Anya was amused by her assignment in the early morning. She'd heard the revelry in the Ice Nation camp from her boring position next to Gustus running their own camp. Indra had been incredibly flustered when she'd returned from the celebration. Lexa had confided in her that an Ice Nation assassin named Niles had decided to pursue the woman rather brazenly throughout the night. She would have paid good money to see that debacle.
Sadly, all she would see would be the aftermath. As she entered their camp, a rather hung over second fell into step with her. Stifling a laugh, she asked, "So, are you my escort then?"
"Unfortunately." The boy's eyes were squinted in an attempt to keep the light out and his shoulders were hunkered down.
Anya enjoyed observing his suffering as they walked towards the general's tent. The camp was more alive than she was expecting. It was being packed up and prepared for the move to their new position for the siege that was formally beginning that night. The warriors not looking like death warmed over seemed to be delighting in making loud noises next to their unfortunate brothers. She saw a clearly still waking, Charlotte pass her with a nod heading towards her duties guarding Heda.
War camps were interesting organisms and Anya found that despite the different colors and marks they all tended to be remarkably similar. The general's tent was still pitched so she ducked in easily, having been informed that apparently asking or announcing your presence wasn't a thing in this camp.
She regretted that decision when she found the general pulling a shirt over her head inside of the tent. Averting her eyes, she tried not to think about what the vast amount of scar tissue that she'd glimpsed meant.
"Anya," Klark acknowledged, seemingly uncaring about her state of relative undress.
"Klark, you have some of our warriors." She explained her purpose here.
A short rasping laugh from the general surprised her. "Let's go get your trouble makers then." She started walking towards her, not even bothering with a jacket before stopping and groaning. Turning, the general approached her bed before hauling off the furs.
Anya felt her eyebrows raise at the sight of a clearly unhappy to be awake Octavia.
"What did I ever do to you Clarke?" The lump groaned.
"That would be a long list O. Get up I need you to get the armory ready to move by noon."
"But, it's so early." She grumbled into the pillow.
"Not my fault you didn't get in from your latest paramour till dawn." Klark grabbed a sheathed sword and chucked it at the warrior. "And we'll be talking about whoever your latest fling is that has left you smelling like sex recently. Clean the sheets while you're up, it's your fault they stink."
Leaving the unhappy woman despite the annoyed sounds the warrior was making, Klark gestured for Anya to follow her.
Anya was confused by the whole thing and she felt irritated that the general had obviously picked up on it when she paused and spoke with an amused lilt to her voice. "I am not like Lexa or you Trikru, or even most Azgeda. I will not hide the people I care for in fear. We're all we have left, we'd all die for each other and we will all kill for each other."
Anya understood. She'd seen orphans that relied on each other becoming closer than blood. As a leader, she was in charge of the lost children and she recognized that in Klark. However, that meant she also knew why it was dangerous. "You are not satisfied with the deaths of your brother's murderers are you?"
Klark didn't reply, which was an answer in and of itself Anya realized. She just kept walking towards the latrine ditch where she came to a stop. There were six men in the stocks who all looked incredibly miserable. Two of them were Trikru and Anya found herself surprised by the hopeful looks the Ice Nation warriors were giving Klark.
"Well hello boys, it seems like you had a nice night." She gestured for a guard, who was standing to the side to unlock the men. "See that you don't need to enjoy these accommodations again."
"You had three of our warriors?" Anya questioned.
"Ah, the alcohol poisoning case." She turned back to the men, who were truly miserable as they stood up for the first time in hours. "Go get yourselves cleaned up and then report to your division captains."
"Alcohol poisoning?" Anya didn't like the sound of that, poisoning was serious.
"Don't worry," Klark reassured her. "Your man got involved in a drinking game and drank far too much. We had him vomit up most of the drink but he'll be in a lot of pain this morning. You can drag him back with you now or I can have him sent to you after he's able to stand without turning green."
"Why was poison involved in a game?" She demanded.
"Alcohol, wine, moonshine, it is all harmful to the body. When too much is drunk, it can be used as a poison. If you know how to, you can make it a far more effective poison than that. Your man just drank too much of a stronger drink than he was used to drinking. There's no need to worry."
Anya sighed and considered what to do. "Once I can be sure he's well, I'll leave him here till he's able to move under his own power." She finally decided.
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Three years four months ago:
Dax wasn't sure if he hated the ground or the sky more some days. Both were so cold all the time. Space was cold in a way that seeped into your bones, the heating never enough to be truly warm. The ground was colder still, but there were roaring fires and fighting that let your blood pump through your veins. He'd been truly warm for the first time here on the ground. The cold was more vicious cutting into him but the ability to truly warm yourself up made it worth it.
In the sky he'd always been hungry, never enough food to be truly full and it was lonely with fear surrounding everyone. After all, a single misstep and death was waiting. Like most things in the sky death was silent. Here on the ground he also felt hunger and it was agonizing, it lasted longer and left his stomach trying to eat itself. However, if he was able to bring in a kill he could eat as much as he wanted and feel painfully full and content in a way he'd never known. It was like that on the ground. The pain was excruciating, hundreds of times worse than anything he could have imagined in the sky but he felt more alive than ever before. He experienced joy, and pride and hope in way's he'd never have dreamed of on the ark.
He was currently sitting around a fire, with a warm fur thrown over his shoulders. Octavia was leaning against his knees and he was braiding her hair. He was content. He was surrounded by people he trusted, people who he knew would have his back in the morning when he had to face the harsh world outside of their room. Octavia had even brought them a radio so they could stay connected to their comrades while they were spread throughout the country. Clarke had already proven that they could do this, that they could make it and truly become warriors. It may be full of pain but he was alive for the first time in his life.
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Present:
Clarke sat on the back of her horse and watched her men building a permanent camp for themselves along their section of the siege. She had four hundred men and fifteen miles to keep on lock down against a hostile force with unknown weapons and troop numbers. It was the sort of thing that would give a person nightmares. Shifting in her saddle, she looked over to Gunter. "How long till we have the defenses up?"
"At least a week for preliminary defenses to be up." He replied watching the men setting up the various smaller camps along their line. They were at the central command camp.
Frowning, she considered what should come first. "I want you to put up the signal system and tree binds before dawn." She tugged at her reins pulling her horse around. "And Gunter send out the scouts, I want anything that could be used as sniper perch outside of our camp destroyed."
"Sha, general. Will you be escorting the medics to Trikru territory then?" He asked respectfully.
"Yes, I'll leave Cassite with you for any injuries. If anything serious occurs send a rider and I'll return immediately."
"Of course, do you require an escort?" He prompted.
Clarke sighed, he didn't approve of her taking any risks, which was silly considering taking risks was how she'd survived this long. "Are you planning on ordering an escort to follow me from behind after I leave?"
"Yes, general." He didn't look ashamed at all, curse him and his dignified grey hair.
"One non-medical second?" She asked hoping he'd accept that.
"And Niles, he's better suited to escorting you than building anything." He bartered.
"Fine, but I expect my tent to be a last priority. Just stick up Octavia's and I'll bunk with her till we have time for non-essential equipment and structures." She offered back.
"Done, general." He agreed with a pleased twitch to his lips.
Rolling her eyes, she made her way to where she knew her medics were waiting. As Jake trotted happily enjoying the day of riding, she saw a second dragging a barrel of provisions. Pulling up on her reins she came to a stop next to the second, who straightened at the sight of her.
"General! Ma'am!" The second was sweating and clearly trying to hide how out of breath she was from moving the barrel.
"Soleil correct?" She looked down in a relatively fond manner even if she was keeping her face straight.
The second straightened even more if that was possible. "Yes, that's me! At your service general." She was trying to wipe her palms on her pants.
Clarke kept her amusement contained. "Report to the easternmost outpost in twenty minutes with a horse and gear for a week. Tell your first I'll return you in a week's time."
The girl's eyes widened in awe, "Of course general!" She was practically vibrating in excitement.
Nodding at the girl, Clarke kicked Jake signaling him to start moving again. She was amused by the sounds of another second tackling Soleil with a cry of, "Why does the general want you?!"
"Shut up Percy!" The girl yelled back.
Allowing herself a quiet laugh as she left their bickering behind, she headed to the easternmost outpost herself. As she passed she was forced to pause and go over her orders with three of her division captains. Fortunately, Xander had his men working like a well ordered machine so that was a relief. Finally making it to where her baby medics were, she smiled as she saw them double checking their packs. Brady and Forrest seemed to be debating over whether Forrest had over packed shirts while Elise and Lisa were watching the boys in amusement. She didn't startle at all when Niles dropped from a tree next to her horse.
"Niles." She acknowledged.
"General! Trying to sneak off without me, you'll break my heart." He winked at her from his position.
"Gunter sent for you then?" She asked resigned to her fate.
"I wouldn't miss another opportunity to woo that tall dark and handsome warrior."
"Try not to get slapped this time Niles." She sighed, she'd long given up on trying to curb his tendencies.
"Of course, I hear some of the men over there are equally scrumptious." He grinned up at her.
Clarke snorted, "Are you going for a three way or are you trying to discover my type again?"
"Oh I already know your type Clarke, you're married to your duty." He snarked.
"Exactly," she laughed. He really was incorrigible.
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Bellamy double checked that all of his weapons were strapped in properly, that his hair was mildly under control, and that his clothing was as straightened out as possible. He was one of three captains in charge of security in the capital and he knew Nia was a stickler for formality. The whole shock and awe part of putting fear into the heart of normal people with souls. Once sure his appearance was as good as it was ever going to be, he made his way to the entrance to the throne room. The guards at the door opened it and let him in on sight, as they should they both worked for him. Moving into the room, he bowed deeply at the waist before Nia on her throne.
"Bellamy, this is unexpected." He heard Nia acknowledge him.
Straightening, he noticed Ontari standing behind the witch like usual. Zola was hovering behind the queen as well so the confederation of boot lickers was fully assembled. Keeping his face impassive, he addressed the queen ignoring her advisor and pet nightblood. "I came to request that a small party be sent south with some supplies." He kept his tone even and face blank.
Nia tilted her head considering him. "And why should I allow that?"
"Because if we send additional wine, furs, and surplus luxury items to our warriors it would be a show of force." He explained carefully. He needed her to think it served her image not his and Clarke's agenda.
"And your friendship with general Clarke has nothing to do with this suggestion?" She tapped her fingers on the arm of her throne examining him like a bug.
"I will admit I would be more at ease knowing my sister was better guarded. The general's and my friendship has been...strained for some time. As you know." He shrugged off the queen's suspicions as best he could. During the last winter, there had been a great deal of rumors about he and Clarke fighting. No one needed to know that it was her keeping him from doing something stupid after finding out his sister had been sleeping with several guards.
"We need what supplies we have, the winter snows will be coming soon." Nia challenged him.
"It just has to appear that we have the supplies to spare. As long as the carts appear to hold those items the other clans will believe it." He explained.
"Go on," she appeared intrigued.
"We can send two carts to the army. One with straw covered in some furs and another with barrels of wine actually filled with water." He laid out the plan carefully. He wished he wasn't the one having to give this speech, he hated dealing with Nia.
"Thus giving an appearance of wealth without losing much from our stores." She said thoughtfully.
"Exactly your majesty. Five warriors would be all that would be required for moving the equipment, hardly a dent in our forces."
Nia seemed to think about it, leaving him sweating before her. "Very well, see to it that it is done. Oh, and Captain, don't think I'll forget your suggestion."
"Of course." He bowed hoping she meant that as a positive thing, it was hard to tell sometimes. Rising, he strode out of the throne room and headed for his room. As soon as he entered, he breathed deeply before looking up at his friends who were anxiously waiting for his arrival. "She said yes."
"Oh thank god." Harper breathed.
"Yes!" Miller pumped his fist.
Bellamy, as well as the others, looked at Miller fondly, "Missing your boyfriend?" He asked.
"Shut up," Miller grouched.
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Lexa was pulled from her maps in the building given to her in TonDC by Gustus walking in after knocking on the door. Looking up, she waited for him to explain his presence.
"Heda, the Azgeda general as well as six of her warriors are approaching." he reported.
"Send for Nyko, I'll go to greet her." She walked confidently out among her warriors towards where she could see the Azgeda horses approaching. The party was made up of what were clearly seconds and the flirtatious assassin. She was torn between sending Indra on a task several miles down the line and summoning her. Deciding to let fate decide, she came to a stop waiting for Klark to approach her.
The general rode up with her companions. They had doubled up so that they only had four horses between them. Coming to a stop, Klark helped her second off the back of her horse before easily swinging out of the saddle. She was wearing what Lexa was surprised to recognize as formal Azgeda wear. If her face had been painted, she would have been looking at the general she'd been expecting. Her jacket had bone, metal, and blue fabric sewn onto it, along with an embroidery of the Azgeda symbol for a general.
Lexa raised her eyebrow as the seconds scrambled off the horses. The one with a sword strapped to her back was clearly attempting to stand at attention while also swiveling her head around taking in TonDC. If Klark had come with more than one full warrior or assassin she'd have been concerned. As it was she was merely curious.
"Heda." Klark greeted, walking towards her.
"General, is there an occasion I'm unaware of that prompted your visit?" She pointedly looked at the jacket.
Klark laughed, "Unless being vomited on by a patient is an occasion worth mentioning." She offered her arm in greeting.
Lexa clasped her forearm, feeling amused and pleased by the reply. She had been right to think it hadn't been a statement. "Welcome then Klark. We were not expecting your healers for another day at least."
"Gunter and my captains are capable of locking our section down without me. They get twitchy when I try and help set up defenses." She gestured to the people she'd brought with her. "I have three healer apprentices as well as my second here to work with your healers. The rest I'm afraid are the guard Gunter insisted I bring with me since the army is so spread out." Klark was clearly keeping from rolling her eyes at being forced to take a guard with her.
"We are honored by the trust you are giving to us." She acknowledged with a nod. "Come, Nyko the healer of this village, will host your apprentice's while they remain in this camp."
"Of course." Klark turned to her people. "Niles and Soleil take care of the horses and get the saddlebags off of them. Minions fall in."
Gustus gave her a look and Lexa touched his arm briefly to let him know she understood. Their party walked the short distance to Nyko's home where the poor healer paled slightly before welcoming them. The house was warm and the walls were covered in dried plants. She introduced the general and Nyko, pleased that they both seemed amicable towards each other.
"I appreciate your willingness to work with the apprentices." Klark spoke to the healer.
"Comparing healing style's is a worthy pursuit." He replied watching the general curiously.
"The three healers in training are Forrest, Elise, and Lisa." She gestured to the three as she spoke. They ranged in age but were all clearly quite young. "Don't let their age's deceive you they are quick studies and have more experience than most."
Lexa watched as the apprentices puffed up under the praise, practically beaming.
"My second Brady will help you manage them. He's the oldest and a skilled healer already in his own right." She clasped the surly boy's shoulder proudly.
"How long will I have to work with them?" Nyko inquired.
Klark looked over at Lexa. "If it's acceptable with you Heda, I would like to leave them with you for a week. We can discuss if it would benefit both our peoples for them to stay longer. Although, I doubt I'll be able to spare all of them longer than that."
Lexa tilted her head in assent. "That is acceptable," turning to Nyko she continued, "if that won't interfere with your duties?"
"No Heda, the extra hands would be useful." He assured her.
"Excellent, behave you lot and listen to Nyko while you're here." Klark watched her kids carefully before continuing. "I'll come back and make sure you've settled in before I leave." Turning towards Lexa, her tone changed from commanding to questioning. "Would we be able to speak?"
"Of course." Lexa stepped out and walked towards the center of the village to see to it that things were going smoothly. She came to a stop and looked curiously at Klark. "What was it that you needed to speak about?"
"I brought a second as a part of my guard. She's second to Laslow, the sword master who fought for his division at the feast." She explained.
Lexa nodded. "He was impressive."
Klark seemed pleased that she remembered the man. "If we want our forces to integrate as much as possible she's a good place to start."
Lexa waited curiously for Klark to continue.
"She, like her first, is quite charming, skilled, and popular amongst her peers. I love my healers but they tend to stay apart from the rest of the seconds in my army for various reasons." Klark shook her head fondly. "But, Soleil is blunt and personable, as well as young enough to not have the hatred between our peoples as deeply ingrained as my older warriors."
"You want to leave her here for the week along with your healers?" Lexa concluded easily.
"Yes, and if you sent one of your second's with me I can have them work under me for the week. I swear to let no harm come to them." Klark said seriously.
Lexa agreed with Klark's logic and gave herself a moment to consider who she should send with her. Knowing that Gustus would know better, she looked up at her bodyguard and trusted advisor. "Gustus, who would make an acceptable candidate for this?"
Gustus twitched, he clearly didn't like the idea of one of their own going into the Azgeda camp but he spoke evenly. "Kjelle the second of Sully is a respectable and skilled warrior."
Lexa didn't know the exact warrior or second Gustus was referring to, but accepted his council anyways. She trusted his judgment in this matter. "See to it that she is informed of her assignment and is ready to depart with the general."
"Sha, Heda." He seemed torn about leaving her side but finally left to go find the girl.
"Thank you." Klark was watching her.
"You're plan to ease tensions between our men is good. It would be foolish to ignore it." She replied feeling herself stepping back internally. The look the general was giving her made her uneasy.
"Still, you are surprisingly reasonable." Klark's eyes finally left her.
Lexa rested her hand on the hilt of her sword. "I lead with my head."
Klark turned back to her, frowning slightly. "Sometimes what's illogical is the correct path. My Captain Bellamy is in charge of my duties inside of Azgeda while I'm here. If he so chose he could easily convince Nia to have me executed on my return and usurp my position. I trust that he won't. It's not logical."
"If your position is so tenuous, why would you trust someone with that ability not to betray you?" She asked genuinely curious, she couldn't imagine that sort of trust.
"Because I trust him." She replied simply.
Lexa didn't understand such unshakable faith in another person. Then again a part of her whispered, did she not trust Anya to never betray her? Gustus? Indra? Shaking her head, she continued to watch her men letting her thoughts fall back behind her walls.
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Three years four months ago:
Monroe hated bandits, they were all trained warriors and surviving bandit hunting duty was a long shot at best. After all, bandits were just warriors who decided to leave the army and then realized there was nowhere they were welcome. Bellamy had spent hours explaining why Nia's army structure was evil, but ingenious.
As she blocked another sword strike from her larger opponent, she really didn't care that he was as much a victim of the vile woman as the rest of them. It would be so much easier if she could just hate all the grounders. She had tried but she couldn't, the others couldn't either. How do you hate people removed from their villages and homes at young ages and then trained to be warriors? That the survival rate was low, and healers were mostly irrelevant was enough to make her grit her teeth in disgust. The pain from the bandits strikes didn't help, this guy was really strong.
In some ways she and the others were fortunate, they still had each other. The Ice Nation recruits were torn from their homes and were never allowed to return and were rarely able to keep any sort of connection with other kids recruited from their village. Gasping in relief, she watched her opponent topple over a dagger sticking out of the side of his head. Nodding in thanks to Raven, she darted to help Miller with his opponent.
She and the others had no home and nowhere to belong outside of the army and as she helped Miller cut down the bandit, she knew that these men were the same. No village would risk housing a deserter and none of them had family or friends they were close enough with to ask for shelter. Which left banditry, a practice that further kept the villages in poverty. The whole thing made her sick. Bellamy had complained about medieval bullshit for an hour after they'd realized how the military worked. Clarke had just gotten that stupid hard look on her face and gotten quite, which was bad.
Groaning, she hobbled over to a tree and sat down. Yanking out some moonshine and bandages, she started cleaning her wounds, nothing serious fortunately. Raven thumped down next to her with a grunt. Miller was just holding his knees and breathing hard next to the body of the last bandit.
Hissing as the moonshine hit the wound in her thigh, she powered through making sure it was clean. Clarke had beat first aid and injury care into all of their heads before she'd left for some place the native seconds referred to as the frozen wastelands. Nothing about that sounded good. She dutifully finished cleaning and wrapping her thigh before moving to the slice the back of her forearm before handing the moonshine over to Raven. They would all make it through this somehow and maybe someday things would be different.