Disclaimer: I do not own The 100 or any of its characters.
Author's note: at the end.
WAR ON ICE
A discovery.
As Clarke rode with Trikru through the forest back toward TonDC, she noticed the pace slow until they came to a full stop.
"Why are we stopping?" Clarke turned and looked over toward Lexa. The brunette was riding a white stallion near the front of the group, a few paces away from Clarke. She tugged on the reins and urged for her horse to turn. In the meantime, the sun caught her braided hair and made it gleam cedar-gold in the light. Clarke had never noticed that before.
"We are stopping to rest and to wash," Lexa answered calmly, climbing down her horse. Her eyes flickered to Clarke at that last part, and Clarke almost thought she saw a glimmer of amusement.
Clarke wasn't immune to bathing in public. She and the rest of the 100 had done so often enough after they'd first landed, for it was either that or live in sweat and grime. But that was with her own people. That was with people she'd grown up with, whether she particularly cared for them or not. They were at least familiar to her and part of her life.
But, the grounders? Lexa?
Clarke felt herself blushing at that last thought, of singling out the Commander in her worry. She followed Lexa down to the water stream, all too aware of how her hair continued to shine in the sunlight. Why hadn't she noticed that before? It was rather pretty, like the polished wood furniture in Mount Weather. It was a natural hue, unlike the dyed shades people in the Ark had concocted for themselves. And it suited Lexa.
Clarke shook her head, determined to move on from her thoughts.
When they arrived at the stream, Clarke was shocked to see all of the grounders strip down and then wade into the water, their private parts out in full display. Modesty didn't seem to be part of their customs. They moved with ease, from the river bank to the water and around in it. With another blush, Clarke looked down, her heart pounding. She was the only one of her people here. She knew practically nobody, except for Indra, some of the guards, Lexa…
"Are you alright?"
Clarke felt her face flush hotter as she heard Lexa approach her. She didn't dare look in case the Commander was undressed already. "Uh, yeah." Clarke heard a puff of a laugh and then looked over at Lexa by instinct. Luckily she was still dressed, although her overcoat was off.
"I can tell you're uncomfortable," Lexa continued. "And I can understand that. I know a more secluded area if you'd like to go there."
Clarke nodded and followed the brunette, but she wasn't sure if it was because of the promise of privacy or the promise of time spent with Lexa.
"Oh, this is much better." Clarke felt her body loosen and relax as Lexa led them to a small stretch of the stream blocked off from the main river by a collection of overgrown trees. You had to slide in around the side to enter, and no one else was nearby.
They were standing a few feet apart in the water now, their clothes on a rock and towels laid out on the shore. Clarke was washing her hair in the water, her fingers untangling the knots that'd kinked up over the past several days. She understood why Lexa kept her hair in braids. It was practical. That was something Clarke hadn't thought about before: how to wear her hair. So many things were different down here on the ground.
"It's always nice to find some privacy every now and then." Lexa was washing herself, too, and Clarke felt herself blush again as Lexa moved ever so slightly and revealed the side of her breast. Clarke instinctively looked down, covering her face with her hair, her chin still up to the water while Lexa was standing. Were the grounders really that modest, or was Clarke just too uptight about it all?
They finished their wash in silence. Clarke just knelt there in the water after she was done, not quite sure what to do next and how, exactly, to leave the water.
"Finished?" Lexa tossed a look back at her as she moved toward the shore, her buttocks in full display. Clarke's face flashed beet red, and by the way Lexa's lips curved, she knew the other girl noticed. "I'll go back to the others and wait for you, then."
Lexa was enticing. She was so graceful and so powerful. As Clarke remained in the water, trying hard not to turn her head and look at Lexa again, she realized then what she felt for Lexa surpassed the kind of working relationship she'd convinced herself of having with her.
o - o - o - o - o - o
Chapter 10
Lexa's foot tapped impatiently against the bulge of the earth in front of her, the most movement she could muster in the restraints the Azgeda men placed on her. Where was Clarke?
It had been at least an hour since the guard carried her away, after kicking her hard in the stomach. Maybe two hours, even. And Lexa didn't like for Clarke to leave her sight.
She always assumed the worst. It was Lexa's trademark. Titus told her it was the impact of being Commander and thus being responsible for so many others, but Lexa had felt this way before she'd taken command. It would wash over her without warning. Her hunting partner would take their time returning from their rounds and she'd worry that they were killed by a Mountain Man; Anya would bark a harsh reprimand to her and she'd be convinced the woman hated her and would no longer keep her on as her second. She remembered Clarke and Abby talking about this type of phenomenon once. They'd referred to it as "anxiety." But the grounders didn't have language or concepts for that. They just did and carried on, with whatever it was they felt.
Another long while stretched on. The night sky continued to chime with the sounds of the forest, and Lexa continued to wait, realizing more and more how destitute the situation had become. She needed to tell Clarke the truth about Wanheda and the danger she was in. She needed to work out a plan with her, with Clarke's safety and escape the top priority.
But Lexa couldn't at the moment. She was tied up, Clarke was taken away, and all she had were her thoughts-her invasive, high-alert, good-for-nothing thoughts.
o - o - o - o - o - o
"Are you ready?" Bellamy tossed Monty one of the machine guns, not looking twice as the shaggy-haired boy struggled to catch it. "We leave in fifteen minutes."
Like when they'd first arrived down on the ground, Bellamy had assumed responsibility of the situation. Clarke and Lexa were missing, for days now. He didn't trust the Commander's people when they said they didn't have anything to do with it. He didn't trust anything any of them said after Mount Weather, and despite what their leaders thought, Bellamy and his friends were going to go out there and do what they do best: save their people.
It hadn't been an easy adjustment for Bellamy. When the Arkers fell from the ground and found their camp, they'd stepped in immediately, with Kane bluntly saying "we're here now" as they proceeded to impose all of their law and order on the place. They didn't acknowledge how The 100 had taken care of themselves for weeks, had fed the Ark crucial information about the Earth and its habitat; had effectively saved the part of the human race trapped in the sky.
Bellamy wasn't a child. He was older than all the others. He had more experience than them. He'd seen the corruption of the guard and the government on the Ark. And he wasn't about to let their corruption and their weak points lose one more of their people.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Damn it. Raven was on her way over to them, moving with a heavy limp on her left leg. She hadn't fully recovered from Murphy's gun shot. She was in no shape to accompany them like that, and no shape to do anything except take care of herself.
"No," Raven retorted when he'd told her their plan, which excluded her. "You need me. I can jimmy together bombs and bullets and other things you need!"
"At what cost, Raven?" The group had assembled together now-Monty, Miller, Octavia, Lincoln, Harper, even Jasper and some other people from their group-but Bellamy wasn't going to get into it. "It's not safe out there. We have no idea what to expect. You need to stay here."
"No," Raven repeated. She leaned on her good leg and crossed her arms, her brown eyes fire. "You are not going without me. If you do, then I'll tell Marcus and Abby where you're going and you won't make it past the dropship."
Mutters broke out among the group, and from the concerned glances all around him, Bellamy knew he didn't have a choice. "Fine. But it's your responsibility to keep up. If you lag behind, you're on your own."
o - o - o - o - o - o
"Talk," The guard dug his hand into Clarke's scalp and yanked up, several strands of blonde hair coming with it. His English was broken, and Clarke wondered if he'd even understand anything she would say. "Understand?"
"No!"
Clarke locked her jaw and kicked upwards. The guard groaned audibly before throwing her against the wall again, his breathing picking up and his eyes furious.
She didn't know what they wanted from her. Clarke didn't know anything or hold any secret information. She'd blown up the mountain, of course, and proven that she wouldn't let the grounders push her around, but else did they want? What information could she possibly have? It didn't make any sense. They could shout at her until they were blue in the face, but it wouldn't accomplish anything.
It had all happened so fast. Clarke felt dizzy just thinking about it. The mountain, Lexa, the meetings, the preparations, the kidnapping, the hike through the forest… She'd feared something like this would happen. She'd put herself in danger time and time again, always able to slip away. But her time was finally catching up with her. She had to be strong now. Even though she didn't know what she had to be strong for.
Another guard came in then. The two exchanged a quick exchange in Trig before the guard put the blindfold back over Clarke's eyes and pushed her outside, not bothering to catch her when she stumbled and caught her foot on a tree root. She twisted her ankle yet pushed on, pain shooting up her leg.
"Chit yu gaf?" Lexa shouted as they returned. Clarke didn't know what it meant, but could feel the fire in the Commander's voice. "Teik osir gonot."
The guard laughed, kicking at Clakre until she was on her knees. Lexa growled, low in her throat, and as the blindfold was taken off Clarke's head, she saw a look she wouldn't want to ever see in battle directed toward the pair of guards.
"You're hurt," Lexa said suddenly, her eyes swiveling from the guard to Clarke's twisted ankle, which indeed stuck out at an odd angle.
"Yeah, I tripped on a tree root."
"Due to these vermin, I suspect," Lexa snapped, her eyes harsh again. But then they softened as she scooted closer, inspecting Clarke's foot. "Can you stand on it?"
They sat in silence for a while, the guards skinning a rabbit they'd caught over the faint trickle of the the fire. Clarke wanted to ask Lexa why they were there and what was going on, but a simple look from the brunette made her held her tongue.
"I'll explain everything later," Lexa whispered, her voice barely audible above the crackling. "There's something you need to know."
Author's note:
Thanks so much for reading! Wow, it's been a while since I've updated. I'm sorry about that. But I'm back, and I'm ready to keep this story going! What do you think so far? What do you think we'll see in future chapters? :)