Surviving the Sky

Chapter Ten

It took a while for everyone to feel comfortable around the guns, but it helped that they needed them. Lincoln had escaped, no doubt with help from Octavia.

A screen was set up for children to talk to their parents. Monty and Raven put together could build almost anything. Well, Monty could build it, Raven could perfect it. Then Raven would be more than happy to blow it up.

I had to watch as Clarke tried to explain to Chancellor Jaha that his son, Wells, was dead. He was a good kid. I know everyone misses him, Clarke especially.

It must have been easy to tell anyone that Charlotte or Murphy were dead since their parents were either dead or didn't care. Dax had it coming, but I understood he just wanted his mother to get to Earth safely.

That didn't give him an excuse to try to kill Bellamy.

What scares me is that I know if it were for Kadian, my family, or my village, I would do the same without hesitation.

"You okay?" Clarke had asked.

I shrugged, "My throat's still a little sore. How are 'Unity Day' preparations going? May I ask what Unity Day even is?"

"Unity Day is the celebration of all the space stations in orbit coming together into the Ark," Clarke explained, "It's literally the only party ever celebrated on the Ark, but I think it's kind of a joke."

"How is peace a joke?" I asked.

Clarke sighed, "It's not the peace as much as how it came. There were thirteen stations. Polaris wouldn't join the Ark. To make an example of them, they were blown out of the sky."

"Huh," I said. Skaikru seemed so great. They just get more and more disappointing. At least, the Ark does. The 100 for are still pretty incredible for the most part, "What happened about Dax?"

"His mother's upset," Clarke said, "Shumway, the guard who hired him, was arrested, but committed suicide in his cell."

Nodding, I asked, "What about your mom?"

"I'm not ready yet," Clarke answered, "When everyone else has spoken to their kids, then I'll talk to her. I just don't know what to say."

"I think she might," I said.

Through the dark of the night, I could barely see Bellamy loading the guns into Raven's tent, "What's that about?"

"Some of the bullets aren't working properly, like some of the guns," Clarke said, "Raven's gonna to fix them."

"She's smart," I said, "Did you figure out that thing with Finn?"

Clarke frowned, "I don't know what there is to figure out. He and Raven are a thing."

"Okay," I wasn't convinced.

"Unity Day celebrations start soon," Clarke said, "Monty made some moonshine."

I didn't actually know what that was, but it sounded okay if Clarke was that happy about it. I followed her to the monitor at the center of camp. Monty did an amazing job building it.

There was a long speech from Chancellor Jaha, then a small dance from children. The transmission cut out.

"Good riddance!" Miller shouted.

Octavia growled, "No one was forcing you to watch, Miller."

Then, she vanished into the crowd. I didn't pay much attention to it. Perhaps I should have. I realized this a few hours later when both she and Finn went missing.

"Clarke, don't freak out, but Finn and Octavia have vanished," I said, "If anything happens, tell me."

She nodded gravely.

About an hour later, everyone was still drinking Monty's moonshine. It wasn't even close to dark yet.

"Finn asked Lincoln to arrange a meeting between our leader or leaders and the grounder leader," Clarke said, "I thought you should know."

"But Bellamy will never-"

Clarke nodded, "That's why he's backup. He won't be on the bridge- that's where we're meeting."

"When do we leave?"

"You're not coming," Clarke said.

I raised an eyebrow, "I need to know who's leading them now. Besides, Indra already has reason enough to kill me. She hasn't yet, so I'm feeling pretty lucky."

"Alright," Clarke said, "We leave now. No weapons."

Rolling my eyes, I left my bow and arrows on the dropship. Since no one could see my daggers, I kept them.

We walked in silence. I knew Clarke was leading Jasper, Monty, and Bellamy as backup. I was nervous about potentially having to face Indra, but I calmed myself.

Horses appeared on the bridge, and at the half way point, a tall woman with a soft but sharp face dismounted. Everyone made a move towards her.

"Only those two," the woman said.

To my shock, she was pointing to Clarke and I. Well, that wasn't shocking- about Clarke anyway. The shocking part was she wanted to talk to me.

"I am Anya," the woman said. To my relief, she didn't mention Indra or the Trikru. Perhaps she was of a different clan.

Perhaps Indra was dead, or at least no longer a leader.

No, she was young, strong, healthy, and formidable on the battlefield. I couldn't imagine any reason she'd have been removed from power.

"I'm Clarke," Clarke held out her hand. Anya didn't seem to know what that was for. Apparently Skaikru do this thing where they shake hands. I don't understand the point.

"You're not Skaikru," Anya observed, glancing at me. I guess the leather clothing or the small braids in my hair gave it away, "Who are you?"

I sighed deeply, "I'm Sky."

"I've heard about you," Anya said, "The coward who ran away."

"Can we please not talk about that," I would have gone down on my knees and begged if she didn't stop.

Anya smiled, "I see what has happened here. You have started a war you cannot possibly win."

"Started a war?" Clarke asked, "We just landed here. You were the ones who attacked." Before she could advance forwards, I grabbed her wrist, holding her back.

"You launched missiles that burned down villages," Anya said.

Clarke shook her head, "Those were to signal to others that we were alive."

"You'll bring others down here as well," Anya said, "To destroy us."

"We don't want war," Clarke said.

Anya patted her horse's neck with one hand as the other rested on the grip of her sword, "Perhaps you should have thought of that before you kidnapped one of us and tortured him."

"Lincoln kidnapped Octavia first," Clarke growled.

"It doesn't matter to us who started it," I attempted to negotiate, "We just want to finish it in a way that keeps us both alive."

Anya sighed, "And you won't break any alliance the moment the rest of your people arrive?"

"I'm just a kid and they might not listen to me," Clarke said, "But I'll do my best to convince them."

"Why forge an alliance that you could break the moment an army arrives?" Anya snapped.

A shout erupted from the forest below the bridge, and then gunshots fired. I should have brought my bow. Keeping one dagger in hand, I pulled Clarke back as grounders fired on the bridge.

We ran back to camp faster than lightning, shutting the gate behind us immediately.

"So much for Unity Day," Finn muttered.