LuLu (on AO3): I agree, it never made sense to me that the only sign of radiological mutation was people with bad scarring and shit like that, or animals with extra heads. Sorry, but no. Not only is that kinda unrealistic but...BOOOORRRIIIINNNGGGG!

Jayc17 (on AO3): I doubt it. As kinda cool as cane swords are, I have a particular plane for what here melee weapon will be, and it relates to AC lore! All I will say about that for now :D

MJandSports (on FF dot net): I think that the daughter of a Council member who was as friendly and kind as Clarke was would have quite the following, personally. Humans like to flock to those kindsa people, as a general rule. And yeah, Costia will be some of the comic relief in this story :D

BDSM elements in this story are not just for fun kinky smut, but also because the Grounder society seems to revolve around strength and power. I believe this dynamic would carry over to their sexual relations as well. Plus, you know, fun kinky smut!

######################################

Nothing Is True (Save For The Blood We Shed)

Chapter Four

Recovery

######################################

"Excuse me?! Who the hell are you!" Clarke's outraged expression was endearing and amusing to both Trikru, and Lexa contained a small smile despite her irritation with her lover for barging in and speaking so…abrasively. Still, Costia had helped to distract Clarke from her pain, which Lexa knew had been her goal, so perhaps she shouldn't get too angry.

"You seem a bit dim for the SkaiPrisa, but you are rather heavily injured so I'll attribute it to that. I'll just repeat myself then, shall I? My name is Costia, Lexa's Companion and your future lover, just like my sexy brunette that wants you to strip as quickly as possible. And damned if I don't agree with her! Now get on with it!"

Her audacity had Lexa sighing in frustration while Clarke gaped at her, mouth forming words that were never spoken, so great was her outraged disbelief. Not only had this other girl randomly shown up (though if she was Lexa's lover it did make some sense that she would feel comfortable coming and going as she pleased) but she had started flirting with her! In front of the woman she claimed was her lover!

"And why in God's name do you think I am going to strip OR be sleeping with either of you? We've known each other less than three hours, or five minutes in your case!" Clarke finally collected herself enough to speak. Smirking, Costia opened her mouth again to speak, but Lexa cut her off.

"Costia, enough. This is not the time or the place for this. We need to wait until she is healed and comfortable with us before we tell her." She ordered sharply in Trigedasleng. Turning to Clarke, she returned to English. "This is simply her nature. I ask you to put aside your hesitance and discomfort and do as I ask. Nyko is worried that your wounds will be aggravated by your clothing, and he wants to me dress any injuries that might fall on more...private zones, as I am both a woman and not untrained in the medical arts."

Frowning at Costia, who was nodding in agreement far too eagerly for her comfort, Clarke nonetheless nodded in acceptance and began to remove her underwear.

Or tried to, at least. Her body was crashing from exhaustion and her injuries, which combined with the placement of the injuries themselves, made twisting her arms to reach the clip of her bra utterly impossible. A whimper of pain wiped any trace of lechery from Costia's face as she darted forward to help Lexa steady her and remove the offending garments themselves. Fortunately, they were able remove them without aggravating any injuries.

Both had to suppress gasps and contain sudden floods of arousal and desire as Clarke was finally totally naked before them. Her breasts were large for her age, a handful and a half and topped by pale pink nipples that were rapidly peaking from the cold (and, though Clarke would never admit it, the lustful attention of two highly attractive young women). Two sets of eyes found themselves inadvertently (though not at all reluctantly) following her impressive abdominal muscles down to where her thighs met, and both involuntarily licked their lips as they saw that she was clean shaven. Fortunately for them, the amounts of bruising and seeping cuts on the previously covered areas redirected their attention before she could notice how their observation of her body had...drifted.

In very little time, the pair had cleaned up the blood, bandaged the wounds, balmed the bruises, and covered the yong pauna slayer in enough blankets to keep her warm and provide some protection to her wounds from reopening due to friction. The trio chatted for a little while, Clarke asking basic questions (what did Heda mean, how old were they, etc.) before the sky girl finally succumbed to her exhaustion enough to ignore the discomfort she was in, drifting into a deep, heavy sleep.

"Lexa, I need you!" Costia growled in her ear the minute Clarke's breath evened out, pressing herself up against Lexa's back and nibbling at her neck and ear. "Seeing what our Queen looks like, imagining us all together...my desire is going mad right now!"

"I feel the same way Costia, but we cannot quench it now. We must take things slow with Clarke, else we risk turning her away from us. For our people and for ourselves, we can't lose her." Lexa murmured back, her own loins burning with a need that had been growing ever since Clarke had almost killed her. She had been so fierce, so brave, so lethal, Lexa had fallen for her immediately. Now they saw she was as beautiful physically as she was within, even as brutalized as she was. Hearing Costia snarl softly in displeasure and agitated need, she turned and pulled her lover from the room, softly closing the door so as not to awaken the sleeping sky girl.

Tugging Costia up to her dais, she roughly grabbed the other girl's hair and yanked her head to the side before sinking her teeth into her now-exposed neck in a primal gesture of domination, one that earned a throaty moan and a hand tangled in her hair from Costia.

"Control yourself, Costia, or I may not give you to Clarke as quickly as you might like, when the time comes." She said with authority filling her voice, and the redhead mewled in aroused submission to her superior. Satisfied with her obedience, Lexa shoved her hand down the front of Costia's pants to find her sopping wet, much like she herself was, and Costia keened as Lexa curled three powerful fingers into her together. Three harsh thrusts followed before Costia whined in disappointment, Lexa's fingers vanishing as she withdrew her hand and stepped back. A furious glare was met only with a mischievous smirk the likes of which Costia would be proud to wear, and the Commander of the Coalition licked her fingers clean with deliberate slowness, getting a whimper from the redhead.

"Remember, Costia. Control yourself. Don't even think about taking care of things yourself, or you'll find yourself punished rather quickly." She smirked as she turned and left the throne room, leaving Costia drowning in irritated lust and affection.

#########################################################

Control Center

Mount Weather

President Cage Wallace, elected leader of the United States of America (such as it was, and what there was of it), though in reality he led those that the savage clans outside the ancient base called Mountain Men, and not much else, folded his hands on the large conference table before him. He, along with Doctor Lorelei Tsieng and the other high-ranking members of their community, were gathered to discuss the events of the last twelve hours or so.

"In short, my scouts found nothing but a crater where whatever entered the atmosphere landed, and a little ways away the corpses of the six men we sent to investigate." The head of security, General Farnsworth, said. "Even though there were a lot of hoof-prints in the area, they're about an hour older than the injuries that killed my men, according to Lorelei. That means that the degenerates didn't kill them themselves."

"And what did kill them, Doctor?" Wallace asked, looking at her, and she pushed her glasses up her nose before reading aloud from her notes.

"Massive blunt trauma and internal bleeding consistent with previous examples of victims of the mutated mountain gorillas residing in this area." She put the paper down and looked up again. "The most probable explanation is that whatever made the general's crater drew the attention of said gorilla, and it killed our men when it either smelled or heard them in the area."

"I don't know, there was a lot of blood and gore in the area. I think something killed the gorilla that killed our guys. Someone with a high-powered weapon, and someone who was neither one of us, or the savages. Perhaps someone from orbit?" Vincent Vie, the spokesperson for the community at large, asked leadingly, getting disbelieving looks from the rest save Wallace, who simply stilled all movement.

"You're suggesting that Project Ark is still active and they sent...what, a scout down to see if the planet is survivable?" Farnsworth asked in a tone of voice that suggested he rather doubted the sanity of the speaker.

"Project Ark was intended to last a century and redistribute people back onto the planet. It has been 95 years. It makes sense for them to start sending scouts now." He responded with a shrug. "Our guys didn't have anything close to big enough to kill one of those things, and the tribes sure as hell couldn't, not with bows and arrows and swords."

"So, if those people are coming, what do we do?" the President asked, looking around the table, and Tsieng spoke first.

"I take them. They were modified to be more resistant and adaptable to radiation, to be stronger and better than natural humans. With them, I can devise a way to permanently let us survive outside this mountain without radiation gear." Her voice was utterly lacking in any emotion whatsoever, but that made sense. She was the one who had devised the way to bleed the degenerates of their blood in order to lessen the effects of radiation on their people. The totally amoral doctor would have no issue doing it to more...civilized folk, of that no one at the table had any doubt.

Cage pursed his lips in a soft whistle as he considered the pros and cons of such an incredible coup. On the one hand, they would be free of the mountain, truly free, after so many long years of being trapped within the Mountain itself or the ever-cursed radiation suits. On the other hand, however, they would be far more noticeable, and therefore easier to kill, targets for the degenerates. Not to mention the fact that his people had no idea how to survive outside of the Mountain, to live off the land.

"Alright, we try and find them, but there will be no experimentation or harm of any kind without my express permission." He ordered sternly, getting nods from all but Tsieng, who simply grimaced in grudging agreement. Dismissing them, he sighed to himself and sat back in his large, worn, but still very comfortable leather chair, swinging ever so slightly from side to side as he swank deeply into thought.

There was much to consider in light of the possibility that a scout sent by Project Ark had arrived planet-side. First and foremost, though his advisors would scoff if he said as much to them, he doubted that they could persuade the scout to join them if the degenerates spoke to them first. No doubt someone from so idyllic a place as The Ark would view his people's experiments and acts against the tribes as wanton cruelty befitting of death.

He snorted in contempt. Yes, his people had done terrible, immoral things, but the survival of true civilization was far more valuable than something as fleeting and debatable as morality. Besides, the degenerates could hardly be called human anymore anyway, what with their mutations and animalistic behavior.

The second issue was what else might be amongst those from the Ark. Unlike anyone else alive on Earth, only he and Lorelei knew the true history of mankind, the truth of the war that had nearly driven humanity to extinction and turned their cradle into a poisonous tomb.

The millennia long war between the Templar and Assassin Orders had finally boiled into the open, public combat raging across the continents instead of the secret and disguised conflicts of old. His own Templar Order had made the first move, striking openly under the guise of terrorism, civil wars, or coup d'états. All across The East and Europe, Assassin's and their allies had been located and purged.

They had thought that it was over, that they had finally won, when they managed to destroy the building in which the Mentor and his lieutenants had been meeting to strategize, claiming them all. However, they hadn't counted on the Mentor's daughter, a mere soldier unaware of the true nature of the war, reaching her father in time to learn the truth as he lay dying amidst the rubble.

Through incredible feats of leadership and devastating victories against the Templar affiliated insurgents and armies, she had risen to the rank of General of the Armies and given the control of all true, governmental forces. The Templars and their puppets had been massacred, unable to face both the modern armies and the arts of the Brotherhood. So, the Grand Master of the time had done the most idiotic and incomprehensible of desperate moves.

He had taken the war (thus far conventional) to the nuclear level.

A decade-long battle in a millennia long war for the future of humanity had ended in a single, searing instant of fire and ash.

Few enough had survived, and only his family remained of the Order, descended from a lowly soldier of the Templars. All the Assassins had perished, they were sure, but the probability that Project Ark (devised by that bitch General Griffon) had Assassin families was too high to be anything but guaranteed. And who better than an Assassin to scout the Earth, to test its habitability?

No, if this scout was one of that cursed Order and managed to teach the degenerates their arts, both his people and his order were doomed. This time for good.

#########################################################################

The War Room

Command Center

TonDC

"…need to check with the SkaiPrisa, Heda, but we're quite sure there is nothing useful left in this 'drop pod.'" Anya finished her, admittedly brief and lacking in detail, report before falling silent as Lexa nodded in acceptance and agreement.

Not long after helping the sky girl into her tent, the Commander had reappeared and summoned the generals of the Coalition together, demanding an update on their investigation into the metal box Clarke had arrived in, as well as Mountain Men movements and reactions to the events of the day. Speaking of which…

"Indra, has there been any movement from the Mountain Men?" she asked, looking at the ebony warrior leader of the Trikru, who shook her head in response, lips pursed in a slight scowl.

"Beyond recovering their dead, no. With any luck, they will conclude that the pauna killed their men and left to nurse its wounds." She responded aloud, and Lexa nodded to her before dropping her gaze to the map. While she hoped the same, she was willing to bet that they wouldn't be so easily deceived, not with their machines and knowledge from the Old World.

"That will not last for long," she voiced a portion of her thoughts after a moment. "They know, even if they are unsure of how or why, that Clarke's arrival will change the status quo. They cannot afford to let that happen without investigating, or trying to control those changes. Double the scouts watching the Mountain immediately, and keep the warriors alert. An attack may come at any moment."

"Sha, Heda." The table chorused, and she dismissed them all, save Indra, Anya, and Gustus. Shifting her weight back onto her right leg, she looked to each in turn.

"What is the general attitude amongst the people?" she asked the trio, none of the apprehension or worry she felt for Clarke's safety coloring her tone.

"Some are…less than pleased, and those from the Ice Nation are…conspicuously silent. However, most are overjoyed at the prospect that the time of prophecy has begun. After all, it means the fall of the Mountain and that all warring between the tribes will cease. The tribes may be those of warriors, but only the insane or foolish reject peace." Anya answered honestly, though delicately, and Lexa frowned at the mention of the Ice Nation. The longtime, sworn enemies of her own Trikru and their allied clans (just about every other tribe, really), it had taken the pressure of all eleven other tribes, and the Mountain Men's never-shifting presence, to force them into the Coalition.

Everyone was fully aware that this 'alliance' would only last as long as the status quo remained unchanged. It was likely one of the reasons that the other clans were so pleased that the Sky Princess had finally arrived. Since the Prophecy spoke of her ruling the Earth and everyone on it, the Ice Nation would either truly fall into line, or be burned to the ground and its people ruled by the victors. Either way, it suited them just fine.

"Has Echo said anything that might tell us what 'her' Queen is planning?" Lexa asked the trio at large, but Indra shook her head. Echo, an elite warrior from the Ice Nation, had long been providing information on their homeland, saying her loyalty lay with her leader. As the Heda, and founder of the Coalition, Lexa out-ranked every other human on Earth, as far as Echo was concerned.

"No, she said that all has been quiet. However, she cautions that such should be considered more alarming than grumbled complaints." She answered, sounding rather unhappy about the lack of solid information, and Lexa softly quoted an old hunter's axiom.

"A silent forest makes the hunter, the hunted."

The saying referred to the way in which the wildlife of the forest fell silent when a true predator was in their midst. For her people, it usually meant that you were about to die, because said predator was right behind you.

"Precisely. She send her affection and regards, and promises to update us if anything changes. I must say, little blade, you are amassing something of a harem." Anya's voice was teasing, her eyes shining in amusement, and Lexa flushed both at the old nickname of her childhood, and the word 'harem'.

"The post of Heda has a long and noble history…" she started stiffly, but Anya interrupted her.

"Of gathering the most fit and beautiful warriors of her generation in preparation for the arrival of the One Who Is Promised. We know. It is still adorable and amusing, little blade." Her voice was bland as she finished the spiel she had heard many times before, but her eyes danced.

"Anya, would you please just shut up? This was meant to be a serious…" Lexa half-heartedly scolded one of the few people that could survive acting so informally with her. However, the sound of Clarke's gun booming stopped her short. Their heads snapped around and Lexa began to circumvent the table, and it boomed a second time, and then a third shot sent them all into a run. The village was crossed in moments, and a roared command from Lexa has the people gathering at the mouth of her throne room and quarters parting before her. A quick glance showed that the throne room itself held no threats, and she burst into her quarters with drawn steel, her three advisors and family following behind her. All four stopped short at the sight before them.

Two warriors of the Ice Clan were dead, massive holes punched through their torsos, while a third was down in a rapidly expanding pool of blood flowing from the shattered stump that was all that remained of his right leg. A slightly bloody and battered Echo was busily tightly binding a fourth, while a mostly-uninjured Costia was tending to an insensate Clarke.

"What the hell happened here?!" Lexa demanded, voice filled with fury and fear as she strode over to the blond girl, who was barely conscious. Her injuries appeared to have reopened from her exertions, blood staining her bandages, and a snarled order had Gustus scrambling for Nyko again.

"They came for the Princess, Heda." Echo responded, bowing her head in respect and some shame. "I heard some of their plans and followed them unnoticed, so my true loyalty should remain undiscovered. When I arrived, they had Costia gagged and two were holding her while the other two tried to kill the Princess. She shot them, than one of those holding Costia, while I attacked and subdued this one."

"Traitorous bitch! There is only one ruler of the Earth! Nia is the one, true Queen! Your false…" the surviving Ice Warrior raved, but was silenced as Echo smashed a foot into his face brutally, a furious look on her face.

"Nia is the true betrayer of our people! She breaks her oaths to the Heda spirit and to the Coalition daily, yet she remains free! I will relish the day when her head adorns the Heda's wall and our people are free from her deprivations!" she snarled, true hatred seething in her voice as Indra dragged the warrior to his feet and shoved him into the arms of the two elite Trikru guards that were standing by in the Throne Room.

"Costia, how is Clarke?" Lexa asked as the red-head joined them, a freshly arrived Nyko pushing past the group to hasten to his patient's side.

"Fine, more or less. Her wounds reopened, obviously, and she is scared and worried she killed the wrong people, apparently. No new wounds, but she told me she couldn't see too well, only dim colors and movement. She knew which one was me because of my hair, so she blew the leg off of one of my attackers to make sure she didn't hurt me." Her mouth twisted into something that might be charitably called a smile. "Apparently, it was an ancient technique for capturing people alive, shooting someone in the leg that is. She seemed to have forgotten how much damage her weapon does to an unarmored limb, however. Not that I am in anyway complaining."

"Indeed." Lexa hummed in agreement and understanding, looking down at the one-legged corpse, silently appraising it. She could not find herself to be disappointed, neither by the mess he had made of her rooms nor of the fact that he had bled to death. She had someone to interrogate, Echo had proved herself once again, Clarke had once more proven highly capable, and everyone she cared for was (more or less) alright. All in all, an excellent evening. Once she made sure everyone understood that attacking Clarke meant death, either at her hand or, evidently, Clarke's, she could honestly end the day without any regrets or unfinished business. Lexa felt rather smug, actually. Her future wife and leader was strong, beautiful, stubborn, morally upright, and exceptionally deadly. Perfection incarnate, if you asked her.

"I've redressed her wounds, but if she doesn't get true, peaceful rest soon, those wounds will not heal enough to avoid infections, her oddly fast healing rate aside. She cannot afford to have more exertions like this." Nyko announced softly as he approached the group, slinging his bag back over his shoulder, face stern and commanding.

"I thought the surface wounds were fairly minor, for all the bleeding they do? That her only real injuries were the sprains to her wrists and legs?" Lexa frowned, hiding worry behind a mask of confused irritation.

'Yes, most of her cuts and scrapes are not life-threatening, simply rather bloody due to placement. However, she was able to mumble a few coherent things while I worked on her. Her mother is the head healer in the sky, apparently, and none of the illnesses we have here exist there. Despite receiving medicine to keep her from catching most of them, catching them while trying to heal from both the external and internal wounds could prove too much for even Sky People medicine. It could prove fatal, because her body would lack the strength to fight infection or illness." The healer explained, getting a nod of understanding from his audience. "Rest is what she requires, Heda, rest without fear that she will be killed in her sleep. Especially if you wish her capable of attending her own victory feast in Polis. Give her until the day of the feast, and she will be ready to ride at a reasonable pace."

"This won't be happening again, Nyko. I assure you." Lexa's voice was as cold as the land the would-be killers were from, her eyes terrifying as she stared into the throne room at the lone survivor. Nyko bowed and withdrew as she turned to Indra, Anya, and the returned Gustus. "Indra, get warriors in here to clean this up and take the bodies. Display them in the center of town with a sign proclaiming who killed them and why. Anya, I want you to personally select a pair of guards that you trust without reservation. Only we and Nyko are allowed to pass, understood?" Both generals nodded seriously, and she flicked her hand in dismissal. Stationing Gustus at the door, she sat down beside her Princess to wait.

########################################################################

Little shorter than usual, but it is what it is!

One thing I want you guys to remember is that, just because I create some female OCs and make them hot doesn't mean they will get paired with Clarke and the others. I gotta give love to Lincoln and Co., don't I?

Furthermore, No complaints about Clarke doing inhuman shit. Beyond the radiation and gene-modding I already mentioned, there is a very specific reason she in particular is so different. All will be revealed.

Finally, for the purpose of this story, Polis is Annapolis. I know it isn't in canon, but it is here.