I Am The Last Nightblood (the 100)

Silent All These Years

"What do we do now?" Jasper asks. It's silent for a second, the crickets chirping in the distance.

"I want to look at the code for Becca and the flame, see if I can find anything." Raven stands up. We nod and she turns, and walks back in.

"I'll go with her." Monty volunteers.

"Me too." Harper chimes in. They all head back into Arkadia, leaving the rest of us by the slowly dying fire. Ash settles around us, the embers settling and dying out.

We sit in silence except for occasional whispers when Octavia suddenly explodes at Bellamy.

"No! You didn't kill him but he would be alive if  it weren't for you!" She yells. She storms off back into Arkadia without another glance. Bellamy gets up and starts walking towards her.

"Bellamy give her some time, she needs to be alone." I suggest softly. He looks at me and sighs, heading back and sitting next to me on the log. The silence grows on and I look around to see everyone doing their own thing. My eyes begin to grow heavy and I let them close, slowly drifting off. I quickly catch myself after a few seconds and inhale, forcing my eyes open and stand up.

"I'm gonna go get some rest." I announce. I stretch and walk back into Arkadia. I hear footsteps not too far behind me but I pay no attention to them.

It didn't occur to me that I have absolutely no clue where anything is. I used voices and sound cues to navigate to get to Clarke before, and now in the silence I'm clueless. I wonder helplessly down the halls. I almost consider just laying down on the concrete and cold metal and sleep. It's definitely not under the worst circumstances that I've slept in or on. I sigh and decide against it, walking on.

"Your lost." Octavia's voice startles me.

"Is it that obvious?" I ask half heartedly. She doesn't respond and continues to stare into the metal walls, seeing beyond them.

"Come on, lets take a walk." I suggest. She doesn't respond for a few seconds but finally gets up, brushing herself off.

I don't know where I'm going- she already pointed that out. We walk in silence for a few minutes before I speak up.

"I didn't know Lincoln that much, but I do have a vague memory of him. He was my friend when I was little, before they found out I had the blood of the commanders." She looks over at me, her eyes sad but intrigued. I decide to continue.
"One day in late august, I was in the meadow near our home. I fell asleep and I woke up to ash falling from the sky. The air turned to smoke. The trees were on fire, burning, and I was in the middle of it." I lean down and lift up my pant leg, revealing the long faded angry scars crawling up my calf. "While I was running, a large branch fell, and I got trapped. It cut me and trapped me; I was losing lots of blood. Lincoln heard my cries for help, and he helped pick me up and get me out of the fire and to the medic. That's the day they found out I was a natblida. He stayed with me until they took me to Polis to start my training. And years later, we crossed paths, and I knew it was him, but it wasn't appropriate circumstances to say hello, things got chaotic and I never saw him again." I finish.

Her eyes are full of words she can't say, and I can almost see her breaking.

"I'm sorry." I apologize. I didn't mean to make her cry, I just wanted to let her know that he was a good person, and that I owe him, he saved my life.

"No, no no, it's fine, he talked about you. He told me about how he saved a girl who turned out to be a natblida." She explains.

"Is it true?" I ask after a few seconds of silence. "That you hid under the floor for 8 years?"

She nods. "It was illegal to have more than one kid, if you broke the law it was punishable by death." I give her a concerned look and she sighs and continues. "We barely had enough supplies for us all, we couldn't afford one more mouth to feed per family." She explains. I nod slowly and debate retelling everything. I mean i basically already have so what do I have to lose?

"I lived under the floor too, my mom hid me there whenever the scouts for natblidas would search our village." I recall the pitch black darkness, the stale smell, the fear when I heard them sweep the house; never having the audacity to look under the carpet. "I know what it's like to be the girl under the floor, but here you don't have to hide. Here you can prove that you have worth and that you are more than that. Down here you can prove that you should be alive and that they should be ashamed for making you scared every day." We walk into a large hallway with multiple doors. A sign tells me it's the rooms. Octavia walks all the way down to the last room, opening the door and hesitates.

"I have room for two, you can stay in my room if you want." She suggests. I debate this.

"I think I will take you up on that offer, thank you." I smile. She smiles back, one that doesn't quite reach her eyes. I walk in and get settled. There's a couch and a small bed. I automatically head for the couch.

"No I will sleep on the couch, you get some good rest, you need it more than me." Octavia insists.

I open my mouth to reject the offer but she gives me the 'just-take-the-damn-bed-I'm-being-nice-' look. I sigh and smile softly.

"Thank you, that means a lot." I thank her. She smiles and settles in to the couch.

"Oh and there is a shower." She points to a door.

"Shower?" I ask.

"It's like rain, it's water that falls from the sky but you can control the temp." She explains. I nod and head into the bathroom. I hesitantly close the door, strip and step into the shower, fumbling with the handle when hot water sprays onto me, just like rain. I sigh happily and absorb it, feeling the water run down my skin. 'Polis could use this.' I think to myself and chuckle.

And for the first time in a long time, I slept without nightmares.