Sorry for the faults , my beta is in Holiday and if i don't publish , i have a hard time moving on the story. I know, maybe the story is not enough in depth concerning the relationship (though the living are hungry) , but well, i still tried .
A scoff, follow by a glare , an 'accidental' elbow in the ribs ,a scowl, then Indra took Clarke 's weapons so nicely , so caringly, she was almost ready for a repeat of the performance in the tent but now there seemed to be an understanding between them. They will probably never like each other , nevertheless they were starting to respect the other, something none of them will ever confess even under torture .Welcome to Ton dc . The peoples were really happy to see them, though sarcastically Clarke ,well it was to be expected. Clarke managed to stop the Heda from killing a man , the resentment toward her people were already high enough, no need to add more, and from what she understood the man already had lost enough , she was understanding their language more and more but she knew she had to keep this skill hidden , if she was starting to talk and understand something she shouldn't, she will be even more suspicious, it was an advantage too, as long as the grounders thought she couldn't understand them , they will let escape what they really thought about them, what they will do to them once the war was over. Right now, she could not lose this advantage, not when the situation was so fragile.
The talk with the Heda in front of the fire gave her a glimpse of the way of thinking of the commander. She seemed to share her body with two personalities, the girl who was with Costia was free, loving, and warm but the Heda was ruthless, cold, and impersonal. What really worried her was that as long as there was war,the Heda will be the one with whom she will interact, she really needed a back up plan, the Heda could not be trusted with her friends, the girl could, maybe in time of peace she will see more of the girl and they will reach an agreement. When she will be back to Amyla, they will have to start immediately to catch some Reapers, she could not wait anymore, not fully trusting the grounders or her own people to do what was necessary for freeing her friends.
Her mother brought a bottle for the peace talk, Gustus drank from the cup before the Heda, poisoning himself, during the seconds she still had before everything go awry, Clarke's mind was in overdrive, her mother might not like the Grounders but she will never put everyone at risk. Raven was still grieving, she was ruthless enough for tempting something like that but she trusted her, Raven knew their survivals was depending of this alliance. Since nothing was making sense, she drank her cup in one gulp, proving to the Grounders that they were not the one trying to poison their Heda. Gustus was proven guilty, their alliance will stand, it was time to go back to camp. On the way she began to tell Bellamy, Raven and Murphy about part of her plan , that she was wanting to cure the Reapers. She didn't told them the Reapers could help them to take Mount Weaver or her idea about a new clan , not because of a lack of trust but Amyla had been clear, her ideas were too dangerous, if any of them were letting even a word escape them, they could be kidnaped, tortured and finally killed by the mountain men or a rival clans, forcing them to reveal all they knew , she couldn't take that chance.
They all agreed to help. Raven will start to work on a device to take down Reapers. At first, they will only use the traps that Amyla and the girls were preparing . Lincoln already knew where to go to find only a few Reapers, they could start the experiment.
Clarke and Murphy were in front of a cavern, making the more noise they could,
" Tell me again princess, what are we doing here? "
" Don't call me that! Well, we have drawn the short straw, I would have prefer too to hide behind the trees, at distance, and not having to run between traps with a bunch of reapers following us! "
«"This is a bad idea, this is a bad idea, this is a bad idea… "
" Damn it shut up! "
They were now screaming to each over , which involuntary gain the attention of all the Reapers ,not just small groups like they wanted .They were running like hell while screaming, zigzagging between the traps, they were almost safe before falling into one of their traps, a hiding hole , two Reapers following them. The fight wasn't going well, they were losing, their weapons had disappeared during their fall, suddenly they heard a warrior's scream. It was Tia , an electric weapon in her hands , she jumped in the hole and knocked the two reapers out . She then looked at them, searching for any serious injuries , when she saw none, she gave them a solemn nod and took a cord , leaving them to search for others Reapers to knock out.
" Great, now everything really happened to me, I have been rescued by a little girl! "grumbled Murphy.
" Yes " answered Clarke with a proud smile " she is becoming a great warrior! "
" Right, a great warrior, not a little girl, maybe if I can convince myself of that, it will be easier to accept! "
They caught twenty Reapers, all were secure with ropes, the mission was a success. They brought them to the Drop ship, attaching them against the walls .Clarke began to give them some medicaments for helping the withdrawal , she had' liberate' some medicaments from the Camp before leaving.
Raven, Octavia and Murphy will be the first to keep watch , Amyla and Tia will take the second watch .Since they had twenty reapers ready to help them once they were cured, Bellamy took the decision to infiltrate the Mountain with Lincoln's help. They were afraid for them but his idea was good, it was true they needed someone inside to help them neutralize the acid and to allow them to enter in the mountain, they had no other choices. Clarke took him appart before he left,
"You are really sure you want to do this?" asked Clarke, worried.
"Yes. Clarke we need someone Inside , and I'm the only one who is crazy enough to try this. Please Watch Octavia while I'm gone!"
A snort from Clarke, "You know how she is, you only have to tell her something for her to do the opposite."
"I know" said Bellamy with a smirk " she is headstrong , like almost every girls I know!"
"Ok , ok i will do everything i can to keep her safe ,even if she doesn't listen to anything i say , happy?", a nod from Bellamy, "and contact me as soon as you can , be careful please."
"I will , don't worry, everything will work out! May we meet again "said Bellamy with a serious look
"May we meet again" answered Clarke, they separate each over and left in different directions.
On their way to the Sky Camp , Amyla asked Clarke how it had gone with the Heda, what she thought of her. She told her the truth, " Yes " confirmed Amyla " we follow our Heda because she leads with her head, she is ruthless , it's why she is so respected, it's also why every grounders follow her , she isn't allow to show any weakness! "
" It's what worry me Amyla! Our ways to lead, to see things are too different! Our people are too different! I have nothing against her ,I know she is a great warrior ,a great leader, that without her we will be at war. I respect her , but I don't even trust my own mother with my friends , I will certainly not start to trust the commander! "
" I understand Clarke; it's a good thing to be cautious in time of war. "said Amyla with a resigned sigh.
They were arriving at the Camp, Amyla and Tia quickly left to hide in the tent, they will only stay a few days and pack everything they needed to go at the Drop ship and organize the Reapers. Mea and Aura will stay at the Camp with Clarke and her friends, they were still too young to participate in war.
Clarke was summoned by the Heda and the generals; she rode to Ton dc with a guard that her mother insisted for her to take. The meeting was going worse and worse, she needed to take a breath of fresh air. While walking in the forest, she began to really worry when she saw Quint, even with her training he was too strong, too experienced for her to take him down, but damn it she will make sure that his fight will be over if she had a chance, she will see her family and friends again!
She began to run, trying to think of a plan when she saw the guard who had come with her. A relieved sigh, safe, unfortunately, even before she could formulate a plan to take down the general, the guard was dead! Her chances of surviving didn't seemed good, she run faster but Quin pin her on the ground ready to kill her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes , the image of Amyla and the girls smiling at her was probably the last thing she will ever see , when sudenly the Heda saved her. The Heda was going to say something to her, when Clarke snapped, the fear and adrenalin giving her more strength, she throw herself to Quin, pounding him with her fists, « I'm not weak ! », she left him bleeding on the ground and took the knife that Amyla gave her, burrowing it in his neck. A lesson hardly learnt by Amyla, never let an enemy behind who could be a threat to you and your family, specially your family .
She was huffing from the exhaustion of the fight, finally she looked to the Heda " Sorry, you wanted to tell me something? "
Heda and the guard were looking at her with a strange expression, a mix between wariness and respect, while Quint was bleeding to death, " No, nothing "; Heda then told to Quint that his fight was over.