on various bones [svet/autumn]

﹙   s v e t l a n a   f o r r e r s t e r   ﹚

she did think about her parents while she was here. they always supported their baby girl, even if they were mad at her. she had never realized just how much they cared until their conversation in the justice building. they were not angry with her, but they were disappointed, especially because they saw their daughter as one of the next leaders in the forrester clan. she had everything that made up a fighter and a leader.

however, they knew that the name being upheld was also important.

they didnt have long, and before she knew it, they were being forced out of the room. svet did not say anything else to them, just wished them well and that she promised she would see them again. they said they would pray, but even here, svet knew that prayers wouldnt get you anywhere.

it was everything else that she had been taught.

her father had been the skilled trap master in the family. while they all had gone out from time to time to explore the forest, sometimes they did not come back with anything in their hands but a couple berries and maybe some clean water. however, her father had created several traps that would snare various vermin all over the forest. it was rare for them to be empty handed when they came back from checking them.

she tried to learn from him, but at the end of the day, it was the baseline of knowledge for her. she knew just enough, how the trap worked, how to make it, but actually getting it to be consistent in catching something? that was beyond svet. he encouraged her to keep giving it a shot, but after a while, she told him that she would rather just use brute strength. they both knew she was smart, but not smart enough to be that resourceful.

so thats why she made sure to spend a little extra time in the trapping station. if anything, it was going to be a refresh on what she already knew. she hoped to learn something new though, anything to help her in the arena.

she had started with a basic snare trap, one that her father had shown her quite a few times. she had set it rather quickly, not really focusing on how tight the knot was. when she heard a trainer walking around the "tree" she was at, she moved into the shadows and watched to see if the snare would trigger and trip him up.

when she watched him stumble, she smirked for a moment. she knew that she wasnt going to immobilize someone with that, but at least she could distract them enough to get the jump on them. when she stepped out of the shadow, the trainer commented about how she shouldnt waste any time. every second wasted was enough time for their prey to get their footing and strike back after all.

she took note of that, thanking the trainer for the advice actually, which was definitely an oddity coming out of svet's mouth. she stepped back and out of the trainers sight, trying to think of what else she could do while she was getting her footing again with traps.

she would never be her father.

when she was about to walk back and get more supplies from the table, she noticed the girl from ten had been struggling with a simple snare trap. svet looked at her sort of confused, thinking about how trapping should probably be the least of the other girls worries. svet was also a learner, and while she didnt want to show sympathy, or even worse, trust someone, she decided to bite, just this once.

"you have to tie that knot a little bit looser if you want to actually trigger the trap." she bent down and looked down at the girls trap, knowing well that she was probably invading the girls space. "at this rate, you arent even gonna be able to catch an insect in it, let alone a tribute."

svet just thought about herself being in this girls shoes once upon a time.

and her heart went out to her.