WHO: Katniss Everdeen and Thalia Grace WHAT: Two awesome archers meet WHEN: Thurs Oct 25 WHERE: In the woods WARNINGS: Low STATUS: Closed/G’doced
Katniss was silent as she moved through the woods. After everything she'd seen on this island, she was just relieved to find something that resembled the woods of District 12 even a little bit. Sure, there was greenery that she didn't recognize, but there was wildlife out here. She didn't know what kind, but she was glad for the opportunity to hunt. It was easier to breathe, and to be perfectly honest, she needed some time to think. She and Peeta had been spending a lot of time together-- she was really glad to have him back, though it still made her nervous that he knew things of her future that she hadn't lived yet. And he seemed healthy. Healthier than he'd looked in the last interviews she'd seen on television.
She had already set a few snares and had scaled a tree, settling in the branches when she caught sight of the deer. A faint smile played about her lips as she assessed her chances-- she thought she could do it, as she had a full quiver of arrows and the animal hadn't noticed her yet. Checking her things, she stood on her perch and considered movement through the trees to follow the creature. Three trees over, she lost sight of the deer for a moment and made her way down to the ground, cocking her head to listen-- she heard some movement about twenty feet away and started in that direction, her bow already loaded and ready to shoot as soon as she had a chance.
An arrow whistled through the air, inaudible to anyone who didn’t know what to listen for. It was followed by the heavy thump of the deer hitting the ground: a clean kill. Thalia had gotten bored of the city and gone exploring. She’d discovered, to her great delight, that there were woods just outside the city limits. While it wasn’t the same as being back in the forest with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, it felt more like home than the apartment she’d been put in.
She’d gone hunting today to keep her skills sharp. And truth be told, she was hoping that if she made a kill and dedicated it to Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt would get the message wherever she was and help her get out of this place.
Now she approached the deer she’d shot, but upon hearing a rustle towards her, she swung around in the direction of the sound, bow at the ready.
Katniss turned the moment she saw the deer fall- it had been an arrow, so whoever it was couldn't have been too far. She held her own bow up as she approached, then paused at the sight of the young woman. Girl. She looked younger than Katniss by a few years, but she held her weapon and walked as though she was much older. Not lowering her bow, Katniss took a few more steps and then paused; she wasn't about to attack, but she didn't want to be completely defenseless if the girl decided to shoot her, too.
"Nice shot," she complimented, nodding toward the animal.
Thalia lowered her bow when she saw the older girl, but she kept a loose hold on it. The other girl didn’t look threatening, but Thalia didn’t like being caught unawares.
She was friendly enough when she replied, though. “Thanks. I didn’t take your kill, did I?” She didn’t think she did, but there was a certain etiquette she adhered to, and that included not swooping in and taking the glory from somebody else.
"I was after it, but it wasn't mine yet. You were there first, fair and square." Katniss looked do the fallen deer with a wistful smile. It would have been a nice kill, and a good distraction. But that was alright. "I'm Katniss, by the way. Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"
“It’s a perk of being trained by the Goddess of the Hunt,” Thalia said with a grin. “Speaking of which, I’d better go over and make my dedication to her. I’m Thalia. Have you done much exploring of these woods?”
"Goddess?" Katniss blinked. She'd heard of gods and goddesses in passing, of people who worshipped them, but never in Panem. It was something of history books, foolish things that gave people hope. It was the last thing the Capitol had wanted. But this girl talked as though gods were real- it took her aback, and Katniss shook her head. "Not yet. I've set a few snares, and figured I'd go back for them later today. I haven't had much chance to explore before now.
“Yeah, goddess. They exist.” Thalia had been spending so much time amongst gods and demigods that she’d forgotten there were people who didn’t know they existed. In this place, that was probably common.
She held up a hand to indicate that she needed a moment, then went over to the fallen stag. She carefully removed the arrow from its neck and set it aside, then knelt down in front of it.
“Lady Artemis, hear my prayer,” she intoned. “If you can hear me, please help me find a way home so I can hunt by your side once more. There is another demigod here - my brother. Please bring him home as well.”
She was quiet for a moment, then got up and brushed the twigs from her knees, leaving the stag where it was. It would go back to feed the forest.
She returned to Katniss, a little more subdued. “I was hoping she’ll hear me and help me get out of here,” she explained.
Katniss nodded, slowly. She wasn't sure she believed it, but if it helped this girl, then who was she to argue? She watched as Thalia moved to the stag and knelt-- it didn't look like anything terribly different from anything she had done in the past.
Slipping her bow back, she bit her lower lip. "Do you think it will work? That she can take you from here?"
Thalia shrugged. “If anyone could” - or would - “it would be her. I just don’t know if I’m beyond her reach or hearing.”
She hoped not. It was fantastic to have her brother here and see him again, but she wanted to go home, to run with the Hunters again. And if Artemis could help him go back too, that would be ideal.
Katniss nodded. "If you figure out a way out of here, then you'll probably be the first."
She paused as she heard a rustling in the trees, then reached for her bow, easily loading it. She looked to Thalia, then stepped away- it sounded too much like an animal. She paused, raising the weapon and aimed, firing into the trees- she heard the thump of an animal falling and she started toward it, glancing back to Thalia. It was a doe, perhaps the companion to the stag that Thalia had just shot, and Katniss moved to retrieve her arrow, offering her own silent thanks to the creature.
Thalia lifted an eyebrow appreciatively. Katniss had just killed a doe without having a clear line of sight to it. Even some of the Hunters couldn’t do that. “Nice,” she remarked, after Katniss had retrieved her arrow. “Where’d you learn to shoot like that?” And why wasn’t Artemis here already? This was one girl Thalia would love to introduce to the goddess.
"In the woods. My father taught me, when I was young. He died, and I had to hunt to put food on the table." Katniss looked back to the animal for a moment, blinking back a few stray tears at the thought of her sister and father. She shook her head and then looked back to Thalia. "If I didn't shoot well, we didn't eat well- it was as simple as that."
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that,” Thalia said sympathetically. Her own mother was generally a waste of space, but at least there had been enough money for Thalia to go out and buy food to fend for herself and for Jason. And hunting for food was a pretty good reason for honing skills. “You’re really good.”
"Thank you." Katniss was quiet as she adjusted her hold on her bow. "I suppose we should figure out how to get these back to the hotel? We can clean them out there, I think."
“I’ll help you clean and carve up the doe,” Thalia offered. “But the stag stays. He is my offering to the Goddess of the Hunt, and he cannot be disturbed.”
"Alright," Katniss replied. "If you'd like some of the meat, or- anything, really- let me know? I know she's bigger than what I usually expect to kill, and I was just going to bring most of this back to the kitchens anyways." She knew that Peeta would love to have some fresh meat to cook with, and she could always turn the pelt into something useful at some point.
“Yeah, I’ll take some of the meat,” Thalia said with a nod. “I haven’t had a good roast in...oh, since I got dragged here.” She made a face. “I’m ready to leave any time now.”
"I know what you mean. Maybe we can make one when we get back?" Katniss laughed softly at the face Thalia made. "You aren't alone. Although...I have to admit, this place is much better than where I came from."
“Seriously?” Thalia said skeptically as she made her way back to the dear, taking out one of her daggers to prepare to skin it. “How bad is it where you came from that this pit of boredom is actually better?”
There were no monsters trying to eat her here, sure, but there was nothing else she knew, either.
Katniss couldn't help her chuckle of amusement at Thalia's question. How could she have known? "Oh, where do I even begin? I lived in a world that thought it was good to send twenty four teenagers into an enclosed arena where we fought to the death. As entertainment. And when I defied the Capitol, they wanted to break me, by making everyone else I knew suffer. And they sent me back with the one person I trusted, the one person I wanted to make sure went home, only to be kidnapped. I was taken by the rebellion and turned into a figurehead-- or at least, that's what they want me to be. I hadn't decided yet. The rebellion's headquarters are underground. Very militaristic, very structured. There's no fresh air to breathe and not only that- the Capitol took Peeta. Took him and tortured him, from the looks of it, only-" She broke off. "Well, I found myself here. Turns out my home was bombed- destroyed. Only a few survived. I went back to visit and then- well. I found myself here. So yeah, this might not be the greatest place in the world. But I'll take it over what I left."
She hadn't intended to say so much, but once she'd started, she wasn't quite able to stop her words. Swallowing a sudden lump in her throat, Katniss found her knife and kneeled beside the doe.
Well, now Thalia just felt like a jerk. Her world had been difficult, what with Titans trying to take over the world and her own less-than-happy background, but Katniss’s sounded horrific. This was a world that might have existed if Kronos had won, and she was lucky he hadn’t.
She cleared her throat. “Wow, that was super insensitive of me. Sorry - I didn’t know how bad it was for you.”
"No, don't- don't apologize," Katniss replied, shaking her head. She started on the doe, knowing it would be best to remove the organs and drain the blood as quickly as possible. It was messy business, but incredibly rewarding by the time the task was complete.
Thalia helped out with the ease borne from years of practice. She still felt bad about making Katniss share just how bad things had been for her, so she felt compelled to share as well.
"I've been fighting monsters since I was nine. I send out this giant bat signal, sorta, to attract monsters to come eat me."
"What is a bat signal?" Katniss asked, looking back to Thalia in confusion. The other girl seemed to know what she was doing, so Katniss simply worked with her, sitting back for a moment as the blood drained out, dark red against the soft, green grass. "What kinds of monsters? Actual non-human creatures?"
“It’s the signal Gotham uses to...okay, nevermind.” The ins and outs of 20th century pop culture was probably too big a subject to tackle at the moment. “Anyway, I just attract monsters who want to eat me. And yeah, non-human creatures. Cyclopeses, minotaurs, manticores, giant fire-breathing brass bulls...”
She didn’t know if the list meant anything to Katniss, but there had to be a common reference point somewhere. “I suppose the one thing this place has going for it is that there’s no one trying to eat me. ‘course, it gets boring. I honestly don’t know what to do if I’m not fighting monsters. I don’t really know anything else.”
"Gotham?" Katniss blinked, utterly confused. Creatures she understood. Like Muttations, but not made by the Capitol. "I'm sure you'll find something. I don't know what I'm doing with myself these days, either. So I've been spending my time in the woods."
Thalia waved her hand. “It’s just a fictional city, never mind. But yeah, I think I’ll have to spend a lot of time here too. It’s not like I can really do much else.” She tried to imagine herself at school or in a job, and just snickered at the thought. “So maybe I’ll see you around some more, or we can even go hunting together.”
"That'd be great," Katniss replied with a smile. "It's been a while since I've had a good hunting partner, and I know we could bring in more game if we wanted. And even if we don't, it's peaceful out here. I like it, a lot."
“Me too,” Thalia replied with a small smile. Here, at least, she felt at home. Even if the Hunters weren’t there with her, she felt closer to them than anywhere else.
They worked together to skin and carve up the doe, and once they were finished, Thalia wiped her hands on some leaves. When she got back to the apartment, she would have to wash up properly, but for now it was enough. “Okay, I think we’re ready to go.”