Coming Back Down

Wanheda Pt. 2

  When morning came, Clarke and I were gagged and had our hands bound together on a rope as the big Grounder was dragging us along. I don't know when, but sometime during the night, the man with the mask had disappeared. If there really was a bounty on Clarke and me, I assumed the missing Grounder could be blamed on the one dragging us along a river.

  Clarke was stumbling around on the rocks, and the Grounder looked back at her while tugging on the rope when she fell.

  "On your feet." He ordered in English. When the redhead didn't move, he knelt next to her and rolled her over. "Looks like the great Wanheda's human after all." Glancing at me, he dropped the rope and went to the edge of the river. Knowing I couldn't run while being attached to Clarke, he didn't bother keeping an eye on me as he turned his back.

  Looking at Clarke as the Grounder knelt to get water, I watched as she opened her eyes and had this look on her face. Nodding, I got an idea as to what she was thinking. As she quietly rose to her feet, I kept an eye on the Grounder.

  Running at him, we wrapped the rope on our wrists around his throat and pulled. The Grounder grunted while trying to pull the rope and stumbled further into the river, dragging us with him. When he fell, Clarke followed and held him under the surface of the water until he stopped struggling.

  Panting, Clarke loosened her hold and reached up to pull the gag from her mouth. As I was pulling mine down, the Grounder reared back and hit Clarke's chin with the back of his head. Elbowing her, he grabbed Clarke and flipped her over his shoulder into the water. Getting dragged down because of the rope, I fell to my knees hard while the Grounder held Clarke's head under the water.

  Gritting my teeth while maneuvering to give the Grounder a solid kick, I froze when he looked me dead in the eye.

  "Don't move, and I'll let her up." He said, freezing my foot in the air. Looking at his face, my brows furrowed as he seemed oddly familiar without all of the black smeared on his features. 'Holy shit....' I thought as the Grounder smirked before letting Clarke come up for air. "Now, that's better." He said, and most of the red in Clarke's hair had been washed out by the river like the smears on the Grounder's face.

  "You're Ice Nation." Clarke panted after seeing the brands on the sides of his face. He didn't say anything and just pulled Clarke to her feet. Standing up, I couldn't look away from the Grounder.

  "You-" And I was cut off as a wet sleeve slapped against my face. The Grounder, for some reason, was wiping the black ash from my face before he silently began to walk away while dragging Clarke and I behind by the rope.

  Walking from the river, the heat of the sun was the only thing that was getting us dry. Staring at the back of the Grounder's head, I seriously wanted to say something, and it seemed as if he sensed that. Turning on his heel, he pulled both of our gags back up before heading into the trees.

  For what seemed like hours, I just kept glaring at the man while being forced to follow. When we got to a clearing full of tall, dry grass, he forced us to the ground and held a blade to Clarke's neck.

  "Quiet." He whispered lowly while glancing at both of us. Slowly letting us sit up, he looked off to the side, and I followed his gaze. "Ice Nation scouts." He turned back to face us and gestured with his head. "Come on, we backtrack. Then we go around."

  Feeling as if something bad was about to happen, I looked at Clarke and saw her face. I quickly shook my head at her because of her expression, but she didn't seem to notice as she began to scream through the gag. Huffing through my nose, I headbutted her to get her quiet.