Chapter 33

Two days after Echo woke, they left the bunker. Echo felt better, but it was a strange feeling for her. Clarke had removed all her bandages. All that remained were a few scars. They were nothing new for Echo. She wore most of her scars with pride. These would be no different. She was proud of them. She'd earned these scars by serving Wanheda and not Nia. They were earned to help her people.

No matter how many times that Clarke told her that she couldn't save everyone, Echo still had faith into her. The more that she was with Clarke, the more she understood the blonde. She looked at her and realized that no matter how many times Clarke told her that she wasn't Wanheda, Echo knew that she was. Clarke had fulfilled all the legends and prophecies that Echo knew. She knew that Clarke would want to hear them one day, but she knew that it wouldn't be any time soon. None of that mattered to Echo anymore, she knew that she would do anything that Clarke asked of her.

They were on the path to Becca's. Echo didn't recognize, but Clarke was leading them now. Echo could tell that she knew the way.

She realized that Clarke knew more than she'd said. Echo wondered if Clarke would tell her the truth about it, or if was just something that she had to keep close to her because she was Wanheda. It was another reason that she hadn't fought Clarke so much on what they carried out of the bunker. She was still apprehensive about them carrying fayagon, but she did it anyway. The rifle that she had slung over her shoulder was a different weight than she was used to, but she still carried it. They marched on towards the sea.

Echo just followed her. They had been going on for a week. They had no more interruptions and no one had stopped them. Echo was surprised that there weren't more warriors out looking for them. But then again, they probably were, but Nia had no idea where she was going. They would still be combing through Azgeda and possibly Sangeda. She doubted that anyone would bother to look for them so close to Floukru.

It was early morning when they first saw the sea. Echo couldn't help but watch Clarke's face. She knew that it was the first time that Clarke was seeing the ocean. They couldn't help the smiles that came upon their faces.

Clarke led them along the shoreline. What Clarke knew that Echo didn't was that Luna was watching them. She knew that Luna had lookouts near the shore in case anyone needed passage to the Rig. Clarke didn't want passage to the Rig. They needed to go to Becca's. A boat was what they needed. The Rig was too far south. It was the wrong direction.

Clarke knew that if she could find Emori and possibly Murphy, she'd find a boat and passage to Becca's island. They'd come so far east. Now, they needed to go a little more north and across the sea. It was a trip that would take them straight to Becca's island.

As they got closer to a known spot that Emori would dock, Clarke hesitated. She knew that the other woman had no reason to help them. And, Clarke had nothing to trade for the ride. She knew that Emori wouldn't just take them out of the goodness of her heart. She would have to be swayed. Clarke wasn't sure that she knew how to do that, but if Murphy was actually with her, Clarke knew that she might stand a chance. Muprhy has stayed on the island in other lives and lived in a bunker there. Clarke would give it to them. It was technically out of the lands of the Kongeda. Heda would have no power there.

"Stop there!" a voice called out from the tree line as they continued their walk upshore.

Clarke stopped. Echo moved up next to her, hand on the hilt of her sword. Clarke tipped her head and waited for more instructions from the voice. While she was waiting, she reached out and put her hand on Echo's to keep her calm and to stop her from primitively drawing it.

"You can drop your gear."

"I don't think that I am," Clarke called back. "You can come out, Emori. We are not going to hurt you. I need your help."

Two figures stepped out of the tree line. Clarke held Echo back. She couldn't help but smile when she realized that it was indeed Emori and Murphy.

"Hello, John," Clarke stated as they got closer.

"You know her?"

"He does. We grew up in the stars on the Ark together. John, here, left our people around the same time I did. I see you found what you were looking for."

John cocked his head. He knew that Clarke knew things, but he was surprised to know that she would have known about Emori. His hair was longer. His eyes were strange, but she just assumed that it was because he knew what happened at Arkadia.

"You weren't in Arkadia?"

"No, I wasn't. I was in Azgeda. Kinda earned a new name and got kidnapped. I broke out a month or more ago. Made it this far, but we had a few scraps across the way. A lot has happened to me since the Mountain, John Murphy. What have you been up to?" Clarke questioned.

Emori cocked her eyebrow at Clarke's bluntness. She eyed her and Echo for several moments. It was obvious that she wasn't sure what to do with them.

"It is good to see you, John."

"I'm glad that you are dead, too," Murphy replied. "Even after everything, I know that you did everything that you could to protect them. It isn't your fault, you know? That crazy bitch in the capital did it all. We saw it happen. It was awful."

"I know it was, Murphy, but I need your help."

"I'm not going back there," Murphy quick stated.

"I'm not asking you, to."

"Then, what do you need?" Murphy questioned.

"I know that you have a boat. There is an island a few hours from here that I need...we need to get to. I would like for you to take us there. You can leave us there, but there is a bunker there that you can have. In fact, you can stay there and make it your base and home away from home. I just need for us to get there. Can you help with that?" Clarke asked them both.

"You'll let us have anything in the bunker?"

"Anything and everything," Clarke stated.

"What else is there?"

"There is a large house, but it is guard by tech."

"You're going to the house?" Murphy inquired.

"I am."

"I'll take you to the island. We'll see what we can find in this bunker. If something happens there and we have to leave..." Emori started.

"You can leave us there. No questions. I won't fault you for it," Clarke offered.

"My name is Emori," the woman stated, but Clarke knew already, as she stepped forward to shake Clarke's hand.

Clarke took her hand and shook it. She smiled as she looked from John to Emori and back again. While Emori looked at her, she realized that there was more to Clarke than anyone was speaking. She cocked her head and let go of Clarke's hand.

"Who are you really?" Emori asked in Trig.

"You might have heard of me by another name. Murphy knows me by the name that parents gave me up on the Ark. To Skaikru, I am known as Clarke Griffin. Sometimes my friends called me Princess, but you would probably know me better by the title that the clans have given me."

"What's that?"

"Wanheda," Clarke answered.

She watched as Emori's face change at the news. It was obvious that Emori had heard the stories or knew what the name meant. She just looked from Clarke to Murphy, then to Echo who just nodded in agreement, and then back to Clarke.

"You're Wanheda?" Emori stated incredulously.

"In the flesh, sha, I am," Clarke answered.

Emori shook herself a little and then looked at John, again. He nodded. Echo had moved closer and that was when Emori noticed that they had fayagons.

"Do you need those?"

"They are for us. You won't have to touch them. Besides, Mofi knows how to use them. They will never be aimed at you, sweet girl. I promise."

Emori seemed to like the answer. She shook Clarke's arm this time and invited them to follow them back into the trees and to where they moored their boat. Clarke just turned to Echo. The older warrior had a strange look on her face, but she followed without word.

By the end of the day, they were arriving via Emori's boat to the island that Becca's mansion, lab, and bunker were built on. The boat wasn't the best, but it made the journey. Clarke was amazed at the pitch and yaw of it in the waves. She'd never really got to travel on the ocean before. Any time that she'd been to the Rig, she'd been drugged or blindfolded. This was the first time that she could actually see it and contribute it to the movements of the boat, too. She had stood on the bow and let the wind flow through the mixture of her brown (what dye was left) and blond hair. Echo stayed on the stern and watched over her. Murphy watched Echo and Emori. Echo could tell that he was concerned about her, but he knew not to say anything. Clarke could handle herself. But, he was still weary of her and probably with good reason. She said nothing about Emori's hand.

When they landed at the dock, Clarke pointed them towards the bunker. She pulled Murphy aside and whispered something to him. Echo didn't ask. She figured that it was something that only they needed to share. Instead, Echo looked around from the dock to the area before them. She didn't know why Clarke insisted that they bring the guns, but she complied. She knew that the younger woman had said something about the house being guarded by tek, but she didn't know exactly what that meant. She just knew that Clarke didn't like it.

An hour letter, Echo found out what Clarke meant. She was glad to have the guns. As Clarke took aim over and over again at what she called "drouns." Echo would have believed that they were strange, new birds, until they began to fire bullets down at them. It took a while, but Clarke managed to clear the sky of the drouns. They continued their journey towards the big house.

Echo was amazed at the size of it. It reminded her of a palace. She couldn't believe that it was just one person or one couple lived in a house that size before the bombs. It just didn't make sense that it wouldn't be shared with more family or members of the village or clan. Clarke tried to explain it to her, but she didn't get it. Instead, she just shook her head and mumbled on and on about Becca being a "branwoda" even if she was the Pramheda.

They entered the mansion. Clarke knew that ALIE was there, but she needed to make sure that the program hadn't already started processing the chips and giving them out. Echo just took in the house. Clarke let her wander around, but told her to not interact with any of the tek. Echo assured her that it wouldn't be a problem. Echo had no want to use tek.

Instead, she moved to the second level and found a big room with a really large bed. This is where Clarke found her sometime later. When she turned around, she found Clarke leaning up against the door jamb just watching her. The woman had a smile on her face as Echo dropped her pack on the bed.

"You taking this room?"

"This is one person's room."

"Yeah, and there is a bathroom through that door."

"A bathroom?"

"A personal bath, toilet, and sink. Old world plumbing that still works. Trust me, it feels wonderful...especially the warm water in the shower," Clarke told her.

Echo looked at her skeptically. Clarke realized that Echo didn't believe her. So, she walked into the room and grabbed Echo's hand. She pulled her into the bathroom that was adjoined to the room. She left her to sit on the toilet, lid down, and went to the shower stall. She reached in and turned it on. She waited a few seconds and then turned the water to hot. She walked across the bathroom and opened the small closet there. She pulled out a set of towels. She walked back over and to the vanity. She dropped the towels there. She then went back and pulled out some various soaps and shampoos.

"Here," Clarke stated. "Try it out. I'll be back down stairs. Take a shower. I'll see what I can dig up for dinner."

"Dinner?" Echo asked skeptically.

"Yeah, there are some viable foods down there. I might not know how to use all the equipment, but I can figure it out. Relax for a minute."

"Relax?"

"No one is going to find us here. We are safe here until Praimfaya. I promise."

"What about your friend and his..."

"Don't call her that word, Echo. It would make me very angry. She is a friend, even if she doesn't know it yet," Clarke told her.

Echo just smiled at Clarke. She knew that Clarke could make friends with almost anyone. Usually it was because of Clarke's personality compounded with the shocking knowledge that Clarke was Wanheda. She was good with people. So, Echo didn't doubt Clarke when she talked about making Emori her friend. She was still wondering about the boy more. He seemed a little more weary of Clarke, but he was also happy to see her. Echo decided that she would worry about him more than the mutated girl. If Clarke claimed that they were friends, then they would be. She knew it would happen.

She looked over at the vanity and the items. The water was still running. Clarke was gone. Echo knew that she had gone back downstairs. She looked back at the shower. She walked over and put her hand in the water. She was surprised that it was actually warm. Deciding that Clarke hadn't steered them wrong since they were attacked, and she was actually claiming to be Wanheda on her own again, Echo striped down and got in the shower.

Some time later, she found herself downstairs looking for Clarke. She could smell something that was cooking. And, then a noise hit her ears. When she walked into the kitchen, she saw Clarke dancing around as she stirred a pot on the stove. She was dancing. Her hair was still damp and Echo realized that she'd taken a shower, too, but in another room. She was also wearing strange clothes, but they looked comfortable.

"Oh, good, you're just in time. Set the table and I'll bring it over," Clarke told her as she waved over at a stack of plates and utensils.

Echo picked them up and walked over to the table in the same room with them. Clarke bowled up whatever she'd made and started to bring it over as well. She put it on some sort of mat and dropped a big spoon inside it. She had a huge smile on her face as she sat down across from Echo at the table.

"What is this?"

"Something that I've always wanted to try," Clarke told her.

"Which is?" Echo questioned.

"Spaghetti," Clarke replied.

Echo didn't know what that meant. She'd never heard of it before. She looked into the bowl at the food. It looked like some sort of stew type dish made with various vegetables and some sort of meat. There was also something else in the bowl that she couldn't identify. Clarke reached over and stirred the contents of the bowl up and then dished them both some on a their respective plates. Echo waited for her to try it first. She didn't think that Clarke would poison her, especially after saving her. After a few bites by Clarke, Echo tried and was pleasently surprised by the taste.

"This is good."

"It is an old world dish. I've never had it before. We didn't have the resources to make it on the Ark. I'd seen it in movies and always wanted to try it."

"Movies?"

"Moving pictures that tell a story," Clarke answered as she took another bite.

"Clarke?"

"Hmm?"

"What are these stringy things?" Echo questioned.

"They are called noodles. They are like a bread but specially made. It is dried out and then boiled to make it soft and edible. Usually, from what I understand, it is covered with a sauce like this. It was a staple in most households," Clarke explained.

"It is good. Is there more? Of the noodle things?"

"Yeah, there are more in the pantry. We can have something else with them. There are books and stuff that we can look through and cook more."

"That's good," Echo replied.

When they finished dinner, Echo helped Clarke clean up the kitchen. She followed her around. Clarke led them into what would be the living room.

"What are we doing in here?"

"I've got another surprise for you," Echo told her.

"Chit?"

"I found some movies for us to watch. It is entertainment. We just have to sit back, relax, and watch the screen. I used to do this with my father and my friends back up on the Ark. I think that you will like this movie though," Clarke explained.

"Why do you say that?" Echo asked.

"Because it is all about action and fighting."

"Oh," Echo replied, cocking an eyebrow at Clarke while she sat down on the sofa. "What is it called?"

"The Lord of the Rings," Clarke stated.

"Who is this Lord and why does he care about these rings?" Echo questioned.

"You'll just have to watch to find out. It is long, so don't worry. It actually has three parts. We'll start with the first one and if you like it, we'll go from there. I just figured that you might like the storyline. If you get tired, let me know. I'll stop it and we can finish it tomorrow," Clarke stated as she picked up the remote and started the movie.

Echo watched push a few button on the box in her hand. Suddenly she was surrounded by noise again. It was different than the noise from the kitchen. There was music but then there was talking. Then the "screen" came to life. Echo was up off the couch with her knife in hand, until Clarke pulled her back down and called her "silly." She was amazed that there were people in the screen giving them a very realistic play. She thought that it was well done. Clarke picked up the remote again and pressed more buttons. The lights in the room dimmed to almost dark and the fire came to life to keep them warm. Echo sat back and watched the movie, entranced. Clarke couldn't help but smile at her. She knew that they would be watching the entire trilogy over the next few days. It was a good thing that she found other movies that Echo might like, too. It was going to be an interesting few days for Echo while Clarke was down in the lab trying to get things ready for her to do the marrow transplant on Echo.