belladonna bouquets [D'Arcy Day 3]

D'Arcy lay curled into the ditch for minutes that felt like lifetimes, curled in on herself with her arms around her face. The rustling above was her gauge of the storm of petals, Baby's prayers the only sign that she was not alone in trying to wait out this barrage of nature. She was saying a silent prayer of her own, not to any God in particular. She prayed this would not be how death claimed her, turning something that had brought her so much joy to cause her pain and suffering at the very end. There was still more of her story to be told.

Eventually the rustling overhead softened, the rain dissipating. D'Arcy dared to sneak a peek at the world around her once again. The petals were gone, their assault finished for the moment. The forest was back to looking as normal as it had when D'Arcy had fist made her way into its territory. So unassuming in its beauty, the strange plants back in their places of watching instead of striking.

D'Arcy and the other three stood up, each taking a moment to take stock of their state. D'Arcy still stung all over but the cuts seemed to have stopped their bleeding, her skin already working to heal itself over the thin cuts. Dried blood dotted her arms, her pretty clothes, making her look a little worse for wear than she actually was. Bizarrely, the patch of grey at her ankle seemed untouched; one cut seemed to slice along and stop abruptly at the dark border. Perhaps it had simply been coincidence, or perhaps the shin guards had gotten in the way. Still, D'Arcy couldn't help but wonder what the strange mark was doing to her, whether she should be scared or happy that it's there.

A quick movement from the corner of her eye turned D'Arcy's head in time to watch Baby disappearing into the woods, leaving her now alone with the girls from Eight. Her heart started beating fast in a panic - the storm seemed to have drawn a truce between them, but the petals were gone now. There was no reason for the pair to want to keep D'Arcy alive any longer than she already was. D'Arcy moved quickly and silently away from the pair, hoping she had gone unnoticed, willing the pair to hunt for tributes in another direction.

She made quick work of venturing away from the others, fluttering fast between patches of flowers basking in the sunlight above. She knew now it was a dangerous place to be, but D'Arcy still couldn't help but feel that it was one of the prettiest places she'd ever seen. She desperately wanted to stop in a patch of the brilliant red and blues and pinks and start assembling a bouquet of the most spectacular flowers she could find. As it was she had already stopped to pick a flower or two, a plant she recognized for its medicinal effects or for being a source of nutrition. She could easily get lost in a place like this.

In fact, D'Arcy started to realize, she was lost.

As she looked around nothing stood out as familiar to her. She had not been paying close attention to the path she had entered the forest from, and now she had no sense of where she could go to get out. She didn't know whether the forest would spring back into deadly action again and she had no desire to find out. She was still so sore and tired, and hungry and scared. Her heart started to beat fast. The thought of spending a night here alone, shivering, anxiously waiting for another attack, was overwhelming her.

That's when she saw the majestic creature, pure white and glistening in one of the remaining rays of light peeking through the canopy. D'Arcy was in awe at the cascade of angelic wings on the creatures back. She couldn't believe her eyes, she had always thought a creature like this had only ever existed in fantasies. Pegasi can't be real, can they? Perhaps she had drifted off and this was all a dream.

This time it was one D'Arcy hoped would linger on.