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[PREVIOUSLY: With Finn in the lead, the search party comes across Jasper strung up to a tree, screaming in pain. Clarke has a near-death experience and everyone's courage is tested when they find out that they've been tricked. They are now face-to-face with a hungry, angry cougar]!

Another low growl rippled through the air as the cougar bared its teeth at us. With a deafening roar, the muscular cat leaped off its' haunches and made a beeline straight for us!

"Bellamy, the gun!" Clarke cried.

Bellamy moved his hand towards his holster but he wasn't quick enough. With a quick flick of my wrist, I leaned over and flipped the weapon from his belt. Hurriedly, I cocked the pistol and aimed it right at the sleek black beast that was rushing towards us.

"Octavia!" Bellamy shouted. "W-what the hell are you doing ... ?"

BANG.

The first bullet was released from the gun.

It missed.

"Gimme that!" Bellamy yelled. "O, you don't know how to use it!"

BANG.

The second shot was fired.

It missed.

"You're gonna use up the entire frickin cartridge!" Bellamy screamed. "GIVE IT TO ME!"

BANG.

The third round of fire was shot.

It missed.

"OCTAVIA!"

I lowered the gun.

The cougar was gone.

"Great! Now we've bloody lost it!" Bellamy exploded. "And we've lost three perfectly good bullets! Give me the blooming gun, Octavia."

"Octavia, just give it to him!" Clarke called out, her expression one of disgust and disappointment. "C'mon, what are you trying to prove? I expected better of you."

I swallowed hard, my throat thick with tears. A saltiness began to sting the back of my eyelids and a heaviness settled on my chest. I opened up the weapon and gazed inside. We only had one bullet left.

"Can't thank you enough," Bellamy snorted, making as if to snatch the weapon from me.

RRROOOAAARRR.

The cougar suddenly leaped out from behind a large thicket of bushes. Teeth bared and claws sharpened, it's huge, black body sailed through the air ... straight for Bellamy.

"BELLAMY!" Clarke screamed.

BANG.

The cougar landed right on top of Bellamy, knocking him to the ground with the force of his weight. Bellamy threw his arms up, trying to protect his head and neck.

Then, without warning, the cat's head slumped down, inches away from Bellamy's chin. When he looked down at the beast, confused, he realised that the last bullet that I'd fired had gone straight and true.

A massive hole had been blown right through the cougar's head, exposing a mass of flesh and tendons and sporting a fountain of rich red blood. The dark liquid trickled down the cat's face and dripped onto Bellamy's shirt, soaking right through the material.

"Urgh," Bellamy shoved the cougar's body off of him as he scrambled to his feet. A look of disconcerted disgust was plastered all over his face as he gazed down at the large red stain on his shirt.

"Nice shot, Princess," Finn commented from his crouched position up in the tree.

I nodded and sent him a quick smile in response. My arms were shaking so badly that I lost my grip on the gun and it went clattering to the floor.

Bellamy turned to look at me. "Next time, do as I say. It'll save you a lot of trouble," he shook his head as he reached down and snatched up the now-useless weapon. "If the grounders didn't know we were here before, they sure as hell do now. C'mon, let's get outta here."

"Wait!" Clarke stepped forward. "We could use this," she pointed down towards the cougar's body. "It's fresh kill, right?"

A smirk tugged at the corners of Bellamy's mouth. "You don't say ... Wells, help me out over here. Geez, we're gonna have a feast tonight!"

Dusk had fallen by the time we arrived back at camp.

Everyone hailed us with much excitement, glad to see that we'd all made it back safely.

Finn, Clarke and I, who had constructed a makeshift stretcher to place Jasper on, went straight into the drop-ship. As Clarke was educated in the area of medicine, her mother being the Ark's doctor after all, she took care of Jasper's wound while Finn and I provided her with bandages and warm water.

Wells and Bellamy, who had balanced the cougar between them on our return trip, got busy cutting up the meat and making them into large kebab sticks.

Even though I didn't like the idea of eating a cat, I had to admit that the smell of the cougar's roasting flesh was very enticing.

"Hey, Princess, wanna go get something to eat?" Finn asked, interrupting my thoughts. "The smell of that meat is killing me."

Finn, Clarke and I were watching over Jasper as he tossed and turned in a feverish sleep. It had become dark very quickly, but the others had made light of the situation by building a large bonfire and cooking their kebab sticks on it.

I nodded. "Sure. We'll bring back something for you, Clarke."

Clarke let out a weary smile as she nodded and waved us away.

Finn and I stepped out into the cool, refreshing night breeze and made our way over to the others who were lining up for their dinner.

As we drew closer to Bellamy and Murphy, who were handing out the food, I noticed, with a start of surprise, that everyone was allowing their wristbands to be taken off - without question.

"W-what's going on, Bell?" I demanded as I approached my brother.

"Wristband comes off, you get food, simple as that," Bellamy shrugged in response.

Finn and I exchanged glances. I wasn't particularly worried about the wristbands being taken off, but the very fact that my brother was stooping to bribing was something that completely disgusted me.

"You're kidding," I grumbled.

"What's there to kid about?" Bellamy raised his eyebrows at me. "I'm the boss around here and that's the rules."

A tense silence issued.

"So ... are you going to take yours off or what?" Bellamy broached the subject as more of a command, rather than a question.

"I - I thought you said there were no rules," Finn spoke up. "You and your long, oratory speeches. You made out to everyone earlier that they could do whatever the hell they wanted so - that's exactly what me and Octavia are gonna do - whatever the hell we want."

Leaning over, Finn plucked a few kabab sticks from the rapidly reducing pile. He brushed past Bellamy, after motioning for me to follow him, as he made his way over to the fire.

"Octavia ..."

"Shut-up Bellamy," I grunted as I shoved away Bellamy's outstretched arm and started after Finn. "We can do whatever the hell we want!"

As I joined Finn, who was crouching down beside the fire, I couldn't help but smile. When I first met him, I thought he was an arrogant ass, b-but now? He'd fast become one of my closest friends here on the ground.

"W-what? What is it?" Finn's quizzical voice jerked me from my dreamy reverie.

My eyes widened in surprise when I realised that he'd caught me staring at him.

"Oh, uh, nothing," I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably as I settled myself down beside him.

"We can do whatever the hell we want, huh? Bellamy sure couldn't argue with that!" Finn let out a chuckle as he handed me my kebab.

My mouth curved into a wide grin as I accepted the food from his hand. "No, he couldn't, could he?" My gaze travelled over towards the flames, licking the dark night sky as they shot straight up in front of us.

Hundreds of twinkling sparks danced and crackled above the roaring blaze, whispering promises of hope, whispering promises of life.

In that brief moment of peace and serenity, I knew, deep down in my heart, that Bellamy had been right about one thing: we were fighters, we were survivors.

Gif: Octavia as she and Finn sit by the fire. QUESTION: do you ship these two? * waggles eyebrows *

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