I Couldn't Stop Caring

Chapter 1

Clarke dropped down from the tree, her body crashing harshly into the panther below her as she dropped onto it, driving her dagger into it's back. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she drew back the blade, teeth clenched.

"Yu gonplei ste odon" she whispered. (Your fight is over)

She got to her feet, her hands falling to her sides as she examined her fresh kill. The pelt alone would bring her good trading with Nylah even without the meat. Sliding the dagger back into the sheath on her hip, she hoisted the dead wild animal onto her pull-cart beside her other supplies, she heaved out a sigh as she wiped the blood on her trousers.

It had been 87 days since she left Camp Jaha in the hands of Bellamy and her friends. She knew they would be angry, there was no doubt about that, but she knew she could. She trusted them. She let out a small, shaky sigh as she thought of her previous home. She raised her head for her eyes to meet the yellowing leaves of the towering trees above her, inhaling the fresh scent of her new home, where there was nobody to judge her past, and a place where there we no faces to bring back the demons of her past who demand revenge for her actions. They found her though, in her sleep at night.

Her feet powered through the fallen leaves and dirt as she tugged at her pull-cart, teeth gritted at the restraining weight on her latest kill. She cursed, her hands gripped tightly around the wooden handles. Although she struggled, she had became accustomed to her new life in the woods, growing in strength as the power of Mother Nature tested her. She dropped her cart outside of Niylah's trading post, pulling her hood from over her head allowing her darkened red hair to fall over her shoulders as she entered, the panthers unfortunate body slung over her shoulder. Niylah's eyes landed on her.

"And you are still to disappoint, Wanheda" she said, impressed as she took the kill from Clarke, dropping the body on her bench.

"Do you have my share from the last one?" Clarke said, ignoring the popular name given to her by the grounders.

"Yes, but I'd be lying if I said it met as a worthy payment for this time" Niyla said as she tugged a basket of meat from under the bench "Even with the meat cured and seasoned. Please, help yourself to anything else."

Clarke's eyes skimmed up and down Niylah's frame, noticing the slight shake in her hands. Her eyes narrowed as she eyed the trader "You seem nervous, Niylah. Is there something wrong?"

Niylah's eyes widened and redirected her gaze away from Wanheda "T-They are looking for you Wanheda" she whispered "anyone found concealing you from Azgeda or the commander will be executed on the spot. I fear you will meet the same fate if captured"

The words hit Clarke hard and she felt that crushing weight on her shoulders which she was all too familiar with. The responsibility of lives. She couldn't risk Niylah's life just for supplies.

"Then I won't return until the hunt is called off. Thank you for sharing this information with me. I will take my share and leave" Clarke said. As the last word had left her mouth, the door to the small hut swung open, knocking loose items on the bench behind it to the ground. The women immediately separated, Niylah making her way back behind her counter, and Clarke making herself appear interested in a hunting knife in the corner of the room. The men towered over Niylah, their heads only just skimming the roof. One man slammed a piece of paper on the table, his bloodstained hands remaining on the sheet. Niylah peered down at the artwork of Wanheda.

"You know who this is, trader. We all know. Now tell me, where is she?" he growled. The husk of his voice felt like it reached into Clarke's heart and clenched it tightly. Her hands tightened around the handle of the knife.

"Well, I must say that it does not hold much likeliness to Wanheda, bounty hunter. However I can tell you she was here a few days ago. In which direction, I cannot tell" Niylah said confidently. But her confidence was soon cut short as the bounty hunters hand cut her short, snapping out and wrapping tightly around her throat. Her breath spluttered out in a short shocked gasp.