Chapter 2
"Put her on the bed!" Abby said, voice high, running towards her table of premade concoctions.
Bellamy placed Raven gently down, stepping back with a bewildered look on his face.
Clarke quickly checked her pulse, reassuring Abby that she was okay.
"Good, good, okay," Abby calmed herself down. "Open up that window over there, and you," she started, looking at Bellamy, "go outside. She needs air."
-
Fifteen minutes passed before Raven opened her eyes. She was a bit disoriented at best, but when she finally regained her senses, she got the same wild look on her face that she had when she stormed in the door.
"Hey, hey! Calm down, you won't make any sense until you snap out of it," Clarke demanded.
Raven took several deep breaths, before explaining everything she had seen. The cloaked men, the way they made Finn and Wells fall to the ground, how they were simply taken away and how frozen and helpless she felt while watching it all unfold.
Abby was the calmest person in the room now, as Clarke had started to heave her chest far too quickly.
"If this is some kind of joke-" Clarke started.
"You think I would joke about this?!" Raven shouted.
"Hey!" Abby snapped, and clapped her hands together. "Now is not the time to get snippy at each other."
Clarke and Raven fell silent, and Abby went outside and sent Bellamy to find Kane. In any other circumstance, Bellamy would be peeved, having such a status as being the clan Princess' personal guardsman, to being ordered around like a simple errand-boy - but now he simply nodded and ran for Kane.
-
Kane stroked his beard and sat down after Raven yet again explained what had happened in Trikru land. Kane was the main advisor in the clan, and had guided both Clarke's father as well as Clarke herself. If anyone would know what to do, it would be him.
"I'm not sure what to make of this," he said. He muttered keywords from Raven's story to himself as he continued to stroke his beard and stare into apparent nothingness. "It could simply be thugs. Trikru thugs with cloaks, for some reason. It could be mages? It could be an illusion as well, how many concoctions are you taking?"
Raven stared at him and shook her head. "It wasn't an illusion."
Abby reassured him that Raven's medication - all though she took a lot of them, especially when a full moon was coming and she had to take vials to stop her transformation - they wouldn't make her see things that didn't exist.
Kane nodded. He stood up and walked towards Clarke. "You should send scouts to Trikru. Tell them to ask for Indra, the clan leader, and see what help she can give them."
"Okay. I'll go with them," Clarke responded.
The room went silent at Clarke's words.
"No offense to your decisions - or bravery, Clarke, but you're needed here. Your people need you here."
"My people have been safe on this island for decades, now my people need me in the mainland, and I'm going. You can take care of my seat while I'm gone," Clarke's voice was firm, and her eyes made it clear that she wasn't backing down.
"I'm going as well," Raven added, and sat at the edge of her bed.
"You can barely stand," Abby replied. "You can join them in a few days, but right now you need rest."
"What I need is to find my friends," Raven hissed.
Clarke looked at her mother. "Pack some extra vials for her. We're leaving in one hour."
-----
The boat travelled from Skaikru with a full shipment. Clarke, Raven, Bellamy, two scouts, three guards, and two additional clan members who mostly carried their equipment and belongings, were all lulling with the waves. It was around mid-day, and the sun was thankfully hiding behind a large cloud, sparing them of nasty sunburns that surely wouldn't ease the tension of travelling to another clan - one that wasn't particularly fond of them anyways.
Arriving at the shores of Trikru, Clarke sent the scouts ahead to tell the Trikru leader that they were in need of housing and perhaps a helping hand. Meanwhile, the rest of her accompanied group figured out who should be carrying what, and set out on a slower walk towards Indra's village.
-
It was close to evening when Clarke and the rest of her group met up with the scouts.
"Well?" Clarke asked them, pulling them aside to talk with them privately.
"We'll get housing. Shelter," one of them responded. "Don't know much about help though; their leader didn't seem to like us."
"We were very courteous," the other scout added.
"But she'll meet with me?" Clarke quizzed them.
"Aye. But don't expect much," the first one said.
"Not much at all," the other joined in. "She was a busy lady, it seems."
"What do you mean?" Clarke asked. She hadn't realized how odd these scouts were until now, but she wasn't complaining, they had a pep in their step that was much welcomed in a time like this.
"She has other guests. More important guests. All the way from Polis, the capitol that is!" the first scout whispered.
Clarke narrowed her eyes. "Ambassadors?"
Both scouts shook their heads, and leaned closer towards Clarke, whispering even lower. "The Commander!"
"The Commander?"
"Yes. Of all thirteen clans, that is. One and only!"
"But... What is she doing here?"
"We heard whispers of her being here on personal business. No politics involved. She was born here, you know."
Of course Clarke knew that. Everyone knew that. The Commander of the thirteen clans was the most important person in all of the clans, Clarke would be horrified if she didn't know about her utmost superior. But she had never even seen her before, and hearing about the almighty Commander being in the very same woods as herself was a shock she didn't expect to come upon her that evening.
"I think it's supposed to be a secret though," the scouts continued. "The Trikru leader didn't tell us herself, we heard it from beggars in the street. Oh, oh! And we saw her personal guards, they were wearing the red Commander colours."
Clarke nodded, thanked them, and straightened her back as she walked to the rest of her group and let them know that they were being welcomed.
-----
After settling in to her new chambers for the time being - which was, surprisingly, just a rather large tent - Clarke pulled out a small box of the Skaikru blue war paint, and drew two lines down her right eye. She performed a quick few breathing techniques she had been taught to calm down stressed-out nerves - she needed that if she were to convince Indra, the Trikru leader, to lend them a helping hand. She had met Indra before, when her father was alive and well and leading Skaikru, and she remembered Indra to only show respect when respect was properly earned. And Clarke feared that showing up out of nowhere, accusing Trikru members of abducting Skaikru members, and then asking the Trikru leader for help - wouldn't really be a nice, respectable gesture.
And a nice, respectable gesture it was not.
Clarke stood in Indra's tent, enduring her spiteful words nearly being spat towards her face, after telling her why she had come to their clan.
Indra was an intimidating and fierce leader, and she had a signature stone-cold look that could send shivers down the bravest spine. But her words were far worse than any gaze she could give, and Clarke was learning that the hard way.
"You come into my clan and ask for shelter and help, only to insult my clan-members?" Indra said.
"I never meant to offend anyone," Clarke began.
"Yet, you did."
"I'm sorry. It was never my intention to insult the Trikru clan, but try to see it from my perspective-"
"Seeing things from a blonde, blue-eyed Princess of a green rock in the sea's perspective doesn't sound like something I'd find pleasure in doing."
Clarke exhaled quietly. "Two of my people, my most capable traders, were taken this very morning - in Trikru land. I don't know if they were rogue Trikru members or if they were monstrous creatures, or if they were Ice Nation for all I care, but they took my people - and I mean to get them back. With or without your help."
Indra started pacing slowly around in her tent. "Maybe I don't want to help with shelter either, then what do you do?"
Clarke felt a bubbling rage inside her, and instead of calming her cool; she tried to go for the verbal jugular. "You won't see things from my perspective? Fine. I'll make you. Look at it this way: Skaikru members go missing on Trikru land. Trikru leader refuses to cooperate with Skaikru leader." Clarke was walking slowly towards Indra, expressing each word more animated than the last. "Skaikru leader returns to her people empty-handed. The people want justice, vengeance - and where do they go to seek it? In your very forest."
Indra stood still, trying to stare down Clarke - who wasn't backing down. "Are you threatening me? Threatening to bring a clan war over two mere traders?"
Clarke had to think fast. She had given a fair point, but Indra shot back an even fairer one. Then, Clarke's eyes lit up, and she cocked her head while giving a sly smile. "I want to talk to the Commander, then."
Indra scoffed, to Clarke's slight surprise. "Oh, little girl," Indra laughed. "If you wish to speak with our Commander, I suggest you travel to Polis like everyone else. Send word to your ambassador, maybe? Honestly, I know you're new to your leadership, but this is ridiculous."
Clarke was ready for this one. "But... The Commander is right here. In the forest. And, I don't know about you? But I don't think she'd appreciate a clan war breaking out simply because one clan was too proud to help another."
Indra pursed her lips in annoyance. She walked straight up to Clarke; mere inches away from her face, and studied her. "Fine. But don't blame me if she refuses to talk to you. She's not here on political business, after all."
-----
"Holy shit. What the hell, Clarke?" Raven said, partly proud and partly worried.
"I... I don't know," Clarke replied.
"First you actually survive meeting Indra, and now you're asking to meet the Commander?"
"Indra wouldn't help us. I was caught up in the moment."
"No kidding."
Raven was pacing around in Clarke's tent, limping a bit more than usual. Clarke sat by her table, offering Raven multiple times to sit down beside her. But she was too excited to take a seat. It was dark now, but still nowhere near bedtime. Clarke was meeting the Commander that very night, and she didn't feel ready at all. She was still recovering from her altercation with Indra, and a pacing Raven in front of her didn't exactly help.
Bellamy stepped in to Clarke's tent. He stared at the restless Raven, before fixing his gaze towards Clarke. "I think the Commander is almost ready," he said.
"Lords," Raven exhaled. "Good luck, Clarke. I need a drink," she said, before running to the rest of the Skaikru group who were chatting and drinking with Trikru members under the stars.
"Ready?" Bellamy asked. His voice was more mellow than usual, and Clarke couldn't place if it was because he was so far away from his sister, or because he was trying to help Clarke stay calm - she concluded that it was a mix of both.
"Ready," Clarke nodded.