Rumors

Chapter nine

Lincoln woke early, like usual. He had always been an early riser, getting up before even the sun started to rise over the horizon. This particular morning, after spending plenty sleepless nights hiding within the branches of a tree, and then recovering from the torture the sky people had put him through, he woke up much slower than normal. The two previous nights he hadn't slept, too concerned with Katarina's wellbeing to truly close his eyes, and rest. He had hovered near her like a mothering hen, waiting and watching to see if she would wake.

This morning however, he woke after a full night's rest, and could hear the faint noise of birds singing within the trees just outside the cave. The two of them the day before, had spent the entire day together, receiving visitors only twice to disturb them.

Turning his head downward, Lincoln stared at the mop of red hair that tickled his nose. He breathed her in, smelling a hint earth and blood. His lips twisted into a frown as the smell of copper lingered in his senses as he stared at the cut on her head, that had been stitched up to help heal the wound. He had applied a poultice to the wound, but it had fallen off at some point while they slept. The stitches looked clean, the wound seemed to be healing nicely.

They both needed to bathe, after being dragged through the forest and then beaten, they both looked rather worse for wear. Not that it had deterred his arousal for the girl. Even now, his body craved to have her again. He felt that he would never be sated, now that he had had her several times the day before. It had been all he could do to keep his hands to himself when they laid down to sleep. Even now, he felt the urge to taste her.

Katarina made a soft noise under her breath, her face shifting, and rubbing her cheek against the place she had claimed as a pillow over his chest. Absently his fingers touched her hair, running the strands over the pads of his fingers, and felt the dirt, and grime that had accumulated over the last few days. Beneath the furs, their bodies were both naked, and pressed together firmly, and most likely just as filthy. One of her legs had draped over both of his while he laid on his back during the night, her attempt to keep them close. His right arm was curled underneath her body keeping her flush against him.

His fingers continued to play with her hair, his eyes watching her face as she slept peacefully within his bed, and in his arms. A part of him expected to wake from this dream, that none of it had happened. While the other part was starting to think he could get used to waking up with her at his side. Or still buried inside her body. His cock twitched to life, hardening as the images flooded his mind.

Ravenous.

Kat made a sound, her brows furrowing together before her eyes slowly blinked open. She laid there quietly, her eyes slowly adjusting to the sight of the chest she used as her pillow. The light tug at her hair had her head tilting up, and she found his mouth pressing against hers greedily. She smiled into the kiss, her hand moving from where it had laid over his heart, to cup the side of his face.

They pulled apart a few moments later, her face flushed, and her hair in a disarray as his fingers had curled around the strands to hold her firmly to him. She licked her lips, wondering why she didn't feel suddenly shy. She had read books, and seen movies with scenes similar to this. There was always some form of awkwardness, or doubt that made the people involved, second guess, or question what had happened between them. She didn't feel it.

Kat stared up into his eyes, reading the expression that she had grown used to when she caught him staring at her. The intensity in that look alone, said more than any words he could give her. Her lips curved into a smile, and she pecked his lips with a quick kiss, before she was pulling away. She had every intention of getting up, and getting dressed then. She wanted to stretch her legs, and the muscles that she had neglected, while working other muscles that she hadn't even realized existed.

Lincoln tightened his hold on her, his arm curling around her waist, and brought her back down against him. As they toppled back into the furs, she laughed out loud, her head turning up again to give him her best glare. It came across more like a pout, as she struggled to keep the smile off her lips, and failed. He smirked at her in return, before his arm reluctantly released her, and he watched her get to her feet.

His eyes took in the creamy tone that was her skin, as it had hardly been exposed to the sun, so unlike his own. The bandage that had been wrapped around her ribs, had come undone during the night, leaving her completely bare for his eyes to burn a trail as she moved to the pile of clothes, that Octavia had brought her the night before. The bruise over her side from where that Murphy boy had kicked her, was yellowing already, quickly healing since the ordeal, as she took care not to aggravate the wound. Fresh bruises peppered over her hips, and thighs, and his lips curled as he recognized that those had come from him as he had made love to her the day before.

Throwing the furs aside, he climbed to his feet, and approached her, his hands going to her hips, and his fingers were gentle as they fell into place where they had left the bruises. She sighed, though the sound didn't sound pained, or agitated with him.

"You know, we can't stay in here forever," she commented idly, and while he wasn't able to see her face, he could hear the hint of a smile in the tone she used. He would have to whole heartedly disagree with that statement, but she was already talking before he could say so. "We'll have to eat eventually…" As she said this, her stomach growled, and he found himself laughing as she looked up with a flush to her face. Clearly embarrassed as her stomach alerted them, that she was indeed hungry.

"I will take you hunting then," he said firmly and pulled away from her body with great reluctance.

"Hunting," she inquired, turning to face him as she slipped into her underwear.

Lincoln nodded his head, watching her, as he dressed in his own clothes. "In order to survive down here, you will want to learn how to hunt for your food," he said, as he fastened his pants. He had seen the sky people's abilities at hunting. It was quite laughable really. It would be a miracle if they made it to winter, and even then, they would most likely starve, as the food source became scarce.

Kat smiled at him, despite the uneasiness that weighed in her gut. She'd never killed an animal before, and the idea bothered her. Strange concept considering, who she was. "A-alright," she said, and turned back to her clothes.

The pair of pants that Octavia had gotten her, were more her size, fitting snug around her waist so that she didn't even need a belt to hold it up over her narrow hips, like her last pair. These pants were a set of cargo pants done up in camo coloring, and as she looked at the unusual patterns, she had to wonder if they would actually help her blend in with the forest. To her, standing in the soft lighting of the cave, they seemed to stand out like a sore thumb. Lincoln had seemed impressed by Octavia's find though, mentioning that the clothes would help keep Kat warmer for the winter months, unlike her clothes from the Ark would have.

Kat was trying to fasten her bra behind her back now, stretching the sore muscles in her forearms, with a grimace. Lincoln was suddenly behind her, and took the straps from her fingers. With more expertise than she thought he would have, he managed to hook the bra to the right fit as her arms fell back to her sides.

"Uh thanks," she said slowly, turning once he was finished, to face him. "You're pretty handy to have around."

His lips crooked into a smirk to match the one that played on her own features. He reached for the top, that had been neatly folded, and helped it on over her head. It was a thermal top, with long sleeves, and a dark forest green color to go with the pants.

"Better," he asked her, and she nodded her head.

Kat was still feeling a little weak, and sore from yesterday, but not in a bad way though. She looked him over, taking in the clothes she had grown used to seeing him wear. She might need to talk to him about a pair of gloves like those. Murphy would think twice taking her on, with a set of bone knuckles to back up her punch if he came anywhere near her.

"Yes," she answered as she looked down at herself. Her boots were dry, and sitting near the far wall of the cave, the socks stuffed into the holes for safe keeping. She was quick to slip the socks onto her feet.

Kat had just finished with the first boot, when they heard the distinct sound of someone walking up to the front of the cave.

"Hello," Octavia called out, having learned the hard way the night before not to just head in unannounced.

Kat flushed as she looked towards the entrance, while Lincoln struggled to hide his smile behind his hand as he turned away from her, to retrieve his weapons. Octavia had learned quick it seemed, after walking in on them last night.

"Come in," Kat called out, when Lincoln made no move to let the girl know she could enter. She shot him a peeved look, and at the sight of his smirk, her face flushed. "God you're such a perv." She muttered, and turned back to lacing her second boot.

Lincoln laughed out loud, as Octavia walked slowly into the cave. She looked between them quickly, and the relief that seemed to visibly relax her shoulders, when she saw they were both decent, had him barking out another laugh at her expense. He caught sight of Kat's reddened face, as he slipped a blade into his boot, and he knew she was thinking about the instance when Octavia had walked in on them. Lincoln had just pinned Kat to the wall a second time, with her back to him, and her hands braced against the stone surface. It had been passionate, and heated the way she had let him take her like that.

Kat watched as Lincoln's eyes darkened again, and the intense look he was searing straight to her bones, had her flushing more and looking away.

Insatiable, she thought with a shake of her head. She forced her attention to focus on Octavia, as the girl stepped into the room further.

Octavia was relieved to find them both dressed, and on opposite sides of the cave. She tried not to think of the night before, and instead let her features slip into the familiar amused expression, as she watched Kat get all flustered. She cared for Kat, more than she expected possible, after such a short time of knowing her. Like a gravitational pull, she felt herself gravitating to the other girl, and that was what had led to the friendship that sprung between them.

Looking between the two of them again, she could see that pull was not just subjected to her. She didn't exactly trust the grounder, though. Bellamy's words were always ringing in her head about how dangerous they were. And then there was Jasper's doubts filling her head, from when they talked in the middle of the night, unable to sleep as they worried about Kat being out here on her own. But Octavia trusted Kat. More than she ever thought possible. More than Bellamy even. If Kat said Lincoln was good, then she trusted her friend, and let herself trust the grounder, despite the small voice in her head telling her to grab Kat, and run.

"What's up," Kat said as she straightened, wanting to fill the awkward silence with something other than the heavy tension.

The two of them looked like they were just heading out.

"Came to see how you were doing," Octavia said, and added just for the hell of it, despite her own embarrassment of the situation, "-Making sure you're still alive, and all, after- you know last night's extracurricular actives and all."

Octavia looked at Lincoln first to see him smirking at her, his arms moving to cross themselves over his chest. He was definitely not easily embarrassed, as she felt her own cheeks pinking at her own brazenness.

Damn was that man built fine. Octavia's eyes lingered over the stretch of the tight shirt stretched across those broad muscles of his. She turned her attention to Kat to gauge her reaction to her words, and was satisfied to see Kat openly gaping at her statement, and that the red hue was back on her friend's cheeks once more.

"I'm fine," Kat said sharply, her teeth clicking loudly as she snapped her mouth shut. She suddenly felt like the two of them had ganged up on her, wanting to see who could embarrass her more. Before she could add more, Octavia plowed on to the more prominent reason as to why she had showed up so early.

"Clarke asked how you were doing," Octavia added as she rocked back on her heels. She had crossed her arms over her chest, her dark eyes looking Kat over to measure her response.

Kat pulled herself back, her face schooling into a hard stare. "As if her Highness really cares about our wellbeing," she said a little more harshly than she intended. But at the moment, she didn't feel guilty with the way she reacted to the information. Clarke could hike her ass up a tree for all she cared.

"She does," Octavia said with an aggravated sigh. She wasn't exactly thrilled about being here as their leader's messenger, but her brother had sort of in his own roundabout way, begged her to. And while she didn't exactly feel like she owed her brother anything, he was still her brother. He was all she had for family.

"Look I know what they did was wrong, but they are sorry. That probably doesn't mean shit to you, since it doesn't really mean shit to me, and I wasn't even the one they took a whip to-" Octavia stalled there, wanting to phrase this right so not to piss her friend off so bad, that she walked away. She didn't want to ruin their friendship, or push Kat away. If anything she was here more for her own selfish reasons. She wanted Kat back at the camp just as much as the others did, if not more. She didn't want to go another night, worrying about her out here, without the safety of their walls, and numbers. How was Kat safe out here with one man protecting her? He hadn't even been able to protect her against Bellamy, and Murphy who were amateurs at this survival stuff. "-But they want you to come back to camp, so that they can try to make things right for what they did. Things have changed there with the two of them now sharing the leadership, and all. It's not as chaotic as before."

Kat stared hard at Octavia for a long time, not saying anything. Her friend was right about one thing. Their apologies meant shit to her. Just because she could understand why they had fallen down that path, and understood what had lead them to take that leap, didn't mean she would easily forget what they had done. Or forgive them just because they had changed their ways.

"I'm not going back to the camp," she said with finality.

She hadn't even asked Lincoln if she could stay with him, or if he was even alright with her living here. But she would rather live in the forest, and take her chances with the animals, then walk willingly through that gate after having been dragged through it just days ago. Wells had always hated how stubborn she was, and her inability to forgive or give in, even if she was proven wrong. Chalk it up to her temper, her personality, or being isolated for so long, it was who she was. She wasn't about to change that. Especially not for those two.

Octavia narrowed her eyes at her, her lips curling down into a deep frown. "And what- you'll just live out here in the woods?" she snapped in response, her own temper getting the best of her. She straightened herself then, her head turning to the side as she looked away from Kat. "You know what- fine." Octavia turned, and left then, not bothering to say goodbye or wait for Kat to respond.

Kat watched her friend walk away, and she felt her body sag a little in defeat. It wasn't until after Octavia had left, that she realized that maybe- Octavia hadn't really been asking her to come back for Clarke and Bellamy's guilty conscious.

"You can stay here," Lincoln said after the silence had stretched on too long after Octavia's sudden departure.

Kat turned her surprised stare to him, and her eyes took in his rigid stance. He was never relaxed around Octavia, Monty or Jasper the way he was relaxed around her. He never seemed to let his guard down when they came near, even though he knew they were her friends. That they would never harm her.

"Is that so," she asked him slowly, and she watched as minutely his body began to relax, and he turned his head to look at her. There was that look in his eyes again. He looked ready to devour her again. As if he hadn't had enough to feed an army the day before.

"Yes," he said slowly, the word coming out more like a growl as he stared at her.

She felt her body flush, instant desire flooding her system at that one word. He took a step towards her, and Kat was raising her arms up to ward him off even though every fiber of her being wanted to let him cross the room, and take what he wanted from her. "Oh no," she began, and took a step back, finding herself up against the wall of the cave. He moved after her, and she managed to side step him, and dart out the cave. "You said you were going to teach me to hunt! We'll never leave at this rate," she called out over her shoulder, as she laughed.

He chased her out the cave, his arms encircling around her waist, and he pulled her up short, and then flush against him. She laughed, as he pressed his lips against her neck, and breathed in. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to drag her back to the cave, but in the end he slowly released her.

"Alright," he said with an amused look, and he indicated with his arm out towards the trees. "First thing you need to learn is how to track an animal."

Kat tried to listen to him, she really did. But more often than not, she found herself distracted, as he tried to teach her how to track, and hunt an animal. The sound of his voice, the way the sun filtering in through the trees and made his eyes seem more like honey than brown, kept stealing her thoughts and concentration from what he tried to teach her.

Lincoln gave her a patient look, when he caught her staring at the strong line of his jaw, and the fullness of his lips when he spoke, instead of listening to what he was saying. He seemed more amused by her distracted state, than annoyed, and had started tugging at her hair when she seemed to get lost in her own mind. He could always tell when her eyes seemed to zero in on something that had caught her attention, and her eyes would stare nearly unblinkingly until brought back to the present.

Pointing to a set of fresh tracks, Lincoln motioned for Kat to take the lead. She looked at the nearby foliage for signs of disturbances. She really should have listened, when he had tried to explain to her what to look for. Her eyes looked to the ground and tried to follow the hoofed prints. When they disappeared into a pile of leaves that had shed from the trees overhead, she grew impatient. Looking in either direction, she tried to guess which way the animal would have gone, and in the end picked the wrong direction.

"Katarina," Lincoln said softly, his voice no louder than a soft whisper on the breeze, as it ruffled the dirty strands of hair that framed her face.

She looked back at him, and he indicated in the opposite direction, and pointed to a broken twig that stuck out of a tree and the bent blades of grass a few feet of way.

"Right," she muttered and turned to head that way.

He didn't tease her, but let her take the lead again, and only helped to correct her when she got confused, and turned down the wrong direction. As they approached the buck that they had been tracking, Lincoln guided her to stay low, and he reached for the bow that he had brought with them. It had been slung over his shoulder along with a quiver of arrows.

With practice ease he nock the arrow and pulled the string taunt as he aimed at the deer. Lincoln looked over at Kat, making sure she watched the way he held it before relaxing his hold. He then indicated to the place in front of him.

To say she was nervous, was an understatement. She moved quietly to stand in front of him, looking between the bow, and the deer before turning her head to look at him. He held the weapon out to her and she reluctantly took it from him. His hands were gentle as he helped guide her to nock the arrow, and draw back the string. He only had to lift her elbow up a few inches before he seemed pleased with her steady stance. He checked her aim, and the tension of the string before he nodded his head to her.

Kat looked at the deer, and tried to tell herself that this was to feed them. This wasn't pointless killing. They needed to eat, and meat was a good source of protein. She swallowed, and before she could talk herself out of it, she released the arrow. She'd never shot an arrow before, but the strength in her hold had made it sail the several yards between them, only to thwack into the tree a few feet near the deer's ass. The sound had the animal crying out, and fleeing the area.

"Shit," she hissed under her breath, and stood up on instinct. She watched the deer disappear, before she could even think to grab a second arrow, and try again.

Beside her, Lincoln was smiling but he settled a large hand onto her shoulder to let her know it was alright. "I didn't expect you to get it the first time," he admitted when she looked at him with a pout. "That wasn't bad for your first attempt though."

Kat sighed, and let him lead her to the arrow that was stuck half an inch into the tree. Had she even hit the deer, it wouldn't have killed it or slow it down all that much anyway it seemed. Lincoln retrieved the arrow, showing her how to salvage it before placing it into the quiver with the rest.

They moved further along, and in the end, her shot never got any better, but it at least never got any worse either. She had the strength to shoot the arrow, just not the aim to get the target. Lincoln was patient though, never growing exasperated with her inability to get better. They tried several times, before he called that lesson to an end, and lead her to a river instead.

Kat found herself sitting on a rock as Lincoln used his knife to carve a spear out of a limb he had hacked off a tree. She couldn't imagine the life he had lived, growing up, forced to survive this type of environment. Kill or be killed. Hunt for what you needed to survive. It all seemed so exhausting.

When he was done, Lincoln then showed her how to fish. Or at least the way his people fished. Kat had seen other methods that didn't seem nearly exciting. She had never been well known for her patience, but Kat found standing there, knee deep in the water in just her underwear, that this was much easier than trying to shoot a deer.

She waited, barely letting herself to breathe, in fear of startling the fish that had mistaken her submerged legs as just another obstacle to swim around. Lincoln had showed her the opportune time to attack, to calculate the speed the fish swam to when she should strike. Math, she could do.

Kat struck in one fluid motion, and as the spear pierced the river's surface, her vision was obscured by the mass of ripples. She didn't let it detour her movements though, following it straight through until the tip struck the ground. She waited a breath, allowing herself the moment to breathe, before she pulled the spear out, and was rewarded with a limp fish run through by her spear.

Kat felt pride, like nothing she had ever felt before, swell within her chest, and her heart felt like it wanted to explode. She looked over at Lincoln, who had stood on the shore to watch her from a distance, and he had a smile of his own teasing at his lips. There was no shock there, no impressed look that told her he was surprised she had managed to do it, after so few little attempts of trying to catch one. The look on his face just simply told her, he knew she could do it. That he had known all along that she was a survivor.

Kat charged out of the river, splashing water everywhere, and dropped the spear onto the rocks, before throwing herself into his arms. He caught her with a slight grunt, before he was hefting her up into his arms, and her legs wrapped around his waist. She cupped his face with her hands, and angled his face up towards hers, before she was kissing him.

Lincoln growled against her mouth, his own opening beneath hers to devour her. She made a sound that seemed to spur him on, and his hands were gripping her ass tightly to hold him firmly against his erection. It had been hard not to get turned on watching her stand there, poised to strike, and half naked in the water. It had been nearly impossible to just stand there and watch, instead of charging into the water, and taking her right then and there.

A branch snapped nearby, and it was Lincoln who tore away from her mouth, his body tensing. It told a lot, how loud they were trying to be as they surrounded them, when they alerted him to their presence when they decided to. It also said a lot, just how distracted he had been, that he hadn't realized they were there until it was too late to do anything about it. Lincoln slowly lowered Kat back to the ground, and she looked confused as she stared up at him.

She could feel the tension in his shoulders, and the set in his jaw as his eyes darted over to the tree line in the direction to his left. Kat followed his stare, and watched as a boy stepped out of the trees. The boy was young, possibly younger than sixteen as he lacked any signs of facial hair, or a muscular frame. His face was painted, and dirty, his clothes covered in foliage to help him blend into the background.

Another grounder stepped out of the trees behind her next, and she only knew he was there, by the way Lincoln turned his attention to look that way. Three more stepped out then, and Kat realized that they were surrounded by grounders.

AN: Hey sorry for the wait. But here is chapter 9. I do apologize for any mistakes, I did not get the chance to edit this.

Inky out