Number 1. [ Dictated ]

[patching_up]

... nngh... w-what...

[There is a dull crackling of static from the journal, and the low sound of shuffling can be heard in the background.]

What... huh? Where am... I-I-- ... N-Nine? Seven...? I--

I... my body, I-I'm back in my body, I'm-- alive-- I'm alive! But where--

[A distinct pause, as he examines his surroundings.]

Am I dreaming? N-no, that's not true, it can't be. Everything feels... real. It's so bright, and I-I remember what--

[He gasps, and the words that come next are fraught with distress and panic.]

Oh, n-no, no-- I can't be dead, they can't... be...

[A long moment of silence.]

Why is it... just me? Why? Nine, please, say something, please be there! If I'm alive, then you're here too, right...?

... Right?

Somebody... somebody has to be here...

...

Anybody...

Comments

[waterproofed]

Wait, wait, calm down, man. [is he calling out numbers or--]

Hey! Do you know Six? Little dude who draws stuff all the time?

[whichwayyoulean]

...Numbers for names, ok.

Anyway, you're not dead. Probably.

[patching_up]

S... S-Six? Six is here?!

[He sounds positively ecstatic, a tone of relief washing over his voice.]

Where is he?

[patching_up]

B-but I...

[He sure remembers dying. It's... kind of hard to forget something like that.]

How? I-I-- my--

[The trauma of the memory is making it a bit difficult for him to talk about what happened, admittedly.]

Dictated

[the_effect_she_has]

Breath.

Calm down.

[Katniss's voice is firm.] What do you remember last?

Dictated

[patching_up]

I w-was... pulled out of my body.

[Nope, nope, nope, this is not something he wants to think about.]

Nine. He saved me, saved all of us, but h-he couldn't...

[He goes quiet for a moment, and when he speaks again his voice is absolutely dismal.]

He couldn't put me back. I-it went dark... after that.

[waterproofed]

No, he's not. Sorry, I didn't mean to get your hopes up. He was just a really good friend of mine while he was here.

Re: Dictated

[the_effect_she_has]

[There is silence on the line for a long moment, before Katniss exhales, and the words start again.]

Well, you're safe ... from your world. Not from this one, sad to say.

[patching_up]

... oh.

But you know him...? He was here...

Where-- where did he go?

[waterproofed]

He went back home. I thought he was really cool. A friend from home has a gift like him, so I could usually understand his drawings.

Re: Dictated

[patching_up]

I'm safe here? There aren't any beasts, or machines?

[He seems to ignore the second part of her statement for the time being. It wasn't so much that he didn't hear it and more that he doesn't want to acknowledge it right now if he doesn't have to. He has enough to wrap his little head around.]

[patching_up]

[Five's voice sounds uncomfortably tense.]

I wish we'd understood them sooner. If we had, maybe...

[He sighs.]

Did any of the others come with him? Please, tell me some of them are here...

[waterproofed]

Hey, stuff like that is pretty cryptic. It's not your fault you didn't understand.

He's the only one I really remember, sorry. Maybe someone else knows.

[patching_up]

So they... really are gone. I just... hope they're all right...

If... if you hear about them, or see any of them, please-- tell me.

[waterproofed]

You bet I will. Any friend of Six is a friend of mine. Oh, and I'm Percy, by the way.

[patching_up]

I-I'm Five. It's... it's good to meet you.

Oh, er... if it's not too much trouble, uh, could you tell me where I am? What is this place? Somebody else told me I'm not dead, not... not any more, but...

[waterproofed]

It's called Paradisa. It's a big castle with lots of magical rooms and stuff. Oh, hey, you probably need help getting to your room, right? I can carry you there if you want.

[he remembers how small Six was]

[patching_up]

A... castle?

U-um--

[One glance at the stairs tells him all he really needs to know: that it will take him the better part of an hour to scale a single flight of them.]

Could you...?

[waterproofed]

Of course. You're in the lobby, right? I'll be down in a minute. I'll be the dark-haired guy wearing blue.

[patching_up]

I... I think so? I don't know...

But... okay. I'll wait here.

[ooc: action time? :>]

action!

[waterproofed]

[okay so maybe it was more than a minute. The downside to living in a tower. But here is one dark-haired kid wearing blue, as promised. He carefully looks around until he sees Five]

The Jackson Express has arrived!

Re: action!

[patching_up]

[Five waits quite patiently, shifting and fidgeting in the center of the vast lobby, looking quite lost and uncomfortable until the moment Percy shows up. He at first seems a bit taken aback-- because the only context he's ever seen a living human in was a chaotic battlefield, the threat of being kicked or stepped on causing him to recoil a little. But at that greeting he relaxes, timidly blinking his one eye up at the boy and struggling forth a small smile.]

H-hello. You're... Percy? Right...?

[waterproofed]

[he kneels down so he's a bit closer to Five's level, smiling kindly at the little guy]

Yep, I'm Percy. It's nice to meet you, Five. [he holds out his pinky for Five to shake or whatever he wants to do to be introduced]

[patching_up]

U-uh--

[He hesitates, puzzling over the act for a moment before reaching out both hands and carefully shaking Percy's extended digit, his smile widening.]

So you know where I'm supposed to live? I have a room? I've... I've never had a room.

[waterproofed]

Everyone gets a room here. Hopefully yours is around a lot of nice people, so they'll help you if you need to get anywhere. An' I'm not sure where you are, so we'll just look around until we find your name on a door.