𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

04. river monster

Chapter Song- Sail by Awolnation

I fell backwards into Jasper, a surprised gasp flying from my lips as the deer turned to look at us with both of its heads.

"Oh my God." Finn muttered as the deer took off, back into the protection of the forest.

All six pairs of our eyes watched as the creature ran off, shock present in all of them.

"Welcome to Earth." I joked, which caused Clarke to turn to me with a small glare. 

"I told you it was too good to be true." she announced, pushing herself up from the ground. "Now come on, we have to keep moving."

"Well look on the bright side," Finn suggested as we all scrambled to our feet, beginning to continue our trek once again. "At least it's still living." 

I let out a small snort as I playfully rolled my eyes. "Shut up Finn." I grumbled, giving him a light shove.

He turned around, giving me a cheeky grin. Letting out a laugh, I pointed up ahead to where Clarke was. 

"Get moving before you get us in trouble."

At that, I quickened my pace, not wanting to face Clarke's wrath for falling behind. I caught up to Octavia, giving her a small grin as I joined her. 

"Did you ever expect this?" she asked me, her eyes scanning the forest in awe. "That we would ever get to see this beautiful Earth?"

I smiled, reaching out to run my hand over a moss covered rock. "Who knew this morning when we woke up that we'd end up here."

"You know what I'd like to know?" Finn questioned, clearly eavesdropping on mine and Octavia's conversation. 

"Not really." I mumbled, which resulted in a laugh from Jasper and Monty.

Finn ignored me and continued on with his thought. "Why send us down today? After 97 years, what changed?"

"Who cares?" Octavia challenged. "I'm just glad they did. I woke up rotting in a cell and now, I'm spinning in a forest." she grinned as she twirled around a tree. 

"Maybe they found something on the satellite. You know, like an old weather satellite or something." Monty wondered aloud.

"It wasn't a satellite." Clarke announced her eyes focused on the path ahead "The Ark is dying."

The remaining five of us stopped and looked at the blonde to see if she was joking. We soon caught on that she wasn't, as she stormed passed us with a stoic expression. 

"With the current population there's only three months left of life support, maybe four now that we're gone."

"So that's the secret they locked you up to keep?" Finn declared in realization. "Why they kept you in solitary, floated your old man." 

Clarke's face twitched slightly. "My father was the engineer, and discovered the flaw. He thought the people had the right to know. The council disagreed, my mother disagreed. They were afraid it would caused a panic." 

"Do you think what she's saying is actually true?" Octavia muttered, leaning closer to me.  

I turned to look at my best friend before nodding my head slightly. "Yes." I answered quietly. 

"How do you know?"

"Look at her face."I advised, nodding towards Clarke who wore a defeated look. "She's telling the truth."

"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?" Monty questioned, his voice wavering in fear. 

When Clarke didn't respond, Octavia jumped in. "Good. After what they did to me, I say kill them all."

She gave as all a pointed look before breaking into a jog, running ahead the rest of the group. I let out a small sigh as I shook my head. 

"You don't mean that!" Jasper called as he followed after her.

"She doesn't." I confirmed to the rest of the group, particularly Clarke who looked disturbed by Octavia's statement. "She's just angry."

"Why aren't you angry?" Clarke wondered. 

"What do you mean?" I questioned as we followed behind Jasper and Octavia, who were quite far ahead by now.

"They locked you up too. Why aren't you angry about it?"

"I was." I admitted. "But I don't want to spend my whole life-or what's left of it- dwelling on the past. There was nothing I could do about it then, and there's nothing I can do about it now." I explained. 

I looked over to my brother, giving him a small smile. "I'm always going to be a second child, and I just have to learn to live with that."

Finn smiled as he placed his hand on his my shoulder, as if to tell me he was proud of me. 

I was startled out of our brief twin moment due to the fact that we had finally caught up to Jasper and Octavia. 

"Aw damn.  I love Earth." Jasper laughed. He was standing next to a river bank, his wide eyes locked on something.

I frowned as my own eyes followed his, eventually landing on my best friend who was in the middle of stripping down to her underwear.

"Octavia!" I gasped, pushing past an awe struck Jasper. "What the hell are you doing!?"

Octavia looked back at the group before taking a step and jumping into the river below. Panic ripped through my body as she disappeared beneath the water.

The remaining five of us rushed forward, leaning over the bank hoping to see a sign of Octavia. Luckily, our fear turned to relieved amusement when her head popped up, a sly expression on her face. 

"We can't swim!" Monty pointed out.

"I know, but we can stand." Octavia responded, as she stood up to her full height, the water only reaching her hips.

I let out a small laugh as I watched my best friend. She really did keep me on my toes, that was for sure.

"Wait, there's not supposed to be a river here." Clarke observed, her brows furrowed as she looked down at our map. 

"Well there is, so take off you damn clothes!" Finn ordered, already beginning to pull off his shoes. 

Jasper didn't need to be told twice. He began peeling off his layers, desperate to get in the water with Octavia. 

I watched him with an amused look, shaking my head before pulling off my jacket. Might as well have some fun while we're here. 

I was in the middle of pulling off one of my boots when Jasper let out a shocked gasp. I looked over at him, instantly noting the horrified look on his face. 

 "Octavia get out of the water!" he ordered, his eyes locked on something in the water. I squinted my eyes against the sun, noticing movement further down the river. 

"What the hell?" I whispered, fear starting to bubble in my chest.

"Get out of the water now!" Jasper screamed, rushing to the edge of the bank. 

Before anyone had a chance to do anything else, Octavia let out a terrified scream. I felt my heart lurch in my chest as something grabbed onto my best friend from beneath the surface, pulling her under. 

"Octavia!"

i'm so so so sorry for lack of updates, but i was having a hard time writing this story. But luckily the season 3 promo really inspired me to write again, so I'm hoping i can keep it going this time!

comment your feedback and thoughts! and don't forget to vote! :)