Chapter 8: Parts have to be Played

The next morning, I woke up before most of the camp. While Bellamy had left some armed guards watching the walls, there were only two of them and they were slacking so close to the end of their shift. That just made it really easy for me to slip out unnoticed and disappear into the forest.

As tempting as it was to go and try to find Lincoln, I doubted that he would be foolish enough to go back to the cave where he had been captured. Instead, I headed for my own little cave that I had used before. I was tired of my body always aching, and now that Lincoln was safe, I wanted to do something about it. My healing could not be used in camp without drawing a lot of unwanted attention, so my only choice was to come out here.

By the time that I reached my cave, the sun was up, and sunlight was spilling in from the hole in the roof. I sat down against the back wall with my legs outstretched and let out a deep sigh. The first time that I had tried healing myself, I discovered a way to increase my focus on my injury, but it literally required me to prod my wound. I needed to keep the idea of healing my wounds in my mind to activate my ability, but it would spread out through my body evenly unless I could focus on a specific injury which pain made easier to do.

I knew that my cave was not the safest of places, so I would stop before I exhausted myself and rest. While I let my body recover my strength, I practiced a different Earth spell which used barely any of my personal energy. Earth Domain was a sensory spell that would allow me to extend my senses through the ground, letting me detect anything that was in contact with the dirt unless their command over the Earth was stronger than my own, but I doubted such a thing would happen in this world.

Before I knew it, the day was mostly over, but I felt a lot better. My leg was mostly healed and as was practically all of my cuts and scrapes that were hidden by my clothes. The few on my face and hands had healed some throughout the day, but not enough to draw anyone's suspicion. I slowly headed back to camp, but before I reached there, I found a plucked white flower lying against the green moss.

It was unusual and out of place, so I used my developing Earth Domain which could extend a few feet around me in any direction. Although I did not sense anything other than the rocks and trees near me, I did not let down my guard as I reached down to pick up the flower while drawing my knife. Sure enough, I sensed someone enter my sensing range behind me at that moment. I rolled forward and was ready to throw my knife at them, but then I realized who it was.

"You have good reflexes," Lincoln remarked with a smile.

"Thanks," I replied, spinning the stem of the flower between my fingers, as I stood up and tucked my knife back into my belt. "How are you doing?"

"Better... How are things back at your camp?"

"Bellamy suspects me, but it doesn't seem like he is going to pursue it. You should be careful coming near the camp, though. They found guns, so our patrols will be heavily armed," I warned.

"Are you so sure that I am going to approach your camp?" he chuckled.

"You're here now, and not too far from where I spent my day. Have you been watching me?" I asked with a teasing smile.

"Perhaps... or perhaps I saw you on my way back leaving the tunnel," he replied, revealing two rabbits strung up on a cord that had been hung over his shoulder.

"Could you teach me?"

"How to hunt?" he questioned.

"If there is anything else that you are willing to teach me, I can be a quick study."

Lincoln smirked and said, "Tomorrow at first light there will be another flower waiting here. If you can follow trail, we'll see how quick of a study you can be."

"Tomorrow then," I replied before we both walked away.

I took a few glances behind me, but Lincoln seemed to meld with the forest, and I lost sight of him after a few minutes. Still, I was happy and played with the flower on my way back to camp. A couple of people took notice of me returning to camp at sunset which caused Bellamy to come and order me to not leave camp, but there was little chance of that. I lied and said that I would not leave again then headed for my tent to get some sleep.

The next morning, I woke up before dawn once again. Bellamy had posted another two guards, but they lacked any true disciple, and it only took me ten minutes of watching their rotation before I was able to slip out unnoticed. By the time that I had reached the place where Lincoln and I had met the day before, there was already a white flower waiting on me in the same place that I had been standing. I picked up the flower and smelled it before I scanned the surrounding area for any other clues. In the distance, I spied another flower which I followed to the next and next until I found my way to Lincoln's new cave.

"Well, I did not doubt that you would find your way here, but I am surprised at how fast," Lincoln said, turning away from a wall where he was drawing something.

"I had a bit of help," I replied, twirling a flower between my fingers. "Have you decided what you are going to teach me?"

"What is it that you want to learn? And why?"

I looked down at the flower in my hand and truly weighed his words. The white flower was a representation of innocence and purity, but I knew that there was no way that I could keep my hands clean in this world. Octavia originally learned how to fight from Lincoln and Indra, which was something that I knew that I would need on my journey, but as easy as the 'what' was, the 'why' is what left me questioning.

Tori's comment that I always looked for the easiest path for myself was not wrong. In my past life, there had really been nothing that I could see myself fighting over, even my own self-respect at times. I was not a risk taker, and I would rather take a backseat to someone else's adventure, so I had no idea what to tell Lincoln, or why Tori had chosen me.

"I'm not really sure... I just want to repay my brother for my life," I said, thinking of Tori rather than Bellamy. "I've never been good with words, so the only way I can help him is through my actions. I'm no cold-hearted killer, but I want the strength to protect my friends and family."

He smiled and nodded his head. "Well said," he agreed. "While violence is needed, it should only be used to defend your home and people. I'll teach you what I can, but it is up to you to pick everything up."

"Of course," I replied, returning his smile.

He spent the day teaching me how to move through the forest quietly and read trails. We tracked down a few rabbits and he taught me how to throw a knife. Although I was far more accurate with my Stone Knife spell, it was still a good skill to learn, and I could use it to cover up when I used my spell with some practice. There were times that he would need to correct my stance and I could not help but feel my heart race when he would wrap his arms around me.

"You did good today," Lincoln said we walked back towards his cave with a half a dozen rabbits hanging off a couple of ropes over his shoulder.

"Does that mean you'll teach me some more tomorrow?" I asked with a smile.

He chuckled, "Of course."

We stopped not too far from his cave, and he passed me four of the rabbits so that I could go back with something to show since he had killed them all. Although it was time for us to part, he did not let me go without another passionate kiss like the one he had given me when I helped him escape. For a moment, I debated on how bad it would be for me to spend the night with him, but it was quickly snuffed out with common sense. Bellamy would likely already know that I had snuck out again, so if I came back after dark, he would likely start sleeping in my tent to ensure that I did not leave again.

"Until tomorrow," I said quietly when we parted.

"Until tomorrow."

I gave him another kiss, tamer this time, then headed on my way. There was still another fifteen-minute walk back to camp, but I would be able to get back before sunset without any difficulties. As I had expected, Bellamy clearly realized that I had left camp since he was waiting at the main gate.

"I thought I told you not to leave camp," he said, walking up to me.

"Someone needs to get food around here," I replied without stopping.

"You hunted these?"

I pulled out my stone knife from my belt and flicked my wrist how Lincoln had taught me, although I used my spell to actually control it. The knife hit the center of the knot on a nearby tree and stuck out solidly. He stopped with surprise, but he did not press me any further on that matter.

"You still shouldn't go out hunting alone," he insisted.

"I didn't go that far; relax."

"Then why couldn't any of my guys find you?"

"Because they suck," I retorted with a smirk, dropping off the rabbits with the few people who were making ration packs.

"This is serious, O! You could get yourself killed!"

"We all gotta die at some point, Bell. I'm not going to stop living my life now that I finally have one!"

I stormed off, but Bellamy surprisingly did not follow. I headed back towards my tent and practiced my Stone Cover spell for a while then eventually went to sleep. The next day was spent much like the day before with Lincoln teaching me how to hunt, but we ended the day earlier than before so that he could take me somewhere special.

As we approached the area, he covered my eyes with a hand and led me the rest of the short way there. When he lowered his hand, I could barely believe my eyes as I looked around. Dozens, if not hundreds, of butterflies were clinging to the shadowy side of the trees around us, but what was stunning about them was that they all glowed with a faint blue light. I took a few steps forward with an outstretched hand while several of the butterflies fluttered around me. I could not suppress a soft giggle from escaping as a couple landed on my arms and one on my forehead.

Turning around, Lincoln walked up to me with a loving smile on his face, so I rose up on my tiptoes and slid my arms around his neck. We kissed passionately for a few minutes as his arms wrapped around my waist. Even through the layers of our clothes, I could feel his chiseled body pressed against my own which caused an old yet familiar excitement to build up within me. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to have some fun then and there, my common sense got in the way again. We broke our kiss then slowly headed back towards my camp.

"Tomorrow is a special day for my people, so I won't be able to sneak out early like the past few days. When things start to die down, I'll try and slip out," I told him as we walked.

"I understand," he replied with a nod.

We did not really talk much more before we had to part. He gave me a couple of rabbits that we had killed earlier in the day, and I headed back to camp alone. When I got back, Bellamy was out hunting with a few of men, so I dropped off my rabbits and decided to check in on Clarke and Raven. I got the wonderful pleasure of catching Clarke as she was heading for Finn's tent to change his bandage and help her, so I got to endure the awkward atmosphere between the love triangle members. While I might have made things easier for the three, I certainly did not enjoy it even though it only took a few minutes to do.

Once I escaped that, I helped with ration packs until Bellamy returned and, after I was sure that he saw me, I headed back to my tent. I was getting better with my Stone Cover spell and could use it to cover the handle of my metal knife. It was not a true form of telekinesis since I would lose control of the object if the rock was broken, but eventually, I would get to the point where there was practically no difference so long as there were still shards around whatever I was trying to control. Once I reached that level, it would be time to start working on my next goal for spells, Stone Armor.

Although I had access to the five elements, I found myself following in the footsteps of the hero of the story that Tori used to read me. Back then, it had just been something that he made up for me, but now, I could not help but wonder if the story had actually been his life at some point. He was a god, or something that had the power to place me into the world of the television show 'The 100', so who knew whether or not this had been how he had risen to that level.

Eventually, I went to sleep, but my dreams left me missing my old life. I woke up in a mood. There was just something wrong with the day, yet I had no reason to think so. It was Unity Day, so everyone was excited and planning a big party. Raven moved out the radio system to the center of camp, so that everyone could watch Jaha's speech and the Unity Day pageant. There was a group of people watching, but not everyone had respect for the chancellor.

"My friends. This is a historic Unity Day. Every year, we mark the moment our ancestors of the twelve stations joined to form the Ark, but this is the last time we do so while aboard her. Next year... on the ground," Jaha said and a round of applause followed.

"Right," Miller scoffed. "After we did all the work. Someone shut him up."

"You shut up, Miller," Raven snapped. "No one's forcing you to watch."

"For ninety-seven years, we have eked out an existence hoping that someday our descendants would return to Earth..."

I was standing in the back of the group, leaning against the dropship, barely listening to Jaha. I could not shake the bad feeling that I had, so I pulled away from the others in hopes that no one would be brought down by my mood. Clarke walked out of the dropship and stopped next to Finn, who was watching Jaha with about as much attention as myself.

"Don't tell me you don't like Unity Day," Clarke said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Unity Day is a lie. The Ark only came together after the thirteenth station was blown out of the sky. Just not the version of history we like to tell each other at parties," Finn retorted.

"Well, the Unity Day story gives people hope, though... and peace came out of that violence."

"Yeah, but did there need to be violence at all?" he asked in reply.

The young, star-crossed lovers shared a look, but then Clarke looked over at the group and saw Raven glance their way. Clarke sighed and walked off with Finn watching her leave. I could not help but chuckle darkly at the scene as a part of me, right now, delighted in seeing the conflict in Finn.

"You can't have everything, spacewalker," I remarked as I stood up straight.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Finn asked, turning to look at me.

"As if you don't already know..." I chuckled as I walked away.

Before he could say or do anything else, Jasper gave a loud shout of excitement as he appeared with a large canister held up over his head. "Monty strikes again! Hey, hey! Call this batch unity juice! Who's thirsty?"

People quickly made their way over to him and he started pouring everyone a drink. Despite my original plan to stay and watch the pageant with the rest of the group, a prompt appeared in front of my eyes. I could not help but smile at the changes of plans and headed for the wall while everyone else was distracted.

::Sneak out of camp and spend the day with Lincoln. Do not leave his cave until sunset.::

There were only so many things that I could do all day with Lincoln inside his cave home, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do...

A/N: I will not be doing the scene with Lincoln. The only NSFW scenes that I will write will be lesbian/yuri scenes... There are some coming soon though, I promise