Clarke's eyes had shifted from their yellow colour back to blue as Anya finally began to cooperate.
"It all changed one day. The few records that describe the appearance of Bekka Pramheda say she abandoned her home in the sky and she fell to the Earth to save what was left of humanity. She was said to be beautiful, smart, compassionate and strong. A true goddess given human form. She had the ability to make even the strongest of men kneel before her with mere words and she had knowledge of various fields. Her blood was revealed to be as black as the night sky and before her death she had made others from the 12 great cities that survived the war into natblidas or nightbloods. The leader of these 12 cities became her general and we were united under her rule."
Clarke could see no sign of deceit as Anya spoke to her and there was even a hint of that wonderment she had seen in Lincoln's eyes when he had spoken about the current Commander.
"The position she occupied was that of the Commander. The overseer and protector of all people. However, once she had died many had covered the power that came with being Heda. Bekka had made it law that only natblidas could ascend to the seat of Commander and there was many a dispute over the seat. The Coalition – already frayed after Bekka's death – was shattered once the Maunon had killed the marching army of the fifth Commander."
Clarke was surprised to hear that there had already been a coalition in place before the current one. She had always assumed the Grounders had been in constant conflict throughout the ages, but that was clearly not the case.
"It was then that the 12 generals at the time had decided to be their own people, but there was still the matter of the seat of Commander. The Commander had previously been chosen through votes or had been placed by previous Commanders, but the smaller clans wished for a fair chance at having the chance to have one of their own ascend to be Heda. The Commanders after Bekka had not been as impartial as her and had instead favoured their own people in many , the Conclave was born. A chance for any and all natblida from any clan to prove they were worthy of inheriting the spirit of the Commander and bring the power and glory to their clans. Natblida always have immense strength and were also capable of inheriting the Spirit of the Commander. They are revered because of this and it is extremely uncommon for natblidas to be in even a neutral standing with each other. Often, the thirst for power supersedes any boms they have with fellow natblida."
Clarke was intrigued to hear how the Commander was chosen and everything clicked as she asked,"Is that why you don't want me to meet the Commander? You think I'll kill her to become Commander? I would never do that, Anya! All I want to do is protect my people."
Anya snorted and said,"How can I be sure that you speak the truth? You are not sure of that yourself. You killed over 100 Ripas to save perhaps 30 of your own people. I'm sure you didn't think you were capable of doing such. Who's to say you wouldn't do worse for even more of your people?"
Clarke sighed and deactivated the lightning on her hands. She walked to the bank of the river and held out her hand expectantly to Anya. The woman eyed her warily, but eventually took the offered hand.
Clarke pulled forward once Anya had enough leverage and the woman rose out of the water. The woman wringed water out of her clothes before looking at Clarke's who hands were at her side.
"I know how much the Commander means to you, Anya,"said Clarke firmly as she looked at the other woman,"I just want to save both of our people from the Mountain and live in peace with all the other clans. The last thing I would want is to kill your leader. "
Anya stared at her seemingly unmoved by her words before saying, "Hold onto my arm. We'll need to sweep a few villages before getting word of the Commander's whereabouts. Also, if you want to be taken seriously by our people you can't back down. Show respect, but do not show fear. If you do then not even Heda will cate for what you say ."
Clarke only nodded and she grabbed onto the other woman's shoulder and within a second they disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the area devoid of life once again.
Clarke's plan had worked. Barely. But the girl had managed to escape and that was what counted.
Raven sighed as she walked into Clarke's room which she had unofficially taken over and laid down on the bed.
There had been an enormous explosion that had rattled the bones of every single occupant in Mount Weather even the delinquents had been woken up from their drunken stupor as they had left the dorm to investigate.
It was how Raven had been found knocked unconscious in Clarke's room by Jasper and Miller. Raven had managed to give a convincing, but completely false story of how Clarke had knocked Raven out when she had tried to stand in the younger girl's way.
Okay, so not entirely false.
What had been fabricated was what Raven had said about the state of Clarke's mind. Raven had been forced to essentially call Clarke unstable to throw off any suspicions off of her and Maya. The citizens of the Mountain had been shocked when they had heard Clarke's voice come over the PA system and once they had heard her threaten Maya, the citizens had essentially formed a blockade to prevent anyone entering Medical.
Apparently, everyone knew everyone in this Mountain and Maya was universally loved by pretty much everyone in the Mountain either for her caring nature or the fact that she had performed and assisted in many operations over the years.
Regardless, Clarke had made a clean escape and Maya had been allowed to go home and given multiple days off. This had freed her up for the next stage of the operation.
"So you're sure that you can trust these people to get this done?"said Raven as she took in their surroundings. The vast amount of paintings put her off and even Maya's eagerness when speaking about about one of them hadn't eased her tension.
"Absolutely, "said Maya as she looked at Raven,"They're all against the treatments or have lost family who were against it. No one is really vocal about it ever since Dante's daughter died. She was very outspoken about her dislike of the treatments. "
Raven nodded and said,"Do you think Clarke will manage to signal you? Aren't there people monitoring the network?"
Maya shook her head and said,"For the most part, the Patrol sticks to one frequency. We've already set one up to speak so she should be able to contact me soon."
The sound of the door opening startled the girls and they froze with Raven moving in front of Maya as the voice drew nearer. They were relieved, however, to find that it was only Jasper that had come in.
"Should I be jealous?"asked Jasper with his goggles resting on his forehead. The belongings of the delinquents had been brought to The Mountain and decontaminated before being returned to the delinquents.
It was probably a gesture of goodwill on Dante's side as he would want the delinquents to view the residents of Mount Weather in a good light. Admittedly, Raven had also been so enamoured by the warm and comfy beds, square meals and hot water that she had missed out on the sinister nature of the Mountain.
It was only once Clarke had had that big, ugly fight with Octavia and that slimeball Murphy that she had begun to feel any sort of concern or anxiety.
Maya and Jasper had continued speaking animatedly until Raven heard the boy say something to her.
"What was that?"said Raven as she looked at the boy.
"I was asking how you guys are doing after everything,"said Jasper before his brow furrowed, "It's been maybe a couple of hours since Clarke went batshit crazy and attacked you guys. You can't tell me you forgot?"
Raven felt rather annoyed at the rather cruel summing up of Clarke's actions despite it actually being accurate and she muttered with a strong tinge of annoyance, "Whatever, I'm fine."
Raven then nodded at Maya before turning on her heel to leave the art room. Jasper's exact reaction to Clarke's actions were the reason why she and Maya had decided to not clue in any of the delinquents.
Her exit drew a soft goodbye from Maya and a sound of confusion from Jasper. The majority of the delinquents were not in Clarke's corner and it was probably due to the fear they had felt when they found Clarke standing in the centre of a mass of charred skeletons.
It was a terrifying sight for anyone and even Raven had been too scared to approach the girl. Luckily, they had managed to patch that up.
The rest of the delinquents were mad at Clarke for sending Bellamy after the other delinquents and these consisted most notably of Octavia and Miller. In essence, Clarke had been alienated by the very people she was trying to save, but Raven knew that the girl would have helped them regardless.
It was a dangerous game she was playing, though. The fact that Mbege was captured had nearly made Raven attack Maya out of anger, but she had reined in her anger. As it was, the only delinquents worth a damn in a fight were not nearly enough to overpower the Guard and whatever else the Mountain Men might have had hiding inside here.
Raven could only hope that Clarke would make contact soon because if the acid fog was down and Clarke brought a super powered Grounder army back with her...
It would be a slaughter.
Kane was in a decidedly good mood. The healing process for his arm had gone extremely well and the only thing that would be left behind was a scar, but that was a small price to pay for earning a chance at peace.
He was at a village that was apparently one of the closest to Camp Jaha. This was where the negotiations would take place and Thelonious had been sent back to the camp to explain that to everyone.
The village would also serve as a halfway point between Camp Jaha and Ton DC as well as Polis. The two cities were of a lot of importance to the Trikru according to Nyko with Ton DC often being the seat of the Commander when she was at war and Polis served as the current capital of the Coalition.
Kane was supposed to meet Lexa in one of the tents she had set up just for the meeting and he was given time to consider what the Ark (or Skaikru as they were called now) could do to help the Coalition.
There was another reason they were in this village , however. A large explosion had occurred in the direction of the Mountain. It had happened in the early hours of the day and Kane had no doubt that the Commander had already sent some of her own people to investigate what had occurred.
Kane put that out of his mind and instead focused on his impending meeting with Lexa. He walked out of the tent provided to him and began to make his way to the large one designated for the meeting.
He stopped outside the tent where two guards waited outside and before he could get a word out one of the guards – a behemoth of a man stepped forward.
The man put his hand on the hilt of his sword and as his features twisted into an expression of clear anger and annoyance said,"If any harms comes to Heda, I will kill you myself."
It made for quite an intimidating threat and despite his efforts to remain nonchalant Kane knew that he probably appeared a bit more intimidated than he should have. However, he didn't step back or flinch even when the man advanced on him with his sword drawn out of its hilt.
"Gustus, enough."
The voice of the Commander broke through Kane's standoff against the guard. Gustus immediately obeyed and it was still unsettling for Marcus to realise that if grown men were willing to comply to Lexa's orders then she was either a very respected leader or a formidable fighter if not both.
The Commander was barely older than the delinquents, perhaps three years at the most, and yet there was nothing childlike in her demeanour or general behaviour. She gave off the air of having struggled through life and yet always coming out on top, but that was something all of the Grounders exuded without exception. The air of perseverance and strength.
Life on the Ark was far more favourable than life on the ground it would
"You may enter, Marcus"said the Commander before turning her back on him and walking back into the tent.
Gustus gave him one last warning look, but Marcus just walked in behind the Commander paying no more attention to the irascible guard.
He found the Commander already seated at a table and despite it being dotted with chairs at multiple sides he chose to sit at the chair directly opposite the Commander, but he paused and looked at the Commander expectantly.
"You may take your seat,"said Lexa as she stared at him with a blank expression on her face.
Marcus sat down after a muted thanks and then there was silence. Marcus knew that it was probably for the best that he had been the one to go instead of Abby. He needed to show that he – and by the extension the Arkers – would heed to the Commander's word if they joined the Coalition.
If that meant waiting for someone less than half his age to give him permission to sit then so be it. Abby and Thelonious were far too prideful to allow this, but the rebellion on the Ark had really put things into perspective for Marcus and he knew he had to do what was necessary to ensure the continued existence of the people of the Ark.
"What is your offer, Marcus kom Skaikru,"said Lexa as she stared at him,"Why should I not gather the armies of the Coalition and slaughter your people from the youngest boy to the oldest woman? What can you offer me that the other clans cannot?"
Marcus had been preparing for this mentally since he had been given notice of the meeting. In truth, there probably was not a whole lot that they could offer, but Marcus was willing to do whatever it takes to gain entry into the Coalition.
"We have a plethora of knowledge from the old world. We could construct new weapons, machines and devices for your use,"said Kane as he put his strongest card down first,"Vehicles that move faster than horses, bombs that can destroy the thickest of walls, devices that allow you to speak to people hundreds of miles away even methods to find the most arable land without wasting seeds. These are only a few of the things we can produce and give to you, Heda."
Lexa seemed to ponder what Marcus said before responding ha,"Surely that is not all you can offer? I need something more substantial than simply technology. Azgeda trades fur, fish and wood in high amounts. Louwoda Kilron trades medicinal herbs, textiles and various fruit. All of the clans have their people under my command. What else other than technology do your people have to offer? Your people are inexperienced with the ways of the Earth. You only know how to use your guns to hunt and know virtually nothing of fighting, tracking, foraging or crafting. I will have to assign people from various clans to teach your people to do these things. How will you pay back the clans like the Trishanakru and Yujleda that will want nothing to do with technology? "
Kane felt vestiges of doubt began to grow and bloom within him as Lexa cut down his initial offer. It wasn't necessarily a no, but clearly they were going to have to offer more to the table than what he had initially placed.
Kane cleared his throat and said,"We also have amazing advances in medicine. I doubt there are many who can heal like Nyko across the clans. Our doctors and surgeons are extremely capable and we'd be willing to open our doors to the nearby Trikru villages as well as train some medics."
There was a reason Kane had said Trikru specifically. They were on Trikru land and were most likely going to be trained in various things by Trikru as well. If there was going to be a clan, Skaikru would interact with a lot it would be Trikru.
"Furthermore,"added Kane to hopefully sweeten the deal,"We would ally ourselves with Trikru in case of any war or conflict. Many of our Guard are well versed in shooting and I think despite our small numbers we could give sufficient aid in battle."
Marcus was mostly bluffing here in all honesty. He knew it would be a tall order to convince the Guard to join the Trikru in any battles they might have in the future, but since the Coalition was in place he hoped that there was no impending conflict that they would have to take part in.
It was this final statement that had cemented their place as Lexa said,"Very well, we will reconvene at Polis to cement our alliance and you'll be indicted at the thirteenth –"
The sharp crack of gunfire emanated from outside the tent and Marcus flinched when the sound washed over him. He looked back at Lexa who was already rising out of her seat.
Marcus was about to walk after her when she said something in Trigedasleng to the guards outside before walking out in a flurry of movement her cape swishing behind her. There was the sound of shuffling before Gustus walked in holding a sack and from the expression of urgency on his face he didn't wish to be preoccupied by this seemingly menial task.
Gustus thrust the bag towards Kane and promptly followed after Lexa. Kane opend the sack and he was surprised to see the rifle that had been taken from him. He gingerly took it out and he was surprised to find it still fully loaded. In fact, it was almost as if it hadn't been touched at all since he had been lured into the trap by Tristan.
Marcus walked out and he was horrified to see that a lot of the villagers were bleeding from gunshot wounds. He ran to the nearest one and he pressed down on the wound on her leg to stem the bleeding. The woman seemed to understand Marcus' intentions and began to apply pressure herself. Marcus wiped her blood onto his shirt and said,"What's going on? Who did this?"
The villager in question was a grown woman probably in her thirties. Luckily, she seemed to understand Kane as she said,"Goufa kom Maun-de. He came looking for Tristan and Heda. No one could touch him with their bows or swords and he used his gun to attack before running into the forest. Heda and Gustus ran after him I that direction, but he was swift and did not move the leaves or trees when running. It'll be hard to track him."
A sinking feeling came over Marcus at the thought of the Mountain Men attacking and if there was one here then it was likely that there were more in the surrounding woods. Marcus tore a large strip of cloth from his shirt and helped the woman make a rudimentary tourniquet on her leg.
The woman thanked Kane and immediately rose to her feet and began to marshal the other villagers around her into their houses. Kane thought about going into the woods, but he knew that he was too slow and unfamiliar with these parts to be of much help.
Instead, he helped get everyone inside before using the first aid skills he had acquired during his time on the Ark to help save the others. Unfortunately, a lot of the victims had taken a bullet to vital areas nd Kane was startled to see that one of the victims was Tristan who had been shot right in the heart.
The man's eyes were still open and Kane closed them before he began to see if there was anything else he could do to help those that were still bleeding out, but the ones that superficial wounds were all being moved away.