thecapitol | Had you from the beginning

Entry tags:

Had you from the beginning

Who| Anna and all y'all
What| Exploring the Capitol and probably getting into trouble.
Where| The tower and various locations around the capitol.
When| 7/2-7/4
Warnings/Notes| Nah.

one. the tower

The first thing Anna does is conduct a thorough survey of her new digs. All the electronics are frightening, but she's learned to use the panels in the walls well enough to survive, and she can turn things on and off, which is exciting. But she wants to see everything, so she can be found wending her way through various common areas and hallways, peeping into the training center and attempting to use a sword before learning that she can barely lift a sword, let alone wield one. Okay, so maybe it's not her forte, but if she's lucky someone can show her a better way to defend herself.

two. pier twelve

The spirited princess is drawn to the amusement park, and as soon as she catches word of it, she has to go out and see it for herself. She spends almost a whole day riding the fantastic rides she finds there; the Ferris wheel in particular is enthralling, because from the top of it she can see the whole Capitol. So of course, Anna rides it over and over, peering breathlessly over the edge of her gondola. It's clear to see that she's never seen anything like any of this before, and she's eager to babble about it to anyone who crosses her path.

three. the streets

Anna's seen amusement parks and restaurants and a lot of other fantastic things, but after awhile she finds she just wants to wander the streets of the Capitol, fascinated by the strange buildings and the even stranger inhabitants of this new place. People wear the most interesting things, she finds, things she could never picture herself wearing in a million years. She doesn't exactly watch where she's going, very well; more than one busy Capitolite loses her fancy coffee because Anna's more interested in looking around than at where she's going. But she's chipper, apologizing to whomever it is she's bumped into and perhaps even asking them a question or two about her surroundings. She doesn't have to like being here, but she does have to adapt.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh..." Anna looks a bit perturbed. She's tried hard to avoid knowing any details about the Arenas she was in previously.

"Well, you know, I figure if they're gonna make me do this stuff, I should probably know what I'm doing! And as far as Elsa goes, she can defend herself just fine!"

Somebody clearly doesn't know about the power nerf.

Yeah, that would be all the better for her. Mindy would have to make sure to threaten anyone who attempted to tell.

"No she can't. I mean, if she had her powers, sure, but they don't let anyone who has powers keep them. Trust me, I root for Elsa. She's in my District."

Anna looks crestfallen. "Wait, what? Are you serious? But--but that's so unfair!"

It's slowly beginning to dawn on the princess that pretty much everything here is unfair.

"Is it? Not everyone here HAS powers. Think about what we have to do in the Arena. Would YOU like to, say, go toe to toe with someone who could levitate or mind control you? That'd be a lot more unfair then, don't you think?"

Oh, it definitely wasn't there, but she didn't mind the power nerf. What if that one God asshole had all his powers?

Anna mulls this over. "I...I guess that makes sense." She scuffs her toe against the gym floor. "But I still need to learn how to defend myself, I guess." She looks up at Mindy hopefully.

"Can you show me how to shoot a bow and arrow?"

"Yeah, you will. Last thing you want is to be killed, or worse, maimed. From what I'm told, there are some people in our group that like to eat each other. Just something to think about."

She'd seen what happened to Eponine and Ruffnut. She didn't want that happening to Elsa's sister.

"I'm only starting," she said, but even as she said this, she had both in her hand. "Now let me see your stance."

Anna shivers. "Gross!" Eat each other? That's absolutely barbaric. She tries hard not to think about it. Especially not happening to her sister.

She looks skeptical, but puts herself in the same stance she'd seen Arendelle's bowmen take during drills in the courtyard as a child. "Like this?" It's sloppy, but not totally unfortunate.

Mindy raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if that's the reaction I'd have, but sure, yeah. Gross."

More like fucking horrifying.

"Almost, but you have to keep your arms straight. Yeah, like that. Now, where are you looking to hit?"

Bear with her, here. She's a sheltered princess, and has a vocabulary to match.

"Oh! Right."

She adjusts according to Mindy's advice, brow furrowing slightly in concentration. It's hard to keep all the parts of her body doing what they're supposed to be doing.

She watched Anna get into a better stance, and looked at the target several meters away.

"Ok, take a shot. Just for the hell of it."

Anna swallows, nervously pulling back the bowstring. It's far more difficult than she'd have imagined, but she manages to get it back a few inches.

"Alright!" She lets go, and the arrow goes soaring...and glances off the side of the target, hands far too shaky for an accurate hit. "Oh, shoot."

Mindy had to suppress a laugh. It wasn't mean spirited-it was Anna's reaction and the face she made that caused her usually brisk demeanor to crack.

"Not a bad start. You have to make sure you line it up when you squint: have to see the target. You have that down pretty good though. The bow is where people fuck up: you have to get an idea how much to let it go, so you know how far it'll fly. That takes practice, believe me."

Anna flushes through her freckles, laughing at how off her shot was. "That was pretty bad," she admits. "But I want to hit the target this time." She repositions her stance, keeping her arms straight, and pulls back on the bow string, squinting her eyes to visualize the spot she wants to hit. This time, when she lets the arrow fly, it sails over to the target and sticks, not even close to the center, but she hit it! Anna cheers, letting the bow drop to her side and looking elated.

"Hey, look at that! Not bad for my second shot."

Mindy nodded, grinning. "Good. That was better! I wasn't too far from your position to begin with, keep that in mind. It just helps to squint a little, and make sure you're not standing awkward."

She flexed her fingers, squinting, and let an arrow loose herself, hitting it dead center.

Anna could only stare. "Wow," she breathes, the sound swallowed up in the dark of the training center. "That was so cool. You're a really great tribute, I bet!"

Mindy grinned. "Oh, I'm damn good. So good that I'm a mentor, not a tribute. I won my Arena two games ago."

It wasn't often she got praised. It felt good.

"Wow, really?" Anna looks positively jazzed by this information. "That's so cool!" Not that she really thinks this whole Arena business is cool, but talking to others like her who have triumphed is sort of encouraging, in a way. She shakes her head.

"Wait, wait, how old are you?"

Mindy laughed. "Yeah? Well it makes a hell of a lot of fucking adults uncomfortable, I'll say that much. Kinda funny, considering this Arena used to be nothing BUT children once upon a time."

Oh right. "Twelve going on thirteen. Almost a teenager. Can't wait, I could just blame my moodiness on that."

Anna blinks, looking taken aback. She'd known Mindy was younger than her, but the way she swears like a sailor had thrown off Anna's guess.

"Wow. You're so young," she replies. "I never would have guessed! You talk just like an adult."

"That's what they tell me," Mindy said, though she had to admit that was starting to wear a little thin. "Are you decent with any other weapon, you think? How are you with a blade?"

Anything to move past the child/adult discussion, honestly.

Anna hardly notices any annoyance with the subject at hand, but she switches topics easily. "Uhhh, probably not so good," she admits. "I don't think I'm strong enough to swing a sword."

"A sword is a heavy object that no one should start up trying to learn. You might do better with, say, a knife or at least a short sword. Something that can still help you defend yourself upclose if the need ever comes. How do you think you'd do there?"

"I could probably hold a knife," Anna begins cautiously. "It'd be easier for me to carry around, anyway, and even if I don't really want to hurt anyone, I need to be able to defend myself."

"I figured you wouldn't be hurting anyone. In that case, we can work on, say, defensive abilities. Being able to use something so well you can block someone's attack. That sound OK?"

Anna grins. "Sounds good to me." It's a bit easier to rationalize, that way. If she happens to kill someone out of necessity in the Arena, so be it, but she's going to stay true to who she is or she'll be damned. She won't let the Capitol change her.

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