3 - The Arkers
Ontari moved slowly studying the sights around her. There was so much metal around her that you could equip every person in the Ice Nation with a sword and still have enough left over to given them a knife as well and possibly a hinge for every door in the kingdom. Jasper was walking with his noticeable limp, but he was staying near her as she was dictating how fast they were walking through the hallways. The look on Jasper's face was part worry, but part concern about her as she moved down the hallway they were in as she experimented using the crunches she had in various ways. He was letting her have her independence but seeing that on their way out of the Healer's section of Skaikru's fortress, Ontari had seen Abby their healer working on treating some of the more severely injured that had been brought to this place. What tore at Ontari was the fact that several of the injured hat been of her fellow Ice Nation.
These people were her enemy, but seeing that they had cared for even those who would kill them in their sleep was a stark change from what Pike had done in retribution spoke much to what had possibly taken place during Ontari's slumber. It might have been Roan's actions in the crisis, but the mood was of worry, but not of the death that had happened, but of something else.
A young Ice Nation girl who was coming into her budding looked up from her injured mother who had been injured in the fighting. The girl had the marks of being crucified on her wrists. But the strength was there. But the look in her eyes spoke that like her... there would be wounds. Though there was anger in the girl's tension, most of that seemed to be chocked up to being powerless in stopping the events that had taken place. A Trikru healer moved by the bed to check the bandages on the mother before moving on and roughly speaking to the Skaikru healer in broken Gonasleng.
"Ontari Kon Azgeda, see and learn." There was no hate to those words from the girl when she turned to look at her. "I do not blame you for what happened while you were under Alie's spell. She went for any weakness, she even found your's even as she hunted away for mine while I was on the cross." The look stated that she had been taken and thrown back during the battle. How long had this girl lasted being nailed to the cross before she had taken the chip? Ontari didn't want that answer, but given the girl was able to use her hands without too much pain stated that Alie hadn't forced her way into girl's mind too far before she had been cut down.
The room for hate had faded, only understanding that they had to endure so that they could have a future.
Ontari looked around to see the price paid to free her as she started to count the beds.
Each bed had a warrior, a farmer, a smith, father, son, mother, daughter.
"Bekka... please guide this young Heda." A young girl spoke. Ontari turned to see who was speaking. But when Ontari saw the wounds her stupid decisions hit home. The young girl was a Nightblood. Ontari moved over to her on her crutches.
"How... how did you get hurt?"
"The ones that followed Alie came after us while we were on our way to Polis." There was a pause. "I was on my way there for my training. I didn't want to take the chip... So... they tried to..." Ontari understood.
"They tried to kill you." The girl nodded.
"My parents fought to protect me... Before the men and women screamed out in pain when Wanheda slew their queen."
"Wanheda fought and won against Alie... You heard that I had been brought here and came to learn." the girl nodded.
"I have a few cuts and bruises from the fight. But the cut on my head is what had everyone worried. But I leave this bed in a day after they check where they sewed me up."
"You want to start your training." There was a nod.
"I am..."
"Ontari... let her be, but come back. Let her be a child for a little while longer." Bekka and Leska stood beside the girl. "Challenges of training as well as yours is going to shape the future for the Nightbloods to come."
"What is your name?" Ontari spoke.
"Artesia of the Broadleaf." The Nightblood spoke.
"Artesia... rest... get better. Training will start when you are ready." Ontari spoke as she caressed the girl's cheek.
With that Ontari felt the eyes upon her and knew that she would be judged by the actions she took next.
"Jasper of Skaikru, please take me to Roan and Wanheda." The Skaikru boy nodded and motioned for her to follow him.
The steps felt weird as she smelled blood, dirt, and some cleaning fluids being used. Individuals were moving about their lives. Some were wounded as the occasional member of some Kru or another was working or handling some task at hand. There was some tension in the air as they passed but it wasn't focused upon her. A group of Trikru children were playing with some young Skaikru off in the distance in one of the halls but when one of the Skaikru saw them, the child came to a dead stop.
The boy looked afraid, but as she passed Ontari started to realize that the boy wasn't afraid of her... he was afraid of Jasper. This is when she stopped and turned towards Jasper.
"Skaikru... Why is this child afraid of you?" Ontari knew that her fearful presence was something to be known... But here... she hadn't been seen as a threat, though her guide had. This is when a Trikru woman wearing soft orange colored clothing approached her.
"Heda Ontari... they are scared of him because he is not just Hundred, but he was also Alie's General in the City of Light." This statement had Ontari's attention. The Skaikru boy just sighed.
"Leska should just have punched me harder." Ontari was stunned. "Guess that Monty shooting me was better than the look I get now from those who were in the City of Light." Ontari knew the name. A woman with brown eyes that she had encountered in the City of Light had said that she had a son by the name... she seemed sad that he wasn't there with her, but happy that she had found peace there... Alie had taken away her pain She had a son... a member of Skaikru...
"You were a member of Alie's army?" Ontari looked at the young man. He should have been locked in chains, not free to walk around.
"Alie ordered me to go after Clarke, wasn't expecting to run into every damn one of your predecessors in the process helping Clarke out." Jasper spoke as he moved to crack his neck. The loud popping sound spoke volumes before he sighed to look at the child before them.
"When I was slammed back, it felt like my heart had been ripped out." There was some sadness there in his voice. "I have to remember the face of the Floatkru girl Shay, who I befriended that died at the hands of Alie while trying to help Clarke."
"Was it your hands that killed her?" A Trikru girl spoke as she moved over to look at Jasper.
"No... She had been shot with an arrow by those whom Alie sent to attack Clarke and the others." Ontari started to remember this from her time in the City of Light. Then Jasper... Coffee Ontari?
"Wait... You were that person in the city of light that bought me that drink!" Ontari spoke.
"Wait... you are that girl that worked in the library that was reading those civics and historical texts?" Jasper spoke realizing whom she had been. That was when he walked over to Ontari and started to trace the marking on her face. Placing a hand over one of her cheeks Ontari started to realize that she had removed many of her scar markings to look more like one of the other Kru. Being a member of the feared Ice Nation was one thing, but without a few of her markings, she looked to be like everyone else. Invisible... felt good even walking among those rows of texts with all of the knowledge at her fingertips. No one to stop her or say that the knowledge was forbidden for her to know. It was just there.
English Kings, Roman Emperors, American Presidents, Canadian Prime Ministers, all of it. Ontari read text upon text upon text. The smell of the paper, the smooth spine of the texts, she was no servant girl... she was... she was...
"Remembering what Alie used to lure you into the City of Light on you." Ontari nodded as she was snapped back to reality.
"She used my hunger for knowledge to..."
"Government text... and literature." Jasper understood. "I saw you reading about Queen Boudicca and Cleopatra." Jasper took her hand. "You seem more of the Boudicca type and less Cleopatra. I mean Boudicca was a mom who fought to protect and avenge her children. Cleopatra was just sex and power."
"So... what did Murphy tell you about us?" Ontari winced. She was losing her position of power due to her fucking her Flamekeeper.
"Nothing much other than... Nia really screwed you up with all of her Ice Nation first doctrine brainwashing. You were learning tact, but the warrior in you feels more comfortable among those who know how to fight in more ways than one." Jasper looked at her. "You are not weak, but..." this is when the Skaikru boy started to grin. "Maybe Lexa was right as asking Clarke to make you a member of the Hundred before everything went crazy with Pike, Lexa's death, your ascension, and the... well Alie taking over the world."
"Wanheda was going to make me her servant!" Ontari felt insulted. She would never be anyone's servant ever again!
"No... a member of the Hundred. Like Murphy, Her, Me... Harper, Monty, Bellamy... I think even Lexa was going to become a member of the Hundred." Now this had her attention. Lexa was going to join this Hundred. Why would a Heda join a group of Skaikru? There was something more going on. Ontari decided to probe the situation.
"Was Lexa going to be subservient to Wanheda?" Ontari spoke testing out the waters.
"From what I understand, Lexa wanted all of the Nightbloods to receive some training from the Hundred, but also she wanted some insight into how to use a group made up of individuals such as ourselves in your society." There was this pause. "I mean an Ice Nation Nightblood who knew how a member of Skaikru thought or as an ally who could tell their people about us as well as tell us about them... their society, what made them so fierce upon the ice plains." Jasper spoke as Ontari started to realize that this was more of a diplomatic position. Skaikru wanted an Ice Nation ambassador to learn about them, maybe other Kru as well so that they could have some insight into how to function in this world.
"Then why do you serve the Hundred?" There was a pause from Jasper.
"Because after all that has happened, I am still Hundred. For all of the pain, all of the stealing, all the death that I have caused... These are my friends, family, and people I care about." Jasper spoke looking over at the children. "I am a delinquent that was chosen because I was a good thief, but got caught. Now my fate is to ensure that my skills are used to help my fellow Hundred to survive."
A Thief... This was good.
"So... Servant girl... murderer... warrior... book nerd." Jasper spoke. "Not a bad set of skills to have." Jasper was complimenting her; it was like he was sizing up her skills against that of the rest of his order. This is when Ontari's attention shifted back to looking at the youth.
"Is what he says about the Hundred true? You are afraid of him being a thief?" Now this caused a few shift around to the Skaikru children.
"Not really... maybe because he was sent to the Sky box. It is like a dungeon that we had while we were in the sky. There were some pretty nasty criminals up there. Not like your fellow grounders when it comes to hurting people... but nasty... mean..." Grounders... the Skaikru slang for anyone not of Skaikru... "Sorry about using the word Grounder..." The child apologized. "Commander Ontari." That last part had her full attention. This child knew of her status.
"How is your speaking of my tongue?" Ontari spoke.
"Um... fair..." The child did in some broken Trigedasleng. "I am still working on floating daughter friend." The child winced. "Working on speaking with my friends." The child motioned to the other children.
"You need more work. Floating Daughter Friend?" Ontari spoke aloud rolling her eyes. "Figures that Skaikru would be interested in knowing members of Floukru."
"Floukru?" another Skaikru child spoke.
"Luna's clan... Good people, just don't mess with her or her people if you try to force yourself upon them. The only person that ever kicked Clarke's ass in a fight." Now Ontari took note for that. The might Wanheda had fallen to the blows of another Nightblood. Even if she was a coward.
"Their leader is a Nightblood." Ontari decided to scare these children a little. "Born of the fury of Pimeheda Bekka. A creature of strength and power that should be respected or she will kill you for disobeying her."
"Like you... and Lexa." Jasper added. "You have the fury part down, but Lexa was known for using her head. When she chopped someone's head off, there had been a damn good reason for it." This is when one of the children reached out and touched her on the arm before pulling quickly back.
There was hesitation in the child's action, but mostly when Ontari didn't react to her being touched the child started to trace their fingers back along the back of her hand. She needed to control these children, but... she remembered Lexa's and especially Bekka's words.
"You know... there is another Nightblood here." Ontari spoke. "She might want be cheered up. Her name is Artesia of the Broadleaf." Ontari felt something going on with her. Memories of what Nia had done to her... She shook for a second remembering all of the violence Nia had done to her. No... Artesia would have a better life than she had. This is when Jasper moved over to her.
"Ontari... it is alright, Murphy said that Nia had denied you much of your Nightblood birthright. Punished you even for trying to explore it without her vetting what you learned." Ontari looked over at Jasper. "There is a lot of knowledge you are missing even with the flame in your head."
"I am not weak."
"Who says you are." Jasper looked at her. "Nia is dead. Embrace being a Nightblood. Fight to be something more than what you were. Fight for those kids, the people you care about. Not as a Heda. Not for your Kru, but as the woman you are." Ontari was shocked at this.
"My blood is no longer is Black." Ontari spoke.
"It is just a blood transfusion. Hell you have Clarke's blood in you. She almost has been acting more like Lexa lately. So why don't you start thinking about What it means to be Wanheda... You know Clarke was trained as a healer." This forced Ontari think hard about the situation she had been placed into. Wanheda... Healer... Ontari had been given the power of Wanheda as a gift... Then if Wanheda had her blood in her... Then... Nightblood.
"What has she done with my blood... Does she still have the..." Ontari remembered... Singularity.
"The flame chip. Last I heard the Flame AI is in its box. Clarke took it out of her head after the battle with Alie and saying goodbye to Lexa. I think it is still operational considering that the files, er... people in it were copied up into the Singularity."
"Then it is empty?" Ontari wanted to know if her desire for the flame had been for naught. If the Commanders were drifting around like she had seen them, then...
"No... I mean, they are there in the Flame... Chip... But also they are in the Singularity. Mostly... Didn't Murphy tell you that they were helping those stuck without bodies come to understand their new existence?" Jasper spoke as the children started to look at her.
Ontari needed to dominate her position before this Skaikru. Then, Kill... Fuck... Murphy.
Ontari's mind started to shift around as she started to shift back and forth between reality and memory.
Ontari felt her body spasm as he back arched backwards. Part pain, part orgasm. Part yelling in her head that she should have eaten earlier.
"Ontari!" Jasper rushed over to her and kept her from falling to the ground.
Where was she... Nia... she needed to get to Nia's... The Spear.
Free...
Cute boy holding her.
"Ontari?" Memories flushed back as the boy spoke.
Nia stripping her naked and throwing her into a trunk so that she couldn't run away and get back to her mother and her village near the falls. Back to the safe arms of her mother.
"You are going to be my Nightblood." Ontari gritted her teeth as she reached up to pound on the sides of her head from the pain. She wanted to hit her head against something. Wood. Steel. Anything to make this pain stop.
"Ontari..." The Boy... Jasper called out.
Ontari was hungry. Stomach growling. She was starving.
Help.
She needed to eat… Eat now… Starving Hunger. Pain.
Water and nutrient loss detected.
Warning. Warning. Glucose levels reaching unacceptable levels for brain operation.
Body repair process interrupted.
Brain tissue repair and high level function activity reaching danger levels.
Activating vocal assistance protocols.
Overriding host vocal systems.
Sending distress.
"Food... Fruit..." Ontari spoke sensing what she hungering for as a force took over her body. "Head hurts. Thirsty."
Then something was squeezed into her mouth... Sweet. Berries...
There was a blonde woman standing over her.
Golden Wolf...
Wanheda.
"What happened?" The woman spoke.
"I don't know... we were talking and..." Jasper started to speak as Clarke broke out a small stick like object and a light started to be shined into her eyes.
"Ontari..." Wanheda snapped her fingers. "Can you hear me?"
Ontari nodded.
"What is wrong with the Heda?" A child's voice spoke.
"Ontari. Did you eat today?" Wanheda spoke. The light was shown in her eyes.
"No." Ontari croaked.
"Drink before now?" Wanheda spoke. Ontari was working hard to remember.
"Don't know." Ontari felt her eyes hurt as she felt her body being lifted up.
"Jasper... Make sure that she gets some fluids into her as well make sure that she eats something." This was when something sticky and sweet was placed into her mouth by someone pre-chewing it and pushing the contents in. "I need you to swallow."
"What is that?" Jasper spoke.
"Something that Sankru uses on their long messenger rides." Wanheda spoke before "It is a sort of nut paste and dried meat mix." Ontari did her best to choke down the material. "Need some water?" Ontari nodded. "Listen, when I was in Polis I learned a lot of stuff. Most of it was the Politics of the coalition, but this is the stuff that I was trained for."
"So while you were in Polis, you were looking up what to learn from other healers?" Jasper spoke as Wanheda sighed.
"Yes..." The rumor that Wanheda being a healer was true...
"So what is wrong?" Jasper spoke.
"Ontari didn't eat and her body maxed out its search for Glucose in her body." Wanheda spoke.
"She had a sugar crash... Crap..." Now this got Jasper's attention. "Wait... you mean that she is diabetic?" Diabetic... That sounded bad. If this was Skaikru disease, it would make killing them all that much easier.
"Borderline. The chip is grabbing all of the sugar from her body to heal her brain tissue."
"So because of what Alie did to her with the entire her head being smashed in... and what you did to heal her. This happened to her?" A child spoke.
"Ontari's body is working overtime to heal the damage from where her chest got split open and her head injury, yes." Ontari took another swig from the water skin. Diabetic didn't mean disease; it was the name of the symptoms she had from recovering from injuries.
"More of the Sankru..." Ontari motioned to her mouth for wanting another bite of the food.
With that Wanheda let her take a bite of the log of paste without it being pre-chrewed. Ontari looked around. She was sitting on some stairs. Ontari moved to take another swig from the pouch. It was going to be a while, but despite being in a weak position Wanheda was studying her. Watching her regain her strength.
After a long moment Ontari started to speak.
"I want to kill you." Wanheda just sighed.
"Why... Because of what Nia taught you?" the statement took Ontari back.
"I have a knife..." Ontari spoke as she pulled out the blade she had and placed it towards Wanheda's neck.
Wanheda wasn't fighting her.
There was a growing crowd starting to form.
"You want my fealty. Or do you want people to respect you. Want people to fear you. Ontari... You are not worth the fight. But I will let you keep this knife by my neck until your arm tires." Wanheda spoke.
This was an insult as Ontari kept eating. Wanheda was keeping her head. No fear. She should be fearing her. Should be angry for slaying the other Nalblada... Ontari slugged down a mouthful of water. Wanheda was just sitting there.
"Wonder why they call me the Golden Wolf?" Wanheda spoke. This woman was showing no fear... She should be afraid of her. "Part of it comes from my hair color, and how I fight." This is when Wanheda sniffed Ontari's hand. "You are scared but not of me." Ontari tried to push the blade forward but something was stopping her.
Not of her... This golden haired whore... said not of her... Ontari growled.
"I will kill you." Ontari grunted.
Position... Power... Strength.
"Get in line." Wanheda spoke. "There are things worse than you out there."
Get in line... This was becoming an insult. Get... In... Line!
"She doesn't know how bad things are?" Jasper spoke. "Do you want me go and get Roan?" Wanheda nodded.
"I am Heda... You bow to me. Not I bow to you." Ontari took another slug of water.
"Ontari you have a knife to my neck. But all I see is a scared girl, who was abused, hurt, and harmed by a woman who used others as pawns in her game. Someone who is fighting to free herself from the chains that had been placed upon her." Wanheda sighed as she reached out and placed her hand on the blade on neck. "You are fighting to free yourself from that chain. I see the fire in your eyes. You are a fellow wolf, Ontari. Never raised as part of a pack, but a fellow wolf. You have bared your fangs, you are growling. But has a fellow wolf brought you food? Realize that to get free you need help from the rest of the pack that has found you."
Pack... Wolves... What was Wanheda up to?
"Speak what you mean?" Ontari felt insulted.
"Ontari... You are a member of the Hundred. Lexa ordered it. I will train you as a member of our rank. Murphy will help in teaching you your Nightblood history and the politics involved. Ontari kon Azgeda is no more. Ontari Mugan kon Honet descendant of Rebekka Mugan, Pramheda Bekka is who is before me. Whatever loyalty to whatever Kru or station you came from no longer matters. You are Hundred. Your loyalty is to those beside you as your brothers and sisters. To protect all, and not to die." there was fury in those eyes. "You are far from weak. Fight to be a better person and not Nia's or anyone's puppet."
"You threaten me?" Ontari spoke.
"No... Ontari... I ask you stand." Wanheda spoke. "Sister."
The last word hit hard.
Ontari started to worry. Wanheda was not looking down at her. She was looking right at her.
"Explain this Hundred." Ontari was concerned.
"What do you want to know?" Ontari's arm was getting heavy.
"Are you an army?"
"No... But we will fight for those who need our help." Who were these people?
"Your origins are Skaikru?"
"Yes, the first lot were from the Ark. But we have taken in other members from different groups such as Trikru as our own members have asked to join other Kru because they feel more at home with them." Nation status wasn't important to these individuals. Whatever had happened had caused some shift in their society to form this group.
"How were the first hundred formed?" Ontari wanted to know that side of things.
"After the great fires that covered the earth, the survivors on the stations had to connect them together to form the Ark to share resources. It was supposed to be temporary until the planet became habitable again. We didn't know what had happened on the surface that it could support life again almost a generation or two ago. During those decades in space our population grew to being that of four hundred individuals." Wanheda sighed. This was becoming interesting. Four hundred individuals. "Life on the Ark wasn't easy, but it was home. The Ark had strict measures that had been in acted after the great fires. The Ark had strict measures that included capital punishment for those over eighteen years of age as well as strict population control issues when it came to the number of children families could have. This is why my friend Octavia was sentenced to be locked up till she was eighteen because she was a second child and second children were forbidden due to the limited number of resources we had available to us."
"What would have happened to Octavia when she turned eighteen?" Wanheda sighed.
"She would have been spaced…" This is when Wanheda clarified a moment later. "She would have been executed." A death sentence for being a second born child? Ontari chewed on the imagery of this world. Even the Ice Nation at its worse was nothing like this.
"Continue to speak of the Ark." Ontari spoke realizing that holding a knife to this woman who was forged in a world like this was someone she needed to carefully handle.
"Several years ago, my father was the Ark's chief engineer found out that the Ark was dying. When he tried to announce it to everyone on the station he was tried for treason. I was the one who reported on him to my leaders. Since I overheard him talking about the station condition I was locked up for being a traitor right after my father's execution." There was something more. Something that Wanheda was holding back, but seeing one's parent killed before you would bring up some bad memories. After a long moment Wanheda continued.
"Years later my mother who had become one of the council members and using my father's knowledge of how long the stations had left to survive, she and several others on our council made the decision to send a hundred delinquents, criminals down to the surface to see if it was survivable. Most of us had committed petty crimes up to murder, so sending us down was considered a blessing as we were all considered expendable. The two reasons that we had been chosen was, first... without us in the system the stations could have another month of air to last on as the scrubbers that filtered our air along with the plants we had, had reached their limited of how much they could clean the air. The second reason was that we were all young and healthy, if the colony failed there would be at least survivors from the Ark living on the Earth."
Wanheda had been exiled from her people.
She didn't see herself as Skaikru...
Neither did Murphy.
"How many members of Skaikru were on the station?" Ontari at least could get their numbers if a hundred individuals had been banished to keep the rest of their people alive.
"Two thousand two hundred and thirty-seven when the Hundred left. Fifteen hundred died during the Unity Day Mutiny when their decent ship crashed to the ground as a result of the individuals in Mount Weather. Another Three hundred and Twenty were euthanized as part of the Culling to keep the rest of the people on the Ark Alive." Ontari quickly did the math in her head.
"That means there are..."
"Four Hundred plus individuals left, not counting the Hundred." There was a sag in Wanheda's shoulders. "But we don't know if they landed in places like in the Ice Nation or anywhere else. That is not counting the new births." This is when a Skaikru woman opened up.
"There are nine pregnancies on the way." The woman said as she leaned against the wall. "Monty had me searching for baby clothes from the different Grounder villages around here as well as inside of Mount Weather."
"So... the reason that you are here with your people is because..." Ontari was getting the feeling that this was bad.
"Because they need all the help they need. They don't deserve to die out in ways that make choking to death on your last breath seem like an act of mercy. There are children. Innocents... there has been enough blood spilt that those here deserves a chance at a life without looking over their shoulder for Death to appear. I don't just mean Skaikru." Wanheda had the eyes of a wolf looking at her.
Ontari looked at the blade at Wanheda's throat. Commander of Death... That was an understatement.
Wanheda's people had been dying. Fighting for just another day of life had forged these people hard.
Harder than any cold winter the Ice Nation could throw at any of her people's warriors.
These people, especially the Hundred had lived with Death as a constant threat. It had always been near them, creeping at the edge of their vision.
Ontari's threats meant nothing now.
Even the knife in her hand by this woman's throat...
Shit... This probably felt like home to Wanheda.
No wonder Skaikru and the Hundred had racked up such a body count in their short time on the ground.
No wonder Alie had underestimated them.
Death was a foe they had spared with every day since their birth.
These people were going to fight to live up to and beyond their last breath.
They saw her as an arrogant child.
Ontari waited for the response as she realized that all of her growling had just let these wolves know that she was a fighter.
There was no seeing her as weak, but there was a spark that they were around something familiar.
Something that wanted to bring her home as a part of its pack.
"What do you plan to do with me?" Ontari looked at Wanheda very concerned.
"Nia was our enemy, you are not. Lexa wanted me to train you, make you unlock your potential."
"Train me to do what?"
"To live and not to die." Simple words. Serious meanings behind them
Blood must have Blood was nothing.
These were born fighters.
No wonder Lexa wanted to join their ranks.
And now Ontari realized that she was one of these warriors rank.
"What do I do now?" Ontari realized that she had passed some test.
"Learn, and keep up."
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