Chapter 21

Clarke sat down in the rustic wooden chair she was offered. Raven sat to her left and Octavia to her right. Bellamy stood behind her. She knew it was so he looked more intimidating, but she knew that he was failing. Monroe stood behind Octavia, while Harper stood behind Raven. Clarke knew that they were all ready, but she hoped that they wouldn't mind being dismissed after Lexa finished asking her questions of them. She didn't want them to know the plan until Lexa approved it. She didn't want them to speak up against it. Her plan was solid. Octavia and Raven agreed. She knew that the others would fight her on it, but that is why she wanted Lexa's approval. With Lexa on her side, she would be able to do what she needed to do without having to worry about their camp.

"You told us of the storm and we were able to warn enough to the coastal villages to be prepared."

"Did you have many deaths?" Clarke asked her.

She knew that Lexa could hear her concern in her voice. She also knew that it struck Lexa as odd that she should be worried about Lexa's people. She didn't know them. She didn't owe them anything, but yet, she respected them enough to follow their rules and traditions. She was meeting Lexa and following Lexa's requests without much pushback. She wasn't trying to take anything over. She was trying to save lives, and she hope that she showed that to the leader.

"Not as many as we would have had without prior warning. Thank you for that. We saved many because we had a few days worth of warning," Lexa told her. "So, I am curious as to why you warn us. You had no real reason to do so, but you said that it was to prove that you new things that would happen."

"I do."

"And, you expect us to believe you?" Indra questioned from her position.

"I don't. No, not really. I never did. But, I can help you end your war with the Mountain. And, I can heal the reapers. I can give your people back their lives, and then I can offer them people to speak with to keep their health," Clarke started. "But, I know that you, Anya, and even Wormana Indra, Wocha kom TonDC have questions to ask my people. We have nothing to hide. You may ask us anything. But, you also much know that we can refuse to answer."

"I would expect nothing less," Lexa said from her chair across from them.

Anya took a seat next to her, but Indra continued to stand behind them. Lexa drew her knife and began to play with it before she reached forward and cut some fruit. She sliced it quickly and plated it before sending it across the table to them. Clarke reached over and picked up a piece and chewed it slowly. She couldn't help but smile at the taste. This was always something that she missed.

"What is this fruit?" Clarke asked, even though she already knew.

"It is an apple from up north. The clan that grows them turns them into a spread and other things. I like them like this as well."

"They are good. I hope to try it in the other ways as well, but I know that it will take time for that to happen," Clarke replied before asking. "So, what are your questions, Heda?"

Lexa didn't seem to be rattled by Clarke's change in their direction. She actually seemed to be amused by it. Clarke knew that it was because of the correspondence between Lincoln and Lexa about the not only herself, but the camp and how Clarke led them. She knew that Lexa craved knowledge because she knew that knowledge was power. The more she knew, the better she could make a decision regarding whatever it was that seemed to be a problem for the coalition. Lexa never used her knowledge for her own favor unless it benefited the coalition first. Clarke just sat back and smiled, waiting for the questions to come, because she was sure that they would throw off all of them but Octavia and Clarke.

"Please eat," Lexa stated as she pushed the fruit and other items across the table.

Clarke took the plate, selected a few items and then handed it to Octavia. The dark haired warrior took the plate, smelled the items, and then selected a few items. She then passed the plate to Raven. Raven looked to them both, and Clarke pointed to a few things for her to chose. Raven selected some of the apple and some cheese. Clarke couldn't wait to see her reaction. When Raven had finished her selections, passed the plate back to Harper. As soon as Harper had the plate, Raven popped a piece of cheese in her mouth and moaned.

"I know, right?" Clarke replied to her with a smile.

Raven's eyes were wide as she savored the food that she'd selected. Lexa looked amused. Anya looked perplexed.

"I take it that you didn't have food like this in the stars," Lexa said.

"No, we had mush," Raven said quickly as she nibbled on some of the apple slices she'd taken.

"Mush?"

"Heda, they made a porridge-like substance. It really had no taste and it was made to sustain life. Food here is unlike anything we've ever had. We couldn't grow certain things either. Apples were going to happen. The trees would have taken up too much space. Instead, we grew crops that could be turned over easily and without blights. They were made to not have disease, use a lot of water, and produce a lot of air."

"I do not understand," Lexa said.

"Understand what?" Raven inquired.

"How do plants make air?" Lexa questioned.

"Plants convert what we breath out into air we can breath in. It's cyclical. We need each other. The plants need us for the gases we produce naturally, and we need the gases to breath that the plants make. In Space, in the stars, there is no air and nothing to produce. Our home was a big tin can with limited air and air cleaners. The more plants that we could have, the less the burden was on the air cleaners," Raven stated.

"And, this is why the one child rule?" Lexa asked.

"I see Lincoln told you a lot," Clarke quipped. "But, yes, limiting the population helped ease programs and survival rates. It is also what caused us to have very strict laws. My general and her brother, a guard, are the only two siblings in over four generations."

"And, your mother was killed for that?" Lexa questioned.

"Sha, Heda, she was," Octavia replied.

"And, what would your people offer to us besides strict laws and tek?"

"Effiecentcy and technology, possible electricity," Raven answered. "It all depends on what I can get my hands on to work with. But, there are things that we wouldn't know how to help you with. We know ways of making stronger steel."

"Stronger steel, Striksora?" Anya finally asked as she stared at Raven like she was a problem she had yet to solve.

"Yeah, better weapons, better shields, stronger walls and gates, anything metal," Raven said. "I can help the blacksmiths make stronger items."

"You speak of your home in the stars, that is your village, this Ark?" Lexa inquired.

"It is after a fashion, yes, Heda," Clarke answered. "It is a lot like your kongeda. It is made up of twelve stations, like clans or krus, but from before the bombs. They came together to survive. Each station had particular skill sets, so it was beneficial to the whole. In the end, we formed a government with a chancellor and a council."

"But that isn't how you are governing yourselves on the ground, Skaiprisa. Linkon said that you rule with several generals. He named them as Oktevia, Raivon, Belami, Mofi, and Wels. Each of them have several under them. You've broken your people up based on what they are good at and what they like to do. You have few warriors, but yet, you train every morning."

"We do," Bellamy replied, blistering again. "We all train a little under Octavia and Clarke's supervision. Wells and I take care of the outside of the camp."

"How so?" Lexa questioned.

"Answer her Bellamy. It's okay. She already knows anyway. She seeing if we are truthful and trustworthy," Clarke replied and then popped another piece of food into her food. She reached over her shoulder and waited for Bellamy to put his hand in hers. As soon as he did, she gave it a squeeze. "I think that you know enough about us and how we operate. I know that you had warriors and scouts watching us since we landed. I also know that you had Lincoln reporting everything that was going on. It is true, Lexa kom Trikru, Heda kom Kongeda, we are goufa."

"Your people sent children?"

"They did," Harper replied.

"We didn't know. At least not until we were sent here. We were all locked up for various reasons. We were sent to lighten the load."

"Lighten the load?" Lexa questioned.

"It is was more like to thin the herd."

"But, why?"

"Our air cleaners are failing. The farms can't keep up. Our village is essentially dying."

"So, you people sent you here to die to save themselves," Anya stated.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, but it was also a test."

"A test?" Lexa probed.

"To see if the Earth was survivable after all the bombs. Our people thought that no one survived and couldn't survive for another few generations. The fact that you are here and thriving was...a miracle to us. I know that we have to be able to work with you and your people if we are going to continue to survive here. I also know that we no longer trust our leaders. They sent us here to die. We want to strike a deal with you for ourselves," Clarke told them.

"We are willing to join Trikru," Octavia added.

"We know that we have a lot to learn, but we also have a lot to offer," Raven said.

"And, you would be willing to relocate?"

"As long as we could move as one group and stay together for the most part, yes," Bellamy stated.

"We could work on that, but for now, you are fine where you are," Lexa told them.

Clarke knew that it was there they could be watched and Lexa didn't have to worry about her own people being injured by the Hundred. The other thing was she wasn't sure that Clarke wasn't working with the Mountain.

"Tell me more about the stars," Lexa demanded.

Clarke looked over to Raven and nodded. It wasn't a secret, but she knew that Lexa had no concept to base it on. She wasn't sure that Raven would be able to explain it to them in a manner in which they would understand, but she knew more about space than any of them did. She was the best one to explain it.

"Space is cold."

"Cold?"

"Yeah, like icy cold, the worst winter you've every known, but worse. You can't breath in it with out a special suit. If you don't have a suit, you'll die. If not from the lack of air to breath, from the icy cold. You'll freeze to death in seconds. There is no chance of survival."

"None?"

"No, which is why that is how the Arkers execute our criminals," Harper added.

"They release you into the stars without a suit?" Lexa questioned.

"Yeah, they do. We call it floating. It's quick and efficient," Octavia said as she met Lexa's green eyes. "There are no bodies to deal with. They just float through space until the Earth pulls them home. Sometimes those shooting stars that you see aren't stars shooting through the skies, but bodies burning up in the atmosphere. They are literally coming home as a ball of fire."

"So, in a way, your people burn your dead and return them to the Earth, while we burn our people and return them to the sky."

"Yes, Heda," Octavia replied.

"And, Skaiprisa, what have you done with your dead since you've come back?" Lexa asked Clarke directly.

Her green eyes bore into Clarke's blue eyes. She could see the questions that she was afraid to ask, but she could also see the leadership that she bore. Lexa was no fool, but she knew better than showing her entire hand before the game started. Clarke on the other hand, didn't mind showing her hand to Lexa. She was going to do it anyway. They were on the same side, but Lexa didn't know it yet.

"We've buried two of the four we've lost."

"Only two?"

"Yes, two of our, a couple," Clarke started.

"A couple?" Anya interrupted, confused by the word.

"Nirons," Octavia supplied as both Lexa and Anya nodded.

"We never found their bodies. It was during the acid fog. We assumed that they had been lost to the fog. Bellamy and Octavia both led search teams, but we never found them. We said prayers for them and gave them our last rites."

"You mourned them without their bodies?" Lexa asked.

"Sha, Heda, we did. We knew they were dead. We knew where they were, but we couldn't go there without causing an incident with your people. We had a public funeral rite for them and said our prayer, but we couldn't bring them home. Lincoln helped me burn them one day during a hunt. Their spirits have been freed. Blessed Keyron has accepted this for them and we are not haunted by them," Octavia answered before anyone else could.

The whip of Clarke's head to look at Octavia didn't go unnoticed. It was then that she knew that Clarke assumed that animals had gotten to the bodies or nature had taken it course. She didn't know that Octavia had given them the rite. Instead of berating Octavia for doing such a thing, she reached over instead and grabbed her arm.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Clarke asked.

"You had enough to do deal with. I found them on a hunt. I was beyond our limits because I was out with Lincoln. I knew that I wouldn't get in as much trouble because I was with him. They were in the pond, the hot springs to the north of camp. Lincoln told me that the water heats up in the fog. From their wounds, I didn't know if it was the fog or the water. There was nothing that could be done. We built a pyre for the both of them and lit it. Lincoln went to hunt around the area while I watched them burn. I had to stay, I couldn't..." Octavia started.

Clarke pushed back her chair, forcing everyone else to move as well. Lexa and Anya looked on in surprise at leaders who showed emotions so freely. Clarke grabbed Octavia's chair and pulled it back until she was facing Clarke. She looked deeply into her green eyes and held them.

"You didn't have to do that alone. I would have come with you. You shouldn't have to have born that alone, O," Clarke told her.

"And, you shouldn't have to bear what you bear alone, either, Clarke. I can take two deaths for you. There are still ninety-eight of us that need you, your mind and your medical knowledge. I fight. You heal. Raven concocts. Murphy cooks. Wells builds. Bellamy protects. But, we all look to you."

Clarke just nodded but still gathered her into a hug as they still sat. She didn't care about how it looked. She never did and never would prescribe to the mantra of "Love is weakness." She couldn't. Love is what drove her to do what she does, what she did, and what she was willing to do. Love conquers all.

"What is your prayer for the dead?" Lexa asked.

Clarke knew that she was truly intrigued. She let go of Octavia and righted their chairs. She reached for some more food, but then thought the better of it. Instead, she sat back and looked directly at Lexa. She worked her jaw a second or two, before the Shepard's Prayer came falling from her mouth.

"In peace, may you leave this shore," Clarke started, but was then joined by the rest of her entourage. "In love, may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels, until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again."

"That sounds fitting," Lexa replied.

"Do you have any more questions for us, Heda?" Clarke asked, trying to get back on track.

"You come to us in peace. You speak like the Mountain, but you don't wear their suits. Are they similar to the ones you have wear in the stars, Striksora?"

"No, Heda, they aren't. Those suits are for radiation. The burning the bombs caused. Their bodies can't fight it or tolerate it like yours and ours can. They literally burn without the suits."

"So, if we find their patrols, how should we attack them?" Lexa questioned, wondering if they would actually give them someone else's life.

"Take the suit," Monroe spoke up. "Or puncture it."

"Break the seals on it," Harper stated.

"Cut into it big enough that they can't fix it outside of the mountain," Raven said. "They need the suits to survive outside the bunker they live in. No suits, no patrols. No patrols, no guns to worry about. The more suits you destroy the less they can send people out."

"Indra!"

"Sha, Heda."

"Tell the patrols and scouts to damage the suits should they see anyone from the Mountain," Lexa ordered.

"And, to collect the bodies quickly to keep the suits," Octavia added.

Indra, Anya and Lexa all stared at her for giving such an order, but Clarke spoke up in her defense, "The more suits you collect from the dead bodies, the less they will have to fix. It is a game of numbers, Heda. They have a controlled number of suits and patches, but they can use damaged suits to repair older ones. The less that they have to repair or use period means less patrols and people being taken by them. It will not however stop the Ripas."

Lexa nodded at the response. She knew that they weren't overstepping. They were trying to explain what else needed to be done to get the best outcome.

"Do it!"

"Sha, Heda," Indra barked back and left the tent.

"Shall we break?"

"If you wish," Clarke started. "But, there is something that I need to share with you and your wormana, Anya. It concerns us all, but my guards don't full know. I would appreciate it if they weren't here to hear it. I trust you, Lexa. You're fully armed, as is Anya. I have but one knife and Octavia has but her sword. Raven carries nothing. I wish to speak to you alone, if you will, just us three with you and Anya."

"Sha, Skaiprisa. I see that whatever it is, it weighs on you. I will grant you this," Lexa replied and then called out. "GUSTUS!"

The big man and her head guard came into the tent. He eyed Bellamy first, but said nothing to him as he waited for Lexa's orders. Lexa smiled, which disarmed him slightly. Clarke could tell that he wanted nothing more to gut one of them for slighting or being rude to Lexa, but so far he hadn't had reason.

"Sha, Heda," he stated.

"Take the guards of Skaikru and show them the stables. If we are to make peace, they will need horses. Is that acceptable, Skaiprisa?"

"Sha, Heda," Clarke answered. "Monroe, pay the most attention. I want you to be our stablemaster, if and when we finally get some horses."

"Okay, Clarke," Monroe replied and beat her fist against her chest in a sort of salute.

"Clarke," Bellamy started in warning.

"Go with them now, or I'll let Lexa cut you on a tree," Octavia hissed at him.

He bowed his head, successfully cowed, and followed the rest of the team out of the tent. Lexa cocked her eyebrow at the last thing that Octavia said, but she didn't comment on it. She had heard things in Octavia's voice or Clarke's words that seemed familiar, or at least, they were things that she didn't think they should know about. And, she hadn't even begun to question how Octavia or Clarke for that matter had mastered their tongue in only a few short days.

"What is it that you wish to share with only me and my general?" Lexa asked them as soon as they were alone.

"I know that she is more than just a general to you, Lexa, and I would never betray to anyone that she is the closest thing to family that you have. Octavia knows better than anyone of us what it is like to be a sekkon. And, one day, I hope to give her back to her Fos. Today if possible, but I know that some things would have to be taken in to consideration."

"Like?" Anya pushed.

"It would be better if I showed you," Clarke said as she drew her knife.

Anya, always jumpy, drew her sword and was moving before Lexa could stop her. Raven pushed back from the table to get out of the way, and Octavia drew her own sword, pushing Clarke away from the table to protect her from Anya. It all happened so fast, that Clarke and Lexa didn't have time to stop it.

"STOP!" Lexa shouted just as Octavia and Anya's blade struck one another.

Clarke had already cut her right hand and was showing it at disbelieving Lexa.

"Natblida?" Anya questioned.

"O, you, too," Clarke said.

Octavia cut her left hand and showed Lexa and Anya. Not to be outdone, Raven pulled a blade from Anya and cut her let hand. She didn't know if her blood would be black or just a darker red, but she turned her hand out for the all to see. All five of them were surprised that it was black as night, too."

"But, how?" Lexa questioned.

"It's a long story."

"I believe that I will make the time."

"We have to fight the Mountain first, but I will explain everything that I can. You need our help to defeat your greatest foe. We need your help to survive. We don't want your throne. We just want to be our own people and possibly join the coalition, with only one or two stipulations," Clarke stated.

"Then, you best start talking Skaiprisa, before someone not in this tent comes for your head," Lexa told her as she sat down at the table again.