't understand him when he told them that there was no moving on, that it wasn't and could never be that simple. He had been ruined, and he had been ruined a long time ago.
It wasn't that Cesil didn't want to move on, because he really truly did. He was anything if not prepared to take the world by storm and do something with himself. It was
her that was stopping him. Amira Pierce, the girl who had effectively stolen his heart and smashed it to pieces. He saw her everywhere, in places he did not want to see her. He saw her in the stars at night and in the forest during the day. He saw her in the glare of the sun and the calm of the moon, in the delicate flowers and in the strength of his bow. And it was killing him, he didn't know when it had started or how it would end but if anything he knew it was killing him. Everyday it took another piece of him, slowly eating away at the corners of his life as he numbly allowed himself to fade away. And it was a painful method of fading, one that started softly but then ended explosively. It was starting to scare Cesil actually, the way he was slowly slipping out of caring about anything at all. That was probably what drew him out of the woods that day.
He hadn't know it was reaping day until he was conversing with the local fish monger. He had been prepared to haggle down the expensive price of a large tuna that had just come in off the trains when the man had waved the fee away, stating that he could have the fish as incentive to not be picked from the bowl. The words had confused Cesil at first, but after witnessing everyone's grim face around town he came to conclude that it was actually Reaping day. He had headed home immediately. Despite nearing nineteen, he still had one reaping to go before it would all be over. The thought of another Reaping put a lump in Cesil's throught and fire in his veins. Oh how he hated the Hunger Games and everything associated with them. Why was it such a ludicrous concept to simply let him suffer in piece? Nonetheless he had returned to him home for the first time in a while to ready himself. He had cleaned himself, bathing and washing his hair before shaving the hair that now grew on his face as well as trimming his hair, which he had let grow well out of proportion. When all was done he had fitted himself into Onyx's old reaping suit, as he had grown out of his own, and after quickly straightening his newly acquired red bow tie, set off for the square.
The usual nervous energy that filled the district square was present as Cesil went to take his place amongst the eighteen year olds. A few of them he recognized, but must of their faces had wormed their way out of his memory. He ignored them after a while, allowing himself instead to gaze back into the crowd of fifteen year olds and search for Vick and Veck. He found the after a moment, and as they saw him they nodded slightly in acknowledgment. Off to the side, Onyx and and Gwyin stood, their children bouncing around them in complete oblivion to what was taking place before them. They didn't know yet what happened in the square, didn't know why every year two families sat behind shut doors and cried. Cesil quickly turned away from them before the burning in the pit of his stomach reached his eyes and allowed them to water. How was it that they could play so tranquilly now, only to face the possibility of eminent death later on in their lives? It made Cesil sick and it made Cesil mad.
He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed the time passing until suddenly they were announcing the name of the female tribute. The words bounced around in his mind as his eyes snapped shut, his mind traveling far away to another reaping day where a girl he sought hard to forget and fought harder to remember had been called away. He could still see her expression, still feel the shock and uncertainty she had displayed and could still feel her tremors as he had held her. Then he returned to the present and watched the unlucky winner take her place on the stage.
His heart plummeted into the pit of his stomach.
Of course it would be her. Who else? He had seen this girl before, watched her in the woods on one occasion and had even mistaken her as an illusion before. District Nine knew her as Achlys Triffon but for all intents and purposes she might as well have been called Amira Pierce. Everything about her was the same, from the red of her hair to the green of her eyes and it made Cesil sick. He had truly come to hate the girl who resembled his Amira, thought of her as some demon that had returned for the simple pleasure of driving him insane. Yet as he watched her take the stage in such a similar manner as
she had, he felt only desperation that worsened as he watched her hold back tears. And suddenly, he knew what was going to happen before it even did. And so, soundlessly and without hesitation or contempt, Cesil Taprose was reaped for the second time in his life. This time he did not scream or cry out or stiffen with anger, he simply smiled the smile of a man who had
nothing to lose and climbed the stage.
Outfit 
