Chapter 4
From the show, Taylor had gathered that there was a long distance between the dropship and the rest of the Ark, but she quickly had to recognize that Anya had an even longer distance in mind for them to cross tonight. Her whole body was aching from exhaustion and she was starting to feel dizzy. Taylor realized with worry that she still had not done anything against her dehydration, neither had she eaten anything as she was not sure what she could eat without poisoning herself.
"Anya" Taylor finally chose to address the general in a feeble tone, laced with exhaustion. The other woman had not taken hold of her wrist again, obviously trusting that Taylor would either not try to run away or that she would catch her again easily. Since they had turned their backs to the Ark and the Sky people, Taylor had blindly stumbled behind Anya, trusting that the general had a destination in mind where they would find shelter, water and food. She was sure that Anya could also benefit from some medical attention.
When Taylor felt herself beginning to sway on her feet, black dots dancing in front of her vision, she stopped walking and shot out a hand to steady herself against a tree bark. Her hand slipped down a little on the tree as her physical strength wavered and Taylor can feel the rough texture causing small cuts on the palm of her hand.
Anya stopped in front of the other woman, inspecting her critically, wondering why she seemed to be so weak. The general huffed under her breath, seeing the blonde woman nearly falling down, even while steadying herself. She would have to carry her, if she wanted to reach the village tonight.
"We will stop only for a few hours" Anya finally proclaimed in a sharp tone after a few seconds of internal contemplation.
Taylor immediately nodded her head in agreement, not caring now for how long they would rest. The prospect of being able to sit down and rest was heavenly now. She let herself sink down next to the tree slowly, when Anya suddenly reached out, closing a hand around Taylor's upper arm in a strong grip and pulling her up again.
Taylor expression fell in disappointment, she did not think that voicing her protest would be of any use, so, she stayed silent.
"Not here" Anya explained, tone only slightly softer, as she pulled Taylor along.
Taylor wasn't sure but it seemed as if the general was looking for something. She sighed deeply in relieve when Anya stopped again only a few short minutes later. Taylor let herself sink down at the place Anya's had pointed to and she was now leaning a tree trunk.
It took only a few seconds for Taylor to notice that her jeans were getting damp. The grass she had sat down on was obviously wet and she frowned in distaste at the feeling. Taylor highly doubted that any dry place where they could seek shelter for the night was close enough by or Anya would surely have led them there. She had not really expected for the general to agree to stop at all.
Taylor watched on with rapt fascination how the general seemed to arrange a few logs on the ground and suddenly lightened them up only using two simple rocks. She once again wished to have attended the survival course with her friend.
"You have no experience here" Anya assessed in a thoughtful tone as she sat down on the other side of the small fire, gazing at the stranger who was her unlikely companion now.
Taylor immediately nodded her head in agreement. She still felt urged to earn the other woman's trust and she knew that she had to be honest for that.
Taylor knew that she had prevented the general from being shot in front of the Ark. In the timeline of the show, Anya's character would have been dead by now. She highly doubted though that Anya's life was indeed safe now, Taylor was honestly still waiting for the older woman to collapse. She had seen what the Mountain Men had done to Anya and the other grounders and as a doctor she knew what this blood harvest would have done to the general's body.
The fact that she had been able to prevent Anya's death in front of the Ark, now gave her hope though that she indeed had the ability to change how things had played out in the show. She could essentially influence the future now and Taylor could only hope now that she would influence it in a positive way. She already direly hoped that she would be able to prevent Gustus', Lexa's and the nightbloods' deaths.
"You claim not to be from the Mountain" Anya broke the silence again, narrowing her eyes at the stranger in the dim light of the fire.
Taylor nodded her head again in agreement. She only had restricted knowledge about the Mountain Men, not having liked their role in the show and not having paid too much attention to them while re-watching the series. Taylor had been fascinated most by the grounders and had been a little disappointed by how little was shown of them.
"Where are you from then?" the general questioned next and her tone turned sharp again. Anya had no idea just what to make of this stranger yet and she tensed almost automatically in case the other woman would say something which warranted an attack.
Taylor sighed under her breath. This had been exactly the question she had been afraid of the most, but also the one she had been sure to be asked. Although she had decided beforehand to remain honest, Taylor highly doubted that honesty would mean much to the general know. The other woman simply would not understand the only honest answer she had to offer.
"I come from a land called America" she finally exclaimed honestly, watching Anya's brows furrow together in confusion, which had been exactly the reaction Taylor had expected. Taylor recalled that the land the grounders populated was also supposed to be America, but she doubted that they still used this name, so, she was not sure if Anya ever had heard this name before, judging from the puzzlement within her brown eyes, probably not.
"Is you commander taught the history of the world before the bombs?" Taylor questioned in a cautious tone, not giving Anya another chance to ask her anything.
The general's expression was hard to interpret for Taylor. She was not sure if she had pinpointed the emotion flashing through her brown eyes correct as surprise. She held her breath in nervous anticipation, hoping that she had not affronted the general by interrupting her and Taylor breathed out a bout of relieve when she caught the general nodded slightly.
"Lexa will have heard the name before then" Taylor exclaimed without further thought. She gave a little wince at the almost hostile alarm flashing over the other woman's features at her casual usage of the commander's name as if she knew the commander personally. Taylor remembered the personal bond implicated by the show between Lexa and Anya. She had always wished to see a scene between both women. Former mentor and commander together. But unfortunately, the show had only shown Lexa's brief reaction to the news of Anya's death. Taylor hoped that she would indeed get a chance to see the two interact with her own eyes.
The hostility unfortunately did not leave Anya's expression any more and Taylor began to be unnerved by the general's probing constant stare after a few moments of silence. She had always hated to be in the spotlight of attention like this and Anya staring at her without voicing what she was thinking, was creeping her out.
"Listen, Anya" Taylor finally broke the silence, trying to sound so much braver than she actually was "I do not care one bit if you or the commander decide to kill me, but please let me tell you what I know, maybe even write it down. In the …" she hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words "… string of events I know of, you have not survived this night. You were shot by the guards of the Sky people. Clarke would have taken a braid from you and handed it to Lexa once they met, trying to get her to form an alliance between your people and hers to work on getting the people out of the Mountain. My knowledge of what may happen, stretches out much further into a possible future."
The general appeared affronted at Taylor's sharper tone and she only realized now, that the general was holding one of the rocks she had previously used to kindle the fire hidden in one of her hands.
"There will be an alliance between my people and the invaders?" Anya asked after a tense moment of silence. She had gotten into a crouch and was balancing her weight on the balls of her feet.
Taylor nodded quickly "In the future where you have died, there was one. I can only assume now that it will still come to be". She had seen enough fiction films to understand that she actually had absolutely no idea how far reaching the consequences of the single change of saving Anya's life in front of the Ark would be.
"Why do you appear so eager to tell this to someone?" Anya asked, tilting her head slightly, obviously still trying to figure out this weird stranger.
Taylor chose her next words carefully; she could sympathise with how confusing all of this must be to the general after all. "I know how crazy this must sound to you. But in the future, I have seen about all of you, your world will go down in chaos soon" she settled onto a vague warning.
Even in the dim light, Taylor could see the general's brown eyes widen in surprise "If we do not manage to change the future, the coalition and almost all the grounders will die in the next two years" Taylor exclaimed in a rush, hoping that the unveiled truth would not be too much for Anya. She already knew that she would need to be far more cautious when other people were listening to what she knew of the events of a possible future, but she still wanted Anya to understand just how important this could be to all of them.
Taylor feared that Anya would not say anything further when silence fell between them. She could only try to patiently wait for the general to mull over what she had just told her.
"Will Lexa also die?" the general finally asked in a strangely calm tone, looking over at the stranger without even blinking.
Taylor sighed under her breath, before she reluctantly nodded "Her flamekeeper accidentally shoots her while trying to kill Clarke" she explained in a heavy tone.
