Runners from Azgeda

Chapter 21: Negotiations

Clarke had a restless nights sleep as she didn't have her wife with her for the first time in a while. She was up well before the sun and spent the time thinking of ways to create a healthy alliance. However, she knew it would be almost impossible with Diana Sydney on the council. She was a bigoted woman who thought she was better than those who grew up down here. Even if she wasn't spearheading a resistance and forcing Bellamy to try and break the alliance back in Ton DC, she was a threat.

Clarke came up with a plan to find out the truth about Diana, and relayed it to her friends. They all knew Clarke was the best at getting into places she wasn't meant to, so while they were meeting with the council, Clarke would be searching the Ark for the radio. If she was seen or caught, they could use the excuse of Clarke wanting to look through the place she only had memories of.

The grounders knew they had a few hours before the council would want to speak, so they did a little training to pass the time. It was nothing strenuous or extreme, but to the Arkers that were up early, it was spectacular. Costia and Luna were sparring while Lincoln and Anya practised their sword play. Clarke and Raven stayed off to the side and watched, not wanting to show off their skills.

Jake and Marcus made their way down from the Ark and saw the four training. It worried them that they were so skilled at the art. Jake was just grateful his daughters weren't fighting right now. He had heard stories from the 100 about what they could do, but her didn't want to see it. It would break his heart that they had to become those people out of necessity. He knew he couldn't live that fairy tale forever, but for now he liked the denial.

Marcus asked for the grounders to follow him back to the meeting room so they could continue their negotiations, but was confused when only 4 of the original 6 got up and followed him. "What about Clarke? And the other woman, Costa?"

Anya rolled her eyes at the man, "her name is Costia, and the two of them are going to be looking around your camp. Clarke wants to see where she was raised and Costia is the best person to accompany her."

"None of your people are allowed through our camp unescorted. When they are found, they will be taken to our guards for punishment." Marcus stated. He was quite pompous and arrogant about it, which did not make any of the grounders want to help him. Thankfully, Jake was there to sort it out.

"They had my permission. Clarke wants to see where she grew up, there is no harm in that. Her friend will be with her so that Clarke has someone to talk to while seeing everything."

Anya snorted. "Yes, they had permission, but this is not where Clarke grew up. Her and Raven grew up in Azgeda. They barely remember this place."

At that statement, the group walked past the stunned Jake and fuming Marcus and up towards the Ark. Once the pair recovered from the talk they hurried to catch up with the group.

Once everyone was inside the meeting room, Abby took over proceedings. She was well aware that they now outnumbered the grounders in the room but that didn't mean they had the upper hand. In a fight any one of the four could take them down and she wanted this to stay as peaceful a possible.

The meeting went on all morning and into the early afternoon, but progress was being made. The grounders had agreed to teach the Arkers to hunt and gather, as well as create shelters that would be easy to assemble in this environment. The Arkers had agreed to help take down the mountain and teach them more about the radios and other technology. Unfortunately, they were all stuck on the point of autonomy. The Arkers, or more specifically, Diana Sydney and Marcus Kane, were pushing for freedom from the coalition. They didn't want to be apart of it and answer to anyone but themselves, and that went against everything Lexa had fought for. If this was granted to these people, a war would erupt that could be more brutal than the last.

"There is no way that we can have an alliance without you being apart of the coalition. If you aren't apart of the coaltion, you have no rights to trade, travel and to protect yourself. As it stands, the only thing that is keeping you from being invaded and taken over by the Trikru is the 100 and what they have done for us. You landed in Trikru land. Anyone else who had set foot on this land and created a camp with no warning or permission would be slaughtered!" Anya slammed her hand on the table to emphasise her point.

"We don't want to answer to anyone again. Why can we not create trade routes outside of coaltion control?" Diana asked.

"If an exception is made for you, the whole coalition will riot. Most will stay put as they have realised that the peace we have is better than constant fighting, but the Azgeda wont. They will come and fight for more land, more people and more blood. But they will also come for the Griffin Twins. It is common knowledge that she wants them back, and she could use you guys being stubborn and ignorant of our ways to try and take control." Luna explained, trying to stay calm.

The thought of losing their daughters again scared the Griffins to no end so they tried to stop Kane and Sydney from speaking again. "Look, I think we are at the stage where we need to speak with the Commander about this. She is in charge and she is who can enforce the rules. But do you know of any way we can join the coalition and still keep some separation?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yes. Do you think Lexa has time to deal with petty little squabbles that happen inside each clan? No. She deals with inter clan conflicts and potential wars. Inside these walls you have almost complete control. The coalition, like we have been trying to explain all day, helps everyone work together, not give the Commander complete power."

The grounders decided that nothing else could be confirmed without the commander here to answer final questions and sign off on an alliance. They made arrangements to meet up in the morning again to finalise their thoughts before they would return to Ton DC and report to the Commander.

Just as the group of ten were making to leave the conference room, Costia burst in. "You have to see this! We need your help." She then turned and ran back out the door leaving them all in her wake. The grounders and Pike were the first to react and bolted after her, while the Griffins were next to start running. The last three to move were Callie, Diana and Marcus and they had to hurry to catch the group.

They ran through multiple hallways and up multiple sets of stairs when they came to an abrupt halt behind the Griffins, Pike and the Grounders. They carefully moved around to the side of the group and saw what stopped them short.

Inside the room was a vast array of radios, computers and weapons that looked like they were being stockpiled. However, what caught everyones eye was the scarred blonde that was standing stock still in the middle of the room.

In one hand, she was holding what looked like a stack of papers. While in the other hand was holding something no one could see, but judging by Clarkes stature, it was dangerous.

The whole group watched as Costia slowly edged into the room and took the papers off her. She handed them over to Luna who quickly skimmed them and found plans and ideas for taking over the ground.

She saw they were signed with the initials D.S. so she got Lincoln to grab hold of Diana Sydney. It was too much of a coincidence for them not to take precautions. Once that was done, Costia asked Lincoln to drag Diana to the front so Clarke could ask her a question.

Diana Sydney was standing there watching as Clarke slowly rotated her hand and showed them what was in it. The reason Clarke wasn't moving became quite apparent.

She didn't want to explode.

"Diana Sydney. Would you like to explain why you were using a live grenade as a means to hold those plans down?"