Early morning light filtered into the tent exposing the invisible particles floating in the air. Bellamy and Clarke's hands were still slightly intertwined, their fingers lazily draped over one another.
Octavia entered the tent brusquely and nudged at their feet, "Hey love birds, its breakfast time."
Clarke woke abruptly, sitting up immediately, "What time is it?" she inquired.
"Half past seven."
Raven had them on a strict schedule so they could reach each of their checkpoints by sundown.
"Alright, we'll be out in a minute."
"Yeah, whatever." With that Octavia left the tent.
Chatter could be heard from outside. It seemed like everyone else was already up.
"Bell, get up. We gotta go." Clarke nudged Bellamy softly. "Bellamy, get up!"
Bellamy sat up aggressively and before Clarke knew it she was on her back and he was above her holding a knife to her throat.
His eyes were still closed. Clarke realized he was in some sort of sleep walking trance. She had no experience on how to deal with a sleepwalker or what to do in this situation. He just continued to crouch above her, hovering the knife ever so closely to her neck.
"Octavia." Clarke called, just above a whisper. "Octavia!" she called a little louder this time and thankfully heard Octavia's annoyed foot falls.
She ripped open the tent, "What?!- Ew. Why are you calling me?" She was about to leave, obviously assuming that Bellamy was some how suggestively mounting Clarke, at least that's how it seemed from her angle.
"No, Octavia! Wait! He's asleep! I don't know what to do." Clarke said.
Octavia entered the tent and sat down next to Clarke and saw the knife on her throat.
"Oh shit. Um. Okay. Maybe if you try talking to him directly?" she suggested.
"Okay." Clarke looked directly at Bellamy. "Bellamy, it's Clarke. Can you hear me?"
There was no response.
"Let me try." Octavia said. "Bell, can you hear me?" There was such a subtle twitch in his face that they barely caught it, but it almost seemed like he did hear her.
Octavia placed her hand on Bellamy's shoulder as though trying to comfort him.
"You're alright. You can go back to sleep, Bell. Everything is okay." Octavia continued. Little by little Bellamy's rigidness softened. "You can lay back down, Bell." She guided him back to the floor until his head was on his sleeping bag. Clarke slid from away to give Octavia room to get him back down.
"You're okay, Bell. You're okay." She held his hand tightly and waited a few moments before asking, "Bellamy, can you hear me?"
Bellamy's eyes fluttered open in the most normal way possible, clearly having no recollection of what just occurred. "O-" he began.
She instantly stood up to leave, "He's all yours." She said to Clarke and immediately left the tent.
"Hey." Clarke said a little unsure of how to explain what just happened.
"So how did your mom stop you from sleepwalking?" Clarke asked as they drove through a less dense area of the forest.
"Well, first she tied my arm to my bed, but that didn't work. So eventually she just started staying awake until I started sleepwalking and she would talk me back to bed." Clarke gave him a face that meant she needed more of an explanation. "She would grab my shoulders and talk to me as if I were awake and somehow it worked. I could never remember the sleepwalking or the dream that I might have been having, maybe only fragments of it, but I'd always wake up feeling really calm." He explained.
"So that's how Octavia knew what to do."
Bellamy simply nodded.
"We're here." Indra interjected.
Everyone's attention averted to the entrance of a village. It looked positively prehistoric. The surrounding fence was made up of a mixture of bones and tree trunks.
"Well that certainly looks inviting." Clarke said.
"They aren't known for their hospitality." Indra said. "We'll get out here. They wont want us getting any closer."
Everyone exited the rovers and Octavia tied off her horse. They walked as a group to the gate that was seemingly unguarded.
"Where is everyone?" Bellamy asked.
"Everywhere." Indra whispered. She turned in a circle, looking from the trees to the ground and spoke in the language of the grounders. "We mean no harm. I am Indra of TriKru. We are on a mission that is of grave importance. I demand to speak to your leader, as we need passage through the mountain."
There was movement from the corner of her eye and then she immediately entered a hostile pose along with Rumi, Gerald and Hedra.
The bark of a tree closest to them disappeared and from it emerged a face under a cloak. And then other parts of the forest around them moved and shifted out of place, turning into back into people.
The bark man walked up to Indra. "Indra of Trikru. Your name is known around the Ice Nation as a fierce and loyal warrior. I am Aja." He embraced Indra with the customary handshake before continuing. "You may speak to our leader but it must be you alone."
Indra looked to her soldiers and then to Clarke and nodded. "Lead the way." She said, and the gates opened and closed behind them swiftly.
Hours passed before they saw Indra again.
The gate opened slowly, letting her pass through, only to immediately close behind her.
Raven stepped forward first. "So what's the verdict?"
"They are letting us pass." There was a collective sigh of relief that lasted only seconds. "There is a condition though."
"What is it?" Bellamy asked.
"The leader wants to meet Wanheda."
