Adapting to the Ground (a The 100 fanfiction)

Reunion

A/N: I had a thing published but hated it so have the new chapter ten with a different sort of twist and also I'm not translating the Trigedasleng unless you wanna comment and ask because guess what! This is mostly Raven's POV and she doesn't know the language. So. Enjoy.

The Ark: Sometime in the Fall, 2148

    “Can I stay over here tonight?” Natalie slumped in the doorway for Raven's room. She sported a new set of bruises on her arm, and the look of exhaustion on her face.
   “Your sperm-donor being an asshole again?” Raven grimaced, pulling the shorter girl inside. At her nod, Raven scowled. That piece of– “Come on, I've got a sort of ice pack thing.” The brunette went to a bin she kept her random things, pushing things around and dumping a few on the floor.
   “Thanks, Raven. Sorry. I don't know why I keep going back there.” Her best friend sounded dejected and tired, and Raven fought down the urge to go and find David Campbell and beat the shit out of him.

    She finally found the small pack and bent it in half, shook it, then placed it on the darkest bruise. “Sorry,” she mumbled when Natalie jumped. “I don't know either. Finn or I would have went with you, you know.” They usually did, even if they ended up just standing in the hall while Natalie did whatever she had gone there to do.
   “I know. It's just… as much of an ass as he is, he's still my dad.” Natalie sniffed, shuffling her feet against the floor. “And he still has all of mom's stuff.” Raven stayed quiet and nodded, digging in her drawers and pulling out a shirt. She tossed it at the redhead before pulling out her own pjs. “Is this even clean?” Natalie smiled a bit.
   Raven shrugged, grinning. “I don't remember. But it's either that or sleep in what you're wearing.” She knew Mr. Campbell would be on a rage tonight, like he always was after a visit from his daughter. Natalie never felt safe staying by herself when he was. Raven was always glad to have her over, and there was the added bonus that the redhead was safe while she was. Ever since Mrs. Campbell had died...
   “Thanks, Rae. For everything.” Natalie changed into the shirt and stripped off her jeans, climbing into the bed and laying against the wall.

    The implications were clear in the older girl's voice. Thanks for putting up with her weird questions, thanks for pulling her away from whatever weird project she was working on, thanks for making her eat food and rest… She was up to something, and Raven was trying not to pry but why did she need to know about thrust and resistance in the atmosphere and pressure in space?
   Raven shook her head to dislodge her curiosity. She’ll ask her later. “Shut up.” She kept her voice light, even though she was worried and angry and really wanted to punch something. Finn was gonna be pissed, too, when he heard about this. The old man hadn't laid a finger on his daughter in months, he must have been drinking again. She climbed in and settled on her back, and smiled when Natalie moved to lay her head on her shoulder. “Night, Nat.”
   “Night, Rae.”

Earth: Sometime in September, 2149

    One minute she was watching as the Earth came hurtling towards her in a veil of fire –or rather, through a veil of fire that surrounded the pod she was in– the next she was waking up with a pounding in her skull. The weird memory/dream floated around as Raven came to, slightly confused as to why the memory from a year ago had refreshed itself. Her friend was gone, and nothing would change that. No matter how often her mind forced her to see the redhead's face when she closed her eyes. At least she knew what she had been doing –she’d been fixing up a pod like the one Raven came down in. The pod. She opened her eyes, blinking away the fuzziness as her vision focused on her surroundings. Some sort of cloth hung above her, stretched out like a makeshift roof. The space she lay in was warm, and a glance to her side revealed a fire burning. More of the cloth as walls– a tent? She reached to feel her head, trying to confirm what the pain was, and realized she couldn't. Her hands were bound above her head, and the ache in her shoulders made itself known from being in the same position for God knew how long. She moved her legs experimentally and found they were also tied together, but left to sit loose on the furs she laid on. Her throat was dry, and she tried to swallow to ease the scratchiness. Faded, hazy images floated around in her mind, of a flash of red hair and a cup of something being held to her lips. Water on her face, green blurs…