shenevermisses | 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

[Gingerly, Rei took the other girl's hand and began to trace the lines and patterns in Clove's palm. Palmistry was something idle she'd learned from her grandfather, her real talent was in flame reading but...this would at least entertain the new girl]

Well...this line represents health and strength. Its long, and thin so that means you'll likely grow stronger. Luceti is good for things like that, the challenges we face here are pretty tough.

[Another line, this one crossing the palm]

This means you've taken a trip recently, which...well, that makes sense since you are here.

[Next is the Union line]

This one...it is the line representing unity. Are there people from your world here? People you know? This indicates a connection to...someone here in Luceti.

Three others.

[The rest might just be to appease her, but that statement piqued her curiosity. It sparked a question in her.]

That I know of.

[Maybe...]

All three of them were my competition in the Games. We have a truce right now. They have an alliance.

[Three against one. Or could it, maybe, be three against two?]

Those three may be the ones the reading is telling me about. I cannot say anything for certain, that isn't the nature of palm-readings. If I were to guess, I'd say it was them. You have a truce, then? Perhaps a bond can be formed here. There is no reason to fight among yourselves in Luceti. We've got bigger enemies to deal with.

[Rei smiles again, releasing Clove's hand]

It could be that another will arrive in the future as well. I would have to read the flames to have anything more accurate, but I suspect that with you being...dead that may make any question directed about your home somewhat hazy.

"Yours don't attack me, I don't attack them" are the terms of our truce.

[Hardly promising for building anything more.

But she was here. After dying. Maybe Cato would come soon. He'd died after her, so it made sense he might come later. Maybe he was already here, had seen her message and would meet her at the camp tonight.

Probably not, she knew, but she could pretend to hope.]

Allies can be found in the most unlikely of places. Here, we all need each other to survive. There are two people from my home here are the most important people in any world to me, but...I've made other friends. People I wouldn't even talk to at home.

You'll figure it out once the experiments start again. If nothing else, you can rest assured that you know what the people from your world are capable of.

[Clove refrains from comment on much of what Rei says. It does not seem to her that anyone in this town would need one another to survive.

There seem to be unlimited resources, eliminating competition for them and alliances to improve the odds of said competition turning in one's favor. There was nothing to foster any necessary competition, except perhaps the fighting, but that was sporadic at best, and her own combat experience was that alliances dissolved eventually.]

This place is really weird.

[The people here are really weird.]

You're telling me.

[She laughs and inclines her head]

Experiments, free supplies, and the danger of kidnappings. No, I think you've understated it a bit, Clove-chan.

[Clove-chan...]

Someone else called me that today. Over the journals.

Oh? Who was that?

Her name is Usagi. She... [a note of hesitation] said it's something friends call each other.

[Or, rather, she had implied it. Either way, the word was nearly alien to Clove. District Two had little use for it, at least the serious participants in the athletic program.

Clove had a few companions among her peers, some male and some female, but she had not really gotten attached. Why bother when any of you could be dead by eighteen?

There had been only one exception for her.]

Tsukino Usagi-chan?

[Rei's face breaks into a happy smile. Its somewhat forced, given what she knows about Clove now, enough to keep an eye on her. She doubts the other girl would...or even really could...hurt Usagi, but better safe than sorry.]

Well, that saves me some trouble. Usagi-chan is my best friend in the world. She's from the same home as I am. [Sort of...] And despite her childish outside, she's really very mature. I'm glad you met her. She's one of the most important people in my life.

And...yes, chan is something people say to their friends. Its something from my country, to mark closeness. Good friends that are girls call each other "chan." Boys use other words for close friends, and there are other words for people who you don't know very well.

[it seems strange to Clove, calling someone differently based on how well she knows them.

She used nicknames in the arena, but that was to distance herself. To make them easier to kill.

But Rei's knowing Usagi was interesting. An alliance? A pack? she'd tread carefully until she could be sure. After all, she remembered the incredible strategy of Johanna Mason a few years ago.]

It must be nice to have a friend from home.

[Rei smiles. Clove clearly doesn't understand just how important Usagi is to Rei, and thats probably a good thing. The Senshi are each others greatest strength, but also make for tempting targets to potential enemies...and she's not 100% sure on Clove just yet]

It is. Usagi-chan and Ami-chan make living here much more pleasant than it could be alone. But you don't have to worry, Clove-chan. We can look after each other. I'm happy to help wherever I can. I can even fight a bit, if the enemy causes problems here. It'll all be alright, and you can make some new friends while your here. That'll be good.

[Clove listens silently. Friendship and loyalty, two concepts she is still fairly unfamiliar with.]

I'm not very good at making friends, but I do plan to try.

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[Action] (Not something I've done before, so...making shit up!)

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