Hope - Clarke & Madi || The 100

II

After they finished breakfast, Clarke got their little satellite dish and the radio out of the Rover. She wanted to try to contact the Ark again like she did every day.

"Why do you still keep doing that?" Madi asked. She'd asked it often and Clarke never really had a satisfying answer for her.

"Honestly, I don't know. Maybe so I won't forget who I am."

"But I know who you are," Madi said. "You're the most badass warrior on earth."

Clarke smiled at the girl, but her words made something in her mind click. That wasn't who she was. It was who she'd become. Who she'd needed to become in order to survive. She had changed so much over the last couple of years. Who she used to be was so far away.

A voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Can I talk to them today?" Madi's theory was that her friends up there were listening, but just hadn't figured out a way to talk back to them yet. Clarke hoped it was the truth.

"I don't see why not," she said and handed the radio to Madi, who was sitting next to her.

She took the device and pushed the button. It wasn't the first time she'd used it, so she knew how it worked. "Madi to the Ark. Can anyone hear me? Okay, that's great. I'm taking over for Clarke this time. So what are you up to today? I know Clarke's probably making me practice gun shooting or sword fighting or something like that. We already caught a beautiful rabbit this morning. It was delicious, although Clarke did let it burn a little."

"Honey, that was you," Clarke interrupted her. "I told you to keep an eye on it while I was collecting some berries."

"Exactly, you told me to keep an eye on it and I did a great job doing that. It didn't run away."

Clarke chuckled and Madi went on talking to the device. "Maybe you should be working on your ship today. It has been safe for you to come down for almost a year now. You don't have to be afraid of me. I mean, Clarke has taught me a lot of things, I'm almost as badass as she is now. But any friend of Clarke is mine after all. Please come down. I would love to meet the heroes of Clarke's stories. I still have hope and I know Clarke has too." She paused for a moment and when she could not think of anything else to say, she ended the 'conversation' like Clarke had taught her. "Out"

She released the button and gave the radio back to the blond-with-read-haired woman. "How was that?"

"Great," Clarke said, taking the radio from Madi. She put it back in the Rover and sat down next to her again. "The rabbit will last for today and breakfast tomorrow, so we won't have to go hunting today."

"So what's today's lesson?"

"I haven't thought about that yet," Clarke admitted. "You can practice gun shooting like you said. I'll make some new arrows. You can help me once you're finished." Although it was easier to hunt with guns, it scared away all the animals that were somewhat near the shooter. A bow and arrow was a lot more quiet.

Madi nodded and carefully took out a gun from the rover. She walked a few meters so she was at the right distance from the tree she always practiced on. Carved in the tree was a cross. It was a little difficult to see due to all the bullet holes that already covered the cross and the area around it. Soon, she would have to pick another tree to practice, but it would do for now.

She loaded the gun and fired her first shot. It hit the tree right in the middle of the cross. The two following shots did exactly the same. She smirked proudly. Three in a row. But she knew it would be a lot more difficult to hit the spot she aimed for once the target was moving. They rarely hunted with guns, but Clarke had let her a few times to practice. It was difficult to get the bullet right through the heart. That wasn't necessary for the animal to die, but it didn't suffer long that way.