Her Loyalties

Chapter Four

Clarkes POV

"Hey Clarke. Wake up." I groaned and rolled over, lifting my arm off my eyes. Wells stopped shaking my shoulder and leaned back as I sat up. I looked around to see Monty waking Jasper and Finn with Octavia - talking quietly.

"I'm up." I got to my feet and blinked the sleep out of my eyes. Finn smiled at me when he saw I was awake.

"We need to get going." He said, coming over with Octavia right behind him. "We have to find a source of water, and food if we can." I felt my stomach rumble as if in answer to his words and I nodded.

"What way are we going?" Jasper said, coming up behind us.

"We think the best way to go would be uphill." Said Octavia. "So we can get a good view of the land and try and see some rivers or lakes."

"Good idea." Wells turned to me. "Are you okay now?"

"Of course not. But let's go."

Octavia pursed her lips at me but didn't say anything. I suspected she didn't like me much but I had no idea why.

"Hey, is your last name Blake?" I asked her, having an old memory float to the front of my brain. Octavia stuck out her chin defiantly.

"Yeah, so what?"

"I've heard about you." I was remembering more now. "You hid from the Ark for sixteen years."

"I did, so?"

"Sorry, I just remember people talking about how it was the longest a second child was ever hid." I remember also being impressed, hiding a child was no small task.

Octavia nodded and turned away. It looked like she didn't like talking about it. However, the tension between us had relaxed and now I felt more comfortable around her.

"Okay, should we go this way?" Monty asked after a moment. "It looks like it might head uphill." Since no one had any objections, we started walking that way. We went a lot slower than yesterday - all of us hungry and dehydrated.

No one was up to holding a conversation so we walked in silence for around an hour. Jasper - who was leading the group - suddenly yelled in excitement and pointed. We hurried to catch up and laughed in delight when we saw the wide river.

Suddenly energized, we ran down the hill towards the river. We stopped just before we ran straight into the water to survey the area. There was a flat bank on the other side of the river covered in pebbles before it blended into the woods again. I heard someone let out a loud breath and I turned around.

All the boys were staring at Octavia. She had taken off most of her clothes and was standing on a rock in just her underwear and a thin-looking singlet. My eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder and winked at us. Taking a step forward, she flung herself off the edge of the rock into the river. She disappeared under the water.

We all ran forward to see where she had gone. Her head popped up a few metres from where she jumped into the pool, the water covering everything from her mouth downwards.

"Octavia!" Jasper called, sounding slightly panicked. "We don't know how to swim!" He was right, none of us knew how to swim. There was no bodies of water on the Ark.

Octavia grinned and lifted her mouth above the water.

"We can't swim, but we can stand." She called back, standing up. The water only came up to her shoulders. Now that they knew it was shallow enough, Jasper and Monty began stripping off their jackets to get into the river. I rolled my eyes as Finn followed their example.

Jasper and Monty both jumped at the same time, landing one either side of Octavia, soaking her. She laughed and splashed them both. They started their own mini water fight as we watched on.

"Come on princess." Finn said. "Jump in."

"No thanks." I turned. "I'm not a water person."

"How would you know." He pointed out. "There's no rivers in space."

I had no response to this. He had me and he knew it.

"I still don't want to." I eventually said.

"Yeah, same." Said Wells from behind me. "I'm going to stay on dry land."

"Suit yourselves." Finn took off his shirt and tossed it on top of Jasper and Monty's shirts. Taking a running jump, he leapt off the rock and hit the water with a splash. 

Since it was so hot without the cover of trees, I took off my jacket and my boots to try and keep cool. Wells retreated a few metres and sat on a large rock, absentmindedly shredding leaves between his fingers. He smiled at me when he saw me watching him and I permitted myself one small smile back. Wells suddenly straightened and his hand lifted in warning.

Something wrapped around my waist and I jerked back. I wasn't strong enough to rip free, and then I tumbled into the river. I emerged, gasping from underwater to see Finn standing next to me.

"You pulled me in you..." I couldn't finish.

"What can I say princess?" Finn winked at me. "Let's say I was testing your reflexes."

"Sure you were spacewalker." Finn grinned at the new nickname. "And let's say I was just testing yours..." I swiped my hand around and swept a wave of water into his face. He spluttered and I laughed as he stumbled backwards.

"Oh you are so dead, PRINCESS." He teased, splashing me back.

"Water fight!" Jasper yelled, jumping in between us and soaking us both with a huge wave. Monty and Octavia joined in as we ran back and forth in the water, splashing and shrieking as we were hit by the cold water.

I squinted up at the rock and saw Wells standing on the rock ledge watching us.

"Hey Jaha, get your butt in here!" I called. He looked at me skeptically but obediently slid into the river. I laughed as he shivered at the cold before walking slowly towards me.

"What do you know." Finn called. "The Chancellor of Earth knows how to have a bit of fun after all!"

"I'm not the Chancellor of Earth." Wells mumbled so that only I could hear him.

"That's what they might think you know." I said. "Since your dad is Chancellor of the Ark."

Wells nodded grimly but didn't say anything else. A sharp snap from the forest distracted me and I turned to see who it was.

There was no one there.

Confused, I looked towards the others to see them all still in the river. They all looked as bewildered as I felt. There was another sudden noise from the forest, almost like someone had sworn.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively, approaching the opposite bank. "Is anyone there?"

There was a clatter of pebbles in the shadows and then I saw the shadow of a person. They slowly approached me, stopping just where the sun could let me see them.

"Skai girl." The woman said scathingly.