23rd Throw - [ voice ]

[shenevermisses]

[After two days of the girl not showing up for lessons and not giving her any warning, Clove went looking. A brief discussion with Twelve, and, well, that was enough.

Of the things left behind, she'd claimed the stiletto she'd helped Rue pick out.

Maybe, in the long run, it was better this way. She'd never had to really use it. She'd never had to put the training Clove had tried to give her to use.

Later in the afternoon, Clove addresses the journal.]

Looks like the Little Bird has gone back to the nest. [A nickname for everyone. Something to make them less than human in the Arena.] The kid, Rue, she's not here with us anymore.

["She went home" would be a lie. For Rue, for her, for Cato... There's no home to go to. There's only death.]

This place really has its moods, doesn't it? Sometimes just sends a lot of 'em away at once.

Comments

[voice]

[girlverine]

[Well. Laura wasn't expecting that...]

...I see.

Thank you for telling us.

[voice]

[shenevermisses]

Figured people should know. I don't know how much she was involved with here, but I didn't want people to think she was just skipping things.

[voice]

[girlverine]

It didn't seem like she would do that.

I don't think she wanted to leave.

[Laura sounds about as genuinely sad as she can manage.]

[voice]

[shenevermisses]

I never asked her.

[Because she didn't have to. They might have been completely different people, totally different tributes... but they understood. It was life or death.

But that's not her place to talk about.]

[withoutdoubt]

[Oh... this is actually sad news for Jude.]

I don't suppose there's more than one person by the name "Rue" here, is there?

[shenevermisses]

Might be. I don't really know.

[How common of a name is it? Clove isn't sure.]

She's the only one I knew, but I might not know everyone in the village.

[withoutdoubt]

Just futile hoping that it isn't the one I know, I guess. But I really haven't heard anyone else by the name, so it probably is.

[He sighs, clearly a bit distressed about it.]

I guess it's good that she got to make it home safely though. So there's that at least. She can see her friends and family... [Little does he know...]

Video

[the_dead_pool2]

[That actually was a little sad]

Huh, shitty deal.

[He's a poet truly]

Video

[shenevermisses]

Yeah, it is.

Maybe she'll come back, though.

Video

[the_dead_pool2]

Hard to say for sure. Best not to think about it too much.

voice

[axed]

At least in the arena we got the cannon fire and the faces in the sky, right?

voice

[shenevermisses]

Always knew for sure how many there were. None of this "vanishing without warning."

voice

[axed]

So, no one knows what happens after, do they?

[dangerouswind]

It does that. Sorry to hear it.

[shenevermisses]

I thought those who knew her might want to know.

[dangerouswind]

I'm sure they do.

[Voice]

[savedtheworld]

I'm sad to hear that. But... Hopefully she'll find happiness back at her home.

[Voice]

[shenevermisses]

She'll be okay.

[It's all she can say, all she feels she has the right to say.]

[Voice]

[savedtheworld]

I'm glad to hear that. [He'll find relief in that, and put aside the signs that things might not bode well for her back home.]

Are you okay?

[voice]

[stillplaying]

[They had talked earlier, Katniss informing Clove that the little girl had gone missing. Presumed to return home, just like Peeta and Effie. And Richard. Or to nothingness, in Rue's case. Because what was there really after dying in the arena?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

She had failed in protecting Rue. Hadn't even had much of a chance to rekindle things with Peeta. Lost the first father like figure she had truly had in her life since age eleven. Even Effie's loss hurt, a reminder of all those who had come and gone as she forever remained stuck here in Luceti. It had hurt too much to announce to the network that Rue, too, was no gone.

So when she sees this, there's a slight look of relief that crosses her face. And gratitude. She hadn't expect Clove to say anything. And that Rue's absence is noted...]

Thank you.

[voice]

[shenevermisses]

She'll be missed.

[Which is all she can say. She means it, too.

She'd gotten rather used to the Little Bird. To teaching her and talking with her, sharing stories and discussing their districts.]

[voice]

[stillplaying]

She will.

[It's amazing how hard it is to say those two words. Rue will be missed and not just by herself or Clove. The girl had a way of makign friends easily. Without much of any effort at all. So unlike Katniss. It had been one of the things that made her worry about Rue. One of the things she admired, too.]

[Voice]

[knightofratatosk]

Oh... thank you for letting us know.

You're right, sometimes we go a long time without many people going home, and then sometimes it seems like everyone gets sent home at once. I've been here for more than five years and I'm still not really sure why that happens.

[Voice]

[shenevermisses]

I've seen it a couple times, yeah. It's... strange. That it just happens.

Nothing we can do about it, though.

[Voice]

[knightofratatosk]

Yeah. Sometimes a whole bunch of people come back again at once, too. There's no way to predict when things like that are going to happen.