Chapter Text
Wanheda’s Retribution
Chapter 1 – Wanheda
The sunlight beamed down warmly on the beaten and bloodied survivors of the mountain. A warm wind pushed them forward and enveloped them with the sweet scents of forest flowers. The forest outside the mountain had never felt so welcoming or safe before.
There were smiles and expressions of relief on every face as the large group of survivors neared the ground camp that was their home. The crashed wreckage of the Ark space station loomed over the approaching group like a ruinous reminder of all the sacrifices made to reach the ground. It was impressively massive and surprisingly intact. With the sun hanging slightly behind it, the wreckage created a massive looming shadow that almost reached the treeline of the forest.
Unlike the drop-ship, which had felt comforting and safe, the mechanical ruins of the Ark Station reminded the youths of the Hundred of their miserable lives in space. It might have been depressing to be forced to return to it, if not for the subdued relief they felt at putting the horrors of Mount Weather behind them. Even though it was uncomfortable to be reminded of their constrained lives in space, the shadow cast by the wreckage was cool and comfortable.
The tension in the bodies of the Hundred fell away as they neared the imposing metal gate of the camp. Maybe they would be safe here, maybe the fighting would finally end. It was a vain hope born of exhaustion and fear.
Some of the adults let out relieved sighs, others cheered and some called out the names of the people waiting inside the electrified fence. The adults clearly had none of the negative feelings towards the makeshift camp that the youths did. Sounds of recognition and joy drifted back over the warm wind as the guards disengaged the electric lock. The huge metal gate swung opened with a welcoming groan.
The previous chancellor had promised to pardon every one of the Hundred of their crimes in space. Some of them held onto hope that they would be welcomed inside the camp and followed the adults as they led the way home.
The survivors walked over the threshold to safety and the remaining tension in their bodies faded away as they were surrounded by the familiar faces of their people. Even the Hundred felt comforted by the presence of the surviving adults from the Ark. Clearly their crimes in space had been forgotten as ancient history.
If they were still in their drop ship, the Hundred might have resisted the welcoming hugs from known and unknown adults, but after their ordeal in the mountain; a hug was exactly what some of them needed. Some of the youths were reunited with long-lost family members with sounds of joy and relief, but not everyone’s family was present in the camp.
There were only three people who walked with a pervasive heaviness upon them at the back of the group. Two teenagers, both of them almost adults, and one young man walked behind the group of survivors with vaguely grim expressions.
The young woman and two young men were the reason the group were freed from the horrors inside the mountain. Without them, every single Arkadian would be dead. As they approached the open metal gate and the survivors all but rushed inside, the younger of the two men turned to look at his friends and partners in crime.
“We made it,” he told them with clear relief on his tanned oval face.
“We did.” The older male agreed and nodded towards the younger one. The blonde young woman by his side nodded in silence, but the darkness swirling in her blue eyes didn’t go unnoticed.
“We brought them home Clarke.”
Silence stretched on and the young woman suppressed a grimace, she eventually replied, “...Yes, we did Monty.” The smile on her face was strained and pulled taught, as if it was a skin mask. The young man, Monty, smiled in response and turned away to join the others inside the camp.
“Come on Clarke, I think we deserve a drink.” The slightly older man turned his expressive brown eyes towards the shorter young woman by his side with a charismatic smile gracing his handsome features.
“Sure Bellamy,” she replied with that same strained smile, “have one for me.”
“I know you don’t like drinking Princess, but this seems like a special occasion.” He replied with a chuckle. The sound reverberated within Clarke’s mind like a comforting song. She almost shook her head to disperse the feeling. The blonde didn’t think she deserved to feel comforted after what she had done to the mountain men.
“I have to go.” Her voice almost broke with hidden emotion.
“Clarke…If you need forgiveness, I’ll give that to you. You’re forgiven. Please come inside with me.” His smile faded and a look of pleading replaced it that gashed Clarke’s heart like a knife.
“Seeing their faces everyday will just remind me of what I did to get them here.” She turned her head away and hid her gaze behind her long blonde tresses. His words and voice always made her feel too comfortable. She couldn’t afford to listen to him, someone needed to pay the price for what she did so the rest of her people could live in peace.
“You didn’t do it alone Clarke. It was a joint effort between Monty, you and me.”
“It was my idea.” She replied stubbornly.
“You couldn’t have made it happen without Monty’s work on their computer system.” The first logical blow that tore her conviction in two.
“I pulled the lever.” Even to her ears, her reply sounded flimsy. She still refused to meet his eyes.
“I didn’t let you do that alone either.” Bellamy’s face split into a gentle smile, although it was tinged with sadness that made her heart ache.
“I need to bear it, so that they don’t have to.” She knew repeating President Wallace’s words made her sound like a parrot. Clarke was acutely aware she was a copycat leader who just did as she learned from the others around her, but there were only so many role models to learn from. So far the Chancellor, the President and the Commander had all been flawed in their own unique ways.
“They wont.” Bellamy replied resolutely and his tone of voice was so strong and full of conviction that she almost believed him. “None of them were inside that command centre. None of them could do what we did.”
“Bellamy…” She allowed her hair to part slightly so she could see his face.
“You know I’m right or you would have something smart to say back to me princess.” His handsome face naturally moved into his characteristic smirk anytime he used her nickname, as if it was the only expression that belonged with that word.
“Yeah…” In the end, she agreed with him.
“So please come inside?” He asked with his hand extended out towards her, inviting her to take it with his warm brown eyes.
Clarke fully turned to look in his eyes, nodded and slid her hand inside his larger one. Their fingers intertwined like it was the most natural thing in the world and he led the way inside. His hand was large, warm and pleasantly calloused. There was something incredibly soothing about his larger presence beside her. Suddenly she felt like a foolish schoolgirl, how would running away into the forest help her or her people? Bellamy was right, remaining at camp was the right thing to do. Anything else would be tantamount to running away and Clarke was no coward.
As they approached the survivors, Clarke was surprised to see that nobody looked at her with blame or hatred like she expected. All she could see was gratitude and trust in the faces of her people.
The first few days back at camp were tense, but peaceful. There was the uncomfortable feeling that maybe it wasn’t quite safe in the Ark crash zone with the grounders living outside in the forest, but things had been quiet since their return. The survivors of the Ark remembered the size of the grounder army that the Commander of the grounder Coalition was in command of. They remembered what it was like to watch them light their torches in the forest at night. They remembered the sound of their chanting and the horror it instilled inside them.
The thought of that many grounders descending on the camp to attack was a terrifying prospect that nobody could quite forget.
The current Chancellor of the Ark, Abby Griffen, wasn’t able to dispel the tension, but she was able to give everyone a decent distraction. Work. Everyone had jobs to do to get the camp into a liveable condition now that the mountain was gone and the surviving members of the Hundred were rescued. Most people settled into familiar roles that they held on the Ark, but a few people were given new duties to learn and new bosses to follow.
Clarke was unsure if they were safe from the grounders, but days of silence stretched into a week, then two and eventually the tension receded until it was a low level of prevailing unease around the camp. Without a clear job or role to follow, Clarke often spent time wandering around the camp, inspecting the progress of other projects like a hawk.
In her free time she took to practising her marksmanship with Bellamy’s guidance, although he wasn’t a fully trained guard, his aim had improved since the drop-ship war and he was a patient teacher. Their sessions in the forest shooting trees marked with circles were the only time either of them left the camp, much to the annoyance of Clarke’s mother, who wanted her daughter to remain inside at all times.
It was expected that Clarke would return to her medical apprenticeship and her mother had tried to reach out to invite her back. However the blonde had evaded Abby Griffin like a shadow so far. She was unwilling to speak with most of the adults, only allowing Bellamy, Monty or the other Hundred to stop her and speak with her.
The thought of returning to learning how to heal people was incredibly uncomfortable after she had repeatedly used the tools of medicine to end lives instead. She didn’t think it was appropriate to return to her apprenticeship when she had broken the Hippocratic Oath like it was an inconvenience that didn’t apply to her. Besides, it wasn’t as if she was all that talented at healing. She used to study very hard on the Ark because it was expected she would follow in Abby’s footsteps, but on the ground, she didn’t feel the need to follow that path anymore.
Clarke hadn’t confided any of this to her mother of course. Abby had a stubborn and controlling personality, two traits that Clarke had inherited. Any conversation between the two of them more difficult than trying to extract blood from a stone.
Instead she turned her thoughts back to the mountain and what had forced her hand. Or rather, who. The Commander of the grounder Coalition. A slightly older, strong and beautiful woman who had a drive and vision for leading her people unlike anyone Clarke had ever met. Someone who she had once thought of as a teacher and admired.
Lexa.
Before her betrayal, the other woman had revealed her affection for Clarke. It was heavy handed and confusing, much like the grounder woman herself. At the time Clarke had been attracted to many things about Lexa; her appearance, power and strength chief among them. Although she mourned Finn and wasn’t ready for a relationship, if they had continued being allies…something might have bloomed between them.
With how things stood now. Well...It felt as if Lexa had plunged her ice cold hand inside Clarke’s chest and ripped out her still beating heart. There was no possibility of reconciliation after the Commander’s betrayal at the foot of the mountain.
Clarke didn’t allow herself to regret her actions beside the Commander, because the leader of the grounders was a valuable source of information and guidance. Even her final act had taught the blonde woman something valuable.
Arguably, it was the most important lesson she had learned from the other woman.
Trust was something precious that shouldn’t be given out to just anyone.
Not even to family or anyone else who had something she wanted. People could be used, but she must never confide in them or rely on them like she had once done with Lexa. It was important to remember that anyone was capable of betraying her for the right reasons, because humans were inherently selfish creatures who only did things that benefited themselves or their people.
There were always exceptions to any rule. Bellamy and Monty had proven themselves to be trustworthy beyond a shadow of a doubt, but that was all.
Her thoughts turned back to the inside of the cold command centre of Mount Weather with trepidation. Bellamy and Monty had listened to her and did as she asked, even when they knew it would kill hundreds of people and stain their souls as black as hers with the innocent blood of children. It was unlikely anyone else would be willing to do something so morally abhorrent, even if it was to save their family and friends. No. Bellamy and Monty were unique in that regard, there was a reason they were called exceptions to the rule, because they were exceptional.
Thinking of the deaths in the mountain, Clarke realised she could no longer remember the number of people who had died because of her choices. At times like this, when she was feeling the heaviness of the souls she carried, Clarke was often found near the electric fence staring out into the darkness of the night sky. Counting the stars was easier than counting the dead and doing it always seemed to ground her.
The cold mask of indifference she kept plastered across her face seemed to have no effect on Bellamy, who always seemed to know when she was feeling like this. As evidenced by him following her to this spot hidden behind a piece of the Ark wreck. It shielded them from the view of the rest of camp while still being safe behind the electric fence.
Bellamy never spoke first as he simply watched over her. He seemed content to just know where she was and be there with her. She hoped he was able to draw some kind of comfort from being beside her, because she didn’t want him to leave her there alone.
The first few times he had followed her, his eyes had been full of worry. Maybe he expected her to run away, but the idea of leaving without him or Monty left Clarke feeling empty, she couldn’t even entertain the thought anymore. Without them both, she would have gone mad from her own inner demons days ago. They were necessary parts of her life now and she wasn’t willing to part with either of them.
She wondered if Bellamy and Monty felt as strongly for her as she did for them. There was a bond of bloodshed between them, so maybe they felt something similar, but she was afraid to talk about it. None of them talked about the mountain, not anymore.
Instead Clarke turned her thoughts back to when she had established her alliance with the grounders. The survivors of the Ark had looked at her like their leader. Afterall she was the one who successfully bridged the gap and brought two alien peoples together for a common goal. They still had a level of respect for her, it was difficult not to, but the adults looked towards Kane (head of security) and her mother (the chancellor) for guidance and leadership now.
Clarke felt incredibly uncomfortable about being sidelined, but she no longer had the grounders backing her. There was nothing within the camp that could give her any authority or power. The Arkadians were used to following an adult with the chancellor’s pin. It was expected they would follow Abby, but Clarke hated it so very much.
The very next day, an imposing grounder with dark skin appeared at the outer perimeter of the camp. The youngest warrior of the camp, Bellamy’s younger sister Octavia, immediately left to meet with the man. She hadn’t asked anyone’s permission to do so, but leadership was used to her free-spirited actions and anyone with eyes could recognise the man as Lincoln, her lover and the only grounder that still wanted anything to do with the survivors of the Ark.
As expected the young couple spent the rest of the day together, but to Kane’s surprised they returned well before the sun set on the horizon. What was so important that forced the pair back into camp so soon?
Kane invited the grounder to meet with him and Chancellor Griffin in the room that had been recently renovated into the ‘Chancellor’s Office.’ Somehow Bellamy and Clarke had caught word of the meeting and arrived shortly after the young couple did. Kane didn’t comment on their arrival, he had expected them to come. Clarke had always been found at the centre of any decision making process in the past, why would now be any differnet?
Abby was already seated at her newly soldered metal desk with her hands in her lap and an expectant look on her face. Her eyes softened with worry at Clarke’s appearance, but she pulled her attention away to look at Lincoln’s handsome face instead. Kane knew Doctor Abby Griffin wanted nothing more than to confront her daughter, but he was glad Chancellor Abby Griffin had prioritised Lincoln’s arrival instead.
Kane also watched the grounder with curiosity and asked, “where have you been?”
The tall, dark-skinned man turned his serious expression towards the pale man with a dark look in his eyes, “I was hunting down the surviving mountain men.”
“There were survivors? How?” Abby’s grave voice drifted over them from her desk which was covered in piles of paperwork.
“Emerson retreated from the command centre when we pulled the plug.” Bellamy replied first. Kane remembered the man, they had kept him prisoner inside their makeshift airlock after saving his life.
“He was one of Cage’s men who were ‘cured’, as they put it.” Clarke interjected with a venomous tone, but her face was carefully blank of emotion. She almost spat the word ‘cured’ like it burned her tongue.
Kane’s eyebrows narrowed in response. He knew Clarke loved her people and wanted to protect them. She had proven that when she forged the path that led to their alliance with the grounders. After what happened at Mount Weather, he understood her hatred of the mountain men, but he worried about her priorities shifting because of that feeling and how the Commander broke their alliance.
Looking over the blonde girl now, she resembled her mother in so many ways, but she also different from Abby. Clarke was colder now and she allowed very little emotion to show. Kane didn’t know how to feel about Clarke’s blank expression. There was nothing he wanted more than peace, safety and happiness for all of his people, so he longed for the day that both Griffin women would reconcile.
Lincoln nodded, “I killed Cage outside the mines. He tried to give me the red, but I cut off his hand and plunged the needle into his neck instead. He did not survive it.” His tone of voice was laced with hatred and satisfaction. Kane shivered in response to the powerful emotions on display.
“Did you see Emerson?” The older man asked with a grim expression.
“I followed his trail afterwards, but he was nimble and well-prepared for his escape. I couldn’t catch upto him before he reached the border of Azgeda. The Ice Nation.” Octavia reached forwards to pat his arm. Bellamy watched his sister’s actions from beside Clarke’s side with a serious expression that did not betray his emotions.
“The Ice Nation?” Abby asked with a curious expression. “One of the grounder clans? Maybe they could help us find him?”
“Azgeda are not your friends.”
“Explain.” The abrupt order drifted over them from behind the group. Clarke’s blue eyes bore into Lincoln body like frigid razors. Even though it wasn’t directed at him, Kane flinched in response to her look. Did she always have an expression like that nowadays?
Lincoln turned and replied, “Azgeda are hostile towards Skaikru. More than any of the other clans. Almost to the point where the Commander can not control them. Unlike the other clans, she had to force them to join her Coalition in the first place. Skaikru could be the catalyst that will destroy that alliance.”
“What do you mean? We didn’t do anything to them.” Octavia replied with concern and a slightly whining tone of voice. She was clearly worried and annoyed at the news.
“Clarke.” Lincoln turned away from the others to directly speak to her. They started at each other in tense silence for a moment and Kane wanted to step forward and ask the tall man what was wrong, but Lincoln fell to one knee and bowed his head towards her. His movements silenced the words on Kane’s lips.
“I greet Wanheda, the Commander of Death.” Lincoln’s serious voice echoed in the metallic room as if he had shouted it.
Abby shot to her feet and slammed her hands on the desk disturbing some of the piles of paperwork. Paper floated onto the ground like fallen leaves, but nobody else spoke or moved. After a second of tense silence, Kane moved to stand beside the doctor, worried she might attack the taller man, but even though he was beside Abby, Kane’s attention was on Clarke. She hadn’t replied, but a spark of understanding flashed in her blue eyes and she nodded.
“Wanheda, you are in terrible danger.” Lincoln did not rise from his position as he relayed the news to the shorter woman. “You wiped out the mountain men with your own power. This reflects badly on Heda. Her control of the Coalition is slipping as Azgeda and others question her courage and strength. Both the Queen of Azgeda and Heda want your power and they intend to take it by killing you in solo combat.”
Kane’s whole body tensed in response to the news and he saw his stance reflected in Bellamy’s body across the room. He didn’t understand the concept of ‘taking her power’, but the rest was clearly understood. Lexa’s political power was slipping and the Ice Queen wanted to take control of the Coalition, they both needed to kill Clarke to keep or take control.
“You may leave Lincoln.” Clarke told him as she closed her eyes and leaned her head on her shoulder with the slightest sigh. It was implied he was allowed to stay in camp for the foreseeable future. Kane agreed with her on that at least.
Kane silently commended her for her stoicism and control. It was impressive that a barely eighteen year old girl was able to control her emotions to that extent, but when he remembered the reason why, he was engulfed with feelings of regret and remorse. This wasn’t the first time someone threatened to or tried to kill the blonde girl. He and the other members of the council were the ones who had put her in this position in the first place and he almost buckled under the weight of that realisation.
After Lincoln and Octavia left, Bellamy let out a scoff and whispered, “if Lexa looks weak its her own fault.”
Clarke immediately shot him a look when she heard his words. They shared a knowing look which Kane didn’t understand and the young woman got up to leave.
“Clarke wait!” Abby called after her daughter, but Kane grabbed her arm gently and shook his head at her when she spun around to look at him.
“Let her go Abby, she needs time to process this news alone.” He didn’t voice his worries about what might happen if the older Griffin confronted the younger one.
“Don’t tell me what my own daughter needs!” She almost spat at him.
“I’m telling you because you need to hear it.” His response was calm. After he was sure Abby wouldn’t run out and follow the blonde girl, he turned towards Bellamy and ushered the man outside the office. The office door closed with a silent click and they were alone.
In the metallic hallway he grabbed Bellamy by the shoulder and asked, “who would Clarke accept as a personal guard?”
“Like a bodyguard?” The younger man asked with an amused smile. “Only me.”
Kane sighed softly, but nodded in response. He knew the younger man was right and pat his shoulder. “I am assigning you to protect Clarke. That’s your only job now Bellamy, do me proud.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice.”
The camp had originally been named Camp Jaha in memory of Chancellor Jaha’s sacrifice that allowed the rest of the citizens of the Ark to crash on earth in the separated pieces of their home. Now with Jaha alive and safe somewhere on the ground, following his own beliefs to lead a small team of survivors across the desert, there was no need to keep that name.
Sinclair led a group of his workers to replace the sign that read ‘Camp Jaha’, with a new sign. They renamed the camp ‘Arkadia’, in memory of their origins and the souls lost along the way to their journey to the ground.
The Arkadians had spent the last couple of weeks in relative peace. Everyday they worked to improve the living conditions and safety of their camp. They plundered the mountain for its treasures, but nobody ever brought up the idea of colonising it. Nobody was comfortable with the idea of living inside it.
According to Lincoln, attempting to settle inside the mountain would be a bad idea anyways. The grounders would view any attempt to colonise the mountain as an act of war.
The Arkadians treated the mountain like the tomb of death it was and left it at that.
Through the hard work of Sinclair’s team, led by Raven and Wick, they were able to retrofit the Ark ruins with functioning solar panels. This revived most of their electronics and made the wreckage of the Ark livable. As comfortable as the outside world was to someone who had lived their entire lives trapped in a steel coffin, when cold rain fell, it was better to be inside where it was dry and warm.
Once they were finished with that project, Sinclair took them to an open area inside the station filled with scrap, tools and gadgets and gave them each projects to complete. The tech department, as the Arkadians called it, smelled of metal, fire and oil day and night. Lincoln saw them take one of the machines from the underground garage. The place where he had almost killed Octavia while he was blinded by his need for the ‘red’. He didn’t want to know what they were doing with the metal monstrosity as thinking about it only made painful memories rise to the surface of his mind.
Abby was pleased with her new infirmary. For the first time in years it was almost fully stocked with anything she could possibly need. It took up one of the largest rooms inside the station ruins, but it was necessary. Injuries and work related accidents in real gravity were not uncommon. Bacterial and viral infections were also fairly common as the Arkadians bodies tried to acclimate with life on the ground.
The Arkadian doctors worked around the clock synthesising medicine and vaccines based on medicine taken from the mountain. The medical texts taken from the library helped immensely with this endeavour, covering gaps in Ark knowledge that had been lost in the three hundred years their people had been forced to live in space.
Lincoln was wary of the infirmary and the research department. He barely understood the methods of the healers in his own village, let alone whatever it was Abby and her people did.
Kane led the way in restocking the armoury, one of the few rooms inside the station that had a door lock that worked. There were now enough guns and bullets to kill every grounder in Lexa’s army thrice over, but the problem of manpower hadn’t been solved yet. Lincoln didn’t begrudge Skaikru’s need to defend themselves, but the guns made him uncomfortable. He had no love for Azgeda, but one day Skaikru might turn their weapons on his people. He hoped that day would never come.
A farm had been cultivated, but it wasn’t large enough to feed everyone on its own so hunting parties still needed to leave periodically to bring meat, wild roots and herbs. Octavia often led one of the parties, equipped with the knowledge she gleaned from him. Theirs were almost always successful in their hunts and soon the other hunters asked her for guidance. She was willing to teach them some things as they worked together to feed the camp. Lincoln was most proud of his daring warrior.
There was clean water available at the nearby river. The Arkadians always made sure to have enough stored up for at least a week just in case conflict ever arose, but so far no grounder had contested them at that location.
A recreation area called the Ark Cafeteria had been decked out with paintings, couches, a piano and a beautiful electric chandelier from the mountain. Caffeinated tea was available to drink alongside water and moonshine made in Monty’s salvaged still. The caffeinated tea was made from a weed that grew in abundance in the forest that Lincoln had brought back once. It had quickly become a popular morning beverage and many people could be found drinking it before work.
According to Lincoln, who was still in contact with his friend Nyko – the healer of Indra’s village – Heda had called a ceasefire against Skaikru. It was a fitting name, but most people preferred to refer to themselves as Arkadians. They didn’t begrudge the grounders giving them a name they could understand, but most of the survivors didn’t want to forget where they came from and what made them different from the natives who survived for three hundred years on the irradiated Earth.
Lincoln’s clansmen, Trikru, who used to live in the woods nearby had retreated further inland, closer to the capital. On patrol with Kane and Octavia, they had found many abandoned small villages hidden in between the massive trees. The patrol returned to camp without meeting any grounders from any of the twelve clans. Lincoln thought that tense peace was better than open conflict, but he could see the tension in Skaikru’s guards clear as day.
“The largest village in the area has always been Ton DC. After the missile…” Lincoln let the words fade on his lips as he looked at Octavia by his side. As always, her eyes were bright and full of love. He drew strength from her presence and continued talking to Kane. “Ton DC was the centre of trade and travel between many smaller villages. It was inevitable that they would return to Polis, the capital. They would need supplies and Heda’s permission to try to establish a new village.”
“How far inland is Polis?” Kane asked. Lincoln gestured where it would roughly be on the map spread over the metal table before him. Kane look at it for a while and made some gestures with his fingers in silence. “Its quite far.”
Lincoln nodded, “none will approach while Wanheda still lives. They fear her power.”
“Nobody will come?” Abby asked from the couch on the other side of the room. The entire time he spoke with Kane, the older woman had been resting quietly with her eyes closed. It was only with the mention of her daughter that her bloodshot eyes shot open and she trained her eyesight on him.
“No. Brave warriors and bounty hunters will come.” He cocked his head curiously as he watched Abby suck in a sharp breath. “They will come to take her to Heda, or to the Ice Queen.”
“The Ice Queen?” Kane asked and Lincoln turned his attention back towards the intelligent man.
“The leader of Azgeda, the Ice Nation in English. They are the largest of the twelve clans and with Trikru’s retreat, they are now your closest neighbour. They are dangerous, you should be careful.” The older male nodded and Lincoln was satisfied that he understood their position, but just in case he added, “Azgeda still see you as invaders.”
“That can’t be, she’s just a girl, what power does she have?” Abby muttered from the couch as she brought a hand up to her forehead. Lincoln locked eyes with Kane and the older man nodded, dismissing him. He took Octavia’s hand and led the shorter woman out of the room.
“What do we do?” She asked as they walked away.
“We should bring Clarke, they will need to talk.”
“She refuses to be in the same room as them,” she scoffed and he smiled in response.
“I know. It doesn’t have to be today, because of the ceasefire, we have time to convince her.”
“Then you better come up with something really convincing because she doesn’t listen to anything anyone tells her anymore.” He agreed with Octavia’s assessment.
Lincoln would need to approach Bellamy for help, but the man was never far from Clarke’s side. He needed to think of something to temporarily separate them, or wait for an opportunity when she would send him to do something for her.
Ever since returning from Mount Weather. Bellamy’s thoughts were tangled around one specific person like a dangerous briar patch. When they first met he had disliked her, but he hadn’t known her then. He disliked her position as a council members’ daughter more than her as a person. Now after only a few short months of surviving on the ground together, she was someone he valued as much as his sister.
He wanted to support and protect her, which is why he first taught her how to use a rifle and why he continued to teach her in their makeshift shooting grounds outside the gate. Ironically that was the only time he could breathe freely. By the side of the woman he considered his leader and friend, away from the watchful eyes of the Arkadian government.
While it was uncomfortable watching Clarke grow increasingly cold towards her mother and the other adults of Arkadia, he of all people understood her point of view. He hadn’t trusted the adults of the Ark, let alone any authority figures, since his childhood in space. Every waking moment of his life had been lived in defiance of rules and regulations in order to protect his younger sister, Octavia. He hadn’t been given a choice, but it didn’t matter. He loved his sister and was willing to do anything for her, even if she hated him as a result one day.
Clarke’s life on the Ark had been different from his, she respected authority and followed all the rules for most of her life. She was a model citizen of the Ark, at least that was the case until her father’s death. Then she was willing to commit treason because of her strong beliefs and faith in her father’s vision.
Unlike her, he couldn’t afford to be openly hostile towards the Arkadian government, he wasn’t related to one of them after all. It was a bitter thought, but he was glad for her familial links because it kept her safe.
The catalyst that eventually tumbled Clarke into her leadership role on the ground, was the death of her father and subsequent imprisonment in solitary confinement in the Sky-box prison. He couldn’t imagine how tortuous that experience was, but from that point on their experiences had been similar. Hurtling through space in a hundred year old metal coffin with ninety-nine other children.
Bellamy was the oldest and the biggest, which commanded authority and the children followed him, but Clarke turned out to be wiser than him in the end.
When she saved his life from the assassin sent by Shumway, things shifted between them. Trust in her grew and he realised that he could best help his sister and the other children by working together with the driven, stubborn, caring and smart Princess of the Ark. Sure he hadn’t always agreed with her and he thought she acted like a juvenile sometimes, but he was prone to reckless and juvenile actions sometimes too.
As much as the adults wanted to treat the Hundred or himself like children that needed protecting, none of them would ever feel comfortable following their lead anymore. After everything the Hundred had been forced to endure, Bellamy knew that none of them were children anymore. Not even his little sister. War had a habit of forcing growth through blood and screaming.
Bellamy followed the familiar path around the back of the Ark wreck where he and Clarke often spent moments in silence watching the stars. He knew she found his presence comforting from the way the tension in her body ever so slightly receded. There was something incredibly satisfying about being able to do that for her.
Clarke’s intense blue eyes shone like gemstones in the moonlight as she looked out into space. He looked at her in silent wonder. Even though she wore her signature cold expression. The turbulent emotions in her eyes were clear in the dim light. She would never be this vulnerable with anyone else, except for him and Monty, it was impossible after what they did in the mountain. When he saw her like this, it made him feel like there was nowhere else he belonged except by her side.
So he sat beside her on the desiccated log he had hauled there weeks ago and watched the stars twinkle in the night sky in silence from beside her. She broke the silence between them. It was startling to hear her soft voice when they usually sat there in silence, so he didn’t hear what she said at first.
“What?” He turned to look at her. Annoyance flashed through her eyes at being forced to repeat herself, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
“I said, the title of Wanheda shouldn’t belong to me alone. You and Monty were integral in the success of that mission. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Her voice was small and quiet. Only he could hear her. He knew it was because she was uncomfortable talking about the events of that day.
Bellamy nodded silently. Satisfied with his silent agreement, she turned her eyes back to the stars with a tiny sigh.
In truth Bellamy had spent the last few months rethinking his position about that day. He didn’t regret what he told Clarke at the gate, because he was able to convince her to stay with them, with him, but he no longer agreed with his own words.
Neither himself nor Monty would have thought to irradiate level five on their own. Nor could they have pulled the lever to actually make it happen without her, even if they did come up with the idea on their own. They would have stood there in that cold room and watch their people be tortured and killed helplessly until Emerson broke through the door and killed them both.
For better or for worse, she was the one who had ultimately destroyed the mountain. The title of Wanheda, as ominous as it sounded, belonged to her alone. Clarke was the one with the vision, drive and adaptability that had saved the Hundred from more than one crisis in the past. The remaining members of the Hundred would always follow her lead.
Even if her path was bloody and paved with thorns, he resolved to always be there. One step behind her, watching her back.
He would always be there, following down her blood-soaked path, even if nobody else would.
Even though Kane had promised he would keep Clarke’s new title on the down low, rumours sprouted up around the camp like weeds. Someone must have overheard their conversation inside Abby’s new office. Clarke doubted the capability of the adult Head of Security and resolved to never step foot inside that room again unless she absolutely had to.
As the rumours of the ominous title spread around camp, the adults looked at her differently. Their hard gazes were filled with a mixture of apprehension, wariness and tension. It made her feel like a caged animal. Like they were waiting for her to snap and lose her mind so they could lock her up for real.
The gazes from the Hundred were slightly different. Some of the children were still afraid and worried, but mostly there was trust. They were willing to follow her lead if they believed she was a beacon that would light the way through the darkness. A tall and lanky youth with a chip on his shoulder and a loud mouth, Jasper Jordan, was making that prospect increasingly difficult lately.
The burning hatred in his eyes was unmistakable. She knew he was fond of Maya, one of the mountain women who had helped them, but it wasn’t until the first time he turned his drunk head towards her to yell expletives at her that she realised just how close the two of them had grown. She hoped he would be able to move on after her death, but she expected him to dwell on his first love and hate her for a long time.
Jasper’s hatred of Clarke hadn’t become a problem until the day he first heard the rumour of Wanheda, the Commander of Death. Before that, he usually just avoided her and continued to exist in his drunken stupor, listening to music taken from the mountain and relaying memories of Maya over and over in his mind. Now? He felt the need to antagonise Clarke and try to worsen her reputation around the camp. Although not many took the drunk boy very seriously, it wasn’t as if he was shouting lies about her.
Bellamy and Clarke were seated together on a red couch enjoying a cup of moonshine in the Ark Cafeteria. A comfortable silence stretched around them like soft mist. The plush couch was infinitely more comfortable that the rotted log they often found themselves on and she was able to push thoughts of Jasper to the back of her mind as a result. One day soon she would need to deal with him, but for now she could relax and enjoy a rare moment of peace. Nobody approached them, but most people greeted her with a nod as they walked past.
It was nice having a quiet moment to herself.
Well not entirely to herself, Bellamy’s ever present form was right beside her, but she had grown used to his aura. Actually if she was being entirely honest with herself, without him there, she wouldn’t have felt comfortable enough to relax at all. So the quiet moment existed entirely because of his protective presence.
The moment didn’t last long. A loud clack echoed around the room as a lanky boy picked something up from the metal floor that had apparently fallen from his loose grip. As soon as he rose, his burning gaze immediately sought Clarke out. When his dark brown eyes finally met her blue ones, he rushed towards her in a drunken dash, knocking empty chairs out of his way with his flailing limbs.
“Clarke!” The now familiar drunken slur shot at her as soon as the young man noticed her position at the back of the room. By her side, Bellamy stiffened in response, but she only let out a small tired sigh as the lanky boy approached.
Their relaxing moment was ruined, but she wouldn’t allow herself to become upset or angry with Jasper. His hatred of her was uncomfortable, but it was justified if she considered his point of view. If not for that, she wouldn’t simply accept everything he spat at her with a calm expression.
“There you are, you murderer! I was looking for you!” Even though Jasper was drunk, his voice was loud and carried on the stale air. The dozen or so patrons of the cafeteria could hear him as clearly as if he was standing beside them.
“How can I help you Jasper?” She asked with her usual blank expression.
The lanky young man ignored her and turned his alcohol ridden breath towards the man beside her, “careful Bellamy, or one day she’ll kill you too.”
The brown haired man slowly rose to his feet in response. Jasper was almost as tall as he was, but Bellamy’s mass overshadowed the slightly younger man. She supposed it was fitting to call Moonshine ‘liquid courage’ because a sober Jasper would never have squared up against the armed and silently imposing Bellamy.
When she recognised the coiling tension that spread across Bellamy’s clothed muscular back and arms in preparation to strike the younger man, she put her hand on his arm. He looked down at her with anger in his brown eyes, but as soon as their eyes met, he deflated like a balloon. With a tired sigh, he ran a hand though his thick dark brown curly hair and walked towards the bar to get another drink.
With the older man gone, Jasper turned his burning brown eyes back towards the target of his hatred. He opened his mouth to say something towards her, but her frigid blue eyes calmly met his gaze in challenge and the words died on his tongue. Instead he turned away and yelled, “be careful of Wanheda, the Commander of Death! She’s dangerous! One day she’ll turn against us!”
Clarke sighed as the tall boy stumbled away from her and took a sip of moonshine only to find her cup empty. Thankfully her ever reliable personal guard had returned with two full cups and handed one to her. She accepted it and downed it, then motioned for him to follow her out. He immediately put down his drink, abandoning it and fell in step beside her.
She knew Bellamy would continue to be a coiled ball of tension ready to burst from then on, but physically hurting Jasper would only lead credence to his claim that she would turn her evil eyes on the camp. It would also put Bellamy in the makeshift prison Kane had asked their most talented mechanic, Raven Reyes, to build inside the station ruins.
Bellamy being in prison for a few days would not help the situation. She didn’t want to admit it, but Kane was right in assigning her a personal guard. With Jasper riling up some of the adults, it wouldn’t be long before some of them would work up the courage to confront her about what she had done.
Without Bellamy there, she would loose her aura of intimidation. Unlike him, she was not a tall, imposing, athletic example of male musculature. The Hundred’s affectionate title of ‘Princess’ actually described her quite well. She was of average height and build with an ample breast, long blonde hair and sharp blue eyes.
Sure she had grown a bit of muscle from her escapades on the ground over the last few weeks, but she wasn’t trained like Octavia and didn’t spend time at the makeshift gym with Raven. All she had was her marksmanship, which wasn’t unique or intimidating to the Arkadians like it was to the grounders.
Octavia was wild and intense even though she was short, Lexa had a relaxed authority that could only be built over years of ruling and Indra had deadly scars to prove she was a strong woman that shouldn’t be messed with. In comparison, there was nothing about Clarke that marked her as an accomplished killer or leader. There was just the title of Wanheda, but that didn’t mean anything to the Arkadians like it probably did to the grounders.
For the first time she understood why grounder warriors marked their bodies with scars to symbolise their kills. It was an effective intimidation tactic, even for warriors who didn’t fit the typical appearance of a killer. Clarke wouldn’t cover her back in hundreds of small scars to signify her prowess as a killer, nor did she want to wear her kills like a badge of honour. So she had to rely on Bellamy’s aura, as such, she needed to keep him out of prison.
More often than not, Jasper could be found singing songs of the mountain’s destruction at the hands of Clarke, the Commander of Death, inside the cafeteria. Every time he appeared, he made the location uncomfortable for everyone and the prospect of a physical confrontation loomed in the air like a viper waiting to strike.
“Clarke killed everyone inside that mountain! Even the people who had helped us and innocent children! Who had the children ever hurt?” His voice sounded more pained than usual. Clarke hovered by the entrance and wondered, maybe he wasn’t as drunk as he usually was. She glanced at Bellamy beside her and suppressed a sigh. At least Jasper was a predictable drunkard.
Her attention was drawn back towards the slightly drunk boy when a small group of youths approached him. The familiar black hair of Monty Green led the way towards his best friend who was currently balancing precariously on the top of a table with a bottle of moonshine in his grip.
“None of the mountain men were innocent Jasper! Every single one of them, including the children had been bleeding the grounders for years!” Monty shot back at his friend with a grim expression.
Unlike his accomplices, Monty was not as good at hiding him emotions, especially not when his best friend was involved. Clarke and her ever present personal guard entered the room, but remained by the exit, ready to leave if things turned ugly. She hoped that those who were confronting Jasper wouldn’t be rash enough to attack him, not with Monty leading them.
Incidentally, the group who followed Monty consisted of Raven Reyes, Nathan Miller, Harper McIntyre and Kyle Wick. The addition of the slightly older engineer was a surprise, but Clarke was aware of his fondness for their genius mechanic. It was likely that Raven had asked him to join them in lieu of asking for help.
“Monty. How can you blame children, they didn’t do anything wrong.” Jasper was no longer yelling, but his voice was loud from the moonshine.
“Nobody is innocent. Haven’t we all killed grounders too?” Raven stepped up and motioned to Jasper and the rest of the group.
“Jasper, do you know what it felt like being strapped to that table. What it felt like to be drilled into with no idea if it would ever end?” Harper quietly asked from the back of the group, her pale face was grim and her soft brown eyes shone with unshed tears. Clarke’s heart clenched in agony at her words and sombre appearance.
“No I don’t. But what about the people who helped us?”
“More of them were killed by Cage’s orders than by us.” Monty replied, but didn’t look in his friend’s eyes. Clarke wondered if he was afraid to see his friend’s hatred directed at him.
“No, I refuse to believe that. Clarke is a murderer and one day she’ll turn her attention on us.”
“She’s not the only murderer in this camp.” Miller replied with a grimace.
“She killed people who helped us, who helped you! She killed Maya.” The way he said her name sounded twisted, like it hurt him to say it.
“We’ve all killed a lot of people.” Miller approached and extended his hand towards Jasper with a solemn expression of understanding and sympathy.
“Get away from me!” Jasper yelled and slapped his arm, obviously missing the dark-skinned hand he had aimed for. The sudden movement destabilised his balance and he fell from the table with a loud thump, the moonshine bottle in his other hand rolled away with a soft clatter. Clarke winced at the sound from the other side of the room.
The drunkard rolled to his side with a groan and Monty fell to his knees by his side. “Are you okay Jasper?”
“No! I said get away!” He screamed and rolled to face the other way. “Go follow your precious Wanheda!”
Monty got up and turned to speak to his companions, but as he turned his head he noticed Clarke. Their eyes met and she shook her head slightly. Understanding flitted over his features and he nodded. He met Raven’s worried eyes and said, “lets go guys. He doesn’t want to listen to us.”
The group did as he suggested and filed out of the cafeteria which was quickly filling with curious patrons stopping by after work hours. The group walked past Clarke and Bellamy. Raven limped towards her, obviously wanting to say something, but Clarke shook her head and the slightly older woman stopped in her tracks. Clarke left the cafeteria with Bellamy right behind her before Raven could change her mind and say what she wanted to say.
If not for Bellamy’s ever present soothing aura, Clarke might have truly gone insane like some of the adults feared she would. She often wondered what kept him by her side, she didn’t have anything valuable to offer him in her position. Maybe he felt some kind of shared responsibility for what they had done together? His hands were stained with just as much blood as hers after all.
Whatever his reasons were didn’t matter. She was grateful for him and wasn’t willing to let him leave her side anytime soon, at least not permanently. He kept her grounded, kept her in reality. Without him, the demons inside her might have torn their way out and destroyed everything she ever cared about.
Slowly the atmosphere changed. Some of the Arkadians listened to Jasper’s words and like a poison, fear started to spread through the camp. It wasn’t obvious, but the shift in emotions was there and she noticed it any time she entered a room.
If not for Monty and the others defending her in public, she would have run away from camp to wander the woods. Well…no. She’d never leave Bellamy and Monty alone in camp to deal with the fallout from the mountain, not anymore. More than them, she was the one responsible and she needed to protect them. If that meant taking the blame as Wanheda and dealing with Jasper’s hatred, then she’d do it.
If Jasper had been a grounder, she’d have personally dealt with him days ago. However killing a fellow Arkadian, more so; killing a fellow member of the Hundred, would only lead credence to his words that one day she would turn on them. She couldn’t harm him, but she didn’t have the authority to lock him away either.
It was frustrating not being in a position of power. Even more so when her mother was still the Chancellor, elected or not. The way the older woman looked at Clarke these day made her skin crawl like she was covered in insects. Like she was alien and dangerous.
To be fair, Abby’s assessment of her daughter wasn’t entirely false. She had proven how dangerous she could be on many occasions in the past. The part of Clark that had studied diligently on the Ark to become a doctor, died the day she slit the throat of the grounder who had kidnapped her and Finn to save Anya’s Second. That was the first time she wielded the scalpel to kill instead of save (mercy killing of Atom aside), and she hadn’t strayed from that path of death since.
Clarke thought Kane would have been more palatable as Chancellor, even if their leadership styles were like night and day. At the very least, he wouldn’t try to keep tabs on her location or send people to fetch her like her mother constantly tried to. It was becoming exhausting dodging her mother’s summons, but she didn’t want to be screamed at by two people and Abby was easier to avoid than Jasper. The older woman was way too busy fulfilling the roles of two different, but equally demanding jobs.
To be continued in chapter 2...