Hey guys here is another chapter.

I've begun to cross post this on AO3. I have the same pen name so it would be extremely helpful if to guys could help spread this story and fix the tags on AO3 where you can. I have like no experience at tagging so I'll be looking to you guys for help.

Please review.

I have no shame and will freely admit that I write quicker when I get reviews so please five me your ideas on powers, pairings hell I might even do some arcs if the idea is plausible enough. This fic has an endgame in sight, no pun intended, so if there's other parts of this world you would like to see then it won't affect the story overall.

I think you'll find hints of the pairing in this chapter ;)

Song recs:

1.The Clash at Demonhead — Brie Larson (Black Sheep cover on Scott Pilgrim vs The Rest of The World)

Say what you want about Brie, but she is multi talented. Acting. Stunts. Singing. She can do it all.

2. The Nicest Kids in Town – James Marsden

Hairspray is the best musical ever. Change my mind.

3. Bad Guy - Billie Eillish

I promise you I'm not a 14 year old girl.

Thanks for the feedback on the previous chapters . I really enjoyed hearing from you guys and shout out to Anonymous True Love who ended up inspiring me to finish this thing up.

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Clarke sighed in frustration as she sat down near the fire. The camp had not taken the idea of allowing Lincoln in while they were at war, but they were appeased when they said he would be bound and tied under guard.

They had decided to only post guards at the walls for now because they knew the Trikru were capable of travelling in the trees and having powers was not enough to be safe as Octavia could attest too.

There were going to be guards around the clock and Clarke was happy to do a lot of the heavy lifting. If they were to be attacked then it would stand to reason that as the delinquents' heaviest hitter that she be ready to fight back in case of any attack.

Perhaps, this would have been simpler if they did not need to worry about the added threat of Diggs and his group. Raven, Bellamy and Octavia had taken care of the gunners that were waiting for them in the woods, but it was clear that Mbege was out for blood.

Bellamy sat down opposite her and said nothing for a while as he stared into the burning wood. He sighed before finally looking at Clarke,"You and I both know how this will end. The Grounders are warriors. This is what they do. They have the numbers. They have the better fighters. They know these woods like the back of their hands. We're basically sitting ducks until they come for us. I don't even care about Diggs and Mbege. They're a non-issue. What I care about is that we're stuck here waiting for them to come kill us."

Clarke's hands clenched into fists as she let Bellamy go on his tirade. It wasn't like she didn't know this. She knew all this before the fight which was why she had insisted on there being no weapons at the meeting, but even if it had been the fault of Diggs there was nothing to be done about that now. The sheer venom in Anya's eyes was enough for Clarke to know that she meant what she said.

"What do you suggest we do then?"said Clarke and perhaps she could be forgiven for a sliver of annoyance slipping into her tone. She hadn't asked for the war. It was the last thing any of them wanted. It was a miracle the Grounders had been as cautious around them when they had first landed.

They had only been attacked by the outcasts of the Trikru despite landing right into their territory. Lincoln had spied on them, yes, but who could blame the Trikru? Clarke would have done the same if the roles were reversed.

"We take the fight to them,"said Bellamy harshly as a cold glint entered his eyes,"If we sit here waiting for them then we'll definitely lose. If that's our alternative then we should definitely go down with a fight."

Clarke immediately dismissed that idea. Bellamy was right, but he was also wrong. They knew nothing about the Trikru. The most they knew was that they were only a smaller part of a larger whole. If they did fight back hard enough against the Trikru would things reach a stage where they would call for backup or reinforcements? There were just too many unknowns.

"How do you suggest we do that? It's like you said we don't have the firepower, numbers or intel so how would doing that help? Also, even if it did help somehow we wouldn't even know where to attack unless you have a plan for that."

"You're forgetting that there's a gold mine of intel in the dropship,"said Bellamy heatedly,"Lincoln is Trikru. He knows them like the back of their hand. He could tell us where it would be best to attack, numbers, tactics. Hell, he might even help us himself."

In actuality, Clarke hadn't forgotten about Lincoln. She was the one that carried him to camp, after all. The problem was that it was all nice and good to think Lincoln would be so willing to help them, but that wasn't a plan without it's faults.

"Lincoln might be considered a traitor to the Trikru, but that doesn't mean he sees us as his allies,"said Clarke as she remembered the events on the bridge, "The only thing Lincoln had done to be declared a traitor was help us. We pushed for a meeting with Anya. He thought we weren't a threat and even after Diggs attacked him before the meeting he didn't retaliate. Now, he's been declared a traitor to his people despite never actually doing anything wrong and you expect him to aid us."

Bellamy nodded slowly and a bad feeling rose up within Clarke as he said,"Well, let's hope for his sake that he does want to help us. It might force our hand to do something neither of us want to."

Clarke felt her anger spike as she said,"You're willing to torture him to get information? That's now who we are. He's been the only friendly person we've met on the ground! He helped us find Octavia! She would be dead if it wasn't for him."

Bellamy looked at her with a grave expression that reached his voice as he said,"I know that we owe Lincoln a lot and without him O would probably be dead, but there's nothing I wouldn't do to protect Octavia. My sister, my responsibility. As much as we might not want to hurt Lincoln, it's still possible that we might have to and I know you think the same otherwise you wouldn't have had him tied up despite taking a knife to the chest."

Clarke closed her eyes as she processed Bellamy's words. He was right, of course. She had brought Lincoln back hoping to squeeze him for intel. That was the plain truth. She would be lying if she said hadn't put those restraints on him with this exact thought in mind. The lines had been drawn in the sand and even though Clarke had saved his life twice Lincoln might not be willing to help them or worse he might try to kill them as some sort of twisted revenge.

Thus, it was best that they kept all options open at least until they actually speak to Lincoln.

"You're, "said Clarke finally before adding,"Torture is our absolute last resort. I'm hoping that me saving his life twice – and one of those from his leader – might actually help us."

Bellamy smiled at Clarke's words, but it dimmed slightly as she added,"The raiding idea is still stupid. There's no way we can defeat thousands of warriors, but I do think there's something else we can plan for, but we'll need to speak to Lincoln first."

Clarke stood up and began to make her way to the dropship. Bellamy followed after her and said,"You think he's awake?"

Clarke shook her head and said,"No."

She held her hand up and electricity crackled across it,"But I can wake him up."

Bellamy didn't respond to Clarke's statement and the two walked in a comfortable silence to the dropship.

Miller was at the bottom of the ladder and Clarke looked at him and said,"Has Lincoln woken up yet?"

Miller shrugged and said,"He wasn't awake when I was last up there, but I haven't been up in a while so he might be now."

"Thanks, you can take a break now. We have it from here."said Clarke to Miller who nodded gratefully before leaving.

Clarke climbed up the ladder and once she climbed fully into the room to see Lincoln fully restrained to a chair. Bellamy had at first suggested that Lincoln's arms be tied to separate ropes as that was bound to be painful however Clarke had refused seeing as they needed to foster good relations with Lincoln and if they were going to tie him up, he would at least be comfortable.

Luckily, Lincoln appeared to be awake and Clarke moved closer to him as she heard Bellamy climb up the ladder and shut the hatch. There was silence before Clarke decided to get the ball rolling.

"How is your chest?"said Clarke as she looked the spot where Anya's knife had been embedded. Lincoln had suffered some blood loss which was the main reason he had been unconscious, but the doctor within her wanted to know if there was anything else she could do to help.

Lincoln had a conflicted expression on his face and Clarke was sure he was remembering the moment Anya had thrown her knife into his chest. It had caught Clarke completely off guard that the knife hadn't even been aimed for her and so she hadn't been able to stop it, but luckily Lincoln hadn't succumbed to the wound before Clatke could heal him.

"It is fine,"said Lincoln passively, but his next words pulsed with gratitude and awe as he said,"Thank you for saving my life. I can barely be of help to you and still you saved me and for that I'm indebted to you."

Clarke nodded at Lincoln and said,"I did what anyone else would have done. You've helped so much since we've been on the ground. There's no way I was going to let Anya kill you."

Lincoln straightened in his chair at the sound of Anya's name and he looked at the two people opposite him and said,"Your people are going to lose this war with Anya. I know you truly wished for peace however I am now seen as a traitor to my people. Even if I were to return to them and try to convince Anya that you were not at fault she would have me executed on sight. "

Clarke bit her lip in frustration. It was one thing to speculate that they were going to lose, but it was a whole other to hear it from Lincoln. Lincoln had seen what both the delinquents and Trikru were capable of and he essentially confirmed that the delinquents were doomed.

"We know,"said Bellamy as he spoke up for the first time,"That's why we're here to ask you for help. Anything you know that can help us. Numbers, tactics, anything really. "

Lincoln's voice hardened as he said,"You are the reason Anya banished me. You were incapable of saving your sister from the weakest of traitors and so I helped you. I asked Anya for an audience and again you were incapable of calming those under your control and you are now at war. I never betrayed my clan and I won't start now."

Lincoln's words rang true and Clarke felt uneasy as she could tell that Lincoln wouldn't give them anything on the Trikru despite Anya nearly killing him and Clarke saving him. The frustration in Bellamy's eyes was palpable and Clarke feared she wouldn't be able to convince him to take the high road for much longer.

"They aren't our people anymore, "said Clarke in exasperation, "We exiled them. Their actions don't reflect on us. We do want peace. "

Lincoln sighed and said,"Clarke, do you know that you are seen as the leader of the Sky People? No one else. Anya may believe that you didn't intend to ambush her, but for that to happen you need to bring those in the wrong to justice."

"Justice?"echoed Bellamy with a confused expression on his face,"We've already exiled them. What more can we do to punish them?"

"Anya would want us to execute them, wouldn't she?"said Clarke to the surprise of Bellamy.

Lincoln nodded at the question, but said,"Yes, but as the leader of the Sky people. You must be the executioner. That is our way. The leader must show their strength by killing those who dare defy them. If you wish to live with us, you must abide by our laws."

Clarke was appalled at the sheer thought of having to execute the exiled prisoners. The whole reason they had left was because they did not wish to live in a system similar to the Ark and yet despite her wishes it seemed like that was a reality impossible to get away from.

"Isn't there any other way?"said Clarke desperately and to her dismay Lincoln shook his head in the negative.

It was disturbing that the humans on Earth had such a cruel system, but perhaps what was most disturbing to Clarke wasn't having to actually kill Mbege and his people, but just how easy it would be.

There were perhaps 40 delinquents with Mbege and yet Clarke knew there wasn't much that they could do to stop her. She could dodge their bullets, Instinct would save her from any traps they might have set for her and any wounds she did sustain would heal.

It was this very reason why Clarke couldn't wear her father's watch since the day she had killed for the first time. She had gone from a teenaged prisoner to a killer in what felt like a matter of moments. She could barely recognise herself anymore and the Novus was only a small part for the change.

The powers given to her were just another weapon and it chilled Clarke that she knew that if worst came to worst she would still kill people who meant her harm whether she had powers or not.

It was said that survival was ingrained in the DNA of all living beings. It was why she hadn't hesitated to kill the Grounder she had stolen the healing powers.

He would have come back to kill her at some point and her very being had screamed at her to eliminate the threat now for the simple reason that he might come back and harm her or any of the other delinquents who couldn't protect themselves.

Every time Clarke had killed she had always reasoned it as being for her people. Yet, this time despite Mbege having seceded from them they were still her people.

Could she really kill some of her own people for the sake of those that were lucky enough to be on her side?

Mbege had always talked about how things under her rule was just like how things were on the Ark. In a cruel and ironic twist of fate, Clarke now had to decide if she could do what all the Chancellors on the Ark had done before.

Could she really forsake her some of her own people for the greater good?

The memory of her father in the air lock struck her. His comforting words doing little good to ease her anguish. The sheer pain Clarke had felt when the outer door had opened and her father was dragged out of the air lock and into the dark, frozen depths of space.

"I can't execute them all,"said Clarke before adding,"I won't. That's not how we do things. We can't decide who gets to live and who gets to die because then we would have turned into Jaha and the council. I'll go speak to Mbege and try to convince as many of the innocents to rejoin our camp. The rest I'll take to Anya and then she can have her justice. "

Bellamy nodded and said,"That's fine with me. I'll come with you, Princess. We should head out as soon as the sun rises tomorrow. We don't even know where Mbege's camp is so we'll need to find it."

Clarke shook her head and said,"You need to stay. The camp can't have the both of us out at the same time. These people listen to us and we can't both be out of the camp at the same time anymore not when something might happen. I'll take Finn and Raven with me."

Bellamy raised a brow at that and said,"Finn and Raven? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Clarke nodded and said,"They have their issues, but they're bigger things than their beef at work here. I'd take Octavia, but she hasn't activated her Duos powers so her body is still weak and slow. It's going to be a long haul and unsafe so I'll need Raven's firepower and Finn is the best tracker in the camp."

In the face of that reasoning Bellamy nodded and said,"Okay, but if things go wrong don't say I didn't warn you. Anyways, I need to go check on the guards at the wall so shout if you need anything. "

Bellamy left after a nod at Lincoln and Clarke and he closed the hatch as he began to descend the ladder.

There was silence in the room before Clarke said,"Where can I find Anya? That's where I'll need to go first before anything. I didn't tell Bellamy since he'd practically force his way onto the team and he's not the best at diplomacy."

Lincoln smiled slightly at that and said,"I'm not entirely sure where exactly she would be now, but I believe she'd be stationed at one of the villages near the river close to the Mountain. This plan of yours is good. Anya is one of the wisest amongst the Trikru and she has the ear of the Commander. I'm sure she would see the benefit of being allied with your people."

Clarke felt less anxious at that news. She was lucky that Anya was apparently not quick to anger despite her rather harsh demeanour. It made her feel a little less worried about their longterm survival.

There was virtually no information on whether the Ark was dead or alive and regardless there was no way for them to get down. Raven had said the Ark was never meant to survive a decoupling from the Exodus ship and if there were people up there then they wouldn't be alive for much longer.

Clarke rather sheepishly remembered that Lincoln was still tied up and she moved behind him and began to undo his bindings,"Sorry for tying you up, but it was the only way I could get people to agree with you being here. What are your plans now?"

Lincoln rubbed his wrists once he was free and said,"I understand why you had to tie me up. I could have withstood far worse than this, but I'm glad things didn't go that far. I plan to seek refuge with another clan in the Coalition. It is not Trikru, but they are a peaceful people and I suspect that you'll enjoy living amongst them should you and your people ever get the chance. Their leader, Luna, is an old friend of mine."

Clarke was happy that Lincoln would not have to resort to slumming it out in the mountains with all those other traitors and he seemed rather happy that he got to go to Luna's people. She supposed a life of peace after being a warrior must be nice.

"Where does Luna stay?"said Clarke out of curiosity and Lincoln answered almost immediately, "Floukru territory is to the east. Towards the ocean. I'm sure Luna would like to meet you one day."

Clarke hoped that she could one day get to see the ocean. There hadn't been much time for sightseeing since they'd arrived and hopefully all would go well with Anya.

Lincoln rose to his feet before dropping to a knee and he said,"Thank you, Clarke of the Sky People. You saved my life from certain death and I am in your debt. Should you ever need a task done then I am at your service."

Clarke was surprised at the sheer emotion and dedication she could hear in Lincoln's voice. She had saved him, but she hadn't expected him to pay back the favour in such a manner. If anything Clarke owed Lincoln for all that he had done for them and saving his life was the least of what Clarke could have done to repay him.

"There's no need for that,"said Clarke hesitantly before adding,"You have already helped us a lot. There's no need to pay me back for anything. If it hadn't been for you we might have had a less friendly welcome if someone else had scouted us and all of us in this camp owe you a lot."

Lincoln reluctantly rose to his feet and said,"I understand. I hope everything goes better with your second meeting with Anya. Your people deserve a chance at life just as much as the others already on the ground. "

Lincoln put out his hand to shake and Clarke tried to reciprocate but she was surprised when Lincoln grabbed her elbow instead. Clarke mirrored his actions as they performed the most peculiar handshake Clarke had ever been apart of.

They separated and Lincoln picked up his belongings off of the table in the dropship. Clarke waited for him to gather his supplies before she motioned for him to follow her.

The two walked in silence amidst the stares and murmurs of the delinquents that were still awake. They finally reached the gate and after an order to stand down. The gate guards didn't take any further action to seeing Lincoln.

"If you don't have anywhere to stay for the night, you're welcome to stay,"said Clarke but Lincoln shook his head and said,"Thank you, but I'll need to leave now. If there are any scouts then it would be best for me to use the cover of night to my advantage,"stated Lincoln before he nodded at Clarke in a form of saying goodbye.

Clarke nodded back and she watched as Lincoln made his way into the dark forest before he disappeared from sight a few seconds later.

She finally began to make her way back to her and Raven's tent for what she was sure was going to be a fun and amazing chat about tomorrow's trip to Anya's village.

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"So, Clarke "said Raven,"What makes you think we won't be attacked as soon as we reach this village?"

"We don't, "said Clarke as she followed Finn with Raven walking behind Clarke. Finn had found what he believed were human footprints and they were following them to what was hopefully a village,"You're behind me so I can cover us and Finn can go intangible."

They had left camp rather early and while Finn had agreed to come with rather easily, Raven had been a bit more challenging. Raven had caved, though, once Clarke had said that Raven didn't even need to speak to Finn and that Clarke would cover one of her night gate duties.

It had created this rather awkward situation where Clarke had essentially become the only person both Finn and Raven would speak to. For the most part, Clarke was still rather angry at Finn for all he had done, but like she had said to Bellamy they needed to push their issues aside to work together and so Clarke was trying.

They continued on in silence for another half hour before Finn lost the trail he had been following. They stopped as he tried to look for signs of the trail picking up or if there was another one that he could pick up.

Clarke paused to take a sip from her canteen and she was about to close it when Raven spoke up.

"Has it always been this quiet?"said Raven as she began to scan the surrounding area.

Clarke realised Raven was right and she began to scan the ground. After drawing a blank, she began to scan the canopy of the forest however the branches in this section of the woods were especially thick and it was virtually impossible to see through them.

Finn had his hand on a pistol he had gathered. He had been told to take a rifle, but he wasn't comfortable with having to use it and he had originally wanted to go unarmed, but Bellamy had basically stromgarmed him into taking the pistol.

Clarke was about to continue walking once she had found no signs of anyone else, but then it happened.

!*

Clarke's Instinct activated and she felt herself put her arms out and she spun rapidly.

The enhanced perception that came with Clarke's super speed allowed her to watch as the leaves and dust was thrown around in the shape of a dome. The wind dome she had made deflected the arsenal of arrows and spears that were launched at them.

The weapons were either trapped in the dome or were sent veering off course and Clarke kept the motion up even as Instinct had relinquished control back to her.

Clarke realised the weapons might still hurt them if she simply stopped spinning so instead she focused and the dome exploded outwards sending everything it had carried outwards.

Raven and Finn had barely moved throughout the entire wind storm Clarke had made, but they now stood at the ready as Finn pulled out his pistol and Raven had both her hands at the ready.

Clarke allowed her psionic energy to flow through and it began rolling off of her shoulders and body in waves of light blue.

"They're in the trees,"said Finn as they all scanned the canopy above them,"We need to flush them out."

Clarke nodded and said,"We're not here to kill or fight. We just need to get someone who can take us to Anya. Raven, you'll need to hold back on those beams a bit. Finn, stay out of trouble."

There was silence as the tension grew before suddenly six figures dropped down from the canopy by wires. The three teenagers watched warily as they stood opposite the Grounders.

It was only seconds later that four of the Grounders charged directly at Clarke as she had obviously been identified as the main threat.

Clarke shot two blasts at two of the Grounders and they were both taken out as they were sent flying backwards into two separate trees.

They were knocked out on impact and Clarke watched as the other two Grounders paused once they saw how their comrades fared.

"We don't want to fight,"said Clarke as she kept her arms up,"We just want to speak to Anya."

The Grounders seemingly ignored that as they kept their aggressive stances up and the man opposite Raven charged at her at full speed.

In a surprising turn of events, the man's body seemed to contort and transform while he was running and after a few metres, a big black wolf was bearing down on Raven.

Raven panicked at the sight of the wolf that was running full tilt at her and she shot two scorching laser beams from her hands just as it had leapt to bite her in the meck. The wolf let out a high pitched whine as the beams shot straight into it and sent it tumbling fully across the clearing.

If there had been any chance of this ending without a fight then the sight of Raven blitzing one of the Grounders even in self-defense blew those chances out the water.

The Grounders that were opposite Clarke paused as they glared at her. The woman had long hair and she seemed to be adjusting the tie that kept it out of her eyes.

The man drew out a horn and blew deeply into it. The sound of the horm echoed out and Clarke knew it was different from the one Lincoln used to signal that the acid fog was coming.

There was silence as no one made a move and Clarke kept her eyes on the other Grounders. It was why after a minute she was surprised when small objects dropped from the treetops and the Grounders tugged on ropes to pull them up above the ground..

Clarke was surprised that her Instinct hadn't warned her and she watched as Finn already collapsed to one knee. Raven put her hands up towards the canopy to shoot whoever was up there, but both Clarke and her were surprised when nothing came out before she fainted.

Clarke felt herself growing more and more groggy, but she tried her best to fight against the feeling. She shot out a psionic blast at the man who blew the horn and it struck him directly in the chest before sending him back to the ground.

Clarke tried to go for something more damaging and she felt the beginnings of fire began to form on her palm, but it fizzled out as she fell to the ground amidst a massive cloud of smoke.

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Clarke opened her eyes and she was surprised to find herself being carried over someone's shoulder. She couldn't see Raven or Finn from her position, but she hoped that they were nearby. Clarke looked up to the sky and she was surprised to see that it was fast approaching evening as the sky was a mix of pink and orange.

Clarke realised she had been hit with the same thing that had disabled Octavia's powers when she had been abducted by the Trikru outcasts. However, Clarke could quite clearly feel her powers were still available to her if only a little weakened and it was this thought that inspired her next course of action.

She ripped the shackles on her wrists and ankles apart with brute strength and the person carrying her dropped her from sheer shock. She kicked the man hard and he was sent hurtling metres away from her.

Clarke rose to her feet and had her hands at the ready before she noticed that she was surrounded by 10 other Grounders and Finn and Raven were nowhere to be seen.

A large spike of anger bloomed in Clarke's chest as she said,"Where are they?"

She received no response and that was what caused her anger to boil over. A scream so savage and harsh escaped Clarke's throat before a massive explosion of psionic energy shot out her body.

The Grounders were all thrown into the air by the sheer power and many were sent straight through trees and the branches in the surrounding area.

Clarke focused on the Grounders that were still able to stand after the explosion she had just caused and she recognised one of them as the woman from earlier.

"Where are they?"said Clarke as she ignored the pain her body was in before

The woman wiped the blood dripping from her forehead and said something in her native tongue before her hair unfurled and moved behind like it had a mind of it's own.

Clarke stood her ground as she formulated a plan to put this chick down. There were two others that were still rising to their feet, but they weren't the biggest threat at the moment so she put them out of her mind.

Clarke allowed the hair to wrap around her midsection and she tried to break free, but it seemed like the hair was extremely durable and it began to tighten around Clarke not allowing her to move much.

Clarke calmed down and focused internally once she felt her airways begin to close from the crushing force. It was mere moments later that the woman with long hair let out a scream as electricity cursed through her body.

The woman unfurled the hair from around Clarke, but it was all for naught as she collapsed to the ground and her body began to twitch from the amount of electricity that had just cursed through her body.

Clarke scanned the two remaining opponents and she saw one was a grown man while the other was a young girl that looked to be barely 12. They were both breathing heavily and despite her anger Clarke decided to only knock them out, but before she could decide on a course of action Instinct activated and made Clarke lean back at super speed.

!*

It was no moment too soon as Anya had appeared in front of her in a cloud of black smoke already swiping at Clarke's neck with a dagger. Clarke regained control and she used her speed to keep ahead of Anya's furious and accurate stabs and slashes.

Clarke felt herself stepping backwards as Anya advanced and so she decided to end this before things got even more out of hand. Clarke dodged another swipe from Anya and she ran around Anya across the clearing before stopping in front of the other two Grounders.

She shot a psionic blast at the grown man and Clarke didn't have to look to know that it had made contact before she grabbed onto the young girl and turned to face Anya.

This had all happened before Anya could even fully turn around.

"Look,"said Clarke harshly as she tightened her grip on the girl,"I don't want to fight. Where are Raven and Finn?"

Anya's face twisted in anger and Clarke instinctively knew what Anya was about to do.

"Don't even think about it,"said Clarke as her free hand became enveloped in flames,"I don't want to fight. I just want to speak with you. Don't let this girl get hurt because of your mistake."

The anger slowly bled out of Anya as she said,"What is it you want? I was on my way here to meet with you, but then I heard an explosion. You say you don't want to fight and yet all my warriors are laying at your feet."

Clarke kept her glare up and said,"I'll ask the questions. Where are Raven and Finn?"

Anya stared at her before she said,"The girl was sent back to your camp while the boy is in another of our villages. He was kept as insurance in case you chose not to comply."

Clarke stared at Anya and she deduced that the woman was telling the truth. She let go of the girl she was holding captive and didn't move even as the girl ran across the field to Anya.

"Tris, ha yu?"said Anya as a small amount of concern welled up in her eyes.

"Ai laik ku, Anya,"said Tris as she stood in front of the older woman. Despite her words, Tris stared at Clarke with visible fear in her eyes.

Clarke realised that Anya clearly cared for the younger girl and said,"Like I said I'm not here to fight. I wanted to talk with you. I'm sorry about your warriors, but I held back as much as I could."

Clarke held her hands up to show she meant no harm before moving to the nearest Grounder.

Clarke realised the Grounders seemed to have been cut from a different cloth as she scanned the surrounding area and saw that they were all alive.

Anya watched Clarke warily as the girl approached a warrior – Fiona. Fiona's hair was still extended, but the brown strands seemed burnt and tattered which was consistent with the look of Fiona's body. There were burn marks all over her body and some were in patterns similar to a spider's web.

Clarke was aware of Anya's guardedness and she did her best to ignore it as she knelt before the woman that had tried to crush Clarke with her hair.

The woman was unconscious and Clarke felt somewhat guilty for hurting her, but considering the woman had been trying to kill her then she supposed she shouldn't feel that bad about it.

Clarke put her hands directly above the warrior's body and after a few seconds green light began to radiate from them. Clarke could see Anya and Tris out the corner of her eye and they both seemed tense and ready to strike.

Clarke ignored them and she gently placed her hands onto the warrior's side. Immediately, the burns all across the woman's body began to rapidly heal and Clarke heard the gasp of who she presumed was Tris as after a few more seconds the woman was as good as new.

The woman's eyes opened once she was fully healed and she looked confused to see her body in perfect condition. The woman's eyes finally landed on Clarke's and just as she was about to pounce Anya spoke up.

"Fiona, em pleni, "said Anya and though Clarke didn't exactly understand what it was Anya had said she got the gist of it as Fiona had paused before looking at Anya and standing down.

Clarke was grateful for the interruption by Anya and she sent a curt nod to Anya which was reciprocated by the older woman. The rest of the Grounders were in better shape and so Clarke was able to heal them without much of a fuss.

Finally, Clarke healed the last man who had the least severe injuries having only suffered a fractured rib. The warriors were all on their feet and though they looked wary, none of them seemed inclined to attack Clarke.

Clarke looked at Anya whose face and body language didn't even hint at what could possibly be going on inside the woman's head.

Clarke walked up to Anya and said, "Take me to Finn. I wanted to speak to you about what happened on the bridge."

Anya's face barely showed that she had registered what Clarke had said, but she shouted a couple of phrases in Trigedasleng to the other warriors in the clearing.

Clarke wasn't sure what was said, but she wasn't given much time to pay attention to that as she felt Anya place her hand on Clarke. Anya had also placed her hand on Tris' shoulder and barely a second later Clarke realised that Anya had teleported them to a village that was bustling with people.

Their sudden appearance had caused a stir and there were whispers and murmurs as Clarke made to follow Anya as she walked her way through the village. Clarke noted that some of the buildings were in disrepair and were busy being rebuilt.

"Where are we?"said Clarke as she trailed behind Anya. The crowds of people were parting to make way for them and even still there were many looks filled with curiosity as they looked at Clarke.

Clarke did her best to not let the looks affect her as she took in the sights of the village. The village had buildings that were clearly made after the Apocalypse and were mostly built from different types of wood.

They finally reached an isolated part of the village and there was a dilapidated building that was set apart from the rest of the village. The party of three reached the building and Anya looked at Clarke and said,"Wait here."

Clarke decided to not argue and simply sat down on one of the logs that just so happened to be not too far from the building. Clarke sat down and after scanning the array of logs she realised that she was seated at a fire circle.

Night was slowly coming into being and Clarke decided that if she was going to wait she might as well be comfortable. She stood up and gathered some of the surrounding branches and she placed the most suitable ones in the fire pit.

Clarke took a step back and she could practically feel the eyes of Tris burning holes into her side. She raised her left hand and a ball of fire shot out her hand and landed in the fire pit.

Tris had let out a gasp of surprise at the sight and Clarke paid her no mind as she watched the fire eat away at the branches. The flames were soon at a decent level and Clarke basked in the warmth and comfort that the fire was giving her.

"You are strong,"said a voice suddenly and Clarke had nearly jerked back at the voice that had come from across her. Tris had somehow managed to make her way around the fire and sit down without Clarke noticing.

"I have to be,"said Clarke in response to the younger girl and perhaps that was more true than Clarke had initially thought. She was the one who got the injection. She was cursed with this power and so the onus was on her to use it for the benefit of the delinquents.

"How did you heal my people so quickly?"said Tris and for the first time Clarke could see the girl opposite her as the child she was as pure curiosity fluttered in her eyes.

It was confusing to Clarke, however, as she had stolen the ability to heal from one of the Trikru traitors so she wasn't sure if it meant that either Tris was unaware of one being able to heal or the more likely situation the Novus had increased the capabilities of her stolen power. Either way, it would probably be best to not expose her power stealing abilities.

"Aren't there other healers like me amongst your people?"questioned Clarke finally and the slight subject change was either ignored or unnoticed by the younger girl as she responded earnestly.

"We do have those with the healing touch,"said the girl before she added with a more thoughtful tone,"However, they do not heal anywhere as fast as you do. A lot of those warriors's fights would be over had it not been for you. They do not create light when they heal either."

Clarke was surprised at the forthcoming nature of Tris, but she suspected that it wasn't sensitive information that was being shared with her. Clarke was about to respond, but a bout of weakness came over her.

Clarke felt extremely dizzy and she tried to push through it and she took a few seconds to steady herself. The spell of lightheadedness left Clarke as quickly as it came, but she still felt weak.

The sudden urge to cough came over Clarke and so she did into her left hand. The fit of coughs passed too and on e she was done Clarke finally came to realise that Anya had joined them at the fire. The woman was holding a pouch at her and at Clarke's curious gaze the woman said,"Drink. The one you call Finn is inside."

Clarke was about to reach for the pouch, but she noticed the blood that was on her hand. Clarke wiped the blood onto her pants leg and she took the pouch and drank deeply and she felt relief flow through as the water soothed her body.

Clarke returned the pouch to Anya and nodded her thanks. The woman simply turned on her heel and walked towards the nearby building. Clarke stepped inside the room that only had a few candles inside for lighting and she was appalled the sight that awaited her.

Finn was in chains and the metal was digging deeply into his wrists. He did appear to be unharmed for the most part except for a bruise on the side of his face and a slight cut on his shoulder that was bleeding sluggishly.

Clarke took a step towards the boy, but Anya grabbed onto her shoulder and said,"Not yet. Explain what the three of you branwadas were doing in Trikru territory during war or that boy won't get the antidote."

Clarke turned back to Finn and for the first time she noticed the sweat that was pouring down his forehead. His hair was matted and he seemed to twitch every few seconds.

Clarke bit back her annoyance and she wasn't willing to test if her healing ability could counteract poisons so she acquiesced to Anya's demand.

"We were in your territory to explain what happened at the bridge,"said Clarke coolly as she tried to temper her frustration, "Those people that attacked were not there under my orders. They had separated from our people because they didn't like me and they tried to kill the both of us at the bridge. We don't want to fight a war so we came to negotiate."

Anya raised an eyebrow in disbelief before anger twisted her exotic features, "Negotiate? You invade our land. First, you children and then a second time later on and then yet another after that. You run across the land of the Commander as if you own it. You sent missiles that burnt this very village down and then you set off an explosion that attracted Maunon and Ripas to these lands. There is nothing we have to negotiate. "

Clarke winced inwardly at the mention of each of the actions the delinquents had done. She wasn't sure what some of the last of what Anya had said meant, but before she could even begin to ask a question Anya continued her tirade.

"You and your people then come deeper into Trikru land and attack my warriors. Why should I believe you want peace when all you've done is test and goad us into a war?"challenged Anya as the sheer anger across her face continued to build.

The onslaught of questions caused Clarke's anger to run thin and smoke began to waft off of her clenched fists. Clarke finally noticed her unconscious reaction to Anya's interrogation and she took calming breaths before the smoke finally disappeared.

"You have to understand, "said Clarke finally as Anya had paused after seeing the smoke emanate from Clarke's hands,"We did not know there was an established society when we landed. There was no sign of there being anyone who was alive on the ground and so we thought that we were alone. We didn't intend to hurt anyone with the flares. That was a pure accident. "

Anya was listening to Clarke, for once, and so Clarke decided to wrap this up while she still had the chance,"The explosion was wrong of us, yes. I don't know what Maunon or Ripas are, but they don't sound good. I came here to tell you that we were willing to offer the guilty up to you so you could exact justice. There are many innocents in both camps that would die if we had to fight and that wouldn't be fair. My people just want a chance at a good life and we're willing to make amends for what we have done wrong. We have guns, radios and technology. We could be so much better if we worked together."

Clarke's reasoning seemed to have registered within Anya and the woman was silent as she pondered everything Clarke had said. Clarke waited for what felt like an eternity before she heard Anya's words.

"I believe you, "said Anya finally and Clarke was about to sigh in relief before she heard Anya's next words,"That doesn't mean the Commander will however."

Clarke's brow furrowed in confusion as she said,"Lincoln said you were the Commander's mentor? Surely he or she would believe what you have to say."

"That naive traitor knows little of this world,"said Anya and before Clarke could even say anything in response to that Anya continued and said,"A few summers ago, I lost something of the Commander's that she valued deeply. "

Clarke looked into Anya's eyes and despite herself Clarke was surprised to see regret and anger bubbling within them.

"Heda punished me for my incompetence and ever since I've been trying to regain my honour, "added Anya before she said,"There is still a sour relationship between me and Heda despite our history. I haven't even seen her in years."

Clarke was surprised to learn that the supposed visionary that was the leader of the Coalition could be so harsh and uncaring to her own mentor. It contradicted heavily with the almost godlike image Lincoln had painted of the Commander.

"I'm sorry,"said Clarke lately and despite the heaviness of the situation Clarke felt her own curiosity rise,"What did you lose?"

Anya had moved towards Finn and began to unshackle his cuffs. Clarke allowed the woman to do so and just as she had uncuffed his feet the woman said,"You misunderstand. It wasn't an object I lost."

Clarke felt her curiosity rise until Anya finally finished her statement, "It was her trust."

Clarke felt some sadness at Anya's words and Clarke was sure the woman didn't know just how vulnerable she appeared at the moment. Clarke could tell that Anya had deeply cherished her relationship with her student and whatever she had done to lose that relationship still haunted Anya to this day.

"This will be different, Anya,"said Clarke with as much confidence as she could muster,"If you are able to allow us to help you then the Commander would surely accept you. I'd be willing to help with what however I can. I know your healers aren't as good as me according to Tris."

Anya looked up at that and she seemed angry, but Clarke said, "Don't blame her. She's still young and she was intrigued by what I can do."

The anger left Anya and Clarke could see that the woman needed some more convincing,"I also took out 10 of your warriors without getting scratched. "

Clarke paused as she let her words hang in the air and she wondered if she would be able to even go through with what she had to say, but if it would assure her people's continued survival then she knew she didn't really have a choice.

"I'll be the Commander's to command. To heal the smallest of cuts or to...kill those that oppose her. I'll be the shield that protects her and the sword that attacks for her,"said Clarke with as much steel as she could muster.

It seemed like it had worked as all signs of doubt left Anya's face. There was a pregnant pause before Anya said,"Do you love your people that much? You're willing to give up your free will just so your people can have peace. "

It wasn't only that though. Clarke knew she owed it to those who had died under care without ever getting a shot at the peaceful life that was so close to their grasp.

Nathan, Mason, Atom, Wells and Roma. Their blood on Clarke's hands and she would do whatever she could to make sure that no more of her people had to go through that under her watch.

Even if it came at the price of her own happiness.

"Your people are lucky to have you,"said Anya before holding out her hand to Clarke. Clarke recognised the gesture for what it was and she gripped Anya's forearm as the woman did the same to her.

"I'll plead your case to the Commander,"said Anya before she added,"However I can't negotiate on her behalf. You will have to hammer out the details between yourselves, but what I can do is call of my warriors for now. You have nothing to fear, Klark kom Skaikru. "

Clarke nodded and she was about to respond when the door the room was slammed open.

"Onya,"said Tris frantically and she said some words in Trigedasleng that Clarke didn't get at all before she looked at Clarke,"There are strange lights in the sky."

Clarke felt a pit form in her stomach at the news and she made her way outside to look at what Tris mentioned. It was with a sinking heart that Clarke registered the sight of Jasper's signal beam rising high up into the sky.

Clarke turned back to Anya and said,"I thought we had an agreement. Why are my people sending out a distress signal. "

Tris and Anya had been speaking frantically back and forth in their language and only stopped once Clarke had spoken to Anya.

Anya barked out an order at Tris who nodded and left without another word as she ran to the village.

Anya began to go over all the weapons she had on her and Clarke felt her patience grow thin until she heard a horn from the village. The horn had a chilling timbre and echoed far and wide across the

"Anya,"said Clarke firmly as she finally drew the attention of the woman,"What is going on?"

"There have been sightings of Ripas from here and they appear to all be going towards your camp. There might already be some there now?"said Anya as she walked out the building.

Clarke followed after her and said,"What about the antidote for Fin ? Also, what are these ' ripas' you're talking about. You mentioned them before I thought you were the one assigned to fight us. Why are my people under attack from them now?"

Anya had remained silent much to Clarke's chagrin as she entered into a wooden building that Clarke realised was an armory of sorts. Anya grabbed a sword off it's rack before she said,"Take a dagger— the blade must not exceed your elbow if held against it."

Clarke was still upset, but she followed the woman's direction as she grabbed a dagger of the specified length. The blade shone in the moonlight and she grabbed a sheath before strapping it to her side in a fashion identical to Anya.

"We need to go to your camp. The Ripas have already overrun the camp with the traitors to your people in it. There have probably reached your people some time ago. Luckily, we are not far at all from your people."

Clarke was happy to hear that the village wasn't far from the dropship and she turned to Anya who had pulled out a small container and was now applying black paint around her eyes.

"You still haven't answered my questions, "said Clarke impatiently.

"The boy will be fine. The poison is not harmful. It will just cause him pain for a few hours," said Anya as she walked out the building.

Clarke brushed aside the slight anger she felt at having been duped by Anya into exposing her intentions and said,"What about the Ripas?"

It was the haunted look in Anya's eyes that scared Clarke.

"The Reapers,"said Anya tersely, "They are monsters. You hesitated to kill my warriors before. Do not hesitate with these demons. The only way to deal with Ripas is to kill them. If you do not kill them, they will keep coming until they get what they want."

Clarke felt her throat go dry at the prospect of having to go against such hellish opponents. Despite her earlier words of willing to essentially be at the beck and call of the Commander, she did not expect that she would have to kill so soon.

Clarke couldn't even bring herself to kill Diana despite every atom of her being telling her to and now she had to fight against who knows how many of these supposed monsters. However, Clarke one that if Anya's words were to be believed then she didn't have much of a choice.

Anya stepped in front of her and said,"It shall only be the two of us who will go. The amount of Ripas is said to be over 100. My warriors will stay here to defend the surrounding villages. "

Clarke swallowed at that bit of news, but she knew that Anya coming was a lot more than she could ask for. Clarke nodded at the woman's words and said,"How are we getting there? I don't know the way back."

Anya ignored Clarke's words and grabbed onto her shoulder,"Like this."

Anya focused on the image of the camp she had scouted what felt like an eternity ago and the two women disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Everything was fucked.

That was what was going through Raven's head as she held a rifle tight to her chest. The various fires set up around camp did nothing to calm her nerves.

She had woken up not far away from the dropship and there was no sight of Finn or Clarke anywhere. She had made it back to camp and it was only after she had made it there that her fears were confirmed.

The Grounders had Clarke and Finn.

Raven didn't even want to think about whether they were dead or alive. That was just a downward spiral waiting to happen. Despite her anger at him, Finn was still precious to Raven. He had been there for her whenever her mother had taken her rations for herself.

He had given Raven some of his own meagre rations so she wouldn't starve and Raven truly didn't know where she would have been without his help. It's not like he was without faults, though.

Finn had apparently been enamored by Raven's talk of how cool zero gravity was and so he had decided to go for a spacewalk. In the end, he had been caught and Raven didn't even have the opportunity to see him before he got thrown into the Sky Box.

The betrayal of her trust was by far his worst digression against her, though. She had been gone barely two weeks and Finn had shacked up with Fox and she wasn't even sure how long that had gone on for or if it was still going on.

That betrayal should have torn her apart, but Raven was tough. It wasn't the first time life had thrown her a curve ball and at the time she knew it wouldn't be the last, but what she hadn't expected was for someone to actually pick her up when she was at her lowest.

Clarke was almost too nice of a person in a self-sacrificing sort of way. She constantly kept going on rounds and guard duty. She buried those who died and she had taken it upon herself to rein in and lead everyone despite knowing the burdens that would come with that.

Raven knew that Clarke was struggling a lot. She had lost both her childhood friend and Roma in a matter of days and still didn't seem to want to give herself a break. Raven also knew that Clarke was having extreme difficulty falling asleep.

She had asked Monty about the cherries she had seen Clarke taking and eventually he had revealed that they were basically juiced up sleeping pills. Apparently, Clarke had needed them since Wells had died.

Despite all of this, as well as the news that her father had essentially been killed by her mother, Clarke was still willing to help out where she could.

When Clarke had comforted her in the immediate aftermath of her breakup with Finn, it had touched that someone who cared so much for the people around her could hurt so much and from what she could tell only a few like Bellamy, Monty and Octavia were aware of her pain.

The burdens of Clarke's caring nature were resting heavily on her soul and Raven could only hope that the girl could find peace at some stage. She deserved it more than anyone right now.

Raven shook her head of her thoughts as she stared down the barrel of her gun. The woods were quiet and Raven was on red alert for any Grounders.

There had been roughly 20 delinquents chosen to sweep the forest for signs of Clarke or Finn in groups of two and Trina and Pascal had gone out for their sweep around the early evening before things had gone pear shaped.

The both of them had had rifles with them and so when the sound of gunfire had echoed throughout the camp. Monty and Jasper had volunteered to go and investigate especially when they realised some of the sweepers had disappeared.

They both had radios and once they had reached the site of the gunfire they had(stupidly) decided to split up. Monty had gone radio silent after only a few minutes, but Jasper hadn't had that luxury.

Jasper had radioed in saying that there was a large amount of Grounders approaching the camp and despite everyone's advice he had decided to try and take on some the group.

The last they had seen from him was his designated distress call before his radio too had gone silent. It was soon after the distress beam that things had gone to shit.

These behemoths of Grounders had started to bum rush the wall and what was concerning was that from the chatter over the radio they required a couple of shots to put down.

Raven wasn't entirely sure which cave these Grounders had been hiding in, but she was upset at having to deal with a gun instead of her laser beams.

Whatever blocking effect was on her powers was undoubtedly due to the Grounders having drugged her and she knew now wasn't the time to bemoan her temporary lack of powers.

The delinquents were slowly running out of bullets and they had been told that once their gun ran out they had to make their way to the dropship to get weapons.

Unfortunately, it appeared as though these monsters had some sense as they had begun to draw the fire of the guns after at first taking heavy losses.

According to the radio, of the 40 that had been equipped with guns, only 7 had bullets left and there were only 30 or so dead Grounders. Aiming a gun was apparently a skill the vast majority of them lacked as it turned out.

Jasper had reported that there were way more than just 30 of them. His estimate had been in the high 80s at the very least and Raven knew that was him low balling it.

Shots rang out the camp as the last remaining gunners took pot shots at the approaching Grounders. Some of the Grounders fell, but they had gained territory and soon Raven was the last remaining gunner with one bullet left.

Roughly 10 minutes had passed since Monty had gone radio silent.

Raven began to backtrack away from the wall once she saw various shadows begin a full on sprint once they realised the delinquents had run out of bullets.

Bellamy stood at the front of the delinquents as they awaited the inevitable. It happened in a flash. The Grounders broke through the wall like it wasn't even there and then it was on.

Bellamy was leading the counterattack and he was slamming Grounder after Grounder into the trees, walls and the ground, but they kept standing up.

Miller was struggling too as his metal armour was pockmarked with dents and Raven knew that his armour was strong enough to stop a rifles bullet cold. Their opponents were clearly in another class entirely.

These Grounders were hollering and had crazed eyes. Raven found a target and she aimed and fired her last bullet. The bullet hit the man in his back and Raven expected the man to fall on his face, but that didn't happen.

He turned slowly towards Raven even as his back was dripping blood. He let out a scream of anger that chilled Raven's bones before running right at her.

Raven instinctively took a step back and she stumbled over the body of a delinquent, their body having been pierced by a sword that hadn't even been removed.

The monster was lugging a sword behind him and he seemed to relish his slow walk to Raven. Finally, he reached just in front of her and he lifted his sword up high and was about to swing down when it happened.

A cloud of black smoke obscured Raven's vision for a fraction of a second and she felt something splash on her face when she came to she saw Anya of all people standing in front of her.

The woman had her dagger held in her hand and it was completely covered in blood. It was then that Raven looked back at the man who had just been about to kill her.

His throat had been slashed open and was squirting bright red blood it was only then that he fell backwards and hit the ground with a loud thud. The blood had been what had landed on Raven's face and she barely paid that any attention as Anya spoke.

"Get your people to the ship. Clarke has a plan,"said Anya before disappearing in another cloud of smoke. She appeared in front of another of the behemoths and there was a quick flash of silver before he too fell to the blade of the woman.

Anya's appearance had seemed to help shore up their defense as she flickered back forth waving those who seemed to be in trouble. Raven was about to rise, but she cursed when another of the monsters seemed to have spotted her.

Raven tried to scramble to her feet and she was successful, but she had no weapon to use. However, before the man could even begin to approach her he was sent flying and Raven had to duck as he was sent hurtling over her before his skull collided with the wall.

He didn't get up.

Raven turned back and she only got a glimpse of blonde hair before she felt herself get dragged somewhere. She realised she was inside the dropship and there were about 15 other people already inside.

"You okay, Raven?"said Clarke and Raven let out a sigh of relief as she saw who had carried her into the dropship.

"Yeah,"said Raven and Clarke smiled sadly and said,"I need to go. Those guys are bad news. I need to get everyone in the dropship. "

Clarke put Raven down and she began to collect the last remaining delinquents that weren't already inside the dropship.

The reapers were slowly coming into the camp and Clarke knew that the delinquents would soon be overrun. It did seem like some delinquents had run off as soon as the reapers had come through the gate and Clarke tried not to let that worry her.

Clarke tightened her grip on the dagger Anya had provided for her and she ran back into the melee. She slashed the throat of a reaper that was hounding Fox and Mike and she picked them both up before taking them into the dropship.

There were already a few casualties, but Clarke tried to ignore the dead bodies of her people.

If anything the bodies made her more angry.

Anya stood in front of the dropship with Octavia and Miller. They were both holding off any reapers that were getting a bit too close to the dropship, but they were close to getting overrun by the last remaining reapers inside the camp.

Clarke aimed her hands at group of 7 reapers that were rushing the dropship and she fired a large blast of fire at them. Her aim struck true and all 7 reapers were set on fire.

Clarke made eye contact with Anya and nodded. The woman understood the signal and she grabbed onto the arms of the two teens in front of her and teleported away presumably inside the dropship.

The reapers weren't an organised force. The ones that weren't engaged with fighting the delinquents were actually fighting each other. It was horrifying to see especially when one reaper killed his comrade and began to eat her flesh.

Clarke shot a stream of fire at that one and she didn't let up until his screams stopped. The majority of the reapers were still trying to bulldoze their way through the gate despite there being multiple breaches in the wall.

It was odd. Some of them had shown to be I intelligent fighters and yet the vast majority were almost mindless.

A flash of black drew her attention and that was when she saw the reason why the reapers were struggling to break through the gate.

Bellamy had both his hand held out in front of him and Clarke guessed that he was using his telekinesis to keep the gates shut which must have been extremely difficult considering how strong they were.

Clarke ran over to Bellamy and she used her psionic powers to assist with holding the gate back. She turned to Bellamy who seemed surprised by the sudden help and said,"Clarke? Where the hell have you been?"

"I'll explain later,"said Clarke as she focused more and the gates were shot straight through the crowd of reapers and some were crushed beneath the heavy wooden doors,"Some of our people ran off into the woods. I need you to go and look for them. These guys aren't Trikru or anything. We're at peace with the Grounders for now, but these guys aren't a part of the coalition. Anya called for some reinforcements from a nearby village so just tell them that you're working with Anya."

The reapers had begun to rush the gate and Clarke hastily made a wall of rock rise up to cover the breach. Bellamy looked surprised at the turn of events, but nodded and he gave her a hug before saying,"Stay safe, Princess."

Clarke returned the hug with equal fervour and said,"You too, Bell. We can't do this without you."

Bellamy separated from the hug and nodded at Clarke before he ran through one of the holes in the back wall and luckily none of the reapers had noticed or followed him.

Once she was sure he was far away, Clarke focused intently and she felt her body scream in protest as she began to use her powers in earnest.

First, she linked to the dropship and made the door close. It began to rise slowly and Clarke saw the delinquents watching from the top of the ramp. Octavia tried to run out, but she was stopped by Anya who grabbed onto her arm.

Clarke smiled through the pain and finally turned back to the reapers. The dropship door was closed and Clarke hoped that it would provide enough protection for anyone for what was to come.

Clarke jumped to the top of the dropship and she landed somewhat heavily. Her new vantage point allowed her to see the sheer amount of reapers that were only now trying to circle around the camp and pen everyone in.

Clarke ignored the sudden change of approach by the Reapers and instead she focused entirely on getting this right.. It was the first time Clarke was trying this, but there was no other safe way out of this.

If she had tried to take them all on up close, all her speed and strength wouldn't have helped her just due to the sheer number of Reapers.

Clarke focused on her hands first and she was relieved when they both transformed into flames. It wasn't an armour and Clarke was able to perceive that her hands were essentially solid flames at that moment.

She spread the effect over body and Clarke was relieved to see the effect didn't burn her clothes, but rather converted them into similar articles of solid flame.

She had suspected that this would happen considering it happened to Octavia and Miller as whenever they transformed, but she didn't want to end up burning her clothes especially since those were all in short supply.

Soon, Clarke rose to her feet and from the position on top of the dropship she stood like a beacon in the dark.

Her entire body was now completely made of the solid fire,or plasma if she recalled correctly from her science lessons, and it looked as though she had been carved from the Sun.

The reapers too had noticed her atop the dropship and the began to scale the walls of the camp. Clarke could see that they were nearly a hundred of the monster spilling into the camp and she waited until most of them were inside before jumping right into the biggest crowd of them.

!*

!*

!*

!*

Instinct activated and Clarke was forced to contort and bend her body as the Reapers sought to hit her. She felt something hit her back hard and she was sent flying, but she recovered from the hit quickly enough.

She looked back and saw a reaper rolling on the ground completely covered in flames obviously the culprit of who had struck her.

Clarke was now completely surrounded by the Reapers and again they seemed to have become more cautious as they instead decided to surround her in a circle. They weren't even any that approached the dropship.

It was perfect.

Clarke focused her fire powers the same way she had used her psionic powers earlier in the day, but to a greater extent.

Her psionic powers were her default form of attack from distance since they were both what she was most familiar with and were also ideal for non-lethal suppression.

Her elemental powers were more lethal and so she tended to avoid them if she could.

This wasn't one of those times.

It had taken a while to figure it out, but the Novus didn't allow her to just steal or activate powers. It allowed her to combine them. It was why her Instinct had caused her to use her wind control powers to deflect the Trikru warriors attack just earlier that day or when she had made a psionic dome when Anya had tried to gut her on the bridge.

She wasn't meant to use them separately, but in tandem. She suspected her conversion ability was the reason her clothes hadn't just burnt away.

Her powers weren't separate tools, but rather pieces of a whole and that more than anything set the Novus apart from the rest.

With that in mind, Ckarke released the fire from her body in a manner reminiscent of earlier today when she had been captured. Her elemental powers weren't that easily shaped, but her psionic powers were and so she used the malleabilty of her psionic powers and pure destructive powers of her fire control to create a blast of fire that incinerated everything caught in its path.

Clarke continued to expel the flames from her body and she didn't stopped even as the smell of burning flesh and horrified screams assaulted her senses.

It was perhaps ten seconds later that Clarke let up and she extinguished the flames. They disappeared as quickly as they came and Clarke let out a sigh of relief once the flames were once again restricted to her own body.

Clarke surveyed the area and she was horrified to see an array of skeletons blacked with burn marks all around her. The walls of the camp had also been assaulted by the flames as they were covered with small flames here and there, but luckily they hadn't extended into the surrounding woods.

The dropship was completely charred on one of its side, but just as Clarke had hoped it was still entirely intact. The metal used for spaceships were obviously extremely durable and the dropship was clearly no different as it had withstood the flames.

Clarke's flame armour was still on and she only realised it once she heard a hissing noise come from her face. She felt a liquid running down her nose and she dimly realised it was blood dripping from her nose, but they boiled as soon they exited her nostrils.

The hiss of the drop ship's ramp lowering drew her attention and she turned towards it once it was fully down to see Raven and Octavia looking at her with astonishement and fear.

That hurt.

Octavia wasn't sure what had happened tonight. They were attacked by a bunch of crazy monsters. Anya started helping people get to safety and then the next things she knew Clarke locked everyone in the dropship to take on the army of monsters and she won.

The girl looked as though she was a star in human form. Her body was glowing a warm orange yet her eyes, mouth and hair were a gleaming white. Octavia looked at the skeletons surrounding Clarke and she had to stifle a gasp at the sight.

There had to be at least 80 skeletons surrounding them and they were all covered in burns. Octavia had to fight a wince once she realised many of the skeletons' jaws were wide open as if they had suffered throughout the entire moment of their death and beyond.

The curtain behind her rustled as more and more of the delinquents spilled out into the camp under the full moon and they were far less capable of holding back their reactions as they let out gasps and screams at the sight of Clarke.

Octavia was certain she saw Clarke's shoulders drop as she took in the horrified looks of the 24 delinquents and one Grounder. It was jarring to note that she too had developed a similar expression of fear across her face.

In fact, the only person who didn't seem afraid of Clarke was Anya who began to walk down the ramp towards Clarke. Anya stopped a few metres away and said,"Klark, it's okay. You're alright. Everyone is safe. You saved them."

This time Octavia knew she saw Clarke's shoulders drop and she felt her heart break as she heard the broken tone in Clarke's voice.

"I killed them all,"said Clarke slowly as the images of the skeletons and burning bodies and the fear across the delinquents faces swirled in her mind,"I'm a monster."

Anya stepped closer to Clarke despite the discomfort she felt at the heat in the air and said,"No, you are not a monster. You saved your people from a fate worse than death. I've seen real monsters and you're not one of them. You're a hero."

Two white, trails had begun to snake their way out of Clarke's eyes and Octavia felt her heart break more at the sight of Clarke crying and yet she couldn't find any words to say to comfort her or even move her feet at all.

"Thanks, Anya, "said Clarke before suddenly the flames across her body were extinguished. Whatever energy Clarke had been running on seemed to have run dry as she fell backwards, but Anya had teleported behind her and caught her.

It was still the middle of the night, but there were still large flames burning in the camp so everyone was still able to see quite well.

A flash of light in the sky drew Clarke's attention and she was surprised to see what she recognised as Arrow Station break into the atmosphere.

The others had noticed it to and there were gasps of surprise as they saw the station fall to the ground, but there were more surprises in store for them as the multiple stations of the Ark began to fall into atmosphere.

Clarke was elated to see that there were survivors of the Ark, but what worried her was that some of the stations weren't designed for re-entry into Earth and so she wasn't quite as surprising as the other delinquents and Anya when one of the stations exploded in the sky.

"What is that?"said Anya in confusion as she steadied her grip on Clarke.

"It's not what. It's who,"said Clarke and perhaps for the first time Clarke noted how drained and tired she was,"Those are my people."

The delinquents watched in haunted silence as they watched the stations of the Ark enter the atmosphere. There would be screams of despair as a station would blow up in the air and soon the stations would no longer be visible as they disappeared behind the tree line

The entire light show was soon done and a well of uncertainty filled Clarke as she realised that the stations weren't equipped with parachutes or anything of that sort so them not exploding didn't guarantee their survival.

The sombre tone in the camp told her everyone had realised it and she decided to try to give everyone a rousing speech. Anya had reluctantly let her stand and she sent a grateful smile to the older woman. She was about to speak, but then it happened.

Metal canisters shot out from the surrounding area and they landed across the entire camp. Red smoke began to leak out of the canisters at a rapid rate and Clarke felt her sense of balance go completely off as she reflexively breathed in the fumes.

All around her the delinquents began to drop and it was only her and Anya who were barely concious and so Clarke was the only one who heard Anya's last words.

"Maunon,"said Anya with visible fear in her eyes and the woman must have seen the confusion across Clarke's face as she added,"Mountain Men."

Mountain Men?

Clarke got a bad feeling about this and she tried to use her wind powers to dispel the noxious fumes, but to her horror nothing happened. She tried again with her fire, lightning, water, anything.

Nothing.

Clarke fell face first onto the ground and the last thing she saw was the green laser scope of a rifle held by a man in a strange suit. There was a gunshot and Clarke felt pain erupt in her side before everything faded to black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Into season 2 we go! Expect the unexpected!

I changed season 1 up quite a bit and there should be enough indications to show that this isn't the exact world Clarke and co are in. I changed up the final battle and hey look Anya and Clarke seem to have reached a rapport of sorts.

Who knows what that means for their relationship ? I'm kidding...sort of...not really...you'll have to read to find out.

As always, please review. I got a review yesterday and that was what pushed me to spawn the last half of this chapter. It was at 6K but it reached a respectable 13K so it's all good.

Again, please review. I love your feedback and input. Something's up with Clarke and you can bet some friction will exist between the delinquents starting extremely soon. They've gotten on well enough for long enough now.

Yeah i was kidding about the pairing thing. I think so anyways. Thats for you to decide.