A/N:
Hi guys,
It's me…. again, with a new story…. again. I've had this idea since last year, but never got around to actively write it – until now. I've got a massive writer's block coupled with a busy life and other things. For all of those who read one or more of my other stories, I'm deeply sorry for not having updated for so long. I'm working on it, but I'm still not fully over the writer's block. Finally beginning with this story helped a little and I promise you I won't abandon my other stories. I will just need some more time working through everything.
Though before we'll start this journey, I'd like to state a few things beforehand. As you've probably read in the summary, this story is about Clarke growing up on earth instead of the space. And she's a nightblood. The thought that started this whole idea was: How would everything be if it would have been Clarke instead of Luna who was with Lexa in the conclave, and Lexa helping her flee? That was the original thought and I began imagining different scenes and they got so many that I started to divide them into different parts, meaning I crated the ground work for my very first series.
The story throughout this series will be mostly told from Clarke's point of view, though I worked in a few chapters were we'll see Lexa's and maybe some of the others. This series will roughly follow the happenings of the show – with a few changes. And another important thing: Lexa will not die!
Regarding Trigedasleng, I decided not to use it for now. Let's pretend that as long as the Sky People aren't there yet, they are all talking Trigedasleng. Later in the series I try to make the difference obvious.
Well, that's enough from me. I hope you're curious enough to enter this journey with me.
So it begins…
Prologue
Long, gentle fingers traced the six little letters on the side of the tight knit fabric. A soft humming could be heard in the room, the melody of a song earlier generations have already sung to their children. Her own mother loved to sing it to her, creating their own little universe. Her fingers moved along the last of the letters.
Clarke.
Her little angel. Her world. Her life.
Even after four months, Abby Griffin still couldn't stop herself staring in awe at this little bundle of life. Clarke seemed to be the perfect blend of herself and her husband, Jake.
Abby bended further down and kissed her daughter's forehead tenderly, big blue eyes flickered up to her and a happy laugh left those little lips causing the young mother to join into the laugher. Tiny fingers reached up and grabbed onto the chain Abby always wore around her neck. It was a trinket Jake had given her for their wedding, three oval circles intertwined with each other. The symbol of the Ark.
This little symbol had been in Jake's family for three generations, Jake's ancestor had created it as his wife had been tasked to draw the symbol displaying their new space station. Jake had wanted her to have this and in a few years, they would give it to their daughter.
"You're a cutie, my little baby girl."
"Beautiful just like her mother."
The blonde woman turned around and smiled widely at her husband who moved away from the door and towards his girls, first planting a kiss on his daughter's head before his lips met the ones of his amazing wife.
"Did you get the results of your tests?"
Jake hummed absently, gently caressing Abby's back while he stared at his daughter whom had happily closed her eyes after her father had come into sight, content to know that now both of her parents are with her.
"I take it the outcome didn't really satisfy you much?"
"The systems which aren't working correctly can't be bypassed. It will take quite some time to get the needed materials for the repair. We would need to start working on it as soon as possible. Maybe even evacuating a station for some time being."
"Evacuating a whole station isn't going to be easy. It's pretty much impossible. Where shall the people go? There's no space."
"I know," Jake sighed. He already went through a lot of different scenarios of how they could repair the machines in the best way without creating a big hassle. "I'll speak to the council."
"They won't be happy about this."
"No one will be happy about this. But I can't change the fact that we may have a serious issue on our hands just because they don't like it. Keeping it under wraps will just make it even worse."
"Be careful, Jake. The council is even more ruthless than usual. Diana has a tight grip on everything."
"I will. Is there any progress with that serum you were talking about?"
Abby had found some notes about a serum in the remaining data from the Polaris station. Apparently a scientist was working on a serum which could make it able for them to withstand the radiology on earth caused by the bombs, giving them the option to go back to the earth way sooner than planned.
At first, the young doctor had toyed with the idea of looking into this serum, knowing that she'd have to work on it in private seeing that the Ark wasn't fond of experiments like these. However, when she had heard from Jake that there might be a problem with the life support system of the Ark, Abby hadn't hesitated and started to work on it. Now, the blonde had everything ready for a test trial.
"I'm about to start some test, see if everything works as it should. If there are any negative effects. I'm afraid the data wasn't complete and some part of it was damaged. But I'm in cheerful spirits."
"That means we have an alternative?"
"Maybe. But I need more time."
Jake put his arm around his wife, holding her closely. "We'll make it through it, I promise."
Jake coursed loudly as his hand got in contact with one of the hot pipes. Slumping back against the cold metal wall the young engineer sighed in frustration. He had his hearing in front of the council yesterday about the problems with their systems and it couldn't have gone any worse than it had. They had downright shredded his results in little pieces, stating that all of his findings were based on a hypothetic. A what if.
Sure, there was a chance that the problem won't get worse and that everything was alright and that there were no worries about a future system failure. But Jake didn't like to live with what if's, at least not these concerning the future of thousands of people. The least they could do was starting a repairing action in Jake's thought. Just a small team of people working on this. Better now than later when this what if will become very real. Better safe than sorry, his father had always said to him.
Even his private conversation with his best friend, council man Thelonious Jaha, was for naught. Apparently there was nothing Thelonious could do to help him, advising him to keep tab on the problem and react as soon as it will get worse. Why everything had to get worse until someone was willing to do something was beyond him. They were in space, low on materials. By not acting now they were wasting time, time they'd later need.
Jake already thought about doing a quick video and releasing it on the Ark Channel for everyone to see, giving the citizen of the Ark the chance to choose themselves if they want to ignore the problem or do something about it.
Though his wife was against it, telling him to listen to the council for now while she'd try to work faster on the serum.
Exhaling loudly, Jake gathered his things and left his work area and was looking forward to a quiet evening with his girls. His feet carried him through the corridors, knowing the path to his and his wife's rooms by heart. He was just about to turn into the corridor his home was located when a soft yet strong hand gripped on his arm, pulling him back and into one of the machine rooms.
"Hey, what-"
"Shhh, it's me." Jake glanced stunned in his wife's eyes, surprised at her actions. "What did you do?"
"Abby?"
"The guards are searching for you. What did you do, Jake?"
"Nothing!" His confused eyes searched in her panicking ones for the answer for his wife's strange behavior. He hadn't done anything but his normal job and he had no idea why the guards were searching for him. "I was doing normal maintenance."
"God, Jake! I told you to be careful." Abby raised her voice, though not loud enough to attract attention to their position.
"Wait, where's Clarke?"
"She's fine. Callie's watching her."
Jake shook his head. "Did they tell you what they want?"
"No, only that they are searching for you. I've heard from others that there's a warrant out for you."
"I don't understand. I haven't done anything to earn myself a warrant."
Abby turned around combing with her hand through her hair, shaking her head a few times while trying to ground herself again. There was no time to lose her mind. If she wanted to protect her family she will have to keep a cool head. After a few seconds she turned back around looking at her husband. "Is there anything you can think of that could've gotten you into this mess? Anything?"
"With anything you mean about the faulty systems I found?"
"I'm pretty sure they don't search for you because you did your day-to-day-work."
"No. I've told you about the meeting with the council. There was nothing more."
"And you've told no one else?"
"No," He replied when suddenly his eyes widened as he remembered something. "I've told Thelonious that I thought about releasing a video to the citizen."
"He wouldn't do that." Abby instantly spoke, unbelieving that their friend could and would betray them like that.
"Maybe he told someone whom told the wrong person?"
"The serum is ready. All my tests have been positive lately."
Stunned at the sudden change of topic Jake glanced at his wife. "What are you saying, Abby?"
The blonde doctor moved closer to her husband again. "Jake, we both know what happens if they arrest you. Whatever the reason for the warrant, it will end in your death. Our only chance is to flee to earth."
"What?!" Jake asked shocked at what he had just heard his wife say.
"We get Clarke, take the serum and make our way as fast as possible to the escape pot."
Strong and calloused hands gripped on Abby's arms as if hoping to get the woman back to reality and think clearly. "Are you aware of what you're saying? You want to inject us – inject our sweet baby girl – with a questionable substance, leave everything and everyone we know behind and take the only escape pot the Ark's keeping ready at all times for emergencies and go down to an still radiated earth?"
"They will kill you!"
"But you and Clarke will live!"
Silence.
Two sets of eyes staring into each other.
A silent battle of wills.
"I am trusting in this serum! And I am trusting in you to get us down there safely!" Abby continued now in a more collected tone.
"Abby…"
The soft hands of Abby moved up to cup her husband's cheeks, her eyes full of despair before she shakily spoke up again. "Clarke needs her father. I need you."
Jake briefly looked up to the ceiling thinking of himself as crazy for even considering his wife's plan.
"Please."
This one little word, so full of sadness and with the feeling that any of these six letters will break any moment brought Jake's attention back to Abby, a lone tear running down her left cheek completed the picture of a wife and mother trying to desperately protecting what was hers. And the sight of his hurting love was all it took to break through the remaining concerns.
Gently he wiped away the tear and placed a reassuring kiss on her head, evolving her into a tight embrace. "Alright." He felt her nod against his chest but she kept her arms around him, as if she was afraid that if she let go he'd disappear.
"How do you want to pull this off?"
"It's not far to our rooms. The guards were already there and they're searching other parts of the station right now. They will probably come back to see if you arrived home in the meantime, but I think you've got some time before they come. They can't do a huge search, it would get the attention of the citizen. You've enough time to pack some things. I'll go get the serum and Clarke. We'll meet at the dropship. Do you think you could manage this and stay unseen?"
"I know of a few maintenance shafts. I think I could make my way there mostly through them."
"Okay," The blonde nodded, lips pulling up a bit to try and give him a reassuring smile. "I love you."
Jake smiled and gave Abby a quick kiss on the lips. "I love you, too."
"Let's go before the guards come back to search this area again."
Abby opened the door and glanced out into the corridors trying to see if any guards were there, motioning for her husband to come out after her as she cleared the path. Jake squeezed her hand before slipping past her and making quickly his way to their home to pack some necessary things. It will be hard to pull off, but Abby was confident. It had to work out.
As soon as the blonde saw Jake slipping through the doors and into their rooms she made her own way back to the lab, all the way trying to look like nothing was going on and hoping that no one would stop her on her way. Time was crucial.
Opening the door to medical Abby noticed some of her colleagues treating patients and she was glad that none of them seemed to be aware of her presence. Keeping her head low she moved to her work station.
"Abby, what are you doing here?"
Tensing slightly at the voice of her superior the blonde doctor turned around and looked into the face of Dr. Ramon Baker. She had always looked up to the man, thought of him as a brilliant doctor and a friendly boss. He had always encouraged her, telling her that she was on her way to become a great doctor herself.
He was also the one telling her she was pregnant.
Putting on a brave smile Abby shook her head. "I forgot something. I was just about to fetch it and go home."
"The guards were here for Jake. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's probably about the hearing in front of the council about the possibility of upgrading some of the systems. You and I both know how he is, Dr. Baker. Chances are he's sitting somewhere tinkling with some machines forgetting all about the time."
Dr. Baker chuckled at that. "True. He sure loves his job. Well, greet him for me when you see him."
"I will."
She watched how Dr. Baker approached a new patient and went back to work on getting three syringes with the serum. On her way out of medical she grabbed a few other supplies she thought they could need for their trip down to earth.
Once out of medical she quickly made her way to Callie to get her daughter, hoping that her friend won't have the time to converse much. She and Callie had always been close, having lived next door to each other while growing up. It had been a natural decision to make her Clarke's godmother. Abby trusted her with the lives of her loved ones.
That meant also that Callie was the one to easily pick up any strange behavior Abby would show. She'd have to be extra careful with her. If possible, Abby didn't want her involved in this mess. The prospect of leaving her best friend behind hurt, but she can't let them take her husband.
Knowing the way by heart Abby soon found herself knocking on Callie's door, waiting patiently for the other woman to greet her. It took only a few seconds for Callie to come to the door and the doctor was greeted by her best friend with a fussy baby in her arms.
"Abby, I didn't expect you for another hour."
"I got off work early. It's a slow day today." Abby shrugged.
"Really? You're always the last to go home."
"Jake will come home soon and we want to spend some time with Clarke."
Callie smiled. "That's understandable."
"I hope she's been good today."
"She's an angel. Though a little edgy for the last hour or so. I haven't been able to calm her down yet."
"We're having a few more kids in medical right now, maybe she caught the cold that's going round at the moment. I'll get her checked out if she keeps being so fussy."
"Okay," The black-haired woman lifted her goddaughter up and placed her into the arms of her mother, Clarke immediately turning her head into Abby's chest breathing in the familiar smell of her. "Let me just get her things and then off you go."
Abby smiled melancholy at Callie's retreating form. She'll miss her best friend, that was for sure. They had shared their ups and downs of their life with each other. Leaving Callie behind caused a piercing pain through her heart. Abby knew that if it would be allowed to have more than one child on the Ark, Callie would be the perfect sister the blonde could have wished for.
"So, there are her things." Callie came back into view and handed Abby the bag containing Clarke's things.
The blonde doctor glanced at the dark-haired woman, adjusting Clarke in her arms she put her other arm around Callie and squeezed her tightly fully knowing that this was the last time she'd see her. "Thanks."
"Of course, Abby. You know I always love to help out." Callie replied confused at her friend's odd behavior.
"I've got to go. Take care."
Abby didn't wait for a response and took off towards the machinery room Jake would be waiting for them. She steadily made her way through the corridors, a few people greeted her, some of them she knew from medical, though Abby didn't stop for one second.
The blonde cursed under her breath when she noticed two guards making their way in her direction. Fortunately they appeared obvious to her presence and Abby didn't hesitate and quickly opened the closest door and entered the room. Closing the door behind her she turned around and took note of the room, a supply closet. Not much hiding space in case the guards did see her entering the room.
Abby held her breath as she listened to the two sets of feet drawing closer to her hiding place. Unfortunately Clarke chose this exact moment to start fussing again, her whining no doubt audible from outside on the corridor. The blonde mother tried to shush her daughter, rocking her gently in her arms.
Blue eyes concentrated on her mother but she still kept wiggling around in her arms. Abby quickly pulled out the necklace around her neck, knowing that Clarke always loved to play with it for some reason. She placed it around her daughter's neck and tiny fingers immediately sought out the chain now lying on her little belly. She smiled as she watched big blue eyes inspecting the trinket with wonder in her eyes.
Abby's eyes flickered to the door as she heard the door guards directly outside the door. This was it. Either she'd be discovered in the next few seconds or she and Jake had a real chance at fleeing from the Ark with their daughter, seeing that she was just a corridor away from the dropship.
She was relieved when she heard the steps continuing on and further away from her spot. Waiting another few seconds for the guards to be gone completely from the corridor, the doctor busied herself with watching her daughter touching the trinket. She wished her daughter would've had more time to grow up before being taken to such a risky mission.
But as much as she wanted to Abby couldn't change their situation right now. This was her family and she was protecting each and every member of it, even if it'd be the last thing she'd ever do.
The moment Abby thought it was safe to leave the supply closet she continued to make her way to where Jake was waiting for her.
Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she rounded the corner and entered the room containing the little ship that will take them to earth. Panic arose in her as she couldn't find her husband and her eyes flickered through the room to find her love.
"Jake?" Nothing.
"Jake?!"
There was a noise from behind the dropship and her husband stepped out of the shadows, and only then did Abby try to control her breathing again. "God, Jake! Don't scare me like that."
"I'm sorry. I was working on the ship."
Abby glanced warily at the ship that seemed barely big enough to fit all three of them inside. "Is it ready yet?"
"I have to breach some of the programs, but I think it could work." Jake replied, gently brushing over his daughter's head before he eyed the little medical bag at Abby's side. "Do you have the serum?"
His wife followed his stare and looked back up at him again as she nodded.
"Okay," Jake said and rolled up his sleeve. "I'll take it first."
"Jake…"
"I won't let you or our daughter take it before I know for certain that it won't harm either of you." Jake argued.
Abby nodded understanding and handed Clarke over to Jake, taking out the three syringes with the serum. Jake held his daughter securely in his arm and held out his other arm for Abby to inject him with the serum. Both of them watched as the black liquid made its way into Jake's system.
"How are you feeling?"
Jake took a deep breath as he waited for any negative reactions of the serum to appear, but there was nothing. No pain, no itch, no strange reactions of any kind. "Good. I can't feel any changes. Is that normal, should I feel something? Does it work?"
"I don't know. The tests were all positive, but I don't know anything about the human organic reaction to the serum."
"So we don't know for sure if it worked."
Abby looked at Jake trying to find some words. Did it work? She had dozens of test results stating that it was working perfectly. But then again she had yet to test it on a real human body. As much as she wanted to tell her husband that it had worked doubtlessly, there was still a voice at the back of her head telling her that there was a chance for it to not work.
However they won't know until they were on earth.
Best case scenario, it worked.
Worst case scenario, they would all die. And everything would've been for naught.
Jake seemed to know her thoughts as he now held Clarke with both of his arms. "Abby, we can still change our mind. We can go back out there and you and Clarke can live safely on the Ark."
"But they'll kill you."
"I just want a life for the two most precious women in my life. I don't care about what will happen to me."
"But I care. And Clarke cares, too. Her smile always lightens up the room the moment her eyes fall upon you. She doesn't calm down in anyone else's arms as quick as she does in yours. She may not be able to say it yet but, just like for me, you're her world."
"Don't neglect yourself like that. Clarke loves you, too."
Abby smiled. "I know. But I want her to grow up with her mother and her father."
"Alright. Then let's get this over with so we can prepare the dropship."
It didn't take long to inject Abby and Clarke with the serum and Jake continued to work on the dropship while Abby took Clarke into the ship. The blonde didn't know how much time had passed until she heard a sound of victory and saw Jake grinning widely at her. She couldn't help but smile at his reaction.
"Ready?"
He nodded. "Ready."
They strapped each other in and secured the few things they had with them. Clarke was safely in her mother's arms as Jake pushed some buttons and the ship came to life with just a few clicks. Abby waited with bated breath for the start, but she only heard Jake's cursing and she glanced at the control system in front of them, a red warning blinking at them.
"What's wrong?"
"The hatch won't open up."
"Can you work it out?"
Jake frowned, glaring annoyed at the console in front of him. "I could, but I'd need a day or so."
"A day? We don't have a day."
"There's another way. We could manually open the hatch." There was something in his voice. A defeated tone as he stated the second option.
"I sense a but."
"The lever is outside of the room. Then there'll be a thirty seconds delay until the hatch will open up. In that time someone has to disconnect the dropship from the Ark."
"Thirty seconds are doable, Jake. I can go and pull that damn lever and run back to the ship. It's not that far."
"I know, but…but what if you don't make it back in time?"
"Jake," Abby sighed before leaning in to capture his lips with hers. "We both know that I have to be the one going back out there. I have absolutely no idea how to disconnect the dropship."
Jake nodded and observed Abby opening the securing straps again. His eyes never left her form as she got out of the ship and made her way back to the other side of the room and out of his sight. Sighing he glanced at his daughter. "Let's hope your mom's back soon, kiddo."
Outside of the room Abby opened the security glass over the lever and took a deep breath before she pulled it. An alarm rung out, signaling the area for the impending opening of the hatch. She was about to run back to the ship that contained her family when a hand on her arm stopped her.
Shocked at being discovered Abby turned around and stared in the face of her confused looking friend. "Thelonious?"
"Abby, what's going on here?" Thelonious Jaha asked her.
"Thelonious, please! I don't have time to explain."
Thelonious just kept staring at his friend, his grip on Abby's arm not once loosening. "There are guards on their way, quite a lot of them thanks to the alarm!"
Another warning sounded through the room and corridor. A loud metallic voice stating that the hatch was about to open up and that the doors have to be closed to maintain the life supporting system keep working flawlessly.
Thelonious looked wide-eyed at Abby. "What did you do?"
"I'm saving my family!" Abby yelled and tore her arm out of Jaha's grip, making a dash run towards the dropship. However she only made it three steps into the room when the hatch was suddenly opening, and then she knew.
She knew that she won't be able to make it back to the dropship.
Back to her family.
She absently felt strong arms moving around her pulling her back out of the room, from the corner of her eyes she saw a dark-skinned hand hit the button to close the door. Abby felt like everything was moving in slow motion, though it was over in seconds.
The blonde glanced through the milky window of the door and watched the dropship disconnect from the Ark, slowly moving out of sight.
In a blink of an eye it was gone.
Her family gone, on their way to earth.
Without her.
She heard someone talking to her but she couldn't make out the words. They were a blur. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the now empty room. After a beat she registered the words Thelonious was throwing at her.
"Abby, we need to go!"
A slender hand placed itself on the glass of the door directly were she had seen the dropship a minute ago. Abby didn't notice the tears forming in her eyes, lonely little drops making their way down her face.
Thelonious threw a quick glance over his shoulder, steps and voices could be heard in the distance. There was no doubt that the guards would be here in a flash. Having enough of Abby's lack of action he turned her around and gripped onto her shoulders, pulling him close enough to stare directly into her eyes. It only took a second before her eyes finally flickered up to meet his stare. "Abby, we can't change anything about their fate. But we can change yours! We need to move, now!"
It felt like hours until he took note of the barest of nods though it was enough for him. He turned around and made his way down the corridor, only stopping when he noticed Abby's absence.
"Abby!"
The young blonde once again stared at the closed door, her heart breaking more and more with every second that her family was moving farther away from the Ark.
Away from her.
Her hand touched the window again and she leant slightly forward, resting her forehead on the cool glass. Abby closed her eyes and imagined Jake's soft smile and gentle eyes. She could literally hear her daughters squealing laugh. Tears were now running freely.
"May we meet again."
Jake Griffin stared numbly out of the window looking at nothing but the blackness of the space. The sight of the Ark long gone and he felt like he was floating in a big nothingness.
He couldn't believe that Abby wasn't with them. That she wasn't sitting there right next to him, laughing unbelieving at the fact that they had actually left the Ark in a dropship and were on their way to the unknown, their daughter safely in her arms.
He had waited as long as he could for Abby to return. His eyes had never left the entrance to the room as he had waited for his love to return to his side. However the hatch was opening before Abby had made her way back. The immediate relieve he had felt flooding through his body had been quickly replaced by dread, knowing that Abby wouldn't be able to reach them in time and that she had been completely exposed to the space. Only thanks to Jaha's quick acting hadn't his wife been pulled through the open hatch and into space.
As much as he didn't want to, he had to disconnect the dropship from the Ark if he didn't want to create serious problems to it. Jake didn't want to leave his wife behind, yet he had no other choice but to do so.
A squirming body in his arms brought him back into the present and he was met with big blue eyes as he glanced down at his daughter. "Hey, Kiddo. Don't worry, I'm sure your mom won't rest until she's with us again. Until then it looks like it's just us for now."
He just hoped his wife won't do anything too reckless. As much as he wanted her back with them he'd rather want her alive and safe back up in the Ark. Yet he knew Abby, knew that as of this moment it was probably her sole aim to find a way down to earth and reconnect with him and their daughter.
Presuming the serum was indeed working.
Jake maneuvered Clarke over to his left arm and reached out to the console in front of them, starting to work on moving them towards earth. The minutes crawled by in silence as the dropship floated towards earth, Clarke stayed calm in his arms.
He didn't know how much time had passed until he felt turbulences starting to shake through the little ship. The loud clattering noises sounded throughout the dropship and little exploding sounds from outside could be heard, yet all Jake could hear was the frightened screams of his little daughter. He automatically held her tighter in his arms hoping to god that they'll survive the reentry and landing.
"Shhhh, Clarke. I'm here. Everything will be fine, I promise." The blonde father whispered into his daughter's ear, but she kept screaming. Not that he was blaming her for it. He could understand why she was upset, he himself was quite nervous. He was all churned up inside, his heart beat wildly as they continued their journey to the ground and hopefully not their death.
A loud bang rung out and the dropship shook even more. Clarke's screams increased, her face already red from all the crying. Jake tried desperately to calm down the baby in his arms, but his words were not only meant for Clarke but also for himself.
Jake covered Clarke further into her baby blanket she had been kept snuggled into the whole time. It felt like hours filled with Clarke' upset screams, groaning and clattering metal and bangs from their descant. He hoped dearly that the dropship was working fine and that their landing wouldn't end in them crashing against the hard ground and into their death.
There was a hard jolt signaling the landing process started up, the loose things flew around the little space of the ship. Some of them hitting Jake painfully and he engulfed Clarke completely in his body.
After a few more moments it was all over. The loud noises were gone leaving only silence which was only broken by the faint whining from Clarke. He waited a little bit before he unfastened the straps from his seat and stood up. His legs felt like jelly, his heart beat like a maniac in his chest, his body hurt from the things that hit him on their way down and his breathing was still shallow.
But they were alive.
That was all that mattered to him at the moment. Shaken up but alive.
"Well, Clarke. Looks like we're on earth. Let's hope we'll not die from the radiation now, huh?" He spoke, smiling at his daughter. There was a bang in his heart knowing that his wife wasn't there with them to share this moment with.
After two steps Jake felt the dropship move suddenly and he had just enough of time to tighten his hold on his daughter, keeping her between his chest and arms before his world turned upside down. Jake got jostled around the dropship as it continued its fall into an unknown depth.
It was a fine day, the sun was shining brightly and no clouds could be seen on the sky. Winter had just gone, the flowers and trees no longer carrying ice tips on their leaves. Birds were singing melodies, their soft tunes carrying through the forest.
Nyko hummed quietly as he walked through the woods searching for herbs and other useful plants. He had been ecstatic when the healer of their village asked him if he'd like to be his second. Though Nyko loved to train with the others he felt like being a warrior wasn't what he wanted to do. He'd rather help people in need.
If it came down to it he had no problems with killing someone if needed, knew that their life was cruel and that death came easily. Yet, Nyko was always the one discussing and arguing with the others, seeing the positive side of things while the others drew their weapons without using many words.
His steps came to a sudden halt when he noticed an unfamiliar object in the distance and his feet took him towards it.
Nyko stared carefully at the strange object lying on the foot of the stony mountain. It looked pretty banged up, not surprising if this thing fell from the top of the mountain. He knew that he probably shouldn't get any closer than he already was, though his curiosity won out and the young boy edged closer to the capsule.
His hand came in contact with the cold metal of the unknown object. Slowly he walked around it his hand never leaving the cool surface as it glided over the unsteady area. He had absolutely no idea what this thing could be. He had been regularly in this area to search for herbs or accompanied his family at a hunt, yet he had never seen such a thing.
As he walked he suddenly drew back his hand as if it had just gotten burned when he heard a sound coming from this thing in front of him. Nyko stumbled backwards in panic, falling in the process as there was suddenly moving a part of this metallic object in his direction.
Wide-eyed Nyko sat on the ground staring in the now open object. There were no sounds from inside, no movements visible. The boy could clearly see the mess inside, different things hanging from the ceiling, things thrown around. His throat bobbed as he collected his courage and stood up again, ready to inspect the unknown.
Careful steps led him up to the capsule. His eyes scanned the dark inside and Nyko contemplated if this thing came from the Mountain. It had been quite some time after the last big attack from the Mounon.
Nyko startled briefly as his eyes fell upon an unmoving body of a man, his face bloody and bruised. A long staff-a-like object tore through his chest, no doubt being the reason of his demise. There was still blood dripping onto the ground from the wound and Nyko hoped the man didn't have to endure a lot of pain until the cool grip of death took him.
The color of the man's blood gave him pause. Black. The man had been a nightblood. From wherever he had come from.
"Yu gonplei ste odon." The boy whispered and closed his eyes for a second. Whether enemy or friend, death united them all. For Nyko it was always sad when a life ended, another sign for him to become a healer rather than a warrior.
Seeing nothing of interest in the metal capsule Nyko was about to step out again and return to his parents on their hunt he had abandoned to search for herbs when he suddenly caught a movement from the corner of his eyes. Looking back to the dead man he noticed little movements from between his arms, just inches away from the object which had torn through the man.
Once again moving towards the man he lifted one of his arms and discovered a moving pink cloth. His fingers gently touched the soft fabric of the colorful cloth, tainted slightly with the blood of the man. Slowly moving the fabric back his breath caught in his throat when his eyes fell upon a baby, bright blue eyes staring up to him.
Suddenly a hand gripped tightly onto his arm and Nyko jumped back in shock, dread flooded through his system. His eyes flickered up and was surprised to see the man's eyes opened, a pained groan coming from his lips. Nyko tried to pull his arm back though the firm hold of the man was strong enough to keep him in place.
"Please." The man murmured and barely audible, and though even when his eyes were opened in little slits Nyko noticed them the same bluish shape of the baby's.
The man groaned once more as he moved his other am and brought his other arm with the baby towards him. Nyko didn't know a lot of words in Gonasleng, but coupled with the man's movement he understood that he wanted for him to take the baby.
Carefully he lifted the tiny human being from the man's hold. He saw a chain hanging around the baby's neck with a symbol on it. He saw something sawn into the fabric and smoothed it out.
Clarke
Nyko glanced back at the man only to see the lifeless eyes staring unfocused in his direction. The boy hoped that the soul of the man will find its peace and move on to the next life.
Looking back to the little child in his arms he felt something swell up in his chest as tiny fingers latched onto his hand that still touched the sewed-in name of the blanket. A small smile fell upon his lips.
Nyko didn't know where the man with the baby came from.
He didn't know how they ended up here.
But he knew that he'll protect this innocent life in his arms.
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