[Orb]

[consultmybooks]

[The orb shows the beach - grass leading to rocks leading to sand leading to the vast expanse of ocean in the distance. It's a picteresque sort of sight, with the bonus of no dragons around to eat people. Turns out you just can't entirely trust the maps here..]

I've, um, I've found the ocean. It's not as bad as it looks, out here...I mean, um, the thorns are moving rather fast, but it turns out that we're hardly cut off.

Well...hardly cut off yet.

I did stop by the infection zone before I came out this way. The reports are certainly true. For plants, they are moving alarmingly fast. I didn't want to stay in the area. If I'd actually dared make camp there, I probably wouldn't be here now. Still. I, um, I made an effort. A couple of basic identification spells, and a bit of scrying, although s-something about them made that even harder than it normally is, for me.

If anyone has any ideas how I might, um, proceed further, or even get a bit off for further examination, I'm certainly all ears. It's not as though I'll have to walk that far to reach the border zone on my way back.

[...really, though, looking out at the beach, at the ocean and thinking of what lies beyond it, it's actually a little hard to remember that they're all in such terrible danger. The land around him brings up a feeling of nostalgia in Giles' chest that he can't ignore.]

...if worst comes to worst, I suppose we could always build a ship.

[Because, when he finds himself forgetting, now he can summon up the mental image of that great, gnarled tangle of malevolent, thorny evil. That's a familiar feeling as well - consult the books. Fight the evil. Save the world.

What happens next? Well...they'll burn that bridge when they come to it.]

((ooc: Hey, sorry for the edits, guys! Turns out I was a bit mistaken as to the positioning of the thorns. But! Things should be able to proceed from here.))

Comments

[consultmybooks]

Sailed, mostly. Tried to, um, see what there was about the ocean. It was a man-made ocean, if you can believe that. One day it was there, and the next it wasn't.

I, um...well, I, I thought we might be able to find something about it to help us.

[He never had, of course, but it had been a hope, and hope was important.]

[rutagraveolens]

[She can, actually. All the arenas were man-made and could be adjusted on the fly. The forest could have easily flooded if that was what the Gamemakers wanted.]

Why did you guys need to find help? What was wrong? Were there thorns too?

[consultmybooks]

No thorns. Um, just a wall...a barrier. Our place of confinement was actually rather large, but...well, we were trapped there, and most of us weren't terribly happy about it.

The ocean came in from the outside - we thought it might have, um, weakened something.

[rutagraveolens]

[Barrier. Place of confinement.]

Was it like a district? Or... a Game?

[consultmybooks]

...yes, um, I suppose it was about the right size, for a district.

[Of course, Giles is thinking geographically. Not culturally.]

As for games, well...I think the, um, the Malnosso saw them more as experiments, than anything.

[rutagraveolens]

[She doesn't recognize the word Malnosso, but she latches onto experiments.] Were they taking tributes? Or making muttations?

[consultmybooks]

Sorry...muttations? With a short "u"? [It sounds like she should be saying "mutations" which, yes, there were plenty of those. Giles himself was dragged down that route more than once.]

As for, um, "tributes"...well, um, I'm not sure what you mean. Whatever they did to us, though, it didn't stick. Not, um, not forever, at least. [And sometimes that's all you could hope for.]

[rutagraveolens]

Muttations. The Capitol genetically modifies them from other creatures.

[Her expression grows a little more somber when he asks about tributes. When she speaks, she's reciting words heard over and over.] From every district, a girl and a boy between the ages of twelve and eighteen are selected to fight in the Hunger Games.

[consultmybooks]

[...

...

...the fact that Rue doesn't look remotely twelve isn't going to make this any better. After all this time, Giles has developed a sense for such things.]

Yes, um, well. Besides the obvious point of being selected as a hero to, to stop the thorns, you certainly won't have to worry about that while you're here.

[rutagraveolens]

...Are you sure?

[consultmybooks]

Absolutely and entirely certain.

[Because Giles is a lot bigger than a twelve year old kid, and anyone who has any funny ideas about using kids for anything they don't want to be involved with will have to deal with him.]

Sorry, um...I'm not sure I caught your name.

[rutagraveolens]

I'm Rue.

[consultmybooks]

It's very nice to meet you, Rue. You, um, y-you can just call me Giles, if you want. Everyone does.

Been in Schwanheim long, then?

[rutagraveolens]

It's nice to meet you, Mr. Giles. [Young as she is, she has manners when it comes to strange adults.]

Two days now. How about you?

[consultmybooks]

[Giles still isn't sure which is stranger to him - the kids without manners, or the kids who actually have them.

...habit wins out, and he adds:] Just, um, just Giles is fine.

And, um, it's been a few weeks, for me. I'm sorry you were brought here when you were - the, um, the thorns are moving a bit faster than they did before.

[rutagraveolens]

Okay. Giles. [She tests out the name again.]

Is there any way to stop them?

[consultmybooks]

Yes. [There's always a way to stop the bad things. "No weapon forged" just means no one's brought out the rocket launchers.] But, um, w-we haven't found it yet. Rest assured, though - we are working on it.

That's, um, why I was out here in the first place. Thought I'd try getting a look up close, see if anything worked better that way.

[rutagraveolens]

Is there any way I can help? [A small beat as she thinks about what she has.] I have a knife! And I'm real good at climbing too. [For despite everything she went through in her short life, when most would rest or run away, Rue honestly, earnestly, wants to help.]

[consultmybooks]

[Giles actually winces at the mention of the knife, remember the point he'd been considering using his own, only to finally talk himself out of it with the threat of getting scratched by these damned demonic plants a little too close for comfort.

So his next question is as much to steer Rue away from the idea of trying her knife against the thorns, as anything else:]

W-What sort of climbing?

[rutagraveolens]

Trees! I was the fastest climber and could climb quietly too! [There's a hint of pride and joy when she speaks. The little bird of District Eleven, the little squirrel, she heard it all.]

[consultmybooks]

[Hm...]

Just, um, just out of curiosity...how do you feel about mountains?

[There seems to be no end of strange happenings going on in the mountains around here. First this mysterious "old capital", and now something about a temple.]

[rutagraveolens]

I've never been in mountains before. [Oh. Sadness. :c]

[consultmybooks]

I only ask because, um...well, there are a great many mountains around here, and apparently there's a lot that goes on up in them. M-Might bear investigation.

Other than that, well, I would caution you to stay out of the, the Two Faced Forest after the sun goes down, if no one's told you to already. In the daytime, however, it's, it's perfectly safe.

[rutagraveolens]

The Two Faced Forest? [Yep, that critical bit of information was left out.]

[consultmybooks]

[...what are they teaching forcibly drafted heroes these days?]

The, um, the forest. Near the city proper. It's, um, it's known as the "Two Faced Forest", a-and it certainly lives up to the name.

In the daytime, it's, it's safe enough. Unless you happen to pass by the witch's house.