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

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.

We don't have anything like that where I'm from.

Well, not at the Academy. Other districts might, or the miners' kids.

[Rei shrugs]

There are video games and things here at the shops, and there are comics in the library if you wanted to try them out.

[Not the point though, Rei is more concerned with discerning this girl's motives now. Is she someone who fights in self defense, or because she has to...or is it because she LIKES to?]

Either way, you don't really have to worry about people trying to hurt you here. Except the one vampire, but...I'm pretty sure she's being hunted.

And the battles the Malnosso ask of us.

[Things she can, according to someone else, volunteer for. Make herself useful by doing.]

Those are up to you, and normal people tend to avoid participating if they can. I see no point in getting involved in a war that isn't mine.

[Even if she can fight...]

["Normal people."

Am I that strange to you?

But Clove doesn't ask it. Instead, she shrugs a little.]

It's... kind of like repaying them, isn't it? I mean, they do give us food, shelter, nice things.

If they need someone to fight, shouldn't those who can do it?

I...think that we repay them enough by tolerating their experiments and their whims. I don't like to fight, and I have duties here. I'd rather leave the war to the people who have super powers, instead of normal people without those abilities.

Even if the Malnosso didn't have those super-powered captives, and make no mistake that is what we are, they have the droids.

[A pause.]

What about those who want to? Who don't have any other duties or any other skills but are good at fighting? The ones who can do something by fighting where they're needed?

[To her, it's black and white. She can fight. She can do little else. Therefore, to make herself useful and to offer some kind of repayment for what she's given here... Why not join their battles? Do what she can to help their efforts?]

[Rei smiles, she can understand that. Sailor Mars fights for similar reasons, even if Rei herself wears the mask of pacifism. Clove...wasn't coming off as the blood-hungry killer that Rei'd initially feared. That was a small relief]

Then you'd probably be an ideal candidate. Supposedly, there are also drafts, and not just compulsory missions. I'm not sure I like the idea of being forced to fight, but if its what you do best, then maybe its a way for you to contribute.

I'm sure that you have other skills too, though.

I don't.

[Simple. Calm.

A fact.

Here, she's only made threats of violence. She carries her knife tucked in her boot because she remembers the Arena too clearly and will not go anywhere without a weapon, not now. In the Arena, she was more than bloodthirsty, she was sadistic. Because that meant a good show. And a good show might mean supplies she and Cato desperately needed.

But here... there was no need to fight, and she had not drawn blood from anyone yet.]

It's very kind of you. [When in doubt, change the subject.] To show me around the village like this.

[Rei actually politely giggles just a bit at Clove, hiding her mouth behind her hand.]

Its nothing, really! Stop thanking me! I consider it repayment for all the help I received when I first arrived. Its alright. Besides, I'm a miko, helping people who are lost is my duty.

I'm still grateful. You've being kind, and... it helps the adjustment, a lot.

[Even if it is something she's still suspicious about.

But there's something new to ask about, a word she's never heard before.]

What's a miko?

[Oh, right, she's never heard of Japan...so]

I'm...like a priest in my home country. I work at a shrine, and help people. Its a miko's job to provide guidance where we are able, in Earthly or spiritual matters.

Priest?

[But... "Earthly or spiritual matters"... Some people have 'spiritual' beliefs in District Two, but it's not something people talk about or encourage in the youth.]

Are you... sort of like a teacher, then?

Something like that. I help people talk to spirits, and try and guide them where I can. Not everyone believes the same things as I do, I'm sort of a traditionalist in my world.

Either way, fortune telling is part of what I do. So is helping people.

We don't have anything like that where I'm from.

Not talking to spirits, not fortune telling. It's all... very odd. Not bad. [She's quick to add those two words. Then:] Just... different.

Not everyone has to believe in them, the spirits don't mind. Times change, and most people turn away from them, so they can't see them anymore. But they are real, especially here. Make no mistake about that.

If you plan on going into the woods, I would be very careful. A wolf spirit dwells within, and she doesn't like people cutting down trees or building dangerous fires.

The only fire I would make would be to keep me warm or cook a meal.

[But wolf spirits didn't interest him, not right now.]

And your fortunes... Do they work?

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