stillplaying | 2nd Game [action + voice]

[The rain has finally stopped. It comes as such a relief to Katniss, that she slips out of the treehouse village with her bow and arrows and hunting bag so very early in the morning - earlier than she's been awake in days.

It's been a whole day of exploring the woods. Gathering edible plants and resetting snares that were damaged by the storm. And just wandering. Wandering amongst the trees, sometimes climbing up one to get a better look of the area. Here, by the edge of the lake, she feels far enough from the town that she might actually be safe.

Safer, at least, than in those past few days. Maybe she spent too much time in the treehouse after that gathering. Too much time alone with memories and thoughts that made her heartsick. Nightmares that here, something will happen to Rue, something she won't be able to stop - just like she couldn't stop that District 1 boy from spearing her in arena. Lost days that she tried to hide so she wouldn't worry Rue.

But today? Today she almost feels like herself. Especially after a whole morning's and afternoon's worth of hunting and gathering. If you've been in the forest near the western lake today, there's a chance you might have run into her.

Maybe she hasn't been as successful as she's been in the past, but her bag still speaks of some results. A wild turkey she shot early afternoon, herbs and roots gathered not too far from the lake, and a couple of small squirrels from her snares. They weigh her down and she considers returning to the treehouses, but she doesn't want to leave the sanctuary of the forest. Not yet.

A flash of yellow catches her eye and she turns, arrow notched in it's string. And then it meows, indignant, and her arrow flies to land in the dirt right next to the beast.

She stares. And scowls.

A while later, she's back in her treehouse room and glaring at the stupid creature that followed her home. Of everyone to find here from District 12, of course it has to be Buttercup.

She reaches for the journal to ask a question.]

Has anyone else here found a pet from home?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've only been here a couple of weeks.

Like I said, some arrive sooner. I think some people arrive and find their pet waiting nearby.

He's not my- [Then she stops. Because with Prim gone, he is hers, isn't he? And it might not even be only a matter of survival. So she changes her words.] He's found me before.

My dog isn't really mine either. Just a stray I took care of as a child. [Ginia chuckles gently.] So it seems he's found you again.

[She wouldn't have given a stray the time of day. Except as a consideration for a source of meat. No, taking care of strays was always Prim's choice.]

I guess.

There doesn't seem to be any shortage of supplies for pets around here. Food, toys, bedding, you can find them in the stores.

[She's already heard about food meant specifically for pets. But toys and bedding, too? It's the sort of silliness that people in the Capitol would take part in.]

Why would I need any of that?

To feed them? To play with them? Give them something to entertain themselves with? I suppose bedding is optional, all my pets sleep wherever they want.

Buttercup can hunt.

[And in her eyes, that fulfills all requirements. A mouse can just as easily provide food and entertainment.]

What kind of animal is Buttercup? [Nothing wrong with pets hunting, but there's a difference between something like a cat and something like a lion hunting.]

[If only he were a lion. She would never have threaten to drown him as a kitten in that case.]

A cat.

I'm sure there will be plenty of things for him hunt. My cat has a habit of bringing back mice and squirrels.

[That she doesn't doubt. Especially living in the treehouse in the woods.

But it does get a slightly amused look.]

It's his only redeeming quality.

[Ginia laughs quietly, a little amused.]

I'm going to guess he's either a horrible cat or you aren't a cat person.

[He's not horrible. Not if she really thinks about it. And it's always been a mutual dislike.]

Not really a cat person.

Nothing wrong with that. I suppose the thing about cats is cats will be cats; they do what they want as they will. Dogs will listen, cats will listen if it suits them. They're quite free.

[Ginia pauses and sighs softly.]

Sorry, rambling now.

[It's okay. She doesn't mind rambling. She prefers listening to talking anyway. And the woman's words aren't bad. They trigger memories, but they're okay memories. Of better times.]

Buttercup always listened to Prim.

May I ask who Prim is?

[She's said it enough by now. It's a given with Buttercup here, isn't it? There's no looking at him without that stab of pain in her heart.]

My sister. Her cat.

Makes sense he would listen to her. Cats are very discerning, I've come to find. They tolerate you as long as you're petting or feeding them, or maybe they don't tolerate you at all, but there's always someone they'll be good to.

And they're only really good for catching mice.

[Which, really, isn't much of a help anyway. Absolutely useless, fickle animals.]

I don't know, I think companionship can go a long way.

But they are good at catching mice. The occasional snake and squirrel too.

[If Buttercup ever caught a squirrel again, she'd drown him for sure. There's decent meat on a squirrel and he'd just destroy it. It was a lesson the cat learned years ago.

She makes a slight disagreeing face.]

He knows better.

If he knows, good. If he listens, all the better.

[As much as it makes him hate her more, threatening that cat had been effective learning tool.

She grins a little, remembering Prim's dismay the second time she caught her dunking the cat into a water bath as punishment. How much she worshipped Buttercup. And how much Buttercup worshipped her.]

He hates water even more than he hates me. It's been effective before. Besides, I catch the fatter squirrels with the better entrails.

[And he knows that just as well.]

[Voice]

shadedsunlight - 2012-04-18 04:37 (UTC) - Expand

stillplaying - 2012-04-21 19:47 (UTC) - Expand