The world must live. We are only one species among billions. The gods don't love us any more than they love spiders or bears or whales or water lilies.
-Daniel Quinn
The three are given a small house to live in, each with their own bedroom and are put to work right away. But this wasn't like their old camp, 'Camp Jaha' as many of the rebels had been asking about, you worked because you wanted to, not because you had to. 403 was pushed in right away to assist the healers at camp, there are only three women, however they got through many of the camp each day. 403 followed around Harper, who was the chief healer as Bellamy introduced her. She had blonde hair like 403 and she already looked up to her in a such a way. She was kind and patient and reminded her a little of her encounter with 097. Must just be what medics do thought 403.
She went with 395 one day to help him choose some books that Bellamy offered. They went to a small house on the outskirts of the camp to which held around 40 bookcases, towering above Bellamy himself 's head. The expressions on their faces must have counted for something as Bellamy stated
"Could be worse huh?" he smirked and lead 395 around what he called a library, full of either story or information books. He took out the ones that he thought he would most like to read, or that may help him if he wanted to become a teacher.
"How come you have all these books?" asked 395 eagerly. The two teens had only ever got their hands on the ten books that the child's quarter possessed.
"Well, I'm not proud to admit this, but after the raid, we took all the books that the Skaikru had brought down with them that were originally saved on the Arc. We left you with a few I do want to add, I couldn't leave the likes of you, children at Skaikru never hearing the fairy tales every child should hear."
"We only ever had 10 books in the quarter," confessed 403. Bellamy rose an eyebrow,
"I left a lot more than 10 books. " He added, shocked at why the kids had only ever read ten books. "Tell me one of them was at least on Greek mythology?"
"What is Greek mythology?" 395 asked again, no sign of his eager dropping.
"Tell you what, take as many of these books as you want for now, there's so much out there that you don't know." Bellamy stated.
Whilst 395 was looking elsewhere, 403 who was shadowing Bellamy around the library stopped behind him, pulling out a dusty book. It looked older than most of the others he had pulled out, and that really said something.
"This is for you 403," he gave the book to her, wiping the dust away to reveal a simple cursive 'The Odyssey' on the front cover. "Everyone deserves to hear especially of the adventures in here," She smiled taking the book into her own hands, admiring the handwriting on the front.
"Bellamy, what did you mean before, when you said the raid?" 403 asked,
"You ask too many questions young lady." He stated pulling more books out of the shelves.
Later that night 403 pulled out 'The Odyssey' of her sack and held it in her hands. Bellamy said it would take a few times to fully understand it. She opened to the first page to see two pages stuck together, there was little opening and 403 could see there was some more cursive writing inside. She didn't want to break the book, but it was only two pages tuck together, it was probably by mistake. She slid her finger into the gap to break the glue that binded the pages together, it smelt a little like honey. She saw a note that read,
'So, she was held high in the heart and still she is so, by her beloved children, by Alkinoös himself, and by the people, who look toward her as to a god when they see her and speak in salutation as she walks about in her city. For there is no good intelligence that she herself lacks. She dissolves quarrels, even among men, when she favors them.'
To the goddess of rebels herself, yours truly.
A love note perhaps, 403 didn't know. But she liked the sentiment that she held a book once given in love. In dedication. She went into the 395's room later in the night when she knew 420 would be asleep. He was also sat up reading, "What are you doing here?" he said moving up on the bed, as 403 got in beside him.
"Just wanted the company," she said, finding the page in her book that she was just on.
"You wanted to hold my hand," he said, a slight smirk on his face as he pretended to continue reading his book. He had dark brown eyes that further added to his roguish nature. 403 scoffed until he laid his hand out next to her and she unapologetically took it. And they read for the rest of the night until eventually they fell asleep, one hand in the others.
In the morning, they made their own breakfast, in their makeshift kitchen of their little house to find Raven and 420 walk in , Raven holding the collar of 420's new shirt, as he protested loudly.
"Hey Raven, I know we have our tension, but there's no need to act this way!" exclaimed 420 as Raven threw him into the house, rejecting his attempt to make her smile.
"Your friend over here has been out with the likes of Monty and Jasper this morning." Raven said sitting down at the table as Clarke poured her some warm broth.
"I didn't mean to follow them, they just looked as if they were having so much fun…" said 420, kicking a chair out for himself to sit on. The furniture in the house was very simple and limited, there was one room with a fire, above a cooking station, a table, 4 chairs and a small bookshelf. The furniture wasn't as fragile as it was at Skaikru, but it still was fragile.
"Be careful!" said 403, also sitting down at the table, excited to hear of 420's adventures.
"You shouldn't have followed them 420, you know you're not allowed out into the forest alone, I don't want to sound like Skaikru, but there are still rules here. The forest is not safe for a number of reasons."
"I'm sorry Raven, I just couldn't help myself. And then 403," 420 said tugging on the skirt that Raven had given 403 to wear like a lost child, "We saw the most beautiful lake, full of floating leaves and flowers,"
"Oh, do be quiet about this lake, it's dangerous beneath the beauty you know," said Raven.
"Oh, please tell me more about this lake though, it sounds magical," 403 asked.
"The lake is the best place for us to be hurt by grounders, your Skaikru or worse. The lake is too much of an open space and you should not have been there!" Raven grew angry again as she remembered the worry 420 had put her through.
"It sounds perfect for a picnic." Stated 395
"Yes!" agreed 403, "Oh my goodness, yes please Raven can we go?" the three teens grew smiles on their faces.
"You three have read too many fairy tales, a picnic at a lake isn't always as romantic as one would expect." Raven pointed out, "And did you not hear what I just said, that lake is dangerous,"
"Sounds dangerously mysterious to me," said 403. Weaving her hair with her fingers. The three hadn't got out much since they got to the camp, Bellamy said when ever they leave the camp, they must leave in groups for protection. There was silence in the group before Raven finally gave in.
"Fine, I can ask Bellamy if you want." The three gathered in excitement, "BUT-" she interrupted them, "there is no guarantee."
Raven went to find Bellamy as the three got on with their training and adjustment to camp. Raven came to find them later in the morning to tell them Bellamy had reluctantly accepted. They gathered at the gates when they heard the bell for dinner and met up with Bellamy, Raven, Octavia and Jasper and Monty. The three liked following the crew, as they all seemed good friends and had lots to talk about.
They were able to get to the lake in 20 minutes, and it was the most marvellous thing 403 had ever seen. There was a few moments where she and 395 stood on the edge of the clearing in awe, an occurrence that had happened more than a few times in the past few days. The group sat on a rock at the side of the lake, which was a painting of green and pink.
"Water lilies," said Bellamy,
"Hm?" asked a confused 403.
"Those flowers are called water lilies and the leaves are lily pads.". They looked out into the reflection, a huge mountain could be seen on the other side of it, it's great peak had a little snow on top despite the summer season. 403 had never felt so peaceful, the view was enough to settle all anxieties she had ever had. She suddenly grew a little angry at Camp Jaha, for never letting her appreciate what was beyond the walls of camp, never mind the children's quarter. The camp ad no idea what they were missing. The forest may be dangerous, but it was worth it.
The group fell silent as the ate the bread and meat that Jasper and Monty had packed. The two were fine chefs and were nearly masters in finding the right herbs and spices in the forest.
"Are you ever going to tell us about why you are 'the rebels'?" asked 403 breaking a comfortable silence.
"It's none of you-"
"Yeah, yeah it's none of our business we get it. But it sort of is now." Interrupted 403 to Bellamy. He looked to the rest of his campmates, they only looked at him disapprovingly. Whatever Bellamy didn't want to tell the teenagers, was only a secret because he intended it to be.
"We didn't start off as the rebels," began Raven. "We started off as the 100."
"Well, 101, if we're counting you." Smirked Bellamy.
"Fine you tell the story," angrily replied Raven, who was all ready to tell a great story to be chastised by Bellamy. He sighed, but before they knew it, the teens were delved into earth 20 years before, and the first shuttle had just landed.
We arrived on September 13th. I knew because of the small with a working date. It only worked in the sun and so its power was beginning to fade, and so who knew how long we were on the ship until we had hit earth. We had hit earth badly. The rest of the kids on the shuttle were around 4 years younger than me, I recognised some of them from school. No one knew what to do, there was panic in the air. Who knew what the earth would bring? Did we even want to step out of the doors? I finally acted when no one else decided to go near the entrance, they all just sat on the floor or half on their seats; angry, dishevelled, excited. I was about to turn the lever to open the door, a blonde girl who I recognised straight away as Clarke Griffin, daughter of the Jake Griffin, an environmental engineer. She stopped me, warning me the air outside may be toxic.
"If its toxic, we're all dead anyway," I muttered, her face was filled with panic, her blue eyes darted around the room, across the door, examining what could happen next.
That's when I heard Octavia's voice for the first time in years. You see, on the Arc there was a one child policy. My mother accidently got pregnant with Octavia after me, and so we had to hide her. She was eventually found, and I didn't see her for a while. To be reunited in such a moment, was overwhelming frankly. I never thought I'd see her again. And now here she was, it was just me and her, free to do whatever we please on earth.
"Or so you thought," butted in Raven with a smirk on her face.
"Shut up!" the three teens shouted in unison. Bellamy continued…
Octavia was the first to step outside, onto the ground, into freedom. She of course wears her 001 with pride. I was stupid at first, I thought we could- and should- do what we wanted. Jaha ran the same regime in the sky as he does on the ground, and the power went to my head. Being older than the rest of the kids, 23 year old me let chaos run free. You forgot that a lot these kids were criminals that had come down, albeit some were there for the smallest of acts, some were there for murder. Things got out of hand… I should have listened to her from the beginning. If only I'd had listened to her from the beginning.
"Clarke?" asked 395. Bellamy nodded.
He took some twigs up from the ground and began to intertwine them as he told the teens of their first days on earth. They listened intently as he talked about Clarke with such a pride, but a little sadness, and how she made sure everyone was safe; giving regular check-up, assisting in food requirements, cleaning wounds from hunting.
"She was a medic?" asked 403.
"She was many things, but a yes, a medic was one of them." Replied Octavia, she too had the sound of nostalgia but sadness in her tone.
One day we saw another spaceship drop to the earth, it was far too small to be carrying a lot of passengers. We ran to find out what was in it, whether the Arc was trying to contact us better than over radio, whether it was time for them to join us on earth. I put up a fight as I didn't want them joining us, I was having so much fun being literally king of the world, acting however I liked. She- Clarke- hated me for it. She saw me as stupid for not wanting to help the Arc above, and to actually have a better method of looking after everyone on the ground, she warned me of dangers that we didn't yet know about, that we should be prepared of anything.
"Clarke, chill out, we have guns, we have ammo, there is nothing that will be able to defeat us down here whilst we have our human reason, and my pistol."
She rolled her eyes at me, as she so often did. "Bellamy, please listen to me, we don't know what could be down here, we might have to go into hiding if some sort of radioactive beast turned out of nowhere or the animals, we've been hunting are actually slowly killing us. You need to encourage people to begin to work together, they listen to you,"
"Listen princess," I returned, "Just because Daddy isn't here to stick up for you , doesn't mean I'm going to tell the 100 what's what. They don't like you, so what ever comes out of your mouth doesn't matter."
"Exactly Bellamy, you need to tell them, to warn them." She pleaded.
"Let them have their fun, let me have my fun and you have fun then. If there's something that's going to kill us, then at least we'll die knowing we didn't waste this small amount of time we had on earth." I laughed in her face.
"So, what are you going to do Bellamy when Jaha comes down from the sky with a bunch more, stronger, more powerful guns?" she asked at a later date.
"Well, he's not going to come down is her Clarke. Because he doesn't know we all survived, well except for a few." I held her small body back as she tried to run after the dropship that had just fallen. She eventually got free and ran after Spacewalker, who was a tracker, in order to find the ship. And there they found Raven.
"God, I hated Spacewalker," said Octavia, "What a dick he was to you Raven, and to Clarke."
Raven scoffed, "Never mind me, it was Clarke who had to deal with Finn for the next few years, his constant obsession with her. I'm glad that ended as soon as I got here." Bellamy let out a soft growl at the discussion.
"Wait you don't mean 076, do you? The tracker from camp?" asked 420, the group of rebels showing a blank face, trying to remember Finn's number.
"Has he got brown floppy hair, rather short?" asked 403.
"That's him! I thought you guys weren't adults yet? How would you know who the trackers are? Oh, never mind! He's alive!" cried Octavia, who's expression died down as he eyes soon met those around her. "So, he's alive eh?" she muttered under her breath. They were all a little uncomfortable at this fact.
"Bellamy you know that might mean that Clarke's alive?" asked Raven, a little in disbelief at what she was hearing. He shook his head as he stared down 420 for revealing such a massive piece of news.
"She's not alive." He said
"Is there a woman at camp who has hair like yours 403, she's got blue eyes, she's got a small mole here-" Raven asked, Bellamy tried to stop her enquiries.
"Yes! The medic, oh my god yes, like the medic from your story Bellamy!" Cried 395, "But I don't remember her number…"
"097." Said the rebels and 403 in unison. Her eyes met Bellamy's as he was confused as to how she knew.
"She once tended to a cut on my leg." Said 403. Bellamy rose as he tried to take in the news, Octavia got up to meet him, rubbing his back as he looked over the lake.
"At least you know she's alive," whispered Octavia under her breath.
Jasper and Monty helped the teens to pack up the remnants of the picnic. "Listen just don't talk about Clarke for a while okay?" said Monty as the teens looked at each other confused.
On the way back to camp 403 walked behind with Raven and Octavia, the boys led on ahead.
"Why do you hate 'Spacewalker'? Is that what you called him?" Asked 403.
"Ooh! You really ask the deep ones don't you 403!" Raven put her hands around 403 as they chuckled under their breath.
"Finn was a massive- how do you say this nicely?" joked Octavia.
"Long story short- Finn was dating me on the Arc, I risked my life to get here in that dropship as Bellamy mentioned. Do you know how much I risked getting here all by myself!" Raven began. "Meanwhile, he had been getting with Clarke down here on earth, the first man she got with down here by the way, which Bellamy could never forget..."
Octavia quickly but in – "So Raven broke it off with him as he was a massive two timing twat!"
Raven continued "But from then on he kept trying to get Clarke until well… he was kicked out basically."
"You kick people out?" asked a fearful 403.
"Well, more like Bellamy kicked Finn out…"
A piercing scream was suddenly heard in the distance; "Must be from Skaikru camp," suggested Jasper. The girls had met up with boys by now. "Stay close." A sudden round of gunshots were heard and 403 had a sudden revelation.
"We have to go back." She stopped.
"What?" said Bellamy and 395 in unison.
"Those gunshots will be repercussions of our escape."
"Are you kidding, we can't go back, we will just be the ones with the gun being pointed at." 420 warned.
"403, please think clearly, we need to get back to camp before dark and you are simply scared at the prospect of what has been happening at your camp all along." Jasper added. It's true and 403 went with them. But she couldn't help but think, it was all well and good for them to have escaped. But there were still so many subject to Camp Jaha's ways at that camp. It just wasn't fair.