Hey everyone! Long time no chapter, sorry! Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and an extra thanks for the people who took time to leave a review, you always make my day! Anyone else extremely disappointed about Con-Geda? I literally never do stuff like that, and here it's the one I choose to buy a lunch spot and plane ticket for, and it gets canceled lol. Such is life.

"No, no, please!"

Clarke bolted upright, her hand going to her knife. "Alie?" she asked out loud.

"I don't sense anything. It's possible it's a nightmare."

Clarke slid the knife back into its sheath and crawled over toward Jari, using the light from the embers of the fire to see where she was going.

"No!" Jarious thrashed around, then whimpered and grabbed his shoulder.

"Jari, Jari honey, it's okay." Clarke got to him and pulled him into a hug. He jerked for a second, sobbing. Wet warmth oozed onto her hand and she pulled it away from his arm to see it in the light of the fire. Black blood. Still fascinating, but now was not the time. "Jari, you need to wake up for a minute, kid. Then you can try to sleep again."

She crumpled up a piece of her shirt and ripped it off. It wasn't worth much at this point anyway. The bleeding stopped easily with a little pressure, and she tightened his bandages.

"It'll be okay. You'll see. Pretty soon the weather will change, and then we can head out to meet my people. You'll love my mom. And I know she'll love you. All of you. And then there's Bellamy, he'll pretend you're just a burden at first, but he's really a softy. And Raven. Monty, Harper, Octavia. You're going to have more aunts and uncles than you know what to do with." He settled in, mumbling something but going back into a deeper sleep.

All of her friends would love the kids. But what about the grounders? They'd have to keep it a secret that they were nightbloods, for as long as they could. They weren't going to treat them any different, just because their blood was a different color. She'd see to that, even if they had to leave everyone and live somewhere in the woods, just the four of them.

"Five," Alie said.

Yes, five. What would Roan think of them? Would he try to pressure her into letting Gaia have them?

She glanced at the other two. Madi was awake, watching everything going on with curious eyes. She held an arm out in that direction and the little girl hopped up to run over and snuggle in close. "Shhh…" Clarke said, holding a finger to her lips. Not that she wanted to discourage her from speaking, but Jari needed restful sleep. Hopefully whatever was going through his mind had faded, and he could get some real rest.

She ran a hand through the little girl's fine hair, picking at knots. "I'll be glad when we can all take baths," Clarke whispered to her. "I haven't cared too much until now, but we're all pretty stinky."

Madi wrinkled her nose at Clarke, like she agreed. Clarke laughed, keeping it quiet. She stood and moved away from Jari, taking Madi with her.

"Don't you wrinkle that nose at me, kiddo, you need a bath just as much as I do." She tickled Madi in the ribs for a second, just enough to get a smile big enough to see in the light of the dying fire. She sat her down and went over, adding a couple logs.

So far the beast hadn't been back, thankfully. There must have been another entrance to the caves, which wasn't surprising considering they hadn't explored much. Just because they hadn't seen anything indicating it was still around didn't mean she'd be taking any chances. The fire would burn brightly at all times, even if that meant she wouldn't be getting much sleep.

Settling in by the wall, she pulled Madi close. It was late, though it had been a good day, and it didn't take long before the girl's eyes were drooping. Thom snored softly over by Jari, and for once a deep sense of peace filled Clarke. They could do this. They really could.

The past day, week, or even month had worn her out. She soon drifted off right after Madi.

A strange noise echoed through the cave. A whimper, almost, but not a human one. Clarke's eyes snapped open instantly, automatically assuming the worst.

"Ah, what was that?" Clarke asked Alie.

"I have no idea." The AI was getting much better at admitting when she didn't know stuff. Which wasn't a comfort right now, it'd been much better if she'd known.

There, there it was again, but farther away. "It could be a great distance from here, Clarke," Alie said. "Caves like this make sounds do strange things. If I had an exact map of the cave system, I would be able to calculate a distance and approximate location, but I don't."

"Clarke!" Thom loud whispered from over by Jari. "I'm scared."

Well she couldn't lie to him and tell him there was nothing to be afraid of. She stood, taking the still sleeping Madi with her, and moved over to the boys. She settled in beside Thom against the cave wall. He was cuddled up next to her in a flash.

"What do you think that is?" he asked.

For this kid to wake up from a sound, it must have scared him pretty badly. Usually he didn't wake for anything. She was not good at this comfort thing. "Do you want to hear a story?"

"What kind of story?"

Good question. What kind of story do you tell a kid this age?

"A happy one. With a nice ending." All the stories she'd ever heard, plus some she hadn't, flickered through Clarke's brain, until Alie stopped at one. "I've always enjoyed Beauty and the Beast."

Me too. She'd watched it on the Ark many times as a kid. She launched into the story, Alie filling in any gaps where she blanked on where the story went.

Though she came to find out, maybe bedtimes stories didn't work equally well for different kids. It wasn't long before Thom was drifting off to sleep, but Madi, who'd blinked awake when she'd started the story, was still staring her down.

"Do you like the story?" Clarke asked her, not expecting a response.

Madi nodded and smiled. "More," she said, her voice a little raspy.

The hot sting of tears hit Clarke's eyes. "Whatever you say."

It took three more stories, but eventually Madi drifted off. Clarke laid her next to Thom, and moved over by the fire. 5:23 am, her connection with Alie told her. Still dark out, but not for long. Whether she wanted to or not, today she was going to have to leave the cave and look for food. Their stores wouldn't last long, and it was impossible to tell when she'd actually be successful in finding anything. If. No, when.

Wait. "Do you think the meat from those things is edible?" Clarke asked.

Alie popped into existence beside her. "I don't know why it wouldn't be."

Gross. But if cooked, maybe… "What do I do about the kids? I can't drag Jari with me and be able to drag one of those things and him back at the same time. And he shouldn't be cold right now either, his body can't fight an illness at the same time it's trying to heal his injuries."

"My suggestion would be to carry him as far as you think is safe, then set Thom as watch to call us if we're needed. Madi should come with us."

The thought of leaving them with that thing still alive somewhere sickened her. But it coming back was only a possibility. Starving to death if they didn't get some more to eat, that was a fact. In the morning, she'd let Jari wake on his own. They'd have some of the not so great soup, and then they would figure it out. Just like they always did.