Collision || Octavia Blake || 2 ||

P r o l o g u e

XX

Soft puffs of wind blew gaily through the forest, dancing through the trees and playing with the dying green of the autumn leaves. It swirled high into the dark, overcast sky, before descending down a series of wooded knolls. Slowly, it circled the bottom of the crest, before plunging, head-first, into a grey, dead and forbidding wilderness.

The desolate landscape was dotted with blackened stubby tree-trunks, a scattering of smouldering ashes, and the occasional pile of burnt skeletal remains. In the middle of this dark, dank place was a large, metallic spaceship, fixed with a large door and a few pairs of windows. The contraption, screaming for attention, creaked and groaned as it precariously swayed back and forth in the breeze. Even though it looked abandoned, there was still a glimmer of life that whispered words into the gentle, lingering wind.

A girl, her long brown tresses streaming freely down her back and shoulders, her deep emerald eyes fixated on her surroundings, and a long, jagged sword balancing in her palms, was nestled in the open doorway of the spaceship. The bulky bandage that was wrapped securely around her waist and lower back could be clearly seen through the tears in her grey-coloured tank top. Her calloused fingers were snuggled in warm, leather gloves, and her legs, covered with a pair of black ankle-length jeans, were stretched out in front of her.

"Octavia!" a stern, feminine voice drifted out from amidst the shadows playing across the inside of the spaceship.

With a start, the girl, in question, turned around, her eyebrows raised quizzically. "What is it, Raven?"

"Why on earth are you sitting out here in the cold with barely any clothes on?" a girl, with long, wavy hair, and deeply tanned skin, stepped outside. With a sigh, she lowered herself onto the doorsill beside Octavia and drew her long, slender legs up to her chest. "Geez. It's freezing. Don't you need a blanket?"

Octavia shook her head. "No," she returned as she passed a smooth stone over the razor-sharp tip of her sword. "I have to endure it. I'm conditioning myself."

"For what?" the concern in Raven's tone didn't escape Octavia's notice.

Instead, she chose to ignore it as she replied, "You know what."

"The battle against Mount Weather?" Raven voiced softly. "That's at least a few weeks away! C'mon, samurai, just enjoy the peace while it lasts."

Octavia's lips twitched at the mention of one of her many nicknames. "It's always better to do these things sooner rather than later. It will be freezing up in those mountains, especially as it's so close to winter. I have to be ready for any kind of extreme condition. I promised my brother that I would get our people out of Mount Weather and I intend to keep that promise."

Raven let out a low whistle. "You really care for Bellamy, don't you?"

Octavia rolled her eyes. "He's the only family I have left, dumbass, of course I care for him."

"It's been two days since he left for the eastern coast. It's okay to miss him, you know," Raven tried to comfort her friend by placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's not wrong to have feelings."

"I never said it was," Octavia blew a soft breath through her nose, watching as its warmth froze in the icy air encompassing her. "But, in order to win a war, you can't have feelings."

"Says who?" a mischievous, masculine voice rang out.

Octavia, knowing who it was, didn't even bother to turn around. "Since when did this private conversation concern you, Spacewalker?"

A boy, with curly, shoulder-length hair, lingered in the doorway right behind Octavia. He cast a quick, questioning look over at Raven who shrugged him off carelessly. "Listen, Princess, I know these last few days have been stressful but ..." he began.

"Stressful?" Octavia was quick to jump to the defence. Rising to her feet, she spun around and looked him in the eye, "Did you say stressful? Finn, that's hardly the right word for it! My brother's gone off to who knows where, our friends are trapped inside a deadly mountain and the rest of our people just came pummelling down to earth in a freakin rocket from space and we have no idea where they landed! And us? We're stuck here dawdling around because I was stupid enough to get myself injured! I can't handle this anymore, okay? I can't handle not knowing what's going to happen. I'm done."

"W-what are you talking about?" Raven queried haltingly.

"I've decided that I'm well enough to travel and I can't see why we should delay this any further," Octavia retorted, tossing her hair behind one shoulder.

"No way!" Finn held out a restraining hand. "You're still limping around which means that you're not better yet! You could have a relapse or something! We can't risk it."

Octavia gritted her teeth as she gingerly probed at the sore spot on her lower back. "I swear, guys, I'm fine. We need to find the Ark. Some of our friends could already be dead, okay? The longer we wait, the more likely it is that more and more of them will be suffer. I - I just don't anyone to die because of me."

Neither Raven nor Finn could find the words to respond. Then, a boyish voice piped up from within the spaceship, breaking the tense silence, "Hey. I think I know the solution to our problem!"

Questioningly, the three teens turned around to face the speaker; a dark-haired boy donned with a hoodie and a belt lined with knives.

"Well?" Octavia prompted impatiently. "What is it, Bryce?"

"We could make a stretcher out of all the old canvas mats that are inside," he answered. "We could carry Octavia."

Octavia raised her eyebrows as she considered Bryce's suggestion. Finally, a small smile found its way to her lips. "I like your work, Bryce. Let's do it."

Finn and Raven nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Raven shrugged. "Samurai, you win. Let's get this stretcher done so we can go and save our people."

"That's the spirit," Octavia teased. Her composure changed slightly as she began rubbing at the goosebumps on her arms. "You know what? On second thought, I might take you up on that offer of a blanket."

Raven chuckled and rolled her eyes as she headed back inside.

Behind her back, Finn and Octavia exchanged swift glances.

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Princess?" Finn asked, a touch of worry lacing his tone.

"Yes, I am," Octavia sent him a firm a nod as she traced the tips of her fingers along her sharpened blade. "It's time to take our enemy down."

Gif: Octavia (right) and Raven (left) as they talk.

XX