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So this is the chapter some of you have been waiting for anxiously - the 100 are finally introduced in this chapter. From here on out I will be using the episodes as major plot points, but will not be following them verbatim. You'll recognize a scene in this chapter from the show that is a little different than the series, that is because it is mine and I can do what I want (evil laugh). I'll still be using the characters and following the general plot, but you'll be getting everything from Cole's perspective instead!
Hope you like it. Again, a reminder that anything in italics is grounder language - some of it is translated, some of it is not. I'm lazy when it comes to that, all translations will be at the end of the chapter though!
Without further delay:
I looked into the mirror Jaxon had found for me and sighed. This was more stressful than I thought it would be. I had taken out the braids in my hair and brushed through it, pulling the top half of it into a loose braid and left the rest hanging down. I had scrubbed the war paint from my face and washed the dirt from my body. I looked in the mirror and realized that I didn't recognize the person staring back at me.
Have I changed that much? My hair was longer, skin tanned darker, and the scar across my face stood out prominently without the paint. Even my body was leaner, more toned from the mile treks and hours spent training. But the difference was deeper than that, I didn't just look different, I felt different.
It was the small things that gave it away. I stood a little straighter, I was more observant of my surroundings, and my eyes had lost their doe-like features and instead scanned the world around me in quick precision. I was not the same girl who had fallen from the sky, I had evolved into something stronger.
I pulled my navy trench jacket off the stool and shrugged it on. I had purposely chosen plain clothes for the trip - dark black jeans, and a black and white layered tank top that I had been wearing when I landed on Earth. I needed the others to trust me, and I doubted they would if I came in looking indistinguishable from the clan. I left my bow in the room along with my medical supplies, opting only for a knife tucked into my boots and the one I typically wore around my waist.
I glanced back at the mirror and tried to hide my grimace - I looked weak and ill-prepared, but it was the best I could do.
"Where are your weapons?" Indra asked as I stepped out into the open. I said nothing but nodded my head back to the room I had just appeared from.
"You plan to face them with no armor or sword?" Anya asked doubtfully. Despite the tribune supporting and vouching for me she was still hesitant about me being involved and she made it no secret.
"I'm planning on talking to them, not storming their camp," I replied evenly. "I need a few more supplies and I'll be ready to ride out."
I didn't wait for them to answer as I walked away. If this was happening, then it was going to be on my terms. I made my way through the village until I found the building marked with a red circle, the same symbol that had been painted on my forest green jacket I wore most often - it distinguished me as healer to the others.
I walked in quietly and was relieved to find Nyko inside, with all the preparations needed for the clans we hadn't spent much time together.
"Something wrong friend?" I asked noticing that he looked a little more bothered than the last time I had seen him.
"Oh, it's just you Cole," Nyko said almost sounding disappointed. I crooked an eyebrow at him and sent him a questioning look.
"Don't sound so upset about it," I joked wondering what was bothering the healer.
"I'm not, I am glad you stopped by before you left," he replied honestly. "I was just expecting a friend, he has been missing for a couple days now - but it is no matter. Are you ready for this?"
"Yes," I told him, not expressing my true hesitation. We were on the brink of war or peace and the next few days could decide the fate of the clan and the others, I wasn't sure that was something I was ever going to come to terms with.
"I have faith in you," he told me with a small smile. "I was hoping you would stop by so I could give this to you before you left, I know you enjoy it."
He walked over and handed me a small vial of a light purple liquid. I smiled up at him, thankful for his thoughtful gift. Lavender extract had become one of my favorite things to have on hand as of late. It had few medicinal purposes but the aroma was sweet and calming and even the smallest few drops could cleanse air heavy with sickness. Dripping only a single drop onto my finger I rubbed it into the base of my throat, it didn't take much and it would stay with me for the rest of the day.
"Thank you," I told him earnestly as I tucked the vial into an inside pocket of my jacket. He nodded in return.
"Stay safe," he commanded looking at me seriously.
"Don't worry, I'll be back to bother you in no time," I replied with a smile. He laughed and shook his head.
"I'll look forward to it," he said before pointing to the door. "Now go, Penn and Artigas were looking for you earlier. You better speak to them before you leave or they may never forgive you."
I nodded and turned to walk out of the healer's building. It felt as if I was saying goodbye to everyone and I didn't like it. I made my way to where I knew my horse was waiting, willing to bet that the two other warriors would be there as well. I wasn't disappointed when I saw them, along with Jaxon and few others standing nearby.
"You look weird," Artigas told me as I approached. I wasn't going to argue with him, I felt weird.
"Shut up," Penn snapped at him before looking back to me. "Kids these days, no respect."
I laughed and shook my head at Penn.
"Be careful please?" Artigas asked sincerely.
"I will," I promised. No matter what happened I was determined to make it back here - back home and back to my friends.
"And be quick about it alright? I know you get distracted easily but stay focused and get in and out," Penn teased lightly though his advice was serious.
I nodded. In and out, I could do that.
"Penn, Artigas, go get the horses ready the party is leaving soon," Jaxon commanded as he walked over. The two warriors nodded and left. I looked up at Jaxon sadly, it was decided earlier that he wouldn't be one of the warriors to escort me to the other's camp, despite his own protest.
"Be careful out there with them," Jaxon warned quietly as he moved toward me, stopping only when he was just mere inches away. I wanted to reach out and grab him, to feel his strength one more time before I left but we couldn't afford such luxuries in public - not when we were on the verge of war. People could speculate about us, but giving them tangible proof would usurp his authority and could cause other clans to question his and the tribune's leadership, and that was not something I was going to let happen.
"I will," I promised again.
"Warriors from Anya's tribe will be on the lookout for you, once you set up the meet and talk to this Clarke head due west until you run into one of them," Jaxon instructed. "Someone from our clan will be with them at all times, and while they have been warned not to harm you stay on guard until you find a familiar face, understand?"
I nodded, it seems nowhere was going to be safe from here on out.
"If you are not back in a days time, I will…"
"You will do nothing," I interrupted. "Give me as much time as I need, they may be resistant at first. I will need to convince them to trust me and it will take time. I will come back as quickly as I can though, that I swear."
Jaxon's jaw stiffened and I could tell he wasn't happy with not having a clear defined timeline, but he would have to deal with it. I knew he would storm into their camp by himself to find me if that's what it came down to, and I also knew how that would turn out. Despite how good of a warrior he was, 100 to 1 were not good odds.
"Promise you will wait for me and not do anything rash?" I asked him.
"I promise," he replied quietly.
"I'll miss you," I admitted, my voice dropping to a low whisper. He nodded in understanding.
"And I you, so don't make me suffer by wondering when you will return," he replied. "I will not sleep well until I know you are back here with me, where you are safe."
"Ready?" Indra called out from the group of horses, she and a handful of Anya's warriors would be my escort through the woods. Unlike our home in the north, these lands weren't safe - mountain men and reapers roamed the forest.
"I am," I replied, loud enough so she could hear me. I moved to step past Jaxon, but he placed his hand on my shoulder halting me. Turning to look down at me his eyes were clouded with emotion and all the things he couldn't and wouldn't ever say out loud. I smiled at him softly, placing my hand over his and squeezing gently.
"Yeah, me too," I whispered knowing he would understand. And with that I moved towards Indra and mounted the horse behind her. As we rode off I fought the urge to look back, now wasn't the time. I had to focus on what was ahead of me.
Meanwhile back at the 100 Camp
Clarke was sitting in front of the camera Raven had set up discussing plans for the Arc and their survival on the ground. She was irritated by the council members attitudes, it seemed that they were more concerned with their own descent to Earth rather than their survival - which she understood to a point, but they couldn't just sit down here and wait for someone to show up. They would need to gather food and find better shelter before winter set in.
"Clarke are you listening?" Marcus Kane asked from over the intercom. She snapped back to focus and nodded.
"Yeah sorry, what were you saying?" she asked, missing whatever he had just been talking about.
"I was asking if you had run into anyone else besides these grounders down there yet?" Kane repeated. The council members around him whispered but he ignored them as he waited for Clarke's response.
"Besides the grounders? No," she replied, wondering what he meant. "Were we supposed to?"
Kane hesitated and looked to Chancellor Jaha.
"After your ship landed on Earth successfully we sent another ship," Jaha explained with a sigh, there was no point in keeping it a secret now. "There were 20 other prisoners, adults sentenced to be floated who were at the top of their fields - we sent them there to help you, but we have no idea if they made it or not - their sensors went out as soon as they entered the atmosphere."
"What?!" one of the female councilmembers exclaimed. "We had no knowledge about this! Even a search through our records database isn't showing anything!"
"Project 404 was a highly confidential mission, only a handful of other people besides myself knew of it," Jaha answered. "You will find no records of it, no data logs or manifests - for all intents and purposes the project does not exist, those we sent down do not exist."
"So there are others from the Arc down here too?" Clarke questioned wanting to make sure she understood what they were talking about. Jaha nodded in response.
"And you have no information about where they landed? We should try to find them!" Clarke said, but Kane shook his head.
"No, if you have not found them yet it is better to assume that they are dead," he told her, his voice straining. "There were only 20 of them, nearly that many of your own group have died already."
Clarke sighed but said nothing. They could use the extra help around the camp, but definitely couldn't afford to go on a goose chase through the forest, not while the grounders were out there.
After a few more minutes, Clarke signed off and went to get the next guy in line to speak to his parents. On the way out she ran into Bellamy.
"How'd you chat go princess?" he asked.
"They're making plans to start sending dropships down to join us," she relayed, pausing for a moment. "I also found out that we weren't the only ones they sent down."
"Hm," Bellamay responded as he thought something over. "That means she's telling the truth."
"Who?" Clarke asked, confused by what he was saying.
"Someone came up to the camp while you were in your little meeting, said she's from the Arc even though she looks like a grounder," Bellamy told her. "We have her tied up in the bottom level of the drop ship, Raven wanted me to come and get you - we still need that antidote for Finn."
With a new resolution Clarke headed back to the ship. If this girl really was from the Arc then maybe there were others... maybe she would know how to save Finn.
I grunted as the two teens set me down on the metal floor. As I expected they didn't believe me when I approached their gates and I was now sitting with my hands tied waiting for Clark to show up. I had gotten that much out before they duct taped my mouth shut. Despite the treatment I was actually fairly comfortable, though distrusting they were fairly gentle with me which told me only one thing - they wouldn't stand a chance if we went to war.
I was on the lowest level of the ship and I tried to take in everything as I was waiting. One of them was injured, a boy I didn't recognize, though the knife laying beside his bed gave me a good enough hint of what happened.
My eyes snapped to the front of the ship as Bellamy Blake and Clarke returned. The older man wouldn't listen to me when I arrived despite me knowing his name - even if I didn't know him personally, he and his sister were infamous back on the Arc.
"This is her," Bellamy announced as if it wasn't obvious. Clarke paused as she studied me curiously, I wondered if she would recognize me. It would make everything so much easier.
"Has the other one talked yet?" Clarke asked. The girl nearest the injured boy was the first to respond.
"No, and Finn's getting worse," she said directing her angry stare at me.
The other one? What does she mean?
"We should move her upstairs as well, she's obviously one of them," Bellamy suggested.
"You don't know that," Clarke argued. "She could be one of the others from the Arc."
So they did know about us. I made a mental note of that and watched as everything continued to unfold in front of me.
"Others?" the girl from beside the table asked. Clarke nodded and ran through a conversation she had with the Chancellor only minutes ago. They had done better than us in that regard I thought, they had made contact with the Arc - we didn't even really try. It was easier to leave it all behind us than dwell on it.
Clarke came and kneeled down in front of me and peeled the tape off my mouth. I made a yawning motion and wriggled my jaw to get the stinging sensation to go away.
"Who are you?" she asked staring at me.
"I was kind of hoping you would recognize me Clarke," I told her honestly. She looked surprised but shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but I don't."
"My name is Colette," I told her and I watched as her eyes filled with recognition. "I worked with your mother back in the medical bay on the Arc."
"She could be lying Clarke," Bellamy warned, but I didn't move my eyes from the girl in front of me. It was imperative that she believed me.
"She's not," Clarke responded, her voice barely above a whisper. "I recognize you now. You look different than I remember you, but there's no doubt about it Cole."
I felt my lips twitch in a small smile, "yeah, a trip to Earth can really take its toll on you."
"Where have you been all this time?" Bellamy asked from the his spot still at the doorway of the ship. A few others had also gathered around curious about what was going on.
"I have a lot to talk to you about," I told them, looking back and forth between the two. There was obviously some sort of power struggle going on here.
"But would mind untying me first? Not the most comfortable thing ever," I said holding my bound hands up to her. She nodded even though Bellamy protested in the background.
"Let's go up a level," Clark suggested. "Bellamay, grab anyone who you think should know about this and meet us on the second level in five."
I climbed up the ship's ladder behind Clarke, happy to see that the second level was more of a living area. Sitting in one of the flight chairs I thanked Clarke as she handed me a canteen of water. A few minutes later I was surrounded by a handful of people, most of whom I barely recognized.
"This is Octavia, Jasper, Monty, Raven, and Bellamay," Clark said, introducing the half circle of teens that surrounded me. "Guys, this is Cole. She's part of the other group that was sent from the Arc."
"So there are more of us out there?" the one introduced as Jasper asked. I hesitated to answer. More people from the Arc, certainly. More of us that would join them? Not so much.
"I was apart of a group of 20 sent down to Earth after you guys, a handful of our group have died but there are still about 15 or so of us left," I told them, trying to remain as honest as I could for now.
"Did the grounders attack you too?" he asked, eyes narrowing. I furrowed my eyebrows.
"What are grounders?" I asked.
"The people that live here on Earth, the ones that survived the nuclear explosion," Clarke answered.
"They're savages," Bellamy spat.
Well so much for this being an easy mission I thought to myself.
"They attacked us at first, captured us actually," I told them. "Our ship landed in the middle of one of the villages further north - we killed a few of their people on impact, injured a few more."
"Good," the girl named Raven growled. She was the one who was sitting next to the injured boy downstairs. Convincing them to forgo fighting was looking like it was going to be harder and harder.
"We came to an understanding though, and they let us live in their village along side them," I continued trying not to let them anger me. "We only traveled down when we heard that others from the sky had fallen nearby."
"So you're one of the grounders now?" Bellamy accused.
"We live beside them, yes," I replied evenly. "Cohabitation is possible, that's why I am here."
"They sent you?" Clark asked confused. I nodded and looked around the room.
"Whatever you have started with the clan here is pushing you closer and closer to war," I explained. "They don't want that and trust me, neither do you. While they may seem primitive from the outside, believe me when I say that they have a well developed system and are ruthless warriors. Knowing I am from the Arc they asked if I would come talk to you, convince you to settle for peace."
"We can take them," Jasper spoke up. I met his eyes with a blank stare.
"You and what army?" I asked.
Turning back to look at Clarke I sent her a pleading look, "please at least consider it. More people don't have to die. Their commander wants to talk to you, discuss peace arrangements. If you want, I can set it up."
"No," Bellamy answered immediately with Raven quick to second him. "How do we know this isn't a trap? Why are they all of a sudden being peaceful now? The grounder upstairs isn't asking for peace, he's going to let Finn die."
"Clarke, he's getting worse," a girl from the ladder well called up breaking everyone's attention. "You should come down here now."
Clarke sighed and asked me to stay put as everyone but Octavia exited the level. If Bellamy thought his small sister was enough to keep me contained he was sorely mistaken.
"What did your brother mean about the other 'grounder' upstairs?" I asked her softly. She looked away and for a moment I thought she wasn't going to answer me.
"He saved me," she said, barely loud enough for me to hear her. "He saved my life and they have him strung up so they can get information from him."
The thought made me angry but I tried to maintain a cool front. I wondered why one of Anya's clan would have saved Octavia, they were less trusting by nature than the other tribes.
"Has he spoken at all?" I asked, curious what he might have said if anything.
"No," she said sadly.
"Would you mind taking me to him?" I asked cautiously. "Not all of them speak English, maybe if I talked to him he would understand and be more willing to help."
That wasn't my real intention, but I was hoping it was an excuse she would buy. If he was caught out in the forest then I had no doubt that he was a warrior, which would mean that he would have no problem understand them. But I didn't like the idea of one of our own being tied up and tortured, and I wanted to let him know he had a friend here - that I would help him escape. I wondered briefly if this was the man Nyko had said was missing.
"You can speak their language?" Octavia asked curiously. I held up my hands in a so-so gesture.
"I've picked up bits and pieces," I lied. "Enough to tell him who I am and that we aren't his enemies."
She seemed to think it over for a second before nodding, climbing up the ladder and motioning for me to follow.
"Octavia what are you doing up here?" a dark skinned boy asked coldly. "And who is she?"
"She's a friend," Octavia said. "Bell wants her to try and talk to him, he'll explain everything to you downstairs."
The man seemed hesitant but dropped down the ladder anyways. Octavia quickly closed the door and sealed it.
"They have a key, but it will buy you some time," she explained. I nodded and looked towards the man tied to two metal beams against the far wall.
"Do you understand me?" I asked, knowing already that he did. But I need to make this believable I reminded myself.
"Ai laik Cole," I told him, getting his attention easily. "Ai laik heda kom Skaikru kom Trigedakru."
"Chit?" the man asked, his voice raspy.
"Ai laik Cole," I repeated. "Chon yu bilak?"
"My name is Lincoln," he replied, looking at Octavia as he answered.
"Are you Nyko's friend who has been missing?" I asked.
"Sha." he replied after a moment, confirming my thoughts. "Are you one of them? How do you know the healer?"
"No," I answered quickly. I could hear Bellamy banging on the closed hatch now, yelling for his sister to open the door. I made eye contact with Lincoln again.
"Non wan op," I told him seriously. "Ste yuj. I will not leave you here, when I leave you will too."
Seconds later Bellamy burst through the hatch furiously. He was followed closely by the guard from earlier, Clarke, and Raven.
"What the hell Octavia?" Bellamay yelled at his sister.
"She thought she could talk to him, get him to cooperate," she explained meekly, glancing back and forth between me and Lincoln.
"So you can speak to him?" Bellamy asked doubtfully.
"Bits and pieces," I supplied, copying my lie to Octavia. "I tried telling him that I am from his clan, but I don't think he believes me, he didn't respond to me either."
I shot Octavia a look, pleading her to go along with it. Now that I was here they didn't need another reason to validate hurting Lincoln. I would be able to explain what they needed to know. The longer they didn't know he understood English, yet alone could speak it, the better it was for him. I just hoped that Octavia understood that.
"Well he needs to start talking, and fast," Raven said anxiously. "Finn's dying, we need the antidote now!"
"We can do this again and again until you talk," Bellamy threatened picking up to live wire cables from nearby. Knowing where this was heading I stepped in front of Lincoln surprising everyone in the room including the captive himself.
"There's no need for that Bellamy," I growled. "Did he have any supplies on him? He would most likely be carrying the antidote on him."
"Yeah he did," Clarke spoke up motioning over to a table with a leather bag on it. "But they're all just different plants, I can't tell what is what."
I looked through the different vials in his bag, instantly recognizing most of them. I picked up two that I knew were antidotes for common poisons but hesitated giving them to Clarke. Without knowing what he was poisoned by I could just as easily speed up the boy's death by giving him the wrong medicine.
"What did you use?" I asked Lincoln. "I'm here to negotiate peace between your clan and the sky people, but they'll never agree to it if you let one of them die."
He didn't respond though, just kept staring straight ahead.
"What's on this!" Clarke yelled at him, holding up his knife.
"Which one is it Cole?" Clarke asked not getting an answer from Lincoln. "Ask him! Ask him which one it is!"
"Beja" I pleaded. The energy in the room was high, if this wasn't resolved quickly something bad was going to happen.
"Show us, please!" Octavia begged.
"This isn't working!" Bellamy said raising his voice over the others. "I can make him talk!"
"No!" Octavia yelled trying to reason with Clarke. Bellamy didn't listen though as he stripped Lincoln of his shirt. His tattoos reminded me of Jaxon, but as Bellamy started hitting him I pushed that thought from my mind.
"Stop!" Octavia yelled, but her brother paid her no mind, instead jabbed a sharp tool through his hand. Raven stepped up in his pace and picked up the live wires, the moment they touched Lincoln's skin he cried out.
I struggled to stay in my spot, not sure how to stop what was happening. I knew Lincoln would never tell them, not after this torture. He was too strong. His pride was too strong.
"Enough!" Octavia yelled picking up the discarded knife. "I know you won't let me die."
I watched as she dug the knife into her skin. Bellamy yelled at her as Lincoln pulled against his restraints. That's one way to do it, I thought to myself.
"Give them to me," Octavia asked holding her arm out to me. I passed her the two vials and stayed quiet as she got Lincoln to tell her which was the correct one. In an instant Clarke and Raven disappeared out of the room.
"Octavia," her brother said reaching out for her.
"Don't touch me," she yelled moving away from him. I walked over to the water basin in the corner, picking up a rag nearby on the way.
"I'll take care of her, you should go make sure the antidote is working," I told Bellamy. He glared at me but nodded when his sister moved even further away from him.
Bringing the wet rag over to Octavia I knelt down in front of her.
"That was brave of you," I told her, grabbing her arm and cleaning it before she could protest. "And slightly stupid."
"You had the antidote," she replied, not looking at me directly.
"No, I had two antidotes with no reason to believe either of them were the right one," I told her effortlessly. She didn't respond but let me continue to clean her cut.
"Why didn't you do anything to help? You're from his village right?" she asked, the accusation clear in her voice.
"I never fight unless the odds are in my favor," I answered.
"Is that something you learned from them?" Octavia questioned. I nodded slightly thinking back to Jaxon and Penn.
"They really are different from us aren't they?" she said, more to herself than to me but I answered her anyways.
"Yes."
"If we fight them we will lose won't we?" she asked, looking away from Lincoln and to me for the first time. I drew my hand back, satisfied that her wound would be clean enough for now.
"Yes," I told her honestly. I stood up and rung the rag out, making sure it was clean before I tossed it over to her. She looked down at it questioningly.
"He'll need his wounds clean to," I instructed.
"Why me? Aren't you the doctor?" she asked. I shrugged and made my way over to the ladder.
"It wasn't me he just saved, a little gratitude can go along way," I replied climbing down the ladder leaving the two alone. I stopped once I reached the bottom level, turning to face the sick boy who must have been Finn.
"How's he?" I asked not really concerned, with the antidote he would be fine.
"Better," Clarke said, a small smile on her face as she stared down at his sleeping form. Now that was interesting.
"We need to finish having our little talk," Bellamy spoke up, moving out of the shadows behind me. I rolled my eyes at his theatrics.
"Can't it wait Bellamy?" Clarke asked. "I'm sure she's tired, and we've all had a long day. We can talk about everything in the morning."
"What's to stop her from running off in the middle of the night?" Bellamy asked the blonde.
"Trust me, if that was my plan there wouldn't be anyway for you to stop me," I told him, squaring off with him as he approached me.
"You act more like one of the grounders than one of us," he said sneering at me.
"If I said it while holding a shock whip would that make you feel more comfortable?" I replied not backing down.
"Enough you two," Clarke said stepping between us. "Bellamy we'll all talk in the morning and that's it."
"This isn't over," Bellamy threatened as he walked out of the drop ship.
No, I thought to myself, this is just the beginning.
Ai laik Cole - I am Cole
Ai laik heda kom Skaikru kom Trigedakru - I am the leader of the sky people from the tree clan
Chit - What
Chon yu bilak - who are you?
Sha - yes
Non wan op - Don't die
Ste yuj - stay strong
beja - please
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