Lexa remained kneeling as she cradled the sniffling four year old close to her chest while Klark barked out orders. Madi's shoulders still shook with each ragged breath despite having stopped crying. Warriors began removing the corpses as Ontari and Octavia took up a guard position at the command center doors. They were both watching everybody warily, ready to strike hard and fast.

Lexa was no stranger to the harsh realities of life among the clans. She had seen whimpering and scared children many times before but she had never felt her heart break so completely in response. She may have only known Madi for a few days but she already felt a strong connection to the girl, and then she heard her call out to her and Klark. There was so much despair in her small voice as she cried out for her and Klark while referring to them both as her Mothers.

A Mother. That was a title she had never even dared dream of attaining. She looked down at the still shaking little girl with wild and wavy hair the color of bark. Madi had her face buried into her shoulder as deep as she possibly could, as if she could hide from what had just happened if only she could burrow deep enough. Lexa rubbed slow, soothing circles into…her daughter's?...back. Madi inhaled a big, shaky breath before looking up at her with wet eyes swollen from crying.

"I killed her Mama!" Tears began streaming down Madi's face once more. "I-I couldn't keep my dagger close like y-you told me t-t-to! I-I'm sowwy!" She sobbed.

Realistically Lexa knew that she should correct her, that Heda of the twelve clans couldn't be anyone's mother but she could bring herself to deny the girl.

"Shh, shh, it's ok little one. You did nothing wrong, I promise." Lexa cooed.

Madi didn't respond, choosing instead to bury her face back into her shoulder as she continued to cry.

Klark knelt down next to her and wrapped her arms around both of them in an embrace as she closed her eyes. Her arms were shaking.

"Thank Becca you're both safe." Klark breathed out barely above a whisper.

She opened her eyes and looked worriedly down at Madi who was just now getting her crying back under control. She smiled shakily as she ran a gentle hand through the girl's hair.

"What did she say? I only caught some of it." Klark asked, eyes still locked on her...their?...daughter.

"She blamed herself because Jaha used her dagger. I told her to keep it close when I gave it to her and now she blames herself. I'm sorry, Klark." Lexa explained with no small amount of heartache. If only she hadn't given the girl her dagger or hadn't warned her about keeping it close…

With her thumb and forefinger, Klark grabbed Lexa's chin. She gently, oh so gently, turned Lexa's head to face her. Klark leaned forward and pressed her forehead to hers, the metal of her circlet cooling Lexa's skin.

Klark looked her in the eye, her sky blue eyes soft and full love. "You have nothing to apologize for, Lexa."

Not trusting voice, Lexa nodded and closed her eyes. The impromptu family of three sat like that huddled on the floor for a time.

She wasn't sure how long they knelt all huddled together, but eventually a voice broke the tranquility. Lexa opened her eyes as she heard the woman begin to speak.

"We can't find Sydney anywhere in the Mountain. We did find that a horse is missing, its tracks leading north into the forest. Judging by the depth and spacing of the tracks I'd guess two riders at an all out gallop." A woman, Lexa recognized as Harper, reported.

Ontari and Octavia both growled in frustration.

Klark shot to her feet with a look of fury on her face. "She escaped!?" She roared in outrage.

Harper threw herself to her hands and knees. She lowered her head, exposing her bare neck.

"I was on duty to watch her, I failed you Commander. I offer my life as compensation." Harper said with such conviction that Lexa had no doubt she would sacrifice her life in order to pay for her failure.

Octavia stepped from her position at the door and joined Harper on the ground in a matching position.

"You trusted Madi's safety to me, I have failed you as well." Octavia said, her intent to join Harper's fate clear.

Klark's mouth twisted into a snarl, a fang piercing her lip, the black blood dribbling down to join Jaha's that was still crusted onto her chin.

Ontari looked between Octavia and the seething Klark with uncharacteristic worry etched onto her scarred features.

Klark gripped the hafts of her bearded axes so tightly that Lexa could hear the 'Karbon fiber' creak in her white knuckled grip.

"You would deprive me of your talents when I need them most?" She asked too quietly.

"Never!" They answered at the same time.

"Then get up and help me hunt the bitch!" Klark exploded.

Both Sardaukar shot to their feet. "Yes, Commander!" They both yelled in practiced unison.

Lexa let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, Ontari visibly doing the same.

Clarke stood outside the Mountain's main entrance with Lexa and their familiars. Harper was about to guide them to the tracks she had found while Ontari and Octavia saddled their horses for the hunt. Madi was now clinging to Marcus while Abby discretely checked the girl over for any injuries.

A female Sardaukar approached Clarke and dropped to one knee. She had ordered her to report personally. The woman was in her early thirties and battle-worn but had an air of poise and sophistication nonetheless. She had light brown skin and long, brown hair that was in two braids that reached her shoulder blades. She had a black eyepatch covering her missing, brown, right eye. She wore large, round glasses covering both, her remaining eye usually hidden from the glare. She had a disfiguring scar going from her chin, through the corner of her mouth, and all the way to her ear that was missing the tip. Due to the scar her lips were pulled into a permanent snarl that showed her top left titanium canine. The hand that rested on her knee was missing its little finger entirely. Klark knew there were far more scars adorning her body underneath her armor. The woman had no visible weapons but she knew better. She knew there were no less than two dozen throwing knives, several push daggers, a garrote, and her signature weapons: dual, serrated karambits that were large enough to sever limbs.

The woman was something of a legend among the Sardaukar, her name was Roberta Valencia. She had once had a husband, but Jaha had decided he was too outspoken and had him silenced. She once had a son, but needing a new hostage, Jaha conscripted him as a Sardaukar. He died during training. With nothing left to lose Roberta went on a warpath that was still whispered about to this day.

She carved her way through those that had a hand in her family's deaths with little regard to her own survival. After days of hunting and being hunted Roberta nearly killed Jaha but was finally overwhelmed. It took no less than two dozen Sardaukar to capture the woman, most losing their lives in the process. Clark was infinitely glad that she was still in training at the time. Normally Jaha would have just killed her but he wanted to make an example of her so he threw her in solitary for the rest of her days. She had become known as the Wolf of Mecha station.

When Clarke rebelled against Jaha and the loyalist Sardaukar she had freed Roberta from her torment. She had been locked away in that cell to be forgotten about for close to eight years. Klark had expected to find a broken woman that didn't even know her own name. What she found instead was a Mother's protective rage made flesh and whose hatred for Jaha still burned brightly in her remaining eye. Despite being locked away and malnourished for nearly a decade she cut a swath through Jaha's loyalists that only added to her legend, such was her ferocity. Giving her another chance at vengeance had the unintended side effect of Klark winning the woman's undying loyalty.

Clarke addressed the Wolf of Mecha station. "I have a daughter now." Klark said simply.

"Congratulations, Commander." Roberta said reverently with a slight Spanish accent.

Klark held her arms behind her back. "Until I tell you otherwise, you will protect her as if she was your own."

Roberta looked up at her for the first time, the glare from the sun hiding her eyes. She smiled warmly but due to her scar it looked no less than a feral snarl.

"You order it, so shall it be." She said with absolute conviction before making a gesture across her chest in the shape of a cross.

Without another word, Roberta stood and made her way to where Madi was to introduce herself. Over Roberta's shoulder, she could see her dad shudder slightly. After all, she was the reason the position of Sardaukar representative had opened to begin with.

Clarke strode to where the hunting party waited. Lexa was kneeling in the dirt inspecting the tracks while Geri and Freki sniffed at the ground with their massive snouts. Suddenly, both horse-sized wolves began sniffing at one spot with fervor. Lexa reached down and picked up something between them revealing it to be a single strand of blonde hair. The wolves sniffed at it a few more times before raising their huge heads to sky and letting loose a howl that would be heard for dozens of miles.

"They have the scent." Lexa said with a cruel smile before swinging herself onto Freki's back.

Clarke mimicked Lexa's movement and once on Geri's back she turned to Harper, Ontari, and Octavia. The smile she gave them was full of sharp teeth and no warmth. "You're new to riding and the wolves are probably faster so we'll ride ahead. listen for the howls."

They all nodded in understanding. She turned to Lexa and with only a look, they began racing through the forest at breakneck speeds that a horse could never hope to match. Their Raven familiars soared ahead in an attempt to spot their quarry.

Klark, Clutching at Geri's fur as she lowered herself nearly flat to the wolf's body, marveled at the animal. The combination of its size as well as being a Nightblood proved to be a force to be reckoned with. With stealth cast aside, Geri's powerful claws dug through dirt, stone, and fallen trees alike. He weaved around trees like water around rock. They leaped across gaps with ease that horses would be forced to find a way around. She idly wondered what it must look like from an outside perspective. To see not one, but two almost literal gods of the forest tearing through the underbrush on a hunt. It must be a sight.

It was getting colder as they traveled further north. Her raven, Huginn, suddenly shared his sight with her. He was looking at two dozen warriors hiding in underbrush and a few in trees. They had no discernable markings, not even tattoos that she had come to recognize Triku warriors for. She gave a questioning glance to Lexa, whose wolf was running right alongside her's. Lexa must have seen the same thing from her raven and understood her question because she gave a meaningful shake of her head. They were not Triku and were likely hostile.

The fastest way to disarm a trap was to set it off. Unwilling to slow their chase, they did just that. Their ravens swooped in and went for the eyes of those in trees. The two archers screamed as their eyes were shredded by blade-like talons, causing the rest to whirl in alarm. Distracted, they never saw the wolves coming. Geri and Freki crashed through, snapping entire upper torsos off with their powerful jaws. The bones breaking in their maws as easily as a rabbit's. Both wolves howled once more in unison, causing the blood to drain from the faces of their still living prey.

Clarke and Lexa leaped from their mounts as the wolves came crashing through the brush. With a roar Clark landed feet first into a man's back, his spine breaking like soggy kindling. She drew her bearded axes and swung one through the nearest warrior's neck as he tried to draw his sword, severing his head that was still blinking in surprise as it hit the ground.

Lexa drew her swords in silent fury as she flew through the air between two dumbfounded warriors, they're heads rolling off their shoulders as she landed in a crouch. As she stood, she spun with her swords like a dervish. Four more warriors fell to the ground, some missing legs, some arms, and some heads.

The last dozen or so remaining warriors rallied from their surprise and retaliated. Three came at Clarke, the first to reach her swung a two handed sword at her neck. She caught the blade under her axe's beard and parried the blow to the side, the momentum of the heavy blow causing the man to stumble forward.

Before she could capitalize on the opportunity the second stabbed forward with a dagger aimed at her heart. Without enough time to properly block or parry she angled her body sideways, causing the dagger to glance across her titanium breastplate and nicking her ribs. As the man with the dagger lunged past her body, she stepped forward. With a resounding thud, she headbutted him in the temple with her circlet. He was unconscious before he even reached the ground.

She quickly threw an axe at the first man who was still recovering his balance from his missed swing. Her axe buried itself deep into the man's skull.

The third, a lumbering brute of a man, swung a massive two handed axe with the intention of removing her torso from her body. She was barely able to bring her remaining axe up in time to block the blow. She was sent sprawling, losing her axe in the process.

Seeing Clarke's desperate situation, Lexa charged to her aid but was stopped when an arrow pierced her calf. Acting quickly, she parried a second arrow that headed for her eye. Before the archer could get a third arrow off, her raven, Muninn, flapped into the archer's face and began tearing her face apart. Lexa slashed down and cut the head of the arrow off before pulling it out, the wound clotting almost immediately as it began healing.

Clarke stood hastily, hoping to retrieve the axe still buried in the man's skull or atleast draw one of the many hidden throwing knives she had on her person. Much to her chagrin, the man was proving to be an experienced warrior. Rather than try and recover from his heavy swing he instead went with the weight of the motion, causing him to spin around immediately swinging again.

Unarmed and out of time Clarke did something risky, she stepped towards the man. Rather than try to dodge entirely she would dodge the blade. The wooden haft rapidly approached her face. With an audible snarl she caught the haft with her hands and teeth. She looked the stunned man in the eyes as she bit down, snapping the wood in two. Still holding both halves of the axe, she brought about the freed axe head. She swung it down into the man's shoulder, severing his massive arm completely and causing him to release his hold on the axe entirely. The man clutched his bloody stump as she shoved the other half of the broken haft into his eye socket.

By the time Clarke had killed the three charging her Geri and Freki had slaughtered the remaining nine. They raised their heads and howled once more, red blood seeping into their black fur. Clarke gave a quick mental command to her raven to continue flying north in search of Sydney while they gathered themselves.

Lexa walked up to Clarke with a light limp. "Are you hurt?" She asked quickly, voice filled with worry.

Clarke gave a small laugh at the misplaced worry. "He only nicked me, you're the one limping."

Lexa's eyes narrowed in concern. "Mine is almost healed already, where were you cut?"

Clarke rolled her eyes before gesturing to her rib with a wince. Along the cut were red, angry lines racing through the skin. She could see the lines actively receding though.

"The blade was poisoned but it seems that the Nightblood is already counteracting it." Lexa calmly stated, though the worry was still evident in her voice.

A bird's eye view came to life in her mind then. She watched from Huginn's perspective as a horse with two women riding it came barreling out of a treeline into a field of snow. The pair stopped as a large group of warriors readied their weapons. The warriors were wearing white furs and white war paint in the shape of a hand. The warriors stowed their weapons and let the horse pass unmolested. She recognized both of the female riders, one was doubtlessly Sydney and the other was one of the grounders they had saved from the horrors of the Mountain. Clarke was mentally berating herself for assuming that just because they were victims that they weren't possible security risks. What's worse is that she recognized the woman specifically, she recalled Bellamy talking to her at some point. He had called her 'Echo'.

She relayed what she had seen to Lexa, who grew visibly more upset with each word.

"They have passed the border into Azgeda, we can't follow without starting a civil war between the clans." Lexa ground out.

"So we just let them go!?" Clarke challenged angrily.

"For now. We must move carefully if we are to achieve vengeance without tearing apart the Coalition in the process." Lexa said diplomatically but Clarke could tell that she was just as angry about the situation as she was.

"Fine, we do it your way." Clarke said as she grit her teeth.

Clarke had used zip ties with metal cores to restrain the unconscious man. He was just beginning to rouse nearly an hour later when Ontari, Octavia, and Harper came galloping in on their horses.

"No shit they're faster!" Octavia yelled in exasperation before going wide-eyed at all the carnage.

"What the fuck happened?! Is Sydney in this mess!?" She asked, still wide-eyed.

Clarke relayed all that had happened and that they couldn't continue the pursuit.

Ontari dismounted her horse and approached the bound man. She harshly grabbed his face and began examining his features with crucial detail. When she finished her examination she snarled and spat in the man's face.

"He's definitely Azgeda, likely from further north in the territory." She turned to Lexa and kneeled.

"Please Heda, allow me to extract the truth from the flesh of this lapdog." She all but begged Lexa.

Lexa raised a single eyebrow. "Very well but why do you want this so badly?"

"I've seen how you are with Madi and I failed to protect her, I feel as if I failed you as well. Allow me to attempt to make amends in the only way I know how." She finished voice softly.

Lexa placed her hands on Ontari's shoulders and gently raised her back to standing. Looking her in the eye she said, "You haven't failed me and you are not a weapon. You are my personal guard, my sister, and so much more."