Warpaint | Clexa (Completed)

Chapter 4: Reckoning

Sitting hunched over a boulder, Clarke tried to remember her father's face the day he was executed. It had been a cold winter evening, towards the end of the year cycle. She remembered the crunch of the boots on the snow and dried leaves, as he guards marched Jake out of the camp gates. She remembered her mother's stoic, and silent tears streaked face. She remembered the weight of Raven's hands on her shoulder and Octavia's fingers on her hands. The sky was clear and the color of a dead computer screen. Strangely, the air had smelt of spruce, and not gunpowder or blood. The dull thud of the gunshot reverberated in her ears.

Jake Griffin of Upper Arkadia, Chief Engineer and Diplomat, you have been sentenced to death in accordance with the Exodus Charter for treason and conspiracy against the Council. Any last words?

Clarke tried to remember what her father's last words were, but her mind drew up a blank. She could not remember either his face or his words, and that frustrated her beyond belief. It had only been a few years, and she wondered how her mind had blocked Jake out.

Clarke had believed that her pardon deal was a pretty good one. She could go scot-free along with Raven, Octavia, Jasper, and Monty. All she'd have to do, was kill the Commander. Kill Lexa. Kill the girl who she had kissed just a few hours back. Kill the girl who had given her food and shelter, and trusted her. Kill the moment when she had seen the bioluminescence in the river. The only problem was that the Commander wasn't some leader in warpaint. The Commander was Lexa, whose voice sent shivers down her spine and eyes seemed to look right throught, to inside her mind.

"Penny for your thoughts, Princess?"

Clarke nearly jumped out of her skin and looked up, startled.

Finn hanging upside down from the tree, she was resting against, his legs wrapped around a branch, a goofy smile on his face.

"What the hell Finn!"

"Pretty boy is high on theatrics," Bellamy jumped down from a lower branch as silently as he could. "Good to see you alive, Clarke."

"What in the name of Becca are you two doing here!"

"We're out on a date. Care to join us in a threesome," Finn winked.

"Keep your voices down, you idiots," Bellamy said, as Finn jumped down from the branch to join the two. "O escaped, Clarke."

"What do you mean by O escaped?"

"Raven helped her. She's out in these woods somewhere, and Murphy and I have been trying to track her down for a few days."

"You were not tracking me?"

"What? No. You have your GPS on." Bellamy said.

"No I don't. Le..I broke the bracelet."Clarke argued.

"That was a dummy," Finn shrugged. "The real one is under the skin. That's how we tracked you down."

"Oh god" Clarke stood up. "Are they hunting O?"

"They sent Miller's team after her. I bought some time from him. It's all upto you, Clarke."

"What do you mean it's all upto me?"

"We located you inside their village! No one has gotten this far, before."

"It's...that's different. The Commander is not here." Clarke shook her head.

"Then keep trying," Bellamy said. "Look Clarke, I know you since you were a kid. And I know that we've had our differences and we didn't see eye to eye for the last couple of years. But this is O we're talking about."

"And Raven's time is up in two months," Finn said with a solemnity that Clarke hadn't seen in him before.

"Bellamy...Bell," Clarke sighed, "I don't think I can do this. It's..."