𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 · 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 ⁴

𝟒.𝟕

──── 「THROUGH BLOOD
AND TEARS」 ────

     I had spent the last 5 days in Arkadia, helping Raven with everything she asked me to do to rebuild the ship, going out to hunt with the teams, and just passing the time with Jasper; I had loved every second of it. I missed my friends, I missed Raven and Jasper like crazy, having been so used to being around them all the time when we first set foot on Earth, but I had to go back. Lila needed me and I missed Octavia. And Azgeda wouldn't stay in line on its own. Neither would Ulger.

- "I'm leaving today," –I informed Raven as we both walked around the ship, checking everything was going according to plan- "I can't push it any longer."

- "Will you be back before the black rain arrives?"

- "I don't know, I hope I can make it back here at least once before it does, but we'll see." –I smiled at her as she handed me her clipboard to check a panel on the side- "Gotta keep them under control."

- "Jusheda is turning out not to be such a nuisance as everyone expected, rather helpful if you asked me."

- "I'll take it as a compliment."

- "It was!" -she chuckled as she eyed me- "I miss you, things aren't the same without you."

- "That's because I'm the best and you love me very much." -I smirked at her- "I miss you too and I wished I would stay for longer, but I have to make sure Azgeda stays in line. I'm not risking your life just to make mine more comfortable."

- "I understand." -Raven sighed, taking my free hand in hers- "Please, be careful. And I know you're going to say you always are, but I mean it, Sam. I don't want to lose you. I'm scared you'll leave one day and never come back."

- "And I'm terrified of misstepping and putting you in danger. Not only because you're the smartest person I know and I truly believe the key to our survival is in your head, but because I love you so deeply, Raven, and I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you because of something I did or didn't do. And right now, what I have to do is go back to make sure Ulger doesn't come looking for me because he will not hesitate to slit your throat in front of me to teach me a lesson."

- "But are you safe around him, Sam?"

- "No, I'm not." -there was no point in me sugarcoating things for Raven, I had told her most things as soon as I spent a couple of hours with her- "But you will be and he's not going to kill me without making a show of it, so as long as you don't hear from him, I'll be safe."

- "I'm still going to worry." -Raven smiled.

- "I take pride in that, in being someone you care about." -I licked my lips- "I heard something about a guy."

- "Yeah, Wick." -Raven rolled her eyes- "Didn't work."

- "Of course not, he's not as good as I am, is he?" -I eyed her up and down- "Need a quick round, Reyes? I'm sure Bellamy won't mind whether it's just you and me or asking him to join."

- "Sam!" -Raven let go of me and punched me on the upper arm as I laughed- "You make my life too hard, but you're probably right."

- "Of course I am."

She shook her head and shoved me to keep walking toward her workstation, saying goodbye there, allowing her to hug me for as long as she needed, closing my eyes and tightening my arms around her. I'd come back to her. I always would. I let her get to work, staying at the door for a couple of seconds, watching as she focused on the work in front of her with a smile on my face. Raven was truly one of a kind. I smiled to myself as I walked away, making my way to look for Jasper, who was walking around the garden, also seemingly looking for someone.

- "J!" –I waved at him, making him turn around.

- "Finally! I thought you left without helping me pull one last show."

- "I'd never leave you without saying goodbye, dummy!" –I wrapped my arm around his shoulders- "What do you need me to do?"

It was a simple prank on Jaha and I was more than happy to help as so seemed to be a couple of other kids, which made the process run fast and smooth; even Monty and Harper joined us before going back to work while Jaha was still out.

- "How long will it take him to wake up?" –Harper questioned next to me.

- "Oh, give it time." –Jasper smiled on my other side- "Patience is a virtue, and the reward will be even greater the longer it takes him to wake up."

- "Let us know, I wanna see his face."

Harper spoke before leaving with Monty to keep working, leaving Jasper and me alone outside. I watched them leave with a smile on my face, content to know at least they were still going strong; I was happy for them. I turned my attention back to the lake, sitting on the grass next to Jasper, resting my upper body on my hands behind my back.

- "It's a good thing we never learned to swim." –I spoke after a couple of minutes of silence- "This wouldn't be half as fun if he could."

- "Maybe we should." –Jasper pocked me with the elbow.

- "Next time I'm back you and I can give that one a go." –I pushed him lightly- "I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen?"

- "We drown," –he shrugged his shoulders- "but we're going to die anyway."

- "Yeah, might as well be doing something productive like that."

We both busted out laughing. I missed seeing Jasper so carefree, the Jasper I met on the dropship so many months ago. I knew I had to find a way for all of us to survive, I needed him to survive, even if he disagreed now and it was selfish of me, but I couldn't imagine surviving Praimfaya without him.

- "Why are you looking at me like that?"

- "I like seeing you happy," –I sat fully straight once again- "it's refreshing."

- "Well, then maybe you should stay more time around me." –he turned his face to look at me.

- "J..."

- "No, I mean, next time you come, instead of fixing the ship with Raven, just come to live life a little with me, huh?" –he squeezed my hands- "Just think about it, I'll be here once you're back. You say hi to Lila from me." -I nodded. I mean, after all, it's not like I'm a mechanic or anything- "Wait, does she know about me?"

- "Of course, she does! How do you expect me not to tell her about the first real friend I ever made?" -I raised an eyebrow at him- "Not only on Earth but in life."

- "I feel honored." -he smiled- "Maybe you could bring her here sometime."

- "I don't trust Skaikru; they almost got me killed amongst way too many other things, remember?"

- "I don't either." -movement on the lake caught both our attention again as Jaha seemed to wake up- "He's awake!" –Jasper announced for the rest of the kids inside as we both rose to our feet.

- "Sweet revenge, huh?"

I chuckled as Jasper nodded with a massive smile on his face while the rest started to come out of their places to witness the ending to this prank.

- "Hey, Jaha!" –Jasper yelled to gain his attention- "It looks like you got floated!"

- "Keeping it busy, I see, Mr. Jordan." –Jaha answered, but he wasn't angry, he looked entertained too.

- "Oh, I'm living it up, every last day!"

- "With some help, this time too, Ms. Besnik."

- "You know me," –I waved at him- "I'm just here to help."

- "Do I want to know how you managed to do this without waking me up."

- "I'd say most likely not." –I tried to fight back my laugh.

- "But don't worry, the effects are harmless, I promise." –Jasper explained with a friendly tone- "Well, kind of."

Jasper high-fived me as everyone kept laughing and applauding and just, overall, having a good time while Jaha started to move back to the shore with the help of a rope we had tied to the structure keeping him over the water; after all, we weren't that cruel.

- "Alright." –Clarke's commanding voice made us both turn around- "We've had our fun, let's get back to work."

Everyone started moving back to their respective tasks and I couldn't help but see the concern in Monty's eyes as he followed Clarke and started speaking with her.

- "Always killing the mood." –Jasper regained my attention.

- "Someone has to." –I placed my arm on his shoulder- "Come on, one last supervised drink before I go."

- "Sounds like a plan."

- "I'll go say goodbye to Clarke and I'll meet you at our table."

- "Cool." –he winked at me and started moving back.

- "Don't make it too strong, I don't wanna fall from Selene."

- "Got you!"

I was certain he was going to make it strong anyway, but I truly didn't mind, with all his drinking I had forced myself to grow my alcohol tolerance to keep tabs on him, make sure he didn't go overboard; it had been working that far. I made my way towards where Clarke and Monty were.

- "Sam."

- "What's with the long faces, everyone?"

None of them had time to answer me as thunder started roaring, making us all turn our heads to look at the cloudy sky.

- "Black rain."

- "Alright." –Clarke took action- "Everyone inside, just like we practiced. Go!"

Black rain? This early? That's not good. The alarm started sounding and, to my surprise, panic didn't spread around camp; everyone simply started moving to the inside of the ship, carrying with them whatever could be damaged by the rain. The three of us were the last to reach the door and, as Monty was closing the door, I saw Jasper in the middle of the camp, just looking around, totally unbothered by the fact that he could die any second due to the burning radiation of the rain.

- "Jasper, come on!" –Monty screamed, moving outside.

- "Get in." –I pushed him back- "I'll get him."

- "Sam, no!"

I heard Clarke screaming behind me but that wasn't going to stop me as I ran up to Jasper while the rain started falling on us; he rose his head and opened his mouth and I would have knocked him down if it weren't because the rain wasn't hurting me. It's not black rain. I turned to look at Clarke who was looking probably just as surprised as me.

- "False alarm everyone, it's your usual dose of cloud water." –I nodded at her, seeing the relief on her face before turning to Jasper- "You, sir, have lost your drinking privileges till I'm back."

- "Come on, Sam, you can't live your life in fear."

- "It's not fear, it's worry."

- "When did you lose your sense of humor."

- "Who said I did?" -I pushed him on the ground, making him land his ass on a puddle, laughing at his startled stare right before something hit me on the face and I heard Jasper contagious laugh once more- "Hey!" –I complained, cleaning my face of dirt- "That's not cool, I have to get back to Polis. What are the Grounders going to think if they see me like this?" -I joked.

- "That's payback, dear friend."

- "You're lucky I like you." –I offered him my hand to raise back up, pulling him into a hug- "Don't miss me too much, alright?"

- "If you don't either."

- "That's going to be hard but I'll try."

He pulled back and started walking back towards the ship and I followed to talk with Clarke.

- "You're insane." –she reproached me as soon as I was on the door.

- "Lighten up, Clarke, we're still alive." –I squeezed her shoulders- "I have to go back to Polis, I'll be back in a couple of days to see how things are going alright?" –she nodded at me- "If you need me, use the radio."

- "Have you told Bellamy?"

- "Is Bellamy my dad now?" –I scoffed as Clarke pressed her lips into a thin line- "Yeah, didn't think so."

- "You know how he is, he'll worry and he'll..."

- "I know Bellamy, Clarke." -I cut her off before she started rambling- "I told him this morning before he left with the hunting team, he didn't like it but I don't care."

- "Be careful."

- "You too. I'll be back before you know it."

Clarke wrapped her arms around me for a moment, letting go when she was ready. I smiled at her and made my way outside the ship, towards where Selene was in her black rain refuge, and quickly galloping towards Polis. Let's see how everyone handled themselves while I was gone.

Once I got to the city, I left Selene at Sheda's with his horse, Vukan, entering the house to check if Lila was there with O and to change my clothes quickly.

- "Lila? O?" –I asked opening the door- "Anyone in here?"

- "Sam!" –Lila came running from upstairs- "You're back!"

- "Of course, Lila!" -I caught her in my arms as she wrapped her around my neck- "Have you been good?"

- "Yes!" -she laughed- "How are your friends?"

- "Working a lot." -I put her down- "Jasper says hi; you remember him?"

- "Yeah, Octavia has told me about him too."

- "Really? And what did she say?"

- "That if I ever go to Arkadia and can't find you I should look for Jasper and you'll be with him. Or Raven." -she shrugged her shoulders as if the information wasn't of importance, and I could only laugh at how innocent and cute she was- "But I'm never going there."

- "Once it is safe." -I reminded her of my promise and she nodded.

- "A man came looking for you."

- "The guy that gave you the toy?"

- "No, someone else."

- "Azgeda?" –she nodded- "Alright, have you seen O?"

- "She left early today and didn't come back."

- "Okay, I'll go look for her and see what Azgeda wants from me." –I hugged her- "You okay?"

- "Yes, I'm staying with Ozkan tonight!"

- "Who gave you permission for that?" –I smiled gently at her; I already knew it had been O, but sometimes I liked to tease her, especially since I had been gone for a long time.

- "O..." –she placed her hands behind her back, shyly moving her foot in circles and looking down.

- "Alright, be good, okay?" –she nodded, wrapping her arms around my neck as I had squatted in front of her- "You want me to walk you there?"

She nodded again, before storming upstairs for some things to bring with her; I loved seeing her so happy. I took the opportunity to go upstairs too to change my wet, and dirty clothes thanks to Jasper before we left. I had another pair of pants and I simply took one of Sheda's t-shirts just in time as Lila came out of her room. The smell of the shirt was comforting, closing my eyes for a second as I put it on before I had to face life once again.

After I left Lila at Ozkan's house and made sure they could keep an eye on her since I didn't know what that Azgeda guy wanted from me, I made my way to the palace, finding Roan in the throne room, alone.

- "Now this is new." –I looked around, surprised- "Where's your spy, she never leaves you alone, especially if I'm coming."

- "Jusheda, you're back." –Roan rose from his throne, ignoring my comment- "Just in time."

- "In time for what?"

- "The alliance has been broken." –Ulger appeared from behind me, trapping my arms- "Our army marches on Arkadia."

- "What!?" –I fought him back, freeing my hands turning to face him- "I kept my part! I came back!"

- "This has nothing to do with you." –Ulger had a smile on his face.

- "Your people did this." –Roan approached us, his tone was severe.

- "What are you both talking about?"

- "We captured two of your hunters in our territory." –Bellamy... my heart started to pound against my chest- "One of them was very talkative; we thanked him properly." –Ulger pointed at a pool of fresh blood on the floor.

- "Their name."

- "Jusheda." –Roan addressed me- "Bellamy is in lockup with your Chancellor."

- "If you hurt him," –I clenched my fists as I let out a shaky breath- "I will destroy you."

- "Your sister, however, escaped just in time." –Ulger sounded annoyed and... scared?

- "I just sent Echo to bring her back before she warns your people." -I knew Octavia, she would die before coming back. I have to find her before something goes wrong- "Echo will bring her back, alive." –Roan seemed to be trying to reassure me, but that didn't cut it; Echo had done nothing to gain my trust.

- "Are you locking me up too with the rest?"

- "No." -Ulger quickly answered- "We have training later and I won't have you plotting with those two."

I don't need anyone to plot against you. If I got to the ground, I knew I could make it out of Polis; Azgeda might have been ruling Polis, but that didn't mean the rest of the clans made it easy. I knew they'd hid me. I had to try.

- "Can I go to my house then?"

- "You're under my supervision." –Ulger approached me- "I can't leave you alone, can't risk you going to warn your people."

- "I know I don't stand a chance to leave Polis, I just hope my sister will get to Arkadia." –I wasn't lying about the last part- "So you can join me, I have shit to do."

- "I expected you to put up a fight." -he seemed almost offended, I sensed he wanted to break my nose again.

- "The boy is here." –Roan spoke now; after everything, he had been able to see through me, not that it was hard- "If he weren't, she would."

- "That would be correct." -if they were giving me an out of this one without seeming suspicious, it'd be dumb of me not to take it.

- "So..." –the mirthless chuckle that accompanied Ulger's comment was infuriating- "Jusheda does have weaknesses, two if I'm not mistaken."

- "I told you what would happen if you tried me, Ulger." –I reminded him, as I took out a blade and started playing with it in front of him- "Can we go now?"

Roan nodded at us, granting us permission to leave the throne room, Ulger quickly stepping in front of me towards the elevator; I had to think of a way to lose him. Lila's not home, so she won't be in any danger even if we get there, and I'm going to need Sheda's horse, Selene needs to rest or we won't make it very far. I don't have time to prepare him, we're going to have to risk it. Where did I leave my bow? I need...

- "You aren't listening to a word I'm saying, Jusheda."

- "Was it anything of importance or were you just being a pain in the ass as usual?"

- "You threatened me in front of a crowd."

- "Because you left me to die in the fucking middle of the forest!"

- "It was part of your training."

- "Oh, and what was I training exactly?" –I stepped out of the elevator, I couldn't let my anger towards him and this new topic fuck up the plan I already had in mind- "Because it looked more like you were trying to get rid of me."

- "Survival."

- "Survival?" –I cocked my head to look back at him- "And what exactly have I been doing since I stepped foot down here? Partying? Eating and sleeping?" -I scoffed, trying to remain calm.

- "How many times have you been alone in the dark? Forcing your eyes to get used to your surroundings in that setting? Forcing your body to move in the shadows?"

- "If you wanted me to train my night vision I can think of at least 20 better scenarios than the one you chose."

- "It also forced you to be resourceful with nature, find shelter, and your way back."

- "If you're trying to convince me about that being a good plan, I beg to disagree." –I could see Sheda's house now- "But we can solve this easily, let me get my bow and quiver and we can go out to a part of the forest of your liking and test all those skills; you can fight me too for embarrassing you the other day if you want, I don't care at this point."

- "Alright, but we'll be going opposite of Arkadia."

- "Whatever, I don't care." –I repeated as I entered the house- "Don't touch anything or I'll cut your hands off."

He nodded, entering the kitchen and leaving me to do as I pleased, which was his second mistake. Not locking me up? His first one; wrong choice. I made my way upstairs, picking my bow and quiver and stopping at my doorway to listen to what Ulger was doing; he seemed still entertained snooping around, so I tiptoed my way to Sheda's room that was over the stable where our horses were; I opened the window and looked down, Selene and Vukan were peacefully resting there but moved their ears as they heard me opening the window and jumping on the window's frame. I can't waste time hesitating; my sister needs me.

- "Jusheda!" –Ulger was coming upstairs, patience wasn't one of his virtues, not that he had any- "What are you doing?" –he spoke as he landed eyes on me.

- "You shouldn't trust my kind."

I jumped out just in time before Ulger could catch me, landing on my ass over a pile of straw which, luckily, softened my fall, but I had no time to grunt in pain; I jumped on Vukan and started moving out of there, looking back to see a tremendously angered Ulger getting back inside as I smiled to myself. I'll deal with that later. I knew the way that O had most likely taken back to Arkadia, Echo had 5, top 10 minutes of advantage over me so I had to move quickly to catch her and get first to O.

- "Let's go, Vukan." –I tightened my legs around him- "Sheda always was rambling about how fast you really are, show me."

We galloped through the forest as I tried to keep my mind clear in order not to miss any clues of where O could be, in case something had gone wrong and, if I hadn't, I'd have missed the arrow on the tree on the crossroads. I recognized the arrow, for each clan adorned theirs differently and this was Azgeda's. They ambushed her. She couldn't go back and couldn't move forward for they shut her way. I forced Vukan to move to my left, through a small path through the bushes that looked like a couple of horses had just passed by; my suspicions became clear as I heard another horse.

- "Go, Vukan, we're close!"

- "Jusheda, enough!"

I turned my face to see Ulger, moving towards us. He clearly wasted no damn time, I don't need this right now.

- "Fuck you, Ulger. Go back to the rock you crawled from!"

I squeezed my calves against Vukan and he immediately understood, following the path I was sure O had taken, becoming crystal clear I was right as we caught up with one of the Azgeda warriors who, for no reason, pointed their arrow at me and shot. Fine. This is going to be hard, but there's no other way. Considering I had no reigns to grab and no seat to balance myself properly, letting go of Vukan's mane was, by the book, a mistake, but considering the other option was getting an arrow to the chest, I took my chances.

- "I'd appreciate it if you didn't drop me now, Vukan."

I tightened my legs around him as much as I could and rested my abdomen over his neck to gain some extra support as I took my bow and arrow and pointed it at the man shooting me; since he had to turn around to shoot, it was harder for him, which worked on my advantage as I shoot and hit him on a leg; the sudden movement making his horse change ways. Let's hope I don't have to do that again. As I grabbed again to Vukan's mane, a horse without a rider galloped in our direction. She got one down too. I smiled to myself. We'll get out of this one.

But the next thing I saw, did nothing to reinforce the feeling of hope I was starting to harvest inside me; Echo was fighting Octavia at the edge of a cliff, O walking backward to the edge, and Echo doing nothing to stop her. So much for bringing her back alive.

I had Ulger behind me so I couldn't lose time. I forced Vukan to a stop, jumping from him and taking out my blade, but I was too late. Echo stabbed Octavia. I yelled as I watched her pulling the sword from O's body. Time froze as I watched my sister tumbling back towards the edge of the cliff. I threw my blade at Echo; I wasn't even sure where I was aiming it at, I could only see my sister bleeding from her abdomen, everything else disappeared. I ran and ran until I was almost next to her, throwing my bow and quiver on the ground, but she lost her balance and fell back towards the river. My heart stopped, I couldn't breathe as the tears filled my eyes; I took the last steps to the edge and jumped catching Octavia's hand in mine as I held to a branch almost at the top of the cliff. Maybe, we could make it out of this one.

- "I got you, O." –I started tearing up- "I got you, I'm not letting go."

- "Sam, you have to!" –Octavia grunted, trying to force me to open my hand- "Survive."

- "Jusheda." –Ulger was kneeling on the edge, trying to catch my hand- "Drop her and save yourself. Take my hand."

- "Do it, Sam!" -I glanced at Octavia, clenching my jaw as my strength started to fail me; I could tell she was in pain as she closed her eyes and grabbed her abdomen with her other hand.

- "You and I are a team, O; you're my family." –I breathed out, almost consumed by the situation, looking up one last time, seeing Echo standing next to Ulger; the hand I was using to keep both of us up started to shake, I wasn't strong enough- "Whatever happens..." –I glued my eyes to my sister's as she opened them and they widened as she realized what I was going to do- "Ogeda." [Together]

I allowed the branch to slip in between my fingers as Octavia screamed at me, but it was true, there was no way in hell I was going to live without her; this wasn't a choice. I wrapped my arms tightly around her, forcing her to hide her face on my chest as we both fell head-first towards the river.

- "I love you, O." –I kissed the top of her head before closing my eyes, ready for impact.

- "I love you, Sam."