Chapter 8

"Hey Raven!"shouted Jasper as he looked at the girl currently working on the last of the flares,"When are we gonna light these bad boys up!"

Raven sighed and said,"Can you relax? I need to get this last one right then we can speak. Why don't you go and get blown off by Octavia or something?"

Jasper grabbed his chest and said,"That's uncalled for. Anyways, she's doing perimeter duty and my shift is next so I'm not going to do that. Octavia is hot, but I'd rather not spend double the amount of time out there hoping she finally sees the light."

Raven stopped working on the flare to say,"Well, at least there's a brain behind those ugly goggles. Also, I'm sure Bellamy having powers now has nothing to do with you not following Octavia."

Jasper was about to retort, but was cut off by Raven who stood up and said,"Okay, guys the flares are ready. The Ark is in a geosynchronous orbit with the Earth directly above us so we don't need to worry about them being on the wrong side of the planet. We just need to make sure these bad boys are ready to go."

One of the other delinquents spoke up and said,"In case you haven't noticed, there are way too many clouds passing by so how the hell do you expect them to see these things?"

Raven looked up at the night sky and indeed there were many clouds passing by and the light from the stars and the moon were barely able to pierce through them.

Raven smiled and said,"Don't worry about that. I've got it covered. Anyways, has anyone seen Monty?"

"I think he's still working on the radio in the dropship. I'll take you to him. Why are you asking anyways? You do know Clarke banned us from eating Monty's weed apples, right?"said Jasper as he began to walk with Raven to the dropship.

"Weed apples?"said Raven with a confused look on her face. What the hell did Monty have to do with weed apples?What were weed apples anyways?

Jasper noticed her confusion and said,"That's his power. He can make any sort of plant he wants. I'm telling you I wish I had that... The other day Glass wanted some chocolate apples so she said she'd give Monty–"

"I get the idea,"groused Raven as she tried to put the image out of her mind. She tried to steer the conversation away from the odd direction it had taken and said,"We need to see how far done he is with the radio because I really don't know if the flares are going to work. So the sooner we can speak to them the better."

Raven ignored the amused look of Jasper before climbing up to the top level of the dropship. She found Monty still fiddling with the radio and he looked up at her and stopped what he was doing when he heard Raven close the hatch.

"Hey Monty. How's the radio going?"

Monty sighed and said,"It could be better. The radio took quite a bit of damage when you landed and after Bellamy threw it in that rock pool there was even more damage done to it. Luckily, everything is salvageable and I've scraped parts together from Clarke's wristband and this thing will be up and running by tomorrow afternoon."

"Tomorrow?"said Raven tiredly,"I've told you the council might go through with the Culling especially after you shorted out 10 more wristbands."

Monty sighed and said,"Ok I get it, but there's nothing more I can do. The radio is still waterlogged and the circuitry is pretty damaged so I'll only be able to fix it by the early afternoon if I push. "

"Okay it's fine,"said Raven as she ran her hand through her hair,"I'm sorry. I'm just so frustrated and overwhelmed by everything. I mean if that Bellamy idiot hadn't trashed the radio then I'm sure it'd be a lot easier and he stole Abby's injection too. I don't how Clarke puts up with him."

Monty smiled and said,"Bellamy is a bit of an ass, but his heart is in the right place and surprisingly him and Clarke work well together. If it weren't for those two we wouldn't be half as organised as we are now. "

Raven nodded and said,"The important thing is you need to get that thing running. I'll join you after we launch the flares and maybe we'll be speaking to the Ark a little earlier than expected."

"That's great. I could really use the help and the company. I've been alone up here since Clarke gave me her wristband and Finn was also here for a while, but I think he's gone on guard duty or something."

Raven smiled at the mention of her boyfriend, but it dimmed a little as she remembered that she'd noticed that something was a bit off about Finn. She'd done everything and put her life on the line to reach the ground and somehow she'd expected things between Finn and her to stay the same.

He'd just been a little distance and she'd be lying if she didn't admit to being jealous of the looks and subtle flirting that Finn tried with Clarke.

The whole day had been trying on Raven as she'd had to deal with almost everyone waxing lyrical about how cool and awesome Clarke was from almost everyone and it got old fast.

The funny thing about it though was that Raven knew Clarke wasn't even after the glory or anything. She was just trying to do the best for everyone else which made it really hard to get annoyed at her.

"Hey,"said Monty as he looked up from the radio,"Is it true Clarke unlocked new powers and beat another Grounder? That's pretty badass..."

Not impossible though.

Raven shrugged and said,"Yeah, she burnt one of them to ashes and apparently this was after dropping a few trees on him. Is she still busy letting off some steam?"

A large boom from outside the dropship cut off Monty's reply and Raven paused before saying,"I'll take that as a yes. Anyways, I'll see you later. Duty calls."

Monty gave a half-hearted wave before Raven opened the hatch door and climbed down the ladder. It was quiet for a few moments before Monty heard the sounds of someone climbing up the ladder.

Jasper peeked his head out from the ladder and said,"Dude, where'd you keep those apples? Thalia said she wanted the same deal Glass gave you."

Monty let out a groan and said,"Are you gonna run around and tell everyone about that? I told you that in secrecy."

Jasper continued undeterred and said,"Hey, I want a scarf too. It's not fair that Glass made you one for some apples. "

Monty smirked and said,"Oh really? And here I thought shooting laser beams from your eyes was cooler than growing stupid plants. You even gave yourself a nickname."

Jasper sighed and said,"Yeah, yeah. Laser beams are only cool for warming food and burning Grounders and your power shits all over mine...Now where are they?"

Monty reaches below the table he's working on and places a sack that appeared to be made from a repurposed shirt on the table. He reached inside before throwing a green apple at Jasper who caught it deftly.

"Only one? I want one for me too,"whined Jasper disappointedly.

Monty holds up the entire sack and said,"Did you think this was just for me? When I'm done here you and me are gonna finish all of these."

Jasper smiled and said,"Now that's what I'm talking about. Now if you'll excuse me I'll try and find Thalia. Daddy needs his scarf."

Monty threw another apple at Jasper who caught it deftly again and said,"Hey try and get her to make us some gloves too for that second one. "

Jasper smiled at the idea before he and Monty raised their hands before giving themselves a self-five.

"Ok Monty, I gotta go, but you better hurry up with that radio. I don't want my apples to go bad. Also, laser beams are way, way better than plants."

Monty looked up to respond, but Jasper was already down the ladder.

One day, he was gonna make something that was a super strong laxative and see how Jasper would like that. That'll teach him to doubt Monty's awesomeness.

" 'Cyclops' is still a pretty good nickname though,"said Monty to get distracted before he turned his attention back to his work.

He would never tell Jasper that though.

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Clarke lifted her hands and with a yell of exertion she shot a blast of energy at the tree across from her. The tree crumpled and a loud boom echoed around the clearing before Clarke lowered her hands.

She'd been training her powers ever since she'd gotten back to camp with Octavia and Bellamy and she was starting to feel a bit tired. She couldn't stop now until she'd gotten a better handle on her powers.

If all Grounders were like the one she'd killed earlier then they were in a whole lot more trouble than she'd initially thought. They–assuming there were more of them– probably wouldn't take well to three of their own being taken out by them.

It was why Finn, Bellamy and Octavia were out on guard duty now. The dropship hadn't exactly been subtle when it landed and it was a miracle that they'd been left alone for the most part.

It was thus necessary that they be prepared for anything. If the Grounders weren't hostile before then they definitely were now.

Clarke took a deep breath and held her left hand close to her face. She wanted to test something that she'd been thinking of.

She focused intently and after a few seconds her hand ignited into fire. Clarke smiled at the sight took a deep breath before focusing on her flame covered limb. The fire began to spread up her arm and to Clarke's surprise the feeling of burning that she'd expected didn't follow.

The flames stopped just before they reached her elbow and Clarke just stared intently at the flames coiling on her arm. She was so engrossed that she'd barely heard a stick snap at the end of the clearing.

She raised her limb and fired a blast of fire at the noise, but she was surprised to see the flames spread out and stop in midair as if they hit an invisible barrier.

Clarke's eyes began to emanate a blue light and she quelled the fire on her arm. She raised her other hand and began to prepare to fire a blast of energy before she heard a familiar voice speak up.

"Hey Princess, relax it's just me... Bellamy,"said Bellamy as he held his hand up in front of him. He had his hand up as if he was pushing against something, but he lowered it when he saw Clarke's eyes turn back to normal.

"What are you doing here, Bellamy? Aren't you meant to be on guard duty?"said Clarke irritatedly. She wasn't sure why the Blakes seemed to enjoy sneaking up on her. One of these days she might hurt them if they keep it up.

"Hey Princess. I'm done with my section and I've already swapped with Miller. I was trying to find you, but then I heard what sounded like a tree breaking in half and I figured that there was only one person capable of that. So here we are,"said Bellamy as he gestured to the trees around them,"What are you doing? Cutting down trees? We already have enough firewood, you know?"

Clarke simply turned away from him and said curtly,"I'm letting off some steam. Today was...I just have a lot on my mind."

Bellamy sighed as he heard the robotic tone in Clarke's voice. She hadn't been the same since she'd healed his arm and left. Clarke and Bellamy might not be in the best terms per se, but he'd be lying if he said she wasn't vital to their survival.

It was why he decided, against his better judgement, to say,"Look, I know you're probably still beating yourself up about that guy, but it was either him or you. We do what we must to survive."

Clarke whirled back to him and said,"That's easy for you to say! You were willing to kill the Chancellor just to get on the dropship so excuse me if I'm not bouncing off the walls like a kid. I killed a man. I burnt him to death. I've only been here a few days and I can barely recognise myself !"

Bellamy's eyes flashed with anger before he said,"You know what? You're right. I was willing to kill Jaha to get on that dropship and I'd do it again a thousand times over! Octavia is the only thing that matters to me in this world and I'd rather die before I let anything or anyone hurt her. You need to understand Clarke those men we killed. They were going to kill us. All 100 of us if they had the chance. You need to understand that this isn't the Ark. There is no right and wrong on Earth. It's kill or be killed and I know which side of that I'll take."

Clarke gritted her teeth and stalked right up to Bellamy and said,"You think I don't know that? The whole reason I've been out here is to get a better handle on my powers. The Grounders are going to be back and I'll be damned if I let them kill another one of us! So don't come here and try to lecture me about being ignorant or dumb or weak because I've been doing my best to keep everyone safe. I'm the one who got given the fucking golden injection. I didn't ask for it!"

Clarke's eyes began to glow blue and Bellamy stared her down unflinchingly as she continued her rant,"I can't afford to take a break because if something happens then it's my fault! I don't have the luxury to relax and just take a break to work through everything so excuse me for not being stoked about killing someone!"

Bellamy's face twisted into an expression of disgust before he said,"You know Clarke when we first got here I thought you were many things annoying, privileged, brave, smart and even a leader, but this is the first time I ever thought you were weak."

"If I'm so weak,"said Clarke coolly as blue light radiated from her hands,"Why don't you prove it?"

Bellamy cracked his knuckles and said,"Fine by me."

Immediately after the words left Bellamy's mouth there was a flash of blue and Bellamy felt something smash into his stomach sending him flying through the air before he hit the ground and rolled to a stop.

Bellamy looked up at Clarke who still had her hands extended towards him and said,"Is that all you got?Stop pulling your punches."

Bellamy rose to his feet and thrust his hand forward. Clarke was caught unawares by this and in a manner reminiscent of Bellamy she was sent flying through the air. Clarke collided with the tree and she could feel that she'd formed an imprint on the tree.

Clarke rose to her feet and said,"You want me to stop pulling my punches? Fine."

Bellamy hadn't even blinked before Clarke was in front of him and he felt her punch him multiple times all over his body. He staggered from the heavy blows before he thrust his hand forward in the direction he was sure Clarke was in.

Clarke ducked to the ground and was amazed to see the trees in the forest behind her get uprooted and launched into the air.

Clarke rose to her feet before she pointed her hands at Bellamy and fired a blast of fire. Bellamy smirked and without any visible strain in his voice said,"This didn't work earlier, Princess."

Clarke ignored him and kept up the stream of fire even as she saw the flames stop against an invisible wall once again. Clarke smiled when she saw this and increased the temperature of the flames.

Bellamy let out a curse as he brought up his other hand to strengthen the barrier he'd made. Despite his earlier words he now knew that blocking the flames like this wasn't really clever because the barrier only stopped the fire, but as he was finding out it didn't stop the heat.

The heat was sapping at Bellamy's energy and the flames began to creep closer and closer to him. Bellamy could tell that the barrier was about to fail, but the heat and flames disappeared.

Suddenly, a large wall of earth appeared behind Bellamy and no sooner had it reached well above his height did he feel Clarke grab him and pin him roughly against it.

Her eyes were sharp and focused even as tears began to fall from them. Clarke lifted her hand and clenched it into a fist. Bellamy closed his eyes in preparation for the pain, but it never came.

He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that Clarke hadn't moved an inch. Clarke dropped her fist and said shakily,"Still think I'm weak?"

Clarke let go of Bellamy and began to make her way back to camp and before she left the clearing said,"I'm going to check on the flares and then I'll start my rounds. Don't worry I won't pull my punches."

Bellamy ran to catch up with her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Clarke tensed at the contact and turned back to face Bellamy.

"Look Clarke,"said Bellamy softly as he stared into Clarke's eyes which were radiating turmoil,"You need to understand that you're not in this alone. Yes, you did get the special injection and you probably feel like you need to keep pushing because of it. I know you've barely slept since what happened to Wells."

Clarke was about to ask how he figured it out, but stopped when she realised that Octavia or Roma–the two closest to her tent– would have probably noticed how often she left her tent during the night to go on guard duty or even just to sit by the fire.

"Clarke you're not in this on your own. There's me, Octavia, Finn, Jasper, Monty, Raven, Roma hell everyone in that camp would help you at the drop of a hat. You're a good person, Clarke. Don't you ever doubt that."

Clarke was about to respond,but two large, red pillars of light shot into the air and Bellamy and Clarke looked towards each other with a grim look on both their faces.

"That's Jasper's signal beam,"said Clarke as she looked towards Bellamy who was gathering the stuff he'd dropped earlier,"We need to head back to camp. Now."

Clarke waited for Bellamy to gather all his things before she grabbed onto him and she took off towards camp.

They arrived to see everyone running into their tents and only a few people were still out. Clarke spotted Roma and ran, with Bellamy in tow, in front of her.

"Roma, what's going on?"said Clarke as she looked into the nervous looking eyes of Roma.

Roma paused for a second and looked at Bellamy before she said,"It's Grounders. Jasper was looking for Octavia so they could swap and he went with Finn deeper into the woods following the trail she'd left and they couldn't find her at all."

A cloud of anger began to descend over Bellamy who growled,"Where is she?"

Roma pointed at something on the makeshift table that the delinquents used to skin meat,"They eventually reached a part of the woods where they found those and they turned back to camp. I thnk they went back out there, but it's too dark now for them to pick up the trail again."

Clarke and Bellamy stepped closer to the table and both were distressed by what they found.

Shards of crystal that were covered in blood.

...