Into The Woods- Bellamy Blake

Chapter 70

Ember sat on a rock by the lake with Tavia sitting on the ground in front of her. She brushed her fingers through the two-year-olds hair as Madi and Clarke fished in the lake. Lincoln was beside Clarke, pointing at all the fish with mumbled enthusiasm.

"Ember," Madi said. "When we get back to camp will you braid my hair?"

Ember nodded quickly. The nine-year-old spent a lot of time with Ember over the last few years, mostly training and spearfishing. Clarke and Madi bonded over hunting and gathering while Ember spent time with the twins.

It was times like this, though, that Ember liked best. The ones where the whole family was together. Like at night when they told stories, or before bed when they taught Madi English at night. She was still getting the hang of it, and could speak it if needed, but preferred to speak Trigedasleng.

Ember and Clarke both felt responsible for Madi, and each had become like a mother to her in their own ways. Madi still referred to them by name though, not wanting to forget her own parents. But since they'd met, the dynamic had definitely changed.

Clarke didn't like Madi doing dangerous things like training while Ember encouraged it because she wanted Madi to be able to defend herself if she ever needed to. If it came down to Clarke, Madi would only be able to fish and gather berries. But Ember had talked reason into her, bringing up the bunker and how she should be able to defend herself when they found a way to get them out.

By the time they came down from space and they got the grounders out of the bunker, Madi would be eleven. At that age grounders expected a kid to be able to fight for themselves. The twins would have time, but Madi wouldn't.

"Fishie!" Lincoln told Clarke, tugging on her pant leg to get her attention.

"That's right, Lincoln! Good job!" Clarke said, looking down at him with a smile. She and Ember had been teaching them to identify animals, mostly the birds in the area that flew over their house. Lincoln called every animal he saw a fish, but Tavia couldn't name any of them yet. So far, the only things Tavia had said were their names.

For almost a year they'd argued about who was going to teach the twins certain things. Clarke wanted to teach them medical, Madi wanted to teach them how to fish, and Ember got basically everything else.

Which she was fine with, they were her kids after all. Lincoln pointed down again, his eyes wide with excitement. "Fishie!"

"Yes, Linc, I see it," Clarke said, tracking the fish as it moved closer to them.

Lincoln gasped as it swam by his feet, he jumped up, scaring it away. Clarke sighed as Lincoln looking up at her. "Fishie bye-bye?" He tilted his head up at Clarke, confused on why the fish swam away.

Ember smiled, pulling Tavia's hair up into a quick bun and keeping it place with twine she'd tied together. "Let's go join the others in the water, yeah?" She said, placing her hands on her shoulders.

Tavia jumped up, running over to the water and splashing around. Clarke sighed, all the rest of the fish running away from where they were. They'd only caught three fish since they got there, but she wasn't too worried because she knew that they could just substitute berries for the rest. The twins splashed water at each other, and Ember walked over to the water.

"Clarke," Ember said, getting her attention. Clarke turned around, and as soon as she was facing her, Ember cupped a handful of water and threw it at her, keeping her face straight when Clarke pursed her lips with a neutral look.

Clarke closed her eyes, wiping the water off her face with her arm slowly. When she opened her eyes, she stared at Ember. "Oh, it's on."

She splashed Ember, and Ember laughed as she picked up Lincoln and used him as a shield. "Protect me, Lincoln!"

The little boy screamed and giggled as Clarke splashed water all over him. Madi watched with a smile, bringing their caught fish to shore.

After a moment, Ember noticed her standing by herself on shore. "Tavia," Ember said, glancing down at her daughter by her side. "Attack Madi!" She pointed over at Madi, and Tavia giggled as she ran through the water to Madi.

She let Tavia jump at her, catching her and holding her for a moment before setting her down. "Madi!" Tavia tugged on Madi's arm, trying to bring her to the water.

"Don't make me come over there and help her, Madi," Ember said, looking sternly at the nine-year-old who didn't budge

Madi glanced at Ember. "Okay. okay! I'm coming!" Madi held her hands up defensively, walking towards the water slowly. Tavia bounced at her side, the two of them moving into the water.

For almost an hour, the five of them messed around in the water, swimming and splashing each other. Clarke and Ember had learned how to swim from Madi. They weren't great at it, but they could float now. Ember had told Madi that she'd be in charge of teaching the twins when they were older.

Ember had Lincoln on her back and Clarke had Tavia as the twins splashed each other in the water, Madi swam between them, floating on her back with her face angled towards the sky.

When they were finally done, they walked back to the house, Clarke carrying Lincoln and Ember carrying Tavia on her back. Tavia was almost asleep, barely hanging onto Ember. The twins hadn't had their nap yet, so both were getting tired.

Lincoln was still chatty, pointing at each animal and bird that flew by and yelling, "Fishie!"

Madi rolled her eyes every time he said that, as Clarke would say the correct animal so he could learn. When they got back, they put the twins down for a nap, and Ember and Madi walked outside, sitting near the firepit.

It didn't take long for Ember to braid her hair. She then grabbed two pieces of paper Clarke had laying around. "Are you ready?"

She was teaching Madi how to read and write. After teaching her English, they quickly came to learn that she didn't know how to read either. Clarke and Ember wanted to teach her and were taking turns so cover as much as they could.

Madi nodded, grabbing a charcoal pencil and handing one to Ember. With a smile, Ember leaning over the table. "Let's get started." 

**

Sorry it's so short, I haven't had much time to write but I wanted to post. It's tech week for my last show so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write. But as soon as tech week is up it'll be back to regular chapters!