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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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She sees the glow before she sees the man, and her eyes don't widen. They narrow - for this is the second such shard she has seen. A Rifter, they were calling them. People who were not from their world. The clothes alone probably would have given him away anyways, but still.

She gives him an even look, before she sighs and looks up to the sky once more "No ... it's something of a taboo song in the Hinterlands. My father taught me."

It's not the first narrow-eyed look he's gotten since he's fallen through the rift, and it likely won't be the last, either. While he can't say as he's overly fond of them, he knows they're not going to go away any time soon, at least not when it comes to the average person. At least the people in charge here seem to be a little more accepting now that he and some of the others seem to have figured out how to get those rifts closed, so that's something, anyway.

And with that look towards the sky he can guess that maybe her father's not here at the moment, although he has no idea if it's just she's here and he's somewhere else or if it's more to it than that. That's maybe not really his business, though, and he decides now's not a good time to ask that sort of thing. Instead, he nods just a little to acknowledge what she's said.

"Ah, well, suppose that makes sense. I've not really gotten the chance to figure out everything here just yet, although at least I can understand what it's like having your father teach you songs. Mine did that for me, too, back home, although it wasn't singing, in my case."

His eyes flick up to the sky as well, something a bit wistful reflected in his expression for a few seconds before he shakes it off and looks down at her again. "Would you mind if I joined you for a bit? I could do with sitting somewhere that's maybe not got so many people in it right now, if you've no objections to a bit of company."

The narrow-eyed look is less suspicious, and more contemplative, because she doesn't scowl at him. Instead she brushes her hair out of her face, and then shifts over so that the young man could sit near enough to her that it was clear to anyone passing that they were sitting together.

Pulling her knees up to her chest, she leaned her chin against them, "My father taught me many songs, and a great deal of other thing. But nights like these? When I am walking alone in my own head? I like to sing the ones he would sing while the fire lay low."

She tipped her head back up, her voice quiet, "What did your father teach you, in your world?" A simple question, but one that allowed him to speak of what he was missing, if he liked. She had learned from Airy that the simple act of asking about it meant a great deal to these strangers.

When she moves over, he gives her a brief smile by way of thanks before going over to settle down in the space provided, adjusting his kilt as he does so. As she goes on, his head winds up tilting to one side - and then, a few moments later, he gives her a small nod.

"Aye, I can see that. It's a bit like having them back again, even if you know it'll never be the case."

His own expression turns a touch contemplative then, and it seems for a second or two that he might wind up doing much like she's done and retreat into his own thoughts. But her question pulls him out of it, and he's maybe a little grateful for that. It helps, and the small smile that was on his face earlier comes back briefly.

"There's an instrument in my world called the bagpipes. Our family's been playing them for...och, I don't know. Generations, as far as I know. Seems like we McCrimmons have always been pipers. When I was little, he taught me, just like his father had taught him before that. He taught me other things, too, mind, like how to use a sword, but that wasn't exactly the same thing, if you know what I mean."

She nodded her head, because that was exactly right. It was like having her father back, and Prim too, curled up beside her in bed while their father sat on the end of their bed and sang to them. The brief, bright place in her childhood that was untouched by pain and horror.

She rests her cheek against her knees, looking over at him curiously. "No ... no it's not." She stirred, a little, because here it was again. A common thread, a bond where she didn't expect to find one, "My father taught me how to use a bow -- but at the same time, he taught me to sing every bird's song in the forest. I guess they wanted us to see the beauty, but be safe from danger."

She wasn't alone there. While not everything was exactly the same, there were some similarities there between them. Enough so that he was starting to notice them as well - and when she mentioned using a bow, he straightened up, just a little, and turned a curious look back towards her.

"That and be able to fend for ourselves if we needed to. I'll not say as I'm a complete expert with a bow, but I know how to use one. We used to go grouse hunting, back home, and that was the best weapon for it."

Granted, it was a little strange, thinking about a lassie doing the same things he used to do when he was little, but at the same time it was actually kind of nice to have someone here that had had similar experiences. At least some of them, anyway. He wasn't under any illusions that everything would be exactly the same. He couldn't help but wonder a bit, though, if there was anything more than what she'd said.

"I'm Jamie, by the way. So...did your father take you hunting, too?"

She smiled then, because she'd hunted a grouse or two in her time. "You're right there. Best to catch them, as they'll take flight as soon as blink. Good practice on the field, too."

She didn't think it was strange at all -- but so many things about her life she didn't find strange when others would look sideways at her. Calling herself a half-blooded elf, or just a half-blood, instead of saying she was human. Worshiping the Maker and the Envaris. She was a mixture of two very different worlds, part of neither. Except ... maybe here.

"Katniss. And yes, I've been holding a bow since I was four."

A flicker of surprise crossed his face at that, but stayed there only a moment. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense that she'd been taught to do things at a young age. He'd done the same, after all. The only real difference was that she was a girl, and while he hadn't grown up during a time where that sort of thing was normal for girls to do, he'd learned since then things weren't always the same in other places.

Right now, that was something he didn't mind at all. Not if it meant he had someone here that he had something in common with - and that was more than enough to get him to smile in return.

"Think that you might be the first lass I've met that wound up doing a lot of the same things I used to back home, then. And I've traveled a fair bit even before coming here."

One corner of her mouth twisted at that, as she lifted her head, "You know, I really wish I could say I was surprised by that -- but you're not the first to say that to me. Usually it's about my heritage though. Apparently, I'm some kind of freak."

That smirk held a glint more of humor, "I'm all right with that, though. Especially when I can outshoot almost any person in the Inquisition."

His eyebrows arched at that, disappearing into his bangs briefly. Katniss didn't seem all that strange to him - certainly not like anything he'd consider to be a 'freak', although he didn't tend to use that word. He knew what it meant well enough. It didn't make sense, though, and after a moment, he shook his head.

"Aye, well, I'd meant mine as a compliment, just so you know. Although I don't understand some how some of these people think here. What would your heritage have to do with anything anyway? It's as daft as thinking I'm a demon just because I fell out of a rift."

Katniss paused - trying to think of how to explain it to a Rifter. It wasn't as if their worlds had anything like elves, or like what they were going through.

"And I took it as one ... I don't think you're a demon, at all. You seem like a nice young man. With a Free Marchers accent." She quirked up one corner of her mouth, before she bit her lip thoughtfully, "So you know that there are elves here, and of course humans. Well, humans and elves can have children -- and they're called half-bloods. That's what I am."

He'd heard the part about the accent before - more than once - but even though he was tempted to add the part about Starkhaven, he didn't, only giving her a rather wry smile instead. But it faded a bit as she went on, replaced by a rather more serious expression. He hadn't known that they could have children, but hearing that gave him the beginnings of an idea as to what the problem might be, at least as far as other people were concerned.

"Oh, I see. Let me guess. The folk around here who don't like elves probably don't like that sort of thing much at all, then. Or am I getting that wrong?"

She smiled, back, equally wry, before her expression sobered. Became cool, and a little distant. She nodded her head once, knowing that she sounded bitter, and not caring a whit.

"It would be simpler if it was just humans - but the elves reject us as well. We're tainted, no matter what side it falls on. Ridiculous, really."

That was something he hadn't considered, and for a moment his expression reflected that, along with a moment of realization as the impact of what she'd said sunk in. Maybe that was because he'd only talked to a few of the elves here so far, and those had been the more open minded sort. He'd heard that a lot of them didn't care much for "shemlen", though, and given what she'd said earlier...perhaps he could see why that might happen.

See, maybe, but not agree, and he wound up shaking his head.

"Look, I'll not say as I fully understand why some of the things around here are the way they are, but for what it's worth, I like you just fine. And I'd be willing to say there's more than one person here who'd feel the same way."

Katniss looked over at him, her grey eyes quiet. In the darkness, she was silent as she considered his words. Finally, her mouth came up at the corners faintly.

"... Thank you. I ...I needed to hear that. Tonight, especially." She sighed quietly, as she looked up again, "Especially when I feel so alone."

So there had been a reason she'd been up here. He'd thought as much, but wasn't going to say that part out loud. Not this time, anyway. Instead, he nodded, the corner of one side of his mouth shifting upwards - although it was less of a smile and more of an acknowledgement of what she was saying.

"Aye. That I think I understand a bit more than the rest of it. This place is nice enough, but it's not home, and we've not got family here to make it any easier." His gaze dropped for a moment to the shard in his hand, staying there for a few long seconds before he lifted it again, a hint of determination coming into his expression. "Think I've an idea what to do about that, though."

Now, that particular turn of phrase had Katniss looking back over him, with a slightly more dubious look than before. Her eyebrow raised, and she drawled slowly, "Should I be concerned about what you're thinking of? I'm not running about Skyhold naked."

"What?"

Whatever he'd been thinking about, it certainly wasn't that - and while the relative darkness might have partially masked the look of complete surprise on his face, there was also a moment where he wound up rather visibly startling, making any attempt he might have made to hide his reaction more or less moot.

He did manage to regain some small sense of composure a few seconds later, however. Enough, at least, that he was able to give her a quick shake of his head in an attempt to dismiss the notion.

"You think I was going to suggest...och, no. Look, what I was thinking was that we could be friends. That way we'd both not be as alone."

Jamie's reaction filled her with relief ... and then her lips quirked up into a smile. A smile that turned into a laugh because the look - The Look on his face was priceless.

She covered her mouth, getting control of herself, before she cleared her throat, "Well -- as long as neither one of us is getting naked? Absolutely. Let's be friends."

"Aye. I'll not be doing the dance of the seven kilts for anyone, thank you."

As long as she didn't stand underneath him while they were standing on a ladder, everything would be just fine - at least as far as he was concerned. His own lips curled up into a smile, although his was a little more on the wry side in response to that laugh. That part of things didn't last long, however, and a rather warmer smile replaced the wry one in short order.

"Know what I'd not mind doing, though? Getting a bite to eat at the tavern. Think you'd be interested in coming along, or would you rather stay up here?"

(ooc: we can also fade things out here if you want? Although we can keep going too, whichever works for you.)

Edited 2015-12-23 20:47 (UTC)

"There is actually a dance of the seven kilts ... and it's about being naked. Your land is a strange one."

Well, since they weren't breaching any keeps yet, Jamie's modesty would be fine. Although they might bring up the conversation of some trousers in the future.

She thinks about that, before shaking her head, "Not tonight, no. But tomorrow? You're on."

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