grounded stars [kahinta/arabella/callum]

a r a b e l l a .

Darker times will come and go
Times you need to see her smile
And mothers' hands are warm and mild

Arabella's heart was in her throat. It had almost been a week since she had arrived at the Capitol, a week since she had seen her family. Nearly a week since her conversation with Katelyn, the one that had been harsh, but true. A conversation that had left the girl feel anxious and scared, but determined to be strong. Determined to make it home, to see her family. To be alive. She didn't want to die, not alone. She didn't want her body to be mutilated, to be severed into pieces, butchered like a piece of meat. But how could she possible avoid something like that? Once she was in the arena, she was on her own. She would be surrounded by 23 others who all had the same goal.

Taking a deep breath she climbs the stairs. She had thought about taking the elevator, but she had decided against it. She wanted to feel the burn in her legs, in her lungs. She wanted- no, needed- to feel it, to concentrate on it. It was a distraction, one that she clung as the sounds of her feet slam against concrete steps. The sounds echoed around her, filling her ears. Blocking out unwanted thoughts. 

She hadn't realised how far she had climbed until she reached a door, blocking her from climbing any further. She had reached the top. Sighing, she pulls the door open, stepping onto the roof of her temporary home. Instantly she it hit with a view that takes her breath away. It expands before her, stars winking at her in the dark sky. The moon watches over her, half a crescent in the dark sky. Building, flickering with lights, surround her like the trees in the Forrests back home. But unlike the trees, at home they looked intimidating. They loom over her, reminding her just how powerful the Capitol off. 

Pre-Katelyn she had been so excited to see the Capitol. She had dreamed about, imagined that the streets would be full of life and joy. Post-Katelyn she looked down at them in disgust, still trying to come to terms with the reality of the situation that she was in. Despite what she had been told, she still fully couldn't allow herself to let go of her childish, naive beliefs. 

At first she doesn't notice that she is not alone, she believe herself to be alone as her chest heaved, desperate to fill her lungs with air. But after a moment she see's the girl from Ten, her head resting against a window, but her mind was wandering else where. Typically Arabella would wander over, her mouth flapping, but something about the girl, forced her to bite her tongue. She looked so, Arabella searches for the right word, Sad? Tired? Both?

So instead she managed to simmer, approaching the girl the way she used to approach the children dropped off at the orphanage. Slowly, non threatening. "Hey, are you okay?"

Maybe it was a silly question, a dumb one. How could she be okay? How could any of us be okay?

We were pretty much dead.