❝ 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲
𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲
𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

I chase after Finn and he slows down to let me catch up.

"So when were you going to tell me you're talking to grounders?" He asks curiously.

"I was going to tell you when I knew you wouldn't freak out" I admit and he scoffs, hitting his shoulder off mine.

"I don't freak out" He lies and I laugh in amusement.

"You're the biggest freaker outer I know" I joke and he grins down at me.

"Tell me everything" Finn says and I begin at the very beginning.

I tell him how Nova saved my live. How she and Lincoln have been training me and teaching me their language and history. Finn listens patiently and once i'm done he smiles at me teasingly.

"So, you're like a grounder in training?" He asks and I shrug with a smile.

"I guess" I say, not really sure.

"I don't think I can just invite myself to be one of them. I need to earn my place in the clan" I explain and Finn furrows his brows.

"Wait, you're actually thinking of leaving?" He questions and I scoff.

"As if you'd ever let me run around the forest like Tarzan unsupervised" I joke and he laughs.

"You're right about that" He agrees.

We continue walking and I get a bad feeling all of a sudden, my stomach twisting in worry. Finn clearly notices the uneasiness on my face and he takes a hold of my hand.

"What's wrong?" He questions worriedly.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Finn" I tell him and he frowns.

"What do you mean?" He asks in confusion.

"I can't pinpoint it but I know something's going to go wrong. I can feel it in my gut" I explain.

"Let's hope your gut is wrong" He comments.

We trek through the forest and I get the strong feeling of being followed.

"I'd love it if you were right about this, but did you ever consider it might be a trap?" I ask Finn to distract myself.

"Yep, but since it's Unity Day, I decided to have hope instead" He replies and then let's out a groan of pain as he jumps.

I spin around to see him clutching his side and my eyes widen.

"Oh! Hey. Let me have a look at that" I fuss over him.

He unzips his jacket and pulls up his shirt to show me the wound which looks grizzly. I grimace at the sight and gulp.

From my peripheral vision I catch a blonde head of hair whipping behind a tree and I glare angrily.

"What is it?" Finn asks in confusion.

"We're being followed" I huff and he pulls down his shirt.

"Come on out, blondie! You're a lousy spy!" I holler and she appears with a defeated look.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I snap at her as she approaches us.

"I could say the same to you. Making deals with grounders is dangerous and reckless" She scolds us.

"Reckless is my middle name" I retort sarcastically.

"It is?" Finn asks with fake confusion.

"No, I don't have one" I admit and he chuckles.

"Seriously, Finn, you're putting a lot of faith in a guy that stuck a knife in you" Clarke states, looking unimpressed at my joke.

"And you're sounding more and more like Bellamy" Finn retorts, making me stifle a laugh.

"I'm just trying to keep us alive" Clarke argues as Finn zips up his jacket.

"So am I" He chirps before walking ahead.

I catch up with him and Clarke is not far behind. Soon enough the sun rises and we reach the bridge to find Octavia there waiting.

"O!" I shout and she looks at me.

She pulls me into a hug and then we turn back to Clarke and Finn. Octavia looks at Clarke in confusion and I shrug.

"You helped him escape, didn't you?" Clarke accuses the girl.

"I trust him, Clarke" Octavia states simply.

"There's a lot of that going around" The blonde replies, looking between me and Finn.

"Someone's coming" Finn states and I hear the rustling.

I turn around to see Lincoln and Nova jogging towards us. Not hesitating, I run towards the grounder girl and throw my arms around her at the same time Octavia throws herself at Lincoln, Nova letting out a chuckle as she hugs me tightly.

I hear the sound of hoofs hitting the cobblestone and then a neighing sound. I take a step back from Nova and see three horses appear with grounders riding them.

The woman in the middle just screams authority with the way she carries herself and looks down on us.

"Hey! We said no weapons!" Finn hisses, running up to us with Clarke.

I look at the duo's close proximity and can't help but scowl slightly.

"I was told their wouldn't be" Lincoln states and I draw my attention back to the grounders.

"It's too late now" Clarke comments.

Finn and Clarke share a look before they start walking but Lincoln's arm shoots out to stop them.

"Ava goes" He declares.

"And she goes alone" Nova states sternly.

Clarke looks at me in disbelief and I turn my gaze to the woman I believe is Anya. I take a step forward and Finn grabs my arm.

"I'll be fine" I assure the boy.

"Ava-" He tries to argue.

"Hey, everything's gonna be okay" I tell him.

I walk towards the middle of the bridge and Anya gets off her horse, walking to meet me halfway. I look back at them and Nova nods at me reassuringly.

Anya and I stop as we meet and she looks me up and down.

"So you're the infamous Ava of the sky people" She speaks.

"That's me" I say jokingly and I catch the ghost of a smile on her lips.

"I'm Anya Kom Trikru" She introduces herself.

"It's nice to meet you" I smile politely and she nods.

"Likewise" She replies.

There's a small uncomfortable silence and I let out a sigh.

"Listen, I think we got off to a rough start. Things haven't been great since we got here, but we want to find a way to live together in peace" I explain, hoping she'll get it.

"I understand" She says and I smile widely.

"You've started a war that you don't know how to end" She adds and my smile is wiped clean off my face.

"What? No. I know you're upset we landed on your territory but that doesn't seem like a reason to go to war" I argue.

"The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground" She snaps and my eyes widen in shock.

"We had no idea, I swear. Those flares were meant to send a message to our families" I try to rush out and she glares.

"You're invaders. You're ship landed in our territory" She growls.

"It was an accident. Not only did we land in the wrong place but we didn't know anyone was here. As far as we knew, the earth wasn't survivable" I tell her.

"You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him" Anya declares.

"Look, I admit that was wrong of us. Our friend was dying and we acted out of anger. Come on, we're all human, we make mistakes" I fight back but she doesn't budge.

"These are all acts of war" She retorts.

"I get it, Anya. I understand how you feel, and that's why we have to put a stop to all of this, once and for all" I announce and she seems to loosen up, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Lincoln said there are more of you coming down, warriors" Anya states.

"Yes, the guard. But there's also farmers, doctors, engineers, people who will make living down here a lot easier. We can help each other, but not if we're at war" I insist.

"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us, that they'll respect the terms you and I agree on?" Anya asks me.

"I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to convince them to honour the terms that we agree upon" I assure her.

"Why would I agree to an alliance that your people can break the moment they get here?" She asks rhetorically.

"If you fire the first shot those people coming down here won't bother to negotiate. They shoot first, ask questions later. The technology they have aboard that ship will wipe you all out" I warn her.

"They wouldn't be the first to try" Anya smirks.

"No, but they'd be the first to succeed" I retort, hoping to scare her just a little.

Just as she looks like she's coming around and we'd be able to sort something out I hear a scream.

"Ava, run! Run!" I hear Jasper scream and I turn to see him appear with a gun.

Bullets and arrows start flying, causing me to turn to Anya in shock.

I see the grounder pull out a blade to stab me and I dodge her swings. She lunges for me and we fall to the ground, fighting for control and taking blows.

A bullet hits Anya's arm and she jumps off me, running back to her horse.

"Ava, get down!" Finn screams, running towards me.

"Finn!" I shout.

I quickly roll to the left, narrowly missing an arrow to the head and Finn gets closer.

"Finn, get back!" I shout as he reaches me.

"Go! Go!" I hear Raven shout as Finn grabs me, helping me run back to the others.

Arrows continue flying and I see one heading straight for me but Nova yanks me out the way.

Another one whizzes past me and I turn to see Lincoln jump in front of Octavia, taking an arrow to the shoulder for the girl.

"Oh, my God. Lincoln! You've been hit!" Octavia worries and Nova rushes to her brother's side.

"It's just a scratch" Lincoln grits out and rips the arrow out, throwing it to the ground.

"Okay. Run! Don't stop until you get behind your walls!" Nova shouts at me and I nod furiously.

"Take her!" Lincoln shouts, pushing Octavia towards me.

"Lincoln, no!" She cries out as I drag her away.

"Go!" He shouts at her and she jumps, doing as he says.

She runs in front of me and I see Raven and Jasper running up front with Clarke.

Loud footsteps are heard behind me and I turn expecting Finn but I find Bellamy instead, Finn appearing afterwards. I tear my eyes away from the man and sprint as fast as I can back to camp.

By the time we reach camp the sky is dark and we all stop just outside the wall.

"You got something to say?" Bellamy snaps at Finn.

"Yeah! You knew we agreed no guns!" Finn shouts at Clarke.

"I told you we couldn't trust the grounders. I was right!" Clarke retorts.

"Why didn't you two idiots tell me what you were up to?!" Raven scolds Finn and I.

"I tried, but you were too busy making bullets for your gun!" Finn snaps at the girl.

"You're lucky she brought that! They came there to kill you, Finn" Bellamy snaps.

"You don't know that!" I scream in anger.

"Jasper fired the first shot!" Finn agrees with me.

"You ruined everything" Octavia tells Jasper, running into camp.

"I saved you!" Jasper calls out after the girl.

"You're welcome" He scoffs, storming into camp too.

"Well, if we weren't at war already, we sure as hell are now!" Finn snaps.

"You didn't have to trust the grounders. You just had to trust me" Finn tells Clarke who looks down in shame.

Finn walks away angrily with Raven on his tail and I look at the blonde feeling angry myself.

"Why couldn't you just trust us, blondie?" I ask in frustration and she doesn't give me an answer.

"And you. Why the hell couldn't you trust us? Why couldn't you trust me?!" I shout at Bellamy who shakes his head.

"Ava-"

"No. I don't want to hear your excuses!" I snap.

I storm past the pair, hitting Bellamy's shoulder as I go and walk straight into camp.

The adrenaline running through my body fades away as I walk through camp and I feel a sharp pain in my side. I pull my jacket back to see the dark stain growing on my top and the world around me spins

. My legs give up but I'm swiftly caught and I look up to see Finn. He lifts me up bridal style and I ball his shirt up in my clenched fist.

"My knight in shining armour" I joke and he looks at me worriedly.

Suddenly his face turns blurry and he starts spinning too.

"Finn, stop spinning" I groan.

"Ava, what the hell is going on?" He snaps.

I look down at the stain and lift my top up to reveal a deep jagged wound that is gushing with blood.

"Ouch" I mumble, my grip on Finn tightening.

"Clarke! Help!" I hear Finn scream but his voice starts sounding muffled.

"Someone get Clarke!" He barks and my eyes flutter shut.

"No, Ava, keep your eyes open" He instructs, slapping my cheek gently.

My eyes open sleepily and I let out a pained whimper.

"I'm sleepy" I whisper.

"Don't go to sleep, squirt" He begs desperately.

Finn starts moving and my grip on his shirt loosens as my hand falls limp to my side. My eyelids feel heavy and fall shut as my head lulls onto Finn's shoulder.

"Stay awake, Ava. Please" Is the last thing I hear Finn say before I'm consumed by darkness.

I don't find peace in the darkness. Just a cold feeling of loneliness. People say that you see a bright light when you die but I don't. 

is this really how I die?