A/N - Thanks for all of the awesome reviews and follows/favorites, I'm glad people are enjoying my vision for the continuation of things. If you're not familiar with my other fanfics, just a quick explanation - I like to keep my fanfics as close to the characters and story of the actual show as I can, with the exception that I will be pushing the Bellarke ship along a bit more than what happens on the show. That being said, I am introducing new characters; I felt like Clarke needed someone new, someone who didn't know her before, someone who wouldn't expect or demand anything of her, someone who would just let her be while she started to heal, which is how Ashlan came about. Of course, Ashlan has his own story and agenda, and hopefully I'll be able to keep up this fic long enough to explore that.
I'm sure that both Echo and Lexa will be playing roles in season 3, and I'm hoping Echo isn't going to get in the way of the Bellarke ship, but knowing how these things usually go, she probably will! I'm also very interested to see what will happen between Lexa and Clarke when they eventually see each other again, and am dying to know how the Bellarke reunion will go down. In the meantime, I'll just have to keep entertaining myself with fanfiction!
So, hope you all enjoy this latest installment. Happy reading!
~LizAna
Clarke crossed her arms, angling herself so she could keep an eye on the cages while a few steps away, Ashlan argued with the group of men who'd escorted them into the village. She couldn't understand everything being said, she'd only picked up a handful of phrases and words during her time with Lexa. For her rudimentary bilingual skills, Ashlan and the others were talking too fast for her to keep up with, especially since she had more than a small portion of her attention on those cages.
After recognizing Bellamy, it hadn't taken her long to also pick out Octavia, Lincoln and Kane in amongst the prisoners. She'd wanted to march right over there and start demanding someone free them, but Ashlan had kept her in place with a hand on her arm, before going over to talk with the grounders. Now they seemed to be having some kind of argument and didn't look like they'd be agreeing on anything in the near future.
Keeping an eye on both Ashlan and the men standing in front of him, she edged across the grass, toward the cages. No one took any notice of her, so once she'd put a good amount of distance between them, she turned and hurried the rest of the way across. When they'd first arrived in the village, it had looked like most of the people inside the two enclosures were sleeping. But the commotion had roused them and as she got closer to the cage, Bellamy got up and came forward, meeting her at the bars.
"Clarke!" He reached an arm through the bars and she caught his hand as she stopped in front of him.
"Bellamy." She was almost breathless from the short dash across the town square, but the lack of oxygen in her lungs could have also had something to do with the way Bellamy was staring at her.
"Where have you been? I was starting to worry about you." He tightened his grip on her, pulling her closer until there was nothing but the bars separating them. She wished more than anything that she could throw her arms around him like she had all those months ago when she'd escaped from the mountain and made it to Camp Jaha. She'd been so careful not to think about him or her friends and family these past weeks, that seeing him now was like waking from some dream, leaving her chest aching as the full weight of reality dropped back onto her.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left like that, but I needed to get away, I needed—"
"You don't have to explain it to me, Clarke, I understand. I'm just glad you're okay."
A shout sounded behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see the grounders had finally noticed she'd sneaked off. Two of them were hurrying across the grass toward her.
She looked back at Bellamy who was staring past her at the approaching grounders with a grim expression on his face.
"Bellamy, I need to know what you did—"
"We didn't do anything. We were trying to negotiate to trade, we'd been to several other villages before this one, but no one wanted to talk with us."
"Then why did they lock you up?" The words were hurried as the guards got closer.
"Its Lexa, she ordered it. They're taking us to Polis this morning."
"Not if I have anything to do with it." She went to step back, holding up her hands before the grounders forcibly removed her. But Bellamy grabbed the hem of her shirt before she got out of arm's reach.
"Clarke, there's a girl named Echo here, she helped me in the mountain. She might help you now if you ask her."
She gave a single nod to let him know she'd caught his low, rushed words before the grounders grabbed her arms and pulled her away from the cage.
"Okay, I'm leaving." She shrugged out of their hold, shooting them a glare as she trudged back toward where Ashlan stood waiting with his arms crossed, looking as equally unimpressed.
"Are you always this impulsive? You couldn't wait one more minute for me to finish speaking with them?"
She returned his glare. "I needed answers and it didn't look like you were getting anywhere with them."
"And rushing over there, putting the villagers on edge, how does that help you free your friends?" His words were almost condescending, but they mostly pissed her off because he was right, damn him.
"What did they think I was going to do, snap the bars with my bare hands? I just wanted to find out what happened. I wasn't trying to make anyone nervous," she replied, trying to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
Ashlan shook his head slightly. "And yet, that's exactly what you did."
Before she could reply, Ashlan turned away as a middle-aged man approached, flanked by a beefy guard on each side.
"Ashlan of the Floudonkru, to what do we owe this visit?" A murmured ripple spread through the grounders surrounding them, and they all took a step back, inclining their heads respectfully at Ashlan.
He pushed his shoulders back, his bearing confident as if this sort of deference was his due. Just who the hell was Ashlan? He hadn't said much about himself beyond the basics, but these grounders all seemed to know him by name alone.
"As you are my father's oldest friend, I didn't realize I needed a reason to visit, Jorge."
Ashlan stepped forward, a friendly smile transforming his features, making him look younger for a moment. Jorge also moved forward, and the two clasped forearms, before embracing.
"And how is your father? I have to admit, I was disappointed he did not attend the summit himself." Jorge said as he stepped back again.
"My father is well, working long days with the gona of our villages from sunrise to sunset."
Jorge grinned. "Then it sounds as if very little has changed. And did Terran come with you?"
Ashlan's expression tightened, and it was almost like the light was extinguished in his eyes. "Terran lies buried in the ruins of Tondc."
Jorge's face became grim. "I am sorry, son. He deserved a proper floudon burial, as did your strisis. I heard she wasn't among those who walked out of Maun-de."
"My brother and sister have been avenged." Ashlan glanced over at her and she couldn't quite get a read on what he might be thinking from the carefully blank expression, but his gaze momentarily burned into her. "That must be my solace if we can't bury them as they should be."
Jorge glanced over at her, and finally seemed to notice her attire. Though she still had the coat and gloves she'd been wearing the last time she'd stood with Lexa, it was doubtless still clear she wasn't a grounder.
"And your friend?" Jorge's face took on a hard edge, his friendly manner swiftly disappearing.
Ashlan gestured her closer, so she stepped up next to him. "This is Klark of the Skaikru."
A swell of exclamations rose up around them, and she shifted a bit closer to Ashlan, resisting the urge to wrap her hand around the gun or small knife Ashlan had given her. She couldn't tell if news of her identity had made the grounders more pissed off, or wary.
Jorge held up both hands, signalling for silence. "Klark, you are welcome in our village, and have our deepest gratitude for defeating an enemy that had taken too many of our people's lives for too many generations."
"I didn't act alone, despite what you might have heard. The people you have locked up over there, they helped me. And it wasn't something I enjoyed doing. I didn't want to kill anyone inside that mountain, but Lexa and Cage left me no choice—"
Ashlan wrapped a hand around her forearm and squeezed gently, cutting off her words as Jorge's bearing tensed, his hard expression indicating he didn't want to hear any of what she had to say.
"This is no doubt a discussion we should have elsewhere," Ashlan said, sounding so calm and diplomatic, it only made her more frustrated. She didn't want to have a discussion, she wanted Bellamy and the rest of her people freed from those cages right now.
But as she went to open her mouth to tell Jorge exactly that, Ashlan tightened his grip and shot her a warning glare.
"Klark and I have been walking for most of the night; we could use a warm meal."
Jorge studied her for a long moment, while she clamped her jaw to stop herself from saying anything else. No matter that she usually charged forward doing what she thought was best for the people she cared about, her time with Lexa had taught her that she couldn't assume the grounders thought about things in the same way she did. For now, she would take Ashlan's lead and see where that got her, but in the meantime, she'd try to work out who Echo was and formulate a plan to get her friends out whether Ashlan was willing to help or not.
"Come with me then, there is a fire and fresh meat cooking at my home," Jorge finally said.
Ashlan thanked him, and then let go of her as they started following the leader and his contingent of guards across the town square. Clarke glanced over her shoulder, able to see the cages more clearly now that the sun had started to come up. Bellamy and Octavia were sitting side by side, watching her, their expressions grim, but even from here she could see the hope and expectation in their eyes. She tore her gaze away, stomach clenching as a small swell of panic clamped down on her.
They shouldn't look to her, shouldn't rely on her. She'd only proven time and time again that when people relied on her, they got killed. She didn't want the responsibility, she hadn't set out to lead anyone, she'd only been trying to keep everyone alive and for the most part safe, that's all she'd wanted since they'd come to the ground.
The dark, hollow sensation she'd been pushing down the past two weeks rose within her again, reminding her of why she'd walked away from Camp Jaha in the first place. A small part of her simply wanted to turn right around and escape back to the undemanding safety of Tondc. But she'd never do that, not when her people were in that cage, especially Bellamy. Not when she knew they were being sent to Polis. After Lexa's betrayal, she couldn't even begin to guess what the heda had in mind for her people, and honestly didn't want to know. Unfortunately, she would probably have to face Lexa eventually. And somehow she had to make sure that the rest of the people from the ark didn't bear the brunt of whatever feelings or animosity Lexa might have toward her from the way things had ended.
