i fear i might break / delaney v. bell day 7
Nov 24, 2019 0:35:24 GMT -5
Post by goat on Nov 24, 2019 0:35:24 GMT -5
After Milo took his last breath, it was clear that Delaney had to go. She was going to have to kill Ridley if she stayed with her, she knew that, and she didn’t want to. She didn’t want any part in whatever the Gamemakers would orchestrate to make them turn their blades on one another. All she could do was leave and hope somebody else killed Ridley before she would be forced to.
“It was always going to end this way,” Delaney told her. “You know this.”
“I know,” Ridley responded, “but I didn't think I'd ever let myself be this hurt over it.”
“Neither did I.” Delaney paused, her chest tight. “If I don’t see you again, just... just know you were my friend.”
“You were mine, too. And you always will be. No matter what happens.”
Delaney lurched forward and hugged Ridley, wrapping her arms tight around the girl. She didn’t want to let go, didn’t know if she could bear it, but she had to, so she turned and walked away before Ridley could say anything else. She knew she would just cry if she did.
Her shoes crunched on the cold ground, and she outstretched her arm to run her fingers through the multicolored thread. The air was quiet, a rare moment of peace for her. She took a deep breath and let the cold air fill her lungs completely, ice flowing into every corner of the organ. It made her want to choke.
The row of thread she was touching cut off, loose ends blowing in the wind, and she noticed a few looking like they were being tugged. When she glanced down, there was a kitten. A real, actual kitten, not some kitten hybrid with ten rows of teeth specially designed to bite her ankles off. Just a kitten.
“Oh,” she said, looking down at the tiny creature. It seemed completely unbothered by the cold weather and was entranced by the tail ends of the strings. She could have left it alone, but she was worried it would freeze. She’d been doing a lot of uncharacteristic worrying in the past week.
She knelt down and scooped up the kitten. It went without a fuss, nuzzling into Delaney’s arms, and it almost made her want to cry.
She slept curled around the kitten, trying to keep them both warm. The air seemed to get colder by the minute, and when she woke up, there was a thin dusting of snow over her. She sat up and brushed as much as she could off of her. The kitten danced around the snowflakes, batting at them as they fell down. She wanted to smile at it, but she couldn’t. Either her face was too cold or her spirit was too broken.
The snow continued to fall, and Delaney figured she’d better get a move on. There were still seven other tributes in the arena, and she knew none of them would show her mercy. She tucked the kitten into her bag and began to make her way back to the tangles of thread. She hoped Ridley had already gone far, far away from there.
In the distance, a girl materialized, and Delaney grabbed her sword before she even recognized her. It wasn’t Ridley, thankfully— it was the girl from Four, the one whose alliance Delaney’s had fought two times before. The second time, Delaney had taken one of her ally’s heads.
She hoped the girl wasn’t too keen on revenge, but she also wasn’t unnecessarily optimistic.
“Hey, baby girl,” Delaney said. “Remember me?”
[ delaney attacks 4f bell hailsham; sword ]
iqbT3iVtmHsword
1051 -- Deep Gash on Cheek -- 8.5 damage (+1 blades)
title from "pressure" by paramore.
sword
