Chapter 15:

Clarke and her captor spent another day travelling silence. Clarke was glad for it. The forward march was helping her keep her mind off of everything else. She just concentrated on moving her feet, one foot in front of the other and repeating the cycle.

Clarke fell to her knees and a painful grunt left her lips. Her legs were aching, her muscled screaming at her, back burned and she was sweating. "I need to rest," she said.

"We can't," the man said quietly looking around. He crouched and made a grab for Clarke's wrists, "get up Clarke, we're being followed."

He pulled Clarke to stand. She didn't remember him using her name once before now. She had thought he didn't know her by anything other than Wanheda. Clarke's curiosity got the best of her as she asked, "How do you know my name?"

The man didn't put his eyes on her instead he licked his lips as if thinking of what to say keeping his eyes pierced to their surroundings. "Just be quiet." He told her as he crouched and turned to look at Clarke.

Clarke could see the serious look on his face and swallowed her next question, the one that was going to ask if Lexa sent him, "Okay, who's following us?"

"There's two of them," he said looking away from Clarke again, "they've been on our trail since I found you."

Clarke looked around. Fear was starting to settle in her bones. She trained her eyes on the forest. She tried to slow her breathing that had suddenly begun to quicken. She concentrated on slowing it as she heard the sound of snapping twigs. The man was right, someone was out there.

The two of them remained in their positions for a few moments longer. Clarke began to come to her senses. "Give me my dagger back, untie me." She thrust her arms forwards gesturing to her bounds.

The man didn't look at her. He didn't respond.

"Look, what other choice do you have? If I try to leave I get killed by someone else and if I stay I can at least help you now. You haven't killed me so I am obviously worth more alive than dead. Let me help."

The man now looked at her. She had a point and they both knew it. He removed her dagger from his hip and stabbed it into the earth after cutting the rope around Clarke's wrists. Clarke breathed a sigh of relief. At least now she could defend herself.

She grabbed her dagger and fixed her stance now ready to launch into defense or offense. She tried not to notice the side glances and smirk the man cast her way. They listened as the snapping twigs stopped.

Whoever was out there had stopped moving.

A man's voice came through the woods, "we observe the commander's peace" he said in Trigadesleng.

Clarke's captor looked at her signaled her to stay and he silently made his way to the left through the trees. Clarke stayed where she was looking for any signs of the strangers in the woods. She said nothing as the man repeated his words.

Then she heard a crack of a branch followed by a heavy thud that sounded like bodies falling to the earth. Clarke shot up and began to move forward towards the noise. She didn't even think about it her body just reacted.

She stopped as soon as she saw movement. She paused trying to understand what she was seeing. Her captor was back on his feet and holding a knife to another mans neck using his body like a shield. She heard him shouting in their native tongue, he was telling someone to put their sword down.

Clarke moved forward slowly trying to remain hidden and quiet. Her heart was pounding and she gripped her dagger tight. She rounded the last tree trunk that had blocked her view of the second stranger and her breath caught in her throat. What?

"Octavia?" Clarke asked in shock.

The small brunette froze turning her head and finding Clarke. Clarke's captor adjusted his stance revealing the man he was holding to be Lincoln. "Stop! Wait!" Clarke shouted at him. "Please don't kill him. I know them." Her captor looked to Clarke and back to Octavia.

"Octavia lower the sword." Clarke said calmly, she was careful not to say the word drop as she didn't fully trust Lincoln's life in her captor's hands.

Octavia looked back to the man, her look of shock removing itself and being replaced with her grounder mask. She had black war paint around her eyes and Clarke tried not to think of who it reminded her of. Clarke took a deep breath and began slowly moving towards Lincoln and her abductor.

"Please, just let him go. We can work this out." Clarke continued pleading with the man.

The man looked at Clarke shrewdly, he loosened his grip and shoved Lincoln towards Octavia. "Thank you," Clarke said breathlessly. She didn't fail to notice all of their guard's were still up. "Look, none of you are going to kill each other over me so just stop it."

Octavia looked to Clarke questioningly. She took a few steps forward before Clarke held up her hand and took a few steps back. Octavia froze and said "Clarke? Clarke you need to come home." Clarke heard the tone of desperation in her voice.

Clarke shook her head and looked at her friend, "No, I don't."

"Clarke…" Octavia began again but the words failed her.

Instead Lincoln tried, "Clarke you don't understand, you're not safe."

"None of us are safe Lincoln. We haven't been safe since our feet hit the ground," Clarke interrupted bitterly. "I'd rather be dead than go back."

The words came out before she could stop them. She didn't even remember thinking them but she knew what she was saying. She didn't want to go back and see the faces of the people she had saved at the mountain, she didn't want to be safe she didn't deserve that, she didn't want to lead, she didn't want the responsibility of anybody's blood on her hands but her own.

She looked away sheepishly, embarrassed for divulging her secret, for professing her secret wish…death.

Octavia took a step forward, concern filled her voice and she reach out with her free hand "Clarke, you don't have to do this…"

"Stop it." Clarke said flatly, choking back tears. She swallowed and looked to the man she had spent the last few days with. "I'm going with…" she paused she still didn't know this man's name.

He looked at her and cleared his throat, "…Roan."

The name escaped his lips and a whizzing sound filled Clarke's hears before a burning pain struck her leg. She fell to the ground with a scream.

"Clarke!" Octavia screamed.

"Get down!" Lincoln shouted to no one in particular.

Clarke looked down to the pain in her thigh and saw and arrow sticking out. She gritted her teeth and flew into action, the arrowhead was drilled into her inner thigh flesh and she could see it sticking out with about 4inches of skin before the rest of the arrow. As she made a grab for the arrow shaft she found Roan's hand on it instead.

"Breathe," he said hurridly and he snapped the shaft and shoved the rest of the arrow through freeing it from the flesh. Clarke screamed in agony in response. The man was already wrapping her leg tight. "Broadleaf clan," he said looking at the arrow. He adjusted his posture and looked around.

He and Lincoln looked at each other as Roan said, "We have to get her out of here."

Lincoln paused for a brief moment before nodding and getting up and heading to Octavia. "Get ready," he told her and Octavia nodded. She glanced back at Clarke, her eyes wide but determined she nodded at Clarke "May we meet again," she said before heading into the trees.

Just as she moved more arrows were loosed hitting the ground and trees around the four of them. Clarke slowly rose to a crouch; her leg burning but the adrenaline pumping and helping her dull the pain.

Clarke heard Roan swear in his native tongue as he dodged an arrow. Then Clarke heard it, the sound of metal and armour accompanied with the heavy footfalls of many grounders rushing towards them.

There were too many.

She looked at Roan and he looked back, he smiled slightly before he shouted at her "RUN!" and he jumped forward rushing the first grounder to appear. He felled the intruder in one swing before colliding with the second. Lincoln came out of his spot and stabbed at the next while Octavia came crashing out of nowhere and took too out at the knees with the edge of her blade.

Clarke watched frozen in horror, there were too many. She had to help, she stood up and groaned in pain as a grounder came flying towards her from the left. She fell to her knees, turned her body and stuck her dagger towards the man. She felt it stab satisfyingly into his throat, she heard his last gurgle of breathe through the blood pooling in his throat and she shoved him off of her. She regained her composure and looked around for the next attack.

"Clarke RUN!" Roan and Octavia both shouted. "Get out of here!" Octavia continued killing another grounder.

Clarke looked around, bodies were coming from every direction before her. Run! Run! Move your fucking feet! She heard the voice in her head shouting.

Clarke finally listened. She turned on her heel and bolted in the opposite direction. She ignored the pain in her leg. She ignored her desperate attempts at catching her breath; she tried to block out the sounds of the fight behind her. She tried to ignore the fact that she had just left her friends to die.