stillplaying: ([sad] sad)
for tl;dr )

Her journal lies at the foot of the bed, mostly ignored. Every now and then, she looks through it. She looks for a message from Maturin or some sign that there's an explanation for this - even if it is all just another cruel game being played by the Malnosso. Right now, though, she could care less as to what goes on outside the four walls of the bedroom.

So when Buttercup knocks it onto the floor and the pages open, she doesn't notice. She's lost in watching him for some sign of life as she sings. Hadn't he always said how much he's liked her voice? That she, like her father, could make the birds stop to listen?]


--dreams from all terror and fear,
Sunlight has passed and the twilight has gone,
Slumber, my darling, the night's coming on.
Sweet visions attend your sleep,
Fondest, dearest to me,
While others keep their revels,
I will watch over you.

Slumber, my darling, the birds are at rest,
The wandering dews by the flowers are caressed,
Slumber, my darling, I'll wrap you up warm,
And will shield you from harm.

Slumber, my darling, till morning's blushing ray
Brings to the world the glad tidings of day;
Fill the dark void with your dreamy delight--
Slumber, your lover will guard you tonight,
Your pillow shall sacred be
From all outward alarms;
You, you are the world to me
In all your charms.

Slumber, my darling, the birds are at rest,
The wandering dews by the flowers are caressed,
Slumber, my darling, I'll wrap you up warm,
And will shield you from harm.


[But even songs don't seem to wake him. She wipes at the tears that fill her grey eyes and only then seems to notice how Buttercup's curled up next to Peeta and how her journal now lies open to the world, recording most of the song.]

Get out of here, you stupid cat! Get out! [Rather than reach for the journal, she lunges at the animal, shoving him angrily off the bed. He lands on the floor with a hiss. Maybe, at another point, she'll find comfort in him. But right now all she sees is a reminder of the sister she lost nearly a year ago.] Go!

[Unable to stop herself any longer, she falls back in her chair, buries her face in her hands, and begins to cry.]
stillplaying: ([action] directly in the eye)
[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?