>>18092292Ash's eyes remain fixated upon the bottom rope. It was right there. Why didn't she reach for it? In the haze of the hyperfocus, the roaring of the crowd muffles. Long after the bell has rung, she reaches her hand up to grab the bottom rope, using it to pull herself up.
>(It was right fucking there... What... What happened?)Ash gets to her feet, steady, with only mild aches. Her heart sinks. For once, just this night, she'd hoped putting weight on one of those limbs would cause discomfort. That right leg took a lot of punishment, she almost prayed it was out of commission, selfishly wishing for injury over weakness.
But no.
Weight falls upon her right knee, and it hurts, sure, but she can walk. It's fine. She's perfectly fine.
She just still lost.
Her face twitches, a storm of rapidly shifting emotions washing over her features as she wraps her fingers around the top rope. She closes her eyes, and with an exhale, holds her hand out towards the...
The...
The *debuting* wrestler, for a sportsmanlike fistbump.
