— CHAPTER ONE,
three months after.

FOR A LONG TIME, RUBY CARSON BELIEVED HER LIFE WAS OVER. She lost her best friend, she lost her mother and her father, then she found out that the man that raised wasn't truly her biological father. Her biological father was a man already dead and her brother was the same boy that shot her in the thigh and tried to kill her boyfriend out of revenge.

It's been three long months since the events at Mount Weather; since Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake pulled a lever that irradiated Level 5 of the Mountain, committing mass genocide.

It's been three months since Cage Wallace kidnapped Ruby and drug her outside where he eventually stuck her with a needle that contained a super Reaper drug.

It's been three months since Ruby's heart stopped for the second time, since Abby Griffin did chest compressions on the young woman until she was gasping for air. In severe, excruciating pain but alive nonetheless.

Over the course of the three months, Ruby has been locked in the bunker that Finn discovered all those months ago, when they first landed on this horrible, beautiful planet. Lincoln and another Grounder by the name of Luca have been hell ikr her through the process of being a Reaper. Luca is one of the Reapers that her people saved after the attack on Mount Weather.

For three months, Ruby has been locked away in the darkness, slowing losing her mind.

In her first three weeks locked away in the bunker, her madness got the best of her. She took a knife and she pressed it to her wrist. As a result of her attempt, Lincoln and Luca took every sharp object from the bunker and it hid them away.

She would punch the walls around her, splattering her blood. It dried on the walls, forever staining them. She would scream at the top of her lungs in a blind rage. She would tug at her hair, sometimes even pulling it out. She would curse at Lincoln and Luca, damming them to hell for helping her.

She only saw red.

She didn't sleep much at all.

She never got more than three hours of sleep per night. She's been left with intense anxiety and insomnia as a result.

Ruby is also plagued with nightmares of the past. Lincoln told her that it was post traumatic stress disorder, otherwise known as PTSD. She didn't fully comprehend it. But after she attacked Luca one day because she didn't recognize him, she understood her illness better.

In her time inside the bunker, she couldn't do much of anything but rage. She would sit in the corner of the dark bunker and think. She would think about the brutal death of River Bailey. She would think about the death of the man who wasn't truly her father. She'd think of the death of her mother.

But after two months of solitude, insanity, and episodes, Lincoln and Luca decided that it was time they would test Ruby. They brought her outside, they both had a tight grip on her arms. Her still red eyes squinted up at the shining sun. She looked around her, seeing the green leaves and grass.

She heard the crunch of leaves under her boots. She felt the way the the gentle breeze swept her brown hair over her shoulder. She smelled the sweet air she'd grown so used to. It was like her first time on Earth.

But she felt like she was on trial.

Two weeks after she stepped outside for the first time in months, she slowly started to get better. Luca and Lincoln discussed the idea of bringing Bellamy to see her but decided if they had it would be dangerous for both Ruby and himself. She wasn't ready to see him again. Not yet.

So instead of the love of her life, the brought Ryland Daniels and Octavia Blake.

"Octavia? Ryland?" Is what Ruby asked when she saw the two people. Ryland was so fast to hug her. He swept her off of her feet. Of course, Ryland was one of the few who knew of Ruby's condition and where she was located. Octavia was one of the others.

Ruby didn't hug Ryland back. The closeness of his skin to hers made her skin crawl. It made her stomach churn. When he let her go, she stepped back and looked to her teachers, Lincoln and Luca.

"Where's Bellamy?" Ruby asked them, red eyes darting between both of them at a rapid pace.

They shared a look. Luca then turned his eyes  back to her. "He's not here, Ruby. You're not ready to see him yet."

Anger grew in her chest. Violent, furious anger. For a moment, for the first time in weeks, she saw red. She wanted to hurt— no, she wanted to kill Luca for telling her that she couldn't see the man that saved her from herself.

"Yes, I am!" Ruby had growled. She launched herself at him so fast. He saw it coming but it allowed her to land one solid blow to his jaw. After this, he grabbed her arms and twisted it behind her back. She cried out in pain. He brought her into his chest, so that her back was pressed against him. "Let me go!"

"Take them back to Camp Jaha!" Luca has instructed Lincoln. Ryland and Octavia stared at Ruby in nothing but horror. "Now, Lincoln!"

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It's been a month since Ruby last saw anyone besides Lincoln and Luca. She now sits outside the bunker with Luca by her side. She stares off in the direction of the drop ship, longing for what the hundred once had. Oh, how she misses River. She wishes her sister was still here. Sometimes, Ruby knows it's best that River doesn't have to feel the pain of Earth anymore. She was never built for this kind of world. River was kind. Earth is not.

"You're thinking of your friend?" Says a voice from her left.

She glances over at Luca. "Yes," she responds. "I miss her a lot."

"I understand." He looks in the direction of the drop ship. "I've lost many friends, as well."

"Yeah?" Ruby asks.

"Yeah," Luca nods. His eyes narrow slight when he notices the longing in her eyes. "You want a weapon. You are not ready yet, Ruby."

"I am, Luca." She instantly argues. "I haven't lashed out on you or Lincoln in a month, not since Octavia and Ryland visited. Luca, I miss having a sword in my hands. It feels like withdrawals."

"Ruby." Luca says sternly. He gives her a look that says not to push it anymore. Ruby rolls her eyes. She scoffs and looks away from the older man. The twenty-nine year old sighs before he looks up at the blue sky. "Do you know what Wanheda means, Ruby?" Commander of Death.

"Commander of Death." Ruby replies, having learned every word of Trigedasleng during her months locked up. Her brows furrows as she turns to look back at him. Why?"

"Your friend, Clarke, is being hunted. By everyone. The queen of Azgeda believes if she kills Clarke she will command death. And if the Queen does so, she'll break the coalition and start a war." Luca explains to her. Ice Nation.

Ruby shoulders tense. She knows Clarke never returned to Camp Jaha like Ruby. She's heard tales from Luca that Clarke still roams the woods around them. "Queen Nia wishes to kill Clarke? We have to find her before Azgeda soldiers do." Ice Nation.

"That would require me giving you a weapon." Luca informs her. "And like I said, you're not ready for a weapon."

"Come on, Luca!" Ruby snaps. "This is my friend. I can't lose her!"

Luca rubs his eyes in frustration. He understands Ruby's need to save Clarke. She lost dozens of her people, the delinquents she vowed to protect, in just a few weeks. But Ruby is his student, his friend. He can't allow her to fall back into the same dark hole she was three months ago.

"You already have fourteen kill marks on your back, Ruby. Fourteen. You're only eighteen years old, you shouldn't have bad to kill so many to survive." Luca speaks.

"Welcome to Earth, Luca." She breathes out. "Kill marks or no kill marks, I have to find Clarke. She's my friend and she's saved my life before. I have to save hers. I cannot lose her."

Luca nods. For several more minutes, the duo sits in silence. Ruby pulls her legs to her chest and rests her chin atop her knees. Luca finally sighs, "wait here."

She obeys as Luca stands and walks off. She waits for him to return. Anxiety grows in her stomach as she waits. When he does return, he has a sword in his hands. Ruby's stomach suddenly hurts. She pushes herself off of the ground as he approaches.

When he puts the sword in her hands, chills raise up and down her spine. It isn't her sword. No, her sword rests on her bed in Camp Jaha, waiting for her to return one day. But this sword will have to do until her return.

"Thank you," she looks up from the sword, to Luca. He can see the gratefulness in her eyes.

He nods slightly. "You're welcome."

He watches her for a moment. Luca never knew Ruby before she was drugged. He'll never get to see her soft brown eyes or see the gentleness she once held.

No.

All he'll ever know is the new Ruby.

Three months ago, Ruby was still fresh to Earth. Now, she's a new person. Born from the ashes of who she used to be. A shadow of what she once was always hovers, whispering in her ear, pleading to her to be who she was three months ago. But she can't. She's changed.

All of her past wounds have healed but it's left her with several scars over her body. There's a gunshot scar on her thigh from where her very own brother, John Murphy, shot her all those months ago in the drop ship out of revenge. Her arm and calf where those Grounders cut her during their first war have healed nicely despite being infected. The wound on her back from the rock that embedded itself in her back has healed, though it took a long time. The bite mark on her right calf from where Cage Wallace bit her to stop her from crushing the bones in his neck has healed, as well. And the cut on her face has scarred over. A rugged, white line trails down the right side of her face.

Tattoos cover several parts of her body, thanks to Lincoln. Behind her right ear are two small, shining stars to honor all of her lost loved ones: her mother, father, River, Finn, all of the delinquents. The moon phases travel down her spine. Intricate lines swirl over her right shoulder and underneath her collarbone, they travel down her arm a few inches. On both sides of her stomach are four lines that curve downwards, towards her pelvis. Over her left hand and fingers, are intricate designs that Luca drew up.

Her brown eyes are forever tainted by specks of red from the drug Cage Wallace used on her. The underneath of her brown is dyed dark red from wild berries.

She prepares herself to go look for Clarke.

She smudges black war paint over her face, the very same war paint she wore the night of the attack on Mount Weather, the night her entire life changed. The front ends of her hair is sectioned off into two pieces. Two small pieces of her hair are braided down her back. The rest of her hair remains messy and free.

The old Ruby Rowan Carson is dead.

She has been for a long time now.

The new Ruby is powerful.

She is a warrior.

She's goddamn unstoppable.

_______________________________

word count: 2,007
episode: wanheda: part I

WELCOME BACK!!!!!

here is the very first rewritten chapter of silence and sound. i added over nine hundreds words to this bad boy. but y'all don't even understand how excited i actually am to rewrite this book. i was excited to rewrite the damned but i am BEYOND excited for this one. how excited are y'all??

ruby is back everybody!!! we got to get to know luca way better in this chapter as he was just barely featured in the damned. but he is a very, very important character to this series. i love him so much. he makes me think of cole from the wastelands series. and we all know how much i loved my baby cole.

there is also one more major change about ruby that i can't talk about yet. it'll definitely be shown sooner than y'all think but be prepared for it. what do y'all think it is?? any predictions?

next chapter, we really get into season three. i'm so ready for this, guys.

anyway, here's a little collage of all of ruby's tattoos. this exactly what they all look like. if you want to imagine them differently, you're more than welcome to but this is how the canonically look.