kalopsia, the 100

021 dakota kom skaikru

"Tondc..." Dakota spoke aloud, tilting her head as she perused it intently; repeating the letters under her breath with a few different pronunciations. She glanced at the charcoal drawing, various huts and shelters littering the shaded in area representing the ground.

"Must be some kind of living space." she observed quietly, her focused gaze never straying from the page.

When her stare moved past the little hovels and shacks, she found a tiny sketch of a sign entering what appeared to be a village. Half of it was illegible, burned and destroyed, the other half presented the same words that the currently captive grounder had titled the photo as; Tondc. Only on the small plaque, it was displayed as ton DC.

Dakota's eyes widened, her lips slowly parting as astonishment rolled over her body like a rushing wave along with a mind-blowing realization. She could still be wrong, but was almost certain she had decoded at least one portion of this enigma. The girl let out an amazed laugh, slapping her hand over her mouth as Fox's head snapped over to her; surveying the sudden shift in her demeanor.

"What?! Did you figure it out?" she asked eagerly, an upswing of hope in her voice.

Dakota opened her mouth to respond, eyes twinkling with a sudden brightness, but couldn't before a clamor upstairs stole everyone's attention; confused murmurs commencing instantly about the room like wildfire. The lights abruptly began to flicker, but that's not what made Dakota's heart drop into the pit of her stomach; it was the screaming that did that. Grunts and groans of suffering mingling with the sound of Raven's desperate cries and shouts. It had been relatively silent from the third floor until now, the locked hatch having successfully obstructed any noise through its stout metal; but the din of whatever horrors were taking place now were stronger than the drop ship itself.

"Which one is it?! Come on!"

"Are the lights from the storm?" Fox queried as Dakota hurried to her feet, forced to stand still for a moment as a swell of dizziness from her injury took charge; soon moving on and advancing over to the ladder across the room.

"I don't think so." she breathed in return, leaving Fox with the notebook as she climbed up rung by rung.

"It's Dakota! Let me in!" she exclaimed in a panicky voice, hitting her palm repeatedly against the closed off entrance; another anguished sob from Raven ringing out.

"He's all I have!"

"Octavia! Bellamy! Cl-" Dakota's calls were automatically silenced when the heavy trap door swung open, revealing Octavia's face at the top; her dirt-ridden features soiled with fresh tears.

Her friend's utterly terrified expression was enough to make the Thompson girl's already thudding heart beat faster as she scurried the rest of the way up, the screams amplifying as she did. But still, no matter what she already knew was taking place, nothing could prepare her for what she saw when she reached the top. She froze, confined to her spot on the floor as if someone had injected a paralytic into her; constricting every inch of her body from being able to move.

The prisoner's arms were spread unwillingly out to the side, his wrists bound with rope that attached to the ceiling. He was shirtless with long, red streaks across his bare torso; indicating that he'd been whipped. A large, rusty nail had been driven through- through- his trembling hand; blood dripping slowly from his arm as if it had been some sort of failed crucifixion. His face was bloodied and bruised, one eye partially swollen shut; greatly puffy and purpled. And now- as if that wasn't enough- Raven was shoving the frazzled ends of live wires into his chest unsparingly; electrocuting him and causing the lights to spasm uncontrollably. He panted erratically through gritted teeth. But somehow, the absolute worst part of any of this was the fear and panic in his wide eyes; darting frantically from person to person as if silently begging for someone to save him. But no one was.