Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
When Amethyst had finally come to the cost of the water she found rocks covered in blood and a note carved into one from a knife. An arrow was discarded on the ground, covered in fresh blood. Amethyst picked up the arrow and brought it up to her nose smelling a faint scent of poison. "Poor girl," Amethyst sighed to herself before looking down to the note carved into one of the many rocks on the shore.
'Ai don gone kom kof gon ai crimes.' Amethyst rolled her eyes knowing exactly what Lincoln meant as he wrote this. He was going to pay his way to get Octavia better. He would never be able to get into the village without being caught, and even if he did; he would never get out alive. Amethyst has been running for hours now, the sun was setting. She needed to get to her village before Lincoln did something he would regret forever. So she set off in the direction of her home, so she could help them both and move on from this war.
By the time she had reached the outskirts of her home village she found Octavia in a heap on the ground. "Octavia," Amethyst said softly bending down to brush some hair out of the girls face. The girl's eyes slowly fluttered open and she looked up to be met with a pair of brown eyes. "Amethyst... the reapers... Lincoln," Octavia managed to get out in her dazed state. Amethyst cursed to herself and picked up Octavia slinging the teenagers arm around her shoulder, and half carrying her away from the village.
"No, we have to go after him," Octavia said, struggling to sit up as soon as Amethyst laid her down. "No, you need rest strik cub," Amethyst said sitting beside the girl and letting Octavia rest her head in her lap. Amethyst looked up to the stars as Octavia slept and sighed. Lincoln was suffering for something he didn't even do. He followed after Amethyst who had shown an interest in the sky people, but he was the one to take the fall and get banished. Lincoln had told her repeatedly that it wasn't her fault that he was banished but she knew the truth.
He never would have been punished if she had told him to stay at the village the night she left for her mission two months ago, and he would be safe right now, and so would Octavia. "You're almost foolish Octavia of the sky people, following after those you know nothing about," Amethyst whispered, running her fingers through the girls long dark locks. "You inspired me to do something just as foolish," she added, leaning her head back against the tree trunk she was propped up against and waiting for the sun to rise.
Amethyst stayed up the entire night letting Octavia sleep off her injuries and letting her recover from the poison. A few times during the night the girl would snore, which made Amethyst smile to herself. Octavia reminded the women of the young children in her village, they were all so carefree and would run around playing games. Octavia had the same innocence as they did, and it brought some form of joy to Amethyst to see this once again.
When dawn broke Amethyst shook Octavia awake, to which the girl replied with a grumble. "Wake up strik cub, we need to get something to eat. You have to regain your strength before I go back to the village," Amethyst said shaking Octavia once again. The girl sat up and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands, an action which made the girl smile. "Come on, let's go find some berries," Amethyst encouraged, standing up for the first time in several hours. Her legs felt fuzzy after having Octavia sleep on them all night but she masked the uncomfortable pain and walked into the forest hearing heavy footsteps behind her.
"If you plan to go after Indra today, I suggest picking up your feet," Amethyst called to the girl behind her. After this, she heard a slightly change in the girls steps which made her smile to herself. "Better," she commented which made Octavia grin. Amethyst wasn't one for praise, she didn't see what the point was if it would just go to their head in the end, but every now and then a small reminder was good for a student to hear. They finally came to a patch of pushes littered with blueberries, Amethyst gestured to them allowing Octavia to eat.
"Not everything on earth is edible, I'm sure you and your people have found that out, so make sure you remember what you can eat. It may save your life one day," Amethyst said picking a few berries off the bush and shoving them in her mouth letting the bitter sweet flavour dance across her taste buds. "I use to take Lincoln here," Amethyst said with a distance smile on her face.
"You're older than him?" Octavia asked with a mouthful of blueberries. "Three years," she told the curious girl. "We don't keep track of age after you hit your 18th year, it gets too hard," Amethyst explained. "But after Lincoln's mother died, my family took him in and he became like my little brother," she told Octavia, a far off look on her face as she remembered the time spent helping to raise the boy.
"And his father?" Octavia asked swallowing a mouthful. "He is an elder of our clan, he's often gone on peace meetings and spending his time in Ton DC with the Commanders," the women explained. "So how old is Lincoln exactly?" Octavia asked shyly, Amethyst laughed at the girls red cheeks knowing full well what was going on between the two. "Twenty," she told the teenager.
"I've kept track of his years ever since his 18th when he was sent on his first hunting trip alone for three months," she could hear Octavia gasp at the story. "In our world Octavia of the sky people, when you reach the age of 18 you become a man, or a women, and you are sent out into the world with one weapon and the clothes on your back. You are to survive on your own with no help from anyone else, and come back on your own on the first moon of the third month. Then you get the marking of your soul spirit and you are deemed a valuable to the clan," Amethyst could remember the day she got back from her soul search. She was dirty, bloody and wanted to see her parents after months apart.
"When we turn 18 and your in the skybox, you get floated," Octavia said bitterly. "That's when your people come down from the sky," Amethyst said grabbing a handful of berries and putting them in a small cloth and then stashing them away in her small bag of supplies. "Let me look at your wound," Amethyst said changing the subject and gesturing to the wound on Octavia's leg.
Octavia sat herself down once again and moved her pant leg out of the way so the women could see the wound. "Who sealed this?" She asked looking at the irritated burn wound sealing the injury. "Lincoln did, and Nico gave me some sort of antidote," Octavia told her making her nod her head. "He must have been rushed, it looks sloppy," Amethyst commented before ripping a piece of cloth off her shirt and wetting it with some of the water she had. Tying it around the burn to keep it cool, Octavia felt an instant relief from the irritated wound. "Why are you so different from the others?" Octavia asked suddenly.
Amethyst smiled and helped Octavia to stand up. "I don't know, I guess it's because I think not everyone deserves to die for crimes they didn't know they were committing," she said making Octavia nod and smile softly.
TRANSLATIONS Ai don gone kom kof gon ai crimes- I have gone to pay for my crimes strik cub - little cub
