❝ 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀
𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

We reach a large pile of rocks that are placed right next to a beautiful looking river and I take in the view with an awed expression on my face, just bewildered to be seeing what I am.

"Wanna go for a dip?" Octavia asks with a mischievous smile.

"You bet" I reply with a grin equal to hers.

I kick off my black lace up boots before I slip off my black cargo pants and let my crimson red bomber jacket fall to the ground next to them. I grab the bottom of my navy long sleeved shirt to pull it off when I hear Clarke screaming.

"Octavia! Ava! What the hell are you doing?!" She shrieks.

I yank off my shirt, leaving me in my blue sports bra and underwear then I turn to see Octavia jump into the water. I dive in after her, feeling the cold water cooling down my fair skin.

I resurface at the same as Octavia, she kneels with only half of her head out of the water to see the rest of the group's reaction while I lay my head back in the cool water.

"Ava! Octavia!" I hear Monty yell and I look up to see everyone looking at us in awe.

"We can't swim!" He adds.

"I know, but we can stand" Octavia says and both of us stand up, laughing as the water only comes up to our waists.

"Wait. There's not supposed to be a river here" Clarke says.

"Well, there is. So take off your damn clothes" Finn demands and I run my fingers through my blonde hair that is dripping wet.

"Come on, buzzkill!" I hoot and Clarke grins widely.

Everyone begins stripping off their clothes when I'm splashed in the face. I turn to Octavia who grins at me cheekily and I pounce on her, sending us both underwater. We reach the surface and begin splashing water at each other, laughing as we do.

"Guys, get out of the water!" Jasper shouts worriedly.

I turn around and see a wave of water coming towards us, as if there's something underneath the surface swimming straight at us.

"Get out of the water now!" Jasper shrieks but I freeze.

Octavia is pulled under the water after letting out a scream and i'm immediately snapped out of my daze.

"Octavia!" I scream in horror.

She completely disappears under the surface and I swim to the rocks, Monty giving me his hand and pulling me out the water. I run to the highest point of the rocks and look into the water for my new friend.

Everyone is completely silent and hundreds of horrible thoughts run through my brain, but they are all blocked out when Octavia resurfaces.

The Blake girl screams in terror, flailing around in the water and my heart drops to my stomach in fear.

"What the hell is that?!" Monty snaps.

"We have to help her!" Finn snaps, ripping off his jacket.

"Already ahead of you" I state getting ready to jump in but Clarke grabs my arm.

"No. Wait!" She snaps and I look at her in disbelief.

"If we distract it, it might let her go. Help me" She demands trying to push a large rock.

Monty and Finn help her push it and it falls, hitting the surface loudly.

"It worked. It let her go!" Jasper yells but I don't hear what happens after that because I dive into the water, swimming over to Octavia.

She gasps and struggles for air as I grab onto her.

"I got you!" I yell and she clings to me.

"It's coming back!" Finn screams.

"It's headed right for you, guys!" He yells as I desperately drag Octavia to the shore.

"Keep moving, O!" I shriek and I push her as hard as I can onto the rocks.

I put my foot onto the rock to climb out, feeling relief as I see everyone is okay and my heart hammers against my chest with adrenaline.

"Ava, look out!" Clarke yelps but it's too late.

I'm grabbed by my arm and dragged violently underwater.

I wriggle, trying to get free of the monster that's captured me but I feel myself running out of oxygen far too quickly. Panic floods my system and I kick my legs, thrashing around wildly.

A loud clunk is heard and the monster lets me go, swimming away in fright. I resurface and gulp in a greedy breath of air which soothes my burning throat.

Arms wrap around my waist and I'm pulled to the shore. I lay on the rocks, coughing up water as Clarke grabs my arm to inspect it.

"You're lucky. The cuts aren't deep" Clarke tells me and I grin up at the blonde girl before turning my head to see Jasper laying next to me soaking wet.

"Jasper?" I croak, my voice hurting.

"What?" He breathes out, looking at me.

"That's game" I joke and everyone laughs.

I pull Jasper into a tight hug and he chuckles, hugging me back. I flop back onto my back and let out a sigh of relief.

"What dumbass monster falls for the same trick twice?" I mumble, making everyone laugh again.

Finn helps me to my feet and I pull on my clothes, wincing slightly as the sleeve of my top rubs the wounds on my arm. Clarke grabs my arm gently and rolls up the sleeve to my elbows. I give her a questioning look but she starts wrapping my forearm in material I realise is from Jasper's shirt. She ties the two ends together and nods.

"Thank you" I say gratefully before slipping my sleeve back down and pulling on my jacket.

"It's no problem" She replies, shrugging me off.

We all continue our journey to Mount Weather and once it starts to get dark we find a spot covered in moss that has good shelter so we decide to camp out there.

Jasper leans against a tree and I sit down next to him. Octavia lays down in front of me, laying her head on my thighs and Finn sits on the other side of me patting his chest. I lay my head on his chest and he puts his arms around me while I run my fingers through Octavia's hair. I see Monty and Clarke lay down too before I let my eyes close and unconsciousness take me.

I'm only woken up once during the night which is a miracle. Especially since the reason I woke up was due to Finn getting up in the middle of the night.

I pay no attention to my wandering best friend, I just turn around and lay my head on Jasper's shoulder as I feel Octavia snuggle closer to me which makes me smile.

╳°»。 ∾·⁙· ღ ➵ ⁘ ➵ ღ ·⁙·∾ 。«°╳

The next day we find ourselves at yet another river and this time I have no desire to dive in. This one we have to cross without entering the water.

Finn has found a vine that we could use to swing across the river, but he's taking his time to actually jump.

"You wanted to go first. Now quit stalling!" Clarke yells at Finn.

"Yeah! What blondie said!" I add, teasing my best friend who I know is being a scaredy cat.

"Mount Weather awaits!" Octavia chirps.

"Just hang on till the apogee and you'll be fine" Jasper whispers to Finn but we hear it.

"The apogee like the Indians, right?" Finn asks Jasper, obviously stalling once again.

"Apogee, not apache" Jasper corrects Finn's annunciation awkwardly.

"He knows. Today, Finn!" Clarke groans.

"Aye, aye, captain. See you on the other side" Finn states.

"When? Next week?" I ask sarcastically, making Monty and the girls laugh.

Finn shoots me a glare and pulls back on the vine, finally getting ready to jump.

"Wait" Jasper says and I roll my eyes.

"What?" Finn asks.

"Let me" Jasper offers and I grin up at the brave boy with the goggles.

Finn looks at me and I stick my tongue out at the long haired boy that I call my best friend.

"I can do it" Jasper assures Finn.

"I knew there was a badass in there somewhere" Finn comments and I giggle in amusement.

Jasper holds onto the vine and steady his feet with a hesitant expression on his face.

"Hey, it's okay to be afraid, Jasper" Finn comforts the boy.

"The trick is not fighting it" He adds.

The boys nod at each other and I grin up at them widely.

"See you on the other side" Jasper laughs before jumping.

"Whoo! Yeah!" He screams as he swings across the river.

He lets go of the vine and plummets to the ground on the other side, hitting some logs. We all run to the edge to see if he's okay and he gets up, brushing himself off.

"WE ARE APOGEE!" He shouts loudly, throwing his fists in the air.

"Yeah!" We all scream back in unison.

We cheer and scream at him encouragingly, grinning widely at the brave boy.

"Yes!" Monty exclaims.

"You did it, Jasper!" I screech.

We all laugh as Jasper happy dances on the other side of the river.

"Let's go, princess. You're up" Finn says and I turn my head to see him offer Clarke the vine.

"Come on, Clarke! You got this!" Jasper screams as she takes the vine from Finn.

"Whoo! APOGEE!" He hollers wildly, making me laugh.

I turn back to look at Jasper just in time to see him pick up a piece of rusty old metal.

"We did it!" Jasper yells.

"Mount Weather! Whoo!" Jasper screams, holding the sign for Mount Weather above his head.

We all cheer for the boy wildly and he grins happily at his discovery. This moment almost seems too good to be true and I make the mistake of letting my guard down, not checking for anything suspicious.

Suddenly out of nowhere a spear shoots through the air and hits Jasper right in the chest, my eyes widening in pure shock.

"No!" I scream, grabbing Octavia's arm in shock.

"Jasper!" Clarke shrieks.

"Come on! Come on! Jasper!" Everyone yells frantically as if the boy can just run back to us with a spear through his chest.

Monty grabs me and I try to fight his hold as he drags me away.

"Jasper!" I cry out, trying to see if the boy is alive.

"Get down! Get down!" Monty shouts, pulling Octavia and I down behind the rocks with Finn and Clarke.

We look around us in search of the person who attacked Jasper, all of us breathing heavily, but we don't see anything.

"We're not alone" Clarke points out.

"No fucking way" I sneer sarcastically.

"Ava!" Finn scolds me.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I grumble.