Chapter 4-Dissidence
The bath was soothing for Clarke, after all her time in the wild, not bathing herself, happy to drench herself in the unforgiving cold at this time of year.
She rested against the wall, her right shoulder pressed to the wall of the bath, her eyes closing for now.
She was so tired.
There thankfully, were small shelves pushed out along the sides of the walls of the bath, where someone in the bath could sit and still be in the warm water. She was seated on one of these steps now.
She glanced to her right at where the sword that she'd been given still laid. Thankfully, no one had come in yet.
She had cleaned herself up efficiently already. She knew at some point, she'd have to get out of the water. She really didn't want to, but she knew she'd have to, at some point.
She sighed, slowly raising herself up from the shelf she was seated on, and started climbing out of the embrace of the warm waters.
She grabbed the towels that were along the rack and began drying herself off, her eyes still on the doorway to the bathhouse.
She wondered how long she could stay here, before Luna betrayed her to the commander. Or before the commander discovered where she was, without Luna's help and came to grab her.
Clarke knew that if either of those happened, Clarke would give Lexa something to complain about. Lexa would be lucky if she still had her treacherous tongue by the time Clarke was finished.
(Page break)
Arkadia
The campsite of the people from the Ark, that had at one time been called "Camp Jaha," now was called "Arkadia."
Among the campsite, two young men and a young woman worked on the fence around the perimeter of the campsite.
Wells Jaha, Finn Collins and Raven Reyes.
Wells handed over a small wrench to Raven, at her request.
They tried to pretend that the things they were fixing around here, were actually making a difference.
Deep down, they knew it didn't make much of a difference. Wells, Finn? They knew it didn't. And they were sure that Raven knew it didn't. Yes, it held up a defense against the tribes, but would it do much in the long run? Probably not.
Sure as hell wouldn't fix their issues.
They all had their way of coping with things. Raven trying to fix things and make a stronger fence around the camp.
Finn and Wells taking turns metaphorically pissing on Bellamy, Octavia and other people they felt were responsible for Clarke not being here.
Finn had almost punched Octavia for saying that Clarke wasn't wanted back. Finn was disgusted with himself when he'd almost done that, but it was still a tempting thing.
Finn said quietly, as Raven used a screwdriver on one of the near hinges where a screw was sticking out, "One of the younger kids had a severe nightmare last night."
Raven sighed.
"Which kid?" She asked.
Finn answered, "Max. I think he said something about the Mountain Men."
He and Wells both practically felt Raven shudder.
"I see," she said.
Max was one of the kids that was in the mountain during the separation between the 100. Max got caught in the dropship during Anya's attack on the 100 and he got caught by the Mountain Men.
Wells still cursed Anya and the commander. This was their faults. All of it was. If they hadn't attacked the people from the sky in the first place, none of the 100 would have felt like they could trust the Mountain Men, out of desperation. If it weren't for the tribes, who abandoned the 100 and everyone else from the Ark in the Mountain Men's hands, then they wouldn't be dealing with this much trauma.
This? This was the commander's fault and Anya's fault.
And honestly? Wells wasn't even sure he could blame the Mountain Men. Not anymore. They were forced underground by the Grounders, right? Weren't they victims of the commanders of the tribes too?
Wells hated them, sure. They had tried to kill Clarke, tried to kill Raven and Finn. But why did they do it in the first place? Because they were desperate. Because they were put in that situation by the ancestors of the people of the tribes.
Wells didn't like thinking about this, but in some way, the Mountain Men and the people of Arkadia had more in common than either group had with the tribes.
Wells didn't trust anyone from the tribes, save for Lincoln. Lincoln had helped them. Always.
The rest of the tribes? Wells had always felt his stomach turn whenever the subject of mass murder came up, but he felt like if there was ever an ideal candidate as a people for it, the Trikru, at least, was a good one.
Maybe even all of the tribes as a whole.
Who knew talk like that was considered bigotry. But was it necessarily incorrect?
All Wells and his people had known since coming down here, was death and hardship. And it was all the fault of the Grounders.
Wells didn't care what the Grounders did to him. But what they had done to Clarke, Raven and Finn? That was enough to make hate breed in his blood.
And because of the tribes, Jasper was dead.
Jasper was separated from Monty in the fight between Anya's army and the 100. Jasper afterwards was freshly traumatized, had grabbed a gun and had gone looking for Monty.
He'd been triggered and opened fire on multiple people in the village he, Murphy, Finn, Wells and Bellamy had stumbled on.
If only it were Bellamy or Murphy that had opened fire. Then the tribes could have had either one of them.
Wells would have been happy to let the tribes cut Bellamy or Murphy to pieces.
But it was not. It had been Jasper.
And Jasper was targeted by the commander. It was part of the deal, at least at the time.
Clarke came up with a deal, that they form peace with the Grounders, if they could cure the Reapers.
That should have been good enough to the commander, but it was not. They had demanded Jasper's life.
Even though Jasper had attacked the village when the 100 and the Grounders were already at war…
Funny how the commander excused herself in that way.
But after Clarke killed Jasper, as a mercy kill, the commander stated that that was fine and the agreement between the groups would be made.
And the 100 and the rest of the people from the Ark? Actually believed it. But the commander had not held to her end of the deal.
Big fucking surprise.
Not only had she left the mountain, she left Wells, Clarke, Raven and Finn's people in the mountain.
She was the reason why the 100 and the rest of the Ark people were suffering. She and the tribes. No one else.
Wells knew he was happy that the commander was not here. Otherwise, all consequences aside? He'd most likely try to spit in her face.
He wasn't sure he could ever bring himself to raise his hand to a woman, but the commander, like Octavia, sure made it easy to imagine himself doing it.
Anya at least he had some respect for, because she came back to the mountain with Lincoln in tow, to come help Wells, Clarke and the others.
Anya had gone against orders from her own commander to do this. Wells might still be enraged at her for working with the commander for so long and being the front of the first attack, but he would always respect her for that.
Clarke, Wells knew, didn't know about Anya coming back. When Wells had seen Anya hacking through a bunch of mountain soldiers with another Tri warrior, named Wakuren, he was on the other side of the mountain, trying to avoid being shot at.
Clarke, Monty and Bellamy were in the control room of the mountain and Monty had just finished wiring everything for the lever to be pulled.
Clarke hadn't seen that Anya, Lincoln and Wakuren had come back.
All she likely knew, was that Lincoln was captured by the commander and ordered to be brought back to their camp.
All she knew was that Lincoln was the one Grounder to be trusted. She had no idea about Anya or about Wakuren.
Wells knew he'd tell her, as soon as he saw her again.
Thinking about Clarke not being here, made him wince.
His sister, in all ways, save for blood, he hadn't seen for five months. He missed her painfully.
He hoped she was safe.
When they had gotten out of the mountain, after the Mountain Men were killed, Wells had gotten out with a large group of the rest of the people from the Ark. But Clarke had gotten out with Bellamy after them. And she had left.
Wells still to this day, condemned Bellamy for that. For not going to Wells and telling him.
Now, there wasn't much that Wells didn't blame Bellamy for, so that was more or less to be expected.
But it just reinforced how much Wells hated Bellamy.
He hated Bellamy so much. It wasn't even funny. He might actually hate Bellamy more than he hated the commander and her tribes. The only difference was that Bellamy wasn't in command of an army that might kill him first chance he got.
Or at least, he wasn't anymore. Bellamy certainly had earned Wells's hate at the beginning when they first came down. He had treated him and Clarke like animals just for existing.
Bellamy had since tried to patch things up with Wells.
But Wells wouldn't let him.
Wells made it clear to the man, that if Bellamy tried to get him to not treat him with hostility, Wells would just "shoot the bastard in the head."
And Wells had added after that, "And I promise you, Blake, I'm a much better shot than you." He had sneered the words out and had enjoyed how Bellamy had paled at Wells's words.
Wells's words had a double meaning.
He had threatened Bellamy's life happily, yes, but he also with those words, had reminded Bellamy of the older man trying to kill Wells's father.
After that, Bellamy had let Wells be.
But Wells, feeling a thrill over having made Bellamy scared, made a habit of it. And Finn was as repulsed by Bellamy as Wells was, so he participated.
Raven would try to get them to stop, so Wells and Finn made a habit of threatening and insulting Bellamy when Raven wasn't around.
To that end, Wells hated Bellamy endlessly, including for letting Clarke go, for not telling anyone until after Clarke had long since left.
There were so many times when Wells had wondered how different things would have been, had Bellamy only been the one to open fire on those villagers after the fight with Anya's army, and not Jasper.
Only further proof for him that life sucked.
Wells, however, knew this-should any horrific and dangerous event happen and Bellamy needed help? Wells would leave him to die.
He and Finn had agreed on this.
When Raven finished fixing what was here in the bay they were in, she said she and Finn were going to get some food. Raven asked if Wells wanted any.
Wells shook his head, smiling and told her he was fine.
He thanked her and walked away as Raven and Finn headed to the resource area.
Wells looked around the camp, wanting to see if anyone was approaching.
He saw no one nearby.
And he looked through the small holes of the fence and to the forest where he saw a figure standing in the shadows, beginning to lean out.
It was Anya.
"Anya," Wells greeted, smiling, "You're here."
Anya nodded to him. "Did you think I would not arrive when I said I would?" She asked, her voice unamused.
Wells shrugged. "Hell if I know," he confessed, "What have you heard?" (If anything,) was what he didn't say.
"Not much," Anya said, her jaw tight before she answered, "I know that the commander is looking for her. But hasn't found her yet."
Wells nodded.
Well, for that, anyway, he was grateful.
The last time the commander was here, looking for Clarke, after having heard that Clarke had gone missing, she had claimed that she meant Clarke no harm. But Wells couldn't believe that. None of his people believed that. How could they? After what Lexa had done at the mountain?
No, Wells didn't trust the commander. Not as far as he could throw her, in fact. If he ever found out where Clarke was, he sure as hell was not going to tell the commander.
Clarke had done what no commander had done in the past-she had wiped out all the Mountain Men.
She was the commander of death now in the eyes of the tribes.
So, how bad did that make the current commander look? Especially after Lexa had abandoned Clarke at the mountain and let the Mountain Men live.
Lexa couldn't be happy about that.
So, what would the commander do to Clarke if she got the chance?
"You're telling the truth?" Wells asked, unable to help but sound cautious.
Anya scoffed, "What would lying do to you help me? You already know that I am loyal to Klark. Not to the commander. She threw her right to being respected and having me be loyal to her, when she let the Mountain Men go and potentially endanger everyone in doing so."
Wells tried not to snicker.
Of that, she was correct.
Not only had allowing the Mountain Men have the 100 and the rest of the people from the Ark, endanger the people of the Ark themselves, but also, all of the rest of the people of the tribes.
Because by giving the Mountain Men the bone marrow needed to cure themselves of their sickness to the outside air, Lexa had also given them a way of going up above ground and attacking anyone they chose.
The only advantages that the tribes had against the Mountain Men's technology, guns and advanced science, were that there were more people within the tribes altogether, than in the mountain, and the people of the tribes could survive the outside air.
Those were the only two advantages. And by allowing the 100 and the rest of the people of the Ark to be in the Mountain Men's custody, Lexa had almost eliminated one of those advantages her own people had over the Mountain Men, by giving the Mountain Men a way of surviving outside of the mountain.
The commander had more or less almost gotten her own people killed by giving the Mountain Men a way of surviving outside of the mountain, all the while claiming that she was allowing the Mountain Men to have access to bone marrow, "for the good of her people."
Lexa either had wanted the Mountain Men to win, or she was just a complete moron.
There was no in between.
Anya and Wakuren, both of who had been in contact with Wells over the past few months, secretly, had agreed with Wells on this.
It was a relief for Wells to know that Anya and Wakuren at least, agreed that Lexa was either not to be trusted, or not that intelligent.
Wells said quietly, "Well, if you find her, please tell me first."
Anya snorted quietly, "I will tell Wakuren first. Then you. Neither of us will tell the commander."
Wells nodded. That was good enough to him.
"Wells," Anya began, then stopped herself.
At Anya's pause, Wells asked, "Anya? What is it?"
Anya answered, "Never mind it. It's about Wakuren. She's the one that should tell you. It's her concern. Not mine. It in no way will be a threat to you or to Klark or any of your people. But she needs to speak with you. It's her place and her place alone to tell you what you need to hear."
Wells wasn't sure what this was all about, but he answered, "Alright. You should probably go soon. Before someone sees you."
"Understood," Anya responded.
She turned, then added, glancing at Wells, "There is one other thing."
"Hmm?" Wells asked, worried for a moment, but prepared himself.
Anya added, "The tribes have begun to stir. They have begun to murmur the same things that you, Wakuren and I have discussed. Many see Leksa as more of a liability to the tribes than a form of protection."
Wells's eyes widened.
Really? He was enjoying the thought of that. However, another thought hit him.
That none of this could be good.
Before, the tribes more or less all had been under the commander's control. If there currently was dissidence in the ranks? Then that meant that the tribes could be unpredictable.
That mean that some people from the tribe, might decide to freely attack this camp and try to kill some Sky People, just because they felt like it.
"Shit," Wells said quietly.
Anya nodded. "I see you've figured out the problem with this," she said.
"Yeah," Wells mumbled, "Damn. Is there anything we can do?"
Anya paused before answering, "Keep the electricity of your fence up. And keep your weapons loaded. Make sure you have bombs available. You took some of the weapons from the mountain, yes?"
"Yeah," Wells said, gulping slightly, "You're saying there's a possibility we might actually have to use some of the bombs from the mountain?"
He knew how dangerous those things were. He had seen the destruction at Ton DC.
And no, he didn't blame Clarke. She had done what she needed to do. If Clarke had alerted the people of Ton DC to the Mountain Men bombing the city, then the Mountain Men would have known that Clarke had someone on the inside, feeding her and Raven information. That someone had unfortunately been Bellamy, so, Wells hadn't cared about Bellamy himself, but the information that was provided by Bellamy, on the other hand, was valuable. And if the Mountain Men figured out that Bellamy was there and spilling information? Then whatever advantage that the tribes and the people of the Ark had, would be forfeited.
That was why Clarke hadn't said anything.
Yes, Wells was there when the bomb hit Ton DC. Yes, he almost had been killed. Yes, he'd been shocked at Clarke's decision, when Octavia had figured it out and Wells heard her snap at Clarke about it.
But he had understood, unlike Octavia.
He had gotten it.
Clarke was desperate. It wasn't like Lexa's decision with the Mountain Men, regardless of how much Lexa might tell herself that it was.
Lexa willingly had allowed the Mountain Men to keep the Sky prisoners and in doing so, gave them bone marrow.
Bone marrow that would allow the Mountain Men to survive outside of the mountain and attack and slaughter any tribe the felt like attacking and slaughtering.
Ton DC? Had been just two hundred people killed, next to who knew how many lives that would have been lost, had they lost their advantage and the Mountain Men discovered that Bellamy was on the inside of the mountain, leaking information.
Wells understood exactly why Clarke had done what she had done, unlike Lexa, who Wells would never understand.
Anya took a deep breath then as she said, "This….I know this would be an extreme decision to make, but if things become severe, it might be wise to leave. I'll look for Klark and should I find her, Wakuren and I will bring her to where you're going."
Wells's eyes widened.
Leave? As in get far away from the lands of the tribes?
As insane an idea as that might have sounded, it might not have been the worst idea. The commander clearly wasn't to be trusted, all the tribes hated the people from the sky. But still, they didn't know where Clarke was.
"Discuss it with me," Anya said, "After I find Klark."
Wells nodded, grateful to her for her help. "Thank you, Anya," he said, "Good luck."
Anya nodded to him, then left.
Wells breathed out and looked around. Thankfully no one seemed to have seen him talking with Anya.
Be turned and began walking back to the main part of camp.
He desperately hoped that Anya or Wakuren found Clarke soon.
Author's note
Ah, it feels good to tear into Bellamy and Lexa again. Useless morons.
Let me make something clear; I think both of them are morons. I just think Bellamy is more of a self-centered moron that would kill anyone for his own happiness, and the people in the fandom that defend him? Cringe.
Lexa is just stupid and doesn't know how to properly run the tribes, is all. Am I happy about what happened to her in season 3? Not at all, obviously. Rothenberg's a homophobic piece of trash. But clearly Lexa shouldn't be trusted with all that power. It's really frustrating that she's that incompetent. She might actually be the dumbest character I've ever seen.