fandomhigh | So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 2, Period 3

"You all found your way back," Aly said with a teasing smile as the bell rang for the class to begin. "I'd be impressed, but I've met Fandom students before."

"Before we start, I'd like to introduce my TAs for this term - Ino Yamanaka, Rinoa Heartilly, Percy Jackson, and Nico di Angelo. Four isn't usual, I know, but we're trying something new this time around. I'd like each of the TAs to head up a small group of their classmates. When we work in teams or have small discussions, that's the group you'll be with."

She went to flip over the whiteboard to show the groups she'd set up.

*Percy Jackson
Cally
Faramir
Jason Todd
Makita

*Rinoa Heartilly
Cara
Kyle Reese
Leda
Proto

*Ino Yamanaka
Cloud Strife
Karla
Leia Organa
Shira

*Nico di Angelo
Elphaba Thropp
Katniss Everdeen
Luke Castellan

Aly glanced at the groups then back at the class. "If you hate who you're with, talk to me and - yeah, never mind. If you hate who you're with, deal with it. You don't always get to work with your friends when planning a revolution. Pull your desks together, and spend some time getting to know each other if you don't already.

"Last week we talked about the reasons why you personally would rebel against a government. What I'd like you to do today is to stay in the small groups and talk about why you - as a group - would rebel against something. You can look at it seriously or rebel against mandatory cheerleading uniforms for the whole school, but remember, revolutions aren't put together by one person. It's always a group effort. So today, let's start with that."

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Luke shrugged. "I practically raised myself since my parents are...unavailable."

Yes. That's a good term to describe it.

"And I've been training my whole life to fight, and I make once little mistake and suddenly I'm metaphorically put on a shelf for life," he said. "I'm just supposed to sit around and train others to do what I should be doing."

That was a rant, but he was holding on to a lot of issues.

Katniss studied him for a moment before offering, "My father died when I was eleven, and my mother shut down entirely. I had to feed myself and my sister for years. It's not the same, but you have my sympathy."

The other part, she couldn't relate to. She was in the opposite position, herself -- wishing she could be put on a shelf for life, rather than in the spotlight, and the arena. Though she had her share of training to do, though she was likely dreading it for entirely different reasons.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately. Luke wouldn't describe what happened to his mother as shutting down, but he figured it was close to his situation. "This place is a lot better compared to both our homes I guess, huh?"

"Worlds better," Katniss said with a little smile. "Why don't you want to train others to follow in your steps, even if you can't fight yourself?"

"It's not that. I'm happy to train them if it means it'll give them a better chance of survival," Luke explained. "I just hate being left behind in a fight."

Katniss arched a brow. "And your superiors won't let you fight, even if you're good enough to train others?" she wondered. "That doesn't make sense."

"I know it doesn't," he said with a frown. "I'm only sixteen, they should have given me another chance."

"If you're good enough to teach, doesn't that imply that you should be on the front lines?" Katniss asked. "I'll have my own...trainees when I go home, but only because I've already been through the trials they've faced and survived. That's unfair, if you want to fight. And not very productive."

"I know it's not. But there isn't anything I can do about it." He was in no position to go against the gods at the moment. "I guess that's the whole point of this discussion, to find out if there is something we can do about our crappy positions."

"I don't suppose you're a good enough fighter to take down those superiors of yours?" Katniss asked, knowing the answer was almost definitely no. "Or do they have some kind of leverage over you?"

That was her situation, after all.

"They're gods," Luke told her. "Literally."

"...I'm an atheist," Katniss told him carefully.

"Yeah, I don't blame you for being one," Luke said. He'd be one if he had the choice. "But where I'm from gods are very real. And they're jerks."

"I'd expect nothing less," Katniss said a little bitterly. "And they're out to keep you from fulfilling your potential, then?"

"They're both the reason I need to fight in the first place and the thing that's stopping me from doing so," he said, knowing that sounded a bit confusing. "One of the gods, Hermes, is my father. I'm attacked all the time because I'm related to them. And they figure I'm better off being hidden away than living a semi-normal life and defending myself."

"Hermes," Katniss repeated carefully. The name wasn't familiar -- almost definitely because she'd know him as Mercury, with Panem being built around Roman ideals. "Why are you attacked because of your relatives?"

That seemed to be a place to start.

"They're hated, like most every other source of power is," Luke said with a shrug. "But they're too powerful to mess with, so the bad guys mess with their kids instead."

So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 2, Period 3

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