stillplaying | 5th Game [action/written]

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5th Game [action/written]

[It's been five days since asking Peeta to spend the nights in her room again. In her bed. With arms wrapped around her tight at night. Words to comfort her when she wakes screaming in the night. It hasn't kept the nightmares away. Not completely. But they've been tamer. Not nearly as gruesome. Survivable. It's like the time spent on the Victory Tour all over again. Managing the darkness together. But this time, there's no Effie to disapprove.

And if it's not enough for Peeta, he doesn't say anything. Doesn't bring up loving her again. The star-crossed lovers of District Twelve. There's no mention of the facade they lived to appease Snow or the Capitol. And no mention of their recent hijacking. But still, sometimes, late at night, she can hear Haymitch's words. Telling her that she could do a whole lot worse. She shoves them away. Ignoring the advice. Whether anyone agrees or disagrees, this is a game. They're trapped in a game. And that's no time to dwell on feelings.

Morning comes. Six days after the end of the hijacking, the most recent shift - game. Whatever you want to call it. And like most mornings, it's spent in the woods. From the crack of dawn till noon, she's out in the woods despite the rainfall. Hunting and harvesting. She comes back, showers. And notices, with a slight grin, how she's gained some weight back. Small steps. But maybe Doctor Aurelius was right. Go through the motions, keep busy.

Today, when she enters the town proper, she doesn't bother covering up with a jacket. Doesn't care if the scars on her arms and hands show. Let them stare. She makes her way to the library without an umbrella. Wanders the aisles until finding the books she's looking for. Then she sets up camp at a table. The stack of books on one end, a pile of carefully obtained leaves and berries, flowers and roots on another. And in the middle sits her family's plant book.

If something is to happen to her, she doesn't want Peeta and Rue to have to depend on the food in the stores. Someone has to record these strange plants, mark whether they're edible or poisonous. Whether they have any medicinal uses. And what better place to record the information than within her plant book?

After a while, a thought occurs to her and she pauses. Takes out the journal. And in careful, neat handwriting, poses a question:]

Does anyone have a camera I could borrow?

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[Yellow's on her way down to the lake (where she has been going quite a lot lately, thanks to the warming weather), mounted on a Dodrio, or what would appear to be some sort of three-headed ostrich... thing. She has her fishing rod in hand, along with a small umbrella. The latter is hardly even being put to use though.

So a few hours before noon, Katniss may hear some galloping noises out and about the forest as the girl in a straw hat makes her way through.]

[It's raining. It shouldn't be this busy in the woods today. But for the second time in the day, she hears the sound of something galloping closer. At least this time, there's no hunt to be interrupted.

Still, she scowls. Looks around for the direction of the sound, for somewhere to hide. But this close to the lake, the bushes are scarce. A tree is a better bet. Her hand wraps tentatively around a rain sickened branch. Maybe. If she's careful. She might be able to do this.

Slowly, she starts to climb. Carefully, as not to lose her footing in the rain.]

[The girl and her Pokémon still continue to make their way toward the lake. As they approach it, along with the tree on which Katniss had been climbing, the bird begins to slow down a bit after sensing that something--or rather, someone--is in the area.]

Is something wrong, Dody?

[She wants to crawl out on the branch. She wants to see better, see what's down there. She hears a girl's voice address -- an animal? She can't quite see so well with the leaves in her way. But with the rain, she dares not leave the tree's base.

She can listen, though. Listen for a familiar neigh or some other sound that might indicate what's below.]

[Instead of a familiar neigh or... possibly anything familiar at all, Katniss will only be able to hear the bird's signature... chirping? Or it just saying its own name. (Whatever the heck a Dodrio does--) Yellow lays a hand on one of its heads as it speaks.]

Oh, you think something is here? Um... [Yellow starts glancing around now. She doesn't look up though. Just around her level surroundings.]

[Very, very carefully she inches out from the base and out towards a stable enough branch. Enough so that she can look down and get a better idea of the scene below. The girl looks harmless enough, but that strange animal -- is it a muttation? Something else entirely?

Maybe she should ignore, but she's curious. If the girl looks up, she should be able to see Katniss' face peering down.]

What is that?

[Upon hearing Katniss' voice, Yellow looks up to find the girl peering down from the towering tree. So that's what Dody was talking about! Or whom, rather. She glances down at Dody again briefly before looking back up at Katniss.]

You mean Dody? He's my friend. [..um] He's a Pokémon.

[Friend she understands. An animal companion, a pet. Like Buttercup or Rue's mockingjay. But that last word... that's confusing.

She frowns a little.] What's a Pokémon?

[At this point, Yellow's not surprised that this person doesn't know what Pokémon are. Most of the people here don't, so... Just going to assume that this girl has those other animals, like those that are here in Luceti.]

Um.. They're kind of like animals! They just have certain abilities and look a lot different.

[Animals. With certain abilities that look a lot different. The description makes her frown.]

Muttations?

[To that, Yellow just tilts her head and glances at Dody as if he may have an answer for her. Of course, that isn't the case, so.]

Muttation...?

[How to explain it? How to explain it without the nightmares? Without drowning in the memories? She doesn't think she can. Fully capturing those creatures with just her words? She's not Peeta. She doesn't have that ability.]

They're not natural. [It's a good start.] They're made. To harm people, to kill.

They're... made? And to harm or kill people?

[She looks at Dody with a frown, then turns to just look at the ground for a moment. Why would someone do that? After taking a moment to think about it, she looks back up at Katniss and shakes her head.]

Um... Pokémon aren't like that. They're natural, and though some of them can be dangerous sometimes, they're friendly.

[It's hard to nod from her vantage point, but she does so anyway. Made to kill and harm. In war and in Games.

She's still not entirely ready to climb down from the tree yet. Not entirely convinced that animal down there won't hurt her.]

I've never seen one before.

[Had Yellow not been here in Luceti for nearly ten months now, she'd be surprised by Katniss' comment. At this point though, she's well aware of the fact that Pokémon seem to only exist in her world, so she continues normally.]

Well, from the looks of it, they only exist in the world I come from. [Along with the weird parallel worlds to it, like those of Tracey and Ash.] There, animals like the ones here in Luceti don't exist and... neither do those.. um... muttations...

[It's strange to think of that. Of a place where there are no squirrels or deer or wild fowl. But at the same time, it's also nice to think of a place free of muttations. So far, she hasn't spotted any here. Any aside from Rue's mockingjay, that is.

She remains quiet and focuses on climbing down instead. When she reaches the bottom of the tree, her hand goes to rest on top of a knife hilt. Just in case. But even as wary as she is, she's still curious about this other world.]

What do you eat?

[Yellow waits as Katniss climbs down the tree, watching. What was she doing up there in the first place? She tilts her head a bit at that until the other girl is down.]

What do we eat..? [..Well. Considering the conversation, she's assuming Katniss means as far as meat goes, since people here eat animals and all.] Well... The same things that most other people eat here, I think. But berries too, and instead of animals like those here, Pokémon. Personally, I don't eat much meat though.

[It does make sense. Animals are animals, regardless of the location. Meat is meat. Even if they are given a specific name.

A nod. There really isn't much she can think to reply with.]

[With that, she glances back over at the tree before turning her attention back to Katniss.]

So um... What were you doing up in that tree?

[The question takes her a little by surprise. It's unexpected, almost silly. What was she doing in the tree? Isn't it obvious? She wasn't going to wait on the ground for something to attack her.]

Hiding. [There's a gesture to the strange animal, the Pokemon.] I heard you approach.

[Yellow tilts her head at that. Hiding? From what? ...Oh. Was this girl afraid of Dody or something?]

Oh... Um, sorry about that, then... Dody's friendly though! So you don't have to hide from him or anything. [And the same goes for her, but yeah.]

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5th Game [action/written]

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