“What are they?” Bellamy breathed, breaking the silence.
Athena stared at him as if he were an idiot. “Reapers.”
“Why…. They attack you?” He asked.
Athena narrowed her brow, focusing hard; English was always going to be an issue for her. She had no reason to learn it, and yet now she was needing it. “They… cap-capture? Capture us. For… Uhm… Mountain Men.”
He looked baffled by this knowledge, but nodded. When he reached his hand down, Athena instantly moved to the defensive, jerking back from him. Bellamy raised his hands in form of a surrender, then slowly reached down again. His weapon was wrapped around him and strapped to his back and so he was defenceless for now. Athena didn’t take his hand, but brought herself to her feet on her own. She brushed off the dirt that was caked on her; she could taste the metallic tang of blood upon her lips.
“Why… you save me?” She asked.
“Unfair fight.” He half grinned.
Athena thought about that; it was going to be unfair when a couple hundred of her warriors were coming down on the measly hundred of his people. Her decision had not changed as it was Bellamy’s mistake for saving her. Maybe they were just trying to survive, to make it another day on this planet that was a mystery to them, but that wasn’t what Athena cared about. The Mountain Men and the Sky People were similar, and Athena could not trust them.
“Thank… you.” She said, though it felt weird to say it.
Bellamy smiled and lowered his head; his eyes looked up at her. “You are welcome. Does…. Mean you will …. People to stop attacking?”
Athena grimaced, “You attack first.”
Bellamy shook his head, “Jasper … stabbed …. The chest by your people.”
Athena did not know of this, she hardly even understood what he was saying, but he seemed convinced that they had not attacked first. She had not been told everything, in fact, she had hardly been told anything before she was sent to retrieve Lincoln. Perhaps it was time that she heard their side of the story, to gain some insight on why they were here in the first place. They came from the sky, they were intruders here, but they were not that different from Athena and those already on Earth, she had to admit that much.
“Tell me… W-why are you here?” She used hand gestures to make her hack-job English make more sense.
Though the question could be taken two ways, Bellamy knew what her question was. “We were … down to Earth …. We were not worth keeping.”
Athena narrowed her eyes, “Worth…?”
“Good enough.”
She nodded, “Oh.”
Earth was not a place to send people who were not worth it; though it was the only home Athena knew, unlike these Sky People, she did not treat it as though it was worthless. Worthless people did not deserve to roam Earth. But here they were, labelled as useless by their leaders and sent down to Earth. She still did not understand why they were sent here, wasn’t it a privilege?
So she tried to ask, but before a word of English could escape her lips, she felt the hairs rise up on the back of her neck as the sound of the horn echoed in the air. It was not the horn signalling Aslan needed help, the tone was off. It was something else, something dangerous. “Run.”
Bellamy knew what it was too; he had heard it before. However, the words that came from Athena’s lips were not familiar to him. He grabbed her arm before she could do anything else and yanked her, “Come on!”
She ran alongside him without hesitating; even if they ended up trapped together and at each other’s throats, Athena could kill him easily. The fog would kill them both if they didn’t hustle and find some shelter. Bellamy seemed to know where he was going, and he ducked inside a deep rock cave, his hand still gripping the fabric on Athena’s arm. She pulled from him as soon as they were at the back of the narrow cave. She pulled her spear from her back and held it at his throat. Bellamy had his weapon out within seconds, but his eyes did not suggest malice.
“I …. Saved you.” Bellamy lowered his gun, lowering his defenses.
“I did not need to be saved.” She said, her English almost perfect; she was learning from the way Bellamy formed his sentences.
“Well regardless of what you needed, we’re stuck together for a while.” He said, slowly so that she could catch each word. “I’d rather not worry about you killing me.”
Athena pointed to the other side of the cave with her spear, “Weapons, there.”
Bellamy pulled his gun from his shoulder and then slipped his makeshift dagger out of his belt buckle, putting them where Athena asked him to. Since he obeyed right away, Athena put her weapons down as well. Killing him now would not bring her any pleasure, and at least she could have company for the time she was stuck in the cave. It would also give her an opportunity to speak with Bellamy about him and his people. Though she was eager for a war, if one could be avoided, she could go back to her mountain and everything could go back to the way it was before.
“So…” Bellamy sat down, “You don’t speak a lot of English, do you?”
The brunette pulled her hair out of her face, it needed to be washed as it was caked with dirt and sweat. She looked at Bellamy as she pulled her hair up, a few loose strands falling back down over her shoulders. Once it was up and out of her face, she felt slightly exposed to Bellamy. To answer his question she shook her head twice, “No.”
“I…” He looked down, resting his hands upon his knees casually. “I could help you. Teach you.”
“Teach?”
“Train….?” He tried to choose similar words that had similar meanings until she understood.
“Ah.” She looked away, she hadn’t been trained in anything in years. She was a trainer of warriors, and here she was, getting basic lessons on how to speak. It was pathetic, but it would help her in the future to know more of this language that seemed to universal to the people around her, and yet not to her.
“Come on, we can get to know one another.”
Athena looked up; she had not been given orders to kill Bellamy, but that might change soon. If she got to know Bellamy and then was sent to slaughter him, she would. Unfortunately, it would only make things more difficult for her. Children died at her hands, and there was always some guilt that she would always get over, and this was no different. On the other hand, gaining more insight on them could give her the upper hand if war began. Or she could prevent it from happening. Either way, there was hardly any downside to Bellamy’s suggestion. She glanced up and met Bellamy’s dark eyes.
“Okay.”
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