somewhere | b.blake ✔️

2x15✔️

"We never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets?
The bullets
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here"

-Sign of the Times, Harry Styles

*****

Some people say that before a snake goes to kill its prey, the whole Earth goes silent. Not just the forest. Everything. As if the planet itself is holding its breath. And the snake waits, still as stone, drawing in all the tension of the world before striking.

Ash would like to think she's the snake in this moment. Quiet. Coiled. Dangerous.

But she's not. Not really.

Snakes only need that silence for food. Not for politics. Not for alliances that feel like splinters under the skin.

And definitely not for standing side by side with the two people she's spent the last two nights trying not to murder.

She doesn't look at Clarke. Or Lexa. Not unless she wants to choke on her own rage.

One day, she'll be free to pick a side that's only her own. One day, she'll bare her teeth for herself and not for someone else's cause.

But not today.

Today, she waits in a war tent with warriors from both clans and chews on her own restraint.

The air in the tent is thick enough to suffocate. Sweat. Leather. Oil. Anticipation. It coats her tongue like sand. Everyone's on edge. For most, it's nerves. For Ash, it's fury.

When the tent flap opens, the Arkers, or Skaikru as the Grounders call them, pour in like a flood. She counts faces before she even realizes she's doing it. A healed Monroe. Miller's father. A few guards. A few leaders. And far too many hopeful eyes.

The two groups look each other over like wolves sizing up rival packs. For once, no tension sparks. Maybe they're all too tired to hate.

Lexa moves first, gliding to the war table like she owns the ground it's bolted to. Which, in a sense, she does. The quiet shifts. Everyone knows what's coming.

"Welcome, Skaikru," Lexa says. "Let's begin."

Nods sweep the room like a ripple. No one smiles. This isn't a gathering. It's the last breath before the strike.

Mr. Miller steps forward, bottle in hand. "Package from Raven," he explains. "She said it would do the job."

Clarke takes it with a tight smile. "Thank you."

"She wanted to be here. Your mother did too."

Clarke's face stiffens. "I know. But the wounded in TonDC need her more."

Ash flinches. She doesn't mean to. The name still hits like a slap. The village she barely escaped. The wreckage she's never going back to. She looks away. Steadies her breath.

Lexa raises her voice. "Field commanders and warriors, today's the day we get our people back. The enemy believes they are safe. But they are not. When they realize the truth, they will fight. Hard."

Clarke steps up beside her. "We need to be ready. This is a rescue mission. We are not here to wipe them out."

Ash rolls her eyes. Restraint from the girl who lit up a village like it was nothing. But she keeps quiet. 

"There are people inside that mountain who helped us. Children. Civilians. We kill soldiers. Leaders, if we must. But we rescue our own. That is the goal. Is that clear?"