XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Aidan confronts Octavia about her actions and she begins to realise what effect her decision had upon him. Then, without warning, she is jumped from behind. When she wakes up, she's in a grounder dungeon with Finn, awaiting her fate].

"Again? We've been captured by the grounders ... again?"

I shot Finn a warning look. "Do you know when to shut-up?"

Finn gritted his teeth as he begrudgingly fell silent.

"Keep moving!" the grounder behind us growled, jabbing the cold metal of his spearhead up against my shoulder-blade.

I winced as a prick of pain seeped through my skin and nerve endings. Slowly, so as not to attract too much attention, I tilted my head this way and that, making mental notes of my surroundings.

The large, burly warrior who had so 'graciously' released Finn and I from our prison cell, had bound our hands behind our backs with a wad of thick, scratchy rope that was attached to the clasp on his belt buckle. Two curved swords hung by his sides. In his hands was a huge, iron-tipped spear, splattered with colourful shades of war paint. Born studded armour lined his forearms and legs and a thick leather breastplate encircled his chest.

With his sharp, eagle eyes watching our every move, we were forced to walk, obediently and meekly, through a maze of winding tunnels lit up with the occasional flaming torch. Our figures caused eerie shadows to dance along the earthen walls whenever we passed under the flickering orange flames.

Finally, after what seemed like a life-time of walking, we broke through the end of the millionth tunnel opening and into a large, spacey room. The grounder grabbed Finn's and I's shoulders and shoved us down on our knees to the floor.

Swallowing hard, I watched him as he came to stand at attention right before us.

I glanced sideways at Finn whose eyebrows were quirked upwards in confusion.

What was happening?

"So, we meet again."

With a startled gasp, my head snapped around and I gazed, wide-eyed, at Anya, who had crept up silently behind us!

She pushed past Finn and I, making sure to bump my shoulder roughly as she did so. Spinning around on her heel, she glared down at the two of us.

"My sources tell me that you were both primarily responsible for seeing through the vicious attack on the bridge," she stated pointedly. "To be honest, I'm not surprised."

"W-what do you want with us?" I squeaked, trying to conceal the tremor lacing my words.

Anya narrowed her eyes down at me. "Not with him, with you," she growled, waving Finn aside as she stepped forward and towered over me.

I shook my head, tears of confusion and anger blinding my eyes. Why would Aidan turn me in? Surely, he knew that I would be killed. It didn't make any sense ...

The sound of Anya's sword sliding from her scabbard pierced the air. I felt a rush of air fan my face as she flipped the weapon over in her hand. I hunched my shoulders together as she raised the blade and brought it down ...

"No! Stop! NO!" Finn yelled out in protest as he struggled against his bonds.

SWISH.

The sharpened end of Anya's sword severed through the rope knotting my wrists together. My eyes widened in surprise and timidly, I peered up at Anya, my thoughts running around in circles.

Anya backed away a few paces and nodded at the grounder next to her. He leaned forward and seized my arm, jerking me up onto my feet.

Anya turned around and gripped the end of a grimy, ragged curtain that had been flung carelessly across a far section of the room. She ripped it back, revealing a bed on which lay a little girl.

I inhaled sharply as I was pushed forward towards her. The girl was convulsing in pain, foam frothing up in her mouth. The sheets beneath her body were stained with blood and a sharpened shred of timber was embedded in her chest.

"Help her," Anya demanded harshly. "Because if she dies, he dies." She lifted her sword and pointed it towards Finn.

"Wait ... what?" I gaped at her. "Are you kidding me? I - I don't know how to help her! Clarke's our medic. I - I don't know anything about ..." I paused when Anya sent me a furious glare.

"Do you know what happened to her, Octavia?" she spat as she began circling me. "She was near the bridge when your bomb exploded. You did this to her. Now you have to fix it."

"But I ..."

"Listen to me very, very carefully!" Anya growled. "Our healer is gone, blown to pieces by the explosion. We have no one left that can help her so, for Finn's sake, I hope that you can."

"Aidan?" I blurted out as a sudden thought struck me. "H-how exactly was he involved in this? I - I thought you banished him."

Anya smirked. "It's not any secret that you care for him. You made your point clearly obvious when you helped him escape from Bellamy. But, unfortunately for you, he does not feel the same way. You are his enemy. You are the one who blew that bomb. You are the one who has hurt him. You helped your people conceive your devious plan, so he has helped his ... by catching you. Now, do as I say, and help her."

I fumbled for words as I gazed at the girl. "I - I don't have any equipment."

"We'll provide you with what we can," Anya beckoned to the grounder behind me. He scurried forward and bent down, opening up a case filled with vials of herbs and lined with knives and needles. He spread it out on the ground by my feet before glancing up at me, his stern eyes holding a hint of desperation.

I turned my eyes back towards the girl. I had never before conducted a surgery. I wouldn't know where to start! One wrong move and I could end up impaling one of her major organs. She could die by my own hands!

"Finn ..." I whispered as I looked over my shoulder towards his prone figure. "I - I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Finn assured me, his tone strong and steady. "You're smart. You'll figure this out, Princess."

I gulped as I bent down to examine the case by my feet. The differing blades that were inserted into the cloth gleamed with newness and the array of needles glimmered in the dim candlelight. Slowly, I reached forward and withdrew one of the knives from the case.

Pushing my weary body up, I walked over towards the girl. Fingering the knife with one hand, I lifted up her shirt with the other. I sliced the sharp tip through the edge of her clothing. Sticking the handle of the knife in my mouth, I tugged upwards against the rip, tearing the girl's shirt in half.

As soon as the grubby material had peeled away from the wound, I focused my eyes on the chunk of wood protruding from the girl's torn and bloody chest. I felt bile rise in the back of my throat as I caught a glimpse of some shredded muscle lying loose near the gruesome injury.

In order to save this girl's life, I needed to perform a miracle.

Swallowing down my fear and insecurity, I took the sharpened blade in one hand and began to cut away all the extra muscle and dead clumps of skin that were clogging up the opening to the wound.

As I worked, I noticed that the girl's breathing had began to quicken. Even though she was only semi-conscious, she could still feel the pain that my knife was causing her. Her fingers balled up the sheets on the bed and she broke out into a cold sweat. Her teeth chattered together noisily and she cried out in agony.

Anya quickly stepped over and took one of the girl's hands in her own before bowing her head and murmuring soft, comforting words over her.

Once I had cleared out the wound, I began to slowly, painstakingly dig around the shrapnel in the girl's chest. I had no idea how deep this injury was or how much of the timber was actually in her body. There was only one way to find out.

Gritting my teeth together with a new resolve, I hastened my pace, knowing that it was only a matter of time now. I had only just started to make some headway when, suddenly, the little girl started screaming and writhing around.

"What did you do?" Anya shouted as she seized my wrist and jerked me away from my patient. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"I - I ..." I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. "I dunno. I - I was doing everything right ..." my voice trailed off as a long stream of deep red blood squirted out from the girl's wound and oozed down her stomach.

My eyes flittered to the girl's face and I inhaled sharply. It had gone deathly grey. Her lips were a purplish blue and her eyes had rolled back into her skull. Her whole body began convulsing and, as Anya and I tried to hold her still so we could stop the incessant bleeding, she fell limp.

I froze, staring at the girl's unresponsive face in horror.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

Anya reached over and placed her fingers against the girl's neck. She paused and her jaw tightened. Slowly, she pulled away, tracing her fingers fondly through the girl's thick braids.

Then, she straightened up and cast a steely glare towards Finn. Her next words cut me to the core: "Take him away and kill him."

"NOOO!" I screamed as I lunged forward. "No, please, no, I didn't mean too ... I - I did everything I could! PLEASE!"

Finn was jerked back and pulled roughly to his feet. As he was being dragged out of the doorway, he called out, "Stop, Octavia, don't resist! They'll kill you too!"

"Finn, please, no!" I sobbed as I dropped to my knees. "No, no, no!" I cried out, burying my face in my hands.

"Princess!"

I raised my puffy, tear-streaked cheeks from my clammy palms and gazed up at him. "S-Spacewalker?"

"I - I love you. Stay strong ... for Raven - and for the others. They need you now more than ever. Goodbye, Princess."

Then, without causing any further trouble or resistance, Finn was forced to walk forward to his impending doom.

Gif: Octavia as she faces off against Anya. The last bit is so cringey so I'm really sorry about that. :/

XX