XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia lashes out at a helpless, bleeding Murphy. Finn puts his tracking skills to good use while Raven and Bryce assist with their fellow injured. Octavia makes a surprising discovery].

Reaching up, I grasped a sturdy tree branch that was hovering above my head. With a grunt of pain, I heaved myself up and onto my feet.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?" Finn called out. "Octavia, slow down."

I shook my head in protest, leaning heavily against the trunk of the tree. "No. No. I can't."

"As beautiful as that horse is, there's no way we're letting you hurt yourself to go over there," Raven countered. "Now sit down and finish your breakfast."

"No, you don't understand!" I blurted out, flustered. "T-that's not just any old horse. That's Zenia!"

"You gave it a name?" Murphy snorted with laughter.

"Shut-up!" I growled as I shot him a glare. "Of course I didn't! Aidan did!"

"Aidan?" Raven raised her eyebrows quizzically.

"Yes, he's Lincoln's friend," I gasped out breathlessly as I staggered forward. "He was banished from Trikru for saving my life. If Zenia is here, there's a good chance he might be here too. He can help us find the Ark! C'mon, Finn, tell them!"

As I stood there, waiting, I realised that the only thing I didn't add to my argument was the fact that I cared for Aidan - a lot. I wanted to see him again. It'd make me feel a bit better, especially since Bellamy had left me alone with these lunatics to escape the chancellor's wrath.

Finn hesitated for a brief moment before nodding in agreement. "It's true. When Lincoln saved Octavia and I from the grounder tunnels, he mentioned Aidan."

"He's a grounder!" Murphy spoke up, an anxious air to his tone. "We can't trust them! Do you remember what they did to us back at the drop-ship or are you suffering from short-term memory loss?"

Finn whirled around to glower at him, his face contorted with anger and disgust. "We're the ones who fried them in a ring of fire, you dim-wit, now keep still or you'll scare the horse away."

"Gladly," Murphy huffed as he settled back.

"Here," Finn stepped over towards me and offered me a helping hand.

As the two of us, a little too close for comfort, slowly hobbled across the clearing, I could almost feel the heat from Raven's fiery eyes as they burned into the back of my head.

As we neared the knoll, I pulled away from Finn and held up a restraining hand. "I've got it from here."

"You sure?" he queried, his eyebrows knotted together in concern.

"Yup," I returned shortly, popping the 'p'.

Leaving Finn behind, I ventured closer to the magnificent steed that was feeding on a few clumps of wimpy grass that were scattered across the earthen floor.

"Zenia!" I whispered, clicking my tongue against my teeth. "Zenia!"

At the sound of his name being called, Zenia lifted up his head and glanced suspiciously over in my direction.

"Hey!" I trilled as I crept closer to his strong, muscular form. "It's me. It's Octavia. You remember me, right?"

Zenia tilted his head to one side, pretending that he had no idea what I was on about.

"Silly horse," I murmured, rolling my eyes as I dug my hand into my back pocket. Making sure I didn't scare him with any sudden moves, I drew out a wad of carrots that been packaged in a ration bag prior to our departure. I waved them around in front of my face. "I know you want them."

Looking around cautiously to make sure that the coast was clear, Zenia trotted over to me and nuzzled me in the chest, eager for his treat.

I chuckled as I opened the bag and held it up to his mouth. As Zenia chomped up his carrots, I allowed my hand to stray down his broad, soft neck and play with the silky strands of his long mane.

He was one gorgeous horse.

"Geez Octavia, I knew you were a criminal from the beginning but I didn't know that you'd resort to bribing and stealing as well."

At the sound of the deep, richly-accented, oh-so-familiar voice, I stumbled back with a start, thoroughly shocked at the sudden interruption.

Zenia, surprised, backed away from me with a loud snort and a toss of his head.

"Oh sheesh, calm down, it's okay," I held out a comforting hand towards him.

"Who the hell was that?" Raven demanded fearfully.

"I - I ..." I stuttered, not sure how to respond. Turning my head from side to side, I scanned my surroundings intently. It took me a minute to realise where he was, but, eventually, I caught sight of him. He was crouched up in a tree right above my head!

"A-Aidan!" I exclaimed as I tipped my head up to gaze at him. "How long have you been here?"

Aidan let out a lengthy sigh as he began making his way down the large, sturdy oak. As his booted feet touched the ground, he shoved the strap of his quiver further back across his shoulder. His eyes landed on Raven who was still sporting her gun. "Tell her to put that damn thing away," he spoke roughly, not tearing his eyes from her for even a second.

I spun around and gave Raven a knowing look. "It's okay. You can trust him."

"Really?" Raven raised her eyebrows in mock disbelief. "Just like we can trust the whole grounder population in general? They tried to massacre our people!"

"Yeah, well you burned the whole lot of them to death in a wave of fire so I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions if I were you," Aidan retorted with a guffaw of annoyance.

"They brought that on themselves!" Raven spat out. "We told them not to attack ... numerous times! But would they listen? No."

"Okay, okay, let's just take a chill pill for a second everybody!" Finn raised his arms and stepped in between Aidan and Raven. "Raven, put that bloody gun away. Aidan, explain yourself. Why are you lurking around here? What do you want?"

Aidan crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Finn, his dark brown hair falling across his forehead in waves.

I bit my lower lip as I studied his defined cheekbones, his muscular arms, his sturdy frame. I'd be damned if I'd ever admit it to him, but he looked extremely hot when he was angry.

"I don't want anything," he growled out in response.

"That's bull!" Murphy shouted out from where he was lying near the fire. "Grounders always want something!"

I shot Murphy a furious glare as I motioned for him to zip it, but all he did was smirk.

That guy knew how to really get on my nerves!

"Look, you're trying to cross territory that will be swarming with Trikru warriors, determined to avenge the death of their fellow soldiers," Aidan stated dryly. "If they find out that you escaped Mount Weather's raid, they'll come after you and they'll kill you and that's for certain. You need my help to get through here in one piece."

"And why would you help us, pray tell?" Raven demanded sourly.

Aidan paused as he chanced a quick side glance towards me. "Lincoln is helping Bellamy. It's my job to help you."

"C'mon, just let the guy do his thing," Murphy drawled. "It's not like he has anything better to do anyway but if our lives are spared because of his supposed 'kindness', I for one..."

"I swear to god, if you say anything else..." I hissed, eyeballing him angrily.

"I didn't think there'd be many Trikru warriors left, though," Raven addressed Aidan, her face the epitome of distrust.

Aidan shrugged. "Nine clans attacked you. Three didn't. There's still plenty of armed and dangerous warriors on the loose. So, do you want to survive this or not?"

For a moment, the only sound to break the tense undercurrent of silence was the whistling of the wind as it blew through the tips of the trees.

"Yes," I spoke up quietly.

Aidan gave me a funny look so I hurriedly added, "Yes. We wanna survive. We didn't come this far just to end up on the ends of some grounder's spears. Now, let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover before dark."

As I turned away, I thought I saw an amused twinkle flash in Aidan's eyes. But, the moment I snapped my head around to look back at him, it disappeared.

Gritting my teeth against the pain invading my side, I started limping back towards the clearing.

I had no idea what the next few days ahead would hold, but if Aidan was with us, I knew that everything would be alright.

Gif: Octavia as she heads back towards the camp.

XX