thecapitol | Never ever have I ever felt so low

Entry tags:

Never ever have I ever felt so low

Who| Lady & Open
What| Exploring the Capitol, looking for birds.
Where| A park
When| Presently
Warnings/Notes| N/A

It had taken quite awhile for Lady to feel safe enough to venture out into the world again. Of course, she'd gone through the motions and done what was asked of her, but her first instinct was to sulk and hide in her shame and let her fear consume her and hold her like a blanket. This world had seemed so beautiful before she'd entered the arena. Now everything seemed dark and overwhelming again.

But she was alive again, even if she wasn't able to understand the methods or reasons behind her resurrection. And while she wasn't in her right body yet, she was able to move and contemplate things. So once she felt up to it, she dressed herself properly and ventured out into the world, looking for birds to chase. Or squirrels. She always liked squirrels.

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Lady's eyes were turned upward, scouting the branches for birds. She liked birds, watching the way they bounced around and fluttered, and even more than that, she likes to watch them peck at insects and berries, looking so oblivious that she could sneak right up on one and nearly catch it. Moments like that reminded her of home and what it was like to be safe in her yard, or on walks with Darling in the park.

Eventually her gaze fell on the girl, and Lady approached her from below, blinking slowly as if she could not believe her eyes.

"Good afternoon. Are you... are you stuck?"

The girl shook her head, "No, of course I do no be being stuck." She grinned, "I do be training."

"Training?" Lady thought back to the things she'd been trained to do back home. Balancing a ball on her nose, coming when called, standing up on her hind legs, all of it very impressive when she'd been in her right body. Now, in this human one none of that seemed to matter to anyone at all. The only training she'd heard about or been subjected to involved weapons and fighting, lessons that never really sank in with her. She still wasn't sure she could even bring herself to slap someone that had struck her first.

Her eyes were wide as she studied the girl, for she wasn't sure what sort of training could involve being up so high from the ground. "Up there? In the tree?"

The girl nodded, swinging her legs from where she sat. "Climbing do be really important, you can be seeing really far and knowing if there's dangers around, and you can be jumping on people who do no be knowing you do be being there."

She shrugged, "And they did be putting food in a tree, so it do be being important for that too."

She still didn't know if this woman was a tribute or not, but either way Pruna thought it was an important skill.

There was food in the trees? That was brand new information for Lady, though perhaps if she'd paid closer attention to her training she would have remembered this while she was in the Arena, desperately searching for food.

"I've never climbed a tree before," Lady said softly, venturing closer to the trunk. She reached out to touch it with an open palm. The bark felt so strange to her hand, like it might scratch her if she pressed too firmly. "Is it... difficult to climb?"

"You have never been climbing a tree?" Her eyes widened, because this was an adult, who could go so many years without doing something so simple as climbing a tree?

"It do be being easy." She wrinkled her nose, "I can be teaching you if you do be wanting."

Part of her didn't like giving one of her potential rivals an edge in the arena, but on the other hand it was just pathetic that she didn't know how to climb.

"I think I would like that," she said, eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to regard the tree. It seemed awfully tall, and she wasn't even sure how to begin. "It looks rather high. How do I get into it?"

Pruna grinned and clambered down before jumping from a safe height. "Do you be seeing this here?" She pointed to a branch stud just above her head. "I did be using that, so you do be finding things to be grabbing with your hands and then be finding places to be putting your feet. Once you do be getting to the big branches it do be being easier." She swung herself up onto the lowest branch.

"You be trying, I can be helping you."

"Alright," she said, a little tentatively. She reached up to grab the branch, unsure of her own strength and of the ability of the limb to hold her weight. Though she was unsure of just how much her new body weighed, she knew for certain that it was more than what her old one did, and it was taller too, so she had to be mindful not to bump her head as she rather awkwardly attempted to hoist herself upward. It might not be the most elegant maneuver, but Lady was absolutely determined that she should get it right. "Like... like this?"

Pruna nodded happily, "Yes just like that, you do be doing good." For an adult, who generally were not good at climbing trees in her opinion.

She clambered to the next branch. "Just do be holding on, and be testing the branches before to be making sure they will no be breaking or then you will be falling."

Lady did just as she was told, reaching to test the branches before deciding that her weight would be supported by them as she ascended. It was slow going, to be sure, but little by little, she was making her way up. Soon, she was several feet higher than she had been before.

"I think I've got it now..." Then she made the mistake of looking down. "It's very far to fall."

"It do be." Pruna nodded and put on her most serious face. "So it do be important that you do no be doing so. That do be being the first rule of climbing, do no be falling down."

Since it was the first rule, it must be the most important of all. Lady made a special point of remembering this as she pulled herself up by one more branch. She dangled briefly, kicking her feet until she summoned the strength to complete that portion of the climb. "This is a lot harder than it looks."

"You should be using your feet more." Pruna told her crouching on a branch. "You do be having stronger legs than arms, so you should be pushing with your feet, and using your hands to balance."

Pushing with them? That made a great deal of sense, and once put into practice it proved to be quite effective. Her legs were quite strong, much more so than Lady had realized. Before she knew it, she was climbing up more easily than ever, a smile of triumph washing over her.

Pruna grinned at her. "You do be doing great!" She was very proud of her teaching ability, even if this was the first time she'd ever taught anyone anything.

Lady was practically beaming, she was so very pleased by the results of her hard fought efforts. Who would have ever thought that a cocker spaniel could excel at tree climbing?

"I'm doing it! Oh, if only Darling could see! She'd be so proud of me!"

She wasn't actually certain that Darling would be proud, but Lady liked to think that her mistress would. It might not be very becoming to be up in a tree, dirtying herself, especially in her human form, but it was quite enjoyable, and Lady couldn't think of any other dogs that could do it as well as she had.

"Who do Darling be being?" She asked as she scrambled up onto another branch keeping an eye on her student.

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Never ever have I ever felt so low

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sorry this is late!!

No worries <3

c:

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