𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓/𝟏.𝟏𝟏.
☆ OF LITTLE AVAIL ☆
"𝓒𝓪𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓯 𝓼𝓱𝓸𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻?"

☆꧁*꧂☆

   ALLAIA SLOWLY TREADED through the stream in worry, splashing through water miserably and cautiously searching for the radio. Their only hope was gradually deceasing, as the possibility of three hundred vain deaths was becoming more and more of a likely reality than a horrific nightmare. Anxiety tugging at Allaia's stomach was making her nauseous — the pressure of finding the radio on which locating depended so many lives was petrifying. 

   Bellamy was crouching near the riverside, rather unwilling to aid. Maybe it was reluctance to reveal weakness and remorse through helping; a way to express his delusive impassivity covering the authentic vulnerability and guilt he was feeling. After all, Bellamy's selfishness imperiled survival of hundreds of innocent people. Deep inside, it paralyzed him to the core, but he was also afraid that Jaha would sentence him to death after he nearly killed him. 

"You're just gonna sit there and stare at me?" Allaia scoffed, sensing his gaze on her, but refusing to actually face him. "This is all because of you and you won't even help?" She eventually glimpsed at him. 

   Slowly, Bellamy drew near Alle, as if her eyes mesmerized him into obliging her silent request. 

"In the scale of one to ten, how mad are you at me, love?" He sighed, kicking through the water.

"How about a fucking thousand?" Allaia snorted. "Just kidding. Kind of." She mumbled, seeing his blank expression. "I guess I'm just disappointed. I thought... I thought you were different, Bellamy. I know you it did for Octavia, but you lied to me. I'm not the biggest fan of Jaha, but you almost ended his life, on purpose. It's gonna take me a while to process it." She admitted.

"Have all the time you need, love." Bellamy assured delicately. "Just so you know, nothing serious happened with those girls. They kissed me a couple of times before Octavia called out for me, and after you and me finished our conversation, I went to my tent to grab some stuff, but they were waiting there for me and tried to seduce me, but I quickly left, I swear." He pressed nervously, tenderly caressing her cheek with his hand dripping with water. Alle raised her eyebrows at his incoherent explanations, feeling the blooming shade of red, caused by anger and their proximity, rising upon her cheeks. "Will you ever forgive me, angel?"

Before Allaia could respond, Jones called out. "Hey! I found it!"

   Allaia quickly wiped her flushed face, which was a little wet after Bellamy's affectionate gesture.

   Everyone encircled Jones, somewhat feeling relieved. Raven swiftly took the radio out of Jones' hands and began pulling out weeds and tiny stones which got stuck in the system. 

"Can you fix it?" Clarke asked. 

"Maybe." Raven replied. "It'll take half a day just to dry out the components to see what's broken."

"Like I said: it's too late." Bellamy muttered darkly.

"Someone's really bitchy today. Are you on your period, or what?" Allaia snapped, trying to conceal her helplessness and worry. "Have some positivity, sunshine." She mocked, even though she was gloomy herself. "You should be hoping the Council realizes we're not dead, or you're gonna have hundreds of innocent lives on your conscience, Bellamy!" Her voice cracked at the end, causing Bellamy's cold facade to crumble.

"Do you have any idea what you did? Do you even care?" Clarke shouted.

"You asked me to help." Bellamy pointed out. "I helped."

"Three hundred people are gonna die today because of you!" Clarke roared. 

"Hold up." Raven interjected. "We don't have to talk to the Ark. Just have to let them know we're here, right?"

"Yeah, but how do we do that with no radio?" Finn inquired unsurely.

Raven smiled mysteriously.

☆꧁*꧂☆

   IT TOOK A while, but eventually delinquents mobilized to set up the flares. By nightfall, when everything was prepared for the launch, Allaia found Bellamy standing beside her, with a downcast expression on his contorted in strain face. 

"I'm not really in the mood, Bellamy." Allaia finally chose to acknowledge his presence.

"I'm sorry, love." He whispered, tentatively brushing against her hand with his fingertips, but she instantly pulled away, avoiding his touch. 

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Allaia said. "You should be saying sorry to the people who are about to die for nothing if the Council doesn't see the flares in time."

"I know, okay?" His voice cracked, on the verge of breaking utterly. "What I did was terrible. I wish I could turn back time, but I can't. And I... I should've been honest with you since the beginning, Alle. Maybe if I'd told you, you would've stopped me from destroying the radio and none of this would've happened." 

"Maybe." She mumbled, daring to intertwine their fingers, and squeeze his hand comfortingly. "I wish you'd trusted me enough to share this with me. I thought we were friends." She smoothly pulled away from the hold.

"Again with the friends, huh?" Bellamy muttered under his nose, amused by the distance Allaia tried to create between them. "Please, just don't hate me. I can stand a lot of people hating me, but not you, angel. Not you." He confessed stiffly. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart..."

"I could never hate you, Bellamy. You piss me off, like o lot, but I would never hate you." Allaia admitted. "I get it. Kind of. You don't think straight when it comes to Octavia's safety. I just need some time—"

"Launch!" Raven shouted, interrupting their conversation. 

   Glowing flares shot into the sky, ascending towards the atmosphere with elusive speed. Pink hue illuminated the horizon, making Allaia gasp in awe at the astonishing sight. Bursts of glimmering smoke lit up the sky like fireworks.

   She instinctively glimpsed at Bellamy, whose eyes were locked on the flares. A silent plead was visible in his tense cast; the corners of his lips slightly went upwards as he was staring at the view above. 

"You think they can see it from up there?" Bellamy asked in reverie, briefly gazing at Allaia.

"I don't know. I really hope so." She replied.

"Can you wish on this kind of shooting star?" Clarke sighed, approaching the two. "Forget it." She muttered, when Bellamy looked at her.

"I wouldn't even know what to wish for." Bellamy responded. "What about you?"

   Clarke glanced at Finn and Raven, standing together, with their arms wrapped around one another. Raven caught Clarke's eye and sent her a cheerful smile, which Clarke returned with less enthusiasm. 

Allaia saw the awkward exchange between them. "Clarkey, my brother is an asshole. Don't worry, you're awesome, you're gonna find someone else before you know it." Alle placed her hand on Clarke's shoulder, and she sent her a thankful look. 

"What about you, Allaia? What would you wish for?" Clarke asked.

"If I say it out loud, it won't come true." Allaia winked.

"Or... Maybe I could think of a few things." Bellamy added, staring particularly at Allaia, but she failed to notice his affectionate glimpse.

☆꧁*꧂☆

   IT DIDN'T TAKE much time for Allaia to realize that Octavia was missing. The discovery made her stomach twist in consternation; various scenarios of the possible reasons hiding behind her disappearance only increased her anxieties. The lack of her intuition's activity sort of consoled Allaia, or was she just internally recanting the worst, tranquilizing her inlying senses for her own sanity?

   Half the way to Bellamy's tent, she accidentally bumped onto someone. Allaia frantically looked upwards, colliding with Bellamy's familiar eyes filled with concern. He held a flaming torch in his hand, lightening the surroundings. 

"Bellamy!" Allaia called out; among the slightest tinge of solace, uneasiness was still breaking through her trembling tone. 

"Angel. Have you seen Octavia?" He implied with voice embatteled in panic. "She's in your tent, right?"

"I can't find her either, Bell." Allaia admitted shakily. "I haven't seen her since before the pod landed." His face fell at her words. 

"Fuck." Bellamy cursed; his worry only increased, causing his heart to beat rapidly. "Okay, Alle, search in this direction, I'll go that way. Meet me up at Clarke's tent." 

She nodded tensely, almost walking away, but Bellamy caught her wrist. Her questioning stare flickered between his distressed eyes and her wrist in his clutch. "Just... be careful, love."

   Naively being under a delusion that Octavia was still within the borders of the camp, both of them were restively looking for her, checking every single tent earnestly. Their hopefulness seemed to fade progressively after searching each alternate place. Eventually, when Allaia has come across nothing, she drew close to the collusive site she and Bellamy had established earlier. A glow of firelight rushed towards her, and when Bellamy's figure appeared to her eyesight, her worst suspicions confirmed. 

"You're up, Clarkey?" Allaia asked nervously.

"Yeah." Clarke responded. "Knowing that hundreds of people might be dying on the Ark makes it pretty hard to sleep." She sent a cold glare towards Bellamy.

"Raven's flares will work." Bellamy assured fiercely. 

"Her radio would've worked better." Clarke snapped.

"Okay, now's not the time. Stop arguing." Allaia interjected. "Have you seen Octavia?"

"No. I mean— It's Octavia. She's probably chasing butterflies, or—" Clarke mumbled.

"Clarke, I've checked the camp. She's not here." Bellamy stated; his eyes deep in unfathomable fear were sparkling in panic. 

"Okay. I'll help you find her." Clarke nodded, walking away from her tent. "Let's check again. I'll go to the drop ship, you both check the rest of the tents."

"Thank you." Bellamy said hoarsely.

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Octavia." Clarke replied.

☆꧁*꧂☆

"HEY, EVERYBODY, GATHER around and grab a weapon." Bellamy called out in a demanding voice, sheltering anxiety hiding beneath his stern attitude. "My sister's been out there alone for twelve hours. Arm up. We're not coming back without her." He assessed everyone surrounding him harshly. 

   After checking every possible lodge within the camp's boundaries, they still couldn't trace any track of Octavia. Allaia and Bellamy were growing anxious; fright thriving in their minds was almost strangling them in worry.  

   No one really defied Bellamy's demand. Everyone silently followed his orders, filling the air with clangs of metal, as they were grabbing weapons in rotation. Allaia picked up one of small knives, in naive hope she wouldn't have to use it against anyone. 

"You can put that down, love." Bellamy approached her, seeming nervous. 

"Why?" Allaia asked innocently. "It's too small, right? It looks ridiculous. Right, I'll take the bigger one—"

"You're not going, Allaia." Bellamy stated. 

"Excuse me? And who the hell are you to tell me what to do, huh?" Pure ire was burning in her infuriated glimpse.

"Look, angel, I need to find my sister, and I can't think straight when I know you're not safe." His simple explanation coated in apprehension quickened her heartbeat. "Please... Just listen to me for once and stay here, at camp, protected, okay?" Bellamy pleaded; a slight desperation was audible in his voice soaked in concern.

"I can't just stay here and do nothing, knowing my friend is in danger!" Allaia argued stubbornly, adjusting her grip on the handle of her weapon. 

"It doesn't really sound like you, does it, love?" Bellamy hummed, tracing the lineament of her cheek adoringly. 

  Even in the darkness engulfing them from every angle, Allaia could notice the mix between worry and admiration shining in his eyes, amplified in the firelight, and bringing them both to an overwhelming level of intensity. As if someone had cast a spell over them, Bellamy and Allaia were staring at one another in such devotion, that the entire universe seemed to fade when their gazes collided. 

"Fine." Bellamy reluctantly agreed under the pressure of her inflexible glimpse. "But you're staying with me the entire time, is that clear, princess?" He emphasized. 

"Sure." Allaia replied with no intention of actually following his rule.

"Okay, we need a tracker." Bellamy stated. "Finn, get out here." He demanded. "We're leaving!"

"Brother, get your ass out here!" Allaia yelled. 

"All right, I'm coming!" Finn shouted in response.

"New hairstyle, huh?" Alle smiled at Finn when he exited his tent.

"Yeah, Raven got inspired." He laughed. "You're going too, Lai?" Finn inquired worriedly. "I don't like this."

"Seriously?" Allaia scoffed. "Another one? Jesus, people, I can manage, thanks."

"I'll protect her, Collins. Alle will be safe with me." Bellamy interjected confidently.

"I don't trust you, Blake." Finn seethed, eyeing him harshly with his strict glare. "Especially not with my baby sister. Allaia is staying with me." He pressed. 

"Quit this bullshit or I'm gonna go out there on my own." Allaia threatened. "We need to hurry up, for Octavia's sake."

"Stay safe, little sis." Finn sighed, sounding defeated. He placed a gentle kiss on Allaia's forehead, and unsurely approached Clarke. 

   Delinquents began to stop abruptly to look up at the sky in amazement, fixated on the astonishing sight spreading above them. 

"Did you see that?" 

"It's so bright!" 

   Slightly confused, Allaia looked upwards. A staggered breath left her lungs as she watched hundreds of white shimmering dots, descending from the sky bereaved in gloom. It was like rain of tiny lights blazing through the horizon; the luster of shooting stars — a glowing trace falling from the atmosphere with the speed beyond reach.  

   Reality was way more horrifying; it was the farewell of souls abandoning their bodies for eternity. The burial of innocent people who died in vain to let their loved ones live. The most heroic deed rendered of little avail, since they all could have avoided the culling and descend to Earth. A quantity of Allaia's spirit burnt with them. Their identity wasn't so relevant, what mattered the most was their highest sacrifice furled in agony and grief, the greatest devotion that would never be forgotten. 

      Allaia's shaky hand reached out to Bellamy's shoulder in wordless support. Tears eclipsed her vision as she prayed for the dead to find peace in the afterlife. 

"May we meet again." Allaia whispered silently. 

"It didn't work." Raven murmured. "They didn't see the flares."

   Right on cue, Bellamy's eyes tore away from the sky, as Raven's words triggered some sort of trepidation in his confused gaze.

"A meteor shower tells you that?" Bellamy questioned; nervosity transfixing through his allegedly neutral tone couldn't be denied.

"It's not a meteor shower. It's a funeral." Clarke's distressed voice corrected. "Hundreds of dead bodies being returned to Earth from the Ark. This is what it looks like from the other side."

"They didn't get our message." Allaia told Raven quietly. 

   Bellamy couldn't say anything, unable to form any words, as he was facing his worst nightmare, in the shape of silver sparkles falling down the sky, irrevocably becoming the truth. He froze; infinite regret and self-hatred filled his entire body. The poison of his selfish actions reversed into such cruel irony — the beauty of the sight spreading above, underlied the monstrosity of thousands sins. The faces of innocents who unavailingly sacrificed their lives were unknown to Bellamy, yet their foreign features seemed to ingrain themselves into his mind forever, to remind him about the atrocity of his egoism until the rest of his life. 

"This is all because of you!" Raven screamed, marching towards Bellamy.

"I helped you find the radio!" Bellamy fired back; struggling with his frail attempts to justify himself.

"Yeah! After you jacked it from my pod and trashed it!" Raven seethed in rage, being held back by Finn and Clarke.

"Yeah, he knows. Now he has to live with it." Clarke stated, sending a scathing glare towards Bellamy who vaguely glanced at the sky in guilt. 

"Look, blaming isn't helping anyone." Allaia interjected. "Octavia's missing and we can actually do something about it. We should go." 

   Bellamy sent her a cast brimful of lifelong gratitude, relieved that Allaia wasn't so revulsed by his immoral actions. Quickly, he replaced his vulnerable stare with a stone-cold gaze, to remain in the indifferent demeanor. 

"Allaia's right." Bellamy clenched his jaw. "My sister is out there and I'm gonna find her." He said in a hoarse voice. "Move out!" 

☆꧁*꧂☆

THE GROUP WALKED for a while until John apparently came across a trace. "Look! Over here!"

"What is it?" Bellamy inquired nervously.

John pointed at the small bush. "Right there. Do you see it? Is that Octavia's?"

   Allaia shivered, glancing over Bellamy's shoulder, unable to see much due to the lack of light.

"Rope." Bellamy demanded, and then hastily began to unravel the line. 

"What are you doing?" Finn asked bluntly.

"We need the rope to get back up." He explained, tossing the twine over the edge of the slope. 

   Bellamy started descending down the hill while holding tightly onto the line with both hands. He paused next to the bush, crouching and retrieving some sort of material from it, trying to decipher what it was. 

   Allaia wasted no time in following Bellamy, not bothering to use the rope. Slowly, she walked sideways down the slope. Instead of actually paying close attention to her footsteps, Alle was mainly focused on the possession in Bellamy's hand. Suddenly Allaia faltered over a rock, wincing and stumbling down the rest of the way, and awkwardly hitting Bellamy's back.

"Sorry, I'm so clumsy." She let out a stiff laugh. 

Bellamy sighed, facing her. "You could've hurt yourself, love." He muttered. "Did you even use the rope?"

"Nah, I did just fine without it." Allaia taunted. "Just hit my tiny toe. Hurts like a bitch though."

"Try to be more careful, angel." Bellamy exhaled in amusement.

"So?" She inquired tensely, staring at the material.

"It's hers!" Bellamy shouted loudly in response to everybody. "We're going all the way down!"

   Before Bellamy could react, Allaia gripped the line and began to descend to the bottom of the hill, lightening up her surroundings with the flashlight. 

"Allaia! Wait! I'll be down in a second." He yelled in annoyed voice.

"Are you kidding me?" She scoffed.

   A stone coated in blood caught her attention. Allaia frowned and cautiously moved forward, crouching near the rock. Dipping her finger into the liquid, she shined the torch at it to heighten her vision. Her frown deepened at the blood's crimson shade. It was still fresh. 

She froze. Octavia's hurt, Allaia's heartbeat accelerated in ominous realization. 

   Seconds later, Bellamy rushed down the slope, followed by Jasper and Finn. They immediately