shenevermisses | 1st Throw - [ video/written/action ]

1st Throw - [ video/written/action ]

[Her approach today: simple, caution edged with sweetness.

Clove has set her Journal on a table in her apartment for the perfect upper body shot.

The key to her appearance is the word "simple." Her long hair is pulled back into a low ponytail. She has enough make-up on to color her features, but it is light enough that it's only just noticable. Her shirt is pale grey, fitted and sleeveless with a high neck but made of light material.

She gives herself a few seconds before she speaks.]

Hello, everyone. My name is Clove. I've only just arrived, and I'm still getting my bearings.

[Remember to smile. She obeys the advice from her absent mentor.]

I've been sort of a recluse these last few days, and I'm really sorry if you've seen me around the village and I ignored you. This is just a lot to take in all at once.

[This isn't the Games, and there are no sponsors... but in a new, strange place like this, a little good PR can't hurt.]

I look forward to getting to know everyone.

[Off goes the feed.]

[A few minutes later, she writes a short note.]

If you're somehow reading this, Cato: come find me. Tonight at sundown.

[Come sundown, Clove is sitting at her makeshift camp by the western lake.

She's sure Cato isn't here. She'd have heard from him long before now if he was. Still, her message was for him to find her at sundown, so she waits.

Her location has been carved into various trees throughout the forest and village using a signal taught in the Academy to make pack activity easier. If he looks for her, he'll find it.

Of course, anyone out that way will see her waiting for someone who won't come.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes. According to people who have been here longer than me, they do it very often too.

[Thats something that scared her, really. Even the Dark Kingdom couldn't do that]

That's... really creepy, actually.

But I guess... That's what we have to deal with. For getting everything free.

Everything has a price. We just don't pay for it with money.

...You're right. Bad choice of words.

[After all, she's heard about the prices, from this girl and others. Still, all things considered... She doesn't mind the place even now.]

So, Clove, what is your home like? You look and sound like an American.

[Polite smile, of course. Rei is nothing if not the consummate Japanese girl, despite skipping the formality of honorifics with obvious non-Japanese]

I live-- lived in District Two of Panem. It... used to be called North America, a long time ago.

[A smile. Clove can be polite when she wants to be. It just never had much use in the Arena.]

And you, Rei? Where are you from?

Oh...hmmm...so you are from Earth. I am from Japan. Though...it seems like you may be from a future Earth, so maybe Japan doesn't exist in your world.

I've never heard of Japan. [She actually sounds apologetic.]

But Panem is a little isolated from the rest of the world. We learned that it was better not to get involved and not to offer invitation for involvement by others.

[Clove gives the best smile she can manage right now. A little cautious, a little unsure, but a smile still.]

I'm not used to much... free time. [One day a week, a chance to sleep or go to town or see her family or spend the day training just with Cato.] What should we do?

[Sounds like how Japan used to be...]

I don't know, Clove. What are some things that you like to do? Do you have any hobbies?

[She smiles a little.]

I... don't know. I mean, we didn't get much free time at the Academy. I mean... a few of us used to go into town on our free day. Shopping or just looking.

The Academy? Are you a student...back home?

[She's curious, school is something she figures is the same everywhere]

I'd just finished with school.

[The maximum age for a student was eighteen, but, naturally, a student who was chosen for the Games was not required to attend if they returned Victor and were under that age.]

Oh. What did you study? Anything special? What subject were you best at?

[She smiles happily. Rei...did enjoy school a lot!]

I was in the athletic program of District Two's Academy.

[...Oh, right.

Not from Panem.]

We're drilled in physical education. Speed, stamina, and strength.

[A slight smile. Or at least a good attempt at one.]

I was always better at the first two.

Oh? So you are an athlete. What sport do you like? I'm pretty fond of archery, and aikido. But...that kind of goes with my job.

[Rei grins. She's genuinely smiling, happy to be discussing mundane things instead of the...unpleasantness of their current situation]

...District Twelve's good at archery.

I'm best with knives.

[Because in her world, the only real sport one participates in is the Hunger Games.]

Knives?

[She pauses, not really sure what sport uses knives.]

What do you do with them? I don't know of any sports where knives are used. Well, I guess there are some martial arts from other countries...but they aren't something that is taught in school.

Throwing, mostly. Though I'm not bad up close, but that's more Cato's area. I pick them off while they're still at a distance, he cuts down the ones I miss.

Or... that's how it was. Before I ended up here.

[It's all just life to her. She hasn't managed to adjust her thinking that this isn't the world everyone's used to outside this strange village.]

[THAT draws a cautionary glance. Does this girl fight? What...does she fight? Monsters? Youma? Ami had mentioned that other worlds may have the Dark Kingdom...]

Cut down...what, exactly? Are there monsters in your world? I know a lot of places have some pretty horrible creatures.

[...Right.

Not Panem.

She needs to remember that.]

At the Academy, it's all just practice. They warn us that people sometimes freeze in the Arena, forget their training. They try to prepare us, but they can only do so much.

[A pause.]

It's a tournament, every year. One boy and one girl, age eleven to eighteen, from each of Panem's twelve districts is chosen. They are sent to the Capitol, where they are prepared for the Hunger Games. They're taken to the Arena, and, at the end of however long it takes, one person remains, and they are crowned Victor.

It is an honor to represent your district in the Games, and Victors... There's no higher aspiration than to be one of them. Not in District Two, at least.

[Some of the outlying districts might disagree, but they didn't see it like District Two did.]

[Now...Rei actually blinks. She's not exactly sure of what she just heard, but...she thinks she got the idea. It sounds positively barbaric, but Clove seems so sure of herself, and so proud.

This explains the other girl's strong handshake, the knives, and a few things about her demeanor though. She was a fighter, a trained fighter. From a world that was a lot more savage than her own. It does also throw up a couple of red flags for the Senshi. This girl was dangerous, she knew how to kill, and was willing to be open about it. That...meant something.

This, of course, was all while Rei was standing there with her lips pursed, and a frown tugging at her cheeks]

I...wow. That...that sounds pretty horrifying. I'm sorry Clove. I probably shouldn't have brought all that up. You must feel pretty bad, going from...that to Luceti.

[Floundering here Rei...relax! Try and avoid making this girl mad...]

Here though, at least you don't have to worry about that. Nobody in the village will try and hurt you. And there are people here...with powers, to look out for you. Superheroes, people like in comic books and video games too.

[Weakly, at last, Rei's smile comes back]

Don't worry, you'll be alright here.

...Comic books? And video games?

[She really has no idea what those are. And her expression proves it.]

Oh, right. You...aren't from a world quite like mine. Comics are books that have pictures, the pictures are broken up into frames to show what the characters are doing. They are usually about heroes with special powers, who fight bad guys with powers.

Video games are games played on a screen, you use a control-pad to play, and there are lots of different kinds, some of them are even about comic book characters.

[Clove thinks about this for a minute or two before she has to ask another question.]

What are they used for?

Entertainment...?

[She says this...not TRYING to sound like she think's Clove is an idiot, but...it may come off that way]

Some people think they are fun, I dunno? I don't like video games, but I'm considered sort of strange back home.

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