☠Bonnie Everheartte☠
NO ENTRY
☠Bellona Viellana☠
Bellona Viellana is no stranger to pain of the body.
Growing up on a farm can do wonders to one's body. Once, when she was still learning how to ride a horse—Minerva, her favorite—she kicked a little too hard into the horse's side, and Minerva reacted by standing on her hind quarters, jolting Bellona off the saddle. Bellona landed on her back, all the air leaving her body, one of her shoulders severely dislocated. It didn't break, but the ache was so violent it might as well have. A visit to the apothecary and one arm-sling later, she was fine.
She is no stranger to a mix and match of physical harm, but she is still left breathless when Corradhin Cole tightly grips her hand and pushes her flat against the nearest cave wall.
As careful as she is, Corradhin is always steps ahead of her. She could fare well on her own, but it doesn't hurt to have an extra set of eyes watching her back. Especially when said pair of eyes knows how to tackle problems head-on, even if doing so means Bellona jams her bad shoulder into the side of a boulder.
She doesn't hiss in pain, but instead catches her breath as Corradhin presses a finger to his lips. Whoever is out there is someone Corradhin obviously doesn't want to encounter, and Bellona has to follow his lead. It's strange, though, because most of the time, if they run into someone, they'll run away or attack, but never hide. Just this morning, a boy with bright blue hair trespassed into their camp, and Bellona didn't hesitate to put the boy in a chokehold until Corradhin grabbed his machete and took care of him.
On second thought, she contemplates, maybe hiding is the better option.
Corradhin's words from this morning ring in her ears at the same interval that her shoulder throbs. "It's either you or them," he told her, "stop feeling guilty over things that will always be out of your control, no matter how much you think otherwise."
Stop feeling guilty, she repeats, it's useless.
When Corradhin gives the "all clear" signal, she eases off the rock and trails after him. When she catches up to him, she asks what he saw out there that lead to their hiding, and he replies that it was someone from District Four. Bellona raises her eyebrows, and he explains.
"His name is Orville Stud," he starts, and she nods along, recalling blurry images from a past Games. "He and I have a truce—it extends to you, by the way—but he said if we ever met up in the arena, we should actually team up for a few days. I thought the chances of that happening were the same as me actually sticking with you," he jokes, and Bellona buries an elbow into his side. Corradhin gives a fake hurt laugh, and then continues, "I thought it was going to be impossible, so I agreed. And we just ran into him now, so, yeah."
Bellona takes a moment for everything to settle: she has an extra two pairs of eyes looking out for her, and one of those comes from someone with more experience than even Corradhin. It's more than she bargained for, and she'll take it.
"Okay," she finally replies. "So, what you're saying is that we're going to avoid him?"
Corradhin confirms. "He's not a bad person, but he is...odd, to put it nicely. He'll only set us back, for the time being."
She nods and resumes walking beside him, lightly rubbing her shoulder. She is no stranger to pain, but reliving a pain is worse than experiencing a new one. The injury is very old, and she thought the teams in the Capitol took care of it after her first time being in the arena, but she guesses some things need more than physical healing alone.
