Anya was in the courtyard training the initiates when the air rushed around them and the ground beneath them trembled just the slightest. An enormous blue dragon landed before them and before she could even command them to; the initiates kneeled as one, head down and fist over chest, eyes down in respect and the rider's title rising from them as if from one voice. Many of them were very young, but they had been taught well and knew one of the twelve when they saw her.
"Skaiprisa!"
She bowed low but did not kneel. She herself was one of the Twelve, after all. But Clarke kom Skai was it's prophesized leader. Speaking of another of the twelve, Octavia should have been right behind Clarke. She called for Tris silently and reached out for Octavia and Mirilieth, calming when they responded that they were only minutes out. Mirilieth was relatively small for a dragon of the twelve but incredibly swift; known to be the fastest of the six. Tris landed beside her, crimson head bowing in respect.
The blonde deftly climbed down from her dragon, rubbing a hand under the saddle to soothe any ache that it may have caused.
"Good?"
"I am fine Klark, worry not. On to more important matters, it seems I was right. Much has changed since we were last here." Clarke nodded, caressing Soren's jaw for a second before she stepped forward, waving for the young seconds before her to stand. She closed more distance between herself, their instructor, and the beautiful red dragon next to her.
"So... How long has it been exactly?"
"97 years to the day." The famous Sky Princess gasped quietly; her mask of calm cracking for a short second before it was back in place. Tris shooed the initiates away, and they all shuffled inside just as Octavia and Mirilieth were landing, Octavia sliding from her perch immediately while the silver dragon's form shrunk until it was once again nearly humanoid, following her rider to stand beside Anya and Tris.
"97 years Soren... We were only meant to slumber for fifty. Until the other Eleven were ready."
"Well we are ready. You did get that right. Half of us at least." Said Octavia, fingers tapping against her bracer in thought.
It was only then that Clarke really looked at her, immediately gasping at seeing her close friend's familiar features in this young woman.
"You're a Blake! Thank the Great Dragon..." Soren exclaimed, stalking closer to the group and sitting carefully on her hind legs to avoid creating a tremor.
"Yeah... The last true Blake. I'm Octavia." She bowed her head low at both Soren and Clarke, but they were too shocked to speak for a long moment.
"Were you named after a great-grandmother or..."
"No. My mother said you named me. That you were very close. Like family. Aurora." Clarke put her hand over her eyes, squatting down to hide the massive range of emotions that were flowing through she and Soren's connection.
Some of it leaked out into the burgeoning link between the rest of the twelve, though Clarke did not yet know that.
Octavia was somehow still alive and young after all this time. But she had said the last 'true' Blake. Which made Clarke and Soren both immediately think of Bellamy. Young, headstrong, Bellamy. There was only one outcome she could predict for the way Octavia had said that. One she direly wished wasn't true. Gods did she hope it wasn't true.
Finally masking her emotions again, Clarke stood and offered her arm to the young woman, who took it and gripped strongly.
"It's nice to finally meet you Octavia. Believe it or not, Soren and I have waited all this time to meet you. I'm proud to see what you seem to have become."
"To meet me?"
"Of course. When last we saw your mother you weren't yet born. The both of us used to sing to you in the womb. Aurora use to swear she'd kick us out of her room in the inns and such while we traveled; but I always knew she loved it. You would kick, too." A wry smile curved Clarke's lips, and she hummed when Soren lovingly nudged her stomach with her head.
She stroked the blue head, a single tear falling from her eye that she wiped away when someone new walked into the massive training yard, a Jade green dragon following behind. It only took her a moment to feel as if this beautiful woman was somehow familiar.
"Leksa?"
Raven thought she wasn't too far out from the Grove now. The sun was setting in front of her, and Xeinon was on her back, stretching out his wings and becoming comfortable with the feel of the wind beneath them. He squawked happily sometimes, when they caught thermals; when he wasn't doing that he was talking to her, or trying to. He was a baby after all, so some of his words were a little sloppy though not from lack of effort.
As they crested over the top of another mountain, Raven looked down to give her straining neck muscles a rest and stopped. An enormous and ancient-looking but clearly well-kept complex stretched out to fill a hidden valley between two of the highest mountains in the range.
"Hir, Reivon. Houm." Xeinon's sweet voice filled her ear, and she swooped down to land in what was clearly a training yard big enough to hold multiple large dragons.
Xeinon crawled up to set himself comfortably on her shoulder, licking her cheek in greeting while she caressed his sensitive wings to make sure he hadn't gotten too overzealous the few times she'd allowed him to try to fly on his own during the trip. They seemed fine so she nodded with a grin, pressing a gentle kiss against his muzzle.
Looking around, Raven decided to head inside, walking towards were the noise of a rather large group of people drew her towards. When she exited the long, massive hallway and entered an even larger hall full of people and four dragons, she gasped. An unfamiliar warmth filled her heart and Xeinon squawked from her shoulder.
"Houm."
Everyone in the room froze and looked over, surprise on plenty of faces until giggles and happy exclamations rose up from the tables where kids of all ages were sat.
"Look at him, he's a baby!"
"And so adorable!" Xeinon straightened up on her shoulder, puffing his little chest out in what was guaranteed the cutest display Raven had ever seen. She rubbed his tummy a little and he purred quietly, licking her nose. Scrunching it up, she wiped her nose but patted his head, turning to gaze at the women coming toward her.
"Uh, Hi. Sorry I'm late for dinner."
"So, you are the fifth, and with your Draconis as well. We're glad you made it. We are only waiting on one more, and I've received word that he should be here by morning. Mounin houm."
A relatively tall woman with her Auburn hair pulled back in intricate braids spoke first, hands held together behind her back. Beside her, a familiar Blonde stood, observing her for a moment before she spoke.
So Clarke kom Skaikru really was awake. Jake had been right. The first chance she got, she'd take her aside to allow her to speak with him.
"I see you've also already retrieved your armor, that's good. As far as I knew that temple was lost to us. How did you find it?" Raven chuckled, Xeinon squawking quietly from his perch upon her shoulder.
"To be honest I literally fell into the temple on my ass. It was an accident. But then I touched the seal at the entrance and when it took my blood the whole place activated for me. It took some convincing for me to believe I was one of the twelve at all, let alone such an integral part of it as the Guardian. Speaking of-"
"Skaiprisa!"
"Shh, baby. I know who she is." She lovingly caressed his feathers, humming when he leaned further into her.
"Speaking of, if you have a sec, there's something important you should know." Clarke frowned but nodded, leading her away from the dining hall and back into the large hallway.
"Okay. What is it?" She steeled her expression, lips downturned and eyes clearly concerned about something.
"This is it." Raven reached into a hidden pocket of her armor, carefully pulling out the blue whisper crystal. Clarke gasped when she saw it, eyes wide.
"It's... Jake and Cerulean's whispers are on this crystal." She carefully handed it over, watching Clarke handle it like the infinitely precious cargo it was.
"Gods... thank you."
"You're welcome, but the big picture is that the crystal is deteriorating. Jake wanted me to bring it to you so you could say goodbye, but; well, I showed him this." Raven pulled out the heavy viridian crystal and showed it to Clarke, watching her eyes widen once again.
"He said that their whispers could be transferred from that crystal to this one, but only by the wizard. By a man he called Wells."
Clarke's eyes became instantaneously conflicted. Rage, despair, and a massive upwelling of plain old hurt transmitted through their still relatively weak connection, her eyes welled with pain before she was able to lock it all away again and turn the key.
"I… I hear he should be here first thing tomorrow barring no issues. Regardless of it being Wells who does the transference, you brought it to me and knew to get me away from everyone else before you brought it up. Thank you."
"It's cool. It's what soon to be friends are for. I'm Raven, by the way. I know we didn't exactly get into exact introductions. It's nice to meet you, Clarke. Say hi, Xeinon."
"Hey... Heya Klark!" His lilting voice produced, and Raven held up her hand when he made to fly down, giving him a temporary perch. He bowed his head low to the Skaiprisa while Raven did the same.
"Please, stand. Everyone I've passed since I got here has either bowed or kneeled. I'm not someone who takes any kind of enjoyment out of that."
"Okay, cool." Xeinon was still on her hand, clearly examining Clarke's face.
"Hey, little guy. I see you finally hatched. And it only took you a hundred years." The grin that took over the 1st of the Twelve's face was all-encompassing, no hint of the pain Raven knew she was carrying.
He nuzzled her face then flew back up on Raven's shoulder with a quiet squawk.
"Dina?" He asked quietly, resting tiredly against her neck.
"Course, lil' bit. Let's go get you fed." She raised her eyebrow at Clarke and the blonde nodded, leading the way back to the dining hall.
It was only when Clarke pointed out where she could have a seat, a blonde barely teenaged kid being kind enough to set down a plate of cut up raw meat for Xenon, that she looked directly across the table and came face to face with just about the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen.
Her eyes, a brown so light it was nearly gold; were enchanting. And despite how sharp the slope of her cheekbones were, the grin she was aiming at Clarke and the brunette with the braids from before softened her features quite a bit. Still though, Raven almost wanted to see her angry if only to see those features sharpen even more. Her lips were relatively thin, though plush and soft-looking.
It wasn't until the woman gazed at her, raising an eyebrow and smirking that Raven realized she was being a creep. Xeinon was once again puffing up his chest, and she had to rub his stomach just to thank him for being so damned cute.
"Yes?" Her expression held until she glanced at the golden dragon, her eyes softening at his proud display.
"Heya..."
"Heya, strikon." He flew over to the hand she held up, cuddling into her arms while she held him. Ignoring Raven, she fed him the little pieces of meat bit by bit until he was full and drowsy. Within moments of her humming softly; some tune Raven felt she should know but couldn't quite remember – He was asleep in her arms.
"Gods, look at him. I don't know how I got so lucky that it's him who chose me. And not just because he's a bird of prey. The last bird of prey if I'm right."
"He is the last, yes. They were a special breed. Honorable, regal, caring. He'll love you like family if you do the same."
"Of course. He's my little guy. I'll take care of him... protect him. I promise. I mean shit I guess that's sort of my job here right? To learn how to be the Guardian?"
"Yes. That amongst other minor things. Each of us tends to instruct the initiates in our specialties, as well. Combat, strategy and tactics, diplomacy, and such."
"Yeah well I'm not sure how useful I'll be in that regard. I'm just a mechanic and I haven't seen any traces of tech around here in the little time I've been here unless it's discreet. I was working on recovering processing chips for a comm tower when I fell into the temple. Sorry to disappoint."
Raven shrugged, that same old self loathing hitting her a little less painfully than usual.
"In fact we'd greatly appreciate your skills here, Reivon kom Skaikru. We have agents in places that have those type of communication networks and it would be infinitely helpful to have one of our own so we could bring our spy network up to par." The woman with the braids said again.
"Yeah, of course. I can do that. I'll need tools, equipment, and any kind of scrap tech you may have at your disposal to see what exactly it is I have to work with."
"Of course. I'm Lexa; The Commander here. Aden will show you your workshop after dinner." She gestured towards the blonde boy who'd given her the meat for Xeinon and she nodded, offering her arm.
After the quick introduction, Lexa turned her attention back to quietly conversing with Clarke. The blonde looked as if she already knew Lexa, though that was impossible. That was something to wonder about later. For now she turned back to watch Xeinon finally doze off in Anya's arms.
Finally, Raven started eating herself; finding that she was pretty damn ravenous she hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning, and with everything that had happened she was exhausted and her stomach empty. The food was delicious; smoked pork and roast potatoes, better than anything she'd ever eaten. Food on the Ark was basically just nutritional paste, and the Arkers were shit at cooking as a result. That and just as bad at growing and hunting for their own food. In fact she'd taken to growing her own little patch of edible plants she'd found in the forest. That had taken rather kindly to being planted in front of her tent. She'd miss that. The feeling of kneeling down before her plants and losing herself in the monotony of taking care of them.
Sighing quietly, she finished her food, keeping her head down. A part of her felt frighteningly out of place here. No matter how true it was that she was supposed to be this great hero, this Guardian… she couldn't help but feel like she'd be out on her ass the second they all got to know her. She could see their faces when they realized who they'd welcomed into their home.
'You're the Guardian? You? You're what we get? What a fucking disappointment! Perhaps the twelve should be the eleven.'
Gods they'd try to take Xeinon from her. That she could not abide. Her was hers and she his. They belonged together. If she was forced out he was coming with her.
"No one will ever attempt to take him from you here, Reivon. Neither will we ever want you to leave. This is your home now." Raven snapped her head up at that, narrowing her eyes at the woman still gently holding Xeinon.
She was sure the connection didn't work that way, as if to directly broadcast the thoughts from her mind. Sure, she could feel the warmth and adoration in Clarke that was clearly in relation to the Commander, for example.
But now that she focused she could almost hear the thoughts in the other woman's head as well; it came through muddled, like listening to someone talk in another room where you could only sort of make out some of the words.
From Anya, she got only single words. Like stay, home, and family. But given the woman had clearly been doing this longer than her she didn't doubt she could make out much more. The question was, why did it only work this way between them?
"We are connected, as are Leksa and Klark. What is important is that you come to realize that you are exactly as you should be. I – we... Want nothing more from you than what you can give. The communication network is vital, and you are the only one of the twelve capable of building the comm tower. Regardless of that, you aren't here because of what you can provide us, or what you can do. You're here because you deserve to be. Because you are a hero; you are the Guardian. Whether or not you can see that doesn't matter. You'll see for yourself soon enough."
That amber tone to her eyes Raven had noticed earlier seemed to soften even further; and now her irises seemed the color of warm honey, not that she'd ever actually seen any for herself. It was one of those things on her 'Holy shit! I'm on earth' bucket list.
"Onto lighter topics, we keep bees here" She waved over the boy from earlier, quietly asking him in Trigedasleng to bring a jar of honey over. He grinned and smiled over at Raven before rushing off. When he came back, it was with a full of golden honey and three spoons.
"One spoonful, Aden. I saw you have two slices of Lincoln's date cake." He pouted but nodded, twisting open the jar and dipping a spoon in. When he lifted it again, he spun it to keep all that goodness from slipping off and stuck it in his mouth. His happy hum was immediate, and Raven chuckled, a bit of the weight she'd been forcing herself to carry slipping from her shoulders. Anya dipped in the two other spoons, handing Raven's over once she was sure it wouldn't drip onto the table.
"Hmmmm. God that's good."
"I'm glad you think so. It's a treat, but we typically use it for trade, baking, or tea."
"Speaking of baking, that date cake? I didn't think those took to such temperate weather." So maybe she was sort of a bit of an agriculture geek. She'd jury-rigged up an Ark database tablet and had taken to reading about fruiting plants in particular. It'd started the first time she'd come upon a bush full of berries while scavenging.
"You're right. They do not. They hold exceptionally well, so we trade for them often. I'd you would like to see the gardens tomorrow morning I am more than willing to give you a tour."
"That sounds good, yeah. I grew most of my own food at Arkadia, it's something I'm pretty interested in."
"I know." Anya replied with a grin.
"Can I come too?" Aden asked, bouncing on his toes; the gardens were his favorite place on the grounds.
"As long as you promise to stop sneaking the apples into your pockets, yes."
"Promise! Bye Raven, see you tomorrow." He bowed to them both and rushed off.
"Well he's adorable."
"So I've been told." Anya replied with a soft grin, shifting Xeinon once again be held in both arms instead of one.
"He's yours?" Anya exhaled, nodding.
"Yes. Though not traditionally. I adopted him, in a way. Aden is... special; and was being hunted by both Azgeda and the Black Dekators when I found him. He was so frightened, cold, beaten and bleeding. Alone and starving. Tris and I brought him home. He has been here since.
Raven stiffened at the idea of anyone hurting any child let alone on of the Twelve's. Her hands tightened into fists, the spoon in her right hand bending under the pressure until it had finger grooves along the stem.
"Azgeda... Who are they?" She and everyone else knew who the Black Dekators were and who they answered to. She couldn't help but imagine snapping Thelonious Jaha's neck between her gauntlet-wrapped hands.
"Slavers from the north. They hunt for the young. Children, adolescents, young adults. All to supply Jaha with slave labor and a captive army. " She gently opened Raven's fist, removing the mangled spoon.
"I'll kill every single one of them. No one hurts kids on my watch. I'll kill them all and get those kids back to their homes." She stood, sliding over the bench and stalking towards the hallway; forcing Anya to hand Xeinon off to Clarke and sprint to catch her. When she did she pressed the Guardian against the wall. Raven was stronger than her in truth, than any of them. But she didn't fight very hard. Clearly she didn't want to hurt her.
"Let me go!"
"Nou. Listen, you don't understand. Azgeda is not some weak enemy for you to run off trying to find with no regard for your lack of skill. They will kill you. They have culled entire villages, leaving nothing but their quarry standing. Do you understand? You need training. These children do need help but you'll only make things worse."
"Then fucking train me, but quickly! Those kids… I can't let this keep happening. The longer we wait the more of them are being hurt."
"Reivon –"
"Raven nothing. You all want me to be the fucking Guardian so bad? Help me. First thing in the morning I join the kids in the yard. You teach me how to use this strength to my advantage and I'll bring these kids home."
"The common tower-"
"Is goddamn secondary. I'll work on it during the nights if you promise to take me on as your seken." Anya sighed but nodded with a tiny smile.
"Agreed. Gods know you're exactly who I knew you would be. Come, I'll show you to your lab and your quarters." When they turned back towards the dining hall. Clarke and Lexa were both standing there waiting for them, concerned looks on both their faces.
"We're fine, Skaiprisa, Heda. She asked about Aden; I had to tell her of Azgeda." Lexa snarled at the word, her teeth bared.
"She is the Guardian. Any other reaction would be unlike her." Once they were closer, she gently handed Xenon to Raven, stroking his head once he was in his riders arms.
"Azgeda is difficult to locate, even by those of us already combat ready. They use sorcerers to keep their camps and caravans hidden. Once the Wizard is here, he will make it possible for us to begin putting them down like the monsters they are. For the moment we must prepare. You're ready to begin training?" Lexa spoke, spitting out the name of the slaving faction with no small amount of acrid disgust.
"Em ste ai seken." Anya answered, posture rod straight, head raised high with what both the leaders of the twelve could see was immense pride.
"Ogud. There's no one either of us would trust to train her more, Onya. Reshop.'" Bowing, Anya and Raven bid them goodnight as well.
"Reshop, Heda. Reshop Skaiprisa." They spoke simultaneously.
/
"I almost respect him, you know. For having the balls. He obviously isn't quite so weak as either of us thought, Thelonious." Jaha chuckled darkly, agreeing.
"Perhaps. But he is weak. He could have killed either of us but he went for the boy instead. He's soft, and that is exactly what we'll use against him. Get a message to Nia. If he cares about these Arkee peasants so much they'll pay for his sins."
"Arkadia?" Bellamy grin was feral, his expression full of manic pleasure at the idea of finally being able to set Azgeda loose on the one village that had been off limits.
"Arkadia. Tell her I want the heads of every adult in the place on spikes at the gate. The children; the hundred especially, I want here. It's time I show you the true power of the Daenerys." Bellamy eyes went wide with ramped down glee, and he fell to one knee before his king.
"It will be done."
"You never disappoint me, my son. Go, you may join in the slaughter if you wish." Bellamy nodded and swept from the room.
On the altar before Jaha, a purely white egg shook just the slightest, another miniscule crack appearing before his dead eyes.