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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Pruna stared a the tree. Kant always said that those that feared the things that hurt them were quickly dead, and Pruna wasn't planning to be dead any time soon.

Except she sort of was dead, but that was complicated and technology was stupid. Still she hadn't climbed many trees before in Gauig, and that had been her downfall. If she hadn't broken her foot that stupid man wouldn't have been able to catch her.

So she was going to practice. She was perched on a low branch when she saw the woman, watching her through the leaves. Her hair wasn't a stupid colour so it was very likely she was a tribute.

It wasn't every day that Ariadne made a point of going out into the Capitol, but every now and then, she found herself bored of the inspiration the Tower provided; she needed air, needed something fresh, and that was where wandering came into play. With her sketchbook in hand, she walked through the park, taking in the sights and sounds from everything around them, pausing only when she saw one of her Tributes - one of the few she hadn't really spoken to yet. What exactly she was doing wasn't quite obvious, not yet, but Ariadne lingered a few metres away, watching curiously.

Sigma was exhausted. His son and Akane were recently killed in the Arena, just when he was beginning to have hope that one of them might win. Extremely overwhelmed with a mix of guilt and sorrow, the Doctor decided he needed some fresh air.

He sat on a park bench, looking down more often than he looked at the birds, trees, passersby. They all lived on so easily, and here he was, at a loss on what to do.

Lady wasn't the only one outside.

Chibi-Usa sat on a bench, looking at all the happy (albeit strangely-dressed) families walking around and playing and sitting and laughing. It reminded her of home.

It was one of the few things that did. And the jealous resentment she had once felt in Crystal Tokyo was there as well, but for entirely different reasons. Before she had been jealous of families because they were together, and grew up together, while she stayed young amidst salacious whispers. But here, the jealousy was that none of these people would ever know the true horrors of the Arena. They were all ignorant of the effects on the Tributes.

She didn't like it at all. How could these people truly be all right with the Hunger Games? See it as entertainment?

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?"

There were strange birds congregating on the ground in the park, birds that Lady didn't recognize to be pigeons or sparrows. They were curious things, slow moving and clearly quite well fed, and they didn't seem to notice the people passing by all around them. Lady's eyes were fixed on them, the internal struggle with giving chase not yet evident in her expression. To anyone looking at her, it might seem odd, but Lady didn't have any concept of just how out of place she seemed.

Lady was walking past, slowly circling around the park in an effort to examine every last stretch of pathway. There were so many new things to look at, tall, sturdy trees and blissful animals. The world seemed so orderly and at peace, it was hard to imagine the sadness and pain that lurked within the walls of the Arena. Everything was so beautiful, it was easy to forget how afraid she had been.

As she circled the second time, she noticed the man sitting on the bench and decided that it would be good manners to say hello. She nodded her head as she approached, as she'd seen humans do in the past, and spoke in a clear, husky voice. "Good afternoon."

The birds took to the air as small children started chasing after them, leaving Lady suddenly alone with nothing to stare at. She turned to face the trees, and finding no squirrels, her gaze fell on Chibi-Usa. The girl was vaguely familiar looking, though Lady wasn't quite certain that she knew her, for all humans tended to look similar to her. Even with their strange outfits and hairstyles, she couldn't easily tell Tributes from other citizens.

On the off chance she was another Tribute, Lady decided it would be rude to not offer a greeting to her.

"Good day," Lady said, nodding a hello to the girl as she walked daintily toward the bench. She offered a smile, warm and sincere, oblivious to the Capitol citizens taking note of them both. "What a lovely afternoon, isn't it?"

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

"Huh?" Chibi-Usa looked up, confused. This person didn't look familiar. "Um...ah, yes it is."

The woman looked quite pretty. Conservative, even, compared to other...wait, was she even a Capitol citizen?

Lady smiled. This was going well, she thought.

"The birds seem to have flown away," she continued, clasping still strange hands together. "Were you also watching the birds?"

"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.

"...The people, actually." At this, Chibi-Usa looked back down. "Its a nice day, so there are lots of people about."

Dr. Klim raised his head uncertainly at the voice, startled that any Capitol citizen would speak to him so civilly. These parts were not taught to be kind to old men. Of course, he realizes at once that this woman is another Tribute. Sigma frowns in sympathy, which eases into a sad smile. "...Good afternoon, young lady." He wondered if she recognized him as a Tribute as well.

That was true, the park was rather crowded. Perhaps Lady ought to have paid more mind to the people than to the animals.

"Oh. Yes, that's right, there are many people here. What do you suppose they are doing in the park?" Surely they weren't all looking for birds. Lady herself was quickly realizing that people generally seemed to be more interested in other people than in animals.

"All the animals here are sort of interesting; I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like them," she ended up greeting after another long moment, deciding that yes, all that staring was a bit odd, but perhaps blamed on not having seen them before. A little wide-eyed innocence only ever killed people in the Arena.

"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?"

She looked up, a pleasant, almost praise-seeking expression on her face. She was glad for the attention, even if it was from someone she didn't know and perhaps had no reason to speak to. "I haven't seen birds like these either. Do you happen to know what kind of birds they are?"

Most humans looked the same to her, and it always took her longer to place faces. She was used to relying on her sense of smell in particular and it had taken quite a bit of getting used to to rely so heavily on her sight as her primary sense. She didn't immediately recognize Dr. Klim, but then, she hadn't immediately recognized the other Tributes she had met before the Arena once she'd entered it. That was simply the nature of her newfound state.

She smiled as the man said the word 'lady', eyes brightening. "You know my name?"

That was an interesting look. Not one she expected, but interesting enough. "Sadly, no, but I've never been that inclined to memorise birds before. It's also possible they're unique to the Capitol; I wouldn't be surprised."

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."

"Well, like I said, it is a nice day. And when its a nice day, people go outside and relax." Chibi-Usa nodded. "...Are you a Tribute?"

"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?"

"In our neighborhood, we would sometimes see pigeons," Lady said, helpfully, she thought. Still, she was perplexed, and the eager look on her face became slightly muddled. "But these certainly aren't like any pigeons I've ever seen. I wonder how it is that that animals here are so different."

"Yes," she said with a nod of greeting, unsure if she ought to be proud or ashamed of this designation. The answers she'd gotten from the other Tributes and the people in the Capitol had left her confused about it. "My name is Lady. Are... are you a Tribute, too?"

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."

The Doctor was certainly confused by her response. It was a typical greeting and most would have kept walking, but he remembered these Tributes were from hundreds of alternate worlds and may not always understand universal courtesies. He was about to protest when he stopped to think about what it was he could have said. "...Lady?"

And then Sigma truly smiled. She did look like a proper lady. Rather than explain her misinterpretation, he tried to cover it up to prevent her from becoming embarrassed. "A-Ah, but how could it not be? It suits you so well." He was smoother at that sort of thing as a young man.

"I am, actually." At this, Chibi-Usa stood up and have a little bow. "I'm Tsukino Usagi. Chibi-Usa is what everyone calls me."

"They do things to them," Ariadne explained, having looked into the concept of the muttations a little bit. Most people didn't care about the details of the thing, nor the science; she thought that Lady might have been one of those. "Probably the same way they do things to themselves to make themselves unique - why shouldn't the animals be the same?"

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."

"Chibi-Usa?" The name sounded odd rolling off her tongue, a little muddled in her mouth. But she repeated it once more, with greater confidence, and she decided she liked it very much. "That is a lovely name. I've never heard anything like it before."

"Darling seemed to think so, too." She inflated a bit, looking just as proud as her voice indicated. She wanted to project daintiness, to seem delicate and ladylike, but she did enjoy being complimented, even by strangers. "I don't believe we've been introduced before."

"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."

"Because we didn't choose to be unique." She spoke without thinking, still considering herself part of the animal population. "Those humans chose to change themselves. We... I mean, the animals didn't have any say in the matter, did they?"

"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."

She blinked, unsure about the 'we' reference. At first thought, it could possibly just refer to the lot of them as outsiders, those brought in for the Capitol's amusement. After that, she wasn't entirely sure.

"Most of us don't have any say in the matter."

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.

"But at least you've been left in your right form." She seemed very certain when she spoke, at first. But a moment later she realized that is was presumptuous to think that this other lady was in her proper body and hadn't been misplaced as she had been. And it would be awfully impolite to assume anything of the sort. "Forgive me. That is, I should guess that you are like the other humans, in that you were born as a human and not as an animal."

Another blink. Her initial thoughts niggled at the back of her mind, and Ariadne found herself quietly revising the assumption. Bizarre as it was, she supposed if the Capitol had the power to do everything they already had, perhaps it wasn't so farfetched to think that they could transplant the soul of an animal into another body.

But it was making her head spin trying to think about it.

"I was, you're right. I'm human." She paused. "What were you before?"

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 considers before answering, wondering if this lady will take her at her word, as Mister Wayne had, or if she won't believe it at all, as did Enjolras. Finally, her lips purse together, and with much deliberation she responds. "I'm a cocker spaniel."

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.

There really wasn't any way to take that but with a grain of salt. She'd seen little other proof that the Capitol had the means to change this woman's form entirely, but then again, it wasn't every day you met someone claiming to be a cocker spaniel.

So Ariadne just blinked again, and asked: "What was that like?"

"Darling? Is that your mother's name?" Now she's calling her mother by her first name? Lady was odd, but in a charming way. She was unlike any of the other Tributes he had met, with her pride and happiness over so simple a compliment. Sigma found it refreshing. "Forgive me. My name is Sigma Klim. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady." He extended his hand for a handshake.

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Never ever have I ever felt so low

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sorry this is late!!

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No worries <3

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c:

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back from hiatus, sorry