2nd Game [action + voice]

[stillplaying]

[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?

Comments

[thestormishere]

-- Yeah. [ A beat- that's not a question Lightning was expecting. ] In bags or cans? Comes in different... flavors.

[stillplaying]

Packaged scraps? That sounds stupid.

[thestormishere]

[ Uh... ]

It's not scraps. It's food made specifically for animals to eat.

[ There's some movement in the background- Lightning's picked up her journal and is walking with it, and a second later the communication turns to video on her side rather than audio only. A small bag of dog food bearing whatever labeling the Malnosso find appropriate appears in Lightning's gloved grip, her face and pale pink hair vaguely visible behind it.

As she says, whatever's in the bag sounds dry and in small enough pieces to tumble around inside of it. So yeah. ]

[stillplaying]

[Food made specifically for animals to eat. She's never heard of such a thing. Why would anyone even bother?]

I've never seen anything like that before.

[thestormishere]

[ Yeah, Lightning's pretty sure she caught that, though she's at least tactful just enough to keep from commenting on it. Right as she's reorienting, though - and turning off the picture once more - there's a soft, brief conversation that seems to take place between the woman and another who can't quite be heard clearly- ]

Not now, Baldr...

[ A breath. ] Anyway, it's an option. Convenience, I guess.

[stillplaying]

[She catches that. The picture flickering off and the hints of a conversation. A name. She's spent too much of her life hunting in the forest or surviving in an arena against all odds not to pay attention to these slight details.

Or to ignore them.]

Baldr?

[thestormishere]

Dog.

[ Who is still actually talking to Lightning in the background, although unfortunately, the words on his end don't translate to anything more than run of the mill whining over the journals. Obviously, the woman's just ignoring him regardless. ]

Hoping for an early dinner.

[stillplaying]

Can't he catch his own?

[thestormishere]

[ -- Wait, what? Once again Lightning pauses out of surprise, although this time the taken aback silence lingers for several beats longer than the last. ]

Doubt it.

[ Or rather, absolutely not. The only time the young dog's ever been completely free of human contact is that time the moon smashed everyone to death and he ran away in terror beforehand. Even then, he'd been watched by the weird winged wolf thing that her housemates technically have as a 'pet.'

He was still starved (or acted that way) when he returned after the crisis ended. So. ]

[stillplaying]

[Some dog. And here she always thought them useful. At least the ones in District 12 are.]

Good thing you have the packaged scraps.

[thestormishere]

[ Frowns aren't typically audible, but here Lightning's might as well be. Yo Katniss, she was just trying to help- not a thing a girl like her does very freely in the first place. Needless to say, at that response she falls silent, the only sign at all that she's still there the continued background noise from her end. ]

[stillplaying]

[Not very likeable. That's her. Not all that likeable unless Peeta's there to make her or unless she's engaged in some form of rebellion.

But she doesn't care. It doesn't matter.

She stays quiet too, not sure what to say.]

[thestormishere]

Good luck with your cat.

[ It's quiet, underlined with just the slightest hint of a darkened tone that contradicts her words-- and then Lightning puts an end to the contact abruptly, before there's the chance of further reply anyway.

She's got better things to use her already limited patience on. ]