I don't own any of these characters. Feel free to review if you have the time x
"I don't want to go on a hunt Bellamy," whined Clarke for what seems like the thousandth time, but in reality was probably closer to the seventh, "I don't like hunting."
"And how do you know that, Princess?" drawled Bellamy. "Have you ever been hunting?"
For that, the dark haired rascal was rewarded with a scowl to which he replied by throwing her a bow.
"You gotta learn sometime Clarke. Everyone does. We need to eat."
"I don't want to kill anything!"
"You won't kill it, but you don't mind eating it? It's about survival. If we don't hunt, everyone will die." He knew that would get to her. Though their relationship hadn't gotten off to the best start, the months that had passed had bought with them a sense of camaraderie between the two, and with that had produced a somewhat unlikely friendship. He knew her. Knew that she would do anything to keep her people alive. Knew that she would never let a situation like that of Wells and Charlotte arise again. Knew that she wouldn't let her people starve.
"Fine. Fine!" She set off for the forest without a backward glance.
"Uh, Princess?" Bellamy called, hardly being able to hide his glee at the thought of continually besting her as the day went on.
"What?" she snapped back. "Oh."
Bellamy was holding up a sheath of arrows, along with a pack full of supplies. "I know you're new to this Clarke, but were you expecting to have to bludgeon the creatures to death? We're teaching you how to shoot."
Clarke stomped back to towards her mentor for the day, grabbed what he was holding out to her blindly and then whirled around and crashed back through the trees. He can't make me shoot anything if there is nothing around to kill, she thought to herself with a satisfied smile, as she attempted to be as loud as she could.
Bellamy stalked her as she walked, following closely enough that he would be able to help if he saw any traps, but other than that giving her space. He knew what she was trying to do. He let her have her fun. Anyway, it was cute to see her so riled up. He smiled at her retreating form and jogged silently to catch up.
He let her walk for about an hour or so (he thought anyway, he didn't have a watch and hadn't yet gotten used to reading the sun) and decided that they should break to rest. There was still half the day left and he wasn't in a hurry to get back to camp.
"Clarke, we can stop here!" he called. She didn't turn, or give any other kind of indication that she had heard him. "Clarke! You-hoo! Princess!" At this she halted and spun around to face him, narrowing her eyes when she saw that he was sitting on the leafy floor of the forest, a good distance away.
"It's funny how you say that you don't like being called Princess, but then only reply to me when I call you that," Bellamy teases.
"Well, I didn't even know if you knew my real name," Clarke says coldly. Bellamy sat up and blinked at her and she smiled at him. "Kidding," she said raising her eyebrows, and dumped her stuff next to him.
When Bellamy leaned over to hand her the water container he touched her knee.
"I like Clarke. Th-the name Clarke. I like your name." God, he thought, that's probably the most awkward thing I've ever said.
"Thanks. I like it too," she paused to collect her thoughts, wondering how to formulate what she was about to say. "My dad picked it." She drew in a deep breath. She didn't talk about her father. Not to anyone. Even that short sentence about him caused a spasm of pain in her chest. It settled there, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to shake it.
When she looked up at Bellamy she was trying to blink her tears away. He didn't say anything, which was good for her, she thought. If he had started spouting platitudes about how it was okay to cry then he wouldn't have been the Bellamy she knew. Hell, she didn't even think he would be a Blake. She couldn't imagine Octavia doing that either. He just shifted a little closer and allowed the very tips of their fingers to touch, a small gesture of human contact which made her feel as though the cavern in her chest wasn't quite so empty today. It made her smile. And it made her strong enough to stand up when he did to continue on their way.
They had been walking for miles.
"Bellamy Blake you tell me where we are going right now or I'm heading back to camp," Clarke said suddenly, pulling her companion out of his daydream.
"I mean it," she warned, stubbornly coming to a halt.
She watched as Bellamy's eyes lost the haze from whatever he had been thinking about and tapped her foot expectantly.
Bellamy fought the urge to shake the thoughts out of his head. They had been walking for a long time, and he was exhausted. It could be the only reason that he was unable to get his mind out of the gutter. Walking behind Clarke, seeing her shapely form sway to and fro while she was walking had done something funny to his stomach. It made him go all tingly. It meant that he had been unable to take his eyes off her backside. What the hell is this? Bellamy thought. I don't have romantic feelings for Clarke. I don't have the time or the patience to have feelings for Clarke. I guess it's just because she's hot. He stayed with his thoughts for a while until the object of them cut across his thinking time.
"Much as I adore standing in the forest this close to dark Bellamy, I was hoping that we actually had somewhere to go?" Clarke loved being sarcastic. She loved seeing his mind work as he tried to come up with a retort to match hers. She was surprised when he didn't.
"It's right through the next clearing," Bell announced. He wasn't sure why he had made her come all this way. He knew she would like the place that he was showing her, but it had been his place. His safe space. Maybe he figured she needed one too.
"Blake. Why did we come this far out?" She was getting antsy being so far away from the rest of her people. "I know I need to learn to shoot but could we not have practiced that near the camp?"
Bellamy turned to her. "I thought it would be best if we took you as far away from other people as possible. Couldn't have you maiming someone by accident, Griffin," he smirked as a mimicked her.
She gritted her teeth and continued forward, hearing the rushing of a stream and the gentle hum of hundreds of insects.
"Clarke, before we get to where we are going, I need to tell you, this-this... trip... isn't just about hunting. This place is special. I'm sharing it with you because I know you will appreciate it for what it is. And I thought you might need a place to relax too," he said gravely. He must have realised how serious he was sounding, for he waited a moment and then gave an impish grin, pulling her forward into a veritable haven.
