— CHAPTER FIFTEEN,
ruby's understanding.

LUNA'S RIG IS WHAT WAS ONCE AN OIL RIG. Currently, the group sits around the rig, listening to a girl that tells a story about sharks.

Ruby twists the rings around her fingers. She sits beside Clarke. Bellamy sits across from her. She can feel his eyes on her every few minutes. But his eyes never linger for longer than a few seconds. Beside her, Clarke stresses. Several feet away, Jasper, Ryland, Octavia, Amara, and Luca listen to the girl tell her story.

That's when the door opens. Luna and another Grounder strut inside. Bellamy perks up as Ruby looks behind her shoulder at the Grounders.

"She's here." Bellamy starts. "Maybe she's changed her mind."

"Doubt it," Ruby mutters as Clarke and Bellamy stand. She goes ignored so she stands and joins them. The trio approach Luna.

"The boats return at nightfall." Luna informs them. "Then you leave. Forever."

Clarke and Ruby share a brief look before the blonde girl looks to Luna. "Luna, let us explain."

"I said no," Luna says quickly. She makes a move to walk away but Bellamy quickly intercepts her. Ruby watches closely, wondering if Luna will have an aggressive reaction to Bellamy stopping her.

"No, you need to hear this." Bellamy steps closer to Luna. The man that came in with Luna places his hand on Bellamy's chest roughly, stopping him from getting any closer to Luna. At this; Ruby takes a step closer too. Bellamy ignores all of this. "There is something out there that is going to destroy us all."

"Whatever it is, it can't reach us here." Luna shakes her head. She then moves past Bellamy walks away from them.

"Well," Ruby says. "I hate to say I told you so but. . ."

Bellamy and Clarke both glare at her.

Ruby shrugs. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I want to talk to Luna myself."

When she approaches Luna, the woman looks to her with annoyed eyes. "Don't worry," Ruby says. "I'm not here to bug you about the Flame or becoming Commander. I'm not with that shit."

"What is your name?" Luna asks her.

"Ruby," the Carson girl responds. "Can I talk with you about something?" Her eyes then sweep past Luna's shoulder to Bellamy; who watches them carefully. "Alone?"

Luna looks over at her shoulder to where Bellamy watches them. She gives him a challenging look before she turns back to Ruby. She gently places her hand on Ruby's arm. "Walk with me."

The two women walk away from the main area of the rig to a more private space.

"What is it you wish to talk about?" Luna questions her.

Ruby closes her eyes and inhales. She then exhales through her nose. Luna watches her with a mix of curiosity and concern. When Ruby reopens her eyes, Luna can't help but admire Ruby's abnormal eyes.

"You left because you didn't want to fight anymore. How'd you do that?" Ruby asks.

Luna cocks her head to the side as she thinks of Ruby's words. She had spoken with Luca and Amara privately when they first arrived and they both told Luna about the shit Ruby's been through. So Luna has an idea of where this conversation is going. "You do not wish to fight anymore, do you?"

"No." Ruby shakes her head. "I was a Reaper, Luna. A crazy, super Reaper. It's why my eyes are red and I have better senses than everyone else. I have sixteen kill marks on my back. I'm tired of killing and seeing people I love be killed."

Luna stares at her for a moment. Then she decides Ruby, a woman she barely knows, can be trusted with one of her most horrible secrets.

"I fled the Conclave after I had to kill my own brother. Because I knew I would win. I did not want to command my people. I wanted peace. So I ran." Luna says. "I know you are one of the leaders, yes?"

"Yes, I am." Ruby nods, "ever since we landed."

"You are friends with Amara and Luca?" Luna asks. Again, Ruby nods.

"Luca helped me when I was a Reaper. He and Linco—" this time, Luna watches as Ruby completely shuts down. Her eyes go void of any type of emotion. There is no sadness or anger in her eyes. Just numbness. After several seconds of silence, Ruby continues, "they saved me. Amara did, too."

Luna blinks slowly. "You're not like the rest of your people, are you?"

"I guess not." Ruby shrugs.

"You're a Natblida," Luna concludes. Ruby freezes at her words, icy fear fills her veins. "Do not worry, Ruby. I am not going to hurt you or kill you. You said the Reaper drug was not normal, correct? That is what altered your blood. And I can tell you do not wish for people to know about your altered blood so I will not say a word about to it to any of my people. Only if you agree to get yours off of my rig without giving me Flame." Nightblood.

"Deal," Ruby says.

And that seals it.

For as long as they'll know each other, Luna and Ruby will trust each other with all of their hearts.

The two women grab each other's arms, sealing the deal they've made.

When they grab hold of each other, Luna speaks up, "if you wish to come and live with us on the rig, you are welcome, Ruby kom Skaikru." Of the Sky People.

"Trikru." Ruby corrects the woman. "Ruby kom Trikru." Of the Tree Clan.

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"Where's Jasper?" Bellamy questions as Luna's lover leads them to the storage container.

"Saying goodbye to his new friend," Ryland replies.

Two Grounders pull a door open and walk through.

"Sorry, Cap, we gotta take him back," Luna says to the same Grounder from the night before. She turns to Ruby and the others. "Your gear. You get your weapons once you land."

"Inside," a Grounder shoves Bellamy roughly.

"Careful," Ruby snaps harshly.

The Grounder grabs the back of her neck roughly and shoves her inside the container. Ruby stumbles over her own feet, falling right into Bellamy. He catches her but as quickly as he does, she rips herself out of his arm. She whirls around, glaring at the Grounder.

Before she can retaliate, Luca places himself between her and the other Grounder.

The others enter the storage container with no problems like Bellamy and Ruby. Clarke stands outside the storable container. She looks to Luna. "The Flame?"

"Remember, Clarke. A path of violence is a choice." Luna tells Clarke.

But her words have a double-meaning. For a moment, Luna's eyes drift over to the Carson girl. Luna gives her the smallest nod. Ruby returns it.

"When the choice is fight or die, there is no choice." Clarke says in response.

That's when Clarke is attacked. As quickly as it happens, it ends. Clarke is shoved inside the storage container and the door is slammed shut.

"They took the Flame. They're locking us in." Octavia says with wide eyes.

"Hey!" Clarke screams while banging on the door. "What is this?"

"Luna's people are attacking her. ALIE's here." Bellamy states.

Ryland runs his hands through his hair. Ruby shuts her eyes tightly.

"Son of a bitch." Amara mumbles.

Bellamy, Octavia, and Luca search frantically around the storage container for some type of exit the Grounders don't know about.

Meanwhile, Ruby's eyes stay tightly shut. Sweat beads at her hairline. Ryland notices the sudden change in his best friend. When he steps in front of her, he can see that she's grown significantly pale.

"Ru?" He whispers. He puts his hands on her shoulders. Her eyes peel open. He can see the terrified tears in her eyes. "What is it?"

"Closed spaces." She whispers back.

Realization dawns on Ryland.

Earlier, they hadn't been in the storage container long enough for Ruby to panic. Then they exited the storage container and Ruby saw that they were surrounded by nothing but ocean. Trapped. He noticed the change in her demeanor then but she seemed to be fine after. But now. . . she's trapped and Jasper isn't here.

Ruby's chest starts to rise and fall quickly. The sound of her panic and hyperventilating fills the air. All eyes turn to her.

Luca rushes over to her. "She's having a panic attack," he looks to Ryland. "Step back please."

"I'm her best friend." Ryland protests.

"Step back, Ry," Octavia grabs his arm gently, pulling him back beside her. He looks down at her with surprised eyes.

Luca takes Ruby's sweaty face between his hand. Her eyes are wide and full of tears. Her body trembles against Luca's touch. Her heart feels like it's going to jump right out of her chest.

"Breathe, Ruby." Luca instructs her. "I need you to breathe with me. We've done this before, you can do it. With me; one, two, three."

Ruby can't breathe. She tries but her lungs don't allow it. Her heart starts to beat faster.

"Hey," Luca whispers. "You can do it, Ruby. One, two three."

After several minutes of Ruby's panic, Luca finally gets her to calm down. He helps her sit against the storage container wall.

He remains near her protectively but he can few Bellamy's eyes locked on them. When their eyes meet, Luca gives him a look that says a million different things. And not a single one of them is kind

Bellamy shakes his head and looks away.

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Ruby continues to sit against the metal with her eyes shut. There's a dull throb in her head.

"This place was safe until we got here." Octavia speaks up from beside Luca.

That's when the door to the storage container opens. Without hesitation, they all spring up and rush outside.

On the ground is the same girl who was telling the story about sharks. This is Jasper's friend Ryland said he was saying goodbye to.

And there's an arrow in her back.

Ruby's heart falls. If this happened to her, what the hell is happening to Jasper?

"A machine. . . P level." The girl whispers just before she takes one final breath.

Ruby springs into action. As soon as the words hit her ears, she's running as fast as she can. Octavia is hot on her heels, the others run behind the two sprinting girls.

It takes them all of a minute and half to reach P level. As soon as they reach the door, Octavia pushes it open. "be careful!" Bellamy shouts after the two girls.

As soon as they enter the room, Octavia and Ruby both stop. A small girl, Adira stands by watching as Luna hovers over the corpse of Derrick, her lover.

"Oh, no. Oh, no," Luna sobs.

Ryland enters the room. For a moment, he looks at Luna and Derrick. Then he spots Jasper. He quickly rushes over to the younger bot with Octavia right behind him.

Bellamy and the others rush in. Bellamy is fast to reach the girl who sobs as well.

All Ruby can do is stand with her hands over her mouth as Luna mourns the man she killed.

"I'm fine. They couldn't break me." Jasper tells Ryland and Octavia as they unchain his arm. He then asks, "Shay?"

"I'm sorry," Octavia says, shaking her head.

"It's what we do," Jasper mumbles solemnly.

Luna wails. As soon as the sound hits Ruby's ears, her heart shatters. She turns on her heel and walks right out of the room.

Bellamy quickly hands Adira over to Luca and Amara before he follows Ruby out of the room. He sees her shoulder hunched over, shaking. "Ruby?"

She whips around to face the man. He can see the angry and sad tears in her eyes. She asks, "how many people are we going to kill?"

"We didn't kill them." Bellamy shakes his head.

"But ALIE was here. That drone followed us! We caused Luna this pain. Shay is dead because of us. Jasper could've been killed! They were drowning Luna! That poor little girl had to watch as her mother figure was almost killed. Luna had to kill Derrick to save herself and Adira. This is our fault!"

"It's not," Bellamy says. "We couldn't have known ALIE would follow us."

"But she did," venom drips off of Ruby's tongue. "They're right, you know. We truly are the bringers of death."

"We're not," Bellamy responds. "We're not."

"Stop lying!" Ruby nearly screams. Bellamy's eyes widen slightly. "Ever since we landed on this godforsaken planet, we've been surrounded by death! We killed three hundred Grounders. You and Clarke committed mass genocide at Mount Weather. And then you and the rest of Pike's posse killed three hundred sleeping Grounders! And now this."

Ruby scoffs. She turns away from Bellamy, blinking away her tears. He doesn't dare approach her. He doesn't even say anything. What is there to say?

"Bringers of death," Ruby mumbles.

Then she walks away.

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"Any one of them could be chipped and we'd never know," Luca says as they wait for Luna to get prepared for the accession ceremony that only Ruby knows isn't going to happen.

"If they are, they'll make their move before we put the Flame in Luna. Stay sharp." Clarke instructs.

"You changed your mind?" Bellamy asks her.

"Quiet." Clarke responds as Luna enters the room.

Luna approaches the group along with a girl trailing behind her. The girl carries a tray of eight chalices. Ruby glances down at them. She knows what's about to happen. "The ceremony is about to begin." Luna says.

"Luna, wait." Clarke speaks up. Luna's eyes snap over to the Griffin girl. "I'm so sorry. But now you see what we're facing. An enemy that will do anything to win. She won't stop until she has everyone."

The girl starts to hand out the chalices. Ruby takes hers and looks down at the liquid.

"People I loved died today. Needlessly, at my hand. I can't let that happen again." Luna says. Then, she turns around and holds her arms up. Her people all look to her. "As we prepare to give our brothers and sister to the sea, we honor their lives. Kom woda so gyon op, gon woda so kom daun." From the water we are born, to the water we retired. 

Around them, everyone repeats the phrase. Ruby's people's drink from their chalices.

Everyone except Ruby.

Luna turns back to face them as Clarke starts again, "if we're gonna do this, we have to hurry. ALIE will send reinforcements. And we have to find somewhere private to preform the accession."

"You believe that to defeat an enemy who will stop at nothing, you must stop at nothing. How is that different than, 'blood must have blood?'" Luna questions sisterly

"Wait a second, Luna, you can't just—" Octavia's words blur together. Then her chalice slips from her hands and shatters against the ground. Her eyes roll to the back of her head and she falls to the ground just as he chalice did. The others follows right after.

Ruby and Luna lock eyes. The girl gives Luna a swift nod.

Ruby understands.

Luna had told her she would do this— not accept the Flame or role as Commander.

Luna fled her conclave to avoid what's happening. She fled to avoid war and killing and being a Commander to thousands. She lost her lover today, she lost many more of her people.

Ruby drinks from her chalice, her eyes staying locked with Luna's.

Seconds later, she hits the ground.

______________________________

word count: 2,600
episode: red sky at morning

THIS CHAPTER HAS MY HEART!!!!!!

i added almost a thousands words. i actually changed sooo many scenes in this chapter and I love the new scenes so much more than the original scenes.

my favorite part about rewriting this trilogy is that i get to give ruby romances that aren't bellamy. clarke before she and bellamy were together and now maybe luna? who knows!!! y'all will just have to wait and see. but let's be so serious right now, there was definitely some, ya know, 😏tension😏 between them in this chapter. i mean, y'all read where luna gave bellamy a "challenging" look, aka a "ruby protection square" glare.

but that bellamy and ruby scene 🥲. ruby blames herself and skaikru for so much and it hurts. my poor girl has to much guilt, it's insane. she truly thinks that they're the bringers of death. but i meannnnnn, they kinda are.

and ruby's panic attack. my baby deserves so much better. luca is her savior. if you disagree, argue with a wall and not me because i am the author of this book and if i say something is canon, it's canon. anyway, him helping her calm down from her panic attack means so much to me. they're so special. gosh, i love them so much. and then luca giving bellamy an threatening look was such a slay.

anyway, next chapter we finally get the biggest reunion of this entire book!!!!! are y'all excited for who's about to make the biggest comeback ever?? cause i am. i cannot wait to rewrite this reunion, y'all don't even know.

also, we officially meet a character who is VERY important in ruby's life.

TWO MORE CHAPTERS IN THIS ACT TO REWRITE!!!!