It had all happened so suddenly, Petra didn't even have a moment to process what had happened. She had reacted on impulse, immediately attacking the gladiator who was about to kill Jesse. Every had been a blur as she fought them off, one of them managing to get the advantage along the way.

The breath had been completely knocked out of her as Petra's back collided with the ground, her sword flying from her grip. Despite the fact that her lungs were wheezing for oxygen, she had immediately tried to push herself up again. Never getting the chance as one of the gladiators suddenly slammed their axe down on her.

The diamond blade had chopped through the steel of her armour like it wasn't even there, it didn't have any trouble breaking through her flesh. There wasn't a moment for Petra to even scream, the blow instantly killing her.

It should have been a painless death. But it wasn't.

Everything exploded in a mass of colour for Petra, a horrific scream erupting from her as it felt like she was flung into the air. The world twisted and warped around her as she was pulled and tossed about. Pain pulsed through her body where the axe had been impaled, Petra feeling every ounce out what the blade did to her.

And then it ended.

All the colours faded, the world shrinking back into nothing but a black void. Petra could hear her own raspy breathing echoing back at her, her rapid heartbeat throbbing in her ears. It felt like she was suspended in mid air, nothing but darkness surrounding her. Dull pain throbbed where her wounds were meant to be.

Everything suddenly lit back up around her, and Petra felt herself landing squarely on her feet. She looked around in confusion, seeing the normal world around her again, trees dusted in snow, stars twinkling in the sky above. Voices filled the air.

It took a second for Petra to realise exactly what had happened. She had died and respawned.

Immediately, Petra's eyes began to dart around, anxiously searching for Jesse. It felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest in relief when she spotted Jesse a few metres away, facing Hadrian. Her death wasn't in vain, she had bought Jesse the time she needed.

Whether Jesse succeeded in winning the race, was a mystery to Petra. But the downcast look on Em's face and the furious glare that Hadrian was directing at Jesse gave Petra quite the boost of hope. It was impossible to tell what exactly Jesse was thinking or feeling at that moment. She was panting from the run, red in the face and skin dotted with sweat. Her brown eyes were determined and aggressive, yet Petra could see right through those emotions to the fear Jesse felt.

As the other people began moving away from Jesse, Petra quickly began jogging up to her. Her body throbbed in complaint, feeling sore and bruised despite the respawn

"Okay!" Jesse jumped hearing Petra's voice right beside her all of the sudden. "Respawning is the worst."

A relieved smile found it's place on Jesse's face, despite Petra's words. Some of her uncertainty washed away, immediately replaced by happiness at seeing her friend alive and breathing again.

A million questions were ready to pour out of Petra, wanting to know exactly what happened and whether Jesse won the race or not. She didn't get a chance however, a shadow falling over the both of them.

They looked up, coming face to face with the gladiator, Slab. He immediately pointed a finger right at Jesse. "You."

Jesse raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Hadrian wants you." Slab responded gruffly, gesturing for Jesse to follow him.

She glanced over at Petra with a confused, yet somewhat concerned expression. Petra shrugged at Jesse, turning back to Slab and getting ready to take a step forward. She didn't get very far when Slab's gaze suddenly shot in her direction, eyes narrowing.
Before Petra even knew what he was doing, he shoved her back, hard. She staggered a good few steps back at the force, her weakened body not appreciating the blow one bit.

"No." He growled. "Just Jesse. Hadrian doesn't allow any dirty respawns in the palace."

Petra glared back at him, fighting the urge to say something she knew she was going to regret. She turned her head to Jesse, who had immediately moved back to her side. She had a concerned, apologetic look on her face.

Feeling too beat up and worn through to fight it, Petra sighed and accepted defeat. "Alright." She said, looking back over at Jesse with a serious, yet worried expression. "But be careful, Jesse. I don't trust them."

Jesse nodded, managing a small smile. Slab grunted in impatience, to which she turned away from Petra and followed after him. Petra didn't budge from the spot, watching them walk away until they were out of sight.

At first, she considered following at a distance. She didn't like the thought of Jesse being alone with those maniacs. Even though she knew very well that her friend could stand up for herself, Petra had a bad feeling in her gut about the whole situation.

But then she just sighed and turned away. Slab wouldn't be the only gladiator in the area, she'd get spotted in a heartbeat if she tried to follow. Since she was already out of the team, Petra wouldn't be surprised if they considered killing her as a fun punishment.

As Petra began to trudge back in the direction of the competitor village, she passed two members of one of the other teams. She stopped, one question still being on her mind. "Hey, you two."

The two of them jumped at her voice behind them, swinging around. They relaxed once they realised it wasn't in fact a gladiator speaking to them.

"Do you guys know if Jesse was the one who won today's race?" Petra asked, shoving her hands into her pockets to keep them warm as she waited for a response.

One of them shrugged, probably somebody who didn't make it through the entire race either. But the second one nodded his head and mumbled a simple "yeah".

Petra gave them a nod of thanks, before continuing to walk on. A grin found it's way onto her face. Jesse won!

Soon enough, Petra's smile began to fade again as everything slowly sunk in. Jesse might have won, but Petra didn't. Jesse was the only member left on their team that could compete, their freedom was in her hands. That being said, she was probably the one most capable of them all, but still... it was a lot of pressure for one person to carry.

Petra wrapped her arms around herself, starting to shiver without her armour to keep her warm. She looked down at herself, thinking back to the reason why she no longer had any armour on.

The respawning experience was horrible, and definitely not something Petra ever wanted to relive again in her entire life. Even though it's been in the past for almost ten minutes already, she still felt felt somewhat queasy and unsteady on her feet.

But that wasn't what was chewing at Petra. The thing that she had trouble taking in, was the fact that she had actually died back there. Had this been any other world, she would have been dead. Just like that, it could all have come to an end for her.

Petra gritted her teeth, shaking her head. This was her life on the line! How could she become so careless, how could she allow herself to be taken down so easily?

Her shoulder's slumped again, a small sigh leaving Petra's lips in the form of white puff. She knew she was being unreasonable to herself at that moment. The gladiators had all the advantages in not only size and strength, but also weapons. And if anything... at least she died saving Jesse.

Petra shuddered at the thought. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she could feel fresh shock starting to replace it. Whether she liked it or not, what happened that day was definitely going to leave her with more than one sleepless night.

The competitor village was a lot quieter at that time in the evening. Competitors were all packed into their own groups, keeping distance between their teams and softly talking among each other. A small bit of relief washed over Petra when she spotted Ivor and Lukas near the dorms, Ivor talking up a storm with Harper while Lukas listened on in silence.

As Petra began walking up to them, Lukas was the first to spot her. His face lit up and he began raising a hand to wave. But then he took in her appearance, the look of defeat on her face, the lack of armour on her body. His expression fell immediately, eyebrows knitting together in concern.

"Petra?" What happened out there?" He asked immediately when she came walking up. Ivor and Harper fell silent as well, turning in their direction.

"What do you think?" Petra asked bitterly, gesturing down at herself.

Lukas's face grew sympathetic. "I'm sorry." He said, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"Where's Jesse?" Ivor asked warily. "She didn't... loose, did she?"

"No." Petra responded, trying to refrain from rolling her eyes at Ivor – who was much to her disgust still wearing his very breathable underwear. "She didn't just make it out either, she won the whole race."

"That's fantastic!" Lukas exclaimed, before the concern flooded right back onto his face. "Where is she now?"

"I don't know." Petra admitted, sighing. "Slab took her. Apparently Hadrian wants to see her."

"This can't be good." Harper spoke up softly.

"Any idea what he want her for?" Lukas asked.

"I'm afraid not." Harper responded. "But knowing that man... it can't be good."

Petra gritted her teeth, subconsciously balling her hands into tight fists. All of a sudden she really wished she wasn't cowardly enough to just walk back to the village. What was she thinking? She should have gone after her friend!

"I'm sure Jesse will be okay." Lukas said, seeing Petra's expression harden. "She's made it very clear already that she doesn't fall for Hadrian's tricks."

"Still." Petra groaned, kicking at the snow. "Jesse is unarmed, and obviously outnumbered. I just wish she wasn't alone with those... those maniacs!"

"These people are manipulative and sly, yes, but do you really think they would physically hurt her?" Ivor asked, pulling at his beard thoughtfully.

"If they do, I swear they'll regret it." Petra growled, feeling anger flare up inside her. "After everything they've put us through already, if they do something to her-"

"Jesse!" Lukas suddenly called out, his eyes moving right past Petra.

She swung around as everybody's gazes snapped in that direction. Jesse was running down the path in their direction, gasping and panting. Her brown eyes were wide and fearful, tears glinting in the corners.

"-then that'll be taking it a step too far."

___

Okay, I had so much fun with this, it's unreal!

At first I couldn't come up with something good to write and would constantly start and scrap ideas. Then I began thinking about episode 8 and at first thought... what if Jesse died in the games and Petra ended up being the one who needed to finish it all?
But then I couldn't think of a good way to tie that to the prompt xD

I was still really sold on the idea of writing something with episode 8 (and I low-key still wanted it to be focused on Petra, lol) so I finally came up with this idea of Petra's perspective of everything that happened after she's killed in the race. And it actually was a ton of fun to write!

I definitely want to go back to writing more about episode 8. Maybe it's time I actually take that idea I had for a book and actually do something about it-
NO, FINISH NIGHT OF THE MOBS FIRST, YOU IMBECILE!

Moving on.

I hope you all enjoyed this one shot as much as I enjoyed writing it! I'll see you all tomorrow with whichever pork prompt I draw next!