I can give you a world in which your delinquents live. One where the Ark never touches the ground. I can give you a world, where the culling never happens, Bellamy never takes the radio.
Clarke opens her eyes, breathes out, and sees Raven's ship.
On instinct Clarke races towards it. She rips open the door to see a groggy and barely cognizant Raven looking at her wearily. Clarke's eyes go wide, "Oh my-"
The radio in the ship cuts Clarke off.
"Pod one. Pod one. This is Ark Station Medical." Raven grabs the radio and responds.
"Yes, Sinclair. This is Raven Reyes, Mecha station. Are you reading me?"
"Loud and clear," the radio crackles. Clarke stares in awe at the radio as Raven tells Sinclair that Earth is survivable and she will keep in touch.
When Raven peels her suit off of her body, Clarke introduces her to Earth for the first time.
Raven is reveling in the rain when Finn arrives, and Clarke watches as Finn kisses Raven. She is shell-shocked and hurt. She is silent when they trek back to camp.
When they arrive, Bellamy is the first to great them.
"Hey Princess, how'd the hike go?" He goads, she just gives him a half-hearted smile.
"Great, meet Raven," She gestures to the brunette, "Raven meet Bellamy."
"Bellamy Blake?" Raven asks "They're looking everywhere for you."
"Shut up." He sneers, Clarke's face scrunches up.
"Looking for him, why?"
"He shot Chancellor Jaha," Raven explained.
"Jaja deserved to die and you all know that."
Raven snorts before replying, "Yeah he isn't my favorite person either, but he isn't dead." Shock and a look Clarke can only describe as fear clouds Bellamy's face.
"You're a lousy shot."
Murphy is the one to cut off the conversation, running up to the group at the camp's entrance.
"Clarke, you're needed in the dropship," Clarke glances once more at Bellamy before turning away and jogging with Murphy.
That night, Bellamy goes tent to tent, searching for Clarke.
"You're up?" He asks surprised when he finds her sitting in one.
"Yeah, Conner sprained his wrist I was just checking in." She tells him gesturing to Conner before she steps out of the tent.
"I need to speak with you," Bellamy states in a rough tone. Clarke agrees and the two make their way over to one of the bonfires which are now just dying flames and embers.
In this world, AlIE tells Clarke, there is no need for flares.
Here, Octavia never gets hurt, because she doesn't go after Bellamy.
Bellamy explains his position to Clarke. Shooting Jaha to come down with Octavia, under the direction of a guard. Clarke can understand that, somewhat.
"It's who you are, you protect your sister above all else." She smiles at him and makes her way to her own tent.
Finn tries to catch her as she does, his hair cut shorter. No doubt Raven's handiwork. Clarke glares at him and keeps on walking.
The morning after, she finds Raven in the dropship, talking to Sinclair. She sees Clarke and tells Sinclair she'll radio back soon enough.
"How it coming?" Clarke asks her and Raven grins.
"They are getting ready to tell everyone on the Ark Earth is survivable, they'll be down in no time." Clarke smiles slightly back.
Raven furrows her brows and considers Clarke's face, "Are you okay?"
Clarke breathes in slow, "Raven," she stops.
How do I even begin to tell her? She thinks.
"I didn't know about you, I didn't know that he had a girlfriend if I had-"
Raven eyes go wide as she realizes what Clarke is trying to say, and Clarke keeps going.
"As far as he knew you were dead, Raven. Or you would have been soon enough." The words feel awful in Clarke's mouth, but she charges on, "My mom too, and everyone we ever knew on the Ark, and th-there was nothing we could do to stop it."
Raven looks sick, but Clarke knows no words that could ease or fix what she's just said.
"Raven, I am so sorry, I am so-"
Before Clarke tries to say more, Raven's open palm smacks Clarke's face. Clarke stumbles back but doesn't retaliate. Instead, she carefully lifts her head to see Raven is tearing up
"He could have waited more than ten days," Raven's chin quivers. The brunette sits back in the chair next to the radio, and Clarke goes to leave the room.
"Do you love him?" Raven accuses, and Clarke thinks. She might've said yes, but Raven's comment runs in her head.
He could have waited ten days. She'd only met him ten days ago.
"I hardly know him," Clarke finally whispers back, before stepping out.
The next two days are odd. For the first, tension is tight and neither Raven, Finn, or Clarke say anything to one another. Clarke catches Raven shooting daggers at her a few times, and she lets it happen. What is even worse, is when she finds Finn staring at her several times. She starts to glare back when he does. No one else in the camp seems to care, they keep on joking and working like normal.
The second day, Clarke sits and eats lunch with Bellamy, though its more picking at her food than actually consuming it. He hadn't questioned her when she plopped herself down on the log beside him, and he still didn't question her or her untouched plate.
Guilt is set in the bottom of her chest, and she can do nothing but push the meat around and around with her fork. Nothing that is, until she sees Finn in line to get his own plate of food, his left eye swollen and a deep purple. Then to her left, Raven drops her self down next to her and starts eating. Clarke's eyebrows shoot straight up and she stares. After a moment, Clarke hesitantly starts to eat. It is Bellamy who breaks the awkward silence.
"Hell of a right hook there, Raven."
Raven bursts out laughing and Clarke can't help from snorting.
"Gross, Princess, you sound like a boar." Raven only laughs louder, and Clarke shoves Bellamy over.
"Aw, shut up."
It is weird, but it works. Clarke and Raven are still tense, but no longer does Raven glare. Finn stops staring at Clarke, too busy apologizing to Raven, and acting like a kicked puppy when she shoots him down.
A week following the first contact with the Ark, Clarke, Raven, and Bellamy are the only ones to hear the radio buzz in. It's her mom.
With a voice of regret and tears, Abby tells them that the fault in systems analysis had been corrected. Oxygen would last the Ark for at least another century and a half. The signal drops out after one last choked: "I'm sorry, Clarke."
Raven, Bellamy, and Clarke are left to stare at one another in shock. Raven screams in the radio, Bellamy punches a wall, but Clarke turns and walks calmly from the dropship. Bellamy follows behind and watches as Clarke yells.
"I was wrong, the Ark is not coming for us," Clarke announces to the delinquents that are left. She faces Bellamy, "You were right, we are alone." She turns back to the crowd of teenagers, her words strong and booming.
"That doesn't matter. We can make it on our own. We are survivors. We are free of Jaha, free of the council. Free to do 'whatever the hell we want!'" Clarke exclaims.
"We make our own rules here!" She finishes, and she is met with shouts and chants. Bellamy watches in a mix of pity and admiration as she repeats his own chant.
Minutes after, Bellamy goes up to Clarke and defensively she asks, "You said it first, now I am backing you up. He just shakes his head and gestures to his wrist that was now purpling.
"I think I sprained it," he reports and Clarke chuckles.
In time, they come across Lincoln. He introduces them to the clans.
Trikru threatens the delinquents when they meet on a bridge. Only this time, Clarke is able to form an alliance with Anya. When asked about her people in the sky, Clarke sneers and renounces them, telling the warrior her loyalty lies with the delinquents. Anya tests Clarke's declaration.
Anya brings out Charlotte, the youngest of the delinquents, and offers Clarke a deal.
"Swear loyalty, badon klin, to me and behead this yongon gada, this young girl. In return I offer peace." Clarke refuses. Before Anya can call off the treaty, Clarke bows before the grounder. Head low, chin to chest.
"My people will honor the treaty, take my head instead of the girls."
Anya unsheathes her sword and holds it high. Clarke prays that Bellamy won't act rashly and use the weapons she told him to. He does use them of course. He knicks the horse beside Anya and the horse rears before kicking Anya in the back.
"Ah!" Anya yells, dropping the sword. The warriors with Anya unsheathe their own weapons only to be quieted by a chuckling Anya.
"Loyalty both you and your hidden gonas have proven. You will visit Polis by my side." Clarke takes an eager Octavia with her the following morning, against Bellamy's orders. Nyko, Lincoln, and Anya accompany her and Octavia to Polis. When they arrive, Octavia and Clarke march through the center backs straight and chins high; per Lincoln's advice.
Clarke hears the people mutter, and their stares bore into her back.
She meets Leksa kom Trikru second to Anya, and Commander of the clans.
Clarke is granted a private audience with Lexa.
"I wish to serve loyalty to you, heda." Clarke bows to the woman, who must be the same age as herself.
Lexa keeps her bald advisor from attacking, and she accepts Clarke's show of fealty.
Octavia is with her when she is given the mark for the thirteenth clan: Skaikru.
Clarke learns what she can from Nyko, their healer, and Octavia spends her time with Lincoln. Clarke is nervous of Bellamy's reaction to Lincoln, but she catches Lincoln staring fondly after the wild sister any time the girl is not looking. Lincoln blushes and Clarke decides she likes him. During their trip, a man with a panic-stricken face breaks down a door and begs Nyko to save his son. Nyko rushes to a boy, as does Clarke, to a boy with blue lips. He isn't breathing, and his pulse eventually stops. Nyko bends over the boy to mutter the words of parting, but Clarke's hands are on the boy's chest in an instant. Octavia manages to hold back the father long enough for Clarke to get a heartbeat going, and Nyko stares in shock at the woman with gold hair. The father cries his thanks, nicknaming Clarke fisa. WHich she learns to mean healer. She teaches Nyko compressions and mouth-to-mouth before returning to the delinquent's camp with Octavia.
When Octavia and Clarke return with three horses, gifts from Leksa kom Trikru, the camp cheers. Clarke then explains the coalition and announces their clan name, Skaikru. Miller proposes their camp be named after their name, and Octavia proposes Skai-raun. To emphasize that though they are sky people, they have long since left the sky. The camp cheers once again, and Octavia beams at Clarke.
When the two women finish their speech, Bellamy stocks up to the two of them in anger. Octavia is surprised when he hugs her without yelling. The encounter is brief, however. As he then releases her and marches right up to Clarke. Gripping Clarke's wrist in one hand, he uses the other to shove her sleeve up the elbow to expose the scar she'd shown the camp proudly. The scar she'd received in Polis to mark the coalition.
Bellamy yells at her for her stupidity and Clarke tries pulling her arm away, glaring. He's still yelling when Clarke decides to give up an apologize.
"Alright, alright, Bellamy. I am sorry." His eyes are still narrowed.
"I am sorry for bringing Octavia, and I am sorry for letting them 'brandish my arm like I am cattle.'" Clarke tells him, quoting his own words previous bellowed in her face. She sees his face go softer. His hard and glaring eyes turn brown, sweet eyes full of concern. His arms wrap around Clarke just as they did Octavia and Clarke freezes. Partially because Bellamy was going to kill her with the pressure of his hug, and partially out of shock for the action.
"I am sorry for leaving," she adds quieter when she returns the embrace.
She sees Octavia wink at her as she does so, and her face flushes red.
Octavia helps her burn the new camp name into the dropship. Skai-raun.
With the excitement over their newly named camp, Skaikru becomes a hard-working people. They expanded their territory where Leksa allowed and their borders became Woods Clan, Ice Nation, Rockline, and Blue Cliff. Their territory was smaller than those other three, but Skair-raun didn't have a need for more. The teenagers all helped build cabins. The cabins are small and looked more like huts than cabins, but they are a shelter.
Furs and moss are gathered for bedding, and furniture is fashioned from birch trees.
At night every few days, they gather to stay up late around fires. These are Clarke's favorite times. She often falls asleep before she can head off to her bed and when she does, its Bellamy who wakes her up to go to bed.
"Princess," he calls in a whisper. That alone is enough to wake her.
"Oh, thanks, Bellamy," she says to him groggily.
She stretches her back and helps him to wake and send off all the others to their cabins before she waves him goodnight.
The drop shift is officially the med bay, and it's been cleaned and reorganized to do so. Murphy becomes her designated helper/student. He has a knack for the stuff.
At one point Clarke takes Murphy and Octavia with her for a three-day hike lead by Nyko, Lincoln, and a man by the name of Atticus. They gather herbs, and Clarke learns what she can of the sicknesses and antidotes that are most common.
Nyko shows them a waterfall where they collect a moss that grows under it. It isn't red like the moss she collects from the river near the camp, though it is similar. This moss is darker and less like hair, it grows like pine needles. "The moss," Nyko explains, "is used for high fevers. You burn it, and it eases the bodies' temperature. Clarke doesn't understand how that could possibly help. But she takes as much as she can nonetheless.
She also sketches the waterfall as they take a break.
It comes in handy, Clarke finds soon enough. When they return home she finds half the camp is sick, and many are running fevers. To Octavia's dismay, her brother is among them. Nyko helps her in the med bay for an hour or two before he rides back to Polis. Clarke and Murphy burn a fourth of the moss they had collected, and they both spend the day cooling the teenagers' foreheads.
Clarke learns from Bellamy that they'd found turkeys, a ton of them. They'd wrangled up a few and cooked some. Clarke's best guess for the vomiting and fevers was food poisoning.
Clarke tells Murphy to take a break when she sees him trying to keep from yawning. He's hiked for three days and been on his feet all day helping. He argues that 'so has she,' but he doesn't seem to mind her orders when he leaves and crashes in his shared cabin.
Rotating whos she sits next to, Clarke draws several of her patients while she renews their wet cloths. Eventually, she ends up next to Bellamy and starts drawing him. She looks back and forth at Bellamy's face and her sketch and is nearly finished when she looks up to see he is awake.
Blushing lightly for having been caught drawing the man, Clarke waits for him to speak first. That doesn't work, however, as he just blinks and stretches before resuming his position.
"How are you feeling?" She breaks the silence, he groans and just mumbles 'fine' before peering at her drawing.
"Are you going to finish?" He inquires, and Clarke blushes harder. Pencil to paper, she finishes her sketch and when she does he holds out a hand to take the pad from her. Hesitantly she does give it to him.
"Hmm," is all Bellamy says to his picture, and he flips through the pages she's done of the others. He stops at the sketch of the waterfall and studies that one closely.
"Incredible," he mutters. She isn't sure if it is for the sketch or the waterfall, she doesn't ask. He turns the page and it's a picture of Lincoln and Octavia sitting together. Clarke tenses up, but he doesn't comment. He looks at a few more before turning back to the page she's drawn of him. Rather than drawing the patients as sleeping, she's given them each an expression. Murphy was in their too, smirking. Bellamy's face was drawn in a grin. He was looking up and the sun brightened up his freckles.
He hands the pad back, and they end up talking about the moss she is burning in the corner by a went.
They have been on the ground for five months.
The mornings are cold enough that when she breathes out, Clarke can see her breath in a cloud of white. Most everyone's noses and ears are pink and everyone is bundled up. They spent the last four weeks drying out meat for the winter, and yesterday they had finished up the twenty-first cabin. Much of that work is thanks to Lincoln, who becomes an ambassador of Trikru and stays with Skai-raun. He teaches them the preparations Trikru.
When they are done, each cabin holds between four to five people and they are split so that the girls are together and the guys are together. There are more guys by a large number, so most of the cabins belong to the guys. The last cabin is where they store their dried meat and other resources. That cabin always has a guard on it, as well as the front gates of the camp.
"It's amazing progress," Clarke tells the people, "we have done well. The next two to three months will be hard. We'll need to ration. Everybody eats, but only what you absolutely need. We share the furs, we have enough now from trading with Trikru so everyone will get a few."
When Clarke talks to Bellamy about the cabins and food storage numbers, he grimly tells her: "It'll have to do."
With the winter comes snow and the people in the camp become friendlier and friendlier, snuggling to keep warm. Winter also brings constant colds, and sometimes worse. Clarke is kept busy in her med bay.
That is where Bellamy finds her when he comes storming in. She is washing her hands, scrubbing as best as she can and she is startled by his stomping feet. His face is set in irritation and he goes on to rage about Lincoln.
"Bellamy, what on Earth brought this on?" Clarke questions him. He just continues to glare at nothing so she tries a different approach.
"You like Lincoln, you work well with him. Not to mention the cabins and food that Lincoln has taught up to prepare." Clarke reasons. Bellamy huffs but seems to simmer down a slight bit so she continues to explain to him all the things Lincoln has done for them these many months. Things she knows Bellamy knows.
She catches on halfway through their conversation, or at least halfway through his second rant. Many couples have popped up around camp; snuggling to "keep warm." Clarke learns that Lincoln and Octavia are one of them.
"Bellamy," she chuckles, "you're being ridiculous." That earns her a hard look. "Lincoln is a great guy. You know it too."
He is staring at her, still breathing hard, chest heaving, "As for Octavia, well, she's done plenty of maturing as head of our hunting parties."
The best way Clarke could describe his eyes would be crackling. His brown eyes burn, and there is tension in the air. Clarke wonders if he can feel it too, or if she is imagining it. Either way, she ignores it.
"Those two level one another. They center one another, keep each other grounded, work together. Protect one another." Clarke isn't certain she was talking about Lincoln and Octavia anymore. But Bellamy is calm by now, and their conversation drifts until they are discussing new methods for transporting water.
A month after that Skai-raun is at the peak of winter when the other Blake sibling comes racing into the med bay. Octavia is squealing when she finds Clarke treating Monty of the flu. Murphy takes over for her and Clarke grins as Octavia recounts her moment with Lincoln before showing off the iron loop that has been hammered somewhat melted into a ring.
They celebrate around a bonfire that night, and Octavia grabs Clarke at one point to dance around the fire to the jig that the Skaikru chant. Afterward, Lincoln finds the time to sit beside her.
"Thank you," he tells her earnestly, and she doesn't bother pretending not to know why.
Instead, she smiles at him, "You're good for her, Lincoln. Now go dance with her!" She shoves him over. Clarke grins watching Lincoln step in and dance awkwardly with his wild fiance. Most all of her people are dancing with, a few are sitting back and chanting or cheering.
Bellamy takes Lincoln's seat next to Clarke and they both sit and watch the celebration.
Octavia is smiling more, with Lincoln as her constant companion; which makes Bellamy smile more often. He makes Clarke laugh more and in turn, the camp is a happier place as a whole. It's a victory all around.
Spring comes, though not soon enough. Not long after Lincoln's proposal the camp has gotten sick. Really sick. Clarke and Murphy get hit the worst.
It starts off soft. Monty had been one of the few to get it first but it left kick as it came. Then those who hadn't gotten sick all winter came in with coughs, headaches, runny or stuffy noses. Clarke and Murphy worked around the clock to break those fevers.
It is tiring.
Clarke wakes and she aches all over, she can see that Murphy does too as his movements are jerky.
"Murphy," Clarke calls, and she rests her hand on his forehead, it is hot.
"You need to lay down. No more work for you. drink as much as you can," she orders. Murphy doesn't complain, now it is just her.
Her people aren't getting better. As much as Clarke wants to send for Nyko, she knows she can't. It's storming outside, has been for three days now. The biggest issue is, she knows she has a fever too.
She doesn't remember anything concrete after sending Murphy to lay down. Clarke recalls someone calling her name, then shouting. She remembers opening her eyes to find herself on a cot, she is sweating all over, but she's freezing. Clarke isn't sure at what point it happens, but she also remembers Bellamy and Murphy arguing.
"She isn't doing any better, Murphy!"
"I know that! Don't you think I know that?"
"You aren't even doing anything," Bellamy seethes.
"I'm not doing anything? Are you joking? I am doing everything! How are you helping?"
"If you were helping, she would be getting better," Bellamy growls back.
"I only learned so much before she got sick! I am doing the best I can-"
"Well, it isn't good enough!" Bellamy practically screams back.
When she sees that, Clarke gets up to chastise him for yelling at Murphy.
"Clarke!" Bellamy shouts when she collapses.
The next time she wakes up, Bellamy is next to her. His face is one of exhaustion and relief.
"Morning, Princess," Bellamy smiles.
"Hi," Clarke croaks back.
"You gave me quite a scare for a minute there," he says softly. She doesn't react to him saying 'me' rather than 'us.'
"I'm sorry," she apologizes. She doesn't berate him for yelling at Murphy.
Who, Clarke sees enter from behind Bellamy. Bellamy takes that as his leave and she is left with Murphy.
They don't say much, he does tell her: "He sat next to you the whole time." She apologizes on Bellamy's behalf- for yelling at him.
"He worries," John tells her.
"I'm okay now, he won't need to anymore."
John looks at her and repeats himself. Clarke is at a loss for words.
Spring brings life, unlike in the previous season. Snow melted and in its place, Skai-raun grows crops. They build more cabins so that space will not be so tight. Lincoln and Octavia manage to convince everyone that they deserve to have their own cabin.
It takes a week, but eventually, Bellamy lets her go on an herb hike. Clarke hates to say that he allows her to do anything. But just this once she cuts her slack.
"I'm going out, watch the camp," Clarke announced the day she was walking around camp.
"No," Bellamy had commanded. Clarke immediately ruffled, spinning around to glare.
She was prepared to argue, "Bellamy we need-" but when she saw his face she dropped her words. His looked worn, vulnerable.
"No," He'd repeated quieter, "Just wait, please," His voice had cracked on the pleading word. So Clarke let him take her pack, and she let him walk her to her shared cabin. They didn't talk, and when they got there, Bellamy had regained composure.
Truth be told, that broken look had shaken her. If waiting a week for her to collect plants was what he needed, that was simple enough to do.
This time she didn't tell Bellamy to watch the camp.
Clarke steps into his cabin, to where Bellamy is talking with Monty.
"We need to forage, I am going to put Octavia and Raven in charge of the camp," Clarke states, "When can you be ready?"
Bellamy pulls his jacket on and grabs his pack by the door, "Let's go."
Clarke waves to Monty and talks to Octavia and Raven before meeting Bellamy at the gate. He has only one of the horses with him. Before she asks Bellamy tells her that one of the three horses is pregnant, and he didn't want to leave the camp without a horse.
He reaches down, and she grabs his forearm, swinging a leg up behind him.
They ride bareback, so Clarke digs her heels into the stallion and places her hand on Bellamy's sides. When the horse picks up speed, Bellamy pulls her wrists so that Clarke is hugging him from behind. She tells him they are heading to the waterfall he'd seen in her sketches, and she directs him where to lead the horse.
Clarke and Bellamy follow the river upstream, which is handy because the horse they are on drinks plenty during their breaks. They stop before Clarke wants to, but with only one horse Bellamy doesn't want to tire the horse out too much. He finds an area with plenty of coverage, though it's tight. It isn't cold, but they build a fire for light.
When the sun is gone, the night becomes windy. It hadn't been cold before, but it is now. The fire is long gone, killed by the breeze. Neither of them can sleep, yet both lay and feign it. Bellamy doesn't hear Clarke get up, but he feels it when she lays down right next to him. His eyes pop open.
"Is this okay?" Clarke inquires and he doesn't answer right away. She looks like she's about to back off when Bellamy pulls her in even closer to his side so that he's hugging her.
"Is this okay?" He asks her and he feels her nod.
Bellamy isn't sure he is helping, as Clarke entire body is trembling. Really, he thinks, it's making him even colder. But it must help because her shakes subside and she does fall asleep.
Its twittering that wakes Clarke. She can see the culprits, flying to and from trees above her. Then she realizes she isn't facing Bellamy anymore, at some point she had turned around. Clarke could still feel him though, pressed against her back, an arm slung over her side. His breathing is long and she can feel everytime he breathes out. If she was honest with herself, she wouldn't mind staying there until he woke up on his own, but Clarke is anxious to get back on the trail.
Using an elbow, she lifts herself just enough to turn back over so that she's facing Bellamy. His arm subconsciously tightens around her and once again Clarke is tempted to sleep a few minutes more.
"Bellamy," she whispers, but he doesn't wake. So carefully she extracts his arm from her waist and stands. Clarke walks over to their horse and leads it only a few yards over to drink. From one of their packs, she feeds the stallion before bringing the horse back to Bellamy and tying it up.
As she finishes up brushing him down, she hears a drawn-out yawn and looks to see her co-leader as he stretches. Clarke can hear a few satisfying pops as he rolls his neck.
Today Bellamy lets her ride up front, they don't mention the previous night.
At one point he had made her stop so he could throw her hair into a tight but messy plait.
"Your hair is getting all up in my face," he grumbles.
Honestly, it makes sense that he can braid, having had a sister and a mom as his only family. Now her braid is tucked in her jacket, and they are only a quarter of a mile from the waterfall, she's sure.
It's distracting, Bellamy sitting behind her. She can feel his chest against her back, similar to how they woke up this morning. It was an action that made sense Clarke knows, to bundle close to one another. Still, she can't help a blush from crawling up her neck to her cheeks. Clarke is thankful Bellamy can't see her red face.
They reach the waterful in the afternoon. Bellamy recognizes it instantly from Clarke's sketch. She shows him the moss to collect and they gather less than a quarter of whats there. Once their packs are full, Bellamy sets them next to their horse and he hikes down to the pool in which the waterfall is emptied into. He plunges into the water, and Clarke follows after a moment's hesitation. They find that underneath the waterfall is a cleft. It only has room for the two of them if they press their backs against the wall and stand side by side.
"Incredible," Bellamy yells over the sound of crashing water. Clarke grins as her response and she is about to duck out when Bellamy grabs her wrist and puts a finger over his lips. Which is pointless, because even his yell was barely audible over the sound of the waterfall. He points to the woods. It takes her a second, but she sees. A moose steps out into the sun, it's antlers are enormous. It looks at Bellamy and Clarke's horse before stepping into the pool. The magnificent creature bows its head to drink, and as it does so a calf makes itself known. Promptly following the bull's example it stomps into the water and dunks its own head in to drink. With bright and excited eyes, Clarke looks up to meet Bellamy's own awed expression.
It isn't minutes later that the two moose leave. The bull's graceful steps unmatched by the calf's uncoordinated stumbling. Bellamy and Clarke duck out and pack the remainder of their things before riding out; Clarke once again in front. They don't ride long, most of the day had been spent in the water. A new spot is discovered and while Bellamy leads the horse to drink Clarke pulls her sketchpad out from her pack. She draws the moose, their images distorted by the wall of water in between them and her and Bellamy. She hums as she works.
Bellamy returns and ties up the horse before joining Clarke on the ground. A pack is pressed up against the tree trunk, the sketchpad laid on her thighs. Placing his pack next to her, Bellamy takes a seat adjacent to her and he watches for a while as she shades in trees to surround the pool and the moose. But Bellamy is tired from getting even less sleep than Clarke so he lays down, his head on Clarke's shins. He doesn't fall asleep yet, he chats with her.
"What got you into drawing?" She doesn't answer immediately, taking the time to shade in the back legs of the calf.
"I'm not certain, it may have been my dad," she recalls, "he would pretend to critique my drawings ever since I was five, or maybe six. He would praise them more than criticise them. So I did it more often, I got good at it."
She finishes her sketch of the moose and flips the page. Pencil to paper, she starts on a new one.
"In solitary it was all I did. Draw. I could spend a whole day on one sketch. Partially because I knew I would run out of wall space if I drew too many a day, partially because I wanted to get them just right."
"What'd you draw?" Bellamy asks her.
"Before, I drew people more than anything. Anyone who was around, really," she pauses to study Bellamy's face.
"After I was put in solitary I drew places, places on Earth. The pyramids, forest, lakes. I drew wildlife, animals, and plants. I drew what I knew from Earth skills, which was mostly plants."
Bellamy doesn't ask any more questions. Just watches her press her lips in a tight line and furrow her brow. Every minute or two, her heavy scrutinizing gaze would flick to his face then back to her paper. Bellamy figures it's him, and he asks to see it when she's done. She grimaces but shows him nonetheless.
That night they settle down next to one another. Tonight isn't windy, so it isn't necessary, but neither point that out. Rather than hugging her, Bellamy lets her put her head on his chest. They fall asleep quicker than the previous night.
It takes another day to get home. In fact, it takes them well into the third night before they get home. The moon is high in the sky when they see the front gates. The guards on duty are Trina and Pascal. It is nice, Clarke thinks, to sleep on thick furs and moss again. But she misses having someone pressed beside her while she dozes off. It was comforting, laying with Bellamy.
Weeks pass Skai-raun by. Following Octavia and Lincoln's lead, Monty proposes to Harper. Raven mutters to Clarke that at this rate, the camp needs to generate a cabin a week for the couples. Raven doesn't really mind, Clarke knows. In fact, Finn seems to have made headway in apologizing.
Skai-raun opens its gates to a group of traveling grounders. Skaikru gathers during meals to listen with rapt attention as a woman describes her tales of Ice Nation to the North. A world where cold is the every lasting day norm and violence is a never ceasing companion. The oldest man, Briyon, whose face is wrinkled and hair is nothing but whisps, tells his tales of plains that stretch for days, far off in the East.
"Past Ouska-maun and Bouda Tayon, the nulif graun kigon feva," Briyon tells them, sighing as he recounts his old home.
Lincoln translates for us: Past the Blue Cliffs and Rock Line, the plains stretch on for days.
The last traveler speaks of warm sands down south, not like the barren wasteland Northeast of Trikru.
Clarke is fascinated and quizzes the grounders for hours. He feet ache to join them and experience the ground alongside them. Her fingers itch for the potential drawing material these travelers could provide. Briyon gives her enough detail to create an image of the blue cliffs (or Ouska-maun.) He gets so excited about the sketch he has her draw his plains back home, as well as a beach with nothing but ocean ahead.
In the firelight, she catches Bellamy's eye and her heart rate slows. His frown is enough to let Clarke guess that he has an idea of what she's thinking. Of course, Clarke wouldn't leave her people. It was exciting to consider the possibilities of wandering and exploring, yes. But this is home for Clarke. She smiles at him, and he visibly eases.
She gets up after talking with Briyon and sits where she can lean on Bellamy's shoulder. A warm feeling sets in her chest. As the travelers sing deep into the night of places far and wide. Those places stay in her mind, but it isn't so bad. Bellamy's arm ends up around her middle.
Clarke travels to Polis again. This time with Bellamy. The people sneer as she holds her head high, and Bellamy duplicates her show of strength.
There are two assassination attempts.
The first attempt is the day they arrive. As Clarke walks from vender to vender, she shows Bellamy all of Polis. Incredible. Bellamy thinks. Clarke seems to agree. She smiles as he tries the food, and laughs, when he seems to dislike it. That is when it happens. A knife hurdles through the air towards Clarke.
A grounder, who has watched Clarke since she arrived, seizes an open opportunity, the moment her guards are far enough away, as well as Clarke's friends, and the grounder is sure they cannot help her, that is when he strikes.
It doesn't catch her. Octavia had already spotted the man. She bulldozes Clarke over in the nick of time and the man is caught. Surprised, Clarke thanks the dark-haired warrior.
The second attempt is even more public. Leksa kom Trikru calls a congregation, and Clarke claims a seat as the thirteenth clan. Bellamy is behind her as they stand before a feast, awaiting Lexa's words and watching as other clans file in.
When everyone is inside, Octavia offers the commander Lexa a bottle of whiskey, "Please accept our gift, Heda. We drink this for special occasions. I believe this qualifies."
Lexa nods. Her guard Gustus retrieves the bottle and places it in Lexa's hands.
"Thank you, Okteivia kom Skaikru."
The commander turns to address Clarke and offers that they drink together. Clarke accepts and takes a cup. Before either drink, Gustus sips from Lexa's cup as a precaution.
Moments later as Lexa is speaking, Gustus collapses unto the table.
"It's poison," Gustus croaks. In an instant, Bellamy's hand slaps Clarke's cup away. Indra draws her sword, accusing them all.
"You have to know this wasn't us!" Clarke begs Lexa. The grounders around them restrain her people and search them up and down.
"Gustus warned me about you, but I didn't listen," Lexa sneers.
As one of the grounders searches her person, Clarke continues, "Lexa, please."
"Heda," Gustus interrupts holding out a vial of orange liquid.
Raven fights her captors, "That's not mine! I'm telling you that is not mine! He put it there when he searched me!" Raven accuses.
"No Skayon leaves this room," Lexa demands, marching out along with most others.
When Lincoln attempts to speak for them, defend them, Indra closes the gate on him as well.
It is Nyko who reopens the gate. Accompanied by Indra and a few others.
"How's Gustus?" Lincoln asks.
Nyko responds curtly, "Gustus will live."
"Teik daun plangona," Indra commands, and her guards approach Raven.
"Wait. Wait! What are you doing?" Clarke demands
Bellamy steps in front of his sister, "She didn't poison anyone!"
"I argued for all of you to die," Indra cuts, " but the commander is merciful. She wants only one."
"She is innocent," Lincoln growls.
"I. Don't. Care." Indra bites back, "They move, they bleed."
Only after Lincoln, Finn, and Clarke have knives to their throats are they able to get a hold of Raven. Clarke can feel the cold metal dig into her neck and warm blood trails down.
"The rest of you are free. When she is dead, so is the alliance. You should run."
Raven screams, and in the same moment it clicks for Clarke
It wasn't in the bottle.
She marches out the door and as she does so Bellamy blocks her shouting demands, "Clarke, stop, you'll get yourself killed!"
She brushes past him, "I need that bottle now." Nyko leaves to fetch it and Clarke raises her voice to yell, "Stop!"Everyone pauses, and Lexa commands her guards allow Clarke to pass.
"One of your people tried to kill you, Lexa, not one of mine." Indra steps forward leering.
"You should have run."
Clarke ignores the warrior, "I can prove it."
Nyko hands her the bottle she and Lexa had shared and uncaps it. Before Bellamy know what is happening, Clarke drains a large portion down her throat. For a tense moment, no one moves or even breathes.
Then, "Explain," Lexa commands.
"The poison wasn't in the bottle. It was in the cup."
"A trick, Heda," Gustus advises, "do not be ponk klin."
With that remark, Bellamy connects the missing pieces, "It was you."
Bellamy lists his evidence, "He tested the cup, he searched Raven."
"Gustus would never harm me," Lexa claims.
Bellamy agrees, "Yes, but you weren't the target. The alliance was."
"We didn't do this, and you know it," Clarke adds.
"Yu fingadon, Gustus. Hola au," Lexa commands Gustus. ( You have been accused, Gustus. Speak true.)
"This alliance would cost you your life. I could not let that happen," Gustus regretfully admits.
"This treachery will cost you yours."
Raven is set down, per Lexa's instructions, and Gustus takes her place on the post.
After the attempts on Clarke's life as well as Lexa's, people stop sneering as she passes. Remarkably, Bellamy is warming up to Polis and its culture as well. He even accepts a flower from a young Wodakru girl, who offers it to him with a shy smile.
Clarke sees Finn and Raven laughing and smiling when he sneaks her a kiss on the cheek. It hurts, but not much. Her smile drops.
Bellamy catches her change in composure when seeing the happy pair and so slips his flower in her hair, tucked behind her ear along with her golden hair. Clarke smiles wide.
The moment is over when Octavia bursts up in raucous laughter.
"Big brother, you've gone sweet to the 'Princess' now?" She accuses snorting. She is hit in the face with a different flower, thrown by Lincoln. Octavia steps away sheepishly after Lincoln's retaliation for ruining Clarke and Bellamy's moment.
Bellamy doesn't seem thrown at all by Octavia or her words. His smile grows softer, and Clarke blushes much more. Though she is not certain why.
Summer is amazing. The season brings life, and Clarke is content to draw most days. Beautiful. The landscape sings. It has plentiful colors, wildlife, and people. She fills up two sketchpads. Then a third along with 7 pencil stubs.
Summer is fun. The kids spend their everyday day working and every other day in the lake. Clarke thinks she and Murphy could treat sunburns and heat exhaustion in their sleep. Murphy even takes on a new apprentice, as does Clarke. Monroe and Myles.
Summer is dangerous. Octavia sprains her ankle hunting and Conner cracks a rib trying to climb a tree. Senselessly. Clarke wasn't surprised. There are more injuries some form hunting parties, scouting ones, or foraging. Those aren't the worst. Some are far more painful and terrible.
The hunting party, lead by Octavia and Lincoln, decides it may be time to try fishing, a task that results in an eel tearing open Octavia's foot, Roma losing an ear by the same slick monster, and Dax's non-eel related death.
Octavia's mangled foot takes more time to sew up than Clarke would have liked and the amount of blood loss Octavia went through was terrifying.
Not two days following that incident, Monroe comes into the dropship bleeding profusely from her head. Drew is holding her up, and he tells Clarke about the accident.
"She thought it would be a good floating idea to climb a tree on our scouting trip."
"It wasn't my fault," Monroe protests halfheartedly.
"Right, it was the tree's fault for dropping you," Drew snaps.
"Drew, you can go now," Clarke dismisses him, "Thank you."
He scoffs but hands her off.
"I am going to be a suture prodigy if you all keep bringing me injuries like this," Clarke mutters after she's finished. She was careful about fixing the nasty cut on Monroe's face, but it was sure to leave a messy scar.
The following month isn't so bad. There are still injuries and Clarke gets patients every other day. It's exhausting. At this rate, Clarke is sure that her, Murphy, Monroe, and Myles will have done a billion stitches combined. She learns that Monroe is slow but her stitches are neat, Murphy is useful in emergencies as his stitches are messy but functional and fast, Myles is slow and so sloppy Clarke has to redo a few. That was a terrible experience for John Mbege. Clarke tries to keep Myles on other tasks.
One afternoon, there is a lull in patients. The inactivity is nice but it is sure to bring something worse. Bellamy must have noticed Clarke's itchy hands and worried face because he convinces her to go on a foraging trip with him, just for a few hours.
"Thanks, Bell," She sighs as they walk.
"You needed a break, you've needed one for a while now." He tells her.
They keep up the small talk for a while as they collect various plants. Clarke is so preoccupied in her talk that she doesn't see Bellamy go completely still. She rambles on a sentence or two to see his panic-stricken face staring ahead. Clarke turns to see it. A black panther, large in stature, is haunched not thirty feet away. Bellamy doesn't have his gun. It was lying behind him, with his pack.
It is closer to Clarke, and maybe that is why she lunges for it. The cat immediately zeroes on her and pounces but Bellamy jumps in its way. He and the panther are on the ground when Clarke pulls the trigger, hitting the cat's backside. It stumbles off of Bellamy and Clarke puts another bullet in its head.
She rushes to Bellamy's side. He is bleeding from three deep raking scratches and one shallower scratch.
"Bellamy, you idiot," Clarke half-growls, half-cries. She grits her teeth and pulls out her med kit. She'd only brought her smallest pack since this was only going to be a short trip.
"Just looking out for you, Princess," Bellamy chokes. Shooting a watery glare at him, Clarke puts pressure on his chest as best she can. The only way to get him to camp is to carry him, and that is a task Clarke isn't sure how to handle.
How she does it, Bellamy will never understand. From what he's told, she had stitched him up when the bleeding was under control, and she'd carried him back. Miller and Drew had been at the gate when they heard and saw her. The two men took Bellamy from her and shouted for another guard to help Clarke who was also bleeding from a mangled leg.
"Well crap," Murphy had muttered when Bellamy was brought in, he was slipping in and out of consciousness.
When Clarke was brought in behind Bellamy Murphy cursed.
"Are you kidding me right now, Griffin?"
"Sorry John," Bellamy heard her respond.
It took a week for Clarke's leg to scab over and Murphy declared her released. Bellamy, on the other hand, took much longer. Due to the poor stitching job Clarke had done, Murphy had had to redo most of her work. Then it got infected and Bellamy had a fever for days.
After he was up and around, Clarke would try to apologize but Bellamy would tell her she was being ridiculous. It happened almost any time she saw his chest.
"Bellamy," she started. He cut her off.
"Clarke! For space's sake would you quit it? I don't want to hear it from you!" He'd snapped at one point. After that, she stopped trying to say sorry. He'd felt bad immediately after snapping, but in all fairness, she was being ridiculous.
Summer comes to an end. Autumn peeks its head around the corner and Skaikru takes another trip to Polis. There, Clarke meets Prince Roan of Azgeda.
This trip, it is Clarke, Octavia, Lincoln, Monroe, and Miller. Neither Murphy or Bellamy had been happy about being left behind, Bellamy demanded Clarke bring Nathan Miller.
Clarke buying a sweater from a vendor when she hears the clang of metal on metal. She spins in place to see Monroe's lips turned in a snarl.
They each take turns swinging their swords. Monroe is sloppy though light on her feet and Roan is the exact opposite. Monroe is the first to fall to her knee and Clarke steps in. Roan gets a few good hits in, as does Clarke, they both seem to come to an understanding when Roan falls to his knees and Clarke lends him a hand up.
She decides, as she shakes his hand, she likes the banished prince. They part on good enough terms.
Trees are all sorts of hues now. Browns and reds and yellows and orange. Skai-raun stocks up on dried meat. Clarke gifts Bellamy the sweater she bartered for in Polis, not for any particular reason or cause, he uses it often and he smiles at her soft and often, Clarke smiles back. She spends those brisk mornings sipping tea by Nate, who is never without his new beanie wool beanie and matching gloves. The sketchpad is full of the youngest kids, all pink noses and rosy cheeks.
Two years pass from when Skai-raun first arrives. The village is completed with cabins and people relax. It's nice. The med bay has new apprentices as well. Murphy and Clarke no longer drown in work, due to the new training medics and the wised-up teenagers. Injuries are few and far between. John joins Clarke on her trips to see Nyko in TonDC. Sometimes they bring things for him, sometimes Nyko informs them of new issues or sicknesses, Bellamy stops glaring at Indra with each visitation.
The Skayon people get tattoos based on their victories. Clarke has one that trails up her forearm and around her shoulders. Healer. It tells those around her. She gets another one a year later, it sits on the back of the opposite shoulder, a symbol which represents descending from the skies.
The day they see an enormous meteor fall people scream, it is miles away from Skai-raun but they still see the explosion. From the size of it, nothing could have survived. Clarke doesn't shed a tear. There is no doubt in her mind that it was the Ark, the star she would occasionally look for is gone. Bellamy puts his arms on her shoulder and her breath catches, he is reminded of her strength when he sees her careful actions calm her people.
But he knows she feels the loss when she chops her hair to just inches above her shoulders. He makes it a point to tell her it looks lovely.
The following year they honor their people. Abandoning the kids on the ground and cutting off all connection doesn't change the fact that they were family and friends. Once. They burn a fire that reaches the height of the cabins, and Bellamy leans against Clarke. In the last year, he has gained more marks to his arms and legs, nothing as big as the ridges across his chest. He slips his hand into Clarke's calloused one and squeezes.
That year bring new life, new love. Monroe beams when she tells Clarke of the pretty grounder girl and Octavia cries when she tells Clarke of the morning sickness.
"Clarke I don't know how to do this," the otherwise scary woman whimpers.
"You will be amazing, Lincoln too," Clarke calms her, holding her and rubbing the panicking woman's back.
Clarke even chuckles, "Goodness knows the kid will be a fighter having your genes." That seems to help as Octavia gives a shaky laugh of her own.
Truth be told, Clarke is terrified. The risks were innumerable and Clarke had no experience with handling these things. She knows Bellamy is terrified as well, no doubt more so. Lincoln's jaw is twice as big as before and multi-colored to boot, Clarke treats his face, as well as Bellamy's bleeding knuckles. He is fuming. But Clarke knows that no words or jokes would help this Blake sibling so she let him stew.
Willow is strong, a real fighter. Octavia couldn't be happier and Lincoln weeps when he meets her. Bellamy to. The rest of their people cheer and dance outside the dropship with Clarke's announcement: "It's a girl!"
They celebrate with fire and dancing and singing.
The tiny baby, all curly black curls, and olive skin is not the only new life in the following years.
At Monty and Harper's wedding Bellamy and Clarke kiss. Who kisses who isn't important, just that he is there and she is there and this is right. When the slow-burning kiss stops, she stares at him breathless and he smiles at her. There are more.
Walking back to the campfire Bellamy's arm slips around her waist. Raven cheers and Monty grins. Jasper busts up laughing when Nate groans, later Jasper thanks Clarke and Bellamy because they'd bet on it and Nathan would be doing all of Jasper's chores for two weeks. Monroe and her girlfriend clap, along with Nyko. Finn's smile is tight but its there.
Skai-raun is okay. Life happens, but they are happy.
Clarke can feel hot tears threatening to spill over, her throat is tight but she get out her words through clenched teeth.
"No, ALIE, this isn't what I want."
The woman in red studies the golden-haired leader with calculating eyes.
Without words, Clarke is plunged into a new world.