Have you lost your way

[damnnearperfect]

Date & Time: Backdated to during the event when Miranda and Katniss first arrived
Location: Unit 304
Characters: Katniss and Miranda; Closed
Summary: Katniss has some nightmares and Miranda puts on her big-sister cap.
Warnings: Nightmares. Disturbing themes a la The Hunger Games.

[Miranda has been pretty on edge since arriving here. A part of her knows that this isn't the Illusive Man's doing. And yet she still worries that he's out there, waiting. And while the riots are raging in the street, she can't bring herself to fight for an organization she knows nothing about. So she stays in, checking through the network and creating a list of notes for herself. From the sounds of it, she isn't alone. Her current efforts have gone unanswered, however.

It's another late night. She almost wants to be out there fighting for something to do. It would take her mind off of all of this. She casts a glance at the door of her roommate. She seemed too young to be here, brought to fight for the Initiative. It struck Miranda as odd that, given her age, the girl held herself like she had been through more than her lot in life should allow.

She sighs and spares a thought for Oriana. Could it really be that time stood still back home?]

Comments

[effective]

[Katniss is fire.

The girl on fire, they called her, and now she never stops burning. There's a sound in her ears and she thinks it might be screaming, might be her screaming, but she can't tell over the sound of her burning, skin sizzling, hair crisping, blood boiling. It consumes her, eats her up until she's nothing but a husk on the outside, but inside she keeps burning until she thinks there should be nothing left except fire and pain and she wants to die, she wants to die, but there's still something she has to do, someone she has to reach, but she's all eaten up inside and she can't remember if it's Snow or if it's--]

PRIM! [The scream is raw and torn from her throat like a hand reached down her neck and ripped it out and Katniss is sweat-drenched and tangled up in blankets, trapped like the bombs were a trap and she thinks she might be screaming still, the word 'no' spilling from her lips again and again. But all she knows is the unending pain of being the girl on fire as she watches the flames burn up her little sister]

[damnnearperfect]

[The scream pulls Miranda from her thoughts and she's on her feet before she can even think about it. She moves across the apartment to Katniss' room. Expecting the worse, she prepares her biotics. If the rioters got inside the apartment, they would both be in danger. She doesn't know how well Katniss can fight. The girl appears to be on the thin side but there is a strength about her that she cannot deny.

She knocks once on the door, listening for signs of trouble. There didn't seem to be any excessive commotion but she can still hear a voice. She doesn't wait for permission before she enters the room.]

Katniss.

[Her tone is firm, loud. She isn't sure the girl can even hear her. She reaches a hand out to still her.]

[effective]

[Katnissssssssss. She can hear their voices again, hissing, and she runs and runs but there's no escaping them. She can sense them reaching for her, grasping, and a strangled cry escapes her. She scrabbles for her bow.

A small part of her is aware that she's awake now and that there aren't any mutts, and it's that part that stops her from loosing the arrow she has on the string in quite literally half a second once the bow comes to hand. She's poised on her knees on the bed, and while there might be a tremor running through her core, her hands are rock steady. She's panting and wild-eyed, staring through the dim light as she struggles to comprehend why she isn't being attacked and why she can't make her fingers loose the arrow.]

[damnnearperfect]

[Miranda jumps back, raising a biotic shield before her. Her training has her poised for action, common sense putting her skills towards defense rather than attack. She can't imagine what nightmares this child is experiencing and wonders how they could have brought someone like this here. She was a child for Christ's sake. And it looked like she'd seen her share of trauma already.

She reaches out a hand to take show she means no harm, but doesn't let down her shield.]

It's okay, Katniss. It's only me. I'm not going to hurt you. But put your bow down. For both our sakes.

[effective]

[The glow confuses her, registers as different enough that she slowly begins to crawl her way back to awareness]

Don't. [The word is bitten out when she registers the hand reaching towards her. That's right. She's in this - this place, that isn't home because she doesn't have one, isn't Twelve, isn't anywhere she wants to be] Don't touch me. [She doesn't lower the bow, not yet] Who are you? [She doesn't remember just yet :'D]

[damnnearperfect]

[Miranda lowers her hand, but not the shield. She's dealt with these situations before and knows it's best to be wary, cautious, and calm.]

Miranda. Your roommate.

Do you know where you are?