ten - I Don't Celebrate Unity Day

    ''So, you sky people celebrate- what exactly?'' Brandi asks as she stood next to Finn at the opening of the dropship, both watching the camp surround the small digital screen that visualized they're leader from what was in the sky.

    ''Unity Day. A day full of lies.''

    ''Oh don't tell me you don't like Unity Day?'' Clarke questions as she stands next to him, almost amused.

    ''The Ark only came together after the thirteenth station was blown out of the sky. Just not the version of history we like to tell each other at parties.''

    Brandi sinks in the information as Clarke speaks ''The Unity Day stories give people hope though, and peace came out of that violence.''

    ''Yeah, but did there needed to be violence at all?''

    Brandi arches a brow and looks away with a heave sigh. ''Okay, you lost me.''

    Since Clarke was in a positive mood, she's left to snicker while Finn stood between the two with the most serious poker face he could utter.

    Everyone whips they're head when Jasper comes running out of a tent, cheering with a steaming pot held high in his hands.

    ''Monty Strikes Again!'' He cheers, running down to the center of base. ''Hey! I Call This Batch Unity Juice! Whose Thirsty?''

    Everyone cheers and brings any source of cup possible near the joyful boy in goggles.

    The corner of Brandi's lip twitch into a thin smile as she watches everyone happy.

    For the first time since being in this camp, she's seen everyone get along.

    If that wasn't enough to put a smile on someone's face, she didn't know what did.

    But her smile falters when she catches a glimpse of a figure moving at the corner of her eye.

    Her brown orbs follow Octavia as she heads towards the front gates.

    She disconnects her focus stare to see Finn witnessing the same thing, being as his contorted face showed nothing but mild confusion.

    ''You thinking what I'm thinking?'' She asks.

    He turns to her unexpectedly but nods.

    ''Meet me at the gates when the moon hits.''

× × ×

    Brandi lets out a breath. ''Finally. What took you so long?''

    Finn rolls his eye's as he closes the gate behind him. ''I was talking to Raven.''

    He turns to her with his hand out. ''You brought the knife?''

    ''You brought the knife'' Brandi mocks with one side of her lips arched as she digs into her back pocket to retrieve the poisonous knife.

    He snatches the weapon from her grip and starts to walk ahead. ''Grow a pair, Finn, and tell her how you really feel instead of leading her on.''

    ''Says the grounder who I bet has zero knowledge when it comes to relationships'' He counters.

    ''That may be'' Brandi breathes out as she catches up to him. ''But one thing I do know is that all a girl wants is honesty.''

    Finn stops in his tracks and looks at her miraculously. ''Is that so?''

    ''Hmm'' Brandi nods.

    He then cocks a brow. ''Have you met yourself? The second you get a piece of honesty you make it you're life long mission to torture them till the day they die.''

    ''Half the time Bellamy starts it.''

    Finn looks away with a disbelieving scoff.

    ''Okay look. Would you rather have her feel remotely humiliated and hurt or just hurt?''

    Finn looks down at the brunette, lost in her features as he contemplates on this. ''At the end of the day, we can all get rid of our pain. But the remembrance of feeling that remorse doesn't change.''

    Before either of the two could utter another word, Brandi catches sight of two figures up ahead in what looked like an embrace.

    ''Octavia'' She calls, letting her feet grow closer to her when suddenly the second figure blocked her from sight and pulled out a knife.

    What neither Finn nor Brandi realize that this second figure was the grounder that was kept torture back at the dropship.

    ''Lincoln, Wait! They're my friends.''

    Brandi cringes at the thought. ''No, I-I don't really think-''

    ''I'd like to keep us both alive without you're need of sarcasm'' Finn interrupts from behind, pulling her by the arm.

    ''Plus..'' He trails, focusing back onto the grounder. He pulls out the knife he requested to bring and held it out to Lincoln. ''I think you lost this.''

    Lincoln turns back to Octavia and the two that happened to follow the brunette here, deciding on what would be the right thing to do.

    ''Lincoln, don't hurt them'' Octavia pleads from behind. He turns to glance at her worrisome features before placing his knife back in it's holder.

    He takes cautious steps towards Brandi and Finn and takes what was handed to him.

    ''Get inside'' He tells them and Brandi's stiff shoulders fell in realization.

    He was the one that thanked her the other night. He escaped past her sight and Brandi couldn't even tell.

    Finn places a gentle yet reassuring touch at Brandi's lower back as he leads himself and her towards the opening that drew a path down to Lincoln's cave.

    ''So what the hell are you two doing here?'' She asks once everyone's safely inside.

    ''I could ask you the same thing'' He retorts after taking a look around his surroundings. ''I could also ask how long you've known he speaks English-''

    Octavia looks away, not being able to deal with much of Finn's scoldings. ''But I won't.''

    He picks up a foghorn, the exact one from the day he got stabbed and turned to Lincoln. ''You blew this when you're people were hunting us.''

    Lincoln nods. ''You saved our lives. I have to believe there's more like you.''

    ''I stabbed you'' Lincoln reminds, walking towards Octavia side.

    ''And we tortured you. If the two of us can get along, then maybe there's hope. Learn from history instead of repeating it, right?''

    Brandi groans. ''Ugh, that Unity crap.''

    Octavia clenches her jaw while shaking her head. ''How's that gonna happen?''

    ''For starters, no more killing.''

    Lincoln shakes his head again, but for this time an opposing reason. ''I don't have the power to call a truce.''

    ''Then bring me to someone who does.''

    Lincoln and Brandi chest heaves with scoffs. Though with Brandi it was more humorous.

    ''What?''

    ''Within leader's of grounders, they can be particularly stubborn'' Brandi informs.

    ''Yeah, well, they must be extremely hard headed to not consider that chance. Because the rest of our people are coming down here. The first ship lands in two days-''

    ''It's true'' Octavia verifies for Lincoln's beliefs.

    ''And because of the attacks, they're sending mostly soldiers, the people that enforce our laws. The Ark is about survival at any cost, and they'll kill people who fall out of line. When those people get down here, if they feel threatened, they will start a war, and I don't want that.

    Neither do you, and I think that's why you blew that horn. Once the soldiers get here, it will be too late and we'll have no power to stop them. But if they see that we're at peace, then maybe we have a chance to stay that way.''

    Throughout everything Finn says, Lincoln kept his stare on the ground. It didn't take much reasoning to know that Finn was right.

    Because chances are his people will die.

    ''Alright. You bring you're leader, I'll bring mine.''

    Brandi snickers at his preposterous offer. ''Like Bellamy would actually own up to that offering.''

    ''No, not him.''

    The only other person that held about the same power as Bellamy was- ''Clarke.''

× × ×

    Finn snatches the metal wash that Clarke attempted to toss off of her nose.

    ''Couldn't give her one more second could you, buzz kill?'' Brandi pants out, rubbing a hand against her heaving chest.

    ''What is it?''

    ''Let's take a walk.''

    Clarke turns back to the two she was accompanied with sheepishly. ''Sorry.''

    Though both Clarke and Brandi could hear the wash cling against the metal scrap table and into the emptied cup.

    ''Did something happen?''

    ''I need you to come with us, but I can't tell you why, okay?''

    Clarke shakes her head. ''Finn, tell me why.''

    He places a hand on her shoulder to move her further away from everyone but the blonde retaliated. ''Hey, don't.''

    Brandi's eye's flutter to the back of her head in annoyance. He was being real tempting with matters like this. ''We had set up a meeting with the grounders.''

    Clarke's ocean like orbs enlarged as she whips around from bewilderment. ''A meeting? I don't understand. With who? How?''

    ''We were just with the grounder that we had in the dropship. His name is Lincoln.''

    ''Wait a second. He spoke to you?''

    ''That's not important'' Finn continues, ignoring the brunette due to anyone's benefits. ''If we want to live in peace-''

    ''Finn, we can't live in peace with people who've done nothing but kill us.''

    ''Can you think of a better way to stop the bloodshed?''

    ''Yeah. With the guns that the guards bring down.''

    ''You really want to start a war? Because at this rate, that's what's coming.''

    ''Clarke, Finn's right'' Brandi starts. ''If you keep playing fire with fire, there's a definite chance that you're population of people will no longer exist. All you need to do is talk to Lincoln's leader and come with an agreement. A truce of some sort.''

    Finn watches the shorter blonde intently as she distracts gazes from this. ''Look, I know it's a long shot, but this is our world now, and I think we can do better than the first time around.''

    ''We trust him'' Brandi says and that definitely gains the eye contact the two were weary for.

    She shakes her head. ''I don't. But if we go, we have to bring backup.''

    ''No way. We're not bringing guns. Those weren't the terms and if we're gonna do this, we gotta give it a fair shot.''

    ''Okay, let's take it down a notch'' Brandi says, gripping onto his tensed shoulders. ''I said we trust Lincoln. Not his entire village. Grounders can be vile people and we might not know what's up they're sleeves, Finn.''

    ''We're sticking to the plan, Brandi. What happens if we do bring back up and we get caught? The whole meeting would be misinterpreted and that's when we are really at war.''

    Brandi looks away from Finn with a sigh, only to recover quickly when something clouds Clarke's orbs. Something she couldn't really put her finger on.

    ''Okay. Okay, I'll get my pack and I'll meet you at the gate.''

× × ×

    The night was away with the sky people resting after the celebration of Unity Day. Whereas Brandi, Finn and Clarke spent the night walking, heading towards the bridge of which was chosen for a meeting spot.

    Once they approached, Octavia came in sight.

    A single brow of Clarke's rose above the other in cognizance. ''So that's how you set this up. You helped him escape, didn't you?''

    She slightly shakes her head. ''I trust him, Clarke.''

    Clarke looks down before pointing an almost accused look at Finn and Brandi. ''There's a lot of that going around.''

    Bushes started to rustle, causing them all to look in the opposite direction in distance.

    Once Lincoln came in sight, Octavia ran to him.

    The two pull each other into a passionate embrace. Honestly, Brandi couldn't help but admit to herself that she found Octavia's relationship adorable.

    But then again, this was to herself.

    Lincoln and Octavia pulled apart and that's when he notices Clarke's presence.

    Everything in the grounder stiffens as you can physically see his jaw clench and almost pure hatred screaming from his eyes.

    Finn notices his intense gaze and grabs ahold of Clarke's hand, ignoring Brandi's deceptive stare.

    The sound of hoofs beating against the concrete and neighing close in the distance surely alarms the small group when they see three horses.

    ''Oh my god'' Clarke gasp with a smile smearing across her lips. ''Horses.''

    Two black one's for as represented for the minions who rode along in the middle.

    In the middle was a female on top of a much lighter horse that was partially crucial memory to the mind of Brandi Potter. All three were packed in heavy suits and gear.

    ''Hey, we said no weapons'' Finn reminds towards Lincoln who still hasn't paid no mind to his leader approaching.

    He turns to them and notices the variety of choices they had. Whether it was machetes or bow and arrows, who knows what would be next.

    ''I was told there wouldn't be.''

    ''Even though this is not the best time to tell you this, but uuh-'' Brandi gets closer to Finn's from behind before yelping in his ear ''Told you so.''

    Clarke breathes through her nose as she shakes her head. ''It's too late now.''

    Finn starts to walk with Clarke still held by his side but Lincoln holds him back. ''She goes alone.''

    All eye's land on Clarke. Pressure was immediately on her because let's be honest, if one word was misused in a wrong way, it'd be her head for the day.

    She takes quick glances at everyone before nodding, ripping her hand away from Finn's. ''I'll be fine.''

    ''Clarke-''

    ''Hey, it's time to do better.''

    His plum lips purse as he swallows, nodding when knowing this is the only non-violence way into solving things.

    Clarke walks away from the group, as well as Anya. The tension grew extremely thick as the two walk up to each that it made these next few seconds very unpredictable.

    ''You're name is Clarke?'' Anya speaks with a profound voice that boomed through the ears of the sky people.

    ''Yes.''

    ''I'm Anya. Though I'm sure one of you're people already knew that'' She introduces, her intense stare gleaming behind Clarke towards the girl who always seemed to be running through her time of life.

    It was a brief moment of silence that Brandi couldn't really figure as to why before Clarke spoke up. ''I think we got off to a rough start. But we want to find a way to live together in peace.''

    ''I understand. You started a war that you don't know how to end.''

    She shakes her head at this. ''What? No. We didn't start anything. You attacked us for no reason-''

    Anya tilts her head as she mocks ''No reason? The missiles you launched burned a village to the ground.''

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

    ''You're invaders. You're ship landed in our territory.''

    ''We didn't know anyone was here. We thought that the ground was uninhabited.''

    ''You knew we were here when you sent an armed raiding party to capture one of us and torture him. These are all acts of war.''

    ''I see you're point. That's why we need to put an end to all of this.''

    Anya doesn't answer. She looks behind Clarke again to catch sight of Lincoln. ''Lincoln said there are more of you coming down, warriors.''

    ''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 you and I agree on?''

    Brandi couldn't resist but furrow her brows. These are people who'll seek revenge the second blood has been teared.

    Yet here she was, witnessing one of many gruesome leader's agreeing to a compromise.

    There has to be a trick. There has to be a trap.

    ''I promise I will do everything I can to convince them to honor the terms that we set.''

    ''Why would I agree to an alliance that you're people can break the moment they get here?''

    ''If you fire the first show, those people coming down won't bother negotiating. Our technology- they will wipe you out.''

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

    Everyone turns when the sound of Jasper's voice rang loudly along with the sound of bullets being triggered. ''Clarke Run! Run!''

    ''Ah!'' Brandi screams, about two or three seconds after something struck inside the flesh of her thigh.

    The lack of support from both legs causes her to drop on the ground with bullets and spears being fired back and forth.

    The pain grew to the point that Brandi couldn't even let out a scream, not when her left leg was going numb under the condition.

    The spear was so far launched in her thigh that even within her trembling, the irritation shot through her entire body.

    ''I got you'' Finn breathes out as he carries bridal style far away from the open scene of fires.

    With Raven and Clarke leading, Bellamy was left behind with Finn to see Brandi weak in his arms.

    He didn't move a muscle when he saw her. Instead his jaw clenched tightly and it seemed his pants became louder as he examined her state.

    ''Bellamy.''

    His eyes flickered past her and on to Finn. ''She'll be fine. But she won't if we don't go right now.''

    Though the trip back to base took up the entire time of the day, by the time they returned the torches were lit and Brandi was already unconscious from the lack of blood left in her system.

    ''Miller! Take her to the dropship'' Bellamy orders once they all enter the camp.

    'If this is what Unity Day was all for, I'm definitely never celebrating this again.'