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.]

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[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?

They usually do, but they aren't specific. They can predict major things, not little ones.

I...can do a reading for you sometime, if you like.

[It's not a topic she's made a habit of hiding, yet it seems... somehow strange asking it now.

Still, though:] Will it work even though I've died?

I...think so?

[This is Rei's first encounter with someone dead in their home. She...guesses this to mean that Clove died in that arena]

It'll read your future here, not there.

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

[No mention for good or bad. It sounds superstitious, of course, but that can be accounted for because the girl is before her time. They used to believe things like that...

And, well. She's died and is alive again. Maybe it is possible to tell the future.]

Well, most places don't. Its...a cultural thing from my home. Japan is a rather unique country to come from.

Would you like me to try?

...It can't hurt anything, right?

[She almost smiles.

The suggestion is on entirely neutral and unknown grounds. She's never been taught to see "witchcraft" as evil and so has no inclination against it, and she's never been taught to believe in it either, so she has no draw toward it...

Save for the desire of a young girl to have something akin to hope.]

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[Action] (Him?)

[Action] (...wow. TALK ABOUT A TYPO. I'm brilliant sometimes, aren't I?)

Re: [Action] (=p)

[Action] (Clove's my first female character in ages. I blame that.)

[Action] (S'ok, Rei's my first female character in a long time too)

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