XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia seeks revenge for the cruel torture of her brother but ends up being unpleasantly surprised with a near-death experience. In the meanwhile, Aidan mysteriously pops up and comes to her rescue and now, he wants to talk].

"Aidan?" I spluttered, staring at him in utter disbelief and shock.

"Yeah, it's me," he responded dryly as he leaned his shoulder up against the trunk of a nearby elm. "We really have to stop meeting like this."

I swallowed and nodded, twisting my hands around awkwardly. "Uh ... yeah ... right. Thanks for, you know, saving my life ... again."

Aidan raised his eyebrows as he gazed, unimpressed, at me. "I didn't do it for you."

"Oh?"

"I did it for your people."

Creases of confusion lined my brow as I inclined my head slightly and stared questioningly at him. "What do you mean?"

Aidan, whose deep hazel eyes had been boring into mine, suddenly averted his gaze and looked down at the floor. He drew a deep breath before glancing back up at me. This time, his lips were set in a firm line and his jaw was tightly clenched. "You're the PeaceKeeper, remember? You're supposed to be helping your people, not dooming them. What you did back at the bridge sealed your fate. There's nothing more I can do now to stop a war from occurring. Damn it! I trusted you, Octavia. I trusted that you had the same mindset as me and that you would assist in breaking down the barriers between your people and ours. I should never have chosen you for such a task. All you ever did was make the situation worse and now? There's no going back. You've betrayed us."

Tears of resentment stung the back of my eyes as I glared fiercely at him. "Yeah? Well, good luck finding another PeaceKeeper. The rest of my people aren't exactly friendly when it comes down to you grounders."

A hint of surprise flashed in Aidan's eyes as he spoke, "Grounders? That's what you call us?"

I paused. "Well, er, t-that was before we knew your actual ..."

"Don't bother," Aidan snapped, cutting me off mid sentence. "Geez. You make us sound like bloodthirsty savages."

I gritted my teeth together. "Stop it, Aidan, just stop it! You hate the way of your people. I know it. You know it. They are bloodthirsty savages! And if they weren't, they wouldn't march upon a bunch of helpless kids!"

"They're my people, Octavia!" Aidan yelled, jabbing a finger towards his toned chest. "My people. They come first! What I did on the bridge that day to save your life was nothing but an impulsive, foolhardy decision. I can't believe I ever even entertained the thought that you were different from the others because you're not! You're exactly the same as them! Do you know how much damage you've caused? How many people were injured in that explosion? Do you even care?"

I bit down hard on my lower lip. Before I had a chance to rebuff his statement, Aidan started ranting again, "People I grew up with, people I cared about ... some of them are gone, Octavia and why? Because you chose to pull that trigger, that's why. You didn't have to do that but you did. You know what? I should've just let you die that day. If I had, neither of us would be in this mess."

"How can you say that?" I exploded, my cheeks flushed with anger and my nails digging into the palms of my hands. "If it was the other way around, if my people were about to destroy yours, would you have done the same thing? Would you have pulled that trigger? Hmm, let me think: yes, you would have! I was only doing what I thought was right, okay? Do you think I wanted to do that? To cause the explosion? To hurt you? Of course not! If there was any other option, I would've chosen it. But, there wasn't. Besides, my first allegiance is to my brother. I couldn't let him die. I - I'm sorry."

Aidan let out a shaky breath as he examined me. "I know. I - I'm sorry too."

Confused, I drew back a little as I narrowed my eyes at him. "W-what ...?"

SNAP.

The sound was subtle, but not subtle enough. And then, I knew.

Someone was right behind me!

I had only just figured this out when, suddenly, an arm snaked its way from around my neck. A large, calloused hand clapped down hard around my mouth.

My eyes widened in horror as I instinctively grabbled with the hand, trying to loosen the strong hold that was blocking my airway.

I can't breathe. I can't breathe. Oh my god, what's going on? Aidan? Why are you letting this happen?

My panicked mind swirled with thoughts as my eyelids began to flutter shut. My cracked throat ached for air and my lungs strained for oxygen. Dark spots danced in my vision and I knew that I couldn't hold up for much longer ...

As my legs gave way and my body collapsed to the ground, I caught a glimpse of Aidan's legs as he walked away.

Then everything went black.

A jab of pain pierced my side, causing my mind to jog itself from its unconscious state. My eyes flew open and I sat straight up, gasping for air and glancing around wildly.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Princess, it's alright."

At the sound of Finn's soothing tone, I started to relax. Had my 'kidnapping' just been a strange, very realistic dream? Wait. Where was I? My bright emerald eyes took in my surroundings with one glance. Dark, earthen walls. Flickering candles. Huge clay pots. A table. A hammer. A dagger. A barred grate. Chains.

My heart sank. It hadn't been a dream. I wasn't safe inside the drop-ship or in the corner of my tent. I was locked up in a tiny, stuffy dungeon overlooking a blacksmith's workshop ... and Finn was with me.

I turned astonished eyes on him. "W-what are you doing here?"

Finn hesitated and shrugged nonchalantly. "I - uh - that is, it's a bit of a long story ..." his voice trailed off when he caught the furious glare that I was giving him. "Okay. Fine! I saw you run out of the gate after Murphy, so I followed you. I couldn't find you anywhere so I panicked and went searching for you in the woods. Next thing I know, someone's jumped me from behind. They knocked me out and brought me here. I only woke up a few minutes ago."

"Why did you come after me?" I demanded. "You know I can take care of myself, right?"

Finn fumbled for words as he stuttered, "Y-yeah, I know. I - I just - er - got a little worried, you know, with Murphy out there somewhere. I - I thought he'd hurt you."

"Well, he would've if ..." I stopped myself from going any further.

"If what?" Finn prompted, his brow creased in suspicion.

"It doesn't matter," I muttered as I rolled over onto my knees and shuffled over towards the heavy grate holding us in. Wrapping my fingers around the cold iron bars, I let out a yell, "Oi! Let us out! Hello? Aidan! Lincoln! Someone!"

"Stop it!" Finn reproved sternly. "What if they want to ..."

"Shush!" I held up a warning finger as I strained my ears. "Listen. Do you hear that? Someone's coming."

Finn rolled his eyes and sat back on his heels. "Good job."

I shot him an irritated glare as I pushed myself away from the door and closer to where Finn was sitting against the far wall. "It's time to face the music, Spacewalker," I grumbled in a low tone. "It's time to find out what they want with us."

"They?"

"The grounders," I returned shortly. "Who else?"

A loud banging noise resounded from the room adjoining our cell. I watched as a knotted, wooden door, leading into the blacksmith shop, was shoved open. A huge, burly grounder with a dark, scruffy beard bent down to enter through the doorway. A patch of keys jingled from his belt and a wicked-looking sword was clasped in his hand.

He strode over to the cell door and peered inside, glowering down at both Finn and I. He spat a stream of spit out on the ground near our feet before barking, "Gyon op! The Heda wants to see you."

Gif: Octavia at the prison cell door.

XX