Note:

First of all: thank you for everyone that is reading this story and followed or favored it. I'm really enjoying writing it and I have a lot of ideas in my head.

I would also like to involve you as readers in my story, so if you have a certain scene or idea that you would like me to integrate into the story, just send them to me by pb or in a review. For example if you want a certain character to get more attention in the story or a character to make an appearance or things like a second relationship, just send them and I'll do my very best to make it happen.

I would really like to hear about your ideas or requests because I really think that it would make this story great. I think that because I'm writing this for you, you should have some say in what will happen in the story.

Without further ado, here is chapter 2, so enjoy!

Chapter 2:

She was woken up by Lincoln as soon as the first rays of sunshine found its way through the branches and leaves of the trees.

"Eat this. We'll be leaving soon."

Clarke looked at the piece of dried meat that was given to her. She took it thankfully and it was only then that she noticed how hungry she was. Her stomach started growling in anticipation of the food. Without waiting any longer she started eating. The meat felt dry and rough in her mouth, but nonetheless, it tasted immensely satisfying.

The grounders kept themselves busy by creating some kind of stretcher from big branches. The end of the stretcher was tied to the horse. She figured that the wounded man wasn't able to ride his horse, so they placed him on the stretcher, securing him with ropes.

It was Lincoln that untied her from the tree and lead her to the horses. He held halt next to the horse that had been from the wounded man.

"Get on it."

Clarke looked at Lincoln and then at the horse. He wanted her to ride on that huge horse? The horse was black with white spots on its head and back. A beautiful creature, but much too tall for her liking.

"I … I've never ridden a horse."

He looked annoyed and at the same time amused. "It's not that hard. You don't have to steer it since it will be tied to Tiga's horse. The only thing you have to do is keep your balance and sit up straight."

"Okay. But how do you want me to get on the horse?"

He didn't give an answer, but took a step forward and before she knew it his hands were on her hips, and she was lifted from the ground as if she was a little kid. As if it was no effort to him, he placed her on top of the horse. Now that she was on its back she realized even more how big the animal was. There was a big distance between her and the ground.

He left her and went to his own horse and soon after the horse started moving beneath her, his mane bouncing with his stride. Although it felt uncomfortable to sit on the horse, it was better than walking behind it, so she wasn't going to complain. She placed her hands around the horn of the saddle, only to give her the impression that she was not going to fall off the horse.

Clarke felt like they had been riding for hours. The sun was now high in the sky, indicating that it had to be midday. Her whole body was stiff and sore from riding the horse. Once in a while, she would strain her shoulders back to ease her tensing muscles.

"Osir're houm."

It had been Tiga that had spoken as she looked forward. Clarke followed her gaze and was mesmerized by what she saw. In front of them stood a huge statue. It was made of white stone and overgrown by vegetation.
The statue seemed familiar. Like she had seen the face of the man that was carved into the stone before.

Abraham Lincoln.

She stared at the statue in awe, wondering how this statue had been kept intact all this time. She was also thankful that it had. She had learned about the history of the earth before the nuclear apocalypse and so she had learned about the presidents that had ruled the world and some monuments.

"This is Washington," she said to herself in realization.

"Washington?" It was Lincoln, who was now riding next to her that had asked the question.

"Before the apocalypse, this place was called Washington DC. The statue over there is the statue of ..."

He finished her sentence "Abraham Lincoln."

Clarke nodded with excitement. This was all surreal to her. Since they had landed on earth she hadn't really thought about where they had landed, but now that she knew it felt like she was walking into history.

"Do you know who Abraham Lincoln was?" Clarke asked. She figured they did since it was clear that Lincoln himself was named after Abraham.

"He was once a great commander."

Clarke smiled at that. He wasn't wrong since to them it seemed that a commander was someone who led the people. But Clarke knew that Abraham hadn't just been a commander. He had been one of the greatest presidents of American history.

"So. Is this place still called Washington DC?"

Lincoln shook his head. "We call our home Tondc. Home of Trikru."

Tondc. So they did keep the name of the original state but just shortened it. It was interesting to hear how they had made this place their own after the apocalypse. They had used what was already there to create something of their own.

"So are there other groups aside from Trikru?" Clarke's interest was sparked, and she wanted to know more. She wanted to know how they had survived the apocalypse and how they had started a new civilization. She knew that she was still a prisoner, but maybe this would be the only chance she would get to know more about them.

"Your questions will have to wait. We have arrived." Lincoln jumped from his horse as he said that and the other two grounders followed his example.

They walked down a path and at the end she could see what looked like two guard posts on either side of the path. The guard posts were made of wood and were about two meters high. On top of them stood two grounders, both armored in a similar way as her captivators.

As they passed, the guards gave a small nod at them, letting them pass.

She hadn't imagined what she saw next. Trees made place for houses. The houses were made of different materials like stone, metal and wood. The streets that ran through the little village were busy with people. Most of them were busy with daily tasks like washing clothes, cooking food or chopping wood. Clarke noticed that when they passed most of them stopped their actions and looked at her. There was a mixture of curiosity and hate on their faces.

Clarke didn't let the fact that the grounders didn't want her here bother her. She had done nothing wrong. She hadn't killed one of them, and she never meant harm to them, so she had no reason to feel guilty. She sat up straight on the horse and just looked straightforward, trying to ignore the looks that people were giving her.

It didn't take them long before they arrived at what looked like the center of the village. It was a small open space with a large bonfire in the middle of it. On the opposite side of the main road that they came from, was a building that was significantly bigger than the other buildings and houses in the village.

"Get off the horse."

Tiga was the one who had given the commando and Clarke did as she asked. Some villagers had gathered around them, curious about what she was doing here and what would happen.

As soon as they all dismounted their horse, the wounded grounder was taken away somewhere. Clarke could see that Tiga wanted to go with him, make sure that he was well taken care of, but she had the task to guard her.

"Let's go."

Clarke swallowed. This was it. The person that she was going to meet was going to descide her future. And Clarke had a feeling she wasn't going to like what he was going to say. Whatever he was going to tell her, Clarke had promised herself that she was going to stay strong. She wasn't going to show fear.

They entered the building. Lincoln in front of her and Tiga behind her, making sure that she had no way to escape. They entered the building through a small hallway and held halt in front of a door made of metal. A guard opened the door for them and Clarke walked into a big room. The floor and roof were made of wood and the walls were made of thick bricks of different colors. Light fell into the room through some windows on the left wall. Different kind of rugs lay in the middle of the room, forming some kind of path to walk on. At the end of the room, there was a little platform with on it a throne. It was made of metal and the armrests were made of the skull of some animal, giving it a sinister look. Clarke expected their leader to be sitting on the throne, but it was empty.

They held halt in front of the platform.

"Wait here. And don't try to get some crazy idea about trying to escape. The smartest thing for you to do is to just stay put."

Clarke nodded at Lincoln before he left the room trough a red curtain that was hanging before a door opening behind the throne. Clarke thought that even is she tried to escape she wouldn't make it further than halfway trough this room. There were six guards standing in this room.

Knowing that Lincoln was probably talking to their leader made her nervous. The waiting wasn't helping either.

After what felt like some minutes, Lincoln entered the room. He didn't join her, but walked to the side of the platform and just stood there, his hands behind his back, his gaze towards the ground. Clarke looked next to her and saw that Tiga was also changing her posture, moving her hands behind her back, spreading her feet slightly.

Clarke knew why they suddenly took a submissive stand. Their leader was entering the room. Her eyes went towards the red curtain, waiting until the man that would decide about her life would enter.

The curtain rustled and a hand pushed them aside. A figure walked into the room. At first, Clarke just thought that he looked like the other grounders. He was tall, with broad shoulders and even though he was wearing leather armor with fur, you could see that muscles were hidden underneath that armor. She couldn't see his face, only dark tousled brown hair. After he entered through the curtain he looked up, his eyes meeting hers, and she was surprised.

She had expected to meet a middle-aged man, with a big full beard and wise eyes, but she hadn't expected this. The man in front of her was young. She guessed that he couldn't be much older than her. He had the kind of face that stopped you in your tracks. Clarke gaped openly as she observed his strong jaw and defined chin and cheekbones. His eyes had a rich dark chocolate brown color. The dark brows above them were actually graceful but currently furrowed in a frown. All of it was framed by thick, dark brown curls.

He sat down on the chair and his eyes inspected her briefly before he started talking.

"Clarke of Skycrew. First of all, I want you to know that you are my prisoner and that you have no rights or demands. Secondly, I want to thank you for saving one of my people. Lincoln told me about your skills." His voice was deep and had that rich, silky tone to it.

She wasn't surprised by him telling her her place, but she was surprised by him thanking her.

"Are you going to kill me?" Clarke went straight to the point. She wasn't here for thank you's. She just wanted to know what she had to expect.

The corner of his mouth went up a little, amused by the directness of Clarke.

"No. I'm not going to kill you. Well, not as long as you behave."

"Then what do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything from you, but our commander does."

This confused Clarke. Their commander? But Clarke thought that the man that was sitting before her was the leader of the grounders.

"So you're not even the leader of the grounders? Then why are you sitting on a throne?"

It seemed that she had said something wrong because one of the guards walked towards her pulling her at the arm.

"Watch out what you say to our leader girl or it will cost you your head."

Clarke wasn't stopping now. She was getting strength from the fact that this situation couldn't get any worse, she had nothing to lose.

She looked towards the guard. "You can't blame me for not knowing the ranks of your people. I've only been on earth for a while and the only thing I know about your kind is that you guys like to kill helpless children."

The guard rose his hand, ready to hit her.

Their leader rose from his throne. "Let her go Artigas."

"But Chief Blake. She …"

"Let her go." His voice was strong and the man that was called Artigas let her go.

He walked down from his platform until he was standing in front of her. Now that he was standing this close she could see freckles covering his face.

"You should watch your words. I like it when someone has some fight in them, but I don't like it when they don't know their place. So I'm advising you to not cross that line."

Clarke just looked at him, standing her ground. He wasn't going to intimidate her.

"I'll explain things to you so you can understand. I'm Bellamy Blake. I'm chief of one of the twelve clans. Our commander is the absolute ruler of all the twelve clans."

The only thing that Clarke got from that, was that the 100 were in big trouble. The grounders they were fighting were only a small part of a very big group. They were chanceless against them.

"And on top of that, we killed your people because they were on our lands and formed a threat."

Clarke frowned at him. "They were a threat? They were children. Innocent children. They were just looking for food."

"Still they were on our land, and we didn't know who you guys were or what kind of weapons you might carry. We killed them before they could kill us."

Clarke could feel herself getting more angry at this guy in front of her. "They wouldn't have killed you. They weren't even armed. You guys are just cold-blooded murderers."

He was now standing right in front of her, clearly also getting angry because Clarke noticed that his hands were bald into fists.

"Look, when you guys came from the sky you landed on Trikru territory. You declared war to us by doing so. You should be glad that we only killed some of your people because if we wanted to, all of you would be dead by now. So instead of blaming me and calling me and my people murderers, you should be thanking me and the commander for not marching up to your camp and burning it to the ground. Since you're the leader of them you should take your responsibility."

This annoyed Clarke. It wasn't like they knew that there were people still living on earth when they had landed. It wasn't even like they had a choice of the place they would land. On top of that, it was clear that these people weren't the kind of crowd that would talk about things instead of using violence. And then there was this thing about capturing the leader of the hundred. What use was it to capture just one person?

"Just for your record I'm not their leader. Maybe Lincoln didn't tell you this, but they just gave me to your people. If I really was their leader they wouldn't have just given me up like that. Someone else has taken over leadership." This truth still hurt her. It wasn't like she wanted to be their leader. She didn't really care about titles, but the fact that they had just thrown her away like that did hurt. They clearly didn't care about her and would just let her die if it meant that they could live. Even after all she had done they wouldn't fight for her.

"You are their leader. The only way to lose your title as a leader of a clan is by dying. The guy that took over power can only become the official leader of Skycrew if he defeats you in battle."

Clarke didn't really care about their rules. Maybe that was their way of doing things, but it wasn't how they did things on the ark. The leader was chosen by vote and the hundred had chosen Murphy. Clarke knew that she was on her own. Even if they wanted to use her against the hundred, they wouldn't care less. As soon as the grounders would realize this, she was dead.

"So. It's your commander that will decide about my fate?"

"Yes."

"Great. So you bring me all the way here to see you, only to tell me that you'll be sending me off to someone with a higher position. Then what's the point of me being here? Why waste a precious day in my life that might be pretty short depending on what mood your commander is in?"

Before she knew it his face was right next to hers. "You're getting very close to that line I was warning you about. Princess." As he spoke in her ear she could feel his breath against her ear.

Clarke snapped her head to the side, turning her face to look at him with anger.

"Don't you ever call me princess again," she warned him. The memory of that nickname now seemed as a far memory, just like Finn.

A big smile had appeared on Bellamy's lips and it changed his whole face. His stern and strong face had changed to that of a boy. She really didn't like how just a smile could change his whole appearance.

"Like I said. You're not in a place to make demands. Princess." He said the nickname slowly, only to agitate her even more.

This did it. Clarke lunged forward, losing her composure as she swung her wrists upwards, trying to hit him. Her hands never collided with his face because he stopped them mid-air with one hand. His fingers were around her wrists, digging into her wounds. She let out a small cry of pain, but when she saw his content expression she jerked her hands back and made her face go expressionless.

"Lincoln bring her to her cell. Oh, and give her something for her wrists. Make sure that she is constantly guarded."

Clarke had almost forgotten her wrists and the pain that had been constant. Lincoln joined her back at her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, signaling her to start walking.

As she walked back outside of the room she glanced back one more time to look at the guy that was called Bellamy Blake, the leader of Trikru. Her eyes found his as he was also looking at her while she was walking outside of the room. She quickly looked back forward and let Lincoln walk her outside of the room.

They walked to a small building next to the big one where she had just met Blake. It was a small structure completely made from metal. As the door of the cell opened she could see that it was just big enough to fit a bed and a small table. The only light that entered, came trough a small window with barb in front of it, so that escaping trough it would be impossible. Clarke was guided inside and the rope around her wrists were removed.

"I'll let someone bring something for those wounds." With that being said Lincoln closed the door, and she was all alone.

The cell reminded her of her cell on the ark. She was once again surrounded by nothing but metal. Clarke walked to the bed and sat down on it. The mattress was too thin to be comfortable, but she wasn't going to complain after sleeping on just a blanket for the last couple of weeks. She had to take peace with the fact that this little cell was going to be her home for the next five days.

After some time she could hear voices in front of her cell. Clarke let herself lean against the door to try to get a part of the conversation. Any detail about the guards was welcome to help her create a plan to escape.

One voice belonged to her guard, the other was the voice of a girl. She could hear them arguing, but couldn't understand a word since they were speaking in their language.

Clarke stepped back when she heard the lock of the door being opened. As the door flew open a girl came into view. She looked about her age, same height but her appearance couldn't be more different from Clarke. She had dark brown hair that was decorated with braids in them. Were Clarke had curves this girl had muscles. Even though she was small, she looked strong with her leather armor on and a sword on her hip. Her piercing green eyes looking at her with curiosity. At first, Clarke thought that this girl was here to kill her, but then she noticed what she was holding. Ointment.

"Hi. You're Clarke right?" She walked further inside the cell and closed the door behind her. Clarke nodded.

She had expected that someone would give her something for her wrists and that she would have to apply it to herself, she never thought that someone would apply it to her.

"Sit down," the girl said as she gestured towards the bed. Clarke did as she was told.

The girl took place next to her, placing the bowl on the bed and turning herself towards Clarke.

"I'm Octavia. I'll be helping you with taking care of your wounds."

"I'm grateful that you want to help Octavia, but I can apply it on my own. You don't need to help me. I'm sure you have better things to do."

Octavia smiled at her. "Nonsense. You know. As soon as I got the news that they were bringing you here I wanted to get some time with you."

Clarke just looked at her. Octavia took her wrists and started to put some ointment on it. The cold gel helped instantly because she could feel how the paint was already going away.

"Why do you want some time with me?"

"Because you came from the sky," Octavia said as she shifted on the bed ", I want to hear all about it. Like, how does the earth look from up there? Does the moon look bigger from the sky? Do you guys just float in suits through the air?"

Clarke laughed at the enthusiasm of the girl, and she felt herself relax for the first time since she had been captured by the grounders.

"Earth looks like a big round ball from up in the sky. It has patches of green, brown and blue. The moon does look bigger up there and no, we do not float around in space."

"It sounds like so much fun to be up there."
Clarke had to disagree. "It's not all beauty and fun. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Octavia was now putting the bandage around her wrists.

"Can you tell me something more about your clan and the other clans and how you guys live here?"
Clarke was still curious about their lives on earth and the information would only help her to get a better image of the people she was dealing with.

"Well. There are twelve clans. Each clan lives in a certain area and is named after their surroundings or what they do. We're called Trikru, because we live in the woods. There is also, for example, Azegeda, the life in the North parts, where it's colder. We don't really get along with them."

"But aren't you guys under the same leader?"

Octavia nodded as she was cleaning everything up. "We are, but still some clans don't really get along. There's a long history, too much to tell you about. Lexa is the commander of every tribe so the clans stay out of each other's way. If someone breaks her rules they have to confront her, and she will decide about the right punishment."

Clarke let out a sign. "She sounds like a scary person."

A small smile appeared on Octavia's face. "She is, but she also fair and honest."

It was clear that this Lexa was respected, but Clarke wasn't sure that this woman was going to be fair and honest toward someone they saw as an intruder.

"I guess she's nothing like the leader of this tribe then," Clarke said as she remembered how he had talked to her as soon as she had blamed him for killing her friends.

"Bellamy?" Clarke could swear that she heard some doubt in Octavia's voice. As if she wasn't sure if she should be talking about him, but Clarke wasn't going to stop here. Maybe it wasn't the smartest move to talk bad about their leader, but she just needed to ventilate.

"Yeah. He clearly thinks he's all that just because he's got a pretty face and got some power, but the truth is that he's just a big asshole."

Octavia burst out laughing and it took Clarke by surprise. If Bellamy found out that this girl was laughing at him being called an a-hole she would probably be killed. Clarke liked the fact that Octavia clearly didn't care.

Clarke waited until Octavia was done laughing. "I agree that he thinks he's all that, but he's pretty okay once you get to know him. He would do anything for his people, and he's been through a lot."

Maybe Octavia was right, but it wasn't like Clarke would be around long enough to find out if she was telling the truth.

"I got to go now. If I stay away too long they'll discover that I'm here. I'll come back tomorrow to change the bandages."

Clarke didn't want her to go. She was actually enjoying talking with the girl. If Octavia left she would be here alone again. She wasn't good at being alone. Unfortunate she didn't have a choice in this.

"Okay. Thank you, Octavia. See you tomorrow."

The girl took her stuff and gave Clarke a reassuring smile before she closed the door behind her, leaving Clarke back alone in the small cell.

Note: So this was chapter 2. I hope you guys liked it. :)

Xx Karen