Two Years

A bleeding Raid stumbles into camp, chest rising and falling in shallow pained pants with only three dirty and bloodied warriors on his tail. They had left with fifteen a few hours ago to take care of some stray Panthas. Clarke races forward eyes searching for a familiar face as she catches Raid by his arm, throwing his bleeding arm around her shoulder. "What happened?"

She can feel warm blood seeping into her shirt as he leans heavily on her. His words are rough and despaired as they make it to the healer's hut. "Reapers. More than I've ever seen."

Clarke eyes scour the forest, full of worry. "Where is he?"

Raid grunts in pain as Clarke sets him on the cot, the other three warriors being led in by worried villagers. The man tilts his head to the muddy and weak man in the corner, where her apprentice sets him down. She finds familiar scars under all the mud and blood and sighs in relief as his blue eyes flutter open under the scars to look at her. "Dakota!" Her young ward comes running forward, stumbling over his ever growing limbs. He is already covered in Murphy's blood. "Strip them and clean their wounds. You know what to do." She begins pulling off the many layers of cloth and armor Raid wears as she yells again. "Inland!" The young girl, rail thin and almost as tall as Clarke slips into the room. "Go to the neutral ground, find Anya. Explain to her what happened." The girl nods, ducking her head before tearing off to the stables, grabbing the fastest horse and situating herself on him bareback.

"Anya does not need to be bothered with this yet." Raid murmurs, chest continuing to move quickly as he drags oxygen into his lungs, bruised and broken ribs sending shooting pain through his sides as coal black eyes furrow in pain. "She is at the treaty to stand by the Commander."

"Reapers are growing stronger, our villages are some of the closest ones to the tunnels." She dumps moonshine across his chest and watches as he winces, muscles tightening in pain. She blow gently across the burning flesh, easing the ache. "She needs to know her people are in danger. That we lost eleven warriors."

"Their numbers were huge Clarke." Murphy sits up slowly, blood coating his chest, the scar on his right shoulder standing out starkly as he speaks. "They're planning something. They have to be. More of our warriors are disappearing and they're getting more of their own warriors. We don't know how many are in the damn tunnels." His blue eyes are blazing in hatred. He had watched eleven warriors fall and not get up.

"We'll figure it out." Clarke begins stitching Raid, blue eyes steel. "Once the treaties are done everything will be fine."

"You actually believe we'll be fighting side by side before the year is up?" He chuckles throatily shaking his head in disbelief. "The troops won't be ready, they'll be planning. Preparation. It all has to be in secret and quiet so the mountain men don't find out. You're wishing for something that wont happen soon Clarke."

"Then we lay down rules. Reapers are growing in number. We need more patrols. More traps to catch them." She gently cleans out a wound on Raid's side even as her face is twisted in anger. "We will be ready, even if we're not heading to war yet."

"How are your monsters doing?" Dr. Tsing sneers as she walks over to Cage, taking in that ever present cockiness on his face.

He shakes his head a half smile touching his lips, replacing the almost smugness. "They're not monster, simply pets. Guard dogs if you will." He stares at her, tilting his head as he smirks devilishly. "How's your sacrificial lamb doing? I heard he was almost dead a few month ago? Too eager Dr. Tsing?"

She scowls at him, jaw clenched and blood boiling. "Monty is not a sacrificial lamb, he is special. He is saving us all."

"Yet you continue to take too much from him." Cage shakes his head slowly.

Her teeth threaten to crack. "I cut back on the bone marrow donations."

That peaks his attention and he shifts his eyes to look at her instead of sneering in annoyance at their pissing contest. They had always been like this since a young age. Shoving and challenging one another. "How many do we have free now?"

Her eyes spark and he remembers when they used to do that around him, before the Cerberus project came afoot. "141. We're ahead of schedule."

He frowns, only a third of his people. He speaks without thinking, mind elsewhere. "We only have one body."

"One boy. Not one body." She scowls at him, that sneer back on her face. "Go tend to your monsters."

He sighs, pulling a hand through his hair. "And what of your blood bags?"

"They are fine. Worry about your own project."

He scowls at her, they both wanted the same thing and she knew to follow his orders despite their history, but they still ran things differently. Thought differently. The man takes a deep breath and walks back to the lowest level, he can hear the screams and a smile twitches at his lips. His father was always disappointed in the glee he took down here, as was Maria. "How are my pets doing today?"

One of the other guards looks up from a note pad. "Good. We're making more to get ready for the first group heading to the ground."

Cage fingers with one of the syringes, staring at the bright red liquid. Who knew toying with chemicals one day would lead to this. "How many guards?"

"Fifteen are heading out with guns and the frequencies emitters." The guard flips through the tablet, checking the times for doses. "The others will stay back just in case there is trouble. We don't want all the immune out there."

Cage opens the door to one of the rooms, he can hear the pet thrashing on the bed as he twisted the red vial in his hands. "Good, they're going to check the land by the dam?"

"Like you ordered sir."

"What are you telling my father?" His eyes shift to watch the Cerberus thrash in his bed. Foaming at the mouth. Red blood shot eyes on the syringe in his hand. He stares at the Cerberus, at the guard dogs he had created. Soon they would touch the ground. Get out of this hell the dogs defended.

The guard finishes writing notes and stands taller, shoulders shifting back into a ready position. "Told him we saw another ship, heading to investigate it."

"What will you tell him when you come back?" Cage trails his fingers along the edge of the bed.

"That we found nothing." He stares at Cage, eyes full of trust. "We will leave the mountain in our suits so no suspicion is raised."

"Good. Let me know how the tunnels are faring after you trip."

The guard nods before he eyes the tablet again, gaze shifting as he swallows thickly and forces the words from his throat. "A group of the Cerberus were killed."

Cage sighs low in his chest, feels an ache at losing his pets. He remembered each of their faces. "Which division?"

"Third."

"Dammit, they were the most addicted, the most loyal." His fingers grip the red fluid filled syringe tightly. One of the largest Cerberus was in that division. He tore through natives like a knife through butter. "Keep pumping more with Red, within three years we can touch the ground. We need our dogs ready to fight. They need to be addicted enough to keep coming back here and to us for more. Once we're on land they'll learn where to get the Red again. Defend our new home." He smiles as he places the needle in the pet's neck, watches as his body relaxes and he calms. He would not only get his people to the ground with Maria's help, but he would protect them once up there.

Anya comes back to camp within two days time of the dreaded Reaper battle. The eleven warriors had not been found and a fire had burned for two nights with food and belonging of the warriors. The woman jumps off of her horse, muscles tight and eyes furious. She greets a recovering Raid with a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You are my most trusted to lead, can you do it?"

He stares at her, understanding the words. The look in her eyes. She would be leaving again. "If you must go again it would be my honor."

Anya dips her chin, jaw tight. "The Ice Nation are on their way down. I must be by the Commander's side again."

He nods, the Commander's generals had their roles and he had his own. "I will defend the camp until you get back." They clasp forearms.

"We will deal with the Reapers when I get back." Her heart aches to not be with her people now. To not mourn the eleven lost with her people. But her duty lies with the Commander. Her duties lies away from home and that is what tears her heart in two. "Defend our villages, do not lose anymore warriors."

"Yes General."

Anya turns to the blonde healer who had come forward from the tent at the sounds of hooves on the dirt. "I need you to come with me. The Commander will want your ideas and knowledge about fire and bombs. You will teach the healers to bring the dead back. It is part of the treaty."

Clarke eyes Anya, the heave of her chest and the frantic look in her eyes. She looked frazzled, almost pained. "There are limitations to bringing the dead back Anya."

The woman stares at her, eye seeming to bore into the very depths of her being as she whispers. "I know."

Anya doesn't stay the night, she trades in her panting exhausted horse for another, fresher, mount and Clarke climbs atop her own horse, nudging his sides until they are exiting through the gates and leaving their camp behind in the darkness. They ride fast and hard in silence the woman's body is tense and awaiting trouble. Clarke had never seen her like this before. They ride for another hour until finally gates come into view, shadowed by the dark. "Clan and name!" A woman's shout fills the silence, she stands atop the gate, arrows aimed at the two women's hearts.

Anya pulls her hood down. "Trigedakru. Onya en Klark."

The woman nods and opens the gate slowly as they both slide off of their sweating mounts, handing them off to a stable hand. Anya walks through the camp with a purpose, Clarke on her heels. Blue eyes stare in wonder at all the different people. Most aren't from the forest, that much easy to tell by their clothing and accents. Anya's sharp eyes watching the new warriors have Clarke keeping up with her until they make it to the Commander. "Anya, you've graced us with you presence after leaving so soon?"

Anya bows her head lowly to the woman she once trained. "The Ice Nation is on their way. I brought Clarke to discuss the dead and fire."

Lexa swallows thickly and her eyes tighten at the mention of the Ice Nation but nothing else betrays her emotions. "The healers tent is that way. When the time is right I will discuss bombs and fire with you." Knowing a dismissal when she sees one Clarke nods, jaw tight as she shifts on her feet. Something was going on. Lexa had never had that look in her eyes before but at the mention of this Ice Nation she changed. As much as she wanted to stay she knew she had to leave Anya and Lexa to talk.

The healer spends the next few hours teaching many different Clan Healers how to preform CPR. They stare at her in wonder, having heard stories of the Golden Haired Warrior who dealt in fire and death. There is shouting outside and the beat of dozens of horse hooves on the ground. Clarke exits the tent with the other healers to watch warriors walk into camp, leaving their horses to the stable hands. Clarke's heart races at the size of the beasts. Bigger than any horse she had ever seen before. Hooves the size of dinner plates on the Arc. The warriors clothing is of dull soft grays and whites, skin pale and hair dark or shaggy. Boots on their feet were soft with fur, different than any boots she had ever worn or seen.

The blonde watches as Anya's body seems to stiffen from where she stands strategically placed behind Lexa. A woman with a pure white fur cape steps forward, there are sharp teeth decorating the necklace across her throat and her skin is almost as pale as the fur on her back. Striking light blue eyes stare at Lexa. Emotion dances behind the eyes but Clarke can't decipher them as the woman speaks lowly. Anya's body is rim-rod straight and her eyes hold murder and memories. Lexa's own face is a stone, letting nothing through.

Dante and Cage are sitting quietly in the President's room, enjoying a calm moment together when a guard shows up, eyes panicked. "Yes?" Dante looks up curiously as Cage eyes the guard with suspicion.

"Sir, Guard Rohan asked for you. Emergency."

Dante nods, standing quickly and heading down the hallways. Cage on his heels, nostrils flaring as he furiously tries to think why the guard would need his father. They burst the tense air of the room as they storm into it. "What's the news."

Rohan looks up, eyes nervous but hands steady. "The natives from the colder region, they're moving in quickly."

Dante steps forward, eyes sweeping over the screens. "To attack us or the wood natives?

The guard shakes his head, bring up a picture of the forest, washed in whites and grays. "They haven't attack any villages. They were heading east."

Dante frowns. What was happening? He had never seen any other groups come into the forest. "What do you think it happening?"

The guard licks his lips, fingers flying across the keyboard and mouse pad. "Three and a half years ago the natives from the cold ambushed a group of wood natives. Kidnapped this girl." He brought up a picture of a girl, tan skin, dark black hair and bright green eyes. "They took her and then sent her head back as a gift. The wood natives marched to the ice direction but came back missing no warriors but they were ragged. My guess is they're working out a peace treaty or on some territory lines now. The Cold Natives are too far from us to be a problem."

"Yet they are here in territory that does not belong to them." Dante shifts his eyes across the screen. "They could very well be a problem for us and a problem for the natives here."

"They're working on treaties, i'm betting on it sir." The guard stares at him, he understand the difference between an attack and a show of power. The white furred natives were displaying power arrogantly as they marched across the woods to places the mountain couldn't reach. "The Ice Natives seem to be numerous. My guess is the woods leader did something to piss the leader of the cold off and that girl paid the price."

Dante fingers the button on his coat, fingers twisting it as his eyes bore into the grays and whites. "So they shouldn't be an issue?"

"Not at all sir, but we will keep you updated."

Cage smiles in a calming manner. "Don't worry dad, The Cerberus project will keep them away if they get to close." Dante nods, eyeing the pictures as he spots a familiar head of blonde hair leaving her village gate atop a horse.

Luna shifts on her horse, Killer pacing beside her. "Belomi, you are in charge as well as Jinks, I hope to come home to my village the same I left it."

"We'll be fine, ride safe."

She nods, clucking her horse and she and her two guards are off. Octavia grunts as she stands next to her brother. "Why couldn't we go with her?" She shifts restlessly on her feet, eyeing the woman's retreating back with a nervous energy.

He sighs, fingers brushing the hair across his head. It was once again short, a small braid only on his left temple, long enough to touch his chin. "Because it's a peace treaty and the Trigedakru General knows our faces, they'd attack Luna for even thinking of taking us in two years ago."

She grits her teeth, frowning at the mention of Lincoln's original people. "Sucks." She huffs out before grinning like she once had when the drop-ship first landed. "Wanna have a go big brother?"

He laughs, eyes bright in a smile as his lips twitch."And have you kick my ass again?"

"Hell yeah." She pulls out her sword, a confident almost cocky smirk pulling across her lips to show her teeth. "Maybe you'll last longer that a few minutes Bell."

He chuckles, shaking his head. His braid trail on the side of his left cheek and he flicks it behind his ear quickly. "O you beat warriors twice the size of you with three time the experience."

"I know, i'm awesome." She throws him another cocky smirk and he pulls out his own sword, shaking his head as he shifts into a fighting stance, shoulders broad and muscles coiled and ready.

Luna travels the forest in under a day, horses panting and sweating. Not exhausted but worked. Both she and her warriors shift slightly as they catches sight of the Ice Nation's warriors, some of them are milling about outside the village. The gates of the neutral ground open and she eyes the horses of the Ice Nation. They took up most of the pasture, and their warriors stood out among the dark colors of the Trigedakru, the soft browns and blues of the River People with sleeves missing and spears on their back. They stood tense near the Horse Clan. Luna lets out a huff. These Clans and their need to bring fifty plus warriors. Lexa catches sight of Luna, green eyes flicker brightly. "Loona."

Luna dips her head respectfully to the Commander. "Leksa."

"I see you have brought an army." There is a smirk in the girl voice and exhaustion in her eyes.

Luna jumps off of her horse, gripping forearms with the Commander. "My army is ruthless and numerous."

Lexa's lips twitch as she shifts her eyes to the two warriors behind Luna. "Follow me, we have some things to go over."

Luna motions for her guards to take care of the horses and she feels Killer nudge her calf before he is following at Luna's heels. She can feel the eyes as they stare at her almost grown Howla. His coat is dark gray that stands out against the white of the ice nation as they walk past them. His amber eyes are threatening, fur bristled at the nervous energy around the camp.

They make it to the Commanding room where maps are set up. Lexa sets her hands on the head of the table, eyes emotionless and face like stone as Luna takes the last open spot. "The Mountain Men are stealing our people. We are here for a coalition. The other Clan leaders could not make it today so they sent representatives, Generals."

Luna looks around the room. Lexa has two Generals at her back, Indra, a woman whose bite was worse than her bark and Anya, the skilled archer who was once Lexa's first. The Ice Queen stands with two generals at her back and a smirk on her face. Luna stands by her own, wolf at her feet and steel on her hip. Her eyes sweep to the River Clan leader, standing tall with two generals and his young son, a boy of fourteen winters training to lead.

Beside them are the other representatives. The Horse Clans generals, strong shoulders and kind eyes. The Desert general is lean and tall but his hair is bleached light by the sun and his skin darkened and hard. He eyes the Ice nation as if he would go into a Reaper tunnel to escape them. The Wind Clan stands near him, her face is weather but her eyes wise under young face, no older then twenty-three summers. The Mountain Clan leader stands with pale skin, dark eyes and an understanding of the danger of the mountain men.

Lexa steps forward, strong, demanding attention with just her limbs and stern expression. "The Mountain Men are our main obstacle. They have been stealing our people for decades and the Reapers that guard their tunnels have been attacking more frequently."

"So you expect us to follow you to attack an enemy we have no inclination about?" The Ice Queen's muscular general speaks lowly, tone condescending.

Lexa's back straightens and she levels him with a glare that could wither the sun. "I have been working on this coalition for a year, you would do well not to question me out of line. This is more than just an alliance to attack the mountain, this is an alliance to save our people. The world is growing more dangerous and I believe we can end these petty disputes."

The Ice Queen chuckles deep in her throat. "Petty disputes? Is that what you call the death of your beloved?"

Lexa's entire body stiffens and her gaze hardens, eyes burning with an ice cold fire. Anya grips her sword, stepping forward until Lexa's hand being held up stops her. "Know your place Anya." The blonde woman grits her teeth but back away, gaze boring into the Queen who had killed her second's beloved.

Lexa stares at the Ice Queen, gaze steady and voice full of warning. "It is what I call your attempt to intimate my people today. An attempt that failed. These petty disputes need to be pushed aside against the real enemies."

"And when the mountain falls, what then Commander?" She sneer the title out, voice sinful and angry. Pale white skin painted against dark black hair.

"Then maybe for once there is no immediate threat. No more deaths." Her hands cross behind her back as she speaks. She stands tall, shoulders straight and it demands attention. Obedience. "There will be peace after the mountain falls, warriors will die in battle and each Clan will need to regroup. We will have peace."

"You expect us to send our warriors to die? Where is the logic in that?" The Ice Queen's hands are tight as they grip one another behind her back, her warriors were her people.

Lexa almost sighs in annoyance and anger but she was the Commander for a reason. Calm under pressure. "Logic lies in reason. Reason lies in understanding. If a clan does not join the coalition then they will be shunned. Warriors who do not fight are cowards. That is understood."

The Ice queen stiffens, glaring at The Commander. "My men are no cowards."

"Then they will fight by our Clans side? They will die for the destruction of the mountain? Because if the mountain is not torn down then these men will move to take every clan there is." The Commander's voice echoes even as she speaks lowly. It draws attention. Commands it even in its hushed quality. "No clan is safe from these monsters with gun, masks and red smoke."

The queen clenches her jaw. "If my people fight beside yours, are our petty disputes are forgotten?"

Lexa steps closer, green eyes a dark unforgiving fortress. "They are not forgotten but I will not attack a clan of the coalition."

The Ice Queen exits the tent after hours of arguing and debating with the other Clans, her heart steady and the hairs on her neck standing on end. Standing in the shadows of the trees always made her uncomfortable. Being in Neutral territory did nothing to alleviate the suspicion in her bones. Killing the Commander's beloved had not been the smartest move. She should have kept the girl alive and used her. She sweeps her eyes over the camp, catching her warriors white clothing and then she spots a head of golden hair. Bright against the black jacket and glowing in the light as she leaves the healers hut.

The Queen walks forward, eyeing the Woods Clan warrior, the stance spoke of power and strength. A stance most warriors found themselves in when standing still or even moving. She had only heard stories of a golden haired warrior and so she investigates; walking until she is right next to the woman, a finger trailing in one of her curls and then a braid of the bright colored hair. "You sure are a pretty thing." Calculating pale blue eyes bore into the shorter girls, eyeing the blonde hair. "You're the golden haired warrior who likes to use fire and brings the dead back to life?"

"I prefer Clarke." Clarke speaks in a tone that isn't disrespectful or polite. Simply a voice yet it held almost a hint of sarcasm and the Queen wants to grin, feels it tugging at her lips.

The smile does not come but the Queen laughs low in her chest, teeth flashing against pale skin, before her eyes are roving over Clarke. "I like you." Blue eyes stare into darker blue, they were almost the color of the sky set against sun-bit skin and golden hair. "A shame you are of the Woods." She steps closer, fingers trailing across the girls collarbone, feeling the warmth from the woman. "I could eat you up."

Clarke stands her ground, clearing her throat and staring at the Ice Queen. "As much as I appreciate the compliment I don't do so well in the cold."

"There are ways to keep warm." A smirk teases her lips as she stares at this golden haired warrior, oh she liked her. Smart, calculating and almost witty. She would be fun to have. To play with. Maybe even break. "Does no one keep you warm at night Warrior of Fire and Death?" The stories of the warrior do not do her justice. Hair bright and eyes speaking of knowledge and secrets.

Clarke feels a familiar presence behind her as the Queen finishes speaking. A looming presence that was almost entirely full of anger and latent energy. Anya. "She is warm enough." The words are level yet biting and Clarke does not know whether to relax and be happy the woman is there or pissed that she thought she needed her. Clarke was her own woman. She handled sick kids and grouchy old warriors and village elders, she could handle a queen with a sadistic complex.

The queen's eyes brighten in almost glee and a small twist of her lips as the Chieftain arrives. "You always had a taste in warriors Anya. I could take her off your hands for the right price. I quite think I'd like to have the Golden Haired Warrior who speaks the tongue of death and fire."

Anya steps forward, shoulders tight and face hard, her fingers curling around Clarke's wrist. "Ice and fire seldom mix Mara."

"Oh Anya, I like a little danger in my bed." Finger trail along Clarke's cheek, blue eyes watching as the taller blonde clenches her jaw yet doesn't grab the queen's hand. Good. She knows her place. "This warrior would be quite the bed mate."

Luna watches from the sidelines as Anya's shoulders stiffen and this young blonde woman who stands beside Anya, well she stands tall even with her height shorter than the other two. She is not tense or angry or annoyed, simply there and stubborn. She spots the tattoo on her wrist, the blue of a healer but her eyes are blue as they sky and hard as the ice the Ice Queen rules over. Luna watches as the blonde healer smirks, dark eyes holding an almost challenge and she says something that causes Anya to stiffen even more so and Mara to laugh loud and brash. The sound is unexpected and not normal of the cold queen. Many eyes turn at the sound to watch the end of the conversation as the queen eyes the blonde in almost respect and a whole lot of hunger and curiosity before she is leaving, a finger trailing down one of golden haired warrior's braids and a goodbye on her lips.

Once she is out of earshot Luna steps close enough to hear the bite in Anya's voice. "You challenged her? Do you have rocks in your head?"

"If Id have politely declined she would have pulled a political insult card and tried something." Clarke pulls her arms out of Anya's hold. "Telling her that she couldn't handle me in bed let me off without insulting her politically."

Anya's face is tight in anger and Luna can spot another emotion hidden in those eyes. Worry? "Now she took it as a challenge. She will bed you and show you she can handle you."

Clarke sigh and runs a hand through her hair. "Warriors and their stupid pissing contests."

Anya scowls at her and Luna feels the need to laugh. This golden haired warrior was smart. Turning Mara down would have ended in bloodshed, but that smart comment left Mara full of respect and amusement. The blonde was not to be trifled with. Shaking her head Luna moves to speak with the other General of the Commander.

The night is full of food and political debates. Clarke silently wishes for John's sarcasm and his quiet presence to back her up as she faces the lions den. Anya is speaking with Indra and the Ocean Clan leader as well as the Horse Clan general. There is no bloodshed yet and for that the blonde is grateful. She doesn't hear anyone come to stand near her but she can feel an almost brooding presence. "I hear you turned down the Queen of Ice." Clarke eyes the shorter brown haired girl. She's older than Clarke by a few years and her skin is weathered, full of freckles and scars. The Wind Clan.

"I don't care much for bed-mates." Clarke mumbles around her drink.

The girl laughs. "Too many rocks in the brain warriors trying to get in your bed?"

Clarke chokes out a laugh. "No. Not that I know of at least. The Queen is the only to try since I've been here."

The woman eyes her, taking in the blonde without hesitation. "You are beautiful and strong, many men and women would be honored to bed you."

Clarke eyes flicker as she downs the alcohol, it makes her tongue loose and she speaks without thinking, no bitterness in her words. Only emotions tinged in memory. "The last person I was with was in a relationship. He broke something in me and then he was killed."

"How long ago?"

Clarke swallows and speaks without thinking again, those eyes, so calm and understanding. It had to be them. Them and the alcohol loosening her tongue. "Two winters."

The woman nods, understanding in her eyes. "The pain never goes away but it lessens."

"Sometimes I think I forget he died." Clarke wants to scream, tell her traitorous tongue to shut up. "Forget who killed him."

The woman doesn't take her calm eyes off of Clarke. "Who?"

"Anya order his kill."

The woman nods her head. "And you hate her for it?"

Clarke furrow her brow and narrows her eyes, those words clearing her head with a glare in dark blue eyes. "Why am I discussing this with you?"

"Because I can bring words from your lips like a snake charmer." Those dark eyes flash in something almost dangerous and Clarke curses everything she had forgotten. Never be fooled by someones outer layer, even the prettiest flowers hold the most danger.

"You're sly." Clarke sips on her drink, eyeing this woman who managed to pull words from her lips. It had to be the way she held herself. Almost un-imposing yet strong. And definitely those eyes.

The Wind-Clan shrugs. "I am simply persuasive."

"And who keeps your bed warm at night?" The words are annoyed.

The woman smirks, eyes dancing. "My unioned. And when my unioned is away my hand keeps me warm. How about you Warrior with hair of the Sun, does your hand keep you warm enough or do you seek the comfort of another?" Clarke chokes on her drink and the woman smirks. "The Ice Queen has bedded many warriors, but she is said to be as cold as the ice she rules. I would be careful trying to warm your bed with her."

Clarke clenches her fist cross her cup. "You've had the experience?" The words are biting and Clarke blames hanging out with Murphy.

The woman stares at Clarke as if she's grown a third head before she is smirking. "You are not what I expected warrior." Her eyes stare at Clarke as if seeing her for the first time. "Which Clan do you reside from?" Her fingers twitch as if to pull on Clarke's hair. Blonde like that had been long gone. It stood out in any setting. Bright. It lead to many deaths. None on the eastern front had hair that golden.

Suddenly someone was beside her. Clarke turns to spot a clenched jaw and dark eyes. "Go patrol with Indra."

Clarke sweeps her eyes over the tense General, her eyes were dusted in kohl and feathers in her hair. She looked tense, as if she expected a knife in her back at anytime. Clarke wanted to argue. Wanted to question what was going on, why she was so tense and why she wouldn't let Clarke tell anyone she fell from the stars. Instead she listens, listens to that glint in Anya's eyes that telling her this is the safest option. Ever since Clarke had almost died in that river and the night spent holding a fevered Anya, something had changed. Shifted between them. "Which post?"

"East."

Both women watch the blonde leave. The wind warrior eyes Anya. "Where did you get your Golden Haired Warrior?" She steps closer, seeking answers to sate her curiosity. "How did you get her so loyal when you killed the one she loved?"

Anya wants to take her knife and prick the too smart woman who was kind yet brutal. And curious. So curious. "She is loyal to those that keep her alive."

The woman snorts, eyes amused. "Whatever you say Anya."

"Are you speaking as if I am lying?" Anya stares at the woman with the too knowing eyes.

"You know what I am saying dear Anya. You always have."

Anya twists her lips into a scowl, glaring at the Wind warrior. "You speak as if you know me."

"I am unioned to your sister. I do know you." Her eyes seem to darken with sadness suddenly. "I was sorry to hear of Tris." The woman's eyes flash in emotion. "Who killed her?"

Anya swallows, throat suddenly tight. "An explosion on the bridge."

Anya's sister by union stares up at her. "Its true then, the Skaikru bombed the bridge."

Anya clenches her jaw, fingers itching to cut something. To do anything but talk of a night and time two years ago. "They are no longer a threat. They have vanished."

"You did not kill them?" The woman scoffs, eyes disbelieving.

"Tristen was in charge." Anya's jaw is clenched tightly in uncontrolled rage. "He wanted to wait and it allowed them to escape."

"Where is he now?"

"Dead."

The Leader of the Wind dips her head. "For allowing them to escape." A statement, not a question.

Anya shakes her head, wishing they had killed him that night instead of allowing him to live and become a problem. "He died by the Commander's hands. He attacked my village multiple times and tried to kill the children."

The Leader stares at her, emotion flashing in dark eyes at the mention of children. "There should not be disputes between tribes and villages."

Anya's eyes are sharp as she stares at her younger sister's unioned. The way peace was given between the Wind Clan and the Woods Clan. A union between a strong warrior and leader of the Winds. "The Commander will not allow any more. She has spoken and her people will listen." The words are stern and biting, ending any argument.

Clarke walks quietly behind Indra, making her way slowly to her post. The woman glares at Clarke, hatred evident on her face. Clarke licks her lips, choosing to stay quiet. The woman had never been fond of her or Murphy. The forest isn't silent like she had read in the stories on the Arc so many years ago, it was full of sound. Of life. The creaking of the branches as the wind pushed at them. The chirping of animals, small and quick. The forest was alive and it calmed the blonde. Pushed her into an ease as they patrolled the walls. The town was surrounded by tall walls, almost half the height of the trees around. A good twenty foot tall wooden and metallic fence.

Clarke lets her eyes wonder the forest and then the fence. It was decorated in paintings. Murals done with paste and berries. Colorful. The camp was lively, full of laughter from the villagers who were once clan-less nomads before settling down in territory claimed by none. Now a neutral ground used to host treaty meetings. It was full of life. So different than the villages Clarke had been to with warriors on every front, children staying inside the fences and parents with watchful worried gazes. "Eye to the forest Sky-girl." Indra's voice is harsh and snaps Clarke from her musings.

Clarke's fingers twitch along the knife on her thigh, fingers loosely wrapped around it, waiting. Anya had told stories of these Clans and their ways. How everything was so different yet similar. The world was so different than anything she had read about. Her heat aches as the stars catch her eyes. As memories flood her mind. Constellation, the stories. Her father's voice as she stares out in wonder at the blackness of the sky and then the Earth. She ache. Homesick, not for the Arc. Never for the Arc but her family. Her people. Her mother who she never got to speak to again. Bellamy's commanding yet calm presence beside her. Raven's wit and friendship. Octavia's stubbornness and fiery passion that you could feel rolling off of her. Finn's calm demeanor and his need for peace, his dorky grin. Jasper and Monty's dorky comments and happy aura. She finds that her heart doesn't ache as it once has those years again. Had it really been two years since everything went downhill? Since she last saw her people?

Indra watches the girl stare at the sky like there are gods up there. "The sky will not give you the answers you seek."

"How do you know what answers I would seek?" Blue eyes flicker to question Indra.

Indra keeps walking, eyes hard. "It does not matter, the sky offers no aid."

Lexa paces her room, the night was winding down, warriors from the clans heading to rest. The tent flap opens and Anya walks in as Lexa spins, face tense and shoulders taut. Green eyes are dull before they recognize the woman as Anya and not anyone else. Not an enemy. "Anya." Soft spoken, tight lipped and almost emotionless.

"I know you better than yourself Lexa." Anya steps forward, resting her dagger on the table. Lexa turns, bowing her head, back turned to her former first. Her hands grip the edge of the table and she lets the emotions overrun her. Her biceps tremble and her knuckles whiten and jaw clenches. Anya watches as her former second struggles to contain her emotions. "You want to kill her."

"I want to torture her." The words are quiet, almost low enough not to be heard. "I want to string her up and slice her to pieces for weeks and then finally, when she begging for death I want them to bring her back to health just so I can chop her head off!" A low and quiet anger as Lexa throws her cup across the room, chest heaving. "She took away the person I loved the most and I have to look at her."

Anya steps closer, fingers hovering over her second's shoulder before falling to grip it tightly. "Give me the order and I will kill her for you."

Lexa leans into the touch, dropping her chin to her chest. She swallows thickly. "We need this coalition, they have numerous warriors." Whitened knuckles grip the table even tighter. "My people come before my own need. Head before heart."

Anya turns her around, hands gripping the slender girl's shoulders. Dark eyes finding green. "Then after the battle."

Green eyes squeeze shut, tears threatening to spill. "I can't risk my people's lives to avenge a death three and a half years ago."

Anya clenches her jaw before nodding her head. "She makes one wrong move."

"And you will have her head on a pike." Fingers come to squeeze the wrist to the hand on Lexa's shoulder. "Mochof Onya." The grip is white knuckle as the young Commander, barely twenty-one summers gains control over her raging emotions, watering green eyes steel and slowly the rage is shoved away and replaced with an emotionless mask.

The Horse Clan General slams his hands onto the table, gaze full of emotion. "If we are to provide horses for each Clan we need to provide more food to my people. Give us one of the rivers on the eastern side."

The River Clan leader clenches his jaw. "We will not give your warriors free range on my land. There are boundaries for reasons."

"It is a trade, a herd of horses for fishing grounds."

The river leader sneers, bare arms crossing tightly across his chest."You're peoples hands could never catch fish."

The Horse Clan leader reaches for his sword, the River clan doing the same. Lexa stiffens her back about to speak when the young river clan boy speaks. "The Rivers in the East are further from your territory." He steps forward, fingers moving along the map. "Permission to speak Heda." He ducks his head and Lexa nods her own, all eyes are on the young boy. "The rivers here." He touches a smaller river that cuts right next to the border. "It is plentiful and much closer to your camps." The horse leader eyes the boy and the boy tilts his head to the side. "My father is right, your people cannot hunt in the river like my own, but if you show us how to breed the horses I can teach you to hunt by the river."

The Horse Clan leader eyes him with wariness before a grin breaks out across his face. "I like you child." He claps the barely fourteen year old boy on the back. "It is a deal if your father will see the terms." The River Clan leader, face tan and eyes blue nods gruffly, eyeing his son in pride. The Horse Clan leader smiles wider. "Good. You show us the ways of fishing and I will help you with the horses."

Lexa sighs in relief, that the Horse Clan and River Clan can finally agree on one thing is amazing. Shocking. Lexa prayed that when the boy took over for the River Clan he was still as level headed and sly as he was now. "Good. Those terms are set. Does the Wind Clan have any issues?"

"No Heda. We have been and will always be loyal to the Woods Clan." Lexa's eyes flicker to the feathers on the woman's sword, a clear indication that she was unioned to Anya's sister. "Our warriors will be ready when you call."

Lexa nods, face still masked in stone as she looks around the room. "Does the Ice Nation have any needs?"

Mara tilts her head, eyeing the Commander. "I believe everything is fine now." She flicks her eyes to Anya. "Though Anya does have a warrior I wouldn't mind training with."

Anya clenches her jaw and Lexa wants to elbow Anya in the ribs for showing any emotion. For giving the Queen something to hold over her but settles for meeting eyes with the Ice Queen. "She is the healer of Anya's Village, she cannot be traded."

Mara's lips twitch in a smirk then a pout. "Then I require nothing, I trust our argument on the issue so many years ago is over."

"The past is the past." Lexa speaks in a level voice, eyes tight.

"Good. Then my warriors will be ready when they are needed to take care of this problem."

Lexa's chest tightens and she imagines lunging across the table and slitting the Ice Queen's throat, she swallows before turning her eyes to the Desert People. Before she can ask he speaks, voice low and gravelly as if he was sick in the throat. "We will be ready when you call."

Lexa almost sighs in relief before she turns to the Mountain Clan, the leader stands tall, almost as tall as the mountain. Again this leader speaks without prompting. "We are ready to cleanse the Mountain of this filth."

Lexa dips her head, the Desert People and Mountain Clan always were ones of little words. "Luna, does the Ocean Clan have any needs?"

Luna sweeps her gaze around the room. "No, we are ready. When you need us we will come."

Lexa almost sighs again in relief, this meant the treaty was almost over for eight of the twelve clans. "I believe after three days of treaties and discussions it is time for celebration. Tonight we feast, tomorrow we go home and prepare and strategize."

"How long until we attack the Mountain Heda?" The Horse Clan speaks up quietly.

"It takes as long as it takes. We must be patient and create an army bigger than the Mountain Men will suspect or be prepared for. We must plan an attack on the mountain and find their weaknesses."

Clarke collapses into Murphy's bed with a soft groan. The man looks up with a twinkle in his eyes. "You have fun Sleeping Beauty?" Clarke just groans. "Should I call you Beast then?"

Clarke huffs before rolling off of her stomach and onto her back. "I would rather fight Reapers all day than deal with coalition meetings."

A smirk tugs at his lips. "Bad?"

"Worse than the Arc meetings, everyone wanted to kill everyone." She sits up, leaning against the side of the hut. "I also was hit on."

Murphy chuckles, eyes bright as he stares at the blonde. "Who was it?"

"The Ice Queen." Clarke winces as she speaks.

Murphy laughs loudly, shaking his head. "Of course you would attract the attention of the Ice Queen. You're a fucking magnet for trouble." He stares at her, eyes twinkling in an almost sly mirth. "She offer to thaw your frozen snatch?"

Clarke grabs a boot from the floor and chucks it at his head. He ducks under it, eyes widening. "Jeez, joking."

Clarke glares at him. "Fuck off Murphy."

He huffs. "Sorry, yesh. I figured you'd accept."

Clarke quirks her eyebrow. "From the woman with psychopathic tendencies?"

"Blondie, we all have psychopathic tendencies." He grunts out voice low as he shakes his head, Clarke just rolls her eyes at him as she rolls back over onto her stomach.

Lincoln smiles into the kiss as he swings Octavia around in triumph and joy. Daizo is currently laying on the ground, scarred faced twisted in respect and annoyance. Octavia grips Lincoln's shoulders as she laughs against his lips in joy. There is slow clapping and she looks up from Lincoln to smirk at her brother and Raven. She spots a familiar wolf behind them before Luna is speaking, having shown up after a few days of being gone. "You took down one of my greatest warriors Octavia."

Octavia shrugs as Lincoln sets her down, grabbing his hand as she forces her face into a neutral expression. Luna's own lips twitch before Octavia is grinning again. "He put up a great fight."

Daizo stands up, grumbling under his breath. Grudging respect in his eyes as he walks to Luna. "She is good. Learns quickly still."

Luna nods. "Have your wounds tended to Daizo." She turns to Bellamy. "I see my village has not burned down."

Raven laughs loudly, fingers brushing against Killer's back as Diesel lays on Raven's feet. "Please, we all know I start the fires." She bumps shoulders with Bellamy. "Shooter here stuck me under watch and guard."

Luna's lips twitch again. "Good, I fear for my huts when you work. Too many fires."

Raven rolls her eyes and Bellamy speaks before the mechanic can. "How was the meeting?"

Luna lets out a huff and leads them to her tent. Her Generals, Godwin and Huntington, stand behind her, Bellamy, Raven and Octavia following them. Lincoln trailing behind, a smile in Luna's direction. "I swore the Ice Queen tested her luck with her words. Tried to get the Commander to attack her." Confused eyes look up at her. "The Ice Queen killed The Commander's beloved."

"And now the Woods Clan invited them into the Coalition." Bellamy speaks lowly, mind racing with possibilities. Questions.

Luna sighs, rubbing her neck. Being around so much tension had been an annoyance. Luna would have cut the Queen's tongue off if she could get away with it. "It is a strategic move. Her armies are vast, but she is sly like a snake. She went after Anya's Warrior. I think her to be the General's second or beloved but I do not know."

"Anya?" Raven questions with a raised eyebrow. "Tall stonic Warrior Princess that would eat us for breakfast?"

"You will find that most find comfort in another. One cannot go about this life alone." Luna stares at the girl, watching as she shifts under her gaze into understanding.

"The Coalition is finished right?" Bellamy worries his lip as he questions her.

"Yes, the other four cans arrived last as I left. With the peace enacted now we simply wait and plan a war. Prepare our warriors."

Monty winces as he shifts on his hips. One of the other doctor's eyes him before walking over. His gaze is worried and he bite his lip as he looks over Monty. "How much pain?"

"Enough." Monty moans out.

"You need to rest. I warned her. If she spaced these out more." He sighs she had spaced them out every ten days instead of every seven but that wouldn't help. He bites his lip, scribbling onto the board at the foot of Monty's bed. The doctor looks up at him. Dull grey eyes truthful. "I promise you'll get the rest you need." He grips Monty's ankle. "A months rest will do you wonders." He switches the IV for another fresher bag. "Drink plenty of water Monty. Everything will be okay. She just gets to headstrong. Wants her people on the ground sooner."

"It won't matter if I die. She'll run out." His voice is defeated. He knows he can't leave the mountain. Wouldn't survive. And he cant leave Daijon and Delieh. If he refused who knew what would happen to him or them, the people in this mountain were not as they seemed. Dante did not run things as well as he thought he did.

The doctor sighs. "You won't die, I promise. But I will mention this to her. Sometimes she doesn't think of the paths, just the ending."

Monty nods as he blinks before he slowly falls asleep. His head is full of sirens and broken metal ships. Jasper's bloodied chest and fire. Of Delieh and Daijon screaming as radiation eats at them.

He wakes with a start to find Delieh and Daijon sitting in the chair beside his bed. The little boy fists his grubby one year old hands at Monty and Monty laughs as Delieh passes him over. "Hey Genius, did you torture your mom today?" Monty grins at the young child as he babble incoherently at him.

Something in Monty's chest lifts at the innocence of the child. An easy grin finds his face as Delieh smiles at her best friend and her son.

Maya creeps along the corridors until she is in a dark room her heart races and then the light is turned on. One guard stands beside her, his lip split in an old scar. Calculating grey eyes search over her before nodding. "Did you bring anyone else?"

"No." Maya shakes her head, eye focused on the guard.

The guard eyes her. Searching. "Where's your father?"

"Sick, he managed to catch a cold."

He nods in acceptance. "I can get you in tomorrow." He eyes her face. The small scar on her lip. He had put it there. Swallowing he questions her. "What did you tell your father about your face?"

"I told him a got into a scuffle with someone." Her fingers itch to touch it and she licks her lip nervously. "Wasn't naming names. Mentioned my mother."

The guard shifts on his feet guiltily. "My superior officer will do worse if he catches you in the kitchens again without me there. Do not go in unless I give you the go ahead."

Maya nods her head, before turning her eyes to the door. "How many people are treated now?"

"141." His blood sings with the cure and he knows hers must to, they went by usefulness and age. Slowly narrowing the list down and down.

"Do they still need the native's blood?" She questions with an aching guilty heart.

The guard scoffs. "The boy won't last much longer if Dr. Tsing keeps this up. She's insane. My brother is talking sense into her." He shifts his grey eyes around the room. "The natives won't be released until the last of us is treated. That's years away."

Maya clenches her jaw. "We don't need a treatment every month. We can handle one treatment a year."

The guard laughs. "You think people will go for feeling sick and risking radiation poisoning? Their blood keeps us strong. Our people ignore that monstrosity so they can survive."

"They're never going home are they?" Maya questions softly, gaze broken.

The guard sighs, running a hand through his cropped black hair. "No. Cage would kill them before they step foot back outside."

"Why am I fighting for this then?" She stares at him, broken and confused and so angry at everything. "Why am I fighting for them when they're dying anyway?"

The guard shifts on his feet. "Because we're the monsters, not them. We take them and bleed them. Why not let them live the last few years with good food in their stomach and hope in their hearts?"

She shakes her head, tears in her eyes. "I can't promise lies Diego. I can't see them die."

He steps forward, towering over her as if to comfort her but he doesn't'. He swallow thickly in nervous energy. This plan of liberation had to work. Underground planning had come so far. "They last months with barely supplied nutrients, the strong ones do. Giving them good food, real food will help them keep their strength."

"Keeping them alive to kill them later?" She scoffs. "Why would we doom them to more time here?"

"When one dies another three replace them." His voice is pained. Frantic for understanding. "We can't do anything. You and I are a small spot on this god forsaken monstrosity."

"My mom fought against this."

"And now you are too." He speaks reverently, he remembers his own father's stories of Mrs. Vie.

Maya shakes her head sadly ."I can't tell them they'll be free."

"You're working on it." He steps closer. "We watch ourselves, don't slip up. We keep this between us and the girl in security. Do not try and mention this to the others again. The smaller the group there is the more we can get away with."

"Like you said, we free them and more will replace them." She sighs in defeat.

"Keep them alive, friendship goes a long ways. Maybe we could touch the ground again without having to kill." He hopes. God he hopes they can. "You've gone to them for months now, don't stop because you're scared."

"I'm not scared, i'm angry. I'm lost" Maya speaks softly and then there are footsteps sounding in the hall, the guard flips off the light and presses her into a wall.

Her fingers grip his biceps as he speaks softly. "When they open the door don't say anything. I'll handle this."

The door creaks open and the light is flipped on, one of the other guards looks up at them suspiciously. "The painting room?"

Diego grins easily, pulling back from Maya. "You know how it is Fred." Fred eyes Diego before rolling his eyes. "Get her home, it's past curfew, her dad would freak on you."

Diego claps the other guard on the back as he pulls Maya out of the room by her hand. "Thanks man."

"You owe me D, I want your desert for a week." Fred whispers with a wink.

Diego nods before he's pulling Maya down the hall and whispering in her ear. "Tomorrow I have the midnight shift, most of the guards will be sleeping. I can get you food and then you can get to the natives."

Two years and one month

Clarke feels Anya's body slam into her own and the air leaves her lungs as the woman pins her to the forest floor. Sweat beads down their backs and then they're rolling to their feet again, Anya's hands pressing into the wound on her hip. Her hand is slick with blood and Anya scowls at the pantha. It was large and had clawed the general when she tackled the blonde out of it's reach. Clarke fingers her sword as she picks it up off the ground. "I am never going herb hunting with you again." Anya growls out. "You attract trouble."

The pantha circles them and it stares at Clarke, the closer smaller target, before running forward, pulling her sword up her heart races and she remembers Bellamy and Wells. The sound of gunfire so loud before the panther from the past fell. The panther now was gaining in the short second her mind flashed back and then with a curse in her own language Anya threw her body forward, cursing the stupid sky girl as she slammed into the body of the panther.

They tumble down the hill and Clarke is chasing after them, sword in her hand and heart in her throat. Stupid grounder! Stupid sacrificing general. The panther lands on top of the blonde and there is blood everywhere when the panther begins to move, Clarke is running forward, sword drawn when the panther is thrown aside. A bloodied and scowling Anya glaring at the creature with a dagger protruding form it's chest.

Clarke laughs in relief, remembering the movie Tarzan before she slams her own body into the blonde. "Stupid idiot." She crashes her lips into Anya's own bloodied ones, hands pressing into hot cheeks before pulling back and surveying the damage done to the General.

Anya blinks in shock up at Clarke. "Most would say brave." The words finally leave her lips with a grudging growl and Clarke laughs loudly at the general's words before the taller blonde is speaking again. "Most who say that are stupid as well." Clarke rolls her eyes before licking her lips, tasting blood, what happens hit her. She had kissed the older blonde. Anya smirks as she speaks again. "You must have rocks for brains."