Shouldn't Have Wasted the Arrow

[Deleted]

Things were hard. Very hard. Over the past couple of months, Jaga had lost her entire family. Her mother first, thanks to Skaikru blowing up a bridge. Then her father and twin brother when the Mountian sent bombs to Tondisi, also thanks to Skaikru, as far as Jaga was concerned. She gotten reckless after that, and wound up in the mountain, and the things they'd done to her body before throwing her in a cage... she shook her head, not wanting to think about that.

She needed to focus. Lexa's deal had gotten her out of the mountain, and she needed to rebuild her life, as painful as it was. That meant she needed to keep her eyes trained on the panther in the distance. Panther meat wasn't the tastiest, but it's size alone would bring in a good trade value. She was pressed against a tree, bow aimed, and it was... stalking something too. Maybe smaller prey. Maybe if she was fast enough, she could take the panther and whatever it was after too.

It picked up it's pace, and she shot her arrow, piercing it's neck. She saw it take a few more steps before collapsing as she swung around the tree, quickly loading another arrow on her bow and looking for the smaller prey only to see legs where she thought she might find a rabbit. She lifted her aim and her gaze to the person's face. "Hod op! Daun laik ain!" she shouted. Stop! That one's mine! Then she looked him over once gain. "Skaikru," she sneered. He looked vaguely familiar, though.

Didn't matter. She should have looked at what the panther had been staking. There would be one less Sky Person, had she let it eat him. And she could've saved an arrow. With the panther distracted eating the Sky Person's face, she could have snuck up and dispatched it with a knife.

She stalked toward him slowly, not lowering her bow. "That mine," she told him, translating part of what he'd said as best she could while inclining her head to indicate the dead cat.

Tag: Bellamy Blake

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jaga

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

Patrolling and mapping the area -- even hunting -- had been far easier with the use of Rovers. They had salvaged what they could, and were able to travel much further, and much safer, through the limited area. They still couldn't venture too far, but it was dramatically better than what they had before. Walking on foot was still dangerous. Despite the ceasefire, tensions among the Grounders and Arkers were strong. The others may believe this was real peace. But Bellamy wasn't that naive. He knew it was only a matter of time before the war continued -- because it was far from over. Maybe, if they hadn't been betrayed they could have established real peace. But they would never know. And Bellamy wasn't going to live in a fantasy world of what ifs and maybes.

It was the rustling behind him that had caused him to pause every few moments, firmly convinced that someone or something was following him. He had his gun in his hand, in position, finger on the trigger just in case. There were times when he needed to be by himself, whether it be to hunt or patrol -- knowing the dangers but also needed to clear his head. Ever since what he did at Mount Weather . . . well, he was struggling to cope with it. He supposed it was dangerous, but at the same time, wasn't about to be afraid. He finally stopped walking. Taking a deep breath and suddenly, something cut through the wind. He spun around to see the panther lying lifelessly on the ground, an arrow pierced through its neck. And suddenly, the panther wasn't the greater threat. Bellamy raised his gun, aimed that the grounder who's voice had cut through the air. Bellamy was learning Trigedasleng but he was not fluent. And she didn't seem to be so in English based on her fragmented sentence. She was claiming ownership on the kill.

He kept his gun raised at her. He wouldn't shoot to kill, but he also knew that neither of them trusted the other enough to lower the weapon. An arrow and bullet both traveled fast. It took one swift motion to strike the other person with the weapon. "Why didn't you let it kill me?" He asked, wondering what this was. She clearly didn't seem pleased to see an Arker, so what was she playing at? Why not wait until after the panther killed him? Was she respecting the ceasefire as well? This was why peace couldn't work right now . . . there was no trust among each group of people. He kept his gaze locked on her, trying to think of the word he wanted to say. "Chamouda?" Why, hoping she understood that he meant why she had not let it killed him rather than asking why she wanted the meat. Bellamy wasn't that stupid.

[Deleted]

Jaga's gaze flicked between the man's face and his weapon, regretting even more that she hadn't paid more attention to what the panther was stalking. She knew there was a ceasefire. An animal attack would not have broken that. An arrow through the man's eye socket would. Jaga was pretty sure she could hide a body if she needed to, but this man looked far too heavy for her to carry his lifeless corpse through the woods on her own.

He spoke to her in English, and then Trigedasleng, which he obviously knew less of, considering it was one word, rather than repeating his entire sentence. She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes as she wondered if he was trying to get her to lower her guard. "You got luck," she told him.

"Drop yu fayogon." Drop your gun. She doubted he would do it. In fact the more she looked at him, the more she started to realize where she'd seen him before. In the mountain. Jaga had stayed quiet at the back of her cage for the most part, but she'd seen him escape. She watched him kill that guard. He wasn't going to surrender to her, but Jaga tried anyway. "Drop it," she repeated in English, gesturing at his gun with her bow, then aiming it back at his face.

Tag: Bellamy Blake

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jaga

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

Luck. Bellamy wasn't entirely sure he had that. Any of it. Maybe in this particular situation. Yeah. Real lucky for him to run into a Grounder who was almost ready to kill him. When she spoke in Trigedasleng again, he did recognize one word from her sentence: gun. That, was a word he'd learned quickly, but translated it, demanding that he drop his weapon. He wasn't that stupid -- or trusting. At the same time, if they both intended to kill each other, they'd already be dead. "You first," he replied, his eyes still fixed on her, his gun still firmly in his grasp, aimed directly at her.

The last time he'd put his trust in a Grounder . . . they were forced to kill over 300 people. And yet, what were they going to do, just aim their weapons at the other person all day. No one was going to turn their back on the other. "I observe the Commander's truce," he told her, uncertain how to say it in Trigedasleng without fragmenting the words. But he felt the need to clarify that. He wasn't here to aimlessly kill Grounders. "And if you do too, then maybe we should both put down our weapons at the same time." Did she fully understand English? He had no idea. He paused in thought, trying to say what he could in her language so that she got the gist of what he was saying. "Seim gou." Same time.

[Deleted]

Seim gou.

Jaga didn't trust the man in front of her. She wasn't sure she believed he would lower his weapon if she lowered hers. But she weighed her options for a moment. If she broke the ceasefire, and couldn't hide the body or make it look like an accident, Heda would probably have her killed. And a bullet from this man would probably be a less painful way to die.

"Ogonzaun," she told him, through her teeth. Then she repeated in English, "Ceasefire." She drew a steadying breath and started to release some of the tension from her bow. "Seim gou," she reminded him, and watched as he did what he said he would, lowing his gun slowly as she lowered her bow.

When their weapons were fully lowered, she appraised him with narrowed eyes. "Ai get klin yu." I know you. "You in mountain seintaim." He had been in the mountain also.

Tag: Bellamy Blake

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jaga

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

Bellamy felt a wave of relief wash over him, though he remained stoic and his demeanour unchanged. She too respected the ceasefire and when she agreed to lowering the weapons at the same time, he gave a nod. As she lowered the bow, Bellamy lowered his gun. It was as if they were mirroring each other, the weapons being brought down in sync until they were no longer pointed at the other person's face. He kept it strapped over his shoulder, not about to let the gun out of reach. She then said something else in Trigedasleng . . . words he was trying to piece together.

Ai meant I. Klin. What did klin mean again? But then her next words -- while not fully understood by Bellamy -- the English one was enough for him to piece it together. Or well, the few English words. But mountain was really the defining one. Bellamy slightly clenched his jaw at the mention. Chances were, she was one of the Grounders captured in a cage.

He had helped a few of them out, but not all of them. Enough that they could take care of releasing the rest, as he had told Echo to ready the army. "Sha." Yes. Confirmation that he was. He was nowhere near healing or recovering from what he had been forced to do in there and he wasn't about to let himself get emotional in front of a Grounder. "You were in the cage?" He asked, seeking the same kind of confirmation, to ensure that it was where she knew him from, rather than anywhere else.

[Deleted]

Jaga looked at Bellamy for a long moment, her expression turning angry. She was angry. She was angry at the Mountain Men for what they'd done to her. Being collared, scalded and scrubbed down had made sleep more difficult these days. But she was also angry at the man in front of her. He'd left them in those cages. "Sha," she answered finally, then clenched her jaw and walked over to the dead panther.

She yanked the arrow out of its neck, wiping the blood off on her pant leg before re-sheathing it in her quiver. She pulled a roll off her back and spread it on the ground, intending to roll the panther onto it so that it could be dragged. She didn't have the strength to carry it over her shoulder all the way back to Polis. And she wasn't going to linger here with this man any longer than she needed to.

Tag: Bellamy Blake

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jaga

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

She clearly didn't seem happy about it. But then, Grounders never were. Never satisfied with whatever the Arkers gave them. So he knew there was no point in further exploring that. In trying to figure out what she held against them. It seemed like there would never be true peace between their people, and Bellamy was naive enough to believe otherwise. She moved over to the panther, salvaging her arrow. He had no interest in taking the kill, and was about to set on his own way, when a loud sound filled the otherwise silent air. Bellamy abruptly turned around, instinctively taking hold of his gun again, but this time, pointed in the direction of the noise.

That seemed to be stampeding through the trees. Whatever it was . . . it was big. Massive even. And when it began to come into sight, Bellamy's eyes slightly widened, his head tilting up as the massive beast practically ripped out a tree. It was pretty clear that bullets didn't seem enough to bring this thing down. "Run," he said in a low voice. But then the thing let out a loud sound and started pounding its chest. "Buk au!" Run! And with that, fired a few bullets toward it so that he could give her a somewhat head start, before turning and starting to run like hell.

[Deleted]

Jaga heard the noises coming through the forest as well, and had gotten to her feet and loaded her bow. Standing behind Bellamy, she aimed it just past his head. When the massive gorilla came into sight, she knew immediately her arrows would do nothing. She barely breathed, "Pauna." Gorilla. Then she turned to run before the Sky Person even told her too. She heard him firing his gun behind her. Idiot. Maybe he would get eaten today after all. Or torn limb from limb.

Jaga knew there was a structure nearby. She wasn't sure what it had been used for in the past. The building had long since been taken over by nature, vines growing out of walls and plants pushing their way out of the floor, but it was solid. She'd taken cover there before. But from this direction, she'd have to slide down a rocky incline to get to it.

She slung her bow and quiver full of arrows to the front of her body as she ran, and took the plunge when she reached the slope, rock scraping up her back through her clothes as she slid. When she reached the bottom, the momentum of the fall propelled her toward the door of the building. She barreled through it, but she was still moving too fast, so she wound up tipping forward when she tried to turn to shut the door, landing on her hands and knees.

Tag: Bellamy Blake

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jaga

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

What the hell was a Pauna?! Bellamy didn't care enough to stop and ask. He was too busy running, moving as fast as he could because he knew that thing was tearing down the trees as it charged after them. He followed the Grounder to some sort of abandoned building -- or well, former building. It looked pretty run down. But what mattered was that it had small spaces and a roof that could perhaps protect them. Once she was down -- as it looked only narrow enough for one person -- he immediately followed, just managed to keep from being in the Pauna's grasp. He hit the bottom, ignoring the pain of the roughness that scraped along him going down and falling to the lower level.

When he looked at the door, he saw the Grounder on her hands and knees on the other side. Clearly, not knowing that she had meant to shut him out, Bellamy raced to the door, turning so that he could attempt to pull it to a close. The extra shelter that they had, the better. But between the two of them hurrying down here, and the massive gorilla after them and in the vicinity, Bellamy heard what sounded like a rockslide, crashing down where they entered. He paused what he was doing, no longer needing to shut the door because they were trapped. "Damn it," he cursed under his breath as he made his way to see the now sealed off area.

[Deleted]

Jaga scrambled to her feet, hearing the sound of the rocks falling. She hadn't been fast enough to close the door before the Sky Person got inside, and now they were trapped because he'd taken the same path she had. She didn't think her body alone could have caused the slide, but his... He was big. He had done this. She stared at the ruble blocking them in for a few moments trying to catch her breath before turning to look at him, her bow and arrows still dangling loosely in front of her body.

"Yu biga joka! Chomouda mafta ai op?!" You big fucker! Why did you follow me?! Her hands balled into fists as she shouted at him, even if she knew he could do far more damage to her than she could to him in a hand to hand fight. "Nomajoka!" Motherfucker! She didn't care if he understood her right now. She turned and and furiously looked around the perimeter of the room, looking for a way out, even though she knew there wasn't one.

Tag: Bellamy Blake

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jaga

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

Bellamy understood maybe three words from what she said. But he got the gist of it. She was pissed. Great. Now he was stuck in closed quarters with a pissed off Grounder. It was bad enough that it was a Grounder, but one who was angry . . . wel, it was never a good combination. "I don't know what you're saying," he told her bluntly, a hint of annoyance in his voice at her rambling off in Trigedasleng. "But calm the hell down." Maybe she wouldn't understand what he was saying either. The situation was certainly playing a part in his agitation, and he figured that was something mutual between them.

Bellamy knew that it was only a matter of time before the others would look for him. But he couldn't exactly say the same for her. He made his way to where what looked like boulders had trapped them in. "Shit," he breathed, fully aware that there was no way they'd be able to push them out of the way from this angle. "You know this place? Is there any other way in or out?" Sealed or not. Maybe there was a crack somewhere in the foundation that they could take advantage of. God, he hoped this Grounder was useful.

[Deleted]

Jaga only glared at the man when he told her to calm down. She didn't take orders from Skairkru. But when he continued, she answered his question. "No," she said. There was another door at the front of the building, but Jaga had never been able to open it. Even from the inside, the lock seemed jammed. "Moun dou brouk." The other door is broken.

She shook her head, and muttered, "Ai houp pauna choj op ona yu, mami." I hoped the gorilla would eat you, dick. "Why you follow me?" she demanded, her voice low. "You trap us!"

Tag: Bellamy Blake

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: @jaga

whatever

THE HELL WE WANT

She was going on in Trigedasleng again and as before, Bellamy wasn't able to pick up on all the words. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Her English ones however were very clear. He trapped them. "Blame the gorilla," he said in a low, irritated voice. But he knew she wouldn't. It was far easier for the grounders to blame them for whatever the hell they could.

"This isn't my idea of fun either," he added on sarcastically. As if he wanted to follow her. As if he wanted to get stuck down here with her. "What the hell is this place anyway?" He asked, not having had a chance to look at anything about it considering he was running for his life. Maybe she didn't know either. Wouldn't surprise him. But he thought he'd ask regardless so that he could better pinpoint where they were and how far from camp.

[Deleted]

Blame the gorilla, he said. Blame the gorilla. If he had just run another way and not followed her, the gorilla wouldn't have come this way either. But what more could she expect. He probably didn't know this area well, so he'd followed the Grounder who did.

The adrenaline from running and being chased was starting to ebb away, and with it, some of her anger was too. Not that she wasn't still angry, but speaking calmly was starting to get easier. Her mind wasn't racing, making her default to mostly her own language. "No clue. Building empty since I small," she told him.

Then she tilted her head at him. Just because she'd never gotten the other door, didn't mean he couldn't use his considerable weight difference to bust it open, maybe by slamming his big stupid body against it. "Other door always stuck, biga joka," she told him, inclining her head for him to follow her as she took him to it.

Tag: Bellamy Blake