A/N: I really only updated this story this week because of a comment from Sassy made me smile. So here is the butterfly effect chapter resulting from that.
One day, after several weeks of searching, Anya needed to be alone and away from her people. She left the village and wandered through the forest that had always been her home. Since Raven's disappearance however, those woods felt like anything but.
She wandered for hours with a heavy heart until she eventually looked up and realized she was close to her favorite place; her favorite place, and Raven's. Anya passed through the trees until she came to the familiar scenic area she had loved so much and perched herself atop one of the large tree roots protruding from the earth's surface. She stared at the waterfall for a long while, listening to its calming crashes of liquid while reminiscing of all the times she had brought the sky girl here, all the laughs they shared, and kisses they gifted one another.
Tears stung the blonde's hazels once again, the sensation a familiar one to the fierce warrior now but she never allowed the bead drops their freedom. She refused the growing desolation inside her, the ever-hovering sense of doom that whispered its lies of never finding Raven again; she would not lose hope, she couldn't. She had vowed to herself to find Raven, she would keep looking, even if it killed her.
A shiver skittered down the grounder's spine suddenly, the hairs on her arms and back of her neck prickled to full attention, the feeling was an odd one, was she being watched? The warrior scanned her surroundings carefully but saw nothing, she shrugged off the feeling blaming it to paranoia and stress. The loss of Raven had messed with the blonde in many ways. Collecting herself, the grounder stood and headed back for home.
Once through the trees and back on the trail toward the village, Anya was unprepared for the ambush of reapers. Through ingrained training, quick hands automatically grasped the daggers on her belt, in a flurry of dodges and quick movements, Anya lunged at the large attacker immediately in front of her.
The reaper's gaze was unfocused and wild, he was decorated in black paints and blood stains across his face and arms. He let out a loud war cry as Anya dove forward. Before she could reach the snarling beast of a man, an arrow buried itself deeply into his neck causing him to gag and sputter crimson until his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
Anya spun around to face the two reapers behind her, she raised her daggers quickly but once again a reaper dropped by an arrow out of nowhere. She watched as the reaper clutched to the lodged arrow in his throat; crashing to his knees, blood spurted from his mouth just as it did the other as he gasped for air. Moments later he crumbled to the ground and stiffened.
The last grounder wasn't paying attention to Anya anymore once his comrade fell, he was looking to the trees for the ghost archer. The angry reaper let out a frustrated groan before turning on Anya again, his eyes blazed with unfocused anger as he raised his blade high. Anya readied to counter but before he could swing the heavy sword a body fell swiftly behind him from the trees above.
The silhouette reached over his shoulder and sent a well-placed dagger to the throat once again. As the lifeless reaper fell, Anya's knees threatened to give way as a blood-soaked Raven is revealed to be her savior.
Their eyes meet for the first time in months; those chocolate orbs had somehow faded, the whites of them now yellowish with several miniature crimson streaks across them as she stared back at Anya with unwarranted anger and trepidation. Those dark sunken eyes did not belong to the Raven she once knew.
Rags hung off the brunette's too thin frame, the garment in tatters and stained with mud and blood, her skin and unkempt ponytail also caked with the filth. This wasn't the sky girl that Anya once met, this was somebody completely different; this woman was crazed, angry, edgy, something was dreadfully wrong.
"Reivon?" Anya croaked, still stunned the woman she loved was standing just a few feet away.
Without warning, Raven turned and bolted through the trees. Anya's heart dropped in her chest, it skipping a beat while she took off in an instant. She had seen Raven, she would not lose her now. The warrior ran as quickly as her legs would take her in full pursuit.
But Raven was fast, dodging between trees as if she had been running through them her whole life. It wasn't long before Anya lost sight of the brunette. How was that possible? Raven couldn't run. Even if she got the surgery from Abby there was still no way the mechanic would have been able to run.
Clarke had said the surgery was for pain reduction and correction. She said Raven would still need the brace and even rely heavily on it. Anya hadn't noticed the estate of her lover's legs. She hadn't been staring at them, she had been mesmerized by the other woman's alarming features, new state of dress, and her presence.
Anya surveyed the area around her, she was back at the waterfall. Where the hell was Raven? Anya had come so close to reuniting with the girl. She couldn't lose her now.
Suddenly, the echo of a deafening war horn thundered through the woods. Dread and a moment of panic filled Anya as she recognized the warning call of an onrushing death cloud. But how could she end her search now? She had been so close to finding Raven, so close!
Before Anya could think to run and hide, strong hands gripped her harshly by the shoulders, urging her backward then dragging her roughly by the wrist through the waterfall.
After they pass through the wall of rushing liquid and Anya wiped her eyes, she came face to face with none other than the woman she had been searching for all this time. They were in the cave Anya had mentioned to the mechanic all those months ago. They had even spent time there away from what Raven had called 'acid fog' on one occasion.
It was difficult to see but Anya could still make out the new harshness and frantic side to side movements of Raven's eyes. The brunette trembled and shook, slowly she lowered to her knees in front of Anya hunched over, seemingly exhausted.
The grounder kneeled with the brunette and wrapped Raven in a cold wet hug. She squeezed Raven tighter and let out a breath of relief as she held the precious sky girl in her arms. She pulled back a moment to gaze into her companion's eyes once more, an internal battle laced Raven's features, as if she were having great difficulty deciding something.
Neither spoke, they just stayed knelt there, the rock bottom digging into their knees, the pain went ignored as they continued staring at one another for an eternity. Eventually, Raven surged forward unexpectedly, crashing their lips together and dragging Anya to the ground.
Raven crawled over top Anya who greatly missed the position, the familiar feel of the mechanic's lithe form against her own. The brunette's kisses were harsher than ever, her caresses and touches rough and dominant. Everything about her was different but Anya didn't care. She had her Raven back safe in her arms and would never let go again.
Anya cupped her lover's face and returned the kisses with a hunger and a passion that even surprised herself. She lost herself in that long-awaited moment of reuniting which is why she didn't notice the weapon in Raven's hand until it was too late.
Anya screamed against still moving lips as she felt the excruciating stab of a fine instrument pierce her neck.