Dokwocha

Chapter 5

The next 3 days were basically the same. Stiles would go out into the forest and find a load of berries and eat those for the rest of the day. As for water, he would make a few trips to the river to have a few handfuls. But most importantly he would spend time away from everyone so he could talk to Abyss, and they would work together to learn the local language as well as improve Stiles' skills with Abyss' knowledge. However, on the third day Jasper's, usual moaning was replaced with a much louder scream which caught his attention. He saw Octavia run towards the dropship with Bellamy in toe and decided to follow. When he got there, he climbed up the ladder after Bellamy and listened to what they were saying.

"Stop it You're killing him," Octavia exclaimed as she climbed and quickly rushed to Jasper's side.

"She's trying to save his life," Wells says, defending Clarke.

"She can't" Bellamy states as he finishes climbing. 'Oh, here we go, jackass strikes again.' Stiles thought making Abyss laugh as he followed the siblings and leaned against the wall.

"Back off." Wells pitifully attempts by standing directly in front of Bellamy.

"We didn't drag him through miles of woods to let him die." Clarke quickly jumps in making Bellamy's attention shift to her.

"Kid's a goner. If you can't see that, you're deluded. He's making people crazy."

"Sorry if Jasper is an inconvenience to you, but this isn't the Ark. Down here every life matters."

"Take a look at him. He's a lost cause." Bellamy exclaimed making Octavia look down at the boy and frown slightly which Clarke quickly picked up on.

"Octavia, I've spent my whole life watching my mother heal people. If I say there's hope, there's hope." Clarke reassured her making the frown disappear.

"This isn't about hope, it's about guts. You don't have the guts to make the hard choices. I do. He's been like this for 3 days. If he's not better by tomorrow, I'll kill him myself. Octavia let's go." Bellamy stated as he turned and walked back over to the ladder.

"I'm staying here," Octavia said defiantly as she stayed seated next to the injured boy.

"Power-hungry, self-serving jackass," Stiles said looking over as Bellamy disappears down the ladder earning nods from Abyss who was sitting on a nearby seat.

"He doesn't care about anyone but himself... No offense." Monty followed on.

"Yeah, Bellamy is all that. But he also happens to be right." Finn added.

Each person left the room at their own time and went about their day. Later saw Clarke and Finn talking and decided to wander over.

"Whatever this stuff is, it has to have antibiotic properties," Clarke says holding the plant up for Finn to see.

"Let me take a look," Stiles added making his presence known. "And before you refuse my help, remember who cured the poison in Octavia's leg with flowers."

"The Grounders used it as a poultice. But a tea might be even more effective. If we can figure out what it is." Clarke said as Stiles inspected the plant in his hands. "I know what it is. Seaweed. Look, no root structure." Stiles stated having learned much about plant life thanks to Abyss.

"There must be a water source nearby."

"It'd have to have a slow current. Lots of rocks. The water would probably be more red than green." Stiles starts listing, remembering Abyss' teachings.

"I know just the place." Finn chimes in.

"Perfect," Stiles exclaims tossing the plant back to Clarke.

"Alright let's go," Clarke says, standing up.

"You two go ahead, I'll stay and watch over Jasper. Besides you don't need me there."

"Except for the fact that we don't know what this stuff looks like."

"I do" Wells added walking out from behind a tree. They reluctantly agreed to take him along and swiftly left the camp.

Stiles decided that he would go out hunting, find something to kill, and skin. The fur could be used to make clothes. While out on the hunt Stiles could sense the presence of Talia above him, he smirked but didn't point anything out and just continued his search. After a short while, Stiles heard a foghorn blowing in the distance and began to hear the movement of the Grounders in the trees.

"Acid fog, osir need kom ge out gon hir." He heard one of them say. Fearing the worst Stiles began searching around hoping to find a cave, luckily, he did and was just about to go in when he heard a branch snap followed by a small scream and a thud. Stiles knew it was a grounder and by the sound of the scream, it was probably Talia. 'Shit' Stiles said to himself before rushing back out into the forest.

"Ouch," Talia mumbled as she came to and felt a pulling sensation on her back. The longer she remained awake the more agonizing her back felt until she started trashing about on the furs, she was lying in.

"Be still." Stiles hissed at the girl. "I need to peel the bad skin off or you'll die."

"What?" Talia asked, attempting to turn around only to have her face gently pushed down onto the furs.

"Stay still," Stiles grumbled once more, before giving her a tired sigh as it only made Talia attempt to turn all that harder. "The fog got you, if I don't peel off the skin where it touched you, you'll die."

"Wow. I guess my judgment of you was wrong, I didn't think you would come back to save me." Talia smiled through the pain but made no move to turn around.

"We met four days ago, Trikova." Stiles grinned, going back to peel her skin with a shake of her head. Talia, for her part, did her best not to cry out, but she was only mildly successful and by the time the older boy had managed to peel off her burned skin and apply a soothing salve she had a pool of tears branded into the furs where her face used to rest.

"We're done."

"Thank you," Talia whispered roughly, her voice almost breaking at the pain she was still feeling spreading across her back and left hand.

"Here." Stiles offered, helping her into a sitting position before passing her a cup.

"Drink it."

"What is it?" Talia asked, taking the offered cup, and taking a sniff, the offending smell making her want to vomit.

"A tea meant to numb your body and calm your mind," Stiles said while taking a drink out of his own cup.

"And what about yours?" Talia smiled sheepishly.

"Water. Now drink. After a few minutes, you shouldn't feel any pain and after a few hours most of the burns should be healed." Stiles stated looking at her. When he noticed her hesitance, he started again. "It isn't poison. If I wanted you dead, I'd have left you in the fog."

Talia just took a deep breath to gather her courage and sipped the drink. It tasted as foul as it smelled, but from the look on Stiles' face she was supposed to finish it, so she braced herself and gulped down the rest of the drink.