Fears on Fire

Chapter Twenty-one

The once grey sky was now black, the silver stars were nowhere to be seen. There was a slight breeze as it waved the fire at the top of the torches. I heard the small conversations between the Grounders, most of the conversations consisted of our friend Finn Collins. The scenes from earlier flashed in and out through my head. Raven knelt besides Finn's body with her hands on either side of her face. Her face was contorted with anger and a slight solemn. I saw the tears sliding down the sides of her face. I walked over to Raven and set a hand on her shoulder. She lifted up her head, giving me a small stoical smile. My heart broke to see my best friends face full of fatigue and solemness.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, rubbing the side of her arm. Raven set her head on my shoulder. I felt the sleeve of my shirt become wet from her tears. I let go of my friend and brought her in for another hug. I heard the sound of light footsteps coming from the two of us. I turned around and saw Clarke walking towards us, holding a backpack. I rose up from the ground and strolled over to my sister. I smiled at her, wrapping my arms around. She was taken aback from my hug, but slowly received it. "You're not mad?" Clarke asked as she let go of me. "You did what you had to do," I said. She gave me a small smile and turned to look at Raven.

"Raven," Clarke said, stepping forwards. I reached forward to pull my sister back. She shook my hand away. My sister stood by Raven, thinking of what to say. "Go away," Raven said, not looking up from Finn. I walked over to the two of them and stood beside my sister. "Raven, I'm sorry," Clarke said. "I said, go away!" Raven repeated, jumping up from the ground. "I know how hard it must be for you," my sister said, "but I'm leaving with the Grounders, I need you to keep working on the radio." Raven sighed in frustration, crossing her arms. Loud footsteps approached the three of us. I looked up and saw two Grounders walking over, about to pick up Finn's body.

Raven whipped her head to the men and shook her head in disagreement. Clarke motioned for the two Grounders to wait a few more minutes. "They need to take him," I said. "Like hell they do!" Raven countered, "You're agreeing to this, Y/N? Finn was your friend!" I looked down at the ground then back up at Raven. "I don't trust them either, but if we want to survive this hell of a world, maybe we should give them a chance," I said. "We're taking him back to where the massacre took place," Clarke said, "There's a death ritual." Raven furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head.

"It could be the only way to get our people out of Mount Weather," I added, trying to convince Raven. "Then I'm coming too," Raven said. She picked up her backpack that laid beside her, swinging it over her shoulder. She walked over to Clarke and I, standing in front of us. "And don't worry, I'll bring your damn radio," Raven added. She walked passed Clarke, hitting her shoulder on purpose. I watched my friend walk away as I continued to stand beside my sister. Clarke stared at the ground, playing with the hem of her shirt.

"Clarke," I said. I set a hand on my sister's shoulder. "You okay?" I asked. She looked up at me and nodded. "Should I regret what I did?" She questioned, looking back at me. "They were going to torture him, Clarke," I said, "You did a good thing! It might not seem like it, but I know it'll be okay." She slowly nodded, looking back down at the ground. I turned to look behind us and saw my Mother and Kane speaking to each other.

"What was it like to kill someone?" Clarke asked, interrupting my thoughts. My mind flashed to what happened with the Grounder that I had killed. I remember feeling rebellious, almost as if I was glad to take down someone that had caused so much chaos. "It took my awhile to process it," I answered, "but you just have to learn to carry it." I swung my arm around her shoulder, ushering her to follow me. "Come on, mom's probably wondering where we are," I said.

****

The howl of the wind made the forest even more mysterious and eerie during the daylight. The sun shined on top of our heads, making the trek to the Grounder camp warmer then it already was. Bellamy and Clarke walked ahead of me as I strolled beside my mother. I saw movement in the bushes next to us. I turned my head towards the sound and saw Mary Orion crouching behind a couple of bushes.