Coming Back Down

Nakara

  "Octavia!"

  "Bellamy!"

  "Echo!" We were shouting, our voices carrying over the vast emptiness of the planet. There were rocky outcrops and mountains, visible planet-like moons in the sky, and snow as far as the eye could see. The air was breathable here, but no way would someone survive here long-term without the proper equipment.

  "Raven, does your magic map show where the Anomaly Stone is?" I questioned while looking at her. "We need to keep moving."

  "Let me see." Raven nodded. "Ah. According to the computer, the stone's near....those rocks, two kilometers that way." Raven pointed toward some rocks in the distance. "I see the cave entrance."

  "Wait. There's something buried in the snow here." Jordan knelt down and began to move the snow around. "It's.... I think it's a body."

  "Have I mentioned that I don't like it here?" Miller popped off.

  "Ossuarium."

  "What?"

  "The planet's primary use. I'm pretty sure it means a place to store your dead." Raven clarified while kneeling next to the body's exposed chest. There was some sort of white fabric with a black bird on it. The bird somewhat looked like a phoenix, but I wasn't certain. "I've seen that symbol before. Show me the star map. I bet you it's the planet where the people who took our friends are from."

  Using my knife, I cut open the fabric to see a human face covered in frost underneath. There were strange symbols on their face like the bald man had.

  "Huh. Human. Bummer." Jordan tilted his head. "What? Seeing an alien would be awesome."

  "Let's just get to that stone and to that planet to get our friends back." I said while standing and dusting myself off.

  "And what's the plan once we get to yet another alien planet?"

  "Got two kilometers to figure it out."

~

  "Come on. The stone's 200 meters this way." Raven said as she climbed down into the cave tunnel. We followed her down one after the other, and a light on her helmet lit the tunnel a good distance ahead of us. "I hope no one's claustrophobic."

  "Viper, you gonna be okay?"

  "What? Yeah, why?" I furrowed my brows at Miller, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

  "....Aren't you claustrophobic?"

  "....No?" I looked at him like he was an idiot. "Where would you even get that idea?"

  "Don't you freak out anytime you're in a locked room?" Jordan asked. "My parents told me you did."

  "Yeah, 'cause it's locked." I waved my hand as we were walking down the tunnel. "I was a prisoner almost my entire life in a tiny ass room, it's not the size of the space that's the problem. It's being locked up that I have an issue with."

  "So you fear being trapped and a prisoner again." Niylah said.

  "Exactly."

  "Didn't you meet Roan as his prisoner?" Raven piped up from the front.

  "I actually met Roan long before that. Hell, I met Roan before Octavia met Lincoln."

  "Wait, seriously?" Both Raven and Miller looked at me.

  "Yeah." I ducked under a low-hanging rock before standing again. "While Roan was in exile, he was actually in Trikru lands. That sneaky motherfucker knew about Skaikru from day one."