eswareinmal | first arrow. ➳ voice. ( orb )

[ She practically threatened the old man out of her sight. ] Of course I have questions -- [ Desperate, horrifying ones. ] Prim! [ The voice rings out loudly over the orb's range of networking, the desperate shriek of a seventeen year old girl. The jabberjays have stopped. She's removed her hands from her ears, and she's discovered herself in a strange place with strange clothing. Everything is unfamiliar. And that can only mean one thing.

The Capitol has finally gotten to her. And probably her loved ones. ]

Peeta! [ She breathes raggedly. Like a scared animal. ] Where am I? What happened to them? [ The memory of the arena is fresh in her mind. Peeta, on the other side of the glass separating she and Finnick from the others as the jabberjays wreaked their havoc. The sounds of Prim and Gale screaming in voices that could only be brought on by torture. Surely they were dead. ]

I was in the arena! I was playing your damned Games! I did everything you asked me -- what did you do?! [ She has no idea to whom she is speaking. She's furious. She's terrified. She's yelling, and she's not going to stop yelling until she gets some answers. She wants them, now, and until she hears something soothing or receives a reasonable explanation for her whereabouts, she'll remain desperate.

And dangerous. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He did.

[ There's a flare of jealousy. Who is this girl, and why has Peeta confided in her so much? ] Did he tell you about Katniss?

Katniss? Is that the name of his friend? She has features like yours and carries a bow.

Yes. That's my name. I don't have my bow here. They gave me a sword.

They give us many things they think suit us better though they know little of anything.
[ said dryly ]
He searches for you.

I'm on my way to find him.

Most likely he does the same.
Perhaps this place will be better than where you were.

All I can do is hope you're right. Rue's here, too. She -- I didn't ever thing I'd see her again.

You are friends with Rue?
[ that gets a small smile out of her though her words perplex her. ]
She is a good child--why do you say that?

Rue was the girl tribute from District Eleven in mine and Peeta's first games. She -- [ Katniss worries at the inside of her cheek. She can taste blood already. ] -- She didn't survive.

She took part in the Games.
[ her tone is flat; a coldness seeping into her blood for a moment as the words set in. that innocent child she'd spoken to with skin like missandei's. then there is only heat--and with it comes anger. ]
Rue is so young..little--these are no games but slaughter. Is there no way to escape them? Is there no better land?

You aren't the only one who thinks so. [ She frowns, taking a deep breath. ] The tributes are chosen at random. Kids, ages twelve through eighteen... From every district. The Capitol puts us in an Arena to fight to the death. For their entertainment.

No. The rest of the world -- at least, what they tell us is that it's uninhabitable.

Do you not think they are lying to you? To keep you playing their games? Can you honestly trust anything they say when they are murdering your children and families?
[ a tenseness in her jaw. ]

We don't trust them. But they have control over us. One step out of line, and they could kill my mother, or my sister, or my friends... Or worse. Torture them, put them in the Arena. We aren't given a choice.

..Something must be done. What if you all joined together? Formed some rebellion that would give you some measure of power over them? I do not know your world but it cannot be a right one that you live in. I do not believe there is nothing that can be done.

The reason The Hunger Games exist is because of a rebellion. The Districts rose up against the Capitol. District Thirteen was destroyed. The Games are the Capitol's way of reminding us not to act up again.

Then why did it not end the first time it was played? Why does it continue without end for generations not responsible?

They do no service to you, no kindness. How many of you are there compared to the Capitol?

I don't know! To keep control, to -- keep us afraid. To remind us not to rebel again. [ She frowns, at the notion that this girl thinks they've thought nothing. Done nothing. ] Twelve districts. Some are smaller than others. But we're cut off from each other. We don't have any way to band together.

[ it was not that they hadn't..rather that it seemed they couldn't. it reminded her of astapor, except these people still clearly felt the pain unlike the unsullied. or at least, all that they showed. that and rue's face, once-seen and thought fondly of, just one of countless, as much as this young girl was, perhaps even her own age. ]

I only know that if they are as you say that it will not matter whether you rebel or not. They seem set to harm you no matter whether you do nothing or fight. I am not part of your world therefore I know little to help you--

[are you going to offer her your protection? you with three baby dragons and no knights, no khalasar? are you a queen or a young girl?]

--only that I know that any kingdom can fall.
[ whether it is countless men or one man stabbing your father on his throne while your family is put to the sword, you a babe in your mother's womb. ]

At least here, my lady, you are safer than you would be there. You will find this place to be quite complacent with any measure of order.

[ This girl has a point. A point Katniss herself has thought about several times. The Capitol is fragile. She knows that. And somehow, this girl knows it. Not necessarily about the Capitol itself, but about the structure of a mighty body of control. ]

We just have to find the weak spot in the armor. [ It's a little more resolute than it is angry or scared. Daenerys may just have more spark for Katniss to use for flame-fanning. They will get along very well. ]

I hope so. Thank you, for welcoming me. And for -- helping me understand. I'm still confused, but if we're safe from the Capitol, that's enough for now.

[ daenerys watches something like hope spark in katniss' eyes and to say it relieves her is a bit of an understatement. young girls like them should yet have things to live for even if they are older than they look. revenge, ambition--they do not warm your bed but they sharpen your need to survive.

when she speaks her words are kind, sincere. ]

You are safe here. I would be your ally, if you allowed it. I do not wish you to come to further harm.

[ Ally. A word she only associates with the temporary bond between tributes, until they turn on one another and become cutthroat in their fight for survival. But here... Here, it could be different. It could be a true alliance. It could mean true trust. She will approach with caution, but she would not turn down an offer from someone so similar to herself. ]

I'll allow it. The same to you.

I am Daenerys Stormborn, of House Targaryen. The Unburnt, Mother of Dragons, khaleesi to the Dothraki in Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Shackles, Queen of Mereen and the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros--and you are welcome to me, Lady Katniss.

[ She has never heard of any of these places, and the woman's name is very strange. Foreign, she thinks. She imagines it will be strange to her tongue for awhile. ]

Thanks. [ She pauses for a moment, mulling over something. ] Just Katniss is fine.

first arrow. ➳ voice. ( orb )

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