Scars to Your Beautiful (the 100 fanfic)

Chapter 17 - Kom Camp Jaha

Rook POV

I stepped out of the house and looked up at the sky. It was overcast and rain seemed to threaten over the horizon. I shook my head and hoped that the trip would not be plagued by rain and mud even if the journey wasn't far. I also wondered how I would hold up since I'd never seen a horse or ridden one before. I was sure that my body would yell at me by day's end. Sursha had already left with the pack that I would be taking with me and I began walking towards the entrance we would be leaving from as I adjusted my cloak better around the shoulders and still found it difficult to adjust to having a wolf's head so near my own.

I walked over to a small cluster that held Indra, Gustus and Lexa. There seemed to be a bit of an argument going on based on their stiff postures. I sighed at the prospect but continued walking closer to them.

"What is it," I asked, when they quickly silenced once they realized I was coming. "You're either discussing me or something that has to do with Skaikru. So, what is it?"

"They have indeed refused to leave," Indra said, looking at me.

I nodded, "Sounds like Jaha isn't as persuasive as he thought he was. What of it?"

"We are trying to decide if we should bring Kane with us on the march," she informed me.

I looked at them curiously and asked, "Wouldn't it be better to let him hang back in case we have further use of him. If Jaha could not persuade the people to leave, we may be able to use him to get what we want."

"You are saying that Kane may be able to get them to agree to something like handing the boy over," Lexa asked.

"Possibly. As long as we keep him isolated to the village for the moment and only bring him in when we absolutely need him. Keeping him here also means that we have a hostage to negotiate with. Threaten his life. It seems they are now reluctant to even lose one life now and he is still considered a leader according to him."

They nodded and Lexa said, "That seems to be the case. Very well, we'll leave a guard detachment with him and if need be, we'll send a Rider to retrieve if we need to."

That was the end of the discussion and we headed over to where horses were waiting for us.

Lexa came up beside me and I looked at her curiously as she said, "The black gelding with the two front white socks is yours, Rook. He is called Arthos."

I nodded and looked at him warily. Having never seen a horse until now, I wasn't sure what to expect from their behavior and Lexa seemed to notice that.

She chuckled, "Arthos is a fine beast, Rook. Swift of foot and mean in battle, but he has an agreeable manner. You will be fine."

"You'll have to forgive me, but outside of pictures, I've never seen one before."

"Then I shall show you how to introduce yourself to your horse," she said and guided me to Arthos' head. She gave me a slice of apple and had me hold out my hand to the creature. It felt strange to feel as it sniffed my hand and take the proffered apple slice. He nudged my hand and I reversed it and gently ran it over his face. His hair felt silky and he watched me intelligently as we grew accustomed to one another. He even went so far as to nip at the wolf's head on my shoulder, but I removed his head to keep him from damaging it. Keeping my hand along his coat, I walked over the length until I came to his saddle. A stablehand came over and helped me up and with a bit of adjustment and settling of my cloak, he handed me the reins and I looked over at Lexa trying to figure out if I was doing it right.

She nudged her horse closer and with minor adjustments and instructions, I felt that I was ready to give this a go. When everyone was ready, we headed out and I had to bite back the words that threatened to come out as Arthos began moving. After I calmed my racing heart and forced to relax my grip on the reins and loosened the death grip of my legs, I began to get used to the way I moved with the horse. We weren't moving at a fast pace, so I was allotted the time to get used to it.