firegirl: (→ fire a shot)
Katniss Everdeen ([personal profile] firegirl) wrote in [community profile] beyondtherift2012-02-11 09:34 pm
NSFW

and may the odds be ever in your favor

It's late on the day after the meteors hit. The sun is still out though it'll set in an hour or so. The destruction is still present across the city. The Rift activity has come to a slow but there are monsters out on the sidewalks still, and it is still not safe to be out on the streets more so than normal on any other day in Chicago.

Katniss Everdeen is running when she slips through a Rift into Chicago. The bow and arrow is wrapped around her back and the tiny, orange backpack that she needs is on her arm as she sprints. Blood drips from the cut over her head making her dizzy but she has one thing in mind, pushing her through the pain. Survive. Get back to Peeta with the medicine and survive.

Survive has been all she's thought about since the Hunger Games started. Win came later after her promise to Rue and Prim. It's the getting back to Peeta, helping Peeta that's new but the boy with the bread has an infuriating way of making her owe him. Again and again. With the new rules in place mid game, she can't let him die, and she knows the medicine alone isn't guarantee enough but it's the only hope he has.

She's clearly underfed, bleeding from above her forehead. Her clothes are torn, and she's dirty from head to toe. So consumed with that one purpose, vision blurred by the blood dripping in front of her face, it's not until she barrels directly into a car and lands squarely on her back on the pavement that she realizes it's changed. This is not the arena or the arena has completely shifted like it never has in past games.

What are you doing? She thinks to the Gamemakers before she forces herself up into a seated position at the sound behind her. It's a creature, something unrecognizable. Katniss pulls the bow and arrow from around her back, forces herself to a wobbly stand, and fires a shot at the monster who'd nearly attacked someone. It hits somehow considering she knows her aim is not at its best. It kills it. She leans back against the car, trying to catch her breath.

It takes her a moment to realize that there's clear sky all around her (and buildings and more that she doesn't recognize) and no camera in sight.
toomuchheart: (text } { my dear my darling one)

[personal profile] toomuchheart 2012-02-12 05:46 pm (UTC)(link)
The problem with Chicago is that you can never seem to catch your breath.

Not that Castiel needs to breathe, but the point still stands.

He's exhausted. He's been trying to help as many people as he can, to save as many people as he can, but he doesn't have the infinite power of heaven at his disposal anymore. He gets whatever comes through the Rift, and today he's feeling something he hasn't felt since he was human. He is very, very tired.

Regardless, he doesn't stop. There are too many monsters on the streets, and too many people still in danger. He's bouncing through Chicago, trying to identify the points where there is still trouble, and when he lands in front of Katniss, he barely realizes she's there. All he can see is the giant creature that's climbing over the top of the car she is leaning against, and he reaches up, grabbing it by the neck and slamming it to the ground in front of them. After that, all it takes his a hand to the side of the creature's head, and he burns it out of existence, a bright, pure white light streaming out of the creature's eyes.

It takes him a moment to regain himself, to not feel the way he's drained right now, but when he does finally straighten and turn to face her, his head tips to the side.

"You are hurt."
inferus: (♐ suddenly it hits you)

[personal profile] inferus 2012-02-13 05:56 am (UTC)(link)
Ben, on the other hand, is paralyzed on the spot.

The monster was going to attack him and he could not bring himself to move.

As if his feet are glued to the ground and he can't move. The day took a turn for the worse the moment the bell rang at Looney, and since then, it's been chaos central. His eyes remain trained on the girl's bow and arrow as she successfully kills the monster where it stood. He doesn't let himself breath again until it crumples to the ground, and by then, he can't hear anything past the heavy thudding of his heart.

His gaze falls toward the monster's corpse and then back at the girl, who clearly does not look okay. She looks so far from okay he gulps back down his own fear, aware she's just saved his ass, saved his ass while being very much not okay.

"Hey," he says quietly. His legs feel like jello, like some distorted, detached extension of himself but he forces them to move toward the girl. His heart still thumps painfully against his chest. "You're hurt. We need to get that checked."

After making sure most of his closest friends made their way home or were on their way home, he has been trying to get back to his house, as well. So it's not too far away.
warwizard: (concern || is she alright?)

[personal profile] warwizard 2012-02-14 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
Richard is still a woodsman.

And as such, he's still incredibly aware of his surroundings. From across the way, he can spot someone who looks out of place, confused. It takes less than that to get his feet moving. As he nears the girl, he notices that she's hurt, which causes his steps to increase.

"Miss?" He calls out as he approaches. His sword swings at his hip, sheathed but still noticeable in its casing. He doesn't belong here at all- not in this modern city.

"You're bleeding. Are you alright?" There's a gentleness to his tone, a sincerity that pours from him. Even with all the his stature and title, he can still return to being Richard Cypher, the woods guide.
toomuchheart: (but i don't have the parts to build them)

[personal profile] toomuchheart 2012-02-14 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
He has been in Chicago long enough to know the look of a new Wanderer when he sees one, and he sighs. This is not the easiest thing to explain, and he is more terrible at it than most.

"My name is Castiel. You are in a city called Chicago."
inferus: (♐ a moment of pause)

[personal profile] inferus 2012-02-17 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Ben swallows back the palpable fear and lifts up his hands when the bow is suddenly aimed straight at him.

"Hey! Hey, easy. I'm not looking to hurt you or anything, I promise," he says, and by some miracle he manages to keep his voice steady when there's nothing but ice-cold, clammy fear streaming through his veins. He's scared, and he's tired, and the day doesn't seem to be slowing down.

"... Tribute? I don't know what that is."

His face is that of genuine confusion, and he isn't sure what to say but it's not as if he has a lot of time. There's a pressing need to get home, there's a pressing need to not be out on the streets right now, and she shouldn't be out them, either.

"You're in Chicago," Ben explains, gaze drawn to the bow. He only tears his eyes away from it to look back at her, focusing on her reaction instead. If she doesn't know where she is ... well, that can only mean several things.

As a supernatural, he cannot instantly know when someone's a wanderer or not, but he's intuitive.

And well, it usually only means one thing when people have no idea they're in Chicago.
inferus: (♐ concerned listener)

[personal profile] inferus 2012-02-18 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
"Why would I want to hurt you? You just saved my life," Ben says, and the confusion is further apparent in his face, brows knotted together into the slightest frown. He doesn't lower his hands immediately, not until after she's lowered the weapon.

Ben opens his mouth and finds he doesn't have an answer to how he could not know.

Whatever being a tribute means, it's obviously important where she comes from, he just does not know. His sister will have much more knowledge than he does, and know exactly who Katniss Everdeen is, but Ben Casey is honestly at a loss.

"I'm sorry, but... this is a different world. To the world you're from. I don't know what that is."

Ben hides his utter shock well enough but he has never had to talk to someone that has no idea where Chicago is. At the very least, they're familiar with another version of it.

"Okay, look I can explain, but it's not ... safe out here. We need to get somewhere inside," Ben says, and he's glancing around like something's going to come at them at any minute. He gets she needs explanations, but this was really poor timing in the Rift's part.

Dropping her off in the middle of this disaster?

Not cool, Rift. Not. Cool.
inferus: (♐ whoa there!)

[personal profile] inferus 2012-02-19 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
The concern doesn't wipe off from his face when she tells him to Nevermind.

This girl looks like she may drop to the ground at any second, and she's holding a bow and arrow and knows how to wield it well. Not to mention, there's a look in her eye that's kind of foreboding, so he can't quite let it go.

He just also know it's important for them to get somewhere safer than the open street.

"Uh, I don't... feel so lucky right now but I have a feeling I'm better off not knowing it personally, yeah," he says, eying her curiously. He doesn't want to gape at her, he really doesn't, Ben just hasn't had the experience of greeting wanderers too frequently.

Especially not one that looks like they've seen much better days. She doesn't even seem that surprised by the state of Chicago, and he finds that telling to the kind of life she comes from. He takes a deep breath, and pauses for a bit.

"Chicago isn't exactly safe... in general, but there are places we can hide in until this blows over, and I'll answer any questions you have in the meantime, okay?" Ben asks, and he has a handkerchief so he hands that over to her as well for the wound in her head.

He wishes there was more he could do, wishes that he knew what to do in situations like these.

That he were braver, more sure of himself, that this girl who is so clearly in need of help did not feel she had to watch his back. Ben moves closer to her and shakes his head. "Nah, that's okay. Tougher than I look," he says with a weak smile.

Lies.

Ben points toward the safehouse and glances left and right down the street. "Coast is clear, we should make a run for it now," he says, placing a hand on her arm so they can quickly move along. The closer they're somewhere that's not outside, the better he'll feel.
inferus: (♐ where to go from here)

[personal profile] inferus 2012-02-19 09:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Ben doesn't comment on her statement that he's better off.

He is not going to act like he has any idea what her life was like to know either way, and he gets the feeling that she's very, very right, whatever being a tribute means.

"I'll give them to you, just not... in an open street while the world crashes down on us, I promise," Ben says under his breath. He has absolutely no weapons on him and even if he did, Ben Casey has no idea how to use them.

He should probably learn. He doesn't like the idea of being defenseless, of having no idea how to use anything but at the same time he hates guns. He hates violence. He is not a violent person, so Katniss is right to not believe him when he says he's tougher than he looks.

Ben just wishes he was.

The fact she's bleeding and shaky only makes him that much more worried and determined to get into the safehouse. He nods and moves as quickly as possible, while staying close by in case she faints or something like that.

Definitely a tough girl, don't get him wrong, but shaky and bleeding here.

There's the sounds of an explosion far off, and Ben closes the door behind them, swallowing past the trepidation as the sounds reach them. One would think it was a battlefield out there, but not quite. He still has his backpack with him, but...he doesn't think he has much in it that would help.

He places it on a table nearby and opens it, shaky hands rummaging through the contents.

Okay. Half a bottle of water and a Snickers bar from the vending machine at school.

That's... something, right?

He offers it to Katniss quietly, hoping she'll take them, and it helps.
toomuchheart: (Default)

[personal profile] toomuchheart 2012-02-20 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
"I do not know what the Capitol is," he admits. "However, with regards to how, you fell through a Rift in time and space. You are in an alternate universe. This is a city called Chicago."
daredtobelieve: (poised||eyebrow arch)

Since I just dropped who I tagged into this, you get a new tag <3

[personal profile] daredtobelieve 2012-02-20 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
Seconds after Katniss' arrow strikes true, Helen's bullet lands a mark as well. In all the chaos, she didn't notice someone else nearby. The arrow makes her think that Jeremy's back, which she wouldn't be opposed to, but her eyes instead find a young girl with a head wound who looks more confused than afraid. Helen may not know every Wanderer, but she has an inkling that something isn't quite right here.

"Nice shot." She says at first, then steps closer. "I can take care of that, if you'd like." She touches her own forehead to indicate that she means where the girl is bleeding. Then she adds with a raised eyebrow. "They can smell blood. Neither of us are safe until you're fixed up and cleaned off."
inferus: (♐ not too sure about this one)

[personal profile] inferus 2012-02-20 08:48 am (UTC)(link)
Ben moves to stand beside the window, peeking outside to make sure there's nothing going on directly in front of them. There seems to be a lull for now, not that he's trusting it. Buildings around them have collapsed in their entirely or at the very least sustained damage.

He doesn't know how long it's going to take this time to get back on their feet.

Ben... will likely want to be taught to defend himself.

After today, he doesn't see any other way around it.

It's nothing he ever thought of before. He could just hole himself up while everything was going down, but it's not that simple, is it? People he cares about could be outside while he's being afraid and staying inside.

How would he begin to accomplish protecting the people he loves if he can't protect himself?

Watching her from his vantage point, he steps back from the window and slowly slides down to the ground across from her, the backpack still next to him. There's not much else in there that's going to be of use, but holding it helps him somehow.

He lifts his brow in surprise at the question.

"A chocolate bar. It's not exactly high up there on the nutritional value scale but it'll help in the meantime," he says. Someone that has never had a Snickers bar should have this experience at least once in their life, and he has to wonder, yet again, what world she's from.

"So..." he lifts up his hand, cupping the back of his nape. "I'm guessing you have a lot of questions but the most important thing you gotta know is, you fell through a Rift. Or well, I guess that's not accurate as there was no falling, technically, but that's how it's called."

Ben's not that great at breaking the news or explaining the wanderer thing, Katniss.

Forgive him.
daredtobelieve: (worried||thinking)

[personal profile] daredtobelieve 2012-02-21 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
"There's no time to explain, unfortunately. What I can tell you is that wherever you were, you're far from there. I'm not certain which Capitol you mean, but this is Chicago, though even that is oversimplifying it." She takes a quick look around, then gestures for the girl to follow her.

"I'm Helen, by the way. This way we aren't strangers any longer." She smiles and steps closer to the girl to get a better look at the head wound. "I'd really prefer we get you to the Sanctuary. I can have you stitched up properly there."
inferus: (♐ F M L)

[personal profile] inferus 2012-02-21 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"Where... are you from?" he asks in a low voice.

It's strong and clear enough to be heard, but soft enough it doesn't pass for anything above a whisper. She speaks his language, yet she does not and has never heard of Chicago and there are other things she's said here and there that make him wonder.

He smiles a little at the This is better.

"My favorite chocolate is called Butterfingers. It's... a really weird way to name a chocolate, I know, but I could eat a boatload of those," he discloses to her. Ben wishes he had something better than chocolate to offer her, but he supposes as long as she's eating it, and it's helping, it'll have to do.

"Most people that fall through them haven't heard of them before," he assures her. Those that have are few and far in between, having lived in a similar universe, in a similar Chicago, as far as he knows.

"They're--I guess they're like these holes in the universe?" God, he sucks so bad at this. "Breaks in space and time. A lot of science mumbo jumbo I'm not exactly good at but. It's because of these tears in the universe rifts are even possible. A lot of people end up falling through them and not... just people, which is why today is something out of a disaster movie."

The rift really does have cruel timing, letting people show up here when this kind of mess is going on.

How do I get back?

Ben's lips part and he finds no words come out initially. He simply drags in a sharp breath and the weight of the words sinks down to his stomach uncomfortably. He's never had to be the one to break the news, and something about this girl makes the news worse.

Maybe because he can truly tell she was in a life-and-death situation, and saying she needs to get back would be more pressing than other people's reasons.

Not that they shouldn't get to go back. No one should be ripped from their homes.

"Uh...that's...the thing with these rifts. They don't work both ways. People have been researching them for years obviously, but as it stands there's--there's no way to get back." He winces, shoulders stiffening as he waits for that to settle in. "I'm sorry."

He is. He knows it won't make a difference and he knows it's ridiculous to apologize for a rift, but he's very sorry.

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