chapter 8 - accomplice

➳ ➳ ➳

Octavia entered the tent that Raven was currently in and went straight to the bin of water. She began washing the bloody cloth that she just used to clean Dakota's wounds.

"I'd hate to see the other guy," Raven said, breaking the silence.

Octavia barely glanced at her.

"You did." She stated. "When you were torturing her."

"Finn was dying," Raven said, trying to justify her actions. "I'm not going to apologize for doing what I had to do."

"It must suck to come all the way down here to find out that your boyfriend is into somebody else," Octavia responded, referring to Finn and Clarke.

Raven scoffed.

"I'm not doing this with you." She said, before leaving the tent.

➳ ➳ ➳

"OCTAVIA!" Jasper shouted.

He ran up to her and grabbed her shoulders.

"I think I'm going crazy, or the grounders are here, or I'm just going crazy!" He spoke frantically.

"OK, just slow down. Just tell me what you saw." Octavia replied, trying to get him to calm down.

"...Him" Jasper stated.

He pointed to the area in front of them but there was nothing but trees in their line of vision.

"Jasper, there's no one there-"

"He's right there! We have to run, we have to run! Why isn't anyone doing any-"

"Stop it! Shut up! Jasper, are you on something?!" Octavia questioned, cutting him off from worrying the others.

"I love you and I just want you to know this, 'cause we're all gonna die soon. Okay? I love you." Jasper spoke, getting closer to her and putting another tree nut in his mouth.

Octavia took sight of this and raised her eyebrow.

"Is this all you've eaten today?" She asked, picking up a nut from his hands.

"It is, but who the hell cares now?" He laughed.

"Okay, you're totally bombed," Octavia stated.

She then led him to a nearby bench and gave him a thick branch.

"This is a stick..." Jasper pointed out.

"No," Octavia insisted. "This is an anti-grounder stick. So, as long as you hold this and you sit right here, grounders won't be able to see you."

Jasper did what she told him, and so Octavia left him, heading toward the buckets of nuts that seemed to be making everyone high and delusional.

She grabbed a pack of them and headed up to the upper level of the drop ship where Dakota was.

As soon as she entered, Miller immediately stopped her.

"Get out." He ordered.

"Relax. I thought you might be hungry." She said, tossing him a pack of nuts.

"Consider it a peace offering. I shouldn't have come up here earlier. It was stupid and dangerous and...she's not worth it." She stated, gesturing to Dakota.

Once she saw that Miller had begun eating the nuts, Octavia glanced back to Dakota and smirked before leaving the room.

➳ ➳ ➳

A couple of hours later, Octavia entered the drop ship again once a very drugged Miller left.

She quickly ran to where Dakota was and threw some clothing in front of her.

"We need to go now." She urged, cutting her loose from the restraints.

Because of Dakota's weak state, and the fact that her arms have been in the air for days, she instantly falls to the ground after being freed.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked.

Octavia helped her up in the process.

"Just get dressed." She requested.

"But they'll know you helped me." Dakota pointed out.

Octavia gave her a look.

"You said it yourself-You stay here, you'll die. I'm not gonna let that happen." She stated, helping her put on a shirt and hoodie.

"Even in these clothes...I'll be seen," Dakota said between breaths, clearly still in pain.

"Don't worry, people are seeing plenty of things right now," She assured her.

Kota grinned. "It was the Jobi nuts that you gave to the guard, wasn't it?" She asked and Octavia nodded. "They go bad, they cause visions, but it wears off-"

"Just try to get as far away as you can. And try not to get yourself killed." Octavia cut her off.

Once she finished getting her dressed, she pulled the girl's hood over her face, masking her identity. Then, she wrapped an arm around Kota's waist and allowed her to lean on her shoulder for support as she led her to the door.

"Wait--" Dakota said, stopping when they reached the exit.

Before the sky girl could ask her what was wrong, Dakota placed her hands on both sides of Octavia's face and pulled her close, placing the softest of kisses on her lips.

It took Octavia by surprise at first, but she didn't pull away and soon she started reciprocating it.

Kota didn't know why she had kissed her. It just felt right in that moment.

She was truly grateful for all that Octavia had done for her and even if their time together was short, she found more of a friend in her than she did with anyone else in Trikru's village her whole life.

Their moment was short-lived and after a few seconds, she slowly pulled away and looked into Octavia's green eyes once more.

"Thank you." She spoke, before turning and rushing out the door.

______

Dakota hurried out of the Sky People's camp and ran through the forest as fast as she could.

She kept running and running until she had passed her cave. All she could think about was how she craved to be in her brother's embrace. After what she had endured, she wanted to feel his protective arms around her once again.

➳ ➳ ➳

"She's gone! The grounder's gone!" Miller shouted, gathering everyone's attention outside the dropship.

"What if she brings other grounders back?" Jasper asked, making everyone start to worry.

"Let the grounders come," Bellamy replied, entering the camp with Clarke.

"We've been afraid of them for far too long, and why? Because of their knives and spears. Well, I don't know about you, but I'm tired of being afraid." He finished by placing a pile of guns in front of the crowd.

Seeing the new weapons sent grins and shouts of praise throughout the camp.

"These are weapons, not toys. And we have to be prepared to give them up to the guard when the drop ships come. But until then, they're gonna help keep us safe." Clarke said.

"And there are plenty more where these came from," Bellamy adds. "Tomorrow, we start training. And if the grounders come, we're gonna be ready to fight."

Later on in the night, Bellamy saw Octavia sitting at the edge of the wall, staring out into the distance of the forest.

Seeing her shivering, he decided to walk up to her and place a warm blanket on her shoulders.

She was startled by his act of kindness but within a second, she directed her attention back to the trees, thinking of someone.

"I don't expect you to forgive me," Bellamy said, getting her attention. "But, you'll have to find a way to live with me. Cause I'm not going anywhere."

"Bellamy, it's time." Clarke interrupted.

He walked away to meet her but paused to look back at Octavia.

"That grounder escaping, was that you?" He questioned her.

"I had nothing to do with it." She lied in response.

She then thanked him for the blanket, before he walked away and left with Clarke to do whatever business they had planned.

➳ ➳ ➳

Kota had just reached the gates of her village when she stopped dead in her tracks. She had let her emotions overwhelm her in deciding to return. However, after a few hours of being alone in her thoughts as she ran through the forest, multiple questions flooded her mind.

Was she really about to do this?

What did she think was going to happen if she entered with the various cuts and bruises evident on her body?

Surely, Lincoln would see them and wonder what happened. He would instantly guess that she had been tortured and then he would take her to Commander Lexa so that she could tell her what they did to her.

And then what?

Was she assuming that they would just let it go and proceed with their daily lives? Because that couldn't be further from the truth.

If she were to show her face without anything but wounds, their first thoughts would be that she couldn't fulfill her mission.

She knew they would still view her as weak. Only they'd add disappointment to the list as well.

And once they uncovered the reason behind her wounds, they wouldn't hesitate to get revenge.

They'd sound for a war. She knew they would.

And she couldn't let that happen.

Yes, they caused her great pain. But what about all the pain her people put them through since they landed? Her days being held hostage there had shown her a lot of things about them.

Things she didn't know. Trikru didn't know.

If she returned to Tondc without any useful information, she'd be made a fool in front of the eyes of Heda.

But, if she chose to stay within the forest and gain more information on them, then maybe she could find out their true purpose for being here, if they were a threat, and see what they had planned for the future.

Maybe they weren't as bad as they seemed. She could bring the new knowledge back and inform her people and maybe they could decide on a peace treaty of some sort.

Dakota knew just the person to help her too.

It was the only person that seemed to want the same things she did.

Peace between the clans.

The girl who fought to end the violence directed toward Kota, and who challenged the assumptions being made against the Grounders.

The same girl who made her heart stop and filled her with emotions that she had never felt before.

The one she had kissed when the brunette went out of her way to make sure she escaped safely.

Octavia.

➳ ➳ ➳