[preplay] The Preserve, An Afternoon

[okteiviakom]

Octavia wasn't sure they'd ever come out here together before. This was her favorite place on the entire island, rivaled only by the Cape Rouge, but it had always been hers rather than Bellamy's and hers together. Today, though, she'd dragged him out here with her.

If nothing else, it meant he got to see first-hand the way something about her shifted when they left the town behind and the woods swallowed them up. Something about the way she moved became more relaxed once she had the uneven terrain of the forest floor under her boots again.

"So I kinda have something I wanted to talk to you about," she said, once there was nothing around them but trees as far as the eye could see, and they were still pushing on further.

Maybe she'd wanted to get him onto her turf before she talked.

Comments

[notgetkilled]

"Sounds ominous."

And foreboding. He doesn't let that show on his face though as they walk. He keeps his eyes forward, body loose.

"What's up?"

[okteiviakom]

"It's nothing bad," Octavia replied almost immediately, with a quick glance over at him. "It's just... You know how I've been staying over on the Rouge a lot?"

It wasn't all the time, but there were weeks here and there, these days, where she spent fewer nights at the apartment than she did on Duke's ship.

[notgetkilled]

"Yeah," Bellamy said with a nod. "And I've been supportive so if you're bringing me out here to kill me, I'm going to be mad."

He didn't really think that but he was trying to break the tension.

[okteiviakom]

Octavia managed to huff out a tiny snort.

"If I was intending to kill you, Bel, I would've done it while you slept," she drawled. "No, it's not that."

[notgetkilled]

"All right, so what is it?"

Because now he was curious.

"Everything okay?"

[okteiviakom]

"Everything's fine." You know, on a scale of 'Duke got arrested just this past week'. They had their own kind of fine that had more to do with how solid things were between them than what was going on around them. "It's just..."

Why was she so nervous about this all of a sudden? She was an adult, she could make her own decisions.

But also, Bellamy was all she had left of their mother.

She drew in a deep breath, and said, "I'm thinking of moving in on the Rouge."

[notgetkilled]

"Are you?"

Huh. He doesn't know what he thought about that, honestly. He knew he couldn't put his foot down and stop her but it felt...final.

"When?"

[okteiviakom]

"I don't know." Tiny shrug. "I haven't really... talked to him about it, yet."

[notgetkilled]

"You haven't?" Bellamy glanced over at her. "Not that he wouldn't but are you sure he wants that?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's lips curved into a faint, lopsided smile. "He keeps asking about it." Lightly, mostly in offhand ways, peppering the questions with goodbye kisses while she attempted to leave. That didn't mean Octavia didn't think there was a genuine question behind them.

"I just didn't want to say anything to him before I talked to you."

She didn't need Bellamy's blessing.

She could still want it, though.

[notgetkilled]

"Are you sure it's what you want to do?" Bellamy asked. "There'll always be a spot for you with me but you're still young, Octavia. I just — "

He trailed off and sighed.

"It's a big step."

[okteiviakom]

Finally, Octavia stopped, turning more towards him.

"I'm twenty one, Bel," she said, her tiny smile a little on the soft side. "I can't keep sticking by my big brother forever." She didn't want to. Not when she could build an actual life here. They both could. "And it's not like I would go far. It's just the other side of the island."

[notgetkilled]

"Well, you could but I know you don't want to do that," Bellamy said with a shrug. He didn't know how he felt about this but he knew he didn't have a lot of say in the matter.

"If you do it, just be careful." Because it was a big, new thing. "I don't want you to be stuck somewhere if things go bad or you find that it's not what you want."

[okteiviakom]

"It's not going to be very different from being there half the week anyway," Octavia argued gently, even though she knew that yeah, it was.

But she also knew she'd lived in far more challenging circumstances before. Including the time he'd already been on the island and she'd still been back on the Ground.

Her expression softened again, her head tilting a little. "Are you... okay with this?"

[notgetkilled]

"It's your life, Octavia and I just want you to know what you're doing and don't let him make you do anything you don't want to do."

Bellamy didn't care if this guy wasn't the type to do that but he was going to say it anyway.

"And while I'm always going to want you near me, I can't force that. You'd kill me."

[okteiviakom]

"Pretty much," Octavia replied with a little snort, as she turned towards where they'd been heading --

And frowned.

The woods around them didn't look like she'd expected them to. Sure, she'd been nervous before, but enough to take them on the wrong path?

[notgetkilled]

Noticing her sudden pause, Bellamy pulled to a stop and looked around.

"What?" He stopped, blinking a few times. "This...looks different."

[okteiviakom]

"Yeah," Octavia replied, suddenly alert, her gaze darting around, looking for a familiar landmark of any kind. She knew the preserve. "Maybe we took a wrong turn --"

She knew they hadn't.

A feeling of dread was already taking shape inside her.

[notgetkilled]

"You don't get lost."

He doesn't get lost either but especially her.

"Something happened. Did we step into a portal?"

[okteiviakom]

At that, the dread spread through Octavia like a wave. The way she looked around turned more frantic. "No," she said, but it sounded more like a plea than an answer to his question.

Before she could say more, there was movement between the trees a little further off.

And then a voice, commanding. "Chon yo bilaik? Hakom yo kamp raun disha geda?"

Octavia gasped. "No." This time, she sounded almost wounded.

[notgetkilled]

Bellamy might not know what was being said but he knew it wasn't something that should be said on the island. Something had happened and he wasn't armed.

"Octavia?" he asked, looking over and frowning. "You okay?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was frozen in place, staring in the direction of the voice.

"They're Trikru scouts."

She was not okay.

[notgetkilled]

"We're on the Ground."

He swallowed and looked around, wishing that he had a gun to hold.

"I'm sorry, Octavia."

[okteiviakom]

Octavia's sword was at the apartment. She left it there more and more often these days, though there were still a couple of knives concealed on her pretty much all the time.

She wasn't thinking about that.

She was staring at the trees, saw the scouts emerge from between them, knew she would have to call out to them, identify herself. But she wasn't thinking about that, either.

If you suddenly disappeared, I'd be a wreck.

Was it still fear, if the worst possible thing you could have thought of had already happened to you? Much like the first time they'd landed here, all she could think about was how much she wanted to just scream. Just, with pain, this time.

They were back.