Hey guys, so this chapter is shorter than most, but its just a bit of background that I find important. I hope you enjoy it!
"Grounders!" One of the members of the guard posted on the wall shouted. He raised his gun, and aimed it towards the small army that was approaching the gates of Arkadia.
Kane walked up towards the man and used the scope of his gun to get a better look. "It's the Commander," he said, recognizing the grounder who was at the front of the army. "Lower your weapons and open the gates. Someone find the Chancellor and then send Octavia, Lincoln, Bellamy, Raven, and Sergeant Miller to the Council Room." The guards followed Kane's orders as Kane climbed down to meet the new arrivals at the gate.
It didn't take long until Abby was beside him, "What do you think they want?"
"I don't know," Kane said with the shake of his head. "Remember Abby, we still have an alliance with them. I know what the Commander did to us, to Clarke, but we are on their land. We need to be civil."
Abby narrowed her eyes as she watched the Commander dismount her horse. "I know," she said to him. He reached out and gently squeezed her arm in a show of comfort before dropping his arm back down by his side. Lexa, Indra, and Ryder were the three to approach the camp, the other grounders with them staying outside. "Commander," Abby said as the three grounders approached.
"Chancellor, it is good to see you," Lexa said.
"I wish I could say the same," Abby shot back. She heard Indra snarl from behind Lexa, but Lexa held her back from doing anything. Kane gave her a stern look, so she calmed down and tried to be civil, "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"I came to speak with you about forging a stronger alliance between our people. It has been three months since the fall of the mountain and we have left you in peace, however my people view you as a threat. I would like to talk to you about that," she said, her calm, in-control commander mask fully in place.
Abby knew she should accept the request and allow the Commander to at least say her piece, but she was so angry, "We've been fine here on our own. We don't need to create any more of an alliance than what we already have."
Indra made another growl of annoyance and reached for her sword and was again stopped by Lexa, "You would benefit from this alliance Chancellor. You do not know the ground as we do. We can help you. I can also assist you in helping to find Clarke."
Abby's eyes snapped to Lexa's at that, "What do you know about Clarke?"
"My scouts saw her leave the day the mountain fell, but unfortunately that is all I know. My people know this land better than yours do Chancellor. If we form a stronger alliance, I can help you find her," Lexa offered.
Abby opened her mouth to speak, but Kane cut her off, "Why don't we talk about this in a more private setting," he said. "I already had the members of the council gather to talk." Abby nodded and her and Kane led Lexa, Indra, and Ryder through the camp and into the metal structure of the Ark. They weaved their way through some hallways until they came up to the council room, already filled with the people Kane had asked for.
"What is she doing here? Bellamy asked as Lexa and her guards entered the room.
"I am here to discuss a stronger alliance between my people and Skaikru," Lexa said.
"What do you mean by stronger alliance?" Kane asked.
Lexa turned to meet Kane's eyes. She had always liked him. He truly seemed to want peace and didn't seem to have the same dislike towards her people as most of Skaikru did. "I want your people to become my people. I want Skaikru to become the thirteenth clan."
Everyone in the room stared at her in a stunned silence before Raven spoke up, "What does that mean. We follow you?" She asked, the idea clearly not one that she liked.
"Your people would obey my laws. If there was ever an issue between other clans you would come to me, but otherwise you are free to govern yourselves as you please. This is the only way that my people will accept yours. If you are not one of us then you are a threat to us, and threats need to be wiped out."
"Is that a threat," Bellamy asked, straightening up in his seat.
"No, it is a warning. My people can help yours. We can teach you to farm, to hunt, to build, and we know this land best. We can help you find Clarke," Lexa offered.
Bellamy stood up from his seat and glared at her, "We wouldn't need your help to find her if you hadn't betrayed us," he said. Kane put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a look that told him to sit down and stop talking. He did, but he clearly wasn't happy about it.
"So if we agree to this, you'll help our people and we will not be in any danger? You will help us with everything we need as long as we follow you and your laws?" Kane asked.
Lexa simply nodded. Kane turned to Abby and the two seemed to have a silent conversation with each other. "What do we need to do?" Abby asked to the surprise of most in the room.
"Come with me to Polis. There you will be formally inducted into the coalition and then we can talk about how we can best benefit each other," Lexa said.
"I have two requests," Abby said.
"Name them."
"First, I want search parties looking for Clarke as quickly as possible. I have been searching these last few months but nothing has come up," Abby said.
"I already have a few of my own men searching, but I can send more when we come to an agreement," Lexa said. She had been searching for Clarke ever since she found out she ran away, but so far she had nothing. "What else?"
"Lift the kill order off of Lincoln."
"Done," Lexa said without thought, causing an angered grunt from Indra, but nothing else.
"When do we leave?" Kane asked.
"As quickly as you can get ready. You may take a small group with you although I do not have enough horses for more than six people," Lexa said. "Meet me out by the horses when you are ready."
Lexa, Indra, and Ryder left leaving then left, leaving the council alone. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bellamy asked.
"She's right, they know this land better than we do. There is a lot they can teach us," Kane said.
"Come on Bellamy. I know you don't trust them, but this is the best decision for our people," Octavia said with a smile that she has had on her face ever since Lexa agreed to lift the kill order.
"Fine," Bellamy agreed, and they stayed in the room to hash out a few more details before those who were leaving were packed.
Abby, Kane, Bellamy, Octavia, Lincoln, and Raven met Lexa and her small army outside the gates. Sergeant Miller and Sinclair were left in control of Arkadia while they would be away. Lexa led the horses over to the group and they all mounted easily, except for Raven who needed a little help from Ryder thanks to her leg.
They travelled for about two days before they made it to Polis. Lexa couldn't help but smile at the look of shock on the faces of the Skaikru when they arrived. They were all staring at Polis Tower, the most eye catching part of Polis, with wide eyes. When they entered through the front gate, the people in the markets all started to move towards their Heda. They reached out to her, called her name, they praised her. It was surprising for all of the Skaikru to see how reverently these people looked at her. The Skaikru looked all around Polis trying to take everything in at once. There were so many people, there was so much life, it came as a little bit of a shock to most of them. "I think joining the coalition is a good idea," Kane said to Abby, seeing just how good life was for these people. Abby simply nodded. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of working with Lexa again, but she knew this was the best, safest option for her people, and it was her best chance at finding Clarke.
the Commander led the group to the tower before she dismounted, "Ryder will take you all to your rooms. Tomorrow night you will be accepted into the coalition and then we will talk more." Ryder led the Skaikru up to their rooms. It was like nothing they ever could have imagined. The six of them spent the rest of the night traveling around Polis, eating food, and having a pretty good time. Most of them weren't happy about working with Lexa, but they couldn't help themselves in enjoying the mood and life of Polis.
The next day, in the morning, the group saw more of Polis, and later they had some of the handmaidens prepare them for the ceremony. At dusk it was time. The ceremony was held in the throne room. There were representatives from all twelve clans there, and they were all standing in a semi-circle before the throne. The Skaikru took their places on the far end of the room and then the ceremony began. Lexa came into the throne room looking as powerful as ever. She stood before her throne, Indra on her right, a bald man with a long flowing robe on the left. Lexa nodded her head towards a woman who was standing off to the side.
With the nod, she began to sing. It was all in Trigedasleng, so Skaikru had no idea what was being said, but they seemed to be just as entranced as everyone else was by the haunting melody. When the song ended, Lexa spoke, "Hail warriors of the twelve clans."
"Hail commander of the blood," the room responded as they all dropped down to a knee, Skaikru slowly kneeling as well.
Lexa let them remain for a moment before speaking again, "Rise." Everyone in the room returned to their feet. "We welcome Skaikru to our halls in the spirit of friendship and harmony. The reason of this summit is to initiate Skaikru into the coalition," hushed whispers spread out across the room, but most of them didn't seem to be angry by the idea of Skaikru joining them. "To symbolize this union, the leader of Skaikru must bear our mark," Lexa said as she turned to the Skaikru.
Kane looked to Abby to step forward, but Abby turned to face him, "The honor should be yours," she said. She knew that peace with the grounders would better be maintained through Marcus. She also wanted to focus on finding Clarke and just being a doctor. Kane looked into Abby's eyes for a moment before he nodded his head. He looked up to Lexa, who nodded once, and he took a step forward. "Present your arm," Lexa said, and Kane did as he was told. The grounder beside him pulled a brand out of the fire that was beside him and pressed it to Marcus's forearm. Marcus made a quiet hiss of pain, but that was the only sign of his discomfort. When the brand was removed, Kane took a step back to stand beside Abby again. "We welcome you, Skaikru, to the coalition. Tomorrow we will talk, tonight we will celebrate."
With that the room was dismissed to join the feast that had been prepared outside. Marcus and Abby found themselves talking to a few of the ambassadors or leaders of other clans, Octavia and Raven found themselves getting drunk and Lincoln and Bellamy were keeping an eye on them.
Lexa stayed in her throne room after everyone cleared out, the only person staying with her in the room was the bald man. "Are you sure this is a good idea Heda? Skaikru are more like the Mountain Men then us."
"The Mountain Men are dead, Titus," Lexa said. "Thanks to them we are free of that threat. The knowledge they have will be beneficial to our people and it is the only way to prevent a war."
"I hope you know what you are doing," he said to her.
"I do," she replied before she stood up from her throne and left.
The next morning the clan leaders and their ambassadors all met in Lexa's throne room. When the Skaikru entered, the room went silent for a moment before everyone returned to their conversations. "Well that wasn't awkward," Raven said. She got a few smiles from Kane, Lincoln, and Octavia, but Bellamy and Abby seemed to be a lot more uncomfortable with their current position.
A woman with brown curly hair walked up to them and introduced herself, "I am Luna. Heda kom floudonkru."
"Boat People," Octavia translated.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Skaikru. I am sorry Wanheda could not be here with you. I would have liked to meet he," Luna paused. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did at the mountain. You saved a lot of our people. Many of us here are grateful for that."
"We're just happy they aren't a threat to anyone anymore," Kane said with a smile. Before they could say anything else, Lexa, Titus, and Indra entered the room. Everyone split up to be by their separate clans and the meeting began. It was a lot of political talk, which was to be expected. It only seemed like there were a couple of clans who were unhappy with the presence of Skaikru. The others seemed interested in what they had to offer. By the time Lexa had called the meeting to an end, Skaikru had agreed to share some of their healing techniques and technology in return for some hunting and farming techniques. Lexa dismissed the room, all except for Skaikru. "You all did well today," she complimented.
Kane smiled in reply, "Thank you for accepting us Commander. I think it will be beneficial for both of our people."
Lexa nodded, "I agree." Then she turned to Abby, "I have already created and dispatched some more of my scouts. They will look for Clarke."
"Thank you," Abby said. "We're going to need to return to Arkadia soon to speak with our people about everything," Abby turned to Marcus.
"Yes I understand. You will however, need to leave behind an ambassador to speak for Skaikru while the Chancellor is not here," Lexa said.
Kane went over his options. Both him and Abby were needed in Arkadia and Bellamy was obviously not a good choice. "Octavia, Lincoln, would you both be willing to stay and represent Skaikru?"
Both of them agreed easily. Octavia never felt at home in Arkadia, but she did with the grounders. It was an easy choice for her, especially with Lincoln's kill order lifted.
"Absolutely not," Bellamy cut in.
Octavia glared at him, "I'm staying Bell. You can't stop me."
Bellamy met her glare, but he saw the determination in her eyes. There was no way he was going to dissuade them, "Fine, then I'm staying too."
"No you're not," Octavia said. "You'll be needed back in Arkadia and you'll only cause problems here. I can protect myself Bell and I won't be alone. Lincoln will be with me."
Lincoln stood a little taller at his mention and nodded his head.
"I can build some more radios so we can stay in contact," Raven offered to appease both Octavia and Bellamy. They both seemed to agree to that, so the issue was settled.
"Alright, sounds good," Kane said and Lexa simply nodded. She led the Skaikru out of the tower and provided the four that were leaving with their own horses. After finalizing a few quick details, the Skaikru left, leaving Octavia and Lincoln behind.
"I hope you kept up with your training," Indra said from behind Octavia. Octavia nodded enthusiastically and she followed her and Lincoln to the sparring pits.
When Kane and the others arrived back in Arkadia, they informed everyone of what had happened in Polis. The reaction was actually much better than what they expected, but it made sense that everyone wanted to avoid a war. Of course there were a few who were uncomfortable with the idea, like Bellamy, and a few who just downright disliked it, like Jasper, but most seemed to accept it.
Not long after that, the first of the grounders started to arrive to help teach the Skaikru. Members of Skaikru started travelling back and forth between Arkadia and Polis to visit, to trade, to teach, or to learn. Raven travelled back and forth often to deliver the radio and to visit Octavia. She also took a look at some of the tech that was kept in Polis. Bellamy travelled occasionally to see his sister as well. Skaikru seemed to fit well into the coalition. There was still some mistrust, but not enough to cause any real problems. Octavia and Lincoln were doing a good job at representing Skaikru in Polis and Marcus had managed to make a few alliances with some of the clans.
As time passed however, Marcus and Abby decided to stop sending out search parties for Clarke. They hadn't given up. If she had died, word would have spread and they would know, but she was nowhere around the Skaikru camp. They knew it was a waste of time and energy to keep looking for her. At this point it was up to Clarke. When she wanted to be found she would be, until then there was nothing they could do.
Lexa however had not given up searching. She never would until she had a definitive answer of where the blonde was. Titus had tried to talk her out of it but she wouldn't listen. Luna had learned of the Commander's feelings towards Clarke, as the two of them were long time friends, and she had sent out some of her scouts to aid in the search. It had been a long time since Luna had seen Lexa care for anyone like this, and she wanted her friend to be happy. She also wanted to meet and thank Wanheda for what she did in the mountain.
They searched for months with no blonde wasn't anywhere to found, but still Lexa wouldn't give up. She wouldn't stop until she had answers. She wouldn't stop until she found Clarke.