( caroline forbes is all too happy to sign up for the color run, flourishing signature scrawled across endless sheets of paperwork she spent too many hours collating. in reality, she's spent the majority of the morning setting up for the event, helping to hammer down tent poles and hang banners just so over the sign-up tables, making sure each aspect of the event meets her oh-so-exacting specifications. a charity run during the city's all-important energy festival is a great first opportunity, and it's one she's definitely not going to squander.

she wants to move up, and she's going to have to impress the city in order to do it, so friends and strangers alike should hardly find surprise in the cheerful, encouraging tone that greets them as they approach the area. if they thought they could approach the former miss mystic falls and get out of this... well, they should have thought otherwise. )

Hey! Did you want to sign up? It's for charity, you know, and it's going to be tons of fun...

( the run itself is no more strenuous than a brisk jog for caroline. she spends more time laughing and chatting up her fellow runners than she does actually focusing on speed, and when she catches sight of familiar faces along the spectactor lines, she even lingers in front of them for a bit in order to get just a little extra dusting of pretty powder colors.

it's a look, you know. totally cool. she's definitely going to take her fair share of instagram-worthy selfies when this is all said and done, and she wants to have the perfect look when the time comes.

unfortunately for caroline, she didn't exactly consider the effects of being outdoors in the warmth during an event like this. as the run goes on, the sweat that had built up all morning begins to bead, dripping down and mingling with the swirls of color that have spread out across her skin, creating slurries of chalky muddled salt water that loosen her ponytail and leave her skin slippery and slick. it's hot, of course; one errant wipe of an arm over her forehead, and the powder mix finds its way into her eyes...

... and then it's all a blur. a blink poorly timed that causes her to miss a root upended in the race course leads to a trip and fall onto the packed ground, throwing her forward into what should be a hard landing, one that's only prevented by vampiric supersenses and hands thrown out to catch her fall. instead of her face hitting the ground, it's her palm and fingers; they're slammed down, slick with sweat, and before caroline even realizes it, the shining circle of gem and carefully carved silver slips off her finger, leaving her bare and unprotected in the hot spring sun.

it's bright. the sun is bright, and, god help her, it burns. caroline screams, loud and unrestrained, the sound loud enough to echo across the entirety of the track, screams that don't stop longer than a pause for gasping, ragged breath, a plea for help that seems impossible so long as no one knows exactly what's missing. )

My ring! My — god! — my ring!