Chapter Text
The moment the trader saw Lexa riding on her mount in full amour and war paint, he immediately came running from his shop’s porch to help guide the nightblood’s companions and their steeds to the stables.
The trader’s name was Lucia. He was a tall lanky man with long dirty blond hair that was tied in messy traditional Wood Clan braids. His beard was large and bushy, as wild as the forest around them. Lexa noticed with slight concern for the man’s pale features. He was quite thin for a man his size and status as a Wood Clan warrior. Yet he seemed to handle himself just fine with raining in the horses and helping with offloading their supplies.
“We are staying the night.” Lexa stated as she watched the last rays of the sun dim as they peeked out from behind the treeline. She had no complaint from Ontari or Vladimir as they followed her into the trader’s shop. The latter carried what supplies they brought with them. Two bags he had slung over his back, held with one hand.
Vladimir had pulled a pouch of coin out with his free hand and went to the trader’s daughter at the counter to pay for their stay. Lexa slowly strode into the shop as she watched Vladimir talk to the woman at the counter. Ontari followed close behind her. The trader’s daughter was a fine woman with sharp features and dirty blond hair. Lexa noticed the Sky Clan bracelet on her wrist the same time as Vladimir had and the tall one-eyed man glanced in Lexa’s direction to get her signal to question the woman. With a slight tilt of her head, Vladimir proceeded.
Lexa slowly made her way to the other side of the shop as she watched their interaction. Lexa’s attention was split with Lucia who was ahead of her as he explained the room layout for them. She signalled with a flick of her wrist for Ontari to talk to Lucia. She noticed the girl shift closer to the trader in the corner of her eye before she began to faux peruse the wares in the shop. She lingered a bit closer to the conversation as best she could without looking suspicious.
The trader’s daughter, Niylah, the trader had called her, seemed quite stiff as she talked to Vladimir. From what Lexa could hear Niylah had traded the bracelet from a traveller that did not look like she was affiliated with any clan. The traveller had passed by several weeks ago and Niylah had not seen the traveller since.
As Lexa slowly moved along with Lucia, lingering as far back as she could, her ability to hear Niylah muffled but she had heard enough. From just observing Niylah’s body language, she was lying or hiding something. Lexa waited till Lucia had led them down the hallway to their rooms to ask the trader where Niylah’s room was.
“Niylah?” Lucia gruffly asked in surprise as he stopped mid-way his speech at Lexa’s question. He quickly shook himself out his stupor to jab his thumb in the direction of the room at the very end of the hallway. “She takes care of the shop while I manage the farm. She stays in there.” He seemed to want to say more but closed his mouth once before opening it again. “You may go to her for assistance when I am not here, Commander.”
Lexa nodded her thanks and strut past Lucia to the room he had indicated was hers during his ramblings. Ontari followed Lexa into the room and closed the door as to per the Commander’s direction.
“How good are you at being quiet?” Lexa asked Ontari as she slowly walked around the room with her hands clasped behind her back and perused her room for the night. Lexa heard Ontari shift for a moment before she spoke up.
“To catch the quiet foot tiger, the hunter must be quieter.” Ontari stated “I will be quieter than you need me to be, Heda.”
Lexa stopped in the middle of the room and finally looked at Ontari. The girl had moved closer to her to speak in a hushed tone. Her face was painted in Wood Clan war paint to cover her Ice Nation scars. She seemed unwavering in her stands and expression and not for the first time is Lexa unsure if Ontari was cocky or confident.
“Good.” Lexa huffed. “I need you to search the trader’s daughter’s room while she sleeps.”
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Echo watched with mild disappointment as the Sky Clan boy berried the body of Wanheda. She had been hoping that this would be her time to capture Wanheda for her queen. She wished she had moved to grab the sky princess outside of the dropship when she was alone. Now her bounty was gone, and she watched it be buried among the other trapped souls in the mass grave. The sky people’s customs were so strange. Did they not know that it was only through fire that the souls of the body would be released?
Echo waited patiently in her hidden spot in the trees that overlooked the makeshift graveyard. She waited and watched as the one Wanheda called Jasper finished burying her body. Watched as he wept over her grave muttering nonsense. Watched as he left.
Echo scoffed at the sky people’s week minds. If a murder like this had happened in the Ice Nation between two Ice Nation citizens, the Ice Queen would have had the murderer fighting in the pits till he was bloody and beaten or dead. If they were to survive, they would be beheaded by the Queen’s blade.
Echo doubted the sky people would ever even find out about the death of their Wanheda. By the looks of it, Jasper would kill himself off before they find out. Jasper was gone now and no longer of her concern. Her concern was her dead bounty now rotting in the ground. Echo sighed in frustration.
“I could still get something for her body…” Echo bemused to herself as she dangled her legs of the side of the tree branch, she sat on. That idea was wiped from her mind very quickly. The Ice Queen would not be happy about losing Wanheda’s power to a weak man. She would need to go capture Jasper before he made it to close to the Sky Clan’s metal camp. “I also could go kill those tigers Wanheda has been dragging around and sell their pelts.” Echo huffed and stabbed the knife she had been twirling around in her hand into the tree trunk. She knew she was going to have a hell of a time trying to explain to the Ice Queen that Wanheda was killed by someone other than her. She would take the sky princesses head as evidence. Surly the queen’s rath would be directed to Jasper instead of her.
Echo grunted as she pulled the knife out and resigned herself to capturing Jasper and digging up the body. The sun had long ago begun to set, and the last rays of light had just begun to dwindle out. She would not be able to skin the cubs in the dark and would have to come back for them. Her priority though was capturing Jasper and securing him in one of her hideouts. Then she would have to get Wanheda’s head in the snow. She could double back for the tiger cubs once Jasper is subdued and her prize is hidden in the snow.
The sun had set, and the moon had risen. Echo had to move, but before she could she saw movement and froze. Her hazel eyes darted to the fresh gravesite. In the dark she could make out that the ground had begun to shift. She watched in growing horror as the woman she clearly watched die crawl out of the ground. She watched as Wanheda shadowy figure clawed her body out of the dirt. Watched her spatter and cough what Echo assumed was dirt from her mouth and lungs. Watched her crawl away from the grave before she stumbled onto her feet.
Echo felt herself shake as she held onto the tree trunk for dear life. She had just watched the Commander of Death come back from the dead. What else could Wanheda do? There wasn’t a chance Echo was going to risk an attack on Wanheda by herself after this.
Echo watched quietly and shaken as a mud caked Wanheda stumbled her way back to the Sky Clan’s old fallen base. She was conflicted on whether she should follow or not.
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For a blissful moment Clarke felt nothing. She felt nothing but the endless void of the abyss. Where she floated in unconsciousness and non-existence. No past. No sorrow. No present. No pain. No future. No anxiety. Just the void. She was finally free from guilt and pain.
Clarke’s peace was quickly ripped away from her as her sins chased her to heaven. The dead that stalked her haunted days and chased her in her never-ending nightmares grabbed at her flesh and tore at her soul. They ripped and tore and chewed and sated their thirst for justice.
Clarke tried to scream but she no longer had a mouth to speak, no longer had a body to fight. So, she accepted her agony in silence. She had no choice but to let the dead quench their thirst.
Then there were four pairs of hands that grabbed onto her and pulled her up. But the dead held on and tugged. They were determined to quench their wrath, their sorrow, there directionless agony. More hands joined and the dead screamed as their prize was pulled loose of their grasp.
Clarke could feel her mouth again. Could feel herself try to speak. Could feel her eyes try to open and see the hands that grabbed her and the voices that whispered in her ear. She tried to see them and thought she could, but she wasn’t sure if she had eyes without a body and everything was dark.
But she recognised those whispered voices. Wells, Finn, Maya, some of the hundred that didn’t make it, and… Anya? Anya was the loudest, the closest. Clarke could feel herself grab onto Anya, her anchor in the void.
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It had been four hours since night had fallen, and all had retreated to their respective rooms in the trader’s shop. Enough time had passed that Lexa was sure Niylah had fallen into slumber. She glanced over to Ontari who sat against the far wall, crossed legged and in a meditative pose. Vladimir was in the room next to them, told to sleep lightly encase a fight broke out.
“Ontari…” Lexa called the girl from her seat on the bed. The nightbloods eyes snapped open and her head whipped to look at the Commander. “Go.” Lexa commanded and without hesitation Ontari got up and quietly made her way out the room.
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Clarke didn’t know how long she had been walking, or how she was even walking, but all she could focus on was putting one stiff leg in front of the other. She had to get back to the cubs. She stumbled through the dark forest as her teeth chattered from the cold. Her clothes were cacked in mud, and she was soaked to the bone. The night air frosted her cheeks and numbed her limbs enough that she couldn’t feel her body moving or tell if she still had a bullet hole in her chest.
What felt like eons later but was more likely hours, Clarke made it to the old chard walls of the blockade that surrounded the dropship. She stumbled on her way to the dropship entrance and barely made it past the curtains before she collapsed onto the ground unconscious.
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As quite as a mouse with a cat about, Ontari tiptoed down the passageway to the door at the end. She had removed her shoes so the muscles in her feet would move with the bend of the wood beneath them. Not a single creak of wood as she made her way to crouch at Niylah’s door.
Light shone from under the door and through the cracks in the wood. Ontari framed from hissing under her breath. Her mission is to get in, search the room, and get out without being caught. She couldn’t do that if the trader’s daughter was still awake.
Ontari moved to brace herself against either side of the door frame while she tried to look through the crack in the door. She held her breath as every muscle in her body strained not to squeak the wood.
Through a crack under the doorhandle, Ontari could see the bed inside the room. From the angle she could see a mess of dirty blonde hair that peeked out the pile of furs on the bed. So, the trader’s daughter had fallen asleep with candles still lit. A foolish thing to do.
Ontari slowly backed up from the door so she could open it quietly. Her muscles strained as she lifted the door while she pulled it open. It quietly swung open enough for her to fit through without a sound.
Once inside the room, Ontari crouched low and scanned her environment. The light source didn’t come from a candle to Ontari’s surprise but a metal-looking-box-thing that sat on the table next to the bed. That must be Sky Clan technology. The trader’s daughter hadn’t moved but Ontari kept a careful eye on her non the less.
Ontari creeped further into the room. She crouched low as she investigated the room. Besides the light source, she couldn’t see any more obvious signs of Sky Clan. That was until she spotted a nestlike pile.
Noise from the bed had Ontari whip her head in the direction. Her entire body froze up as she watched the trader’s daughter shift for a moment. The moment passed and the girl lay still under the furs. Ontari let out an unsteady breath she hadn’t realised she was holding before she creeped over to the nest.
The nestlike pile was made from tattered and old cloth. It was quite a large pile. It seemed that this was a bed for an animal. Ontari dug through the pile as quietly as she could. There was animal fur on every cloth. She quickly realised the fur she found was that of a cat. This nest was far too big for a cat though. The white, orange, and black tuffs of furs where all too familiar to Ontari. This was a nest made for tiger cubs. Surly they would have noticed tigers walking about the trader’s shop. Where had they gone?
Ontari’s eyes spotted a strange type of cloth in the pile. It looked like leather but when she held it in her hand it did not feel like leather. It felt smooth like the plastic that survived the world before. She was told that the Sky Clan had strange material that some of their clothes are made of. One of the strips of strange, material had a zipper sown into it. This must have been a jacket of some sort. She stuffed the piece of material into her pocket and moved to search the rest of the room.
Ontari was about to creep over to the light source, but the cool bite of steel suddenly pressed into her throat, and she froze. If she was fast enough-
“Move and I cut.” Came the icy order from the trader’s daughter. “What are you doing sneaking about like a thief?” The woman asked. Ontari said nothing. “Are you following the Commander’s-”
She didn’t get to finish as Ontari drove the back of her head into the woman’s nose. The trader’s daughter spluttered as she stumbled back. Ontari swiftly spun around. The nightblood swiped her leg out as she spun. The trader’s daughter yelped as her feet were swept from under her. She fell with a crack of her head on the ground. Ontari was on top of her in an instant with the woman’s own blade against her throat.
“Move and I cut.” Ontari hissed in the dazed woman’s ear. “You need to answer to the Commander.”
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Lexa sighed heavily as she walked into Niylah’s room with Vladimir. She had hoped Ontari would be able to find evidence of where Klark had gone without having to attack and tie up the trader’s daughter, but here they were. Niylah was on her knees before the Commander, with her hands tied behind her back. Ontari loomed over the tied woman from behind, her chest puffed out in pride.
Lexa sighed; it was cockiness.
“Commander-” Niylah began.
“Silence!” Boomed Vladimir’s voice as he took a threatening step towards Niylah. “You only speak to answer the Commander’s questions.” He sneered as he crossed his arms. He glanced at Lexa before he stepped back to stand behind her. Niylah stayed silent. Her face as cold as stone.
“Ontari what did you find?” The nightblood stepped around Niylah to stand next to Lexa as she pulled out a strip of black cloth.
“What’s left of a Skikru jacket it seems.” Ontari handed the material over to Lexa. “And the light source looks like Skikru technology.” Ontari tilted her head in the direction of the bright light that sat on the side table. It definitely was cockiness.
Lexa glanced over at the light before she looked down at the cloth in her hand. Her thumb caressed the zipper lining it. She recognized this material. Remembered how her hands had smoothed down the chest of who this once belonged to. A brew of anger and worry bubbled inside the pit of Lexa’s stomach. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She needed to remain calm and not take her anger out on Niylah.
The whispers of a long-passed Commander soothed Lexa’s mind. A strange change of pace to the angry shouts Lexa usually contended with. The First, who usually remain silent. Once she opened her eyes, she was devoid of emotions that would cloud her mind.
Lexa moved to kneel before Niylah. She ignored the fact the woman flinched away from her and held the cloth up. “This once belonged to the sky princess.” Niylah said nothing. Though recognition flashed in her eyes. “You already know this. Where is she?” Lexa prodded, she hoped she wouldn’t have to resort to torture. Niylah said nothing. “You know what happens to those that refuse their Commander, no?” Niylah remained quiet.
Lexa gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to backhand the woman. Lexa could feel Vladmir who loomed behind her. Could feel his anger at Niylah’s disobedience. It would be easy to just command him to force the words out of the woman’s mouth. Lexa could, but she shouldn’t. Lucia was a well-respected trader, and news spread fast through his trade. Lexa couldn’t have anyone catching wind that she was seeking out the sky princes herself. Never mind the implications of torturing one of her own to find one of the ‘enemies’. Niylah should be jumping at the chance to help Lexa, but she wasn’t.
“I mean her no harm.” Lexa suddenly stated. Niylah’s eyes slightly widened before they narrowed in suspicion. “I need her because her people seek her. They will not negotiate alliances without her.”
“You seek Wanheda?” Niylah finally asked and Lexa was not too surprised by the switch to English.
“Yes.” Lexa paused, not sure if she should share any more information. “As you know, Wanheda has a bounty on her head, a few actually. I need to find her before someone who wishes her harm does.” That seemed to do the trick as Niylah’s shoulder’s relaxed somewhat as her guard fell.
“She is no longer here.” Niylah began, her eyes shifted from Lexa to Vladmir before she focused back on Lexa. “She stayed here a full moon cycle. I shared my bed and my home. She has left though for exactly the reasons you stated” Lexa waved her hand to Ontari to untie Niylah.
“Do you know where she went?” Lexa asked as she watched Niylah rub her wrists. She tried her best to ignore the twinge of jealousy that flared up at the implications of Niylah’s words. Klark was her own woman.
“She did not tell me where she planned to go. I did not ask.” Niylah looked into Lexa’s eyes for a moment, as if she was searching for something. She seemed not to have found it as she sighed. “When she left, she left in the direction of where the Sky Clan first landed.
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Clarke woke to the muffled yowls and meows of the cubs. They sounded distressed and were calling out to her. Her entire body screamed at her as she moved it. Her body was stiff and cold, and it was a struggle for her to get up, but she managed. The cubs seemed to yawl and meow louder the more Clarke grunted and made noise.
“I’m coming, I’m coming…” Clarke mumbled under her breath as she took a moment to crack her back before she began to make her way to the ladder that led to the hatch. “I’m right he-”
Clarke was violently cut short with something solid that collided with her jaw. The impact sent her flying to the floor face first. Clarke moaned pathetically as her head spun. She had vertigo and was fighting not to throw up. She may have hit her head on the way down too.
“You Sky Clan scum…” The growled insult spat out in Trigedasleng sent a chill straight down Clarke’s spine. She recognized that voice. A voice from someone she thought she would never see again. She tried to get up. Tried to speak. But a boot was sent barrelling into her side a second later. The wind was knocked out of her lungs, and she was sent tumbling into the wall of the dropship. “You fuckin’ betrayed me…”
Clarke barely had the chance to look up into Anya’s furious eyes before a boot was in her face, pressing her head into the ground. Clarke thought her skull was going to be crushed by the pressure of the boot and she clawed at Anya’s leg fruitlessly. The boot was lifted of a moment later as Anya spat more insults at her before it was rammed right back into Clarke’s side. She splattered and coughed and tasted blood in her mouth.
“Anya wait…” Clarke tried but Anya was already on her. She snarled and screamed bloody murder in her face. The furious woman grabbed at Clarke’s throat and strangled. “Anya-I don’t understand…” Clarke spluttered out pathetically as she grabbed at Anya’s mud-stained arms.
“You betrayed me!” Anya yelled with all of her might into Clarke’s slowly paling face. “Never intended to let me go back to my people did you!” She roared as Clarke’s lips slowly turned blue and the pressure behind her eyes grew. “Thought you were strong enough to kill me!” Anya growled as she shook and strangled the life out of Clarke who slowly stopped fighting. Her body went still with a pop.
Anya kept her grip strong long after she knew Clarke had passed. She sat there as she panted and fumed over her betrayer’s corpse like a rabid animal. She can’t believe she had ever trusted the sky princess to want peace. Can’t believe she turned her back on the enemy.
Now Clarke was dead, and Anya would drag her corpse to Lexa. She would present the sky princess’ body to the commander to save face after the loss of all her men. The info on the mountain will gain her reputation back and the fact she had lived from being taken by the mountain will make her a legend among her people.
“You fought like a coward.” Anya spat at Clarke’s wide, dead eyed face before she got up. She wiped the spit off her mouth as she turned to survey her surroundings. The last time she was inside this ship. The Sky Clan had jumped her and beaten her. It was completely Vacant from what she could see.
Until she heard what sounded like the cries of animals that came from the above floor. Anya cautiously made her way deeper into the drop ship. She heard what sounded like the sounds of cats. Had a predator made its home in the ship? Anya had no weapon with her, but she would not stand down from a fight. She would face any threat.
Anya realised the frantic meows came from a hatch on the roof. She made a move to go climb the lander that led to it.
“GET AWAY!” Clarke roared as she barrelled into Anya’s side to topple her to the ground. Anya yelled in surprised as she was pinned to the ground. The Trikru woman immediately began to fight against Clarke as hard as she could. Said woman desperately tried to keep Anya’s nails from clawing her eyes out. “Why the fuck are you so angry!” Clarke yelled at Anya as she forced the grounders wrists into the floor.
“You betrayed me!” Anya yelled and tried to tear Clarke’s throat open. Clarke jerked back to avoid her voice box from being ripped out. Anya managed to get a wrist lose and she immediately socked Clarke in the face. Clarke grunted in pain as she fell back.
“I never betrayed you!” Clarke exclaimed as she scrambled back up onto her feet. Anya was on her feet too and appeared ready to pounce on Clarke. Anya’s fury paused for a moment before it returned as a confused rage.
“Why are you not dead!?” Anya hollered at Clarke as she pointed an accusatory finger at her. “I felt your neck snap. I heard the pop as it broke!” Anya now looked more defensive than angry as she scrutinised Clarke’s figure.
“I don’t fuckin know!” Clarke snapped. She was losing her shit. She could hear the cubs in the backgrounds and was confused at seeing Anya again. She was also trying hard not to confront the fact Jasper shot her and she woke up in a shallow grave she had to dig herself out of. “And you’ve been dead for months!” Clarke pointed and accusatory finger at Anya.
“What? You lie!” Anya rebutted as her face twisted in confusion. Her defensive stance wavered a bit as she fought between her confusion and focusing on her opponent.
“I’m not lying!” Clarke huffed as she threw her hands up. “Holy shit, you got shot in the back months ago when my people mistook us for enemy grounders.” Clarke explained as she held her hands up in a placating gesture. “I still managed to get my people out the mountain though, and the mountain is no longer a problem.”
“What do you mean the mountain is no longer a problem?” Anya asked with a suspicious lilt in her tone. Her body stiff in a defensive stance.
“I mean, I took care of them.” Clarke ground out through her teeth as she forced herself to keep her hands from balling into fists. “I killed them.” Clarke swallowed as her eyes stung with a sudden rush of emotion.
Anya was quite for a long moment before she burst into a full belly laugh. Clarke huffed and bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from snapping at Anya again. Clarke had died twice now, and she couldn’t deny it. A person that has been dead for months is now alive and in front of her and she couldn’t deny that. Something serously fuckin’ wrong was going on and Clarke needed to keep her shit together while she delt with Anya.
As Clarke’s expression remained stoic, Anya’s laughter began to die down. Though she still seemed quite mirthful as she addressed Clarke’s statement.
“You expect me to believe someone as pathetic as you killed the mountain.” Anya sneered as she lowered her defence but still seemed ready to attack at any moment.
Clarke wordlessly dug through the inside of her dirtied jacket and pulled out a small, thin rectangular object. She held it up so that Anya could read what was written on it. She could read that it said Mount Weather President in big bold letters. Anya cautiously took a step towards Clarke to get a better look at the card.
“This is the president’s card to the mountain.” Clarke stated as a mud caked Anya took the card from her. She resisted the urge to grab the card back and hide it. If someone that new how to use the card, got a hold of it, they would be able to access the mountain and all its supplies and power. Though she needed to get Anya to trust her. So, she allowed the grounder to inspect the card thoroughly.
“And if we go to the mountain now.” Anya stated more than asked, her tone cautious but tinged with subtle awe. “You will show me the dead mountain men.” Anya demanded more than asked. Clarke sucked a breath in as she heard Anya’s words. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to go back there.
“Alright.” Clarke simply said. She resigned herself to her fate. She didn’t understand what was going on or what forces kept them alive, but she knew she needed Anya’s trust. She didn’t want to be alone in this crazy. Anya’s posture relaxed for the first time as she gave the card back to Clarke. “Just give me a minute to go get the cubs.”
“Cubs?” Anya asked.
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The ride was swift to the drop ship. Lexa knew these forests well and she was determined to find Klark sooner rather than later. After resting the remaining hours before first lite, they set off with what little intel they managed to get from Niylah. She hoped that the trader’s daughter wouldn’t hold the previous night against the Commander.
Algor snorted as he trotted to a stop. Lexa could feel his muscle bunch below her thighs as he kicked the ground with his hind leg. Algor sniffed at the ground and neighed as he nosed at the dirt next to a dark spot. A dark spot that looked like dried blood soaked into the ground.
The wind bristled the trees and the birds chirped in the distance. Vladimir grunts as he hops of his horse. Lexa listens to the thuds of his boots followed by Ontari’s lighter feet. The Commander frowned as she scanned the Sky Clan’s old graveyard. She tucked a stray strand of hair caught in the gentle wind behind her ear as she studies the freshly exhumed grave Algor nosed at.
Lexa dismounted Algor smoothly before she kneeled on the ground beside him. She peered into the empty grave. The smell was revolting but she spotted something buried in the dirt. Her nose wrinkled as she pulled the knife strapped to her thigh out of its sheath. She could hear Ontari investigate the area as well. By the sound of it, Vladimir has wondered to the outskirts of the graveyard to patrol.
Lexa used the long-curved blade of her knife to pick around in the dirt of the grave. The blade caught on something solid. Lexa could barely see the dirty brown surface of the object berried in the dirt. She tilted her blade and dug it deeper into the dirt to uplift the object. She tapped the object with her blade to knock some of the dirt off before she reached down to pick up the dirty pendent. Her thumb rubbed over the wooden surface and her heart stuttered as she realised who’s wooden pendent this was.
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“We should skin them for dinner.” Anya quipped as Klark ran after Clotho as he chased a flying beetle. Klark shot Anya a glare over her shoulder that would make lesser woman tremble. Anya smirked as she watched Clotho struggle to whack at the beetle while being bear hugged by Klark.
She didn’t understand why the sky princess was so hell bent on mothering these animals. So, she left the sky princess to herd and run after the tiger cubs as they made their journey up to the mountain. These tiger cubs made their voyage longer than it should be with having to stop every now and then because of the mongrels. Anya was only partly joking about skinning the cubs. She knew however that if she did try to hurt them Klark would likely attack her.
Anya sighed as she watched Klark carry the large cat back where they had stopped. She looked down when she felt a weight on her foot and was irked to see the other orange cat sitting on her foot. Said tiger cup blinked up at her before sneezing on her leg. Anya sighed again. They had cleaned their blood and mud-soaked clothes in a river on their way to the Mountain. They hadn’t had a change of clothes and the walk was chafing. Her nerves where beginning to fray with all the irritants in her vicinity.
“We’ve been walking almost six hours now and it will be sundown in a few hours.” Anya says as Klark comes to stand beside her. “Come with me.” Anya orders as she starts off in a direction a bit off from the path to the mountain.
“Hey, where are you going?” Anya hears Klark call after her. A moment later she hears the sky princess’ steps follow. A breathy sigh sounded behind her before the sky princess started talking again. “You know the mountains that way.”
“My hideouts that way.” Anya glances up at the sky before scanning the forest lining as she walked. There was still enough time to hunt for dinner and the area had unusually high sightings of animal life for being so close to the mountain. Maybe what the sky princess said was true…
“That’s where we’re going?” Klark piped slightly breathlessly. “You have a hideout close to the mountain?” She asks after a moment of thought and Anya resists the urge to turn around and backhand Klark for the insistent talking. “Will there be enough room for the cubs?” Klark continues and Anya stops. The sky princess bumps into Anya’s back and squawks at her for suddenly stopping. Anya rounds on Klark, forcing her to take a step back.
“Your questions are pestering me.” Anya hisses before she spins on her heals and continues walking. She hears Klark scoff behind her and begin to mumble under her breath. Anya pointedly ignored her the rest of the way to the hideout.
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Lexa didn’t understand any of this, and her lack of understanding was fuelling her growing rage. Why would Klark disappear? Why would Klark suddenly want to go to Anya’s grave? Why would Klark dig up Anya’s grave? Was Klark the one to dig up Anya’s grave? Why was Klark’s tracks leading to the Mountain? Does she intend to use the key on the Mountain? Why were her tracks showing she had a companion now? A companion better at hiding their tracks than Klark. Was Klark working with someone? Ontari had mentioned the signs of tiger cubs on Klark’s shredded clothes, in the dropship and tiger paws trailing along her tracks. Why did Klark have tiger cubs of all things with her? Were they related to the tiger carcase they came across?
Lexa fumed over the insistent questions bumbling about in her head as she prepped the fire. They made camp not far outside of the dropship location. Vladimir was busy tying down the horses and offloading the supplies they would use. Ontari was setting up the tents.
Lexa glanced over at Ontari and studied her back for a moment. She was another problem plaguing her mind. Ever since they had entered this area Ontari has been acting off. Lexa sensed danger and the energy of the commanders thrummed in the back of her mind. Ready for a fight.
Lexa looked back to her task as she stacked another chopped piece of wood on her slowly growing pile as she resisted the urge to throw a dagger at the tree-lining. She hears Vladimir’s heavy footsteps behind her before he drops a bag of supplies besides Lexa. He clears his throat loudly and lightly shoves the bag closer to Lexa.
Lexa shoots Vladimir a side eye and the old man backs off a bit before he wonders back over to the horses. Lexa’s glare followed him till he hid behind Algor. Vladimir better not be focusing on getting Lexa to cook a meal. He better be focusing on how many enemies are surrounding their camp site. Lexa was going to skin that man.
“Commander.” Ontari asks as she walks over to Lexa. Lexa watches her carefully as she comes to a stop a few passes away from where she was setting up the fire. “Let me cook tonight. I found some herbs near by the tents that I think would go well with what we have.”
Ontari’s face was unreadable, and her request was odd. She was quite most of the time and only spoke to respond to orders. For her to come forward and take initiative was setting of Lexa’s alarm bells.
“Herbs?” Lexa begins as she finishes the fire pile. “Sounds better for a tea.” She dug around in her pocket for the flint and rock she always carries. With the other hand she takes the pile of dried grass besides the wood pile to place at under the small tower of wood. “I’ll make dinner. You can make the tea after I’m done.” Lexa orders with finality as she strikes the rock against the flint. Sparks ignite but do not light the grass. She strikes it again and the sparks take light. Lexa quickly moves to blow at the small flame. She nurtures it till the small flame begins to grow and lick at the supports of the wood pile.
Ontari doesn’t say anything, and Lexa hears her footsteps wonder back in the direction of the tents. She sighs as she sits back up. The fire is steadily growing as it eats at the smaller twigs in the pile.
Lexa didn’t like how the eyes that watched her from the trees did nothing. Externally she gave no indications of knowing. She would need to take the enemy by surprise. There was no way of knowing their numbers now without alerting them that they know. Well, Lexa was certain that Vladimir and herself knew. Ontari gave no indicators besides her stiffness and odd behaviour. An Azgedian ambush then?
She sighed as she began to set up the three wooden supports to hang their pots on in a spit-tripod fashion. She tied them together with rope and hung the extra length over the tripod and out the fires reach. It would seem the enemy will strike at night when they have gone to sleep.
Vladmir comes carrying a long and large log over his shoulder. He drops it besides the fire before he meets Lexa’s eyes. They would be ready.
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Anya’s hideout was a hobbits barrow in the side of a hill. Its door was hidden under the overhanging roots of the large tree atop the hill. A perfect hideout from the Mountain and the fog. It dug down into a large chasm, big enough to hide a small group of warriors. It felt well used. There were beds one side of the space and what looked like a cooking area on the other with a large fire pit. Above the fire pit there seemed to be an old, rusted pipe of some type that stuck straight down from the short dirt roof. She assumed it was used to filter out the smoke from the fire. She didn’t see a large pipe outside anywhere, so she wondered how the grounders set this all up.
“There’s a change of clothes in that chest over there.” Anya jabs her thumb in the direction of a chest at the foot of a bed. “You can hang your damp clothes on the bed posts.” She said as she dug through another chest against the far wall. Clarke bolted to the chest Anya had pointed to. She was too eager to get out of her chafing clothes.
Clarke was hesitant at first to undress in front of Anya but said woman seemed more focused on undressing herself to care about the blond. Clarke blushed and slipped off her bag and jacket before she rifled through the chest for a suitable set of clothing. She found a pair of black-leather, steel-toed boots. A really nice pair, she thought. Tall, with a row of buckles to clasp them tightly to your calf’s. She might just keep these.
Next Clarke found a pair of stitched leather pants that seemed to fit her. She grabbed the pants at their waistband and slung it onto her back like a cape before she brought the two ends of the waistband together around her neck. Seemed to be a nice fit. She chucked the pants onto the boots to the side and continued rifling.
She found a brown wife beater and held it up to her chest. It seemed too large, and she chucked it back into the chest before grabbing a black long sleaved t-shirt. It was similar to the wet one she currently wore but was patch worked. Some areas of the shirt were dark leather, and others were black cotton. It sort of looked cool. In a rugged way. She pinched the shoulders of the shirt and held it up to her chest. It seemed the right size and she threw it in the direction of the pile without looking.
Near the bottom of the chest Clarke found a big jacket made of what looked like bear fur and leather. It was brown leather with a leather hood and long bear fur that crowned the shoulders. The internal was fur. It had a row of buckles on one side that latched onto the other side to close the jacket. It was a bit bigger than her but when she tried it on quickly, it fit okay. She threw it in the pile when she was satisfied.
Clarke glanced up to see that Anya was already fully dressed in a similar outfit to the one she raided the dropship in. The grounder was rifling through a different chest. The brunet held up a dagger and inspected it before putting it back in the chest. Must be a weapons chest.
Clotho bumps into her thigh and Clarke glances down to see that Lachesis was strangling her brother and seemed determined to tear out his throat. She probably wouldn’t actually do that, but she seemed quite fed up with Clotho. Their only light source in here where the fire lanterns hanging around the room. It wasn’t the brightest light source, so it took a moment for her to spot the white tiger. She looked around to see that Atropos was lounging next to the unlit fireplace.
Clarke went back to undressing and made quick work of redressing and hanging her damp clothes on the bed posts. She strapped her sword to her lower back and her gun on her hip. Jasper had buried her with all her shit. The asshole was trying to cover his own ass. She emptied her bag on one of the beds and hung it on its post.
She tried her best not to show her nervousness. Anya wasn’t particularly happy with her and Clarke was already trying to wrap her head around their currently very undead situation. Then there was the Mountain. She was not ready whatsoever to go to the Mountain of all places. But she needed Anya on her side. Or at least she needed Anya not attacking her.
“Take this.” Clarke nearly jumped out of her skin when Anya’s voice suddenly sounded off beside her. She whipped her head to the side to see that Anya was holding a bow and quiver out to her. She glanced at the bow then at Anya’s I-want-this-shit-over face before she took the bow and quiver. She had some skill with it but preferred the sword. “We’re going hunting.” Anya said as she adjusted the bow strap on her chest. “We will stay close to the hideout encase of the fog.”
“The fog isn’t a problem anymore.” Clarke blankly states and Anya pauses as she stares her down. Clarke can’t decipher the look in Anya’s eyes, but she says nothing in response. Instead, she grunts and makes her way to the exit.
Clarke sighs. She gives each of the cubs a meaningful look before she heads out to follow Anya. Closing and latching the door behind her.
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Lexa lay quietly in her tent. While her bodyguard slept in his own. The sun had set, and they had eaten and retired for the night. Ontari slept in Lexa’s tent. Echo assumed it was so the Commander could keep an eye on her. The Wood Clan woman must be confident in her own skills if she feels comfortable enough to sleep with the enemy in such a close vicinity. Her skills though were of no concern. The sleeping herbs Echo had snuck Ontari should have taken effect by now.
Echo had no idea why the Commander was here or why she had the Ice Queens prized pet with her. How had she gotten Ontari? Ontari was thought dead. Taken by the Mountain. She must have been in the group of released prisoners Lexa had rescued. The Commander then must know Ontari is a nightblood the Ice Queen had hidden. Is that why Lexa is out here? Is she plotting against the Queen. Echo would get her answers after she and Ontari capture the Commander and kill her guard. She hadn’t had the chance to speak with the nightblood properly, but she responded to her hand signals and took the herbs. She hoped the girl would understand the plan.
Echo stealthily made her way down the tree she had been scouting the camp from. The herbs should have them so drugged up that they wouldn’t wake even to the claps of thunder. Though Echo kept her steps light and quite as she made her way to the guard’s tent.
She crept quietly to the front of the tent. Its flap still tied open. The night was a heated humidity that could make sleeping a sweaty fit. From where she crouched, she could see the guard sleeping on his back. His large chest rose and fell with his loud snores.
Echo glanced at the tent beside his. Its entrance faced the opposite way. They must have set it up this way to have view on all sides. Which would be a problem for an enemy troop if her targets weren’t drugged up. Once Echo takes care of the guard, she would have to cercle around to help Ontari capture the Commander.
Echo slowly crept into the tent. She lightly stepped around the guard as she pulled out her dagger. She crouched over the man. Her blade at the ready to slice his throat. She moved to make the final cut.
“Got you!” Roared the man as his large arms circled Echo. She didn’t have time to react. Her blade fell from her grasp in her shock. In the time she hesitated the guard had moved to crush her in his deathly tight grip. She groaned as he tightened his grip like a constrictor ready to kill. Her throat was trapped between his forearm and collar bone, and the tighter he squeezed the less Echo could breathe. She tried to fight against this beast of a man, but her arms had been trapped at her sides. “Go to sleep.” The guard growls in her ear as black splotches began to enter her vision.
Echo choked and sputtered. Desperate for air. The fight slowly left her as the pressure behind her eyes and against her chest grew. Her vision blurred and darkened slowly before everything went black and her body relaxed.
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Anya watched Klark gut the two-headed dear they had caught. She had caught. Klark had just scared the poor thing to death buy getting an arrow lodged in its horns. Said arrow was still there, half broken and dangling off. The dear itself had been hung up by its hind hoofs in the gutting stall. It was a simple stall set up next to the fire pit, with wooden supports used to sling up any game caught. Below there was a trench dug in to have a metal basin fit in to catch the gore. Klark had referred to it as a geyser but had conceded it was a good use of the old-world object.
Anya lit the fire she had prepared with her flint and stone. It slowly roared to life as she blew into the burning kindle. Once the fire was licking at the wooden supports in the pit she backed off. Anya sat back on one of the logs surrounding the large firepit side.
She checked on Klark’s progress with the dear. The sky princess had skinned and gutted the dear. She was currently sorting through the organs to see what to keep and discard. Apparently, she liked liver, and the cubs liked the rest of the organ meat. Anya still thought a whole dear was a bit much just for the two of them and three small tigers. Klark insisted though and nearly moaned Anya’s ear off till she relented. The Wood Clan warrior wasn’t expecting to find a dear so close to the Mountain, but she was mistaken.
Anya watched Klark closely as she finished sorting out the organs into buckets and washing out the metal basin. She struggled a bit to tip the basin, so it drained into the pipe that led out into the river outside. Klark had been pestering her ever since they had gotten back from the hunt about how her men had set up this hideout. Anya was frankly ready to strangle the sky princess after the twelfth question. At least she shut up a bit to do her task of prepping the dear.
“Hey, no!” Klark suddenly yells as she snatched a bucket away from one of the orange cubs. “This one’s yours.” She mumbles as she grabs the other bucket before making her way to the table on the other side of the fire pit that had cutlery and pots stacked on it. Anya stopped following Klark’s movements once she walked behind her, but she could hear what’s she was doing. It sounded like she was dishing out the bucket of organs. A moment later and Klark whistled before she started making a strange ‘ksskss’ sound. The tiger cubs immediately stop the chaos they were up to in various areas of the hideout to bolt in Klark’s direction. By the sound of growls and mashing teeth, the tiger cubs where eating. Klark comes back into Anya’s sight a moment later with only one bucket.
“I’m assuming we are cleaning most of this in the river outside?” Klark suddenly said and Anya groaned. “Because I’m running out of clean water.” She said as she dropped the bucket off next to a table to the side of the gutting rack. The blond then grabbed the knife on the table beside a bucket of water and dipped her hands in the bucket. Klark looked up at Anya as she washed her hands and knife. She cocked an eyebrow up expectantly.
“What?” Anya snapped. Klark shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. She pulled her hand out of the bucket and shook them a bit before she moved back to the dear. Anya huffed and grabbed the metal pole that leaned against her log. She poked at the fire admittedly a bit too hard and it collapsed somewhat, spitting embers everywhere. She sighed and started poking the wood pieces back in place.
They said nothing further, and a silence descended upon them. Anya tended to the fire and set up the pot to hang over the fire. Klark beheaded the dear and managed to get the dear cut down into its main parts before she sliced up pieces for a stew. Anya had started the cooking process and impatiently grabbed pieces of meat from Klark as she cut. Much to Klark’s annoyance.
It didn’t take long for the cubs to start pawing at Klark’s legs. Anya was surprised to see Klark hand over more than half the dear to the little tiger pests. They intensely descended upon the raw meat, mowing through bone and flesh alike. It terrified Anya how much they ate together. What meat didn’t fit in the pot was sliced up int to strips and salted before being hung on the wires strung up from the gutting rack to the wall. Anya was surprised that Klark seemed to know exactly how her people set up their camps. Usually, the drying rack would be away from the gutting rack but since this hideout wasn’t used often and there wasn’t much more space that had been the solution. But the ice princess moved about the space as if she was familiar with its tools and workspaces. This is not the same weak sky princess she journeyed and fought with before. Could it be true that Anya was gone for so long?
The evening past. They ate a hearty dear stew with parsley and basil. Then they cleaned and retired for the night. The day’s events plagued Anya’s mind and the inconsistencies between the current world she was in and the one before she woke up in the dirt disturbed her. The dropship as Klark had called it, was overgrown with months old flora that wasn’t there the last she saw it. The area’s close to the Mountain had wildlife. There were no signs of the fog. She purposefully walked the sky princess through territories she knew Wood Clan scouts were hidden to scout the Mountain. There were no scouts.
Anya hadn’t asked Klark any real questions and she didn’t really want to listen when she freely provided information. She wanted to see if the Mountain was truly dead first. Then she would hear Klark out. If what Klark says is true about the Mountain, then everything else might me true too. The warrior couldn’t wrap her head around being dead for months then suddenly being alive.
Anya turned over on her side to look at the sky princess in the bunk beside hers. Klark was fast asleep on her back with her tiger cubs surrounding her. One of the orange ones lay on top of her and Anya thought that might not be comfortable. She must be warm though unlike Anya. It was cold underground without any insolation from the dirt and the warmth of the fire had long since dwindled out.
The other orange cub at Klark’s side yawned and stretched. It twisted around onto its back with its head pointing to Anya. Its green eyes blinked open before it yawned again. Then it stared into Anya’s hazel ones. The cub stared at Anya’s shivering form for a long moment before it blinked. Then it shook its head and sat up. Its tail twitched as it watched Anya intently. The warrior watched it back. It jumped off Klark’s bed and the Wood Clan warrior startled when the large cub jumped onto her bed. Her instinct was to reach for the knife on her hip but when the cub yawed and pawed at Anya’s abdomen she froze.
Anya didn’t stop the orange cub from draping itself over her stomach and chest. Warmth spread throughout the brunet as a low purr rumbled from the cub and into her. She was tempted to throw the cub off, but her shivering had stopped, and the purr was soothing. Anya begrudgingly drifted off to the sounds of the cub’s purr.
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