Arrow | Bellamy Blake | disc.

Chapter Four

   SHE pushed a large branch out of her face and walked further into the woods, glancing down at the fresh foot prints stuck in the mud. She followed the steps on the moss not too far away, careful not to wreck them so she could follow the human tracks.

  She thought about what Octavia said back at the wreckage site. The grounders took Jasper. No, no grounder took Jasper. There must of been someone else, like someone who had been kicked out of trikru. It must've been someone like that, or maybe reapers, it make sense in some ways.

  But what would they want with Jasper? What would they want with the stick boy with ski goggles placed on his messy hair? She sighed, but stopped as she heard talking in the distance. She could see him, Bellamy, Octavia's brother. He was standing beside the black person that was with the blondie before, and beside him was the guy who picked a fight with him.

  Arden raised her eyebrows. She nestled behind a rock, seeing as the three watched something in the near distance. She followed their gaze but there was too much foliage blocking her vision. She closed her eyes and listened, tuning out the three men's blabbering conversation. She heard the sound of water rushing and splashing, someone was giggling.

  Arden licked her lips, looking around her. She wanted to slap herself for being so stupid, she had been on this trail the other day. There was nothing different about it at all, no fallen trees or broken branches, just the same green ferns and white lilies scattered here and there.

  She picked up one of the flowers that was rooted beside her feet, she smiled at the pretty thing. Through the harsh winters, and the radiation war, it begun it's life; not dying but bending at the slightest drop of water. The grounder plucked the beautiful flower from the earth and twirled it between her finger tips. She had recognized it as something her archer brothers would use to poison their arrows before war. Three seconds to poison to kill.

  She let it fall to the ground as she heard movement. The group was walking forward, continuing on their mission. Arden got up, not noticing that she stepped on the flower, crushing it between the large boots.

  As she walked away after them the flower slowly crumbled back straight, to the way it used to be.  It laid there in the wet soil, the white petals glowing unusually bright and green sprouts connecting it back to the earth so it could live again.

  The strongest thing could break easily, it could let things weigh down on its shoulders, yet will always have something to ground it; to keep it steady and to continue through rough days of more heavy lifting and breaking of bones. The flower was strong, yet beautiful. That was a dangerous combination; especially for something that doesn't die that easily.

  Arden cautiously looked around her before heading into the clearing. Before her was a pool of cold, clear water, created by a near by tiny waterfall. The constant sound of rushing water made her feel peaceful, she took a deep breath before she opened her eyes to see red stained on a large boulder across the pond. Her teeth were set tightly as she scanned the area once again.

  She was here yesterday, taking a bath. It was when she first met Bellamy, when he had a real good look at her. It was awkward, her naked, him at a high advantage no matter how much she tried to cover in the clear water. Her heart rate excelerated just thinking about it. 

  She furrowed her eyebrow and marched through the water, not noticing how it soak through the leather skin and her wool socks. She knelt beside the blood, touching the metallic red liquid between her pointer and thumb. She rubbed them together gently, the blood was fresh.

  Where ever Jasper was, he wasn't far. And that was with the people who took him too. Her gaze caught on a large bloody handprint set onto the boulder, it slowly dripped into the small pond. Arden gulped slowly, wiping her hands the stolen pants.