DAY 3: LUNA | MAGNA

"Got her!" Miko exclaims right next to me. "Straight in the head!"

We step out of the bushes. The two young women on the other side of the small glade stare at us in shock. While Miko walks towards her target to get her arrow back, I approach them.

"You guys willingly looking for trouble, or what?"

They quickly close their jaws. "You've been following us?" the blonde questions me, finding her cool again seemingly easy.

"You gave us no choice." Somewhat defiantly, I raise my chin. "I saw you two sneaking off this morning, straight into Whisperer's territory. If you cause any trouble here, we'll be the ones to be held accountable. We'll pay the price. Believe me, it wouldn't be the first time."

The other girl takes a step forward; the one who made up this crazy, shared childhood to win us over.

"Why would we cause any trouble?"

"Well, to start with, you're not paying any attention," I scoff, as I wiggle my brows and nod in the direction of the now lifeless body lying six feet away from them. "Jeez, you know how tiring it is watching you two, being all over each other? You're acting like you haven't seen each other in a lifetime!"

They share a look, right when Yumiko joins us. "And?" I ask her, "Walker or Whisperer?"

"Walker," she answers. "The only one it seems, though we can't be sure. There's some kind of rope around her middle that looks suspiciously clean."

I open my mouth, but don't get the chance to react. Before I fully realize what's happening, the brunette dives on top of me like a lioness, using her full weight. Taking me down with her in her fall, we both land on the ground.

"What the h—" I shout out, but I abruptly fall still when I catch the big, sharp knife that's stuck in the tree, right behind were I'd just been standing. Two pair of wide eyes, Yumiko's and the blonde's, stare in fear at something not far behind me. I swiftly glance over my shoulder. Whisperers! Two, to be exact.

They're no giants, but they're both holding a gun; one of them pointing it at the blonde girl, the other on Miko. I guess they reckon us as the lesser threat, since we're on the ground. Turning my head to my side again, I exchange a quick look with the girl right next to me. Our eyes meet, just for a nano-second, but it's enough.

With a force I didn't even know I had, I manage to get back up with a backflip I can't remember ever pulling off before, launching myself in the Whisperers direction in the blink of an eye. I notice from the corner of my eye how the other girl is doing the exact same thing, which makes the whole thing even more bizarre—we must look like two synchronized ninjas—but there's no time for questions or amazement right now.

My body seems to know what to do even before my brain does. My leg stretches. Fast. Strong. Kicking whoever is hiding behind that mask against the knee cap. He goes down, at the exact same moment as his companion, screaming in pain. They are less in sync than we are though. As the left one reaches for his leg, my opponent manages to raise his shaking hand again... and shoots.

The shot is loud and distracts me for a split second, but the bullet misses me and my body is still on auto-pilot. My foot finds his hand, my heavy boot crushing it till he lets go of the gun. My foot keeps squeezing down though, shattering the bones of his fingers.

"Magna! Magna, enough!"

She sounds miles away, but slowly her voice reaches me after all. "They're down. We got them. Enough!"

I look up, my eyes meeting hers again, and I realize I'm panting.

"We got them," she tells me again, "Let's just... avoid any trouble, like you said."

Taking a step backwards, I deeply exhale. They're not worth it anyway.

I turn around. "We can use that rope. Babe, can you— nooooo!"

Miko! She's on the ground, with a grimace of pain on her face, while the girl on her side has both of her hands pressed against her upper leg. There's blood running through her fingers.

Instantly forgetting about our attackers I run to her, push the blonde aside and kneel down. As I rest one hand on her hair, the other finds the shot wound. I lightly touch it, my fingers immediately drenched in blood.

"No, no, no," I keep muttering, "This isn't happening."

I don't look up until I feel a soft hand on my shoulder. It's the blonde again.

"Hey, it's okay, she'll be okay. I know it looks bad, but we can fix this. Okay? It didn't hit the femoral artery."

"You're a doctor?" I breathe, staring at her with both hope and disbelief.

She shakes her head. "No, I just... I just know a thing or two. If we can stop the bleeding and get some help—"

"Help?!" Aghast, I jump to my feet. "We're in the middle of freaking nowhere! There's no one here! Except for—"

Turning around again I look at the two Whisperers on the ground, now held at gunpoint by my, well, fellow ninja warrior, I guess. In a few big steps I make my way back to them, feeling the rage boiling up inside me again - faster than I can ever remember.

"You! You did this!" I draw my knife and lift my arm above my head, ready to strike. Yet again it's the brunette who jumps in between - literally, as she promptly blocks me with her body. She's surprisingly strong.

"Magna, don't do this," she pleads, though I can barely hear her. For the second time today I feel like something awakens inside me. Something dark. Something stronger than me.

"Blood must have blood," I hiss between my teeth, my eyes on the target, shooting fire.

"I know," she quietly tells me, "I know."

For some reason I believe her. There's something in her voice that tells me that she does, that she gets where this is coming from, even if I myself don't. It calms me, at least enough to listen.

She keeps talking, her voice low and understandingly. "I know that's how you feel. I used to, too. But it's not going to help us. And it won't make you feel any better."

Taking a deep breath, I try to contain myself. I'm not so sure if I agree. "They don't deserve any compassion," I snarl, "They're monsters."

Keeping her eyes on me, she takes a step backwards, towards the two on the ground. "Are they though?" she questions out loud. Not giving me a chance to fight her on this, she reaches down and pulls their masks off. There's a girl on the left, barely fifteen, and a boy on the right - maybe even younger. They look scared.

"See, they're kids. Stupid kids who made stupid choices," she goes on. "Or maybe they didn't even get to make a choice, maybe their parents did. Or they were forced. They wouldn't be the first to believe surviving comes with joining the bad guys."

I roll my eyes. "You don't seriously consider letting them go, are you? They'll stick a knife in your back as soon as you turn around!"

"Maybe," she nods, before moving her eyes towards the two teenagers on the ground. "But maybe they are less stupid than we think."

Dropping my shoulders in some kind of defeat I sigh and walk to the walker on the ground to get the rope. As I hand it to her, I mumble, "You saved us, so it's your call. Let's hope you won't regret it."

She nods again, takes the rope and starts to tie them up, while telling them it won't take them too long to free themselves, but it will give them some time to consider their options, and to use it wisely.

I hardly listen to it.

As I turn back towards Miko, I notice the non-doctor taking off her henley and tying it around Miko's wound. My girl looks tired, and in pain, but also well aware - thank god.

"There's no exit wound. We need to get the bullet out," the blonde speaks up. I look at her.

"What's your name?" I ask.

She slowly exhales, a small smile appearing on her lips. "Clarke," she answers, "And that's L— that's Alicia."

"Okay Clarke, let's get our tweezers out. Oh wait, we didn't bring any," I snark, unable to act friendly, even do I start to believe she might deserve it.

"We are actually pretty close by my uhm.. my camp by now," Clarke goes on, ignoring my temper. "We've got medical equipment, and there's even a doctor. A real one."

I raise my brows, as this sounds a bit too good to be true, then look at my girlfriend again. She can read the question in my eyes and nods. What choice do we have?

"All right," I sigh, looking at the two newbies again, "But no more of that funny stuff, claiming that you know me and all. That's just... too fucking weird."

"Yeah," Clarke mumbles, her eyes on the dead walker near her feet, "that's the weird part..."

Alicia bumps her shoulder. "Come on, let's get her up!"

Miko can't stand on her wounded leg, but with me on one side and Clarke on the other, she manages to limp. "It's not far. Two or three miles maybe," Alicia reassures us.

She might be right, but it's the longest two or three miles I ever crossed.

When we reach the edge of the forest, Clarke suddenly stops, making us almost trip.

"They're gone!" she cries out. "They... They left!" She sounds shocked, but that's not all. There's something else in her voice. Disappointment maybe?

For a moment they both look desperate and lost, and it's hard not to feel the same, as I'm still supporting my heavily injured girlfriend - very aware that she's quickly losing her strength by now.

"Now wh—" I break their silence, but Alicia beats me to it as she points her finger.

"Look, they're still here. They built a camp!"

I shut my mouth again and shake my head. First we go to a camp, then there is no camp, then they built a camp. I just can't with these two.

There's no time for confusion though.

Alicia faces me. "I'm staying here. You might want to do the same."

"What? No!" I cry out, "I'm not leaving her!"

They briefly share another look. "It's just that... there are more people over there who might... confuse you with someone else," Clarke tries to clarify their absurd suggestion.

"Then I trust you to tell them wrong," I grumble, taking a step forward, dragging both Miko and Clarke along. "Come on, we don't have time for this bullshit."

The three of us cross the field and reach the camp, which seems poorly guarded. That is till a young girl shows up out of nowhere, carrying a heavy... wait, is that a sword in her hands? Who the hell are these people?!

The girl might be young, but just one look at her tells me you don't wanna mess with her. The look on her face changes as soon as she recognizes Clarke though. Guess there's a puppy in there after all.

"Clarke! You came back!" she cheers, before a look of horror suddenly dawns her face. "Oh my god, you're bleeding!"

Clarke lays her free hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm not, I'm okay, Madi. It's not my blood, it's—" She suddenly falls quiet.

"—Yumiko's," I finish her sentence.

"Right," Clarke nods, showing me that small smile again. "It's Yumiko's. She got shot. Please tell me they left the medical equipment here before they went back up."

"Up?!" I blurt out before the girl can answer. "You're saying you guys have a chopper?!"

Maybe we should befriend them anyway?

Seemingly caught off guard Clarke blinks a few times. "Yeah, no, it's... it's a little bigger. Just... forget about it. Let's get Yumiko on a stretcher." She turns towards the young sword girl again. "Who else is here?"

"Right now it's just Gaia, Miller and me. Raven, Emori and Abby went back to the Eligius to get more people. They should be back soon. I sent Bellamy, Echo and Murphy exploring, together with—"

Wait, she sent them? This... this kid is in charge here?! Nope, nope... no potential chopper is worth this madhouse!

As their name dropping conversation goes on, I turn to Miko and rest my hand on her cheek. Her eyes find mine and despite the fact that they look weak, I spot a little twinkle in there.

"Is this for real?" I whisper.

She chuckles, which makes her groan and tighten her grip on our shoulders again, telling us we shouldn't linger.

"Take that tent," the tiny leader says, pointing to the nearest and biggest one. We enter and find a rather large table right in the middle. I help Miko lay down on it and make sure to keep my eyes on her, as I'm more worried than I'd like to admit. A bullet is a bullet, after all.

"The Gagarin is in sight. They'll be here in a few minutes," a woman entering the tent tells the girl, before suddenly falling quiet. "Wait, is that...?"

Before she can finish whatever she's about to ask, Clarke takes a big step forward.

"This is Magna," she quickly says, "She's from here, as is Yumiko. They need our help. Can you help, Gaia?"

"Y-Yeah, of course," the woman nods, though she doesn't move, as she keeps staring at me instead. She looks bewildered.

"Gaia!"

Clarke snaps her fingers, and it suddenly hits me how much more in charge she seems today then she did yesterday, with those other folks. The woman at the entrance blinks and forces herself to focus on Clarke again.

"Go to the dropship and see if my mother is on there. Or Jackson. Both if possible!"

The woman nods again and leaves the tent. That's the moment I realize the roaring sound I've been hearing in the far back is getting louder. Something is out there, getting closer. Something big.

"M- Magn-"

Miko's soft voice draws my attention back to her. Whatever is out there will have to wait. I take her hand in mine and softly squeeze it. "I'm here, babe. I'm not going anywhere."

With my eyes stuck on the only woman, the only human being, that really matters to me, I listen to the sounds outside. First there's more noise, then there's a short silence, followed by some kind of... hissing sigh? Then there's silence again.

Clarke, not seemingly impressed by all of this, doesn't wait for what's coming. She gets a knife, cuts Miko's pants open and inspects the wound. She looks up again when we hear the quick sound of footsteps draw near. I follow her gaze to the tent's entrance. Two people walk in. However, I don't think there's a Jackson among them.

"Mom!" Clarke cries out, before turning her eyes to the other woman. There's a a flash of surprise on her face. "Octavia? You're awake!"

The two women don't even seem to notice her though. As soon as they see me, they freeze, showing me that same bewildered look as that Gaia girl just did.

"This can't be..." the older of the two murmurs underneath her breath. The other one squints her eyes.

"Luna?"

Whoever this doppelgänger of me is must have made a great impression on this people!

"Is it... Is it really...?" As her voice drifts off, the younger woman takes a step closer, examining me like she's watching a ghost.

"Clarke!" I hiss, but instead of telling them wrong she just peers at me, with some strange expectation in her eyes.

"What?" I snap.

She briefly averts her eyes to look at the others, then returns her gaze to me again.

"Just..." Deeply exhaling she shakes her head. "Nothing."

"We had a deal," I remind her, shoving her slightly towards them with a push of my shoulder. She coughs, straightens her back and takes another step forward without my help.

"This isn't Luna," she finally tells them, "You know this can't be Luna. I know they look shockingly the same, but you guys need to pull it together. Cause we need your help, right now." She takes the older woman by the arm and pulls her towards us. "Mom, this is Yumiko. She got shot, close to the artery. The bullet is still in."

Glad to see that this woman's attention now goes to Miko without hesitation, I ignore the other one's persistent stare and focus on the bloody situation on the table again. Miko's starting to drift off, which can't be a good sign, but this woman—who I assume is the doctor—seems to know what she's doing. Nevertheless I keep a close eye on all of them.

Which is why I don't pay any attention to the movement at the entrance of the tent.

"What's going on here?"

The new voice fills the stuffy air around us... and slaps me in the face at the same time.

"It's not your blood that defines you. It's your heart."

I'm on a shore. Staring in the eyes of the only person who really seems to care about me. But that person isn't Miko.

And I'm not me.

Suddenly afraid that my legs give way beneath me, I hold on to the table, my knuckles turning white from squeezing. I gasp for air, but it doesn't stop my head from spinning.

I'm not me.

I'm not me.

I'm not...

I need to know for sure. I need to see those eyes, need them to tell me the truth. The only truth. I deeply inhale, close my eyes, then slowly open them again... and look up.

It's Raven.

... ...