I did it. Thank you all for sticking with me. Sorry for all the errors. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. :)
Anya loved being in the forest. Where the sounds and smells of nature were all around her, she grew up in these woods. Spent days, weeks, even months training. Learning how to fight, hunt, and survive. Anya knew the wilderness. She knew the needle-like trees would stay green and provide cover even in the dead of winter. She knew in a few weeks the leaves on the other trees would change and cast the forest into a ray of colors before falling and blanketing the ground. Anya knew if she stood still long enough she would hear the various wildlife that lived amongst the trees. To then track and hunt them. She knew what berries and flowers were edible or poisonous during the spring and summer.
Anya knew the forest. Unlike the villages or the Capital where she stayed with Lexa. Anya was made to be in the wilderness. It was where she felt the most comfortable. The most peaceful. It was home.
Sitting up taller on her horse the General breaths in a lung full of fresh clean air. It relaxes her. That is until a groan from behind her shatters that comfort.
"How much longer?" whines the boy that is now the bane of her existence.
Ever since Clarke volunteered, the sky boy and Lexa ordered her not to hurt him. Finn has not stopped harassing her. It seemed after the Commander's order. The stupid boy was no longer scared of her. Anya would instantly rectify that once they got back to Tondc but until then. The General only got to daydream about all the ways she could hurt/kill the boy.
Twisting in her saddle, Anya glares back at the irritating boy who rides behind a male warrior. Not for the first time the General is grateful for denying Finn's requests to ride with her. She would have undoubtedly killed the boy already if that were the case.
"It will take as long as I want it to take," growls Anya.
Her response doesn't please the sky boy as he sighs heavily with a frown. "My ass is numb," he moans.
"Your ass is fine," Anya barks back without thinking.
The General knows she's walked into another trap when a sly smirk forms on Finn's face.
"Glad to know you think my ass is fine, General," he comments.
Do not kill him! Do not kill him! Anya repeats in her head.
The clearing of a throat beside her draws her attention. A fellow female warrior riding next to the General is trying to hide her slight smile behind her hand.
Do not kill him!
"Ste ona pat," Anya orders as she kicks her horses flanks making the animal gallop.
The General leaves the small group of six Trikru warriors and one Skaikru idiot as she rides over the hill. She's going to kill Clarke and Lexa when she gets back.
XXXXXX
Two hours later, Anya drags back a deer carcass to the make shift camp her warriors have set up. With the eight people in her group and the unknown number of Skaikru, they may encounter tomorrow. The extra meat will help keep everyone well fed.
"The mighty General comes back with dinner," shouts Finn from across the fire pit. Arms held high up in the air.
Anya drops the dead animal at the feet of two male warriors, who quickly begin cutting off the hide.
"Keep talking and you won't getting anything," she comments rolling her shoulders now that the heavy carcass is no longer straining them.
"She always this mean," Finn whispers loudly towards a female warrior who is carrying a load of wood to the fire pit.
The warrior and Anya glance at one another before the former looks back at Finn and answers, "Sha."
Finn laughs, and the female warrior smiles. Standing up Finn, starts helping the fellow warrior with the logs in her arms.
Anya watches the two interact for a moment and sees a silent exchange happen between the two. If Anya is any good at reading people and she is. She knows exactly what they will be doing later tonight.
The General doesn't care if her warrior and the sky boy get together. However, she is happy that it will keep him out of her way for a while. Though it may not be long. With the way, the boy was squirming in the saddle today. Anya doesn't expect the female warrior will get much pleasure tonight.
Smirking, Anya adjusts her bow and quiver of arrows on her shoulder then strolls off to her tent.
As a General, Anya has her own tent from the rest of the group. It's smaller than the one she normally has when traveling with Lexa or when she's staying somewhere for a long period of time. But with this trip only lasting two, maybe three, if there is trouble with the Skaikru people, days the smaller tent is perfect. If anything, it reminds Anya of the days she spent out in the wilderness growing up.
Stepping inside, a single lit candle gives off just enough light for Anya to see her horse pack set off to the side still packed. In her larger tent it is routine for the warriors to unpack and set up her tent with her furniture and other items, but in this smaller one they leave her to unload her items. Anya is fine with this as it's another thing that reminds her of her earlier years.
Placing her bow and arrows to the side, Anya begins unstrapping her bed roll from her pack. The old familiar routine brings a smile to her face.
Anya swiftly sets up her sleeping space, but keeps the rest of her pack intact. They will be moving once again at first light and the less she has to repack the quicker she and the group can get going. Though something tells her the sky boy will not be as cooperative as her warriors. Mischievously, the General is actually looking forwards towards that as she contemplates throwing a bucket of cold water on him in the morning. She may not be able to harm the boy yet, but that didn't mean she couldn't make him as miserable as possible.
The thought of the annoying boy causes the General to look towards the flap of her tent. She should go out and make sure the campsite is secured and check on her warriors, but she really doesn't want to come across the sky boy again.
Lexa would never let her hear the end of it if she was here and saw her former mentor debating about doing her duty all because of the stupid boy. Yet, isn't it Lexa's fault that he is no longer scared of the General and is now a thorn in her side. Plus, her warriors know what needs to be done and are fully capable of handling themselves for one night.
Anya strips off her outer layers of clothing and places her sword next to her bed roll. She is not hiding from the sky boy. She is merely keeping herself from the temptation of killing him. It is for his own well-being that she stays in this tent tonight.
Blowing out the candle and shuffling to a more comfortable position, Anya closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep.
XXXXXX
She's causally walking through the forest when a raven caws and lands on a branch above her. The General stops and silently looks up at the bird. To the Trikru people the raven is a symbolization of a trickster because of it's mischievous ways. However, Anya views the bird as cunning and smart. The creatures study and learn how best to survive in their habitat. She's seen one use a stick to pry nuts from a squirrel's hole or wait until a creature (human or animal) is preoccupied with something else then swoop down and take their food. They are opportunists and use their knowledge to outwit others.
Smiling Anya stares up at the bird as the raven stares back at her. Both examining one another.
"Heya," the General says, nodding towards the bird.
The raven tilts it's head slightly then caws back at her.
XXXXXX
Opening her eyes, Anya is met with darkness, but the well-known scents around her keeps her calm. Quickly and quietly, the General gets up and dresses in the dark chilly morning air. All the while thinking about her dream.
Anya doesn't dream often and when she does, she knows it's a message of some kind.
The raven means something, but what? Anya has always related herself to the raven. Strived to be like it. Cunning and smart. She waited and learned from those and things around her. Then used that knowledge to better herself or defeat those that threatened her or her clan. Was this dream warning her that she would need to use those abilities in the future? That didn't seem right to Anya. She lived her life like that always. No, the raven meant something different. It studied her like she did it. Maybe it has something to do with the new Skaikru people she was about to meet? She would need to be cautious with them and observant.
Strapping her sword to her waist Anya prepares herself for the unknown journey ahead.
XXXXXX
Raven groans as consciousness comes back to her. Her head and body hurt, but she is alive. How? Was the million watts question. The last thing she remembers is falling through the Earth's atmosphere, with fire all around her, in a hundred year old shuttle that was more scrap metal then anything useful.
Slowly, Raven opens her eyes. The first thing she notices is the blood on the face shield of her helmet. Sluggishly, Raven removes her gloves and unclips her suit helmet. Dropping it into the seat beside her. She carefully reaches up and touches the sore spot on her head. Something wet sticks to her fingers and when she pulls back her hand blood coats her fingers.
"That explains the headache," Raven groans.
Sore from the crash the mechanic unbuckles herself from her seat. Using the orange sleeve of her suit Raven whips away the fog on the small window in front of her.
Small rays of sunlight beam into the shuttle and Raven is left in awestruck wonder as she witnesses Earth for the first time. The magical sight gives her the energy and strength to forget about her sore body and opens the shuttle's door.
Raven jumps out and lands on the Earth's ground. Tears begin building up in the mechanic's eyes. She made it. She's alive and standing on the Earth's surface. She almost can't believe it. A soft breeze blows across her face and right then Raven decides the space suit is coming off.
Spinning back to the shuttle. Raven falters as a rush of nausea and blurriness effect her.
"Whoa," she comments griping the side of the shuttle door. "Don't quite have my Earth legs yet," Raven jokes with a smirk.
Carefully, the mechanic strips the suit off her and reaches inside the shuttle for her "go" bag. She distinctively called it that because of Abby's constant warning about her being ready to go at a moments notice. The doctor should be here with her. She should be experiencing Earth right along side the mechanic, but instead. Abby sacrificed herself so Raven could make it down. So she could find Finn and the others.
"Clarke," Raven whispers out. That was who Abby was coming down for. Her daughter. Her daughter who was apart of the group that Finn was in. If Raven found Clarke she would find Finn and possible vise versa. The mechanic owed it to Abby to find her daughter and she would. Raven would find her.
The thought of Abby brings back another memory of a radio the doctor and the mechanic stashed inside the shuttle. Quickly Raven searches the shuttle for the radio, but only finds broken pieces of that radio.
"Damn it," she shouts frustrated. She should have strapped it in better. Maybe she can fix it using pieces from the shuttle and it's old communication network.
Raven takes out her bag and pulls out her red jacket. It's a comfort of sorts. Given to her by Finn.
She's putting it on when a noise behind her startles her.
Turning, Raven sees a woman with brunette hair and blonde tips standing a few feet away from her.
"Jesus, Christ," gasps the mechanic clutching her hand up to her heart. "Where the fuck did you come from?" She asks.
Anya doesn't answer and just stares back at the woman. She's been watching the tan skinned, dark hair, attractive woman with dried blood on nearly half of her face since she came out of the ship. When the General's group got closer to the crash site. She and another warrior went ahead to scout out the area. When Anya saw there was only one Skaikru. She sent the other warrior back to get the rest of the group. Feeling confident the woman was of no danger to her. Anya stepped out of her hiding spot and let herself be known.
"Are you real?" Raven asks, tilting her head slightly and squinting her eyes.
Again, Anya doesn't respond and continues to stare.
"Great! Now, I'm hallucinating," Raven declares dropping her hand from her chest and shrugging her shoulders.
Dark honey brown eyes scan up and down Anya's body. "At least your hot."
Anya smirks at the remark. If anyone else would have looked or commented something like that towards the General. She would have punched them. Just ask Finn. But for some reason Anya is intrigued by the strange woman.
"Like what you see?" she asks gesturing to herself.
Raven's eyebrows raise. "Damn, sexy voice too. Way to go brain."
Anya can't help herself and probes, "Want to see me naked next?"
Nudity for her and most others on Earth isn't a big deal, but the way she has seen many of the Skaikru people act about it, Clarke included. Nudity for them is more personal for them.
"You're real aren't you," Raven states.
Anya tilts her head silently saying, "what do you think."
Raven raspberries her lips together then laughs. "Well, this has been a great introduction." Taking a step forward Raven holds out her hand. "My name's Raven. It's been a pleasure checking you out," she says with a sly smile.
Did she just say Raven? The General's eyes only betray her surprise for a second before they become neutral. This can't be what her dream was about, can it? It can't be that simple. Closing the distance between them Anya grips the other woman's hand in the Skaikru greeting.
"Onya," she responds.
Raven's smile grows at the firm handshake. The pair stand in the middle of the forest holding hands and staring at one another until Raven's name is yelled out.
The mechanic jumps and jerks her hand away from Anya's warm one. Spinning on her feet, she turns to the voice that she would recognizes anywhere.
At first Raven only sees a group of people riding on horses, but then Finn's body comes into view as he jumps, well falls off the back of a horse. His eyes are wide in shock.
"Raven?" he calls out.
"Finn," the mechanic answers before taking off running towards the boy she loves.
Anya watches as the two Skaikru people embrace in a crushing hug. Something pulls at the General's inside, but she doesn't know what it is.
"I can't believe I found you," Raven utters out nearly breathless. Her eyes search Finn's as her hands cup the sides of his face. Relief and happiness flow through her as she looks at the boy she thought she might never see again. Pulling him in, Raven crashes her lips on to his. The kiss is hard and forceful, but she doesn't care.
Anya looks away from the couple once they start kissing and up towards her warriors. Nearly all of them are looking out into the forest searching for possible threats, but one. Anya identifies her as the female warrior she saw with Finn at the campfire. The one that she was certain would end up bedding the Skaikru boy.
The warrior's eyes are glued to the Skaikru couple. Anger clearly written in them.
Trouble is coming in the near future.