Ice Can Sink A Ship (Just Ask The Titanic)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. No profit made.
AN: It can't be all fluff all the time. Problems arise in the most inconvenient of times.
Nia is a conniving thing that slithers into your tent at night and lays in wait tucked away in the furs of your bed, and when you lay down to sleep, she bites you and escapes through a hole in the canvas leaving you none the wiser. Clarke was all too aware of the poison in Nia's bite, both she and Lexa have been injected, and they've both survived.
The sting of such a bite is one that will never fully go away, but Clarke felt that it is something that keeps her aware and alert while in the Ice Queen's presence. Now, she watches Nia slink through the streets of Polis from her place overwatching the warriors train, upon their request. It was a small tournament of sorts, fighting to be claimed the strongest in the eye of the Wanheda.
It amused Clarke at the time, but now she found herself wanting to be closer to Lenox, especially with Nia in the capital. Clarke knew that he was safe. Lenox was with Meino and the other children of Polis, safe under the watch of the other mothers and Octavia. He was safe, but Nia had always made Clarke feel like she was hanging from a cliff's edge with Lenox on her back and her grip slipping.
Try as she might, Clarke couldn't bring herself to focus on the warriors. Instead, she tried to strain her ears and eyes to look for any sign of her son. She felt herself growing more anxious as the seconds ticked, finally Clarke couldn't take it anymore. "Lincoln!" She calls, a small relief finding her as the man comes to stand before her.
"Wanheda," he addresses her formally in the presence of the warriors.
Clarke swallows down her panic, because she knows, she knows, that Lenox is fine. "Lok ai yongon op." Find my child. Lincoln nods and is off like a shot. Clarke watches him leave.
"Wanheda, sich?" Wanheda, trouble? A warrior asks as he approaches her, a group closing in behind him.
She shakes her head with a harsh tug. "No, no." Clarke tries to give a reassuring smile. "Continue." She motions for the fighters to start. No one moves. "Chit?" What? She frowns down at the warriors.
"We'll wait for, Lincoln," the same warrior speaks, the group at his back grunting in agreement. If she wasn't so worried, perhaps Clarke would appreciate their loyalty for her more, but she can't do that now. All Clarke can think about is Nia and her son being within the same city without Clarke between them. The warriors are silent around Clarke, and it makes her anxiety worse. They're suspended in time, waiting.
Clarke hit her breaking point. "I have to go. My son..." She trails off with shaky breaths, leaping down from the small uprise. She takes off to where her son is supposed to be. She's running and she knows it'll cause panic among the people, especially with the small army behind her, but she doesn't care. It takes too long for Clarke to reach the meadow and fear strikes her heart when she sees what's happening. A man painted in white ash and blood has Lenox by his hair, holding his small body in place with a blade to his throat.
Lincoln is holding back Octavia as she shouts at the man, her face bloodied and beaten, her right leg barely touching the ground as she can't put pressure on it. "Wanheda!" The man screeches, tearing Lenox's head back harshly. He son cries out in pain and he claws desperately at the man's hand to release him.
Clarke's vision turns red and her mind shifts back to survival mood. She's in the ice pits once more. "Release him!" She roars, coming to a halt just in front of the struggling couple.
Relief sparks in Lenox's crying eyes, and the fear he'd felt before, the fear Clarke had seen in his eyes, is no longer there. "Nomon!" His voice calls out to her, but Clarke sees nothing but relief in his eyes. Her brave little warrior watching her as though she's invincible and an unstoppable force.
Clarke's furious heart slows, her vision focusing as the man zeros in on her. Her son's faith holding deep within her heart as she draws her sword, the metal singing as it's released from its sheath. The army behind Clarke shifts forward, circling the meadow, weapons at the ready. Clarke has no doubt they've sent word to Lexa, but Clarke can't focus on that now. She's too focused on the drop of blood that slides down her child's neck as the blade is pushed into his skin. Clarke growls. "Spill more of my son's blood and you will pray for death." She's cold, deathly calm as her eyes flicker from the man to Lenox. Still, Lenox shows no fear. In fact, he's solely focused on Clarke. He sees nothing else.
The man laughs and leans down to talk into her son's ear. "Aw look at your Nomon boy. Wanheda's coming out to play. Watch her. Look how much she cares. Your death will break her." He almost sings with glee. Lenox doesn't react. His eyes have found Clarke's and she holds his stare to give him back the strength he's given her.
"You want Wanheda! Then come for her!" Clarke bares her teeth taking a hurried step forward. The man stumbles back a step, dragging Lenox with him. Clarke's eyes narrow, the man is lying with his false confidence...he's terrified of her. The realization sparks the predator in Clarke. "Or are you too scared to face me yourself? You're coward that has to threaten children because you're not man enough to take me on? You're nothing, worthless, is that it?" She taunts.
The man seethes, thrusting Lenox to his side, the grip on her son's hair like a vice. He thrust his dagger toward her. "I am no coward, Wanheda!" But his hand shakes and the anger in his voice wavers. The warriors tighten their ranks. "Back! Get back!" He demands, putting his blade to Lenox's neck threatening.
"Bak op!" Back up! Clarke screams as more blood drips from a nick on Lenox's neck. "Yu na wan op kom bushhada!" You will die a coward! The words seem to blind the man and he pushes her son into the earth between them. A sickening thud echoes in Clarke's heart when Lenox meets the ground. She reaches for Lenox, blinded by love, and the man attacks. With difficulty she slides in the grass on her knees, shielding her son with her body. The man's dagger meets her sword and the blowback sends his weapon to the ground as well.
Without a breath he removes the sword from his back and is at Clarke again, not letting her get to her feet. So she fights on her knees, her son clinging to her back, trapped between her and the ground. Clarke grunts and she knows that she has to do something, she needs to get Lenox free from her weight so he can get to safety. Her hand grips the tip of her own sword, the blade cutting into her flesh and drawing out her blood as she pushes up and back. "Bushhada!" Coward! Clarke calls as she locks eyes with the man. Finally she inches him back enough to swing her swords around to pin his blade to the ground and her fist let's go of her blade and crashes into the man's nose.
He stumbles back moaning in pain as blood gushes from his broken nose, but he doesn't drop his sword. Clarke bounds up and shuffles backward, pushing her son away from her, but Lenox's grip is tight on her pants. "Let go, Lenox, let go!" She orders, but the boy is too scared. The man is coming for her once more and Clarke raises her blade to meet his on the downswing. She grunts with the effort, fighting with her right hand behind her back as she desperately tries to push Lenox away from her, but he's frozen in the fear she thought he lost. The warriors don't interfere, Octavia doesn't come to pull Lenox to safety. Why is no one helping her?
Again she manages to force his blade away and lands a lucky kick to his abdomen that sends him back a few steps. "Heda! Heda!" Hurried voices reach her ears and Clarke spares a glance to the crowd to see Lexa pushing to the front. Clarke grips her teeth and grips the back of her son's shirt, his small body lifting from the ground in a horrifying moment.
"Nomon, no!" He cries and it distracts her long enough for the man to return with a hard blow to her face, but she does not fall. Clarke will not fall. She thrusts her blade in an arc and catches him by the arm, blood spurts and pours out, spattering her face with a mist of blood. He backs up on his own this time, and again, Clarke pulls Lenox from her and throws his small body across the little distance to Lexa's feet. He cries when he lands and struggles to get up and run to her. Lexa holds him back and he fights her.
"Clarke!" Lexa cries out, but it's too late. She feels the blade pierce her side and exit out the back. Her sword drops and her hands grip his steel as he tries to push it in. It slices through her hands, cutting deeper.
"Ah!" She cries unable to stop it and the man grins sinisterly as he forces her to her knees.
"Not so mighty now, Wanheda," he jeers. Clarke coughs, blood coming from her mouth, all she can taste is iron. All Clarke can see are the ice pits. She's cold. She can't breathe and she turns to her son, now in the arms of Lincoln. Lexa has her sword drawn and looks ready to charge, but she can't. If Lexa does, then she'll put herself at risk and Clarke needs Lexa to protect Lenox. If Clarke falls to this man, he will die, but more will come for Lenox.
Clarke winces as he pushes her backward, but every time she resists, the blade sinks deeper. He's drawing this out and he's not even looking at Clarke anymore, he's smirking at Lexa; he thinks he's won. "Lenox!" She coughs. "Lenox, run! Take him away! Go now!" She growls and watches as Lincoln struggles with her son's tiny frame. The man glares down at Clarke and pushes harshly, twisting the blade. She cries desperately and her head swims, the only thing she can hear his Lenox's cries for her to get up, to fight.
Her breath catches with every inhale, but she hears her son, she hears Lenox. She will not fall. She cannot fall. Clarke releases her grip on the blade and the absence of her resistance send the man flying down, the blade burying itself in her side up to the hilt. Surprise is written on his face as he crashes down to her and she meets his head with her own. A deafening crack ringing out as her forehead connects with his already shattered nose. He falls back in pain, leaving his sword buried in Clarke.
She struggles and stumbles to stand, she falls on her hands and knees before standing on unsteady feet. He lays at her feet on his ass as he stares at her in disbelief when she slowly pulls the blade from her body, and she cries out when it's finally free, more blood dripping from her mouth. "No! You were down!" He yells, scrambling backwards, but Clarke advances and sends his own sword straight through his shin and burying it into the earth. He screams and tries to pull himself free and she staggers back to where her sword lies.
Her right hand presses into her wound, her head swims and she's unsteady, but she advances upon him once more. Her sword sure in her left hand, the tip at his throat and she gives him a shallow nick. He hisses and cries like the coward Clarke claimed him to be. Clarke is close to passing out, her vision blackens and she blinks to force it back. With a war cry she's never heard before, Clarke thrust her sword down to spear his shoulder, pinning him to the earth again. Her weight falls heavily upon her sword. Her face is just a foot from his, her blood falling onto his face as he tries in vain to move away from it. "You wanted my blood. The blood...of, Wanheda." She sneers and spits into his face, blood and spit stinging his eyes. "Have it."
Then she's lifted and pulled from the man with hurried, but gentle, movements. Lexa's hovering over her, the Heda on her knees above the Wanheda. "Clarke! Clarke, look at me!" Lexa's pleading but Clarke's eyes can't focus. Hands push on her side to try and stop the bleeding, but it doesn't hurt anymore. She's cold. "Beja, Clarke." Lexa's hands are covered in blood when she grips Clarke's face. "Lok Naikou op!" Find Nyko! She screams at her warriors. Clarke blinks, trying to fight her black vision and she thinks, she's never heard Lexa sound so weak.
Clarke coughs blood and she can hear her son crying out for her. "Le-Lenox." She wheezes out, staring up at the shadowy face that she believes to be Lexa, but all she can see are the Heda's green eyes. It's Lexa, she can see Lexa. Lexa is holding her and Lexa looks scared, and all Clarke can feel is cold.
"He's safe." Lexa tells her and Clarke closes her eyes. He's safe, Lenox is safe. A slap stings her cheek and she blinks away the haze. "Don't you dare close your eyes, Klark kom Skaikru." Lexa sneers down at her. "Yu gonplei nou ste odon!" Your fight is not over! "Stay, Clarke, stay here. I need your spirit to stay where it is." Clarke thinks she sees Lexa cry, but her vision is so blurry, her head is so heavy. "I need you."
"I need you."
Clarke's eyes close, and though her mind screams for her to wake up, she doesn't.
"I need you."
She can't breathe and everything hurts again.
"Nomon!" "I need you."
She's cold and the pain slips away.
"I need you."
"Nomon!"
"Ai hod yu in."
"I love you."
"I need you."
"I'm sorry." Clarke uses the last bit of strength she has.
Clarke slips away.
