Clarke:
I stood at the war table, looking at the diagram of where everyone was, and I sighed. My mother had for a moment refused to turn over the guardsman, but the threat of complete destruction forced her hand.
Kiran and Mako stood side by side speaking quietly to each other as Lexa talked with one of her many generals. As the tent flap opened once more, Lexa looked around and nodded.
"We begin now." All eyes were on her as she called everyone to focus.
"Ideas?"
"We need an inside man. Someone that can shut the fog off. A Skaikru can do that." I offered, looking at Lexa.
"Relying on one man is not a plan, it's a foolish dream." one of the generals spoke up, venom in his voice. "We should just storm the Mountain."
"And when the Acid Fog descends and kills you all?" Kiran spoke up. The general didn't speak. "That's what I thought, now sit down, the adults are talking."
"You stupid Skaigada."
Kiran turned to face the man, standing as tall as she could, looking the man in his eyes. Her hand leveled with his chest, partially blocked by her own body, but I could see something forming in her hand. It looked like a gray cloud, warping pulsing just above her palm.
"You boy, need to learn some respect. Should you learn it by my hand... or by Heda's? If she feels you don't need it, I would be happy to take you on, to the death." Kiran's voice was hard as steel, the cloud in her hand just growing denser and larger.
"You dare challenge me? You will not survive." The general growled, looking at Heda. "A challenge has been issued."
"So it has, Kiran, are you positive you wish to do this?" Lexa asked, her face impassive but her eyes showing concern.
"Sha Heda, you will need a new general."
Lexa sighed, motioning out the tent flap. The general made his way first, before several others followed. Leaving Kiran, Mako, Lexa and I for last.
"Kiran, you don't know how to fight." I reminded her.
"Actually, I do. And add to the fact that I can do this." She held up her hand. "They have Acid Fog, I have acid clouds, among other things. You see, every time I disappeared, I was training. Getting stronger. Mako, may I have a drop?"
Mako sighed, rolling her eyes and holding up a small vial. "One drop, you idiot, no more than that."
Kiran smiled, pressing a kiss to Mako's forehead and taking the single drop of the vibrant liquid. She shuddered slightly and smirked. "Let's do this."
I kept close to Lexa as we gathered at the training grounds. I was uneasy at the idea of Kiran fighting the mountain of a man, but she seemed to think she had it handled.
"Clear the field!" Lexa called, and quickly the training fields cleared, everyone forming a large circle around them. "A challenge has been issued and accepted. Kiran Kom Skaikru, Quint Kom Azgeda, to the field." The two appeared in front of her, Kiran shrugging off her jacket.
"Love can you hold this for me?" Kiran handed it to Mako, who took the jacket with a sigh.
"Quint, as the challenged warrior, you will choose the weapons." Lexa spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I won't need weapons." Quint spoke loudly, laughing at the idea that he would need a weapon to defeat the smaller woman.
"Do natural talents count as weapons?" Kiran asked, a weird gleam in her eye. Lexa shook her head and looked slightly confused. "Perfect, I accept combat to the death with no weapons."
"To the death." Lexa repeated, motioning for the fighters to take their places. Everyone looked in awe of the two warriors, most already counting for Quint to win. "Begin."
Kiran paced, her eyes not leaving the larger man. She was waiting for him to attack first. When he finally did, she dodged to the side and landed one strike on his nose. A sick crunch told me it was broken. First blood to Kiran. Quint growled, throwing himself at Kiran once more. She danced out of the way and managed another hit on his stomach, not affecting him much. She looked towards Mako, sending her a smirk, distracted enough not to notice Quint swinging at her head. The sound of his fist meeting her temple had me flinching. There was no way she would survive this fight.
"FOCUS DAMN IT." Mako called out, wringing her hands in front of her. "She's gonna fucking showboat until he actually kills her."
Her words hurt deeply. The idea that Kiran may die today hit me full force. My heart jumped into my throat and broke at the same time. Losing her would completely destroy me. A gasp from Mako had me looking at her, her eyes were locked on the pair. Indra quickly wrapped her arms around Mako to keep her from launching herself forward. I quickly focused back on Kiran, to find her under Quint, his fists landing heavily on her face. A silver fluid poured from her nose and mouth, but where was her blood? Not a single drop of red was seen outside of Quint's face.
"Kiran!" I yelled, terrified at what I was seeing.
Before anyone could step in, Quint's arms stopped moving as his body slumped slightly. He let out a god-awful scream and fell off of her to the left. His stomach was blistered and bloody, as if he had been melted. I could see wisps of gray smoke dissolving around the two.
Lexa signaled for the fight to end. Mako pulled free of Indra and went to Kiran's side. I couldn't hear what was said between the two, but a harsh smack across Kiran's face, told me that Mako was not happy about what just happened. Nyko appeared at Quint's side, checked him over for a moment, before looking at Lexa.
"Quint is dead." He called, his voice carrying over the crowd.
"See to Kiran, the War Council will meet again in two candlemarks." Lexa nodded and turned to me. "Klark, join me for Sanch. We have much to discuss."
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Kiran:
"Nyko, seriously, I'll be fine. I just need to make sure everything is set correctly and I will heal just fine and fast." I argued, looking at the man. "I can survive just about anything."
"I swear to the Goddess, Kiran Alexandria Snyder, Shut the hell up and let him fix you." Mako snapped, sending her death glare at me. I snapped my jaw shut and nodded, knowing better than to argue with her.
"I have treated warriors of both bloods, red and black. You are unique." He said, looking at me in wonder. "Silver, Goddess, you are the only one that has her blood."
Mako turned to him and leveled her gaze. "Nyko, you will not speak of this to anyone but Heda."
Nyko nodded and fell silent. It took an hour to get every bone straightened and the blood cleared. He finished with the clean up, only to be shocked that the smaller cuts had already healed.
"I told you, I heal fast." Was all I could say before Mako once again glared at me.
"If you are finished with her, Nyko, we are needed in the war tent."
"She is free to go, let me know if you need anything for pain." He stepped away and busied himself with cleaning up the various cloth that he had used.
I stood and stretched. A soft groan filled my chest as I felt the bones in my face adjust slightly. I quietly followed Mako out of the healers tent and over to the kitchen area. Mako grabbed two small trays of food and we made our way over to the war tent. We slipped into the tent and took a seat off to the side of the area. The other generals began to gather, as we finished eating in silence. Taking the two now empty trays to one of the guards outside, Mako and I made our way to our spot at the war table.
"While I don't typically agree with Quint, I have to agree at this time. Waiting on one man, is not a plan we should be putting all of our hope on. We need a better plan." Lexa spoke up, calling the meeting to begin.
Several voices began to speak at the same time, before I got an idea. I looked at Mako for a moment, knowing what was going through my mind could hurt her a lot. I leaned over to her and whispered in her ear.
"I love you, now and forever."
She looked at me in question, before whispering back. "I love you, always and eternal."
I stepped forward to the table and slammed my hands down. It got everyone's attention. "I have an idea." I looked at Lexa, waiting for her permission to speak. She nodded and I took a breath.
"As Clarke said, we need someone that can work tech, to get in and shut down the acid fog. As an engineer, both electronic and mechanical, I'll do it. I let them take me into the mountain. I will find the acid fog, turn it off and find a way for you to bring the Army into the mountain. It's simple, clean, and mostly safe."
"Safe?" Clarke spoke up looking at me with terror in her eyes. "You think you will be safe?"
"All I have to do is not get caught." I shrugged. "Look, it's a risk and I understand that. I accept that risk. I am the one person that you as leaders can trust on this. I'll survive it."
I could feel Mako shaking next to me, but I wouldn't be able to tell if that was in anger or fear without looking at her. I was desperately keeping my gaze away from her, knowing that if I did see fear, I would not be able to leave her side.
Lexa took the argument into consideration, as she looked at me. After a moment, she nodded. "You have limited time before we figure something else out."
I took that to mean I was dismissed, I lowered my head in a slight bow and took my leave. Heading over to my tent, I slipped in and grabbed a few things. Packing my pockets with my needed supplies, I made my way to the camp edge. Turning to face the camp one last time, I caught sight of Mako, coming up to me quickly. I waited, knowing that we needed to talk before I disappeared into the Mountain.
"I swear to the goddess you will be the death of me. Do you understand what you just committed yourself to? What those savages inside the mountain could do to you?" She demanded her hands balled up in fists at her sides. "I just got you back, Kiran. Do you not even care? Do you want to throw your life away?"
"Mako, I love you, I will always love you. I will always be with you, regardless of where I go. Just as you are with me. But our people need me. Lexa's army can't get close to the mountain without someone going inside. They can't hurt me, you know that. We survived a nuke, Mako. If I can survive that, I can survive just about anything else." I pulled her into my body and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "The only thing I can't survive is you not loving me. With all my heart and soul, you are my everything."
I could feel her shoulders start to shake. I knew that she was crying. She had been strong for so long and to be here when she crumbles, to be the reason she crumbles broke my heart.
"I'll be gone just a little while. I promise, the moment I can, I will be back."
"Don't leave me. Kiran... please rethink this." She begged, her voice quivering.
"Just a few days, love. I swear it."
Looking up, I spotted Clarke walking towards us. I waved her over quicker and pulled Mako closer to me. Clarke was nearly upon us when I spoke again.
"Clarke is gonna stay with you, until I get back."
Letting Clarke take Mako away from me, I nodded to her and brushed my own tears away. I let the sounds of camp fall away as I made my way towards the mountain. I had no idea how I was going to get in, but I would figure that out. After all I had a hell of a hike in front of me.
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