𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒆; ❛ 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝒀 𝑯𝑰𝑮𝑯 ❜
↷ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒅
❝ 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆? 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔? ❞

𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘬𝘺 𝘉𝘰𝘹.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘰 ( 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 ) 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

𝘛𝘰 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸, "𝘔𝘺 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴."

"𝘎𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱." 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, "𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 ( 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 ), 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱 ( 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 ) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺.

𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘤𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳.

𝘈 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘸. 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳." 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢'𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦.

"𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱." 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 "𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳" 𝘰𝘳 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴.

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴." 𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, "𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘬."

𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

-

"It's been an hour since we passed the airplane wreckage." Jasper said, looking down at the map in Lincoln's notebook in the backseat of the rover, "Seeing as we're using a map without any distances, it could be days before we reach Luna's village."

"At least we know we're going in the right direction." Bellamy pointed out.

"Well with Charming's questionable ability to read a map I wouldn't be that optimistic." Gabriella argued, feeling like her back was breaking from the last five hours she was driving.

Wells narrowed his eyes into an annoyed glare and opened his mouth to argue, only for Jasper to cut him off, "We're running out of daylight. We should stop in the sun, recharge the battery."

"What sun?" Clarke sighed, looking at the cloudy sky over the window that was filled with raindrops from the rain pouring out of the sky for the past hour, "We keep going until it dies."

𝘖𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘦.

"We keep going until we get to Luna." Octavia snapped at the Griffin.

"Is this her?" Jasper asked, pointing towards a drawing in the book. Octavia showed it to everyone, letting them look at a drawing of a curly headed girl that had an emotionless look on her face for only a split second before turning it around.

She nodded, "Yes."

"What do you think she's gonna say when we show up asking to put an A.I. in her head?" Jasper spoke up after a beat of silence.

Gabriella felt her jaw clench, realizing they didn't really have a plan for what they would do if Luna rejected the flame, "I don't know, ask Clarke."

"Lincoln said she helps those who are in trouble." the brunette in the backseat told them, "She'll help us too."

"Fuck." Gabriella cursed, stopping the rover when she caught sight of a fallen tree laying in the middle of the road, probably the result of the storm that happened last night.

"Think she can help us find a better map?" Jasper raised an eyebrow as thunder ripped through the otherwise silent forest.

"Backtrack." Bellamy sighed, looking away from the road and towards everyone in the backseat, "We'll find somewhere where the trees aren't so bad."

His sister, on the other hand, clearly had other plans because she completely ignored him and jumped out of the rover.

"Hey!" he called after her but she ignored him and Gabriella almost sighed in relief at the chance to get out of this metal box. Don't get her wrong, this rover was her baby but she couldn't sit in the same uncomfortable seat for this long.

Wells stared after the youngest Blake, "Guess we're walking."

They all got out of the rover, Gabriella and Jasper being the least enthusiastic ones of actually walking to Luna's village.

"Anyone hear the part where I said it could be days?" Jasper called after them, annoyed that they didn't even think twice about it.

"Woah, woah, guys I'm not leaving the rover behind." Gabriella added, crossing her arms over her chest and walking after them slowly, "What if someone steals it or worse; damages it?"

"Stop." Octavia exclaimed, making everyone stop walking after her. She turned to them, her face softer than before, "You hear that?"

All of them were silent, their ears perked up, trying to hear what she was talking about. Gabriella narrowed her eyes at the ground in confusion, until she finally heard the sound of water. It sounded like a waterfall or something.

"Water." Clarke smiled and everyone but Gabriella, Jasper and Bellamy rushed towards the source of the sound. The former because there were splinters on her feet and she wasn't sure if she could run even if she wanted to and the other two, because they were the ones holding the guns in case a grounder jumped out.

"Eyes sharp. They could be hostile." Bellamy yelled after them, sighing when they just brushed him off and glaring at their backs.

"For fucks sake." Gabriella grumbled and followed after them, Bellamy never leaving her side even when Jasper all but ran after them after giving her his rifle.

She didn't take any time trying to take in the surroundings of the beach next to the lake because out of all the beauties ( and dangers ) of planet Earth, water wasn't that special to her. Especially after hearing what went down the first day they landed when Octavia jumped into a lake and then got bitten by a giant mutant snake.

"Where's the village?" Wells asked once Octavia stopped at the beginning of the group. The brunette looked around, briefly squinting at something that reminded Gabriella of a cemetery on the other side of the land and then looking back at the book in her hand.

"No. Oh, no. It can't be." she muttered under her breath, taking off without another word, leaving them no choice but to follow after her again.

They made their way to the other side of the land and Gabriella soon realized it wasn't even a cemetery. They were just rocks set up to look like crosses.

"This isn't a village." Jasper deadpanned, voicing his own disappointment, "It's just a bunch of rocks."

Clarke looked around in disbelief, "She's gone."

Gabriella cursed under her breath, shaking her head to himself. Did they really come all this way for nothing? And now there was no way they could stop ALIE.

Jasper spoke up after a beat of tense silence, "What do we do now?"

The Hastings looked up, soon realizing he, Wells and Bellamy were looking at her for a response and while she used to always have a plan, now she had nothing. Her eyes drifted towards Clarke, who seemed to be the only person that had some sort of connection to the Commanders and for the first time in months, she wasn't looking at her with annoyance or anger, she just looked tired, "I don't know. What 𝘥𝘰 we do now?"

Startled by her question, Clarke's eyes briefly widened, as if the interaction stunned her into silence.

"I don't know." she said in defeat. Gabriella looked over at Bellamy, only to see him looking at his sister who was kneeling by the rocks on the edge.

The youngest Blake let out a heart-wrenching scream that made Gabriella's heart break. While they were all exhausted and worried about what was going to happen, Octavia was dealing with losing the first person she ever loved and now she realized that even after everything she did to do right by him, it was all for nothing.

-

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘤𝘦 𝘈𝘨𝘦." 𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳.

"𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴?" 𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, "𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘺."

𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

"𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘢." 𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺.

𝘚𝘩𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥, "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘔𝘳. 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥."

"𝘕𝘰, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘕𝘰." 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳.

"𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘴. 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦." 𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵, "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵?"

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵, "𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨?"

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵? 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦; 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵." 𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥, "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 ── "

"𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦?" 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺.

𝘗𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘧𝘧, "𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥."

"𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭, 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴." 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨, "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘸."

𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, "𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰?"

𝘚𝘩𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢, "𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦."

𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘗𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧.

-

Since the sun was setting, they decided it was best to camp here so they spread around and gathered some wood for the fire. Octavia and Wells rushed to set up the fire before the dark came and they all froze to death before ALIE could get to them.

"We need to talk about what we're doing next." Gabriella spoke up, putting her knife down.

"We wait until first light, and then we split up and search the shore in both directions . . . " Octavia's words were cut off when she successfully managed to start a fire and her features brightened, "Yes!"

"I agree." Bellamy said, everyone else soon nodding in agreement, "Lincoln wouldn't have put this spot on the map unless it was important." he reached to pick up Lincoln's book that was next to Octavia, only for her to snatch it from his grasp.

"Don't touch that." she snapped, making him back away. It was clear she was sensitive with who could and who couldn't touch the book judging by the fact that she hasn't let a single person touch it.

Gabriella's eyes widened awkwardly as Wells made a point to distance himself as far away from the Blake siblings as possible to at least be subtle.

"Come on, O." Bellamy sighed, looking down at his little sister, "How long?"

"I don't know."

"You can't keep brushing me off like this and bottling up your feelings. I want you to talk to me."

Octavia clenched her jaw but didn't respond, her eyes set on the flames they were standing around, "I can't breathe without seeing Pike putting that gun to Lincoln's head." her voice broke, "I hear the gunshot. I see him fall." her eyes snapped towards him, "See, I'm not bottling up my feelings. I'm just waiting for the war to be over before mourning." her face turned cold, "When I do mourn I sure as hell won't talk to the guy who gave Pike the chance to start a war in the first place. You're the real reason he's dead. And if I hadn't done anything, Ella and Kane would have been dead too."

Bellamy looked like she just punched him in the face a hundred times over and over again. With a brick in her hand. He stared at his sister for a moment longer before storming away from them and down the beach.

Gabriella watched him leave with sad eyes, about to follow him but the fire turning green made her eyes widen and her gaze snap towards it.

"What the hell?" Jasper muttered, giving Wells a weird look, who held his hands up in defense.

"I just threw the branches into the fire." he pointed towards the branches on the ground.

"What?" Gabriella asked, noticing the look of realization on Octavia's face.

In repose, the Blake sister pulled open the brown book, flipped a couple of pages and pulled out a plant. She didn't explain anything before throwing it into the fire, making the fire glow green again.

"Signal fire." Octavia announced with a breathy chuckle, "He was trying to tell us. This is how we contact Luna."

"I'll get more." Jasper instantly said, turning around to collect more plants along the shore.

Gabriella stared at the green fire for a moment but then her eyes drifted towards Bellamy's retreating figure and the small bubble of excitement that filled her chest was gone. She knew he and Octavia were on thin ice and that Octavia still blamed him for Lincoln dying even though she didn't voice her thoughts before now and even though Bellamy did everything he could to keep all of them alive. It's what he always did.

-

The sun set almost an hour ago and everything around them was completely dark now, the only thing providing them light being the fire they were all sitting around.

Clarke, Wells and Jasper moved to try and get some sleep while Octavia was keeping guard. She told Gabriella to get some sleep but she couldn't. Not until Bellamy came back safe.

Gods, she shouldn't have even let him go alone. She got to her feet with her jaw clenched, squinting in the darkness to see if Bellamy was still visible only to see him sitting next to the river, almost invisible to them.

She let out a sigh and didn't spare anyone another glance as she made her way towards Bellamy.

After a few minutes of walking, she finally got close enough to see the deep frown on his face. She thought he was too busy staring at the waves by his feet to notice her approaching but he proved her wrong when he shook his head, not looking away from the ground.

"I don't know what to do." his voice was weak, defeated and it made her heart break, "I've lost her, Gabi."

"Hey." she didn't hesitate to sit down next to him, putting one of her hands to the side of his face to get him go look at her, "She's your sister. Your family. You didn't lose her. She just needs to blame Lincoln's death on someone that's actually here. She's grieving." once she saw the uncertainty look in his eyes she added, "You did everything you could to save him, to stop what Pike was doing. She will eventually realize it and you two will go back to who you always were."

Bellamy stared at her for a couple of moments, looked over her shoulder at everyone else and then back at her. He raised an eyebrow, "Maybe you should listen to your own advice." he hesitated before speaking, "What happened to Sinclair couldn't have been prevented. There was nothing you could have done."

Letting out a humorless chuckle, Gabriella shook her head, removing her hand from his face and then nodding, "You're right. It's Clarke's fault. She didn't kill Emerson when she was supposed to and it caused us Sinclair and almost got us killed."

"She's one of us though." Bellamy sighed, "As much as you hate to admit it she is. Something will always tie her to us. This time it's the fact that she's trying to save everyone," his tone turned mocking, "like always." she chuckled and he continued in a serious tone, "A few years after this is over, she'll find a reason to come back again. That time it will probably be Wells."

Gabriella's face scrunched up at the mention of Wells and Clarke's former relationship, "If she keeps on coming back just to leave again and to mess with his head I swear I'll shove the flame down her throat."

Bellamy snorted at her words and shook his head. He softly looked at her for a few more moments while she stared at the starry sky. Eventually, he spoke up, "You're a good leader. A good friend even. To all of us. Don't sell yourself short, Artemis. We wouldn't have made it here without you."

"Is that what we are?" Gabriella raised an amused eyebrow and faintly smirked at him, "Friends?"

The curly headed man bit his bottom lip to contain the small smirk that was threatening to appear on his face. Involuntarily, his eyes drifted towards her lips and her smirk only grew.

"Are you gonna kiss me again or do I have to do everything myself?" Gabriella taunted bluntly, her words making heat crawl up Bellamy's neck despite the cold. Nonetheless, he still didn't back down and just raised a challenging eyebrow.

Gabriella Hastings might have been the only girl who had enough power to make him blush like a teenager but that didn't mean he was going to admit it outloud. Even though he was pretty sure she was aware of what kind of effect she had on him.

Well she was definitely starting to.

Shaking her head with a chuckle, the girl noticed movement out of the corner of her eyes. She threw one look at the lake, her eyes widening at the sight of multiple masked men standing there with their crossbows aimed at them.

She pulled away from Bellamy, making him look at the water too. Both of them reached for the only weapons they had, only for someone to tackle them to the ground. Gabriella stared at the masked person above her as they put their hand over her mouth, unknown to her, another person was doing the same to Bellamy.

So much for no one being here anymore.

-

They both got gagged and tied up. Gabriella felt like that was happening to her a lot recently. She thinks she can never think of bondage the same way again.

After the rope around their limbs was tied hard enough to bruise, they dragged them towards their friends.

Once they caught sight of them, they quickly got to their feet. Jasper didn't hesitate to reach for the gun Gabriella left by the fire earlier while Wells subtly stood in front of Clarke, who stared at them with wide eyes. Octavia gave Jasper a slightly annoyed look the second she saw the gun in his hand, "No. No. It's okay."

Gabriella and Bellamy were thrown onto their knees as the unknown people aimed their weapons at their friends.

"𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪? 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙖𝙡?" the only man that wasn't wearing a mask asked, his question directed at Octavia.

"𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙊𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙎𝙠𝙖𝙞𝙠𝙧𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚."

The man narrowed his eyes, "Skaikru, bringers of death." 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, "Why should we give you safe passage?"

Octavia swallowed, quiet for a moment, and then simply answered, "Lincoln. He sent us."

The grounder's face flashed with recognition and he shared a look with his people before nodding at Bellamy and Gabriella, "𝙍𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨."

The Hastings girl sighed in relief after her hands were untied and she was able to remove the gag from her mouth. She was going to have to get used to that.

"What's going on?" Wells asked, his worried look moving away from the two of them and towards Octavia.

"I don't know."

The same man from before took out a vial filled with yellow liquid and slowly handed it to Octavia who accepted it with a terrifying lack of hesitation.

"What is that?" Clarke asked suspiciously but in response, she got a similar vial handed to her as well.

"Safe passage." the grounder simply said before giving a vial to Wells, then Jasper and then finally to Gabriella and Bellamy.

Jasper raised a curious eyebrow, "What does it do?" when he didn't receive a response, he pursed his lips and nodded shortly.

Octavia didn't hesitate to open the vial and drink everything from it. Bellamy's eyes widened at her actions, "Octavia, wait!"

Gabriella blinked in surprise, raising her eyebrows at the brunette in a silent question. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬? The response she received softened her look of disbelief.

"I trust Lincoln."

Noticing their hesitation, the grounder spoke again, "If only she drinks, only she goes."

Sighing under her breath, Gabriella opened the vial, shrugging one of her shoulders, "What the hell? It's not like we have anything else to lose."

Neither of them had a moment to reach before she chugged down the sour yellow liquid herself. She grimaced at the taste and gave them a sarcastic grin, "Tastes like lemon."

"For fucks sake." Bellamy clenched his jaw, soon doing the same.

Jasper gave them all a grin and chugged everything down too, "See you on the other side."

Gabriella felt an unexpected unease in her stomach. Almost like she was going to throw up. She snapped her eyes towards Bellamy, but he looked very blurry. Everything around her started to spin and a sharp headache hit her before she dropped to the floor unconscious.

Nothing left to lose right?

a/n: only three chapters left!

I'm tempted to end the last book with a few years later epologue and "and that is how I met your father" because I already have season 7 all planned out and and now I'm just randomly thinking about the possible epologues

and yes that includes me deciding who she ends up with although if you follow me on tik tok it's kinda obvious

words: 4.3k