XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Bellamy catches Octavia, Finn, Dustin and Bryce as they try to leave camp. Clarke and Wells join them in their search for Jasper but not before they force Monty, Dustin and Bryce to drop out and stay behind. Octavia and Finn are witnesses to the growing tension between Clarke and Bellamy, who has foolishly left Murphy behind to take charge].

"These guys aren't just bullies, Clarke, they're dangerous criminals."

This was the fifth time that Wells had uttered that sentence in the last half hour alone.

I heaved an irritated sigh as I turned to Finn who was walking beside me. "Wells is really starting to grate on my nerves," I grumbled under my breath.

"Tell me about it," Finn muttered and shook his head.

Up ahead of us, in the lead, was Clarke accompanied by Wells. Bellamy, his senses on high alert, trailed after us at the rear.

Finn glanced over his shoulder at Bellamy and frowned.

"W-what is it?" I questioned as I, too, cast a hurried look towards my brother.

"Since when was Bellamy in the rescuing business?" he raised his eyebrows at me.

I shrugged. "I dunno. W-why do you ask?"

"Bellamy doesn't care about Jasper; he barely even knows him," Finn bit his lip in thought. "So why on earth did he agree to come with us? To impress Clarke? To prove himself? I think he's already done that."

"What? You think he wants to cause us trouble?" I tried to keep the disbelieving tremor from showing in my voice.

Finn shook his head. "Not us. Them," he nodded towards Clarke and Wells. "If I'm not mistaken, Bellamy wants the Ark to think that their precious little prince and princess are dead. He doesn't want the others up there to think we're alive. He doesn't want them to come down here."

"B-but why?"

Finn shrugged. "Think about it, why is Bellamy so opposed to the rest of our people coming down to Earth? Why did he come down? To be with you, obviously, but what did he do to get on that drop-ship? Surely he wasn't given a free pass to join us and the rest of the prisoners. He must've had to do something for someone."

"I - I did something, okay? Something to get on the drop-ship; something they'll kill me for when they come down from the Ark."

Bellamy's words of warning rang throughout my ears. I turned to gaze at my brother and swallowed hard as I tried to divert the subject. "Yeah. You're right. He wants Clarke and Wells to take off their wristbands. But they'll never go for that."

"They would have too if they were forced," Finn shrugged.

"Please," I rolled my eyes. "Let's not get into the gruesome details right now. Look, I seriously couldn't give a damn about this stupid wristband business. In fact, I'll probably take mine off as soon as we get back to the drop-ship. It's annoying as hell and besides, no one's gonna care anyway. But right now? We can't have Bellamy and Clarke fighting amongst themselves if we're trying to find Jasper. It won't work. More of us will just end up getting killed! So just - just promise me that you'll stop Bellamy if he tries to do anything stupid."

Finn nodded and smiled. "Anything for you, Princess."

After that, the hours seemed to fly by like clockwork.

Before I knew it, we were standing atop of the rocks overlooking the river where I had been attacked by the massive, snake-like creature. Bellamy still wasn't aware of the fact and I was determined to keep it that way. If he knew that I'd nearly drowned, he'd probably have made me stay back at the drop-ship and like hell was I gonna let that happen! I needed to help find Jasper - before it was too late.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Bellamy demanded when the five of us were all gathered up top of the cliffs. "Let's just swim across and get it over with."

Clarke hesitated as she tried to find the right words to answer him. I quickly jumped in by saying, "Some of us don't know how to swim, Bell. Besides, Jasper was speared the minute he crossed the river right over there. I think we need to look for another way to get across otherwise we could be impaled too."

"I never thought I'd say this, but she's right, Bellamy," Clarke agreed with a nod of her head. "We need to find another place to cross this thing. Remember, once we do, we'll be in grounder territory so everyone be careful."

"Split up," Bellamy commanded as his eyes swept our surroundings. "We'll cover more ground that way. Clarke, you're with me. Wells, you go with Octavia and Finn."

"Whoa, whoa, wait just a minute," Finn was quick to jump to the rescue, of which I was glad. "Clarke's not going anywhere with you."

Clarke glanced up at Finn, confused. "Why?"

"Yeah, why, Spacewalker?" Bellamy mocked, sending him a piercing glare.

"We've figured out your little plan, Bellamy and trust me, it's not gonna happen," Finn retorted.

"W-what plan?" Clarke looked quizzically from Finn to Bellamy.

"You wanna tell her or should I?" Finn demanded.

Bellamy scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do!" I snapped as I stepped forward. "You're trying to corner Clarke alone so you can take off her wristband by force."

"WHAT?" Clarke whirled around and glowered at Bellamy. "Listen here, you ass, the only way the Ark is going to think I'm dead is if I am dead. Do you understand?"

"Ohh, brave princess," Bellamy chortled.

Finn glared at Bellamy as he grabbed Clarke's arm and jerked her away from him. "Change of plans, Clarke and Wells are with me. Octavia goes with you. She's the only one that you won't hurt; but that says something about you, doesn't it? C'mon, let's go."

I watched as Finn, Clarke and Wells headed off along the westward bank before turning back to Bellamy.

"What was that?" he demanded angrily.

"What was what?" I asked, trying to feign innocence.

"You took Finn's side against mine," he blurted. "You know what? I should've just left you behind. I'm much better off without you."

Although I hated to admit it, his words stung; they really stung. "And what would you know, Bellamy?" I let out a light laugh. "You're the one who came down here to protect me! So don't go around kidding yourself: you're a coward, you're afraid, you're scared just like the rest of us. But instead of suffering in silence, you take out your emotions on everyone else. You know what, Bell? You're wrong. You're not better off without me. I'm better off without you. You should've just stayed on that Ark and died along with everyone else ..." I stopped for breath.

"That's how you're gonna play it?" Bellamy narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Fine! Go join your boyfriend and the rest of the crew. I'll find Jasper on my own!"

"Bellamy ..." I stared at him in shock. "It - it's not safe."

"And why would you care, huh?"

"Oi! Octavia! Bellamy! Come quick! Finn's found something!" Clarke's distant voice arrested the two of us, interrupting our heated discussion.

In that moment, we both fleetingly forgot that we were in the middle of a quarrel. After sending each other worried glances, we both took off in the direction the others had taken.

After a few moments of hard sprinting, we burst breathlessly through the thick undergrowth into a small clearing gracing this side of the river-bank. We both skidded to a halt and stared at the scene in front of us with wide eyes.

A small waterfall, spouting from amidst a tall pile of rocks, was tinkling and dancing on it's way down to a shallow, knee-length crystal-clear pool caved in with a circular pile of smooth, grey stones. Bright green algae and fresh sprigs of lily pads littered the surface of the water. The rest of the rushing water, having been cut off from this section of the river, had stopped and shrivelled up some way aways, it's waves rippling against the stones banking it in.

"Wow," I breathed. "T-this is incredible!"

"Wait," Bellamy placed a hand protectively on my arm. "Where's Clarke and the others?"

"Over here!" a nearby voice called out in response.

Bellamy and I both turned to see Clarke, Finn and Wells on the opposite side of the river.

"Just cross through the pond," Finn told us. "I've already checked around, there's nothing living in the water. Besides, it's too shallow to suffice for anything anyway."

Bellamy nodded as he placed his hand on the tip of his pistol. "Follow me," he said as he began, carefully and precisely, to cross the river.

To my surprise, we managed to get to the other side without any harm or damage caused.

"C'mon, we'd better get out of plain sight before the grounders decide to throw more spears at us," I shuddered, wrapping my hands around my elbows and rocking back and forth on my heels.

"Wait!" Finn urged from a few metres up ahead.

"What is it?" Bellamy demanded.

Finn crouched down and fiddled with something on the floor. Keeping a sharp eye-out for any unwelcome intruders, I walked over to him and peered over his shoulder. "What on earth are you banging on ..." I stopped myself and drew in a shaky gasp. "Oh my god."

The thing in Finn's hands? They were Jasper's goggles. And not only that, but there was blood splattered everywhere - all over the ground, all over the rocks, all over the bushes nearby.

"Jasper," I gulped. "He was here."

Finn handed me Jasper's goggles as he reached down and placed two fingers in the pool of blood by his feet. He lifted them to his face and examined the bright red drops as he said, "We're close."

Gif: Octavia when she sees Jasper's blood.

XX