Hey guys! Alright, so, I know this is significantly shorter than the last few chapters, but that's because I haven't got much more written. I'm hoping to get a bunch of stuff done today and on Sunday (when I don't have work) so that by Tuesday's chapter, I've got a lot so I can give you guys a couple thousand more words per chapter.

That being said, in this one I gave you as much as I could. We finally get into grounder territory here and I think we're close to getting Lexa into this thing. From the first chapter I've been looking forward to this and I'm pretty sure it's frustrated me as much as you guys that she hasn't been brought into it yet.

Thank you, to those who reviewed, you guys keep me writing. I'm glad everyone's still enjoying things.

There's one thing I want to address though. Charlotte's death. A couple of people said something about me killing her off because of her lack of a story. Believe me, this wasn't my intention. I've been talking to friends who have been helping me and letting me bounce ideas off of them and I was 83% sure I was keeping Charlotte in the story until the time came that they raided the camp. I would have loved to keep her in the story, but the muse demanded that someone die and I thought, who would make the most impact. Charlotte was being given a second chance and people were liking it and suddenly, it made sense to have her die because she was protecting the person giving her her chance.

That being said, I do write this story for me as much as I write it for you guys. Things couldn't be entirely copacetic on the ground, that wouldn't have made for a good story.

So, without further ado, here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: See chapters 1-3

Before:

The rest looked excited and Clarke pushed down the sick feeling in her stomach that it was wrong. They shouldn't look excited at the prospect of killing, even if it was grounders. ... excitement does not a good raiding party make, and Clarke had a bad feeling.

...

Her haze was clearing as the blood rushing through her ears lessened. ... Clarke looked at Bellamy who had just found another target and, this time, when she heard the bark of the weapon, Clarke fell to her knees, hands on her head.

...

Charlotte was lying there on the ground, next to a dead grounder. Her knife was sunk inside him and his was bloodied at his side. She sank to her knees beside the girl, a hand on her arm, shaking her body.

...

She started walking, speaking to everyone behind her in an even voice as she did. ... "Take anything you find here that could be useful. Extra clothes, supplies, food if there's any." Clarke continued walking, taking it one step at a time, Charlotte weighing against her.

...

She looked off to the side and saw a jacket that looked a lot like the one she had worn before coming back to this place. It was blue and had fastenings on it and Clarke grabbed it immediately, pulling it on over her shirt.

...

"Clarke?" Clarke looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I hope you can find what you're looking for." Raven turned back to the radio and her tinkering station. Clarke knew that Raven wasn't talking about Lexa, and only had an idea of what Raven was actually talking about.

...

"I'm no Commander." She said tersely. "She didn't have to die for me, I wouldn't ask that of my people." Lincoln shrugged as much as he could in his bindings. ... "You are a leader, Clarke. People will die for you whether you ask it or not."

...

"I'm getting him out. So stop worrying, and have some fun today." Octavia's brows came together in confusion. Clarke pointed upwards. "No better day than today. He shouldn't have been here in the first place, you know that as well as I do." ... "I'm going with him, Octavia."

...

Along the wall were many pictures of the ground. Forests, the glowing flora from their first night on the ground, the waterfall from when they had been looking for Jasper. ... There were also sketches of people. Mostly ones of Lexa that had rattled around in her mind's eye, begging to be captured in a drawing. ... There were others, scattered and piled, not meant to be seen. Images of inside the mountain after the level had been irradiated.

...

One of the only things that she never failed to remember about her dreams, was the symbol that she had drawn against a silhouette. It was a circle and on two sides of it was a crescent. She didn't know what it was, or if she had seen it before, but it was always there, in her dreams.

...

Lincoln took the drawing and folded it until it was small enough to fit into one of the pockets in his jacket. ... "Maybe we should sleep here for the night, and make our way in the morning." Lincoln nodded and Clarke shed her weapons and her pack. They both found a place and settled in and, before long, Clarke was asleep.

Now:

When they woke in the morning, it wasn't long after sunrise. Clarke woke herself and Lincoln with the remnants of a nightmare, of memories. Her hand clutched at her chest as she struggled to breathe and Lincoln asked her if she was alright. She nodded shakily and sighed. With the amount of nightmares she had, the times she had woken up screaming could be counted on one hand, and she was thankful for that.

When her breathing was back to normal, Clarke stood and geared up, ready to leave when Lincoln was. Lincoln just watched her get ready, having only needed to fasten his sword. She was grateful when he didn't ask what had caused the attack.

"Come on, we'd better get moving before they realize that we're gone." She said. Lincoln nodded and both of them set off towards the river. They didn't talk much as they walked, but Clarke was okay with that; she had quickly gotten used to silence on her trips.

Clarke guessed that it was about ten in the morning when they crossed the river. She asked Lincoln where they should go first and he said Ton DC. She laughed slightly at that because it had been where she planned to go first anyway when she had the chance.

"Where does the Commander stay when there isn't a war, or when she isn't making rounds?" She asked Lincoln as they kept walking. Clarke had pulled some of the meats out of her bag and had handed some to Lincoln.

"Usually heda stays in Polis." Clarke nodded. That was what she'd thought. "It's much different there than anything you've seen down here Clarke. Octavia would love it." Clarke smiled softly at Lincoln as she ate her food silently.

"What are we going to say to them, Lincoln? Do we even tell them everything? Do we tell Lexa everything?" Clarke nibbled on her meat, her appetite waning at the thought of no one believing them.

"I think… that we should tell the Commander that you know about what's going on inside of the mountain. Maybe we can speak with her without her guards…"

"At least without Indra or Gustus." Clarke interjected.

"Maybe she will believe you Clarke. But you will have to prove yourself trustworthy first." Clarke sighed and finished off her breakfast.

ooOoOoo

It was after noon when they stumbled across an encampment. They were wary to go near it at first but, when Lincoln caught sight of Anya walking through, he deemed it safe. Clarke was still wary but went with Lincoln anyway, walking slightly behind the warrior as they approached the guards.

"Hod op." They said almost in sync. Clarke stopped as instructed, as did Lincoln who announced them.

"Ai laik Linkin kom Trigedakru, en em laik Klark; heda kom Skaikru." Clarke translated for herself, not really knowing how she could understand as much as she did, but not really questioning it at the moment. She thought maybe she had just picked up more than she thought.

Lincoln had called her the Commander of the Sky People. Clarke cringed but kept her posture straight, trying to look imposing.

"Chit yu gaf?" One of them asked. What do you want? Well, that was a loaded question. Clarke decided to let Lincoln answer and let her knowledge of the language be kept a secret for the time being.

"Osir gaf chich Onya op. Beja." That seemed about right for the moment. They wanted to talk to Anya. The guards looked at each other before they both nodded hesitantly. There was no "drop your weapons here" area like there was at Ton DC, and Clarke was grateful for that. She didn't want to part with her only form of protection, even if there was a protective bubble around her thanks to Lexa's orders.

Lincoln and Clarke made their way towards Anya's quarters, members of the Trikru around them stopping what they were doing to look at them. It wasn't like they blended in, they were wearing clothes that looked garish compared to what everyone around them was wearing. Only Clarke's jeans were dark, her jacket was blue and her shirt was a light grey. Lincoln was somewhat better, but the red hoodie he had on underneath the black jacket wasn't exactly the norm. Not from what Clarke had seen, anyway.

When they reached it, Lincoln had basically the exact same conversation with the guards at Anya's tent as he did with the ones guarding the perimeter. He introduced her and then asked to speak with Anya. One ducked inside of the tent and Clarke heard muffled sounds. She assumed he was talking to Anya about the two.

Finally the guard returned and relayed to them that they were allowed inside.

Clarke walked behind Lincoln still and followed him into the tent where Anya stood with her hands crossed over her chest. She struck an imposing figure, and the war paint that adorned her face was just the tip of the iceberg. She looked every bit as fierce as she had the first time Clarke had met her.

"Lincoln." She said, nodding to the warrior in front of her. When Anya's eyes caught Clarke's, she automatically stood straighter but kept her arms at her sides, away from her weapons. She didn't pose any real threat to Anya, not in the warrior's mind, but that didn't mean she wanted to cause distrust. "And you must be Clarke of the Sky People."

"I am." Clarke said. Something moved off to the side and Clarke wondered how she hadn't noticed the girl when they walked in. She kept her features passive but, internally, she was pleased to see Anya's second, Tris, was up and taking notes. Metaphorically anyway. The girl was sat off to the side, watching their interaction. Clarke noted that she had war paint on her face too, around her eyes and two spirals coming down onto her cheekbones.

"I see you have noticed my second, Tris." Anya said stoically. Clarke moved her attention back to the leader and cringed internally. She hadn't meant to stare, but Tris reminded her so much of Charlotte. Both were about the same age, both were children who had died before they should have in a world that was against them.

Clarke cleared her throat, choking back tears that threatened to spill. That wouldn't be a very good first impression. "I'm sorry. She reminded me of someone I lost," was the only thing Clarke said. Anya studied her for a moment before giving a slight nod and looking back to Lincoln.

"Why have you come back here with a Skaigada, Lincoln?" And that was all she was to them; a Sky Girl. Clarke frowned slightly but said nothing.

"She is important to them, Anya. A leader amongst her people. Her position is one not unlike heda's. That is where we are going. Clarke wishes to speak with heda about an alliance between our people." Anya laughed derisively.

"What could the sky girl possibly have that we need?" Lincoln looked at Clarke who nodded shortly. He looked back at Anya and spoke tersely.

"A way to cure the Reapers."

"Em ste spichen!" Anya said furiously. Clarke had to hold herself back from speaking back, waiting for Lincoln to translate for her before speaking up.

"I'm not lying. Lincoln told me about your Reapers. Back where we come from, I worked with my mother, a doctor." Anya looked at Lincoln.

"Em nomon laik fisa." Clarke nodded shortly.

"Judging by what Lincoln told me about the Reapers, I have a theory about how to get your people back." She said. "It's not pretty, but it will be effective if it works. They would need to be watched and made sure to get the proper treatment that they need." Clarke looked at Lincoln and then back to Anya.

"If you think that will be worth anything to your heda, could you help us get to her? Please." Lincoln looked at her and Clarke got the feeling that if they were alone he would be smiling about now. She hadn't lied, just bent the truth a bit. She knew the treatment worked, it wasn't just a theory. And they could help a lot of grounders.

"I believe she is telling the truth." Lincoln said, stepping up slightly. "En ai wich em in." Clarke looked at Lincoln quickly but she played it off as not understanding what he said. She had though, and he said that he believed in her.

"Then she is your responsibility while you are here. Nami?" Lincoln nodded, he understood. He was taking her actions onto himself and Clarke was touched that he would actually do that for her. Sure they shared coming to the past, and they had been in battles together, and he had been with one of her closest friends, but this was on a different level.

"Good. Then you are free to stay here until you leave. I believe heda will be in Ton DC within a couple of days. Right now she is travelling from some of the outer camps and villages." Lincoln nodded again and Clarke stood a little straighter in place. Lexa was close.

They both left the tent then and Lincoln walked around the camp a little before finding them a place to sit near an open fire. The few grounders that were around the pit scattered, not wanting to share space with one of the Sky People. That was alright with Clarke. She heard Lincoln sigh beside her and looked over at him.

These were his people, and they wanted nothing to do with him for bringing her into their camp.

"I'm sorry Lincoln." She said. He looked up at her and Clarke could see the fire reflecting in his eyes. He smiled wryly and shook his head.

"It isn't your fault Clarke. This is what's best for both of our people, whether they like it or not. An alliance with the Sky People is a better thing for everyone." He looked back at the fire, playing his fingers together. "My home isn't really here anymore anyway. I've never been quite like them and when I found Octavia, my heart chose a new home. I'm a splita."

"An outsider." Clarke whispered. Lincoln looked at her with an eyebrow cocked.

"I noticed that. You don't seem to have any problems with our language, why is that? Did the Commander teach you?" Clarke shrugged and looked into the fire herself, wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them against her chest.

"No. When I woke up back on the Ark, everything was different, and not just in the obvious sense that I wasn't in the woods on Earth anymore." Clarke sighed and Lincoln listened intently.

"Some of my thoughts were in your language and I shrugged it off as just picking it up from being around the Trikru so often. But the first day we were on the ground I killed a buck and the first thing that came to my mind was to speak in your language, to bless it or something.

"And now, when you spoke to those guards, I understood what you were saying. It's like it's just… there, in my mind. As natural as English." Clarke shrugged again and looked at Lincoln.

"Do you think it has to do with the pictures you draw? The shaded person?" Clarke raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe. I didn't even think of that. But we don't even know what, or who, it is."

Lincoln was about to say something when someone sat down next to Clarke. She dropped her knees and stretched her legs out, turning to who had joined them. Clarke couldn't hide her surprise when she came face to face with Tris and then her face morphed into one of confusion.

"What are you doing here?" Tris laughed at the bluntness of her question. Clarke's heart clenched at the sight and she smiled sadly.

"I have questions hashta yu Skaikru." Lincoln automatically translated the Trigedasleng and Clarke smiled at him before looking back to Tris. She had questions about her people.

"Okay, ask away." That was how they spent the next few hours. Tris was full of questions for Clarke, ever the inquisitive mind.

She asked her why the Sky People had come down from the sky and Clarke told her about the Ark. She thought Tris had a little bit of a problem believing that there was a hulking mass of metal just orbiting the Earth, but the younger girl just rolled with it.

Tris also asked what they wanted and Clarke explained that all they wanted was to live on Earth like the Trigedakru did. They wanted to be able to be free, to breathe in the rich air and walk across grass, and swim in the ocean – barring giant, man-eating serpents. She told Tris that on the Ark, their supplies were limited, and rationed out to everyone. So something as simple as a river to them was a big deal to people from the Ark.

"Anya says your people are dangerous." Tris said. Clarke gave her a small smile and shrugged.

"My people say yours are dangerous." Tris cocked her head and Clarke chuckled.

"All people are dangerous goufa." Lincoln chimed in softly, the word for child slipping seamlessly into his sentence. "That's why Clarke is here, to tell our heda that she wishes to form an alliance between our people like heda did with the twelve clans." Tris grimaced.

"We should not have entered an alliance with those branwada kom Azgeda." She said. "They hurt our heda, and we should have killed them." Clarke smiled softly, looking at Tris. The useless Ice Nation. Of course the phrase was a little harsher in Trigedasleng.

"You are loyal to your Commander." She said and Tris grinned at her.

"Heda is the best of us, Klark kom Skaikru. You will like her, she is strong. I think she will like you, too." Clarke laughed softly.

"Well, I have only heard good things." Tris grinned again and Clarke took off her pack, reaching into it and pulling out another bit of cloth with meat inside. She offered some to Lincoln who took a piece and then one to Tris. She only hesitated for a second before taking a piece and smiling in thanks.

The sun began to set as the three of them ate in relative silence, with Tris still asking lighter questions more about Clarke than about the Sky People. Clarke passed a water bottle between them to wash down the meat as they finished. Just as Clarke was sliding her pack back on there was a commotion near the entrance of the camp.

The three of them got to their feet and walked towards the throng of people, Lincoln in the front strong-arming warriors out of their way. Clarke's stomach dropped when she saw what the fuss was about. Or rather, who.

Apparently a group of hunters had just come back and one of them was badly injured, bleeding heavily from his side. Clarke saw Anya next to the man, her face grim at the thought of losing one of her warriors.

"Where's Nyko?" Clarke asked Lincoln quietly. He looked at her and shrugged.

"Most likely in Ton DC." He said. Clarke clenched her jaw and then pushed past Lincoln, moving towards Anya. A couple warriors drew their weapons but made no move to stop her.

Yet.

She eyed them cautiously before looking at Anya and kneeling beside her next to the wounded man.

"I can help." She said. "I told you my mom was a doctor and I worked beside her. Let me try and do something. Please?" Anya studied Clarke quietly before Tris stepped up beside her.

"Beja, ticha. Em na sis oso au." Clarke looked at Tris with not a little bit of awe. Tris barely knew her and yet she trusted Clarke to help them. Clarke smiled softly before looking at Anya again. The woman's piercing gaze had intensified at Tris' words but after a couple of seconds she nodded. Slowly, but she nodded.

"Okay, someone needs to put pressure on his wounds and bring him to a table somewhere. Can we use your tent, Anya?" The woman in question nodded and motioned to her warriors to listen to Clarke who nodded when the men went to move their wounded. "I'm going to need clean water and cloths."

Clarke stood and looked at Lincoln. "Is there anything I could use to stitch him up with or am I going to need a lot of bandage?"

Lincoln thought for a minute before responding, "Bandages," and Clarke nodded.

"Then I'm going to need long strips of thick cloth." They started walking, following the warriors carrying the wounded one of them.

Clarke worked furiously. The man had been attacked by something with claws and the cuts ran deep. She cleaned the wounds with sterilized water and sent someone to bring her the red seaweed; whether they had some around the camp site or had had to go to the river, Clarke didn't know, but they had delivered and it would keep the wounds from getting infected.

Before Clarke soaked the weed and crushed it to a paste, she heated a blade to sear the gashes shut. He wouldn't be losing any more blood, but he was still feverish and breathing rapidly and Clarke was worried for his condition. When the bleeding was tapered off, Clarke sat back for a moment to put the paste on the cloth, readying it to be put around his lower torso.

She heard his wheezing breaths come to a halt and her heart sank. She turned quickly and saw the grounders around her grow agitated. Some had their weapons drawn, apparently not remembering that without her help he would have died quicker; that she wasn't the cause of this.

Clarke looked at Lincoln who looked back at her, worry in his eyes. Clarke quickly moved to the side of the man on the table and laced her fingers together, ready to start chest compressions.

"What are you doing?" Anya asked, suddenly at her side. Clarke paid her no mind and continued pumping his heart for him. When she finished a set, she moved and breathed air into his lungs, pinching his nose so it didn't escape that way instead of going where she intended it.

It took a couple of sets, but the man gasped and his eyes flew open, sitting up quickly on the table before lying back down just as fast, eyes screwed tightly together. When that happened, Clarke breathed a sigh of relief and then felt around his chest, her eyes widening when she felt it.

"Lincoln." She said frantically, shouldering her pack from her back. "I need a pen, now." He wasted no time in rifling through her bag for what she had asked for and Clarke was infinitely grateful that she had brought her art supplies with her.

When Lincoln handed her the writing utensil, Clarke pulled her knife from her thigh holster and held it over the fire near where she was working. Carefully, she felt around his chest again before muttering a quick apology and cutting into him. To his defence, the grounder merely grunted in pain as she cut into his chest. When she was satisfied, she put the knife back in its place and took the back, ink, and tip off of the pen before pushing it into the hole. The man grunted again before he relaxed slightly, able to breathe properly as the air around his lung was released.

Clarke sighed and then looked at her hands, finger tips soaked red. Her heart sped in her chest and Clarke rushed to the bowl of water, thankful she didn't need it for the warrior anymore. She scrubbed her hands clean and then looked behind her at the Trikru who were watching the man on the table. She caught Anya's eyes though, the only person other than Lincoln and Tris who were looking at her.

"How did you do that?" Anya asked. "Bring him back from death?" Clarke wrung her hands together and looked at her handiwork.

"What I did to his chest made his heart beat and I gave him air to oxidize his blood as it pumped…" Clarke looked back at Anya who had a brow raised on her normally stoic features. "I breathed for him." She simplified. "But there was air around his lungs and he couldn't get full breaths, which is why there is now a pen tube in his chest. His lung will heal up soon enough and then he can take the tube out."

Clarke was being studied again, and every time it happened she was less discomforted by it. She focused on Tris though who was beaming at her and Clarke gave her a genuine smile in return.

"Thank you, Clarke of the Sky People." Clarke turned to Anya who only looked mildly pained at the words she was saying. Clarke nodded.

"It was no problem." She said.

"Even so, Holt owes you a debt of blood. It will be interesting to see what you do with it." Clarke wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear that last bit but she had. She looked at Lincoln in confusion and he gave her a look that said he'd explain later.

Clarke sighed and walked out of the tent, grabbing her pack on the way out, and stopping a few feet from the opening. She looked up at the sky; the moon had risen and the sun had completely set while she'd been working. Clarke closed her eyes and took a deep breath, pulling her pack on again before walking towards the area that they had been sitting at earlier.

Alrighty then. So, Clarke is on her way to earning the trust of the Trigedakru. One of them owes Clarke a debt of blood but does another grounder we know and love think he owes Clarke for giving him his life back in the previous timeline? Who knows? These questions can only be answered with time.

Also, Anya's finally here. What do you guys think of her? I think she's close to character, but reading over each chapter a couple dozens times kind of makes me blind to what the hell I've written which is why it's so great to have trueloveaddict-ally as my beta. She can give me a second opinion on what I've written, and she fixes my silly mistakes.

Anyway, let me know what you think! Questions, comments and concerns are to be left in the review box!

And I'll see you all on Tuesday! Until then, have a great weekend!

-Bad Wolf