Melody 2 : Action

[rutagraveolens]

[Morning]

[Ever since the fireworks the previous day, Rue was on edge. The fireworks were too much like cannon fire, each boom a notification of another tribute gone. That the fireworks were to announce the departure of people didn't help any.

Nor she get any sleep the previous night. Rue dreamed of whippings and executions, a reaping she couldn't escape from, a game she couldn't win. She saw the boy from District 1 - Marvel - raise the spear, throw-- and woke up tangled in blankets on the floor.

Silence surrounded her as she had breakfast in House 34. She left Melody sleeping in her room and made sure her knife was on her before she slipped out for the day.

She did her usual rounds - library to return some books, bakery to pick up a snack, convenience store for a drink - before wandering the south path parallel to the river. She'd never traveled down the road before and was curious where it went. Eventually Rue found herself by the Art Gallery. After some hesitation, she entered the building. It was nice and quiet, peaceful inside. She roamed the gallery, taking her time looking over the different pieces of artwork there.

When she came across Peeta's paintings and found herself staring at her own face, her face crumbled. She reached up to touch the paintings, drawing back she realized she shouldn't do that. The wings were the right color; the yellow of her own feathered wings, the blue of the dress she wore on stage in the Capitol. Her breath quickened and caught as Rue burst into ugly sobs.]

[Afternoon - behind Slash 'n Crash]

[After calming down, Rue went to Slash 'n Crash for target practice. Bow in hand and a quiver of arrows on her back, Rue methodically shot arrow after arrow into the targets. Her aim wasn't the best, but she was still hitting the target each time. She remembered Katniss' lessons as she drew, notched, and shot each arrow.

When she shot the last arrow in her quiver, Rue went to the targets, pulled out every arrow, put them back into her quiver, walked to her starting place, and began shooting again.]

((ooc; Now with links! The first painting is the one of her looking over a puddle and her reflection, the second is her holding a bouquet of flowers.))

Comments

[250mhzwabl]

[Jack doesn't recognize the District-Number designation from anywhere, though it sounds like some sort of Soviet dystopian thing, which at least kind of fits with Rue's excitement over art and music. He doesn't comment on it right away, even if he does hesitate, looking at her curiously for a moment before pulling his attention back to the book.]

I think so. Or a world that's pretty similar, at any rate. We definitely have this style of art where I'm from.

[He turns the book toward her, an invitation to flip through the pages and find something else she likes.]

[rutagraveolens]

I wonder if they teach this at art class?

[Rue muses out loud as she flips through the book. Most of the drawings are of birds, but there are other animals too. Big orange cats with striking black stripes prowling through misty mountains, black and white bear-like animals surrounded by long tubular plants, large fish colored vivid orange, white, black, and gold swimming in clear ponds surrounded by flowing flowers. They're all very beautiful.]

I wish I could see them. The animals.

[250mhzwabl]

[Jack can't think of any reason why an art class couldn't teach the techniques on display in the book, even if the printmaking would be an advanced lesson. Watercolours were basic, and all inkbrush was was special black watercolour when you got right down to it.

He nods, pulling a chagrined face.]

Yeah. Suppose Luceti doesn't exactly have a zoo, does it.

[rutagraveolens]

I've never seen a zoo before. Though... isn't it a little mean keeping wild animals in cages, far away from their homes?

[250mhzwabl]

I . . . guess it could be?

[All of the zoos Jack has seen have been the scientifically-researched, reasonably ethical kind. Big enclosures, activities to keep the animals stimulated, dieticians managing their food, all of that. It's hard to think of that as mean. Unnatural, maybe, but cruel? He's not sure. Even less so after being here for over a year.]

At the same time, in zoos there's always enough to eat. There's veterinarians to look after the animals if they take ill, and people making sure their climate is comfortable, and they never have to worry about being hunted or needing to fight. It seems sort of like a fair trade, when I think about it that way.

[rutagraveolens]

[Honestly, it sounds a little like this place. Or being a Victor. Rue mulls over her words, still uncertain.]

But they aren't free. They'll always have to depend on someone to feed them and take care of them.

[250mhzwabl]

[Jack definitely has feelings about what being free actually means, the value of it. What you really, at the end of the day, want to be free from, or free to do. But it seems like a heavy-handed thing to get into with a little girl, and he scratches idly at the scruff along his jaw, offering her a little half-smile.]

Yeah, I guess I just . . . well. The world I'm from isn't very nice, I guess. After coming here, I can sort of see why animals might not mind being in a zoo.

[rutagraveolens]

...My world isn't very nice either.

[Her voice is a little flat as she says that.]

But I guess there are a lot of worlds that aren't nice.

[250mhzwabl]

Yeah. Unfortunately.

[Quietly, he turns a page in the book, bringing them to a two-page spread of marine life in brilliant blues]

Do you miss it?

[rutagraveolens]

[Rue is quiet as she studies the picture. Were there creatures like those in the oceans of District 4 or the oceans here?]

...No. But I miss my family.

[250mhzwabl]

Yeah. Yeah, me too.

[That, Jack can understand. Even if the people he's found at Abel aren't strictly flesh and blood, they're the closest thing he has to family, any more.

It makes Luceti easier in a way, he supposes. Having already more or less done this once.]

I guess the one good thing is that there's family you make, too. Family you find, not just the one you're born into. I think it's natural, everyone missing their families from home, but at least that doesn't have to be the end of it.

[rutagraveolens]

I know, and I like all the people I've met here. Everyone's been nice.

[Katniss was here, and Katniss was what Rue imagined having an older sister was like. Someone to count on and be cared for, like what Rue tried to do for her siblings. And Prim was sweet and someone nice to talk to.

But it was also a sobering thought knowing not only would she never see her family again outside of Luceti, but if she left Luceti, she would never see anyone again either.]

...I want to stay here. ['I have to stay here.']