Monty + Maizey

Monty sat on the edge of the river, his hands toying with the water's surface. His thoughts had been a little clouded lately, he wasn't so sure of how they were going to survive on the earth, especially with Grounders attacking them.

Being so deep in thought, he hadn't seen the girl across the water sitting on a fallen log watching him curiously. Slowly taking a smooth stone in his hand he threw it across the surface, watching it bounce until it managed to go all the way across and onto the land.

His eyes widened as it hit a log, the same log the Grounder sat on. "Holy shit!" He swore, staring back at the girl unable to move from his spot. She glanced at the rock with a frown, slightly confused on how it bounced across the water so easily. He caught the baffled look on her face and decided to do it again, tossing yet another stone- this time landing into the water after three bounces.

Monty only grew more curious about the Grounder. Using a close by stone he lifted it to show her before pointing to the first stone he threw across. Hesitantly she leaned down and picked it up, twirling it with her fingers. Smiling, Monty skipped his one across the water as if showing her how to throw it.

Glancing into the trees behind her, she assured herself no one else was around so she did as she saw and the stone skipped across the water's surface until it hit the edge of the water on the other side.

She let a smile slip before sitting back on the log, her eyes looking off into the distance until a snap was heard from behind her. She tensed, her eyes locking with Monty watching as his own widened and he yelled out. She hastily spun around coming face to face with a jaguar already in mid-air, hitting her with a growl.

His feet soaked in the water, Monty watched standing on edge as she fell back with a heavy thud, the animal trying to bit at her throat. She held her arm up allowing it to lock its jaw into her arm instead. It's claws digging themselves into her free arm, shoulder and just scratching the side of her neck. Kicking at the animal, it loosened it grip allowing her to throw it off of her with a pained grunt.

As the beast lined itself up to leap she pulled a machete from her waist band and raised it just as the jaguar reached her- the blade piercing straight through its chest as it went limp. Wiping the blood from the blade onto the dark cloth hung loosely around her waist she slipped the machete back into place.

Monty sighed in relief, thankful he hadn't witnessed her death. She kicked the animal onto its side before looking back over to Monty. "You want?"

He looked at her stunned, her voice sounding smooth and calm- as if she hadn't just got into an animal fight. She raised an eyebrow at the boy that couldn't be much older than herself, "Well?"

Slowly he nodded, a little hesitant about taking her kill. She chuckled to herself as she pulled layers of bark from the log, pulling the dead animal onto it. Testing the wait on the water she pushed it forward with some speed so it would go far enough that he could grab it.

He smiled gratefully towards the Grounder, someone he was meant not to trust but she seemed more innocent to the eye, as if she chose not to fight. But even then, the innocence could be hiding what lurks beneath- a merciless warrior there to kill anyone on sight.

A foreign voice called out across the water, just further out to where she stood until he saw a smaller girl dart out and crash into her with laugh. Her next words were spoken in a language he couldn't make out but the youngster still hadn't seen him.

Slowly, the young girl looked over to him, no hatred or threat in her eyes. In fact, they twinkled in the sunlight before she raised her hand in a timid wave which he returned as the older girl watched him closely.

Unfortunately, the warning of acid fog echoed around the trees. Monty could see it approaching from their side of the water- thankfully it never went across the river. He swallowed hastily as both girls lept into the water, narrowly missing the toxic fog.

He stood awkwardly as they lay sprawled across the shore, the kid breathing a little heavier as she looked at the fog. "Are you okay?" Monty asked unsurely, nervous about being this close to their supposed 'enemies'. The older one cracked a grin, the paint washed away from her face and her now tangled hair partly sticking to her face, "yes." 

The kid giggled before slowly sitting up and looking over to access the boy, already knowing he was nervous as he kept fidgeting with his hand and rocking on his heel. "I'm Hailie, this is Maizey- she raised me." Hailie introduced with a very proud grin, climbing to her feet and wiping herself down to clear some of the dirt. Maizey doing the same shortly after.

"You should probably leave, get food back to your people- there's a storm coming tonight." Maizey warned, taking a hold of Hailie. "T-Thanks, my uh, name is Monty-" He cut himself off, his cheek flaring as she turned back to look at him over her shoulder as they walked away.

"See you around, Monty." She spoke aloud before once again looking forward allowing Hailie to swing their arms as she hummed her favourite tune, speaking in her own language she hoped that it wouldn't be too long until she saw the boy again. "Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim." (May we meet again.)