Her fingers nimbly winded around the dark locks of hair, weaving them in and out of each other. The girl in front of her couldn't be older than 16 and she reminded her of Octavia when she first met her. As soon as she had asked Nora to braid her hair, like hers and Charlottes, she hadn't stopped talking.
Despite the sun shining, there was a chill in the air that led the group to huddle around the smaller fire down the slope. This time, she had made the others build it, putting those lessons from Pike to good use after all. They had done a pretty good job, one that Pike would be proud of.
"Okay, you're all good." She tied it off and flicked the girls long braid round the front gently.
"Thanks, Nora." The girl smiled brightly, her fingers trailing down it before pulling her jacket tighter around her body.
"What type of food do you think they're gonna bring back?"
They shrugged around the fire, one saying, "I hope it's chocolate."
"I wouldn't mind some seeds, we could start growing things we actually know we could eat."
Nora nodded along, watching as Charlotte listened carefully to the older kids but didn't speak up. "I'd like to try some real cake. But I'll settle for some crackers right now." Chuckling, she heard the drums in the distance and they reverbed through her every limb. "I'm getting tired of just berries."
"I'd devour a ration pack right now!" A boy said, calling the rest of them to laugh.
"Little red riding hood." She felt her hood of her soft fleece pulled down and the snarky voice of Murphy behind her. She just rolled her eyes, giving him a side look over her shoulder. "Did you not hear Bellamy last night? Hm? Wristbands are coming off."
She spared a look down to her wrist, to see hers was exposed and not hidden under her jacket sleeve. Nora clenched her jaw as he came to stand beside her seated form. "Whatever the hell we want, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, what I want is to keep mine on."
She hated the smirk that pulled the side of his mouth up. "Didn't peg you for saying no to lover boy." Nora frowned, who— "Bellamy will be disappointed."
Scoffing, she turned back to the fire. "Get your facts right first. We're friends."
"Right, right, of course. He's busy with other girls now." She ignored him. Hoping he was like a fly that if you ignored would just go away. But it seemed he was more of a cockroach than anything. One that needed stamping out. Repeatedly. Then burned. "Take it off now."
"I don't follow your orders, kid." She knew the 'kid' remark pissed him off, by the way his eye twitched. Yes, she was probably only 4 years or so older than him, but she'd take every bit of advantage against him.
"Not even Bellamy's?"
She scoffs, "intimidation doesn't work on me."
"Are you sure about that?"
Before she could even react or turn around, she felt herself moving forward, a hand grabbing her arms and locked her into place. Nora grunted, trying to pull on her arms, but as her face loomed closer to the flames, she stilled. With a small shove, Murphy pinched the back of her neck and pushed her face closer.
Any struggle and he seemed to hold her tighter. "How about now, Red?"
"Get off me." She could hear the hushed voices of everyone around her.
The heat radiated from the fire in front of her. Murphy shifted them closer, the flames heating up her face. She let out a tiny yelp when her face grew closer, as he put her arm with the wristband out towards the fire. She was suddenly thankful she had braided her own hair first into an up-do, otherwise she would have lost the ends to the flames.
"You gonna take off that wristband now, huh, red?" He growled into her ear. He applied more pressure to her arms and she winced, feeling her limbs ache in response. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest. How do I get out of this now? He has me cornered between the flames…
"Get off of her!" Charlotte urged Murphy but her voice went ignored.
She felt so hot, not a patch on her face that wasn't reflecting the amber glow. She let out a shriek when he shoved her closer again and the heat began to get too much on her face. But the more she struggled, the tighter her held her. "Get off." She groaned, trying with all her might the push back against his hold, but he held her steady into the flames.
"Or maybe I should just throw you into the fire instead?" He laughed in her ear, relishing in her struggle.
A swarm of people appeared in the treeline, watching the pair closely. She risked looking up to the slope, seeing everyone descend. "Bellamy!" Murphy's seemingly chirpy voice called out and she breathed a sigh of relief, but still he didn't let her go. She did feel better seeing him stride closer to them though, gun in hand and a face of thunder. "You want the Ark to think the ground is killing us right? I figure it'll look better if we suffer a little bit first!"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Another shove and she whined out again, feeling the heat from the flames on her face. Nora couldn't look up now, the flames were too close and instead, she chose to squeeze her eyes shut. Her hand with the wristband was pushed to the fire further and she felt a flame lick her wrist. She whimpered when she felt the pain from the burn, biting down on her lip.
Her heart hammered in her chest, as the crowds grew.
"Let her go, Murphy! We're not doing it like this."
"You said everyone had to take theirs off. You ordered it and she still is—" As Murphy took his eye off Bellamy and the man in question surged forward and shoved him off Nora. She dropped to the side and scooted away from the fire, before the flames could touch her again. Standing in front of her, Bellamy protected her like a shield while she cradled her burnt wrist to her chest, breathing deeply.
The burn shone bright red, tender to touch and heat radiated from it. She hadn't experienced any pain quite like it. The wristband had seemed to heat up immensely around her skin and radiated pain.
"Back off, Murphy." He gave him another shove on his chest, pushing him further away from them.
"Just following your orders, Bellamy! Why does Red get special treatment, huh?!"
"Enough!" He roared, silencing Murphy as he took a step back in fear. "Do not touch her!" Turning his back on the man, Bellamy crouched down to Nora's level, helping her to her feet. "Y'alright?" His voice was a quiet whisper, his hand going to her face to cradle her gently. She was sure he could feel the residual heat on her cheeks. She nodded silently, her face still red from the fire as she stared up at him.
She had told him that she didn't trust Murphy.
He should have listened to her.
Bellamy did a scan of her face, his eyes moving across her pink cheeks and down to her burnt wrist.
"Get Clarke to take a look at it when she gets back." She just nodded, not taking her eyes off Murphy behind him.
All it took to anger the man again was Wells raising his voice and Murphy had retaliated with a punch. The next punch thrown was from Wells and Bellamy moved to stand in front of her as they watched them exchange blows.
"Wells!" Everyone turned to see Clarke leading the explorers back into camp. "Let him go!" The son of Jaha released Murphy from his hold and he dropped to the ground. Little did Clarke know she was defending the wrong person.
Nora's eyes found the small figure of Octavia as she limped into the clearing. While Bellamy controlled Murphy, she sprinted over to the younger Blake's side, burn forgotten about. She reached out to support her other side as she walked with Monty. "What happened to you? Are you okay?" Her hazel eyes flew wildly over her body, searching for any other injuries, before looking back again to her bleeding leg.
A piece of cloth had been tied around her thigh as it oozed red, blood and dripped down her leg. "Snake bit me." With a grunt, she thanked Monty and then leaned against the redhead.
"A snake?"
"It was more like a sea monster really." Monty chimed in. Nora stood there with a look of disbelief on her face, as Octavia winced and dropped down to a rock.
"Where's the food?" Bellamy asked, stepping closer to his sister.
"We were attacked." Clarke spoke, her face full of fear and worry.
"Attacked? By what?"
"Not what, who. Turns out when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last grounder."
"It's true. Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here. Survivors. The good news is we can survive here. Radiation won't kill us." It sounded like a leader's pep talk and Clarke was fitting into the leader role just like Nora predicted.
But what she hadn't predicted was Bellamy's anger. Looking across, she found him clenching his jaw, dark eyes flickering between Clarke and his injured sister.
"The bad news is the grounders will." Finn finished off her speech and dread sunk in to camp.
Nora glanced around and a familiar face was missing. "W-Where's Jasper?"
Clarke turned to her and visibly gulped. "Jasper was hit. They took him… and we're going to get him back."
As the hundred around them murmured and gossiped about the grounders and a missing Jasper, Nora turned her attention back to Octavia as Clarke disappeared back to the dropship, Finn dutifully following her.
"Why are you always getting yourself into trouble?" The redhead asked with a raised eyebrow, lifting her up and walking her back to the drop ship.
Octavia scoffed, with a smirk, "you're one to talk. Thief."
Nora smirked back at her, remembering their usual back and forth in lock up. The location may have changed, but they never had with each other. "Stowaway." She joked back and Octavia's smile widened, as they sat down near the dropship. Nora disappeared to grab a piece of cloth and some water they had collected.
As she returned, she saw Bellamy fussing over her injured leg and also looking to give her a lecture. "Bell, I'm fine. It's just a scratch." She complained.
Bellamy gave her a look, "I can't believe you jumped into a lake. What were you even thinking?!"
"It's the first time we've seen a lake or even natural water!" She argued.
Nora, dropped down to her knees beside Octavia, "you really thought it was a good idea to just jump into the water without knowing how deep it was or what was in it?" Nora shot Octavia a soft look, to which Octavia gave her a much harder one. "Don't give me that look. You can't swim, O." The younger girl groaned and rolled her eyes. "None of us can." The redhead continued to clean the wound on her leg, which had since stopped bleeding, thankfully.
Bellamy shook his head. "You could have been killed."
"Stop acting like my parents." Octavia grumbled, causing Nora and Bellamy to share a brief look. Her mouth parted in shock, feeling her cheeks burn as she looked at the man beside her… the one she had kissed not too long ago. The thought still burning a hole in her mind. He scratched the back of his head, clearly not having an answer to Octavia.
Nora swallowed that lump in her throat. She saw Bellamy's embarrassment as clear as day. Embarrassed that Octavia saw them like that? She wondered as she looked away from him, snapping her head back to the younger woman.
"We just care for you, you idiot." The redhead tried to make light of the situation as Octavia winced at when Nora wrapped the wound in a new piece of cloth. She figured it would have to do for now.
"Whatever, Jasper saved me. He jumped in to pull me out."
"Octavia would have been dead if it weren't for Jasper." The three turned at Clarke's voice, as Bellamy helped his sister to stand. Clarke and Wells looked ready to leave again, with their packs on their back and their faces set into stone.
"You guys leaving? I'm coming too."
"No." Bellamy and Nora spoke at the same time to the brunette.
"Over protective parents." Octavia muttered under her breath. They shared another look.
"They're right, your leg's just gonna slow us down."
Nora turned to Clarke. "I'll go in her place. You need all the help you can get, right?" The blonde leader gave her a shifty look before nodding and walking back to her map.
A hand on her forearm pulled her back round to see Bellamy with a face of thunder. "No way." The parent comment was long forgotten, but all she could focus on was the heat coming from his hand, searing a mark into her skin.
She shrugged off his grip. "You can't fight me on this, Blake. They need help. Octavia is in no shape to leave camp. Would you rather she goes and risks another injury?" He sighed, with his hands on his hips and from that look alone, she knew he was thinking that she was right. She was stubborn. Just like he was; he wouldn't win this one. "I need to get Clarke to look at this burn anyway." She gave him one last look before turning for the blonde.
As she walked over to the blonde, she felt her cheeks turn red again as she heard Octavia say to her brother with a chuckle, "mom told you."
Shaking her head, she tried to ignore it the sea of thoughts crashing round her mind. "Hey Clarke, you got a minute to look at this… please?" Nora called after the blonde, thankful that she turned around at all. She spared a look down to her wrist she was holding out.
Clarke let out a soft breath before nodding and walking closer to her. "What happened?" She lifted her wrist up, looking closer at it and the burn.
"Run in with Murphy."
Clarke raises an eyebrow. "That's the company you keep?"
Nora's hazel eyes hardened. "Murphy is not my company."
"Then we can agree on that." She says, looking at her hand. "It's a bad burn and it'll probably get worse today, but I don't have any supplies here. Until we find a source of bandages or something, you'll just have to wash with cold water and keep it clean so it doesn't get infected. Eventually it should heal over and stop stinging. Just might scar."
"Another scar is the least of my worries." She paused, before saying, "I, uh… I used to see your mom a lot on the Ark."
Clarke didn't spare her a look, just sighed. "Get injured often?"
"No, she helped me and the children in the centre. She's a good person." Nora said and caught Clarke's moment of realisation. "I'm hoping you are too."
Clarke turned to look at her, eyes scanning over the redhead for a brief moment, a slight narrowing in her gaze. "You're Nora, the thief."
The redhead just gave a soft smile, shrugging. "Guilty."
"She told me what happened with your dad, when I was little. She really likes the kids." Nora smiled. This was a fresh start on the ground for them. She wouldn't judge Clarke just yet, not as quick as Bellamy had. She would give her a chance just like she was giving Wells a chance.
"So what's the plan for Jasper?"
Clarke sighed, "we know where he was taken, so we'll just head there." She pointed to the map, her finger indicating it was a small trek to the location. "And then hopefully we can track him, find where they've taken him."
Nora spared a look to the map, and then to Wells who had no weapon at all. She guessed it would be under the forest the entire way there, these grounders probably lurking around and watching them too. Would they hurt another one of them? They'd surely need more protection? "With no weapons?"
"Well we don't have any other options." The woman shot her a sudden glare; she clearly didn't take well to questions.
The redhead took a deep breath before saying, "Bellamy's got a gun" and she saw Clarke's eye shoot up to her hairline, before the blonde strode over to the Blake siblings, who were still talking. Or rather, Bellamy was still scolding his sister.
"I hear you have a gun."
At Clarke's words, Bellamy's eyes found her hazel ones first and he narrowed them. Nora just shrugged, looking away as he nodded.
"Good, you can come too."
"And why would I do that?" He said, his arms crossing over his chest as Clarke stepped closer to him.
"Because you want them to follow you and right now, they're thinking only one of us is scared."
The redhead disagreed; they were following Bellamy already for starters. But sure enough, Clarke's words had done the trick. As she walked off with Wells dutifully following behind her, Bellamy shrugged on his jacket, ready to leave, but giving her a sharp look.
"Murphy. You're coming with me."
Her mouth dropped open at Bellamy's words. Murphy - after what he had done - was coming with them? Did he not remember her saying that she didn't trust him? Or maybe he was bringing him with them to keep an eye on him. And away from Octavia too. She didn't know, but she would be keeping well enough away from him.
Or maybe she could sacrifice him first to the grounders.
Maybe that's why he was bringing him.
Shaking her head, she looked back at an unimpressed Octavia. "I'm sorry, but you are staying here. At least you'll be dry." The brunette sent her a questionable look. "That's our tent closest to the drop ship." She said, pointing over to the tent on the far side.
Her face immediately softened and she smiled. "Aww you made us a tent?"
"Yes, so don't complain and make sure someone else doesn't take it." She said, "Charlotte is also staying in it too."
Octavia looked a bit unsure before nodding. "Don't die!" She called after Nora as she turned to join the group to leave. "And stay out of the lakes…" The redhead threw her a look over her shoulder, before jogging on to catch up with the group.
She planned on taking full advantage of this outing; taking in her new surrounding as they trekked through the thick forest. She heard a stream of water in the distance and wondered if it was the same stream that her and Bellamy had been sat by yesterday.
There were no birds tweeting like how she read about in books. The forest was eerily silent around them. Just the sounds of their thick boots marching through the trees, brushing aside the long hanging branches. She wished she had been alive to see Earth when it was thriving with cities and villages and tall buildings as high as the trees.
"Why don't you do something about it?"
Up ahead, she caught sight of the group, Bellamy and Murphy on one side and Clarke and Wells facing off to them. Murphy strode forward, pushing Wells away from his leader.
Nora picked up her pace and spoke up, as Wells stepped forward. "No need to get handsy, Murphy."
Dark eyes blazed in anger at the small woman who had just stepped up to him.
"Jasper screamed when they moved him. If the spear struck his heart, he would have died instantly. Doesn't mean we have time to waste."
"Brave Princess." Bellamy stepped back and scoffed.
"Why don't you find your own nickname?" Everyone turned to see Finn emerging from the trees, striding forward with a purpose. "You call this a rescue party? We gotta split up to cover more ground. Clarke, come with me."
Together they walked away, not looking back. "Of course, she goes with him." Nora scoffed and looked to the three remaining men. "That leaves us..."
"You don't want to pair with me, Red?" Murphy smirked at her and her whole body recoiled.
Her eyes blazed with a rage he had only seen a handful of times before. Her shoulders straightened, "I'd rather –"
Bellamy gave his shoulder a shove. "Back of the line, Murphy. Nora at the front. Wells, with me."
"Yes, sir." She mock saluted with a sour look before striding off in parallel direction to Finn and Clarke. "This'll be fun."
Keeping his eyes on Nora, a few paces in front of them, Bellamy walked alongside Wells. He noticed the man's fixated gaze on a certain blonde. He hadn't looked away from the other pair, waiting for the moment Clarke would need saving and he would assumedly swoop in. Bellamy allowed a small smirk to pull his lips up, "Guess we got more in common that meets the eye."
"We have nothing in common."
"No? We both came down here to protect someone we love." Bellamy spoke, unknowingly let his words take on a double meaning. His dark eyes looked ahead to find Nora's wandering figure, occasionally her hand would reach out to touch the leafy trees around her. He hadn't come down originally for her, but he was down here now and he would do his best to protect both her and his sister. Glancing back at Wells, the man was still looking to Clarke. "Your secret's safe with me. Of course, for you it's worse, with Finn around Clarke doesn't even see you. It's like you're not even here."
For the first time, Wells pulled his gaze from Clarke to look at the older man. Realisation dawned on his face as he saw how right he was. Clarke didn't see him. For that, Bellamy felt sorry for him. A little bit. At least Octavia and Nora noticed him.
As he walked away from Wells, letting the man ponder his words, he took in Nora's figure again. Her height a little taller than O's, her soft curves, long wavy red hair that reflected the sun well, making it appear even lighter. When Octavia had been caught and his mother had been floated, she became an even bigger constant in his life. Always there to comfort him, talk with him, sit with him, watch moon rises together… She was always there. She didn't have anyone else her age either. She was also the bridge in communication to his sister while she was in the sky box and from this, grew even closer to him.
When he thought he would never see her again and she would be floated, he felt helpless. It was in that moment he had truly realised how much she meant to him. How important she was. The idea of never seeing her smiling face again, or seeing her steal food or fall asleep on his shoulder again, had killed him.
But she was alive and a mere 6 feet away from him.
She also noticed him.
Maybe not in the way he had hoped for one day. But then, he'd been the one to ruin that when she kissed him…
"You should take quieter footsteps, you big oaf." Pulling him from his thoughts, he found her looking over her shoulder at him. "The grounders will hear you and then we'll all be dead."
"How do you know they aren't following us right now?"
"Well if they are, it's because of your big feet." She watched as he fell into step beside her with a smile, but instead she just turned back to looking straight ahead. Was she pissed with me? "Why'd you bring him with us?"
There we go. Bellamy thought, keeping pace beside her. "Would you rather I left him in the camp with everyone else? Both leaders gone and him loose, with Octavia and Charlotte there too?"
She was silent for a beat before letting out a big breath. "Okay, fine I get that. So you want to keep an eye on him?"
Bellamy made a small sound of agreement. "I'd rather have to deal with him than anyone else. It's my fault the power has gone to his head and it's my fault you got hurt because of it."
He saw her look down at her red wrist. "This isn't your fault, you didn't do that, he did."
"Yeah, but I should've listened to you."
"Well, I'm not gonna disagree with that." She gave him a side eye look.
"I'm sorry." He said to her, looking down at her, hoping she'd accept it.
She glanced up, hopefully seeing the genuine emotion swirling in his dark eyes. "It's okay. I have an idea on how you can make it up to me."
He raised his eyebrows at her, chuckling, not completely sure on what she meant by that. "How's that?"
What would she ask of him? What idea did she—
"You can tell me the truth about why you want those wristbands off." She smiled sweetly up at him. She knew she had the one up on him now.
Fuck.
Bellamy stopped suddenly, sparing a look around him at the others, looking at Wells and Murphy near enough each other to the side and Clarke and Finn up ahead still. He looked back to her, her arms crossed over her chest and an expectant look on her face. She looked proud that she had almost cornered him on that question.
Fuck.
He went to open his mouth, but no words left.
She let out a deep breath and turned to him. "Look, if this is gonna be our fresh start down here, we have to be honest with each other, Blake." She started, and he still couldn't find any words. How could he tell her he killed someone? That he killed the chancellor. "I trust you. You trust me. Or I hope you do." She rolled her eyes. "So what's holding you back from telling me this master plan you have? Hm?"
For the longest of times, he just stared at her… He didn't know what to say. Could he tell her the truth? He felt as though he had to, or he would lose her. He already felt her slipping away from him. He blamed Murphy for driving a small wedge between them.
He trusted her, he did… but he didn't want her to judge him for becoming a murderer. For her opinion of him to change.
But as he looked at her, he felt her slipping away even further, as her face changed and a frown appeared on her brow.
Fuck. What could he say to her?
But clearly it didn't matter, because her patience slipped with him. "Whatever." She scoffed, "keep your secrets, do whatever the hell you want." Nora waved her hand and strode on, mumbling under her breath as she went with a gruff noise.
He felt her slipping away with every step she took away from him.
If he wasn't truthful, he could lose her.
The thought made his stomach churn.
Clenching her jaw, he tried to find the words to explain himself, so that she could understand why he had to do it. He didn't want to disappoint her. He did trust her. She had been there for him ever since Devin ripped him a new one, ever since his mother was floated and Octavia was sent to lock up, she'd defended him, fought for him, helped him through it all… and he couldn't even tell her the truth.
As if he couldn't confide in her? What had he been thinking?
He knew he had to tell her, because losing her was a fate far worse.
He swallowed the lump before speaking up, loud enough for only her to just about hear him. "I shot Jaha."
Bellamy watched as Nora stopped so suddenly, she nearly tripped over her feet. She slowly turned to face him, her mouth open in shock, eyes searching his face.
He felt his face heat up; he was ashamed of what he did and he couldn't take it back now. Nora knew the truth.
He felt her slipping away from him, still, with every second that passed that she didn't speak.
A/N: *shy smile* Hi… so it's been a while, huh? I've still been writing, just not as much…. Hope you're all doing good. Here's hoping this chapter made you smile. Let me know what you think and I promise to not leave it so long until the next one!