Chapter 12
They marched and they marched through the forests. She knew that Lincoln was them. She didn't care. She marched onward, Octavia at her side and Raven just behind them. She marveled at their speed. And, Raven wanted to question everything. No matter what they told her, Raven still kept asking questions. But, the biggest thing was the fact that they led their little group without a map, compass or "supposed" knowledge of where they were going. She saw the looks that Lincoln was given them as they followed paths and trails that Clarke knew but shouldn't. She knew that Lincoln was watching this and he'd report it.
Clarke set a quick pace. Octavia could tell that she was still angry, but she was also reeling from seeing Lexa in all her Commander glory, too. She knew that Clarke's emotions had to be all over the place, but she was doing a good job of keeping them focused on getting their little crew back to their camp. Octavia stayed by her side, even though all she wanted to do was be with Lincoln. She knew that he could wait. Clarke, if not tempered, might actually kill everyone and then possibly herself just to start the day over. She understood. She'd done it to herself a time or two. She didn't like to think about it, but she knew that their deaths would reset everything again.
"Do you want to talk?" Octavia tried asking her.
"No."
"I understand why you're mad."
"I'm not angry."
"But, you are. I get it. I know that you want to be with her, but you have to get her to fall in love with you again. It's the same thing every time. I get it, because I've lived it, too. How do you think I feel being so close to him and not having him already? I don't know why we are still doing this, but we are and we are in this together," Octavia told her.
She knew that Clarke wanted to say something, but she didn't. She had gotten closer to Clarke through their many lifetimes together. They new the sequence of events. They knew what worked and what didn't. They knew each other really well now. They could read each other on more than one level and had even pretended to be lovers one time and forgo getting with Lexa and Lincoln thinking it would save them both. It didn't, but their closeness never went away. She wasn't going to leave Clarke and Clarke wasn't going to leave her, but they would both try to figure this out and get out alive...well, without being reborn again on the Ark and having to relive the same years over and over again.
"I am not mad at Lexa. I'm sad, like I am every time that I see her. Because it means that I have to make her fall for me and keep her alive again. And, I know that you understand. Out of everyone, you are the only one that know how I feel. You're like a sister to me, O. I just..."
"What? Tell me, Clarke. You just what?"
"I wanted to kill your brother in that field."
"I did, too."
"He causes so much pain, but he's your..."
"He is my brother and I already told you that I would kill him if necessary. It's harsh, but like he always told me that 'my sister, my responsibility.' He's my brother, so he's my responsiblility. I'll do it, if you think that we should."
"It shouldn't fall on you, O. He's your brother."
"Do you remember the one time that we made it, passed the bunker, passed the cult?"
"You mean passed everything and I got Madi?"
"Yeah, do you remember what I told you?"
"That I shouldn't have to bear it," Clarke answered. "Just like you shouldn't have to bear his death."
"I will, gladly, for everything that he's done. He isn't innocent. He never was. She was, Clarke. She still is...right now. If his fight needs to be over, then order it Wanheda and I will gladly deliver his head to you," Octavia told her with so much conviction that Clarke was sure that she would rush back to camp and do exactly as she said.
"Not yet. He is still useful. For now, I need you by myside as my friend and confidant. I don't need my skairipa just yet. There will be a time and place for all of that. Hopefully by then, your brother will have seen the light."
"And, if he doesn't?"
"Then, I might just let Lexa string him up. For now, he lives, but he's getting shit jobs. If I thought that putting Wells over him would work, I would. But, I know it won't. As long as we control Murphy, we control those who would be your brother's lackeys. For now, we watch him and keep him away from Raven. That is another mistake that doesn't need to happen. Ever," Clarke stated and Octavia just nodded along.
"Umm, excuse me. I know I'm new here and all, but Princess, you aren't speaking English and big, tall and broody, wasn't talking English with the warrior queen. So what gives? And, what do I need to know?"
"First of all, his name is Lincoln and his is a Scout with the Trikru. That's whose land this is. We are trying to broker a deal with them so we don't go to war. Bellamy, Octavia's idiot of a brother, decided to act out and almost got himself and all of us killed. As for the warrior queen, her name is Heda Lexa kom Trikru, Heda kom Jus, Heda kom Kongeda, and she truly is the warrior queen that she seems to be. So play nice with the natives, okay?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't make anything go boom unless we or Lexa tells you to," Octavia answered quickly.
"And, the languages?"
"I had a lot of down time in solitary, Raven. I learned things to pass the time. Octavia, well...she decided to learn Russian, too. It wasn't like there was a big use for it on the Ark anymore, but there were still people who spoke it."
"Kinda like my Mom used to swear at me in Spanish. I get it. But, could you not do the mind meld thing while I am around? It's honestly a little freaky and I'm already freaked out enough as it is considering," Raven stated.
"We'll try," Clarke answered and continued her march.
"Well, good talk. Glad we got that settled. So, anything or anyone else I should be worried about?"
Clarke and Octavia both shared a look and then shook their heads. They'd deal with Raven and Finn later. Right now, they needed to get back to camp and see how much damage Bellamy had tried to make while they were trying to save them all.
They were almost to the gate when they heard another set of footsteps behind them. Octavia was fast on her feet and the draw of her sword to defend them. Lincoln merely turned and smiled. He could tell by the footfalls that it was no one other than Tris. He could only guess why she was there.
"Heda sent me to be a message between you and Anya. She wanted me to tell you that and that they will be camping Belle until after the storm. I am to report back anything that you think is of value for me to tell them. Do you have anything for me to say, Scout?"
"No, Tris, I do not," Lincoln stated. "Other than two of them already know these woods. Be careful and run back to Heda. Tell her we made to their camp and are safe behind their gates. She can send you back in the morning. I will have a better report for her then."
"As you say, Scout. Be well, dear brother and take care of yourself. I will see you tomorrow," Tris answered, turned and ran off.
"What did the Sprite have to say?" Raven asked.
"She's to be my messenger between Heda and I while I am your camp, Raivon," he answered as he tried her name out on his tongue.
"Where is Belle?"
"I don't know. Never heard of it, but it must be somewhere between the dropship and TonDC. Did it get destroyed in the hurricane or something?" Octavia asked her.
"I'm thinking or something," Clarke answered as she faced Raven more fully.
"What?" Raven immediately questioned. "What did I do? Why are you looking at me like that? I haven't been here long enough to do anything. Let alone piss off the locals, so what is it?"
"The flares!?" Octavia and Clarke both exclaimed.
"It is the only thing that makes sense. I'll know more once we get to the ship. Come on," Clarke said as they walked back to camp with Lincoln in tow.
Bellamy just stared at them as they entered. Clarke and Octavia ignored him as they headed into the dropship. Monroe, Harper and Miller stopped what they were doing and looked up to see them coming. Murphy gave them a quick salute and then nodded over at Bellamy and Wells. Clarke stopped just before they went into the drop ship. She turned around, studied the horizon, and then addressed the camp.
"Afternoon crews prepare for a last water run. Get as much as you can. Take all the can and containers. Go as one group. Miller lead them,"
"Got it, Princess," Miller called back to her.
She watched as Miller and Jasper started rounding up people. Murphy just watched with Monty sitting by his side. She knew that Murphy would take care of things inside the camp.
"Monroe, take out some hunters and see what else you can get. Take Charlotte with you and remember to set some snares for the morning. Harper, keep up the work on the fence," Clarke told them and then met Murphy's eyes again. "Murphy, how long until dinner's ready?"
"An hour or two," Murphy answered.
"Good, come get us when it's ready. You've got the camp for now. Wells, with us, please."
"No problem," he stated and looked over at Monty, who was sitting next to him with his notebook.
"Bellamy, a word," Clarke stated and then finally entered the dropship.
Lincoln, Octavia, and Raven were right behind her. Clarke didn't wait for them. Bellamy followed along and looked like a kicked puppy. She started up to the second section. Raven looked at Octavia and then stowed the radio under her arm. Octavia pointed up, so Raven went. Lincoln followed Raven, followed by Wells. When he'd cleared the hatch, Octavia turned around to face her brother.
"Look, I'm sorry," he started.
"You're sorry? You're sorry? Do you have any idea what you could've done?" Octavia asked him.
"No, I don't."
"You're right, you don't. We asked you to stay back. One thing, Bellamy, you only had to do one thing and you've already screwed up. I know that Clarke told you how bad you've screwed up in our past lives, so why wouldn't you just believe us long enough for to deal with things? Are you so damn selfish that you can't handle Clarke protecting you?"
"I...I...I did something," Bellamy started.
"We know. We all know that you shot Jaha, or did you forget that Clarke told you that we knew? Jaha survived. Clarke is going to get you pardoned, but you still couldn't wait. We trusted you and screwed up. Bellamy, I am going to tell you this and I'm going to say it only once," Octavia practically hissed at him.
"Okay."
"If you do something that stupid and reckless again, we'll hand you over to Lexa and let her deal with you personally. Just because you are my brother, it doesn't matter. You aren't above the rules and law of this land. And, make no mistake, if I have to, I'll kill you myself to save as many of us as possible. So, do yourself a favor, get your head out of your ass and listen to what we tell you to do. Because right now, it's 'my brother, my responsibility'."
Octavia didn't wait for him to respond. She started up the ladder. She knew that they needed to make a quick plan to deal with the hurricane and make a call back up to the Ark and let them know that they were surviving. They also needed to let the Ark tell them about the storm coming. They needed to make contact, but Octavia knew that Clarke wasn't going to warn them about Diana Sydney or Commander Shumway yet. They needed them to try their coup.
"Raven, you can set up your station over there," Clarke told her. "You can use whatever else you need to use from the dropship. You're our only mechanic and you're needed."
"Okay," Raven said as she moved. "But, don't think that I've forgotten earlier. I want to know what's going on."
"Get the radio set up. We'll talk later. First we need set some ground rules, and we definitely need to let the Ark know that we are surviving down here."
"Sounds good to me," Raven replied as she moved over into the corner and started moving to set up the radio.
"Now as for you," Clarke started as she rounded on Bellamy.
Bellamy sat down and leaned against the bulkhead. Wells moved slightly to his left as he saw the fire in Clarke's eyes. Octavia moved around until she near Clarke. It was obvious to them all that something huge was about to go down. Clarke looked over at Lincoln and just nodded. She wasn't upset about his presence. She was happy he was there. She knew Lincoln was their way in, and he seemed to favor Clarke's thinking. It helped that he was as drawn to Octavia as she was to him.
Lincoln watched and noted everything. He realized that the group gathered there were the leaders of the camp. He also knew that the dark haired boy was something to Octavia. They had some sort of relationship and whatever it was, Octavia wasn't happy with him. Her emotions were a little more flamboyant than Clarke's, but they were both angry with him and Lincoln didn't know why. Raven didn't seem to mind him, but she was doing her own thing with the tek in the corner of the area that they were sitting in. The darker boy with them just sat back and watched. He seemed to be bothered by him, but he also seemed to not know about whatever he'd done to earn both the skaiprisa and her sekken to make them mad. He knew that he needed to know more. And, from the looks that the blonde was giving him, she didn't seem to care.
"I don't know what you were thinking and frankly, right now, I don't care. There are people here who still have family up there. They need to know that the Earth is survivable. I know that you are scared, but Jaha isn't dead. I told you that I would help you, but then you go off and decide to do something stupid like you did today. And, don't tell me that you weren't going for the radio, Bell. We both know that you were," Clarke accused.
"I..."
"Save it. We have bigger things to deal with than you and your ego. Cross me again and I will end you. We cannot afford mistakes like that again. I warned you once. Octavia warned you. I told you what you did and still you walked away from the camp and could have started a war today. You singlehandedly almost stopped every ounce of goodwill that we were trying to start. We need the Grounders to survive and they need us."
"We don't need anyone but ourselves, Clarke. We've proven that. You've proven that."
"Shut up, Bellamy. Just shut up," Octavia said as she drew her knife and started cleaning it. "I meant what I said down the ladder. You don't know anything about this world. And, just because we know things doesn't mean that we don't need help. So, shut up, or I'll make you."
"Just sit down and shut up. Let me save everyone that I can, and then you can be an idiot all you want. But, you've got about, I don't know six months or more to weight, okay? I'm doing my best with the knowledge that I have, so unless you want to be the first casulty, I'd shut up and sit down and do as I was told. Because right now, I'm not in the mood to fix you. Can you understand that, Bellamy. I am willing and capable of letting you die," Clarke told him with such venom that everyone in the small room just knew that she might actually do it, no matter how petite she was. "Don't look to your sister. She agrees with me. Learn your place. Just because your older and have a sibling doesn't give you any authority. So if you want your pardon, listen to your baby sister. She's got more sense, more training, and more knowledge than you ever will. And, by the way, she can take care of herself, just like me, and just like Raven. We don't need babysitters, but evidently, you do. So, from now on, Wells is always with you. Where one goes, so does the other. Maybe you'll learn something and maybe you'll temper yourselves and see that we need each other down here and all our skillsets to survive."
"Umm...not to interrupt, but how did you know that Jaha wasn't dead?" Raven asked as she turned to face them a little more.
Clarke and Octavia turned to her and stared at her. Clarke had realized that she had forgotten slightly that Raven was even there. Octavia just looked at Clarke and shrugged. They both knew that they hadn't brought Raven completely up to speed with thing yet, and they certainly hadn't told Lincoln the truth about them. She doubted that he would understand on some levels, but he was content in knowing that she knew things.
"They are skaikeyron, Striksora."
"I'm sorry, what?" Raven questioned.
"He said that we are Sky spirits or something like that. Don't worry about that, Raven. You got the radio working."
"Yeah, I do."
"Good, call them."
"Okay, yeah, sure," Raven said as she turned back to the radio and keyed the mic. "This is Raven Reyes calling Ark Station, come in Ark Station..."