5 – Grounder Friend?
Ontari walked down the hallways of Arkaida. Ontari knew that her body would need work to get her back to peak fighting form, but these injuries had been a blessing in disguise. Ontari had always been a physical combat creature. Nia had taught her as such. But now... She had to learn to use words instead of a blade in her battles. Something that Murphy had tried his best to teach her. False Flamekeeper or not, Murphy was right Nia hadn't trained her for daily politics. Ontari was just a puppet to her. Now without a puppet master Ontari now had to work to stand on her own. Her current condition reflected as much.
Ontari reflected upon the past day as she made her way to Jasper's room. Jasper had offered to take her in after she had "checked out" of the infirmary. Jasper only knew the version of her from the City of Light, but something in her felt that she needed to be near him. On the other side of things of her being a recent member of the Hundred was how the rest of Skaikru treated her. Some were afraid of her, others... just let her be.
Another Lincoln... some had called her.
Ontari didn't know what the term Lincoln meant, but it sounded important.
One in another list of inquiries that she needed to make on her quest.
As Ontari felt her body move under the crutches she had, she needed to get her body stronger.
Karina had been interesting. Even under her guise of Boudicca she had learned much. Skaikru were still her foe... but... The Hundred weren't. They had been banished from Skaikru for various reasons because of minor crimes that they had committed on the Ark. Some of the crimes were not even worthy of a death sentence by Ice Nation standards, even Queen Nia's standards were more lenient than Skaikru's had been when the Hundred had been selected. Karina had been interested in getting to know her when Ontari had started to ask about the mask and likewise her about the scars.
The questioning about the scars had lead Ontari to learn that Karina had been trained as a dancer. Now artistically Ontari wasn't interested in seeing Karina dance, but the exercises they used to tone and train their bodies would be something that Ontari needed to get her body working the way she wanted it again. The trading of knowledge of the blade had been the price of getting what she needed, then it was so. Ontari wanted to move with her sword in her hands. Feel that connection with the steel. To calm her mind. She needed to move.
Fuck...
Fucking would even feel good now. But she needed to find a man to shove his body part into her.
Even riding on a horse would bring her peace. The same action, but she would at least be mobile.
If she found the stall in which Skaikru kept their rides, she would do her best to mount one and just ride to clear her mind.
Ontari had always been jittery when she had nothing to do.
Even playing with the knife she had only did so much.
This foe was one that made you wait. She hated to wait. She just wanted a foe to attack, to swing at her.
Do something.
Not take six moons to kill you in ways that she didn't want to even understand.
One very dead Nightblood whose flesh had been melted off like... like goat butter.
She needed to do something other than go to a room and sleep.
Given the activity of Arkada and people moving around, she decided to people watch.
Ontari watched as several Hundred walked by her and the only reason that she knew they were that was because she had remembered as much from the City of Light.
"Hi Boudicca." they spoke. They didn't see her as a threat, or at least a threat to themselves. This Boudicca guise seemed to be working for her as it gave her a chance to start to understand why Lexa would want to join this group of warriors.
"Hei lukot." Ontari spoke with a grin. She didn't mean it, but she had to work on her social skills. If nothing else to prove to Murphy that she could adapt to not using violence to solve her problems. Ontari breathed in slowly. Learn first... Kill later. "How is the rest of the honet performing of your kru." Ontari decided to see if these warriors could pick out a few words of her native dialect.
"Decent." One of them spoke as he responded in her native dialect. "Heard that you open up more in Trigedasleng than in our language." This caught Ontari off guard a little.
"How do you know my dialect?" Ontari spoke reverting back to Gonasleng. This was one of the few groups of individuals in which she had done this test with to see what the general knowledge of Skaikru was. Some had passed like these two, but others... Well, slitting their throats would be fun.
"You are not the only one who isn't from the Ark that has joined the Hundred." The member of the Hundred spoke towards her. Ontari started to feel that this had to do with being called a Lincoln.
"I am glad to be called a Lincoln among your Kru." This brought a sense of discomfort towards the pair. "Did I say the term wrong?"
"No... Just that Lincoln was a friend." The other Hundred spoke. Lincoln wasn't a title... it was the name of someone.
"Tell me of this Lincoln." Ontari spoke as she started to listen. If the name was a reference to a person, they must have been someone of great honor or dishonor. What she learned next had more to do with the Skaikru's view of all Kru than anything else.
Lincoln had been this banished member of Trikru that had been living near the site where the Hundred and come down. He had over several days had started to study them and their manners. This is when he came across an injured Oktavia of the Hundred after she had fallen. He had treated her wounds, but also he had taken her prisoner. When she had escape from him on two occasions she had been found by the rest of the Hundred who had captured him. During this time Oktavia learned that he was a healer and a warrior. Something that would come in handy later as he helped treat those who had been infected with Anya's plague as well start to forge the first few tentative steps towards Leska making Skaikru the Thirteenth Tribe. Lincoln had been seen as a foe, but seeing that his actions in saving their lives had meant much, they had let him go even if the rest of their Skaikru group wanted to kill him.
During the War with the Mont-kru he proved himself to be a true ally and friend as they made him a member of their rank. He to them was Lincoln of the Hundred. Friend, Warrior, Healer. When Skaikru didn't trust him, the Hundred did. They stood up for him as he was a brother in arms to them, and the future husband to one.
What followed afterwards started to tear at Ontari as it made her think of her situation and the events that took place prior and after she had been assaulted by Jaha and Alie.
Pike after he had taken power and massacred the army that Leska had sent to protect Skaikru, proceeded to lock up the "Grounders" who had come to Skaikru for treating their sick. In addition Pike moved to attack a nearby village to steal farm land. The attack on the village she had known about, but the sick being locked up she hadn't known about. These members of Skaikru before her had been able to smuggle medicine and food to those Pike had locked up so that Lincoln could treat them. When Kane had staged his escape after Pike had locked him up with the other insurrectionists, these very "Grounders" of Trikru had come to his aid in acting as a distraction keeping the guards occupied. Something they later repaid when Kane had been captured and brought to Polis. But the price paid was great because Lincoln to ensure the release of his fellow Trikru was that he had been tried for treason and was executed. The most horrific thing was that his love Oktaiva had seen him killed by Pike himself and Lincoln's body was left to rot in a puddle of mud. His love Oktavia of Skaikru ne of the Hundred had sworn vengeance on Pike for his actions. When the opportunity presented itself in Polis in Ontari's Throne Room after the defeat of Alie, Oktavia ran her sword through Pike's body avenging her love.
A man who had been banished and considered and outcast by his own kru, had found a place among these people... even love. And these warriors... as few as they were looked out and watched for each other. Ontari felt that she needed to now wear Ice Nation war paint. Not to attack, but to be seen as one of these warrior rank.
Lexa had wanted a Nightblood such as herself to be called sister among these warriors. There were some chatter among some of the Krus here of warriors joining the rank of the Hundred. Did Lexa sense some new evil such as the one they were fighting now prior to her death that she wanted a group of warriors to stand against it? These were many of the thoughts racing through her mind before she decided to speak again.
"Honet-kru." Ontari spoke to the two warriors before her. "I would like to know where I can find a Mortar and Pestle for herb grinding." This reaction brought a few nods from the two.
"Why would you need those for?"
"First I need them so that I can grind up the herbs and shells to make the woad for my war paint and to make the ash base for a drink I like." Ontari was being truthful about both. With a snap one of the Honet-kru snapped their fingers when they remembered who had one.
"I think Monty has one. He got it through a trade with one of the local trading posts for supplies a while back. You might ask to borrow his." Ontari nodded. Maybe she would learn more about the rest of this group through their past interactions with the other Tribes.
"Thank you." Ontari spoke as she started to head off after she asked to find out where this Monty was.
Monty Green was doing his best to sort through the philo-medicinal that he had been able to harvest and process alongside Clarke. Clarke had built up a considerable lists of drugs that the Grounders had used to treat various individuals. It was amazing what she had learned while she had stayed in Polis. Knowledge of the seaweed based antibiotics combined with the entire herbs and potions that could be made would make Abby and the other medical staff happy. Now as he grinded away with the pestle in his hand to turn the leaves in the mortar into the juice Abby needed to treat some of the more complex wounds before her. Clarke was handing on grinding up some dried animal flesh that she had found worked well in repairing stab and slice wounds. Some of this would be used to treat Jasper's leg along with Nathan and Bryan's injuries. Looking up Monty saw Ontari coming towards them. The young woman seemed to have gotten used to moving around on her crutches considering how long she had been off of her feet.
"Wanheda... Do you know where I can find Monty of the Hundred?" Ontari spoke seeing Clarke work.
"Yeah... Monty is here with me." Clarke said as she pointed towards him. This is when Ontari started to realize that she had found the person she had been looking for.
"Hi." Monty spoke to the Ice Nation girl. Now the response from her was strange as she watched as he worked on the mashing process.
"Are you a apothecary?" Ontari watched as he did his duties. After a while of watching him handle the various herbs that would be needed for one patient, he placed it into a waterproof pouch with a name of its patient on it before he cleaned the mortar and loaded it up with another batch of materials needed. This is when Ontari started to speak to Clarke in her native Grounder dialect. Clarke responded to her answers, always letting the girl steer the discussion along. After several minutes Monty started to catch a few of the native words of Grounder that he had picked up from listening to Lincoln and Octavia talk and started to follow some of the conversation. Most of the references had to do with the Hundred's arrival in the middle of Trikru territory but as the conversation moved along Monty started to get the feeling that Ontari wasn't there to ask about girl stuff. Most of the conversation started to surround the Mountain, or more precisely Mount Weather.
As the conversation moved along an occasional name was dropped, but as she started to look at him, Ontari started to bite her lip. Like whatever she had thought about the Arkers before was now starting to shift. Monty didn't know what to make of this young woman other than the fact that Murphy had been protective of her and Roan seemed to care about her deeply The Ice Beast, or the Ice Bitch as some of the Arkers had started to call her seemed to be more of a scared girl than a ruler of nations. With a few tentative steps Ontari approached his side of the table.
"Monty kon Skaikru." Ontari nodded in his direction. "You are Jasper's friend." There was some nervousness to her. She looked uncomfortable, but as she cast her eyes down for a moment she started to build up some courage to speak what she had on her mind. "Tell me of the Jasper before the Mountain." There was a little nervousness to her. "Jasper and I were close in the City of Light."
Oh crap. This was the reason that Jasper almost swallowed a bullet. Then something caught this attention as Ontari nervously pulled her hair behind her right ear.
"We all have our scars to bare." Monty had said to Jasper as he had to talk his friend from shooting himself.
"Scars... SCARS!" It was as if something had snapped him back to reality when the word racked into his mind. Then Jasper had stared to drawing these pictures. The images didn't make sense till now.
The markings.
The scar marking on Ontari's face was what Jasper had been drawing over and over again like he had been possessed.
Monty moved to pull out a drawing that he had been carrying in his pocket. Unfolding the sheet of paper and looked at the markings that Jasper had scrawled on the few sheets of paper he had been able to get his hands on. The series of triangular markings that existed next to a lightning bolt on the long drawn oval wasn't a symbol, it was a face.
This girl's face.
Other than the hook on the left cheek and the diamond shaped flame mark on the forehead, the images matched up.
Ontari moved to look at the drawing.
"You're her." Monty said as he as he looked at her and back down at the drawing.
Ontari reached out to touch the picture. Whatever secrets she and Jasper shared must have been very deep and personal. Monty hadn't seen his friend like his since he had become smitten with Maya.
"How long?" The Ice Nation girl spoke before she turned towards Monty.
"He... Jasper started to draw these the day that Alie was defeated." This his Ontari hard.
"He... Saw me as... me..." Ontari was being a little scared. "Not Heda... Not Nalblada... Not servant... Me." Monty grinned.
"It has been a long time since I have seen my friend grin or be happy." Monty spoke to Ontari.
"It can't work... it is forbidden..." Ontari started to pull away. Clarke moved to stop her.
"Because of the Flamekeeper traditions and rules." Clarke spoke to Ontari. Then Clarke patted around Ontari to pull out a book. The same book that belonged to Bekka when Clarke held it up. "The book says nothing about you being alone." Clarke seemed to confront Ontari on an issue. "Why do you think I gave it to you? There were many things that were designed to keep the Nalblada weak. You want to be strong. Tell Bekka's story. Her own words. Make the Nightbloods something that she would be proud of. She made those like you, she forged your kind with her knowledge and ours to be something that could survive in the blackness of space." This is when Clarke opened the book and flipped to a few pages and read aloud. "These creations I have made, though meant for Luna Station and Watney Base hopefully can save the home of their ancestors. I want them to spread and grow. To forge back their home so that they may one day reclaim the destiny among the worlds in the sky."
"I... The Nalblada were supposed to rule Skaikru?" Ontari felt concerned as she moved and reread the passage Clarke had read out to her.
"No... Ontari... You're family. We only lived in the Sky, we worshiped the Earth and Trees. The Moon and Mars were supposed to be your home."
"My home is the Moon?" Ontari was trying to process this.
"Seek higher things." Clarke spoke. Ontari started to realize why her kind had been created.
"The highest land is the Moon." Ontari looked at Clarke.
"As tough as Bekka made you and the rest of the Nightbloods, I am surprised that you didn't sense the other things different about you?"
"Like what?" Ontari started to feel that something more had been denied her.
"Read Bekka's journal and the next time you meditate go and ask her." Clarke spoke.
"I speak to her and the others." Ontari spoke.
"On their terms. Not yours." Clarke spoke.
"I don't know how to do it?" Ontari spoke.
"I'll teach you what I know and what I picked up hanging around Lexa." Ontari moved back some.
"You would not deny me this?" Ontari seemed to be feeling out the situation. Hopefully this would not include the use of another knife attack incident like he had heard about today.
"You have had so much taken from you and the other Nightbloods. I think it is time that you finally take some of it back." This is when Clarke added. "The Commander's Flame was supposed to be passed to the next Nightblood via a council of your peers, not by combat. Murphy figured that part out through his research. Titus beat the crap out of him for learning that." Ontari seemed to scared.
"This is why Lexa was so upset when I stated what I did to claim the role of Heda." Ontari started to feel the weight of the world on her shoulders.
"When you are ready, gather the Nightbloods so I can teach you the procedure to transfer the Flame from one Heda to the next without dying." With this Clarke handed Ontari the skull printed tin she had been carrying with her.
"What about the position of Flamekeeper?" Ontari felt concerned about the change this would bring to Grounder society.
"That might change. It might even go to a Nightblood in the future who has chosen to say "No" to carrying it or to someone who had carried it and wants to pass it on." Clarke's words started to ring in Ontari's mind as Monty started to realize that the succession of Commanders might be less bloody as had it been in the past.
"I would love to have a husband and babies someday." Ontari spoke before she looked at Clarke and Monty in horror.
"Jasper as a father..." This brought about a deep sigh from Monty. "...May the Earth Mother and the Spirit of the Last Tree watch over us for the wake of the potential destruction of the offspring from these two?"
"So... you know that Jasper was the general of Alie's army." Ontari added.
"I did." Clarke spoke as Monty did a double take.
"What... General... Army... Alie..." Monty stammered out between the two young women as he realized how little he knew of his friend Jasper and what may have played out in the City of Light.
Notes:
Hei lukot – Hello friend.
Honet – Hundred
Honet Kru – Hundred People
Mont-Kru – Mountain People – The Mountain Men
Woad - glastum as the common name, is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is commonly called dyer's woad. It is occasionally known as Asp of Jerusalem. Woad is also the name of a blue dye produced from the leaves of the plant. Found throughout Western North America, Central and Southern Europe. Used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, woad is now being studied for use in the treatment of cancer. There has also been some revival of the use of woad for craft purposes. Also used by ancient peoples as ink for ritual scarification and tattoo rites. Courteously of Wikipedia.
Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far.
Hearns
