Several months later and life had been relatively normal of late for the people of the Ark. Those that had survived the assault on Mt Weather had returned home, bringing those rescued with them and they'd enjoy a period of peace and stability with the Grounders.
Both groups of people had prospered as they'd begun to share knowledge and resources in the spirit of peace and moving forward. Many of the residents in Camp Jaha hadn't thought such a thing would have been possible but were relieved nonetheless.
Clarke was not confined to her bed but was only on light duties, meaning she'd get through her work reasonably quickly before her day was done. Her mom was in full blown mom mode, meaning that despite Clarke's injuries having healed, she was still trying to wrap Clarke in cotton wool and be overprotective.
She was sitting outside in the sunshine with a sketchbook and pencils that Finn had found on a raid of a bomb shelter he'd discovered and she was drawing whatever came to mind. Ever since coming down to Earth on the Dropship, she'd seen many things that she'd only ever seen as images on screens and that she tried to recreate by drawing herself.
But having the chance to experience them and see them right in front of her face was something else. The sketchbook that she now had was almost full of landscapes, animals and people that she'd seen and wanted to capture in a way that only art could.
"Hey babe, what are you drawing?" Raven asked as she took a seat on the log next to Clarke, wrapping an arm around her.
"Oh…it's nothing," she replied rather sheepishly. Raven could see that she was blushing a little bit and this only furthered her desire to see what she'd drawn. Clarke had pulled her sketchbook against her chest to stop Raven from seeing what she'd drawn, but after a round of playful tugging at the book, she relented and showed her.
On the page Clarke had drawn a statuesque figure that was wearing only her bra & panties. She was gazing out with a pensive expression on her face and this was topped off by the large pair of angel wings that she was sporting as well. Clarke had given the image colour to really bring it to life and it was captioned underneath by the words 'My Angel'.
Raven looked at Clarke full on now and Clarke wasn't meeting her gaze. She placed the sketchbook down and turned Clarke's face towards her until her eyes were on her.
"Is that…me?" She asked her and at Clarke's shy nod continued, "Is that what you think of me?" Again Clarke could only nod at this as she was unsure what Raven would think of her sketches.
She dropped her hands and looked away, "I'm not as good as you seem to think I am Clarke."
For the last few months Raven had been getting less and less sleep ever since that final encounter with President Wallace. That moment where she shot Josh, that boy who'd done so much in a short space of time to save both Clarke & Finn and she'd killed him. She couldn't shake that last look that was on his face when he'd realised he'd been shot.
She was haunted by it and wracked with guilt over what she'd done. It was one thing to do what you had to do in order to survive by eliminating those who meant to do you harm. But when you took the life of someone who'd done nothing but help you, it was something else entirely.
As much as she hated to admit it, every time she looked at Clarke she was reminded of what she'd done even if she'd been able to put aside the guilt and pain for awhile. Once she realised that she'd forgotten about it, she'd feel worse for not remembering his sacrifice.
"What's up Raven? What makes you say that?" Clarke placed a hand on Raven's thigh and began to rub gently back and forth in a comforting sort of way.
Raven sighed as she looked back at Clarke, "I was just thinking about that boy, Josh who I killed on Mt Weather, you know the boy who saved both you and Finn."
Clarke could tell that she was troubled by this and she hated it. She hated seeing the pain and the grief that her best friend, her one love was going through. She hated seeing the sadness on her face and she wanted to do anything and everything to take it away and replace it with the sunny and sarcastic exterior that Raven usually radiated.
"Hey! Look at me Raven," when she refused to turn her head Clarke cupped Raven's face so she couldn't look away.
"From what you told me about it, he knew what he was getting into. He knew the choice he'd made and without that I wouldn't be here. Finn wouldn't be here either and I wouldn't get to be with you and do this," she said as she brought Raven's mouth to hers.
She showed her just how much she enjoyed every moment she had by putting everything into the kiss. Her tongue coaxed Raven's mouth open allowing her greater access. Their tongues danced alongside one another as her passion and eagerness drew Raven out of her shell.
She could feel Raven's hands slide up her shirt and her touch only ignited the situation more. Drawing back more because she needed to take a breath, Clarke traced Raven's lower lip with her tongue and gazed into her eyes. Both girls were breathless having been swept up in the moment, everything else lost to them and unimportant in that moment except for each other.
"Clarke I…" Raven begun but was silenced by Clarke putting a finger on her lips which she used to trace them with.
"Without his sacrifice I'd never have been able to enjoy another moment with you. I never would have been able to show you just how much I love Raven Reyes. Which is why…" Clarke said as she reached into her pocket pulling out two silver rings and deftly slipping one onto Raven's ring finger, "We're going to make a promise to one another," she continued as she slipped the other onto her own ring finger.
"I promise to always be there for you Raven, through the ups and downs, good times and bad. I don't need to tell you how much I love you. I don't think of anyone else but you and after all we've been through already, you and me is meant to be. Besides, if I lose you I'll die an old, grey and lonely girl."
Raven was shocked speechless by Clarke's admission. She knew how much she loved Clarke but she didn't realise the level to which Clarke felt about her. As she looked into Clarke's eyes and saw the wry smile on her face from her joke at the end it brought a smile to Raven's face and tears to her eyes.
She'd never felt anything like this before and as much as it frightened her it excited her as well. Wiping away her tears she tried to maintain her tough girl image.
"Damn you Clarke for making me feel this way and making me so girly." She continued to look into Clarke's expectant face and realised what was missing in this situation. "I promise Clarke. For now and always."
Those were the words Clarke had been hoping all day long to hear from her. Ever since she'd thought long and hard about this and came up with the idea she had been immensely nervous. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders and she couldn't remember a time when she'd felt better than this.
Her eyes had become watery as well because of the happiness she was feeling and she drew Raven in for a hug. They were content like that for a moment when,
BANG!
A loud explosion sounded someway into the forest, well beyond the borders of Camp Jaha. It startled both the girls as they broke apart and looked out at the forest, smoke already beginning to rise above to tree line. They looked back at one another and knew that they had to go see Abby because if there was one thing they definitely had to do, it was that they needed to check out the explosion to see what it was about and who or what caused it.
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A conference of sorts had already started as Clarke & Raven walked into the room where the council had their meetings on a regular basis. Abby as the Chancellor was already there, as were Sinclair and Kane.
Abby looked away from what she was doing to take in her daughter's appearance,
"What's the matter Clarke?" She asked as Sinclair and Kane resumed the discussion that had been ongoing as Abby crossed the room to stand in front of her daughter.
Clarke, who had one hand in Raven's, used the other to gesture in the direction of the explosion,
"That explosion, we need to go investigate it to see what caused it and what it could possibly mean," she said, keener than ever to stretch her legs outside of the camp.
Abby nodded, "Well that is what we've been discussing just now," she gestured to Kane & Sinclair behind her, "With the threat of Mt Weather eliminated and the Grounders to our knowledge, not possessing the ability to make explosives, it's definitely something we need to look into," she said as Major Byrne strode into the room.
"Chancellor, the leader of the Grounders, Indra is at the gate and wants to speak with you. She's says it's urgent and has something to do with the explosion."
At these words, the Major had everyone's attention. If the Grounders had an idea as to what was going on, then it would make the jump from planning to action a whole lot faster.
"Okay then, escort her here immediately Major." The room became a flurry of activity as anything not related to the explosion was packed away and everyone present took seats at the table as they waited.
Before long, the door opened revealing the Major who let Indra walk past her and into the room before shutting the door behind her. Everyone in the room straightened in their seats. It was Abby, who spoke up first,
"Welcome Indra. Major Byrne informed me that you had some information regarding the explosion that happened earlier this afternoon."
Clarke had noticed that something was off about Indra's demeanour ever since she entered the room. She hadn't yet taken a seat and it seemed to Clarke that she was trying to keep one emotion in particular in check. Anger.
"When the first lot of my people went missing I thought it was most likely a rebel faction of other people of the ground." She paused to take in a breath. "But now this! This! Who else could have the done this?" She gestured wildly and frantically to indicate the explosion before continuing, "Who else could have done this but your people!?" She yelled slamming a hand on the table.
Abby flinched slightly as did Clarke and Indra's actions and unbridled fury. It was Clarke however that spoke up,
"What reason would we have for doing that? We didn't risk our lives to save our people and yours from Mt Weather and we didn't agree to peace with your people just to go back on that."
Clarke herself was getting heated at that accusation. She barely made it out of Mt Weather alive and had the scars to prove it on her chest. Raven began to rub Clarke's arm soothingly even if she did agree with what she was saying and loved seeing her partner so passionate.
Indra however was not to be dissuaded from her beliefs,
"Maybe you did it, so we'd lower our guard around you people from the sky, so you could slowly remove us one by one." She looked around the table but focused that last part particularly as she looked at Clarke.
Abby rose to her feet, unwilling to take it lying down either and she had to hide a smile that threaten to come in at an inappropriate moment as she realised that her daughter was very much like her in that regard.
"Indra! That is enough!" She enunciated every word to place emphasis and control her own building anger. "We will send a team out there to investigate this, but I can promise you that we had nothing to do with this at all."
Indra turned and stalked out the already open door as Major Byrne had opened it and was observing the interaction once the yelling had started. With a quick nod to Abby she shut the door behind Indra and escorted her off the camp grounds.
Abby sighed for a moment before addressing everyone that is present,
"This investigative team needs to be a small one that can quickly assess and report on the findings in a timely manner." She turned to Kane, "You originally brokered the peace agreement between our people and the Grounders. I want you to use that relationship to smooth things over for the time being."
He nodded and headed off to his own quarters to begin planning what he'd say and/or do. Abby now turned to Clarke,
"I want you and Raven to assemble a small team. Pick only a few people with a variety of skills that you think will help determine what happened. I need this wrapped up quickly Clarke."
Even though Clarke was over the moon at her mom asking her to carry out a mission as official as this one, when she normally would have tried to stop Clarke from doing such a thing, she felt compelled to ask,
"Why are you sending me out there mom?" She asked as she got to her feet as did Raven.
Abby could tell that Clarke was more than a little surprised at these developments given how hard she'd fought to go on previous extracurricular activities sanctioned in the past but it all came down to one thing,
"I need someone leading that team that I can trust."
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Immediately after that impromptu meeting had disbanded, Clarke & Raven had set to work. She sent Raven off to get stuff ready for the both of them and alert anyone she saw along the way who they'd quickly agreed should come with them.
The team that they'd assembled only consisted of six members. Herself, Raven, Octavia, Bellamy, Finn & Murphy. She'd picked them all based on what they could bring to the table in getting this sorted and investigated quickly.
Raven, for reasons besides just being Clarke's girlfriend. Her previous experience with bombs and mechanical mind would prove valuable if there was anything to find. Octavia, because she knew these woods just as well as anyone having travelled through them extensively.
Finn was the main tracker and if there were any clues left behind as to who may have done this, or where they came from or went to after leaving the area, he'd find them. Bellamy and Murphy were there largely as the guns as Clarke knew that they could handle themselves and they needed someone to be on the lookout. Besides, Bellamy was not going to let Octavia go off without him so they were a package deal in that sense.
The instructions were simple. Go to the site. Find any evidence as to what happened and who may have caused it and return to present the findings. It was for this reason and the fact that they didn't plan to be gone for long that she instructed them all to pack lightly, only taking the bare necessities.
This was particularly important not just because of the time factor but also the atmospheric conditions. It was a particularly warm and humid day, so excess weight and equipment would tire them out faster, making progress slower.
They were equipped with a radio so they could report anything immediately if necessary or if they were in danger to Monty & Jasper who were to stay at the camp and monitor the airwaves.
Clarke was waiting by the entrance to Camp Jaha and had been joined by all the members of her team except for Raven. As soon as she began to wonder where she could be, she looked up to see he approaching and her jaw dropped at the sight.
Raven walked over carrying a pack and a rifle for Clarke as well as her own pack but it was what she was wearing that had Clarke gob smacked. She was dressed in short shorts that were a light brown in colour that was slightly faded. At either side of her waist were two holsters that housed a pistol each and the straps that connected the holsters in place could be seen more clearly against her legs.
She wore a top that exposed a small section of her stomach and each hand had dark brown gloves which covered all but the ends of her fingers and thumbs. Her hair was in its usual ponytail style and her combat boots were laced up and topped off the badass image she gave off.
Handing Clarke her pack like nothing was a miss she smiled as she saw the effect she had on her girlfriend. Snapping out of her daze, Clarke instantly knew why the look she was sporting was so familiar,
"You looked through my sketchbook didn't you?" She asked her as her eyes continued to drink in her appearance.
"Well yeah that, plus it's hot and well I look pretty badass," she replied as Clarke took her rifle from Raven.
"Forget badass, although it's true. Sexy seems too tame a word," Clarke said as she pulled Raven's body against hers.
Bellamy coughed loudly, "I hate to break this up, but it was you that said we needed to move quickly Clarke."
Clarke looked a little embarrassed at this and blushing at little she stepped away from Raven, who only smiled even more. She loved that she had that effect on Clarke and it only increased her own desire when she knew that Clarke was thinking suggestive thoughts about her.
The team quickly strode towards the gates which were opened by the guards manning them and before long they were running through the tree line, which shaded them and gave them a temporary reprieve from the sweltering temperatures as the canopy above blocked some of the harsher rays from the sun.
Clarke wasn't sure what they were going to find once they reached site of the explosion, but after witnessing the rage of Indra, the Grounders leader, she hoped that they could find something to appease the Grounders and keep the peace between them and the people of the Ark.
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Even though they'd been making good time, it still took a couple of hours to reach the site of the explosion. As they approached ground zero, they'd noticed the discernable lack of life and Clarke put it down to the explosion and whoever was here had been threatening enough that anyone nearby, man or beast was decidedly scarce where this area was concerned.
As soon as they pushed through the last of the trees, vines and any other form of plant life which was between them and the clearing, the group took in the sight in front of them. The Earth was scorched from the heat given off from the explosion and any trees that had been close enough were charred black.
The scent of smoke still hung in the air, but it wasn't all of this that was the most disturbing thing about the site. Laid out across the clearing were a number of bodies that were distinctly lifeless. This snapped Clarke into action,
"Okay fan out everyone. You know what your roles are which we discussed on the way over here."
Bellamy and Murphy took up separate positions on opposite sides of the clearing to keep an eye out as the patrolled the perimeter. Clarke, Raven, Finn and Octavia begun to sweep the site, looking for anything of interest to them.
Clarke went over to the bodies and checked the pulses quickly, more out of habit than anything else but it only confirmed what she'd already suspected. These people, who were dead, were as Indra claimed in that they were Grounders. There appeared to be no pattern in regards to age or gender as men, women and children were among the dead.
They were all shirtless but otherwise clothed and they had markings carved into their torsos. At first Clarke didn't think much of it, until one of the bodies appeared to have an 'E' carved into it and another had an 'A' carved into it.
"These bodies aren't burned and there are no signs of shrapnel or anything to suggest they were in the explosion," Raven commented as she had come to crouch next to Clarke having completed her own assessment of the bodies.
Clarke had a prickly sensation on the back of her neck and she began to scan the tree line around the clearing. She just had the strangest feeling that they were being watched. Bellamy and Murphy showed no signs of having recognised a threat as they continued patrolling, so Clarke shook it off as a brief moment of paranoia.
"There are tracks leading out this way," Finn pointed in the direction they led to as he called out to them.
"There's not much over here but some animal tracks and the odd footprint, nothing to suggest they went this way," Octavia called out from the side of the clearing opposite to Finn.
Clarke's mind began to work feverishly as she put all this information together. What did it all mean?
"The explosion itself was simple enough. It's not that different from our one we created using the rocketfuel. Use an accelerant, light a fuse and boom!" Raven said as she mimed an explosion with her hands.
The radio attached at Clarke's hip came crackling to life as Monty's voice tore through the silence,
"Clarke can you hear me?"
Clarke reached down and brought the radio to her lips, pushing the button on the side so she could talk,
"Got you loud and clear Monty, go ahead," she replied.
"Have you guys found anything yet?"
"We're just processing what we've found so far…" Clarke's voice trailed off as her eyes moved slowly across the first line of bodies, "They were placed here…"
It was at that moment that she realised that the first line of bodies if you placed the letters carved into each chest next to each other spelt a word, LEAVE.
"Clarke? Are you there?" Came Monty through the radio once more.
"Hang on a second Monty, I think I've figured something out," Letting go of the button on the radio she turned to Raven and said, "Do you think you could climb one of those trees and read out the message to me?"
Raven gave her a quick kiss before setting off and climbing the tree. She was awestruck by the view especially from being able to see things from a different perspective but soon turned her gaze downward to read the message which said,
LEAVE NOW BOTH OF YOU.
Raven relayed the message onto Clarke who figured it could only mean one thing. Knowing that the Grounders wouldn't have started killing themselves and leaving messages and that the residents of the Ark didn't do it, then who did?
Someone had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to set up and then display this message for them to find and given the display in front of her it was a threatening message to say the least. She relayed the message onto Monty who asked her himself what she thought it meant.
"It means that someone else is here and they don't like us or the Grounders."
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:
Breathless - The Corrs (Clarke and Raven's kiss that leaves them both breathless)
Slaughterhouse - Jesper Kyd (When Clarke sees the dead Grounders when leading her team to investigate)
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!