CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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"I am more powerful than I am damaged and I will rise from any abyss you drown me in."
- Nikita Gill, Never Forget

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BELLAMY'S POV

THE AIR WAS tense the next morning as Bellamy began to prepare the delinquents for what was to come. Telling people what to do was the most productive way to distract him from his own thoughts, a lot was on his mind. The constant arrows drawn and pointed at their backs was the most worrisome at the moment. If they could get through this war, he would have to deal with the Chancellor next. They all knew Earth was safe now and probably preparing to begin their descent. He wasn't sure what would happen when they arrived, but he was ready to slip away if he had to. This time he would bring Octavia and Harlai.

Speaking of, he hadn't seen the brunette as he made his rounds in the camp. Figuring she was still sleeping, he shrugged it off. But the thought did begin to occupy his mind more often as he made his way past the camp, he realized he hadn't seen her the night before.

Once he saw Monroe in position, he remembered the reason he came outside the walls in the first place. "First watch is over, go relieve Monroe from the south wall." Bellamy told Hunt before catching sight of Clarke up the slope. "Keep your eyes open," He said before patting his arm and jogging up the short hill.

Standing by her side, Bellamy looked into the woods, expecting to see some sort of flicker within the distance. "Anything?"

Clarke shook her head, breathing out through her nose. "It's been a day. Maybe the bomb at the bridge scared them off for good."

Always the optimist, but Bellamy knew she was lying through her teeth. At least she tried. "Do you really believe that?" And he, the pessimist.

"No," Clarke breathed out. This time, he could see the fear in her eyes. "They're coming."

Suddenly feeling guilty for bringing her hopes down, Bellamy turned towards her. "Jasper thinks he can cook up some more gunpowder if he gets some sulfur," He began as he nodded for her to follow him. Bellamy began walking back down the hill, carefully stepping over an ingrown root. "And Raven says she can turn that into land mines. So, be careful where you step."

Clarke laughed half sarcastically as she followed behind him down a path. "Funny."

When Bellamy reached the gate, he paused and he looked around the camp. Still no sight of Harlai. "Have you seen Harlai?"

Clarke's eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head, surveying the inside as well. "I haven't. Not since we got everyone inside last night." Pausing, she looked at Bellamy. "I figured she was with you."

"I saw her going into the drop ship when I came out to talk to you. That... was the last time I saw her." Bellamy's voice dropped as he looked around, his palms becoming sweaty. His heart picked up its pace, feeling like it was running a hundred miles per hour.

"It's fine, Bellamy. Maybe she fell asleep on the second level," Clarke attempted to ease his nerves, he was becoming distraught. "You check there and I'll look in her tent."

Bellamy nodded and without wasting another moment, the two split up to look for Harlai. He prayed to whatever was up there that Clarke was right.

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HARLAI'S POV

A throbbing pain in Harlai's temple was what woke her up. She groaned and as she sat up, the brunette brought a hand to her forehead only to wince as her fingertips brushed over a wound. It was a gash that ran over her eyebrow, but fortunately for her it seemed like the blood stopped and dried. That was when the previous night's events came rushing back to her. Gasping, she looked around and realized she wasn't inside the camp anymore. No, she was sitting in a cave close to the entrance. The hairs on the back of her neck stood- this was bad, real bad.

With this oncoming war, the safest place was inside the camp and not only that, but she didn't know where she was. Never had she seen a cave when she previously ventured further within the forest. Harlai pushed herself up to her feet and she grunted as her vision swayed as well as her body. It seemed as though she had a concussion which only made this predicament much, much more worse. Taking a few careful steps out of the cave, she looked down at the ground until she found a limb thick enough to use as a cane and a weapon if need be. Letting out a breath, she glanced around. Her best bet could be to stay in the cave until someone found her, Bellamy and the others would look for her. But, the grounders could also find her or if no one ever did, she might starve or die of dehydration.

Either way, her options were limited. Harlai sucked in a breath and before she moved, she took a moment to curse Murphy under her breath. "When I get back, I'm gonna kill him," She muttered as she began to walk towards what she hoped to be the camp.

Harlai defended Murphy when he needed it the most, even after he tried to kill her the first time. She guessed Bellamy was right, no matter how much she wanted to deny it. Not everyone was good, she learned that from her father- who she had to face eventually. After their people found out Earth was survivable, she figured they would be heading their way soon. She just wished their departure from space happened sooner, preferably when her mom was still alive.

Loosening a breath as she kicked a rock, Harlai paused to check out her surroundings. Everything still looked unfamiliar yet similar, the woods all looked the same. If she could find a landmark of sorts, she would be able to get back. The concussion, after a while, began to wear away but her temple was still sore.

As she rounded a tree, she halted to a stop at what was before her. Harlai recognized this, the Grounder boundary. It was the place they came to when Octavia went missing, when they lost two more of their people. Ducking behind the tree, her breath caught in her throat as she saw a tall, enormous man dressed in furs and black paint. It wasn't the one they captured, the one Harlai tortured a bit. To be fair, she wasn't in the best state and Finn was dying. Peeking back around the tree, she realized he was alone. She reached behind her but cursed when she felt no bow, no arrows. Murphy left her defenseless just like they did him when he was banished. He deserved it, Harlai didn't.

Taking a step back, she winced when a stick cracked under her foot. The man turned her way and quite literally growled.

"Skai kru, yu laik nou welcome hir. (Sky people, you are not welcome here.)" He grunted as he brought a hand to his side over the hilt of a sword, unsheathing it slowly.

Harai's heart sunk to the pit of her stomach as she backed away, holding her hands up in the air. She didn't understand a word he said, but she assumed it wasn't welcoming. "See? I don't have any weapons, I mean no harm."

His dark eyes narrowed as he took a few steps closer than they widened. "Vasanis," He said in a lower tone. It looked like he recognized her, so much so he spit at her feet. "I should kill you where you stand, Vasanis. You torture our people."

This definitely wasn't good. Harlai's body betrayed her as it began to tremble. With each step he took forward, she took one back. "Your people tried to kill me," She retorted, however, that didn't seem to give her any leeway. "He stabbed one of my friends with a poisonous weapon, I was trying to get answers out of him."

The man contemplated her words and studied her as if she were lying. So, she pulled the collar of her shirt down to expose the scar over her chest from that damned spear. His dark eyes flickered to it quickly before meeting hers once again. "Leave before I slit your throat."

Harlai didn't waste any time backing away until she was far enough to turn around. With that, she took off running towards the camp- he didn't have to tell her twice. But something lingered in her mind- Why did he let her go and why did he do it so easily?

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BELLAMY'S POV

Both Clarke and Bellamy spent twenty minutes searching every inch of the camp and the surrounding area. First, he went to the second level of the drop ship and to no avail, she wasn't up there. As they searched each tent, his voice began to grow hoarse from asking everyone if they had seen her. He didn't know why it took him so long to look for her- no one saw her since he last did and he was beginning to grow frantic, especially since she had a tendency to go off into the woods for space.

Coming back into the boundaries of camp, he spotted Clarke and jogged up to her. "Any sign of Harlai?" He breathlessly asked.

Clarke sent him a sympathetic look and shook her head. "Maybe she went to make more bows, I heard her talking about teaching people how to use them."

Bellamy stopped for a minute to think about that. It was a good idea. When their ammo ran out, a bow and arrow would make for a good long range weapon. "She would have told one of us before she left," He concluded with a shake of his head.

He made up his mind then. Bellamy didn't even think about the grounders or the impending war they were bringing with them, he needed to find Harlai. Night was beginning to fall and she still hadn't made it back.

"Whoa guys, fire!" Someone suddenly exclaimed.

Bellamy and Clarke whirled around to see the meat tent was in flames.

"We told you it was too much wood!" Murphy launched himself at a kid as he yelled this, sending his fist flying into the boy's cheek.

Bellamy advanced towards them and pulled the two apart. "Hey, hey! Stop!" He shouted. He pushed them away, looking to Murphy with narrowed eyes. "Save it for the grounders."

"Well, now what the hell are we gonna do?" Octavia asked from her spot on the ground. Her eyes were wide with fear. "That was all of our food!"

Bellamy looked at Clarke. He couldn't think straight, not with Harlai's absence on his mind. With one more glance at the fire and no answer from her, he figured neither of them knew how to answer his sister's question.

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HARLAI'S POV

The night before seemed to be utter hell not only for the people back at camp, unknowingly to Harlai, but for herself as well. The walk back was longer than she remembered, but thinking about that day she remembered she had company. Bellamy, Jasper even. It passed by with conversation, yet this time she was only occupied by her thoughts. Dooming ones.

Halfway to camp, she heard the horns of warning from the acid fog. This time it was real, the grounders were nowhere in sight. The best thing she could think of doing was grab a bunch of elephant ear leaves and layer them over her body. Some of the fog came through the cracks or spots she left open, it was the most painful thing she ever felt. Fortunately, she layered them thick so it only touched a few places.

There, she fell asleep waiting for the fog to rise and the next morning she woke to sharp pains throughout her body. Harlai cursed and began to peel the leaves off, the dew shook off making her hiss as the droplets fell upon her wounds. Several clusters of blisters covered the arm she wasn't laying on and there were a few patches on her legs where the acid burned through her pants. Groaning, she stood to her feet. Fortunately for her she hadn't died from the blisters, so she knew she was okay.

Though she knew she needed to wash them, the creek was in a completely different direction. Harlai decided to go anyways; she knew Bellamy and the others were probably looking for her, but she needed to take care of this first. The trek was slow, painfully slow. It was then she realized she would rather be impaled again than be burned by acid fog, it felt like her skin was on fire and the pain spread around the blisters.

Instead of thinking about it, she tried to force her mind elsewhere. Her safe place was her mom.

Young Harlai laid on her stomach with crayons and papers spread out around her while she scribbled fervently on another. Her mother turned away from the now empty sink and she smiled as she looked upon her daughter, such an innocent thing. Elise walked over to her and crouched down.

"What are you drawing there, little bird?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head to get a better look.

Harlai looked up at her with those emerald green eyes, twin to her mother's. "You, but I made you into a fire breathing dragon!" She replied with a front toothless grin.

Elise chuckled hearing this and she sat down next to her. "Why did you draw me like that?"

Without even thinking, Harlai already had her answer. "Because you're the strongest mommy I know. You do work all day and still do the dishes," She said while holding the finished picture out to her mom. If that wasn't cute enough, her lisp absolutely was.

Elise felt as though someone released a dam behind her eyes. She took the drawing, one of her tears falling upon the paper and she looked back to her daughter. "Come here, birdy." She gently grabbed Harlai's hand and pulled her up into her lap for a bone crushing embrace.

"Mommy, you're squishing me!"

Elise pulled away with a laugh, brushing a few of Harlai's dark locks out of her face. "You know, mommy's maiden name is Ricard," She told her while caressing her face, brushing her thumb over her cheek. "It's a German name, it means our family is powerful and strong."

Harlai's face lit up, the grin returning to her face. "That explains why you're a fire breathing dragon!"

Letting out another soft laugh, Elise pressed a kiss to her daughter's brow. "And so will you be, little bird. So will you."

Harlai thought back to when her dad framed her. It was then that she began to introduce herself as Harlai Ricard. She wanted to be strong like her mother, powerful. When she got back to the camp, she was going to show Murphy just exactly how powerful she could be.

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