Octavia Blake (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
okteiviakom) wrote2020-06-11 12:17 pm
okteiviakom) wrote2020-06-11 12:17 pm
The Wasteland, Thursday FT
At first light the next morning, they marched. Every last one of them.
It was going to be a six-day journey.
On the second day, Bellamy and Indra approached Octavia at the front of the army. They told her Echo had radioed in. The enemy knew they were coming, so all three entry points into the valley were likely to be heavily guarded. Echo was scouting for the best way in.
Octavia said nothing.
Bellamy came to her again that evening, when they'd made camp for the night and she was revising their strategy with Miller and some of the others. He told everyone to get out - and once she'd nodded, they actually did.
He told her the spy had found them a way, but he would only tell her what it was after they 'set some things straight'.
He told her they would fight this war the right way.
"Does the right way end up with us winning?" Octavia drawled.
"It ends with us accepting the other side's surrender," Bellamy told her. "Once they lay down their arms, we share the valley with them. No executions. No fighting pits. Real peace."
She told him she wanted that too, whether he believed it or not.
He told her he wished he did.
Then he told her Indra had all the details. And when, as he was leaving, she told him this was how it was meant to be, the two of them fighting side by side... he said he wasn't fighting for her. "I'm fighting to get back to my family."
She'd been right to choose Wonkru over him.
-----
Things with the enemy had shifted. Diyoza was with Echo and the rest of Bellamy's -- people who'd been up in space with him for the past six years. McCreary was the one in charge in the valley, now. That was how Echo had found them a way in: Diyoza knew McCreary was using her plans, and therefore had been able to devise a strategy to exploit them.
Echo and the others had guns. They'd open fire on one of the entrances, drawing McCreary's men to reinforce that, leaving the other two spots open. If they timed it right and moved fast, there wouldn't be any resistance. Once they were in the woods, they'd take the village.
Once they were in the woods, they'd win.
It had been five days since they'd left the bunker. Tomorrow, they'd reach the valley. "It'll all be worth it," Octavia told Indra, the last to leave the tent after they'd gone over the plan one more time.. "Once we're in the valley, everything we had to do to get there... it'll make sense. You'll see."
"I hope you're right," Indra said, and left, and Octavia was alone.
Her exhale was unsteady.
Her voice small. "I have to be."
-----
At first light, they marched up to the gorge. Waited for Echo's signal, then waited for the gunfire to draw McCreary's men from the two pillboxes on either side of the entry point. Once they'd gone, Wonkru got to moving.
They were right in the middle of the gorge as the shooting began. Someone had sold them out. It was a massacre. Octavia told her people to stand their ground, and some did, but many fled back towards the woods. And when Bellamy tried to drag her back with them, they were both hit with a blast from one of the drill guns.
-----
Apart from the ringing in her ears, it was quiet when Octavia came to again. She was face down on the ground, and when she tried to shift, to get up, she heard Bellamy's voice from beside her. "O, don't move. The second we move, we're dead."
She saw one of her soldiers get to her feet and try to reach her. "Blodreina!"
She was shot down.
Someone else tried to flee, the same happened to him.
Wherever Octavia looked, Wonkru bodies were littered across the gorge. "This is your fault," she mumbled into the dirt.
"We are not doing this now," Bellamy told her. Judging by the number of dead around them, some of her army had made it back into the wasteland. She wanted to get to them, but Bellamy had lost his weapon, so there was no chance of covering fire. They'd have to wait until it was dark. "Once we make it back," Bellamy said, "we get the radio, and we surrender." Octavia looked away. Gave her head the tiniest shake. "We can't win," he said, almost pleading. "It's over. But we can still save our people --"
"Nothing is over. Your intel was bad. But at least we know what we're up against."
"O, no one will follow you. This is your fault, not mine. You led them here." Her fingers dug into the dirt. "You burnt their farm, and you made them march. These people are dead because of you." Keeping herself close to the ground, she tried to lunge for him, but he grabbed her arm. Pressed her down. "O, stop moving. Please."
They heard someone shouting, and looked up. Three men, with their hands up. They yelled that they were surrendering - and were shot down just like the others.
Octavia pressed her cheek against the ground. "So much for surrender."
-----
They waited on the ground for the entire day, laying as motionless as the corpses strewn all around them. And even once darkness fell, McCreary's men would occasionally sweep the gorge with beams of light, meaning they had to drop to the ground and play dead whenever they were about to get caught.
Just another thing to add to Octavia's already impressive catalog of nightmares.
They found Indra and Gaia further back in the gorge. Both were hurt, Gaia badly enough that they couldn't move her. But as Indra pointed out, Wonkru would come back to get them. As Octavia was dressing Gaia's wound, she asked, weakly, why Octavia was helping her when she'd thrown her in the fighting pit just a week ago.
"A week ago, you were a traitor," Octavia drawled. "Next week, you may be again. Right now, you're Wonkru." But Bellamy couldn't just let it stay at that. "She thinks when Wonkru comes back," he said, "you'll tell the followers of the Flame to follow her back through this gorge."
He was right, of course. But they all looked at her like there was something wrong about thinking that.
"If they don't," she pointed out, "everybody dies."
-----
Hours passed. No one came. Their queen was on the battlefield and no one came, and Gaia was starting to fade. She was telling Indra to let her go, that Wonkru wasn't going to come back.
"Wonkru ste shada."
Wonkru was broken.
Octavia barely heard Bellamy trying to talk Gaia into fighting. The words were still bouncing around her skull, a relentless echo that made her chest feel tight, constricted. What had she done?
"Wonkru ste shada," she murmured, almost on a gasp. "I broke it."
Indra's tone sounded dark. "Yes, you did."
-----
Octavia didn't know what to do. So she kept watch with a gun. Eventually, she saw movement in the field - someone was a alive. She tried to get up, to see better, only for Bellamy to yank her down. "Get down," he hissed, "they'll see you." (The person she'd seen stood up and got immediately shot. McCreary's men were still up there. Good to know.) She turned to Bellamy. "What do you care if I die?" she asked, shaking his hand off. "Isn't that what you want?"
Through gritted teeth, he said, "Yes."
Well.
At least he was honest.
Indra told them Gaia's heartbeat was slowing down, and that they needed to go. Indra would provide them a target, and the next time they opened fire, they would run. But of course, Bellamy said he'd carry Gaia.
And Gaia said he wasn't dying for her.
And Octavia said, "She's right." But that didn't mean she was intending for them to leave Gaia behind. She'd made up her mind. "I may never be able to fix what I broke," she told them, softly, "but I can save you. I'm the one they want most of all." In fact, she was surprised they hadn't shot her where she lay all day, just to make sure. "When they open fire, run like hell."
She tried to catch Bellamy's eye, but he looked away. So she looked at Indra instead, and nodded.
"Omon gon oson."
All of her, for all of them, one last time. Indra nodded back to her, and repeated the words.
Bellamy grabbed her right as she was about to walk past him into the field. Just yanked her down to crouching at his level, then just -- looked at her, his eyes shiny even in the darkness. She waited for him to say something.
Maybe he just couldn't.
"My brother," she said to him. "My responsibility."
Then she moved past him. She took aim at where McCreary's men were, and began firing. "You are Wonkru," she yelled, as hard as she could, "or you are the enemy of Wonkru! Choose!" And when the clip was empty, she spread her arms, let the gun fall onto the ground, and dropped to her knees. Closed her eyes. Breathed in.
Waited.
Only to hear gunfire from behind her. She turned and saw the rover, with a gun turret mounted on its hood, firing at McCreary's men. Creating cover fire. And Echo, yelling, "Octavia, get in, now!"
Guess death would have to wait for her again.
-----
Murphy and Emori were in the car, too, aside from Echo. And in the driver's seat... Madi. Octavia said nothing the entire ride back to where the rest of Wonkru were camped out, tending to their wounded. Once there, she made sure Gaia got carried straight to Jackson.
It was easy to tell when Madi came out of the car, when Wonkru saw her again. Octavia heard someone cry out that the commander would help them. She immediately drew her sword, and ignored the Wonkru guns that were suddenly trained on her as she strode through the crowd to get to Madi. Bellamy and Echo stepped in her way, and wouldn't move. Not before she'd made eye contact with Madi past them, and she told them to let her through.
She stepped up to the girl, and raised her sword - then flipped it, and thrust the blade into the ground at Madi's feet.
And bent the knee, and bowed her head.
Even without looking up, she heard the rustling around her tell her that all of Wonkru around her followed her lead.
One last time.
[ooc: NFB, NFI. Taken from The 100 S5 episodes 11-13. Post 1 of 2 for today! Content warning for violence and NPC deaths.]
It was going to be a six-day journey.
On the second day, Bellamy and Indra approached Octavia at the front of the army. They told her Echo had radioed in. The enemy knew they were coming, so all three entry points into the valley were likely to be heavily guarded. Echo was scouting for the best way in.
Octavia said nothing.
Bellamy came to her again that evening, when they'd made camp for the night and she was revising their strategy with Miller and some of the others. He told everyone to get out - and once she'd nodded, they actually did.
He told her the spy had found them a way, but he would only tell her what it was after they 'set some things straight'.
He told her they would fight this war the right way.
"Does the right way end up with us winning?" Octavia drawled.
"It ends with us accepting the other side's surrender," Bellamy told her. "Once they lay down their arms, we share the valley with them. No executions. No fighting pits. Real peace."
She told him she wanted that too, whether he believed it or not.
He told her he wished he did.
Then he told her Indra had all the details. And when, as he was leaving, she told him this was how it was meant to be, the two of them fighting side by side... he said he wasn't fighting for her. "I'm fighting to get back to my family."
She'd been right to choose Wonkru over him.
Things with the enemy had shifted. Diyoza was with Echo and the rest of Bellamy's -- people who'd been up in space with him for the past six years. McCreary was the one in charge in the valley, now. That was how Echo had found them a way in: Diyoza knew McCreary was using her plans, and therefore had been able to devise a strategy to exploit them.
Echo and the others had guns. They'd open fire on one of the entrances, drawing McCreary's men to reinforce that, leaving the other two spots open. If they timed it right and moved fast, there wouldn't be any resistance. Once they were in the woods, they'd take the village.
Once they were in the woods, they'd win.
It had been five days since they'd left the bunker. Tomorrow, they'd reach the valley. "It'll all be worth it," Octavia told Indra, the last to leave the tent after they'd gone over the plan one more time.. "Once we're in the valley, everything we had to do to get there... it'll make sense. You'll see."
"I hope you're right," Indra said, and left, and Octavia was alone.
Her exhale was unsteady.
Her voice small. "I have to be."
At first light, they marched up to the gorge. Waited for Echo's signal, then waited for the gunfire to draw McCreary's men from the two pillboxes on either side of the entry point. Once they'd gone, Wonkru got to moving.
They were right in the middle of the gorge as the shooting began. Someone had sold them out. It was a massacre. Octavia told her people to stand their ground, and some did, but many fled back towards the woods. And when Bellamy tried to drag her back with them, they were both hit with a blast from one of the drill guns.
Apart from the ringing in her ears, it was quiet when Octavia came to again. She was face down on the ground, and when she tried to shift, to get up, she heard Bellamy's voice from beside her. "O, don't move. The second we move, we're dead."
She saw one of her soldiers get to her feet and try to reach her. "Blodreina!"
She was shot down.
Someone else tried to flee, the same happened to him.
Wherever Octavia looked, Wonkru bodies were littered across the gorge. "This is your fault," she mumbled into the dirt.
"We are not doing this now," Bellamy told her. Judging by the number of dead around them, some of her army had made it back into the wasteland. She wanted to get to them, but Bellamy had lost his weapon, so there was no chance of covering fire. They'd have to wait until it was dark. "Once we make it back," Bellamy said, "we get the radio, and we surrender." Octavia looked away. Gave her head the tiniest shake. "We can't win," he said, almost pleading. "It's over. But we can still save our people --"
"Nothing is over. Your intel was bad. But at least we know what we're up against."
"O, no one will follow you. This is your fault, not mine. You led them here." Her fingers dug into the dirt. "You burnt their farm, and you made them march. These people are dead because of you." Keeping herself close to the ground, she tried to lunge for him, but he grabbed her arm. Pressed her down. "O, stop moving. Please."
They heard someone shouting, and looked up. Three men, with their hands up. They yelled that they were surrendering - and were shot down just like the others.
Octavia pressed her cheek against the ground. "So much for surrender."
They waited on the ground for the entire day, laying as motionless as the corpses strewn all around them. And even once darkness fell, McCreary's men would occasionally sweep the gorge with beams of light, meaning they had to drop to the ground and play dead whenever they were about to get caught.
Just another thing to add to Octavia's already impressive catalog of nightmares.
They found Indra and Gaia further back in the gorge. Both were hurt, Gaia badly enough that they couldn't move her. But as Indra pointed out, Wonkru would come back to get them. As Octavia was dressing Gaia's wound, she asked, weakly, why Octavia was helping her when she'd thrown her in the fighting pit just a week ago.
"A week ago, you were a traitor," Octavia drawled. "Next week, you may be again. Right now, you're Wonkru." But Bellamy couldn't just let it stay at that. "She thinks when Wonkru comes back," he said, "you'll tell the followers of the Flame to follow her back through this gorge."
He was right, of course. But they all looked at her like there was something wrong about thinking that.
"If they don't," she pointed out, "everybody dies."
Hours passed. No one came. Their queen was on the battlefield and no one came, and Gaia was starting to fade. She was telling Indra to let her go, that Wonkru wasn't going to come back.
"Wonkru ste shada."
Wonkru was broken.
Octavia barely heard Bellamy trying to talk Gaia into fighting. The words were still bouncing around her skull, a relentless echo that made her chest feel tight, constricted. What had she done?
"Wonkru ste shada," she murmured, almost on a gasp. "I broke it."
Indra's tone sounded dark. "Yes, you did."
Octavia didn't know what to do. So she kept watch with a gun. Eventually, she saw movement in the field - someone was a alive. She tried to get up, to see better, only for Bellamy to yank her down. "Get down," he hissed, "they'll see you." (The person she'd seen stood up and got immediately shot. McCreary's men were still up there. Good to know.) She turned to Bellamy. "What do you care if I die?" she asked, shaking his hand off. "Isn't that what you want?"
Through gritted teeth, he said, "Yes."
Well.
At least he was honest.
Indra told them Gaia's heartbeat was slowing down, and that they needed to go. Indra would provide them a target, and the next time they opened fire, they would run. But of course, Bellamy said he'd carry Gaia.
And Gaia said he wasn't dying for her.
And Octavia said, "She's right." But that didn't mean she was intending for them to leave Gaia behind. She'd made up her mind. "I may never be able to fix what I broke," she told them, softly, "but I can save you. I'm the one they want most of all." In fact, she was surprised they hadn't shot her where she lay all day, just to make sure. "When they open fire, run like hell."
She tried to catch Bellamy's eye, but he looked away. So she looked at Indra instead, and nodded.
"Omon gon oson."
All of her, for all of them, one last time. Indra nodded back to her, and repeated the words.
Bellamy grabbed her right as she was about to walk past him into the field. Just yanked her down to crouching at his level, then just -- looked at her, his eyes shiny even in the darkness. She waited for him to say something.
Maybe he just couldn't.
"My brother," she said to him. "My responsibility."
Then she moved past him. She took aim at where McCreary's men were, and began firing. "You are Wonkru," she yelled, as hard as she could, "or you are the enemy of Wonkru! Choose!" And when the clip was empty, she spread her arms, let the gun fall onto the ground, and dropped to her knees. Closed her eyes. Breathed in.
Waited.
Only to hear gunfire from behind her. She turned and saw the rover, with a gun turret mounted on its hood, firing at McCreary's men. Creating cover fire. And Echo, yelling, "Octavia, get in, now!"
Guess death would have to wait for her again.
Murphy and Emori were in the car, too, aside from Echo. And in the driver's seat... Madi. Octavia said nothing the entire ride back to where the rest of Wonkru were camped out, tending to their wounded. Once there, she made sure Gaia got carried straight to Jackson.
It was easy to tell when Madi came out of the car, when Wonkru saw her again. Octavia heard someone cry out that the commander would help them. She immediately drew her sword, and ignored the Wonkru guns that were suddenly trained on her as she strode through the crowd to get to Madi. Bellamy and Echo stepped in her way, and wouldn't move. Not before she'd made eye contact with Madi past them, and she told them to let her through.
She stepped up to the girl, and raised her sword - then flipped it, and thrust the blade into the ground at Madi's feet.
And bent the knee, and bowed her head.
Even without looking up, she heard the rustling around her tell her that all of Wonkru around her followed her lead.
One last time.
[ooc: NFB, NFI. Taken from The 100 S5 episodes 11-13. Post 1 of 2 for today! Content warning for violence and NPC deaths.]