Well, I almost didn't get it out on time, yet here we are at 23:24, thankfully still Friday. This chapter, much like the last, is definitely a filler just for while I'm working things out. If anyone wants longer chapters then I'm sorry but they're not coming quite yet, though they are on their way, just hang tight.
Ten.
The swimming lessons, although frequent, could only go so far in the short space of a week. It wasn't long before the final few days were rolling around and River found herself and Thorne getting ready to get on the boat.
In order to get used to what would be her home away from home for a while, River decided that they would both move in before they had to, living a couple of days on the water to get used to the gentle rocking of the boat in the sea. It had taken a lot to leave her home of the Station, especially knowing that she may never return, but she did so anyway, moving herself onto what she knew must have been a luxury boat before everything had struck.
She, Clarke, Jasper and Bellamy volunteered to clean it all out, though only she and Clarke seemed to have the stomach for it when they found the remains of a dead family still sitting at a family table. They wrapped the family in an old rug and dragged them one by one off the boat, burying them in a shallow grave that was definitely less than what they deserved, but there was no time to do more for them.
The four of them, being rid of the corpse family, gutted the boat, throwing everything that wasn't essential over the edge, deciding that they could always bring things back on board if they wanted to.
It took three whole days and fifty pairs of hands constantly working to get the airlock systems in place on the boats. Luckily, it seemed that the end of the world coming hadn't been much of a secret, so the luxurious boats already had their own systems that simply needed checking and some power.
All the while, no matter what was going on, Thorne skipped around, following River and screaming at anyone who dared glance at him. It seemed that she'd grown on him since the death of his mother, only leaving her side in order to sleep on his mother's pelt each night which River kept close to herself anyway.
"So it's finally ready?" Kane asked, laboriously wiping a streak of sweat from his brow.
Panting, River stripped herself of the final layer that she could afford to lose, standing in the thinnest of shorts and her sports bra. She had long since forgotten about that so called thing called modesty. She didn't need to be modest, she needed to cool the hell down.
"It's done." Raven confirmed, her shirt stained with sweat patches just as everyone's was. "I think."
Leaning down, River cupped her hands into the sea water that lapped at her and doused Thorne before he could run away. He immediately did so, but she knew that he must have been sweltering with his baby coat still being so fluffy. She considered asking medical for some scissors to trim him down, but she had no idea what the climate would be like where they were going, so she just threw water at him every so often and shaded him when she could. It hardly helped that he ran around and tried to drink sea water.
"You think?" Bellamy panted, his hands on his sides from exhaustion. They'd all just finished dragging all sorts of equipment and the sort onto the boat, none of which could get even remotely wet which only made it harder.
Raven, the fiery woman that she was, turned to Bellamy with a glare. "Yes," She snapped. "I think." Her voice was rough from the lack of fresh drinking water as none of them had taken breaks yet. "Look, Bellamy, we're not exactly in some radiation filled area right now, so, do I know whether or not those doors will keep anything out? No! I don't freaking know-"
"Okay, okay. It's alright, Rae." Clarke, every the peace maker, placed a hand on the older girl's shoulder and gave a warning glance to Bellamy who raised his hands in surrender with slight shock written across his face. "Come on, let's all get some water and some food. There should still be a few good hours of sunlight for us to work in once we're done."
Thorne, despite having run away from having water dumped on him, sprinted immediately after River on his awkwardly long and wobbly legs as soon as she began to leave for food and clean water, screaming up at her when he crashed into one of her legs and tumbled over.
As she ate fish that she knew had been sourced from her river, feeding Thorne leaves from around her to avoid him trying a nearby patch of poisonous shrubbery, River watched everyone. She watched the way that Raven, no matter who was talking to her, couldn't pull her eyes away the newly finished airlock that they would all be placing their lives in. She watched Bellamy, noting that of everyone, he was really only looking at members of The 100, never once glancing at her or even Kane. He especially didn't look to any of the grounders. She watched Clarke who, despite the strong facade, looked tired enough that even if they dropped her in the water she might still try to sleep. Kane, well, poor Kane, he looked as if he'd not seen a bar of soap in days and he probably hadn't, being so preoccupied with everything boat-wise.
A scream brought River from her people-watching. It was a panicked scream, loud and shrill right in her ear. It was Thorne. She immediately pulled a bone knife and made to stand only to realise that Abraham, the asshole grounder that suggested her white baby deer would make a good hand warmer, was picking him up in one huge hand only to lower himself to sit beside her and drop the screaming animal in his own lap, the same heavy hand draper over Thorne's back casually as he reached forward and took a piece of fish from beside the fire.
"He is not even worth throwing into the fire." Abraham stated, making River's blood boil that the man had considered it.
"Good." She snarled. "If you tried, I'd press your damn head in there, so just-"
"River-"
"Not now, Clarke." River's voice showed that there was no wiggle room. She cared for this screaming ball of awkward deer and she'd be damned if tall, handsome and asshole hurt such an innocent creature. "You hurt my deer, I'll hurt you."
Smirking, Abraham began to scratch Thorne, ignoring the seemingly worried screams directed at River. "I tell you that I will not throw him into the fire and you threaten me?" He scoffed, amused. "Girl, I find it oddly attractive that you believe you are enough of a match to hurt me-"
"I'm the strongest swimmer here. Let's hope you don't fall into the sea and sink, dead-weight."
River's previously good mood was gone, only getting worse when Asshole smirked and chuckled to himself, eating his fish. What shocked her, however, was when he pulled a tiny piece of meat from the skeleton and held it to Thorne in his lap, chuffing approvingly when Thorne, who River swore should have been a herbivore, ate it happily.
She listened to Kane as he spoke to Arkers and Grounders alike, explaining to everyone what was going to be happening for the millionth time, every so often glancing at Thorne to see that he was still okay, only to be shocked half to death when she turned and saw him falling asleep spread across a single of Abraham's huge thighs. 'Traitor' she cursed him mentally.
The people of both the ground and the sky respected Kane, it was clear that when the leader f the Grounders, Lexa, was alive, that she had shown the man respect, as her living warriors now did too. River wondered how hard it must have been for them all to be without a leader for so long, but insider her heart she knew that from the looks on their faces, they would follow "Wanheda" wherever she lead them.
If there was any sky person that they held in higher regard than Kane, it most definitely was Clarke.
The rest of the day was much of a muchness. Everyone worked hard to get the rest of the equipment aboard the boat before they allowed for a few luxuries such as a couch that only had one fault being that it stank of dead folk, but River knew a good scrub would be enough. Everyone's bed rolls were set in one corner as where they would all sleep was the least of their worries.
Before too long, it was decided by Clarke that all of the boats needed oars in case anything went wrong with the motors, so the Grounders set to work in vigour, chopping nearby trees and squabbling over how best to treat the wood before confirming that there was no time, simply whittling away and producing oar after enormous oar, each of which would take at least two people to wield it.
River, never one to be too lazy, helped with the task of heaving the oars to the boat. They were heavy, but she knew the science and logic behind where to pick it up, how to pick it up and just how to walk with a heavy load. She could see that she gained some respect that day when she single-handedly moved three of the eight oars that were going to her respective boat.
By the end of the day as night rolled in, River bid her goodbyes to almost everyone as they wanted to get the last few nights of sleep in their own beds. She wasn't that fussy, thanking Marcus when he handed her a small barrel that was filled to the brim with fish and a bottle of what looked like Monty's moonshine, before she began to bed down for the night.
The only people who stayed were Octavia, Raven, Clarke, Abraham and Bellamy. River knew that the others found themselves drawn to Clarke when she made a decision, but she knew that Octavia and her already seasick horse were there because River was. She saw the way that Octavia still had anger for Clarke and Bellamy, her brother especially. River knew that feeling. She knew how it felt to be angry with someone you loved. It was one of the most disgustingly crushing feelings in the world.
"I can't believe you're sleeping on there." Bellamy grumbled, disgusted at River as she rolled her bed roll out onto the couch of death, laying Thorne's mother's hide over herself and letting him curl up on her as she lay down.
Shrugging, River closed her eyes. "It's comfortable." She mused.
"It stinks." He retorted, almost audibly rolling his eyes.
At this, River smirked and chuckled. "So do we."
.
.
.
.
.
Sighing gently, River poked her head out from behind the tree trunk that she was using as a hiding space, looking to find Octavia's only give away: the glint of light flashing from her sword once, twice, three time. Three flashes, it was safe.
Nodding her recognition, River gently threw the small stone from her palm into the small clearing.
The animals between not only Octavia and River but the rest of the hunting party all stood immediately at attention. Indra had lead them all to a popular watering hole that morning, wanting to stock up on as much meat as possible that could be salted for the journey.
It took a mere three and a half minutes from that moment until the hunting party of thirteen were all wearing the blood of the animals and said animals were lifeless on the ground. River, Indra and Octavia immediately set about skinning the mountain of kills while the others went in search of more animals.
"You would be wise not to anger Abraham." Indra stated, her knife slicing a sliver of meat from bone where the flesh had torn. "He is respected among us and though he may tolerate you for now, he is not known for being a man with a high tolerance once he has grown bored."
Sighing once more, River continued to skin her kills. She wasn't trying to anger the oaf, he just kept making not so subtle remarks about the ending of Thorne's life. "I'm not angering him." She replied, slinging bloody hide over her shoulder before wiping her knife and sharpening it while she continued to speak. "I'm sure that I'll know if I anger someone of his size-"
"You would not."
"What?"
Scoffing, Indra smirked down at the meat in her hand. "They call him Nithaihefa."
"Nethifler? What the fuck does that mean?"
"Nithaihefa." Octavia corrected, a look of shock on her usually tough features. "It means Night King."
Smirking, River couldn't help but chuckle. "Night King? What's he a king of?" He certainly didn't seem like royalty of any kind to her, although he did seem to be listened to by most. "Also, you know there's a guy called the Night King in a book, right? You guys totally took that for A Game of Thrones."
"River, I've heard stories about Nithaihefa, he's not someone you should clash with."
"Well come on, someone tell me about the so called Night King."
It wasn't under Indra was done and all the meat was pulled from each bone that River realised that she wished she hadn't asked. Abraham, Nithaihefa, the Night King, was a killer. Not just a killer, a murderer. A former assassin of Lexa's who had grown up with her and had become one of the most efficient weapons that the Grounders had ever seen. Before the alliance, he had personally wiped out at least seventeen Arkers, though when Lexa had demanded peace, he had bowed and swore to keep it.
The worst part? The worst part was that in securing land before Lexa was Heda, Abraham had been part of a team of "cleaners", as Octavia translated from whatever term Indra had used. He had brought villages to their knees. He had killed men, women and children simply because a finger had been pointed their way.
River felt sick to her stomach knowing that she would be on a boat with such a monster, but it dawned on her that most of the people that she now considered friends weren't much better than him. How many lives had Clarke taken simply because she had thought it was the way to peace?
"We're all too far fucking gone." She grumbled to herself. "Maybe it'd just be better if the world swallowed us up and started again." Thorne screamed at her feet, seemingly agreeing with her.
So, Chapter Ten is at a close. Any questions? Queries? Anything at all, feel free to throw it at me. If anyone has any thoughts or feelings of any persuasion then please don't hesitate to tell me as I love getting feedback and knowing how I'm/the story is doing.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!