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

But still be careful, especially if they come after you. [There's really no love between them, but no one deserves to be dragged away by the Malnosso.]

...Yeah. I will be.

[Strange kid. But, then, District Twelve let her live. Which si more than she would have expected from her...

Being out of the Arena changes some things, she supposes.]

Where are you staying? In the village or outside?

Both.

[Her presence is less of a threat, less likely to startle anyone into action, if they know where to find her. And she can be on her guard.]

Apartment in town and a camp by the lake.

[A good plan. Rue doesn't expect any less from a Career.]

If you're by the west lake, you can find blackberry patches out there.

...Thanks.

I know District Twelve's set up a camp for you lot. Won't get too near.

Their names are Katniss and Peeta.

No, really? Didn't know that.

[Hello, sarcasm.]

[Frown!] I mean you don't have to call them District Twelve. They have names.

I don't call them District Twelve.

Only her.

Why?

What I called her all through the Games.

But why? What's wrong with calling her Katniss?

It makes her easier to kill.

[And Arena habits die hard.]

Oh. [But she can't really argue that, can she. Twenty-four go in, one comes out. Allies become enemies in a moment when there's only a handful left, friends don't last long in the arena.

Rue doesn't like it, but she can't really argue it.]

What's it like being a career?

[What's it like...]

What do you want to know?

What kind of food do you guys get to eat?

Three meals a day.

[She appreciates the luxury now, after the destruction of the Career food supply.]

A moderate meal of bread, eggs, and meat in the morning.

A light meal of bread, fruit, and meat in the afternoon.

A large meal of bread, vegetables, and meat in the evening.

Controlled portions depending on the student, water to drink.

[A simple but filling diet, specifically designed for keeping them active, lean, and strong.]

They'll vary the kinds of meat and bread or the like, but it's always the same basic components to the meal.

Oh, that's so much food. [Her tone is slightly wistful and even a bit angry. Everyone knew District Two was a wealthy district, favored by the Capitol, so it's no surprise, but hearing it makes Rue just a little angry. They didn't starve workers in District 11, especially not during harvest season when everyone needed to work sunrise to sunset, but they weren't well-fed either.

Eggs? Meat? Fruit? At best, they got some bread and a watery soup with some vegetables. Meat was once in a rare while. Water portions were good at least.]

Did you all sleep in the same area or did you get rooms?

We sleep six to a room, boys and girls have separate buildings, every year is on a different floor, and there are eight rooms for every year.

[A pause.]

Sometimes the rooms aren't full. Kids who can't keep up, who aren't performing as well, transfer either to the academic program or to the village schools, and if someone who isn't a thirteen-- the last year we attend-- goes to the Games, they don't come back to the Academy if they win.

[She can't speak on anything but the athletic program. Most of the academies went home at night, ate what their families fixed. The miners? Clove had never thought of or thought to think of what their meals and lives might be like.

She knew only her small corner of the world.]

[It's all interesting to Rue. Everyone knows no one is supposed to receive any special training, but everyone knows about the Careers too. Maybe it's a perk of being in District Two or any other career district; people turn a blind eye to it.]

Do you... [She realizes what she's going to ask next is a strange question given the situation, but she wants to ask it anyway.] do you guys get along when you aren't training? Talk with each other at night? [Make friends, even knowing you might have to kill the other?]

We do.

[There's equal parts homesickness and comfort in this "chat." She likes talking about it, really. Because it's familiar and she misses it. But it makes her all the more aware of how far it is and how long she feels like she's been gone.]

I mean, we're encouraged to keep to ourselves-- girls with girls, boys with boys. But they don't keep us separated, except when we sleep.

[Because there was no danger of crossed loyalties then. Girls didn't go to the Games with other girls.]

The only thing they really forbid is sex. They definitely discourage athletics dating other athletics, but getting caught having sex is an automatic expulsion. [There's no reason to really sugar-coat it.] That rule pretty much only applies to the girls, though. They catch an athletic boy and academic girl, and they usually hush it up. [But it's not unfair. Not to her. It's simple and practical.] They don't want to risk sending a pregnant girl to the Games, after all.

[No reason to sugar-coat it, but Rue still flushes a little in embarrassment. She's seen people kissing and heard the adults whisper at night, but she's still twelve.]

Oh, I see. [Her voice is a little rushed as she moves on.] Do you have friends in District Two?

A few. I always got along better with the guys than with other girls, though I think even some of the guys were glad to see me go when my name was called.

Did you know Cato?

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]

[Voice]