Violet groaned as she woke up. She looked outside and saw that it was still dark. Violet slowly willed herself out of the bed and stood up.
Violet walked over to Octavia and nudged her awake as she yawned.
"What," Octavia asked sleepily.
"Time to get up. The seconds are meeting soon, and we are training with them," Violet said.
Octavia let out a goran.
"Is it too late to go back to the 100?" Octavia asked.
"Yep, come on, get up," Violet said.
Violet watched as Octavia slowly got out of bed and got her feet. Violet and Octavia left the room.
"Oh, I was just about to wake you up," Tris said, seeing them walking out of the room.
"Your way too happy for this time in the morning," Octavia said.
"Don't worry. In about a month or so, you will be used to waking up at this time," Tris said encouragingly.
"Let's go. We need to meet Dela," Violet said.
"Okay, we meet in the village centre," Tris said, leading them out of Anya's home.
Violet wasn't surprised to see all of the seconds waiting in the village centre. While in the sky box, she had spent some time watching the grounders and seen the seconds training.
There was also a few proper warriors waiting with the seconds as well. Octavia, however, seemed surprised at how many seconds there were and seemed shocked at how many were girls.
Violet looked around for Dela and frowned when she couldn't see her with any of the seconds.
"Im here," Dela's voice said from behind her.
"Ah, good. You ready for the training?" Violet asked.
"Im more worried about you two. From what I know, the people of the 100 get out of breath easily," Dela asked.
"There isn't much space on the Ark, so we aren't very fit, so today will be quite hard for both me and Octavia," Violet agreed.
Violet could see that Octavia was looking more worried.
"Don't force yourself to be the same as the grounders. They are fitter than we are, don't stop and keep pushing yourself," Violet said encouragingly.
"Are your legs okay with running, Dela?" Violet asked.
"They should be but im not 100% sure. I have never run the full distance before," Dela said, looking a little embarrassed.
"Here," Violet said as a golden mist flowed from her hand and into Dela's body.
Dela seemed surprised, and Violet noticed many of the seconds watching what she was doing.
"Right, listen up," Anya called out, getting the attention of all of the seconds.
"It's the same route as always. You have two hours to complete the hike, and you may begin," Anya called out.
Violet reached out and grabbed Octavia, who looked at her, confused.
"You don't want to be near the front as you will feel like you need to run faster and then get tired quicker," Violet said.
Violet waited for most of the seconds had set off before she started jogging after them.
"How far is the hike?" Octavia asked as they did a slow jog.
"It's around 10 kilometres," Dela said.
"What's that in miles?" Octavia asked.
"It's around 6 miles," Violet said.
"But how far is that?" Octavia asked, confused.
"I guess you're about to find out," Violet teased.
Over the next hour, Violet and Octavia were slowly overtaken by the seconds, with Octavia falling to the very back of the group.
"I think im bleeding?" Octavia said, panting.
"No, that just means you're really out of breath. There is a whole medical reason im sure Clarke can give for it," Violet said, panting as well.
"Im not sure I can run anymore," Octavia said, with her running more like a walk at this point.
"We are nearly there. Come on, keep going," Violet said as she spat to the side, trying to get rid of the bloody taste in her mouth. At this point, her lungs were on fire, and she could only guess how bad Octavia was.
All the other grounders had long since outrun them, leaving them at the very back of the pack.
"See, can you hear them?" Violet asked Octavia.
Octavia didn't reply, but Violet could hear that she hadn't stopped running.
It only took another two minutes to arrive at their destination, the practice field not far from Ton DC. The moment they crossed the end point, Octavia fell to the ground gasping for breath.
Violet, however, managed to stay on her feet but, like Octavia, was heavily panting. Dela walked over carrying two cups of water and passed one to Violet and the other to Octavia.
Violet took a welcome gulp of water.
"How much slower were we than everyone else?" Octavia asked.
"Well, you weren't that much slower," Dela replied.
"You don't need to sugarcoat it," Violet said.
Looking around, she could see that while some of them were a little out of breath, none of them were panting like she and Octavia was.
"Sugarcoat?" Dela asked.
"Just tell the truth," Violet said, rolling her eyes and noting to avoid using metaphors or idioms.
"If you were compared to new seconds, then it wouldn't be bad," Dela said after a moment of thought.
"That's not too bad then," Octavia said, still catching her breath.
"New seconds are around seven years old," Violet said to Octavia.
"Oh," Octavia said, falling silent.
"But in fairness, you are a new second that just started later than other seconds, and we are much less active than the grounders," Violet said.
"We are doing archery soon. Are we taking part as well?" Dela asked.
"You can if you want," Violet said to Dela and Octavia.
"When are you going to teach us magic?" Octavia asked, getting Dela attention.
"Before learning any magic, you have to learn how to gather magical energy from the spirits," Violet said.
"So we borrow the magic from spirits?" Octavia asked.
"Come sit, and I will explain, and we will get started," Violet said, leading them a little ways away from the rest of the seconds.
"So we harness magic from spirits in other dimensions?" Dela asked for confirmation.
"Correct. Some of them are good, others are evil and would like to take over our world. So let's begin," Violet said.
Violet spent the next few hours teaching them how to feel Eldritch Magic and how to gather so they could use it to cast a spell. In the three hours they had been practising, they had only been able to make some sparks in the air.
Violet wasn't sure if that was good progress or not, as she hadn't ever taught anyone magic before.
"Are you taking part in the sword training?" Anya said, walking over to the three of them.
"Yes, we can make a sword through magic, so being able to use a sword would be very helpful," Violet said.
"We still haven't been able to make more than sparks in the air, though," Octavia said, sounding annoyed.
"You can practice magic at any time, but learning to use a sword can only be done now," Violet said, standing up.
Dela stopped trying to use magic and stood up. "Maybe a break would be good for us."
Octavia grumbled but stood up as well. "How much do you know about sword fighting?" Octavia asked Violet as they walked towards the other seconds.
"The pointy end goes in the bad guy?" Violet said jokingly.
She heard Dela snort at what she said.
"What it does," Violet shoot back.
"Dela, go partner up with some of the other seconds. I will show Violet and Octavia the basics," Anya said.
Dela nodded towards Anya and walked off to a group of seconds. Anya waved Tris over.
"Right, there are 8 basic angles of attack when cutting. These are straight down, straight up, diagonally down to the right, diagonally down to the left, diagonally up to the right, diagonally up to the left and left and right strikes horizontally."
Anya said as she demonstrated each one for Violet and Octavia.
"The best way to win in a sword fight is to be the offensive party. However, you can't always be on the attack, so these are the 5 basic counters for the 8 basic attacks," Anya said as she showed the 5 different ways of blocking.
Violet and Octavia nodded as they watched Anya and Tris slowly demonstrate how to attack and counter.
"Of course, it's always best to dodge a strike than try and block one. If the person's attack is much stronger than you, then the block may not help at all. So footwork is important as well," Anya explained.
"Okay, here are two practice swords. Try what we have shown you," Anya said to them both.
Violet picked up the sword, surprised at how heavy it was compared to her sword made from magic.
"You attack first, and I will block?" Violet offered.
"Sure," Octavia said as she went through the basic slashes.
Within a few strikes, Violet's hand was already feeling numb.
Violet and Octavia spent the next three hours learning swordplay and some basic footwork as well. Throughout the lesson, Violet realised how lucky she was in her fight with the reapers.
If it wasn't for magic, she had no doubt that she would have been killed. The first one she killed with pretty much a sneak attack, as he couldn't have known that she could create a sword from thin air.
If he had, he probably wouldn't have rushed her and left himself wide open as he had done. And the second she used magic to launch the axe into his head.
"My arms are killing me," Ocatvia said once the sword training was over.
"The magic swords are much lighter," Violet comforted Octavia.
"What is everyone doing after this?" Octavia asked Anya.
"Some will continue to practise, others will have some private lessons with their firsts," Anya said.
"We have magic practice," Violet said to Octavia and looked around with Dela.
"I will get more than sparks this time," Octavia said confidently.
"Oh right, the Commander will be here tonight. The Commander was aiming to be here in the morning, but there was a delay," Anya said.
"I look forward to meeting them tonight," Violet replied.
Violet was telling the truth. Lexa was one of Violet's favourite characters in the entire show. She couldn't wait to meet her in the flesh.
"Right, let's see if you two can get a basic magic circle by the end of today," Violet said, pulling Octavia and Dela to the side.
The two girls let out a sigh but sat down and started to try and form a magic circle.
Octavia and Dela spent another few hours at it, but they had yet to get anywhere near making a circle. Dela had gotten a bit better and made a tiny line instead of sparks.
Octavia, however, was still only making sparks more extensive sparks than she was hours ago but sparks nonetheless.
"Okay, that's enough for today. Let's go back to Ton DC," Violet said, standing up.
Violet had spent her time reading the Book of Cagliostro and found a few spells that she was interested in learning. But she didn't think that it was a good idea to practise them in front of Octavia and Dela in case it affected their practice.
She had, however, picked the first spell she would teach them both, and she also needed to have the smith make some sling rings. She already knew the spells that needed to be imbued into the ring in order to make them work as sling rings.
"I can't believe I am still only making sparks," Octavia complied as she stood up from the ground.
"It's okay. You haven't even been at it for a day yet. I think it could be a good week before you can make a simple circle," Violet said.
"So long?" Octavia asked.
"A week to learn how to harness magic doesn't seem that long?" Dela said, standing up.
"I guess not," Octavia said, sighing.
"Which way is Ton DC?" Octavia asked.
"We are using a sling ring to travel," Violet said, slipping the ring onto her fingers.
With a wave of her hand, a portal was opened up in front of the three of them, leading to the entrance of Ton DC. The guards at the front gate only looked surprised for a few seconds before they recognised the portal and who was coming through it.
"Couldn't we have used this for the run in the morning?" Octavia asked.
"I think it counts as cheating," Violet teased.
The portal closed behind them, and the three of them walked into Ton Dc.
"How have your legs been today?" Violet asked Dela.
"Good, I haven't noticed them hurting at all," Dela replied, looking happy.
"Good if they ever do start hurting, make sure to tell me," Violet reminded her.
"I will do. Im going to see my parents. I will see you later," Dela said.
"Okay, see you later," Violet said.
"Cya," Octavia said to Dela as she walked away.
Violet and Octavia walked over to the large fire in the centre of the village and took a seat on one of the logs. There were a few other grounders around the fire as well as kids that were running around.
Violet smiled and used her magic to make images of animals appear and run around with the children.
"So, who is this Commander?" Octavia asked.
Violet realised that Octavia knew very little about the grounders and their hierarchy.
"The Commander is the leader of the grounders. There are 12 clans in total. We are in Trikru at the moment. If you go up north, you will arrive at Azgeda and down south is Delfikru and Floukru. The other 8 clans are to the west," Violet explained.
"And the Commander controls them all?" Octavia asked.
"Sort of. The clans still have their leader or king/queen, but they follow the Commander." Violet said.
"So are they voted in like on the Ark?"
"No, you need night blood if you want to be the Commander. Nightblood is the blood of the first Commander Becca,"
"Ah, so like the kings of old then?" Octavia said after a moment.
"Sort of. Don't worry about it. We have plenty of time to learn," Violet reassured Octavia.
"Is it okay for us to be meeting with someone as powerful as the Commander?" Octavia asked hesitantly.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Violet asked.
"I am not sure the Ark will be happy about it," Octavia said quietly.
"Who cares? We aren't a part of the Ark anymore," Violet said, shrugging.
Violet looked around as the village got much quieter, and many of the grounders made their way towards the village entrance. Violet stood up and made her own way towards the village entrance.
Octavia followed after her.
Just outside of the entrance was a group of eleven horses with people getting off from them. Violet quickly looked around the group and saw a few people that she recognised.
There was the warrior that tried to frame Raven at the very front. She was pretty sure he is name was Gus.
But the most noticeable was, without a doubt, Lexa. She had a sense of presence that none of the other grounders had. Lexa stepped off the horse gracefully before looking around, her head held high.
The crowd went quiet as Anya walked out of the village to greet Lexa. From what Violet remembered, Lexa was Anya's second at some point, no doubt, before she went to Polis to be trained as a night blood.
Violet frowned.
She hadn't noticed when she had looked at Lexa from a distance in her Astral form, but now that she was close and in her real body, she noticed that Lexa felt strange in the Astral Dimension.
It took her a little bit more probing with her magic before she came up with an answer. The Flame in the back of Lexa's neck seemed to be the culprit.
Violet knew the Flame held the minds of all its previous hosts, but she hadn't equated that with their souls as well. Then again, maybe the mind was the soul she didn't actually know.
She knew when people entered the astral realm that, their bodies basically became empty, so maybe the mind and the soul weren't separate.
Violet was broken out of her thoughts as Lexa and Anya shook arms with each other, and Lexa gave her a smile as Anya invited her into the village.
"The Commander is a woman," Octavia said, shocked but with a worshipping look.
"Yep," Violet said as they watched Lexa enter the village.
So far, most people had matched up with the show for the most part. Violet had expected Lexa to act aloof and distant from people. However, she was smiling and greeting people as she walked into the village.
"Do you know much about her?" Octavia asked.
"A bit," Violet said as she reflected on what she knew of Lexa.
As Violet inspected Lexa, she must have felt it and looked over at her. Lexa's eyes flashed with recognition which wasn't a big surprise to Violet.
There was no way Lexa hadn't been filled in about her, and her blond hair and blue eyes stood out compared to most of Trikru, which mostly had brown and black hair, with a few having blond hair.
"Are we going to say hello?" Octavia asked.
"I guess we are," Violet said as she noticed Lexa approaching them.
Thankfully none of the grounders had to bow to Lexa, so it wouldn't be expected for her or Octavia to do so either.
"Heda," Violet said respectfully.
"So you're the spirit warrior?" Lexa asked.
Violet was a little shocked at the title Lexa had called her given she hadn't heard anyone call her that.
"First time I have heard that title, Heda," Violet said.
"Come, let's talk," Lexa said.