3rd Game

[stillplaying]

[Action;

Maybe they had caught on, these animals whose whispers she ignored when in the woods. She might not be the only hunter here, but she knows she's one of the more frequent. After all, she's out here every day. Sometimes she wanders further from the western lake but most of the time, she remains close to her treehouse home. Checking traps, gathering plants, losing herself in almost a ritualistic manner. It's the best way to keep memories at bay.

But on days like today, when game is scarce, it's harder. And she remembers. She lists the dead in her head, all the faces that haunt her in her dreams. The way they still all come together some nights to bury her alive. It's a recurring dream, always the same. Except, since coming here, she no longer sees Rue's face within the crows. It's the smallest of reassurances.

She's quietly whispering that list to herself, that list of all those people she's killed. All the deaths she's been responsible for. She has no right to be alive. She should be as dead as the rest of them. She deserves to be. And maybe that's what this is. Being back in a game again. Punishment.

But aside from that one awful shift, that horrible hijacking, it hasn't been so bad. And having Rue back... she doesn't deserve that.]

Cato. [The list continues as she continues to walk quietly in the forest, bow in hand.] Marvel. Glimm-

[The breaking of a twig stops her. She falls silent and looks around until her eyes fall on a young buck a few yards down, not even mature. The antlers are in velvet, barely little more than nubs sticking from the head. He looks as startled to see her as she is to see him. But a year or two older than any yearling. Perfect game. An arrow is drawn before she realizes what she's even doing.

There's only one moment of hesitation. When she remembers the last deer she brought down, with Gale's help, back in the woods of District Twelve. She's never attempted to kill one on her own. And a deer this size, it'll be too big for her to take back on her own. The amount of meat will be too much for two small girls.

But... she can think of people she's met here, potential allies, she'd happily share her meat with. Her arrow goes flying, piercing a lung. The buck bolts and her second shot isn't as true, hitting it in the midsection. And then she's running after it. It's not a long run. The animal stumbles over a log in its desperate flee and falls. She gets in one final shot, right in the heart.

There's a sense of grim satisfaction as she watches the deer exhale his final breath. Then she's on her knees, carefully removing and wiping her arrows. She places her bow on the ground and pushes the animal onto its back. She takes out her knife to make a small incision by the genitals. It's followed by a longer cut up towards the chest. Field dressing first. Then she'll request aid.

Voice;

So by the time she opens the journal, there are a couple of blood smears on her face. She looks uncharacteristically happy, though. Proud. She's never taken down her own deer before. It makes her forget any uncomfortableness that accompanies asking for help. She wipes some stray strand of hair from her face, leaving a small blood trail on her forehead.]

Is there a butcher in town? [An important question. Although she can probably butcher her deer on her own if worse comes to worse, she's never done it before. The first had been nearly attacked in the Hob, the other few taken to Rooba.] I caught a deer. There's so much meat. Too much for me and Rue alone. I'm willing to share. But I'll need help getting it to town, too.

Comments

[voice]

[simplestgift]

A deer? Dunno if there's a butcher, but I'd take venison or trade for it. And we've a cart I can bring.

[voice]

[stillplaying]

[A cart. It's not something she's ever thought of before. It's too difficult to get a cart past the fence in District Twelve. And even if the fence isn't so much of a problem anymore, she's never caught game so big.

Not without Gale to help.

But even as she considers the potential of a cart, she can also see all the problems. There are no smooth paths here in the forest to wheel it on.]

Have you ever used the cart in the forest before?

[voice]

[simplestgift]

With success, yes. Hauling lumber to build a ship.

[voice]

[stillplaying]

[Which means not only can it be done, but he has experience. It would be a lot easier than dragging the dead buck to town. Easier than someone helping her carry it.

She's reluctant to trust someone who is a total stranger. When she had put out that message, she had hoped for someone she's talked to before. It comes down to waiting or taking a chance.

An easy trade.] I can give you some venison in return for your help.

[Voice]

[arturius]

It seems to me it would be better for you to prepare it yourself. You can't simply rely on someone else to do it for you. [Gee this sounds familiar.]

[Voice]

[stillplaying]

[This response really shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Hadn't she taunted him for asking exactly the same question? But it is different, she reasons. Because once a butcher shows her how to properly dissemble the deer, she'll know how to do it for any future kills. Arthur seemed to want someone to butcher his meat permanently.

And she won't let the king ruin her good mood. So instead she reaches for the pile of organs not too far away from the carcass and holds up the intestines so that the camera gets a picture.]

Already done half the work.

[Voice]

[arturius]

[Arthur frowns seeing the organs. Not because he's disgusted, just because it's a pretty crude thing to do.]

So you may as well finish up.

[Voice]

[stillplaying]

[And she grins. Whatever the reason for the frown, it's the reaction she wanted.

She sobers quickly though. It's... uncomfortable to admit to even the slightest weakness.]

I would but I've never carved something as big as this deer before. I don't want to mess it up.

[Voice]

[cynicism]

Deer isn't exactly a predatory kind of animal.

What, are you too good to shop for your groceries in the store like everyone else? [If she's asking for a butcher, she can't be one of those "live off the land" barbarian types.]

[Voice]

[stillplaying]

[His response is met with a scowl. It's not that she's too good. She gets some supplies from the grocer's. Items she can't find out in the woods. But it's easier to hunt. Not to be complacent with the food provided by the Malnosso. Food that can easily be taken away. And hunting doesn't just to keep her sanity, but because the village is so far away. It'd be stupid to make such a long trek every day for fresh meat.

But it'd be worth it today. To get the deer properly prepared. To share her bounty. She'll make that trek.

That doesn't mean she owes him an explanation, though. Nothing more than a simple:] I like hunting.

[Voice]

[cynicism]

[Killing is always the easier option. That rarely makes it the right one.]

More than that deer liked being alive?

[Voice]

[stillplaying]

[She doesn't get the point of that question. It's not senseless killing. Not like in the arena. In some ways, death is just another part of being alive. And by doing her own hunting, she knows the meat she kills will not go uneaten.]

Any meat I'd get at the grocery would be from a dead animal, too.

[voice]

[awhitecrow]

[He appreciates the convenience of the store, certainly. Markets aren't foreign concepts. But the lack of fresh-- really fresh-- meat was... regrettable.

Nothing worse than that, but regrettable.

Would the young ladies of the house eat venison? Well, they'd eaten lamb. Surely they wouldn't object too much.]

I-- don't believe there is a butcher, Miss. [Though one would certainly be useful. Save for the fact, he remembers, that most people here don't seem to raise livestock or hunt. Right. That would be why there isn't one.] But I may be able to help some. I-- don't have much to offer, but I would be interested in having some.

[It's only fair to try and offer something for the effort of hunting it.] Is there-- Is there anything you'd like for it, Miss?

[voice]

[stillplaying]

[She thinks on this. While the other man offered to help her bring the deer to village, he said nothing about butchering. And she had meant it when she told Arthur that there was a difference between butchering rabbit and deer. If she's going to share, she needs someone who knows what he's doing.

The buck deserves that much. It'd be a fair trade.]

You have experience preparing deer?

[voice]

[awhitecrow]

Some. [A pause. He sounds, at best, uncertain and apologetic.] Very little.

[But some.

A few months ago, a woman hunting something like a deer and asking for help butchering it would have been shocking. After his time in House 7... Very little can surprise him about women now.]

I... might be able to manage. Or-- if you've gotten other offers of help...? Or I-- I could try and find someone who knows it better. [Not that he can think of anyone, but.]

[voice]

[stillplaying]

[Very little. But that's still some. And no one else has volunteered any kind of butchering skills.

Maybe there is no butcher shop here in Luceti. She's never really bothered to check. Meat would be a stupid supply to drag out to the forest when she can just as easily catch her own.]

Someone's bringing a cart out. Can you show me what you know?

[Video-to-Voice]

[fuckthemission]

... [He was going to let her bask in her victory. But. Uh. Gesturing a little now with the video function.]

You got a little. Something.... riiiight around here.

[He motions around the side of his forehead, lips pressed in an awkward line.

Hey Katniss, how you doin'.]

[Voice]

[stillplaying]

[She's never seen the video function work before. It distracts her for a few moments, watching Rick's image move about on the journal page. So much better than a telephone she decides quickly enough.

Only then to realize that he's trying to tell her something. Her fingers touch her temple and move down slightly, only to come away with flakes of dried blood.]

Oh.

[Definitely not something she had noticed.]

[Voice]

[fuckthemission]

[He smiles, and while his brow is furrowed, he's not surprised at all that she hadn't, considering... well, everything. He takes a bite of the apple he's been hopping around in the other hand, nodding his chin at the screen.]

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be wearin' the furry parts of the animal as clothes, miss squirrel.

[Action]

[rutagraveolens]

[Rue hears Katniss' entry over the journal and quickly sets aside her work - knot-tying practice with some ivy vines - and heads out to find Katniss. It's not so difficult with how quickly she moves through the trees and her familiarity with the area. She whistles too, four notes traveling ahead of her, echoed by the mockingjay that's become her new companion.

She's grinning and looks awe-struck when she drops next to Katniss, staring at the deer. She's seen them before on the edges of District Eleven, faint glimpses or the glow of their eyes when torchlight just manages to reflect off of them.]

Oh, I've never had deer before!

[Action]

[stillplaying]

[She hears the whistle. It's not that of the man with the horse cart. She didn't teach him the four notes. Which means Rue must've seen this. Katniss whistles back, grinning when she hears the mockingjay as well.

But it's seeing Rue's eyes alight that really makes this kill worth it. To be able to give the girl more new foods to try, more experiences the Capitol had denied her.]

It's good. [She smiles back as she carefully begins to wrap the kidneys. Buttercup should enjoy them.] Not like grosling or squirrel or rabbit. And we can have as much as we want, too.

[Action]

[rutagraveolens]

[Rue carefully watches Katniss' movements, remembering them in case she needs to dress her own kill later.]

Can we make a stew from it? Or roast it over a fire? [Rue is definitely excited by the prospect. The tiny little girl from District Eleven is still small, but with all the fresh food everyday, she's looking much healthier these days.]

[Voice]

[endgames]

And what will you do with the rest of it?

[Voice]

[stillplaying]

Give it away.

[To friends and allies, people she owes in even the minute manner. And there's the grocery store here, too. No reason why she can't leave some meat there, either. To anyone who might want some.

Food like this is meant to be shared.]

[Voice]

[endgames]

All of it? Besides the meat, there's bones, antlers, hooves... the skin.

If you have no need for those, I'll prepare the deer for you and take them as a trade.