Such A Wicked Dream [WNN Day 1]

Jade was fairly certain that she had just tried her absolute best to save an ally, but now she wasn't so sure, because saving is not what she had done. What she ended up doing was watch as her ally got cut down before she could save her. For one shocked moment, Jade glanced down at her hand. The hand she had tried to grab her ally with, but it had been too late. Nothing could have Zenia's death. Well, maybe if they had left the blood bath earlier...but Jade had been too focused on finding a weapon and now she'd just paid the price of that twisted dagger. Her ally was dead. She'd tried to save her, but she had failed. Jade was absolutely shocked, because one second she was trying to do something and the next? The next Zenia was dead. She studied her hand closely, and wondered what she had done wrong. Why had she failed to protect Zenia? Hadn't she just tried to grab hold of her ally? The attacks had been too swift, cutting her down and all she had done was run away to protect herself while they killed Zenia.

Logically, she knew, the girl was dead no matter. If she had stayed behind while the girl was being killed, then the only difference Jade would have made was more dead bodies. Maybe hers, maybe all of the others, but Zenia would still be dead and there was nothing in the world that she could have done to change that. She knew it, but reality was hard to accept. When she'd gotten a safe distance from the Cornucopia, she had paused to process the information, but there was too much to process. She replayed the scene over and over again in her head, and no matter how many times she looked at it, it never once made any sort of sense. Only then did she realize her own hand was bloody. Not with Zenia's, but her own. Once that realization hit, the broken nose made itself remembered. It hurt more than it had while she had been filled with adrenaline, but this was typical. Expected. It was almost welcome, Jade decided. It brought her back to the present, and the present was more important. She could not help Zenia any longer, and truth be told, Zenia was going to have to die anyway. She had to, because Jade had to make it out of this arena alive. It was unfortunate to think like that, but it was also the truth.

Jade looked down at her clothes, and frowned. It would not do to wipe her blood covered hands on the clothing, now would it? It was much too early in the Games to be covered in blood. She ignored the fact that there were several bloodstains on her clothing. It wasn't hers this time. She may not have been Zenia's murderer, but as her would be savior - failed savior, she had Zenia's blood on her. She ignored it, and pretended that it did not exist, because pretending it did not exist was better than the reality. It was best not to think about Zenia at all. Maybe she could convince herself that Zenia didn't even exist. Wouldn't that be better than accepting the fact that Jade, a Warrior, had failed to save her ally? She pushed Zenia back further in her mind. She wouldn't allow herself to think about it. She'd have to tell her allies and that would be enough. And if she stayed in the world of the living, well she'd have to face Zenia's face in the sky. And if she survived this and became a Victor, she'd have to see the reruns too...wait, why was she thinking about that?! Wasn't she supposed to be pretending that Zenia didn't exist?!

With a frustrated stomp of her foot, she turned around and looked for something to clean off the blood. Bending over, she grabbed a - huh flower? She blinked, but didn't think twice and used it to mop up her bloody hand. She looked over her hand confirmed that it would not leave traces on her clothing. Hopefully. Jade needed to find her allies soon. They needed to meet up and - well she'd have to tell them about the girl who did not exist - she paused there. Her hands on her knees, her breathing made more difficult due to the broken nose. It no longer bled. At first, a broken nose bled a whole lot, but after a time it stopped making a mess. It was rather quick, and Jade was thankful for that. She didn't want to bother getting blood all over her clothes. What would Sampson think of her then?! Wasn't she supposed to be fierce, and super sexy? Well, she didn't actually know, but she assumed as much. They were her stylist, after all! She glanced up then, hoping the cameras were on her and sent Sampson a wink. They may not know it was meant for them, but she hadn't really considered that.

Usually Jade was a decent runner, but today was different. It was harder to get air in through her lungs with a broken nose, and she found herself resting more often than she normally would. She tried to think back to the one who broke her nose, and hoped to pay them back, but the battlefield had been too chaotic. She hadn't even known who she had punched, nor did she know the damage she had caused. For a long while, all she'd cared about was finding her weapon. In fact, her allies hadn't even entered her head through most of the fight. A weapon was of absolute importance in any arena, and she had been so sure that she would die without one. She hadn't meant to, but that thought led to Zenia. It was getting that weapon that caused all the trouble, wasn't it? Frowning, she shoved that thought aside. "She doesn't exist," Jade told herself firmly. Right now she didn't care about the cameras. Only Zenia. Only in not believing Zenia ever existed. Erase her. That's what Jade needed to do, because she couldn't afford to think about the fallen. She was alive.

Now she wore a scowl. She couldn't waste her time like this. Her living allies would be hoping for her return and - she winced as the image of Zenia appeared before her again - Zenia's return. Which wouldn't happen. Dead. She was dead. Jade had seen her dead. Her stomach rumbled in protest and it wasn't in hunger. She felt the urge to vomit then and there, and she found herself leaning against something fighting back the urge to empty her stomach right in front of the cameras, but Zenia's bloodied body kept appearing before her vision. Oh, she'd watched many Hunger Games before, but nothing could really match the look of a real dead body. "Doesn't...exist..." Jade panted. She wasn't aware of how long she'd been there, but eventually she was able to get herself together and continue on.

Then she continued running again. She felt wind now, and it was a gentle breeze. Welcoming. Whenever she slowed down, she would notice the flower petals and the beauty of the arena. It almost made her sick again. The thought that the Gamemakers would create such a beautiful arena only for twenty three to die...it was disgusting, and she was only sorry that it took her so long to realize that. In anger she went to kick up a bundle of those flowers, but something unexpected had happened. Instead of kicking like she normally would, she was floating. If floating was really what she was doing, because in reality she was waving her arms around and trying to keep from falling face first on the flower petals, which she was somehow hovering over. It didn't feel right. Her feet weren't planted on solid ground at all. In the air. "Whooa," Jade said, trying to keep her in the air balance. "This is crazy, have I gone mad?" She questioned no one in particular.

Tributes weren't supposed to float, were they? Certainly not. That was not at all normal, now was it? Eventually, she collided with the beautiful flowers as whatever powered her boots let her go, and she groaned as she landed on the beautiful flowers. Jade was beginning to consider that she'd never even been Reaped. No, maybe she had just lost her mind and only thought she was in the arena. Certainly, that was the only explanation for this place and her own actions.

Jade wasn't sure how long it took before she found them. All she was aware of was the wind blowing in her face, which only seemed to worsen as she ran. In the end, she stopped running all together and placed her hands in front of her face to block out the wind and the petals flying around. She was beginning to wonder if she'd made a mistake going in this direction, and wondered if there was some trap here meant to kill her in a blink of the eye. However, when she squinted her eyes she saw two figures in the distance. It was dangerous, she knew. It was a gamble since she couldn't make the figures out. They might not be her alliance at all, and they take the chance to attack her the moment she met up with them. Maybe they were humanlike mutts ready to rip her in pieces. She didn't know, and she'd have to be prepared for the worse.

Thankfully, she realized it was them the closer she got. For a moment, she really was able to forget about Zenia, just as she'd been hoping. She was relieved to see her alliance members. When she was close enough to look, a frown replaced her momentary look of relief. Both of them looked worse for wear, which wasn't very good. Sure, they needed to die eventually for her to live, but they needed to live long enough to help her out too. Worse, if Zenia's death showed her anything - it was that losing them was going to be harder on her than she first thought. Zenia. She felt like someone punched her in the stomach, took the wind out of her lungs, and she bent over and grasped her knees as the memory of the dying girl invaded her brain.

No! Jade screamed in her head. She. Does. Not. Exist. Unfortunately, seeing her alliance made it all the more real and for the moment she couldn't forget. Later she would push it back, and forget. For now, it was there, haunting her. She glanced up at her allies and her face was probably enough to tell the tale. While she wasn't crying - that had been beaten out of all the Morin children years ago - her eyes were more wild, desperation showed through her features, and something else Jade found it hard to place. She was becoming unstable, so she breathed several deep breaths. She needed to speak. She needed to be strong.

"She's dead," she finally said. "I went to grab her and take her out of the arena, but an alliance was left behind and they all had weapons and one after the other..." a shudder, and she was staring at the ground instead. She could not, would not lose it. She would say no more. Now, it was more important to forget. It was best to act like the girl had never even existed. It was best to play pretend.

Jade shook her head and took several more deep breaths. Her father would be ashamed to see his daughter melting down on the screen and she couldn't allow that. She was going to come back home and earn his love the only way she knew how to. She straightened herself, and hoped she looked just as strong as she used to. Her eyes fell on the sword of her ally, and for the moment she looked the same as ever. Worse for wear, broken nose that had stopped bleeding, bruises on her body, but there was some strength. Some hope. "I'll trade this dagger for your sword," she said, showing him the twisted dagger. "I'm best with a sword." They were using her too, weren't they? A strong Career. Trained. Certainly, he would agree.

Looking through her bag to dig out of the dagger hadn't been a good idea. A rush of wind took her backpack from her fingers, and she'd only managed to hold onto the useless postcards. She cursed her luck, but apparently someone was quick to react to her situation. Not long after the sound that let them know a sponsor gift was heard, and she was ecstatic when she found it was hers. She found a Satchel in it, and she didn't know whether she was overjoyed for the gift, or annoyed, but she took it and placed her postcards in the bag.

"We should gather what we can," she said, looking around.