I'm so sorry, I forgot to post the chapter yesterday. Here it is!
"First, what is your name?"
Anya had pulled her by the t-shirt up to her feet and Cassie was rocking left to right, dizzy. She wiped the fierce gazes of the warriors who filled the room and the even more dismissive gaze of the man standing behind the Commander's throne, bald and straight as a stake. The Commander, on the other hand, didn't seem to despise her, but her face was so impassive that she could very well have hidden it.
Cassie cleared her throat.
"Cassie. My name is Cassiopea, but Cassie is easier to remember."
"Alright, Cassie kom Skaikru. Where exactly are you from?" The Commander continued in her subdued voice.
"The Ark. It's a space station or, more exactly, an assembly of twelve space stations, one for each nation. I'm from the Alpha station. To put it simply, it's like a spaceship orbiting around Earth."
"Why are you here?"
Cassie bit her lip, looking down to her feet. Yelling it at Anya's face was one thing, announcing it in the middle of a room full of warriors who hated her was another. Anya nudged her lightly and Cassie rocked a little further to the side.
"To die. I was trying to die. I never thought I would make it to the Ground. It wasn't intentional. It was a mistake."
A long silence greeted her words, the Commander remained motionless in her throne, staring at her without a word.
"How can we be sure that you are telling the truth?"
So she thought Cassie had been sent in recognition for her people. The young woman glanced uncertainly in Anya's direction, who observed her for a moment before turning back to the Commander.
"Even if she was acting, she would have to be a really good actress. I barely stopped her from jumping off a cliff. If she was a scout, she would never have tried to kill herself this way."
The Commander slowly nodded.
"I see."
Cassie stood still, more and more exhausted. She felt a strange feeling of weakness take hold of her.
"Tell me, Cassie kom Skaikru, how many people are there, on your Ark?"
"Two thousand six hundred and forty-five. Well, forty-four since yours truly decided to yeet herself out of the space station," she declared with a small wave of the hand.
Anya and the Commander exchanged a look that made Cassie understand that they were having a hard time understanding her. Despite everything, they had withheld the information.
"Are they all armed?"
"Uh ... Nope. Other than the guards, of which there are about a hundred, I don't believe anyone is armed."
The Commander looked at her again in silence.
"Will your people come down to Earth?"
"I ... I don't know. It's ... Complicated. It's a long story."
"I've got plenty of time."
Cassie took a deep breath, her mouth dry.
"Okay, so basically, long story short. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the–"
Anya slapped her on the back of the head and Cassie blinked in confusion.
"Oh no, wait, wrong story. Sorry. Anyway, when there was the apocalypse, the end of the world or whatever, twelve nations were already floating in space in orbit. They united to form a unique space station, the Ark. We were told the Ground would need at least a hundred years before it could be survivable again. Obviously, we were wrong. But my people up there, they don't know that. It's been a good nineties years since that so ... I don't know what will happen. "
A long silence followed her statement. Cassie found it hard to swallow.
"Yeah, I know my History. I used to teach it to the kids, especially for Unity Day."
She blinked, more and more dizzy.
"What is your function, on the Ark?"
Cassie noticed that the Commander's face had blurred and a buzzing ringing in his ears.
"I'm a teacher," she said painfully. "I used to be, I mean. I ... Used to teach the children of the Ark. About everything I know. How to tie their shoes, how to use a fork and a knife, what is a real flower and how to tell a story. I… "She struggled to continue. "I was their miss Cassie ... I lov–"
She paused, suddenly, her vision clouded and the ringing in her ears growing more and more present. She could hear voices around her, but couldn't understand, couldn't make sense of them.
Suddenly she felt herself losing her balance, her head turned and she fell to the ground, her fall cushioned by the red carpet.
Her lips were opened, a cool liquid flowed in her mouth.
"Drein daun, Skaigada."
Cassie swallowed, grateful, feeling her dry throat cool down.
She gradually became aware of her surroundings, perceiving hands resting on her shoulders and on her back. The sight returned to her.
Anya was hunched over her, impassive, mumbling about the weakness of the Skaikru.
"What the fuck happened?" Cassie muttered.
"You fainted."
"The prisoner needs rest, and food," the Commander declared as Cassie squinted at her face. "Anya, you will make sure to keep her alive. We still need more information."
Growling, Anya grabbed Cassie by the arm and pulled her out of the room.
"So this is your room? It's so cool!"
Cassie whirled around the middle of the room, delighted. A large bed, probably bigger than her room on the Ark, sat enthroned under a large window closed with torn curtains, furs laid over it. A table supported objects Cassie didn't recognize, a chair with furs as cover was in the corner.
"Shut up, Skaigada," Anya replied, removing her belt from which her dagger was hooked.
"I got it!" Suddenly yelled Cassie. "I finally got it! 'Skai' means sky, right? Because I'm from the sky! 'Gada' must mean something like people, woman, or whatever."
Anya rolled her eyes, removing her coat.
"You may be an annoying pain, but you learn fast, Skaigada."
"I told you, I love languages. I speak fluently at least three languages. So, I was right? 'Gada' means person?"
"Girl. It means girl."
Cassie squirmed to observe her intently.
"You know, I'm not that young. We're barely a few years apart, I would say. I'm twenty-five."
Anya scoffed, she obviously couldn't care less. Cassie whistled around the room as Anya removed the rest of her armor.
Outside, night had fallen and a few fires were gradually emerging among the city plunged into darkness. Cassie watched them from afar as she struggled with the laces of her shoes.
Anya collapsed onto the side of her bed closest to the window with a contented sigh. Cassie was walking over to the other side of the bed when Anya drew one of her daggers and waved it in her direction.
"Not in your dream, Skaigada. I would rather sleep with a boar than share my bed with a vermin like you."
"Oh, that's okay, I can sleep on the ground. I used to sleep on the ground all the time when I was in the Ark. It's not really comfortable, but I'll always be better than on the Ark because there, I was literally in a closet, which is pretty funny because I kinda came out of the closet like, some time ago but anyway– "
Grunting in anger, Anya grabbed her by the arm and pulled her onto the bed, knocking her down onto the mattress before hovering on top of her, one knee on either side of her waist. Cassie, speechless, didn't make a move as Anya tied her wrists to the headboard before pulling away, falling back onto her side of the mattress.
"There you go. If you say one more word, I will hang you from the wrists from the top of the towee. Got it?"
Cassie nodded silently, Anya turning on her side to turn her back on her with another annoyed sigh.
In the dark, Cassie couldn't help but smile.
Drein daun, Skaigada: Drink, Skaigada