surrender to the sound | WNN, day 2

Jade was aware of the cameras. She couldn't see them, but she felt like they were taunting her. A strong Career. That's what the Capitol wanted, and they weren't about to sponsor a Career who was losing her sanity. She ran as fast as she could from the crime scene, but everything was too much. In front of the cameras, Jade was now doubled over and emptying her stomach all over the beautiful bejeweled ground. The blood. The smell of iron. Her clothes were stained with it. She'd wiped the blood from her lips while she was running, but more replaced it. Blood was all over face, and it wasn't hers. All she'd gotten in the fight was a small cut on her neck that had long since stopped bleeding.

Blood. Death. Spinning. Everything was wrong. She was a Career. Ever since the day she walked, she had been training. Her father had brought her on clumsy toddler legs to a martial arts class and from then on she'd been trained to be a Warrior. She was supposed to be prepared for this. Death was a natural part of the Hunger Games, and she'd watched it every single year, multiple times a year as she watched rerun after rerun trying to memorize what the Victor's did. None of that was proving useful right now. None of that could keep her from emptying her entire stomach out onto the beautiful ground.

Her face was pale, and she refused to look up. Petrified to show her face in front of the cameras. She scanned the ground, trying to find something, anything that could wipe the vomit from her face. Hopefully this would be edited out, and not shown to the world. Hopefully they'd be more focused on other places and not on one Jade Morin who was a Career who couldn't handle death. She ripped the end of the cape and wiped herself as cleanly as possible before scrambling back to her feet and throwing the soiled cloth to the ground. Where it belonged. Jade glared at the camera, as if daring anyone in the audience to judge her.

Weakened by the events, and her nose still struggling to get in as much air before she'd broken it, her running was far slower now. She still caught up to her allies, but the resounding BOOM! of the cannon that belonged to Kestral made her jump in surprise. Her eyes found Dominic in the sky on the weird hover boots they'd been given, and watched as he was helped down by the other boy. On wobbly legs, she slowly sat down on the ground and took several deep breaths, before being made to jump in surprise again. A ghost. Something. Out of the corner of her eye. She scrambled away from it, grabbed her sword and swung at the shadow, but it didn't touch it. Just went through it, and it was gone. For the moment.

That's when Dominic would eventually hand her the shining gem, and with shaky hands she took it. She graced him with a smile. It didn't feel like her old smile, but it was real. A kind gesture, given in a place like this. She took the gem, held it close to her for a moment. "Thank you," the words were soft spoken, her eyes didn't leave the gem. Then, slowly, she reached for the sponsor given satchel and placed it within. She dug around the satchel until she could find the dragon plushie, and pressed it against her chest. She stroked the dragon's head, and closed her eyes. For now, it was just her and the dragon and nothing else.


The question startled her. It caught her off guard. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes and gazing up at Pisces. He was more intuitive than she'd known. Or she was more off her rocker than she knew. She'd prefer not to think about the latter. She stroked the dragon's head some more before answering, her mind racing. How could she tell him about the girl who didn't exist? Would he believe her? Would they look at her and think she's crazy? Would they leave her alone to rot in this arena? It wasn't until the last thing entered her mind that she realized how much she didn't want to be alone. Abandoned. Like she would have been had she not entered the Games back at home. She didn't want to be left behind. Forgotten. Meaning nothing to those who knew her. She wanted to be loved. She wanted be remembered.

Her lips quivered ever so slightly, but she shook her head. Took more deep breaths, and forced herself to look strong. Her face was a mix between a scowl and...something else. "This is going to sound crazy," she began, and here she was looking at the dragon again instead of at Pisces, or the cameras. "But I thought there was a girl who joined us, Zenia. And she died in the bloodbath, I'd seen her. I'd watched her die. We were ganged up on by an alliance. There were too many, and they got her before I could help her and I had to run or we'd both be dead, but I saw her, I saw didn't I? I heard the cannon too, didn't I? I swear I did, and then last night she wasn't in the sky, so that means she was never real to begin with, right? Made up. Fake. A mutt, maybe? And then, I keep seeing things, ghosts, Zenia's ghost, isn't it, but she's not real, right?"

It all came out in a rush, her words hurried, the fear and pain was likely obvious in the tone of her voice, and she hugged the plushie closer to her. She almost wanted to use her sword again. To slash the phantom that haunted her, to break the gemstones underneath. Or maybe she needed to punch someone. That's how she always used to handle her problems, wasn't it? Unfortunately, she couldn't very well punch the people she wanted to live, now could she? She didn't dare meet Pisces's eyes.

Another cannon shot. She didn't know who this one belonged to, and she jumped slightly, startled by it. She took several more deep breaths. Jade, be strong. She told herself. Survive. That's what was important right now. She got up, then, suddenly and quickly and she thrust her beloved plushie back into her satchel. She glanced at her allies, for the moment her eyes weren't wild, nor crazy. They were clear. For the moment, the ghosts behind her, but she was on the verge. Just barely holding herself together now.

"We have plants, but I want meat. Do either of you know how to hunt?" She scanned the clearing, and frowned slightly. "I don't even know if there is anything here, but it doesn't hurt to try. We need protein. And we need to bandage you up, Pisces." She added that at the end, as her eyes scanned him once more. He'd lost an ear and blood was all over the place. "If we don't have bandages, we can use the capes. We need to do something about that."

It was better to focus. The moment her focus broke, the moment she would lose herself again. Tasks. Help Pisces. Survive. That was all she needed to think about right now. Her eyes found something hidden among the gems. It was shiny, just like them.

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