A Different Landing

Chapter-3

Atom carefully marked down a clearing on the map Clarke had given him for his rounds. He and the rest of the warriors under Clarke's command had all been trained to mark maps with anything they found. It was part of the reason Clarke was undefeated, she always gathered information. Well now-a-days, he'd been there for some of their early fights with bandits when they were newly minted seconds.

"Should we head down to the river next?" Mozu asked from her position a few yards behind him.

"Do you have the list of medicinal water weeds we can look for while we're there?" He asked, they'd split from the team they'd been assigned to for the day a few hours back so they could cover more ground while they were being allowed free access to the land.

"Of course, do we need any plant clippings first?" She asked cautiously.

Atom stretched, "Easy newbie, this isn't a test. If you grab a couple of tree clippings, I'll grab some of the grass."

"How are you so calm, we're in enemy territory?" She queried while adding some tree needles to her scouting journal. Clarke had made journals for mapping and information gathering mandatory for every scout working under her.

"We're never not in enemy territory Mozu, if we stay tense all the time we won't get anything but an early grave." He explained while picking a flower and tucking it gently into his journal with a notation of where it was from.

"I prefer cooking to war." She sighed, "I'm just scared whenever we're out here."

Atom scratched his head while starting to move towards the river. "I think we're all scared or else we'd have to be pretty dumb. But if you would rather cook why aren't you in a village somewhere. You've passed your trials, you obviously wanted this."

"General Quint's army came through my village a year and a half ago. There was drinking and a fight broke out. By the time it died out the village was gone. She shuddered. "Captain Bellamy offered me a place in his ranks and I had nowhere else to go." She sounded sad when speaking of her village, her voice soft and slightly breathy.

"Ah a lost soul like the rest of us." He jumped over a log so he could take a sample of some of the mushrooms growing on it.

Mozu stood guard while he was paying attention to the log. "This is my home now, I don't think I could settle somewhere and just cook." She kicked the ground slightly. "Besides what would you all eat

"Don't tell the general this, but she is a terrible cook." Atom winked at her pleased to see her blushing.

Mozu's blush faded as she looked horrified instead. "You shouldn't say that!" She glanced around carefully. "You could be whipped."

Atom chuckled, "The general and I went through our training as seconds together. First time we set camp her first gives her dinner duty. We spent the entire night throwing our guts up. I've suffered through her cooking enough times I think she'll forgive me for speaking the truth."

Mozu's eyes widened. "Then you served with Bellamy?"

Atom sighed at her star struck expression, so much for flirting with the newest addition to their forces. "Hell, you totally slept with the man whore didn't you?"

Mozu turned red, tucking her chin into the top of her jacket. "No! He's just very kind and I owe him everything."

"Uh huh. That's how it always goes. If you end up back in his division after this, you should notice how many of the girls are simply star struck by his smiles." Atom groaned, "I swear he'll sleep with anything with a heartbeat."