[Open] Rise Up, Rise Up.

[the_effect_she_has]

WHO: Katniss Everdeen and Yours
WHAT: Falling, and climbing back up again. In many ways
WHEN: Rest of Wintermarch
WHERE: The stables, the ramparts, the staircases, the healing tents.
NOTES: It's Katniss. You know there's going to be something.

Katniss has been taking all her lessons seriously, but the ones she had been working on most were the rogue lessons - lessons in climbing and sneaking in and out of places. Knife throwing into all kinds of targets. Climbing up and down buildings, and quite literally falling off of them.

No one was quite sure what she was training so hard for -- but then most of them had not been to the Emprise du Lion. They had not seen the cages. Katniss was not going to throw away their only chance to save those people, so whatever she needed to know? She would do.

So don't be surprised if she drops in on you, as she falls back into piles of hay or down in a leap.

Comments

IDK Somewhere outside where she's falling off stuff.

[easternseaqueen]

Isabela idly watched the girl climbing. One of Zev's students--she'd seen her in the rope course many times.

And watched her fall.

And fall again.

"Kitten, the idea is not to fall in the first place. Or at least do so quietly," she remarked.

Re: IDK Somewhere outside where she's falling off stuff.

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss had let out her breath, and let herself fall back. She was lying on the hay, catching that said breath again when she heard the female voice and jerked herself up to a seated position.

She blinked at the other woman, before her mouth twitched, "I'm trying to learn how to fall when I don't intend to. You know, getting thrown out of a window or something. So I don't break my neck."

Pause. "Kitten?"

[easternseaqueen]

"Cats land on their feet, usually."

She eyed the girl.
"Look, you're one of Zev's learners, aren't you? He first taught me a thing or two, and then I made the teachings even better. And you don't want to know how many things I've been thrown out of."

[the_effect_she_has]

"Oh, am I a cat now?"

Amusement flickers through grey eyes, but then comes that intent focus. "I am. And if you can teach me to fall to land on my feet, you can call me Cat all you want."

What's with elves and dropping down from things?

[middle_of_calibrating]

He had simply been looking for a quiet place to inspect his bow and the batch of fresh arrows. The stables seemed like a great idea, the only noises being the grunts and stomps of the animals there, and the clanking and shouts of the distant training.

What's curious though are the bales of hay in the middle of the barn. What's damn right terrifying is someone suddenly falling from above into said hay pile right as he had stepped up next to it. "Andraste's flaming knickers-! What the blazes!?"

Re: What's with elves and dropping down from things?

[the_effect_she_has]

Exhale. Concentrate on the fall. Let your body go and you will keep yourself from getting hurt when you tumble --

She landed well enough, but automatically rolled over to her feet and into an offensive stance when the man suddenly yelled. She looked as startled as he was, as she yelled back at him, "What in the name of the Maker?! What are you doing?!"

[serannas]

The weather in Skyhold is nice and temperate, so Ellana spends as much time outside as possible. Today she sits on the ground with a book spread across her lap. The library has so many great resources, but the light inside is far too dim to see by for long periods of time. Engrossed with the page she's reading, she's practically startled out of her skin when a body lands in the hay beside her. Instinct takes over, and with a cry, the book goes flying, Ellana scrambles to crouch on her haunches, and a hand is outstretched to cast a barrier over herself, even without the help of her staff.

But then she sees it's Katniss and the urge to bolt ebbs away to be replaced with concern.

"Are you all right?"

[the_effect_she_has]

All right, that had .... not been one of her best falls. She lay there for a moment, trying to catch her breath as it had been knocked out of her. She sucked in a shuddering breath as her lungs started to work again, and jerked up half-way, before falling back into the hay again.

"... Been worse." She finally managed to gasp out.

[serannas]

"Oh, don't move anymore. I'll get a healer!" Once again, Ellana is cursing herself for not knowing any healing spells. Why doesn't she learn some already? She pushes herself up to her feet, intent on finding help for her friend.

[easternseaqueen]

"Better a cat than some things."

She gives the younger girl another once-over.
"I'll start by warning you that there will be times you don't want to land on your feet. Not if you like your legs unbroken, anyway. And never assume your landing will be soft. Better to assume you're about to crash into rock. But most important to landing on your feet? Always make sure you can tell which way is up, and always be on top. Think you can handle that to start?"

[the_effect_she_has]

"No, no wait! Ellana, I'm fine..." Katniss wheezed a little, as she finally managed to get into a seated position, "Just had the air knocked out of me, is all."

[the_effect_she_has]

"...Fair, and I've been called a lot of them."

She pressed her lips together, considering what the woman had said. So falling was ... like everything else. Keep your wits about you, at all times. She nodded her head, once. "Yeah. I can handle that."

[middle_of_calibrating]

"What am I doing?! Not falling out of the rafters or... or - above!" He's pointing to the top of the barn as he yells back, eyes wide as the shock of it all is still taking its course through his mind. "You're going to scare the life out of someone doing that. Or break your neck!"

[serannas]

Ellana hesitates, then moves to take a seat on the ground beside her. "What happened?" she asks, face etched with a concerned expression. Her eyes lift, trying to see from where Katniss fell.

[easternseaqueen]

"Good. You also need to know where your center of gravity is. Where are your balance points?" she asked. "If you don't know, you're definitely not going to land or stay on your feet."

[the_effect_she_has]

"I am trying to learn how to fall without breaking my neck! Hence the pile of hay!" Which she huffed, as she gestured to it, "I was doing fine until you yelled like a little girl!"

[the_effect_she_has]

"Oh, I forgot to breath out before I fell." She carefully rolled herself to her feet, shaking hay out of her hair again as she looked up to the tower. "I think I got a little thrown by the sight of the scaffolding - I didn't want to hit it. I caught a breath, missed it by a mile, and ... just had all the air knocked out of me."

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss immediately put her hands down to her hips, then gestured down to her feet. "There, and down there."

[serannas]

Ellana frowns, and starts to piece things together. She knows that plenty around Skyhold have been practicing their falling. Something to do with Araceli teaching them to climb. Since Ellana herself climbed onto the crumbling roof of the Avvar's stronghold in the Fallow Mire, she knows it's a good skill to learn. If she had fallen off, she wouldn't have fared too well.

"As long as you'll really be all right," Ellana concedes, looking back and noticing her book in the dirt. With a gasp, she grabs it, trying to brush off the dirt and unbend the bent pages.

"Oh, no. Do you think they'll notice when I return this to the library? And I've been so careful with the books I take out too!" It really worries her that people will think she doesn't know proper library etiquette because she's Dalish. She's observed enough to know the proper way to treat books! This is just an accident.

[the_effect_she_has]

"I'll be fine, honest. I've got to remember to trust the fall." Katniss sighed as she straightened and stretched. As Ellana gasped, she turned around, looking for a threat -- but Ellana was worried about the book.

Which frankly, was not a bad thing to be worried about. Katniss moved towards her and the volume, "Oh Creators ... well, the dirt's not too bad." She frowned at the bent pages, before snapping her fingers, "You know what, we just need a rock and a few hours time. You can put the rock on the book and it will force the pages to flatten out."

She shakes her head, "And I'll tell them it's my fault. You weren't careless with the book, I was careless with my fall." Books are a precious commodity. She would feel horrible if Ellana couldn't access them.

[serannas]

"A rock could work," Ellana agrees, brushing away the last of the dirt and closing the book, holding it up to check the dent. Closed, the pages are flattened, but not quite enough to undo the damage.

"Maybe they'll understand. It was an accident, and it's still fine to read. It's not like I dropped it into a fire, right?"

[the_effect_she_has]

"Here, let me grab one ... " Ah, there we go. Giant stone, right off this wall. She turned around, hefting the thing in both hands. Ooof.

"They'd better." Is her grim response. "I will sock anyone who says you can't have a book because of my damned training."

A pause, and a sigh. "... No, I will not sock them. I will calmly get them to let you use books again with my words."

[serannas]

Ellana quickly sets down her book to allow Katniss to flatten it down for her. Her eyes flicker over to her friend's face and she looks worried for an instant before Katniss amends her statement.

"That would be for the best, lethallan. That way neither of us becomes banned from the library."

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss puts the stone carefully down on the book, making sure it's centered on where the pages need to be flattened. She puts her hands on her hips, glancing over at Ellana, and Ellana's expression and statement make her look sheepish.

"We really can't have that." She breathes in deeply. "Violence is not the answer ... not always the answer." A sigh, as she rubbed her forehead, "You know, I wasn't aware I was this ... angry."

[serannas]

Sitting back on her heels, Ellana looks Katniss over carefully before answering.

"Why do you think you are angry?" If Katniss admits to it, Ellana won't tell her she isn't. But she does want to see if she can do anything to help her.