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chapter four, Echo

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NOVA TRAVELED THROUGH THE WOODS and made her way to Arkadia camp and hid in the trees watching but she didn't find anyone she was looking for. She only saw Raven and Raven was the last person she wanted to see right now. Not after what happened a while ago.

After not finding who she wanted, she started traveling to mount weather which took overnight on foot and arrived during the day.

Nova watches mount weather from a distance and sees a truck stop in front. Nova watches Bellamy and a girl chatting along with Raven until they soon went inside. Nova put her crossbow on her back and takes a deep breath and feels like she should walk in so she turns around but stops in her tracks and turns back around facing the mountain.

She starts walking towards mount weather and when she gets to the door Octavia walks out but quickly stops in her tracks once she sees Nova standing before her.

Nova and Octavia stare at each other for a moment. No talking, just silence. Nova tugs a small smile with a slight shrug as she looks to Octavia.

"Hey..." Nova mumbles as Octavia continues to stare at Nova. Octavia slowly walks towards Nova and lunges at her wrapping her arms around in a tight hug. Nova steps back a little but quickly catches herself and wraps her arms around Octavia.

"Nova... I've missed you" Octavia whispers as she continues to hug Nova. "I didn't believe them when they said they saw you" Octavia states slowly pulling away from the hug.

"Why are you back?" Octavia asks and Nova clears her throat. "I wanted to help with Clarke. I want to get her back... for you guys. I stayed and scouted Arkadia but none of you were there except Raven until she left, and I followed her here. I just want to help" Nova breathes out and Octavia smiles.

"Come in. Please" Octavia says leading the way and Nova nods her head slowly and begins following Octavia back into mount weather where she watched Clarke kill over 300 people.

Nova follows Octavia into the dining hall where she sees Bellamy and Pike shaking hands. She remembers Pike from a couple days ago when he showed up to her cabin with Bellamy and Kane.

Nova looks around and sees about 30 people sitting down at the table. She even spots Raven standing in the distance, but she quickly looks away from her.

"There's a-lot of people in here" Nova says grabbing Bellamy's attention and his smile drops into a confused one. "Nova? What are you doing here?" Bellamy asks and Nova clears her throat.

"I want to help- um find Clarke. If you still wanted to. I just couldn't stay away. After seeing you, it reminded me of the good things I left behind. I just want to help" Nova finishes and Bellamy nods his head.

"We'll figure something out" Bellamy says as he looks over at Octavia who is shocked at the people surrounding the dining hall.

"The Grounders are going to think we moved in" Octavia says pointing to the random people. "Is that bad?" Nova asks.

"Yes, the grounders want us dead. We're almost cross enemy lines" Octavia argues and Bellamy sighs.

"O..". "No, I'm out of here. I'm happy to see you Nova" Octavia says putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder before walking away. Bellamy goes after her but Nova stops him and he turns around pushing his hair back.

"She's so-". "Let me talk to her. I know it's been 3 months but-- she's my best friend. Give me like 10 minutes" Nova states and Bellamy nods his head slowly walking past Nova and back to Pike.

Nova pushed through the door, her heart pounding as she made her way into the hallway. Just as she reached the corridor, she was slammed against the wall, Raven's face a mask of fury.

"Think you can just waltz in here and play nice?" Raven's voice was a harsh whisper, her hands gripping Nova's shoulders with a vice-like grip. "You're not fooling me. You're sick. A murderer."

Raven shoved Nova hard against the wall again, and Nova gasped, her breath coming in ragged bursts. With a swift move, she kneed Raven in the stomach, forcing a grunt of pain from her attacker.

"There's no act, Raven. I came back to help!" Nova's voice was intense, her eyes burning with a mix of anger and desperation. She grabbed Raven by the collar, pulling her face-to-face. "You think you can just lash out at me because of what happened?"

Raven's eyes blazed with hatred. "You might lose it again and hurt someone else!" she screamed, her fist connecting with Nova's face. The impact made Nova's head snap to the side, but she quickly regained her footing.

"I'm here to talk to my friend, not fight you!" Nova shouted through clenched teeth. With a surge of frustration, she landed a solid punch across Raven's face, sending her crashing to the floor. Raven winced but pushed herself up, her movements slow and painful with the knee brace she wore.

"Whatever. You killed the person I loved most. I owed him my life," Raven said, her voice breaking as she struggled to stand, her face twisted in anguish.

"I am sorry, Raven," Nova said, her voice trembling with sincerity. But Raven's eyes, filled with hurt and anger, bore into hers, and she shook her head.

"You're not. Not really," Raven whispered, a single tear streaking down her cheek. With a final look of sorrow and defiance, she walked past Nova, her steps heavy with grief.

Nova wiped the blood from her split lip, her heart aching from the confrontation. She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, and pushed through the pain as she stepped outside. The cold air hit her face as she saw Octavia sitting atop Mount Weather's main door, her posture a mix of defiance and exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" Nova asks grabbing Octavia's attention as she looks straight ahead. "A lot has happened Nova. This is such a mistake. The Grounders will never accept it" Octavia states and Nova clears her throat as she slowly sits down next to her.

"What about Lincoln? I heard he was staying with Skaikru, can't he help? Figure something out?" Nova asks and Octavia scoffs. "Lincoln has a kill order on him. He can't even leave camp without risking his life" Octavia answers and Nova nods her head slowly shocked making silence fill the air between them.

"I understand, you know? Why you left. You didn't think you fit in here" Octavia says and Nova nods her head slowly. "That about sums it up."

"I need to get away because... I don't fit in here" Octavia says shaking her head letting out a sigh.

"If you need to leave, I get that, trust me, I fully understand but you'll always fit in with Bellamy and me" Nova says earning a smile from Octavia as she nudges her arm.

2 men bringing a Grounder come into view making Octavia and Nova stand to their feet.

"Bell! Bellamy!" Octavia shouts loud enough to make Bellamy rush outside to see what's going on. Bellamy noticed the men bringing in the grounder and they all jump off the main door and land in the grass.

Nova pulls out her sword and Bellamy puts his hands up. "I know her. It's fine" Bellamy says and Nova slowly puts her sword away as Bellamy approaches the girl grounder.

"Echo?" Bellamy questions as Octavia has a confused look on her face.

"She's Ice Nation. She was in the cage next to mine" Bellamy answers and Octavia nods her head slowly. "Bellamy!" The girl Echo shouts as she is being held by 2 men.

"Let her go" Bellamy orders and the 2 men shake their heads. "She threatened the summit" One of the men say and Bellamy sighs.

"I was trying to help" Echo pleads and Nova sighs "Okay, leave her alone" Nova says taking a step forward. "You don't have any power here" One of the men say taking a step back making Echo step back with them.

"Yeah, I said get your hands off her" Bellamy demands and the guard let go of Echo's arms and Octavia quickly removes the cuffs from Echo.

"What are you doing? She's a Grounder."

"The summit's a trap. The assassin is already there. By sundown, your people will die" Echo states and Nova listens in trying to learn as much as possible so she can help.

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BELLAMY TOOK ECHO INSIDE and Pike took her in a private room to chat, but he started to interrogate her with Bellamy, Raven, Gina, Sinclair and Nova in the room.

"I was with the queen's army heading toward Polis. The war chief talks too loud" Echo states as she sits down in a chair. Nova watches with her arms crossed in front of her.

"You're one of them, so why are you telling us this?" Pike questions resting his hands on his knees.

"We abandoned Skaikru in the battle for the Mountain. It was wrong" Echo states as she breathes heavily looking at Pike.

"And won't they miss you?". "Maybe. That's why we need to hurry" Echo states.

"Pike, she saved my life. We can trust her. Listen up. If we want to get to Polis before the attack, we have to move" Bellamy says stepping forward.

"Attack? Do we have confirmation of that? We radioed, but no answer" Sinclair speaks up and Nova takes in every word. Polis, Attack, No answer from radio, Danger.

"They may already be dead, for all we know, and if they are, we need to be ready to respond" Pike argues. "Don't make this about the missiles" Sinclair demands and Pike scoffs.

"This is about survival. We don't have the numbers, but the missiles in this mountain even the playing field, and you know I'm right" Pike says tapping a finger on Sinclair's chest.

"Even if I did agree with you, we still don't have the launch codes" Sinclair declares. "No, but we have me" Raven speaks up and everyone looks at her and Sinclair nods his head slowly.

"Let's go" Pike demands as he drags Echo out of her seat. Everyone follows Pike out of the room. Bellamy soon after and Echo explains the plan on how we can save Skaikru.