Sorry about taking so long to update the story, but I hope that you all like what I have written so far.
If you have any idea for any characters you would like to see in future chapters let me know.
Now on with the story.
10 - Enduring
Ontari was sitting in the Chancellors office wearing her brown nightgown. The thick practical garment made Ontari's warrior frame look more fearsome with its design. The fact she was upset from the events that had brought Clarke to this room made it look out of place. Conversely Clarke's own blue nightgown was a comforting site for this young warrior woman.
These two contrasting colors represented the cultures in which they had both come from.
Brown for the dark soil of the Primal earth of the northern lands...
Blue for the endless daytime sky that represented freedom and death.
Right now the looks on their faces states that both of them looked like hell...
That and sex, but upset hell.
Ontari's post-coital connection with Jasper and Clarke missing her lover Lexa spoke volumes. Both women looking at the other and realizing that they were sisters by circumstance. They needed the other's support to save those they cared about.
"Ontari went into the Singularity to speak with Bekka right after we had sex." Jasper spoke as he was wearing his pants and t-shirt. But his bare feet spoke volumes as the scent of post-sexual sweat wafted off of him. "Mostly I thought she was talking with the previous Commanders about relationship advice for what to do next when Bekka got the news." Jasper added as he placed a hand on Ontari's shoulder.
"Bekka told me everything she was able to pull from Alie's data core." Ontari looked like she needed to be held close. A social dive for advice from the previous Hedas had been turned into a traumatic mess.
"So it is confirmed." Clarke spoke looking at the Nalblada.
"It is... Bekka received the report while we were talking about the origins of the Nalblada." Ontari swallowed hard. "You didn't see the look on her face..." Ontari forced the words out of her mouth as she hugged her arms around herself. Jasper and Clarke moved to comfort the girl.
"It's alright..." Clarke spoke as she remembered that Ontari had been let in on some of the major origins of her people via Bekka. She also had the key to talk with Bekka about explaining their plan to the uploaded leader of what they were doing.
"It was like she was about to be sick." Ontari spoke as she rolled through all the emotions she had been through.
"Ontari, Bekka was experiencing the same horror that you went through when you found out about Alie's endgame." Clarke moved to hug the young woman.
"It's not that, Bekka sent me away to find you... to have you join me to help..." Ontari felt scared.
"I am here Ontari." Clarke spoke as she pulled back some to wipe a few tears from Ontari's face.
"There were terms I didn't understand and Raven who had overheard us talking before Bekka sent her off to bed so that we could talk in private." Well at least there was another person that had been around to back up some of what Ontari was talking about.
"Okay... Looks like neither one of us is going to get any sleep until we get this worked out with Bekka." Clarke spoke as she looked over at Jasper. "Jasper go and wake Raven up. Me and Ontari here are heading to Raven's workshop and going to see if we can get the place ready so that we can talk with Bekka." Clarke spoke as she placed an arm around Ontari. "Ontari... You are not alone in this fight." The Nightblood started to relax some with her breathing pattern as she started to calm down.
"Thank you Wanheda." Ontari spoke as she looked down at herself.
Ontari was a work in progress, but a worthy work in progress. She was no Lexa. As a Delinquent she was starting to understand the value of depending on others for support and strength. It was that which was needed so to get through the hard and trying times before them.
"Ontari would you like to become my Second?" Clarke spoke realizing that giving Ontari the right to go through some of her people's traditional rights and passages would help ground her for the challenges ahead.
"Your Second?" Ontari was in shock.
"It is tradition that a leader takes a second." Clarke shrugged. "I would like it to be you."
"But someone of your own kru would be more suitable." Clarke grinned.
"The position would be temporary until you came into your own. You would learn how to work politics and learn to lead with respect. I was Lexa's while I was learning the ways of the Coalition and the rules they live by." Ontari started to realize that Clark was letting her take the steps to become the ruler of the Thirteen Clans. "You are a little rough, but you are willing to learn. Which is something I consider an honor." Clarke moved a few locks of Ontari's hair back into place. "We train our daughters to be leaders as the saying goes. Your mother would have been proud to the person you are becoming." There was worry on Ontari's face. "Even with the missteps, you were learning. That is important." Ontari understood that the Mess with Alie was like anything else, something that had forced her to learn. Ontari touched the scar over her heart a clear reminder of the hard lesson learned.
"I will honor you with my best Clarke of Skaikru." Ontari spoke as she looked around for a knife. "I swear my blood loyalty to you." Clarke moved for her medical kit and pulled out her small scalpel.
"Here use my healer's blade." Clarke moved to cut Ontari's hand to draw out the black blood before she moved to clean it on a cloth wristband she was wearing. Ontari repeated the process on Clarke's hand.
"This is your blade." Ontari started to understand that the blade she had been handed wasn't a weapon, but a tool to be used for healing. Small, precise, accurate. Dangerous yes... but like Clarke and those trained as healers, it was their weapon against death.
"It is not the size of your weapon, it is the skill behind it that is what counts in a fight whether your foe is illness, or another warrior." Clarke's words took a deeper meaning upon Ontari as she realized that her position wasn't so much about fighting as it was about healing the wounds of the past so that a higher and greater future could be had by all.
Raven watched Ontari undress and curl up in her bedroll naked. Jasper had grabbed these items when Ontari had been brought in to Arkada. Though Ontari going au natural stated something about how she slept or at least mediated.
"You know as many times I have seen your naked ass. I still cannot figure out all those makings on your body." The Skaikru mechanic spoke to the Nightblood.
"Well I cannot stand to sleep in Skaikru garments and those marks are a list of my kills, family and my status within my kru. The only reason that I am undressing now is that for some strange reason that my connection seems to be stronger when my ass in naked or in clothes from my land."
This forced Raven to start to recount the number of marks on Ontari's body. There were a lot. But given how Ontari was punching the bedding around her as she wrapped the blanket around her so that she could start her meditation with a certain level of comfort. A process to communicate with Singularity was a recently learned skill and Ontari for some reason needed to be comfortable either in her native clothing or in this case given recent events... Nude.
Maybe there was another reason that Ontari wasn't using her night gown. Given how she looked when she had encountered Bekka, she probably didn't want to mess up her bed clothes if it was horrific bad news.
"Too soft?" Raven spoke as Jasper moved to sit by Ontari as Clarke still in her nightgown moved over next to the terminal to observe. Ontari seemed to be less violent, but she was in a fight of flight mode now. Ontari had gathered her reinforcements and was about to do battle again with this threat before her.
"No... The seams are on the wrong places with your clothing. They feel strange." Ontari spoke as she pulled the blanket around her frame in such a way where she was semi hooded. Clarke grinned.
"Oh..." Raven watched as the Ice Nation woman reached for a little piece of fur that Jasper had brought for her. "And the fur?"
"None of your concern Skaikru." Ontari spoke as she pulled the small piece of animal fur into her blanket with her. Jasper just grinned as he moved to kiss the young Nightblood. No... Ontari didn't have a little blankee that she slept with... could she?
"Are you still angry at..." Raven started her inquiry to the Ice Nation girl, but Ontari finished that line of questioning for her.
"Wanheda... Clarke." There was a sag in Ontari's posture as the young woman reached up and touched the new scar on her chest from where Abby had split her chest to save her life that was now exposed. "She has my blood, and I have her's. It is… complicated. Blood must have blood." The last statement felt like a blow had been struck towards Ontari's faith or something deeper had taken place.
"A Nightblood with the blood of Wanheda. I guess Murphy is trying to deal with that. Some think that Clarke did it to steal your powers, but in terms you needed her blood to survive and she needed your blood to save the world from Alie." Raven saw Ontari shake at the mention of the A.I.'s name.
"The Transfusion..." Ontari spoke the word carefully like the cultural reference meant something more. "She gained my powers, I gained hers."
"Blood must have blood." Clarke spoke up. "Blood is power... for what took place between us changed us. I gained the powers of the Nightbloods and spoke with the Commanders, Ontari gained some of my powers over death."
"Yeah about that Clarke..." Jasper was about to speak as Raven sprinted over to the terminal as fast as she could with her limp and started to look at the screen that displayed her feed into the Singularity.
"Jasper... I know the implications of what I did." Clarke spoke as she turned to watch Raven access the controls.
"Well... Putting Grounder superstitions and beliefs aside for the time being, I need to locate Bekka." Raven said as she started to input commands to look for a particular pattern of code. "Okay... Grand plaza... No..." Raven moved to insert a different line of coding.
"Try the Ark Ring." Ontari spoke up.
"Okay Ark habitat ring." Raven spoke as the code she was looking for started to appear. "Okay, I found her."
"Hello Raven. I see that Ontari found you. Is Clarke there?" The Pramheda spoke.
"I am here Bekka." Clarke spoke to the First Commander.
"Good. I am sorry for distressing Ontari, but I believe that you have some information." Bekka spoke as the code on the screen started to change. "Raven... I am sending you a file to upload into the Neuro-rig crown you built to link Ontari back to her body. I want you to load it in to it and have Clarke join Ontari in mediation so that I can show them some stuff here."
"Why don't you use the chip that Clarke took of Alie's to speak to her that way?" Ontari spoke up from her distance in the room.
"Because of the Kill switch Clarke pulled. It disabled the network connections Alie was using to make the City of Light simulation run on those who took it. The only reason that you still have a connections is how you were injured. The system didn't know if you were dead or alive."
"I was trapped between worlds." Ontari spoke. "That is why I am still connected..." Ontari licked at her lips to keep them moist as she started to realize why she could still go there.
"Correct. The software that I just sent Raven should allow for Clarke to use an earlier version of the technology that was in place before the chips were created." Bekka spoke as Raven started to review the code.
"Looks like Bekka is right... I might be able to rig up a few more crowns later on but... for the one we have now... this will work." Raven noted as she looked over towards Ontari. "All we need is the crown."
"Columbia of Sankru has it. I let her wear the crown in that she thought it looked beautiful and in a way since you unscrewed it from my skull I didn't want it." Jasper just shrugged at this.
"Well... Looks like I am going to be waking up one of the Nightbloods." Jasper said as he got up. "Don't worry Ontari, I will do my best not to make Columbia lose any sleep." Ontari grinned. Raven's really didn't know the Ontari from before she got chipped, but this girl was a far cry from the beast that everyone was talking about.
"See that you do." With that Jasper moved to leave, but Ontari rose up and kissed him. Her wrapped blanket somewhat falling off of her exposing some flesh in the process.
"I will Coffee Shop." Jasper said as he walked out the door.
Coffee Shop? No... Ontari couldn't be...
"Ontari... you are not the girl from that coffee shop in..."
"The City of Light... Yeah..." Ontari spoke as she pulled her blanket close around her.
"The bookworm..." Ontari nodded at this statement. Raven realized that Jasper had found someone to fight for... But... This was news to her. No wonder Jasper fought hard to protect the City of Light...
He was trying to save her.
"Are you upset...?" Ontari spoke returning to sit on the bedding.
"No... Just starting to realize the reason why Alie chose Jasper to be her general to defend the City of Light as fervently as he did. He wasn't fighting for her... He was fighting for you." Raven started to realize how dangerous and devious Alie had been.
"He fought for love... my love." Ontari spoke letting her feelings be known.
"And Alie twisted that to her own advantage. What more powerful force that one will can have at their disposal to help conquer any foe than the force of love." Clarke spoke understanding Jasper's role in things.
"Well, I am glad that you survived and you found that love again." Raven spoke to the Nightblood.
"We have our painful memories, but it is because of that pain we have been forged stronger." Ontari spoke as she played with the small furry item in her hands.
"Ontari what is that small furry item in your hands?" Raven spoke.
"This... This is..." Ontari sighed. "Purr... This was an item of my mother's that I was able to pull off of her when Nia stole me from my family."
"Oh..." Raven hadn't considered that the Item was of a personal nature.
"I named it Purr." Ontari seemed almost like she was fighting her memories as she sat with the fur in her hands. "I kept it safe... I even had to kill and skin another animal just so Nia wouldn't burn the thing."
"Roan said that he had to hide some fur one time... Wait... this is that same fur!" Clarke spoke looking at the item.
"It is..." Ontari blushed a little. "Roan isn't as evil as his mother. He lives by code of honor." Clarke ginned at this.
"He does... why do you think that I was so willing to help him." The response caught Ontari off guard.
"Help him?" Ontari looked at Clarke realizing that there was something more going on.
"Dealing with Nia, making him king, saving you." Ontari looked stunned at this revelation.
"I was part of a deal between you and Roan." Ontari was processing this. "Was I to be traded for status among Skaikru?"
"No... Your protection was." Ontari processed this.
"I have a guard of Skaikru loyal to me?" Guard... Raven had think... This was a pseudo-medieval society, Game of Thrones stuff. Clarke raised her hand to clarify.
"You are part of the Hundred... They are loyal to you as you are loyal to them." Ontari started to nod some.
"So... making me your Second..." Ontari was processing.
"Gives you some command decisions, not full, but enough for you to understand what it means to lead. Plus I have seen your work with the young Nightbloods. You lead them... You teach... You guide."
"I do what I can to continue the traditions of educating my successors." Ontari spoke.
"It is no different in being a leader." Clarke spoke giving advice. "I didn't ask to be a leader, I just fell into the role given that I was the healer and my priority was making sure everyone alright. I lost people. I gained allies, but most of all, those who I was in the most conflict with the most started to become the ones that could depend on." Ontari tilted her head at this.
"Why... they were..." Ontari started to speak but Clarke cut her off.
"Because, I knew who they were and what they were good at. Even an enemy can provide some benefit for your people if you know who they are. There is an old saying, it is better to deal with the Devil you know than the devil you don't."
"Devil?" Ontari probably didn't know the reference.
"Demon... or more precisely the ruler of the underworld who punishes the spirits of the damned for all the wrongs they have wrought on the world." Ontari got the reference.
"So I am the lesser of two evils..." Ontari spoke.
"After Nia died... Lexa stated that you were filled with the urge for war. I didn't know if it was an Ice Nation trait and you had left with Roan back to the Ice Nation." Clarke lowered her shoulders. "So, One day I decided to go out to get some art supplies so that I could update my journals and make some drawings about what I saw. As I was walking around I started listening to people talk. Mostly it was about the Ice Nation. But there were references about Skaikru here and there. You have no idea about the stories and myths that have sprung up about Skaikru and myself that are misleading. Many of which I wanted to stop, but I never got the chance before things went sideways when Lexa got shot."
Clarke paused as she started to remember the situation but before she could continue Jasper returned, but this time there was an eleven year-old girl in a sleeping dress with him.
"Columbia decided to come." Jasper motioned over to the young girl who looked to be a little like Charlotte just given how her hair was braided. But her hair was dark like Ontari's.
"Heda Ontari..." The came forth and knelt before Ontari. "... I return your crown to you..." Ontari moved to take the crown from the girl.
"It's alright Columbia..." Ontari spoke as she adjusted her blanket to give herself some more modesty before her fellow Nightblood. "We only need it for a little while." Ontari seemed to feel the weight of the crown in her hands before taking note of the strange circuit board on the back of the unit along with the hardware plug. "Raven... I have seen these marking on the back of it before." Clarke got up and walked over to Ontari and knelt down.
"It is a standard circuit design." Clarke spoke as she let Ontari hand it to her.
"No Clarke it is more... You know how much knowledge that has been lost since the Great Burn that Alie committed. I read as much from Bekka's journal. But this..." Ontari gestured to the crown then around her. "I now know how far we have fallen and we need to go in Bekka's eyes. These circuit lines were once more powerful and any sword or blade or poison or book full of knowledge. Blood forging, walking on the moon, living in villages in the sky... There is so much we need to relearn. I need to know, am I worthy of my blood heritage to lead?" Columbia seemed taken back by this.
"My Heda... You will lead us when the time is right." Columbia spoke with compassion. This in a way cheered up Ontari.
"I know that I will Columbia and thanks for your words." Ontari paused as she saw the situation around her for what it was, Ontari realized that these people saw her as Kru. They may have been from different lands and even the sky itself, but they were Kru. She looked over at Clarke and saw a sister. "No... Primheda Bekka asked you to join me to speak to her on the crisis at hand. Then so be it. I may be learning what it means to be a Commander, if it is to be by your side on this journey, I will accept my role as second in command of on the Hundred." This is when a voice came through the speakers of the terminal.
"Ontari, Clarke. I know that you are talking about me and the others here in the Singularity but time is of the urgency." This is when Bekka directed her attention towards Raven. "Raven you need to install the software I sent you into the neural interface."
"Understood Bekka. One human computer brain interface coming up." With that Clarke handed the crown to Raven who plugged a cable into it and let the software download into the interface before handing the crown back to Clarke. "Software is loaded Clarke... All you have to do is put it one." This is when Clarke joined Ontari on the bed mat on the floor and took up a meditation position next to her.
"See you on the inside Ontari." Clarke said as she put the crown on her head and closed her eyes.
Much had changed in the singularity since the fall of Alie. Clarke saw that several of the structures had been modified to be a cross between their original industrial design and some advance biological one. But the amount of green and simulated wildlife stated that this version of the City of Light would be a reflection of its inhabitants.
"Raven are you seeing this?" Clarke spoke aloud.
"Yeah I am seeing it. Looks like Bekka has been doing a little redecoration to the place." Raven's voice came through a fluttering raven that was sitting on a park bench.
"The place looks like one of the grow towers from back on the station." Clarke continued down the alleyway. That was when a mechanical deer moved to munch on some grass that had been growing on what had been a street. The mechanical being's head looked up at her as the clear process tanks on its back sloshed around. That was when it ran a bright laser swath around her taking a scan of the environment before it decided to scamper off. After a moment another beast that looked like a large menacing creature started to gallop towards Clarke, but this one had a rider upon its back.
"Wanheada..." The rider called out as the beast slowly came to a stop before her. "The Pramheda sent me to find you when you did appear near the site you were supposed to." Some of the markings upon the woman looked to be of Delphi in origin.
"Bekka sent you?" Clarke called out to the rider.
"She did..." the woman's clothing seemed to have been reverted back to her tribal state though a smart braclet and a radio earpiece spoke that she like some of the conveniences the Singularly offered. "Sorry about my appearance. Some of us have opted to return to some of our more traditional garments since our memories have returned." Clarke nodded at this.
"So what other changes have been made?" Clarke sensing that this place was a far cry than what it had been under Alie's rule.
"Some... We kept what we liked, but... Some of us who are stuck here permanently decided to make some changes to make to feel like home." There was a comment that followed. "Who knew that Skaikru could turn gravel and rock and stone and make a garden out of it?" The rider thumbed back towards the tower.
"That's Skaikru's?" Clarke was impressed, maybe in a few years Arkada's gardens would be like that in real life.
"How do you think I found you? Most of your kin come to that place to feel at home." The rider said as she pulled Clarke onto the mechanical beast. "Come... Hopefully Otan has found your friend." Clarke had heard the name, but it was in reference to Emori's brother.
"I didn't catch your name." Clarke called out as the rider started to move her beast down the overgrown street/field.
"Sierra of Delphi." The woman said as they moved through the streets and Clarke started to get a sense that this was a place that Polis might be in a few generations if they survived the storm to come.
Ontari looked around the bookshelves of the library she had landed in. Ontari had been in this place many times during the time she had been a member of the City of Light Cult. The feel of the place hadn't changed, but her perspective on things had.
So much knowledge here...
This was a place if she could carry it with her... She would.
All this knowledge she would give to all Kru... her act of penitence for her actions.
Ontari had seen how far humanity had fallen due to the Great Fire that had destroyed the world of old. If there was any chance of rebuilding it, then the knowledge was here.
Ontari moved through the selves sensing that there was a reason she had been sent to this place or maybe it was the fact that she had longed to return to this location.
Ontari reached to feel the scar over her heart and felt fabric under her fingers. Well at least she was at least clothed. Ontari looked down to see what garments she was wearing. It was the same leggings and dark low cut top she had like wearing in this realm before... Ontari pushed that image out of her mind as she feared that Alie would return to find her and finish taking her life. Ontari would have felt better if she had a helmet on.
No... She needed to find Clarke!
Looking around she saw a child running through the shelves. The child looked to be playing a game with someone. That was when someone bumped into her.
"Sorry..." The boy looked up to see Ontari's face. The gulp spoke volumes. "Ice Nation."
"Um... Have you seen Wanheda? I am looking for her." Ontari knelt down looking a little embarrassed. The last thing she wanted to do was scare this boy off.
"No..." The boy backed off slowly.
"You're Skaikru..." Ontari moved to bite her lip. "My Lover Jasper is Skaikru of Ark…."
The boy stopped.
"Garden Station?" The boy nodded. Ontari keeled before the boy. "I Azpakstoka give my loyalty and my love to the protection of the children of all kru, including Skaikru."
"Is this a Grounder loyalty thing?" The boy spoke as another voice came from behind.
"Jamie... I found you." This was from a girl, probably about Artesia's age. "Oh..."
"Your friend found you?" Ontari turned to look at the dark skinned girl. "Have you seen Wanheda?" The girl shook her head no. The girl bore no visible clan marks of kill designs on her flesh. This one may have been Skaikru as well.
"Azpakstoka... Heard that you took the name of the Ice Wolf." A young man was walking through the aisles towards her and the children. "Hi... I'm Otan... Bekka sort of figured that you would wind up here." The young man raised his hands. "If you are looking for Clarke my friend Sierra sort of tracking down where she is."
"Do you know where she is?" Ontari spoke.
"Yes I do..." The young man spoke to Ontari. "You two sort of got separated when you established the link." Otan spoke looking at the children.
"Where is she?" Ontari moved into a defensive position as she placed the children behind her.
"Ontari... Stand down." A female voice spoke as Bekka came into view.
"Pramheda..." Ontari spoke seeing Bekka wearing her lose coveralls and white t-shirt that had the trail of black blood down it's back.
"Ontari... I have sent a rider to find Clarke..." The Progenitor of the Nightbloods offered her hand to help Ontari up. "I sort of guessed that you would show up near a place full of books." Ontari blushed.
"Pramheda... I..." Bekka moved to hug the girl.
"My pardons... It was my fault to send you off in such urgency." Bekka spoke. "There is much that Clarke and you needed to see and know." Bekka started to walk down one of the isles of shelves until they reached an open area of tables and desks. This is when an elegantly dressed Sankru maiden approached Bekka in yellow Legging and a soft silken top.
"Pramheda... Sierra returns with Clarke of Skaikru along with the Avatar of Raven." The woman spoke. Ontari took note of the woman's almost boyish short hair.
"Thank you Tyene." Bekka spoke as the group started to move through the Library and out through the main doors of it. Ontari started to realize that this place was the city center and it had been transformed.
Gone was the stark efficient lines that Alie had put into place. In its place stood a city that was more alive.
There were buildings that had been removed, but in their place stood more... Well natural places.
There were fields, trees, parks, and... What could be best described as the fact that the new buildings that were there had been constructed around and within the nature of the environment.
"Impressed..." Tyene spoke seeing Ontari's attention drawn to the buildings.
"I am." Ontari looked around the buildings.
"Many of the same kru started to gather together when their memories came back and started to make many of these structures home." Tyrene spoke as several Ice Nation children and adults were trading goods with a Skaikru farmer who was selling fruit. "We have all had to work together to make this our home." There was a sigh. "For the youngest of us who have been trapped here, we have done our best to make them feel at home."
"So..." Ontari started to realize the price that had taken place.
"This is the work that I have been doing." Bekka spoke up. "Alie's youngest victims have been paying the price for me not ending her so long ago." Bekka's voice cracked hard. "Those who have been here have decided to aid me in making sure that we can give those children a chance to live their lives in peace and with some normality."
"The library has been one of the places we kept intact... the rest... well, we changed to make into our home." Otan moved with the rest of the group as he brought up a tablet of glass with writing on it. "Pramheda... we need to bring Clarke with us to the Control hub, your presence is requested with Station Command." Bekka nodded at this.
"Understood Otan." The Sankru man moved towards a round door and swung it open as Clarke arrived on the back of some metal oxen creature.
"Sierra, see that your search went well for finding Wanheda." Tyene spoke as the two women approached.
"It was once Bekka knew where to send me to." The dark skinned rider got off of the beast and helped Clarke get down.
"Ontari... Bekka..." Clarke seemed to be relieved to see that Ontari was alright.
"It is good to see you too Clarke of Skaikru." Ontari spoke seeing how much Clarke's appearance was different in this realm. Most of her garments seemed to be the light and dark blues of most of the other Skaikru that she had seen walking around Arkada.
But there was something different...
Clarke bore the same two scars that she had on her upper chest.
Maybe the Commander of Death had decided to finally take some kill marks. Not of individual foes, but of the armies she had taken on. The ones that needed to die.
The Mountain Men and the Cult of the City of Light.
Clarke had no grudge against Trikru, it just had been a misunderstanding between her people and Lexa's. Maybe excluding them from her kills was her way of making peace with Trikru.
Yes there were dead on both sides, but that was politics as both sides worked out their new boarders. If there were scars... Ontari wouldn't know what they were or where they were at on Clarke's flesh given she hadn't been privy to that part of Skiakru society. Considering that Skaikru were particular on their scaring patterns. Maybe given their healing knowledge she had seen them and passed them off as some skin blemish on Clarke's form.
Shit it took her several days after the bathhouse incident to learn that the most visible scar that most Skaikru women bore on the right flank of their body by their breast was a sign of motherhood. Ontari had learned that when she confronted a woman whose scar was fresh. Only when she presented her naked body as she slowly starting to round belly that Ontari had put the pieces together. Ontari had thought it was a battle scar... not being seen as a scar representing motherhood and the number children you had.
Probably in their eyes, they may have seen her as a whore given her recent scaring.
This was the stuff that she was learning to understand. Sort of like Sankru's marriage thing. Only if Murphy knew what he was getting into with Emori. When was she going to ask Murphy to ask for a second husband or a second wife? Only time would tell. But for now the Thief and the false Flamekeeper were happy together.
Now being drawn back to the present Ontari watched as Bekka's group moved through the door that had been opened up. Given the thickness of it probably spoke that whatever was behind, it was important. As the group moved through it Ontari started to realize why it so strange and yet so familiar.
The door was of Skaikru construction.
Walking down one of the hallways the place seemed to be manned mostly by Floukru, Skaikru and some Delphi personnel. Going through another thick door they entered another room and what she saw took her breath away.
She was looking at the world from high above. There were lands so far away that she could see another sea... No... An ocean. Between the displays giving information on various points of the world such as weather and possible mineral locations. Ontari was taken aback by this place.
Even the green flutter of the Auroras in her homeland struck a chord in her heart. Her goddess Bori was looking out for her.
Ontari had to fight with all her will not to drop to her knees and pray to the Goddess of the Sky.
"Lexa... give me an update on the current coverage of the toxic clouds on the surface?" Bekka spoke as she moved to look at the report that Lexa was about to give.
"Recent readings that we have been able to get from Alie's sensors have given much information on the spread rate." Lexa moved to look at Clarke but continued her report given that this was something that she needed to announce aloud. "So far given the toxic rate of the cloud path development we are looking a considerable toxic coverage for most of North America. So far we have been able to detect to a limited degree with the thermal imaging since we have achieved a higher altitude that there are remaining settlements in the southern hemisphere will be affected as well." Lexa spoke conveying the information she had. "So far we have been pulling through various records that Alie was able to grab from the old computer network called the Internet about various places that humanity could survive. So far Einheart and Carmen have been able to locate several old salt mines had had been converted to archive storage facilities. Mostly they need an upgrade to their atmosphere systems as well as some artificial agricultural farming technology so that the inhabitants can hold out until most of the radiation levels subside." This is when Lexa turned to look at her lover. "Yes Clarke we have been working hard at this problem too. Ontari states that you have been working on a theory on using a system that will allow for the transferring of some of the healing abilities of the Nightbloods and Skaikru to other individuals so that they may survive the crisis." This is when Bekka started to speak.
"If my lab is still intact in Polis, you can access my research and equipment to get done what needs to be done." This is when Clarke moved to speak.
"So far we need to get hold of a bioreactor to make a immunity cocktail of bone marrow so that we can slow the progression of the effects. Throw in what we have been able to treat by using Indigowoad root to make an inoculate to slow and treat the current level of radiation poisoning. If we don't then we will be stuck in the situation the Mountain men were left in for nearly a century before they decided to come after my people to harvest them."
"Understood. It was much the same way when I arrived back on planet and started to inoculate the survivors." Bekka spoke as Ontari moved closer to listen in. "It took awhile to get the first batch out given that the levels were heavily toxic. The rate of Cancer was exceedingly high but using a biological treatment I had developed while on Polaris, I was able to save many lives through treating their cancers." Bekka spoke as she moved towards a table that had several markers on a map. "If you are going to use my Bioreactor you are going to need to nurse the bio matter back to life as well as add a mixture of genetically engineered proteins from Skaikru as well as take a pint of bone marrow from each of the Nightbloods to create what you need." Bekka spoke as she moved the maps off of the table and hit a few controls. "Additionally you will need to create a Auxotrophy bath made up of various vitamin, essential nutrient, essential amino acid, essential fatty acid to feed that marrow mix so that you can grow what you need to save the peoples of these lands."
"I understand." This is when Clarke looked over towards Raven's avatar. "Raven, you and Jasper grab some paper and start to write this down of what we need to get and build for these Bioreactors as Bekka walks me through the procedures."
"Understood Clarke." Jasper called out through the bird. "If you can, find out how long they estimate the stay in these complexes will be?"
"Jasper... We will do that." Ontari's feelings that being a leader meant more than learning to save lives, it meant being there for those you cared about.
"Ontari..." Clarke looked over at some of the papers that had been placed on another table. "Could you to work with Einheart and Carmen and see where these bunkers are and how many people we can fit into them." Ontari moved to look at the maps. "I need you to treat these like villages that needs to sustain themselves for a long winter where they can't get supplies from the outside."
"Understood." Ontari started to realize that her skills in the Ice Nation brought about a level of knowledge for survival, while Clarke's were affiliated at treating the sick. maybe that was why the Gods had chosen them to work together.
"Raven... I need you to have the Nightbloods work with me on this. And grab the map of the territories out of the War Room."
"Yes my Heda... I will do that." Columbia's voice could be heard faintly through the bird. Ontari grinned.
Karina couldn't sleep.
Between the Grounder with the snoring problem that had kept her up most of the night in the room next to her's. She needed to find a quieter place to be. Hell, Raven's workshop would be quiet this time of the night until morning. Carrying her pillow and her floating yoga harness as she plopped her bare feet across the metal floor of Arkada with determination. Sleeping in the harness like a hammock would at least provide a few hours sleep for her.
Approaching the workshop Karina saw that something was going on.
Wait... Was that Columbia?
Karina watched as the dark haired Nightblood start to sprint out of Raven's workshop in her nightgown. For a girl that was about the same age as Charlotte had been before her death was one thing that had worried her and Clarke. If enough Grounders knew of the Hell that Clarke had gone through with Charlotte's death. Karina didn't want to think about it given that it might be used for political gain against Clarke and the Arkers position in the Coalition.
Though seeing the girl sprint away from Raven's lab... Now this was a concern for everyone here.
There were a lot of things in that place that could go boom, not to mention the work items that could be covered in poison. If either took place a good part of the service staff of Arkada could be taken down quite easily thus leaving the settlement open for an attack.
That was when Jasper came out of the workshop and saw Karina in the hallway.
"Can't sleep?" Jasper spoke as she noted the items that Karina had in her arms.
"Understatement. So what was Ontari's Nightblood up to?" Karina watched as the girl sprinted up to the habitation levels of the settlement.
"Ontari made contact with Bekka over an hour ago. We have been dealing with download and sort of the information cache that Bekka raided out of Alie's system." Jasper spoke as he watched as a Trikru man walked by followed by Harper who was on her path towards her home.
Rampant insomnia had been a side effect over the last few weeks because of the amount of time some people spent within the City of Light. Thus it was not an unseen site to see many individuals moving about at odd hours of the night just because the idea of falling back to sleep for longer than just a few hours just felt uncomfortable to them. Karina had run into quite a few children often sleeping on the stairs and the various parts of the old space station just because they had often spent so many hours in that artificial virtual environment Alie had created feeling safe. The Trikru man just was probably unable to sleep and was trying to do something to work off that edge, the game of cards off in the distance seemed to be one of the things that had been taken up the interest with the other insomniacs. Seeing another player being open the man got dealt in. Amazing what a deck of cards taken as a trophy from Mount Weather could do to help soothe the mind of those who had been through mind control hell.
But hearing this new revelation on that the battle had been ongoing had hit home.
From the sound of things, the new Heda seemed to be up to her eyeballs in sorting out this flood of information.
Sleep could wait.
This was more important.
"So how much of a data dump are we talking about here?" Karina stated as she moved closer Jasper.
"A lot... Most of the other Hedas have started to chew through it to find the information we need, but right now Ontari had Columbia head out to get the other Nightbloods to help us." Karina knew the look on the girl's face. She had been in that place too.
This was much like the battle of the bridge against Trikru had been. Karina and another girl from Hydra Station by the name of Eden had moved to protect the younger members of the Hundred.
The look of worry and dread was one that Karina wouldn't forget. Eden's dark skin was almost close to Ontari's even down to her figure, but given that Eden had been convicted of murder the girl knew that she wouldn't go down easy as killing was a second nature to her. That tensed form spoke that it was fight or flight mode. Dreading the moment of death and the will to fight for that next moment of life. Karina had been the lookout while Eden had been the one ready to hold that last little bit of the structure if the front line defenses failed. That feeling was forming here was the same. Eden had found some peace in hunting and using her murderous kills to the benefit of those who had come to the ground.
Eden was a Grounder born in Space.
Karina respected that.
Now those skills had come to protect those who now called this place home.
Fight, Hold, win.
Karina with her firearm, and Eden with her spear ready to spill blood that needed to be spilled.
Now this was a new front line. Only this time the odds were not in their favor... for the time being.
All the work that Eden had gone through being Lincoln's student to control those urges and turn them to something good. Eden over the last few months had become a hunter for Arkadia and it had allowed her to quell her murderous desires and turn them into something beneficial for the community, even going as far to get facial tattoos.
Tattoos that Lincoln himself had done in the weeks prior to his death that would mark her as a hunter of Skaikru.
Then Alie changed that and turned the young huntress into one of her warrior trackers that that attempted to storm the Government tower in Polis after she had been sent out to hunt down Clarke.
Eden was now nursing back a twisted ankle from recent events, but if there was a chance at getting some payback... Karina at least knew that there was another person that was going to help them if she got the chance.
That was Ontari of the Ice Nation.
Ontari was wild even by Grounder Standards... but that savagery had been forced upon a girl who was intellectually hungry.
The mirror opposite of Eden, but the two had opened up about their worlds.
Now with books and those who saw that craving of knowledge as something they could work with, Ontari seemed to be at peace too.
Eden had taken to the girl and had started to ask if there were any Ice Nation girls who were into women as Eden was interested in having a relationship with a girl from that land.
Well, they had another Hundred going Grounder.
Maybe a Grounder guy for Karina?
But that line of thought had to be put on hold.
Karina looked at the inner parts of the former space station and realized that in time this place would be reworked into something more Grounder.
"We are Grounders..." Bellamy had called out before that battle to rally those would fight against the army of Trikru warriors.
Now the Arkers were slowly becoming Grounders.
Karina's own children would be Grounders, that is if she survived this current crisis.
As a small group of Nightbloods returned with Columbia. The looks of concern on their faces spoke volumes.
"How much help do you need Jasper?" Karina spoke as she watched as she saw the worry and grogginess in the children's faces. Whatever dreams and hopes that these youth had were now being threatened by the legacy of Alie.
"A whole lot." Jasper spoke as he ran his hand over his short cut hair.
"I'll Help." Karina spoke as she moved to pat him on the shoulder. The tired grin on his face stated that he too had a stake in this matter by the name of Ontari.
"Thanks..." Japser spoke as he motioned Karina into the workshop.
Entering into Raven's workshop she saw Clarke sitting on the floor next to Ontari. Karina was seriously impressed a Clarke's artistic skill at treating her wounds to the point was known that some healers had ask to study under her. Even the scar fading she used to cover up many of the cuts and injuries to her face was significant. Given the number of times that Clarke had been hit in the face. It was amazing seeing how flawless her face looked. Between the amount of medical adhesive and the use of her scapel, one had to really look for the scars on her face. Most of the time they showed only whenever she got flustered and one could see the broken nose scar, the scars across her right forehead, and the few on her chin.
Ontari looked to be almost serene, well serene given that the woman was sitting naked on the floor with a blanket wrapped around her. Ontair's fingers twitched some as a change in her breathing took place and she swallowed. Over by the computer Ontari's voice could be heard as she was speaking to a woman.
"... Francesca, these territories that you are asking me to look over, they are vast."
"Yes Ontari, but the old mines in these areas helped save many lives. The salt mines in these areas were converted into storage areas before the great burn. They will need work in the time remaining, but they should hold against the weather events." Ontari's fingers twitched.
Ontair's tension was coming through her fingers that and part of her left side of her head was twitching.
"Raven is there a way to talk with Ontari." Karina spoke up.
"Ontari." Raven moved to speak into a small microphone that was on the desk. "Karina is here and she wants to ask you a question."
"Karina..." Her arrival must have not been expected. Ontari's breathing shifted.
"It's alright... If you want me to..." Karina decided to state this in a formal way. "I will stand watch over you sister." Karina moved to take Ontari's hand and in that moment Ontari's finger twitch subsided. The pulsing by Ontari's forehead of where they had operated on also stopped pulsing as well.
"Karina... What did you do?" Clarke's voice called through the speakers.
"Just held her hand."
"It's is well Klark..." Ontari spoke up. "Knowing that I am not alone in this fight... and that I am seen as a sister of your kru means much." Maybe that little acceptance that Karina spoke and showing it meant a whole lot to Ontari.
"I'll teach you how to make that spiced cabbage we had." Karina spoke.
"Throw in how to make that bean bread and I'll call it a decent trade for my maze smut stew." Ontari spoke as the environment started to become relax some as priorities were set up of what information would be delivered to each group.
Indra rubbed her wrists, the latest set of wounds would heal in time after she had been crucified to that damn cross. For Octavia of Skaikru the wounds would take longer... especially for the young warrior's heart.
Lincoln of Trikru had been this girl's world.
Octavia was the type of person that would never back down from a foe. But this wasn't a foe that needed to be fought, it needed to be endured.
Indra had tracked the girl down following the trail of bodies she had left in her wake.
The poor fools who thought of Octavia as being an easy prey learned too late that the young Sky Girl was a force to be reckoned with. The hacked up bodies spoke as much.
The name of the Sky Killer had started to spread.
Even Ice Nation warriors gave this girl a wide birth when she came in view.
If Clarke Commanded Death... Then this girl wanted to slay the creature where it stood.
Indra had tracked the girl down the moment she was able to leave Abby's healer's room in the Ark and started her search for the girl.
It had taken weeks to find the girl, but when Indra did find Octavia she was taking on a group of Slavers by herself.
The number of bodies dropped were brutal.
The last warrior of the bunch was shitting his pants as Octavia drenched in the blood of his compatriots started to come towards him.
"Fight me..." Octavia had spoken in the voice of a person in pain. A person that wasn't afraid of death. A person that death should be afraid of.
"Take the prisoners... take the..." the poor fool never finished his words as Octavia ran her blade through him.
"Octavia!" Indra called out to the death seeking woman.
The girl turned. Blood drenched clothing stating that Death should be afraid.
"Indra..." the girl was wild with grief.
"I thought that I taught you better."
"Go away or kill me."
"You are my Second."
"Second... Second born, seconds away from saving one's love. Second's for dinner... death for a second born."
"Second as in daughter..."
"I have no mother..." Octavia spat. "Skaikru floated her to the vacuum of space for bearing me."
"You do have a mother... not one of blood, but of Earth."
"I have no Kru..." Octavia cried out.
"But you do have people that care about you."
"They died... They killed... They are death."
"Then why do you seek out Death?"
"I want to be with him..."
Octavia moved to start hacking the Slaver's head off. The chopping motion scared many of the shackled slaves that were cringing in terror fearing that they would be next.
"It is not your time Octavia." Indra called out as she slowly approached.
"I still smell him. I long for him."
"He wanted you to live Octavia." Indra spoke as she moved closer.
"He died... Pike is dead... why do I feel so..."
"Lost... hurt..." Indra was able to finally approach close enough to touch the girl and take the blade from her hands.
Octavia finally cried... Howled... and punched the blood soaked soil letting her pain out.
That was five days ago.
Indra walked over to the bed in the TonDC longhouse that they had come to. This was the first time in the last few weeks that Octavia had actually slept.
Food, water, rest... those were the priority now for this girl.
Other needs would come, but for now those three were the most important.
Indra had never had children, but Octavia was the closest thing she had to a daughter.
Yet the child was born of the Stars and the Sky, she was a creature of the ground of the Mother Earth.
Indra was probably the first mother this girl had in a long time since she had been found by Skiakru before she was imprisoned and sent down with Clarke and the rest of those hundred warriors.
Indra moved and started to braid the girl's hair.
Octavia looked up at Indra with eyes still in pain.
"Easy child... I am giving you a braid of mourning." Indra spoke softly. "It is given to girls who have lost... family." Indra moved slowly through the girl's hair and started to weave.
"You are doing this for Lincoln?"
"And for your mother." Indra added.
"Thank you." Octavia spoke as she started to relax some.
Indra knew that for Octavia finding peace among the ground meant the world to her. Now she needed to find the peace of knowing that the spirits were looking out for her.
If they were survive this oncoming storm, then they needed to endure the challenges to come.
For Octavia kon Skiakru, her challenges were just beginning.
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