Surviving the Sky

Chapter Two

I leapt down from the tree, an attempt to play it cool. Well aware of their stares, I pulled my arrow out of the panther, slid it back into my quiver, and began to tie a few vines around the panther.

They all stared at me, most likely clueless of what to do. Sure, they know we exist, but I bet they've never seen a grounder before.

As I tied up the last vine, I bent over to pick up the small green web I had weaved. Not my best job, but they seemed to think it was marvelous.

One of them stopped me, "What do you want?"

I hadn't talked to anyone in a long time. I nearly forgot my own language, let alone theirs. Any warrior apprentice learned it to combat the mountain men.

It took a long moment of thinking to piece together what to say.

"Who are you?" asked Bellamy, the one who saved Clarke.

"None of your concern," I growled out, trying to sound intimidating.

They wouldn't know what to expect a grounder to look like, but a nineteen-year-old girl probably wasn't what they had in mind.

"Did you do this to Jasper?" Clarke asked.

The boy called Murphy stepped between me and the panther, "Answer the question."

"I didn't do anything to that boy," I said, "I just saw when you crashed on Earth. You nearly landed on top of me, so thanks for that. I followed you around for a while, and figured you might not want to be eaten by that thing."

I gestured to the panther. Clarke wasn't very convinced, "Why should we believe you?"

"It's not every day I kill one a panther," I snapped, "I'll just take my kill and go."

As I was bending over to pick up the vines again, one of the boys grabbed my arm. If this idiot wants to pick a fight with me, he'll get one.

He won't win.

In seconds, he was bent over on the ground, his arm twisted behind him. I didn't use my daggers. I want to sound intimidating, but I'm not going to kill someone I've wanted to meet since I was a kid.

"Get off of him," Bellamy yelled.

"Tell him not to get between me and my kill," I snapped, "Let me take the panther, and I'll be gone."

Clarke sighed, "She'll just tell others of her kind."

Right. I left out the whole part where I was banished and my village is dead. Indra would kill me if I went to talk to her, whether it was a warning or not.

"Of my kind?" I asked, "We may be different clans, but I assure you, I'm quite human. Unless you aren't?"

"Just get off of Murphy," Bellamy said, still holding up Jasper.

I rolled my eyes, "Let me take my kill."

A sharp pain echoed in my skull. I fell over sideways. The last words I heard went along the lines of, "What was that for?" from Clarke.

The boy who hit me on the head said, "She was going to kill Murphy, how can-"

The world went dark.

When I awoke, I didn't know how long I'd been unconscious. I was stood up, my arms tied up, my legs tied down.

"She's awake," A boy said.

"Good, thanks Miller," Bellamy said. He looked me straight in the eyes. I didn't break his stare, "Who are you?"

It couldn't really do much harm to tell them my name, could it? "Sky."

"What do you want?" Bellamy asked.

"What kind of idiot are you?" I snapped, "I told you several times. I was just going to take the panther and leave."

A girl in the back corner of the room sighed, "He's the biggest idiot in the world."

"Not helping," Bellamy said, "Miller, why is Octavia even up here?"

"I didn't know you-"

Octavia glared at him, "I can go where I want. Last I checked, I wasn't in the Skybox anymore."

These people have no clue how much information I can get out of them in one overheard conversation.

"I'm just trying to keep you safe-"

"Then you shouldn't have gotten me caught in the first place," Octavia snapped, jumping down the ladder.

Those two are weird. Somewhat like me and Kadian. My heart twisted at the memory.

"Why are you here?"

"Because you knocked me unconscious and brought me here," I rolled my eyes at his idiocy, despite the fact that I knew what he was really asking, "And I'd happily leave if I wasn't tied up."

Bellamy sighed, "If we let you go, can you honestly tell me you would tell anyone else we're here?"

"Yes," I said.

"Why?"

I glared at him again before answering, "When I was a kid, I lost my family and my whole village, along with all my friends. I survived by hiding. The only place I could possibly have been welcomed was Tondc, led by Indra."

"And?"

"And she made it quite clear she didn't want a coward in her village," I finished, "She said if she ever saw my face again, she'd hunt me down and kill me."

Bellamy sighed, "And why should we believe that?"

"You shouldn't. First rule of the ground is believe no one. Second rule is avoid the Commander and the Azgedakru."

He considered this a moment before asking, "Would you tell us about them? Whoever they are?"

I shrugged, "Why not?"

"Why help us?" Bellamy asked cautiously.

"I've got nothing to lose," I said. He untied me, possibly expecting me to run. I sat down, leaning my back against the wall, "What, were you expecting me to run?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Yeah. Why won't you?"

"I've got enough people hunting me," I asked, "Besides, you took my kill. I'm not leaving without at least one bite of it."

Bringing back a large chunk of meat, he handed it to me and sat down across from me, "Where are you from?"

"Samukru," I said, "The river people."

"Who's the Commander?"

They really need to know a lot more if they want to live, "Lexa. She became Commander, banding the different clans into a coalition after Samukru were destroyed."

"Azegdakru?"

"Azgedakru," I corrected, "The ice nation. They kill everything. It has always seemed like they plan to break the coalition, to run it for themselves. They may live many miles away, but they are the most threatening of the clans."

Bellamy sighed, "Anyone else?"

"There's the Reapers," I said, "They listen to nobody, and they are cannibals. They're the strongest."

He frowned, "Are there any other ominously named clans that want to kill everyone?"

"The Reapers aren't a clan. Neither are the mountain men," I said, "They're like you. Advanced technology. They raid villages, taking everyone. We don't know what they do with them.

He looked curious, "The river people- is that what happened to them?"

I nearly lashed out from the memory alone, "I don't talk about it."

"You have to tell us-"

"No," I snapped, "I owe you nothing."

With that, I finished the last of the meat. Bellamy left, taking Miller with him. They closed the hatch, leaving me in darkness.

I tried to get comfortable on the metal floor to sleep. I was so tired.

But sleep was a long time coming.