CHAPTER FIVE
everyday been alright up until now
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𝐅or what seemed like the hundredth time, Elliot came across Octavia's brother again. She was on her way back to a familiar place so she could get ready to break Lincoln out of their camp when she stumbled upon a strange scene. Bellamy was in the middle of the dark woods, seemingly out of his mind, like he was in a trance, and letting a person beat the hell out of him. It didn't really make any sense. Bellamy would never let anyone touch him.
For a minute, she just stood there, watching the boy beat him to a pulp. There was no emotion in her eyes. For all she knew he'd done the same to Lincoln inside that dropship. Then there was that slight twinge in her chest again that she just couldn't ignore.
With a quiet curse, Elliot came out behind a tree and charged at the person when he started shooting at someone. Apparently, Clarke Griffin, the blond girl, was also there. She launched at him which took him by surprise. His head on the hard ground as she landed next to him. Elliot immediately tried to strangle him.
Bellamy snapped out of his state when the Grounder was kicked. Quickly, he punched Dax in the face, throwing random ones here and there and fighting back the best he could.
Elliot rolled over the dirt, groaning from the pain that shot up from her torso to her chest. She tried to stand up, only to fail as her legs betrayed her. God, she hated being like this. Clarke caught sight of her and began to panic for some reason. She didn't do anything though so Elliot just ignored the girl. Then the blond tried to charge at Dax, only to get hit by the end of his rifle right in the head.
But then Bellamy found the chance to stab the guy. Dax started choking on his own blood until he could no longer breathe. Then he fell dead on the ground. Just like that, a life was taken by the hands of Bellamy.
Elliot didn't waste any time scrambling up to her feet so she could get away from them. There was no way she was going to stay around them after Bellamy captured her brother. Besides, there wasn't enough time to do all of the things she needed to do.
The night had already encased the Earth with darkness. As soon as she arrived at her home, the silence greeted her like a long-lost friend when she stepped inside the small hut that she once shared with her mother. She was dead. Just like the rest of them. Elliot limped towards the corner of the room, grabbing an empty rucksack on the floor before shuffling towards where she kept all of the vials and medicine.
She quickly began to work, not even bothering to light the torch in the room. She needed to get clean and get the hell out and back to the dropship to help Octavia with Lincoln. That was the plan. At least her plan.
As she cleaned her wounds, all of a sudden, there was shuffling outside the hut. Elliot hastily jumped off the table and grabbed the nearest weapon she could find which was a random sword. Cautiously, she crept towards the curtain that serves as a door. There was a faint silhouette of a person. Slowly, she put her hand on the curtain and pushed it away, revealing someone she didn't quite expect.
"Leave." Elliot walked off with a scowl. Trigedasleng had never sounded so harsh on her tongue until now. But the woman who was outside the door simply stepped inside her hut.
"What happened to you?" She asked when she noticed her wounds, stepping closer to inspect them. Elliot's back touched the side of the table as she pulled back from getting any closer to her.
"You shouldn't be here." Elliot turned her head to the side, avoiding to look at her in the eyes.
Her breath caught when she pushed her away by force. The latter subtly rolled her eyes, strands of dirty blond hair falling down on her face as she threw her head back with a scoff. She stepped away as Elliot limped towards her small bed made out of dried animal skin and other random scavenged stuff.
"Why not?" The woman retorted, which made Elliot clench her jaw from frustration. She really didn't want to deal with anyone at the moment.
"I'm leaving anyway," Elliot muttered, pouring liquid medicine over her wounds like it was no big deal. Pain is weakness, and weakness is death. She repeated like a mantra in her head.
Grabbing a new cloth from a wooden box she hid under her bed, Elliot hastily put it over her body and grabbed the rest of what she needed. The red parka and the scarf she uses as a mask that covers the hideous scar on her face that she doesn't want the others to see.
"Goodbye, Echo," Elliot muttered and walked out of the hut.
Echo, the Azgeda spy, could only sigh in defeat and watched her leave like she does every time.
There were a lot of things that Elliot had to leave behind in the past and Echo was one of them. Love was a curse. Everyone she ever loved either got hurt or died. But then again, maybe it wasn't love to blame. It was her. Elliot wasn't just a curse. She was poison, and everyone around her just simply dies.
Octavia did a good job doing what she told her to do. Everybody was messed out of their mind when she arrived at the dropship. Nobody even paid her any attention as she walked among them. Well, she did scare one of them when his eyes found her scarred face. Elliot ignored him and made her way inside the dropship where Octavia was waiting for her by a ladder that led upstairs. That led to Lincoln.
Elliot was furious at what she saw when she came upstairs. Lincoln was tied on both hands, and there were inflicted wounds on his body. It was everywhere. Octavia threw a bunch of clothes on the floor and went to free him. Elliot began to do the same, ignoring Lincoln's watchful eyes. He obviously didn't agree with her being there and risking her life.
"We need to go," Octavia said hurriedly. With one swift slash from her knife, Elliot cut the binds that kept him there. "Now."
As soon as he was out of his binds, Lincoln stumbled forward but Elliot was there to hold him up. Octavia picked up the clothes and started to help him cover up as quickly as they could before anybody could notice them.
"Why are you doing this?" Lincoln gasped, the pain still taking a toll on his body. His dark eyes flickered towards Elliot, naturally switching to Trigedasleng to speak to her. "You shouldn't be here."
"Just get dressed," Octavia muttered, helping him put on a jacket she stole from somewhere.
"They'll know you helped me," Lincoln grunted.
"They'll suspect her," Elliot corrected as she collected his things that she found strewn all over the floor. The vials. His drawing book. She found it with a page opened. Her own face looked back at her with a smile she didn't recognize. She shook her head inwardly. "But they will think of me."
"Especially my brother," Octavia mumbled with a slight scowl. "Why does he hate you so much?"
Maybe because he couldn't accept the truth. That Elliot, a Grounder, actually saved his life a couple of times now. Instead of saying all of that, the warrior just remained silent as she packed up the rest of Lincoln's things.
"Even in these clothes, I'll be seen," Lincoln said between painful breaths.
Elliot rushed to his side, muttering: "People are seeing a lot of things right now, brother."
She let him take his moment with Octavia before they left the dropship. The two shared a longing kiss before parting ways. At least Lincoln had found his peace with her. Elliot was content with her bows and arrows and swords for now. And the need to protect him and everything else that needed protecting.
The night had fallen when Elliot and Lincoln exited the dropship. Someone did see them. It was the same guy that Lincoln stabbed with the poisoned knife. They stared down each other without words, Elliot went to grab her sword but Lincoln put a hand out to stop her. Finn stepped back a little, watching them closely like he wasn't sure what to do either.
Then Finn subtly tilted his head, gesturing for them to leave. That was enough for Elliot as she tugged Lincoln away from the sky people's camp in the dead of the night.
It wasn't until the next night that Elliot got back to the cave after leaving Lincoln alone for a few hours with freshly hunted birds. By the time she got there, a new surprise greeted her that made her nowhere near ecstatic. She saw the same face she'd seen that night when she broke out Lincoln at the sky people's camp. There was Octavia, too, but she already established the fact that she wasn't harmful.
Elliot didn't say anything but her eye told a lot. She wasn't happy. Finn looked at her with such bewilderment and wonder. She almost had the urge to tell him to back off as his eyes studied her face. Believe it or not, it still bothered her when people did that. She didn't need to be reminded that she looked hideous━that she looked like a monster.
"You're Elliot, right?" Finn offered her a friendly smile.
Elliot only looked at him. Then she walked past them, ignoring everybody's eyes on her. It wasn't the time to be making friends with the enemies. She wasn't even sure if they were worth it enough to be her enemy.
"Why is he here?" Elliot demanded in a hushed voice as she approached Lincoln with a frown on her face.
"He wanted me to bring the Commander to talk about a truce," Lincoln replied in Trigedasleng, like they always do.
"You honestly think that would make everything better?" Elliot said dryly, walking towards the corner and grabbing some herbs and berries.
Nobody said anything.
"Good luck." Elliot looked at them. Her face showed nothing. She said the last words in Grounder language. "Because I'm not gonna be here."
"Where are you going?" Lincoln asked, a deep furrow between his brows.
"Anywhere but here," Elliot muttered, grabbing her sword that leaned against a wall in the cave.
Maybe she lied. Lincoln was too important for her to leave him alone to do something as stupid as that. Her actions would always betray her in the end.
Elliot secretly followed them to the bridge, staying in the trees and bushes like a cautious hawk. She was on the other side, opposite from the other Grounders. She'd given them enough trouble to deal with. As usual, the sky people did not come on their own as promised. She'd been watching them for quite some time now and for some reason, they still hadn't noticed her.
Bellamy was there. Along with two other kids that she didn't recognize. They hid just beneath the bridge, away from the Grounder's sight. It slightly annoyed her that they hadn't realized she had been there the whole time. Honestly, they should've learned by now. But then again, she didn't come to kill them, so it was a win-win situation.
All of a sudden, Bellamy decided to raise his rifle and pointed it directly at Lincoln who was with his sister on the bridge. As fast as she could blink, Elliot jumped out of her hiding spot and unsheathed her sword, pressing the tip of the blade against the back of his neck. The man froze instantly, his Adam's apple nervously moving up and down.
The kids with him were surprised but one of them pointed their rifles at her with shaky hands. One thing for sure, they didn't know how to use it well.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Elliot said calmly but there was a certain edge to her tone. She just couldn't help herself sometimes. Acting impulsively whenever someone tries to hurt the only family she has.
"How about you two put your weapons down, because look!" Raven hissed under her breath, which urged them to turn their attention back to the bridge where they could see the Grounders arrive on their horses.
"I am watching you," Elliot spat in Trigedasleng as she pointed her sword at them with a fierce glare on her face. She put it back in the sheath and turned her back on them, going back into the woods to find a better spot.
"Well, that didn't sound good," Jasper gaped at where she had disappeared both in awe and fear.
Raven couldn't help but shook her head in disbelief. Her hard gaze landed on Bellamy. "Cat got your tongue?"
Bellamy clenched his jaw and ignored them, looking at his little sister, Clarke, and Finn on the bridge instead. He had enough of that Grounder and her unknown language. Well. Partly. Only the language, but definitely not her, he had to admit. Sometimes. Because if it wasn't for her, he probably would've been dead by now.
From what Elliot could see, the talk seemed to be going quite well. She was pretty sure Anya and her Grounders still had a grudge against the sky people for what they'd done to Lincoln. At least that's what he told her. She didn't quite believe him. Besides, the Commander would never agree if not in her condition.
The moment she heard gunshots echoed throughout the vicinity, Elliot knew that the ongoing truce had come to an end. Sometimes, she wonders if these people even know what they're doing. They just couldn't help themselves from ruining things because they thought the situation was not going their way.
"Lincoln!" Elliot ran towards them on the bridge, and the Grounder sighed in relief when he saw the closest thing he had to a family.
"Elliot," Lincoln breathed in relief.
"Finn!" Clarke yelled from behind her. "Get back!"
Elliot turned around and realized the blond was on the ground trying to avoid the arrows currently raining down on them. Finn ran towards her. Elliot ushered the two of them to leave. Before she could even reach Lincoln and Octavia━someone released an arrow towards them. Lincoln abruptly pushed the young girl behind him as the arrow struck him instead. It embedded deep in his shoulder.
"This is why I never leave you," Elliot muttered as she helped him move away from the bridge. Her heart churned at the thought of losing him. He was her brother. Lincoln was family. "You'll get killed without me."
Lincoln wanted to smile or even laugh, but he couldn't even manage to stand up straight on his own. He made the sky people leave them at the bridge, and Elliot raced towards the trees, knowing it would be bad for her if Trikru captured her. She expected the deal to go downhill. Because after all, they were still Grounders, and they will always be Grounders to the eyes of the sky people no matter what good they do.
Because in their perspective, Grounders were vicious killers, and they wouldn't stop until they had all of them.