Wednesday, 24/09/2149
Before the first light of dawn graces the sky, I stir from a dream filled with shooting stars. Careful not to disturb my slumbering ducklings, the remaining clear floor to the tent was no more after Lilly, Charlotte, and Will moved in three days ago; surprisingly, Murphy had nothing to say about it.
But I guess when I found Will and Murphy hugging in here four days ago after seeing the boy who was bullying Will with a bloody and bruised face, he would have nothing to say about it. Stepping out of my tent with a quiet rustle, I stumbled upon a group of wide-eyed faces all gazing up at the sky. A streak of light that I mistook as a falling star gradually morphed into an escape pod hurtling towards Earth.
I rouse Murphy from his sleep, and he swiftly gathers our gear, handing me my backpack as I assemble the team for this impromptu mission. "I'm coming with you", Bellamy's stern voice overlaps mine as I'm trying to give orders to Clarke, Murphy, Conner and Octavia whilst also trying to convince Lilly, who got woken up by all the commotion, to stay behind with the others.
"Someone needs to stay behind to look after the camp", I reason, but the way he looks at me tells me he's going to argue, and he does.
"Murphy can do that." He argues back
"But I want you to do it," I plie him with my eyes his face soften before hardening again, I felt my fleeting joy that he was going to give in fly away.
"Fine, miller you're in charge until we get back" I give in as not to argue in front of the whole camp, miller nods but looks between us concerned.
Embarking on our trek, the darkness envelopes us, illuminated only by flickering beams of our flashlights becomes more difficult as the others catch up to my fast pace, Lilly is perched on Conner's back after she had asked with puppy dog eyes.
Guiding our group with purpose, I position Bellamy at the rear, Murphy on our left flank, and Clarke on our right, with Conner carrying Lilly at the centre—mainly for my own peace of mind. Ascending a hill as the sun began its ascent, a drowsy Lilly spotted our target. Despite her fatigue, she adamantly refuses to return to camp with Conner.
I shake my head at her; she's fallen asleep three times on this walk, but wouldn't let Conner take her back to camp.
"Alright, we are ahead of schedule, but that doesn't mean the grounders didn't make it here first. Bellamy, can you take Conner and Murphy to secure the perimeter?" he nods, giving me a look of appreciation before taking Conner, who leaves Lilly by my side and Murphy with him.
"Clarke, Octavia you're with me, Lilly stays by my side, ok?" I ask her, and she nods, looking ready to fight anyone.
With the three of them following me, I march right up to the escape pod. Inside sits an unconscious young woman.
"Raven," I hear Octavia mumble so quietly, I only just heard her, and I realise Octavia is right.
We get the door open and hear the radio going off, "Clarke" I call her to the front with me, and she starts checking over Raven. Slowly, Raven wakes as I grab the mouthpiece. I go to speak, but Raven suddenly tries to attack me.
"No Bellamy", Raven screams, but Lilly jumps on her pinning her arms to her side.
"CALM DOWN", I project my voice, and she does looking at me, incredibly surprised.
"Ward?" she questions, holding her head.
"Rayes, stay still. Clarke is trying to treat your head wound" She does as I say, and I resume my task of talking to the ark.
"Calling Ark station, can you hear me? I repeat, calling Ark station, can you hear me?"
"This is a restricted channel. Identify yourself."
My face lights up with a glimmer of hope in our desperate situation. "This is Major Orella Ward, I'm transmitting from the ground, the 100 are alive," I answer.
"This is Chancellor Jaha"
I answer, "Glad to hear you're still alive, sir" Raven looks at me, shocked.
"How do you know about that?" Chancellor Jaha asks
"Before we get in anything sir, I need you to gather all council members including Diana Sydney and Commander Shumway" I ask and there is a pause in communication.
"All right," he answers, slightly confused.
"Octavia, get the boys" I ask her and she's looking at me suspiciously, but goes and gets them.
"All right, I have everyone." Chancellor Jaha says.
"Good, now arrest Diana Sydney and Commander Shumway for treason" I say, there is a shuffle and a crash.
This time, Kane answers the radio, "Are you sure about this ward?" He asks.
"100%, sir. Shumway gave the gun to Bellamy Blake, who shot the chancellor on Diana's orders. I have proof if you need it." I say.
"I have ordered their arrest, but I'm going to need that proof, Major Ward," Chancellor Jaha says while Octavia returns with the boys.
I give Bellamy a sad smile since I broke my promise, "I need you to tell Jaha where you got the gun you shot him with, " I say in a soft voice, and he looks at me angrily.
I hand over the mouthpiece to him, "Commander Shumway told me if I shot Jaha, he would get me onto the dropship where my sister Octavia was" he then storms away from us.
"That was Bellamy Blake's testimony, now I need someone to get me, Malcolm White," I ask.
"Who is he?" Kane asks.
"He was a guard who followed Diana's crusade, but I turned him over to my side," I say.
"And which side is that?" Chancellor Jaha asks.
with extreme confidence, I say, "The Skai Champion's side sir" I say with a straight back and proud smile while Raven, Clarke, Octavia, Conner and Lilly all look at me completely shocked, I smirk to myself, I love shocking people.
"Lieutenant Ward, it is so good to hear your voice." Captain White says.
"Captain white please tell the council of Diana Sydney's plans" I ask and the channel goes silent as I'm sure he does that.
"you're The Skai Champion, my daddy used to tell me bedtime stories about you, you were my favourite superhero," Lilly says hugging my side, I laugh.
"Can we move this back to camp?" I ask Raven, and she nods.
"Ark station we are going to move the radio back to our camp, I have a lot to say, we'll speak again soon" I give Raven the go-ahead to pull the plug and the radio goes offline.
"All right pack it up, we're going back to camp" I say loud enough for everyone to hear.
The journey back to camp, Raven had me on edge, stirring up a sense of curiosity that bloomed into a cascade of questions within me. Our return seemed swifter, as if the familiarity of our destination propelled us forward.
"Where should I set this up?" I guide Raven into the dropship, where we unexpectedly encounter Finn. His eyes widen in disbelief as he rushes to embrace Raven, who appears visibly uneasy in his arms.
"Sorry, Finn, but Raven is needed right now." I gently separate them, and he acquiesces with a nod of understanding.
"We're running low on meat. Could you fetch Bellamy and round up a hunting team?" I smile at him, and he heads to do that.
"Oh Finn, send Murphy my way", he smiles back at me, looking between Raven and me as he nods and goes off.
"Why do you need Murph?" she asks, and I smile at Raven.
I take her to a metal table in the corner, "I was thinking the radio could go here, and if you could build me a way to see the people of the ark too, that would be great" As I finish talking, Murphy comes in with Will.
"Murphy this is Raven, she's going to build me a way to see and talk to the ark, please show her our electrical supplies" he nods and starts to do so as Raven just stares at him with her mouth open.
"It's an improvement, right?" I gesture to Murphy, looking back at Raven, she just nods before following him up the ladder. I turn to Will, "Where are your sisters?" I inquire. Will rolls his eyes as he envelops me in a hug. "They're in bed, gossiping and braiding each other's hair, just as you taught them."
"Let's find something exciting for you to do," I suggest to Raven, proposing that Will shadow her for the day and learn from her expertise.
she laughs "Always a massive softly, can't believe you're The Skai Champion," she says laughing some more but takes Will with her as she goes.
Around camp I find Wells sorting clothes, "hey can I borrow you?" Wells nods, directing Roma to take over for him, and walks alongside me.
"What did you need?" he asks.
"If we were to make contact with the grounders, how would you go about setting up a peace treaty or maybe a trade agreement" Wells takes a second to ponder my words.
"When we make contact, you and Bellamy should invite whoever it is you make contact with back to camp, break bread with them so to speak, shows that we are peaceful." He says, and I nod in agreement.
"Guess I should make sure Murphy is taking a long walk then," I joke, and Wells laughs with me.
"Yes, probably, exchange information with them, tell them a bit about us and ask about them, I'm not too sure what else right now" I nod along to what he is saying, taking everything in
"Could you, maybe write something up, ask Murphy where he put the pencils and paper?" he gives me a strange smile.
"Delegating tasks," he says with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm trying to be a better leader, I can't very well do everything by myself or else we will have a bunch of half-started tasks" We share a laugh before parting ways, with me heading back to my tent.
Entering the tent, I inadvertently startle the girls, eliciting squeals of surprise. I hold my hands up to my ears, "Girls, it's just me," I reassure them, lowering my hands.
"Holy moly, you scared us," Lilly manages, trying to steady her breathing. Miller appears in the tent entrance, concerned.
"Everyone okay?" he inquires, his gaze shifting between us.
"We're fine, Miller. I just startled them accidentally. Thank you for checking in on us," I assure him. After a nod, he exits the tent.
"Do you ask him to check on us?" Charlotte asks.
"No, does he do it frequently?" I ask, and both girls nod.
"Good, it nice to see someone is looking after you three when I'm busy, now what are you two doing sitting around doing nothing, why don't the two of you find someone to learn from, Will is shadowing Raven, you two need some more skills" they nod dissatisfied with my suggestion.
As the sun sets over Camp. The day's plans are set in motion, with Raven hard at work on the radio system, I can tell that Murphy's small amount of help assists Raven greatly. I watch her from a distance, admiring Raven's determination.
Despite being the end of the day and the end of the sunlight, I find Wells jotting down notes for a potential treaty with the Grounders. His dedication to diplomacy is admirable, and I know he's going to be a valuable asset in our future interactions.
"Any progress with the peace treaty ideas?" I ask Wells, sitting down beside him and turn on the floor light I had found for him. It lights up his paper better than the fleeting sunlight and stops him from squinting to see.
"Just refining some details. It's important to approach this with caution and respect," Wells replied, his gaze focused on the parchment in front of him, but I can tell he is grateful for the light.
I nod in agreement, grateful for his thoughtful approach. Together, we discuss strategies for building trust and understanding with the Grounders, emphasizing the value of open communication and mutual respect. After our discussion, I sought out Raven to check on her progress. She is engrossed in her work, a look of intense concentration on her face. Beside her, Will is eagerly absorbing every detail, his eyes alight with curiosity.
"Making good progress?" I ask Raven, smiling at her dedication.
She glances up, a spark of excitement in her eyes. "We're getting there. This system will revolutionize our communication with the Ark."
I feel a surge of pride in her ingenuity and determination. Raven is a true asset to our camp; her skills and resourcefulness are unmatched.
As the day unfolds, I continue to oversee various tasks and projects, ensuring that everyone is contributing around camp. The sense of purpose in camp is palpable, a testament to our shared mission of survival and cooperation.
As night falls and the camp settles into a peaceful rhythm, I reflect on the day's events with a sense of satisfaction. We are a family bound by resilience and determination, and with that thought in mind, I step into the forest for my next challenge.