At some point, I fell asleep in Lincoln's arms despite the pain in my thigh. I was just so tired, both physically and mentally. I had been in this new life for barely a month, but I had already killed three men and seen even more death. It was something that I had to get used to, though, because things would only get worse from here.
When I woke up, Lincoln was still carrying me, and the sun had risen. He gave me a half smile, half smirk when he saw that I was awake which made me chuckle. We were walking along a river, and now that I had woken up, he decided that it was a good time to stop and treat my leg.
"It appears that we will see the sea after all," Lincoln said as he carefully placed me on the ground.
"I'm sorry, Lincoln... I wanted to go with you, but my people needed me," I said quietly, unable to look at him.
"I know. You have a warrior's spirit," he replied.
"Maybe, or maybe I'm just a stubborn fool."
He picked up my chin so that I had to meet his gaze then kissed me before he said, "Facing death to protect those you care about is never foolish."
I smiled back at him while I hid the bitterness. He had done so much for me, and the rest of my people, while I had ruined his life and place among his people because I needed his help to survive in this place. There was no way that I could ever tell him the whole truth, but I would make up for these sins by saving his life, even if it meant that I would have to kill Pike sooner.
"I'm going to gather some wood and make a fire, so that I can stop the bleeding. Just stay here and don't move. I'm not going far," Lincoln promised as he stood up.
I smirked and nodded my head. While he gathered sticks for the fire, he started trying to teach me Trigedasleng, the language of the Grounders. Honestly, learning the language was probably one of my biggest fears, not because of something practical, but rather because I was terrible at Spanish, which I had taken it since elementary school all the way through college since I had lived in Texas during my past life. I was just terrible at languages and butchered anything that I tried to pronounce... which quickly became Lincoln's newest headache that I caused.
"Klir, not klin. Gouthru klir. Again! 'I'm Octavia of the Sky People, and I seek safe passage.'," Lincoln instructed as he washed his hands in the river.
I sighed loudly as I leaned back against a log and said, "Ai laik Okteivia kom Skaikru en ai gaf gouthru klir."
"Better. Now, say it again," he said as he shifted over to be next to me.
"How about you stop stalling and pull it out already?" I growled.
He had put it off for nearly an hour while he made the fire and heated up the blade, but I had grown impatient. What I had not expected was for him to pull it out just as my words ended, causing me to groan in pain.
"No warning?" I asked, but as Lincoln picked up the knife, I remembered the last time that I had a wound cauterized. "Okay, maybe you were right."
He smirked then pressed the hot blade against my skin. I did my best to hold in my near scream of pain, but I swore it was worse than the last time. When it was over, Lincoln tossed the knife aside and picked up the arrow that he had just pulled out of me. He tasted it, but before I could even be disgusted by his actions, he spit out angrily then looked at me with concern, and he did not even need to say it because I guessed it.
"Poisoned, huh? Your people sure are thorough," I remarked bitterly.
"I don't..." Lincoln started, but the sound of horse hooves on stones stopped him.
He drew his sword and stood in front of me, whispering, "Don't speak."
Five men on horseback were riding up the very path that we had come. Four of them wore typical Grounder masks with a quiver on their backs and a bow in their hands. The one in the middle had a sword on his waist, but something about his appearance was vaguely familiar. They slowed to a stop about twenty feet away from us and the man in the middle dismounted. As he walked towards us slowly with his arms outstretched and hands empty, a twig snapped behind us and both Lincoln and I turned our heads. Another five men with bows were approaching through the brush with bows in their hands and an arrow knocked on every string. Lincoln said something in their language as he lowered his sword, but he did not put it away.
"I know exactly who you are, Lincoln kom Trikru. Here, the medicine for Octavia's poison. There is a made bottle, but the ingredients to create it yourself are also within if you do not trust my words," the man said in English as he held out the bag that had been hanging on his shoulder.
"Why are you helping us?" Lincoln asked with suspicion and not touching the bag.
"The Commander has ordered for the two of you to be brought to her, alive. If you cooperate and come without a struggle, she will forgive your crimes and will swear that no harm will come to Octavia kom Skaikru. She seeks two of their people, Clarke and one that was once called Becca," he replied.
My eyes bulged when I heard my old name. There was only one reason why anyone would know that name, so the next question popped into my mind. Could Katye actually be Lexa? If she was, that could make everything so much easier... that is, if we manage to keep her alive.
"Lincoln, trust him. I know of one of the girls that you seek, but she was taken by the Mountain Men," I said, mixing lies and truths.
"That was expected, but my task remains the same. I would prefer to not treat your wounded body, but if you do not take the medicine, I will give it to her myself in the next minute while my men will open fire if you move. Your choice," the man threatened, still holding out the bag.
Lincoln hesitated for a moment before he tossed his sword on the ground and took the bag of medicine. He turned back to me and knelt down as he opened the bag. "You don't understand what you have done, Octavia. If you lie to the Commander..."
"I won't," I cut him off.
He gave me a hard look with his jaw flexing angrily, but I could understand why. While he did know Clarke, there was no way that I could have known that she was taken by the Mountain Men from his perspective, so he assumed that I had already lied. Technically, I did when I said that I knew one of the girls instead of both, but even if Katye was not Lexa, Lexa's character was understanding enough to forgive me for not admitting to who I was at the beginning.
He looked through the ingredients in the bag, but after confirming that everything was there, he took out the small bottle instead. He passed it to me and said, "Drink."
I did as he told me, but it tasted like bitter crap, though what medicine actually tasted good. I finished the bottle and handed it back to Lincoln.
"Good, you will ride with Akalyos and Octavia will ride with me. Johsun, help Octavia onto my horse," the Grounder said as he walked away from us.
Lincoln started to reach for the stone knife that I kept tucked in my belt, but I stopped him and whispered, "Don't. I can't see you get killed."
He did not reply, but he left my knife alone and instead, helped me to my feet, or foot since I could not put any weight on my bad leg. Another Grounder walked up with his bow slung over and patted us down, taking off my stone knife and bag of stone blades and Lincoln's knife. After that, he and Lincoln helped carry me over to the leader and helped me up onto his horse, in front of him.
Although I was not exactly comfortable in my current position, I did not have any other choices. This was my first clue at finding Katye and I could not let it pass. My memory of the show was spotty, but this certainly did not seem like something that had happened in the original series. While Lexa did have a thing with Clarke later on in the seasons, it was built on the respect that she had for Clarke's courage and determination to protect her people no matter the cost after several major events that had yet to happen. If Lexa was looking for Clarke and me then Katye was somewhere in her camp.
We rode for an hour with the leader and I in front, Lincoln and his guard behind us, and the last three flanked Lincoln on all sides. We slowed as we approached a tall wall made out of scrap metal and the gate started to open. Several warriors walked out, but it was the dark-skinned woman with a sword hanging on her hip and angry expression on her face that caught my attention. There was no mistaking that scowl; she was Indra, leader of Trikru.
Everyone dismounted once we were inside the walls, though I needed help because of my injury. Indra's eyes had not left Lincoln since he entered, and she looked like she wanted to bite him to death, which for her, would not surprise me if she really did do it. The only reason why I was not worried about him was because I had faith that Lexa would keep her word as long as I could prove that I could be valuable.
"This way," the Grounder that had brought us here ordered.
Lincoln picked me up and carried me as our original guards were joined by Indra's men. I knew that Lincoln was a good fighter in the show, but it was hard to believe that he needed this many eyes on him to keep him in line. While we walked through the village though, I started to realize that they might be here for our protection as I saw many angry faces in the crowd.
We were led down a flight of stairs to what looked like might have been a train or subway station long ago. There was already a man waiting down there for us, but unlike everyone I had seen so far, he looked almost happy to see us. His dark hair was shaved on the sides, and he had a long beard that fit his large frame.
"Nyko! Why are you here?" Lincoln asked with surprise.
"The Commander wanted me to tend to her injuries," the man replied.
"The Commander will meet with you shortly," the first Grounder said before he walked through another doorway.
Nyko said something in their language and then Lincoln set me down on the edge of the table by Nyko. While he cleaned up my wound, Lincoln and Nyko spoke in hushed tones, using their language, so there was no way for me to understand what they were saying. I could tell that Lincoln was concerned, and whatever Nyko was saying did little to alleviate those fears, but when Indra hissed something at Lincoln, I grabbed his arm before he could snap back.
"Lincoln, don't... you've already given up your life with your people once because of me. I won't let you do it again. If they are giving us this chance, then we can't waste it," I said.
"One traitor finds another," Indra spat.
"I was not asked to betray my people, only speak of two. My people aren't the enemy; the Mountain is," I said, matching Indra's glare.
"Your people killed three hundred of my soldiers; you are my enemy. Blood must have blood!"
"And how many of my friends did they kill before that? Our blood has been split."
Indra's jaw flexed a few times and she looked ready to hit me, but a voice came from somewhere and she backed off. From the same doorway that the first man had left through, a woman with long brown that was pulled back behind her shoulder and black war paint that covered her eyes. Even without the Heda symbol between her eyebrows, there was no way that I would not recognize Lexa.
"I will speak with the Sky Girl alone... Now!" Lexa ordered.
While most of the Grounder listened to her command, the man who had met us by the river, Indra, and Lincoln did not move. Lexa said something in their language and the man nodded then stepped towards us. Yet again, Lincoln stepped in front of me, to protect me, as he said something back.
"Lincoln," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Go, I'll be fine. You've protected me for long enough."
He looked back at me for a moment before he nodded and walked towards the stairs that we had entered through. Indra and the man followed Lincoln out of the room, leaving me alone with Lexa. She walked over to me slowly and pulled a chair over so that she could sit down in front of me.
"So, Octavia... should I call you that, or Rebecca?" Lexa asked with a faint smile.
"Does that make you Katye then?" I asked with some hope.
She nodded her head, and I could not help but let out a sigh of relief.
"How did you know?"
"While Octavia was always brave, arguing against Indra so calmly is something out of character at this point. It's good to finally meet you; Tori always told me stories about his baby sister," Katye said while holding out an arm.
"I wish I could say the same," I replied with a smirk as I took her hand.
::Special objective achieved: Find each other. The reward is a luxury item of your choosing that only you will be able to use. Item will generate in ten seconds.::
The moment that our hands touched; the prompt appeared in front of my eyes. Ten seconds is not a lot of time. I had no idea how I was supposed to pick the item, nor did I even know what I would want. My mind flashed with over a dozen thoughts of things that I missed from my old life, but before I knew it time was up, and a small white light appeared above both Katye's and my laps. When it faded, there was a tablet lying on Katye's lap and an iPod of sorts, if the headphones were anything to go on.
"You wanted music?" Katye asked with a sigh.
"I didn't even know what I was getting until the light faded. Besides, didn't you get a tablet?"
"I got a calendar with a section for notes, so that we can plan out how we are going to handle everything," she corrected me as she pressed the power button.
"I'm sorry... I didn't really think about it. The prompt said luxury," I replied, feeling guilty.
"It's fine. Tori always teased me about being an over planner, but that's how I'm hoping we can survive all of this... Yes, the calendar has the episode names on the days," she said, standing up and placing it on the table next to me.
"Is that all?"
"It's enough," she replied as she scrolled through the days until she stopped on a day with a name that I recognized. "We have a hundred and sixty-nine days until Praimfaya."
"How do we stop it?" I asked, hoping that she remembered what caused it because I had no idea.
"We can't. The Death Wave starts on the other side of the world because an old power plant exploded. All we can do is try to prepare the bunker sooner with help from the Ark and take Mount Weather for ourselves as well."
"Take Mount Weather? Don't tell me that we are going to kill them all like the show did," I said, shocked.
"Even with Mount Weather and extra time to prepare both bunkers, there are only so many people that we can save from the radiation. Four hundred can die, so that a thousand will live," she said with determination.
"But... there are innocent people in there! Kids... Maya... it's her death is what drives Jasper to kill himself!"
"The dead are gone; the living are hungry... Look, Becca, I want to save people, myself especially, but we can't save everyone. That's the show, hard decisions and sacrifices."
"But we have powers! We can be the good guys!"
"This is The 100! There are no good guys!" Katye said, slamming her hand on the table.
I blinked a few as I remembered Clarke saying those same words throughout the later seasons. She was right. Tori already warned me that this was a test of character, and I would have to live with the hard decisions that I will make.
"You're right, I'm sorry."
"I'm glad you see that. Now, tell me about your powers. I might have an idea how to take down Mount Weather quickly."
"Just one question first because I've been wanting to ask since I got here... Why the hell did you have to be obsessed with The 100?!?"
Katye chuckled and sat down next to me on the table. "I can't tell you how many times that I've asked myself since we got here... but it's not like I expected to spend my afterlife living it out."
A/N: Most of the story, I will refer to Katye as Lexa because most of the time she is playing the role of Lexa. When I use the name Katye, it will always be in reference to plans and scenes that are only between the MC and Katye... If this becomes too confusing, just let me know and I will change everything but this chapter to Lexa only.