Disclaimer:I do not own the 100 nor its characters.
Thanks a lot to HedaBeka for cleaning my mess.
They were free from Mount Weather and after her fight with Anya, she had gained some respect from the grounder. They had decided to separate from each other; Clarke wanted to find her people from the Ark and Anya needed to meet with the Commander. If they could form a truce with the grounders because of a common enemy then maybe it could evolve into some form of peace. They gave a nod to each other and went their own ways
Clarke was lost. With the night and the trees that appeared all the same, she did not know which direction she should go. She was tired, hurt and hungry. It was due time for her to take a break. She sat down against a tree and began to fall asleep. A few hours later, she heard some screams that sounded like they came from children. With a start, she took her gun and ran towards the noise. Two Mountain Men were nearby with three young girls at gunpoint while another man was hitting a woman who was trying to defend the young children.
Clarke clicked off the safety and shot the two men who were keeping the children. They both dropped down bleeding from the various holes in their chests, but before she could attack the third man his gun was already unloading on her. A bullet went through her shoulder, and she ground her teeth together in pain as she let her gun fall. The man clicked in a new clip ready to kill her when the grounder woman jumped onto him from behind and started to strangle him. He fell and struggled to get free, but she didn't let him go. Silence ensued, and the three were dead.
After a moment, Clarke began to move towards the woman who seemed exhausted, and the children who were terrified. She paused when she saw the woman looking at her suspiciously. She lifted her uninjured arm in surrender, as a sign of peace.
"I'm a healer. I just want to help you." Clarke says quietly. The woman keeps looking at her with suspicion, but she finally gives a brief nod.
The woman has some bruises and a cut on her head, but once cleaned and bandaged it would heal. When she was examining her, the woman spoke to the children in Trigedasleng.
It wasn't long before Clarke stood up, "You will heal, but I need to clean your injury with some water and bandage your head. I need to clean mine too. Do you know where we can find some water?"
The woman was watching her, but she said nothing because unlike the warriors she did not understand English. It puzzled Clarke because the woman had seemed to understand her earlier. She decided to try again, "You can talk to me. I know that the warriors speak English. I'm Clarke and I'm an ally of Anya."
The woman seems surprised, but she finally answers her, "I'm Amyla. I know where to find some water. Follow me." Clarke nodded and immediately followed the group.
After half an hour, they were at a river and Clarke began to work on the group's injuries. Once finished, she sat on the ground, taking a break since her own blood loss was making her dizzy. Amyla was speaking to the children and they were glancing over at her, causing immediate suspicion and worry to creep into her. She opened her mouth, ready to wish them good luck and a goodbye, when Amyla began to speak.
"I owe you a debt; you saved me and my children while they were under my protection. The only way for me to repay the debt like that is to form a union with you and to protect you from my own."
"Uhh, what exactly is a union?" The worry had left her, but confusion now set in.
"It's when two people join together. They share everything and protect each other."
It sounded so much like a marriage. This can't be happening. She needed to find something to discourage her. She could act like she didn't understand her, but that would make her appear stupid and she didn't like that idea. She was too prideful, damn it. She could run, but just one look at the children threw out that idea. She could lie and tell them she already had someone, which could have been true if Finn didn't have Raven, but she didn't know how liars were treated among the grounders. She was left with one solution.
"I'm from the sky people. We don't have the same customs and you saved my life as well. You owe me nothing; your debt is already paid." She was proud of herself; she had successfully disarmed an embarrassing situation. Or so she thought.
"I could accept that if it was only me, but you saved my children too. It will be a dishonor to me and to the children if I don't repay the debt by a union. We will be cast out of the woods clan. I will teach you my people's way of life and you will teach me yours. The children are orphans. The Mountain Men killed their parents, and they are our responsibility now."
What the hell, since when did saving people's lives mean you had to become a wife and take care of children? Clarke was about ready to shout at her with a firm "no" and say to hell with the consequences, but she made the mistake of looking towards the girls who didn't appear to be more than seven years of age. They were looking at her with hope and admiration. It was game over. She would never be able to look at herself the same way again if she didn't protect them. Her shoulders dropped as the fight left her. She redressed the woman's head and saw that Amyla had a knowing smirk that said that she knew she had won. Damn it, she fought dirty. She would remember that. At least the woman was pretty with brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She was taller than her, and probably around her age, but maybe a little older. She seemed smart, as well.
In addition, she definitely knew how to fight. That could have been a lot worse, but she seemed to be too stubborn to die, just like herself. Either way, she knew it would be hard.
She had other things to worry about; later she would need to find a way to make her give up. For now, she had to rejoin her people and rescue her friends.
"Do you know where the ship that crashed down is? It was burning in the sky before it fell to the earth."
Amyla's eyes lit up in recognition, "Yes, it is one day's walk from here."
Clarke frowned. She had really gone in the wrong direction, but it wasn't all her fault when the trees were all the same and the darkness of night had disoriented her. She could convince herself that it wasn't just her bad sense of orientation. It was time to move on.
"I need your help to get me there. My people are there and I need to speak to them. I promise you that you and the children will be safe."
Amyla looked at her with uncertainty, but she must've seen something in her eyes that made her believe her because she gave a nod.
Turning to the children she spoke, "Ai don tel em bialaik oso ste klir." She glanced back at Clarke. "I told them that we were safe, so don't make me a liar."
Before they left, Amyla offered her a knife as a gift. Clarke accepted it thinking that it was for helping to protect herself and meant as a thank you, but later she would discover that it was finalizing the union and meant they were married. The walk took them almost two days with the children, but the walk gave them time to learn a little about each other. The children were named Tia, Mia and Aura. They were from the same little village as Amyla; It had been called Lum and was close to TonDC. Amyla was the leader of the village. They had been attacked by the Mountain Men, and a lot of them had been killed while the rest were captured. They had tried to fight, but there was nothing they could have done. Amyla had fought to keep the children alive and away from the Mountain Men; It was her duty as a leader to keep them safe. When Clarke told her that she had been in Mount Weather with Anya and that they had escaped, she was truly surprised. But it wasn't until Clarke told her that she had been hoping to form an alliance with the grounders to rescue her friends and the grounders in Mount Weather that she began to think her new wife might be either really strong or really stupid. She hadn't decided yet.
They were arriving at the camp when Amyla finished telling Clarke that they were actually married according to the grounder's tradition with a smirk. Clarke just stopped, mouth agape, and looking at her in complete disbelief. She hoped it was some sort of joke, but then she saw the serious look in Amyla's eyes and she knew it wasn't. The hope that she wouldn't be rejected shined through no matter how hard she tried to hide it. There was a fear for herself and the children, and she knew what she needed to do. Clarke began to smile and gave a solid nod.
It was in the middle of the day when they found themselves in front of the Ark. The soldiers were ready to shoot, but when they spotted the children they stopped and lowered their guns. Clarke was advancing with her arms in the air in surrender.
"I'm Clarke Griffin of the sky people, one of the hundred. The people behind me are with me, and they are not a threat."
As soon as the soldiers heard her name one of the guards was running towards the Ark. Within five minutes, Chancellor Griffin was rushing to the door and ordering the guards to open the gate.
When Clarke saw her mother, tears began to run down her face. She could not believe the sight before her.
"Mom," she cried. They hugged like never before. They had thought that they wouldn't see each other again. Finally they released each other and for the first time Abby realized that there were people behind Clarke. "Who are they, Clarke?"
"The woman, Amyla, is uh. She is my wife and the children are my children. Well, sort of."
According to the look on her mother's face, she would have to give an explanation. That would surely be a good mother daughter time!
