Coming Back Down

Hekeldama

  "Rise and shine, Pakstoka. It's time to leave." I grumbled as something was thrown onto my face. Pulling it off, I groggily sat up and saw Roan tying his mother's sword to his hip. I ended up sleeping on the couch last night, but it was so comfortable with all of the furs it was covered in.

  "What is this?" I tiredly asked while looking down at what he had thrown at me.

  "Clothes. You'll freeze if you're not prepared for the winter climate."

  "How do you farm?"

  "We forage and grow as much as we can in the warmer months." Roan replied. "Hunting is usually good and lasts us the winter."

  "All right." I huffed while rising to my feet. "Give me a minute." Walking to the back of the room, I took privacy behind a support beam and tossed off the clothing I stole from Trikru. Pulling on the thicker clothes and furs, I paused while petting the collar of the top. It was so soft! I mean, it was the softest thing I had ever felt!

  "Are you done yet? My people are ready to return to Azgeda." Roan raised his voice, and I walked out from behind the pillar.

  "You mean you are?" I popped off while kicking my old clothes to the side. "When do I get my things back?"

  "Lexa brought them while you were still asleep. Even your weapons." He waved a hand to the table while having his back to me and fixing his boot.

  Going over to the table, I found my knife, my pack, some supplies, and even my ukulele. Putting my knife into my belt and my pack onto my back, I picked up my ukulele and checked it for any damage.

  "This thing is pretty hardy to have survived this long...." I mumbled to myself. Strapping it to the side of my pack, I turned to look at Roan. "So, how far do we have to walk until we reach Azgeda?"

  "Walk? We'll be riding."

~

  "No." I immediately said as we stood outside. A few people from Polis were standing around while holding onto a few horses while waiting for Roan.

  "What?" The Azgeda King looked down at me.

  "You expect me to get on one of those? I grew up in space! The closest thing we had to animals up there were babies!" The other Grounders holding the horses quietly laughed at me.

  "You'll need to learn how to ride eventually. Come." Roan grabbed my arm and took me up to a horse. "Just sit on its back and don't fall off. That's all you have to do." Looking up at the animal, I tightened my grip on the straps of my pack.

  "That's it?"

  "That's it." Looking around, I saw the others staring at me as if they found the whole situation amusing, like a baby deer trying to fight a tree. Sighing, I grabbed the saddle and pulled myself onto the back of the horse. So far, everything was fine, but when I tried to bring my leg over, I lost my balance.

  Roan grabbing my other leg was the only thing keeping me on the back of the horse as all of the people who had seen were laughing at me. Hell, with how Roan was looking so stoic, I bet he was close to cracking up, too.

  "You know what, screw you." I grumbled while Roan physically pulled me back to the top of the horse.

  "It seems Pakstoka is not skilled to ride a horse."

  "No, but I'm skilled to knock your teeth out." I snarled while raising a fist at the Grounder holding the reins of the horse I sat on. Roan simply smirked as the others went quiet and pulled himself into the saddle behind me, making the second horse unnecessary.