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WHO: Katniss and You
WHAT: A week in the life of a Mockingjay
WHEN: Covering the first week of Haring
WHERE: All around Skyhold
NOTES: Warnings for possible suicidal triggers via music.

Katniss Everdeen is a young woman who does not like to be idle when it can be helped, especially when she is waiting to know where she can help. So if you are looking for the rather brusque 'Some Other Archer', you will find it hard to miss her.

1. Distributing Food and Supplies Through The Survivors

Skyhold has literally become the pilgrimage of hundreds who are seeking to flee from Corpheysus's reign of terror, who are looking for balance in a world gone mad without a Divine, or have lost their homes in one of the many wars blossoming across Thedas. Many of them came without a stitch on their backs, or food to feed themselves -- or their families.

Yet, in the last week, a tall young woman with serious grey eyes and dark hair braided along the side of her head has been handing out provisions - fresh meat mostly, and cleaned leathers and warm furs. Candles, cooking fat, and there are even healing poultices, simple things. She asks for nothing in return, and thanks makes her nervous -- but she is there almost every day to offer assistance where she can. Children make her easier - she brings them necklaces made of leather and small stones, and little toys made of bone.

Do you meet here here or ...

2. Outside in the training areas outside of Skyhold

Someone has taken the time to set up what can only be considered a crude archery training area, out of old barrels and crates, with targets painted on. But it's not just straight targets and dummies, no. It's practically an obstacle course - with the targets being at different heights, and various objects that one had to move around to get a clear shot. It's not just a test of accuracy, it's one of agility and of quick thinking.

Katniss trains here every day, practicing her shots in a dozen different scenarios. Up high, down low, jumping and rolling out of the way to make a shot. Shooting and moving at the same time, weaving between targets. She wants to challenge herself, that's clear enough. Against what? Everything, apparently.

Want to join? Want to gawk? Want to take your barrel back? Come and speak with her, unless you want to speak to her ...

3. Alone On The Ramparts

It's the song that will capture your attention. A beautiful, clear female voice will echo down to you as you climb the stairs to the ramparts, perhaps to go on guard duty. Perhaps only to see the stars. Yet while the voice will make you smile, perhaps, the song itself might just chill you down to the bones.

Or at least wonder who would sing such a song.

"Are you, are you?
Coming to the tree
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where I told you to run, so we’d both be free
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight in the hanging tree..."

If you go hunting down the voice, you'll find it soon enough. Katniss is sitting with her back against the ramparts, looking up to the sky and singing upwards to the stars. As if she is trying to reach someone with her voice that she just can't seem to get to.

Will you come and sit with her, or pass by?

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Korrin chuckles as she catches some of that song below as well and moves to sit down, giving Katniss plenty of personal space. It's easier -and probably less intimidating- for her not to be looming over the girl while they talk.

"Good on you, we need as many scouts as we can get. Harding will be the one to decide all that, but as far as I know -and have been told- she has a good head on her shoulders. I'm a mage, not a scout, but I know and work with far too many not to know about her."

Katniss leaned her head back against the stone, breathing in deeply as she looked back up to the sky. Then she looked over to the other woman - she didn't seem like the Qunari were supposed to be. Which meant she was probably a - what was it? Tal-vashoth.

"You know La- Lead Scout Harding?" She tipped her head up curiously. "And yes that is what Cul - Commander Cullen said." She was thankful it was dark out here. "At ... any rate, uhm. Do mages usually go out into the field?"

She stopped, then rubbed her face. "Sorry. Usually don't stick my nose this far into other people's business."

Edited 2015-11-29 02:41 (UTC)

It doesn't escape her notice how Katniss nearly refers to the others, but she doesn't pry. Nor does she seem to mind any prying on Katniss' part, not seeing it as such. So, Korrin just shrugs.

"I came to you, didn't I? That's a question I can handle. It depends on the mage, though. Those from the Circle? Probably not, unless they saw action after those fell. I'm an apostate, though. Never been in one of those--hell, I've been a mercenary all my life. The field is where I'm at my best."

Well, name dropping doesn't seem like a way to make you friends here. Or at least, people who you will have fighting beside you. Besides, one-upmanship has never been Katniss's style.

"Huh." Katniss gnawed on her lower lip, before asking, "All right, as an apostate, and a mercenary -- does that make you less likely to bust out blood magic?"

Korrin chuckles softly at that. "Don't say that in front of any Chantry clergy, I'm sure most would start raving about how it's the opposite and that's why apostates need Circles or some such rot. Not true. My mentor was pretty good about drilling in the various pitfalls of being a mage. You don't have to be part of a Circle to realize that shit is just wrong."

"Honestly I would figure having the freedom you wanted would keep you from going off the rails." That was why most of the mages had gone mad out in the Hinterlands. Katniss thought they needed to take some damned responsibility for their actions - and learn magic wasn't a weapon but a tool. But the apostates who just wanted to live their lives? She couldn't blame them in the slightest. Especially since they seemed to be, like Korrin, calm and reasonable.

"No, you don't. You don't even have to be a mage." Is her quiet reply, "So ... you had training but just outside the circle. Like that fellow, Solas."

"Well--not quite like him. I've heard he's really into the Fade and spirits, which aren't my forte at all. See, this is why I don't like the term 'apostate', among other reasons. It lumps us all together, when our styles and experiences can be completely different. That said, I'd still stand up for another one when it's needed. If the Templars and Chantry want to think we're all the same, it doesn't hurt to band together for some things."

She smiles slightly at that, able to more freely admit it with Katniss than among other mages. There's already enough pressure on her to contribute further, continue giving non-Circle mages a voice.

"And you're not wrong about freedom, at least when you're raised with it. I think that's why a lot of the rebel mages just went crazy. They were locked up all their lives, and when that fell apart, they couldn't handle it. Some of them might learn that with freedom comes responsibility, but others will continue to be idiots."

Katniss turned, her frown curving up over her face. "I didn't know that." She snorted softly, "Of course, if you want to use the scope on what I know - it'll be a broad field."

One corner of her mouth lifted, before she looked thoughtful, "Well I suppose that's just another reason that mages are like the rest of us. None of them want to be painted with the same brush over and over again. They want to be seen as individuals."

She made a face at that, a flare of anger crossing her face, "Well, I hope they're prepared to stupidly walk into a flight of arrows. I can't stand those who abuse their power - 'rebel' mages or 'righteous' templars. Maker damn them both, for what they've done to so many innocent people."

A bite on her lips, "... I'm sorry, of course I don't mean you, or any of the mages here. Maybe not even the templars."

There's a reassuring smile from Korrin, who shrugs. "I didn't think you did, so no need to apologize. I feel the same way, or just about. When it comes to Templars, I admit I'm not objective. They're just not people I can let my guard down around, not given their -former?- task of hunting apostates. They can try to sugarcoat it, but it still happened."

Hence, no trust from her. Perhaps one Templar will be the grand exception, but that still seems very unlikely. "I'm so tired of mages who give the rest of us a bad name, so honestly? I'd be fine with those idiots walking into a flight of arrows, or whatever else it takes to stop them. With them gone, maybe there'd be a chance for everyone else to calm the hell down."

She nodded her head slowly, before she rubbed one hand across her face, "We live in a world where wonders are being turned into horrors and the people who should be protecting us ... are the ones who are raising their swords against us. And ... it's not fair. It's not right."

There is pain in her voice there, as she looks angrily over at the other wall. "No one is winning, everyone is losing ... their friends, their family, their honor ...even their own minds. And those mages who just want to be able to govern themselves? Those templars who just want to protect people? They're getting shoved down underneath the horde -- "

She stops, suddenly, her voice bleak, " - I can't keep thinking about this, over and over. It's why I can't sleep at night."

Korrin sighs deeply at that, glancing skyward. "There's a lot of that going around, these days. The world was never fair to begin with, but it seems even less fair in the past few years, and then this. It's difficult to look at it all and see the huge gulf between what should be and what is, I know."

She's heard the pain in that voice before, from others. Old, young, any race. No one's immune to suffering, especially not now. So she can't blame Katniss for feeling worn down by it, even as her own expression softens. "We've lost a lot and we'll lose more, I won't lie about that. Still, it's also true that the world could have ended with the Breach, if it'd kept expanding. But it didn't. Everyone could have died at Haven, but we didn't. Hell, mages and Templars could have renewed the fighting at Skyhold and torn the Inquisition apart. Hasn't happened yet. I know it's not much, but I'll take whatever we can get, however minor."

Idealism has never been her strong point, but pure pessimism isn't, either. The Vashoth mage tends to put herself somewhere in the middle, on the side of pragmatism.

Katniss is silent for a long moment, before she breaths out. Exhaling something as if she had kept it in for longer than she wants to think about. She squeezed her legs again, her grey eyes narrowing, before she sings softly,

"Steel your heart ... the dawn will come."

She falls silent again, before setting her shoulders. "You're right, of course. Something is keeping us all going, something is ... keeping this world spinning." She sighed, "I have to still be here for something. Anything. I can't accept I am alone and there's nothing left. Not ... since coming here."

That song of course well-known to Korrin by now, who manages a soft wry smile as she hears it from Katniss, pushing back the ensuing heartache. "There certainly didn't seem to be much room for hope when the Herald died. And yet, Mother Giselle and that song gave us a much-needed reminder."

She doesn't think much of her singing voice, though, so she won't inflict it on present company while sober. "You're not alone. It's not cliche, just simple fact. There are a lot of idiots invested in seeing the world go to shit, but there are still plenty of us trying to save it. I'm glad you're here. We need people who care as you do."

"I never met her. I never even knew she existed, until I got back home to the Hinterlands. But if it hadn't been for her ... those who murdered my sister would have escaped justice." Katniss's voice was soft, and her eyes were distant, "I owe her a life, even if she is not here to collect it."

She looked up at the other woman, before her mouth twisted. "So there are more idiots trying to save the world than ending. That's good. Our odds are better." She sighed, leaning back to the stone. "I just care, though. I don't have a cause ... not really. I'm just a woman with a bow."

"Hey, it's a start. Harding began much the same way, didn't she? And she's one of the best people we have now. That you care is enough, you can find a cause later...or it'll find you."

Her expression softens as she gently rests a hand on Katniss' shoulder. They may have just met, but seeing that grief touches her nonetheless. "I'm sorry about your sister."

"... I didn't know that, about Lace." She paused, then added shyly, "I knew her, long time ago. I always thought she could do better than goat herder. I guess I was right."

She blinks at the hand, but she doesn't move away from it. Instead, she bows her head again. "She's been carried by Falon'din, and she's with our father now. At least ... at least they aren't alone."

"...Falon'din? An elven god?" Mention of him startles Korrin, who was naturally expecting to hear something about the Maker. That a human would mention him is strange, though she's not about to put down whatever gives Katniss comfort.

Oh, right. Well, she doubts that Korrin here is going to mind. She points at herself and simply says, "Half-blood. My parents raised me to worship both the elven gods and the Maker. Although I sort of prefer Andraste."

Nah, Korrin doesn't mind at all. She just nods, matter-of-fact. Race almost never matters to her and when it does, it's because of her own kind. Well, as much as real Qunari can be called that.

"Ah, that makes sense. I lean Andrastian, too. What the Chantry does with her teachings is another matter, but I can admire the woman herself."

"... I think the Chantry gets too caught up in itself sometimes." Katniss said slowly, rubbing her knee a little, "I mean, don't get me wrong. They taught me, taught my sister. Fed and clothed us after my father died, at least until I was able to start hunting again after the Blight. But ... it's really the individuals, and not the group, that make the Chantry ... a beacon."

She smiled, faintly, "Like Andraste."

"Like the Herald, too. I'd bet anything she'll be added to Chantry legend sooner or later. You know, when it's convenient for them and they forget that we were labeled heretics for following." Korrin does listen and nod to the positive aspects, though, not discounting those. "That said, I've seen some lone chantry people out there who try to make a difference. They don't have nearly the support they should, but still."

"She had better be. I'll put her up for ...whatever you need for that, myself." She was a woman who deserved to be remembered. Even by those who didn't know her personally. A faint snort, "Maybe we all will be. We'll have plaques in Val Royeau and statues in Redcliffe."

She heaved in a deep breath, and let it out, "Then ... we should see that they get it."

"Damn right." Korrin response with a snort of her own. "Statues, eh? I'd pay to see them actually put up a qunari statue, that'd confuse the hell out of everyone who calls us 'oxmen savages'. At you'd get a badass pose with a bow, I assume."

Speaking of race.... "How have people here been, about treating you fairly? For the elf-bloodedness, I mean. Is there anyone who needs to be set straight about that kind of crap?" That's not the safest question to answer, at least if Katniss doesn't want anyone punched.

"Not sure about that - they're not really for honoring half-bloods either. However, if I get a statue, so do you." She mocked doing a full-draw, her eyes narrowed, before she snorted, "As if any of us are really here for the glory ..."

She looked back at her, her gaze narrowing further, "There have been a few - but I've set them straight myself." With arrows. "However, Cu - the Commander made it clear that if anyone made comments I was to report them." She paused, then scowled, "Have they been making comments about you?"

There might be a report in Katniss's future -- along with more arrows, damn it.

Korrin smiles, not doubting Katniss' ability to stand up for herself. That doesn't mean she won't underscore it by being a 'scary qunari' if necessary, though. At that question, she huffs and shakes her head.

"They're smart enough to keep that out of earshot, though I've caught looks here and there when they think I don't notice. It's mostly the newer ones; those who have been around here long enough either get to know me or know that I'm not going to put up with any crap. Stay here long enough, and I suspect it'll be the same for you, too."

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