Chapter 53
Madi, Clarke, Octavia, and Echo and Palla were down in the valley looking over the freshly cleared farmland. Each on their own caballo, they rode around the spots as other members of Wonkru worked. Palla was amazed at their speed and efficeincy. She knew that they had a hard life on Earth, but she never knew how they moved and worked. Seeing them like this, working and building, made her wonder about their lives there.
Madi rode silently, Echo at her side, as they came up on a barn being raise. It made her smile. She turned in her saddle to look at her Jusgona. Echo's eyes betrayed nothing as she surveyed to lands around them, always looking for the threat to her Heda. Madi's smile grew.
"This is going to be our settlement. This is going to be our life. We are going to thrive here," Madi stated.
"With your leadership, sha, Heda, we will," Echo told her.
"It won't be just because of me, Echo. We all have our part to play in this. Even you are helping shape our new lives here," Madi said.
"Me? How? What am I doing?"
"Right now?"
"Sure," Echo replied.
"You are looking for defensive points. You're watching the horizon for time and adjusting yourself accordingly. You're looking for an attack on Clarke or myself. You've spotted possible ambush points and you've already planned escape routes back to the barracks."
"I have," Echo stated with a grin.
"I also know that you have silently been talking with Octavia. Each of you has a plan should something happen. Forsaking each other to protect us, you've already set up a place to run to and regroup. I also know that you are thinking about the people that will be living her. We are a people of mostly warriors, but we will have to have tilas and hunters. We've started breaking up jobs even back at the barracks. For us to survive, we have to work together, regardless of clan origin. Octavia brought us all together, Echo. We must continue that legacy here...now."
"Sha, Heda, but it wasn't Octavia that brought us all together to survive. It was Lexa with the coalition. She joined the clans. Octavia just furthered her legacy of peace and togetherness into Wonkru. You continue both their legacies," Echo told her.
"And, aren't still Azgedan?"
"No, Heda, I am not. I am yours. Clans have no meaning in the Jusgona. Ai badan yu op en nou moun, Heda."
"I know that you serve no one but me, Echo. Azgeda has no royal family left, but that doesn't mean that you wouldn't push for Azgeda supremacy in Wonkru," Madi started, but she saw the horrific look on Echo's face before she continued her thoughts. "I know that you would do it. You've proven yourself to us all, Echo. You defied Octavia. You lived when others died. But, there are still those of Azgeda who believe in their supremacy."
"Who, Heda? I will have them dealt with. There are no clans, save one. The one that you lead. That is who we are now."
Madi smiled again. Echo smiled with her as they rode a little further into the area on their own. Madi always made sure to stay near Echo when they were out and about with their people. Echo thought it was because she wanted the companionship she offered beyond that as a guard, but Madi wanted to learn things that Clarke hadn't been able to teach her. Madi respected them all, Echo, Octavia and Clarke, but she knew that they could each give her something different. Clarke showed her compassion and passion in life. Echo showed her loyalty and sacrifice of self. Octavia showed her bravery and a raw fragility. They all taught her how to fight. They all taught her how to love. And, they all taught her to strive for peace. If she could elevate Octavia and Echo, she would.
"How is Raven?" Madi asked as they made their way to the lands that would be for Heda.
"She is well, Heda. She trains hard each day. She works on your projects and what you want to see here. She is helping us complete your vision of this settlement."
"Gryfondor," Madi said.
"Grygondor, Heda?" Echo asked.
"I know that Clarke has been calling it New Polis, but this isn't Polis. It never will be. I do not want Polis, Echo. I want our own world, our own settlements. We are a new people on a new world. We are leaving behind so many and so many things. Jus drein jus daun doesn't have a true place among us now. And, yet we would brand ourselves by what we were. What we've done to survive doesn't have to define who we are."
"Sha, Heda," Echo replied.
"I want us to be more than clans and Grounders. I want us to be a civilization that we can say was built on the backs of sacrifice without the need for war. I am not saying that we won't fight, because I know that we will. I am willing to fight for this dream. It was Lexa's dream in the end. I want us to be worthy of this chance that we've been given. I want us to be worthy of living, not just surviving, Echo. Can we do that?" Madi asked her.
"With you and Wanheda, sha, Heda, osir can."
Clarke, Octavia and Palla were sitting on their caballos and going at a lazy trot, letting them go where they wanted in the cleared lands. The river to the west was calling to Clarke, but it was too cold. She looked up at the graying sky and the wisping gray and white clouds. They were so different from Earth, but it was so very similar, too. She closed her eyes and let the sun wash over her as they continued to move.
This was peace. This was prosperity. This was Lexa's and her dream. She'd finally gotten something right. This was home.
A smile crept across her face. Octavia saw it and knew what it meant. Clarke was content. Things were getting better for them all. Life was starting to make sense again. Even with the off chance of a war with the Praha, their own demons were the only things really plaguing them. Octavia knew that if she could get Clarke out of her head and into the world again, she would find herself. She would thrive and she would lead them into this new life with a vigor that the blonde only possessed. And, she was glad for that. Clarke may have done things that she'd questioned over the years, done things that she wasn't proud of the blonde for doing, but even through all the heartache and suffering, Clarke always found a way for them to survive with the hopes that they wouldn't just only survive, but thrive and live life to its fullest capacity.
She looked up again, losing herself in the beauty of nature. It was something that she reveled in back on Earth. She enjoyed riding with Lexa and just being. It wasn't something that they got to do often and after Lexa's death, not at all. She'd either been in the rover or riding for her life.
Octavia watched her, always alert, but she was happy that her friend was able to just let go sometimes. She didn't allow herself that luxury and she wouldn't as long as she was on duty guarding Clarke, which she thought was a full time job. Clarke never stopped, so she couldn't either. But, it was moments like this that she was reminded of their innocence and their freedom among the Trikru.
"What?" Clarke finally asked her when she felt Octavia staring for the umpteenth time that day.
"Just admiring how you have learned to finally relax a little and let go," Octavia stated.
"Madi helped with that. I learned that I had to appreciate what I had. It became more important to spend time with her and enjoy her innocence than trying to prepare her for a future I didn't know existed. She wanted to come dig you out."
"You tried on your own?"
"Yeah, I did...before I met Madi. I tried for three days with little food or water. I was suffering. I was depressed and I wasn't in a good place. I just wanted to be in there with you all. I wasn't thinking about the fact that it hadn't been long since Praimfaya. I just didn't want to be alone."
"I can understand that."
"I dug until my fingers bled. I used some tattered cloth that I found to wrap my hands in to protect them. I used a small shovel I found. I dug and moved rocks until I couldn't see straight. I would eat a little bit of ration bar and sleep in the back of the Rover. When I woke, I was back at it."
"Abby said she heard someone at the door," Octavia mentioned.
"It was me."
"What happened?"
"I found Lexa's throne. I broke off a piece of it. First I used it to help me dig and lift rocks up. Then, I kept it when I left so I would still have a piece of her with me. Out of everything that Lexa stood for and was, her throne was the only thing that survived."
"Because she knew there was to be a new heda and she knew that you would find her," Octavia told her.
"It took me forty-two days to dig myself out of Becca's bunker. I came out to wasteland and the only thing I was happy for was that I didn't have to swim back to shore. I walked in the general direction of where Luna picked us up. I dug out the Rover. That took two days. Fifty days and I found Polis. It was completely destroyed, but I had to try. I dug and I dug, but I couldn't down to you guys. I had to go. I had to find food and water. It took weeks, but I did."
"But, you never stopped thinking about getting back to us," Octavia stated.
"I did. I gave up. I tried to kill myself in the desert. If it hadn't been for that damn buzzard, I would have followed through with it. I'd finally given up on everything. Life didn't matter. I had nothing to live for and then I found Eden."
"But, then you found Madi."
"I did," Clarke said.
"Lexa led you to her, Clarke. As much as you don't want to believe it, she told you that she would find the next Commander and she did. She gave you something to live for, something to cherish and someone to love. It couldn't be her, but I think that Lexa wanted you to be happy."
"We were," Clarke said with a small laugh. "We were alone, but we were happy. I told her stories about us before the war, before Praimfaya, about you. She loved those. She latched on to you early and never let go. We loaded up the Rover and drove back to Polis to try to dig you all out again. We didn't have the equipment and I didn't have Raven's brain. I never studied engineering. I was going to be a doctor. We did our best, but we couldn't do it alone. I tried to radio Bellamy everyday. At first it was because I didn't want him to feel bad for abandoning me. I told them to go without me. I never blamed them. I couldn't. I'd made my decision."
"But?"
"I was still lonely, O. I was still growing up and now I had a child to care for. We taught each other a lot. We helped each other survive."
"Because you were meant to, Clarke. Don't think too hard on it. You were meant to save us all again. I believe that. That is all you've been doing since we landed on Earth. It is what you were going to do on the Ark before they arrested you. You have always thought about our survival. And, I know that you've born the brunt of the heartache for it. But, honestly, it is good to see you smile. It is good to see you happy, again."
"Mochof," Clarke replied.
"Pro, but don't let it go to your head," Octavia teased her. "You just need to believe that you will find happiness here. We can do this. We can do more than survive here. We just have to want it. I know that you want it. I want it, too. So, do me a favor and let's make this happen."
"That's the plan, O. That's the plan," Clarke said and then looked up as the rain began to pour down on them. "Well, that's the plan after we find shelter."
Clarke and Octavia just stayed there laughing in the rain. It was so stupid that the rain would make them happy, but it did. They both knew that it meant new beginnings. It washed away the pain and gave life to new adventures.
"We're going to be okay," Octavia told her as she took her hand and led them into the trees. "But, first, we need to not freeze. Get off that blasted thing and help me set a shelter. We can enjoy the rain later."
Clarke just nodded. They both dismounted and Octavia set about setting up a tent that they had packed just in case. Madi and Echo beside her setting up another tent. Palla was gathering dry wood and starting fire pit between the two. Clarke looked at the tents and then Madi.
"Stay with Echo and Madi," Clarke told her.
"You sure?" Octavia asked, hoping that Clarke would actually talk to Palla, give her a chance and actually see what was in front of her.
"I want to make sure that she's protected. I would feel better if you were both there. Plus, I know that you'll keep her warm better with two bodies. I'll be fine. I'll stay with Palla. We'll be okay."
"Only if you're sure," Octavia replied.
"I am."
"Okay," Octavia said as she moved over to Echo and Madi, told them the news and helped them finished setting up their tent.
Clarke watched the work. Then she watched as they set a shelter to protect the Caballos. Echo tied them up to some trees nearby, but they were covered at least and out of the brunt of the elements. It wasn't perfect, but it worked. They weren't planning on being there longer than needed.
"We bunking together?" Palla asked as she saw Echo, O, and Madi enter their tent, after she'd given up on the fire due to the downpour.
"Yeah, that okay?" Clarke questioned as she started into the tent.
"Fine with me," she said as she followed Clarke inside.
"How long do you think it'll last?" Clarke asked her.
"I have no idea. Rains are what they are. It is the snow that I would be worried about. Hopefully, this doesn't turn into that. If it does, we're going to have to ride through it as fast as we dare. We don't want to be stuck out here in that."
"Okay," Clarke said as she pulled out some clothes from her bag.
She started to change and lay out her soaked clothes, hoping they would dry some. Palla followed suit. They huddled near each other in the front of the tent, so Palla could keep an eye on the weather.
"Get some rest, Clarke. It might be a long storm. I'll wake you if there are any changes," Palla told her.
"What about you?"
"I'm used to this. This is my world, remember? Sleep. Let your worries go for a while. You're safe with me. I promise. You'll always be safe with me."