Amery is not supposed to be on the dropship.
She isn't one of the hundred delinquents being sent down to a radiation-soaked planet. She's just a Zero-G mechanic making some last-minute adjustments to a project nobody will tell her anything about.
I...
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✧】x. do they grow on trees now?【✧
[ his sister's keeper ]
IT DOESN'T SEEM possible.
Octavia does not go missing. She goes where she wants when she wants, every move of her own volition, eyes set in determination and willing to do whatever it takes to maintain her freedom. Octavia goes on adventures. Octavia does reckless things. But Octavia does not just go missing.
But she did, Keaton explains, dragging Amery and her tentmates into the fray. Bellamy has combed the entire camp two times over, and nothing. In fact, nobody's seen Octavia since early that morning— yesterday morning, now, Amery supposes— when she'd apparently gotten into a spiff with her brother over the radio and his shooting Jaha.
She could be anywhere by now.
A duffel bag of weapons hangs open in the center of the haphazardly formed circle around Bellamy as he explains the situation.
"My sister's been out there alone for 12 hours," he barks, eyes hardened with determination. "Arm up. We're not coming back without her."
Zoe is one of the first to follow instructions, grabbing a spear and weighing it in her hands. The sharpness returns to her eyes, and with that spear in her hands, she once again turns from Zoe to Monroe in the blink of an eye.
Amery's heart thuds against her ribcage, unrelenting. She likes Octavia. Her brother might be a dick, but Octavia's still learning how to live without having to look over her shoulder at every breath. This can't be it for her.
Amery thinks of the woods. The Grounders. The fog. She thinks of Atom's body being hauled into camp. She thinks of Jasper with a spear through his chest.
And then she sees the boy walk toward the pile of weapons wearing a solemn but determined expression, the torch he holds illuminating his blood-stained face in gold.
"Hey," Clarke murmurs, catching Jasper's elbow. "Jasper, you don't have to do this. You haven't left camp since we brought you back."
"Clarke, I need to do this," he murmurs. Monty's eyes cloud with worry, and Amery observes quietly as he wages the internal battle of whether or not to go solely to protect his friend.
"We need all the people we can get," Bellamy says. Clarke hesitates, holding eye contact with Jasper for a long moment before the both of them nod and Jasper pushes past.
Bellamy then turns to Clarke and murmurs something before calling, "Finn! Get out here."
No response.
Amery knows he's undoubtedly with Raven and scoffs as she returns her attention to Keaton, eyeing the dagger in his hand.
"You're going," she says. It's not a question. In the dark, his eyes bore into hers, that depth screaming the same thing it always has when it comes to Keaton: protector. Even though Keaton hardly knows Octavia. Even though he's not a hunter or a fighter. He's a defender, and that's enough.
