With his fist raised, the cadet knocked a tune onto the door of his home. He waited a moment longer before unlocking the door and slipping inside. The packets of crackers were still firmly held in his other hand. He didn't know she wouldn't just take them. He knew she had stolen the food from the canteen during the guard switchover. There was no other explanation for her bag which was bursting with ration packets.
"Finally! Bellamy, I've been slaving away, sewing my ass off—" The cadet shot the younger girl a look. She rolled her eyes. "My butt off and mom has been M.I.A the entire afternoon." He grunted out a response, his eyes still focussed on the rations in his hand. The brunette rose from her chair and approached her brother. "What ya got there?" Bellamy didn't answer. "Food?" Her voice noticeably brightened. "Good! Because I am starving!"
Octavia swiped a packet from him, devouring it quickly. He watched her and immediately thought of the redhead again. Miss Thorn… She had looked so hungry, hungrier than his sister was looking right now. He knew she had been stealing. She looked guilty enough; wide eyes, pale skin from fright, her body recoiling. Something about Shumway had her scared too.
The cadet inside of him said to turn her in; she was a thief. But he saw the look on her face… he couldn't. There was something about the redhead that compelled him to keep it to himself. He couldn't turn her in. He didn't have it in him. Something about her reminded him of Octavia.
Besides, Shumway was clearly already keeping an eye on her and making sure she was 'staying out of trouble', whatever he meant by that. No, Bellamy would remain quiet.
"Got any more?" His sister 15 year old voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
Scoffing, he gave her a smirk and tossed her the other packet to enjoy.
Bellamy sighed, watching as the latest group of children gathered on the Mecha sky deck to watch the imminent moon rise. Visits were regularly organised for groups, due to so many wanting to see it at the same time and cadets were readily available to do the job that most guards hated; watch another moon rise and control the visitors. He wished Octavia could see one. He had always described them to her, since she was a tiny baby. But eventually she grew annoyed and frustrated that she could never see one with her own eyes. She couldn't even see the other planets in the distance.
So he stopped telling her the stories; it wasn't fair to her.
He got to live outside and roam the corridors of the Ark while she was tucked away and hidden in their home. One day she would be out with the rest of them. He would make sure of it. This job had to have some perks in it.
A flash of red caught his eye. Looking away from the large expanse of glass and the moon in the distance, he found her leading a trail of kids around. They were from the Children's centre; their clothes more tattered than everyone else. A young girl with dark hair gripped her hand as she bounced along beside the redhead.
He stood straighter in his cadet uniform, keeping his eyes on them as they approached. Shumway wasn't around; he never joined them on the sky deck. As they passed by him, the redhead avoided his glance but the girl beside her didn't. She looked up with bright eyes and smiled up at him with a small wave. A smirk pulled at his lips, the girl reminding him of Octavia when she was younger.
They settled not far from him, the children had their eyes wide as saucers as they sat with a quiet murmur circulating. This was clearly a treat for them.
Bellamy watched as the redhead did a quick scan of the deck, clearly looking for someone as the little girl let go of her hand and tottered along to the other children. She looked nervous and wary of her surroundings. But when the children made a collective "woah", she smiled and calmed. He had seen so many moon rises before, they were all unique but right now he was more interested in watching her. She had a child-like look on her face of wonderment as she watched the moon rise beyond the glass panels of the Ark.
As the children listened to the woman at the front tell them stories about the moon, Bellamy tuned out, having heard them hundreds of times before. But the woman telling them looked just as excited as she did the first time she told it. The bright light flooded the room, lighting up their eyes even more.
"Excuse me?" A small voice in front of him pulled his attention from the children. He looked down to see the brunette girl who had waved at him. She couldn't be older than 5 years. "Why is your outfit different to that guard?"
Quirking a smile, Bellamy crouched down to her eye level. "Because I'm not a guard yet, but I will be next year. You see how he is dressed in all black?" The girl nodded. "I've got a grey strap here instead because I'm still in training. I'm a cadet."
"How old are you?" She tilted her head, her ponytail bobbing.
She was inquisitive, typical for her age. "I'm twenty two. How old are you?"
"I'm six." She grinned. His eyes opened a bit wider; she looked a bit on the skinny size for her age. She was obviously one of the kids who the redhead had been stealing food for. Looking at the young girl before him, he saw Octavia and knew he would do the same. "My name's Kyra, what's yours?"
"I'm Bellamy, nice to meet you Kyra. Why don't you want to watch the moon rise?"
She dipped her head, "Heard the same story before. Don't wanna hear it again." Twirling on the spot, she gripped her blanket around her shoulders tightly.
"How about hearing a new story about the moon?" This peaked the girl's curiosity as her eyes lit up and she nodded. "Okay, did you hear the one about full moons?" She frowned and shook her head. "Centuries ago on earth there were tribes of Native Americans and they had many different names for the Full Moon through the year. They named the moon after their connections with nature, hunting, fishing and farming..." As Bellamy told her names of the full moons, he watched as he eyes were wide with wonder, holding onto to his every last word. "The Full Moon in the month of January however was called the Wolf Moon. It was named after the hungry packs of wolves that howled at night."
The story of full moons was one of Octavia's favourites when she was younger. She would close her eyes before bed and picture in her mind the wolves howling at the full moon as it beamed brightly in the sky. He could see a reflection of that in Kyra.
"We learnt about wild animals and wolves! They're fluffy with long noses and very shaggy!" As she reeled off the animals she had learnt about, Bellamy nodded along.
"Kyra," They both looked up to see the redhead, Miss Thorn. "Come on, let's get back."
"Nora! This is Bellamy. He's in training. His outfit isn't fancy like them."
Nora… that was her name. "Hi Nora." He smirked at her. She bowed her head and gestured to the young girl.
"Come on, Kyra."
"But I'm talking to Bellamy. He was telling me a story and I was telling him what I learnt about wolves."
Nora gave the young girl a smile. "You've taken enough of his time, let's go."
"It's fine, she's alright." Bellamy reasoned.
Kyra beamed up at Nora. "Did you know Bellamy is a cadet?"
She humoured the girl and forced a smile back at her. "I did." She spared a glance to Bellamy, who was biting back a grin.
"Next year he'll be a fully trained guardsman!"
"Wow." Nora hummed, trying to give the little girl a hint to walk away but the six year old continued chatting away. "He told you all this?"
"Yep!" She popped the 'p', her eyebrows rising. "He also lives near us." Kyra nudged Nora in the side. "And he was telling me a story about the moon and wolves."
"I hear all the guides telling the same story, thought I could tell her something new."
Nora's eyes softened. "Thanks." She mumbled to him as she squeezed Kyra's shoulders. "You don't like hearing the same stories, do you?"
"No, it's boring." Kyra frowned, tucking herself into Nora's side. "Jimmy doesn't mind, but I do."
"They're going to be doing the moon game soon, why don't you go get your spot next to Jimmy?" Nora suggested to the brunette.
Kyra's eyes opened wide and she smiled; she hated the stories but loved the moon game, always excelling. "Thanks for the story, Bellamy."
The cadet smiled at the young girl as she bounced off and he rose to full height. "She's a good kid."
"Yeah, she is. Just too smart and gets bored easily."
I know someone like that...
He wanted to ask her more questions about where Kyra's parents were, but he knew the answer wouldn't be a happy one. There was a reason why all these children were in the care centre after all. They had no one.
"Thanks for that." Nora shifted her eyes around, before settling on his face. He smiled back at her with a nod. "And the other day with Shumway. You didn't have to do that." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I still don't know why you did."
"I can see why you did it."
"It's hard for them. No one else understands and they sure don't wanna help them."
Bellamy would help them. He just didn't know how he could. He had enough people to care for; with looking out for his mother with the other guards and Octavia.
"If you need anything, just let me know."
Nora wasn't used to anyone offering help. But Bellamy seemed genuine in his words and unwavering gaze. A smile slipped onto her lips.
"So you can smile." He quipped, smirking at her. Shaking her head, she fought back an even bigger smile.
"Blake!" The guard raised an eyebrow at him, nodding him over. "Quit flirting and get back to work."
Grunting under his breath, Bellamy scratched the back of his neck. "See you around?" Risking a glance at the redhead, he saw uncertainty reflecting in her golden eyes.
"Hopefully not in the same circumstances as before."
A/N: My internet has been down for the past couple weeks so I wasn't able to get this up until now! I'm super super excited about this fic and what's to come. Thank you to Little Bucky and Guest for your kind reviews! And to those who have favourite/alerted it – I see you guys lurking back there :) Let me know what you think with a sweet little review!
