Even though the pace was slow, Anya forced them to walk through the night and all through the next day. Both Clarke and Raven were tired not so much from strenuous activity, but from the sheer length of time that they were forced to keep moving.

"How much further actually is this place that you're taking us?" Clarke asked wearily. She'd lost track of where they were in reference to the Ark a long time ago, partly due to the fact that they'd begun to move into unchartered territory and also because the scenery looked the same. The forest was full of life with the occasional rustling of animals but they didn't see hide nor hair and they certainly hadn't seen another soul, Grounder or otherwise.

"It's only a bit further but if you keep complaining I'll kill you and be done with it," replied Anya shoving Clarke forward in the process causing her to stumble.

Raven, whose alertness was slipping as her fatigue rose glanced over her shoulder to look at Clarke and Anya. She could see how tired Clarke was as she still kept putting one foot in front of the other. She wanted nothing more than for the two of them to be rid of Anya so they could find their friends who they hadn't heard from for awhile now. Raven noticed Clarke's head droop slightly and her stumble and that's what brought her to a stop.

"Can we at least have a break for awhile? I'm sure your people will still be there and waiting regardless of whether we have a break or not." She motioned to Clarke, "She's exhausted and you must be too." Raven thought about it for a moment before she dropped her gun to the ground. "Let us have a break and we'll go with you willingly." She pleaded.

Anya made a show of thinking about it for a moment. At least as much as a person can make a show of deliberation whilst holding another person hostage with a blade. "Hmmmm, no I don't think we will. The only time I plan to rest is when the both of you are dead."

With an exaggerated sound of exasperation, Raven picked up her rifle and trudged on. She caught a glimpse of a clearing up ahead, the suns rays peeking through the canopy above, illuminating the ground. There was a large log from a fallen tree that on another day, she could have seen herself sitting on with Clarke by her side. Or perhaps they'd be lounging on the soft bed of grass, blissfully ignorant of everything but each other. Nothing else existing except that moment in time.

She imagined tucking an errant section of Clarke's blonde hair behind her ear, looking into her eyes and sharing a kiss or two. They'd be talking about nothing important and they wouldn't have to worry about life or death situations. Raven looked back at Clarke once more and noticed Clarke looking at her and when their eyes met, Clarke smiled and Raven could feel herself blush and she wondered if maybe Clarke had been thinking similar thoughts, anything to get their mind off of the current situation that they were in.

Raven was broken out of her revere by the sound of an arrow slamming into the bough of a tree nearby her head. She quickly stepped back closer to Clarke and Anya, quickly waving her rifle to try and pinpoint any threats to shoot at. She got her first sight of other people in days, who turned out to be Grounders. They seemingly melting out of the trees, one minute they weren't there and the next they were. Looking around Raven could see that they were surrounded.

"You may as well put your gun down, you'll be dead before you could fire a shot off anyway," Anya said breaking the silence.

Raven looked at her, "These are your people? We've finally arrived?" She asked not taking her eyes off the Grounders that were emerging from the tree line.

"Whether she is one of us anymore remains to be seen, Girl from the sky," one of the Grounders said as he stepped forward, his booming voice signalling his authority amongst the Grounders. He was an absolute mountain of a man standing at well over 6 feet tall and packing plenty of muscle on his sculpted physique. Much like what the rest of the Grounders typically wear, their leader was no different in that the clothes they wore consisted of a mix of browns, greens and blacks actively designed to blend into the surroundings.

He signalled for one of his underlings to tie the hands of Raven as well as Clarke and they were led into the settlement of the Grounders. There were huts constructed out of a range of materials that were hung up high in the trees. Slaves were walking around carrying a variety of items to be used for construction amongst other things, eagerly patrolled by Grounders who were more than keen to dole out the punishment if a slave was shirking their duties for even a moment.

In the centre of the camp however, Clarke noticed that her friends Bellamy, Murphy and Finn were bound upright in a position as if they were to be whipped and flayed. Their shirts were missing and their torso's were adorned with a variety of cuts, scrapes, burns and welts making them look the worse for wear. Finn looked up and saw Clarke and Raven with their hands tied and walking toward him,

"Clarke!" No sooner had he yelled out her name a horn sounded, but this horn had a deeper sound to it in comparison to the one that warned of the impending acid fog. At the sound of the horn, Grounders from all corners of the settlement made their way to encircle those captured as their leader spoke,

"Fellow people of the Ground, I your leader Jorah, announce the capture of another two prisoners from the sky." He looked over at Anya before continuing moving around the circle in an attempt to address everyone and make his voice heard, "I also would like your help on deciding a matter."

He grabbed Anya and shoved her to the ground in front of Bellamy and those bound. "Our sister Anya has returned to us with these new captives. She led our people into a battle which they ultimately lost and essentially all of them lost their lives." He paused for effect.

"So my question is, does she deserve to be one of us?" A roar of assent met his question and he nodded. "So it shall be done. Anya you are welcomed back with open arms."

He held out a hand to her which she took and he pulled her to her feet. Jorah walked over to stand in front of Clarke and Raven, "Now to decide which one of you to torture first." As he looked over at Raven she spat in his face, to which he just laughed it off, "She's feisty this one," he said addressing the crowd with a laugh.

"I think we'll torture her first." Anya stepped forward in front of Raven, blocking his path, "I have a suggestion for that," she said as she gestured to Raven. "The two of them are lovers so I think the torture would work best if you tortured one and gave the other a close look while you did it." Jorah rested his hands on Anya's shoulders,

"I like that plan Anya." He turned to the nearest Grounder, "String the feisty one up like the other prisoners," and to another Grounder he said, "Make sure this one gets the best seat in the house," pointing at Clarke. He pulled a long, recently polished blade from a sheath on his back and waited for his orders to be followed.

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"What's the point of torturing us if you've already gotten information from our friends?" Clarke asked as she was shoved to her knees merely feet away from where Raven was strung up. Jorah walked over and with his free hand, backhanded Clarke sending her sprawled awkwardly to the ground, before she was righted again by the Grounder nearby.

"I'll answer your question not because I have to, but so you understand and this process will go as smoothly as possible." He waved his blade to Bellamy, Finn and Murphy. These three eventually provided us with information, but I want to see if you and your lover have anything else you can offer by the way of information; now be silent!"

He sauntered over so that he was standing right in front of Raven as he prepared to ask his first question.

"Where exactly are your people from the sky located?" He waited patiently for a few seconds to give Raven a chance to reply but she just stared at him defiantly. He drew the blade across her exposed torso; the only bit of clothing on her upper body was her bra. Clarke saw Raven wince as a line of crimson appeared across her torso.

"Got anything to say now?" he prompted her whilst waving his blade at her. She smiled at him and gestured to Clarke with her head,

"Is that all you got? She's rougher than you, you know." Raven said earning her some laughs from the male Grounders and a wry smile from Jorah.

"I knew I'd like you. It's a shame to have to kill you afterwards. You don't seem like a bitch I could bring to heel." Raven glared at him once more. The questions came one after the other and occasionally instead of being cut, Raven was whipped from behind.

The questions were all sorts of questions that the Grounders could think of that they might need to know about the people from the Ark. Seeing Raven hanging more limply after a lengthy interrogation brought tears to Clarke's eyes.

"Stop! Just please stop! I'll tell you everything you might want or need to know. Just let her go and let me look after her wounds, please?" She begged Jorah, who with a gesture with his head got another Grounder to cut Raven loose as he unbound Clarke's hands. She raced over to Raven and put her head in her lap. She brushed Raven's hair out of her face soothing her to begin with. She moved down to inspect Raven's wounds, wincing at the sight.

"It's gonna leave a pretty wicked scar that first cut isn't it? I hope those do it for you," Raven joked as Clarke smiled with her watery eyes leaking tears.

"I'm going to get you out no matter what Raven and no one's going to hurt you again," Clarke said with fierce determination as she kissed Raven quickly before grabbing Raven's shirt to wrap around her torso to slow the bleeding.

"Alright, that's long enough!" said Jorah in his booming voice as he grabbed Clarke roughly by her hair. He didn't wait to ask a question this time, dragged his blade across her back cutting open the back of her top in the process. Clarke cried out but Jorah still held on,

"You going to suffer for what happened all those people you killed. My people," he whispered hoarsely in her ear. The sound of a spear sinking into flesh interrupted the scene and it was closely followed by that of gunfire. Clarke was soon on the ground with Jorah's dead weight on top of her.

She could see where the bullet had penetrated his skull as she attempted to push him off of her. The sounds of battle were soon upon the settlement as arrows and bullets were exchanged. Clarke caught sight of someone standing at top a slope looking down at the settlement and given her position it was clear that she was the one who threw the spear to start it all.

Octavia. Wriggling free finally, Clarke stumbled over to Raven and attempted to shield her from danger. She looked around watching the battle unfold as a feeling of helplessness overtook her being unarmed as she was. She could see councillor Kane and his search party putting down any resistance until there was none left because they were either dead or had fled.

"Are you alright Clarke?" Octavia asked as Clarke looked up to see her standing nearby. Octavia gestured to the Grounder next to her.

"This man is a friend of Lincoln's and a healer. Let him help Raven." Clarke just nodded as she sat and leant back against the structure which they had strung Raven up by as the healer set to work on Raven and Clarke passed out from exhaustion.

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Clarke woke up to the sound of murmured voices, too faint for her to make out. She quickly shot up and took in her surroundings, wincing as the flare of pain on her back reminded her of the cut that the former leader of this tribe of Grounders had given her. She had been laying down on a surprisingly comfortable stretcher in one of the few huts that were on the ground in the settlement.

"Hey Clarke you're awake now!" She was instantly greeted by the sound of Octavia's voice as she looked over and saw the girl striding over to her. "How are you feeling?" She asked as a follow up question. Clarke waved her hand in a dismissive motion,

"I'm angry, and a little sore. But fine otherwise." She looked closely at Octavia and saw her in a different way. She looked as though she was standing taller, prouder since the last time she'd seen her. She was still dressed in the same gear that she stepped off the dropship with except she was slightly dirtier and had bandage wrapped around her lower left leg. "Thanks by the way Octavia for coming to the rescue when you did."

Clarke looked over at Raven and saw her sleeping peacefully. She got up and walked over to Raven, kneeling by her bed, brushing her hair out of her face. Octavia walked across the room to Clarke,

"She's going to be out for a few hours but she'll be fine. Scarred because of the cuts, but fine otherwise." Clarke got up and with a defiant expression on her face asked, "Is Anya out there? Is she still alive?" Octavia look puzzled for a second.

"I'm not sure who you're talking about, but there was one Grounder, a woman who was captured after a scuffle so that could be her. Why?"

Clarke grabbed a knife out of a sheath off of Octavia's belt and walked to the door, stopped to look back, "We have unfinished business her and I."

Raven woke up a few hours later looking up at the ceiling of the hut that she was in. She'd slept a dreamless sleep thankfully and the events of the day previously all came rushing back to her. Getting taken to the Grounder settlement by Anya, getting tortured and seeing the anguish on Clarke's face as they made her watch it all happen. Then the battle that ensued afterwards. She remembered Clarke looking after her wounds briefly before she passed out but she had no recollection of how she ended up in this hut.

"Hey sleepyhead, how are you feeling?" The voice came from her left and Raven moved her head to see Finn now approaching. He looked the worse for wear after the beating he'd likely taken, and definitely exhausted but she had to admit he still looked cute with his short haircut and his prisoner clothes which all of 'The 100' were sporting nowadays. Raven tried to sit up and winced due to the cuts on her stomach and welts on her back but she managed it eventually.

"I'm sore and still a little tired but you know me, nothing can keep this girl down," she said playfully as she punched his arm. Looking over his shoulder, she noticed Clarke was slumped in a chair asleep.

"How long has she been here?" Raven asked. Finn glanced over his shoulder and looked back at Raven.

"Ever since she finished with Anya she hasn't left your side for a minute." He continued after noticing the puzzled look on her face. "She was pretty pissed when she woke up and Anya felt her wrath."

"What did she do?" Raven's mind going through the number of possibilities that could have occurred.

Finn smiled for a moment as he met Raven's eyes putting a hand on her shoulder, "Let's just say I don't want to piss Clarke off ever again." Finn pulled a chair over and sat down. "So you and Clarke huh?"

Raven smacked him on the arm, "First get your mind out of the gutter. You might have been with both of us before but still and second yeah we're together." She held up her hand to stop him from asking the next obvious question.

"It just kind of happened okay. She came back to the Ark one day and she was helping me through my rehab. I started to see exactly the kind of person she was and it was hard not to fall for her. I took a chance by kissing her one day and then one thing led to another."

Raven smiled at the memory. Despite the short time that she and Clarke had been together she could only speak for herself when she said she was crazy about Clarke. Just as Finn went to ask another question, Clarke stirred and saw that Raven was awake. She rushed over and pulled Raven into a quick hug which she released after hearing Raven wince.

"I'm sorry are you alright?" She asked a look of horror on her face for not having been more careful.

"Annnnnd that's my cue to leave. I'll catch up with you both later," Finn said squeezing Raven's hand one last time and acknowledging Clarke with a brief nod. Clarke was focused solely on Raven now, pulling up her shirt to examine the wounds.

"He did a good job, the healer that is," she commented to no one in particular, her eyes roaming over Raven's exposed torso. Raven pulled Clarke in for a kiss which she happily obliged. Even after they broke apart, Clarke remained really close looking deep into Raven's eyes.

"So what was this I heard about you being angry and Anya?" Raven enquired as she broke the spell that they were both seemingly under.

Clarke's expression turned murderous as she remembered what she had done to Anya. She pulled back slightly, giving her some space. Everything that had been done to Raven she made sure that Anya had felt the same pain to with her own twist added in.

"She brought us here to get tortured. If she hadn't brought us here this never would have happened." She tucked her hair behind her ears, "I couldn't let her get away with doing that to someone I care about. To someone that I love." The words were out of Clarke's mouth before she could take them back. She had a slightly horrified expression on her face as she looked at Raven hoping she hadn't scared her away, covering her mouth with her hands.

"So you love me huh?" Raven asked with a playful smile on her face.

Clarke relaxed visibly, but was still wary. "I don't know where that came from. I've just been a wreck the last few hours worrying about you. Wanting to hold you, touch you and tell you how much you mean to me. I just don't want to scare you away." Clarke admitted as she looked down at her lap not being able to look up and meet Raven's gaze right there and then in case her feelings weren't reflected.

"How would you touch me? How would you hold me?" Raven asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Clarke pushed up Raven's shirt and started kissing her stomach, being gentle before she joined her on the bed taking her head in her hands bringing Raven's lips to meet hers. Her heart was pounding wildly and her pulse raced a marathon, the blood pumping loudly in her ears. Raven pushed back for a moment breaking their contact,

"Clarke wait; I need to say something before we continue." She paused for a moment, "I don't think I've ever felt as loved by someone as I do by you now. It's an amazing feeling and it's only going to get better."

"Really and why's that?" Clarke asked a look of surprise adorned her face.

"Because I love you too Clarke Griffin." She pulled Clarke's lips back to hers and for the time being there was nothing else that mattered more in the world, this new world to her right in that moment than Clarke. Raven dragged her shirt the rest of the way over her head, flinging it to the floor. She watched as Clarke did the same, and in between each piece of clothing that was removed they resumed showing to one another how their feelings translated into actions.

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Later that evening, there was a big bonfire that was lit in a pit in the middle of the Grounder settlement. Food had been cooked and passed around for all to sample now that they could put their feet up for a day at least. Clarke and Raven had arrived hand in hand after an afternoon exploring the more physical aspects of their relationship and after having collected some food, sat down to eat. Being totally at easy with the situation and herself as a person, Raven decided to let her playful side out for the evening.

"Oooo Clarke you have to try this!" She said excited by the food she'd just sampled. Clarke waited for Raven to give it to her but when she didn't, Raven winked,

"Come and get it," placing the piece of food between her lips. Clarke blushed and slowly closed the gap between them, carefully pulling the piece of food into her mouth with her tongue. Raven cupped the back of Clarke's head with her hand and pulled her in for a quick kiss.

"You're in a mischievous mood tonight," Clarke noted placing a hand on Raven's thigh.

Raven shrugged, "I'm just really happy." Clarke smiled and was glad that Raven, her girlfriend was in high spirits especially after what she'd been through since arriving on Earth in that pod, what now seemed like an eternity ago. Just thinking about the fact that she and Raven were a couple also surprised and delighted Clarke. Given the trials and tribulations that 'The 100' had been through and the responsibility that had been thrust onto her shoulders, dating and whatnot was something that hadn't even crossed her mind. Raven noticed that Clarke wasn't entirely with her in that moment,

"What are you thinking so hard about?" She asked as she played with a lock of Clarke's blonde hair.

"Oh just about everything we've been through and how I didn't expect I'd be in a relationship since coming down to Earth." She put her hands on Raven's thighs and slid them closer to her body, leaning in closer to Raven's face.

"But I'm glad I am. I mean it just happened out of the blue, but there's not a person I'd rather spend my time with." She kissed Raven quickly, savouring the touch and taste of her lips.

"Ugh break it up you two; your cuteness is going to make everyone sick. Or at least get a room," said Octavia as she bumped into Clarke as she sat down next to her. Raven slung an arm around Clarke and pulled her close,

"We will later after this meeting or whatever it is finishes, but you're welcome to join us Octavia," Raven said as she winked suggestively at her.

Octavia just rolled her eyes, "Thanks Raven but you are so not my type."

"Could I have everyone's attention please?" This from councillor Kane who was standing on the stump of a tree so he was raised up above everyone else and clear for all to see wherever they were standing. He was dressed in his typical black uniform which was typified by the guards as well with two flanking him and the remainder patrolling the settlement.

"After lengthy discussion with the leader of the Grounders," he gestured to the African-American woman standing just off to his left, "We have come to an agreement, an agreement of peace between our two groups."

His gaze scanning the crowd to make it known that he was addressing everyone. "The terms are still to be finalised, but they have agreed that those by which they refer to as the mountain men, up on Mt Weather are our adversaries and not our friends." With a sweeping gesture with his hand he indicated to the settlement.

"For now we will remain here for the next day or so, but once we've got our plan to move forward from here sorted, we will move on. Now enjoy the food and company!"

As everyone went back to their conversations, Clarke who had not taken her eyes off of Kane saw him indicate to her with a gesture of his hand to come see him. She quickly looked over at Raven who just nodded and they both got up crossing the bonfire area to do so as she followed Kane into a nearby hut which had served as his quarters.

Once inside he turned to face Clarke and Raven, directing his question at Clarke,

"After the brief chat we had earlier today, I need you to tell me everything you can about Mt Weather," he begun gesturing with his fingers to count off the things he wanted to know, "The people, the layout of the bunker, the number of soldiers they have, exits and entrances, that sort of thing."

Clarke stepped over to the desk he had placed in the centre of the room, "Have you got anything to write with and paper to draw on? I can give you an overview of the layout."

He pulled out some paper he had stuffed in his back pocket, turning it over so the bank side was face up and retrieved some charcoal that he had and Clarke figured that it would have to make do.

She set about drawing each section and explaining along the way what each room was, the amount of their people that were still there and she could only guess at the number of soldiers there but it would have to do. After a few moments of silence after she'd finished explaining, councillor Kane finally spoke up,

"This has given me a lot to think about. But with the support of the Grounders it'll help but it will still be immensely difficult either way." He grabbed the plans that Clarke had drawn up and folded it up and placed it back into his back pocket.

"The Grounders should agree with making a move against Mt Weather as they want them gone also. We'll leave at first light and make our way back to the Ark and we'll take it from there."

With that Clarke and Raven were dismissed as they walked outside to find a place to look at the stars together, both having their thoughts straying towards the upcoming skirmish with the Mountaineers of Mt Weather.

A/N:

Music that inspired the chapter

As part of the writing process, I've found that music often helps spark the creativity that leads to how certain scenes/scenarios will play out. In some cases, it helps generate an idea or a different way of approaching a scene. In other cases, I imagine the music in the background setting the tone for what is to come or the emotion/s felt by those characters or even just to lend some insight into what they would be feeling (e.g. fear with a darker macabre piece of music).

I decided to share the music that allowed me to bring to life my fanfiction and I hope you'll see what I mean if you listen to the songs. If you'd like to hear exactly in greater detail as to why these songs were chosen feel free to inbox me!

Songs:

Battle Cry - Mark J. Petrie (When Octavia & Grounders come to Clarke and company's rescue)

Magic - Coldplay (When Clarke and Raven are alone together at the Grounder settlement)

Congratulations you've reached the end of the chapter! Liked what you read? Didn't like it? Leave me a review as feedback is encouraged! I have lots of ideas swirling around in my head for this story but if you have a suggestion I'd love to hear it!

It's always nice reading reviews and each time I see that I have a new person follow or favourite the story or both it never fails to bring a smile to my dial so it's much appreciated because it makes it worthwhile knowing that there are people out there in the big wide world who are reading and enjoying what I've written.

Now for a bit of shameless self promotion. I have another story which I work on every now and then usually when an idea pops into my head. The story is called 'Octavia Blake: Girl on a mission.'

It's a story with a slow burn and may take awhile to get into especially seeing as there is only a couple of chapters in so far, but it was largely born out of a combination of seeing how distraught Octavia was when her and Lincoln got separated on an episode of 'The 100', watching a lot of the TV show 'Arrow' and the movie 'John Wick'. So if you've got a moment or two and have made it this far why not give it a look and tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading!