Chapter Eleven
Authors Note: First, thank you all for still reading this, seriously it means a lot. Second, I know it's been a while again. I could go into my lame excuses, but I won't. If you really want to know, either A- look at my previous authors notes, the excuse is similar, or B- PM me if you really want to know. Which I doubt most of you do, because you're here to read the story, so I'll just let you do that. And third, I meant what I said about not giving up on this story. I want to see this story all the way until the end, not just stopping on a random chapter. I'm doing my best to update, and I'm sorry it's not as frequent as you or I wish it was. To kind of equate for me not posting for a while this is a (kind of) longer chapter so enjoy that. I actually really enjoyed this chapter, so I hope you do too! Please keep reviewing and telling others about this- it's because of all of your favorites, follows and ESPECIALLY reviews that I have the will power and passion to continue this story! Thanks all! Xoxo
P.S. I hope you enjoy some of the moments I threw in that are parallels to the show. If you can't tell, I love throwing in parallels- especially to the first season (ah, simpler times).
"Clarke!" A familiar voice called out from behind her, carrying over the continuous shouts and cries of the frantic people. She turned in shock and relief.
"Wells?" Her voice was like a whisper drowned out by the noise around her.
Clarke's eyes widened as she saw him running towards her with a few guards following close behind. She called out to him again, tears streaming down her face. "Wells!"
"Clarke, thank god we found you!" He reached out to grab her arm, but instead pulled her into a hug that she returned for the first time since her father died.
"What are you doing here?"
"Coming to get you, but the better question is what are you doing here?" He looked around them and saw the people giving both of them suspicious looks. "Forget it, we can talk later. We should probably get out of here."
"Is that the prince of Arkadia?" The guard who recognized her earlier called out, causing people to stare accusingly.
"Yeah we should definitely get out of here." Wells said, holding her arm as he turned to leave. "Now!"
Wells and Clarke took off running the way he had previously come from, their guards both in front of and behind them to protect them. She was grateful when Wells' hand went from holding her arm to holding her hand and practically dragging her to make sure she didn't fall behind. She couldn't help but look back, though.
They had been running for a while, but since she was still in a dress meant for parties and not running through the woods, she was stumbling her way through. She was only kept upright by Wells' hand holding hers tightly. But even that couldn't save her from falling when her foot caught the edge of a fallen tree as she attempted to jump over it.
She hit the ground hard, her hands and wrists taking most of the impact. Once she was on the ground she realized how out of breath she was.
"Clarke!" Wells immediately rushed to help her back up. "Are you okay?"
She looked up at him through the tears that didn't seem to stop flowing. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Clarke I don't think now is the best time-" He began, helping her onto her knees.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She repeated, her voice breaking slightly. "It was my mother, wasn't it?"
He said nothing, avoiding her eyes, trying not to confirm what she already knew.
"She's the one who told your dad." It was more of a statement than a question now, because she knew she was right. "I didn't want to believe it. I- I couldn't. I blamed you because my father is dead and it's my mother's fault."
His face was pained and he still wouldn't meet her eyes. "I did it to protect you… I didn't know how you would feel…"
She let the tears spill down her face as she spoke. "So you let me hate you?"
He finally looked at her and gave her a small smile. "What are friends for?"
"How can you forgive me?" It was her turn to look away.
"It's already been done." He whispered as he pulled her into a hug and let her cry onto his shoulder.
They remained there for a moment until one of the guards spoke up. "We should probably continue on, sir. Get you both to safety."
Wells just nodded and helped Clarke up until she was standing again. She gave him a smile and wiped away her tears.
A sharp snap brought their attention to the woods behind them. The guards immediately took defensive positions as they attempted to identify what was out there. One of the guards toward the front motioned for the two royals to run back to safety with him and the second guard while the others investigated. It was better than sitting and waiting to be attacked, so they ran, Wells following behind Clarke and constantly looking back.
They probably made it about fifteen steps away before she heard a whizzing noise go past her. The emptiness of her hand where Wells' had been seconds before made her stop in her place, and the world seemed to go in slow motion.
Wells, with an arrow in his chest, falling to the ground with his arm outstretched towards her. She heard herself scream his name as she fell to her knees beside him. Her mind didn't really hear what he struggled to say to her- but she could at least read his lips enough to tell that he wanted her to run, and something else she could barely understand. She tried to stop the bleeding, knowing better than to pull the arrow out now. She also knew there wasn't much she could do, but she was in complete denial- her mind blurry with tears. He slowly reached out and weakly stroked her face before his hand fell back to his side and his eyes closed.
She knew she was sobbing and crying out his name, still not accepting what she knew was true. An arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her away from him. She cried out, resisting and fighting to stay with him, but the arm was too strong for her. The world still in slow motion, she fought against the arm that kept dragging her towards her home and away from her shattered heart. She didn't stop fighting the arm- which belonged to the guard who was telling her they had to go. She kept her eyes on her best friend until they had gone too far for her to see him, and that was when she stopped fighting. She kept crying that they had to go back, they had to bring him back to her, they couldn't just leave him. That she couldn't just leave him. But they did.
Clarke woke with a start, her breath coming out in short gasps. Her face felt wet, and she realized she had been crying in her sleep. She brought her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes as she took a few deep breaths.
A knock at the door made her jump a little.
"Clarke?" The voice from the door was definitely Raven's. When the door opened, she came in and walked toward Clarke. She took one look at her in the dark and seemed to know immediately. "Same nightmare again?"
Clarke just nodded, still trying to slow down her breathing and get rid of the tears.
"I thought you were past this," Raven sighed, sitting down next to her friend.
"I don't know if I'll ever really be past this. Especially not when it was all my fault."
"It was not your fault- how could you say that?"
"Because he wasn't supposed to be there that night! I wasn't supposed to be there that night either! But he went there to find me. He was there because of me. He died because of me."
"Clarke," She paused, waiting until Clarke calmed down. "Listen to me, that was not your fault. If Wells were here, what would he tell you?"
She sighed. "He'd tell me that it wasn't my fault, and that I should stop blaming myself."
"And?" Her friend prompted.
"And…" She took a deep breath, knowing her friend was right. "He'd say that, if given the chance, he would make the same decision again."
"Exactly. He'd make the same choice every time. Stop blaming yourself. If he hadn't gone after you, you might not have made it back."
She didn't answer, because- again- she knew that her friend was right. She just shook her head, then looked away.
Raven just put her hand on her friend's arm, giving her a reassuring smile. Clarke returned the smile, and then went to the window. The sun was rising and she could see people starting to get to work outside. She took another deep breath and then turned back to Raven.
"I should go out there, check on the people who need medical attention and anything else that will keep my mind occupied." Once she finished talking, she walked over to her wardrobe and opened it. She looked through all the clothing until she found a dress that would allow more mobility. The dress was a more slim fit- meaning no giant skirt to kick around and drag behind her. The top was a cream color with a brown trim around the sleeve and chest area. The top part went kind of lower than some of her normal outfits, but she didn't mind. The sleeves were hardly able to be called sleeves, they just covered her shoulders slightly off center. The skirt part was solid brown, like the earth.
Once she slipped the dress on, she walked out the room and outside. She wandered over to the place where she placed a med bay earlier. There were only a few people in the med bay, one of them was definitely familiar.
"Monty?" She called out to the person she recognized.
"Clarke, you're back!" He gave her a warm smile. "It's going to be nice to have someone here who actually knows what they're doing."
"I'm glad to help and actually do something useful." She smiled back at him. After a few moments of silence, she spoke back up. "So, how long has Bellamy been gone?"
"After coming back from rescuing Octavia, so probably about four or five days now." Monty gave her a sideways look.
"I'm going to guess that's not normal for a hunting trip?"
"Normally they only last a day, two at the most. And normally," He paused, his brows furrowing as he thought back. "they usually happen when we're low on food."
"So the suspicion that's been floating around in my brain is probably correct- that this was not a normal hunting trip." Monty just shrugged. "Well, what has been going on since I've been gone?"
"Well, a few injuries but nothing too serious. That is, except Finn, who was stabbed in the side by the grounder who had Octavia. Injured in the rescue, but he seems to be doing better."
"Thanks to you, it seems." She examined the wound, which did seem to be healing a bit.
"Just some basic knowledge of medicinal herbs, I guess." He shrugged and gave her a modest smile.
Clarke opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when she heard a commotion outside. She walked outside and stopped when she saw Raven right outside the doors.
"What's going on?" She asked Raven when she was near her.
"Seems like there is someone at the gate." She kept moving her head to try to get a better view. "I see Octavia and Miller both at the front. Seems like Miller is shouting something at Jasper."
Clarke tried to see the gate, watching as it opened and revealed a group of people- lead by someone extremely familiar.
"Bellamy." She breathed out. She looked over to her friend, who just nodded at her.
She didn't hesitate. She grabbed the brown fabric of her dress in her hands and ran. She was so relieved to see him again, especially after starting to worry. When she reached him she didn't slow down and threw her arms around him, knocking him back a step.
Bellamy had barely registered the blonde blur running at him until she collided with him, causing him to stumble back a bit. He took a moment to realize who it was, but the moment he figured it out he wrapped his arms around her tightly. He breathed a sigh of relief and let his head rest against her shoulder.
"Now there's something I thought I'd never see." Octavia said next to them as they embraced, smiling to herself.
Clarke smiled into his shoulder then released him and took a step back, looking at his face that mirrored her relief. His eyes studied her face, still not believing she was here. He resisted the urge to reach out to her.
"How are you here?" He breathed, the smile still tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Never mind that, it's a story for later." She shook her head, smiling. "The better question is where were you? I come back and they tell me that you've been gone for days with no explanation? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Clarke." He could tell she didn't believe him by the way she raised her eyebrows at him. "Really, I'm fine."
"Care to tell me what the hell you were thinking when you decided to just up and leave for days without talking to anyone?" Octavia broke in again, not able to hide the irritation in her voice.
"I talked with Miller. We were on a hunting trip." He held up his hand to stop his sister's arguments. "Can I at least get some water? Please, O."
After a big sigh, Octavia turned and walked away to get her brother some water. As soon as she was gone, Bellamy began walking toward the castle.
"Hey, what's really going on? And why are you trying to hide it from your sister?" Clarke called as she caught up with him, walking beside him.
"It's nothing-"
"Don't lie to me Bellamy. I thought we could trust each other." Clarke took a few steps to be in front of him and stopped, facing him.
"We can." Bellamy said softly. He took a deep breath. "Let's just say you're not going to approve though."
"How do you know I won't approve if you don't tell me?"
"Because I know you, Princess." His eyes softened slightly as he gave her a half smile.
She smiled slightly, surprised by how she missed hearing her familiar nickname. They walked to the side staircase, leading them to the lower level where there was once a prison space. The further they went, the more Clarke's curiosity grew, as well as the slight feeling of unease.
"Just…" Bellamy sighed when they stopped in front of one of the doors in the old prison space. He pulled his hand down across his face. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Princess."
This time the way her familiar nickname made her feel was eclipsed by the growing unease as he opened the door for her to walk in. To say what she saw was not what she expected was an understatement.
She didn't expect to walk in to find Murphy and another guy- who's name she couldn't recall- watching her expression as she took in the sight of the third person in the room. The other person was standing towards the back center of the dim room, wrists tied individually and connected to two different places on the opposite sides of the small room, which made his arms outstretched to his sides. He was shirtless, which showed off his tattoos on his chest, side and his arms. She could tell he did not come with them quietly, because he was bruised and bleeding in many places. He barely looked up when she walked in the room.
The third person was a grounder.
Clarke took in a deep breath and turned to Bellamy, who had come in behind her and was studying her reaction. "Bellamy," She all but whispered, trying to maintain her calm. "Why is there a grounder here?"
He said nothing. In response, she narrowed her eyes and practically dragged him back out of the room. Their footsteps echoed throughout the corridor.
"I'm going to ask you one more time," She hissed out. "Why is there a grounder here?"
"Told you that you wouldn't approve…" He crossed his arms across his chest.
"You didn't answer my question, Bellamy. And the answer better be good." She narrowed her eyes, her stare piercing through him. "This is personal, isn't it?" He opened his mouth to protest, but she held up her hand to silence him. "Bellamy, please."
He ran his hand through his hair, exasperated. He sighed before continuing. "He's the one who stabbed Finn… and the one who took Octavia."
Clarke felt her anger dissipate at the mention of his sister's name. She knew how overprotective he was. After all, it was the reason they ended their first meeting on a bad note. Well, that and the fact that she ran off without telling him the truth…
"I understand now." She said softly, his eyes widening in surprise at her words. "That doesn't mean I like it. I know how protective you are of her, but Bellamy… is this really worth starting a war over?"
"We're already at war, Clarke. They took three of ours remember? We got Octavia back, but we still have two missing."
"That doesn't mean we have to lower ourselves to their level! We're better than this- or at least, I hope we are."
They held each other's gaze as silence stretched between them.
"We still need information from him if we hope to understand their plans. Like why he took my sister in the first place. Or where they are keeping Jocelyn and Carter… if they're still alive."
"Well," She took a step toward him and placed a reassuring hand on his forearm. "Let's choose to believe they are. And there are other ways of getting information than to torture someone, Bellamy. Please, don't become something you're not."
"How do you know I'm not that?" His voice was a challenge but his eyes were vulnerable and searching hers.
She moved her hand from his arm to clasp his hand, while giving him a small smile.
"Because I know you, Bellamy Blake." She echoed his earlier words, giving his hand one last squeeze before turning to leave.
She walked back up the staircase and went to the medical space they set up when she was here before. She needed to check up on Finn and make sure he was still recovering well from his knife wound. When she got there he was still asleep, but his breathing was even. She made sure to check his bandage and switch them for cleaner ones. After attending to Finn, she made her rounds to the other few people in the med bay. Like Monty said earlier, nothing was too serious aside from the stab wound.
As she was leaving the med bay, she bumped into Octavia.
"Clarke, where the hell did my brother disappear to?" Her face was a mixture of irritation and suspicion.
"He was inside, last time I checked. Is everything okay?"
"I don't know. There's something going on, and I have a bad feeling about it."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, it is Bellamy after all." She tried to say without giving anything away, knowing Bellamy took extra precautions so she didn't know about this.
Octavia narrowed her eyes slightly and arched her brows, sensing something was off. Clarke just gave her a small smile to attempt to reassure her. It worked well enough that she shrugged slightly and walked off toward the castle.
After watching her walk off, Clarke decided to take stock of the supplies in the med bay. She went through, making sure there were enough bandages and other supplies; noticing that they were short on some of the herbs. Luckily, she remembered, there was a patch of them growing not too far from camp.
She grabbed a small pouch for the herbs, did one last check on Finn, then walked out of the med bay. She continued on through the camp, heading straight for the gates.
"Clarke!" She sighed as she turned towards Bellamy as he jogged closer. "Where are you going?"
"Outside the camp to get some herbs for the med bay."
"Not alone you're not." He crossed his arms across his chest.
"Bellamy, it's not that far. I'll be fine."
"You can't go out there alone and unprotected." He continued after she raised her eyebrows at him and cocked her head in protest. "It's just because you-"
"Because I'm royalty? I'm valuable? I can't do anything by myself?" Her words were dripping with sarcasm and spite.
"Hey," He held up his hands in defense. "I was going to say 'because you don't know how to defend yourself'... yet."
"What do you mean?" She questioned, her anger gone and replaced with mild curiosity.
"I mean," He paused for a moment, his signature smirk crossing his face. "I am going to train you."
"You would do that?" She asked, equal parts hopeful and skeptical.
"Of course. Plus, I could use a break from keeping you alive." His smirk getting bigger as he teased her. She just rolled her eyes, not bothering to respond. He nodded his head towards one of the small tents nearby, letting her know to follow him.
When they got inside the tent, Bellamy grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows that he slung over his shoulder. Clarke gave him a questioning look, to which he raised his eyebrows in a 'you'll see' gesture. He walked out of the tent, Clarke following right behind him, and went outside of camp.
Bellamy let her lead the way to the herbs and said nothing while she collected them. Once she had gotten as much as she could, she stood up and met his gaze. She waved her hand sideways, motioning him to lead the way. He turned and began walking, but not before she saw the sides of his mouth turn up slightly.
She had no idea where exactly they were when he stopped them in part of the forest, but she knew they were near camp. He gave her the bow and quiver, taking out his knife and walking toward a tree a little distance from where she was standing. She couldn't exactly see what he was doing until he stepped out of the way to walk back to her. He had carved a big X in the wood of the tree for her to use as a target.
"Ready to be a badass, Clarke?" His smile was infectious as he sauntered back toward her, stopping beside her. "First, take your stance."
She furrowed her brows at him. He quickly demonstrated and she followed suit, taking her stance.
"So…" She knew how to do a few things, like nock the arrow in place, which she did. Then she attempted to draw the string back. "I just hold it… like this?"
"Yeah, just-" He came over to her, putting one hand on her left hip, twisting her body a little. Then his other hand moved to her back arm and pushed slightly. "Lower your arm, keep it closer to your face. Now, bring your hand to your mouth for an anchor." The hand that was on her hip moved to cover her hand that held the bow. "Relax this hand, don't tense too much."
If Clarke was aware of how Bellamy was both steadying her and practically holding her, she didn't show it. But Bellamy seemed to realize what he was doing and shook his head slightly, backing away again.
"That's good." He said looking at the ground. "Now, release the arrow."
She did as he said, and the arrow narrowly missed the tree. Regardless of her missing the target, she couldn't deny the rush she felt when she released the arrow.
"That. Was… Amazing." She beamed, her brows furrowing slightly as she turned toward him. "Am I horrible for feeling this way?"
He shook his head and gave her a radiant smile that lit up his face. She had an urge to draw him smiling like that so she could save it.
"Try again." He encouraged, shaking his head at her.
She took a few more practice shots, getting closer to the target each time.
"So, how did you end up getting away from your mother?" Bellamy asked, leaning against a tree near where she was still practicing.
"The vines, actually. Of course I had some help from a friend." She let loose another arrow, this time it hit part of the X, just not the direct center.
"What about the guards?"
"They were all busy with the engagement ball my mother decided to put together." She replied casually as she knocked another arrow into place.
"You're engaged?" Bellamy exclaimed, standing straight up in shock.
"Of course not." She pointedly rolled her eyes at him then went back to drawing the string back and shooting at the target. "It was my mother's attempt at getting me engaged to a prince. Which happened to be the one who helped me escape."
"Oh," He tried to sound casual as he leaned back on the tree. "That's good."
"Why," She lowered the bow, turning to face him completely. "Do you care if I was engaged?"
"I- Well," He stammered, looking around at the trees. "I remember how you felt about your last arranged engagement."
She cocked her head to the side, not believing that he was telling her everything and waiting for him to elaborate.
"And I guess I just thought," He continued, slowly taking a few steps toward her. "From what I know about you, that you'd want to be with someone you love."
"You know that's not really something I have a choice about, being a member of the nobility and all."
"That doesn't mean you can't want that. If you can figure out what you want, why can't you have it?" He took a few more slow steps toward her. "I still think you want to be with someone who will respect you as an equal. Not like many of the princes you've probably been introduced to who would take over ruling from you. Someone who would rule with you, not for you."
He took a few steps closer, now at about an arms' length away from her as he continued. "Someone who understands you. Someone who… challenges you." He took another step forward, their chests almost touching.
"That would be nice." She whispered out, her eyes staying locked with his.
Bellamy brought his hand up to the side of her face, caressing her cheek. They held each other's gaze for a moment. Then he slowly leaned in closer, their lips almost touching.
Suddenly a scream rang out through the woods, causing Bellamy and Clarke to break apart and look toward the sound. Their eyes connected again, unspoken communication passing between them. Clarke took his outstretched hand, her other hand holding her dress so she could run close behind him.
They reached the place the scream had come from, finding Harper with her hands covering her mouth in shock. The two of them followed her gaze up to the tree where they found a girl tied up by her hands, with more ties around her waist and legs keeping her against the tree. Clarke could easily see multiple cuts and one larger wound, presumably from a sword, on her side.
Bellamy and Clarke looked to Harper again, who was shaking her head, tears beginning to stream down her face.
"It's Jocelyn…"
