The world tumbled, turned, twisted and burned. Heat, red hot and searing flared in every direction. Metal screeched in pain, bolts rattled and screamed out in fear, in agony, in a cacophony of sounds that assaulted Anya's ears.
Go-Sci station and every other segment of the Ark plummeted down to Earth's surface. The once proud structures now nothing more than burning hunks of fire that did everything they could to protect the inhabitants strapped into seats in the hopes that they would survive reentry.
Anya didn't let herself think about what ifs, she didn't let herself consider the possibility that she could die at any second. The only thing she let herself think about was what she would do once she was on the ground. She thought of plans, strategies, first steps that would get her the information she needed to find Lexa, to find out what had happened, who had attacked and how she could rescue her friend.
They had been through too much together for her to not at least try.
Anya grit her teeth and she winced as she sensed part of Go-Sci station buckle with the stress of reentry. those around her seemed to be lost in their own worlds, some full of worry and fear, some able to stamp down their worries better. And yet Anya saw determination on everyone's face, she saw resilience and hope.
Perhaps the fear had been tempered by the fact that the hundred volunteers had made it so far, perhaps it was because this journey they now found themselves on was far less of a gambit than what it had originally been considered. Whatever the reason Anya wouldn't question, she had a distinct feeling that every single one of them would need that confidence, that drive for success as soon as the dust settled upon their new lives.
And so she gripped the armrests of the chair she was strapped into, she looked to her left and she smiled awkwardly as her gaze met Octavia's, the younger woman's hair a wild mess as she was buffeted left and right, up and down.
They were going to make it.
Clarke sat on her chair, her fingers slowly rubbing against the weathered wood, her mind turning over the conversation she had just had. Lexa and Bellamy had both been removed from her presence, both of them clearly still uncertain, still unsure of how to act or what to think of whatever situation they had found themselves in.
The game Clarke played was a careful one full of planning, subterfuge and subtle persuasion. She knew getting Lexa to see reason would require her to be disarmed of all prejudice in some way. Of course the Mountain had already tried to poison Lexa's opinion of her people with lies, of calling them reapers. She had expected it.
When she had made the decision to have Lexa captured she had considered all the strategies she would use to make sure Lexa saw reason. She knew some leaders would do anything to protect their people, but those same people would just as easily stab her in the back if they thought the Mountain could offer them more.
Other leaders would need a cause, something to believe in, be shown good and evil and be allowed to make a decision on their own. And some were perhaps simply pragmatic, all they needed were the pieces of the puzzle and the time to put together the only path forward. And that was who Clarke thought Lexa was. She thought her a woman capable of making hard decisions, of understanding right from wrong yet able to act on the information at hand without emotions clouding her judgement. And Clarke believed Lexa to be that exact kind of leader simply because Lexa had told her of the job she had had. Truthfully, Clarke didn't quite understand the specifics, only that Lexa had been responsible for choosing who would go with and without supplies. And she had read the reports her scouts had given her about Lexa commanding the scouting parties, of keeping her people together and leading from the front.
So it had been a simple strategy she had needed to employ to convince Lexa to listen to her — tell and show her the truth. Yet she couldn't deny that toying with the woman had been fun, had been enough to keep her more than interested in the game she played. She wasn't blind, she could appreciate the strength in Lexa's eyes, the way her chin would level just a bit if she felt challenged or slighted. And if she allowed herself to be just a little crude, she could appreciate the time they had shared in the bath and all the sights it had entailed.
And so Clarke sighed, the sound whimsical in the quiet of the room she sat in. She need not worry about Maya who still remained quietly in her own chair, the woman's legs tucked under herself as she let her thoughts wonder.
"I did not know what to think of Bellamy at first," Clarke said eventually, her gaze moving from the crack in the window and to Maya.
It wasn't that Clarke needed Maya's opinion, though it wasn't because Maya had poor opinions. Rather, Clarke found herself simply needing to talk, to discuss and let her thoughts be heard.
"You think he's going to be a threat?" and Maya shrugged a shoulder as she looked her way.
Clarke remained quiet for a moment longer, her thoughts considering all she could consider.
"Perhaps," but Clarke didn't think that assumption entirely accurate. "He is a follower," she said.
"A follower?" Maya's head tilted to the side slightly, brows furrowed and genuine curiosity colouring her tone. "What makes you think that?"
Clarke stood from her chair, her desire for nightfall to come as strong as ever.
"He did not protest when we kept him alone, isolated from Lexa," Clarke began. "He did not think for himself, did not try to gleam more information, did not try to escape," maybe it sounded harsh, maybe it sounded snide. Yet it was the truth. "Ontari and Costia both say he did not wish to leave Lexa's side when he came across her capture," and Clarke chuckled, if only because she knew the fool wouldn't have been able to do anything even if he hadn't been stunned at the revelation. "Once he has found something to chase, to follow he will not leave it be."
Maya stretched her legs out in front of her, she groaned as a muscle popped and Clarke watched as she stretched out her fingers of her left hand as it forcing them to their fullest length.
"You will need my blood soon," it was half observation, half statement.
"I will," Maya said and Clarke heard the slightest hints of deference in Maya's tone.
She pitied Maya at times simply because she knew asking for such a gift would seem so bizarre, so personal, such an affront, yet one not avoidable. But Clarke let those thoughts slip her mind as soon as they had entered. There would be a time to consider the lasting repercussions, but not until the Mountain's reign was ended.
"Bellamy will believe anything if you give him someone to follow, if you give him a cause to join or an enemy to fight," Clarke said. "That much is clear."
Clarke took in a deep breath as she came to stand beside the shuttered window, her gaze peering out of the small crack in the blinds and she watched as the world outside slowly drifted by. A bird or two could be seen flitting overhead, a lone warrior walked one way, three others stood together in quiet conversation and Clarke found herself dreaming of a life without the Mountain where she could walk through the forests without worry of drawing too much attention to her people, without knowing that her presence would bring the Mountain's wrath down on the lands far and wide.
"I will kill the Mountain," Clarke said quietly. "I will drain it of the life it so happily steals. Just as it has done the same to my people for generation."
Clarke didn't look back at Maya, she didn't need to know the worry on the woman's face. She had seen it countless times. She knew children and the old lived in the Mountain. She knew the children had no way of knowing the wrongs of their elders. And she knew they weren't quite so responsible for the horrors the Mountain had caused.
She didn't know what she'd do when it came time to kill the last of the Mountain Men.
As long as the Mountain died, she didn't care what it took.
Lexa paced back and forth in the room she was now locked in. Whatever situation herself and Bellamy had now been placed in was something a little more concrete, a little more certain than it had been moments earlier. She didn't really know why she thought that, and she was still under no false assumptions that they survival still hinged on the fact that Clarke had a use for them. But part of Lexa truly believed that Clarke was keeping them around for more than just that.
Lexa shivered, she tried not to let her nerves get the better of her and for a split second she found her thoughts turning to the warmth of the bath she had shared in all its intimacy before she pushed those thoughts aside to be dealt with later.
"So," Bellamy's voice was tired, weary. "Clarke's scary."
Lexa felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips as she turned to face Bellamy, the man sitting on the ground, his feet kicked out in front of him.
"Yeah," Lexa said as the memory of pale skin and too much body flickered through her mind. "She is."
"Do we know if she's human?" and Bellamy shrugged, the motion awkward.
"I think so?" it came out a question for truthfully Lexa didn't really know. "At least she's not an alien," she never thought she'd be having such a conversation before. "She's not going to kill us if that's what you're worried about," Lexa continued.
"So what now?" Bellamy asked. "It's not like she's letting us go."
Lexa shook her head as if to clear doubt from her mind. It was true that she didn't think it likely Clarke would let them go, but that was the only way she could see them ever getting enough proof to convince herself to side with Clarke and her people.
"We need to convince her to let us talk to our people," Lexa said eventually. "That's the only way we can ever get the proof we need."
"You think Raven, Monty, Harper and the others would trust us?" Bellamy's voice was half question, half exasperated. "It's sounds crazy, doesn't it? For all they know we're dead or being tortured."
"I know," it wasn't a good situation to be in, it never was.
"And who's to say that Mount Weather hasn't already made their own attempts at convincing our people that they're the good guys."
Lexa grimaced at the thought, simply because she knew things couldn't be that simple, couldn't be that black and white.
"There are no good guys," she said quietly, perhaps her mind subconsciously displeased with the idea that there could ever be any good in what the people of Mount Weather had presumably done to Clarke's people for generations.
Lexa moved to the single small window that let them see the outside world. She let herself take in the few people that moved about. Young children, each one with a weapon strapped to their bodies, ran back and forth, perhaps in play, perhaps in some kind of training. Adults lingered together in small groups, some walked one way or the other, arms full of things she couldn't discern over the distance.
The longer Lexa took in the scenes in front of her, the longer she thought about the warriors below ground, the more she thought Clarke had been the most honest of people to her since they had come to the ground.
She was under no misconceptions that Clarke had probably killed more people than she could remember, but Clarke had been open with her intentions, either through action or word. At least she had been more-so than Carl Emerson.
It was obvious to Lexa that Carl's vial of black liquid had been the blood Clarke had cut from herself. It was clear that Clarke's blood had the ability to heal, and it explained why Carl would need it to survive the higher exposure to radiation on the Earth's surface.
It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.
But Lexa knew she needed more proof. If not for herself, then for the others, those who hadn't been exposed to Clarke and her people, to how they lived, to how children had so openly had the need to know how to defend themselves from reaper and beast.
And so Lexa sighed as she turned back from the window to face Bellamy.
"We'll get the pro—"
A bellowing, thundering, deafening boom echoed out around them, it shook the walls of the room and Lexa jumped, the sound echoing in her head.
Lexa spun on her heels and looked out the window, she craned her head as far as she could see as she looked up into the sky.
It took her a second to realise what she was looking at, it took her a moment to process the ball of flame that came thundering through the sky. But then she realised.
The burning, flaming form of Go-Sci station blistered through the sky, it's body consumed in flame. In the distance she thought she could see other Ark stations thundering down, their bodies burning up in the atmosphere.
And Lexa knew. She knew the Ark had decided to come down to the ground. And it was the chance she needed, the light at the end of the tunnel that gave vision to whatever plan had been simmering just below the surface.
Anya would be on Go-Sci station, she'd be the only person to believe her, no matter what. If Lexa could get to her, get her to find evidence and tell their people what Mount Weather was really doing, then Lexa would make them see reason, would make them understand.
Lexa smiled, her heart beat so rapidly in her chest and she turned away from the window and to Bellamy who had jumped to his own feet as he looked out the window.
"That's our chance," Lexa said. "That's how we get the proof."
Raven sat on a weather tree stump, her brow sweaty and her feet kicked out in front of her. The flask she drank from contained a drink half bitter and half sweet on her tongue. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but it did enough to quench her thirst and ease the worry in her mind.
It had been too long since Lexa and Bellamy were kidnapped. Chances were that they were both dead. Carl didn't seem convinced that they'd still be alive. Truthfully, Raven didn't quite like Carl that much, she thought him too quick to give up on their people, too quick to leave them behind. She knew some of the others felt the same. At least privately. And yet no one really seemed willing to speak out lest they break whatever uneasy alliance that had formed between Mount Weather and everyone on the Ark.
Monty sat in front of her, the man quiet and thoughtful as he continued to scribble notes into his book.
"How's it going?" Raven asked.
"Ok," Monty said with a shrug. "The seeds Mount Weather gave us are still going to take a while before I know if we can use them in the soil," and he kicked a foot against the ground. "They were never engineered to deal with radiated soil. You know?"
Raven shrugged, "I know. But it'll work," she didn't need to add that without a successful crop they'd be stuck living underground.
She was happy they were making the beginnings of a permanent settlement above ground. She didn't know if she liked the idea of being cooped up underground after having spent her entire life on the Ark. Despite the growing pains she knew it would be worth it. Despite the reapers, despite the acid fog, despite the radiated soil that had a habit of doing things unpredictably.
"I wonder how it's going to go," Monty said after a moment.
"Huh?" Raven found him looking at her now.
"You've seen some of them injecting themselves with the anti-radiation medicine. Are we going to be running things up here?" and he gestured around to the settlement, the few structures being built and all the remaining hundred that had volunteered for the mission. "They can't live up on the surface like we can. How are we supposed to reconnect as people if we can't even stay together permanently.?"
Raven took a moment to think over that question, perhaps because she hadn't given it much thought at first, perhaps because she had and she had come to the conclusion that she'd rather live above ground no matter the risks.
"We made the Ark work," she said with a shrug. "We'll make Earth work too."
"Yeah, I guess so," Monty said. "Carl's pretty adamant that we'll make things work," and he gestured towards the man in the distance with his chin. "At least he's out here with us often enough."
Raven looked in the direction Monty gestured to find Carl walking their way, the man's camouflaged uniform seemingly out of place amongst the haphazard and patchwork clothes many of the hundred wore.
"Hey Raven," Carl said once he came within earshot. "Monty," and he waved their way.
"Hey," Raven answered with a lifting of her chin. "Any sign of Lexa and Bellamy?"
Carl sighed and shook his head, his face turning serious.
"Unfortunately not. Reapers were long gone once our search parties went looking for them."
"I'm surprised we haven't been attacked since then," Monty said as he looked up from his book. "Considering we're out in the open so much."
"They're opportunistic," Carl answered with a smile. "They won't try to attack us openly. Not when we have so many people here. Plus," and he gestured to the gun on his hip and to the three Mount Weather guards in the distance. "They know who we are. They won't risk attacking us."
Raven couldn't help but to think that a little self serving but she'd keep that to herself.
"How are the seeds going?" Carl asked, the change in topic abrupt.
"I'm not sure yet," Monty answered with a shrug. "It'd actually help if I got a look at your hydroponics, see how you've got it set up so I can mimic it as close as I can here on the surface."
Carl smiled warmly, yet Raven noticed his eyes remained just as hard and serious as ever. "In time," Carl said and he let his hand rest against Monty's shoulder. "We don't want to risk contaminated Mount Weather with any more radiation than is necessary though. I'm sure you understand."
"Yeah," Monty said and Raven could hear the hints of disappointment in his voice. "I understa—"
Raven felt more then heard the thunderous boom that ripped through the air. She jumped and she stared up into the sky to see flaming balls of metal hurtling down to the surface. Smoke left in the wake of the burning flame seemed to tear into the blue of the afternoon's sky as if a giant beast had clawed out in fury and frustration.
"Holy shit," Raven didn't quite know what to think about what she was seeing. She knew the Ark had always intended to come down to the ground, but talking about it, listening to their leaders discuss it was once thing, but seeing it was all together far more awe-inspiring.
"Yeah holy shit," Monty echoed as he stood and stared up into the sky. "I didn't realise they were coming down so soon."
There was a pause that seemed far too silent considering the flames that hurtled down from space but Raven glanced at Carl to find the man's eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched tightly.
"We're going to need to get to them as soon as possible," he said, his face grim. "We need to make sure the reapers don't attack them before we can get them secured and safe," he already began reaching for his radio as he turned to leave. "Get your people ready, Raven," he said over his shoulder, the man already walking away. "We're going to need to be fast."