Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Summary:

Lexa gets some troubling news from the healers and an update on the state of the mountain. While Clarke names the three tiger cubs she has become the guardian for and finds a possible ally in the forest.

The first rays of the morning sun had begun to peak through the holes in the tent flaps, yet the occupant of the tent had long ago risen. Morning routines had already begun; wake, meditate, dress for a run, and go for a run, bath, dress for the day, and begin duties. Lexa had already dressed for her run.

She finished tying her boots and stood. She cracked her neck and stretched out her back before she dropped down to do her full body stretches. Her lean muscles bulged powerfully as she went through each stretch. She groaned in satisfaction when her joints popped from a long night of no movement.

Once done she made her way to the tent's exit. When she pulled the tent flap back, she took in a deep breath of the early morning air. The camp before her was already alive with life as warriors went about their daily routines and morning duties. She greeted the two guards that stood on either side of the entrance to her tent. They nodded their heads to her respectfully.

Lexa made her way through the camp. She greeted warriors as she went, and they nodded or bowed in respect in return. She knew all their faces and knew all the names attached to those faces. Her face remained stony and emotionless, but her heart swelled with love for her people. She was glad that they were safe and alive. She had made the right choice at the mountain she told herself.

Lexa's throat bobbed as she rained in her emotions and forced herself not to think. When she made it to the edge of the camp, she started a slow jog into the forest. Her pace remained leisurely for the first five minutes. She slowly felt her muscles loosen and warm as she began to pick up pace until she was sprinting through the woods. She dodged trees, roots and rocks expertly. A thrill shot through her as she felt the wind beat against her. Her heart thudded hard in her chest. While she ran, she forgot. She forgot about Heda. She forgot about her people. She forgot about the mountain. She forgot about Clarke…

While she ran the burdens of the world left her. For a few moments, she could breathe, without pain and remorse. She ran hard and fast. She ran till she could feel the burn in her legs. She ran till her chest was pained with ragged breaths. She ran till she had to stop.

She slowed near a clearing. Her breaths were uneven as she cupped the back of her head with both hands and lifted her shoulders to open her chest. Her arm muscles flexed and bulged at the movement. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest as a pleasant burn pricked at her legs. Her mind was blank. She closed her eyes and focused on the sensation of her body; her heart that slowed the sweat that cooled on her skin, the slight tingle in her muscles and the fresh morning air that smelled like blood…

Lexa's eyes flew open, and she was immediately alert to danger. She grabbed the knife she kept at her waist. Her eyes scanned her surroundings to find the source of the metallic smell. She paused when she saw that in the clearing lay the dead body of an Azgedain Tiger. A body that a pack of wolves were feasting on. She crouched down at the sight of the wolves. Their sharp teeth sawed and chewed through flesh violently. Their muzzles were wet with crimson carnage. She stuck her finger in her mouth and popped it out before she held the now wet finger up. She was relieved when she felt the underside of her finger cool. She was downwind.

Lexa began to back away from the beasts that fed. She needed to get away before they notice her. Though her heart was still and free from fear. She knew she could take on a pack of wolves, she's done it before, but the deaths of these wolves would be unnecessary.

As she made her way back to the camp, she wondered about the Azgedain tiger. It was extremely rare to see one and she felt bittersweet awe at the privilege of being able to see one for the first time in her life. She had only ever heard descriptions of the beast. She knew that it was even rarer to see a white Azgedain tiger. For a brief moment, she wished she could see a breathing tiger with Clarke.

Lexa's steps halted at the sudden thought of Clarke. She shook her head and started to jog back to camp. She ran back to camp at full speed. It helped to keep her thoughts at bay. She slowed to a stop outside of the camp to do cool-down stretches. Once she was done, she made her way back into the camp.

She stopped by the healer's tent on her way to her own. She checked on the health of those who were rescued from the mountain with Nyko. The coalition armies were going to leave the camp today, save for a few warriors from each clan that would stay in the camp for the rescued. Nyko informed Lexa that it would still be another few days before the injured warriors would be healthy enough to return to their clans, but all the warriors were making progress.

"Good. You will ensure they will be ready to move in four days." Lexa commanded in trigedasleng when she finished listening to Nyko's report. He responded with a nod.

"Commander, there is one other thing you need to know." Nyko said as his eyes scanned for who could be listening. He nodded and moved to a more secluded part of the healer's tent they stood in; Lexa followed him.

"Speak free, Nyko." Lexa commanded.

"I have found a nightblood among the injured." Nyko spoke in a hushed tone. Lexa's features immediately hardened as her posture straightened even more.

"From what clan?" Lexa asked as she scanned over the injured warriors in the tent.

"Ice Nation, you will not find her there." Lexa looked back at Nyko in a silent question, "She is in my section of the tent, her Ice Nation markings would have made the Ice Nation warriors aware of her clan. She is unconscious." Nyko explained. Lexa nodded and she was grateful that Nyko had thought ahead.

"Good. Speak of this to no one and keep her hidden. Ensure that she makes a full recovery." Lexa commanded and Nyko nodded.

Lexa left the healer's tent after that and made her way to her own. She gnawed the inside of her cheek in worry as her mind raced. The mountain men had a nightblood. The mountain had a nightblood. The fuckin' mountain had a nightblood.

"C-commander?"

Lexa snapped out of her enraged thoughts and worries. She had not noticed that she had stopped in front of her tent. She had not noticed that the angry energy around her terrified the guards in front of her tent and the Woods Clan scout before her. They seemed visibly uncomfortable but still stood strong as it would be weak to cower.

Lexa took a breath to calm herself before she lay a deathly glare at the scout that had interrupted her thoughts. The scout's Adam's apple bobbed as he straightened up, ready to give his report.

"Speak."

"Commander…" The scout paused for a moment as if he struggled with the news he was about to deliver. "The mountain was defeated. I saw the Sky Clan leave the mountain with the Sky Princess before I left."

Lexa's entire world stopped at that moment. To her men, she was a statue, but her emotions were a cesspool of chaos. The mountain was defeated, and Clarke was the one who did it.

Without Lexa…

The sun shone on Clarke's eyelids, and she groaned as she turned over on the hard surface below her, and shimmied closer to the mass that purred next to her. She pushed her face into the cloth that rubbed against her cheek to hide her eyes from the light.

Clarke was startled out of her light sleep by loud meows that demanded her attention. She groaned as she forced herself to face the sun. Her bones popped and her muscles moaned at her as she slowly uncurled herself from the ball of cloth and cubs that was once her coat.

She stretched her back and cracked her spine with a relieved sigh. Clarke looked over, through squinted eyes, at the noisy cubs that seemed to be demanding food. She rubbed her eyes of sleep as she blindly searched for the canteen filled with milk. She grabbed it behind her as her other hand pulled open the makeshift bag that held the cubs. They meowed with more excitement when she started to meddle with the bag. She looked over to the fire she had made the night before to keep her and the cubs warm while she pulled out one of the cubs. The fire had begun to be reduced to hot coals while she was asleep. She judged she must have only slept two or three hours before the sun had come up and woken her.

A purr caught her attention and she looked down at the orange and black cub that rubbed his head against her belly. She smiled as she gently picked the cub up in her arms to feed him. He purred happily as he licked at the milk in the canteen. Clarke smiled.

"Tigers aren't supposed to be able to purr." Clarke whispered to the cub that seemed to not care about her presence while he fed. "Then again tiger cubs aren't supposed to be as big as you are." She lightly rubbed the cub with the hand she held him with; she enjoyed the smooth feeling of fur against her skin. "I need to give you a name." She took a moment to think and search through her memory for names that would suit the three cubs. She knew she wanted their names to be linked in some way. She remembered when she had found their mother. How her cries of pain saved Clarke and her cubs.

'It must have been fate.' She thought. Then it hit her. The sisters of fate from Greek mythology. She looked down at the cub's male privates and shrugged. 'Names can be flexible.' She thought as she put the canteen down before she placed the cub with his sisters.

"I think I'll call you Clotho." Clarke rubbed the male cub's cheek before she moved to pick up the white tiger. She was bigger than her two siblings and Clarke had to hold her breath for a second as she lifted the heavy cub up and into her lap. The cub immediately latched onto Clarke with her claws and rubbed her head against the blond woman's stomach. "No, no." She pulled the cub's claws out her side and stomach with a grimace. She lifted the cubs head up so that she could tilt the canteen to the cub's mouth. The cub started licking at the milk the moment she sniffed it in the canteen. Clarke watched as the cub reached up to wrap her paws around the canteen and refused to let go while she fed.

"I think I'll call you Atropos." Clarke said with a sly smirk. "Since you seem to be ruthless." As if the one-day-old cub could understand her, Atropos growled and hungrily lapped at the canteen. Once she was done feeding, Atropos meowed as she finally let go of the canteen and rubbed her head into Clarke. She scratched under the white tiger's chin and Atropos began to purr. 'She seems to purr a lot less than her siblings.' Clarke thought as she put Atropos back into the bag.

"That makes you Lachesis." Clarke said as she picked up the female orange and black tiger. Lachesis was the same size as her twin brother, but she seemed much calmer than her brother that meowed and purred the loudest. Lachesis didn't meow nearly as much as Clotho, but she seemed to have a constant purr that rumbled lowly in her chest.

When Lachesis was done feeding Clarke placed her back with her siblings and looked back to the fire that had been slowly dying and reduced to white ashes that still smoked. She had cooked the meat she had last night and had eaten it. She had to face away from the cubs while she ate. They were blind and mostly huddled together in the bag, but she felt wrong consuming their mother's flesh. She looked inside the canteen to see how much milk was left and saw it was about half. She would need to find another way to feed the cubs and herself soon.

'Very soon.' She thought as she hooked the canteen on her belt.

Now that the fire was close to dead, Clarke could feel the early morning chill prick at her exposed arms. She shivered as she stiffly got up, her muscles sore from having slept on the forest ground. She checked on the cubs and made sure they were covered before she went to go relieve herself. Once she was done, she kicked dirt on the fire and slung the makeshift bag across her shoulders with a grunt. The cubs meowed and growled at the movement but quickly settled down when they pressed into Clarke's body heat. She was sure that the growl she heard was Atropos.

She grabbed the long sword that lay next to the fire. She had discovered when she was setting up camp that she had lost her gun. She felt like a fool but at the same time, she thought it might have been better that way. She just hoped that she didn't regret it.

For a brief moment, Clarke felt lost as she looked over the area of the forest she had decided to camp on. There was nothing but trees and grass and honestly, Clarke had no idea where she was. Let alone where she was supposed to get food for her and the cubs. She didn't exactly have a plan when she left her people. She had just started walking and hadn't stopped. Now she's lost in the woods with three extra mouths to feed and keep alive with no plan on how to do that.

So, she walked. She didn't have a destination in mind. She just knew she had to find a way to keep the cubs alive. They were only a day old and could only consume milk until they were two months or so old. Or so she assumed given the information she learnt about the animals that lived on earth before the bombs. Though, she had no idea how a hundred years of radiation would affect the tigers' biology exactly. The tiger cubs were already three times bigger than the ones she saw in pictures, and Atropos was already noticeably bigger than her siblings. Their size already changed how much Clarke would need to feed them and she suspected that she only had enough milk left to last into the evening but no more. The cubs drank large portions in small sessions. They would be satisfied for a bit then start to meow for more.

Maybe she could feed them milk from another animal, but that would require her to find a pregnant animal, or at least a breastfeeding animal. She glanced around her as she walked, and she still could not recognize any of the woodlands around her. How was she going to find a pregnant animal or a breastfeeding animal? Clarke suddenly yelped, surprised when one of the cubs clawed the side of her gut through the coat. She growled under her breath as she stopped to peek inside the makeshift bag.

"What are you guys doing?" Clarke questioned with slight irritation, but her irritation quickly disappeared when Clotho stuck his head out of the flap and meowed loudly at Clarke as he wiggled his blind head around. "Hey, little guy, get back down there." She gently pushed the cub's head back into the bag with a laugh.

"He is beautiful."

Clarke startled and quickly raised the blood-stained sword up to her defence. Her eyes were wide as she took a step back while her arm that didn't have the sword curled around the cubs. She focused her eyes on the woman that stood by a tree not far from Clarke. 'When had she gotten there?' Clarke wondered as she studied the woman sceptically, her sword still raised but now pointed at the woman. The woman didn't look like a warrior. She was dressed in plain clothes like the ones Clarke has seen villagers' wear. Her long dirty-blond hair was plated in a braid that was slung over her shoulder. Strands of hair were loose from the braid and hung to frame the woman's sharp-featured face.

Clarke was struck by the woman's beauty for a moment and stared dumbfounded at the woman, not sure how to proceed with her. She hadn't expected to stumble across someone that spoke English in the forest. She took a step back as she lowered her sword slightly, as she saw the woman wasn't armed but carried what looked like a pitcher.

"You speak English?" Clarke stated as she eyed the woman. "You don't look like a warrior." The woman smiled at Clarke as if she was amused but tried to hide it. Clarke liked that smile.

"You do not look like a warrior either." The woman smiled toothily when Clarke frowned at her response. "Trader." The woman stated as if that would explain everything to the shorter blond. When Clarke just blinked at her the woman smiled warmly, a smile you would give to a kitten for acting silly. Clarke blushed. "We know English to speak to warriors as the warriors speak to each other."

"Oh…" That was all Clarke said as she lowered her weapon down to her side. She looked off to the side and frowned when she could still feel her cheeks heated with a blush.

"You are Skaikru." The woman stated. Clarke didn't respond but it seemed like the woman didn't expect a response as she continued to talk. "You are far from your people. You are alone in the forest with what looks like Azgedain Tiger cubs." The woman paused and Clarke looked up at her when she heard the woman move forward. She instinctively lifted her sword back up and the woman stopped. She eyed Clarke's sword before she met the shorter blonde's eyes. "I do not seek to hurt you, Skai person." The woman smiled again when Clarke lowered the blade back down. She moved to stand a safe yet close distance from Clarke. "You seem to be in need of help." Clarke still said nothing, but it seemed to not deter the woman. "I work for my father at a trading post not far from here. I live there. I can assist you with a place to stay until you are ready to move on." The woman's smile had diminished with Clarke's silence, but her lips remained slightly upturned. How could this woman trust a random stranger with a weapon enough to take to her home?

"You don't even know me." Clarke rasped, still sceptical about the beautiful woman. "I don't even know you." The woman's full smile returned as her hazel-green eyes met with ocean-blue ones.

"But I do know you, Wanheda, Commander of Death." The woman smiled mysteriously. "News travels fast to trading posts. Scouts share information when it is not necessary to keep it secret. You are the killer of the mountain." The woman said it with such a sweet smile, but it sent a stab of dread through Clarke's very soul.

Notes:

Thank you for reading, and please don't forget to review and let me know what you think. I enjoy constructive criticism, especially on my writing if it helps me improve. Though I won't be taking plot suggestions as a majority of the plot is figured out already

Guyssss look forward to some smexy time for the next chapter...