Chapter Text
“Clarke! Hurry up!”
The voice of her mother resounded around the walls of their two-story house. Clarke was just finishing packing to join her mother in her yearly medical volunteer program. Abigail Griffin was one of the best surgeons in the country, and also one of the most dedicated for the ‘Arkadia Abroad’ volunteer program. Her mother travelled to faraway places every year to offer her aid to communities in need of health services. Clarke was going to tag along this year, after her incredible experience the previous year. They were going to spend the whole summer living with a community assigned to them, whilst helping them medically in any way they could. It was a wonderful and very fulfilling experience.
“I’m coming!” Clarke replied as she slung her duffel bag over her shoulder and met her mother downstairs.
“You set?” Abby asked.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Alright, let’s go then.”
The drive to the airport wasn’t that long from their small town of Polis. Clarke was texting her friend Wells before she left, since the trip to Africa was going to take a lot of her time. Clarke was about to enter her senior year after she concluded this volunteer program, so she wanted to do as much as possible this summer, knowing when she entered med school next year, she’d have next to no time on her hands.
For Clarke, joining as a volunteer gave her a purpose; after her father died when she was 15 she lost herself in sadness, but when her mother practically dragged her to a small, low-income community in Central America, Clarke learned that she could do so much for the people who were still in this world. She realized there were a lot of people who had it worse than she did, so she’s chosen to be thankful for her life as it is and concentrate her efforts into helping the world.
“Okay, honey, anything you need before we leave?”
“Nope. I’m good mom.”
“This is going to be a long trip, rest as much as you can. We’re heading to a small village on the West Coast of Gabon. Marcus is already setting up our accommodations with one of the locals, so we need to be ready to work.”
Clarke nodded, “Okay.”
“Alright then, let’s get going.”
Clarke was really excited for this new adventure. A new far-away place to explore, a new culture to learn about and to offer her help to. She couldn’t wait to be there already.
///
To say that the trip had been hellish was an understatement. After several hours on the plane, they had to take a jeep for another couple of hours until they reached the deep of the very humid African jungle. They were left in small village, 30 miles southwest of Kango.
“How was your trip?” Marcus Kane, a good friend of Abby and leader of the volunteer group greeted them, shaking Abby’s hand enthusiastically.
He was a man in his forties with wavy dark brown hair and eyes, sporting a beard that made him look rougher around the edges, even with his big friendly smile.
“Tiresome, but we’re glad to be here.” Abby smiled happy to be on land.
“For sure, let’s take you to your residence then.” Kane began walking towards the tiny houses located nearby the huge forest surrounding them. “Most people here speak French; some other dialects will be used by locals, but we have a translator who will be assisting you during your stay.”
“Okay, that’s helpful.” Abby motioned Clarke to stop staring at the people who were looking back at them with curiosity.
“Yo boss. I fixed the water filtering device. I’m waiting for another part I need to install it, but it should work without issues now.” A young girl around the same age as Clarke said as she approached them.
“Oh hey Raven. Meet Dr. Abby Griffin and her daughter Clarke. They are part of the medical team.” Marcus introduced the ladies.
“Nice to meet you.” Raven offered her hand to Abby and then to Clarke. “Good to have more hands onboard!”
“It’s cool to see more young people here.” Clarke said. “It’s usually older people doing the voluntary work.”
“Hey!” Abby scoffed “I’m not that old, honey.”
“Old or young, I do have massive respect for this team.” Marcus laughed. “I’m glad to have such an amazing and caring group of people.”
“Very true.” Abby agreed.
“You’re a doctor?” Clarke asked at the brunette with deep brown eyes and light brown skin.
“Nope, I’m part of the engineer team. I started my first semester in college last year when Professor Sinclair recommended that I join Arkadia to improve my skills.”
“Oh that’s cool. I uh, I’m starting my high school senior year after this trip. I wanna be a doctor!”
“Runs in the family.” Raven winked. “Anyway, I guess I’ll see you around Clarke.”
“Yup, nice meeting you Raven.”
The group continued until they reached a small house with white chipped paint.
“Okay here we are. This is where you’ll be staying. Tomorrow you’ll set up the medical tent to begin the check-ups.” Marcus knocked on the door. “Indra, this is Dr. Griffin and her kid. Abby, this is your official translator and will be here to help you.”
Indra was a woman with dark brown skin, and brown eyes. She had a tattoo on her face and she looked very serious. Definitely someone who shouldn’t be messed with. She greeted Abby and then Clarke with certain apprehension.
“Hello Doctor.” Indra said with an accent. “Make yourselves comfortable. You have the basic accommodations here, tomorrow we can go to the local market which is a couple of minutes away to get stock the fridge.”
Clarke checked the place inside. There was a single couch and a small table for eating, the kitchen was pretty tiny but at least it had a fridge and a cupboard with basic utensils. At the back they had two rooms with twin beds where she and her mother were going to stay. A simple electrical fan to help with the hotness of the place and a single closet. Just like Indra said, they were going to have the most basic accommodations.
“Thank you, Indra.” Abby dropped her bag on the floor sitting in one of the beds.
“Make sure to avoid walking around alone, especially at night. And don’t even dare to go to the forest alone. There are wild animals and sometimes they roam around here.” Indra warned. “There is no unrest either in this place, but you never know if any insurgent might move through the forest.”
Clarke swallowed, nodding in understanding.
Indra then left them alone, so they could get some needed rest.
“Uff, it’s going to be a tough day so let’s get changed and try to get some sleep honey.”
“Do you think there are dangerous animals around?” Clarke asked looking outside her window to the huge wall of green surrounding them.
Abby shrugged. “If Indra said we shouldn’t go out alone I suppose there might be. This is the wilderness, sweetheart. We have to be careful.”
///
The first couple of days had been hard, Clarke had to adapt to a new schedule and there was so much work to do in the medical tent they set up. Thankfully, Raven made everything more bearable. She was fun and so smart, had a quirky sense of humor and was great company. Clarke really enjoyed hanging out with Raven among all the people from Arkadia.
Clarke and her mother tended to several patients, from young kids to adults. Most of them had wounds due to their agricultural activities. Abby was also teaching them about first aid and hygiene to avoid getting food poisoning. It was interesting to see how the community and the Arkers started to blend as they worked together to offer a better quality of life.
Clarke wiped the sweat away from her forehead with her arm, it was another hot, humid day under the African sun. Clarke was done cleaning the medical tent and decided it was time to take a break. She checked around for Raven, but the mechanic was clearly busy fixing an old jeep, so Clarke decided to head back to her temporary home and grab her backpack. She hoped that the forest would lessen the intense heat today. She packed an apple and a banana, along her sketchbook, and made her way to the entrance of the woods.
The sound of birds diminished as she walked deeper. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be wandering alone but she was going to remain close. Clarke doubted a wild cougar was going to jump at her midday.
The blonde took a deep breath; it felt fresher, and cooler in the shade provided by the trees than it did out in the open. She spotted a fallen branch where she could sit down, she pulled out of her backpack her sketchbook and after looking for something interested she found a pretty, colorful flower to draw.
She was sketching in relative silence when she heard a small sound, she lifted her gaze and found a small baby ape.
“Oh, hey little buddy!” Clarke said excitedly.
The little ape was so tiny, with black fur and tiny paws, his dark big brown eyes were fixed on Clarke. Clarke approached the little animal to get a closer look at him. She followed the ape deeper into the forest, thinking it was going to be a breeze to find her way back to the camp.
“Stay right there, lemme do a quick sketch.” Clarke began to trace lines but the infant ape decided it wasn’t the right moment. “Come on, buddy. Stay put!”
Clarke followed the small ape climbing on a tree trying to not to lose sight of him, the small ape poked his tiny tongue out towards Clarke, as if mocking her.
“Hey, not cool!” Clarke giggled and moved underneath the tree sitting on a nearby rock to sketch as the ape stopped fooling around.
The baby ape returned, and this time approached Clarke.
“Hey you.” She offered her hand and after some hesitation the little animal took her hand.
“Woah, you’re so soft!”
Clarke softly tickled the animal making it laugh. The sound was a low breathy laughter. Clarke was marveled with the animal, having fun. She had no idea how long she stayed with the baby ape, the sun had gone lower already but she was having fun. The animal made a couple of sounds that echoed in the forest. The ape suddenly ran to the nearest tree and climbed.
“What’s wrong?” Clarke asked baffled by the sudden change of the animal when she heard a low growl.
She swallowed looking around but couldn’t see anything. Clarke ran to the nearest tree and tried to climb, but she wasn’t very athletic to begin with and pretty clumsy. She climbed however she could into a nearby branch when she saw the huge leopard looking at her like she was its next meal.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Clarke recoiled as much as she could but of course felines are excellent climbers.
Clarke tried to move away and lost her footing, falling down on the ground.
“Ugh!”
Clarke still could hear the baby ape making whiny sounds. The leopard was clearly more interested in a bigger prey. Clarke lifted herself up and cautiously moved away trying not to startle the big animal. She found a piece of wood that she grabbed to defend herself. The leopard looked at her growling in warning.
“Back off!” Clarke took a swing to show she was ready to attack but the animal could care less as the huge feline drew out it’s claws and attacked with its paw.
“Fuck!” Clarke used the wood to block, but the animal had no problem tearing it down into pieces.
At that Clarke ran as far away as she could, but she could hear the animal chasing after her. She was really going to be this big cat’s meal.
“Heeeeelp!” Clarke cried as she ran, she had no idea where the hell she was.
She tried to move through the denser area of the forest but ended up falling and rolling down a small slope. The leopard still caught up with her. Clarke was on her ass, backtracking slowly. Her knee was bleeding and her clothes were torn after her fall.
The leopard growled and was approaching her faster now. Clarke shut her eyes when suddenly she heard another growl. This one was feral, a battle cry. She snapped her eyes open and saw a figure swinging from a vine.
Right before the animal jumped towards her, the source of such animalistic sound dropped in front of Clarke.
It was a woman, Clarke could tell by the curve of her hips and lithe figure. But the woman was all lean muscle. Strong arms and thighs, her posture was slightly hunched. The leopard didn’t waste any more time and attacked but the woman with long, dark curly hair dipped down and tackled it on the floor with an incredible demonstration of raw force.
The animal and woman rolled around, the leopard slashed at her arm, but the woman barely flinched. She jumped at the animal and mounted it from behind, her arms hooking around its neck, and the woman squeezed until Clarke heard a cracking sound.
The animal fell limp on the ground and the woman moved away, using her forearms as support. She was squatting and now Clarke could see her face. She had so much dirt on her face it looked as if she wore a mask around her eyes, but what demanded Clarke’s attention the most was the green color of those two orbs focusing now on her.
The woman lifted the dead animal over her shoulders as if it weighed nothing and moved it to a secure spot among the trees and vines. Next, she was heading towards her with caution, her big green eyes eyeing her curiously. She propelled herself using her forearms, knuckle-walking in her direction. She tilted her head and frowned observing Clarke with wonder.
“Aaah, I uh, are you okay?” Clarke asked.
The woman, actually it was a young woman, frowned deeper. She kept knuckle-walking until she was right in front of Clarke. The brunette was practically naked as now Clarke could see. Her breasts were muddy with splatters of blood around her chest, covered by her long chestnut hair, and she had a small cloth of animal skin covering her nether parts.
She was very dirty, with blood seeping from her left shoulder thanks to the leopard. It was clear this strange woman hadn’t taken a bath or used a razor in forever going on the look of her hairy legs and armpits.
“Who are you?” Clarke asked swallowing the nerves, suddenly realizing that maybe she had encountered the craziest woman in the world and was about to be killed.
The woman raised her hand, her fingernails were caked with mud and some blood.
“Please, don’t hurt me!” Clarke was getting so nervous, being stuck in the jungle with a weirdo was not how she expected to find herself in this trip.
Slowly, the woman extended her arm until she reached Clarke’s hair. Clarke flinched slightly out of fear but then noticed the woman was simply looking at her golden hair. Looking at as if it was the first time in her life she had ever seen a blonde.
Next, the stranger leaned forward and nuzzled her face in Clarke’s neck and inhaled deeply. Taking various sniffs of her.
“Wooah, okay girl. This is kind of rude, you know?” Clarke pushed at the weird girl smelling her until she was away. “Not cool invading someone’s personal space. And people smell good when we take regular showers, I think you should too.” Clarke tried to joke to ease a bit the tension she was feeling coiling in the pit of her stomach.
The scowl between the girl's eyebrows would be kind of endearing, if it wasn’t kind of creepy her getting so close to her.
“Do you even understand what I’m saying?” Clarke asked. “Um, parlé francais?” Clarke tried again getting no response.
Next, the girl sat a bit straighter looking at her chest and next to Clarke’s, she reached for one of her boobs, of course Clarke slapped her hand right away.
“Okay, that’s fucking rude!”
The brunette made a small whine sound but retrieved her hand. However, she grabbed Clarke’s hand and observed it in detail, green eyes moved back towards her eyes.
“Uh yeah, five fingers. It’s the usual.” Clarke said.
The brunette rested her hand over Clarke’s, she could feel the calluses of the woman with tanned skin and inquisitive emerald eyes. The brunette opened up her hand matching Clarke’s and it was like something clicked inside the stranger wild girl when she saw they were just the same.
“What happened to you?” Clarke asked, she could see so much confusion into the green eyes of this strange girl.
That’s when she noticed a small necklace around her neck. A red gemstone crafted in a silver necklace. The gem had an infinity symbol micro-inscribed at the center of the gem. There were some letters underneath, but it was hard to read from where she was.
“CLAAAAAARKE!”
She heard the shouts in the distance.
“Hey, it’s Raven. They are coming to get me.” Clarke told the brunette. She stood up.
“I’m here!” Clarke said. “Raveeeen!”
“CLAAAAARKE!”
“HEEEERE.”
“I see you, hang in there. I’ll be there in a second!”
Clarke turned around to tell the brunette to go with her, but she was gone. As if she had seen a ghost, but Clarke knew this was no ghost.
“Jesus, Clarke. We were scared when you disappeared all of a sudden and no one had a clue where were you! Are you okay?” Raven hugged Clarke in relief.
“Yeah, I aah, yes. I’m okay.”
“Your mother is about to have a heart attack, we better get back to the camp!”
Clarke looked around once more trying to find the mysterious girl around the trees but without avail. She nodded and began following Raven back to the camp.
Clarke knew that it would be a bad idea returning to this place, but after meeting her savior she couldn’t just forget about what she saw.
There was a wild girl in the jungle with the deepest green eyes she had ever seen. A girl she wanted to see again.