Hatred into Love
Spoilers: All Season 1 and Season 2 of the 100; Spoilers from San Diego Comic Con The 100 Panel
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Clarke stared at the large tree that stood before her, she turned to look at Maxim as the priest stood beside her. Marta stood feet away with several other priests and Lexa, all waiting for her to perform the task laid before her. She turned back to the tree and stared up as she tried to figure out how she was supposed to get all the way to the top.
"You expect me to climb that?"
"Yes and you are to retrieve the chosen item of Forsa's that lay on one of the many branches." Maxim looked at Clarke, "even if you fail the test it will be done with honor. You have been chosen as Aven's messenger and that is greatness even upon falling the tests of Sora and Joss."
Sighing she looked up again, "how am I supposed to get up there?"
"That is part of the test, you must listen and allow Forsa to guide your actions." Maxim stated as he took a few steps back
Clarke walked to the tree, circling it's wide base to look for any indentation that could give her a boost onto the trunk. However it was bare of anything that could be used as leverage and given that she hadn't been climbing trees her whole life like the previous passer of the test she doubted she'd be getting up by her hands alone.
"Just for the record," Clarke spoke as she rounded the tree and let her eyes rest on Lexa. "The fact you did this when you were twelve makes me want to kick your ass because this is impossible."
Lexa held humor in her eyes despite not giving it away on her face, "we shall speak more on the subject later but for now you will climb the tree."
Clarke narrowed her eyes as she noticed Lexa's hand rest on her sword as it normally did when attempting to ease her nervousness. It struck her that one way up the tree was with blades so she bent down and withdrew her knife from her boot, digging into the bark of the tree with the hope it was soft enough. It wasn't as soft as she'd like but it wasn't too hard not to allow the knife to get some leverage.
"Give me your knife." She turned to Lexa but the woman shook her head.
Lexa looked down before looking up. "I cannot assist you in any manner Clarke, the tests must be undertaken by one's self."
Clarke turned back to the tree and backed up a few feet to look up at the branches, they didn't start for at least a dozen feet or so. Tilting her head as the sun filled the tree canopy, the blond saw the glint of something on the second branch. Pulling her gun from her other boot, she heard continued gasped and panic but Lexa's voice instantly silenced their panic.
Aiming the weapon at the glint she fired the weapon, her last bullet exited the chamber. A ping was heard after the discharge and Clarke took a step back as an engraved metal shield fell to the ground at the base of the tree. Bending down she saw the tree and biohazard symbol that Lexa used as an emblem emblazed on the metal. Picking it up she turned it to show those watching.
"Was this what I was supposed to retrieve?" She shrugged and handed it off to Maxim as she walked past them towards the path that they'd taken from Polis.
Lexa let a soft smirk go as she turned to follow Clarke while everyone else seemed to stay in place for a few moments. Clarke noticed Lexa out of the corner of her eye and the footsteps moments later signified the others were following. Silence was all that accompanied them to the temple and only once inside did the commotion begin.
"She failed the test!" Marta remarked and everyone turned to her. "She only completed half the assigned tasks and used a forbidden weapon to do so."
Clarke snorted, "forbidden to you maybe but guns are a part of my culture. Using them isn't prohibited to me and in case you've forgotten, the Mountain Men can't punish you anymore for using them."
Maxim looked between the two, "it is true that you failed the test, you were required to climb the tree to retrieve the shield. However, Forsa's chosen stands before us so it is expected that you would fail the test as a chosen cannot occupy two beings at once. A single spirit for a single body."
One of the older priests took a step forward, "rest for we will continue with the tests after night has settled upon us. Jula's test requires darkness and fire so we wait."
"If she passes this last test then she will bring unrest." Marta exclaimed, "death cannot live with life. Death does not guide or provide for the people, it takes all it consumes."
"What would you do to prevent such a thing?" Lexa took a step towards the priestess. "Would you slit her throat as you persuaded Maxim to do before her arrival?"
The woman was silent and Clarke narrowed her eyes as she walked towards the woman, stopping only when she was beside Lexa. "Your silence says you agree with that. What would my death bring? Disrespect from the gods no doubt..."
"You do not believe in them, you only undergo these tests because we force you to." Marta spat in Clarke's direction. "You come and place yourself in our ways, taking and demanding as you see fit and have convinced another to give us false prophecy and readings to make us believe you are chosen." She took a few steps towards Clarke, "you are not chosen, you are death's companion and you will destroy us all."
Clarke took a step back from the woman. "I think the power you wave as priestess has clouded your idea of reality." She nodded toward Maxim, "I will leave until sunset so everyone can calm down."
With that she left, a part of her accepting what was said as true but she knew the woman didn't know her. She respected the culture and the religion but she didn't agree with it. Life seemed to be too harsh to have gods that protected and guided. Lexa seemed to believe the trial was important and had been willing to take her back to her camp after the tests so she let them continue. They were similar than going to war over something as stupid as beliefs. In reality Clarke found herself wondering why she continued with the charade as the tasks just showed she had a bit of everything in her. She healed just as much as she took lives, guided her people to safety and gave peace at the cost of herself.
Walking through the streets of Polis, Clarke allowed herself to take in the life that resided there. Children ran through the streets with balls and toys, laughing and smiling while adults traded or spoke to one another. She got glances but she ignored them as if they were nothing to worry about. It was a fresh difference from the harsh life she'd endured since her arrival on the planet. Life instead of death, peace instead of war or battlefields full of blood.
Stopping at a stall that held various pieces of jewelry and weapons she visually examined each piece with her hands kept behind her back. The stall owner smiled at her, an older woman that seemed to motion to the goods as if offering something. The girl that stood beside the woman smiled at her, she was probably a year or two older than Clarke.
"I have nothing to trade." Her Trigedasleng was limited to mostly war or phrases that were related to war.
"Gona?" The girl spoke and motioned to a knife but Clarke shook her head.
"No gona, ai laik Klark kom Skaikru."
The girl looked over at the woman, clearly her mother, before turning back to Clarke. "Wanheda?" The blond nodded and instantly the girl picked up one of the knives, thrusting it out towards Clarke. "Mochof, yu taik au Maunon."
Clarke accepted the knife as she knew she wouldn't get away from leaving without it. The girl bowed her head and backed up gently. "Mochof." The woman nodded and put an arm around her daughter, smiling to Clarke before turning her attention to a second customer.
Clarke sheathed the sword in her boot before moving on to the other stalls. The man at the next stall held out a small cloth full of fruit, clearly not allowing her to leave without it. He thanked her for the mountain and while it made her sick to think about why they were so grateful, she didn't say anything other than thank them. The idea that she'd committed genocide yet the clans saw a hero made her want to curl up on her bed for days.
Finding a bench along an area that could only be described as a park, Clarke allowed herself to enjoy some of the fruit. It wasn't long before children gathered around her, unafraid in the fact they had no knowledge of her, holding out their hands for fruit. Smiling, she dispersed the fruit between all ten of them and then watched them go, not caring she had none of the exotic fruit left to try for the first time.
One of the children ran over and held out a ball to her, as if expecting her to play. She took it from him and stood up, kicking it towards the others. Instantly he was laughing and running after it, a small girl no older than five grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the group of children. It wasn't long before she was pulled into a game of keep-away but despite her size and speed, the children's advantage of having played longer kept the ball from her.
She fell to the ground in laugher as the kids jumped up and down when one of the boys kicked it through a metal ring a few feet away. The children practically threw themselves on her, tackling her and Clarke found herself happy for the first time in a while. The kids didn't demand of her or judge her for her actions, they just wanted to play and have fun. It was only the lighting of the torches through the city that had them leaving, a wave goodbye all she received from them. No words had been exchanged the entire time she'd played with them, just laughter and some fun.
Standing, Clarke started back towards the temple and found Lexa on the last step waiting as if she'd been anticipating her. The woman smiled as the blond neared, she took the last step down and waited till Clarke stood inches from her.
"Did you enjoy the city?"
Clarke nodded, "I wish people would stop thanking me for the mountain. I committed genocide, it's not something to be thanking someone for. They should be condemning me for the murder of innocents and children."
"The Mountain harmed us for generations Clarke, it was expected that the next generation would be the same as the first. The clans cannot condemn you for something which you saved them and their children from. No more shall become reapers, no more shall die by the mountain's hand and the fear once lived in is now replaced with hope." Lexa turned and started up the stairs, Clarke following a step behind. "They thank you because you did what none have been able to do before."
"Whatever!" Clarke pushed past her into the temple and Lexa merely sighed, it was a useless battle to fight the blond on a lesson she was determined not to learn yet. In time she'd learn just as she always did.
The temple was dark except for the fire on the altar and Clarke stood silently as two men kneeled with ropes tied around them. They clearly looked like they'd been prisoners but for what crimes Clarke was unsure of. Maxim looked at her as she approached him, intent on finding out what was going on.
"Why are they here?"
"It is the final test, Heda can explain as she is aware of them more than any of us."
Lexa moved to Clarke as the blond turned to look at her. "One is a prisoner, his crime is defiling a child and the other is innocent. Jula's test is one of perception, who deserves death and if chosen by Jula your instincts will guide you to the guilty man."
Clarke met green eyes, turned brown by the light of the fire, "I have to kill him don't I? What if I kill an innocent man?"
"He has volunteered, sickness will have Jula claiming him before the moon is upon us so a quick death would be a mercy."
Looking between both men she grabbed her knife from her boot and waited. She eyed both of them, both men seemed to stare at her in wonder of what she would do. She didn't take her eyes away because she needed to look into their eyes. It seemed like hours passed and she walked towards them, her eyes viewing every small movement that they made. She saw the one on the right lean towards her just a fraction, his eagerness for death a clear giveaway to who he was.
Without prompting, she turned on her heels and grabbed the other man's head. Her eyes blazed as she looked at Lexa. "Kill him if you want but I won't kill him, he deserves to die by the hand of the one he harmed. A quick death is a gift."
Maxim smiled as did Lexa, the woman gave an order and instantly two of her warriors were hauling the man away. Clarke cut the ropes of the other man and he nodded to her as if to thank her before walking out with the third warrior that waited for him. Clarke put her knife back in her boot and moved to the two.
"You did well Clarke of the Sky People."
"Sorry I failed but I won't kill him when it's not my place."
Maxim shook his head, "no you are Wanheda, your spirit has been chosen by Jula but you also act as Aven's messenger. Your spirit is strange as it was chosen to hold both life and death. Never has anyone been chosen by two of the gods before and I suspect it shall never happen again."
Clarke looked to Lexa, "what does this mean?"
"It means you rest Clarke and receive the customary marking to signify your status. Once the marking is complete I shall return you to your camp and trade talks shall continue." Lexa took a step back before turning. "Come, I shall take you to the palace tonight so you may rest on something more comfortable than the floor."
A/N: I know it's a bit short but the next one will be longer.
Next: Clarke finds herself waking up to servants at her beck and call. She also undergoes a ceremony to gain a tattoo.
Please read and review...