Look who's alive? It is I, the author who couldn't find time to write for this story until now. But I complete a chapter, so I guess that's all that matters. Man, I have missed this story and it gave me another opportunity to watch the first season of the 100.
I hope you enjoy the new chapter and tell me what you think about it. (If you see any errors, don't worry. I'll go back and fix them, as usual.)
Chapter Eleven: A Convenient Opportunity
Clarke didn't waste a second to start spouting orders. She had ordered for Kaya to stay with Raven when she ran off to look for Bellamy with Finn at her heels. Over his shoulder, Finn shouted to Kaya to keep an eye on Raven. In another situation, she would have ignored him and let Raven follow him, but agreed with him.
Raven looked terrible. It wasn't just the bleeding forehead, it was her entire self. She looked exhausted, and knowing how she would get when she worked on a project, she probably hadn't had proper sleep or eaten anything. It didn't help that she came hurtling down to Earth in a very small pod. Kaya was surprised Raven hadn't passed out.
"Kaya, I need your help."
"What are you doing?" Kaya demanded when she saw Raven trying to get up. "You're supposed to be resting."
"Screw their orders. I'm going. That's my radio and friend that is missing."
"Raven—wait, friend?" Kaya asked, raising an eyebrow. The last time Raven had seen Thomas, she had been annoyed at his chirpiness and couldn't stop complaining about him.
"In such a short time a lot has changed, Kaya. And it won't stop changing."
"Tell me about it," she muttered and rushed towards Raven side when she saw her stagger slightly. "But you should take it easy. You have that nasty cut and maybe a concussion and maybe you're dying."
"I'm fine." Raven brushed off Kaya's concern and Kaya had a hard time trying to keep up with her brisk pace. "But I can't say the same about Thomas."
"You really think something bad happened to him?" Kaya scratched her arm nervously.
"I don't know." Raven groaned, staggering again, and touch her head. She hissed at the contact, even if it had been light. "Dammit."
"Raven, you need to take it easy."
"No, I cannot take it easy. That asshole—not Thomas—took the radio and probably did the same thing to Thomas. We need to find both of them."
"So you're fine—never mind, that's stupid, obviously you're not fine. Tell me at least you're not seeing double." Kaya raised two of her fingers in front of Raven's face and had them slapped away. "Okay, so you can see fine."
"Yes," Raven said impatiently and let out a strangled laugh. "God, now I know how you feel when Finn and I would pester you. I feel better, it was just a passing thing. See? I can walk normally now."
"Yeah. I guess," she said and glanced around the forest and squinted, hoping to find something or someone. "If you say you're fine we should start look. Maybe we should split up," Kaya suggested. "I bet that's what Finn and Clarke are doing."
"Everything looks exactly the same," Raven huffed, glaring at the forest. "I don't even know this place."
"No one knows this place."
Raven sighed, but she nodded in determination. "Okay. So, I go west and you go east?"
"That sounds good. Just don't go past the river and you'll be fine. Oh, and if you see someone that looks like they're from another planet, you should run in zig zag's, so they can miss."
"What?" Raven gasped, looking slightly horrified.
"Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine," Kaya assured and broke into a sprint, jumping when she would see a rock or a root. Kaya had continued her running when she thought she heard a noise. She stopped and glanced around the area, wary.
"Thomas?" she called out hesitantly. "Thomas? It's Kaya. Are you there?"
When no one responded, she tried to run but stopped, her legs and chest burning. She had to lean against a tree to control her breathing. But after a while, she realized that she couldn't breathe, or at least it felt like she couldn't breathe. The chest pain had worsened and no matter how much she rubbed it, the pain never left.
It turned out, that even in her state of panic, it wasn't hard to find Bellamy, mostly because he was the one who found them. Or her, to more accurate. One second, she was staring at a tree in front of her and the next, she was staring at the chest in front of her.
He was saying something to her.
"What?" she gasped, having a hard time saying that simple word.
His mouth continued moving and she tried to focus on his face to keep her centered.
"Eleven. Ten," she said in a strangled voice and struggled to say the rest of the numbers. "Nine. Eight. Seven. Six... F-f-five..."
"Four. Say four, Kaya." His voice broke into her trance and she slowly counted the rest down. Reaching zero, Kaya could feel the pain disappearing and everything slowly going back to focus.
"Bellamy?" she gasped.
"Are you alright?" She thought she felt him touch her face, but it could have been her imagination.
"No, I'm not." She shook her head and pushed his hands away. "This is all your fault."
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be back at the camp. Did you get hurt?" She flinched when Bellamy grabbed her wrist.
"Don't touch me. This is all your fault."
Realization crossed Bellamy's face. "Kaya," he said slowly. "Whatever you saw or heard, that's not what happened."
"I don't care. Where is he?" Kaya demanded, shoving him as hard as she could. Bellamy stumbled slightly, more surprised than hurt.
"Who?"
"Thomas," she enunciated his name, shoving Bellamy in the process." The guard in the pod. We know that you were there."
Bellamy clenched his jaw. "You can't prove I was there."
She made a noise of disbelief. "You're unbelievable."
"Really? Come on..."
"Where is he?" Kaya asked, her voice coming off strained. "What did you do to him?"
"Kaya," he started but stopped himself. Bellamy tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it away. "I didn't do anything to him. He's badly hurt."
"Where is he?"
Bellamy clenched his jaw and looked away.
"If you don't tell me where he is, I am going to scream," she threatened. "They're looking for you. They know you took the radio."
"Kaya, don't do that," he warned her, grabbing her arm.
"Bellamy's over here," she screamed, hoping to get the attention of the others. "Over here!"
"Kaya, you're going to regret that," Bellamy gritted, glaring at her.
"So are you."
Clarke must have been the one closest to her because seconds later, she came rushing towards them and pounced at Bellamy.
"Hey! Where is it?" Clarke demanded, going in front of him.
Bellamy entire stance shifted into a casual one. "Hey, Princess. You taking a walk in the woods? Seems like it's a thing."
"They're getting ready to kill three hundred people up there to save oxygen. And I can guarantee you it won't be council members. It'll be working people. Your people," Clarke lashed out.
"Bellamy." Out of nowhere, Finn appeared and shoved Bellamy. "Where's the radio?" he demanded, getting in front of his face.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bellamy gritted, and did the same thing to Finn, shoving him hard.
"Bellamy Blake?" Raven said, joining them from behind, and looked unimpressed. "They're looking everywhere for you."
"Shut up," Bellamy said.
Clarke looked at Bellamy accusingly. "Looking for him why?"
"He shot the Chancellor," Kaya said flatly, walking up towards Bellamy. "I mean, or so that's what I heard. You probably were lying just like everything that you say."
"You knew?" Finn demanded. Kaya didn't look at him, knowing that it wasn't the moment to explain the truth.
"Doesn't matter," Clark said impatiently. "That's why you took the wristbands. Needed everyone to think we're dead.
"And all that 'whatever the hell we want'? You just care about saving your own skin," Finn said in a disgusted tone. Bellamy didn't say anything else and started walking away, but Kaya got in front of him.
"Get out of my way."
"Not until I know where Thomas and the radio is. Then you can leave and never come back that would do everyone a favor."
"Kaya, I mean it," he said in a low voice. "I don't want to do anything to you."
"Hey, Shooter! Where's my radio?" Raven demanded, grabbing Bellamy by the shoulder and forcing him to look at her. "And where's my co-pilot?"
"Get out of my way," he said in a harsher tone and pushed her against a tree.
"Where are they?" Raven demanded and pulled out a knife she had been hiding and hold it to Bellamy's throat. Kaya watched their altercation escalate with disdain.
"I should've killed you when I had the chance," Bellamy snarled.
"Really? Well, I'm right here. Where's my radio? And where's Thomas?"
"Raven put the knife down, you're not like Bellamy. And you, you already killed one person, do not make it to two," Kaya snapped, fed up. "Just stop."
"Jaha deserved to die," Bellamy argued but did step away from Raven. "You all know that."
"Yeah, he's not my favorite person, either. But he isn't dead," Raven informed him.
"What?" Bellamy looked surprised.
"You're a lousy shot."
"Bellamy, don't you see what this means?" Clarke said, grabbing his shoulder. "You're not a murderer. You always did what you had to do to protect your sister. That's who you are. And you can do it again, by protecting three hundred of your people."
"And you can start by telling us where's Thomas," Raven said from her spot. "That will make one less body."
"I didn't do anything to him," Bellamy snapped.
"You're such a liar," Kaya burst out. Bellamy looked at her, a small flicker of regret showing across his face, and took a step towards her.
"I'm not lying. I didn't do anything to him. I was going to help him. That's what I was doing when you found me."
"What a convenient opportunity," Raven sneered. "And being there you decided to grab the radio."
Bellamy glowered at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You asshole," Raven yelled and was going to throw herself at him again, but Finn held her back. Kaya rubbed her temples, everyone's shouting making everything worse.
"Fine, don't do anything about Thomas, I'll figure it out by myself. But where's the radio, Bellamy?" Kaya demanded and when he didn't answer, she shoved him. He didn't move but he looked resigned. "Where is the radio?"
"It's too late," he said solemnly.
"Where is it?" Clarke asked. "Bellamy, you don't have to be a murderer."
"A little too late for that," Finn muttered.
Bellamy looked away, not giving up anything. Raven was about to say something but with one look from Kaya she kept her mouth shut. If they pushed and shoved Bellamy, he wouldn't budge.
"It's in the river," Bellamy finally admitted.
"You threw it in the river?" Raven cried out and kicked the ground. "Do you know what that means? It's probably not going to work. We won't be able to communicate with the Ark."
"Not unless we find it soon," Clarke said urgently.
"Thomas is fine," Bellamy said and went towards Kaya. She took a step back. "I found him, bleeding on the ground and was going to get help. He's near the pod, next to a tree. He was already out of the pod, but really out of it and hurt."
"I don't believe you," she said and she meant it.
"Okay, good," Clarke said and turned to Raven. "We should get the others to go to the river and start looking for the radio. And Bellamy can take Kaya to get Thomas."
She didn't wait for the others and ran towards the camp to recruit the delinquents to help out.
"Let's go. We already wasted a lot of time," Finn said, glaring at Bellamy.
"I don't want to be near you," she told Bellamy. "Tell me where he is."
"You can get him on your own. You need me."
"Fine," Kaya snapped. "But let me make it clear that if this is you lying and—"
"I'm not lying," he said harshly.
"Hey, Shooter! If I find out my copilot is dead, I will use this knife on you," Raven threatened, walking away. She paused and turned around and threw her blade to Kaya. Kaya threw her a questioning look. "In case he gets any ideas," she explained.
"I won't hurt her," Bellamy snapped, but from the look that he received from Raven, she didn't believe him. Kaya pushed Bellamy forward and he started walking back to the pod. As she walked, she scanned the area, trying to spot a blonde head.
"I put him over there." Bellamy pointed to a fat tree that stood out from the others. Kaya broke into a sprint, yelling Thomas name. She faltered when she saw no one by the tree.
"What the hell?" She circled the tree and kicked the trunk in frustration. "Where is he?"
"He's not there?"
Bellamy walked around the place and cursed under his breath. Kaya looked helplessly around the forest, hoping that Thomas would appear and help them out being older and more experienced in distressing situations. He was part of the guard, being able to bring order and would make a better leader than their current one.
"Thomas was supposed to be there. I don't know what happened. He was here. He's supposed to be here."
Kaya closed her eyes, digging her nails into her palm, trying to calm her breathing down. She needed to focus. After counting to ten, she opened her eyes and turned to face Bellamy.
"You lied."
"I'm not lying about this."
"I don't believe you," she said, her voice wavering. He opened his mouth and she beat him to it. "No. Stop talking. I need you to stop talking before I—I do something really stupid."
"Kaya, let me—"
"No."
"Kaya," he continued, ignoring her. "He was there and now he's not. You can see there that he was bleeding. He couldn't have left willingly. There's no trail of blood."
Kaya shook her head. "He could have stopped it. Meaning he could be better."
"Kaya. No, he's not. He looked really bad. I mean... There is no way he could have left on his own. Someone had to have taken him."
"The grounders took him. That's what you're trying to say?" she said bitterly. If that was supposed to make her better, it did the opposite. It only made her hatred grow. Not to the grounders, but to him.
"Look, I know I lied about other things, but I didn't do anything to Thomas. I'm not lying."
"What else have you been lying about? Did you actually come here for Octavia? Or was it because of the murder you thought you committed? Do you even care about your sister, Bellamy?"
"Don't bring Octavia into this," he snarled. "It's not my fault he disappeared. You need to fucking trust me."
"No, I don't have to trust you," she yelled and whirled around, determined to find Thomas on her own. She ignored him and continued walking until he grabbed her shoulder.
"I'm going to find Thomas," Bellamy was saying, but she was done listening to him. "I promise you."
"Don't do anything for me. I don't want anything from you," she croaked.
"If I don't find him, they're going to think I killed him. I'm going to find him."
"Don't talk to me," she warned. Never in her life had she ever been disgusted by someone's presence. "Don't even look at me. I mean it, Bellamy. Don't go near me right now. I can finally see what Finn mean about you."
Walking away from Bellamy, everything was moving in slow motion, just like when she had found Wells body. Nothing made sense and there was nothing she could do to fix it. She realized she had two options. The first one was to
The first one was to pretend that everything was fine. Thomas wasn't lost. Three hundred people weren't about to die. Grounders didn't want to murder them in their sleep. She was back in her cell, safe and alone. She had to accept that Thomas was probably dead and she needed to go back and help them find the radio.
The other option was to accept the reality. She needed to accept that Thomas was probably dead. That Bellamy had jeopardized the lives of everybody, on Earth and the Ark. And she needed to go back to the river and help everyone find the radio.
"I need to get it together," she muttered, her jacket pushed up as she scratched her right arm viciously, and walked towards the river.
When Kaya joined the search, everybody had paired up with somebody and was in the water, searching for the radio. She scanned the river for Raven and found her next to Finn, searching near the edge of the river.
Kaya trudged along the water, enjoying the sensation of the water even if it was soaking her only pair of pants. She kicked the small pebbles that were underwater and smiled slightly at the sound they made. She looked around, scared that someone might notice that she was playing around instead of helping out during their crisis. No one seemed to see her and that made her chest ache.
"Shouldn't you be helping?" Bellamy asked, appearing beside her.
Pretending he wasn't there, she turned around and continued with what she was doing. She glared at the water when she saw Bellamy walk beside her.
"I was looking for Thomas."
Despite her promise, she turned to look at him, squinting. Two hours had passed since she left him in the forest and within that short amount, Bellamy looked like he had run for an entire day. His shoulder sagging, and his face was set in a deep frown. She wished he would stay looking like that for the rest of his life. He deserved to look miserable as she felt.
"I didn't find anything," he said after a few seconds when she didn't say anything. "I don't want to imagine what happened to him."
She gritted her teeth and took a step forward and quickly making her lose her footing on a rock. She fell down on her butt into the water. She groaned, the pebbles digging into her skin.
"Kaya! Are you okay?" Bellamy became alarmed and quickly went to help her get up.
"No, no. I'm fine. Let me do this," she said, swatting his hand away. She tried to push herself up and cried out when she felt her skin tear. Blood slowly dribbled down to the clear water, staining it with crimson.
"What the hell? Why are you bleeding?" he demanded, ignoring her protest, and pulling her up. His hands went to her wrists and when he didn't get a reaction, he moved them higher until she hissed. "Fuck, Kaya," he hissed.
"Let me go." She tried to get out of his grip but failed. Her arms hurt and he was too strong. Without asking for her consent, he shoved the sleeves of her jacket to reveal her scarred arms. On her left one that was a fresh wound open with blood seeping out.
"Why do you do this to yourself?"
"Let me go," she repeated.
"This is fresh like it happened about an hour ago. When did you do it? Does someone need to be watching over you all the time?"
"I don't need a babysitter," she hissed and finally managed to get out of Bellamy's grip. They glared at each other, neither willing to back down. She didn't need to explain herself and Bellamy didn't need to get in everybody's business.
"I found it!" someone shouted suddenly. Bellamy instantly looked to who had shouted and scowled when he saw that it was Ezra. Everyone ran towards him, crowding around.
"He found it," Kaya sighed in relief.
"Any idiot would have found the radio," Bellamy said shortly and glanced at Kaya. "It could have been you if you weren't busy playing with the water."
She gave him a dirty look and walked towards the others, with Bellamy at her heels. She stopped next to Raven, and stiffen when she felt Bellamy's body right behind her.
"Can you fix it?" Clarke was asking.
"Maybe," Raven answered distractedly, looking over the radio.
"Even if you could, it'll take half a day just to dry out the everything to see what's broken," Kaya said, looking over her shoulder to get a better look at the radio.
"Yeah, like I said, it's too late," Bellamy said. Kaya threw him a disgusted look. Clarke then started berating Bellamy reminding him that three hundred people were going to die and Bellamy still didn't seem to care.
"You can still do something," Kaya said quietly to Raven. She frowned, shaking her head.
"But what? The radio..."
"Isn't the only way to communicate," Kaya reminded her, raising her eyebrow. Raven's eyes widened and slapped Kaya's arm excitedly.
"Hold up," Raven interrupted and everyone looked at her. "We don't have to talk to The Ark. We just have to let them know we're down here, right?"
"Yeah, but how do we do that with no radio?" Finn asked.
"With flares," Kaya said suddenly and everybody turned to look at her. She fidgeted at the unexpected attention and tried to continued talking. "The rocket has the materials to make them. Raven knows how to do that. That's what she meant. Flares can go far and get the attention we want."
"Can that work?" Clarke demanded, turning expectantly at Raven.
"Hell yeah, it can. If we want to make it work, we need to get to work now." Turning to face the other delinquents, Raven shouted, "Everyone to the pod. Hurry up, we can't waste time."
Almost everyone who had been at the river went to the pod, with the exception of Bellamy who disappeared. Raven instantly started barking orders, pointing at people to get something from the pod. Kaya had been ordered to help Finn with a panel. Without arguing, she went over to him.
"Need a hand?"
"Yeah, this panel is a lot bigger and heavier than I expected. Can you help me with that end?"
She nodded and both reached up to pull down the panel. Slowly, they started walking back to camp. Finn was having a hard time seeing, his hair falling on his face. They had to stop so they could switch spots so they wouldn't accidentally fall and break the panel.
"How much do you wanna bet Raven is going to give me a haircut once she's free?" Finn said.
"No way. I'm going to lose," Kaya said, shaking her head. "How about if she's going to give me a haircut? That one's always a coin toss."
"If she feels inspired, she's going to cut about half of your hair."
"Yes, but have you seen your hair? Yours looks like it can be their own person."
"You can pass as Rapunzel. Remember that story? The girl with the long, blonde hair, locked up in a tower? That is you. She's definitely going to chop it off."
"Oh my god," Kaya groaned and looked at her long, blonde hair that practically reached her waist. "I don't like this game anymore."
Finn grinned at her and she did the same. It wasn't until Finn smile slipped, getting replaced by a frown.
"What am I going to do?" He didn't have to add anything, Kaya already knowing what he was talking about.
"End it with Clarke or ended it with Raven. The options are pretty simple, and so should the choice."
"It's not that simple, Kaya," Finn defended himself. "I thought I was never going to see Raven again. And Clarke... it wasn't just a one-time thing. You know that I told you. It's not an easy choice."
"Whatever. I'm just giving you my opinion."
"Please don't say anything to Raven. I know she's your friend, but this is my problem."
"I wasn't going to say anything. Yet," she added, in case he decided to keep his mouth shut. "And I know. I'm stuck with a hard choice too, Finn. Raven coming here didn't make things harder only for you."
"Does it have to do something with Bellamy?" Kaya didn't say anything which made Finn sigh. "I told you that he's not a good guy. But did you listen to me?"
"Yeah, well you were supposed to be the good guy and you cheated on your girlfriend with Princess. Where am I supposed to get an example of a 'good guy,' Finn?"
"Princess? Did you pick that up from Bellamy?" He frowned disapprovingly.
"Didn't you start calling her that?"
"But I stopped, Bellamy didn't." They had reached the camp forcing them to stop talking. He motioned her to drop the panel gently. "I can take this back. Go and tell Raven that I'll catch up to you so I can help them if they need it."
"Yeah, I'll do that." She stopped and smiled at a horrible thought. "Hey, aren't you a little worried that your girlfriend and the other girl are all alone talking, possibly about you?" Kaya asked. Finn looked horrified.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"It's always a possibility." Over Finn's shoulder, she saw Ezra trying to gain her attention, waving his arms wildly. She smiled at him and raised her hand. He motioned to Finn and mouthed who he was.
Friend, she mouthed. Ezra seemed to relax at that. Kaya smiled in amusement. Ezra appeared to be threatened by the wrong guy when he should have been by the guy he idolized.
"Who's that?" Finn frowned, having followed her gaze and watched their interaction in confusion. "I think I've seen him before."
"His name is Ezra and I'm gonna have sex with him," she decided in that moment.
Finn made a choking sound. "Oh, wow. No, I did not need to know that. There is a line between a boy and girl friendship and you crossed it."
"Really? You can talk about Raven and Clarke and having sex with them and the moment I mention a boy, our relationship is inappropriate? Did you forget puberty?"
"Oh my god," Finn groaned, shaking his head.
"Because I have like five stories where I got to see more of you than I ever wanted. Seriously, that could be one of the reasons why I have issues."
Finn shoved her lightly and she did the same thing.
"He seems like a good guy."
Kaya laughed loudly, throwing her head back. She caught the attention of the few delinquents that were scattered outside, but she was too busy laughing to notice. When she stopped, Finn was looking at her curiously.
"No, he's not," Kaya disagreed. "But at least he won't kill three hundred people."
"I really shouldn't be laughing about that one, but that was a good one," Finn smirked and Kaya nodded in agreement. "Okay, you should go get Raven. She's going to hang us if she finds out we're just hanging out."
Reaching the pod quickly, she saw only a few people there, Raven and Clarke included. Kaya hesitated for a moment when she saw that she would be interrupting a conversation between Clarke and Raven. Luckily for her, Clarke saw her first, looking relieved.
"Sorry," Kaya apologized, walking towards them. "But everything is back at the camp. We're just waiting for you. No one really knows what to do except you, Raven."
"Yeah, sure, let's go. Is Finn at the camp?"
"No. He's waiting for you."
"That's great." Raven grinned at her and stood up. She glanced over her shoulder and did the same to Clarke. "Don't worry, everything is going to work out."
Clarke furrowed her brows, not believing her. Raven didn't notice, already going over to Finn.
"Come on," Kaya said, motioning her to follow her. "We're wasting time."
Kaya ignored the other girl's presences as they walked back to the camp and focused on getting rid of all the sticks that got stuck on her wet clothes.
"You're bleeding." Clarke pointed to the sleeve of her jacket that got stained.
"Fell and one of the rocks cut me."
That's when Clarke went straight to the chase. "You knew he had a girlfriend."
"Maybe."
"And you probably knew that he was fooling around with me."
"Maybe."
"Why didn't you tell me anything?"
"Why didn't you tell anyone about the Ark? Why didn't Bellamy told anyone he shot the Chancellor? We all thought it was for the best, and quite honestly, no one else business."
"But Bellamy did tell someone. He told you. You knew."
"I literally found out a few minutes before you guys. I am not that special. And he didn't tell me, I just overheard him."
"But still. You knew, and he must have known you knew. I'm starting to think that you seem to know a lot more than you act." Clarke narrowed her eyes accusingly.
"Honestly, Clarke. Does it matter what he did? He did it and now he's going to face the consequences. Not us. If you want to live with the guilt that's your choice, but at least you knew you tried."
"You're not just talking about Bellamy?"
"You caught that, didn't you? Good to know. But I will tell you that if you still continue with your relationship with Finn," she warned her, taking a step closer to the other girl, "I might not always be the strongest person, but I will promise you I will hurt you so bad."
"Trust me, it's over."
"And trust me. You tell yourself that and next to you know, you're making yourself that promise again, saying it won't happen again. It's the same cycle and it won't end until one of you guys is literally gone."
Clarke looked bothered by that and Kaya faltered for a second, realizing how true her words were.
About more than five people were crammed into a tent, Raven in the center. She had been surveying all the material and after being satisfied, she turned to the others.
"Great job, everyone," she said to everyone. "Now that I have everything, I need to get to work. So, everybody, get out. Except you, Kaya, I need your help."
"Oh, okay." She shared a look of confusion with Finn but didn't question Raven's decision. Clarke didn't look happy at the order, but she complied, knowing that it was for the best. She motioned everyone to get out of the tent. Finn looked at Raven and Kaya and silently left the two girls alone.
"Great, just you and me, like old times."
"I used to not like you in the old time, Raven."
In reality, Kaya despised the older girl. It had been a huge surprise when they somehow became really good friends.
Kaya didn't like meeting new people. It brought her a tremor within her and made her become silent and hope for them to leave her alone. She had been surprised that she didn't combust the first day on Earth with everybody around her, shouting, jumping around like lunatics. It had helped that she had parted from the group for the first two days which had helped her adjust to the environment.
So, the first time she met Raven, only eight years old, and she knew that she wasn't going to like her. It could have been because she was insecure that once Finn found someone who was easier to be around, who wasn't afraid of going out and having fun, he would leave her. Raven was the complete opposite of Kaya. Outgoing, talkative, not afraid of anybody, and knew what she wanted.
But when Finn remained by her side and Raven forced herself to become her friend, that's when Kaya put aside her irrational resentment. It was hard to believe that slowly, Raven become someone vital to her life, even when she had gotten arrested. She was one of the people in her entire life, besides Finn, that she felt comfortable telling them how she really felt.
"Seriously, Kaya? Come on."
"Fine, What can I do?" Kaya asked. Raven laughed and threw her a tool that she clumsily cached.
"Okay, we have to work fast and efficiently. I hope you remember everything that I taught you—"
"You never taught me how to build flares," she said seriously.
"Kaya, we don't have time. I need your help. I know you're really worried about Thomas and have other problems, but I need you. Can you help me?"
She knew there was a huge expectation on Raven, and now her, to make the flares work. She didn't like that pressure but forced herself to ignore all her insecurities and do something for a change.
"Of course I'll help you," she said. "Besides, it's not like I can say no to you."
"Damn right." Raven grinned at her, showing off her teeth. "I knew I can count on you. Now, let's see what we got."
Hearing Raven explain what she was supposed to do, Kaya went to work quickly. She was supposed to separate all the materials into piles and place the perfect amount of rocket fuel for each flare. Her hands moved quickly and steadily, not once faltering. She gritted her teeth when she felt a pain come from inside her arm but didn't stop. Three hundred people were counting on them, and she wasn't going to stop for a small cut.
While working, Raven chattered excitedly about everything she did to built and make the pod work. It was obvious Raven was omitting the parts that involved Thomas to not upset Kaya. She appreciated the sentiment, which made her feel worse. Kaya hoped that Finn would tell Raven soon about him and Clarke. After Raven went through, she deserved the truth. As much as the guilt after her, she would keep her promise to Finn and not say a word about Clarke to Raven.
"I'm so glad that you're here," she blurted out when Raven had finished her story. Raven seemed startled by her confession.
"Yeah, me too," she said and eyed her. "You look good, Kaya."
"Really?" Kaya asked doubtfully. "Because I don't feel great. I feel awful, in reality. I don't want to be here with you. I'm sorry, but it's true. I just—I don't know what I want."
"Kaya, it's fine. But you do look good and you might not feel good right now..."
"But I will get to where I'm supposed to be," she said, nodding to herself and started fiddling with a wire. "I know. I'm just having a bad day. Actually, I'm having a bad week. "
"Don't we all have a bad week?" Raven said. "My week hasn't been easy, either. With all the stress of building the pod, and almost getting arrested and crash landing. And you know what sucks? I don't get to enjoy being here. When I imagined being here, I never thought I would spend the first day inside a tent building flares."
"I never thought I would spend my first day here watching a girl almost get killed by this weird water creature. So, I guess Earth isn't that great as we thought."
"Yeah, but who cares? We're here," Raven said excitedly. "So what do you think of this place? If I don't get to experience Earth today, at least I have to hear about it from you."
"It's pretty nice. It's so hard to describe," Kaya answered truthfully. "You need to experience it yourself and see how alive it makes you feel. I don't understand how humanity ruined this planet."
There was no way Kaya could describe how the air was nothing like the Ark air. When they breathed it felt fresh and relaxing. Or how the stars would shine through the thickness of the tree. Or how hard the floor was at night, and it would slowly mold as the night went. There was so much she could say about Earth, yet no words would live up to the reality.
"I seriously can't wait to be outside and enjoying everything I dreamed about."
"Not everything is great," she warned her. "There are really ugly and dangerous parts of Earth, but I like that. It makes it realistic. Nothing is ever perfect."
"Oh, Kaya. Way to make things depressing," Raven teased. "How about we focus on the good things on Earth."
"I did say that it was nice. Hey, is this too short?" She raised a wire that she had cut. "I think it's the right size, but I want to double check."
Raven nodded in approval. "I'm so happy you haven't forgotten what I showed you years ago. You would have made a great mechanic."
"I could've," she agreed quietly.
"And you still can," she argued. "You can become my apprentice and can learn everything. But right now you can help me fix the radio. Right after we do the flares, of course."
"You okay, Kay?"
"Fine. I just need to..." she trailed off, not sure how to explain to Raven why she was bleeding without her jumping to conclusions. "I need to clean myself up. I'm kind of bleeding."
"Did you cut yourself?" she asked cautiously.
"I accidentally tripped when I was on my way to the river," she explained sheepishly.
"It opened a few of my old... injuries."
"What injuries?" Raven narrowed her eyes.
"It's been a few rough days."
"Does that injury go back to your cheek?"
Kaya touched her cheek, forgotten that less than a few days she had been slapped. She winced slightly, her cheek still tender.
"Not really," she admitted. "It's a long story."
"But you'll tell me everything when we're done? Right, Kay?"
Kaya smiled at her softly. "Of course, Raven. That is if Finn doesn't."
Raven grinned at her and stopped for a second to throw her a rag. "I still want to hear everything from your point of view. If I ask Finn what he thought of the place he'd be like 'It's pretty nice.'"
"That's how I described the place," Kaya said, offended.
"Yeah, but it's you."
"Do you think Thomas is dead?" Kaya asked quietly after a few seconds. Raven paused from what she was doing and looked at her warily.
"I don't know," Raven frowned. "I don't know that Bellamy guy. He says he didn't do anything to him and I have no idea if I believe him. And then I heard about these grounders and I have no idea what they are but I know they are dangerous."
"Yeah, there's a lot you need to catch up."
"What do you think, Kaya? Do you believe Bellamy?"
"I don't know," she said honestly. "He lies more than he tells the truth."
"He seemed to be really determined for you to believe him. Why?"
"Probably because I'm sort of friends with his sister and if she were to find out he did something to anger me, it would be bad for him."
"Oh my God. He's the guy with the sibling, right? How is she? How do they act around each other?" Raven asked eagerly. "I always wondered how they made it work, with hiding her for a really long time."
"Octavia is really nice. Not like her older brother. But he loves her and would do anything for her. She's the reason why he tried to kill Jaha. He was offered a deal so he could be with Octavia in the dropship and, obviously, he took it."
"Are you serious?"
"Don't tell anyone that," Kaya said quickly. "No one is supposed to know that."
Raven blinked. "Wow. That's some intense love. I mean, from that point of view, every sacrifice he made was for his sister. What he did was out of love, it doesn't make it bad, but he's still an asshole who got my radio."
Kaya nodded in agreement. "Yeah... He's still an asshole. Can we not talk about him anymore?"
Unfortunately for her, that was the moment Bellamy stepped inside the tent. Both girls fell silent, not sure what he wanted. Raven didn't bother to hide her anger towards him. She glared at him, while Kaya pretended that he wasn't there.
"Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear," Raven said snidely. Bellamy gave her a questioning look and shook his head. "What do you want?"
"Clarke wants to know if the flares are ready?"
"Why couldn't she come and tell me herself?" Raven asked and turned around, placing her hands on her hips.
"She's busy."
Kaya looked at him suspiciously.
"Well, whatever, the flares are ready," Raven told him. "Go get Clarke and tell her that we just need to set them up and we're good."
"You're going to have to tell her yourself. Like I said, she's busy. Why do you think I'm here?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Raven demanded. "Why can't you?"
"She doesn't want to see my face." Bellamy shrugged, not really caring. He glanced briefly at Kaya before looking back at Raven expectantly. Raven groaned and dropped what she was holding and stomped over to where Bellamy was.
"You stay," Raven ordered Kaya. "I don't trust leaving this tent empty alone with him. Might try to sabotage us again."
"I helped," Bellamy reminded her.
"Yeah, but was throwing the radio more important than saving three hundred innocent lives?"
Bellamy glared at her. "Just go get Clarke. You're wasting your time."
With one last glare, Raven stepped out of the tent, leaving Kaya and Bellamy alone. Kaya still hasn't said a word, playing with the leftover material. She frowned unhappily when Bellamy walked over to her, the makeshift table serving as a barrier. She turned her head to the side, refusing to acknowledge him.
"Did you do this?" He picked up one of the flares and examined it. She leaned over and snatched it, putting it back with the others.
"Don't touch them," she ordered. She was silent for a few seconds before she added, "I helped with separating the materials. Raven did most of the work."
"I doubt anybody could have done what you did. She kicked everyone out, except you."
She didn't say anything else and neither did he. She started cleaning up the mess she made, making a scrap pile, knowing that Raven would make use of the leftovers.
"Why'd you do it?" she asked, breaking their tense silence. Despite all the resentment she had towards him, there was so much she wanted to say. She always kept quiet and now that she had a chance to say something, she wasn't going to let go.
Bellamy froze and for a second, she thought that he wouldn't answer her.
"I don't think when I do things that involve Octavia," Bellamy finally said. "All I think about is her and what I should do. I don't think about the consequences, and how nothing else matters. My sister, my responsibility."
"People do stupid things for those who they love," Kaya said stiffly, remembering hearing Bellamy tell Octavia about his deal or Raven telling her the truth about what happened in Finn's arrest, or Raven almost dying for Finn. "I don't understand why they do it, knowing that the person they love will get hurt. But I guess that's love. Stupid people doing stupid things to prove their stupid love."
"You've never done something stupid for someone who you loved?"
She paused and reluctantly turned to face Bellamy. He was wearing a blank expression, careful to not show how he was actually feeling. She wondered how people could do that. Hide their feelings and not feel like they were about to explode. Finn called her the book of tears. Everyone knew that she was feeling something, but it was so jumbled that no one really knew what she felt.
"I don't understand why they do it," she answered, "knowing that the person they love will get hurt. But I guess that's love. Stupid people doing stupid things to prove their stupid love. That's so stupid."
"What about Thomas? You were determined to find him all on your own when you knew you could get hurt? What's that? Because I can tell you that was an incredibly stupid thing you wanted to do."
"It's called paying a debt him. He saved my life one time and I owe him the same."
"I knew Thomas," Bellamy admitted.
"You were actually part of the guard?" she questioned skeptically.
"Sometimes it's not that hard to forget that I used to be someone respectable," he said bitterly. "We weren't really friends, but he was a pretty popular guard. Everybody liked him, even me. We hung out a few times. I was surprised when he vouched for me when my sister was caught. Even not knowing me that well, he tried to help me out. He got me a janitor job when I lost my position as a guard." He paused and sighed. "I owe him a lot too."
"Then it must be killing you for being the reason he could be dead."
Bellamy narrowed his eyes and slammed his hands on the table making her flinch. "What the fuck, Kaya?" he growled. "I'm trying to apologize for what I die and you're being a bitch for no reason."
Kaya opened her mouth to defend herself, but never got a chance because Raven walked into the tent with Clarke in tow.
"What the hell was that?" Raven asked, looking at Bellamy accusingly. Neither answered her, making Raven suspicious.
"What are we going to do now?" Clarke asked, walking towards the table Kaya was it. Raven quickly explained what to do next, pointing to everything that she had done with Kaya's help. That's when Kaya decided that she was no longer needed.
Catching Raven's eye, she pointed to the door and was about to leave when Bellamy stepped to the side and handed her a bloody rag, the one she had been pressing to her arm. She silently took it from him and went to the door. Kaya didn't miss the strange look that Raven was giving her as if she was trying to understand a difficult puzzle.
Outside, the sky was slowly becoming darker. If they wanted to have the flares ready in time, they needed to start setting them up as soon as possible.
Kaya didn't know what to do next, there was no one she had to talk to. Raven was busy, ordering people around. Finn was at her side, helping as much as she could. Octavia was nowhere to be seen, she probably was still hiding from her brother. Bellamy was never an option.
She decided that if she wanted to stand awkwardly, she do it in a more secluded area where people weren't bumping into her every few seconds. She was hopeful that the flares would work. Besides the fact that Raven worked her ass off, trying to make sure they worked and wanted all her hard work to be worth it, Kaya found it unfair for all those people in the Ark to die.
Kaya might not have anyone left in the Ark, but she knew that the other delinquents did have family, friends back in the Ark. What they did to them could have been considered morally wrong, but the civilians probably didn't have a say on the choice. Looking around, it seemed that the sacrifice of the delinquents might not have been in vain.
The loud noises that flares made when they were shooting towards the dark sky made Kaya jumped from her spot. It had completely not crossed her mind of that possibility and by the second flare, she was as far as possible where they were, covering her ears.
"Hey, there, cool girl. I hear you helped out with the flares."
Kaya smiled when she saw Ezra going towards her and stand beside her. "Yeah, I did help," she said proudly. "These cuts are the living proof." She raised her hands to show them to Ezra. They were covered in small bandages. "But I hear that I'm not the only one that did something impressive. I saw that you found the radio, so I guess we're both pretty cool."
"I know," he said excitedly. "Everyone keeps congratulating me and saying that I probably saved everyone. I mean, I just found the radio, but I guess I did help out. I wished that Bellamy would say something to me."
Kaya tensed at the mention of their irresponsible leader. "I wouldn't count on it," she advised. "He's too busy with his issues."
Ezra shrugged. "It was worth a shot. I might have made him angry for not volunteering in the search of the pod, but how the hell was I supposed to know that they had a search party. I'm not one of Bellamy's guys."
"You do know Bellamy's an asshole, right? There's only one person he cares about, and that's his sister. The rest of us, we mean nothing to him. You're not missing much not being one of his minions."
"I know he's a selfish asshole. Everyone knows that, even his 'minions' but he has power and with power comes perks. I mean, I would like to know what's going on around here and for me to know, I gotta be at Bellamy's side." Ezra sighed wistfully, and suddenly said, "I would kill to be Bellamy's, right-hand man."
Kaya looked at him, slightly disturbed at his choice of words. Ezra didn't seem to notice, too busy staring at the sky. She frowned, remembering that she had a similar idea when she realized that Bellamy was the one in charge. But she would never kill someone, unlike Ezra. She didn't press him anymore and closed her eyes like him. She overheard someone next to her, saying that they could make a wish with the flares. Kaya couldn't see how that was possible, but it didn't hurt to try.
I wish for... things to sort themselves out, she decided, picking a vague wish that could be applied to everything terrible that was going on.
"Kaya."
"Huh?" She reluctantly opened her eyes to look at Ezra. He smiled at her and she did the same.
"Do you want to go somewhere else?" he suggested. She was surprised at his forwardness and she had to force herself to speak.
"Like your tent?" she blurted out, feeling slightly embarrassed. "For the rest of the night?"
"Yeah, or yours, I share mine with two other guys," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "I mean, this is what you meant right?"
"I think so," she said uncertainly, tugging on the sleeves of her jacket nervously. She had a good idea of what could happen if the two of them were alone in the tent, and found herself nodding, pushing aside her nerves. "Yeah, that's what I mean."
"Great. So, tent or we could sneak out? I know there's a whole where some people use to sneak out."
She hesitated, and her eyes went to Clarke who was standing next to Bellamy. She reluctantly looked at him. He didn't look happy, a frown set on his face. Kaya turned to face Ezra.
"This is...? It's casual, right? I mean, I want to tell you that I've fooled around with other guys here and I want to know what you're expecting."
"Yeah, of course. I have fooled around with a girl too," he said and pointed to a dirty blonde that was a few feet away. It seemed Ezra had a type. "She wasn't fun."
"And I'm tons of fun," she said sarcastically.
"You are and a way better kisser than her." Ezra grinned at her and went to grab her hand. "Come on. Let's go to my tent."
"Actually, let's go to mine. I don't share it with anybody."
"Perfect," Ezra agreed and started pulling her towards the tents.
Kaya looked over her shoulder and wasn't surprised when she caught Bellamy's eyes. He looked at her before his eyes went over her. A look crossed his face and he looked back at her. He raised his eyebrow as if he was challenging her. She gave him a shrug and turned her head towards Ezra.
At the tent, both of them sat in silence, not sure what to do. She decided to take off her sweater and then her shirt, leaving just a tank top.
"Holy shit. What happened to your arms? One of them is still bleeding," Ezra said, his eyes on her arms and looked slightly uncomfortable. She had completely forgotten about them. "I didn't know you did that. I..."
"Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned them, but does it matter?" Her expression darkened and he quickly backpedaled.
"Not that I care. Hey, if you liked to cut, then I'm cool with it. It's your life, not mine. I don't care."
"I don't like doing it," she said tersely, setting him straight. Instead of his words comforting her, it bothered her. Did people honestly think she liked mutilating herself? "But we're not here for that," Kaya said in false cheeriness, "so why don't you shut up and take off your shirt."
Ah, I hope you guys aren't too upset with what I did in this chapter, but it had to be done. But don't worry, things will soon get better.
Because it's a new year, and hopefully a better one, I really want to work on my updating. Mostly because it bothers me that I don't have a schedule so it's always irregular updates. But now I have a better update plan, so I hope I stick with it and in the future, you'll see more updates.
Thanks to everybody who updated, favorite, and followed. I'm sorry if you reviewed and I didn't respond, I have been all over the place. Next time I will respond. And can you believe that I'm almost up to 200 follows? That's insane and makes me very happy.
Disclaimer: I do not own the 100. I only own anything original.