Earth, the Throne room; Sometime in October, 2149
Clarke watched as Natalie walked off, then turned to look at the others. The two girls she had gotten to know over the last month were fidgety, and Octavia kept casting nervous glances after the redhead despite her words. “Tally?” Clarke asked, trying to distract her friend.
Octavia blushed deep red and shrugged. “I’ve called her that as long as I could talk. Mom says- mom said that her’s was the first name I learned, even before Bell’s.”
“That’s adorable,” Raven snorted, and the younger brunette shoved her to the side. Jasper snickered and Monty smiled (though the latter tried to hide it).
“Shut up,” Octavia mumbled, and Clarke chuckled.
“Heda will see you now,” a big man with a full beard growled, and the bantering stopped immediately.
The five delinquents glanced at each other before entering the room, staying completely silent. Clarke took a minute to look around, noting the candles spread out on every surface, waiting to be lit. There were grand chairs sitting in a semi-circle around the space, and upon a dais was an even grander chair that could only be described as a throne. An assemble of large, gnarled branches tied to various spears with rough rope formed the throne, but the woman sitting upon the seat made the whole thing look exquisite. Against a backdrop of a balcony overlooking the entire city, the woman was no less than regal in the way she silently watched the newcomers enter the room.
The woman on the dais eyed each Arker closely, her expression stoic. She had black smeared around her eyes to her temples and down her cheeks, like inky tears. A small gear sat above the bridge of her nose, gleaming in the light from the candles that did burn. Chestnut curls were pulled back in a series of braids. She wore lots of black, lots of buckles, and lots of leather. A metal spaulder sat on her left shoulder, and a dagger hung precariously from the tips of slender fingers.
Clarke felt an elbow in her side, and she blinked and scowled at Octavia, who just stared at her with a raised brow. The younger girl frowned and nodded her head towards the throne, and Clarke felt her cheeks heat up. She looked to the Grounder again and straightened her posture, showing a confidence she didn’t quite feel. She stepped forward until the warriors around them reached for their weapons, then she stopped and lifted her chin. The woman’s eyes were green, greener than the leaves on the trees and the grass on the ground, and full of cautious curiosity.
The woman spoke first, her eyebrow quirking up just barely. “So you’re the one who leads the invaders on my land.”
Clarke blinked, then tilted her head a bit. “I’m Clarke Griffin. You’re the one who leads all these people.” Which from what she’s heard from Natalie and Anya, was an impressive feat. Twelve different clans, spread out among thousands and thousands of people, all under this one woman. This one woman who barely looked to be older than herself, she noticed.
The woman nodded once, setting the dagger down on the arm of her throne. “I am. Why are you here?”
Okay, so she could go two ways here. That could either be ‘why was she in Polis’ or ‘why was she on Earth?’ Clarke went with the former, focusing on what she had come here for. Or at least, part of it. “Winter is coming, and I know that my people won’t survive it on their own. Our own, I mean.” She glanced back at her four friends, licking her lips. “We’re just a bunch of kids who know next to nothing about surviving down here, let alone through freezing temperatures.” When she wasn’t interrupted, she went on. “Where we come from, on the Ark, the temperature is always the same, regulated. It’s never hot or cold up there, just, normal, I guess. Our food came in prepared rations, dried and packaged years ago. We’ve never had to find our own food or water, we’ve never had to fend for ourselves.”
“Your point?” the Commander raised a brow, and Clarke almost forgot to breathe because wow. Her eyes were piercing already, and now the Commander was living up to her title completely with just one raised brow and it did something to Clarke’s insides.
“My point is, we need your help, Commander.” She swallowed the pride that threatened to rise, focusing on helping her people instead of trying to do things herself she knew she’d never accomplish. “My people could learn from yours, learn how to hunt and find resources that would help us survive the freezing cold that’s coming.”
“Why should we help you? You have nothing to offer my people.” Her tone wasn’t accusatory, but it still commanded an answer.
Clarke took a few seconds to think, then turned to Raven and gestured her forward. “We have a radio.”
Thankfully, Raven took over from there. “I can make more, short range radios. This one is used to contact our people on the Ark, but I can make some to contact people here on the Ground, too.” The mechanic pulled the radio out and fiddled with it, making it static in her hands. She and Clarke glanced up and around when the warriors around them shifted, then focused back on the technology. The mechanic looked up, chewing on her lip. “You uh, you want a demonstration?” Clarke was only slightly relieved when her usual smirk curled her lips. The Commander seemed to ponder for a moment, before she dipped her chin in a nod. The blonde gestured for Raven to speak, because now so wasn’t the time to bring her drama to the surface. Raven cleared her throat and pressed a button, taking a deep breath. “Earth to the Ark, Earth to the Ark, come in Arkers!” She grinned, then pulled the radio away. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
Clarke barely managed to keep from rolling her eyes, smiling at the mechanic. The radio fizzled, and then a tinny voice came through. “Arkers, really?”
Raven grinned, and Clarke mirrored her. “Yeah, sorry, first thing I thought of. Just calling to check in, Abby.”
“Everyone’s alright, then? Clarke?”
Clarke tensed up and drilled her gaze into the brunette’s. She did not want to deal with this right now, she’d talk to her mother later if she had to. Raven seemed to battle with herself for a moment before answering. “Yeah, Abby, everyone’s fine. Clarke’s fine. Busy. I have to go, I just needed to make sure the radio was still in range.”
“Alright. We’ll take that as your daily check in, then.”
“Sounds good. Talk to you tomorrow.” Raven shut the device off, and the girls turned to face the Commander once more.
Clarke saw a flicker of shock, curiosity, intrigue, before the woman schooled her face into an unreadable mask. “Very well. We will discuss this further while Ryder shows your friends our tek room.” She flicked her wrist, and two big guys, guards, bowed their heads and gestured for the four other to follow.
“I’ll be alright, go on.” Clarke smiled at them, and they left the room with little resistance. She swallowed at the door clicked shut behind them, leaving her alone in the room with the Commander of the Twelve Clans and her most trusted general.
Earth, Natalie and Anya’s quarters; Sometime in October, 2149
“You spoil them, Niron,” Anya softly chastised as she leaned on the doorframe for a moment, her arms crossed over her stomach. A small smile played at her lips, showing she wasn’t being too serious.
Natalie turned to look at her, a half asleep Ana cuddled against her chest. Bran and Noah lay sleeping on the big bed, snuggled in the very middle of the surface. Noah snored softly with her mouth hung open, and Bran slept silently, breathing through his nose. “Children need to be spoiled sometimes.”
Anya’s smile grew into one of her rare, soft ones that always made the redhead melt. She only ever smiled like that for her, so relaxed and tender. The warrior nodded once, going to the wardrobe that held her clothes. She stripped out of her armor, putting it on the wrack that stood near the window, and grabbed a light long sleeved shirt. “Your friend Klark wants an alliance with Heda.”
“She wants a way to make sure the kids she looks after will survive,” Natalie disagreed, laying Ana down on the bed next to her adoptive siblings. She whispered at the toddler before standing again and going to Anya, grabbing a hold of the hem of the shirt she still wore from the day. “The oldest that came down in the first place, other than Belomi, was her. She’s only seventeen summers, on the Ark, she is still a child herself.”
Anya frowned at the mention of the man who held Noah hostage, but thought about her houmon’s words. She figured, if she were to compare the children that came from the sky with her own people, they were more like Ana than even Bran, toddlers in a world that forced its children to mature too quickly. They would not last all winter, she was surprised they had even lasted this long. “I suppose that makes most of them innocent?” Natalie pulled Anya’s shirt up and over her head, tossing it to the side with one hand as her other started working on her pants, her gaze lingering on the ink that bound them together
Natalie snorted. “They were all sent down here because the Council decided they were expendable. They were criminals, originally, caught stealing rations or medicine.” She got the pants undone and stepped back, starting to shed her own clothing. Frowning, she pushed her pants down her legs and kicked them to the side. “Sometimes, they had no choice. The Council is strict, and even the smallest things got people executed.” She could have said floated, but she was done with the pretend facade the Council hid behind, and had accepted it all for what it was. ‘Floated’ sounded superficial, unreal. “If I had ever gotten caught just stealing the books I did from the archive when I was younger, I would have been thrown in prison.”
Anya’s frown deepened and she turned to her wife, pulling her sleep shirt down. “Just for books? Were you not allowed to read them?” This was ridiculous. Being imprisoned just for talking books? Here, in Polis (and anywhere else there were books), books were available to the public to read as long as the person reading them did not damage them. Which usually meant that no one took a book out of the libraries they were stored in, for fear of getting caught in some battle whilst reading. But if someone were to take a book to their home to read it, they would not be punished for it.
Natalie smiled and shook her head, looking almost sheepish. “Not really. They are ancient, from Before. There are digital copies of them all, but it just does not beat opening the cover of an actual book, smelling the smell that comes with them, turning the page to get to the next part.” She stripped her shirt off, and Anya felt a trickle of arousal and pride at the sight of the marks she’d left on her skin just days before. She let her eyes wander freely, taking in the pale skin marred with fading bruises from lips and teeth from both her and Raven. Natalie smirked, as if she could read her mind, and pulled her own sleep shirt down to cover the marks. “My point is, they are not exactly innocent, but they do not know what they are doing down here.” She frowned, thinking to her first few weeks on the Ground. “At least they are not alone.”
Anya’s brow wrinkled at the last mumbled statement, and she reached for the younger woman. She pulled her close and tucked her against her chest, pressing her lips to the top of her head. She wished she could have found Natalie sooner, before she had stumbled and hurt herself, before the storm had roared in and scared her, before-
But, she supposed, if she had, then Natali kom Trikru, her houmon, wouldn’t be who she is now. This kind, caring, strong woman that could stand on her own if she so chose, but who decided to lean against a battle worn warrior anyway. She pushed her fingers through fiery hair, taking a deep breath through her nose, basking in the scent that was all Natalie: something earthy, something a little flowery, mixed with something she couldn’t place. “Ai hod yu in.”
Natalie pulled away and looked up, her lips stretched in a grin. “I love you too.”
Earth, The Courtyard/Natblida Training Area; Sometime in October, 2149
Natalie swung the wooden sword over her head and then down, attempting to cut down the girl in front of her. Tara dodged to the side, throwing her own wooden sword up to block before slicing the dull weapon to the side, landing a hit on the redhead’s ribs. Natalie let out a grunt and retaliated, catching the end of her practice sword on the girl’s arm. In a flurry of movement, Natalie found herself flat on her back with the edge of Tara’s practice sword pressed against her throat. The redhead barely refrained from cursing and let out a groan.
Tara grinned and pulled her sword away, reaching down to offer the woman her arm. “Do not despair, Natali, you lasted longer this time than last.”
“I have been sparring with whoever has time lately, I better be improving,” Natalie laughed, pulling herself up and brushing the dirt off her pants. She ignored the snickering coming from Raven and Octavia nearby and focused on the Nightbloods sparring around them. Heda Leksa and Anya were both also sparring with some of them, and Tris and Noah had joined as well. Talia stood nearby, keeping a watch on her Sekon while she crossed swords with Ren. Bran was on the edge of the Courtyard with Ace, Kal, and Ana, who were all participating in their own ‘training’ that was a bit safer than the older kids’ routine. The sun was high in the sky, and Natalie’s rumbling stomach symboled that it was near lunch time. She wandered over to the five Skaikru gathered near the little ones, lifting her shirt up to wipe the sweat and dirt away with the bottom hem.
“Holy shit Campbell,” Octavia breathed out, and when Natalie put her shirt down, five sets of eyes were lingering on her stomach, four faces slightly blushed red.
“What?” She lifted her shirt and looked down, catching a glimpse of dark ink that marked her as Anya’s, and toned muscle.
“Abs,” Raven deadpanned, her gaze appreciative as she waved her hand in the redhead’s general direction.
“Oh. Right, well, training everyday for most of a year does that.” Natalie shrugged and dropped her shirt, smirking a little at the sad sigh Raven let out. She turned back to watch the remaining kids and adults spar, keeping an eye on the sun. If they didn’t stop soon, she’d have to interrupt and remind Heda about lunch. Or rather, she’d have to mention it and take the younger kids in to eat and leave Anya to handle her former Sekon.
After a minute, Bran lost control of the little kids and they came running for Natalie with outstretched arms and giggles. Ace and Kal raced each other, but also kept an eye on Ana as she tried to keep up. Bran just sighed and followed after them, the bag he kept the medical supplies in bumping his thigh as he walked. “I am sorry, Nomi, they were getting restless.”
“It is fine, Bran, it is almost time for lunch, anyway.” Natalie grinned and scooped Ana and Kal up, settling Ana on her shoulders and Kal on her hip before grabbing for Ace’s hand. She turned back to the others in the Courtyard and managed to catch the Commander’s gaze, then glanced up at the sun.
Lexa looked up and nodded, then quickly unarmed Rye and backed off. “We stop here and break for lunch.”
A chorus of “Sha, Heda!”s broke out before the whole group of kids surged towards the building and Natalie. The redhead grinned and set the two youngest down so they could mingle with the older ones, then followed behind them with her hands clasped behind her back. “If you are hungry, I suggest you get a move on before the children eat all the food,” She called over her shoulder at the Sky People.
There was chatter and laughter as they filed into the room to eat, crowding around the table and finding places to sit. The Commander sat at the head, opting to eat with the group. Anya sat at her right hand side, Natalie next to her. The seat to Lexa’s direct left stayed empty, and everyone else filled the seats around the table. Most of the children chattered to each other, eyeing the Sky people warily. Noah talked with Raven, forgetting to eat until Natalie finally got her attention and pointed at her plate with a raised eyebrow. Bran stayed quiet, observing everything and everyone around him. Ana chattered away in her mixed Trigedasleng and English and toddler speak, comfortable in Natalie’s lap, picking off both her adoptive mothers’ plates intermittently.
There was an air of camaraderie in the room, which Natalie found strange but not a bad thing. Most everyone was relaxed as they ate and talked, and even Heda Leksa allowed herself to relax her expression into an almost smile. She did smile widely at one point, when Ana got a hold of a handful of food and promptly painted Anya’s face with it (although the esteemed leader was quick to school her face back into an indifferent gaze of interest).
“Ana! No!” Natalie tried to scold the little girl, finding it difficult to do so while stifling her laughter. She quickly worked at cleaning the toddler’s hands.
Anya stayed perfectly still for a moment, not reacting at all other than to take the cloth offered to her by a handmaiden and wipe the goop off her face. She took her time, and the whole table quieted as she worked to clear her skin of the substance. Even Natalie was starting to look nervous, her eyes wide. The general set the cloth down on the table next to her plate and turned to her wife and youngest child, blinking once before grinning widely. “That was well done, Strikon!”
Ana grinned back then, giggling wildly and throwing herself at her blonde mother. “Nomon!”
Natalie broke into a relieved laugh, followed soon by the other children and Raven. The other Skaiyons sat and smiled, still too wary to laugh outright at the general’s behest, even when she was laughing at herself.
Just then, a runner burst into the room and headed towards the commander, his face grim. He whispered at the guards that stopped him, then went to lean and whisper in Heda’s ear. Her indifferent expression hardened even more, and she nodded, flicking her wrist as she dismissed him. She focused on the people gathered before her, her posture straightening even more, the air of relaxation she had been subtly emitting vanishing.
She addressed Clarke and the other Sky People. “Your camp has been attacked by a group of Ripas.” Chatter broke out amongst the children, and Natalie was quick to shush them before Lexa had to intervene. Raven went pale, most likely remembering the people that weren’t quite people that had attacked them a month before, giving Natalie her most recent scar.
“When can we go?” Clarke asked, already pushing her plate away and finishing her drink.
“You may leave anytime you like, Klark,” Lexa told her. “But I can only send a dozen warriors with you. I cannot spare any more than that with winter approaching.” She regarded the room a moment, then turned to Anya. “Onya, you are to accompany the Skaikru back to their camp.”
“Sha, Heda,” the general nodded, rubbing Ana’s back when the girl snuggled into her chest.
“Natali, you are to stay here and continue your duties.”
The redhead paled a little but nodded, voicing her acceptance quietly.
Lunch was finished up quickly then, and the Nightbloods dispersed for their afternoon lessons. Anya followed after the Commander to see about who she would be taking with her, and Natalie stayed, a dozing Ana in her arms, a sleepy Bran pressed to her side, and an excited Noah chattering with her Fos at the end of the table. Clarke, Octavia, Monty, and Jasper all looked slightly confused and a lot worried, and Raven just looked frightened. The mechanic was quick to school her face into one of fake amusement, however, when she noticed ther friends’ gazes on her.
Monty was the first to speak up. “What’s a reepuh?” His pronunciation was just a bit off, his face scrunched up with the effort to get it right.
Natalie cringed slightly, grimacing. “A Ripa is a man that is no longer a man. They smell like death, and they take the people as prizes. They attack with no specific patterns, it is all random.” She took a breath. “They are monsters.”
“They don’t stop, even when they’re hurt,” Raven said, working her jaw as the shadow of the battle she had witnessed crept over her eyes like a cloud. “They don’t stop until their hearts are no longer beating.”
“You’ve seen them?” Clarke asks, looking more and more worried as they talked.
“Yeah, right after we left the pod that first time.” Raven frowned, leaning back in her seat. “They’re brutal.” Then she smiled, looking over at Natalie. “Nat here is way more badass, though, her and Anya.”
“Yeah she is,” Octavia grinned, looked at the redhead as well.
Natalie grinned and shrugged lightly, mindful of the snoozing toddler now drooling on her shirt. “Living on the Ground, you have to be badass in order to survive, especially when you are an outsider with fire coloured hair.”
The group was quiet for a moment, and then Clarke spoke up with a request. “So, tell me again why we can’t go to Mount Weather?”
Natalie’s face went hard, a sudden rage hinting in her features. “The Maunon, the Mountain Men, are just as much monsters as the Ripas are, only with guns. They take Trikru, and the people are never seen again.” She ran her fingers through the toddler’s hair, thinking for a minute. “I think somehow the Reapers and the Mountain Men are working together, but the Reapers are more animal than men, so I cannot see how that would be.”
All too soon, Natalie stood outside with the Skaikru, Anya, their three charges, and the dozen warriors that were to accompany the Sky People back to camp. She had hugged Octavia and Raven first, while the two youngest children latched onto Anya and Noah. Then she clung to her wife, not exactly scared that she wouldn’t come back, but knowing that if they encountered any of the gun-wielding Maunon, the battle would be hard. Next, she wrapped her arms around Noah, who was going with her Fos, Talia, to help. She gripped the back of the girl’s neck and her wife’s arm tightly, making sure she had their attention. “Come back to us.”
Anya nodded, kissing the redhead before swinging up onto her horse. Noah dove in for another hug before doing the same, schooling her face in an attempt to hide the nerves she felt. Ana climbed up into Natalie’s arms and Bran pressed himself into her side as Anya led her small entourage towards the gates, the five Sky People each with a warrior on a horse. Then, Natalie took her adoptive son’s hand and went back inside, resolving herself to keeping her mind off the events that could come of this by staying busy.
Earth, the Dropship; Sometime in October, 2149
The scene that met the warriors at Clarke’s camp was a desolate one. A few bodies lay scattered on the ground, tents strewn in pieces. The water trough was tipped over, the extra food they had procured dashed under footprints in the dirt. The Dropship itself was closed up, and Clarke almost fell on her face in the efforts to get off the horse she shared with Solan. She and the other four Sky People ran to the metal structure, pounding their fists on the surface in an attempt to rouse anyone who might be inside.
“Bellamy! Harper! Monroe! Anyone!” They continued until the door opened, and about twenty teenagers stared out at them.
“What happened?” Clarke stepped forward, looking the kids over.
Bellamy stepped forward, a cut on his temple and a darkening bruise on his neck. “They were so fast, we tried to save everyone. I-” he looked around at the bodies, his brows furrowing in confusion. “There were more than that left, I swear. We held the door open as long as we could.”
“What. Happened.” Clarke repeated herself, stepping forward again with a deep frown.
“Monsters. They attacked us out of nowhere,” Fox stepped forward, looking at her fallen comrades with a pained expression. “We thought they were like, bandits or something, like what Bellamy had told us about, but-” She shook her head. “They smelled like- and there was blood and flesh in their teeth.” She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Ripas,” Anya hissed, accessing the damage herself.
“We can’t stay here, what if they come back?” Clarke looked at the general, setting her jaw. “We’re defenseless. These things nearly destroyed-”
“Calm yourself, Clarke Griffin. I agree with you. It is not safe for a bunch of children to stay by themselves when they cannot defend themselves against monsters. This time it was the Ripas, next time it will be the Maunon.” Anya looked at the blonde. “Gather your people and your things, we leave for Polis in an hour.”
A/N: That concludes this book! I know it's short, but I suck at making arcs within a book so meh. The sequal is being worked on now and will be up shortly! If you're interested...
leave comments, and vote, and such, if you enjoyed this book, they inspire me to write faster and update sooner! (meaning the sequel would go up quicker, just fyi)
(note: even if I didn't get many votes or whatever, I'm still posting the sequel as I write it because I need to so...)
thanks for reading! I promise there will be more Natranya (Natalie/Raven/Anya) in the next installation.
~Chris (previously Alana)