Chapter Two

Despite the fact that she had been preparing for this day, she still had a moment of panic in which she couldn't possibly move. Her breath caught thick in her throat, choking her for just a second before she remembered to breathe again, moving without a sound as she pushed the loose wall tile aide that was behind the shelving which provided walls for her blanket nest.

With that pushed aside, she slunk inside the small gap that lay between walls. Its floor was covered in a thin lining of water, so she stayed on her bare heels, dragging her knife belt through along with her cloak and a few items of clothing before gently sliding the wall back down to cover her tracks. Whoever was in there would sadly have access to the rest of her things, but she could easily strike with one of her knives if she had to.

She listened intently, hearing the loud thudding of careless feet as the cracked walls lit up with light from what she presumed was a torch. She could hear muffled voices though the walls, they were clearly speaking English but she couldn't make out their words until the door to her nest/closet was swung open.

From then, she held her breath as much as she could, breathing only once ever ten to twenty seconds as quietly as she could. "What the?" Whoever was in there was very clearly looking at her bed which was ever so obviously slept in. She just hoped that they didn't touch it to feel it was still so very warm. "Eyes sharp, we might have someone." The deep voice spoke again, obviously male. The air of authority was clear too, though she didn't know the voice.

"Might or do?" Came another voice, this one female and impatient. Now that the door was open, River could hear the other voices much more clearly. It had been so long since she'd spoken to another person though, she wasn't sure she'd recognise someone's voice even if she knew them.

She heard the shrugging of heavy clothes followed by a sigh. "Looks slept in. Maybe it's been empty for a while-"

"There's fresh meat here." The female voice announced.

River's insides chilled. She didn't care if they took her food or her other clothing, she could always find or make more, but her map was out there and it was incredibly close to the meat. She needed that map. It was the only notebook that had been on the whole Station and she was down to the last pencil. She couldn't simply find another map, not one with the annotations that she needed.

"How fresh?" Asked a third female voice.

"Feels a few hours old at best. It's cold in here though, could be a day."

"Okay, sort through everything. We might be able to use some of it back in Arkadia."

"Someone might be coming back to all of this." The male voice reasoned, the three of them clearly standing either in or close by River's nest.

Another shrug of heavy clothing. "We came in a rover, it's not like they won't be able to follow us back if they want their stuff. In case you haven't noticed, our tracks are enormous and obvious as hell."

They all spoke some more, a few other voices getting into the mix. River could hear as they exited her room, informing the rest of their group that they would look for anything useful and take what they needed. She found a small crack in one of the walls and pressed her face to it, watching through the minimal hole provided.

The sight shocked her.

Three men and four women. Two of them men were dressed like typical grounders in their furs and bones, but the other one was dressed in a uniform. A guard's uniform. 'Great,' River though, 'they've killed the guards. Guards that had guns.' The women were in similar attire, one wearing generic Ark clothes, one wearing a guard's uniform and the other two, a blonde and a brunette, wearing grounder clothing complete with braided hair.

River watched as they rifled around her home, an angry line on her face. She certainly considered putting her new "Earth Skills" to the test and killing them all, though she could tell that all of the grounders had swords and the guards all had hand guns. She would either have to wait them out or out run them and pray that they didn't know the surrounding land like she did.

Having dragged in just the right amount of clothing, River quickly but quietly dressed, careful not to lean too hard against the walls and not to stand too tall in fear of hitting her head. She strapped her knife belt on and picked up one of the two staffs that she had made, holding a boar's tusk at its end like a jewel.

She used her calloused fingertips to raise the wall panel, fear pumping her blood and warming her through. All it would take was one noise and she would die trying to climb out of a hole in a wall. She'd probably be put back in their too and be left to rot.

It took her about thirty seconds to lift the panel, climb through it and slowly close it again, by which time she stood at her full height of five foot seven, wishing she was more intimidating than she was despite her spear in one hand and her other hand holding onto one of her knives, ready to pull it out and launch it should she have to.

"Rae, why don't you check around for anything you can use. I know it's all in the water but something might be salvagable. Nyko, you and I can look for medicines, everyone else either stand guard or root around." The blonde grounder spoke with authority and the others did exactly as she said.

Not wanting to be stuck with all of them for too long, River nimbly fished her map containing book and pencil from the ground along with a small hatchet that she had been trying to make. It looked much more like a hammer but she didn't care, slipping it into her belt all the same with her book tucked into the waistline of her pants.

She wasn't really sure how to go about this. Did she burst out? Did she try to sneak? She really didn't know. Perhaps there was some form of ettiquette that she didn't know about when it came to fleeing your home.

That choice, however, was taken from her when the door creaked and the brunette grounder noticed her.

'Shit.' She cursed quickly, mentally preparing herself before she bolted, keeping her stance low and poweful. She used a quick scare tactic of force and powered into the man in a guard's uniform. She took him straight to the floor and was shooting straight back to her feet once more, running while he yelled and the other grounder took a swing at her. She dodged with a quick duck, batting the girl hard with her staff, never stopping running.

Adrenaline coursed through her as she ran, her muscles alight with fire. She didn't stop as she surged into the water, taking the quickest route to shore only to be blinded by two enormous lights. She reared back for just a second, but that was enough, a shot ringing out and something ripping through her shoulder.

This time it was her that was dragged to the floor. Straight into the water.

She'd never been shot before and by god it hurt. It really hurt.

Pain was exploding in her chest as a constant force as she picked herself up, her entire front soaked and her hair falling in a slick curtain over her face. She gasped in pain, breathing as deeply as she could, panic having its hold on her.

Another shot rang out, though she didn't hear this one. Nor did she feel it. She simply fell again, this time confused by the force and oblivious to the pain. She managed to get up much more easily this time, staff in hand, springing heavily and clumsily into the trees.

Confused, in pain, scared, diorientated, she ran in the general direction that she wanted, hearing yet another shot, thankful that this one didn't hit her already torn right shoulder. The lake sat at the top of a cliff that was surely a hunderd feet or more to the ground. At the bottom of said cliff was another lake, this one was vast and deep and she suspected that it had underwater caves. No, she prayed it did.

She was becoming more sentient as she reached the edge, able to hear the people behind her screaming at one another and at her, the roaring of an engine, the firing of a gun.

So she leapt.

So this chapter's a little longer and hopefully was alright. I hope you guys are fond of River, I know I'm not doing a great job with her but I swear right now that I'll try to bring her to life and make her entertaining and dangerous.

As before, please feel free to point out my mistakes or to just tell me how you're feeling about it. If anyone has any ideas then feel free to throw them at me, though I have a genaral idea of where this is all going in the long run to I hope you're entertained until then. Thank you for reading!