Earth Skills.

CHAPTER TWO , RESCUE MISSION

━━━━━━━━━━

The five delinquents run through the forest. Aiden's heart was banging against her chest. She tried her best to keep up with everyone else, but she was also looking behind her back where Jasper was.

Monty trips and Aiden falls to her knees. "Monty, come on, come on..." she helps him up.

They all stop and look at the bones on the ground.

"Who are they?" Finn asks.

Clarke picks up the largely shaped skull and Aiden takes a step back.

"What are they?" Clarke adds.

"We are so screwed." Octavia huffs.

A scream rips through the forest. Aiden's heart jumps into her throat. "Jasper..." she whispers. "That's Jasper."

Aiden turns on her heel and sprints back toward the direction where Jasper was.

"Aiden, wait!"

The blonde-haired girl ignores everyone's calls for her to stop and continues forward. She almost gets to the opening, but Finn grabs her arm and pulls her to the ground.

"Stay out of the trees," Finn advises.

Aiden inhales deeply and holds her breath, to slow her heart rate down. She exhales quietly and her brows knit together when she doesn't see Jasper anymore.

"He was right there." Finn states.

"No. Where is he?" Monty asks, his voice trembling.

Aiden covers her mouth and she lets out a soft cry.

"They took him."

"Well, we have to go get him back," Aiden says.

"How? We don't even know where to look." Finn states. "We have to get back and tell everyone what we just saw."

Aiden sees the panic in Finn's eyes. She looks at everyone else's eyes and sees the same expression. And if you looked at Aiden's face her expression would match theirs.

Aiden swallows, she hesitantly nods her head.

"Okay."

The five delinquents got to the campsite just in time to see Wells pressing a blade to Murphy's neck.

"Wells!"

Wells looks at Clarke who was trotting down the hill with everyone else. "Let him go!"

Wells shoves Murphy to the ground. Murphy scrambles onto his feet and lunges for Wells. Bellamy grips Murphy's arms to keep him away from Wells.

"Enough, Murphy." Bellamy looks at his sister. "Octavia. Are you all right?"

Bellamy walks over to Octavia and helps her out of Aiden and Monty's arms.

"Where's the food?" Bellamy asks.

"We didn't make it to Mount Weather," Finn says.

"Then what the hell happened out there?" Bellamy asks.

"We were attacked," Clarke states.

"Attacked? By what?" Wells inquires.

"Not what. Who." Aiden adds.

"It turns out, when the last man from the ground died on the Ark, he wasn't the last Grounder," Finn says.

"It's true." Clarke supports Finn's statement. "Everything we thought we knew about the ground is wrong. There are people here, survivors. The good news is, that means we can survive. Radiation won't kill us."

"Yeah, but the bad news is the Grounders will." Aiden voices.

"Where's the kid with the goggles?" Wells asks.

Aiden's chest tightens, "His name is Jasper." She says shakily.

Wells notices the fear evident in the blonde's eyes.

"Jasper was hit," Clarke states. "They took him." Her eyes shift down to Wells' wrist and he knits her brows together.

"Where is your wristband?" She grips Wells' wrist.

Wells looks at Bellamy. "Ask him."

"How many?" Clarke asks.

"24 and counting." Murphy answers.

Clarke slightly shakes her head, "You idiots..."

"...life support on the Ark is failing!" She informs everyone. "That's why they brought us down here. They need to know the ground is survivable again, and we need their help against whoever is out there. If you take off your wristbands, you're not just killing them. You're killing us!"

Aiden looks around the crowd and doesn't see her sister's insight. She walks away from the conversation, ignoring Bellamy. The blonde enters the dropship and she is greeted with a rough hug.

Aiden grunts quietly and she chuckles. "Hey, hey..." she crouches in front of Charlotte. "It's okay. I'm okay--"

"You were gone for too long--"

"I was gone for a day." Aiden cups Charlotte's cheeks. "Some other day it might be longer and you have to be prepared for that."

Charlotte's lower lip quivers. "Why does it sound like you're leaving again?"

Aiden opens her mouth, but she is cut off by footsteps.

Aiden turns around and sees a determined Clarke enter the dropship. Clarke goes to the second level of the dropship.

Aiden looks back at Charlotte whose eyes were wide.

Wells enters the dropship and goes to the other level where Clarke was located.

"You are leaving again," Charlotte says.

Aiden smirks, "Sorry, bug. Jasper needs my help."

Charlotte knits her brows together. "What happened to Jasper?"

Aiden gnaws on her lower lip, "He was attacked and taken. And I'm going to help Clarke get him back."

She hears chatter upstairs and sighs. "Wells and Clarke arguing. She must be almost ready." Aiden touches the back of Charlotte's head and kisses her forehead.

"I love you, bug," Aiden whispers. She lightly touches the necklace around Charlotte's neck that was a locket. "And I'll always be with you."

Charlotte presses her lips together.

"And hey..." Aiden tucks a strand of Charlotte's hair behind her ear. "When I get back, I'll tell you more stories about the dad and you can tell me more stories about mom."

Charlotte's eyes light up. "Promise?"

Aiden holds her pinky up, "Pinky swear. Just--"

"Stay in the dropship," Charlotte says. "I know and I will."

"It's not your ankle, Wells, it's you," Clarke speaks.

Aiden presses her lips together. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck." Charlotte pinches Aiden's nose.

Aiden exaggeratingly groans and Charlotte giggles.

"You came back for reinforcements I'm gonna help," Wells says, following Clarke down the ladder.

"Clarke, he's right," Monty says. "We need him. So far no one else has volunteered."

"I'm sorry, Monty, but you're not going, either," Clarke says.

Aiden pulls her brows together. "Like hell, I'm not. Jasper's my best friend."

"You're too important," Clarke says.

"Clarke's right, Monty. You were raised on farm station and recruited by engineering." Aiden says.

"So?"

Aiden's mouth hangs open, "So? Monty Greene..." she wraps her arm around his neck and pulls him into her side. "Food and communication. What's up here..." she lightly taps Monty's temple. "...it's gonna save us all."

"You figure out how to talk to the Ark and we'll bring Jasper back," Clarke says.

"Promise," Aiden whispers.

Monty looks at his other best friend and she gives him a soft smile. Just seeing Aiden gives him the reassurance of Jasper being alive, which made him feel so much better.

Monty nods his head, he wraps his arms around Aiden's neck. Aiden chuckles and pats his back.

"I'll look after Charlotte," Monty says.

Aiden smirks, "Thank you."

☆

"Hey, hold up!"

Aiden lets out a breath.

"What's the rush?" Bellamy asks. "You don't survive a spear through the heart."

"Put the gun away, Bellamy." Wells walks over to Bellamy.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Murphy grips Wells' jacket.

"We heard him scream." Aiden states. "Which means he's alive. Which also means it didn't hit his heart."

"It doesn't mean we have time to waste," Clarke says, she turns around to continue walking, but Bellamy grips her wrist.

"As soon as you take this wristband off, we can go," Bellamy says.

Clarke rips her wrist out of Bellamy's grip. "The only way the Ark is gonna think I'm dead is if I'm dead. Got it?"

"Brave princess."

"Hey, why don't you find your own nickname?"

Aiden shifts her gaze to Finn walking over to them. "You call this a rescue party? Got to split up, cover more ground." He looks at the blonde. "Clarke, come with me."

Finn and Clarke walk away.

Aiden throws her arms in the air. "Was that supposed to be cool, Finn?"

Finn looks at Aiden and gives her a teasing wink. Bellamy and Wells walk in another direction, leaving Aiden and Murphy alone.

Aiden stands there for a second, then she looks at Murphy.

"Should we--"

He walks away from the girl and she lets out a breath. Aiden catches up to him, "Uh, I'm--"

"Aiden Walker. I know." Murphy keeps his eyes forward.

"Really?" Aiden knits her brows together.

"Is it really that shocking?" Murphy questions, looking at Aiden.

"I mean--yeah. Because you're a little..."

"A little what?" Murphy stops in his tracks and looks at the girl.

Aiden freezes and her throat tightens. "Nothing, I mean...it just never seemed like you paid attention to me during classes so I figured--"

"Well, stop figuring." Murphy's voice was filled with force.

Aiden swallows and she nods her head. "Yeah, of course--I'm sorry." she looks down at her shoes.

Aiden walks past Murphy and he sighs. "Wait--hold on."

The blonde-haired girl continues down the forest trail. He jogs after her and gently grabs her arm.

Aiden hesitantly turns to Murphy. She looks up at him but quickly looks back at the ground. "I'm sorry, I ramble a lot and when I ramble, I push. People don't like it when I push, so I shut down and...I'm sorry."

Murphy raises his brows, "Well, you were right about one thing...you sure do ramble."

Aiden quietly chuckles, but she averts eye contact from him.

"I guess, me making intense eye contact with you is gonna have to be our thing, huh?"

Aiden knits her brows together, she looks at him, and a cunning smirk was spread across his lips.

"Why does eye contact have to be our thing?" She asks.

"Simple really..." he holds his hand out.

Aiden looks down at his hand and accepts it.

"...it's because you hate it."

Aiden shakes his hand, but he lightly tugs her hand forward. She stumbles forward and she gasps.

"But you won't for long." Murphy's voice was low and Aiden's jaw goes slack. She pulls her hand out of his and she chuckles.

"Uh--we'll see."

Aiden brushes past Murphy and he chuckles.

"My name is John Murphy, by the way!" he calls out.

Aiden turns back to him, "I know!"

As soon as she turns forward she mentally facepalms.

☆

Aiden keeps her eyes on the goggles in her hands. Clarke touches Aiden's arm. Aiden turns to the other blonde. "We're gonna find him," Clarke says.

Aiden inhales, "It was a lot of blood, Clarke." She says. "We heard him scream, but...what if he isn't alive for long?"

Clarke's lips part. "From what I've learned about Jasper already...he's strong."

Aiden nods her head, "Really strong."

"Hey, how do we know this is the right way?" Murphy asks.

"Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker." Bellamy teases Finn.

"We all took earth skills, Bellamy," Aiden says. "Finn was just better at it than we were."

"It's called cutting sign. Fourth-year earth skills. He's good." Wells states.

"You want to keep it down or should I paint a target on your backs?" Finn voices.

Finn stops and looks at a branch that was hanging loosely from a tree. He looks at the ground and inspects the blood on a rock.

"See? You're invisible."

A sound echoes through the woods, causing everyone to stop.

"What the hell was that?" Murphy asks.

"A goat?" Aiden suggests.

"A goat?" Murphy deadpans.

"I just said the first thing that came to mind."

"A goat was the first thing that came to your mind, why?" Murphy asks.

Aiden shrugs, "You know those old videos they used to show us about what earth was like?"

"Yeah?" Murphy waits for her to continue.

Aiden scratches the side of her nose. "Well, I always thought about what goats would sound like and..."

"And you came up with that?" Murphy questions.

Aiden nods her head timidly.

"Now would be a good time to take out that gun," Clarke says.

They follow the moans and groans that never stopped. They make it to an open area and Aiden's mouth hangs open. Jasper was hanging by his hands from a tree.

Tears blur the blonde's vision and her hand immediately finds a place over her mouth. "Oh, my god..."

Clarke and Aiden quickly walk ahead of the group and towards the tree Jasper was attached to.

"What the hell is this?" Bellamy questions.

Clarke was a few steps ahead of Aiden. She steps forward and falls through the ground. Aiden grabs Clarke's wrist to keep her from impelling herself.

Aiden groans from the sudden strain on her shoulder. She looks down at Clarke.

"I've got you," Aiden says. She looks up and notices Bellamy just staring at them.

"Take your time, guys." Aiden huffs. "Take your goddamn time."

Aiden knew Bellamy was contemplating, not helping her save Clarke. Thankfully, Finn wraps his arms around Aiden's waist and helps pull Clarke out of the hole.

Aiden looks at Clarke, "You okay?"

Clarke nods, "Yeah, thank you."

Aiden helps Clarke onto her feet. She looks back at her best friend in the tree. "We have to get him down."

"I'll climb up there and cut the vines." Finn volunteers.

"Yeah, I'm with you." Wells follows after Finn.

Finn stops and turns to Wells. "No. Stay with Clarke and Aiden. Watch him." He says. "You. Let's go." He points at Murphy.

"There's a poultice on his wound," Clarke states.

Aiden knits her brows together. "Medicine?"

"Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" Wells questions.

"Maybe what they're trying to catch likes it's dinner to be breathing," Bellamy says.

Aiden's heart sinks, "Or maybe they're trying to catch us."

"Thanks for that, Walker," Murphy grumbles.

Murphy and Finn climb up the tree and start to cut Jasper down.

The sound of growling is heard in the distance. Aiden's back straightens and she looks around the wooded area.

"What the hell was that?" Murphy asks from the tree.

"Grounders?"

Clarke's eyes widen. Aiden turns around and her heart stops as she looks at the Black Panther in front of them. It starts to run towards the group.

"Bellamy, gun!"

Bellamy reaches for his gun, but it wasn't there.

Wells starts to shoot at the large cat. The Panther hides in the tall grass. Silence fills the area until the Panther jumps toward them once again.

Aiden lets out a scream. Wells fires the gun again forcing the Panther to fall to the ground. Aiden slaps her hand over her mouth.

Aiden inhales deeply, "I think I peed myself."

☆

Charlotte's stomach growls. Aiden looks at her sister and presses her lips together. "I'll be back." She whispers.

Charlotte looks at Aiden, "Where are you going?"

"Going to get you food." Aiden shrugs.

"But, the only way to do that is if--"

"We have no one else up there, Charlie." Aiden states. "It's okay." She lightly touches Charlotte's face and leaves the dropship.

"What about Nolan?"

Aiden stops, she looks at her sister. "I'm not...Nolan isn't my priority."

"So, what you're saying is...he's not a priority, but you still think of him?--"

"You know what, you can take your own wristband off if you want to eat." Aiden goes to sit back down, but Charlotte grabs her sister's wrist.

"Wait--I'm sorry, I'm sorry--I'll be quiet." Charlotte whines.

Aiden stops and presses her lips together. "Fine. Wait here."

Aiden walks toward the fire and holds her arm out to Murphy. "Hi," she says softly.

Murphy looks at the Chase girl and she slightly opens her mouth, realizing the many people behind her. "Oh, I didn't realize there was a line--sorry." She chuckles and turns away from him.

Murphy inhales, "Wait!"

Aiden stops and turns back to him. The girl blinks when Murphy lowers his hand. "Just...here." he gently grabs her wrist and guides her to the front of the line. Aiden watches as everyone turns their noses at the girl cutting the line. Her face gets hot from the attention.

"I can just wait in line, it's fi--"

"Relax, they're not gonna hurt you." Murphy places her wrist on the boulder. He pries a pipe into the wristband.

"You shouldn't worry what other people think about you," Murphy says.

Aiden quietly winces from the needles. "Easier said than done."

"Well, I didn't take you for a rule-breaker," Murphy says.

Aiden knits her brows together. "Well, aren't we all rule-breakers here?" She tilts her head.

Murphy nods his head, "Fair point, Walker."

Murphy snaps the wristband off and Aiden grunts in pain. "Besides, I'm only doing this for my sister." She says.

They both stand up. "Is that what you do? Dedicate your life to just your sister?"

Murphy grabs the food and holds it out to the blonde-haired girl. Aiden grabs the food and chuckles softly.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well then what do you do for yourself?" Murphy asks.

Aiden tilts her head, "What do you mean?"

"What do you do for fun?" Murphy clarifies.

Aiden chews on the inside of her cheek. "I would just hang out with Monty and Jasper." She answers. "Clarke's my friend too...work friend at least. She and I would help her mom with..."

Aiden stops talking and she looks back at Murphy. "I'll stop talking. You probably have much more important things to do than hear my life story." She chuckles nervously. "I'm sorry."

Murphy squints his eyes at the girl, a smirk on his lips. Aiden's chest tightens from the intense eye contact, she averts her eyes to her boots.

"I've got nothing to do."

Aiden blinks. She looks back at Murphy. "Don't you have to bargain with everyone else?" She looks at the line. "A wristband for food?"

Murphy frowns, he looks down at the rod in his hand, drops it, and looks back at the quiet girl.

"Today's your lucky day, little cub..." Murphy stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets.

Aiden raises her brows.

Little cub?

"...you get to hang out with me tonight."

Aiden presses her lips together. "Riiight. As fun as that sounds. I have to go and give this to my sister."

Murphy shrugs, "I'm good with kids. I'll join you."

Aiden smirks, "Sure, I've got no problem with it." She turns and walks with Murphy to Aiden and Charlotte's designated sleeping area.

Aiden rolls her lips into her mouth to contain her smile.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

And if I tell you Murphy and Aiden are gonna give puppy lovers to enemies what then???

words : 3088