Harry Potter opened his eyes. He knew from experience that around one hour had passed since he began meditating. He looked in front of him and saw Octavia sitting in lotus position. He corps however hear from her breathing hours she was actually sleeping and not meditating.
He had spent six months in a cell together with Octavia. The experience hadn't been too bad as he and Octavia got along great. The first few days had been awkward, but slowly he got the girl to open up. He continued with the story that he didn't have any real memories from before he woke up, but that sometimes certain knowledge came to him. He knew that he would someday tell her the truth, but he didn't want to do it on the Ark.
A few weeks after they had been locked up, books started arriving. Books about survival skills. Harry had to teach Octavia how too read, but she was a very quick study. Harry suspected that they would be sent back down on the ground for some reason. Why else works they give the two of them books like that? He stood up and carried the girl to her bed and lay her down.
Teaching her how to meditate wasn't something Harry had planned on doing, but it became a necessity to help her control her emotions. It had started when Octavia learnt that her parents had been floated. She had cried and sulked for days. When she later learnt that it was because of Bellamy she had been found, accident or not, she had been inconsolable. She had cried, raged and started punching walls. In the end Harry took the time to teach her how to meditate. More often than not she fell asleep, but it still helped.
Suddenly the door opened, much to his confusion. He knew that it was the middle of the night and he didn't know why somebody would visit them. He turned around and saw the person he disliked the most in this world, Thelonious Jaha. Harry had heard all about his many people Jaha killed, for even the most minor crimes. The fact that the more privileged people got away with the same crimes less privileged people for killed for didn't give Harry the best opinion of him.
"Prisoners, stand back to the walls facing me with your arms extended." The chancellor told them. Octavia say up straight in her bed, almost falling off. Harry saw her and grabbed her, pulling her to the wall before she could begin shooting questions. While he would love to ask questions, he knew that everything would go faster and be less painful if they just did as they were told in silence. Luckily it seemed as Octavia understood him and kept quiet while shooting a glare at the chancellor.
"What is happening?" Harry asked calmly. He must have looked quite amusing, a ten year old boy acting like an adult.
"We have a special mission for the two of you." Jaha said as one of the guards locked a cuff around Harry's and Octavia's left wrists. They then took grabbed their wrists and started dressing them through the Ark. "We have a special drop pod, made for two people. We were planning on sending it down with equipment that will measure the radiation on the ground. One of our engineers, Jake Griffin pointed out that we could send you two down with it. Every member of the council agreed."
Harry lowered his head in compliance as he was led around. He could hear Octavia fighting against the guards behind him. He smirked as he could imagine how annoying she was. That smirk changed to a full blown laugh as the second they talades her att the pod, she spun around and connected a strong kick between his legs. Harry reacted fast and pulled Octavia next to him. He could see the guard moaning on the ground and in the background he could see the lips of Kane twitch slightly in amusement. Kane was the one person in the Ark, besides Octavia, Harry doesn't mind.
They were loaded into the pod, together with a metal box, Harry assumed contained the instruments, that was fastened to the ground.
"I wish you luck on your journey and absolve you of your crimes." Jaha said in his chansellor voice.
"What crimes?" Harry asked as a glass door closed at the same time the door to the pod closed. Thirty seconds later they could feel themselves dropping.
"Harry?" Harry looked to his right at Octavia and saw the worry that was etched on her face. "Of we don't survive, I just want to tell you that I'm happy to have been your friend."
"And I'm happy to have been yours."Harry told her.
Suddenly everything started to shake violently. Harry tried to calm himself down, but he was terrified. The shaking didn't stop and he knew that get were getting close to the ground. Then the shaking stopped for a moment as the thrusters engaged. Sadly having been sitting for almost a century had affected the drop pod and the thrusters have put after just a few seconds and they were back to free fall. Harry braced just at they hit the ground and everything turned black.
"What happened?" Lane asked in Tyne control room. They had lost contact with the drop pod and the cuffs of Harry and Octavia.
"Considering how quuckly we lost contact?" Abby asked. "My guess is that either they died in the landing, or the cuffs were destroyed in the landing."
"That's your theory?" The chansellor asked.
"That's what my theory is." She confirmed. "We lost contact too fast for it to have been radiation." Jaha nodded his head silently before he looked at Jake.
"What are the readings telling you?" He asked.
"I would need to spend more time looking through the numbers, but by just looking right now. I would say that the radiation is much lower than we first thought." He told them making them turn silent.
"What do you mean?" Marcus Kane asked as he took a look at the numbers, not that he understood them anyway.
"At first glance or looks like the radiation level is just at a liveable level. I would need to calculate more closely, but it looks like it's just at the upper limit of a liveable level." Jaha started pacing back and forth drawing the looks of everybody.
"Keep your findings quiet for now. I will address our people tomorrow. I will say that so dropped apod with equipment to measure the radiation and we will need time to decipher the numbers." He put up his hand to stop Jake from arguing. "We need to be absolutely sure before we say anything."
Harry regained consciousness in pain. His head hurt the most at the moment so he lay completely still to collect his thoughts. He could feel himself laying flat on stone, so he knew that he wasn't in the pod anymore. That fact confidences something he had suspected. There were people living in the ground and he had been moved. Slowly he opened his eyes and sat up, much to his body's disagreement. He looked down at his wrist and saw that the cuff was gone. He looked over and saw that Octavia was missing hers too and came to the conclusion that they must have either gotten destroyed in the landing, or the people down here had removed them.
He was correct that he had been moved, what he didn't suspect however wss to find himself in another cell. They were in a stone cell with a large metal door. Him and Octavia had each been given a a fur to use as blankets.
He heard a groan and looked over to Octavia and w that she was awake and had sat up.
"How are you doing Octavia?" He asked her.
"It hurts." She complained. She opened her eyes and looked around. "Harry, where are we?"
"I don't know. But it seems that everybody was wrong and there are people living here." Suddenly the door opened and two large men with long hair, facial scars and large beards walked in wearing thick furs. They started shouting at them in a language neither of them understood. Harry was able to catch and understand a word here and there from his knowledge in languages, but nothing more than that.
"We don't understand you." Octavia exclaimed. She tried to show a brave face as she had stood up, but Harry could see the fear in her eyes.
"Gonasleng?" One of the men asked. His voice rough. "You speak the warrior's language?"
"We call out English, but we do." Harry said as he jumped up and put his hand over Octavia's mouth to prevent her from speaking.
"We will bring you to Queen Nia. She'll decide what to do with you." The roughly grabbed their arms and started dragging them. Octavia had seen the weapons they wear and decided against fighting them.
Harry was too nervous to really remember anything as they walked from the cells. As they walked through a set of doors they arrived in what could only be described as a throne room. On the throne sat an intimidating woman Harry assumed was this Queen Nia. She was sat upon a throne of bones, wearing a crown of bones. When they were released she looked at them expectantly. Suddenly Harry's training kicked in.
"Your Majesty." He greeted her with his right hand over his heart in a bow. Harry could see from the corner of his eye how Octavia did her best to mimic his bow.
"Stand up." The queen ordered and they abliged. "Now what to do with you two? On one hand you invaded Azgeda territory. On the other many purple see sky people as a blessing. Tell me children, why are you here?"
The two children only needed a single glance between them before telling everything they knew. They didn't feel any love for the Ark so they told them about what it was, how and why they were arrested and why they were sent down on earth. During the story, the Queen listened intently. When they told her about the instruments measuring the radiation she ordered a warrior to destroy everything he could in the pod.
"I have decided what to do with you. I will give you a test, and if you pass, you will train to become warriors for Azgeda. Stay here." With that she left Harry and Octavia alone in the throne room.
"What do you think she'll have us do?" Octavia asked quietly.
"I don't know." Harry said with a shrug. "Just from the impression I have of her, it wouldn't surprise me if she expect us to kill somebody."
"Really?" Octavia asked in horror.
"If that's the case I'll go first." Harry told her as he gave her a hug.
Not long after Nia and the warriors entered again, this time with two extra people. The first was a young girl that looked like she was around the same age as them. The other was an old man that walked with a limp. She threw a knife in front of Harry, who picked it up.
"These two have committed crimes punishable with execution. Prisoner A," She pointed towards the girl. "stole a knife from one of our healers. When she was caught she used the stolen knife to kill him." She pointed towards the one man. "Prisoner B was a former lieutenant that abandoned his comrades. He will be executed for cowardice. You will pick one person each and execute them."
Harry had suspected this, and he drew from his previous experience to steel his heart. He walked up behind the girl and in one fluid motion slit her throat.
Octavia had paled considerably as she took the bloody knife. She walked up to the old man who looked accepting of his fate. She ran the knife across his throat and he collapsed on the floor.
When the deed was done, the Queen suddenly stood up and started applauding.
"Great work. I can already two you two will go far. You will be given a tent and will get training. I expect great thing from you two. Don't disappoint me."