CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
( acts of war )

OCT 2, 2149
DAY TWENTY ON THE GROUND

SUNLIGHT TRICKLED THROUGH THE SEA OF EVERGREENS AS CLARKE, FINN, AND DAKOTA ALL EMERGED to find a restless Octavia pacing along a moss-enshrouded stone bridge; movements governed by impatient anxiety as she shook her hands by her sides.

"So that's how you set this up." was the first thing Clarke said upon reaching the Blake girl.

"You helped him escape, didn't you?"

"I trust him, Clarke." Octavia answered honestly, merely pursing her lips at the accusatory and mildly frustrated tone of the blonde's voice.

"There's a lot of that going around." she mumbled, eyeing Dakota and Finn; the dark-haired girl gulping.

The Thompson girl could understand Clarke's rightful worry and hesitancy; they had a horrible track record with the grounders, after all. But she knew Lincoln was good, and she knew there were others like him, and she knew they would attain peace.

"Someone's coming." Finn's head suddenly snapped up at the sound of approaching footsteps, everyone's eager gazes falling to the opposite side of the long bridge.

Octavia didn't waste a second when the large figure covered in fur and leather revealed themself to be Lincoln, relief rushing over their features as they met eyes and jogged urgently towards one another; the man opening his arms for her to jump into, which she instantly did. He held her securely for a long moment, lifted easily in the air; the two clinging onto one another in endearment.

"They're like the apocalyptic Romeo and Juliet." Dakota smiled brightly, the other two watching in uncertainty. He smiled warmly at the brunette upon setting her down, his gaze hardening when he peered over her head at Clarke and Finn; softening instantly up as he nodded to Dakota, who was a friend to him.

"Hey, Linc!" she waved merrily to him, earning a small smile from the man.

It was then that the thundering of hoof beats could be heard coming from the forest, along with bonny neighing and whinnying. Dakota's eyes widened in amazement at the equine family trotting onto the bridge.

"Oh my God... horses." Clarke breathed in awe, irises lighting up as an entranced smile pulled at her lips.

"Woah." the Thompson girl whispered with the same expression.

The two first ones had coats sleek and dark; mimicking the color of the parts of space visible from the Ark that were never surrounded by the soft glow of starlight. Their long, frizzy manes ran wild; two grounders shielded with thick masks and armor aboard the large animals. The final one, slightly behind the other two and claiming the middle spot, was a striking chestnut color; a stripe of white running down its face and onto its long nose. Straddling that horse was a fierce looking woman, defined cheekbones with beautiful olive skin; black warpaint smeared across her eyes, making them appear to be sunken in when they really weren't. Her thick, multicolored locks rested in front of her shoulders and over her back; several parts of her hair twisted into braids and dreads. Her ebony coat rode all the way to her booted legs as she slipped easily off of the animal, entirely unafraid with no hint of sentiment.

Dakota was too mesmerized by the breathtaking steeds to have taken a moment to recognize what was wrong; only becoming aware when Finn angrily ran up to Lincoln, his hand clasping Clarke's as he pulled her along with him. She hurriedly caught up to the group.

"Hey, we said no weapons!"

Her eyes scanned the three grounders and their horses, gulping when she noticed the bows, arrows, knives, swords, and spears; the usual.

"I was told there wouldn't be." Lincoln replied through tightly gritted teeth, obviously just as upset about the occurrence as they were.

"It's too late now." Clarke stated simply, beginning to approach the woman with furrowed features; Lincoln placing a hand on Finn's chest when he tried to go with her.

"They go alone." he austerely instructed.

"We'll be fine." the blonde nervously shook her head at the apprehensive look Finn shot them, even though the look he sent was mainly directed towards the Griffin girl.

"Clarke-"

"Hey. It's time to do better."

"We got this." Dakota assured shakily, resisting the urge to grab onto Clarke's hand as they started off down the long bridge, knowing it could come off as weak.

She was confident this would end well, yes, but it didn't stop her heart from quickening slightly with each step she took; the scene was overwhelmingly intimidating. The two girls remained in an intensely locked gaze with the grounder woman marching intrepidly to meet them in the center, doing their absolute best to mask the fear in their young eyes. The stranger's gravely forbidding expression didn't help their unease. Dakota couldn't keep her gaze from glimpsing covertly over to the horses every once in a while, wondering silently what their names were even in the midst of possible peril.

There was a brief, nearly unbearable moment where no one said or did anything when the three became face to face; the grounder sizing them up as Dakota forced herself to gain the courage to speak, breaking up the tense silence.

"Ai laik Dakota kom Skaikru, en dison laik Clarke kom Skaikru. She's oso heda. It's nice gon hit op yu." she hid the shakiness of her voice well, praying to herself that she had gotten that statement entirely correct without butchering any of the words.

The woman stared at her with narrowed eyes, expression unchanging before she spoke loudly and authoritatively.

"There is only one Heda, and she is not it."

Dakota swallowed as her features fell, clearly having offended her. Helplessly, she glanced back at Lincoln for reassurance, the man sending her a subtle nod to tell her it was okay. The 18 year old suddenly wished she was no longer standing there. She'd been put in the spotlight for the sake of Trigedasleng, which had only felt like a sense of betrayal to the woman, who was soon moving on and emotionlessly identifying herself.

"I'm Anya."

Clarke nodded, holding out her hand to be shaken, only for the gesture to be unreceived; then dropping her arm back at her side.

"I think we got off to a rough start, but we wanna find a way to live together. In peace." the blonde voiced.

"I understand. You started a war that you don't know how to end." was Anya's only reply, anger in her strong, unwavering tone; Dakota watching the two interact in great discomfort.

"What? No, we didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason."

"No reason? The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground."

Dakota's heart sank when she realized what she was referring to; the flares. While that was horrible, in all fairness- not that she would ever mention this- problems with the grounders arose long before Raven's arrival; Jasper had been speared for no reason their first day on earth.

"The flares? No- that was a signal meant for our families. We had no idea-"

"You're invaders." Anya cut the blonde off sternly, venom dripping from her voice.

"Your ship landed in our territory."

"We didn't know anyone was here. We thought the ground was uninhabited." Clarke tried to calmly reason, only to be met with the same unrelenting stance and tone.

"You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him."

Fair argument.

"We n-"

"These are all acts of war." she grimly interrupted Dakota, though her gaze remained boring into the Griffin girl.

"I see your point. That's why we need to put an end to all of this." Clarke nodded, doing an outstanding job of keeping her cool amidst the suffocating stress.

Somewhere deep in her eyes, Anya actually seemed surprised; having expected push back from her, not a genuine understanding. The fleeting cast upon her irises poured fuel on the fire of hope in Dakota's stomach.

"Lincoln said there are more of you coming down. Warriors." she crossed her arms.

"The guard, yes. But also farmers, doctors, engineers. We can help each other, but not if we're at war." Clarke expressed.

"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us? That they'll respect the terms you and I agree on?"

Now they were getting somewhere. She was actually considering this. The only highly unfortunate thing, however, is that the answer to Anya's question was no; and Clarke dreaded giving a truthful response.

"I promise I will do everything I can to convince them to honor the terms that we set." she decided on.

"I believe we can get them to cooperate." the Thompson girl added honestly.

"Why would I agree to an alliance your people can break the moment they get here?" she arched a brow at them, as if in disbelief that the girls could be so naive as to think she'd buy into this.

"W-well then why don't we make an alliance? One that doesn't have anything to do with the rest of Skaikru. Cease fire on a technically temporary basis so no one else has to die, and then when the rest of our people come down, we hold another civil meeting just like this one. That way you can speak to the person who does have that authority and we can guarantee peaceful concomitance." Dakota suggested.

"And give you all a head start on making a plan to move against us? You both are weak in your attempts for a so called truce."

"If you fire the first shot, the people coming down won't bother negotiating. Our technology? They will wipe you out." Clarke expressed earnestly, Anya merely glaring at her; unthreatened.

"They wouldn't be the first to try."

Dakota knitted her brows at this, unable to prevent the classic 'confused puppy head tilt' that followed. Lincoln had never mentioned other enemies to her, and she'd always assumed the goal was to simply survive on a planet in the wake of worldwide nuclear explosions. She'd assumed they call themselves warriors in the name of dangerous animal encounters, and famine, and disease; a radiation simmering sphere stripped bare of various necessities. She'd assumed their precision with weapons stemmed from being avid hunters. Was she wrong? Were there more than just grounders here?

Before she could ask her what she meant, an urgent scream was ringing out below; everyone on the bridge's heads snapping over to the ruckus in confusion. Jasper had charged from out of nowhere, panic written across his features as he called up to them.

"CLARKE, DAKOTA! RUN! RUN!"

And just like that, all hell broke loose.

Jasper aimed unhesitatingly for the trees with his deadly assault rifle in hand, conducting a rapid open fire; booming gunshots ricocheting through the forest the same way the loud zip of arrows shooting through the air could be heard coming from the opposite side. It was absolute mayhem, nearly impossible to tell what threat was coming from where and how to best shelter yourself from harm.

Dakota's humongous eyes darted frantically around as she naturally grabbed tightly onto Clarke's forearm, both of them crouching slightly where they stood slack-jawed and panicked. The scene felt almost fake, entirely surreal as Dakota's brain struggled to compute; a fatal lag that could potentially cost her her life enveloping her. Everything had been fine a mere two seconds earlier, and now dead bodies were crashing down from the once beautiful evergreens; grounders killed by her best friend. How had this commenced in the literal blink of an eye? How could a full fledged war, how could death be happening so easily and quickly? Human lives being lost shouldn't feel so nonchalant.

The unsheathing of a dagger stole her attention. Seeing Anya attempt to bring the weapon down on her blonde friend ignited something primal inside of her, the girl unhesitatingly trying to leap forward to shove the grounder woman away. In retrospect, it might've not been the wisest decision, but Dakota was frantic and far from a seasoned warrior. She was simply an 18 year old; she never asked to become a token in a game of life and death.

Her feeble attempt of protecting Clarke likely wouldn't have worked out and merely gotten her killed if the group from below the bridge hadn't been covering them; both girls jumping backwards in shock when a bullet lodged itself directly into Anya's hand that possessed the blade. She yelped loudly in pain, staggering away as their bewildered gazes darted to the side; Bellamy with a rifle in his arms, having made an unbelievably perfect shot.

"Clarke, get down!" Finn suddenly shouted, racing as fast as he could towards the pair; but the arrow whizzing towards the blonde was faster.

Another strong instinct kicked in, Dakota not missing a beat to throw herself ontop of Clarke and roughly tackle her to the dirty stone floor of the bridge; the sharp arrow zooming over their heads and right past Finn's shoulder as horrifying shots and screams continued to blare through the atmosphere. The blonde groaned beneath her from the unexpected smack-down she had received, letting out a cough and regaining her breath. She could feel the Griffin girl's promptly pounding heart up against her own chest, her huge eyes darting up back towards the deadly havoc still occurring as her body remained sprawled out on top of Clarke.

Another shot rang out from somewhere among the pandemonium, the two girls feeling each other's tense bodies flinch as Dakota quickly propped back up on her palms to make sure Finn hadn't been hit. Her arms trembled beneath her and her lungs felt as if they were caving in, but she continued to remain as collected as one could be in their dire situation; the bewildered voices and petrified faces of her friends enough to keep her going.

"Finn, get back!" Clarke cried out, the brunette boy not listening as he hared over to the two; locking an arm around each of them as they scrambled frenetically to their feet, taking off back towards their side of the bridge as weapons continued to fly around them.

"Go, go!" a voice Dakota recognized as Raven ordered hurriedly from below, the separate groups retreating desperately toward their homes.

Dakota would've come to a screeching halt had it not been for the Collins boy's tight grip on her when she watched Lincoln spring fearlessly in front of Octavia, not thinking twice when sacrificing himself to protect her as an arrow embedded itself into his shoulder; a flash of pain sweeping across his features before he quickly disguised them.

"Oh my God! Lincoln! You've been hit!" the Blake girl panicked, terror on her face as she caught sight of the shaft penetrating his body.

"It's just a scratch." he told her, speedily snapping half of it from out of his body with a small grunt. It very clearly wasn't just a scratch, but his desire to shield Octavia from any and all forms of worry and pain greatly outweighed any little concern he possessed for himself.

"O-oh my gosh, are you okay?!" Dakota breathlessly stammered the second she reached him, wide eyes glued onto the grounder man. Almost immediately she wished she could've taken that exact arrow for the mere stupidity of her question; no, he wasn't okay.

"I'm fine, okay, run! Don't stop until you get behind your walls! Take her!" he instructed and pushed Octavia their direction, the Thompson girl's heart twisting in her chest at his pain.

She had so desperately wanted this to work out; she had been so confident it would, and all that had happened was more death and destruction to Lincoln and his people. And he was still helping them. But despite her roaring emotions, she wasted absolutely no time turning all of her focus to the shrieking Blake girl, grabbing securely onto her and not bothering to try and keep from being rough; practically forced to be as she jerked her mercilessly away from Lincoln. She didn't care right now if Octavia earned a couple scrapes and bruises because of her; all she cared about was keeping her safe.

"Lincoln, no!" the brunette screamed in protest, the injured man hobbling towards the opposite side of the bridge.

"Octavia, come on! We have to go!" Dakota exclaimed in distress through gritted teeth as she yanked her friend away with all her might; the girl eventually giving in as the two darted into the woods.

Dakota pushed past the tiny lump in her throat as raging adrenaline coursing through her veins willed her to sprint through the woods in fright for her life, which was starting to feel routine. They had been so close, it was nearly in their grasp. But violence got in the way once again, and what was solid in their hold had morphed into sand and slipped between their fingers; going down the drain just like their last chance at peace.

༻✧༺

THE GROUP COULD BARELY BREATHE BY THE TIME THEY REACHED CAMP AGAIN, DARKNESS HAVING claimed the land as everyone gradually slowed themselves to a halt just outside the gate; chests heaving frantically up and down as they managed to sweat through their clothes despite the cold weather. Their lungs burned and their legs ached, having hared unceasingly through the forest for so long; but it didn't compare to the sheer anger running rampant between them.

"You got something to say?" Bellamy raised his brows in vexation when Finn stood glaring at him with his hands on his knees.

"Yeah, I told you no guns!" he shouted in stark rage, and though Bellamy was the one who asked the question, his maddened response was only to Clarke.

"I told you we couldn't trust the grounders, I was right!" she fired back indignantly, features furrowed in pique.

Dakota glanced nervously around at the yelling group, their words feeling as deadly to her as the bullets they had shot on the bridge; wondering silently if she pretended to pass out from lack of
oxygen they would cease their heated arguing.

"Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?!" Raven turned to her boyfriend in disbelief; her, Bellamy, and Jasper still clutching onto their large guns.

"I tried, but you were too busy making bullets for your gun!"

"You're lucky she brought that! They came there to kill you, Finn." Bellamy defended the mechanic, his face contorted in anger at the statement.

"You don't know that! Jasper fired the first shot!" Finn gestured in sheer fury over to the Jordan boy. He was by far the most upset about this, or at least the one displaying the most rage.

"Raven was just trying to protect you, Finn." Dakota expressed earnestly, though her voice was void of anger, unlike everyone else; still noticing the clear hurt in the Reyes girl's eyes.

"Oh, so you're on their side now?" the boy retorted petulantly at her, since the two of them were usually in conjunction with one another on trying to keep the peace.

"No! Th-"

"You ruined everything." Octavia unintentionally interrupted, nodding towards Jasper; whose eyes enlarged greatly at her bitter words. While she hadn't yelled them, they had managed to hold more weight and resentment than anything else that had been said the whole night; igniting a bright flame of ill temper within him.

"I saved you!" he seethed as she spun on her heel and marched inside, not uttering another word or glancing over her shoulder. The tone of his voice told everyone he had expected a thank you from the Blake girl.

"I saved all of you!" he then turned to Dakota, Finn, and Clarke.

"You're welcome Kody." he muttered sourly, using the usually benevolent nickname as a venomous weapon tonight; knocking shoulders with her as he brushed past them.

"Jasper!" she scoffed incredulously, turning around to try and stop him; only to be met with an aggrieved wave of his hand as he stormed back inside the walls.

"Well if we weren't at war already, we sure as hell are now!" Finn declared sullenly; his fiery gaze soon moving back to Clarke.

"You didn't have to trust the grounders. You just had to trust me."

"Okay, everyone stop it!" Dakota suddenly snapped, loud, but still lacking any frustration; she appeared more worried than anything else. She finally gained what remained of the group's undivided attention.

"One way or another, we were all trying to protect each other. We just had different ideas on how to do that and things got lost in translation. There are no real sides when we all ultimately wanted the same thing. But fighting over this isn't doing us any good for the consequences that are going to follow what just happened on the bridge. We just started a war, and petty arguing is the last thing we need to be putting our efforts into now."

"No, they just started a war." Finn accused Clarke, Raven, and Bellamy; her fast-paced speech having apparently gone in one ear and out the other.

"Did you not hear a word she just said?!" the Griffin girl exclaimed, shaking her head in irritation and exasperation.

"Dakota's right! Pointing fingers isn't gonna help us figure out how to survive what's inevitably coming now!"

"Nothing would be coming if you had just trusted me." Finn hissed, refusing to listen to them as he furiously headed into the walls; Raven chasing after him with a hefty sigh.

Dakota groaned softly, running a hand through her disheveled hair; thinking the arguing was finally over Then Bellamy turned to face her.

"Hey, Linc?" he questioned through gritted teeth, repeating her earlier words she had called to her grounder friend on the bridge; Dakota's features falling immediately at the echoing statement. His jaw was tight, his freckled face plastered with ire.

"Your idea of protecting us is trusting the enemy? Knowingly letting my sister be with the enemy?"

"Lincoln is not the enemy." she firmly stated, hoping also to persuade him.

"So the knife he stuck in Finn's chest was an act of friendship, then?"

"Finn is the one who set this up! He and Lincoln have no problems with each other, so that isn't a reason. It's not like we haven't done anything bad to them either!" she retorted in distress.

"Bellamy-" Clarke uneasily tried to cut in, not able to as he continued unremittingly with his fiery eyes locked onto Dakota's dismayed ones.

"The shackles he put around Octavia's wrists? The spear he tried to stab into my throat?"

"You don't know him! He's a good person and he is working harder than anyone here to make peace and keep us all safe!" she avidly defended the man, knowing damn well he would never put Octavia in danger; she'd watched him take an arrow for her today.

"Yeah, I apparently don't know you either." he scoffed bitterly.

"I thought you actually gave a damn about my sister."

Dakota's throat grew tight; a hot, prickling sensation nipping at her saddened irises. The statement hurt more than it should've, she knew, but it had affected her deeply. The person who she had told her darkest secret to a few days ago, the person who had basically rocked her to sleep that night and held her while she cried; the only person who did truly know her had just growled the exact opposite as an insult. Despite her suffocating fear, she had bore her soul to him in a way she'd never done with anyone before, and one of the first things he did was inculpate that she was an imposter who didn't care about the safety of her friends.

The girl spun on her heel, turning her back to Clarke's woeful gaze and his icy glare; scurrying into camp and desperately forcing herself to lock her emotions up into an unreachable cage for now. Quickly, she swallowed the lump in her throat and rushed past her tent- where Jasper likely was- and paraded to Octavia's instead.

"Knock knock." she called softly from outside, a few seconds passing before the Blake girl's despondent voice arose quietly.

"Dakota?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Come in."

She silently slipped inside, making sure the tent flap was securely closed behind her; knowing the 16 year old wanted to be sheltered away from everyone right now. She was sitting on her sleeping bag with her legs crossed and back slouched, fiddling dejectedly with her hands in her lap and her eyes cast upon them. Their tents were orange and red, but the environment surrounding Octavia looked blue in the midst of her misery; void of all brightness. She had managed to hold it together by her lonesome, but the second she lifted her head to meet Dakota's sadly sympathetic gaze, she broke. She helplessly let out a hushed cry, succumbing to her pent up tears.

"Tavia." the Thompson girl whispered dolefully, brows knitted in commiseration as she shuffled to sit at her side; Octavia not objecting in the slightest when she was guided into her chest.

Her weeping was quiet, yet it held a strong anguish. Dakota sorrowfully rubbed her back, gently resting her chin on top of the mewling girl's head; her face furrowed in heartache at her friend's pain.

"He's gonna be okay." she tried to soothe her, Octavia pulling away to meet her eyes; lip quivering.

"You don't know that." she shook her head, frail voice cracking relentlessly.

"Yes I do." she tenderly asserted, taking her thumbs to delicately wipe the tears from beneath Octavia's eyes as she sniffled incessantly.

"The strength Lincoln has is beyond our level of comprehension. He's dealt with far worse than an arrow to the shoulder, and I am sure he knows exactly how to take care of it. It didn't hit anything serious in him, I saw it."

"But what if it's poisoned or something?" Octavia whimpered shakily.

"If it is, then he has the antidote, okay? He knows a lot more about how to live in this world than we do. He's gonna be fine, I promise."

This seemed to convince her enough, the girl nodding with a small hiccup; rubbing ruthlessly as her eyes until the skin around them was red, tears coming to a quick end. She scooted up closer to Dakota, snuggling her head against her shoulder as she allowed herself time for her breathing to regulate; their hands automatically reaching for one another to intertwine their fingers.

"I like him for you." Dakota said lightheartedly after a beat, both of their eyes trained ahead, meaning she couldn't see the grin that appeared on Octavia's face.

"Yeah?" she inquired softly, voice a little altered as the lump from her throat gradually faded.

"Yeah. I'm not sure if I've ever seen such selfless love in two people who just met."

"Love?" Octavia's smile grew wider, the idea of this sending a flutter through her chest.

"Too soon?"

"No." she immediately shook her head against her shoulder, a warm blush taking the place of tears on her cheeks; the tension in her body falling away.

"Are those radiation-soaked, glow-in-the-dark butterflies you like so much flapping around in your stomach right now?" she playfully raised a brow, Octavia giggling loudly at her words as she tucked her head a little further into her shoulder.

There was beat, Dakota's features sobering up again as a dreadful realization crossed her mind once again.

"Bellamy's really mad at me." she whispered, her voice almost sounding fearful of this information; as if she was scared for him to feel that way about her. Octavia's smile slowly disappeared, still looking ahead as the two spoke quietly into the night.

"Who cares what Bellamy thinks?"

Dakota wordlessly shook her head with a swallow, her voice coming out faint and sheepish; she couldn't explain it all to the girl, so much had happened to them when she wasn't around.

"I just don't like it when people are mad at me, that's all."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you're the one person I'm not pissed at."

She had said it as a feeble offering of solace, but the more Octavia mused over her statement, the more she realized just how true it actually rang to her. Frankly, Dakota was the only person she wasn't currently mad at, and the only person she'd never been mad at before. She trusted her more than anyone else in the universe; even more than her brother, after every ridiculous thing he'd done on the ground.

"Thank you for walking through Factory Station that day." she spoke softly, squeezing Dakota's hand affectionately as gratitude rolled over body while she thought everything through.

"Thank you for doing an A plus performance of playing Reese." Dakota told her in return, the two breaking out into a series of uncontrollable giggles as they flopped back onto her sleeping bag; rolling around like fools as they laughed their brokenness away.

A/N!
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

"Hey, Kota. Wanna play truth minus dare?"

"Yeah!"

"Why did talking about Lincoln and Octavia make you think of Bellamy?"

"👁👄👁 uhhhhhh........"

ALSO, UM..... 10K?!? LIKE?!? W H A T?!?

Wow. I am honestly kind of speechless. Thank you so much for the unbelievably beautiful love & support on this story. You guys mean so much to me. And I know I say this a lot, but it's true that you'll never know just how much that really is. You guys ROCK! I hope this story makes you a fraction as happy as you guys make me. Thank you so freaking much for 10k; my mind is thoroughly blown.

All the virtual hugs ever,  xoxo, Cam <3

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