Thanks to my awesome beta, BadWolfRisen! I keep forgetting what your username is honestly, lol. :3
The light of a campfire flickered over the blonde, sitting in a copse of gnarled trees by the bank. A sketchbook, salvaged from that old bunker, leaned against her legs as Clarke drew.
The dark charcoal slowly took the form of a child's face, covered in dirt and hair tangled back in filthy braids.
Blair, her mind murmured.
As the looming figure of her dreams finished materializing on paper, Clarke set down her pencil.
She traced her eyes over the drawing, outlining the features of the girl. She fingered the previous pages in her sketchbook, flipping back to one of her first drawings.
A bear, lumbering through the woods, followed by its tiny cubs.
OOooOO
"Shh, stop fidgeting."
Hoshiko turned to look patronizingly at the person sitting beside her.
"I'm not moving, Blair."
A hand settled on her left foot, stilling its rhythmic jumping. Green eyes twinkled as the younger girl pouted slightly before turning back to the creatures below them.
The mother bear moved slowly through underbrush, her large nose snuffling along the ground.
The brunette started slightly at the unexpected presence of a hand in her hair. She quickly relaxed however, as those long fingers slowly carded through her dark locks.
Hoshiko cocked her head slightly, gazing at the girl sitting on the branch to her right with gentle eyes. Blair caught her gaze and her sharp grin softened, turning into a small smile as the hand in the brunette's hair slipped to her cheek, fingers gliding along her jawline.
The brunette grabbed the older girl's hand, pulling it down from her face to cradle in her lap.
"Blair, I–"
A horn sounded in the distance, causing both leaders to whip their heads towards its origin.
Blair's hand twitched in Hoshiko's lap before the older girl drew it back. She nodded at the girl beside her.
"Let's go."
The pair leapt from their tree hidden deep in the center of the park group's territory, Blair taking to the treetops as Hoshiko sprinted among the sprawling roots of the ground. As they ran, several other forms appeared, joining the leaders in their chase to the horn blower.
As they came to the edge of the park, the blonde dropped from her trees, swinging to follow behind Hoshiko as the girl twirled her spear out from its place on her back. They slowed to a trot as the now crowd of ten or so kids approached their barricade at the edge of their territory that stretched toward the city.
The mangled wall of balanced concrete and steel loomed over the two leaders as they finally reached it. A scrawny kid in tattered clothing crept out from the belly of a car as Hoshiko took a perch on a jutting piece of rebar.
While the forest may be her and her crew's current home and base, the city would always feel familiar, and the brunette clung to the pieces of it she could. Sometimes literally.
She glanced at Blair out of the corner of her eye as the blonde finished picking her way carefully across the city debris. Maybe the forest was starting to feel more like home.
Hoshiko snapped back to attention.
She jerked her head at the kid crouched in front of her. "Gerrit, report."
He gestured into the car he'd been positioned in. "I saw them skirting the second barrier, Hosh. Tree crew over there blew the horn," Gerrit said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to the tree kid positioned awkwardly on a chunk of concrete.
Blair furrowed her brows. "Did they cross it, Yaz?"
The girl shrugged somewhat. "They looked to be preparing some sort of crossing."
"There's no way you could've been able to tell that from here," Gerrit shouted.
The tree girl pushed him back as the boy whirled on her, getting in her face.
"Maybe for a city kid like you!"
Hoshiko growled and leapt onto Gerrit's back, plowing his face into the rubble beneath them. At the same time, Blair wrapped a restraining hand around Yaz's arm, pulling the girl back.
Gerrit grunted beneath his brunette leader, tapping out on the ground next to him. She wasn't the leader of her group without reason.
Hoshiko stood up, dusting her hands off on her pants as she studiously ignored Blair's incredulous look.
She helped Gerrit up, clasping his arm as he did hers, before turning back to the tree kids.
"This hostility must end. We cannot be forced to quarrel with each other while they remain a threat."
Blair dipped her head in acknowledgment before turning to both of the sentries again. "Yaz, check on them again," she told the girl. She looked at Gerrit. "How many were there?"
Gerrit eyed the retreating form of the tree girl before looking at the blonde. "By my count, there were at least thirty of them."
Both leaders' eyes widened before Blair's hand went to the horn tied to her waist.
The large horn was already at Blair's lips as Yaz's panicked shout reached them.
"They're across the barrier!"
OOooOO
Clarke's brows furrowed as she shook her head slightly, shaking away the memories.
Dreams, she corrected herself. They were dreams, not memories.
The blonde stretched back, lying on her furs spread behind her. Above her, the stars shone brightly, visible in the clear night sky. There was no need for her tent tonight.
Idly bouncing her foot up and down where it rested on her knee, Clarke considered her plan.
The dreams made her anxious to continue on, to march steadily toward her destination, wherever that may be. Like peace could be found at the end, nestled in a warmth and hidden from prying eyes and enemies.
But the sky girl herself wanted to explore, to pick at her surroundings as she had failed to accomplish at the start of their story on the ground. She had taken responsibility and led her people to safety and a shaky peace at the cost of her momentary freedom and happiness at returning to the place that screamed home to all of the hundred.
In the end, Clarke decided to take the scenic route to her final destination. She wouldn't travel straight to where her gut tugged her, but she wouldn't wander aimlessly and avoid it needlessly. She'd take her time, enjoy her peace in privacy, and make her own time.
Nodding slightly to herself, the blonde turned on her side toward the fire, arm curled over her stomach. Clarke nuzzled the fur beneath her face, remembering and acknowledging, as her eyes slowly drifted closed, just whose furs she had taken; who her mind pushed away and who her heart pulled her to.
Thanks to all of the wonderful people who reviewed the last chapter! You rock :D
-Ally