Valkyrie Chapter 1, a 100 fanfic

Summary:

She had pulled that leaver alone. She had watched in horror with company as the mountain men collapsed in wreathing piles of screams and burnt flesh; watched as children cried out in confused agony for their mothers; watched as the men who were drilling into her mother collapsed; watched as her people sat traumatized and confused by their captors' sudden deaths, and in the sudden silence that enveloped the mountain; Clarke felt alone and afraid. As if something shifted in the cosmos and this deep-rooted dread she felt in her been was her senses warning her. Then Jasper's haunted cries ripped through the silent metal coffin that was once the feared mountain and Clarke felt as if Death itself had made a home in her soul…

Clarke struggles with the aftermath of the mountain but all these deaths have given Clarke supernatural abilities. She has a hard time keeping her new powers under control while she cares for three new-born tiger cubs and while she tries to work through the trauma of her past. Lexa isn't going to stand for long that future bae be out in the forest alone and she is going to go fetch her woman.

Notes:

Most of the past before the death of mount weather is the same as cannon but Bellomy didn't pull the leaver with Clarke. Clarke does it alone.

Edit: I've gone back and fixed a lot of the mistakes I missed the first time I posted.

Chapter Management

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

It hadn't been long, thought Clarke. It hadn't been long since the fall of the mountain and her disappearance. She had said she would follow them back to Camp Jaha. She had trailed behind them for an hour or two, lingering farther and farther away as the minutes ticked, before she slid away and headed in the opposite direction of her people. She didn't want to deceive them or make them worry, but she knew they wouldn't let her go off on her own like that, and she couldn't bear to be in the presence of the reminders of what she had to do to the mountain men. She needed time before she could face them again. She needed time to work through her whirlwind of dark emotions. She just needed time.

It hadn't been long since she left them. Two days if she was correct by the change of the moon to the sun. They would have noticed she was gone by now. They would probably send a search party for her. She didn't have time to wait. She needed time. She hadn't stopped walking since she left them.

She quickened her pace up the hill she was climbing as the last rays of sun shone on the horizon. She didn't halt her pace to set up camp even when a brisk wind sent shivers down her arms. She didn't have the time to set up camp and get warmed by a fire. The risk of her people finding her in the middle of the night was too great.

When she made it to the top of the hill she took a moment to survey her surroundings. The forest looked like it broke out into a clearing on her far-right while the rest looked no different from the rest of the thick forest. She made her way down the hill towards the opening. She hoped she might be able to find some form of drinkable water there and maybe some form of food to eat. Her water canteen sloshed at her hip at about half empty and she had been a fool and hadn't taken food with her when she left. She knew how important clean water and food would be out here in the woods.

It didn't take her long to reach the lining of trees where the clearing started. She looked behind herself nervously, making sure she spotted no movement on the ground or trees behind her, before she looked out into the clearing. The clearing wasn't very large but the sound of running water caught her attention. To the far end of the clearing sat a river that enlarged as it entered the clearing and thinned as it exited. She felt her soul jump in joy at the sight of running water. There was no sight of possible food but the possible river would have to do. She felt a hunger deep in her bones that the half-empty canteen couldn't possibly satisfy and the moment the river was in sight she ran for the water to guzzle it down.

She drank until her belly was filled, it cured her hunger but she strangely felt still thirsty. Even when she tried to drink more till she felt sick in an effort to quench her thirst it was pointless, she still felt like she was craving more. Before she could throw up the contents of her stomach she stood up from the river and took a shaky step back. She held her hand over her mouth in an effort to quail her upset stomach. It helped a little but not much.

She half hazardously stumbled into the water, the thought of moving so that her people do not find her, the only thing that kept her moving through her nausea. She made it over the river but she was soaked from her knees down and her socks squished uncomfortably in her boots.

'Hopefully, my trail can be washed away along the river bed at least', Clarke thought as her pace slowed along the river bed. The soft resistance of the water sloshing against her boots and her slowly settling stomach slowed her tired body.

She walked along the river bank, following the rivers flow down, until the sun had fully set and the moon had risen to illuminate her lone figure. Her wet footfalls halt when she sees another figure before her along the river bank. She felt the blood drain from her face as a cold sweat swept over her at the haunting sight of Dante Wallace. His features stony as his empty eye sockets stare at her. His skin was deathly pale, with a dusting of blue on his tightly held lips and his scrunched up nose as he frowned at her.

Clarke's breath died in her throat as her chest froze up in pure terror. Her legs took a shaky step back but her limbs felt numb. She jerks back and almost trips and falls when the ghost in front of her slowly lifts its stiff-looking arm, so that its bony finger could uncurl with a crack to point at Clarke.

Clarke doesn't wait to see what else this apparition does as the terror that consumed her kicks her fight or flight response into drive, and she bolts. All she can focus on as she runs is the loud drum in her ears and the primal instinct to escape. She blindly runs through the forest wildly dodging trees before she sees Dante appear before her again. She is stunned out of her panic before her shoulder slams into a tree she hadn't seen. She cries out as pain shoots through her shoulder, before she hit the ground with a heavy thud.

She groaned on the ground as she clutched at her shoulder. Her heart thumped in her chest as she looked around wildly. Dante was gone. She quickly moved back onto her feet. She stumbles a bit as a dizzy spell hits her. The pain in her shoulder was forgotten as adrenaline fuelled her panic. The gun that was in her waistband had been pulled out and the safety had been switched off.

Her pupils were blown wide as she searched for Dante. The guns barrel followed her frantic search. When she spun around at the sound of movement; she fired the gun off in panic. The gunshot thundered in the silence of the night. She swore she heard a softer raw of pain covered by the gunshot. Her hands started to shake as she stared at Dante. A fresh bullet wound in his chest began to bleed but he didn't give any indication that he noticed that he had just been shot. His eyeless sockets still stared at Clarke and he still pointed his long frail finger at her.

Clarke drops her gun and stumbles back. She doesn't move for a long pause as fear, guilt and shock ran a rampage in her mind. She registered that Dante still pointed at her and that's when she realizes he wasn't pointing at her…

She felt her whole body shake as she slowly turned around to see what Dante was pointing at, and she froze. Behind her stood the hundreds that she burnt at the dropship and mountain. The trikru warriors were nothing but chard skeletons with smoke that wafted off their bones. The mountain men stood between the trikru. Their forms twisted in pain from radiation burns. Clarks stomached twisted as she sees pus leek out the mangled eye socket of a young child that looked only old enough to be a toddler.

Clarke fell to her knees and she wrenched out the bile in her stomach. She hadn't eaten since the mountain and had only been sipping on water. She gripped at her belly as her body seized in pain from her dry heaving. Tears streamed down her face as she gasped for air. She shakily looked up to see, through watery eyes, that the dead had surrounded her in a closed circle.

"N-no, NO!", Clarke cries out as she curls into herself. "P-please no!". She tucks her head between her knees. "Leave me alone!". She grasped at her scalp till her knuckles turned white. She was afraid to look up. She was afraid to see their faces. She was afraid to face her kills. Her tears soaked her thighs and the dirt below her. She hysterically muttered under her breath as grief and remorse derailed her mind.

Clarke's frantic mind forced to focus on a sudden pair of boots that appeared in her blurry vision. She stops her muttering and slowly looked up at the pair of clothed legs attached to the boots. Her breath hitches in her throat when her eyes trailed up to look at the face of the man that stood before her.

"F-Finn?" She was awestruck by the sight of him. He smiled at her and looked as gentle and as hansom as he looked before the ground broke his mind. For a few brief moments, she forgot about all the horror she had endured. For a moment she felt contentment, and for a moment she wanted to close her eyes and feel bliss.

When Clarke opened her eyes, Finn had vanished and was replaced by Lexa, who held Clarke's gun to the blonde's head. Her heart froze in her chest. She watched as Lexa slowly began to pull the trigger. She closed her eyes again before she could see more and a sense of acceptance washed over her.

"Blood must have blood", Clarke heard Lexa say as she waited for the bullet to carry out justice.

A strangled cry loudly echoed through the forest and Clarke's eyes flew open. Lexa was gone. Finn was gone. Dante was gone. The mountain men were gone. The trikru were gone. Clarke was alone.

Clarke blinked, suddenly startled out of her sleep deprived and remorse driven hysteria. She slowly blinked again when she realized that she was holding her own gun to her own head and that her finger was dangerously close to pulling the trigger. She dropped the gun in shock and air rushed back into her lungs as she crumbled into herself.

Another cry broke the silence of the forest and Clarke looked up in the direction it came from. She heard it again but quieter. It sounded like a cat's meow, but deeper and more pained. She shakily got back on her feet. Her focus was now on where the pained yawls were coming from. She listened carefully for the cries and slowly made her way through the thick of the trees. Her gun lay forgotten on the leafy ground of the forest.

She walked for a bit before she came across a small clearing. She froze when she saw what had made those noises. A white tiger lay on its side in the clearing. Soft growls and pained meows escaped the big cat in between heavy huffs of breath. Clarke had the sudden urge to start running in the opposite direction, but she stilled when she heard the tiger yawl in pain as it seemed to be making pushing motions with its lower half. She curiously studied the tiger in the dim moonlight and realised the tiger's stomach looked extended, unlike the flappy loose skin she saw in photos on the Ark. She took slow steps forward to get a better look at the big cat as it seemed preoccupied by pain. As she had gotten closer and could better see the white tiger she realized that it looked pregnant, and she looked like she just entered labour.

"Hey girl…", Clarke gently said to make the tiger aware of her. The tiger immediately lifted her head to growl at Clarke but it was cut short by a pained yawl and the cat's big head thudded back to the ground.

Clarke concluded that the tiger was in too much pain to attack her so she moved forward. As she got closer she noticed a red glisten on the cat's white and black fur. Her eyes followed the trail of glistening liquid to the source and her eyes widen at the sight. Out of the tiger's back protruded a sword. It looked like the type of sword the trikru use. The tiger growled at Clarke as a warning and she wearily glanced over at the tiger's face. The tiger made no move to attack her.

"It's okay, girl.", Clarke tries to sooth the injured animal as she got closer. The closer she got the more her heart constricted with pity for the poor tiger. It's obvious the tiger struggled with labour pains and the sword wedged in-between its shoulder blades. She got close enough to lay her hand on the tiger's cheek. For a moment she was awestruck by the size difference between the big cat's head and her hand. The tiger was massive. She had no doubt that if the big cat was standing on all fours, the tiger's head would be at the same height as hers.

A low moan caught Clarke's attention and she looked to the tiger's sea-blue eyes. She was mesmerised for a moment by the tiger's bright, luminescent blue eyes. The tiger looked as if she was pleading with Clarke. Clarke looked down to the tiger's extended belly and lightly touched it. She wasn't surprised but still amazed when she felt the movement of the tiger's unborn cubs. She was startled when she suddenly heard a loud purr rumble out of the tiger. She looked back to the tiger's eyes and saw that the light was diming from her blue depths. Panic crawled into her heart when she realized the tiger was starting to still. She glanced down at the tiger's pregnant belly then to the tiger's eyes that slowly closed.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of your cubs…" Clarke whispers to the tiger as she gently scratches at her jaw. She swore she could see relief in the tiger's features but she wasn't sure as the tiger stilled for the final time as she closed her eyes.

Clarke quickly kicked into gear to save the cubs lives. She grabbed onto the sword hilt that protruded out of the now-dead tiger. She used the flash of anger that shot through her for the one who had stabbed the tiger to yank it out. She quickly moved to kneel next to the belly that still wiggled to quickly and carefully cut the white tigers belly open. She chucked the blade to the side and dug her hands inside of the tiger's belly. She grimaced as she grabbed onto the cub she could feel wreathe around by its legs and pulled it out. The red mess she pulled out started to meow immediately and she couldn't help the small smile. She gently laid it down next to its mother and her heart clenched when she saw it immediately moved to suckle on its dead mother's nipple. She repeated the process two more times.

Once the tiger cubs were all out and fed peacefully, unaware of their mother's death, Clarke took off her coat and long-sleeved shirt. She left her bra and tank top on and moved to rip up her shirt. She used the rags of her shirt and the leftover water in her canteen to clean off the cubs while they fed. She cleaned them as best as she could in the dim light of the moon. The first two cubs were orange and black, while the last one had the same white and black pattern as its mother. One of the orange and black cubs was male while the other was female. The white and black cub was female.

Once she was done cleaning the cubs she paused as she thought about how she was going to keep them alive. They were blind meowing, purring balls of fur the size of human babies and completely dependent on her now. Panic shot through Clarke before she took a deep breath and began to plan on how she was going to take care of them.

She drank the last of the water in her canteen and began to milk the breasts that the cubs didn't suckle on. She felt bad that she tampered with the tiger's dead body but she needed to get the milk before the body started to decompose. Her canteen could hold one litre and she managed to fill it almost all the way. Halfway, while she filled the canteen, the cubs seemed to have had their full and had huddled together against their mothers dying body heat.

Clarke used her long coat to make a makeshift bag to sling across her shoulder to carry the cubs in. She hooked the canteen back onto her belt and moved to gently move the cubs into the makeshift bag. They meowed as she moved them but they quickly snuggled into the bag and started purring. She checked if the bag could hold their weight before she grabbed the leftover clean rags and paused.

She had no food for herself. She hadn't eaten since she left her people. She needed to keep her strength for the cubs. She swallowed as she looked from the clean rags in her hand, to the bloodied sword to the side, and then to the dead tiger's cooling body before her. She steeled herself and apologised to the tiger before she moved away from the cubs snuggled into her coat to grab the sword and cut into the tiger's body. She sliced a few chunks off the tiger and tried to keep her uneasy stomach from heaving. She took enough that she could carry and wrapped it in the clean rags. She moved back to the cubs. She placed the sword and meat to the side and strung the makeshift bag around her neck and shoulder. She grabbed the wrapped meat and hooked it on her belt. She checked if her coat could hold the cubs before she grabbed the sword and stood up.

The cubs were heavy and she grunted at the unexpected weight but she forced herself to straighten up. She glanced one last time at the dead tiger; sadness filled her heart at the sight. She sighed before she gently rubbed the cubs through her coat.

"I'll take care of you guys, don't worry." She quietly whispers to the cubs before she slowly made her way from the tragic sight. She couldn't stick around the dead body for long. The blood would attract other predators and she needed to get away from it as far as she can before she sets up camp.

At least she wasn't alone with ghosts anymore…

End Notes: Thank you for reading and please don't forget to review and tell me what you think. I love constructive criticism that helps improve my writing. Plot suggestions won't be taken though.