The Natblida settled down when Ontari arrived, and they were soon on the way. Abby caught up to themquickly. Raven rode in the middle of the pack, surrounded on all sides by Natblida, who were surrounded by warriors. For the first time, Raven got a sense of why Clarke protested about the number of guards accompanying her and Murphy.
The Natblida were entertaining, unlike the guards. They were full of questions about Skaikru and Arkadia, and Raven answered them as best as she could. The more involved questions, she skipped over, promising to answer them later.
For as large a group as it was, they moved quickly. Raven was impressed at the level of organization. When they stopped for the night, she and Abby were repeatedly asked to move until they gave up on trying to help. After the first tents went up, a guard came to get them and showed them to the one they would share during the trip.
Abby noticed Raven's increased limp and offered to massage her back and leg. She'd seen Nyko do it enough, and her last stop before leaving Polis was at the infirmary to tell him she would be gone and to get some of the ointment he used on Raven.
Ontari came into the tent while Abby worked on Raven. She sat nearby and watched while she talked. "The Natblida want to hear about how both of you came to Earth. Will you share it with them after tonight's meal?"
"Sure," Raven answered.
"Of course," Abby added.
"I am certain they will have many questions tonight, and more once we reach Arkadia."
"I guess Clarke's told you everything," Raven replied, then grunted as Abby hit a particularly tender spot.
"No. I heard the stories about Skaikru, but Klark has said little."
"She's been busy," Abby said in Clarke's defense.
"Sha," Ontari agreed and got to her feet. "I must check on the Natblida. We will speak again soon."
100 – 100 – 100
When they got ready to stop for the night, Clarke called their guards together. "I know Heda told you to take care of me, but I'm telling you right now I'm going to help. I can set up a tent, gather firewood, and get a fire going. Murphy and I can find water while you hunt."
The guards looked at each other uneasily. Finally, one said, "Heda said you would say this and she was adamant that you are our charge."
Murphy watched the interaction and wasn't sure who he felt worse for. He stepped in to break the impasse. "Heda and Haihefa sent me to guard Wanheda, too. Trust me, she's not delicate. She won't break. None of us want to be out here any longer than necessary, so let's just work together. The last thing any of you want is for her to be angry at you."
"But Heda said," he began again.
"I know what Heda said. I was there when she said it, and Wanheda told Heda what she told you. We can stand here and argue all night or you and you," Murphy said, pointing at the youngest guards, "can go find some meat for dinner while the rest of us set up camp."
"Go," Clarke added with a shooing motion, and the younger guards turned for the woods. Clarke looked at the others. "I'm going to gather firewood. If you thinkwe need tents tonight, set them up. Otherwise, set up the rest of camp. C'mon, Murphy," Clarke added.
"Canteens," Murphy said, and the remaining guards handed theirs over as he walked past.
When they were away from camp, Clarke said, "Thanks."
"No problem. You guys would have argued all night and we would have all been hungry and pissed off."
They found a stream nearby and Murphy filled the canteens while Clarke picked up fallen branches for firewood. They returned to camp with those items and went out again for more firewood. When they returned this time, the fire was going. A little later, the hunters returned with a small deer.
Although Clarke didn't think they needed tents, they were neatly set up near the fire. Her pack waited outside one, Murphy's outside another, and a third had nothing in front of it. Clarke suppressed a sigh. She was going to have a tent to herself, while Murphy shared with the guards, who would take turns keeping watch. Under other circumstances, she would have appreciated Ontari's concern for her comfort. For now, she let it go.
100 – 100 – 100
Skaikru gathered in the hall the first night that everyone was away from Polis. Miller, Harper, and Monroe did their best to ease everyone's anxiety, but they were a little worried, too. Everyone who could protect them was away. To divert their attention, he got them to talk about their interests and how their warrior training was going. A few said they figured out what they wanted to do, and Miller agreed to go with them to talk with the people they wanted to learn from.
By the time everyone was settled down, it was late. Miller wanted to sleep, but didn't think it would come easily. He didn't mind being Clarke's middleman, but being in charge, even temporarily, kept him off balance. He worried about doing or saying the wrong thing and decided he would try to find some time the next day to speak with Marcus.
100 – 100 – 100
"Our people, the ones you call Skaikru, didn't all come to Earth at the same time. We were living on space stations that joined together shortly after the bombs fell," Abby began. "Each station specialized in something and shared what they made with everyone. They weren't built to last as long as they did, and the most important things on them began to fail. The end came with the oxygen scrubbers began to fail. There wasn't enough air for everyone, so the Council decided to send 100 prisoners to Earth to see if we could live down here."
"Prisoners?"
"Sha," Raven answered. "On the Ark, every crime was punishable by death, unless you were younger than 18. Then, you got locked up until you were 18 and your case would be reviewed. In theory, you might get a second chance, but that never happened. Most of them hadn't really done anything that warranted being floated."
"Raven," Abby reproved.
"You know it's true. You let them lock Clarke up so she would tell anyone about the oxygen situation. Most of them were there for taking something because they didn't have any choice. And Octavia was going to be floated just because she was born."
Abby sighed. "Most of that's true," she admitted.
"How did they get here?" one of the Natblida asked.
"We put them on a drop ship, a smaller vessel, programmed it to land near Mount Weather, and launched it. They landed successfully, but not as close to Mount Weather as we thought they would. We put monitoring bracelets on all of them, and they began to go black," Abby said. "I was worried about Clarke, so I asked Raven to help me find a way down."
"Smartest thing you ever did," Raven said cockily. "I got a decommissioned escape pod working. Abby was supposed to come down with me, but instead, she bought me enough time to launch."
"What is an escape pod?" Fair asked.
"The drop ship was big enough to hold a hundred people, but an escape pod only holds one or two."
"Like the one Beka Pramheda used."
"Exactly," Raven said. She noted Abby's look and told her, "I'll explain later, if I can." To her audience, she said, "I landed, but I got knocked out for a while. When I came to, Clarke and a few others were there. I was supposed to contact Abby to let her know we were safe, but Bellamy stole my radio and chucked it into the river. That was the start of our problems with Trikru. And that's enough for one night."
Ontari stood up. "To bed," she directed the Natblida. When they were left, she walked around the fire to sit beside Raven. "I have questions."
"OK."
"Clarke was a criminal? All of Skaikru were criminals?"
"Not all of them, only the first ones down were considered criminals," Raven answered while Abby looked into the fire. "And Clarke definitely wasn't. The council was afraid she would tell others what she learned from her father. They were promised pardons if they got down here and found out it was safe, but that didn't happen."
"Why not?"
"Why not?" Raven repeated, looking at Abby.
"They wouldn't follow the rules."
"See, that's the part you all got wrong. The rules aren't the same here. You made more problems because you wouldn't even listen when we tried explain. All you gave us was patronizing bullshit."
"We did the best we could," Abby said defensively.
"It wasn't good enough," Raven told her. "We did the best we could, so you got to live, and get help to survive, and still make a bunch of shitty mistakes that got most of us killed."
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Raven."
"But not for what you did. You're no different than Jaha."
Abby stood up. "Good night, Raven."
"Figures," Raven said bitterly. "Shit gets real, and you run."
Abby didn't even slow down as she continued to walk toward her tent.
"Sorry, Commander," Raven said after a few seconds. "You didn't need to hearthat."
"Do all of those who came down first agree with you?"
"Yeah, not that there are many of us left."
"Yet you allow them to live among you."
"Abby has skills we can't risk losing. Marcus realized what they did wrong and he's trying to make up for it. Clarke executed Jaha. None of the others survived." Raven sighed. "I didn't realize how mad I still am about it."
"Are the others still angry?"
"I don't know." Raven watched the fire for a few seconds. She knew Ontari was studying her. "Maybe when we get to Arkadia, we can play chess."
"I would like that."
"Time for bed now, though."
"Sha." Ontari stood and offered her arm to Raven.
Raven took hold of Ontari's forearm and used it to help her to her feet. "See you in the morning."
"Sleep well."
"You, too," Raven answered, and began the slow walk to the tent she shared with Abby.
Abby was asleep or faking it well when Raven arrived, and she was glad that the talk she knew was coming would be put off for at least one more night.