Chapter Text
Chapter 1
The bushes rustled only to stop immediately after. I freeze, one hand on the rough bark of a dark trunk. The bush rustles again, a shuffling noise sounding before it again stops. The ground here slopes down towards a thin stream of trickling water over small slick stones. I've come this way before to enjoy the pale pink flowers growing thick along the path. The bushes and shrubs grow heavy in some spots while others have more open ground. The path I follow, some meandering animal trail, is a mostly level path.
What could it be? It must be an animal of some kind. There are animals here. We've seen them at a distance, some two headed deer or fat black-furred hogs. We've seen birds move across the sky in hypnotic synchronicity. But rarely have any animals been so very close to one of us.
I lower myself to a crouch, edging closer. With careful movements, I shift closer to the bush, stilling as it rustled again. I creep closer, stretching out one arm to shift aside the branches. A flash of white movement has me dropping back onto my butt with a startled shout.
White fur! What animal has white fur?
The bush rustles desperately but the animal doesn't appear. Maybe it's stuck? Surely it would've ran off or attacked by now if it had wanted.
A bit braver now, I crawl over to the bush, moving the branches back carefully. I still jump when the animal wriggles about, struggling to escape. The animal is as large as a child with long white fur, tall twitching ears, and wide red eyes. A rabbit! I've read about them but I've never... Its beautiful! I reach out to stroke gently at its fur but the poor thing starts struggling again. It must have caught its leg somewhere.
I coo softly to it, hoping to sooth it some. My fingers sink into the thick fur and I gasp in awe of the softness. I'm glad Bellamy isn't here now. No doubt he would tease me for cooing babishly over some animal but the poor thing, so soft and frightened. I can't leave it like this!
It only startles a few more times as I run my hands over it. It's head, neck, and back are alright. It is softer than anything I've ever felt but nothing is tying it down there. My fingers trail down one back leg then the other before I feel the prickly twine that has caught it. It's looped and tied, a noose like thing made of the trailing vines that grow everywhere here. That tells me that this was a trap and it certainly wasn't anyone from our camp. One of the Grounders must've set it. But did they set it for an animal, or for us?
I tug at the knot until it loosens enough for the animal to buck out and run, racing away through the brush and shrubs until it's lost amongst the forest. I pull at the vine, following it with my fingers only to jump when something soft brushes against me.
Another rabbit? A smaller one! A baby rabbit, small and soft and pale grey. Another nosing about the ground with patchy grey and white fur. Both are small enough to fit it the palm of my hand.
I don't know how long I sit there cooing at them. I know I don't make it to the stream. I search all around the bushes and trees, trailing my fingers over worms and hard beetles but there are no more rabbits hidding.
The two tiny rabbits are calm and sweet. Both curiously nosing around, long ears flopping as if they can't quite hold up the weight just yet. They're not newly born but knowing so little of animals I couldn't tell how old they are. I know they must be young considering how small they are compared to how large their mother was.
I hope she will be alright. I debate leaving them in the hope that she will return for them but I can't bring myself to do it. What if another animal finds them? What if something eats them or the mother? No, they will be safer with me. They're my babies now.
Sneaking them back into camp is easy. It's already nightfall by the time I pass the mock-wall. They're both small enough to slip into the pockets of my jacket so no one sees them. Neither makes much noise and thanks to Bell, no one bothers to question what I do or where I go.
I slip back into the dropship and hurry to where Jasper is still resting. It's darker here, with only the faint glow of artificial light blinking from near the ladder. Clarke is asleep on a blanket near the wall, her back to us, while Monty is curled on the floor beside Jasper's cot.
Jasper hasn't left the dropship since the attack. I get it, I do. That kind of fear doesn't just go away. He was nearly killed! His fear is completely justified! But I know he can move past it. I know he is stronger! He just needs to remember that there are more than scary grounders outside.
I press one hand to his shoulder and whisper his name. His brow wrinkles as sleepy eyes blink up at me. His dry lips part with a soft questioning, "O?"
"Can you keep a secret, Jasper?"
He nods back, his bruised eyes wide awake now. With a wicked grin I pull one of the soft bundles from my pocket and plop it gently on his chest. His hands immediately come up to catch it only to freeze, no doubt marveling at the softness just as I did.
"What is it?" He asks softly, fingers oh so carefully petting the small creature.
"A rabbit," I answer just as quietly, pulling the other from my pocket to cuddle under my chin. "A baby one. I found them outside. There was a mother but she startled and ran. I wasn't sure if she would come back for them so I kept them. I couldn't just leave them there."
His smile is a fragile thing but there is a sparkle in his eyes and for once since that horrible day, he seems just a little bit lighter.
He falls back asleep with a smile on his lips and his brow relaxed. I pull the baby rabbit down, tucking it next to its sibling in a bundle of my jacket.