Forever Us

Blizzard

Echo

Roan and I were both restless in the morning.  The storm that I knew we'd both been hoping would hit in the night was still a ways away but moving closer.

"Echo just calm down." Bellamy said softly, stepping in front of me and stopping my pacing.

I sighed, shifting my weight, "I can't.  We don't know when that storm is going to hit and we need to keep moving and who knows what they're doing to Ontari..." I trailed and he wrapped his arms around me.

"It'll be okay Echo.  I promise, we'll bring her home."

I shook my head, "You can't promise that." I murmured.

He pulled away, holding my shoulders as he met my gaze, "You're right, I can't.  But I can promise you I won't rest until we bring her back."

I gave a weak smile, "Thank you." I hugged him again, "You don't know how much she means to me, how much having you do that means to me."

His arms wrapped loosely around me and I could hear the smile in his voice, "You don't know how much you mean to me."

I pulled away, "We should help." I said, nodding to where the others were picking up camp.

He nodded and we set to work.  It wasn't long, with all of us working, to pick up camp and get mounted onto our horses.

Soon we were off, following the rim of the lake.

There was more of a purpose today.  Everyone knew where we were going and it fueled the confidence in this journey.

Bellamy was still at my side, shoulders set in a way I hadn't often seen other than for a couple of times.

Everyone seemed ready for what was next.

Then the storm hit.  I wouldn't call it the biggest blizzard I've seen, but it was probably worse to the non-Azgeda travelers than it was for me.  Reaching over, I grabbed Bellamy's saddle.  I knew Roan, who was in the front, would be stopping, so I pulled our horses to a stop.

Then a rope was being flung at my face.  I managed to catch it, tying it quickly to the saddle before passing it to Bellamy, "Tie it to your saddle!" I yelled over the wind.

"What now?!" I heard faintly after a few moments.

"Throw it back to Lincoln and Octavia."

It was a while before I got the tug from either Octavia or Lincoln to tell me that Indra, Luna, Raven, Octavia, and Lincoln were roped in.  I tugged on the rope and before long we were moving again, the rope ensuring no one got separated.

It was hard to see too much in front of me, the wind whipping snow into my face when I did look up, and even when I could look up the snow was blocking most of the view beyond my horse's head.

"You still there?!" I heard Bellamy ask.

"Still here!" I called back, trying to sound reassuring but probably failing.

After what I assumed to be a few hours of slow progress, the storm cleared, the clouds disappearing.

I looked around, making a silent list of who was here.  Clarke, Lexa, and Roan were all ahead of me.

Bellamy was slightly behind me, his horse's head even with my horse's shoulder.  Behind that I could see Octavia, Lincoln, and Indra.

"Untie the horses!" Roan called back.

I did just that, fumbling with the knot for a minute before remembering I couldn't untie my horse until after Bellamy.  Eventually we all got untied and I fell back to where Octavia and Lincoln were.  "Where's Luna and Raven?" I asked, glancing around.

"I don't know, we threw the rope back to them." Lincoln said, worry edging his tone.

"Indra?" I asked, looking at the Trikru leader.

She shook her head, "I haven't seen them.  I thought they threw the rope to me."

I frowned, getting my horse to practically gallop up to Clarke, Lexa, and Roan.

"Luna and Raven are gone."

Clarke looked up sharply, "What?"

I shook my head, "I don't know what happened, they didn't get tied onto the rope I guess."

Roan let out a string of curse words, Lexa looking at him in surprise.

"I wouldn't worry if they were Azgeda, they'd either find us or go to the nearest village, but they aren't.  They'll probably get more lost." Roan explained.

"We have to go back." Clarke stated.

I shook my head, "The snow will have covered their tracks.  And what about Ontari?"

Clarke looked desperate and Lexa looked torn.

Roan sighed, gaze heavy, "As far as we know, Ontari is in less danger of being killed then Luna and Raven." He stated, and with that, his horse galloped back the way we'd come.

I followed, dismay and fear coursing through me.