22 The Ropes

"You have my condolences for your loss, John. I too lost someone very close to me." I say quietly, my words getting John's attention. He leaned forward clearly interested in what I had to say.

"I was born on The Ark." My words seemed to cause John to cease his breathing, whatever he thought I was going to say, that definitely wasn't it. Knowing I had a lot more to say, he didn't interrupt me. "I don't know why, but my parents left me alone in a vent when I was baby. Luckily a passing guardsmen patrol heard me crying and found me. After that, I grew up in the Skybox. Marcus Kane was the one who had raised me though, teaching me how to read and write, bringing me books and various gifts and such. However, due to Chancellor Jaha's decision, I wasn't allowed to be adopted by Kane."

John was entranced by my words. He couldn't believe that someone from The Ark was on the ground before them and the chancellor never even told them. Actually, the more he thought about it the more he could in fact believe it. They had locked Clarke up just for wanting to tell people that The Ark was dying.

"Due to not being allowed to be adopted I had lived in the skybox until I was nine years old. One day, Kane came to visit me and he brought some rather interesting news with him. Apparently the council had voted to use me as an experiment to see if the ground was survivable, just as they had with your group." My revelation shocked John to his core and only made his hatred for the council and the chancellor grow even more.

"With me being so young and Kane being the only parental figure that I had ever known, I jumped at the opportunity to show him that I was strong. Want to know what's crazy though? It was the best decision that I had ever made. I crashed near the city and was found by the guards. When I woke up, I was in a prison cell alone and scared. I didn't know what was happening, I thought that I was the only person alive on Earth. Imagine my surprise when I found out that not everyone died when the bombs fell." I say lightly, laughing a little at the memory of my younger self thinking that Matthew was scary.

"It was there that I met the man I would grow to call a father. Not only that, but I soon met another important person to me. My first friend, and the love of my life. Here on the ground I have made a life for myself, a life that I never would have been offered on The Ark." I explain to John, moving my arms around myself referring to my room and position.

"The man I recently referred to as a father was named Matthew. He was the previous Heda, you met the current one. He took me in and taught me so many things I will always be grateful for. He was the one who forged me into the man I am today." I say in remembrance, a sad smile forming on my face.

"You are not on The Ark anymore John… Here, you can start over. You don't have to follow the orders of a dumb cowardly council anymore. You can forge your own destiny down here, be who you always wanted to be."

John had a look of awe on his face because of what I had told him. I had given him hope that he could rise to the top now that he wasn't shackled down by The Ark anymore. He has an amazing amount of hidden potential, I could feel it. I just needed to find a way to bring it all out of him.

Deciding it was finally time, I instructed him to follow me to the balcony. I stood with one of my hands on the railing and waved him over to join me with the other. "This city is my home John, more of a home than The Ark ever was, or could be." I say softly, drawing John's gaze out over the bustling city of polis. Watching the thousands of people milling around below us, admiring the way the afternoon sun lit up the surrounding forest, making it look like a rolling sea of emerald green. "It can be yours as well, John. If you choose to, you can stay here."

He looks like he wants to jump at the opportunity but something is holding him back. "What's the catch?" He asks me, his voice and face filled with total suspicion. His question causes me to send him an amusement filled smirk. It is good that he doesn't just agree to my offer without knowing the details, that is a good trait.

"The catch is simple, and isn't a bad thing at all." I pause, chuckling a little. "Do you know what a second is John? I ask him, already knowing that he has no idea whatsoever.

"Uh… one sixtieth of a minute?" He guesses, not knowing what type of second I was talking about.

"Well yes, but actually no. The term second that I am referring to is an apprentice of sorts. They are apprentices to a warrior usually I guess you could say. The warrior will train and teach their second all they know, and eventually become warriors in their own rite." I explained to him patiently.

"I was Matthew's second, but he grew to be so much more than that to me. Between a warrior and their second is absolute trust, companionship, and tutelage." I reveal to him, hoping he understands what I am trying to say.

John looks at me for a second before his eyes widen in realization. "Are you asking me to be your second?" He chokes out in shock, not believing that I was seriously considering him.

"Yes, I am." I confirm honestly, watching him closely. There were so many emotions flashing across his face that I was actually a little worried for him. Shock, relief, nonbelief, amazement, but the emotion that was the last to find it's way upon his face brought a smile filled with pride upon my own… determination.

"I'll do it." He proclaims, his voice strong and unwavering. His eyes were filled with a fierce determination, the same type of determination that I once showed Matthew. Clasping each other's forearms, I promised him that he would grow as a person more than he would have ever realized. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Ok so whenever we are alone, I can call you James? However, when we are handling duties and there are others around I call you Shield gon Hedas?" John asked me for a third time, making sure that he understood completely

Since we still had around five hours until Heda wanted to see him in the throne room I wanted to get him familiarized with the tower as well as his new duties as my second. Currently, I was explaining to him the importance of titles in front of others. Using our given name in front of others gives them the idea that we were weak and not deserving of our titles. I already informed him of the importance of showing strength in front of people, especially the ambassadors. If they thought that Heda was weak, they might be led to believe that her leadership was weak. What that would lead to is a likely coup, most likely started by Queen Bi-Nia.

"Yes but it'd be easier if you just called me Shield." I added, exasperated by the amount of times I had to remind him. I have informed him of most of the responsibilities that are to be expected of him being my second, but I could not stress enough on how he should act as my second.

"John, I have quite the reputation with people of the coalition, as my second that means you need to act as such. You will treat people with respect unless they are a potential threat to Heda. Do you understand?" I asked seriously, my firm gaze boring itself into his own.

He had told me of his time in the Skaikru camp, of how he acted to those that were beneath his position. I let him know that that type of attitude would not be tolerated anymore. He would be under a lot of scrutiny considering that he was Skaikru, and so his temper would need to be reigned in.

"Yeah, I understand." John answers quietly, looking down a little in shame. The fact that he was almost hung had given him a lot to think about. He wanted to keep his position of authority as Bellamy's right hand so he was firm and cruel. Looking back at his former action there were definitely better paths he could have walked down. Not everyone truly believed that he had killed Wells, a lot of them just wanted to see him hung because they hated him. He didn't want that anymore, he had the chance to start over and be a better person and so he was going to go all in.

"Good, I have a lot of faith in you John." Placing my hand on his shoulder, I gave it a firm squeeze to show that I was sincere.

"Alright, let's get back to business." I start excitedly, finally embracing his role over John. "I will come to your room every morning and wake you for my morning exercise routine. This will continue until you develop a routine of your own. Once that is finished and we are clean and have eaten, you will follow me everywhere I go. You will be my shadow and you will watch closely to how I do things. I will train you to be a warrior to be feared." I finished, looking at him to see if he had any questions.

John listened with rapt attention to what I had to say. He really wanted to change as a person and prove to me that he could do it. I saw a lot of myself in John, he reminded me of when I was still a little kid trying to prove myself to Matthew.

Over the next few hours John and I went over every single detail of his responsibilities. Although, I think I distracted him a few times with the stories that I had. He was amazed with the story of how I had gained my current title as Shield gon Hedas and had asked to show him my skills. Laughing at his youthful excitement I made an ominous promise to show him what I am capable of tomorrow morning in the training area.

The dark look in my eye and the ominous way I said it made him nervous though. His sudden nervousness brought a dark grin to my face and only one thought crossed my mind at that moment.

"He gon' learn…"