Rayne's Point of View
I stood there in the doorway, it had been less than half an hour since Clarke had killed Finn. Less than half an hour since Raven had pushed past Bellamy and I and rushed out of our compound and towards Finn's body. I had been standing here for not even half that time watching Clarke as she sat there shaking uncontrollably staring at the blood all over her hands, Finn's blood.
There was nothing remotely comforting that I was going to be able to say that would calm her nerves. Anything that I had wanted to say to her just didn't sound helpful. I knew what Bellamy would tell her; 'You did the right thing.' Which in a sense was true, in killing Finn she spared him a long tormenting death. Lincoln had explained to us exactly how this ritual goes, that would have been worse for both girls to endure.
I felt my body moving towards her as I sat down next to her pulling her closer to me much like I had with Raven not to long before. I felt her nuzzle her head in between my neck and could feel her body jolt from her sobbing. I began to brush back her hair with my free hand, "I am here for you Clarke, you need anything at all… scream, shout, cry, slap someone… I will be here for you." I told her as I felt her laugh silently.
"I—I, I didn't mean to… I—I just, I can't." She began to stutter as I hushed her. "Talk when you are ready Clarke, but we need you to be strong. You are as much our leader as she is their commander and you know it… you will endure this pain, you will come out on top…it's what he would have wanted… you spared him." I told her as I felt her nod.
She sat up and looked back down at her hands noticing the blood once again, I looked at her hands with her. Their was a combination of her hair and Finn's stuck to her fingers. Her breathing became erratic as she began trying to scrub the blood from her skin. She starting sobbing uncontrollably again so I began to rub her back in an attempt to calm her down.
I noticed Abby had entered the commander's tent once she had knelt down in front of Clarke offering her help as she looked at me almost telling me to go away. What Clarke needed now was strength, empowerment. The grounders where going to try and use her weakness against her, or they where at least going to try to. She didn't need to be babied by Abby and treated like glass Clarke was better than that.
I stood up making my way over to my father whom I had noticed was also in the tent with us. I stood next to him as he wrapped his arm around me, "Everything will be alright." He assured me.
"She needs to be strong dad, I know what she did was tough and if I had to kill Bellamy I would be a wreck too… but their leader treats Clarke like she's ours…if she shows weakness they will exploit that in her." I whispered to him.
"She's a lot stronger than you're giving her credit for Rayne." He told me.
"Dad… she just killed her first real love. She is anything but strong right now… I can tell you that much." He just nodded, "She has you, Bellamy, the drive to save her friends… she will be ok." Explained as I smiled to myself. He was right, she had all of us she would be fine.
"They would've tortured him. I had to. I—" I heard Clarke begin to mutter again. She had no reason to justify her actions in my mind, they where justified none of us would have wanted to watch one of our own go through that. "What did I do?" Clarke cried out.
Soon the entrance to the tent was opened as Marcus and I turned to look at whom it was that had entered, Gustus stood there staring over at Clarke and Abby. "The Commander is ready to talk." He announced as Clarke slowly began to stand up and moved away from her mother.
Once Clarke had quickly composed herself we stood there and watched as Lexa entered the tent followed by Murphy's grounder, Indra and a few of the guards. Indra however if looks could kill I'm sure we'd be dead a few times over. The two woman took their places on either side of the commander with Gustus standing along side Murphy's grounder friend Nova.
"Blood has answered blood." The commander spoke. "Some on my side say that's not enough. They wanted the murderer to suffer as our tradition demands," She explained to us as my eyes darted to Nova whom just nodded her head in Indra's direction causing me to shake my head.
"But they do not know that your suffering will be worse." The commander responded coldly. "What you did tonight will haunt you until the end of your days. Still, there will be restitution. The body will be given to the people of Tondc, murderer and murder joined by fire; only then can we have peace." She told us.
"No. No. We've done enough. The boy should be buried by his own people." Marcus said from next to me, "Not if we want this peace, or to get our people out." I told him as the commander's eyes darted to me.
"That's your daughter I assume… smart girl." She remarked, "Enough? We were owed the pain of 18 deaths. We were owed our righteous kill, your child is right. My village deserves justice." Indra ranted.
"You don't want justice. You want vengeance." Abby added.
"You have not seen my vengeance." Indra growled.
"We'll do it…" Clarke spoke confidently. "Rayne is right, this is the way to get peace." She said as she looked at me quickly before returning to face the commander. "But when it's over we talk about how to get our people out of Mount Weather, all of our people."
"We want the same things, Clarke."
"Good. When do we leave?" Clarke spat out, more vile than I was sure she had intended to sound.
"Now." The commander told her as she stood up from her throne. "Choose your attendants." She told us as she began to walk out of the tent closely followed by Indra, Nova, Gustus and the guards.
"Clarke, you don't have to do this." Abby quickly began to badger her.
"She has no choice." I told Abby as Clarke looked at me and nodded. "She is right Mom. I do have to do this. If this truce doesn't hold, I killed Finn for nothing." Clarke commented as she began to leave the tent not before taking me by my wrist leading me out along side her.
Once out of the tent she looked at me and let out a long sigh; "Thank you back there… didn't feel like I was alone for once in this… can you grab Bellamy… I want you two to be apart of my attendants."
I smiled at her and nodded, "Of course Clarke, anything." She began to nod at me about make another comment when she noticed where my eyes had travelled off too. Raven was kneeling on the ground next to Finn's body crying. "I'll go get Bellamy." I told her as I turned around and began to head off in search of my boyfriend.
Saying that still felt really strange, in all this pain, death, torture, survival that we had all been going through I managed to find him amidst the darkness and chaos. I had managed to find love and happiness, and yet still managed to make it work through all of this.
"Where are you going?" I heard his deep velvety voice call out from near by, when I had snapped out of my trance and had totally just been wondering aimlessly since I had entered the camp. I turned and looked at Bellamy as he walked towards me engulfing me into a hug.
"Was coming to find you." I smiled at him.
"How are they doing?" He asked as we walked towards our room.
"Clarke is handling herself really well, but she looks completely broken. I think before we head out later I'll go see her." I told him as he nodded; "Raven is a mess." He just stared at me, "I expected no less from her."
"So Clarke wants us to join her in an hour or so we leave to bring Finn's body to that village he, well… that village. They want to burn his body along side the bodies of their people." He nodded again, "Alright, so we have an hour than?" He asked me grinning cheekily.
"You are bad." I smiled at him.
We had been walking all night long Lexa was ahead of us with her three heads in command, Nova, Indra and Gustus. There were two horses behind them pulling a cart with Finn's corpse on it, as well as Raven who was just sitting there staring at his wrapped up body. Bellamy and I where walking behind Clarke, with her mom and my father behind us with a few guards of both sides.
I kept my eyes on the back of Clarke's head; she seemed so out of it like she was off in a different world all together. I felt Bellamy nudge my arm causing me to look at him. "Should we say something to her?" He asked me. "Maybe." I told him.
He took my hand and lead me towards Clarke so that they where both now on either side of me. "Hey, are you doing all right?" Bellamy asked her as she turned and looked at us almost as if she didn't even realize that we had walked up next to her.
She kept staring at the woods causing me to look out at the forest too; she was staring off at nothing. Was what Lexa said right? That her mercy killing Finn was going to consume her for the rest of her life? Was she seeing things? I couldn't even fathom what she was going through and I wish there was a way that I could help her through this.
"Yea." She said meekly.
"You did the right thing." Bellamy told her as he gripped my hand.
"Even if it may not feel like the right thing now." I added in as I felt Bellamy's eyes attach to me.
"I don't think this will ever feel like the right thing. I am the one that gets to live with this decision, with this choice." She spat out coldly.
"Bellamy, you still think this truce is a bad idea, don't you?" She asked him.
"I think we're wasting a lot of time playing with politics while our friends are in trouble." I nodded, "We should have tried to go save them a long time ago Clarke… they will never truly accept peace."
"They will when we're dead." Bellamy muttered.
"Well we need their army to get to Mount Weather, and you know it. Unless either of you know of another way to break into a government hide away." Clarke snapped at the two of us.
"Yea and their army has been getting their ass kicked by Mount Weather forever." He commented back. "What we need is an inside man, someone to be our eyes and ears."
"Wait what?" I snapped out realizing what he was suggesting.
"Forget it. It's too dangerous, and clearly you forgot to talk to Ray about it at all." She growled.
"Clarke, if you and the grounder girl can make it out, I can make it in. Ray, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you about it… I didn't think you would mind." He admitted.
"Wouldn't mind you rushing into a death sentence?" I asked him as I dropped his hand.
"I said no, Bellamy." Clarke snapped again.
"Since I don't take orders from you, I'm gonna need a better reason." Bellamy told Clarke.
She looked at him stopping him in his tracks as I just continued to walk. "How about her, for a reason Bellamy. I lost Finn, imagine how she would take it losing you and knowing I was the one who let it happen."
I turned around and looked at the two of them, as Bellamy nodded. "Fine, and I'm sorry." He told the two of us.
Nova's Point of View
Lexa turned to Indra and had asked her to fall back a short bit before she turned her attention to both Gustus and I. Indra and a few others in the clan where not happy with Lexa for allowing Clarke to live for killing Finn, for making a pact with the Sky People. I was thankful for this possibly short-lived peace pact, we needed them as much as they needed us. Many of our people were trapped in there just as theirs where, many that I wasn't able to help escape.
"Stop worrying, Gustus." Lexa told him softly. "Like you've always told me, all alliances are risky." She remarked.
"This is not the same as uniting the twelve clans. The Sky People are different; they're more like the Mountain Men than us. It could kill our coalition."He explained to her.
"Our coalition, or me?" She asked him.
"You are the coalition, Commander." He reminded her.
"Then do your job and protect me." She told her sternly as Indra rejoined us on my side.
"Nova, you have been quite I have to admit I am really surprised you didn't opt to walk along side your brother."
She asked me as I felt all their eyes on me.
"Lincoln hasn't been my brother since he had abandoned me to die along side Anya and our people, for that girl."
I heard Indra and Lexa both stifle a laugh before I looked at Gustus who had a stern look on his face. "He hasn't been one of us for a long time, Nova. Yet here you are still strong with the clan." Indra commented.
"Nova is my second, should she be anything less than committed to us and she would be at the back of this group along side her brother." Lexa explained.
"I still get Murphy of the Sky People as promised do I not?" I asked her with a grin.
"Spoils of war." Lexa laughed softly as she raised her hand up slightly.
"He was the boy who gave up his people, when we captured him in the woods no?" Indra asked.
"Yea, that's him. Anya and I had found him hiding in the woods after his people tortured him, they abandoned him for wanting justice." I explained as Indra nodded, along with Gustus.
"Than he would be welcomed into our Clan should he choose to accept our ways and methods." Lexa told me with a smile.
The night had fallen and the Sky People where setting up their camp on the other side of us like we were some sort of disease. Shaking my head I finished making the fire for them and went to move back towards my people when Clarke took my wrist stopping me. "Don't, please stay over here… it'd be nice to talk to you… since the last time we spoke things really didn't go over well." She said as I nodded.
"Sure." I said as I sat down on the ground next to the fire as she slowly began to make a bed before she was interrupted by one of her people.
"Clarke, it's safer on our side." He told her as the red haired girl soon made her way up to his side.
"Who told you it was safer on the side?" I asked him as Clarke stood up; "We need to trust them, Bellamy. There are no more sides." She told him before moving so she was lying down on the ground.
I nodded before I heard my name being called by Gustus, "Sleep well Clarke, I will wake you in the morning." I told her as she smiled at me. As I headed back towards the Commander's tent I noticed the girl and boy had made their way to lay near the fire like Clarke had. So maybe they weren't all as bad as we had initially thought they where.
"Does she need me?" I asked Gustus as he nodded. I slowly entered her tent to see her standing there alone in the tent meaning Indra must not have been asked to come in like usual.
"Lexa?" I asked her, "You asked for me to be here?"
She turned around and looked at me before moving towards the bed that was made for her. Sometimes I often thought of her more as Royalty than our war chief. "I need to ask a favor of you Nova. A favor that you are not to tell anyone about, not Gustus, the Sky People, no one." She began to say as I nodded sitting next to her on her bed.
"Anything you ask, Lexa." I told her.
"I need you to keep a closer eye on the Sky People. Befriend them, I know that you are close to John Murphy… but these ones do not trust us… I need to know that if anything was to happen that they would keep us safe."
I nodded towards her, "Of course I will make sure that they will keep you safe." I explained to her as she placed her hand on my knee. "No, us. You and I."
I looked at her arching my brow, "What do you mean the two of us?" I asked her.
"I have enemies all around me now, since making this alliance with the Sky People. I need to know that if anything is attempted on our lives that they will protect us."
I looked at her confused, why would she require my life to be protected too. "If I am to die, it has already been spoken that you will be taking my place. Some people believe you would just be a younger version of myself… they will kill you before you could even answer the Call." I nodded at her understanding what she meant.
"I will do as you ask, Lexa. I will get as close to them as I can."