Is it easier for everyone if I just post the rest of the story to the original one? You guys can PM me the answer to this question.
A/N: Here it is! The main story of Felicity and Daughters of Wisdom. This story will be rather fast paced I believe and focuses heavily (and I mean heavily) on Felicity. A couple of things before you all continue. First, chapter titles are incredibly important. I cannot stress this enough. I take my chapter titles with the same seriousness as I do the titles of episodes in the show. They aren't just little pieces of dialogue or one tiny moment that happens in the chapter, they define the entire chapter. Second, I take heavy influence from the world of Avatar The Last Airbender, and there are many elements (no pun intended) from that show that influenced me and inspired me throughout this piece. Second, this story will be long, and I mean long. I'm not sure how long some of the chapters will be, since I have bits and pieces written for individual chapters written here and there, and sometimes I will post sections of a chapter, especially if it's incredibly long. Originally I was going to post chapter one as two separate pieces, but I felt it worked better this way, and I felt that everyone would like the entirety of the thing instead of waiting and seeing another week. After all we already have to wait two more weeks for the next episode of Arrow, I think that tests our patience enough.
I did have a plan for Ray to be in this story... but he's made me to upset and I can't seem to capture his character correctly, so he will most likely (like 95%) not show up.
Alrighty, I think that's enough for now. Here we go!
-M
P.S. This chapter is kind of long.
The Life and Times of Felicity Smoak:
Part 1: My Life as Watchtower
"My name is Felicity Smoak."
Chapter 1: Felicity Alone
Felicity
She wished she could stay where she was forever. The wish scared her. This was easy; floating in a bath of perfectly heated water, the scent of soaps and lit candles surrounding her. She knew the water was so much more than it appeared to be, she had been told that it had healing properties. It seemed like just water to her, but she couldn't deny the strength and calm that flowed through her.
Pain; all she could focus on was the pain that she had felt. The terrifying warmth that spread between her thighs as blood flowed freely. The sharp aches and pains that wracked their way through her, not all of them having to do with the punches and kicks that had connected with her body as she tried to protect herself.
Blood. So much blood. Inexplicable and terrifying. Why was she bleeding? She could understand bleeding from a wound, but the blood that soaked her thighs and pooled beneath her was not from a wound.
Like an injured animal she had been forced to drag herself towards the light, hoping that someone would see her there. The shadows of the alley would conceal her, hidden behind the dumpster where they had left her. They had panicked too, when they saw the blood as well.
She didn't understand, she'd given them the money they had asked for, handed over everything. But Felicity Smoak was yet still a novice to the dangers and the perversions the world around her, despite the fact that she had worked with Oliver and helped him on his crusade. But at least there, in the foundry and even sometimes in the field she had understood the strange and twisted logic of the criminals they had faced.
This was different. They hadn't needed to do anything more. They had her money, her phone, and tablet. The first punch had come unannounced, catching her on the jaw. Black spots danced across her vision. "Get your bearings!" John's voice had shouted in her ear. Her fists came up to protect her face, her body moving to take the stance she knew it should take. But the first punch had left her dazed, her body's reactions were sluggish. The second punch came straight to her stomach, hitting just below the navel.
She'd lost count of how many times they'd hit her. She'd struck back, her small fist connecting with the cheek of one of the thugs. That'd only made them madder. She'd tried to run, her limbs heavy as led and her muscles crying in protest. But she was outnumbered, and despite all the training she'd had, she was still no fighter.
The floor was cold and rough and there was broken glass digging into her palms as she braced them against it. Kick after kick.
Her eyes watered, the unshed tears blurring her vision of the beautiful roof above her. Stained glass filtered the sunlight, the light around her dim but colored in varying shades of blue and silver, the occasional green and bright red added in to the mix. The image of the goddess Artemis eventually came back into focus as she blinked away the tears.
Not one tear had escaped her since that night. Never again would she be weak. Her hand rose to her stomach, her fingers fluttering over the skin there. Hollow. She felt hollow.
The sound of someone clearing their throat reached her through the water. Felicity didn't have to turn to know that it'd be Gwen. The other woman had taken on the role of being Felicity's advisor and host. Her hair was different now, cut much shorter and styled in manner that faintly reminded Felicity of Sin's hair, only Gwen had hers as a dark red that suited her angelic face. Somehow Felicity thought that she could chop off all her hair and wear rags and still pull it off.
"That's Artemis," Felicity pointed out, turning her attention back to the stained glass picture so far above her. "I thought you guys were all about Athena. You know, goddess of wisdom and battle and all that."
She could practically hear the grin in Gwen's response, "We honor all goddesses that represent strength and independence. Artemis and Athena were particularly independent of the male gods and mortals in their time. Athena is our patron, but we make sure to honor others as well."
"Hera?" Felicity asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically as she tilted her head to look at Gwen again.
"Not so much," Gwen said, scrunching her nose. "Hera's different, for many reasons."
Felicity nodded, understanding what Gwen hadn't said. She was by no means an expert on Greek mythology, but even her general knowledge was enough to understand why Hera might not be a goddess the Daughters of Wisdom followed.
"So they're real?" Felicity asked.
"I don't know." Gwen confessed. "Maybe at one time, there were powerful women with names like that. You know how it works, history becomes legend, legend becomes myth. I'm sure over time the stories were changed until we got what we know today. The pool you're in now, the waters were said to come from a pond Artemis bathed in under the moon. Don't know if it's true."
"The healing properties?"
"It's no Pit, but its healing abilities are very real."
"You know sometimes I wonder what my life would be like, if I had just stayed as a normal IT girl."
"I honestly can't tell you anything about that Felicity, because I didn't know you back then. You may have led a normal life, but then again you and I both know you were never really normal to begin with."
"I like normal, normal's safe." Felicity whispered, feeling the lie deep in her bones.
"Normal is boring." Gwen responded. "A word of advice… stay in the waters a little longer. You'll need it for what's coming."
Felicity raised an eyebrow, but Gwen merely shrugged. "You've been through more in the last two weeks than most people have been through in their entire lives." She paused for a second, her brown eyes softening with sadness and pity as she looked at Felicity. "Some would say that you've been through a crucible."
"What do you say?"
"I think yours is just starting."
Felicity Smoak was dead.
At least… that's what she wanted everyone to think.
There were moments when she didn't know how Oliver could have possibly done it, known that everyone thought him dead. His case was different. Some would have said that death was better than what he had to endure.
The two days that followed the hospital were a blur of shadows and shapes, everything too much and too painful. She avoided Oliver and the foundry like her life depended on in it. In a matter of speaking… it did.
Poor Oliver. Felicity had acted like she didn't know what she would do, that she had no solid plans and everything and anything could happen. Liar, she remembered thinking. She had known what she would do the moment she had convinced William to leave the hospital. It hadn't been that hard to really. He was tired, he had already missed a day of work, and there was nothing to be done. Felicity thanked what few lucky stars she had that he'd only ever met Oliver once, the meeting too brief for Oliver to have made a lasting impression on him.
When she was dead, he would't know who to turn to, who to seek for help finding her.
Felicity Smoak… was dead.
The words sounded funny in her head. She didn't feel like her, the Felicity that laughed and smiled with Oliver in the days that led up to that night. She yearned for him, her heart aching and feeling as if it were collapsing in on itself. Felicity wanted nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and cry herself hoarse into the fabric of his shirt.
The poor baby, dying inside her before she even knew he was there. In her mind, that's what she had conjured up. A beautiful baby boy, with Oliver's gorgeous cerulean eyes, his light brown hair and that tiny smile that had her heart racing. She mourned him, the nameless child that she hadn't known she wanted and loved and carried inside her. She wanted him - her baby - more than anything. She wanted Oliver. She felt it - even now - her love for him. She felt it in her blood, in her bones, she felt in her every breath…
It didn't matter what she wanted any more. She was dead, and the dead didn't want.
For Oliver. Always for Oliver. Felicity disappeared. She had to. He would never know. Could never know. He'd blame himself, because that's just who he was, a man who insisted on shouldering the burden of the world. It wasn't his fault. Not even remotely. The fight they'd suffered had nothing to do with what happened that night. But that wasn't how he would see it. She couldn't let him do that; blame himself. She would suffer for him, without him. This time it
was different. This time, she wasn't sure he could survive this loss.
So she died. She died for him. For Oliver. For her baby.
Felicity Smoak was no more. Just a ghost. Only a ghost. A ghost erased all traces of her ever having been in the hospital. A ghost left everything behind, because even the slightest thing taken would rouse suspicion. She didn't think he loved her. Not yet anyway. Maybe he would have someday. She'd never know now. He wouldn't mourn her too long. He'd move on.
A ghost. Simply a ghost.
Watchtower. She was Watchtower now.
Real death would have been simpler. Real death, would have released her from everything. A part of her recognized this truth.
She didn't know why she didn't take the out that was so clear before her. Maybe it was Oliver. He hadn't given up. Neither could she.
Felicity took everything and shut it away.
"I'm not really good at this whole hiking thing." She announced after she fell for what felt like the hundredth time. Felicity had never been particularly graceful. It was by miracle only that she had managed the high stilettos that she had worn back then. Trudging her way through miles of forrest in heavy boots and clothes that felt a little too stuffy for comfort at the moment was beyond pushing it. She was positive that by the end of the day she'd manage to break at least two limbs.
Gwen looked back and arched an eyebrow. "You'll get good at it." She said simply.
"So you do this a lot? And by this I mean hike aimlessly through the woods without a path."
"Nope." Came her reply, making a loud pop at the end of the word.
"So then why would I get good at this?"
"You just will."
"Care to elaborate?"
"Not really."
"You know… I'm not a big fan of secrecy when it involves random secluded woods." She glared at the woman's back.
"Well then at least now we know you have some sense of self preservation." Gwen laughed, throwing her head back.
Felicity bit the side of her cheek rather than respond. In the short time that she'd known Gwen, it had become painfully obvious that responding to her only made the situation worse. Shut up and do as she says were usually the best ways to get any real answers out of her. After the night in the Pool of Artemis, Gwen had gone back to her usual carefree and playful behavior. If she hadn't been there, Felicity would have been positive that the moment of seriousness had never happened.
They continued to walk, or rather Gwen walked while Felicity tripped and stumbled along, in what seemed like circles for another hour. The trees overhead were too thick for Felicity to see much of the sky, the occasional patch of bright blue all she was really able to see. The ground was rocky and uneven, with several fallen tree trunks getting in their way. Gwen simply climbed over them, graceful and surefooted in way that had Felicity just a little bit jealous. On more than one occasion she needed help clearing them, some of them quite a bit taller than Felicity.
She still had no clue where she was.
Some would have said that Felicity was being completely idiotic for being where she was. She barely knew Gwen as it were, but something about the other woman calmed Felicity. From the beginning she had been aware that she was dangerous, but even then the sense of danger to her never struck Felicity.
She trusted her. Perhaps not as much as she trusted John, or Sara, or even…. But she trusted her anyway. Enough that she let her lead her through forests so thick if left to her own devices Felicity would never see civilization again.
The thought of being forever cut off from technology was a horrible one, and she flinched visibly before shoving the repulsive idea away. Focus on the task at hand, she decided. It was as easy as placing one foot in front of the other. What was that little jingle she'd heard? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. She wasn't swimming per se, but it was close enough. The box of carefully contained and shut down thoughts in the back of her head rattled dangerously.
"You know my mom told me to never hike in unknown forests with strangers." Felicity pointed out, more to distract herself from the dangerous thoughts threatening to take root than to really make conversation.
Gwen snorted. "That's an oddly specific thing to tell your daughter." She pointed out.
"Well… maybe she didn't say those words exactly, but I feel like if my mother knew I'd be doing this, she would have told me not to."
"What an oddly specific mother you have." Gwen responded. Felicity was positive that if anyone else had made that statement, the words would have been met with a lot more anger and a lot less acceptance. But somehow, because it was Gwen who said it, and because despite the fact that she'd never met Donna, the beautiful red-head had managed to pin point the most prominent characteristic of her mother made Felicity simply accept the comment. Her mother could be strangely specific with her sayings.
The thought of her mother left an unpleasant taste in her mouth. Anything of her old life did that really. Some thoughts more than others, but overall she liked to avoid anything that related to that Felicity too much. Better to forget everything and move on.
"What about your mom?" She asked, looking to shift the conversation away from herself.
"Never met her!" Gwen responded, her voice cheery. A red flag instantly raised itself inside Felicity's mind, but another part of her raised its head at the prospect of a new mystery, and she hated unsolved mysteries.
As if sensing that she was about to ask, Gwen began to speak. "I grew up in Toronto. Or at least that's where I was in my first memory. I don't really remember anything from my time there, or before that." She paused for a minute before continuing. "I was fifteen when I joined. I've never looked back."
Felicity stopped walking altogether for a minute, her mind reeling at the onslaught of new information. "You know you could hike a whole lot faster if you stopped talking! Chop chop!" She grimaced as the truth of Gwen's words struck her, but settled for silence. It seemed so unlike Gwen to shirk away from answering questions. Taking the hint, Felicity continued to stumble and trip her way behind her, smiling apologetically whenever Gwen had to stop and wait for her to catch up.
She wasn't quite sure how it happened. Her mind tried to reject what she saw, and only later did Felicity fully understand why. Gwen was there, her hand braced against a tree, smiling at Felicity as she promised her that they'd reached their destination. Felicity blinked.
A figure stood where Gwen had been less than a second ago, almost every detail of their body obscured by unnatural shadows. Its eyes glowed bright, two spots of white light that had neither iris nor pupil. Its hair was long and tumbled past its shoulders in curls, the color impossible to discern.
Felicity jerked to a stop, her hand flying to the strap of the small backpack she carried with her. The dark figure stood just as still as Felicity, bright eyes focused on the blonde in an unblinking stare that made the skin on the back of her neck crawl.
The only rational part of her mind that still managed to function told her to run. As soon as the thought came to her however, the black figure in front of her shifted. Its movements were strange, as if it was still deciding wether it was more solid than shadow. Its steps forward were preceded by a shifting of its presence, blinking and teleporting through space more than actually moving through it.
It only took a second before she was face to face with the shadow figure. Stupidly and infuriatingly, she froze, her limbs refusing to move despite the fact that every instinct told her to run. The backhand that struck her squarely on the cheek sent her flying. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth as she landed on the ground, and she pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek, feeling the warmth flow on it.
Felicity reached up to fix her glasses, before remembering that she no longer wore them, having decided to go with contacts for the long trek. She turned around, instantly remembering the danger behind her. The figure still stood in the same spot, its shoulders hunched forward and eyes glowing ominously. Felicity squinted, but as soon as she tried to focus her eyes on it, it shifted again, as if sensing her gaze. Fear struck her instantly, but this time Felicity reacted better. As soon as the figure started towards her again, she bolted, her hands gathering cuts from the numerous sticks and rocks littering the forest floor.
She headed back in the direction she'd come, grateful that their invisible path had been a straight one for the most part. There was something about the shadowed woman that disturbed Felicity. That something tugged at the fringes of her thoughts, demanding that she recognize it and angry when she tried and couldn't.
Felicity ran for what she thought seemed like a long enough time, her haste making her even clumsier than usual. She was grateful however, for the clothes that she wore, finding it somewhat ironic that she had mentally complained about them earlier. It was obvious now that the material was meant for durability and warmth, the fabric on her knees and elbows stained green from her numerous falls but miraculously free of any tears. A simple gray colored pair of cargo pants, tight enough that they didn't sag, but not so much that it restricted her movement. The t-shirt she wore was a simple black, and was covered largely by the silver gray camouflage jacket she wore.
She struggled to catch her breath, the air seeming too think around her. The adrenaline that coursed through her veins had Felicity on edge, her muscles tensing as if preparing to bolt.
"Calm down," she whispered to herself. She waited for John's voice to play itself in her head, to remind her of all the things she'd been taught to do. But it didn't come, and she was met with nothing but silence.
Gwen
She saw it the moment it happened. She remembered thinking "any second now", all the while an uneasy fear building in her chest. Something about the forest was different, as if it could sense the shadow in Felicity. Gwen saw it in the way she moved, the way her eyes seemed slightly duller than they had before. They weren't quite as bright as they had once been, the anger and sadness in Felicity having grown until the light was dimmer. It always happened.
The shadow in Felicity was too strong. Gwen knew it, the forest knew it. The shadow - brought to life by the forest around them - knew it as well. It was too late to turn back now.
She saw it the moment it happened. Felicity no longer saw her. In an instant the atmosphere changed, and a cold shiver ran down the length of Gwen's spine. She wasn't welcome there anymore. Get out! It screamed.
So she did the only thing she could do. Gwen walked away. They all had to do this, one way or another. Felicity could not go on as she was. How she would survive was entirely up to her.
She stayed on the fringes, careful not to step too close. Felicity had run from the shadow, that much was obvious. Gwen couldn't help but smile sadly as she followed the tracks Felicity had left behind. There were others among them, women who had hidden their shadow away, never dared face them. They were always the first to go, the firsts to make mistakes. Remorse weakened warriors, distracted them and made them stupid. She felt responsible for Felicity, something about the blonde called to her.
Gwen stopped as soon as she felt it, the cold presence that told her that she could this far and no further. Survival wasn't for the weak. She hoped that Felicity wasn't weak.
Felicity
Her breath rose in small puffs of heat. After she disappeared she hadn't seen the slightest hint of Gwen. Something about the situation told her that she wasn't too far off, but the lingering sense of being watched did nothing to alleviate Felicity's tension.
The shadow woman hadn't appeared either, and Felicity felt that maybe the sunlight was enough to keep it at bay. She'd seen it when it happened, the shadows melting away and revealing some of the skin on her wherever a ray of light cut through the thick canopy above them. Felicity's brain had been quick to supply the memory as she went back and analyzed every second of the encounter.
"Stay calm, analyze, react." She whispered to herself, even the sound of her own voice better than the deafening silence around them. She was in a small clearing now, a tiny break in the trees that left a small patch of grass, sunlight filling the tiny space. But even the small patch of sunlight did little to alleviate the numbing cold, the temperature having fallen drastically in just a couple minutes. "Stay calm, analyze, react." She repeated, over and over until the rapid beating of her heart finally slowed.
First, she needed to find some shelter. Without Gwen to guide her Felicity doubted she'd be able to find her way back by tracking her marks. The adrenaline gone and finally having gathered her wits about her Felicity began to think, her quick mind assembling a plan. Shelter, water, higher ground, and hopefully a fire, she decided. Not necessarily in that order, but for now those were the essentials.
The backpack on her shoulders wasn't too heavy, and she hadn't spared it much thought as she swung it on when Gwen had given it to her. She swung it off and plopped it down in front of her, kneeling on the cold ground, her fingers trembling from cold as she fumbled with the zipper.
"Jackpot," she whispered, allowing a small smile to tug at the corners of her lips as she looked inside. A large plastic container sat near the bottom, inside a good amount of food. It was all dehydrated food and energy bars, and she doubted they would taste very good. But Felicity was beyond the point of caring about flavor. Survival was the only thing that mattered. Two knives sat atop the container of food. One looked familiar to her, the blade sheathed, the handle thick and heavy as she weighed it carefully on her hand. She didn't have much experience with knives, the bulk of her training with Diggle having focussed almost entirely on hand to hand self defense. How to use her opponents momentum and size against her. A humorless laugh left her lips as the memories of all those nights trying to learn self defense came back to her. What a stupid waste of time it had all been.
The blade sang as she pulled it out of its sheath, the bright metal reflecting the sunlight brightly and cold against her palm. It was about half as long as her forearm, with sharp teeth she was pretty sure could be used for sawing, whether through bone or flesh she didn't think it'd really matter. In the right hands it looked like it could cut through anything.
The second knife was just an inch or two smaller, covered in a small pouch that she could easily strap to the belt on her waist. What caught her attention was it's odd shape and handle, the blade so foreign to her she was positive she'd never seen it before. The blade was more triangular than diamond shaped, double edge and with point so sharp she pricked her finger just touching it, a small drop of blood oozing through the small puncture. The handle was thin and cylindrical, covered in dark brown leather and ended in a ring, her middle finger easily slipping through it. The knife was clearly made for combat more than practical use. She surmised that they must have made a mistake giving this to her. She could barely hold the thing, much less use it in a fight.
Regardless, Felicity strapped the blade to her waist. Practical or not, she would feel better knowing she had something easily within reach. The rest of her findings were simple. A flashlight, a box of matches, a lighter, and small rolled up blanket that looked entirely too thin to provide any actual warmth.
"A compass and a map would have been nice," she grumbled. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she knew that she had to get something inside her system to make up for the energy the running had consumed. Be smart about this, she told herself. She didn't have to live, that had never been the deal. Living was entirely too much to ask her to do, she just had to survive.
Eat a little bit of food, just the barest minimum, and drink a little bit of water. She'd have to replenish her supply of water soon. Felicity walked to the nearest (and friendliest looking) tree and appraised it. She was by no means a good climber, as easy as they were for most people, stairs were her worst enemy. She rubbed her hands together quickly, the warmth from the friction returning some of the feeling to her cold fingers. The tree was easier to climb than she expected, her shoes obviously having been designed for outdoor activity (including climbing) made her ascent easier. Her head swiveled somewhat comically when she got as far as she could go. Purely by luck she'd chosen one of the taller trees to climb, and as a result she was a good thirty feet up in the air, the branches around her having thinned enough that her view of the surrounding area was a good one.
The canopy of tree tops around her was thicker than anything she'd seen in person before, the kind of forrest roof that seemed to exist mostly in stories and movies. Too thick for her to see the ground around her. The forest stretched out for what seemed like forever, reaching out into the distance until she couldn't make anything out.
She bit her lip worriedly. Her initial venture into the forest with Gwen hadn't seemed like it'd been long enough to land her firmly in the middle of nowhere. She circled a little around the tree, placing her foot carefully on the sturdiest branches below her. Eyes widening in surprise she spotted a single hill ahead, the space between the trees dotting the hill greater than that of the ground around her. Calculating how long it'd take her to get there and the possible advantages it could offer she decided to make a straight shot for it. She made no presumptions that she'd be able to reach it before nightfall, but it was a start, and she could always venture up the next morning.
Slowly Felicity began to make her way down, finding that climbing up the tree was a much easier task than climbing down. Her hands suffered numerous cuts when she occasionally grabbed a small branch that broke easily, the wood cracking and leaving a burning wherever it managed to break the skin.
Finally back on the ground she inspected her hands for any sign of splinters. Finding them miraculously free she turned her head in the direction of the hill, the idea of heading back into the shadows more than a little daunting.
"Focus Smoak," she said. While her plan wasn't exactly the greatest, it was also the only thing she could think of to do. She was positive that if anyone were to look for her, the first place they'd look and the easiest place to be found, would be the highest point around.
A cold shiver worked its way down her spine as soon as she stepped from the sunlight into the shadows cast by the branches and leaves overhead, the notion that she was being watched returning tenfold. She told herself that it didn't matter. If someone wanted to kill her, they would. There wasn't much she could really do about it, knife or not. As long as she tried to make it. That was her promise, to simply try.
Her progress was a slow one, but without the pressure to keep up with Gwen she fell less. She pulled the oddly shaped knife out of its sheath and gripped it tightly, marking every other tree as she made her way through thick forrest. If she got lost, she could follow her marks back to the small clearing.
Every now and then something seemed to move in the distance, always on the periphery. The shadow of a limb, a glow of unblinking and unnatural eyes. The air around her seemed colder whenever she thought she saw it, the skin on the back of her raising in gooseflesh.
The light around her began to fade quickly, but she thought the trees started to look thinner, the gaps between them larger. The last of the sunlight faded just as she reached what looked to be the foot of the hill. Something caught her eye as she looked around, a sudden drop on the side revealed to be a cave, making its way into the hill, but that wasn't what made her mouth drop open in a silent gasp.
Trees continued to grow inside the cave, long dead and barren with their branches criss crossing on the roof the cave in gorgeous patterns, a small forrest trapped inside the cave. She pressed her palm to the tree, finding it cold and harder than usual, more stone than actual wood. Felicity had read something about petrified trees before, the organic material of the tree slowly replaced by minerals until it was no longer organic.
Felicity walked further into the cave, careful not to go to far in, and found a relatively flat patch of ground. Her feet were aching from walking so long, her feeling more like led than functional limbs.
A sudden exhaustion stole over her, her eyesight going black even as she struggled to stay awake. "Stay awake," she whispered to herself, the command more of a prayer than anything else. Darkness.
When she came to it felt like hours later, her body aching from sleeping on the cold floor, her left arm twisted around the gnarled root of a fossilized tree. The sky outside was still dark.
The fatigue that had overcome her hadn't felt natural, but it hadn't been preceded by the telltale prick of a needle or dart. Felicity stood up, her leg muscles protesting angrily as she forced them carry her. She needed a fire.
Felicity went no further than the nearest tree, many of its branches small enough that she could use it for her little fire without being too small, and used the knife with the teeth along its . Thanking the universe for John Diggle she made her small tent of wood, gathering sticks and leaves at the bottom. The matches were easy enough to use, and she lit a particularly large leaf with one before tossing both the match and leaf into the dry stuff. The dead leaves and small sticks caught the fire instantly, and she repositioned some of the larger branches carefully, hoping to use as little of the matches that she could. After traveling to the top of the hill tomorrow she'd have to figure out how to start a fire without them, there was no use in waiting until she ran out of matches or her lighter no longer had any fluid to panic.
Soon she had a nice fire going and she found herself getting lost in its depths. Despite the unplanned nap she had taken she felt exhaustion roll over her again. She told herself that if she were being smart she'd have to find a way to gather food, her rations wouldn't last her long.
Looking back on it, she would have preferred the struggle to survive that she'd anticipated than what really came.
A/N: Please leave reviews! I'm still growing and learning myself as a writer and any form of feedback or praise or comment (whether it's positive or negative or simply meant to be constructive) is more than appreciated. Chapter two will be up soon!