Who We Are [Bellamy Blake]

Chapter 27

                A pair of arms, tattoos running down the length of them, wrapped around the Reaper’s neck. Athena forced herself to watch as his neck was twisted beyond hyperextension, the bones crunching loudly as the Reaper’s face lost all colour. His body fell to the ground with a forceful shove that came from none other than Aslan. A pang of guilt and joy ran through Athena’s chest all at once, but she had no time to interpret those feelings as she reached her hand to grab Aslan’s. As she was pulled to her feet, she shuddered at her imbalance.

                “You can’t walk.” He stated, and Athena was now noticing the tone in Aslan’s voice; it was always there, the tone of caring for her.

                “I can.” She said, determined. Leaning over Aslan’s tall shoulder, she leaned on her strongest side and shuffled into the tree line; all the Grounders were heading for the camp now, tearing down the walls and using grapple hooks to get over. It was over. A pain filled Athena, but she did not show it.

                She could hear the screams; she couldn’t turn her back. “Stop.”

                “I have to get you out of here.” He replied gruffly.

               

                “No, I promised those kids… I can’t turn my back on them now.”

                “There is nothing you can do!” He shouted, “Look at you! You’re bleeding out.”

                “Then let me go, I’ll cauterize it and go ba-“ She stopped mid-sentence as she stumbled, nearly falling if it hadn’t been for Aslan gripping onto her. He was right; she was too weak to go back in and join the fight. After the numerous Reaper’s that she had taken on, she had sustained too much trauma to her body and was unfit for battle. Aslan tucked his hand underneath her knees and lifted her up with ease as he had done so many times before. Whether it was when she was a youth, struggling to survive her own training, suffering the loss of her parents, or now, when she had sustained many life threatening injuries. He was always there to catch her when she was falling, but that was not what she needed.

                The trees bobbed all around her and she knew that he was carrying her away from the battle, from the death, from the Sky People. She pressed her hands weakly to Aslan’s chest, but it did her no good but strain her further. Resting her head on his chest, she steadied her breathing, telling herself that things were going to turn out okay, that they would find away to win this war with or without her. She was one person, she would make very little difference if she was still in the battle.

                She assumed bringing the Reaper’s was their idea, fight the enemy with the enemies enemy. It was logical, and distracted her people for long enough. Long enough to do what? It swirled in her mind; more mines? Another bomb? To escape out the back and try for the coast line again? All three of those options were suicide, and bringing the Reaper’s was a risky decision in itself.

                She blacked out before she learned what they had done to survive, or not.

                The crackle of a fire and the brightness of light felt as though it were burning her eyes. Athena clenched her eyelids closed, as if to fend off the brightness, but it only brought her to her senses; the battle. Her eyes darted open and began to search where she was. The last thing she remembered was Aslan, and that was who she laid eyes on. It was daylight, and Athena was able to easily identify where she was; the base of the mountain.

                Pushing herself up, she looked at Aslan, who was eating something that had been charred over the fire. The sun was barely out, it was morning, about eight hours since the battle began. Aslan met with her eyes only a brief moment, and then focused back on the burning embers in front of him. Athena stared coldly at him.

                “I am not going back.” She was referring to the mountain. “I have unfinished business.”

                “They’re dead.” He replied. “Worse than dead.”

                A cold sweat covered Athena’s body; she knew what that meant. There was only one thing that was worse than death; Mountain men. She shook her head, shuffling closer to the warmth of the fire and trying to warm her fingers, which felt dead with cold. Moving hurt every muscle and every bone in her body, but she could feel the wounds she had gained were cauterized and bandaged now. Aslan would always take care of her, she realized that recently. Her mind never stopped going back to Bellamy, though.

                “Tell me.” She said in a quiet but firm voice.

                “I heard a blast shortly after you lost consciousness, so I made sure you were safe and I went back to see; every single person I fought beside, burned, or burning.” His eyes looked dead; the massacre had been more brutal than anything he had seen before. “They hid themselves cowardly within the walls of the ship, burnt everyone that was still outside. I heard noises all around the camp, so I waited and watched as the Mountain Men gassed them, and began taking them. They had Anya.”

                Athena rose, and noticed the Aslan had brought her spear with them. She crouched down and grabbed it, but Aslan had risen by that point. He placed a heavy hand on her shoulder but didn’t put any force against her. “I won’t stop you again.”

                She stared at him; she could feel that he was not done talking.

                “Everyone we came down here with is dead, the Sky People are worse off. This battle is over, and there are no victors. It is time for us to return back to where we belong, and I will understand if you decide not to come with me.” He sighed, and then met his eyes with Athena’s. “I will always wait for you, Athena. I know your ambitions lie elsewhere, but if you ever decide to return, I will wait for you.”

                Athena looked at the fire, hoping that the warmth would prevent the tears from leaving her eyes. They welled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Despite their threats, they remained where they were. She reached over and touched Aslan’s cheek, it was warm despite the morning wind chill. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, to which she looked up and kissed his lips; they were familiar, and there was something sweet about knowing that she could always come back to them if things didn’t work down here. It seemed wrong to want that, but Aslan was what Athena knew best.

                However familiar he was, Athena knew that she needed a new element to her life. She needed to try something she had never tried before, to inspect and explore other parts of herself that she never knew existed. With Aslan, she couldn’t do that, but with Bellamy she could. He showed her parts of herself that she didn’t know she had, and it felt good. Knowing that Aslan would wait for her was a scapegoat, but it was his decision, and so it sat right with her.

                “Goodbye, Aslan.”

                “For now.” He replied.   

So, the next chapter is going to be based in season two, the first episode. If you aren't caught up it might be a bit confusing! And I want THREE comments minimum from different people before I post again!