Chapter 60

Jasper had put his stealth moves he learned from Octavia to good use. He had taken his team up into the trees to scout. The Arkers had been spotted, but they had not learned to look up yet - just like the mountain guards. Jasper shook his head at the stupidity of it all. Ten men who have not been on the ground long enough to learn anything about it, going up against people who have spent the last month doing nothing but learning. On top of that, trained warriors were on their way to help out. Jasper just hoped that the guards gave themselves up instead of thinking they couldn't be hurt by kids. These KIDS had grown up fast, especially when they found out about Jaha's betrayal. An idea popped into his head.

"Adara," he said.

"Yeah?" came Adara's voice.

"Can you get the recordings and we can show them to these idiots?"

"Yeah, Monty can bring them," Adara said with a smile.

"Good. Monty's parents?"

"Safe. They were in with the prisoners Jaha locked up. They're free now." Jasper let out a silent sigh. Good, now Monty had his parents back and he wouldn't have to kill his mother. Jasper looked up when he heard rustling. The guards weren't even trying to keep quiet, nor were they looking back now and then. Behind them, he saw Indra and her warriors stalking them.

Jasper held up his hand to Indra in a stay sign and she stopped. Each of Jasper's team were equipped with earwigs, so it was just a matter of time before Jasper ordered them to jump from the trees onto the guards and bring them down. Jasper waited until they were right under them.

"Now," he whispered. He dropped down on the back of a guard and they both fell to the ground. The guard was stunned and Jasper quickly sat on him, keeping him down until Indra's people reached them and helped to restrain the guards. Jasper looked around and saw that each of his people had done the same and soon, ten guards were in custody.

"Got them all," Jasper said.

"Nice job, Jasper. Nice job everyone!" Adara said, smiling a really broad grin.

Indra had helped Jasper and his people take the men to the mountain. When they had been put into the very cages Indra's people were rescued from, she turned to Jasper.

"How did you do that?"

"What?" asked Jasper, frowning.

"How did you know to jump from the trees?"

"Oh, Octavia had us practising that move when she taught us how to move quietly through the woods. She's taught us a lot of stuff that I'm guessing you actually taught her the first time around." Indra smiled. She actually smiled. Probably the first time one of the Skaikru had seen it.

"Octavia was always a good student, she just chose her brother over her new clan."

"Up on the Ark, you were not allowed to have more than one child. Octavia was a second child and she had the one thing that no-one else did. A sibling. Her brother was the only family she had left and it was him and her up there. Their mother was floated - killed - when Octavia was discovered and Octavia was put into prison to be floated on her 18th birthday," Jasper explained.

Indra listened carefully to Jasper's explanation. She had been told bits and pieces by Octavia last time around, but she had never gotten the whole story.

"Killed? For being born?" Indra was outraged.

"Yes. No-one else had a second child - that we know about. Down here, that is going to change. I guess anyone young enough to have a second child, will probably try to have one. I just hope that people do not over breed. Can you imagine someone having ten kids just because they can?" Jasper shuddered.

"So she would probably always pick her brother?" Jasper shook his head.

"Not this time around. She's not going to lose Lincoln again and if she even thinks Bellamy would try anything to disrupt what we've built, she'll be dragging him to Luna's to shove him on a boat and be taken to the islands. This is her time to live and she's not going to let her brother interfere." Indra nodded.

"Octavia is wise beyond her years, but at times, she is still a branwoda who needs tempering."

"She'll get there, just remember that she lived under the floorboards for most of her life and has had very little social interaction. Adara thinks that's why she took to your way of life so quickly - she had no preconceived ideas about how life was supposed to be. We," and Jasper gestured to the Skairkru present, "have all grown up being told how it was supposed to be, how we were supposed to act, what we were supposed to do. Octavia didn't. She only had her mother and brother to interact with for her whole life until she was caught."

"No-one else?" Indra was astonished that someone raised like that was so well-adjusted.

"No. When she got into the prison, she didn't know how to interact with people, and in there, there were some of the worst of us. Adara made sure that most of those were left behind. The only people she interacted with in there were people who were socially distant and aggressive anyway. She learned to fight back in there, and down here, you helped her to hone that skill. We all think she was born on the Ark, but she was born to be Trikru."

Indra looked at the boy - no, they had proved themselves, they were now men. She looked at the man in front of her and thought back to the first time she had seen Octavia - the first time around. She saw the fighting spirit and the desire to learn, but she also saw someone who was trying to be liked. She lapped up praise like she had been starved of it, and now, looking back to what Jasper had said, she realised that she probably was starved of praise and maybe even affection. The Bellamy she knew was always trying to get her to stay by his side or keep her safe. That was not a bad trait, but Indra knew that if you don't let kids get hurt, they don't learn. You cannot go through life without getting hurt. Bellamy was always scolding her for something. That was a bad habit to form. Yes, he needed to do it when she was hiding, but even when they were down here, he seemed to still be doing it. He needed to stop it and let Octavia be her own person. Indra was certain that if allowed to, Octavia would become one of the best warriors she had ever seen. Octavia would be a person everyone would be proud to have in their community and clan. Indra had some thinking to do.

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Back at the camp, the Commander was talking to Kane about security. Clarke was talking with her parents and Adara was watching Octavia teaching some of the kids about the plants around them. She was teaching them which plants were good to eat and which were poisonous. Adara knew that the kids wouldn't be allowed outside the fence because the Arkers were still afraid of being on the ground. She knew she would have to make sure they knew that the children were more eager to learn and to put that learning into practice.

"O," said Adara. Octavia looked up. "Why don't you take five of them out into the woods to see if they can spot more of the plants that are good to eat? Take Sterling and several Skaikru with you for protection," she said, knowing that the parents were listening.

"Is it safe?" asked one concerned father.

"Oh, yes. It's perfectly safe. Now that the idiots have been dealt with, it's safe to go out and look for food. Do not, under any circumstances, go out without a security detail, though. This is still a wild country and there are animals out there. Your children will learn which plants are good to eat and they - with a security detail - can go out a couple of times a week and collect them. The children will be productive members of the group too. Don't deny them just because of their age. Down here, age is just a number, it's what you can do that counts."

"Then it is dangerous! You said it was safe!"

"It is safe! Any animal around here has fled when that lot started building their fence and firing their weapons. Your kids are safe. O, take them out." Octavia nodded and picked the five children who had learned the quickest. Sterling picked his squad and they armed themselves with rifles taken from the guards and left with them. Adara turned back to the Arkers.

"This is a new start. This is a brand new opportunity to show what you can do and not what you are told to do. Make no mistake, this life is hard. Eat the wrong thing and you die, go out without an escort and you die, if you are not attentive to what you are doing or your surroundings, you die. This is not like on the Ark. This is not a safe tin can you can walk around in. This is the ground. Down here, you breathe free and very clean air. The water is not tainted with chemicals, it's pure and tastes divine. You can grow real food and hunt animals for real meat. This land is bountiful - for those who take care of it. Overhunt or take all the plants from one area, and you will die of starvation because there is no more left. You must manage the area you are to live in. This is not it. This is temporary. I have a team out right now looking for a new home for all of us. The area the Skaikru are currently living in is not big enough to support everyone. The area's we are looking at will be somewhere outside anyone else's hunting range and away from other villages. We live and die by how we work the land. This is not a picnic, people, this is hard work." she stopped to let that sink in before she continued.

"New rules will be enforced. You don't work, you don't eat. Everyone will be expected to contribute to the village in some way. Children over the age of five will be expected to gather firewood. Those over eight will be going out with the foragers. Anyone of them can learn whatever they want. They will not be forced into a job they do not want or are not suited for. Everyone counts!"

The crowd started to mumble among themselves, discussing what had been said. They were struggling with the concept of the children learning things that the adults knew they would have trouble with. The adults had to give up a lifetime of having to think one way - that children weren't real people until they turned 18. The thought of your own child being a better person was one thing, but being a better hunter or builder than their parents was something else. Those whose job it was to farm or build were concerned that they would be replaced by children because they had a knack for the job.

Monty's parents weren't worried, they knew their son was more interested in mechanics and electronics than farming, but they also knew that there was little of either down here. It was a sobering thought that you could be replaced just because someone was better at it. Up on the Ark, you were given a job and you never changed that job at all. You were there until you died. The more they thought about it, though, the more excited they got. They could grow real food! Potatoes, tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, swedes, beets, broccoli, onions, the list went on. They couldn't wait!

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Anya watched, amazed at the speech Adara had just given. She was turning out to be a good leader. She was telling them exactly how it was on the ground and that it was hard work. She didn't try to placate them with false promises, but rather let them know what she expected from them. Anya was having a hard time keeping away from Adara. She knew in her heart of hearts that she had found her soulmate and she was terrified. Adara was about ten years younger than her, but it was not the age that had her scared, it was the knowledge of her job. Anya was the Chief of Tondc. Adara was the heda of an entire clan. How could she compete with that? Anya had worked hard to become Chief, she didn't want to give that up, but if she wanted to be with Adara, then she would have to. She couldn't ask Adara to give up leadership of a clan to stay with her at Tondc and not be in charge. What would Adara do in Tondc? There was nothing she could do in a leadership role. The Chief had absolute power and they didn't share that with anyone. No, Anya did not want to give that up. She just didn't know any other way to be and she wasn't ready to give it up.