152Hello people... who must have been thinking I'd fallen off the face of the planet! And rightly so! I have had a very busy life of late and I had kinda gotten as far with this story as I had coherently thought out. Also, when they had the big reveal of what the mountain men really were in the season 1 finale, I kinda got discouraged with how much my idea sucked. So I hit a major writers block on this fic.
But I'm back! (cough) for better or worse (cough). So anyway, I had a hard time getting back into the swing of writing from their different perspectives. This chapter is a little mixed up about whose it is told from. Hopefully the next one will be better. I plan on going back and doing some editing to make things more clear if I can, but I wanted to go ahead and put it up for you guys. Let me know what you think. I hope my idea wasn't too corny for you all.
BTW, I had to go back and reread my story so I could get a good grasp on everything that had happened in it. I had totally forgotten about the part where Bellamy and Clarke were in the crevice hiding out till they snuck into mount weather. (sighs) Anyway, my point is that I realize I write certain things a lot. Like people lying to themselves. And long monologues of what they could've/should've done, or said. And I my strongest moments I think are when it is just Bellamy and Clarke. I think their conversations hold the most draw for me. That might be because that's what I like to write the most. It's also kind of why I read The 100 fanfiction in the first place...
So anyway...
Chapter 9: No Puppies to be Found Here
Surprisingly enough, it was Clarke who dismissed Monty's inquiries. "Neither one of those answers are any of your business, or of any importance right now."
Bellamy's head snapped around to glare at her with narrowed eyes. She had some nerve. Hadn't she just demanded an answer to one of those questions? Bellamy wasn't sure why it annoyed him that she was dismissing the importance of this conversation (just like he had not two minutes before), but it did.
Bellamy's expression was not lost on Monty and his smile quirked even wider. Things were suddenly starting to make sense to him. Only, he doubted their understanding of things. He wished to further it. So he pressed forward. "Awwww, come on Clarke!" Bellamy graciously accepted a cup of...something from Ide. He was too thirsty to think about what is might be. "What could be more important than a misunderstanding between Mom and Dad?" Bellamy had actually liked his drink. It was cool and sweet. Too bad a third of it ended up being sprayed across the tent. Clarke's lips twitched, but she made herself just raise an eyebrow in response. "Dude!" Monty wiped the spittle off his sleeve, then wiped his hand on a nearby blanket.
Ide, though, was outright laughing at them. She was also mumbling something about how she couldn't imagine why her people felt so threatened by a bunch of kids. Bellamy, apparently, took exception to this. "I will have you know that I'm not..." But Clarke's hand on his wrist cut him off. Ide had stopped giggling to herself. Her expression had sobered and Bellamy saw the sadness there. He knew it was because her people weren't so much threatened by a bunch of kids. They were just willing to sacrifice those said kids so they could stay safe for one more day.
Clarke was the one to break the ashamed silence. "I think it's time we look at what you found."
Ide nodded and brought out several documents and journals from within the folds of her clothing. "This is all...I could...find on the Mountain Men." She passed them to Clarke. Bellamy promptly swiped some from Clarke's lap and crossed his legs. He seemed to be quite happily sidetracked from their earlier conversation.
Clarke started to pour over the journals. There were many accounts of encounters with the Mountain Men. They ranged back to at least 70 years. Descriptions of what the Mountain Men looked like, varied, although they were almost always large and hairy. And they almost always had a hankering for human flesh. What could these creatures possibly be? Sure, they had seen some pretty weird animals on the ground. But they still resembled something from before the wars. She had seen them in books, read about them. But Clarke could not recall ever reading anything about something like this. Not unless it was some sort of gorilla or something. But from all accounts, this creature seemed to be more humanoid in nature.
And it hunted, preyed like no other animal she had yet to encounter. Most, after failing to capture you once, will move on to easier targets. Most don't attack well populated villages. But these creatures had a taste for human flesh...and nothing else it seemed. They would leave alone animals left outside the villages, the easy prey, in favor of the harder to catch, more violent humans. Also, even after being injured, or driven away once, they would still come back relentlessly until they had made off with their prize.
Beside her, Clark heard Bellamy swear. "What is it? What did you find?" She had pulled herself over to peek over his shoulder. It was warm beneath her skin. If she hadn't been so wrapped up in what he had in his hands, she might've noticed the muscle beneath her had tensed, and his sharp intake of breath. She didn't notice it. But Monty did.
Blast it, Clarke! What the hell was she trying to do to him? Here she was, literally breathing down his neck and she expected some kind of coherent response from him! After everything that had happened the last few days! Like hell! Bellamy shoved the sketchbook into Clarke's hands and scooted away. He couldn't do this while being watched by Monty's keen eyes. He was only beginning to realize things himself. He couldn't share it with some nosey twit just yet.
Clarke's eyebrows furrowed. In the process of shoving the book into her hands, she had lost his place. She flipped through it. A sketch here and there eliciting a raised brow or two. Bellamy wondered just what she had seen that he hadn't. Then finally she must've found the image he had intended her to see. She stopped on it and studied it. That had to be the creature. Nothing else fit. Clarke quirked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. She began chewing her lip. Bellamy blurted out, "Well, it's obvious what it is now, don't you think?"
Clarke looked up. Confusion was written across her face. Monty bent down on the ground with them and reached for the book. When he saw it, Bellamy saw the dawning comprehension on his face. At least someone else got it!
Monty glanced at him. Then Ide. Then Clarke. And then back at him. "The Mountain Man...It's Bigfoot!"
Clarke's confusion increased. "Bigfoot?"
Monty answered her. "You know...Sasquatch, the Abominable Snowman, Yeti...the Apeman!"
Clarke shook her head.
Bellamy chuckled. "Come on Clarke, didn't anyone ever scare you with tales of what Earth was like before the wars. Of a creature so hideous he never showed his face until it was too late for you! If you were bad, he'd come and take you from your bed in the middle of the night and his breath, alone, would reek enough to knock you out cold!" Monty was shaking his head along with the entire tale.
Both Clarke and Ide looked at them like they had lost their minds. "I think you're confusing stories..."
"I take it your parents never used scary stories to get you to be good..." Bellamy's disgust with her 'easy' childhood was evident in his voice. "Parents these days...refusing to traumatize their children...Takes all the fun out of childhood, I say!"
Clarke made a mental note to remind him never to have children.
"Anyway, the point of the...thing is that it was a legend. Many people claimed to have had encounters with this creature. Those who believed it existed thought it was the missing link between man and ape. However, there never was any proof. No one was ever even harmed by these creatures. If they existed, they seemed to be docile and rather shy."
Monty nodded his way through this entire thing. It was like he was drooling over the idea of Bigfoot existing. Clarke blinked her eyes several times. "So what, you're saying that this once docile creature of lore ended up mutating into a man-eating monster?"
Both Bellamy and Monty nodded in unison. It was freaky. And it was really weirding her out. Clarke sighed, accepting the inevitable. "Ok. So how do you propose we take care of these things so we can go home?"
Bellamy wasn't sure just how he had ended up alone with Monty. He'd thought he and Clarke weren't allowed to leave the tent. But apparently it was just him. Ide had left briefly, probably to ask for a meeting with her elders. When she returned she had another grounder with her, an 'escort', he presumed. She told Monty to stay put, and then drug Clarke off, as gently as possible of course. This left himself, Monty, and a very awkward silence in the tent. Only five long minutes had passed when Monty finally broke it. "So just what exactly is going on between you and Clarke?"
Bellamy sighed.
"And don't try to deny that anything happened! I heard what she said right before I came into the tent."
Monty must've seen that Bellamy was still going to protest because he added, "And I've been watching the way you...react to her now."
Bellamy pursed his lips. "And just what way is that?" He deadpanned it, seemingly making the least of what Monty must've seen.
A smirk spread across Monty's whole face. "Jeez man, you can't deny the sexual tension floating around every time you so much as look at each other." Bellamy cringed. "And the way you flinch away from her every time she touches you! Dude! You act like she either killed your puppy..."
Bellamy rolled his eyes.
"...Or you just had hot sex with your nemesis!"
"What!?" Bellamy choked. On nothing.
Monty continued as though there was no interruption. "And since you don't have a puppy, my bet's on the hot sex."
"Now wait just a minute, Monty! Clarke and I did not have sex!" Bellamy cringed when he heard his own voice crack.
The annoying kid just waggled his eyebrows at him. "Suuuuure, Bell."
Bellamy actually felt himself beginningto blush. Which was weird for him. "We didn't! It was only a kiss. And we thought we were gonna die, which is why she made the statement she did. I mean, if you had one last chance to kiss a pretty girl before you died, wouldn't you?" Bellamy rushed out, not really realizing what he had just blurted out until he saw an evil glint in Monty's eyes. Damn! The little bastard had tricked him!
But then Monty surprised Bellamy. He just sighed and said, "Hey, listen man. I envy you. Odds are, I still wouldn't have the courage." Monty leaned back and took out a small canteen. He took a swig and then passed it to Bellamy.
Bellamy sniffed it, gasping for air afterwards. "Just what kind of toxic brew is this, Monty?"
The imp laughed. "It's moonshine! Compliments of our new grounder friends..." Monty took another swig...and then another.
On a hunch, Bellamy made a jab. "You've gotten awfully chummy with them." Monty shrugged. "Especially a certain red-haired sprite who you follow around like a puppy!"
Monty gasped. "Take that back! I am no puppy! You can't just steal my analogy word and use it against me!"
Bellamy now realized he had the winning hand. Oh how sweet it was to turn the tables. "Oh, really. Then why are you allowed to follow her around the camp without a guard, while Clarke isn't, and she's injured?"
Monty flushed red. Bellamy smiled. There was definitely something going on there. "Just how did you manage that? What did you have to do to get your head off the chopping block?" Bellamy narrowed his eyes.
He could see the insult on Monty's face. "N-nothing! Just because I have certain p-privileges doesn't mean Ide's got any sort of...preference for me!"
He couldn't help himself. Monty was so cute, sitting there like a blushing school girl. Bellamy Poked his cheek. "Oh yeah, then why are you so red, Mr. Green?" Bellamy must've thought this was the funniest thing in the world because he started cackling to himself.
He was holding his stomach, it hurt so bad.
Then Clarke walked in, Ide in tow. "You know, it's amazing how people can find coping mechanisms, even in life and death situations such as ours. Now." She sounded serious, but a smile was tugging at her mouth. "Now, if you're done teasing Monty, why don't we talk about what we're going to have to do to get out of here alive?"
The moment of mirth from before was gone. Bellamy stood, his own cheeks a a suddenly ruddy color. Monty apparently couldn't resist. "Hey Bell, who's all red now?" Bellamy's face got even redder, though from embarrassment or anger, he wasn't really sure.
So yeah. That was that. I feel like it's just kinda corny after the awesomeness that was the big reveal.
My writing also felt kind stiff when I went back and read it. Not sure how to fix it, but if you ave suggestions, please let me know.
Signing off till next time...