Seated on the high balcony with your two older brothers, you sighed. The three of you were wrapped in thick fur, keeping yourself warm in the cold mountain air as snow blew in the wind and made its way through the mountains. Ivar winced as Roan tied his legs together once more, the cripple's legs aching as he tried and failed to hide his pain.
Ivar was born with a disability. His legs, deformed and fragile like a piece of shattered glass. Too much weight or move them the wrong way, and they break. Due to this, you and your oldest brother Roan were forced to take care of him. Neither of you minded the huge chore, not unless Ivar was being frustrating as he usually was.
Roan was the eldest and therefore was the heir to the throne of the Ice Nation, or more commonly known as Azgeda. He was very protective over both you and Ivar, even if he knew your skills and abilities were unmatched by other warriors. Roan was more calm compared to the two of you. He may be extremely skilled in combat but whenever he wasn't fighting, he remained silent. He would watch over things in the palace, making sure nothing was wrong. He believed it to be his duty.
Then there was you. The youngest. Between yourself and your brothers, you were the most loyal and the most dangerous. During war, you would shout orders or lead the first battalion. Like Ivar, you were rather short-tempered and stubborn. But you were also intelligent and cunning. You had once been filled with wonder and curiosity, until your mother managed to beat it out of you and threw you into training with your brothers.
"Try to be a little gentle, idiot." Ivar said, his accent heavy with annoyance. The second son sighed, leaning back in his seat as he winced.
"Oh, shut up." Roan growled, shaking his head. His own accent, due to years of being a spy, had faded over the years.
"Both of you shut up, dear brothers." You snarled as you reached for your glass of ale. Like Ivar, your own accent was strong and thick.
Roan rolled his eyes but hesitantly did as told while Ivar chuckled. "Don't forget, baby sister, that we are in charge of you."
It was your turn to roll your eyes as Ivar sipped his own ale. "Don't make me kick you, Boneless." You hissed.
Ivar the Boneless was the name he was given, due to his deformed legs. He didn't mind the name for it was what your father had called him as a child. He embraced it with his usual grin.
"Shut up, Heartless." Ivar snickered, referring to the nickname your father had given you. Not many children could kill an animal with a blank face, as you had. Often, your father referred to you as a Heartless child. And now, it had developed into a name that the entire Coalition addressed you as.
Suddenly, amidst your laughter and joking, a boom came from the heavens. It made the three of you jump, having never heard a sound like that before. You stood, furs dropping back into your chair as Roan and Ivar joined you in staring at the ship that was falling from the sky.
Whatever it was soon faded out of sight as it flew over the mountains, directed towards the territories of Trikru, far from the Mountains of the Ice Nation. It soon landed with a crash loud enough that it echoed over the surrounding areas until it reached the palace. Soon enough, you could make out smoke as it rose in the distance.
You turned to glance at your older brothers, watching as Roan looked down, deep in thought. Suddenly, the eldest Prince turned and marched past the table, making his way inside. You rushed to grab your fur cloak, holding Ivar's chair steady so he could climb out and make his way inside after the man.
-
Riding your horses at full speed, you and Ivar arrived in Trikru territory within the hour. Roan had to stay behind and finish his duties in Azgeda, so he sent the two of you ahead. You and your brother managed to avoid the Trikru scouts, thankfully. Trikru couldn't find out that you were on their territory or else another war would start between the two clans. The Ice Nation and the Tree People had never played well together.
Coming to a stop just behind the tree line of their ship, you saw celebrating children. They couldn't be any older then 17 or 18. Some were still at least 12. Sharing a glance with Ivar, you both remained silent as you watched closely.
After observing them for a long moment, the voice of a young woman caught your attention. "Sounds like a party. Make it five."
You glanced near the ship, tilting your head at the sight of a pair making their way to where four others stood. The girl that had spoken clapped her hands, wearing a smile when a tall man with dark, clicked back hair approached her. "Hey, what the hell are you doing?"
"Going for a walk." The girl replied, yanking her arm from his grip.
"Hey!" The other girl said. unlike the first, her hair was bright and her expression was serious. She stepped forward, grabbing one of the boy's wrists before examining it. "Were you trying to take this off?"
"Yeah." He said. "So?"
"So this wristband transmits our vital signs to the Ark. Take it off and they'll think we're dead."
Your nose scrunched in confusion, turning to face your brother. "What is an 'Ark'?"
Ivar only shrugged, his eyes focused on a large group of boys as they laughed and spoke to one another. Looking back to the group that had caught your eye, you watched as the boy shrugged.
"Should I care?" He asked.
"Well, I don't know, do you want the people you love to think you're dead? Do you want them to follow you down here in two months because they won't if they think we're dying!"
You hissed softly at that. There were more, then? You wondered how many of these people lived in the sky and why they were up there. the whole idea of it was very confusing to you.
"Now let's go."
The girl turned, grabbing her bag from the ground before facing a young man that was sitting nearby. She sighed softly, the group having already departed aside from the pair that had first spoken. "You shouldn't have come here, Wells."
While she soon walked off, the young woman that had caught your attention turned to face the older man. He seemed to be the oldest of them all, having not really blended in with anyone aside from the girl at his side. The man huffed a sigh but nodded, smirking slightly as the girl placed a small kiss to his cheek.
"I'll stay. You follow them, see if they're scouting Trikru's defenses." Ivar said. While business between Azgeda and Trikru was tense after the last war, you had friends in Trikru and you would help to defend the clan. If these children were threats to them, you would gladly join them in the fight.
You nodded and followed your given orders, standing from your crouching position and following after the group of five. You hid behind large trees, remaining out of sight as you kept a distance from the two girls. The darker haired one sighed, catching up to the second girl. "Before you get any ideas, Finn's mine."
"Before you get any ideas, I don't care."
With a final glance back towards Ivar, the man still observing the camp, you followed them deeper into the forest.
-
You remained a fair distance away, but still staying close enough to be able to hear the group of children. While the blonde girl was in the lead, the rest slowly trailed after her. You had learned that she was called Clarke, and the other girl was called Octavia. You rather liked her name, yet you had never heard it among your own people before.
You watched in disgust, rolling your eyes as the boy called Finn picked a flower, sticking it in Octavia's hair.
"Now, that, my friend, is game." You heard one of the unnamed boys whisper to the other. You could tell that they were close friends by the way they walked close to one another, almost like there was a rope that held them together.
"That, my friend, is poison sumac." The second boy corrected his friend.
Sumac? Poison? Those flowers weren't poison at all. And what was sumac? The way they spoke seemed strange, using words you had never even heard before. Your mind raced with millions of thoughts. These people not only landed in Trikru territory but were also much different then your people.
"What? It is?" Octavia asked as she threw the flower to the ground in alarm, brushing her fingers through her hair in an attempt to rid herself from any trace of it.
"The flowers aren't poisonous. They're medicinal. Calming, actually." The boy explained before he placed one in his mouth and began to eat it with a grin.
What a strange boy.
As Octavia and Finn turned to face the boy with raised eyebrows, the first boy with a funny pair of goggles on his head spoke. "Oh, his family grows all the pharmaceuticals on the Ark."
"Hey, guys. Would you try to keep up?" Clarke questioned as she stopped to look at the rest of the group, the thin piece of paper in her hand almost wrinkling with how tight she had gripped it.
"Come on, Clarke. How can you block all this out?" Finn asked, gesturing to the word around them.
"Well, it's simple. I wonder, why haven't we seen any animals. Maybe it's because there are none. Maybe, we've already been exposed to enough radiation to kill us!" The girl exclaimed with wide eyes. "Sure is pretty though. Come on."
"Someone should slip her some poison sumac." Octavia muttered causing the boys to chuckle, the goggle-wearing boy actually snorting in laughter as they continued to follow Clarke. With a tilt of your head, you stepped out from behind one tree and rushed to hide behind another, slowly managing to keep up.
-
"I gotta know what you two did to get busted." Finn said after a half hour of the hike. They were growing closer to an open field, just two shorts hours away from a river.
"Sumac's not the only herb in the garden, if you know what I mean." One boy chuckled. You had learned that his name was Monty, and the other was called Jasper. Again, you had never heard these names before. You rather liked the way they smoothly rolled off the tongue compared to others you had met. They were simple to sound out.
"Someone forgot to replace what we took." Jasper sighed, shaking his head as he walked forward.
"Someone apologized, like a thousand times." Monty said, rolling his eyes.
"How about you, Octavia. What'd they get you for?" Jasper asked, tilting his head in curiosity.
"Being born." Octavia muttered bitterly before rushing to crouch next to Clarke.
Being born was a crime in the Sky? How could that be a crime? Here, with every clan, children are worshiped and cared for until they start training to be whatever they wish, whether it was a warrior, farmer, a blacksmith. It was against the law to do anything harmful toward a child.
"That is so not game." Monty joked.
Jasper hit him, causing Monty to hit him back. This went on for a few seconds while Finn moved to crouch beside the girls. After a second, the two remaining boys followed. They all crouched together and stared at a deer that was grazing in the open field.
The shock on their faces amused you. Had they never seen a creature like this before? It wasn't as if they were rare. Perhaps they had different sorts of animals in the sky.
"No animals, huh?" Finn asked with a smirk as he looked toward Clarke. He slowly began to crawl forward only to step on a beach causing it to snap loudly. When the deer turned its head toward the sound, they saw the second deformed head that you had already been staring at.
The deer soon ran off, and you quickly noticed that it was making its way towards you. Remaining hidden behind the tree, you reached for your sword and drew it from its holster. Now armed, you waited until it was beside you to stab it through the belly, listening to its loud shriek. As the animal dropped to the forest floor, you rushed to turn and face the group.
They were staring at the treeline. If anyone truly focused and scanned the trees, they would've seen you. Instead, they seemed to be far too disturbed by the deformity to notice.
-
"You know what I'd like to know?" Finn asked. "Why send us down today? After 97 years? What changed?"
The group was almost at the river now. While they walked down the steep hill, you chose to take the high ground for yourself. The river was a boundary for a reason and they were growing too close for comfort. You might have to fire at them, lead them away and back to their home.
"Who cares?" Octavia asked. "I'm just glad they did. This morning, I woke up rotting in a cell, now I'm spinning in a forest."
With that, she spun around a tree. You could tell she was trying to get Finn's attention but instead he walked right by her. You hid your snicker of amusement, watching as Octavia's face dropped in disappointment.
"Maybe they found something on a satellite. You know? Like an old weather satellite, or-"
"It wasn't a satellite." Clarke said as she cut Monty off. "The Ark is dying."
The Ark, whatever it was, seemed to be important to these children. Those words made the group freeze in place and look toward the blonde who simply walked past them, continuing along her chosen path.
"At the current population level, there's roughly 3 months left of life support. Maybe 4 now that we're gone." She continued, seeming completely undisturbed compared to her friends. This only confused you more. What were all the strange things they were saying? What was the Ark? What was a satellite? What's life support? None of those things made sense.
"So that's the secret that they locked you up to keep? Why they kept you in solitary? Why they floated your old man?" Finn asked, rushing to catch up to Clarke.
Floated? What, in Odin's name, did Finn mean by that?
"My father was the engineer who discovered the flaw. He thought the people had a right to know. The council disagreed, my mother... disagreed. They were afraid it would cause panic. We were gonna go public anyway when Wells..." Clarke trailed off.
"What? Turned in your dad?" Monty asked
"Anyway, the guard showed up before we could." Clarke said. "That's why today. That's why it was worth the risk. Even if we all die, at least they bought themselves more time."
You could understand why their people did it. To save themselves. Sending the children down helped that. It sounded like something your own mother would do.
"They're gonna kill more people, aren't they?" Monty asked, the worry on his face as clear as day.
Clarke didn't answer and kept walking until Octavia spoke and everyone stopped. "Good. After what they did to me, I say float them all."
"You don't mean that!" Jasper called after her as he watched Octavia run ahead, the boy quickly following her.
"We have to warn them." Finn told the blonde girl.
"That's what my father said." Clarke trailed off as she and Finn stared at each other. You tried extremely hard to hide your gag, and thankfully, it worked and you weren't caught. Clarke turned and went to continue her walk, only to bump into Jasper.
"Oh... I love Earth." Jasper sighed dreamily.
Looking to where the shocked group was staring, you smirked at the sight of Octavia removing her clothes. Leaning against the tree, you scoffed as you saw her step onto a high rock. Can Skaikru even swim?
"Octavia, what the hell are you doing?!" Clarke called from the trees as she saw the girl approach the river. You crouched, having the advantage of being able to see everything due to the high hill you stood on. Octavia only smirked before she jumped into the blue water. The other four ran toward the edge, seeing the girl's eyes peeking out from the river.
"Octavia!" Monty called. "We can't swim!"
"No, but we can stand." The girl giggled as she stood, revealing that the water only reached her waist.
"Wait, there's not supposed to be a river here." Clarke said, shaking her head as she examined the water.
"Well there is, so take off your damn clothes." Finn chuckled, the two boys beside him already removing their jackets. Though, when you saw the large, dark, shadowy body of a large water snake slithering toward Octavia, you straightened your back and slowly walked down the hill, continuing to use the trees as cover. It seemed as if Jasper noticed too, for he froze.
"Octavia, get out of the water." The boy said, the alarm in his voice as clear as the worry on his face. With that, the group looked up and also noticed the snake-like creature. Octavia turned, scanning the water in confusion. "Get out of the water, now!"
But it was too late. The snake had already latched onto her leg and dragged her around the river, the girl screaming and thrashing about. Before anyone could blink, she had been pulled under.
"OCTAVIA!"
The water stilled as she went under with the creature. You hissed softly, reaching to grab the spear attached to your back. The group was frozen in place, unable to see or find their friend until she suddenly emerged, shrieking in pain.
"What the hell is that?!" Monty shouted as they all moved to get a better look. Finn removed his jacket, throwing it to the rocky shore. "What are you gonna do?" Monty asked.
"Try not to get eaten."
Just when the young man was about to dive in, Clarke reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him from doing so. "No, wait. If we distract it, it might let her go." Clarke said.
Together, with Monty's help, the three managed to push a large and heavy rock off the shore and into the water. As it sunk down to the bottom of the river, the snake released Octavia and rushed to the rock in interest. Sadly, the creature had dragged Octavia into the deep end. As Monty previously announced, they couldn't swim. This left the girl thrashing about in the water as she cried when suddenly, Jasper leapt into the river,
Due to the splash of the boy's frame entering the water, the snake turned once more and swiftly swan towards the pair. You were surprised that Jasper managed to get both Octavia and himself out of the water in time, climbing further up the rock as the snake swam past in search of his prey.
The group had ran toward them in a rush. Strangely, Clarke ripped a part of Jasper's shirt and started to tie it around Octavia's injured leg.
Her injury was nowhere near bad as other things you have seen before. A simple flesh wound. That was nothing. You once watched someone's guts get ripped out of their body, and another man who got fish hooks caught deep in his face. Hell, there was one man that held his severed arm in his hand as he walked back from battle. A flesh wound was nothing too serious. Within a few days, she should begin to heal.
"Note to self: next time, save the girl." Monty joked, causing the group to chuckle. You slowly lowered your spear, crouching down behind a large tree once again.
-
That night, while you were observing the five that had wandered off, Ivar knelt in the bushes. With the cover of the dark night on his side, he managed to get close enough to the camp to count those that were left. Ninety-six others, all gathered around a large bonfire.
Wells pushed through the crowd with a confused look on his face, watching as the boys called Murphy and Mbege worked together to help another young woman remove her metal wristband. Soon enough, it unlocked and dropped into Murphy's hands.
As the crowd of children cheered, Murphy held up the wristband to show it off to the crowd before tossing it into the fire with the few others they had removed. The only real man there, whose name Ivar had learned was Bellamy, faced the crowd with a grin. "Who's next?"
"What the hell are you doing?" Wells asked, his voice outraged as he stared at Bellamy.
"We're liberating ourselves." Bellamy shrugged. "What does it look like?"
"It looks like you're trying to get us all killed." Wells replied. "The communications system is dead. These wristbands are all we've got. Take them off, and the Ark will think we're dying! That it's not safe for them to follow!"
"That's the point, Chancellor." Bellamy hissed, listening to the crowd as they laughed. Ivar, hidden away in the bushes nearby, scrunched his nose in confusion. What was a Chancellor? Was that some form of derogatory term? "We can take care of ourselves. Can't we?"
The crowd cheered at Bellamy's words, their loud shouts echoing through the thick forest.
"You think this is a game. Those aren't just our friends and parents up there. They're our farmers, our doctors, our engineers!" Wells sad, now addressing the crowd. "I don't care what he tells you. We won't survive here on our own. And besides, if it really is safe, how could you not want the rest of our people to come down?"
"My people already are down." Bellamy replied, gesturing to the grinning crowd. Next, he pointed up to the sky. "Those people... locked my people up. Those people killed my mother from the crime of having a second child. Your father did that."
Ivar raised an eyebrow, rushing to scribble down the information he had heard. He flipped through the book to an empty page, glancing up at the crowd ever so often as he wrote.
"My father didn't write the laws." Wells said.
"No. He enforced them. But not anymore, not here. Here, there are no laws. Here, we do whatever the hell we want, whenever the hell we want. Now, you don't have to like it, Wells. You can even try to stop it or change it... kill me. You know why? Whatever the hell we want!"
The crowd once again cheered at Bellamy's words, only this time, they began to chant. Murphy started it by shouting out the phrase, followed quickly by the large crowd.
"Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want! Whatever the hell we want!"
Wells seemed horrified as the crowd continued, yet he never broke eye contact with Bellamy. The two stared at each other until a crack of thunder could be heard from above. Only then did Bellamy look away, smiling as the crowd broke out into cheers and laughter.
They ran and danced about in the rain, their clothing soaked in the cold water. Ivar, unlike them, was not as happy. He rushed to close his book, hiding it back under the cover of his bag as his face paint washed away and trailed down his front.
"We need to collect this." Wells soon said.
"Whatever the hell you want." Bellamy replied.
-
Later that night, Ivar had watched from afar as Bellamy forced Wells awake. The Prince followed after them as they left their camp, his hands pierced by the rocks as he made his way over the rough terrain. It was difficult, as the forest was growing thin, preventing him from hiding well. Instead, he hid behind a large hill of stone, watching as both Bellamy and Wells stopped in the middle of the rocky clearing.
Bellamy sighed, holding up the weapon in his hands. As it glinted in the moonlight, Ivar sneered. A gun, commonly used by the Mountain Men. Now he understood why he had a bad feeling about Bellamy. His instincts were never wrong.
"I don't want to shoot you, Wells." He sighed. "Hell, I like you. But I do need them to think that you're dead."
"Why?" Wells questioned. "Why are you doing this? For real. Not some crap about getting to do what you wanna do."
"I have my reasons. I also have the gun which means... I ask the questions. And the question is, why aren't you helping me? Your dad banished you, Wells. And yet, here you are still doing his bidding, following the rules. Aren't you tired of always doing what's expected of you? Stand up to him. Take off that wristband and you'll be amazed at how good it feels."
"No." Wells hissed. "Never. Not gonna happen. That clear enough for you?"
Bellamy sniffed, slowly nodding. "Yeah it is. Sorry it had to be this way."
Instead of executing Wells as Ivar had expected, Bellamy unloaded the gun and placed it in the back of his pants. Only when Murphy stepped on a twig did Wells realize that the boy was behind him, turning to face him with a nervous expression. As two others approached, Wells glanced around in search of an escape. In a desperate attempt, he tried to run up one of the many hills when two others climbed over and met him at the top.
Working together, the five of Bellamy's men grabbed Wells and held him down against a rock. Using a large piece of metal from the wreck, they forced it under the bracelet and pried it off of Wells hand as the boy shouted out in pain.
Bellamy watched all this with a blank expression, only turning to leave when he saw the bracelet fall to the ground. The man cleared his throat, unknowingly walking right past Ivar.
-
The next morning, the Skaikru teenagers had managed to make a large rope and tied it to a tree, now able to swing across without having to go into the river. You watched from afar, standing high in one of the many trees surrounding the rocky shore.
"You wanted to go first, now quit stalling." Clarke called up to Finn. "Mount Weather awaits!"
You knew you couldn't let them get there. Mount Weather. It was dangerous. The Mountain Men had lakes filled with the blood of your people. You couldn't let innocent children die, no matter what clan they belonged to. Your plan was to spear Finn. You had a bad feeling about him. As soon as he landed and before anyone else could swing across, you would spear him. You had your spear in hand, sharpened and ready to be thrown.
"Just hang on until the apogee and you'll be fine." Jasper told Finn.
"The Apache. Like the Indians, right?" Finn asked, looking to the boy beside him.
"Apogee, not Apache." Jasper corrected, shaking his head at the boy's words.
"He knows. Today, Finn." Clarke sighed.
"Aye, Aye, Captain." Finn said. "See you on the other side."
"Wait." Jasper said, just as Finn was about to swing. He glanced down at Octavia, the girl grinning up at him as he looked back to Finn.
"What?" Finn asked, stepping back from the edge of the tall rock.
"Let me." Jasper said. "I can do it."
"I knew there was a badass in there somewhere." Finn chuckled.
You sighed in annoyance as you shook your head. Jasper was more innocent then him. Finn was off to you, but Jasper? He didn't deserve what you were about to do to him. None of them deserved the trauma that you were about to cause.
"Hey, it's ok to be afraid, Jasper." Finn told the nervous boy. "The trick is not fighting it."
"See you on the other side." Jasper smirked, stepping back as he gripped the rope tightly. Then, he swung. He flew like a bird, cheering until he dropped down on the other side and clumsily stood up, dusting himself off.
Finn caught the rope and everything went silent as you all stared at the boy.
"WE ARE APOGEE!!!" The boy screamed, his friends cheering him on and laughing at his victory dance. You had never seen this type of happiness. You hadn't felt it either. It only made you feel more guilty. Looking back to Jasper, you saw him pick up a white sign, and you knew it was time.
"We did it!" Jasper shouted as he held the sign up, giving you a clear shot as you raised your spear. "Mount Weather!!"
As the kids began cheering and screaming in joy again, you threw the spear, hitting Jasper right in the chest and sending the poor boy flying back. The screaming and the laughter soon fell silent, replaced with horrified looks as they stared at their friend.
"J-Jasper! Jasper!"
"JASPER!"
"Come on! Get behind the rocks!"
You watched as they hid, scanning the trees and trying to find you. Stepping forward, sword in hand, snapping a twig under your foot. Cursing, you moved back to hide. You can't sneak up on them, they would fight back.
"We're not alone." You heard Clarke say.
Growling in anger, you put your hand on the holster of your sword, leaving behind an arrow as a warning. You'd kill whoever tried to cross the border again. Then, you hid and waited, wondering which path they'd decide next. As expected... they ran and left him there.