Clarke was asleep when Ontari got into bed. When Ontari pulled Clarke close, her front to Clarke's back, Clarke put her arm over Ontari's, her fingers sliding between the other woman's.
Her dreams that night were disjointed. She rode with Lexa toward Arkadia; she was pushed to the ground by the pressure wave from the Mountain's death; Roan stood over her with a spear. Lexa looked up at her with hope, longing, and love, but Clarke couldn't move. She couldn't breathe, and came up for air in water red with blood, amid bodies burned, blistered, and bleeding.
She woke and tried to sit up, but Ontari held her too closely. Clarke panted. She felt the panic attack coming and could do nothing to stop it, so she struggled to get from from Ontari. That woke her, and Ontari realized what was wrong. "Stop, Clarke. Breathe. Clarke," she said sharply, and Clarke twitched. "Breathe. It is a dream."
A dream, hodness, it cannot hurt you now. Breathe with us.
Clarke tried, but her third breath turned into a sob. She could manage dreams, or Lexa's death, or all the pressure that rode her shoulders, but not all of them tonight.
Ontari wasn't certain what to do. She bore her nightmares alone, in silence, another lesson learned from Nia, and this time was relieved when Lexa took over.
"Klark, it was a dream."
"You're dead."
"Yet I am here, and I promise we will be together soon. But you must rest. Dreams have only the power you give them." She kissed Clarke's shoulder, her neck, below her ear. "Do not allow them to take you."
"It's too much."
"Yu ste yuj, Klark. Rest, niron. It will be better in the light."
Clarke sniffled and turned her pillow over. "Don't go."
"I will stay until you sleep," Lexa promised. "Ai hod yu in, Klark."
Clarke nodded and squeezed the hand under hers. Lexa stayed until she was certain Clarke slept. When she returned Ontari's body, she heard Lexa singing a lullaby, and it wasn't long before she, too, returned to sleep.
100 – 100 – 100
Clarke woke in the morning with the dread of her nightmares in the back of her mind. She dressed quietly and left Ontari sleeping while she went for her morning training. She felt uneasy about the guards trailing her, and regularly looked over her shoulder at them. She spent extra time with Alba, and that helped Clarke settle her mind.
By the time she returned to her suite, she felt better. She didn't see anyone before she went to bathe and change into fresh clothing, but by the time she returned to the common room, Ontari, Raven, Marcus, and Abby were at the table.
Abby left first. Clarke told Raven where to find the chips removed from her neck and the others and that she would come by the workshop later to talk to her about them. That left Marcus and Ontari, and the three of them went through the morning reports before Marcus returned to the library.
"I am going to hunt today," Ontari told Clarke. "Will you join me?"
"Next time. I have some things I need to do here."
Ontari nodded and stood. "I will see you for supper."
"Sha."
Ontari left, and Clarke removed her sketchbook from her satchel. She had questions about the chips and she wanted to be certain she remembered to ask Raven all of them. The biggest one was whether Raven could duplicate the chips in Ontari's and Titus' necks. She also wanted to know why only Natblida could carry those chips, and what would happen if someone tried to carry more than one. That led her to another flight of curiosity. Could the nightblood be engineered? Could Raven do it? How many nanites did it take to turn blood from red to black and what were the side effects?
She wondered, too, what Titus knew about it. He tried to keep secrets. Knowledge was power, especially now when it was the only thing keeping him alive.
While she thought, her hand moved effortlessly on the paper. When she was ready to leave for Raven's workshop, she closed her sketchbook without looking and put it in her satchel.
100 – 100 – 100
Raven's workshop looked much different than it had the last time Clarke saw it. Now, she saw organization in place of chaos. Roger and Fay each had a workbench and were working from schematics pinned to the wall.
Raven sat on a stool, a magnifying loupe over one eye, examining one of the bottled chips. "Hey, Clarke."
"Find anything?"
"Nothing unexpected." Raven put the jar down and raised the loupe. "Need something?"
"Answers."
"What are the questions?"
Clarke pulled a stool over and sat beside Raven so they could talk quietly.
100 – 100 – 100
Jaha waited until the darkest part of a moonless night to leave the Ark. A.L.I.E. told him, her voice tinged with curiosity, that all of the others had been briefly detained by warriors, but ultimately allowed to continue to their goal. They now waited at Farm Station for them.
Like the rest of Skaikru, Jaha's footsteps were loud. He got past one patrol, but the second one caught him. A.L.I.E. was taken from him and he was returned to the Ark. He sat in the holding cell wondering what would happen next.
100 – 100 – 100
"I don't know, Clarke," Raven said for the dozenth time. "I'm pretty sure I can replicate those chips, but I need to be able to contact them to get the data from them."
"Tell me what you need," Clarke said, and pulled out her sketchbook. She opened it and looked at the page.
"What's that?"
"I don't know."
"You drew it, how can you not know?"
"I was thinking and not paying attention."
"Maybe you should get a check up from your mom."
"I'm fine." Clarke turned the page. "What do you need?"
"I'll have to make everything unless you know where there's a microchip factory."
"Where did Jaha get the chips he was handing out?"
"He brought them from the City of Light."
"Did he tell you that or is that a fact?"
"I don't know," Raven said again. "Damn it."
"We'll figure it out, Raven. I'll ask Murphy."
"Get me some of Ontari's blood and I'll get started on the nanites."
"Work on the chips first. Without them, the nanites are immaterial."
"OK. Let me get back to work."
"See you later."
100 – 100 – 100
Clarke stayed after Titus finished his lesson and Fair departed. She opened her sketchbook and showed him the page that stumped she and Raven earlier. "What is this?"
"Where did you see this?" Titus demanded. "Have you been sneaking around?"
"What is it?"
"It is the first Natblida," Titus growled. "Where did you see it?"
"I drew it. Explain what it is. Please."
"The first commander." Titus finger shook as he jabbed toward the figure in the foreground. "Those she saved. They were the first. This is sacred. You should not have it."
"No one else will see it."
"Give it to me."
"No." Clarke closed the sketchbook. Titus reached for it. "Get away from me," Clarke said, and took a step back while twisting away from him.
Titus moved with her.
"Gona!" Clarke yelled.
The door popped open and Titus snarled at Clarke as he backed away. "You create chaos everywhere you go."
Clarke ignored him and left the room. She met Fair in the stairwell. "Why are you here?"
"The Fleimkepa tells me different things in private than he tells everyone during our lessons."
"Some things aren't meant for everyone to hear."
"Secrets."
Clarke nodded.
"You must know many to have reached such a position in so little time."
"Sha, Fair." Clarke sighed and sat down. Fair sat beside her. "Carrying them is hard work."
"Can you not share them?"
"Some secrets are heavy no matter how many carry the weight." Clarke sighed again. "Go to the dorm. You shouldn't be late."
"We are free tonight."
"Then go enjoy it. Have fun." Clarke got to her feet. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said, and hurried down the stairs.