Disclaimer: I do not own The 100 or any of its characters.
Author's note: at the end.
WAR ON ICE
A request.
"CLARKE, PLEASE COME HOME," the sign above the strange building read. It was signed off with "MOM" and written in squiggly red ink. Possibly blood. It was definitely fresh, for the way the letters glittered brightly in the soft starlight of the night sky.
Where was "home" for these people, Lexa wondered? She and her scouts sat patiently in the branches of the trees, watching. These people, Lexa had learned, fell from the sky because their city was dying. They sent a hundred people down first-all children, interestingly-and then followed in waves, with this ship being the main landing. They'd only just arrived and barely knew anything about this place.
Was the ground really home for them, then, after having spent generations above in space? Did they even know what home meant anymore?
Lexa wasn't normally prone to travel deep into enemy territory like this, but special circumstances warranted special measures. She knew about the problems with the intruders from the sky. She had sent people to take care of it, but their aggressions were accelerating. They'd burned 300 of Lexa's people only days before. Not at this new place, but at their old one. What they called the "drop ship." It was a move Lexa hadn't expected, for she'd underestimated the Sky People and their leader and how determined she was to protect her people.
Was the Sky Girl's mother as fierce as her daughter? Time would tell, Lexa knew, staring at the writing one last time before turning around and heading back toward the safety of the trees, of her homeland.
o - o - o - o - o - o
Chapter 7
Very slowly, Clarke's eyes flickered open. A melange of colors swirled to greet her-the green of the tree leaves, the brown of the forest floor, the white of the bright sun, and the blue of the barely-visible sky.
"Clarke?"
Clarke blinked a few times before focusing on the blurred figure in front of her. "Lexa?"
Where were they? Clarke's head hurt and her mind felt groggy and displaced. It was almost as if it existed outside of herself. She went to stretch her legs but then realized they were tied up. She then tried to move her arms but found that they too were bound to the tree bulging stiffly into her backside. Her breathing picked up just then, and she wiggled even more.
"Don't move too quickly," Lexa whispered. She was looking at a point over Clarke's shoulder, as she was sitting kitty corner across from her. "There are five guards behind you, taking a water break. Are you hurt?"
Clarke moaned in response, realizing how much she really wanted to rub her head. It was sore. She must have hit it, or it must have caught on something when she was knocked out and being dragged across the ground. It was pounding and aching like when she'd gotten pummeled by a grounder while helping Finn escape.
"Clarke?" Lexa asked again, more urgently.
"'M fine," Clarke managed to croak back.
It all happened so fast. The last thing Clarke remembered was waking to the movement of a group of people in her tent. And then nothing. Evidently they'd snuck into Lexa's tent, too. It seemed like they were the only two people there, though. And she didn't know what to make of that.
Clarke realized she didn't even know who "they" were. But she could easily guess: the Ice Nation. Of course it was, and of course Lexa had been right not to trust them or take their advancement for granted. Clarke wondered what happened to the other clan leaders, and if Arkadia was currently under siege. The thought made her heart rate quicken even more, if that was even possible. Would someone get word to the other grounders that the Ice Nation was attacking? Would anybody even help them?
"They're coming back," Lexa murmured just then, her eyes moving to Clarke's. They had an intensity in them that Clarke couldn't quite describe. "Close your eyes and slouch forward again like you're still knocked out. Then we can listen to them."
Clarke closed her eyes and relaxed her body at once, soon hearing the approaching footsteps of their captors.
"Ste der?" one of them said as they approached.
"Sha. Nou foto, huh?"
"Heh, res of, honon."
They were speaking Trigedasleng. Damn it. Clarke understood some but not all of the grounders' language. They continued to go back and forth, their pace and exchanges quickening as they packed up their belongings. Clarke knew a word or two of what they said, including Skaikru and heda and cof up. But that was all.
Lexa would understand what they were saying. It would fine. The thought of depending on Lexa for this information and for her very own survival made Clarke feel both uncomfortable, though. Yet strangely relieved.
o - o - o - o - o - o
She was gone. Clarke was gone.
Abby walked through the main clearing of the camp without really noticing what was happening around her. Kane was barking orders and guards were running from place to place. The leaders of the other clans were ushered into Arkadia's walls, much to their distrust and disdain after they'd all woken up to find four guards dead on the ground with Clarke and Lexa nowhere to be found.
Deep down, Abby had feared something like this would happen. She knew from the moment Clarke returned to the camp after taking down the mountain that everything had changed. The damage was done. It was destructive. It was aggressive. And they all had to face the consequences. Lexa, too, seemed to have changed. Abby didn't know her well, but she knew her daughter. She saw the way Clarke glanced over at the brunette when she thought no one was looking, her gaze hard yet distressed. As if she were fighting the hostility her eyes betrayed. She also caught Lexa looking at Clarke as she'd pass by, her normally impenetrable stare softer, if only for a moment.
Could they have run away? That was ridiculous. Clarke would never do that, and would never kill her own people.
But Lexa would.
It was a dark thought and one that Abby wasn't alone in thinking. Throughout the day, whispers began to spread all over the camp. The dead guards were found at Lexa's tent. This happened in the dead of night before the summit Lexa had planned. All while an enemy Lexa warned was a threat advanced and then stopped as soon as the pair had disappeared.
Were they allied together, Lexa and the Ice Nation? Was there something deeper and greater going on here?
Abby didn't know. Nobody knew. All they knew was that the two girls were missing, with Skaikru and Trikru alike putting their all into finding them again.
o - o - o - o - o - o
They were thrown onto the ground-hard.
After a few minutes, Lexa sensed the Azgeda men were far enough way and opened her eyes. They were in an open clearing with trees that were less leaved than the ones they'd seen at Arkadia. Farther north, clearly.
Very carefully, Lexa moved her left wrist out away from her body. It found another body very close by.
"Lexa?" Clarke's voice was barely a whisper. The men wouldn't be able to hear it. "Where are we?"
"North," Lexa whispered back. "To Azgeda."
Azgada was no place for Sky People. Especially Clarke.
Lexa kept thinking that over and over again later as they were dragged even deeper into Ice Nation territory, no longer able to feign sleep as the hours-days?-passed by. She didn't like it. She couldn't stand it. Lexa's youth was framed in part by hearing the terrors of the clans to the north-of the ruthless leadership that dragged babies away from their mothers to spy on southern clans, and the wry war captions who captured anyone they thought could possibly be a threat to them. Like Costa.
Wanheda. That's what they were calling Clarke now. Lexa had overheard their Azgada captors just that very morning, talking about the girl who fell from the sky and took down the mountain. Legend has it the one who kills Wanheda gains all of her power, and there was one person-one certain queen-Lexa knew would stop at nothing to get that power.
In addition to an abduction, this was turning out to be a rescue mission for Clarke, who knew not the extent of the danger she was in. But Lexa did.
Clarke was still in anguish over what she had done to earn her new title. That was easy enough for Lexa to discern. She heard her sob at night, crying that she didn't have a choice and that she didn't want them to die. Lexa knew she was talking about the mountain men, and she felt for Clarke. Mostly because she knew that she was responsible for so much of that pain. But also because it hurt, to see Clarke so upset.
It was an impossible decision, but one Lexa would make again. She had to choose her people. It was her duty to choose her people. If she had to be honest with herself, Lexa had expected Clarke to be killed that night. It haunted her dreams. It lingered in the back of her mind. It hasn't yet gone away.
But Clarke was here. She was alive. And Lexa would protect her this time.
Author's Note:
Ahh, what do you think?! I'm so excited writing this. I've always wondered what Clarke and Lexa would be like in captivity together. Takes me back to when Clarke and Anya escaped from the mountain! Anyway, I've got parts of chapter 8 and other chapters drafted, so I hope to update soon :) Have a great week.