Chapter 24
Taylor had no idea for how long she stood there in the tent, mutely embracing the commander and waiting for the other woman to stop crying. She knew just how much trust and sympathy the young leader was showing her right in these moments, not hiding her tears from her.
Taylor let her mouth pull into a soft smile once Lexa finally eased out of the embrace. She would have liked to offer a handkerchief to the brunette woman, but she unfortunately did not have one.
The war paint which had still been on Lexa's features had barely smudged anymore and Taylor distinctly wondered just what it must have been made off to be this strong and lasting. She was not really surprised when Lexa's features seemed to harden just the blink of an eye later. They had a war to plan after all.
"I need to speak to Clarke" Lexa proclaimed and there was only the very slightest hint of grief still colouring her tone left.
Taylor nodded and she let her encouraging smile fade as she somehow doubted that it actually was welcome right now. It almost seemed to her as if she was standing in front of another person altogether.
She followed the commander out of the tent mutely and was surprised by how dark it had already gotten; they must have stood within the tent far longer than Taylor had noticed.
She was also surprised to note that other warriors seemed to have arrived in the meantime. Taylor's body was wrecked by a shiver for a moment. Would the commander have ordered the coalition to erase Skykru instead of the Mountain if things with Gustus had gone differently? From the show TonDC had appeared much more crowded though and Indra's warriors had not left with Skykru yet, so, this must only be the first warriors to arrive.
Taylor followed Lexa through TonDC and she smiled just a little bit at Anya once the general noticed their presence and immediately made her way towards them. It seemed as if the general had been speaking with other warriors, but Taylor did not recognize them and from the way they were staring at her, neither had they seen her yet.
It seemed that Skykru had been anxiously waiting for the commander to return; Lexa had stormed away without leaving any clear orders on what was supposed to happen now and Taylor immediately spotted Clarke hurrying towards Lexa as well.
Taylor noted how the suspicion she had been eyed with turned into open hostility when Clarke came into view and she really hoped that she would not do anything to anger the grounders in the future.
Taylor frowned a little when Anya stopped her from following Lexa to meet up with Clarke by putting a hand softly on her hip.
"I can already tell you the orders" Anya said and her brown eyes looked down at Taylor in slight amusement. The general could not pinpoint it fully, but to her it seemed as if the blonde doctor was a tad bit jealous of Clarke.
"The war council will convene tomorrow" the general explained, leading Taylor a little to the side and out of the immediate attention from the new warriors in TonDC.
Taylor nodded in understanding. She remembered the scene from the show.
In the meantime, Lexa had told what would happen to Clarke as well. The blonde leader had agreed to have one of her people there as her guard as her mother's condition and the rest of Skykru would leave at first light.
"Come, it is time to rest now" Anya said to the blonde doctor, calling her attention back.
Taylor nodded although she was slightly confused. She was sure that something should have happened in this moment, but Lexa had also turned away from Clarke and obviously said to her to meet again in the morning.
Once Taylor's gaze fell onto Octavia and Lincoln she remembered. Bellamy and Lincoln should leave towards the Mountain very soon and she was unsure why Clarke had not made the decision yet. She saw Raven tinkering around with a radio in her hand, but to her consternation the mechanic put it away in that moment, features frustrated.
Could the radio message from the Mountain launched by Jasper and Monty be late?
"Is something wrong?" Anya asked in a lower tone, gently giving Taylor a slight nudge to move. She had noticed the confusion on the blonde's features and she could only guess that something was happening slightly different now.
"It is nothing" Taylor denied with a shake of her head. She could not remember the show at this moment completely. She only knew that Bellamy and Lincoln would go to the Mountain and that Bellamy would go in successfully as a spy, but she was clueless what had caused the decision to be made.
Slightly later, Taylor was back in the commander's tent together with the young leader.
Anya had agreed to remain outside and greet the different general's which would arrive most likely all through the night. Although Lexa had offered that her former mentor could sleep there as well, Anya did not want to wake up Taylor several times through the night and thus preferred staying out at the fire.
"You said that the Mountain will fall?" Lexa addressed the doctor while they were eating dinner. The atmosphere had been rather silent while Lexa drifted off into her thoughts over and over.
Taylor nodded her agreement, taking a bite of the delicious roast she had been given. She was not sure though what animal she was actually eating meat from.
"But how are my warriors going to reach the Mountain?" Lexa mused and her features showed her doubt that this war would lead to anything "Other commanders before me have tried to fell the Mountain and all have failed, only suffering huge losses".
Taylor placed her utensils down "Clarke was supposed to send in Bellamy as a spy and he would turn off the acid fog" she explained although she could not fully bane the doubt from her voice. She was almost sure that this decision was made before Skykru left. Octavia would return to Skykru as well and Lincoln would surely go with her if Clarke did not send him to the Mountain before that.
"Was supposed to?" Lexa echoed with a raised brow, picking up immediately that something was off.
Taylor gnawed at her lower lip unsurely "I cannot remember clearly, but I think that Clarke should have decided this already."
Lexa's lips pressed into a thin line. She had feared that this moment would come where a discrepancy between the future Taylor had seen happening and about what now actually happened would occur. "And this Skykru boy will help to bring down the Mountain from within?" she asked in a thoughtful tone.
Taylor nodded and her lips tilted into a slight smile of amusement. No wonder that the warriors were doubting Skykru as their leader was obviously full of doubt still. "The fog which would kill your warriors needs to be shut off from inside or your forces cannot get close to the Mountain to attack".
Before Taylor could have said more, Lexa stood up suddenly "Stay here, Yssa" the commander almost ordered and stormed out of the tent without any kind of explanation.
Taylor watched her leave so hurriedly in confusion and she got to her feet as well. She stepped to the entrance of the tent and pushed the tent flap away. In the distance she could see Lexa coming to a stop in front of Clarke and obviously telling the other leader something.
"What is this about?" Anya asked suddenly, startling Taylor and the doctor gave a slight jump, as she had not even noticed the general standing so close to the tent.
"You are unobservant, Yssa" the general turned her attention fully onto the doctor and her features showed how critical she thought of this.
Taylor huffed under her breath in annoyance. She never had had the need for such a skill after all before and right now it seemed as if the general and commander were keeping constant taps on her any way, so she did not deem that necessary right now either.
"Aren't you and Lexa observing me enough already that I am safe already?" she finally asked, turning her tone a little flirty as she looked up at the general.
Anya's brows furrowed only further and she obviously was anything but convinced.
Lexa came back towards the commander's tent in this moment though and her features showed a new anger.
A young warrior approached the tent in this moment as well, calling for Anya to greet warriors from another clan which had just arrived at the outskirt of TonDC.
"Unbelievable…" the commander was muttering under her breath as she sat down at the table again, green eyes blazing as she audibly huffed out a large bout of air.
"You seem angry" Taylor assessed in a careful tone while she sat down again as well.
"Lincoln will bring this Bellamy to the Mountain at first light" Lexa retorted in a sharp tone.
Taylor nodded in acknowledgement although she still did not know what had angered the brunette now.
They continued their meal in silence for now while Taylor watched the commander glower down at her food.
"Wait…" she said after a while, having tried to come up with a reason for the other woman's mood "… did you order Bellamy and Lincoln to the Mountain now?"
Lexa's green eyes immediately switch to her and the woman nodded curtly "You said he will make it possible to come close to the Mountain and to attack".
Taylor nodded although she knew that things had happened differently in the show "I guess Clarke has not taken this order well" she said in a thoughtful tone.
Lexa's nostrils flared and her eyes blazed "She was lucky none of my warriors were close enough to listen to her utter disrespect!" she thundered in anger.
Taylor tried to give the commander a soothing smile "You do not know Clarke well yet, but believe me, she does not do well with orders. She is the one making the decisions and not just accepting them from anyone else".
"I am the commander" Lexa exclaimed in a firm tone and her green eyes narrowed with a dangerous glint.
"I know" Taylor nodded again, answering in a calm tone and trying not to cower under the commander's strong presence right now. She remembered how a sort of respect had started to kindle between Lexa and Clarke after the episode with the mutant gorilla.
"Things will work out, Lexa" she tried to reassure and calm the brunette leader. Cautiously, she reached out and placed one of her hands over one of the commander's.
In an instant it seemed as if the leader personality seemed to melt from Lexa's features and she immediately appeared calm and kind again. She nodded once, before the hint of a smile enlightened her features "I believe the last thing you told me about yesterday was your first year of high school. What happened after that?".
Taylor laughed lightly, deciding to go along with Lexa's lifted mood "Well…".
Early in the next morning Taylor was awoken by Lexa. They had slept on one bed again, close to each other, but not touching each other this night.
The commander was not wearing her full armour this day and her face was clear of the black war paint.
"The war council will convene soon" Lexa explained. She had gotten up a little while ago and had ordered breakfast for them.
Anya had come into the tent just a little before sunrise and was still sleeping on a bedroll in a far corner.
"I have not heard Anya settle down at all" Taylor noticed with a slight frown.
Lexa snorted slightly under her breath "Once you sleep it seems nothing can wake you, Yssa" she said with a hint of a tease.
Taylor only slightly rolled her eyes, deciding not to comment on that and instead sat down for breakfast. She was thankful to find an already prepared tea against her pain as well along with her plate.
Breakfast was a rather quick affair though and Taylor had barely finished her plate before Lexa stood up and shook Anya awake as well.
The general grumbled under her breath for a moment, clearly not amused to be woken so soon after getting to sleep.
Taylor could not bite back a slight laugh when the general sat up. Her long hair was in clear disarray and her brown eyes blinked around a little unfocused for a moment, while her features were pulled into a deeply dissatisfied frown. The very moment the general noticed her though, Anya's dissatisfaction melted away as if a switch had just been flicked.
"You can join the war council now or come in with Anya" Lexa explained the options to Taylor while she fastened a dagger to her thigh.
Anya stood up though and just briefly tried to comb through her hair with her fingers, shaking her head "Nonsense, I am ready" she tutted.
As a doctor, Taylor would definitely have recommended for Anya to rest longer. The woman's body must still be in recovery, but she knew that she would only waste her breath with that, so, she mutely followed Lexa out of the tent.
Surprisingly, Clarke was waiting for them already and obviously wanted to speak to the commander before the war council would meet.
Taylor would have liked to stand beside them and listen to what was said, but Anya placed a hand onto her back and gently guided her inside the building.
Whatever Clarke had told Lexa must have satisfied the commander though as the brunette's expression seemed appeased once the two leaders entered the room a little while later.
Taylor did not know what she had expected a war council to be like, but Taylor quickly had to realize that it was comparable to trying to keep a group of squabbling children in check. A part of her had anticipated a boring meeting, but it certainly was not really boring or at least the discussions turned heated over and over.
Most of the time the aggression of the generals of the coalition turned towards Clarke. Some of them argued between each other, but in the end they all agreed that Skykru was the actual disturbing factor.
The scene from the show between Quint and Clarke was the end of the war council before the Skykru leader excused herself.
Anya was into the discussion now as well and although Lexa had officially agreed to Quint's dissent by saying that hoping on Bellamy was "a prayer likely not answered" the commander also sensed that Quint meant trouble.
When Taylor noticed Lexa following Quint out of the room, she left as well. Anya had been in a heated confrontation with a warrior from the Ice Nation and the general had been too focused to notice. Taylor knew that she had not told Lexa about the run in with the mutant gorilla.
"You should stay with Anya" Lexa turned around, having heard someone following her.
Taylor shook her head in the negative "Quint is attacking Clarke right now" she said in an urgent tone. She was worried that more things were changing already. If Clarke died now, she had absolutely no idea what this would do to Skykru and Clarke also would be the one to really bring down the Mountain.
Lexa's eyes narrowed in a flash of anger and her tone was curt as she exclaimed "Come on then", already turning around and heading into the woods. Two guards quickly caught up with them to accompany their leader.
Taylor hurried her steps, ignoring the pain this caused to bloom from her stomach. She trusted her stitches though and nothing had appeared off earlier.
It took Lexa only a few moments to spot Clarke and Taylor watched in amazement how the commander pulled to a stop still a rather long distance away. The brunette retrieved the dagger from her thigh and with one single throw, perfectly imbedded it into Quint's raised wrist, threatening to attack Clarke.
The warrior turned from Clarke and his eyes widened almost comically when he recognized his leader, clutching his wounded arm to his chest, while Lexa stalked closer quickly.
Lexa just bent down and quickly pulled her dagger out of his arm, unmindful of the man's reaction, which made Quint groan in great pain, clutching at his bleeding wound more tightly.
"Attack her and you attack me" Lexa said to the man in a deadly serious tone, towering above him threateningly.
The guard stepped closer to his comrade, aiming his sword for the man's throat, daring him to get back on his feet, ready to strike him down, should he be foolish enough to try.
"Thank you" Clarke said a little breathless and clearly shaken, blue eyes slightly widened, after getting up from the ground and she now had a pistol trained on Quint as well, probably afraid that the warrior would make another lunge for her.
"Where is your guard?" Lexa asked Clarke with annoyance in her voice and her eyes, on their way they had not encountered anyone else, so the blonde must have left alone. It was irresponsible for a leader to leave a camp unsupervised. Even she as the commander, rarely left without guards at her side.
"He killed her" Clarke answered instantly, looking at Quint accusingly.
Taylor knew that she lied, the gorilla had killed the Skykru woman after all. But she kept her mouth shut for now.
"She lies" Quint said strongly through clenched teeth, still lying on the ground between them and as he turned to the commander, he added "My fight is only with her" conviction in his dark eyes.
"Your fight is over" Lexa deadpanned seriously, face stony and not betraying a single emotion. She had made it absolutely clear, that Skykru were not to be harmed and attacking another clan's leader, was always a serious crime. She could not react lax to Quint's transgression, or the impression would arise on the other generals that her protection did not mean anything.
Taylor could see Quint's eyes widening slightly in realization, as if the man truly had not anticipated the outcome of his doings at all or at least had been convinced that he would lose his own life as a consequence.
"The kill is yours Clarke" Lexa said to the blonde woman in a calm tone, as she put her dagger back into the holster on her thigh again, now that the threat was handled, waiting expectantly for the other leader to claim her kill. To her internal consternation, she could easily spot the blonde woman hesitating.
Taylor could see Clarke swallowing uncomfortably and the fingers holding her pistol, were visibly shaking.
Lexa was gauging Clarke's reaction and noted her reluctance to kill Quint with silent disdain, leading people always meant having to make hard choices. She wondered if she might have misjudged the other leader, she had even been slightly impressed by the way the blonde had barged into her tent and proposed the alliance, she had not faltered there.
The situation abruptly changed, when a loud roar resonated through the woods, still a slight distance away.
Taylor winced at the loud roar and she cussed internally. She had foregone her chance to warn Lexa of the beast going to attack.
"Pauna" Lexa almost whispered, fear visibly flashing through her green eyes. The commander barely needed a second, before she took out one of her swords from her back and slashed into the back of Quint's legs.
The warrior fell to the ground with a surprised scream, his eyes widened in obvious horror.
Lexa quickly shouted at them to run, urging them to get moving in a desperate tone. She reached out towards Taylor, moving closely next to the blonde doctor, ready to protect her.
They ran in the opposite direction of the roars, that clearly became louder and closer each passing second. Taylor could hear the trees snapping behind them and a few moments later, they could distantly make out Quint's screams mixed in between the angry roars.
Lexa pushed the blonde ahead, when Taylor started to slow slightly and loudly proclaimed "We need to hide" looking around them desperately for a place to hide from the beast, that would reach them in a few seconds.
Suddenly, Clarke changed her direction and called behind them "This way. I found something" motioning to an opening. Clarke stood in front of, what looked to be an old huge pipe, that was closed by a metal grate.
The guard quickly helped her with pulling the grate aside and they slipped into the pipe, as the roars continued to increase in intensity behind them.
But the escape route Clarke had found, did turn out to be in fact the way to the feeding ground of the creature. Parts of animal corpses lay scattered everywhere, with piles of bones.
Before they had a chance to really look for a better place to hide, they could hear the creature approaching them even quicker and Taylor knew that this route had saved Lexa and Clarke in the show.
Lexa and the guard both had pulled out their swords and positioned themselves in front of Taylor and Clarke, while the blonde Skykru woman held a gun in her hand.
Only a moment later, the gorilla appeared and smashed its fists into the man a few times and threw the unconscious man into the opposite wall, with a sickening crunching sound. It was obvious the warrior was dead instantly.
The beast pounded his fists onto its chest a few times, before it roared at them loudly, as if proclaiming that they were on his land now and it would remove them in a second.
Clarke had shot at the beast with her pistol, but that only seemed to incense the creature, as it threw a large stone into their direction with another loud roar. Clarke continued to fire a few more times at the gorilla and the beast fell backwards into a small precipice.
Taylor knew though that the gorilla was not dead and it started to climb back up from the precipice and into their direction only a moment later again.
"Run" Lexa screamed and pushed Taylor slightly ahead of herself and away from the beast.
They managed to escape the gorilla for a short amount of time, before the beast spotted them again. They stood in front of a railing under which an abyss with a small opening was visible.
Taylor was not surprised the slightest when Clarke jumped down.
Lexa nodded towards the doctor and gave her a slight push to make her jump, choosing to jump last.
Taylor landed with a thumb and let out a light shout of pain. One of her ankles had given away and she had bumped her shoulder harshly against the wall. She was certain it was either shattered or at least dislocated.
Lexa landed next to her only a second later "Yssa!" her tone shook and she was clearly worried as she pulled the doctor back to her feet.
Clarke had spotted a small opening and was motioning them towards it.
Lexa helped Taylor move over to it, while Clarke already climbed through.
Before Lexa could follow them, the gorilla finally was on her and pulled on her leg strongly, roaring angrily.
"Leave me" the commander shouted out loud.
"No way" Clarke loudly declared and started to shoot at the beast with her pistol again.
The blonde seemed to have hit the gorilla's face and it fell back with an angry roar for a moment.
Taylor quickly lunged forward, ignoring how her whole body screamed in pain and helping Lexa inside as well. Although she had known that this was supposed to happen, Taylor felt the blood rush loudly through her ears as adrenaline beat through her veins.
The commander stepped closer to Taylor, supporting the doctor to stay upright. Taylor's features had gotten alarmingly pale and she knew that the other woman needed medical attention.
"Had this been supposed to happen as well?" she asked under her breath, keeping her words too low for Clarke to catch, while the Skykru leader was inspecting the small room she had trapped them in, looking for an exit.
Taylor groaned slightly when Lexa applied pressure on her wounded shoulder "The pauna, yes, but you were the one to get hurt there".
Lexa's eyes widened and a gentle surprise flitted over her features "You have saved me yet again, Yssa".