❛ empire now ❜
★ ₊˚. ❪ no to the truce! ❫
˗ˏ⋆ ˎ˗⠀┊ 1x9⠀┊ ⠀❝ oiv ❞
▅▅▅ ▅▅▅ ▅▅▅ ▅▅▅

" ANAKIN KOM TRIKRU ... "

      Lexa looks down at her younger brother; he's covered in his own dried black blood, burns and welts. She can see the wound in his hand that needs to be treated before it becomes infected. The commander grows worried, but she can't show it, she must know who had harmed not only her brother but another person under her protection. "What had happened, my brother?" Lexa sits on her throne, leaning back and acting as if the sight in front of her didn't bother her.

"The sky people had wanted answers, commander." Anakin doesn't seem fazed as his sister looks him up and down. His heart beats steadily as he leaves out important information about why the sky people could have wanted answers. She'll find out eventually, and she'll give both him and Lincoln trouble for displaying her direct orders.

"And what do you propose we do, Anakin? Anya has informed me that Lincoln — despite what had happened to both you and him — would like to form a truce between the sky people and us." Lexa tilts her head to the side as she lets her eyes dart to the side where her guests stands to the side of the entrance door. It's a loaded question, because no matter what Anakin says, her answer will always be her answer.

"You should allow me and a few chosen warriors wipe them out, commander. They're invaders, taking our land and torturing and killing us." Anakin stands tall, not wanting to seem small or less of the person he is. If it was up to him, the sky people would be dead for everything that they had caused.

Lexa ponders the thought in her head, closing her eyes briefly as she focuses on what the commanders tell her. She knows her brother won't like what she'll have to say, "You are to accompany Anya on the bridge tomorrow, you will listen to everything both clans say, and then, you will choose if the sky people are to die. If you choose that the sky people are to die, than you and Anya will carry that mission out. If not, you'll report back to me for another task, yes?"

"No!" Anakin is quick to say, anger quickly washing over his features. His words are in english, a faint accent washing over them. "Sister, you can not make me do that. You cant even allow for the chance of their survival, the coalition will have your head."

"I can, brother, and you will." Lexa doesn't smile as she looks her brother in his tired eyes. "Now go get cleaned up before you leave."

" SHE MUST GO ALONE ... "

      Lincoln says as he holds out his arm, stopping Finn from walking along side Clarke. The grounder is dressed in what his people would consider normal clothing. He wasn't dressed in much armour, only what he needed for the hopefully simple day. "She must go it alone, if she is the leader."

"I'll be fine, we have to do better." Clarke sends Finn a soft reassuring smile. She turns on her heals and walks half way across the bridge, stopping when Anakin and Anya are in front of her.

"Your name is Clarke?" Anya asks first, ignoring the hand that's extended for her to shake. That isn't something they do, and they definitely don't do it with people who kill and torture warriors of their own.

Clarke nods and lowers her hand to her side, feeling slightly out of place, like she doesn't belong where she stands. "Yes."

"I'm Anya. This is Anakin, as you know." Anya looks to the side, introducing the person beside her.

"I think we got off to a rough start, but we want to find a way to live together in peace." Clarke has hope. She smiles faintly at the idea of living on earth in peace. She wants to make the change, so that everyone else can be better. Her eyes sparkle slightly.

Anakins hand rests on the knife against his side, ready to use it whenever he may need to. "We understand. You started a war that you don't know how to end." His voice isn't soft like Clarke's, it's full of hatred for what the sky people have done.

Clarke frowns in confusion. "What? No. We didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason."

"No reason?" Anakin tilts his head to the side, eyes darkening. "The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground. Innocent people died, children."

Clarke shakes her head, unsure which missiles he's talking about. Then it dawns on her; the flares they had used to signal the ark. "The flares? No. That was a signal meant for our families. We had no idea — "

Anya shakes her head, cutting the blond teenager off. "You're invaders. Your ship landed in our territory." That was true, the ship had landed in trikru territory. But it hadn't landed where it was supposed to land; Mount Weather, would that have been worse ... ?

Clarkes eyebrows furrow as she thinks of what to say. She doesn't want to sound like she's making excuses; because she knows the two grounders across from her will not accept that. "We didn't know anyone was here. We thought the ground was uninhabited. That's what we had been taught, that everyone had died."

Anya shakes her head, her eyes darkening before they stop. She can't get mad, that's Anakins job. It's always been his job. She'll let him led the war party, she'll let him take point. "You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture two of our own and torture them both. These are all acts of war." Anya let's the words roll of her tongue. 

Clarke nods, as if she's understood every little word she just heard. What she realizes is that she won't just get off with a warning, there will have to be a price to pay. "I see your point. That's why we need to put an end to all of this."

"Lincoln said there are more of you coming down, warriors." Anakin questioned, his voice much more calmer than before.

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

"Can you promise that these new arrivals won't attack us, that they'll respect the terms we agree on?" Anakin asks, his eyes brows raised as he waits for the right answer to his question.

"I promise I will do everything I can to convince them to honor the terms that we set." And that right there is where Clarke went wrong. Maybe she should have lied, because now the grounders who stand across from her know that the deal will most likely fall through.

"Why would we agree to an alliance that your people can break the moment they get here?" Anya presses as Anakin grips his knife harder.

Raven looks through the scope of her gun, eyeing the man who she had helped torture. "Grounder Prince looks pissed."

Bellamy takes a look through his gun too. "Our princess has that effect."

Clarke tilts her head, her voice challenging the two people who stand across from her. She's thinking of her people. "If you fire the first shot, those people coming down won't bother negotiating. Our technology — they will wipe you out."

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

"Clarke, get down!" Finn yells out as Anakin raises his knife above his head, signalling to the hidden grounders that they are now to fire their arrows.

authors note ▅▅▅ ▅▅▅ by rora
hi again! there isn't much change to this chapter, but hopefully we'll keep sticking to a mean anakin!