||RUINED||open
Sept 9, 2010 16:13:46 GMT -5
Post by CC is SO Sorry D: on Sept 9, 2010 16:13:46 GMT -5
Nila Doherty was used to pain. Accustomed to it, in fact. She had spent years upon years training and preparing her body for the Games, and it wasn't possible to not feel pain every once in a while. It was a part of life -- hell, it was a way of life. Nila had become so well acquainted with pain, it hardly ever affected her when she felt it.
Except for now.
The day had started out quite normally. The reaping had recently passed, and because she wasn't chosen, Nila had dedicated herself to training even more rigorously than before. She knew that if she let herself have even just a little bit of downtime, she would suffer the consequences. On the other hand, if she intensified her workout, she would reap the benefits.
The path she had to take was quite obvious to her.
The training gym didn't open until around five-thirty in the morning, so Nila woke up at around four to train at her home. Her father slept in until seven, at which point he came to the gym to coach her. They did drills and conditioning until about noon, at which point Nila had decided to run through some new techniques and exercises that she wanted to learn before next year's Games.
Unfortunately, just as Nila had started to head in the direction of the assortment of swords the gym offered (which included some interesting blade choices from ancient civilizations just in case) a young Career of about fourteen years had come crashing into her, sending her sprawling. Her body had crashed into a rack of training equipment used in mock fights, and as Nila scrambled out of the shower of blunt swords, she had managed to fall on top of her arm, twisting it at an odd angle.
The only emotion she registered at first was an unbelievable amount of anger.
Her anger cooled in a couple of seconds (Nila had been trying to control her temper completely for years), and another unknown emotion took its place. It made her feel quite conscience of the people staring at her, of the utter silence that now filled the entire gym, and then the whispers that broke out among the Careers as they all stared at her arm.
Nila's gaze quickly switched to her arm, wondering what could possibly cause everyone to stare at it. It didn't take long for her to see how her arm stuck out in an impossible direction, the bone of her forearm seeming to bulge disgustingly around her elbow, bruises appearing at an alarming rate all over her pale skin.
She felt dread settle in her stomach before the pain took control.
"Fuck!" she shouted aloud, trying desperately to stop the build-up of water in her eyes. "Shit! Holy shit, it hurts..."
At that point, Nila realized just how pathetic she sounded, and how everyone seemed to be staring at her with some sort of emotion akin to humor in their eyes, like they were close to laughing, but they wouldn't out of respect. Nila bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood, screwing up her face in the process. She couldn't concentrate on the pain.
"Nila!" her father called. "I didn't tell you to sit there like a useless pile of baggage! Get your lazy ass up! We're going to see the doctor, and get him to put your arm in a cast. It better be healed in a month, because we do not have time to waste. You have less than a year before the next Games."
Her father trailed off into an angry monologue, and Nila got up slowly, blood rushing to her head so swiftly that Nila almost gasped with the pain. She was still biting down on her tongue, and she had drawn blood by now. The metallic taste of the liquid filled her mouth, and she scowled angrily.
She couldn't stand the looks people were giving her. Nila stalked out of the gym behind her father, who was striding across the polished floors with a purposeful gait. The doors were left swinging as Nila was rushed to the hospital.
The bone wouldn't be out of the cast for another two months. And it would be at least six before it was completely back to full strength. Probably a couple more. Which meant that Nila's intense training schedule had just been ruined.
As Nila sat on the docks, contemplating this change of plans rather tiredly, she put her feet in the water. Even having lived in the fishing district her entire life, Nila was unusually unfamiliar with water. She had spent most of her life in the training gym, working all day. Nila had come to reflect by the water's edge a couple other times, but these times were very rare and far between.
In fact, she only ever came here when she didn't want to go to the gym. Normally if Nila even let herself feel any sort of unacceptable emotion, she went to the gym to work it off. That technique had worked for her on each of those infrequent occasions. She had come here once when her father had whipped her back. The other time she came was the first time her brother had accused her of their mother's death.
But the waves crashing upon the shore had a calming affect, and Nila desperately needed to calm her emotions right now. They were running rampant, and that was unacceptable for her.
It was a perplexing thought, to think that Nila Doherty, of all people, came to the docks to think. It seemed too normal, like something any other person might do. Any person who wasn't obsessed with conditioning their body every day, without exception. Nila Doherty's life seemed to be solely centered on her Hunger Games Career, without any room for anything else.
But now there would be plenty of room. Far too much, in fact. Nila would continue to train, of course, but there was only so much you could do without your arms. She might spend some time at the gym, running laps or sprinting suicides. But besides running, she was pretty much useless
The word tasted foreign on her tongue. Useless had never before been a word to describe Nila. That was the opposite of Nila's personality, and quite frankly, she couldn't stand to think that she was a meaningless good-for-nothing waste of space. Useless. A goddamn nobody.
Because without her drive to win the Games, that's what she was. A dysfunctional nobody who had nothing to do except for sit on the goddamned dock and contemplate the pointlessness of their life.
It wasn't fair! She had worked harder than anybody else, and yet, she ended up here. All alone, without a purpose. Without absolutely anything to do. It was so frustrating! To think that she could have been practicing late at the gym right now, doing crunches or pull-ups. Instead, the doctor had ordered her to get a lot of rest and relaxation.
It may have been in her best interests to stay in her comfortable queen-sized bed, but Nila, quickly frankly, couldn't stand the thought of it. Her dad hadn't even pushed for her to. In fact, he had ignored her all day, leaving her to wonder if he thought she was done for. Finished. Ruined.
Because that's what she was. Right now, she was ruined. Her arm was broken and in a disgusting cast that Nila couldn't help but sneer at whenever she looked at her right arm. Her entire life had been ruined today.
Perhaps completely beyond repair.
ooc: For such a long post, this was really crappy. And probably a little OOC, 'cause this isn't the norm for her...hmm. I suppose it'll have to do.
