✿ THIRTEEN ✿
"I wake up in the morning and I wonder,
Why everything's the same as it was"
___
Katherine carefully bit off a small piece of meat, pushing it against the small mouth of the little cub. It had been crying and moving restlessly ever since she had told Monty about her day and Katherine had figured that it was because he was hungry, though he had not taken a single bite of the meat she had been offering him.
"Perhaps he just needs milk," Monty said after a couple of minutes of observing Katherine.
"Well, there sure is no pet store around the corner, so I will have to make do," she replied. She grabbed the tiny piece of meat and pushed it against the inside of the cub's cheek so that he was forced to swallow it. Katherine smiled and pressed a little kiss against his black nose.
"Holy shit," Octavia muttered all of a sudden. "Is that a baby panther?"
Katherine quickly turned around to face Octavia, hiding the newborn inside her arms. She hadn't even heard Octavia come up the ladder, and she gave herself a mental slap in her face. This time it was Octavia, but if it would have been Bellamy or Frog-Face the little miracle would have probably ended up in the kettle for stew.
Letting out a loud sigh, Katherine drew one arm back, so that Octavia could see the baby cradled in the crook of her elbow. Its milky blue eyes looked up at Katherine in curiosity but quickly switched to Octavia as the girl went to hang over the newborn cub in amazement. Katherine noticed her eyes twinkling in excitement, much like hers had been doing ever since she had found the baby.
"He's amazing," Octavia said in awe. She cautiously placed her fingers on top of the fragile head of the panther, the fur feeling soft underneath her skin, and when the cub closed his eyes in satisfaction, Octavia started petting the animal. She even managed to get the cub to purr.
"Octavia," Katherine said in a voice that meant business. She only gained Octavia's attention as she started to wrap the cub in a piece of fabric again, forcing the younger Blake to take her hand away. When Katherine was done, the cub in her arms somewhat resembled a burrito, only its fluffy head poking from the cloth. Katherine looked up at Octavia, who managed to look slightly insulted. "Nobody knows. Nobody can know, especially your brother can't."
Octavia scoffed as if she was very amused, a smile forming on her lips. "Keeping a secret from my brother?" she asked somewhat sarcastically. For a second Katherine felt like she could sink through the ground. Of course, Octavia would tell her brother, Katherine realised, she couldn't even begin to understand the relationship those siblings had. So it surprised her when Octavia started nodding enthusiastically. "I'm so on it! Do you need any more meat? I will get it for you, they're cooking up the panther now."
"No," Katherine replied horrified. She shook her head wildly. "That's his mother."
"Oh," Octavia replied a bit taken aback. For a second she looked at the cub with a grave look, but then her facial expressed changed to a giddy one as if she had just realised something funny. She shook her head, moving towards the ladder of the Dropship. "That would have been a bit dark yeah. I will steal some chicken from Bellamy."
Before Katherine could reply, Octavia's head disappeared down the ladder.
✿
In the end, Katherine had decided that she would keep the cub in her, Nathan's and Charlotte's tent, with their permission of course. Charlotte had reacted the way every young girl probably would have, full of enthusiasm and asking if she could hold him. Nathan... not so much. It was obvious he was a bit excited, but he was focused on the more practical sides of it. What about food? He sure as hell wouldn't clean up after the cub and oh woe if the cub would do its needs on his mattress.
Chuckling, Katherine had reassured him that she had taken care of everything, and after a moment of hesitation, Nathan had walked up to the panther, softly petting his nose. The fact was, Katherine had taken care of everything. The day after the finding of the cub, she had asked Bellamy if she could be on meat duty because it was easier to combine with her unofficial task as pharmaceutical, which had been a total lie and he knew it, yet he granted her her request anyway.
Everything had been going surprisingly well. After every shift she managed to sneak some meat with her, which the cub had been eating more hungrily now, and she didn't know how or why, but at the most random moments Octavia would show up with some more meat in exchange for holding the cub for a couple of minutes. Katherine didn't mind, because it gave her some time to do her job with the medicinal plants.
It was only after two days, just as the cub started walking around their tent and Nathan had succeeded at making a clip on the tent so that the panther couldn't crawl away at night, that the news came that Wells had been killed by a Grounder during his watch. Katherine hadn't known the boy very well, she had only ever spent one day with him, but just like she had with Atom, she felt sad nonetheless.
The only thing keeping her mind off things had been the cub, who had been growing quite rapidly in the past few days. Katherine quickly realised that its growth pattern was quite different from that of a normal, not irradiated panther. After two days, at which she guessed he must have been three weeks, he started to stalk around their tent and he lost the milky element in his eyes. Four days later he was already playing with the left-over bones from the chickens. Katherine threw them around, dropped them on his nose, so that he might be able to catch his own meal at some point.
Ever since the news of Wells's death by the grounders, the 100 had been working restlessly. Well, the unprivileged part of the 100, Katherin assumed. She spent whole days either in her tent or in the Dropship with Monty and Jasper, constantly admiring the way the cub seemed to learn new things, but when she went outside she was constantly plagued by Murphy and his sidekicks, telling her to find some poisonous plants so that they could trick the Grounders. Katherine rolled her eyes and nodded, not bothering to either tell them that the Grounders probably had more knowledge about the plants than she did, nor to actually go outside the walls to gather some plants.
"Nate?" Katherine asked the boy who had been given a day off, looking up from her position on the bed. The cub was sprawled across her chest, purring loudly and moving his enormous paws - Katherine thought she liked those the most - as he probably dreamt of a forest full of chickens and elk. Katherine noticed he had gotten heavier in the past days as well, though that was to be expected. "What do you think Bellamy would do if he figured out I have been keeping a panther at camp for the last week?"
Nathan let out a loud sign, his eyebrows scrunched up in wonder. He had been asking himself that question for the past couple of days as well. It had surprised him that nobody had figured it out yet. "He will probably make a stew of that little monster and force you to continue meat duty," he replied after a couple of moments, followed by a loud chuckle. "Though perhaps he might just let it go if you worked your magic."
"Work my magic?" Katherine asked in wonder. She questioned what her abilities with plants had to do with Bellamy, but after seeing Nathan wiggle his eyebrows in a less than inappropriate manner, Katherine got the hint. Grabbing a cane that had been laying next to her mattress for the past couple of days because she didn't need it anymore, she poked Nathan carefully in his arm. "That's just gross, Nate," Katherine said, shaking her head in disbelief. "He's been going through girls like water, sometimes even two at a time."
"Do I detect a bit of jealousy there?" Nathan asked suggestively, earning himself another poke. Not that it helped to quit his thunderous and contagious fit of laughter.
"Not in the slightest," Katherine replied, her nose scrunched up in disgust. Sure, Bellamy was handsome, but boy did he know it as well. Besides, she couldn't take his mood swings and it seemed like he couldn't handle hers, so that was a problem quickly solved.
Moving to lay the cub down on its own, Katherine scrambled to her feet. She stared down at Nathan with raised eyebrows and he glanced back at her in the same way, though his eyes seemed to be asking if she was completely sure, whereas hers asked if he could contain himself just for once. After a couple of seconds, Katherine broke the eye contact, knowing that Nathan was just as stubborn as she was and that she didn't want to waste too much time on their stupid contest.
Katherine stepped out of the tent, closing the flap with the clip Nathan had installed and after she turned around, she took a quick moment to observe camp. The walls that had been built were being fortified and Katherine had to admit that the water system some people had made was quite impressive. She was just in time to see Clarke walk determinedly into the Dropship, Finn trailing after like a lost puppy. She hadn't seen the couple a lot these past few days, and she wondered if there was something serious going on between the two of them. She also noticed the way Octavia was trying to get Jasper to join her outside the camp gates, and after meeting both of their gazes, Octavia's encouraging, Jasper's like he was about to shit bricks, she gave them a quick wave, which they returned.
Sure, Octavia still wasn't her favourite person, or that was what Katherine had been trying to tell herself. At first, Katherine was convinced of the fact that Octavia was just a spoiled brat, getting everything from her brother by just battering her eyelashes at him, but in the past couple of days, she had proven herself more capable than most of the 100. Katherine was slowly getting used to the wild chatter that would leave her mouth and her sometimes misplaced, but always well-intended behaviour.
Katherine observed Charlotte work in the middle of camp, trying to tie some knots around the logs that were supposed to form a defence mechanism. With a small smile covering her face, Katherine approached Charlotte and knelt down next to the seemingly frustrated girl. After having spent a couple of nights with her, Katherine could conclude that though her myths might calm the girl down, they were no actual match against her nightmares. Not that that revelation had made Katherine quit telling stories.
"It's better to do it like this," Katherine said gently to the girl whose cheeks were red in frustration. Grabbing the blue cord, Katherine first untied the loose knots that Charlotte had made and then proceeded to show the girl how easily it could be done. She had always ached her Earth Skill classes. "In this way the knot is strong, but if we need the rope for something else, we can easily get the knots out."
Katherine never got quite used to the stares of amazement Charlotte always gave her whenever she did something. Mostly, she just tried to ignore them, like she did now as she gently steered the girl towars the next logs. Giving her an encouraging smile, Katherine handed her the new pieces of rope.
Just as Katherine was about to move away to tie the next knot, some guy who was carrying a tree trunk fell down onto one knee, dropping the trunk next to him. Katherine observed the guy, it was obvious that he was exhausted and she wondered for how long he had been carrying tree trunks around.
"Hey! You think the Grounders are just gonna sit around, and wait for us to finish the wall?" Murphy entered. He walked away from his place next to Bellamy who he had been discussing something with, talking and staring down the exhausted boy in a manner that made Katherine pitty him. "Maybe we should let the little girl or the Wicked-Witch do the lifting for you, huh?"
As soon as Murphy involved Charlotte into the conversation, Katherine quickly moved to stand next to the younger girl, wrapping an arm protectively around her tiny shoulders. Looking down at the little girl, who stared in obvious fear at Murphy, Katherine made a mental note to braid her hair again tonight and to tell her the story about Theseus and the Labyrinth, so that perhaps she would forget Murphy's threatening behaviour.
"I just need some water, okay? Then I'll be fine," the boy who was still breathing heavily pleaded. He didn't even dare to look Murphy in the eye.
"Frog-Face," Katherine snapped in anger. She didn't get why everybody feared Murphy like he was the devil himself, which he very well might be, because if you pierced through the though macho act he was putting up, it was very clear that he was an insecure, not all too bright boy with some serious issues. "If you dare involve Charlotte-"
"Murphy, just get this guy some water," Bellamy joined in on their conversation, quickly drowning out Katherine's threat. He shot Katherine a warning glance, hoping that the girl would get the hint and not push Murphy any further. Bellamy didn't exactly know why, but he just didn't want the girl to get herself in any more trouble. His eyes quickly wandered to Charlotte as he realised he was staring, and he smiled at the younger girl who had found herself a special place in his heart. "Hey, you got this?"
Katherine watched both in awe and wonder as the girl ducked from underneath her arm to do as Bellamy asked her. Just as her hands were about to touch the rough skin of the tree, Bellamy shot forward, smiling at the younger girl in a way that made Katherine's heart ache. It reminded her of the way her mother used to smile at her when she had managed to made Katherine do something by the use of reversed psychology.
"I'm just kidding," Bellamy said smiling. Without any trouble, he lifted the trunk on his shoulder, balancing the heavy tree on one hand as if he did it every day. He looked at Katherine, catching her staring at him with a look he couldn't quite put his finger on, and he shot her a neither sour nor particularly friendly glance. "Can you meet me in my tent in five?"
Katherine wasn't sure what she was supposed to reply. She didn't really want to go to Bellamy's tent to hear him talking about her like he had figured her all out, or worse, to reprimand her, but at the same time she was curious to know what he wanted to talk about, so instead of replying verbally, she just nodded.
"Why does Bellamy want to talk to you?" Charlotte asked curiously. She looked up at Katherine in wonder, her fingers tying absentminded knots.
Katherine shrugged, tying a final knot. She figured that if she would get to Bellamy's tent faster than he could, she would have a couple of minutes for herself to snoop around. She smiled at Charlotte, walking over to the girl and pressing a small kiss against her forehead. "I better go to find that out, though it's probably going to be some form of chastising. He can't seem to get enough of that."
Not waiting for Charlotte to reply, Katherine crossed camp to get to Bellamy's tent. She ignored the stares and looks some of the hundred were giving her, fiddling with her fingers nervously. Ever since she had brought back the panther to camp, the most barbarous stories about her had been spread. Katherine had made it very clear that she had found the panther with an antler protruding from its back and that she had only sped up its inescapable death, but people only heard what they wanted to hear and believed what they wanted to believe. The wildest story she had heard so far had been the one of her killing the panther with her creepy eyes and she guessed that one could come from no one but Murphy.
Katherine halted right before Bellamy's tent, looking at the big structure of it. She wanted to enter, but she didn't really feel like she had the right to do so. It felt like trespassing, heck, it was trespassing, but when has that ever stopped her? Scoffing at her self for her soft thoughts, she moved the flap of the tent to step inside. It was Bellamy they were talking about after all. If the roles were reversed, Bellamy would probably have been lying on her bed acting like the prince he thought he was.
Katherine turned a circle around her axis, admiring the way the tent was built. It was obvious that it was the biggest tent of them all, but the way it was decorated surprised Katherine the most. They had sent them down with nothing, but Bellamy appeared to have many possessions. Clothes littered the ground, those from girls among them, and Katherine scrunched up her nose in disgust, though she guessed it wasn't her place to have an opinion about the matter.
She noticed the map that Clarke had found on their first day on the ground draped over some trunk that seemed to function as a table. Katherine vaguely remembered Clarke saying something to her about a missing map, and the clear distress in the blonde's eyes.
Without a moment of hesitation, Katherine grabbed the map and folded it up neatly so she could put in her jacket. Just as she zipped up, Bellamy entered the tent, causing Katherine's look to snap up at the older Blake. She hoped for as long as their conversation went on, he wouldn't notice that the map was missing, or else she was bound to get her ass kicked.
"You like snooping around in people's personal stuff?" Bellamy asked her with his infamous smirk. He crossed his arms and surprisingly, he didn't appear to be too bothered by it.
"Just as much as you like to push people to tell their personal stories," Katherine replied casually, effectively wiping that smirk off his face, replacing it with a look of guilt. She wondered if he was really able to feel guilt or if it was all an act, because if so, he was damn good at playing it.
Katherine looked at Bellamy unfazed before turning her back towards him and observing the tent for more interesting possesions. She waited for his snappy remark, one that would justify his behaviour. She anticipated it, her brain already forming all kinds of throwbacks, but when he remained quiet, she turned around again, her eyebrows frowning and her arms crossed. "So why did you ask to meet me?"
Bellamy went to grab something from behind a log and when he handed it to her, Katherine looked at the fur in awe. It took her a minute to realise she was supposed to take the fur in her own hands and when she did so, her hands touched Bellamy's, causing an electrical pulse to move through her body. She ignored it as she softly patted the cleaned skin, wondering who in camp was able to skin an animal like this. She was glad that they had removed the head, for it would have probably haunted her till the end of her days.
Instead of a snide remark or a snappy comment, Katherine just looked up at Bellamy gratefully. "Thank you."
Bellamy scoffed as she replied, the sound not sounding particularly mean, but more like disbelief. He looked at her in amazement, as if she had just explained to him how life had come to exist, and feeling slightly uncomfortable under his staring gaze, she tried to make herself smaller. She hated herself for it, because it reminded of the way she backed down every time doctor Noah used to come over.
"Quit looking at me like that," Katherine muttered under her breath. She eyed the black fur, noticing that it was still glossy. She couldn't handle with stares of amazement or fascination, she never had and she probably never would. "You're making me uncomfortable."
"I'm sorry," Bellamy grinned, his eyes wandering down her body as if that was making things better. "It's just that I just came to the conclusion that must have been the first thing you said to me that didn't contain a secret death wish. It even sounded remotely nice."
"Oh shut up, I don't hate you or wish for you to be death," Katherine replied with a scoff. Without thinking her actions through, she gave Bellamy a nudge with her shoulder. It was only after a split second that the realisation of what she had done hit her, and she took an awkward step back, thinking about the things she had said. With a jolt of surprise, she recognised it was true. Sure, she didn't always like Bellamy and she couldn't keep up with his mood swings, but she didn't necessarily hate him all the time.
"Oh, that's nice to know," Bellamy replied, giving her a soft nudge back. He looked at her reaction closely, half expecting her to zone off into an unknown world to him or for her to end up in a panic attack. Much to his surprise, he saw her crack a small smile, though it was replaced by her usual grim draw of lips so fast he questioned if he had really seen it or made it up.
Katherine looked down at the fur, under which her hands were fiddling nervously, though she made sure Bellamy couldn't see it. She didn't allow the situation to turn awkward, taking a step towards the exit of the tent. She showed Bellamy one of her rare and unusual soft smiles, the ones she usually reserved for Charlotte, and nodded with her head towards the vague direction her, Nate's and Charlotte's tent must be. "I must get going, before Nate starts worrying."
She thought she saw Bellamy's face fall, but he recovered so quickly that she might have imagined it. She waited for him to nod before she would make her way back to her own tent, though she didn't know why, it wasn't like she needed his permission to leave. Shaking her head at her own thoughts, Katherine went to move for her own tent, only to be stopped by an out-of-breath-looking Jasper and Octavia, forcing her back into Bellamy's tent.