its half my fault [pearl/baby: post bb]

[pearl mcclain d4 [ryan]]

the room is adorned in everything that pearl thought was tacky. was this really the arena the gamemakers thought everyone was just going to love? pearl would stop, but the broken hand did not help. adrenaline was the only thing guiding her at the moment.

even her sword was starting to feel a little heavy. luckily one time in the training center, they broke a trainers hand in order to demonstrate how to carry a weapon even when in pain. pearl never really saw the point of that, like at all. in fact, she carried the sword in her good hand and strapped the bag tightly so she can just keep going.

no cannons yet, that was probably a good sign, but a scream erupted from the halls, which meant that pearl needed to keep going. it sounded familiar, but there wasnt time to wait.

as pearl assessed her surroundings, her ears picked up on a whimper in an echo. she didnt want to stop. but by the time she realized something was wrong, she had finally seen a shadowy figure not too far in front of her. she tried to put the breaks on it, but she still nearly collided with the other.

her broken hand clashed into the other, pearl a little peeved, she gritted her teeth and looked up to see that it was in fact, baby standing right in front of her.

crying.

pearl wanted to roll her eyes and keep going, but those screams were still a little too close for comfort. while she was in this for herself, she thought about the platform station, the comments about baggage, and how both her and pearl had something similar in common.

the difference was, pearl still didnt know how to let go.

"baby?" pearl used her broken hand to jostle her gently. "what are you doing? this is not the place to have a mental breakdown right now!" pearl knew that if maybe she was in baby's shoes, shed probably do the same thing. but that was a beauty of it, pearl wasnt, and it might have been her job right now to make sure that baby makes it to the next day.

she might have hated doing it, but it was the right thing.

her broke hand guides down to baby's, and while the sting is slowly turning into something excruciating, the sounds are starting to come closer. "we need to go." pearl starts off, and she is not leaving baby behind, pulling her along with, whether she likes it or not.

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

She had tried so very hard not to cry. Not while waiting with her styling team. Not when she was spun up into the throne room. Not even when the counter expired and, just as the Gamemakers told them they would, many of the tributes immediately started brawling. She'd kept repeating her mantra ('I trust myself') and that had worked.

For awhile.

And then someone discovered the treasure trove of weapons on the dias and even Baby found herself dragging a golden sword...

... while tears streamed down her face.

Already there was a fine film of dirt framing each tear run. The further she walked from the screams the heavier her sobs became until she was practically choking on each one. She was no longer trying not to cry; she was only trying not to make any sound.

"Baby?" A ghost asked, broken skeleton hand rubbing her shoulder.

Baby emitted one ear piercing screech.

"what are you doing? this is not the place to have a mental breakdown right now!"

Her brain, made sluggish about the trauma, could not square Pearl McClain from District 4 with the bag-of-bones hand coiling around her own. "B-but," Baby hiccuped, the tears slowly subsiding. "I'm scared."

A little ways on, she whispered, "should I be scared of you?"

[Baby Heals & Collects Things]