46 out of the remaining 47 of the original 100 and Lincoln found themselves back at the Dropship the night after Mount Weather was defeated. To the rest of Camp Jaha they were there because Bellamy had succeeded in convincing Chancellor Abby Griffon to let them hold a private memorial for the kids that were sent down with them that didn't make it. That succeeded in the mission they were sent to Earth to accomplish; dying. The people there knew differently though, they had been able to sense that something was off when Bellamy told them when to meet to travel to the Dropship. While making the journey, made longer by the need to carry the injured Bellamy asked Lincoln and Octavia to make sure that no one left or opened the door once he shut it behind the last person, they didn't understand why until he shut the door without Clarke entering.
All of them notice the absence but Raven is the only one brave enough to voice the question. "Where is Clarke?" The distress on Bellamy's face is answer enough but as soon as the words "She's not here." slip from his lips chaos erupts. It takes Bellamy 10 minutes, Octavia's reluctant help, Raven shouting for everyone to listen to what Bellamy has to say, and Lincoln making sure no one opens the Dropship door, (which Octavia had explained to him was soundproof, he knew Abby was sure to have guards trying to watch them tonight and understood that Bellamy couldn't afford for them to hear anything) to calm the room back down. "Everyone be quiet and sit back down. Monty, Harper did you get what I asked for?" Monty was the one to answer, "Yea, I got the projector, I don't know how you plan on watching anything on these walls though." "I think that's were I come in." Harper responded, pulling a large white-ish sheet like clothe from her bag. Bellamy nodded to them, "Set it up behind me. Now Clarke wouldn't just leave without a reason, you all know that. She also wouldn't leave without saying goodbye, even if, at the time, you didn't know that that was what she was saying."
Jasper, one of a handful of people who hadn't retaken his seat after Bellamy's instruction to, strode angrily for the door, "If this meeting is all about Clarke I'm outta here, I thought we were here to mourn the dead, not glorify the one who killed them." He was stopped before he could grab the handle that would open the door by Lincoln appearing in front of him. "I can't let you do that." "Neither can I, go sit down Jasper." Feeling Octavia's knife at his throat he sighs in defeat, knowing, even in his moonshine clouded mind, that he is in over his head, he goes to slump back into his seat against the wall. Satisfied that Jasper is taken care of for the moment Octavia nods her head to the man she loves and turns to address the rest of the room. "Look, I'm just as pissed off at Clarke for leaving as the rest of you are. And like most of you I don't necessarily like or agree with all of the decisions that she has had to make since we came to the ground. But" she grimaces glancing over at Lincoln, they had been having this conversation all afternoon, these were truths she had not exactly wanted to face "all of the decisions that Clarke made, she made to keep us alive. We might not have called her Chancellor, but we made her our leader, a leader that will and has done everything in her power to make sure that every single person in this room has the best life possible. So yeah, each and every one of us probably won't agree with all of her decisions. She will make decisions that most of us hate, but she is our leader, as grounders would say our Commander" this gets Lincoln a teasing smile "so we have to trust that she is making the right decisions for our people. Right now if that decision is to leave camp then we owe it to our leader, who has kept us alive this long, to listen to her reasoning of why."
Everyone in the room looked at her in a stunned silence, no one expecting that speech to come so passionately out of Octavia, who had studiously ignored Clarke since leaving Mount Weather. For her part, Octavia just went to silently join Lincoln guarding the handle that opened the door, giving a nod to her brother who was smiling at her, happy that she understood a little of what Clarke did for them. Raven was an observant person, she could see people thinking over Octavia's words. Saw that most could see the truth in them, those people looked lighter, like Clarke had taken a burden off of them. She could also see the others, the ones like Jasper, fighting with themselves, blinded by grief or stubbornness, and remembering Clarke's words to her she knew she needed to break the tension in the air. "She's right. We won't always agree with the things Clarke does, I'm a perfect example of that. I was pissed at Clarke for killing Finn. We weren't together anymore but he was the only family I had. I understand better why she did it now, why it was the best choice. I didn't know it at the time but her plan when she went down into that camp was to trade her life for his, that's still a trade she would make for any one of us... I gave her the knife she used to kill him, I told her to use it to kill the Commander if she couldn't get her to listen. But Clarke knew that wouldn't work, that that would just end up with her on that pole beside Finn and everyone in Camp Jaha dead. I watched what happened to that General and Lincoln told me what would have happened to Finn, that how they would have killed him would have been so much worse... Octavia's right, we might not agree with or understand Clarkes decisions but we have to trust that she is making the right ones. We have to remember that she is our leader, that we follow her, for a reason."
By the time she was done talking everyone but Jasper, who was sulking in the back corner, had excepted the truth in their words and were once again calmly looking at Bellamy for direction, knowing that he was Clarkes right-hand man. Glad to have order restored and proud of the words spoken by his sister and Raven, he focused his attention on Monty and Harper. "Are we ready?" Monty straightened up from checking the projector, "Yea, just waiting for your say so." Bellamy nodded and moved out of the way of the make-shift screen that Harper had created with the white fabric. "Play it."
The video fuzzed for a minute before evening out into Clarke's face and part of her upper body they could tell that she was wearing the shirt that they had all seen her in that morning. "If your watching this then I talked to you this morning. I tried to spend a few minutes with each of you, even the ones that I know are mad at me right now, I expect that number to have risen after learning that I left. I'm not sure how long I will have to be away and I wanted to make sure that I remembered each of your faces. You'll start to notice it soon, a few of you might already have noticed little things and written them off as nothing, but it's going to get worse. They don't know any differently. Your freedoms will slowly start to be restricted. They'll give you job's but they will watch you carefully. Your time outside of the gate will be practically nonexistent. These things will just be the start, the Council will never trust us. We are Skaikru but we are no longer of the sky, we understand that the ways of the Ark don't always work on the ground, and that even when they do they still have to be adjusted. That makes us Grounders, and that makes them fear us. That is why I have started on my journey to Polis, the Capital of the Twelve Clans, to make another deal with the devil. One she can't betray. Hopefully as time goes on the people of Camp Jaha will realize what we have and follow the example of the 100, follow your example, but don't do anything about that yet, not until I can return. I don't know when I will reach Polis or when I will be able to return so they're going to need you. I need you. I said that to four of you before I left. Bellamy you'll have a good idea of who they are by now and why I chose them, pause this recording and help them get to the front of the room."
Bellamy nodded to Monty to pause the recording while he turned in Raven's direction and started speaking "Miller I want you to take Octavia and Lincoln's place at the door," when he reached Raven he knelt down beside her and smirked, "okay Reyes, you ready for a little trip, it's only about ten feet but we have to walk around a lot of people." "Yeah, yeah, just pick me up already will ya?" She responded with a laugh earning a few chuckles from various people throughout the room, breaking a little of the tension that had grown during the first part of Clarkes message. The small break in information allowing the words to really sink in and for people to think back over the last 24 hours and realize that they had begun to notice the beginnings of what Clarke was talking about even if it hadn't registered with them at the time. Bellamy and Raven meet Lincoln and Octavia in the front of the room like requested and as they help Bellamy lower Raven back to a cushion on the floor that had been passed forward from her old spot Octavia asks the only question on their minds that Bellamy can answer for them. "How did you know?" Bellamy shakes his head as he answers, projecting his voice to the entire room, knowing that they would all have questions, "Let's watch the rest of the recording then I'll answer any questions you have to the best of my abilities." Nodding to Monty to press play again he hopes Clarke's plan is a good one.
"Before you stand your Council, an Ark tradition that when done right and when picked for the right reasons can work on the ground. You may have noticed some of the reasons already, and I will explain some, but not all, now. To use a Grounder term for these people, which is what we should most often use, they are my Generals, see Lincoln, Octavia, I've been learning, and so will all of you. One of the reasons I chose Lincoln was to teach you, each of you needs to at least be passable in Trigedasleng, you need to be able to communicate with any Grounder you may come into contact with, not just the warriors. Teach you how to fight, train you. At least basic self-defense and weapons training for each of you, Grounder weapons, not all of you have seen the dangers of the forest but they are there, Lincoln, tell them what a Pauna is when this recording is over. Teach you about Grounder culture and customs. Generally just teach you how to survive on the ground, we have a lot to learn. Don't worry I'll be learning the same things you are, while I travel and in Polis, from anyone who will teach me. Lincoln is a calming voice with a practically unmatched inner strength that will keep peace between the other Generals. You are my people, Lincoln." Out of the corner of her eye Octavia can see Lincoln nodding throughout the main part about teaching. When Clarke gives a soft smile and pauses before continuing Octavia looks over to Lincoln only to see that tears have leaked from his eyes. He's crying, the man she loves, her warrior man, whose eyes she has never even seen water before, has been reduced to tears by Clarke and she isn't sure how she feels about it. So she just turns her attention back to the screen as Clarke begins to talk again.
"Octavia is perfectly suited to be one of my Generals. Skaikru and a Grounder, learn from her, she will help Lincoln teach you what she can, I know you were thinking about that while I was talking about it O. But, like Lincoln, that is only one of the dozens of reasons that I picked her. Her passion and her drive and her refusal to give up, not to mention her curious nature are going to be important to all of you while I'm away. Octavia, O, I know your mad at me, and you have every right to be, my decisions had terrible consequences and I take full responsibility for those. I just want you to know that I look at you and Raven as the sisters I never got to have and I hope that one day you're able to look at me that way again too." Clarke gave a sad look and paused again. Suddenly Octavia didn't feel so conflicted about Lincoln having cried at Clarke's words to him, as salty drops were falling from her own lashes. She went to discreetly wipe them away but was stopped when Lincoln, looking straight at the screen, simply grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. She saw no evidence of his earlier tears and knew her own would stop soon enough so she looks back at Clarke's image and lets them fall.
"Raven...Where would any of us be without Raven? She is quite literally a genius, who knows the Arks systems better than anyone. With her knowledge and observation skills she will be able to foresee problems, and bring them to the attention of the other Generals. That's actually something they will all do, but I have a feeling she might see some solutions too, like when she made us the walkie's. She has a lot of connections that will be useful in the future. Plus I need someone to keep Bellamy out of trouble while I'm away. Okay I hope that got at least a few laughs. Raven I talked about you just a little in O's so I'm not going to repeat myself. Instead I'm going to say you're going to be okay, even if you have to wear that brace for the rest of your life. You know how I know that? Because you're strong and determined and smart. I never bet against you Raven I learned that the hard way. If you come to an obstacle you think you can't cross step back and think, talk to Bell and O and Lincoln. That goes for all of you Raven, Bellamy, Octavia, and Lincoln are your Council now, their there to help you." Clarke looked out at them as if pleading for them to understand, and Raven thought she did. This had been a part of Clarke's job, settling the disputes between the 100, solving everyday crisis', Bellamy had helped of course but he didn't have the patience to do it by himself. Now it was their turn to step up, all four of them. Do their jobs as Clarkes Generals and take care of this, along with everything else around camp, while Clare did her job as their leader and fixed it so they had a place among the Grounders. Raven glanced around the room noticing the look of realization on the other three newly appointed General's faces that she suspected was mirrored on her own, she also noticed the only person in the room not paying attention to the recording.
Jasper had taken advantage of every ones distracted states and once again snuck closer to the door. Raven shook her head sadly at him. Knowing that she couldn't stop him herself in her current state, she had no choice but to draw attention to the situation. "Monty pause the recording." As Monty pauses the recording right as Clarke is about to start talking again everyone looks at her, including Jasper who can tell that she is looking right at him. "It's not going to happen Jasper, I guarantee you that at some point in this recording she says something about the importance of secrecy, and right now I don't think you feel much like keeping secrets. Which would not only hurt Clarke, but everyone in this room who follows her, and I can't let you do that." Everyone had now noticed what Raven had noticed, the amount of feet closer to the door that Jasper had edged along the wall. The four Generals shared a look and a nod before setting into motion. Bellamy left his spot beside Raven, only to be replaced by Octavia, Lincoln moved to stand beside Miller at the door, who moves aside so Lincoln could be the one directly in front of the lever, and Bellamy had made Jasper move to sit beside him, front and center in the spots that Octavia and Lincoln had vacated. When Jasper and Bellamy had sat down; the former with an annoyed huff, the latter silently like the entire exchange had been, Raven turned to Monty for the first time "You can turn it back on now." Monty just smiled, muttered "That was seriously badass" and pressed play.
"And finally I don't know what to say other than I don't think I could leave you in more capable hands than Bellamy's. I guess if we were using Ark terms I would say he was something like interim-Chancellor while I was away. But since I am using Grounder terms and I think it fits better anyway, I will say he's my top General. The two of us have lead all of you for so long, he will help the others if they need it, but I don't think they will, they four of them will work together and when they all disagree, which they will, he will put aside his own need to be right and remember. I'm sorry I can't bear this for you. It's your turn to bear it for them. But you don't bear it alone, if I come back to hear that you are, so help me god Bellamy there will be hell to pay. Take care of them for me, Bell" Bellamy feels the tears streaming down his face, half listening to the words coming from the recording and half caught in a memory from just the day before.
Bellamy places his hand on top of Clarke's. She looks up at him. "Together" he promises, he has to do this, they have his sister, she is his responsibility. She is still looking at him so Bellamy sees when Clarkes eyes fill with water as she uses her free hand to lift his hand off of hers and pull the lever down by herself. She brokenly whispers, "I bear it so they don't have to," to him before forcing herself to look at the screens.
"I'm not there to see your reaction to any of this so I'm not sure what else to say to any questions you might have about why I chose the four of them other than it will make sense in time. That the reasons I've stated are just the start of why I chose each of them and that I sincerely hope you give them a chance. I have to wrap this up soon, I've spoken to most of you already this morning, trying to say goodbye without actually saying anything like it. One of you actually punched me, but I can take it if it helps you heal. Before I go say my last four non-goodbyes I need to say what I'm sure that you have already figured out. There will be changes in camp because most of the Grounder stuff you need to learn can't really be hidden very well. You need to find a balance between blending in and your learning. Go to your Generals that's what they are there for, to help you with things like that, and anything else you may need. Secrecy is key, especially until I get in touch with you with the next step of the plan. Everything has to stay between the people in this room. Everyone else already thinks we were already turning into Grounders, which is true, still that doesn't mean they will like it. Be vigilant. Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim."
Everyone stared as the screen finally went blank. Lincoln and Octavia understood what she said and whispered, "May we meet again" into the silence. Bellamy stood from his spot beside Jasper to go stand in front of the make-shift screen once more. "Okay, I said that I would try to answer your questions once the recording was over. I'm sure you have some, so ask." "I have a question," Jasper huffed. "Why should we listen to anything you have to say? Because Clarke said so? Well, why should we listen to Clarke? She killed all those people, even the ones that helped us. I had a plan, I was going to kill Cage, it was going to work." Raven answered softly before Bellamy could, "No it wouldn't have Jasper. I'm sorry but it wouldn't have, it would have been like Clarke killing the Commander instead of Finn." Harper speaks up next, "She's right Jasper, I didn't see it then, but I can see it more clearly now and she's right." Bellamy raises a hand before anyone else can speak, "To address the first part of what Jasper said. I want to know if any of the rest of you feel the same way as he does. I know we were Clarke's choice, but she knows me, and judging by her words at the end of the recording she knows that I'm asking you this question right now. I need to know if any of you are really against any of the decisions that she made and informed us of in that recording." Miller was the one who answered him this time, from his spot in front of the door handle, which he had retaken after Lincoln moved to join Bellamy at the front. "I think I can answer for everyone when I say that while we are still upset that she had to leave, we understand her reasoning for it. With everything that's happened today, just in the amount of time we've been at the Dropship, we've seen some of why she chose the four of you. And the rest of it, like the Grounder stuff, Octavia and Raven were right at the beginning, we have to trust that Clarke is making the right choices. I think she is, like Octavia said, she's not really our Chancellor, she's more like our Commander, so you being her Generals fits, so do the rest of her decisions." The rest of the crowd was nodding their agreement as he spoke; all except Jasper, which was to be expected.
Bellamy looked around the room at all the nodding heads before continuing. "Okay, now that that is out of the way, what are some of your other questions?" Monty cleared his throat before answering. "What are you going to do about Jasper?" He shot a nervous look at his friend who was still glaring at everyone in the room. "I know that he's causing problems right now, but he's just really upset about Maya." Their answer really was something to see Bellamy spoke first, when he pause Octavia took over, then Lincoln, and finally Raven, Jasper glaring dagger at them the whole time. "He has a right to be upset about Maya, Clarke knows that." "There's no way to keep him tucked away somewhere from the rest of the people of Camp Jaha. Clarke disappearing is going to raise their suspicions enough, if another of us disappear the same night as this meeting, especially Jasper, we're all screwed." "So we watch him, always at least two of us in the same room. If it looks like he is going to do or say something remove him from the situation, quickly." "That means we are going to need all of your help though, if it's always the same two people, or the four of us people are going to get suspicious; and you heard Clark we can't let that happen. It's a mix of blending in, letting them think that ultimately they're in charge and getting their way, and learning and being who we really are and following the person who really leads us."