Hi guys,

I hurried….. and had nothing else to do :)

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Clarke smiled as she tilted her head back to gaze up to the sky. The hot summer days have long since bid their goodbyes, turning into something dark grey with big angry clouds decorating the once blue sky.

It had been a few lousy days lately. The pouring rain had downright stopped the busy life of their village as everyone preferred to stay inside their homes. Only the ones whom had to go out left the dry and warm houses. Thus for Clarke the last few days had been boring as hell.

Finally, after way too long the rain had stopped and a few sunrays broke their way through the still heavy clouds. More and more people dared their way out of their house and engaged in the day to day life again.

"Clarke!"

Her smile widened when she heard the familiar voice of her best friend. She had missed his company the last few days. When the bad weather had hit at first Clarke was staying busy by helping her parents with their work, helping her father cleaning the hut and collecting a few utensil her mother could take with her to trade for her next trip to TonDC. Now and then the blonde had stolen away to accompany Nyko who visited a few of his patients.

Two days later Lincoln had left with a few others for a hunt, leaving early in the morning and coming back when the moon had hung high on the sky – if one had been able to see it through the clouds.

So after not having seen each other for so long Clarke was happy that normalcy seemed to set in again. Turning around to greet her best friend Clarke faltered the moment she saw him grinning widely at her. "What the hell happened, Lincoln?!"

"What do you mean?" Lincoln replied confused, not knowing what the blonde was talking about.

"Your hair?"

Eyes gleaming excitingly as he swept his hand over his head – his now bald head. Gone were his wild, black locks Clarke used to mock him about when they had been little kids running around aimlessly.

"Oh yeah, that."

"What? Has there been a raid at your camp and someone stole your hair?"

"Ha ha, very funny. I just decided that it was time for a change."

"Why?"

The twinkle in his eyes was back and his lips turned upwards again. Whatever it was, it had to be good. "Dalan and the others deemed me ready to lead my very first hunt."

"You led the hunt?"

"Yes." He replied proudly.

Clarke stared at him unbelieving. "And no one died?"

"Please, Clarke. Have a little faith in me."

"I do have faith in you. But I also know your skill with the bow." The blonde smirked.

Well, Clarke shouldn't be so surprised. Lincoln was becoming to be one of the best trackers of their village, and his instincts were very good. Albeit being better with a sword than with a bow and arrow, she knew that he was on his way to become a formidable hunter. Besides they were now old enough to take over more serious work. Dalan, one of their best hunters, would've been an idiot not to give Lincoln the chance to prove himself.

A warmth spread out through her body feeling proud of her best friend's accomplishment.

"Does that mean we'll only have a little squirrel for dinner?" She teased him, earning herself an eye-roll from the boy.

Squaring his shoulders, Lincoln stared contently at the blonde. "I'll have you know that we brought back two deer."

"Way to go! I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Clarke. I'll get my very first tattoo to mark this achievement tomorrow."

"Great, that means you have time for me today." Clarke stated and took Lincoln's hand dragging him away from the village, only once looking back at him after noticing the glances some of the girls around their age were throwing at Lincoln who'd just shrugged back at her though his smile was ever present.

The two slowly made their way through the woods until they arrived at the spot they always deposited their bows and arrows. Lifting a brow Lincoln glanced at Clarke.

"What? Someone has to make sure you'll be not a complete failure as a shot. And then I at least can brag to the others that I'm the one having taught you to hold a bow correctly – and not lose the arrow before even firing it."

"Clarke, that only happened once! Two years of ago!" Lincoln complained lightly.

"So what? It could have been a decade and I'd still remind you of that."

"You're mean."

Clarke shrugged. "I'm your best friend. I'm meant to give you shit." Readying her bow, Clarke placed the arrow and prepared to shoot it at the makeshift target they had hung up on a tree. Taking a deep breath the blonde let go of the arrow, smirking when seconds later the arrow hit the middle of the target.

Turning around Clarke was waiting for Lincoln to line up and take his shot when she was suddenly hit with met with a huge pile of mud smeared directly in the middle of her face by her best friend himself.

"Really?" Clarke glared deadpanned at Lincoln ignoring the drops of dirt running down her face, falling off of her face and onto her clothes.

Lincoln smirked amused, barely holding back the laughter. "What? You just stated that best friends were there to give each other shit. You should be happy that it was no real shit."

Putting her bow away Clarke quickly filled her hands with as much mud as she could and threw it at Lincoln, hitting him fully on the head. "Oh yeah, that comes really close to your earlier looks."

"You're so on." Lincoln declared and lunged at his friend who let out a shriek and took off, trying to get away from Lincoln and into safety. She ran as fast as she could only looking back now and then to see if her friend was still chasing after her. After a few more steps the blonde realized the missing presence of the boy and turned around.

There wasn't a soul in sight. No sound indicated of any other presence among the trees than her own. Exhaling relieved Clarke was startled by a literal war cry and was tackled to the ground from the right side. Two bodies rolled down a little mound and ended up in a pile of mud.

Sitting up the two friends stared at each other, both equally covered in mud from head to toe. They really were a sight for sore eyes. After a beat both broke out in loud laughter. A few minutes later they recovered from their laughing fit and Clarke looked down at her, her eyes flickered up to meet Lincoln's only a moment later. "Our parents are going to kill us."

Silence overcome the two friends before it was broken again by their laughs.

Clarke had really missed her best friend.

"Strik skaifaya!" Nyko's calm voice greeted her as Clarke opened the door and entered the house. Her parents where nowhere to see, only Nyko was there sitting with his back to her at the table studying some maps from what Clarke could tell. "I'm planning my new trip to fetch some plants. I'm heading further up towards the border to Azgeda since some of the plants are rather rare and only growing in colder regions. I'd like for you to accompany me." Nyko turned around with a big, excited smile doubtlessly caused by his impending trip that will surely take a few days. However, as soon as his brown eyes laid themselves on her figure that smile was quickly wiped away, leaving a frown in its place. "What happened?"

"I'm innocent!" Clarke immediately spoke out.

"You're always innocent. Just like Lincoln always states that he's innocent." He shook his head and sighed. "You two are pure trouble on legs. What is it this time? Did you two decide that our food isn't good enough for you anymore?"

Clarke huffed. "Aren't you funny?"

Loud laughed boomed through the room. "I'm just trying to see the reason."

"There is no reason. Lincoln started it."

"I have a hard time believing that." He eyed her meaningful. And yes, maybe Clarke wasn't a saint. She and Lincoln had played their fair share of pranks, but she liked to believe that now they were a little bit more grown up. She just couldn't help it when trouble followed them.

"Go, wash up. Before our parents mistake you for one of the pigs and sent you to the stables to sleep."

Grumpily, Clarke made her way over to their wash room to get rid of her dirty clothes and the many mud strains on her body, deliberately ignoring the amused smirk of her brother.

The only thing Clarke felt at the moment was pain.

Everywhere.

It was her first training session with the nightbloods and she already lost count how many times she landed defenseless on the ground. The blonde got paired up with Nadora who didn't appear to go easy on her. Clarke stood no chance against her.

It wasn't that Clarke had never held a weapon in her hands before. There were quite a few times she sparred with her childhood friend, Lincoln, who was rather talented with a sword. She even trained some with her older brother, Nyko. However Clarke's main focus had always been her training at becoming a healer just like Nyko. She loved to help people and couldn't fathom ever killing someone, despite the troubling times they were living in.

Clarke was skilled enough to protect herself but not against experienced warriors.

The blonde parried Nadora's next chain of attacks as fast as she possibly could, yet again it wasn't good enough. The red head used her opportunity and swung at Clarke's unprotected left side, hitting her hard with the training sword to surely leave a stinging bruise to nurse later on. Not that one more bruise to her growing collection made any difference.

"Dead." Nadora taunted her, lifting her brow challenging. It was clear that she was rather bored with her session with Clarke. "Again."

"You need to be quicker on your feet, Clarke. Your arms are also not moving fast enough. A slow warrior is a dead warrior. Be faster!" Their teacher, Tristan, advised her.

Tristan was rather ripped, his hits had quite the strength in them. As Clarke had watched him train against Tremot she realized that she would never want to be on his bad side, seeing that Tremot himself had a hard time to defend himself from the incoming strokes.

He was unforgiving and direct, ordering Nadora to not hold back. She had heard that Tristan was one of the best warriors of Trikru and would no doubt be a great general one day. Clarke also noticed his annoyance at her lack of skills. She clearly was more of a nuisance for him than anything else.

Nadora helped her up and they started again. Like all the other times Nadora attacked and Clarke defended. At least she was trying to, but the hits came to fast and Clarke couldn't keep up and took a hit her cheek, drawing a little blood.

Tristan sighed annoyed. "Enough! We're done for now. I'll see you tomorrow."

The nightbloods wordlessly put away their training swords and moved to leave the training areal, this time Clarke trailed silently after the others putting her hand on the little cut on her cheek to stop the bleeding. It was nothing serious and she knew that the bleeding would stop soon and the wound will heal pretty quickly, though right now it was pounding uncomfortably and the dark liquid was running through her fingers.

Clarke noticed that Lexa was suddenly missing from the group and looked around the halls but couldn't find her anywhere. She observed how Tremot and Nadora also slipped from their group and remembered that they wouldn't have any lessons until this evening, meaning that they were free to do what they pleased.

Deciding to follow the rest of the nightbloods back to their dorm to change and clean the little cut, Clarke opted to spend her free time exploring the capitol. Since Clarke and her family lived in one of the outer villages of the Trikru it offered not many opportunities to travel this far just for fun. Normally the vendors in TonDC had everything they needed.

Polis was an interesting part in their culture.

All clans were in a constant quarrel with each other, pride and selfishness between the different leaders prevented a life in peace. Raids and attacks at the border areas were common, threats of war a daily possibility. Especially to those bordering on Azgeda often feel the cruelty of the Ice Queen.

But life in Polis was a great example for a life in peace. Though the city was located on Trikru land it really was neutral land. People of all clans were living and working side by side without the animosity the clan leaders set the examples on. Polis was almost a clan of its own. The city had its own law, guards and was ruled by the current heda and had its own symbol, two different sized circles with a variety of lines crossing through them; the symbol of the heda.

Polis wasn't really the capitol in the sense of the main city of all of the clans but rather the largest one in their lands with the biggest economy. The city was open for all of the clans thus having been dubbed the capitol.

Another characteristic feature was the huge tower in the middle of Polis. It was the first thing one saw on their way to the big city, just like Clarke herself had gaped at its size the closer she had gotten. Clarke had heard that the city itself was arranged after the heda's symbol; the tower stood proudly in the middle, two straight roads led from south to north and east to west of the city. The area between the circles was occupied by the many vendors, workplaces and the homes of the citizen of Polis. The huge stone wall around Polis marked the outer circle.

Clarke blended in in the busy street, one body of many walking through Polis minding her own business. Her eyes widened as she kept surveying the variety of the offered goods by the many vendors. The finest furs of Azgeda, different fish from Podakru, a wide range of killed game and other food from different clans, a pottery, some artists marking the skin of their customers, a few blacksmiths. There was everything one could need – or didn't.

The blonde nightblood stopped at a small booth filled with different colors, her eyes set on a bowl filled with an odd color. It was bluish, yet almost white. It appeared to be a special brand of color, one that wasn't easily found.

"Cover it with your hands."

Blue eyes snapped up and met the brown ones of the trader of those colorful goods. She hesitated but the encouraging smile the man sent her way coaxed her in following his advice and she moved her hands over the bowl. Bright, blue light shimmered through her fingers and Clarke looked up amazed by the effect, never having seen such a glow from a simple color.

The vendor laughed heartily at her stunned expression. "It's made by the powder of a special kind of butterfly found in a specific area. Every year before the beginning of winter the butterflies shed their wings and embed themselves very deep into the still soft ground. Down there they lay larvae and die after a while. While the snow covers the ground the larvae take their time to grow, using the nutrients stored deep down in the earth. As soon as the snow leaves the ground the larvae hatch and rise from the earth to fly through the forest until the next winter arrives."

"Really?" Clarke had never heard of those butterflies and pondered if those butterflies were living in the woods of Trishana. The clan was known for their many plants that glowed brightly. "I'm sure it is a beautiful sight."

"It is." The vendor smiled, a faraway expression in his eyes. It was obvious that he was thinking back to a fond memory. "I was travelling through the different clans back then. I underestimated the distance to the next village and had to set up camp in the middle of the forest. Nothing I like to do, let me tell you. I'm no warrior and travelling alone is always dangerous these times, especially resting in the middle of the forest while anyone could've robbed me, or even killed me in my sleep. Anyway, I was sleeping against a big tree and I woke up by some game that had been moving through the woods. Though as I opened my eyes I was met by the brightest blue light I've ever seen. I was surrounded by hundreds of those butterflies. They lit up the whole area as if it was the middle of the day. I've never seen anything more beautiful than this." The man chuckled. "Besides my wife, that is."

Clarke laughed at his statement while her eyes moved back down to the glowing blue bowl. She wished she could see those butterflies with her own eyes, being surrounded by them. Yet she knew that this would never happen. She was bound to stay where she was, here in Polis with the other nightbloods. Anya had been clear with her threat that if she should ever try to leave that her family would pay the price, the blonde leader even told her that they were only remaining alive to have leverage over the young girl. She loved her family too much to put them into harm's way.

"I'm Muele kom Yujleda. I've been living in Polis for the last three years." The vendor told her. He seemed nice, his appearance wasn't so forceful like most of the traders. His short brown locks where intertwined messily with each other, giving him a youthfulness beyond his years.

"I'm Clarke kom Trikru. It's nice to meet you, Muele."

"Based on the pure look of wonder on your face early I guess you haven't been long in Polis?"

Clarke briefly glanced down, shaking her head. "I've just arrived yesterday."

"For trading purposes? Or are you visiting a friend?"

"Let's say, I moved here and will live in Polis for an unforeseen amount time." Clarke exclaimed, trying to find the fine line between the truth and a lie. Out of experience she knew that people started to treat one different when they knew that their counterpart was a nightblood. Clarke didn't want that wishing she was still the normal girl who trained to become a healer.

"Well, if you are in any need of information about Polis, you know where to find me. I'll be glad to help you."

The blonde smiled gratefully at him, wondering if she made her very first friend in Polis. Sure, there were the nightbloods but could she see them as her friends? There were more like a little, unconventional family bonded by their black blood, and Clarke was sure that if it was for that fact they wouldn't spend any time together. They were all her for one reason. To train, to learn and eventually become heda, herself included.

The only down part was that only one would live to reach their goal.

And right now, based on the results of her very first training with the nightbloods her chances weren't any good.

Hope you liked it. Have a great weekend!