Katniss was walking down the street, heading back to the hotel, coming back from hunting in the woods. She had her bow with her, quiver strapped to her back, game bag with her kill around her shoulder, too.
She saw him appear out of thin air and already she knew - he was new. So, she approached, greeting the man. "That won't work unless it's a messenger that they gave you." She pointed toward his communicator then toward the hotel.
Katniss kept her eyes on him, her expression remaining stoic. "They - the village. You're not where you were anymore. This is Haurvatat and it's another dimension - another world." Not that any of that might make sense to the man.
He kept his smile in place but his mind was whirling. "Another dimension? Uh huh. Did Tommy put you up to this?" Actually he was afraid that he was suffering from Vertigo again and instead of the world fading in and out he was hearing and seeing things.
"Tommy who?" Katniss shook her head. "I'm not lying," she told him. "I've been here for over a year and we're all stuck here. You, me, and everyone else who's been brought here. And there are a lot from different worlds and different times."
Well she had him until different worlds and different times. Oliver slipped his phone back into his pocket. "So, what you're saying is that we're stranded here with no way to get home."
Which that was not going to happen. Not again. It was looking more and more like the after effects of Vertigo affecting Oliver. He would just have to push through it.
"Perfect." He smiled at Katniss. "Sorry. Bad memories. So, what is it we do here while we're stuck?"
"Live," Katniss replied, watching him carefully, her eyes scanning his face, his expressions.
"There's always bad memories." She had them, too. "But here, you don't have to live them over." Just sometimes, like that weekend with the creatures, the reapers, but she didn't mention that.
"I'm Katniss. I'm from District 12 in Panem." She didn't expect him to know where that was. They usually never did.
The simple answer that she gave reminded him of Yao. Live. Survive. It was a little sad to hear it in someone that young.
“That’s always good advice and I’m Oliver from Starling City.” He had no idea where District 12 was but he assumed some unincorporated area with her bow. Oliver motioned toward it, “you have to catch your own food here?”
It had looked like a typical European village with restaurants with his cursory glance at his surroundings.
Amused, Katniss smiled, it was small but dimpled. "No. I just like to hunt," she said, because that was what she did: hunt. "I do catch my own food - rabbits, squirrel, groosling, birds..." She shrugged, looking down at the bow in her hand that felt much like a security blanket for her.
"It's good to meet you Oliver. I know you still don't believe me, but welcome to Haurvatat anyway. We all live over there," she pointed to the hotel. "And don't worry. You don't have to catch your own food. They have cafes and restaurants." Her grin slid crookedly, teasing.
"Good. I thought I'd been forced to go on a diet." Oliver chuckled never indicating that he even knew how to shoot. "Room service and take out was invented for a reason." He looked over at where she indicated. "Is that a hotel or condo?"
"A hotel," she looked Oliver over, maybe a bit critically. "You don't look like you need to go on a diet," she pointed out. "And I know what hungry looks like," but then Katniss looked over at the hotel again and said, "I can take you there. They'll already have a room ready for you and maybe some of your things will be there."
Oliver tensed a little bit at the mention of knowing he was there and some of his things arriving. "Okay that just sounded a little more sinister than I was expecting." Though not really.
She nodded, and Katniss wished she could reassure the man more, but she couldn't quite say it was safe here or peaceful. Not after that weekend with the creatures.
"It's not sinister," she tried to assure. "For me, this place is a lot better than where I came from. Here I just hunt, I don't have to shoot anyone and no one's out trying to kill me." She gave a there and gone smile. "Lots of people find their lives better here than where we originally were."
Oliver’s expression moved from tense to empathetic but it was back to tense in a flash. He couldn’t keep up the mask of billionaire though not quite as shallow. “Well, I’d like to think that I was brought here to a better place and if I’d still been on the island I would have but I’d just got back to my family.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw thinking of his sister and mother. “They cannot go through that again of me being missing.” Not to mention that he had to fulfill his promise to his father.
Her face was almost expressionless except for her eyes that seemed to show how much she'd seen and experienced, seen even with just the cursory glance she gave Oliver.
"We're supposed to go back to the same time and place we were when we left," Katniss informed him. "So they won't really miss you. They wouldn't even know you were gone." She cocked her head at him. "Were you on an island? Is that where you came from?"
Since it wasn't a secret, Oliver had given at least that much about his past. "I was shipwrecked on an island for five years in the South China Sea, which is why I don't want to put my family through that again."
He cocked his head a little, "how do you know that we go back when we left?" Which Oliver knew it couldn't be possible. Time moved forward albeit slowly sometimes but it moved.
She saw him appear out of thin air and already she knew - he was new. So, she approached, greeting the man. "That won't work unless it's a messenger that they gave you." She pointed toward his communicator then toward the hotel.
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Which that was not going to happen. Not again. It was looking more and more like the after effects of Vertigo affecting Oliver. He would just have to push through it.
"Perfect." He smiled at Katniss. "Sorry. Bad memories. So, what is it we do here while we're stuck?"
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"There's always bad memories." She had them, too. "But here, you don't have to live them over." Just sometimes, like that weekend with the creatures, the reapers, but she didn't mention that.
"I'm Katniss. I'm from District 12 in Panem." She didn't expect him to know where that was. They usually never did.
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“That’s always good advice and I’m Oliver from Starling City.” He had no idea where District 12 was but he assumed some unincorporated area with her bow. Oliver motioned toward it, “you have to catch your own food here?”
It had looked like a typical European village with restaurants with his cursory glance at his surroundings.
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"It's good to meet you Oliver. I know you still don't believe me, but welcome to Haurvatat anyway. We all live over there," she pointed to the hotel. "And don't worry. You don't have to catch your own food. They have cafes and restaurants." Her grin slid crookedly, teasing.
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"My things might be here?"
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"It's not sinister," she tried to assure. "For me, this place is a lot better than where I came from. Here I just hunt, I don't have to shoot anyone and no one's out trying to kill me." She gave a there and gone smile. "Lots of people find their lives better here than where we originally were."
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A muscle ticked in his jaw thinking of his sister and mother. “They cannot go through that again of me being missing.” Not to mention that he had to fulfill his promise to his father.
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"We're supposed to go back to the same time and place we were when we left," Katniss informed him. "So they won't really miss you. They wouldn't even know you were gone." She cocked her head at him. "Were you on an island? Is that where you came from?"
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He cocked his head a little, "how do you know that we go back when we left?" Which Oliver knew it couldn't be possible. Time moved forward albeit slowly sometimes but it moved.
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