Hello. Longer chapter for you today! There's a switch in POV in the middle from Clarke to Lexa, and terms and sentences written in italics mean Trigedasleng. Thank you so so much to everyone who reviewed, I'm so glad so many of you like the wolf pup, and thank you to everyone who has read, followed, liked, and browsed my story. There was such a sudden influx of reviews that I sadly can't respond to everyone but I appreciated every one of them none the less. Thank you! And Enjoy!

Characters are not mine. The 100 belongs to CW.

kkbk: Definitely not going crawling back to Lexa so soon. If anything, Lexa should come crawling back to Clarke. But I don't think either of them will be there any time soon.

Hiyoshi Ren: I agree. Time jumps can be kind of annoying, but I was tired of recapping and wanted to press the story onward. So I'm glad it didn't diminish the story for you.

Emma 0605: I'm so sorry you got teary eyed, and at the same time it's like one of the best reviews I could get. Emotional responses to my story are the best.

The small group of Grounders had set up camp for the night. They had walked a bit further into the forest, coming to a stop at a steep incline in which Clarke soon saw there was a decently sized cave. At first she had not intended to join the group, looking to leave as soon as possible, but she had realized the Grounders had different ideas when they had laid their hands on their weapons, blocking her path as she had made to leave. No amount of glares or threats would move them.

So instead she had seen herself forced to grudgingly follow behind Lexa as she led their way to their current abode, where the people of the forest clan had quickly set up a fire outside of the entrance to the cave. At first, Clarke had neared the source of heat, still worried about the pup's wellbeing, but once she saw the Grounders take out the knives and begin cutting into the slain wolf, she had felt sick and had promptly gotten up to go sit in the cave.

There the Commander sat, leaning against the wall, one of her legs outstretched, focused on the bandage on her arm in the dim light of the flames. Clarke paused for a moment at the entrance, her shadow flickering in front of her as she considered what the best course of action was. Her heart was telling her to aid the wounded commander, and her mind was telling her to be stubborn and give the other girl the cold shoulder.

Taking a deep breath, she walked to the opposite wall of the cave and sat down there, careful not to loosen her grip on the pup which still laid nestled between her arm and her chest, surrounded by her coat. Crossing her legs, she slowly unwrapped the bundle, creating a little nest in her legs and placing the small animal in the center. It wriggled about a bit, letting out weak whines. Gently, she traced her finger down its spine and back, calmed by the feeling of the soft fur.

She took a moment to look over the pup as it struggled to move about. Its fur was as black as its mothers, but she thought she could see a hint of silver hidden in the dark. Its eyes were still shut, and its paws looked disproportionately large in comparison to the rest of its body – yet as far as her knowledge of the usual size of puppies went, this one dwarfed them all. It was about the size of a large baby, but judging by the size of its mother, it still had a long way to go.

"You are foolish to keep that animal." She heard Lexa murmur.

Refusing to look up, she responded coldly: "I don't think I asked for your opinion on the matter."

"I am simply warning you. They are dangerous. You are lucky the mother did not kill you. Many a strong warrior has succumbed to the claws of the Fenrif. At the beginnings of the new age they roamed these woods in packs and would massacre entire villages at a time."

"They were trying to survive. I seem to recall you being of the opinion that many things are excused in the name of survival." Clarke spat, finally looking up to fixate the Commander with a hard stare.

Lexa did not flinch. "I am responsible for the survival of my people."

"Is that why you killed the mother? Why you slaughtered defenseless pups? I don't seem to recall there being mention of any difficulties with these Fenrif in my time spent at your village."

Clarke noticed a look of discomfort cross over Lexa's face, how her eyes swiveled to look out at the warriors, who Clarke noticed with disgust had sliced up the wolf and started hanging pieces of its flesh to cure in the smoke of the fire. One of them was beating the pelt, an expansive piece of fur that could wrap itself around three grown men with ease. She was about to pursue the subject when the wolf pup – the Fenrif pup – in her lap let out a high pitched whine, throwing its head into the air and struggling to get out of its confinement.

"It is probably hungry." Lexa said softly, her expression unreadable as she looked down at the small bundle in her lap. "But it is too young to eat meat. I do not know how you imagine you will feed it."

Clarke's chest constricted slightly at this point, but she refused to let it show. "I'll figure it out."

The Commander opened her mouth to say something while attempting to shift her weight, however a small gasp escaped her mouth and she gripped her leg, which Clarke noticed for the first time with horror had a bandaged tightly wrapped around it. The reason she had not seen it before was because the cloth, and the entire pants leg, was completely drenched in dark blood.

"What did you do?" Clarke breathed out, her chest clenching even further.

"I fought a Fenrif." Lexa responded, a slightly amused look on her face.

Clarke stared at her, and after a moment more of indecision awkwardly stood up wrapping the pup up tightly in her coat again as she did, and made her way over to sit next to the outstretched leg of the Commander. She again created a cradle of sorts for the small animal, before she took a closer look at the wound on Lexa's thigh. She drew in a quick breath as she saw the extent of the damage – and that even before the wound was properly cleaned.

"You need stitches! How have you not passed out yet?"

Lexa chuckled and leaned her head back against the wall, her eyes closed, and Clarke noticed with unease how pale her skin was. The shaft of moonlight which had managed to trickle down from the sky into the cave was slashed across her face, giving it a ghostly luminosity.

"I am not allowed to tend to my wound until I have been presented with the pelt. Only then is the kill complete and I have proven myself a worthy warrior."

"What are you talking about? You are already the Commander of your people, doesn't that speak for itself?"

Lexa sighed and opened her eyes to look at Clarke blearily. For a moment she did not say anything, just looking at her with eyes that seemed far away. A flash of pain and sadness suddenly flashed through those eyes, though whether it was due to her wounds or a memory Clarke could not tell.

"Some of my people have begun to think me weak. They believe I took the coward's way out that night at the mountain." She said quietly, her eyes falling to the pup in Clarke's lap, which seemed to have fallen asleep. "There have been whispers of challenges and insubordination. They speak of you, of how you killed an entire mountain with no support. They have begun to fear you, to respect you," She smiled slightly, "begrudgingly, but none the less. I need to maintain control over my people. Even if they respect you, they do not respect the sky people… Another leader could mean catastrophe for the sky people... For Clarke…"

Clarke blinked at the use of her name in third person, bringing her back to the present from the memories that had begun to wreak havoc on her mind. Lexa's eyes were half closed, her body limp, her speech was slurred and she did not seem to be completely present anymore.

"Lexa..?" Clarke said softly, touching her shoulder lightly.

"Klark…. Kamp raun hir… Ai... Mi kru… Jus drein jus draun… Klark…"

Clarke stared at her, and when she realized that Lexa was no longer speaking she felt panic seize her heart. She could not die. No, not here, not now. She could not loose someone again, not so soon after seeing all those lifeless bodies in the mountain. As quickly and gingerly as she could, she placed the sleeping pup next to Lexa's hip, and was about to jump up to alert the other grounders when something in her gut stopped her. Everything Lexa had told her about her people, everything she had seen, they believe in strength over weakness, tradition. There was no way this would end well for Lexa if Clarke told her people that she was dying.

She knelt, frozen to her spot by Lexa's side, weighing her options. Lexa had abandoned her in a moment of need, leaving her to fend for herself against the mountain; she had walked away from their truce, allegiance, and relationship – whatever one might call it. She had chosen the lives of her people over her honor. And now she lay dying before her as a result. Clarke owed her nothing, all outstanding debts had been nullified when she was forced to pull that lever. Forced to choose her people over others and massacre hundreds.

And yet she found her hands moving, tearing the small bag she carried off over her shoulder, searching its insides for the medical supplies she always carried with her. She found a needle, some thread and a small roll of bandages. Leaning over Lexa's limp body, she grabbed the Commander's canteen and after reaffirming that it was only water, ripped her pants so she had better access to the mess on her thigh.

Pouring the contents over the wound, she sucked in a deep breath as she saw the numerous puncture wounds, some clean, some torn, marking the Commander's thigh. The only thing that gave her hope was that it seemed like through some miracle, the Fenrif had missed any major artery. That being said, Clarke could tell that the muscle had been severely damaged and that it would take Lexa a long time to full recover – if at all.

She worked quickly, casting nervous glances over her shoulder at the other grounders, who thankfully seemed content to ignore the two of them as they went about their work in the dark. Clarke sewed up the tears in Lexa's pale skin, and even a stitch or two where the teeth had left clean puncture marks, as the Fenrif had been so large that its fangs left gaping holes. Finishing it off with a tight bandage round Lexa's thigh, she moved around to her other side where her haphazardly bandaged arm lay.

Picking it up gingerly, she quickly noticed that something was wrong. Although there was not too much blood, she could tell just as her fingers lightly traced over the bandages that there was severe swelling. Gently, she unwrapped the dirty cloth and saw the dark discoloration spread out across the entire lower arm; that, in addition to the odd angle, made it clear to her that Lexa had managed to break her arm.

In comparison to the mess her thigh had been, Clarke almost lazily found branches to make a splint, using up the rest of her bandages and string to make sure that the arm would not be able to move easily, and would hopefully set right. In the darkness of the cave there was not much else she could do then, and for a moment she just sat where she was staring at the steady rise and fall of Lexa's chest.

She was worried about the girl. As much as it irked her to admit it, she still cared for her. She was stubborn and unpredictable, and had caused Clarke to do unspeakable things, but part of her understood why, part of her missed the way Lexa used to look at her without judgement, without expecting her to know all the answers. Would it be so bad if she were to return to the Grounder camp with her? She could even explain it away by saying she was concerned of an infection in her thigh, which was in fact a very real possibility. Just because she had managed to stop the worst of the bleeding did not mean that Lexa was out of the woods yet.

But Clarke knew she was not ready to return. She had only been gone a few days, and whatever issues had forced her to walk away from her civilization had not yet been resolved. Besides, she now at the pup to take care of, and if Lexa was anything to go by, the Grounders would kill the animal as soon as they set eyes on it. But how would she do that? She barely had any water, had no food supplies, limited hunting capabilities, no orientation, no plan; she was barely making it on her own and now she was to take care of such a small fragile animal?

Exhaustion hit her then, rolled over her body in waves. She was so tired of it all, so tired of the insecurities and doubt and fear. Leaning back against the rock wall, she closed her eyes. Just let it all fade away. Please.

Lexa awoke slowly, her entire body stiff and sore, feeling as though she had been coated in snow and then thawed. In fact, she first became aware of something warm and soft pressed against her side, slowly opening her dry eyes, she turned her neck to awkwardly look down at a head of blonde hair leaning against her shoulder. Clarke. The girl lay nestled against her side, curled carefully around her broken arm, which Lexa noted now had a new splint on it.

And beneath it, curled in the gap between Clarke and her, lay something dark and fuzzy. At first, Lexa thought it was just her bleary eyes seeing things where nothing existed, but after blinking a few times she realized that Clarke's pup was sleeping soundly next to them. Using her other hand, she gently ran her fingers along its soft fur, marveling at how such a small animal could turn into a rampant beast.

The pup awoke at her touch, a green eye exposing itself in the midst of dark fur. Slowly uncurling itself, it awkwardly stretched in the limited space provided, a pink tongue protruding from its maws as it yawned, clumsily stumbling to one side. Lexa smiled at its lack of coordination, and watched as it struggled out from between them, climbing over her legs towards the cave entrance. She jerked and hissed as the pup applied pressure to her thigh, which made it jump off and back away from her skittishly.

Ignoring it, Lexa took in the clean bandages now tightly wrapped around her leg. The dirty clothes and bandages lay next to her, as well as her canister and Clarke's bag. A sigh of relief escaped her as she looked at the girl sleeping peacefully next to her. Perhaps she had not completely destroyed everything with her decision at the mountain. Gently pushing Clarke's head off of her shoulder she slowly moved away from her, her right leg hurting with every jolt.

Slowly, using the wall as support, she pushed herself up off the ground. Gnashing her teeth together to silence the grunts and hisses of pain that pushed to escape her mouth. Once she stood somewhat upright, she took a deep breath to collect herself, and then pushed herself away from the wall, stiffly limping forward. The pup, which had been sniffing around the cave, looked up at her as she walked away, following behind her with caution.

Stopping at the entrance of the cave, she looked down at the four men who had followed her. One slept, while another stood guard, the other two working on prepping the wolf.

Letting out a sharp whistle, she called the three that were awake to attention.

"Wake Darrak. Tell him to go find me a branch to aid me in walking, as well as a rabbit and some White Tear leaves. Tell him to prepare them as he would for a child and bring them to me."

The one who was on guard nodded and kicked Darrak in the foot, who woke with a sharp cry, grabbing for his weapons before realizing there was no danger. A few words were exchanged before he stood and ran into the forest, the others returning to their duties. It looked like most of the meat was almost done being prepared for storage, and the pelt was already being covered in salt. It would be a fine prize.

She could already tell that the four men with her had a new found respect for her again, and she was sure so would most of the others. It irritated her that this had been necessary at all; that she had needed to prove her strength and prowess, as though it had been easy to go back on her word, to betray the Sky People, to betray Clarke.

Leaning back onto the rock wall, she turned to look at the girl. Her mouth hung open, her face was dirty and there were deep rings of sleepless nights under her eyes, blood covered her clothing and hands, and it seemed to Lexa that she had grown thinner since she had last saw her. She wondered what tolls her win over the mountain had taken on the girl, why she had chosen to leave behind her people to wander the forest alone. Did she not know how dangerous that was? Was she attempting to court death?

The mother Fenrif had been larger than she had expected, a prime specimen of its kind. She had slaughtered its children, drawing it out of the darkness, its eyes full of bloodlust. It had come at her with such speed, she had not had time to prepare, to fully draw her sword. Knocking her to the ground, she had lost her grip, seen the sword fly off into the dark woods, its silver blade glinting red with the pups blood.

Her heart beating wildly, her hands shaking with adrenaline and fear, she had started crawling slowly away as the mother checked on her babies. All dead, all murdered for the sake of Lexa's control over her people. Five in total, five helpless pups. The Fenrif had let out a roar that shook the Commander's core; it had been full of anger, pain, hatred, loss. This was not some dumb beast.

It had turned on her again, grabbing her thigh at lightning speed before she could turn to run, dragging her back beneath her, its giant paw crushing her arm. She screamed out in pain. She was going to die, and the four grounders that stood hidden in the dark would return to her village and talk of their failed Commander, the coward who ran from the Mountain, the broken warrior.

She had stared into the Fenrif's eyes of fire, had seen the pure hatred, and all she could think of was Clarke. Not her people, not her honor, not even her fear, but Clarke. The last she would have seen of her was the look of betrayal and confusion in her clear blue eyes as she began to understand what Lexa had done. And then suddenly she had heard a whimper in the dark. Another pup! There had been six, not five!

The mother turned, its ears swiveling about, searching for the location of the last of its surviving offspring.

"Now!" Lexa had screamed, spears flying through the dark and embedding themselves in the Fenrif. It roared in pain, but instead of attacking Lexa, it had left her behind, ducking down to pick up its offspring before running into the forest.

Where it had found Clarke. Lexa remembered exactly how her heart had stopped as she had seen the girl illuminated in the clearing, standing face to face with the massive creature. Her beauty, her smile, Lexa's fear. Without hesitation, she had thrown her last spear, determined to protect Clarke, only later had she come to realize that Clarke had never been in any danger. That she had somehow made a connection with one of the wildest beasts that roamed these woods, and Lexa had stolen it from her.

Lexa rubbed her forehead. And yet somehow Clarke had still found it within herself to save Lexa. It had been a big risk for her to tell the other girl that it went against tradition to tend to her wounds, but she had needed to know if there was at least something left between the two of them, and this proved to her that not all was lost.

She spent the rest of the early morning hours nibbling on cured deer meat she had brought with her and waiting for Darrak to finish preparing the soft mash she intended to feed the pup. She knew it was hungry; it had whined at the smell of her food, but when she had offered it some it had taken it into its mouth and then spit it out.

She had just placed a small bowl of the mush on the cavern floor which the pup was greedily tearing into when she saw Clarke wake up. Her blue eyes opened slowly, and she craned her neck stiffly from side to side, seemingly trying to loosen a knot. Blinking a few times, Lexa watched as she took in her blood encrusted hands, and how her eyes widened.

She whipped her head around to where Lexa had previously been sleeping, before catching site of her awkwardly leaning against the cave entrance. For a moment the two of them gazed at each other, before Clarke broke the silence.

"You're alive."

"Apparently."

"Are your people going to view you as less than worthy since I tended your wounds?"

"No."

"No?"

"No." Lexa said again, smirking at the frustrated look on Clarke's face.

"Why not?"

"Do you want them to?"

"You told me they would!"

Lexa knew she should stop and tell the other girl the truth. Thank her for in fact saving her life, but she was enjoying this too much. She had not realized how much she had missed the other girl. "So I did."

For a moment Clarke looked at her uncomprehendingly, and then her eyes widened.

"You lied?"

Lexa didn't respond.

Shooting upward and storming over to her, Clarke glared at her, her hands balled into fists. "You lied?" Her voice was shaking with anger. "Are you a complete idiot? What were you… How dare you!"

Clarke punched her shoulder.

"Ow!" Lexa hissed, rubbing her skin. She had bruises everywhere, and Clarke had managed to hit a rather tender spot. About to tease her for her behavior, the other girl started up again.

"You lied to me?! You could have died! You were dying! You might still die! I- I- You moron. You absolute idiot. How dare you! How dare you lie to me again!"

Lexa was taken aback by the intensity of her gaze and tone, and how her entire body was shaking with something close to rage. She had not expected such a severe response from her simple teasing, and it took her a moment to respond.

"I trusted you would not let me die."

"That is not the point!" Clarke hissed. "You lied to me! Again!"

Lexa's eyes widened slightly in realization of what the other girl was getting at. "I did not lie to you at the mountain." She said slowly.

"Yes you did!"

She wished she could take a step back, but the rock wall pressing against her back hindered her. There were tears building in Clarke's eyes, and the shaking had gotten worse.

"You left me. You said we would fight the mountain together, and then you ran away! You made me pull that lever, kill all those people! It's your fault, not mine! You are the coward who ran away! You- You.."

Pain blossomed in Lexa's chest as she watched Clarke crumple to the ground, her hands twisting into her hair as she rocked back and forth, tears streaming down her face. The pup, noticing the girls distress, jumped over to her, sniffing at her face and whining, but when Clarke let out an almost inhumane wail, it jumped back in fright, hiding by Lexa's leg.

Clarke had begun whispering incoherently to herself, curled up into a ball, her face hidden in her arms which pressed against the floor. Slowly maneuvering herself closer to the ground while awkwardly keeping her leg outstretched, Lexa moved closer to the girl. She knew what was happening, it was the same thing that had happened in her tent in what seemed like all those nights ago. Clarke was breaking under the weight of the dead. Lexa knew the feeling.

"Clarke. Clarke." She said quietly but forcefully. "Clarke, listen to me. You must keep fighting. Do not give in to the faces of the dead. You are safe – the dark ones lie in your head."

Gingerly she placed a hand on the girl's back, and when she was not shoved off, she saddled closer, wrapping herself around Clarke as best she could and whispering quiet words of reassurances in her ear. Slowly, she felt the girl calm beneath her, the shaking subsiding with the quiet cries of pain she had heard muffled by her arms. The pup had also grown more courageous and not lay nestled by Clarke's head.

Eventually, she felt the girl shift beneath her, and she removed her weight from around her. Clarke sat up slowly, her face a mess of various fluids which she quickly cleaned off with her sleeve. The pup too sat up to look at her, cocking its head and letting out a little whelp, which made a small breathy laugh escape Clarke's pink lips. Those pink lips Lexa felt her eyes drawn to automatically. Those lips she had been allowed to kiss so briefly before the war, before things fell apart.

To distract herself from such enticing thoughts, she gazed at the young Fenrif, which had grabbed onto Clarke's sleeve and was pulling at it with soft growls.

"This pup saved my life." She began suddenly, neither of them looking at each other. "I killed all of its siblings, but missed this one. Its cried distracted the mother just as she was about to kill me." She sighed. "I do not enjoy the random killing of the beasts of the forest. It is bad blood to kill for sport. But I need my people to follow me, to believe that I can put rational thought before my feelings. But this pup does not know that. It does not understand that I slaughtered its entire family for selfish reasons, and so it still trusts me."

"What are you trying to say?" Clarke asked with a hoarse voice.

"Sometimes being unaware is a blessing. But not everyone has the luck to be allowed to live a naïve peaceful life, some of us have to bear the burden of death so others may life their lives in relative peace."

"I never asked for this."

"No one does."

Clarke sighed and rubbed her face with the hand currently not engaged in a tug of war with the young Fenrif. "I'm not coming back with you Lexa. I just… I can't. I can't face those people. At least not now.. Not yet."

Her eyes flashed up to meet Lexa's as she said those last to words, and she couldn't help but let a small hint of a smile play across her lips, but it was interlaced with the same perplexed sadness she had felt within her tent that day. What did those two words mean? Did they mean something different now than they had before?

Lexa felt unease at the idea of Clarke wandering these woods alone. Honestly, she was surprised Clarke had managed to survive without grievous injury thus far – but she knew by the look in her eyes that arguing with her or forcing her to do something against her will would only make things worse. Nodding, she reached for the left over White Tear leaf Darrak had brought her.

"If you insist, I will not stop you. But you must at least know how to take care of your new companion. When babies in our village are left without mother, we brew up a concoction of this leaf and some other form of food – usually some simple vegetable. For the pup, I would recommend rabbit. You can use all of it except the bones and fur. Grind it up into a paste while boiling these leaves in water, then pour the boiling water into a bowl and mix it into a thick brew. It will be a good enough substitute for the pup's mother's milk until it can eat raw meat."

Clarke nodded slowly, looking at the leaf with fascination.

"What's it called?" She asked.

"Ittira. Or a direct translation would be somewhere along the lines of White Tear."

Clarke nodded and stuck it into her jacket pocket, then sat watching the pup who had begun chasing an insect through the air. Lexa watched as well, marveling at the playfulness of the animal.

"What are you going to name her?"

"It's a her?" Clarke asked, surprised.

Lexa nodded with a repressed smirk, watching Clarke mull it over in her head. She traced her face with her eyes, wishing it could be with her fingertips, with her lips. The way her brows furrowed together, and her low jaw stuck out when she was making up her mind.

"I don't know. What would you name her?"

Lexa blinked, taken aback by the invitation to name the pup. For a moment, she hesitated, before saying: "Athena."

Clarke… Stay here… I… My people (My crew)… Blood must have blood… Clarke…