"You're being sent to the ground as banishment," the voice of current Chancellor Jaha rang out. The detained teenager glared at the man standing before him. Asce was currently handcuffed and standing in front of the council to see what his death sentence would be. The Chancellor had put in a new rule that families were only allowed one child, and the oldest one would either be floated or put in solitary until they turned 18 to be floated.
Asce was dressed in his black leather jacket, a worn out white shirt, black pants with holes at the knees and black worn down boots. Gray eyes stared down brown ones. Sent to the ground? That's the best they could do?
He scoffed. "Being sent to the ground is a blessing than standing in front of you. You floated my girlfriend whose only crime was not being an only child. You tore her from her family, her parents, her younger sister, and here you are, going to tear me from mine. I knew you were a coward Jaha, never thought you were heartless to." He spit towards the Chancellor and was quickly tased, being brought to his knees as he felt the electricity flow through his body. He groaned as he felt his body fall to the ground, a boot on his back.
"I did what I had to do to keep the human race alive. You will be sent to the ground with a wristband to monitor your vitals. Take him to doctor Griffin to get his wrist band set up before putting him in a pod." Jaha ordered and sat up a little straighter in his chair. He watched as Asce was jerked to his feet and shoved towards the door.
"Jaha you coward! Why don't you float Wells! He isn't an only child, he has a younger brother. Go float your son!" Asce screamed as he was dragged out of the room, glaring down the Chancellor until he was out of sight. He was quickly thrown to the ground and tased again as soon as he was out of the door.
"You will respect him." A voice growled from above. Asce didn't care what guard it was, he just wanted to see his family before he was sent to his death. They beat him a little more with their fists and boots, giving him a bloody nose and bruises along his abdomen. The guards picked him back up and shoved him to keep walking to the medical bay.
When they arrived Asce quickly scanned the area and saw his mother and little sister cleaning medical equipment, he knew Clarke would grow up with fine medical skills, just like he had. His parents taught them everything they knew, his father taught him to build things out of nothing and his mother taught him first aid, just like they were teaching Clarke, he only hoped for the girl to continue drawing as he taught her, his final lesson to her.
"Doctor Griffin, we need the wristband." One of his guards called to her, Abby spun around and was shocked to see her son, handcuffed and being held up right by the guards.
"What is this?" The doctor questioned as she quickly made her way to her son, holding his face gently. Her brown eyes scanned his face, the face of the 15 year old that she birthed and raised with her husband, his light gray eyes oozed sadness as he tried not to shed a single tear.
"I'm being sent to the ground," came a whisper from her son's lips. Tears quickly gathered and leaked from her eyes as she hugged him as tight as she could. She let him go and told the guards to uncuff her son. The guard nodded his head and uncuffed the boy who quickly held his mother tight. She kissed his forehead and let go, crying softly. Trying to stay strong for her children, she watched as he fell to his knees and caught his younger sister in a tight hug. He stood with her perched on his right hip.
"Well munchkin what have you been up to?" He tried desperately to keep his voice from shaking. The girl in his arms grinned as she threw her small arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.
"Mom's been teaching me how to check vital signs, like the pulse and stuff!" She grinned as she explained to her brother what she was taught over the past few hours. He smiled sadly at the girl and took in her appearance one last time, her blue eyes sparkled with excitement, her blonde hair was currently in pigtails that she insisted on him to put in her hair this morning. She wore a light gray shirt that had some holes, light blue jeans and small dark boots that everyone on the Ark wore.
"That's great kid. Hey you be good for mom and dad okay? I have to go somewhere for a while." He kissed her head and held her tighter; he didn't want to leave his baby sister behind, not on this metal box in the sky while he was being sent to the ground. He didn't realize that his mother had slipped away and brought back a metal wrist band until she was holding his left arm and put it over his wrist. It bit into his skin as it took his vitals, he tried to ignore it and just focus on his little sister. He told her so many times that she was his little ball of sunshine because how her hair looked like it was gold. The girl stared at him confused.
"Where are you going? Are you going to be back for dinner? Can we play hide and seek when you get back? What's that?" She questioned and pointed to his wrist where the cold metal band sat.
He chuckled and shook his head sadly. "I'm going a way for a long while, but when we see each other again we can play hide and seek as much as we want okay? Don't worry what this is, it's just a new thing I have to try out for Jaha." His voice cracked as more tears ran down his face. The girl nodded and he handed her off to their mother. Her light brown hair was tied back into a ponytail and her eyes were red and puffy. She wore a black long sleeved shirt and black pants.
"Alright times up, doctor you can come see if you want." She nodded and held her daughter tighter as her son was once again handcuffed and shoved forward. "Hey don't push my brother!" Clarke yelled at the guard. She didn't understand why they were being mean to him, he didn't do anything wrong.
The group silently walked to the waiting pod, where Jaha, Jake and a few other guards were waiting.
"Dad." Asce choked out. His father was crying, his eyes bloodshot, Jake quickly hugged his oldest child as tight as he could and cried a little harder.
"It's gonna be alright Asce, just remember what we taught you and stay alive for as long as possible. I'm so sorry you have to go through this, I'm so sorry Asce." His father said in his ear while gripping onto his son. The guard released him and he hugged his father back just as tightly.
Asce shook his head and gripped his father tighter, reassuring him that this was not his fault. They stood like that a little longer before being joined by Abby and Clarke. Asce cried silently, holding his family for the last time, trying to keep this for as long as possible. Jaha's voice broke them up.
'It's time Asce." He said as he stood tall with his shoulder back and head held high. Asce let his family go slowly and reached into his pocket to pull out a piece of paper, it was a portrait he had done while he was locked up before being sentenced to the ground. He had a replica in his pocket. Asce handed it to his mother, he took off his silver ring to hand to his father, and his necklace to his sister. The necklace was a crystal that he accidentally made one day with his father. It was see through and had a crack in it. He always said that even the most beautiful of objects crack. He put it around Clarke's neck and stared at her a little longer.
"Take extra care of this Clarke, you know how much it meant to me. Don't lose it and hold onto it for me. Can you do that sunshine?" He said through his tears. She nodded and hugged her brother thinking he was going to work. Asce kissed her forehead one last time.
"Okay Asce. I promise. I love you big brother!" She grinned. He smiled sadly as new tears fell from his eyes. Glancing at his parents he nodded.
"I love you to munchkin, all of you be strong. May we meet again." His mother cried harder as Jake held her. Clarke was the only one not crying and was confused. Her brother was just going to work wasn't he?
"Move it." The guard said as he jerked Asce towards the pod. He fought back and looked towards his family. He heard Clarke calling out to him as they strapped him to the chair and left the pod. He could hear banging on the door and knew it was Clarke, his parents were trying to stay strong.
"May we meet again sunshine." He said and was launched off from the Ark, into space towards the ground. The pod shook heavily and when he reached the atmosphere the pod quickly heated up. He knew better than to touch anything but the chair. Suddenly it felt like he was being pulled up and jerked forward in his seat.
The parachute was deployed and he was falling to the ground at a slightly slower rate, just enough to keep him from dying on impact.
The dark haired teen braced himself for the landing. When he hit the ground a spare part flew off the wall and hit him in the head, cutting into his skin and knocking him unconscious.
When he came to he was on his back and two people were leaning over him, one of them had a sword pointed to his throat. Asce tried to get his eyes to focus on the one with the sword. He was tall and built heavily, he had a long beard that reached his chest, he had some sort of tribal tattoo on the right side of his face. His black hair was shaved down the sides and the top of it was slicked back. His brown eyes looked down at him menacingly.
The woman beside him was smaller than him, she had dark skin and wore a more crescent shaped tattoo around her right eye. She had short black hair and stared down at him.
They both were dressed similarly, both in black armor and had swords at their sides. Daggers on their thighs and another sword strapped to their backs. They didn't seem like the type to escort him to a welcome to Earth party. He thought for a moment that he was dreaming, that something went wrong and he died coming to Earth.
"Bilaik ste yu." (Who are you) Said the woman in a strange accent, she tried again when he didn't answer.
"Weron du yu kom op." (Where do you come from) The words slightly clicked in Asce's mind.
"I am Asce Griffin, I'm sorry I don't understand most of what you are saying but I come from the sky." He pointed to the pod. "I was sent in that by my leader. He ordered I be sent down here to die." Asce explained and the two warriors looked at each other before the man put his sword away and hauled Asce to his feet. "The Commander would want to meet you Sky Boy." He said in a gruff voice.
They started walking through the woods and after a while they came across a village, it was bustling with people who stopped and stared at the strange man behind escorted by the two warriors.
"Heda ste nou going krom bilaik happy osir bring an splita krom em Indra."(The Commander is not going to be happy we brought an outsider to her Indra) The man said to the woman, Asce guessed her name was Indra.
"Heda na gaf in krom see em Gostos an ai op hakom em ste hir an taim em ridiyo don slip daun kom skai."(The Commander would need to see him Gustus and see why he is here and if he truly fell from the sky) Asce gave up on trying to figure out what they were saying and just followed them to a large tent with two guards standing at the entrance; they nodded at the two while eyeing Asce suspiciously.
Before Asce entered the tent with Indra the man stood in front of him.
"If you so much as look at her the wrong way I will slit your throat." He growled at him.
Nodding in understanding Asce followed Indra into the tent where he saw a child sitting on a throne of antlers playing with a knife in her hands. She was dressed in all black and had a shoulder guard on her left shoulder that held a red sash to her, there was face paint across her eyes and a small gear between her eyebrows, she looked slightly like a raccoon. She had brown hair that was pulled back into a set of braids. Her green eyes were staring him down, Asce guessed that this was the Commander.
"So you are the one my general tells me fell from the sky." Her voice came out smooth yet firm at the same time. Asce nodded.
"Why are you here and did you truly fall from the sky." She questioned, raising an eyebrow at the teenager in front of her. She looked no older than Clarke, was a child truly leading them?
"Yes, um Commander, I fell from the sky, my leader sent me down here to die for the crime of being born. He enforced that every family only have one child and all the elder children had to be killed. He sent me down here instead." Asce explained, gritting his teeth as he felt the anger build up in him for what Jaha has done.
The Commander looked at him curiously.
"Your leader order the execution of children for them being born?" He nodded.
"Tell me more about this space and leader that sent you to your death." The child leaned forward, she didn't look older than 11.
"My leader said that to save oxygen that families were permitted only one child, the oldest was no longer allowed to stay alive. I am the oldest so I was sent to die. The leader killed my girlfriend and many other of my friends. He tore families apart and forced them to watch as he executed their children. My family watched as I was sent to the ground." He stated bitterly.
"Why were you sent to death on earth and not executed like the others? You say you are the oldest, do you have siblings?" The girl was curious that's for sure.
"I do not know why I was sent down here and not executed. Yes I am the oldest, I have a younger sister still in space with our parents. She is only 5 years old while I am 15." He stated. He missed Clarke, she was always helping someone and put others before herself. He remembered teaching her to draw, coming to pick her up when his shift ended from the medical bay where she usually was with their mother. How they played hide and seek all the time. How he would read her bedtime stories and watch over the girl when she was asleep. How she would crawl into bed with him if she had a nightmare and he would sing and rock her back to sleep with the promise of being there to protect her from anymore bad dreams the girl would have.
"How would your leader execute the others?" The child leaned forward slightly, interested in this newcomer.
Asce tensed and let out a shallow breath before he continued.
"He would have them locked in a cell made from metal, there are two doors, one that leads to the emptiness of space and the other that leads to the main ship. They would pull a level as your loved ones would bang on the glass and scream and cry, you would be sucked into space when the door opened and you would stare at your loved ones until you could no longer see them anymore because of how far you floated. It's cold in space, so you would freeze or you would suffocate, whichever happened to you first. We call it, floating."
A heavy silence filled the air as the Commander and her generals processed what the boy had said.
"Your leader would do that to his own people?" The boy nodded.
"All but his oldest son. He couldn't stand to float his son so he acted as if it wasn't a problem while parents were forced to watch their children die."
"I see. Well then Asce of the Sky People, you have a choice, stay here and train or go into the wild and die on your own. The choice is yours." The girl said, already knowing he wasn't stupid enough to go back into the wild with no sort of knowledge on what he was facing.
"I shall stay, thank you Commander." He bowed his head to the girl who had just saved his life. She nodded and called someone into her tent, he was a strong looking man with pale blue eyes. His beard barely passed his chin. He looked about 19.
"Sha heda?" (Yes Commander?) He said, his voice not as gruff as the other mans.
"Jak op em krom fis op his ledon, em ste laksen."(Take him to be healed of his injuries, he is hurt) The Commander said as she nodded her head towards Asce.
The man nodded and went to escort the teen out when the Commander said one last thing.
"Bilaik kefa krom em, em get in diyo osir do nou. Em does nou speak oso sleng krei lan op Gonasleng."(Be careful with him, he knows things we do not. He does not speak our language so use English) The man nodded again and gently guided the boy to another tent which Asce guessed was the medical tent.
"You fell from the sky?" The question slightly startled Asce, not knowing he was going to speak.
"Uh yeah, I was sent to death actually." The man stared at him in confusion, waiting for Asce to explain.
"There is a rule in space, since oxygen is a valuable resource we do not have families are only allowed one child. If there is more than one child to a family the eldest would be executed. Since I have a younger sister I was supposed to be executed, but our leader sent me down here to die." Asce explained wincing slightly when the healer had put something on the cut that ran across his temple.
'Your leader does not sound pleasant, he sounds heartless." Asce chuckled a bit. Heartless was an understatement.
"He isn't fair either, he has two children and he lets his oldest son live while he rips the older children from other families and forces them to watch their child's execution on the crimes of simply being born." Asce said bitterly.
"He would not last a second on the ground then. I am Nyko the healer and you are in the village of TonDc, that was our Commander you just spoke to. Your training will most likely take place in the morning at first light." Asce nodded as Nyko finished his wounds. He was in a completely different world so he might as well just live like they do.
Asce was sent to a tent on the outskirts of the village, not that he minded, he needed to think about what he just got himself into. No one disturbed him for the rest of the night and he fell asleep, his dreams filled with the sky and his family.
Well first chapter is done! I hope you enjoy this story, Asce is my own character and is Clarke's older brother.
ASCE'S NAME IS PRONOUNCED "ASK" IN TRIGEDASLENG
He plays music and taught Clarke to draw.
He has black hair cut into a faux hawk with the sides shaved. He is 5'4' in this chapter but will grow to be 6'3". He has gray eyes and is just a little tanner than Clarke. His parents don't know how he has black hair and gray eyes but they just go with it.
Hope to see you guys next chapter!
Ciao!