"murphy?"
"surprise!" his voice told me he was nervous for himself.
"why the hell were you following me?" kaia asks, angrily.
he forms a quick lie. "i saw you were leaving camp alone, i just wanted to make sure you didn't get taken my grounders."
that's the most bullshit lie she's ever heard. "mhm. look, i know what you saw. if you tell anyone i swear to Heda i will cut your head off and feed it to-"
"hey, hey. i got it. your secrets safe with me, princess." he says with a slight smirk.
kaia rolls her brown eyes as she helps murphy to his feet.
he hesitantly grabs her hand and pulls himself up. "so, grounder aye?"
the girl ignores his question. "that's badass."
she look at him with a disgust as she trudges towards camp. murphy follows.
"i mean it, cockroach. tell no one."
murphy scoffed. "you think i'm gonna help those people out?" he says, referring to the sky people. "they floated my old man for stealing medicine to save my life and sent me down here to die. i say let em die."
murphy is different. yeah, he is an ass but he's alone. and that made her feel for him.
~~~
murphy and kaia trekked their way back to camp and then went separate ways. she was in the dropship helping clarke with jasper and murphy was doing... whatever murphy does.
she watches as jasper lays there in pain. this was all her fault. this poor kid was suffering because she decided to spear him through the chest. she could've stopped it. how is she ever gonna be a leader if she can't even take a kill?
clarke interrupts her thoughts. "his pulse is 380."
jasper moans and groans in pain. the campers had been complaining all night that they couldn't sleep because he just wouldn't die. they didn't feel for him like kaia did.
"go back to sleep!"
"be quiet!"
clarke bends down to jaspers level. "don't listen to them. you're gonna make it through this, ok? promise."
"can he just die already?"
kaia stood up, angrily. she climbed down the ladder and onto the floor with campers on it. "are you serious!? there is a kid going through excruciating pain up there, because he risked his life to get you all food. and all you can think about is how loud he is being?"
"yet he didn't come back with any."
she rolls her eyes and exits the dropship. she was just ready to go back home, to Polis. she missed lincoln... an ounce of her even missed lexa.
as she exits the dropship, she hears a close scream. "no!"
she then looks around in search of person who made the small scream.
"no!"
she began to move closer to the screams.
then she came upon a small girl, sleeping on a log. "No! No!"
kaia climbed onto her log. "hey wake up." she said in a soft tone.
the girl was startled, but she awoke. "it's ok. it's ok. it was just a dream." she looks around, it seems like she didn't know where she was.
nikaia took a seat next to her. this girl looked far too young to be a prisoner. "what's your name?"
"ch-charlotte."
"i'm Nikaia, you can call me kaia." after her not answering, kaia decided to comfort her. "it's ok to be scared. do you wanna talk about it?"
after a moment of silence, she finally manages to get some words out. "it's... my parents. they were floated and i- and i see it in my dreams and i just-"
after being here for a few days, kaia gathered that 'floated' meant executed.
"yeah, i understand. my parents were kill- floated too." the small girl looked at the older one in disbelief. "so how did you end up here?"
"well- they were taking my parents' things to the redistribution center and... i kind of lost it. they said i assaulted a guard." she explains.
how could these people be so heartless? a child lost her parents and they lock her up for reacting? she does not want these people on her ground.
"i cant say i blame you."
the girl wipes her own tears away.
"you know, i still have nightmares about my parents. the truth is... they never stop. you have to learn to overcome that fear and fight it. now, people will try to comfort you and tell you how sorry they are and that your parents were good people but... nothing really helps you get past it. you have to fight it yourself. you look fear right in the eye and say. 'i'm not afraid' eventually, it won't bother you anymore."
perhaps kaia needed to take some of her own advice.
"being on the ground, is your second chance. you look past that pain and you move on. you're a grounder now."
"do you really believe that?"
nikaia nods her head and smiles at the child.
she then wraps her arm around charlotte and pulls her close to herself. she reminded her of her younger self. charlotte couldn't be any older than 13. about the age kaia was when she lost her parents.
the little girl falls asleep in kaia s arms as she stargazes.
~~~
it was a new day. charlotte had fallen asleep in kaia's arms and she didn't get any.
jasper was still moaning and groaning in pain.
her cut arm was still untreated, she planned on getting clarke to stitch it up in the dropship.
kaia then entered the dropship and climbed up the ladder, bellamy, octavia, finn, monty, wells, and clarke were all surrounding jasper.
octavia runs towards the boy. "stop! you're killing him!"
"she's trying to save his life." finn replies.
seems to me like clarke had no time for a small cut.
bellamy chimed in "she can't."
kaia crouched down next to octavia as wells stands. "back off." he demanded.
"we didn't drag him through miles of woods just to let him die." clarke states.
"kids a goner." bellamy starts up again. "if you can't see that, you're deluded. he's making people crazy."
clarke looked furious with the lack of hope. "Sorry if jaspers an inconvenience to you, but this isn't the ark. down here, every life matters."
bellamy attempts to get through. "take a look at him. he's a lost cause."
nikaia stands up straight and stares at bellamy for a split second before angrily exiting the dropship floor. if jasper dies, it's her fault. she cant be around him if it happens.
~~~
nikaia went to check on the little girl she had previously clung to.
"charlotte?" she shouted as she approached the log the two spent the night on.
"over here!" she hears a small voice shout back.
kaia smiled and headed towards the voice. "what're you doing out here all alone?"
she shrugged her shoulders. "that guy who was dying, i just- i couldn't listen anymore."
"okay well, don't go on your own next time, you come and tell me."
she nods. "what're they doing?" kaia turns around to see bellamy and his super squad, gathered around something.
we approached the boys, they all had weapons. when kaia heard an oink, it came to her. they're hunting for food, they shouldn't be out here, they might scare the prey. "come on charlotte, we should go back."
she agrees and they begin to turn around, but the girl stepped on a stick and it made a loud crunch. it startled the hog and bellamy, he turns around and swings his axe at the two girls, once kaia noticed he was going to throw the axe, she covered the little girl so the axe didn't hit her. luckily, it missed them both, the axe hit the tree that was a foot away from them. kaia turned around to face bellamy, the hog had escaped. all the other boys except for atom chased after it.
bellamy approached the two of them. "what the hell were you thinking? i almost killed you."
"we were just on a walk." kaia informed him.
Atom chimed in. "there's grounders out here. it's too dangerous for two little girls." the grounder that could take him with one hand scoffed at his sexist statement. "little? i could take you"
bellamy looked impressed that she was standing up to a man and atom looked like he didn't believe her.
"i'm not little." charlotte stated.
"okay then..." bellamy started. "but you can't hunt without a weapon." he pulled out a makeshift knife and handed it to charlotte.
bellamy looks from the little girl to the older one and back to the little one. "ever killed something before?"
kaia looked at him in disbelief. charlotte shook her head. "who knows, maybe you're good at it."
then kaia heard a familiar horn blow in the distance. she knew exactly what that meant. "lincoln." she whispered.
"what?" bellamy asked.
she grabbed charlotte tightly. "guys, we have to go. i don't have a good feeling about being out here alone."
they all looked at her, confused.
"Im serious! we have to go!"
the boys were frozen when a weird, green fog caught their eyes. bellamy grabs kaia's other arm and pulls her and charlotte away from the fog. the 4 of them sprinted, trying to escape the mysterious fog.
"come on! there are caves this way!" bellamy shouted.
atom tripped over a fallen limb. "Atom!" nikaia ripped away from bellamy and attempted to help him up but he kept falling back down and the fog was already catching up. she then released her grasp on charlottes arm and as she ran with bellamy, kaia tried to help atom one more time but he just couldn't get up fast enough. the girl started coughing as the fog got into her lungs. "i'm sorry." she whispered as she sprinted to catch up with the others.
"Nikaia!" she heard bellamy yell from nearby.
"bellamy!" the girl shouted back.
she couldn't see, the fog was blurring her vision.
she coughed as she continued to run. suddenly she felt a hand wrap around her arm and pull her into a cave. she fell to the ground and coughed as she gasped for air.
bellamy pulled a boulder in front of the cave entrance before the fog could fill the area.
bellamy turned around to face me. "atom?"
she weakly shook her head in sorrow. his face fell to the ground.
~~~
the cave was dark and charlotte had fallen asleep. not nikaia though. she couldn't sleep. she sat with her knees to her chest, her arms resting on top, and her head against the wall.
she watched as the little girl slept peacefully on a smooth rock, she had given her her own jacket since it was chilly.
bellamy broke the silence. "do you ever sleep?"
he startled her, she thought he was asleep.
she then smiled at his question, now that she thinks about it, she doesn't get much sleep, does she?
he arose from his laying position and moved his body next to hers, he sat just as she did.
she ignored his actions and answered his question. "too much to think about."
her and bellamy held eye contact until a certain girl caught their attention. "no! no!"
they move theirselves over to the little girl. "charlotte. wake up."
she sighed as she arose, into a sitting position. "i'm sorry."
"does it happen often?" kaia watches as bellamy takes control. "what're you scared of?" charlotte ignores his question. "you know what? it doesn't matter. the only think that matters is what you do about it."
"but... i'm asleep."
"fears are fears." kaia still stares, deep into bellamy's eyes, they were soft. he is just a big soft teddy bear on the inside. "slay your demons when you're awake, they won't be there to get you when you sleep."
a small smile formed on nikaia's face as she watched the older blake bond with the little girl.
"yeah but... how?"
"you cant afford to be weak. down here, weakness is death, fear is death. let me see that knife i gave you." the young girl pulls out the makeshift knife Bellamy had given her previously. she hands it to to the dark eyed boy. "now when you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and you say, 'screw you. i'm not afraid.'"
he hands the knife back to charlotte. charlotte has a go at the advice. "screw you. i'm not afraid." she says, unconvincing.
she tries once more. "screw you. i'm not afraid."
bellamy pats her on the leg. "slay your demons kid." then you'll be able to sleep."
charlotte lays back down, attempting to fall back asleep.
"wow, teddy bear." kaia jokingly punches bellamy on his shoulder. she winces pain, she had punched him with her bad arm and seeing as it was still open and untreated, it hurt like hell.
bellamy takes notice of the girl's pain and grabs her arm, he unravels the piece of cloth and takes a look. "holy shit. how did you let it get that bad?" it was green with a tiny bit of yellow and it had liquid emerging from it. "has clarke seen it?"
she shook her head. "she's been too busy with jasper, i didn't wanna bother her."
bellamy stared blankly at nikaia. "first thing tomorrow. you hear me?" she nods as he gently wraps the cloth back around it.
~~~
it was day four since the kids have came down.
my eyes open to see bellamy, pushing open the boulders he had covered the entrance with.
"it's all clear."
as kaia's tries to get up, she quickly takes notice of a leather jacket, laying over my body... bellamy's jacket.
she grabbed it and stood straight up. her and charlotte exited the cave, right behind bellamy.
"anybody out here?" he shouts. "jones!"
a voice comes near camp. "we're here!" it was jones.
the three of us head towards the others.
"lost you in the stew. where'd you go?"
jones and two others approach the three. "made it to a cave down there. what the hell was that?"
kaia stood, silently. "i don't know."
she looks at each of the kids, atom wasn't with them.
she turns around to tell charlotte to meet them back at camp, she was surprised when there was no little girl there to tell. "charlotte?!"
bellamy quickly turns around.
"aah!" a soft, familiar voice screams from the distance.
without thinking twice kaia heads on her heels into the direction of the cry.
"Nikaia, wait!"
she ignores bellamy and continues to sprint.
she came to a halt when she saw the little girl, in one piece. she squatted to her level. "are you okay?!" her eyes seemed to linger to one thing only. kaia follow her eyes to see atom... laying there... helplessly. his skin was scorched and he was barely breathing.
she knew this would happen. she just hoped it wouldn't.
bellamy finally catches up with her. "son of a bitch. atom."
the two older kids approach the boy and squat next to him.
there was no doubt he was blinded. she's seen the acid fog do this to trikru.
bellamy leans in as he catches eye on atom attempting to tell him something. "ki- kill- me. kill me."
the boy gasps for air.
the three others appear. charlotte approaches us and hands bellamy her knife. "don't be afraid."
bellamy orders the others to go back to camp and to take charlotte with them.
bellamy crouches down, across from kaia. he makes eye contact with her, she shakes her head. silently telling him he's not gonna make it.
"i- cant- breathe-"
her eyes focused on atom. she brushed her fingers through his hair in seek of giving him comfort.
she could see the boy's tensity fade.
she took the knife from bellamy's hand whilst her other hand was still brushing through atoms hair.
"yu gonplei ste odon." (your fight is over)
she softly whispers as she pierces atoms vertebra with the small blade.
bellamy says nothing as he stares at her. he was confused by so many things, like 'what kind of language was that and where did she learn it?' and
'how did she kill someone like it was nothing?'
kaia stood straight up. her face was blank. she has put many lives in danger since these sky people have came down. now she has killed a kid. a boy.
she then approached the nearest tree and doesn't think twice before she bangs her fists into it. "i- couldve- stopped- it-" she speaks with every hit.
"Nikaia!" bellamy shouts, trying to get the girl he has grown to like, to stop.
"i- was- right- there!" she continues, her knuckles and right arm now hurting like hell.
bellamy grabs her waist and throws her on the ground. she rolls a few times until stopping, on her back. she covered her empty face with her bloody hands. "i was right there!" she cried out. "i could've saved him! but i chose to save myself!" one of the most important things about being a leader is protecting your people. a true leader would sacrifice herself for her people.
atom was a test, and she failed.
she never expresses her feelings in front of anyone. not even her own brother. feelings are weakness. fear is weakness. she supposes being away from her people, being a regular kid, has got her all over the place.
Bellamy said nothing as she ripped herself apart.
she sniffled and wiped away tears. then she sat up straight. she took a deep breath.
bellamy reached his arm out for her to grab. she did so and he pulled her to my feet.
he was speechless.
and she was embarrassed. "speak of this ever again, and i'll kill you."
~~~
bellamy called a kid to help him carry atoms body back to camp. nikaia on the other hand, she was laying on the ledge finn had showed her the first day. when she needed to clear my mind, she stargazed.
she sat up, now watching the kids below her. gathered around the campfire, they watched as octavia pulled the cloth to reveal the body of the kid laying before her.
kaia shut my eyes tight, when she opened them, a tear rolled down her cheek.
she couldn't hear the conversation but it got pretty heated when bellamy shoved murphy backwards and started yelling in his face. murphy didn't look intimidated. bellamy calmed down and backed off the kid. she watched as murphy threw his knife at the tree before him. he didn't go back to get it.
"i heard you needed a check up?" kaia jumped, in result of the sudden voice.
"clarke." she breathed. "you scared the crap out of me. and if you're busy, it's fine, i can wait."
clarke faked a smile. "all free. meet me in the dropship?"
kaia nodded her head as clarke climbed off the ship.
the pathetic leader took one last look at the kids below her, and one last look at the stars above her. then she jumped from the ship and onto the ground. when she entered the ship, clarke was waiting, she had a bucket of water, cloths, and a knife.
the brunette glanced at the makeshift knife on the table beside clarke. "you're not gonna use that thing are you?"
"depends. are you gonna make me mad?"
kaia laughed as she took a seat on the table.
"before we get started..." clarke stared at me, dead in the eye. "we never got to talk about it but... when you saved me from falling onto those spikes, how did you know they were there?"
she shrugged her shoulders and lied straight through her teeth. "i had a feeling. after seeing how far the spear was thrown and how good of aim it was, i knew these guys were smart."
clarke didn't seem to believe the girl, but she didn't seem to think any less of her either. "one more thing... i saw your wrist when you grabbed me... you didn't have a wristband. did bellamy get to you?"
the spy pursed her lips. "murphy, actually." she was about fed up with these lies.
she nodded her head, unconvinced. "now... let's see that arm."
clarke allowed her to unraveled the cloth and throw it aside. clarke's face went from unconvinced to disgust. "yikes. why did you let it get so bad?"
"you were just so busy with jasper, i didn't wanna take your time away from him."
she dipped the cloth into the water. "this is gonna sting."
she already knew that of course. the blonde dabbed the blood around the wound as the brunette winced in pain. "nothing too bad."
she smiled. "it's about to get a whole lot worse. the area is infected, i need to remove the infected flesh."
kaia glanced at the wound, to the knife, and then to clarke. "do it."
she grabs the knife and hovers it above the fire. "stay still"
the girl clenched her eyes shut.
then the blonde began to dig the heated knife into her skin, scraping away the infected flesh. nikaia screamed in agony.
it just kept going...
she tried not to move so much, but it was hard to focus. more screams escaped her lips.
suddenly two kids stumble into the ship.
"hey boys... come to watch the sh-show?" the patient groaned.
clarke kept cutting. "hold her still!"
bellamy and finn hurry to the table, they lay her down on her back. bellamy grabs her shoulders and finn grabs her legs. the two push down onto the table as she attempts to squirm.
"aaugh!"
"almost there!"
the girl felt dizzy and her vision started to darken. soon, she was out.
"what the hell happened?!" bellamy shouted.
"she's pale!" finn shouted.
murphy entered the dropship. "what the hell is going on?!" he takes notice of the particular brunette laying on the table, unconscious. "What the hell happened to her?! is she dead?!"
clarke was now finished with cutting the infected skin and she felt her patients pulse. "her pulse is weak."
"so is she gonna die?" murphy asked, annoyingly.
clarke was frustrated. "i don't know!" she placed her hands on her head.
she relaxed and heated the knife once more and placed it over the wound, closing it. the boys couldn't bare to watch.
she took a new piece of cloth and tied it over kaia's arm. "she should be fine."
all three boys looked like they were the ones hurt. "should be?" finn asks.
she ignores his remark and cleans the dried blood from the knuckles of the girl's that lays before them. finn wrapped them in cloth after clarke was finished cleaning them.
"just... get me if anything strange happens."
"Murphy. take her upstairs." Bellamy ordered as he walked outside the dropship.
murphy obeyed and grabbed the girl's unconscious body. he carried her up the ladder. she doesn't know how, but somehow he did it.
~~~
her eyes flickered open. then she saw jasper, resting on blankets, he was awake.
octavia was slumped against a wall, looked like she didn't leave jaspers side.
monty was the same.
the girl smiled as she attempted to sit up.
"woah there killer." jasper grunted. "i'm out for three days and you think after a couple hours your brand new?"
kaia laughed at his comment. "good to have you back, buddy." she was so relieved he was okay.
her head fell to her legs, she still had bellamy's jacket. he must've put it over her again.
oh if lincoln were here. he would be all over the place, with his baby sister almost dying.
꧁꧂
everyone's okay!
murphy sure does care about kaia.
but so does bellamy.
but then we have finn.
oh but we can't forget lexa.
what about our beloved raven when she comes down?
help me out here guys!