Chapter Four: A Belated Welcome
Both Lexa and Aldrin were covered in sweat. They had been sparring in the clearing outside Camp Jaha's electric fence for a while now. Even in the chill of winter, they had found themselves stripping away layers of clothing as their training grew more intense. Both Lexa's trench coat and long-sleeved top had been thrown to the floor, leaving her in her tight cotton cropped vest that left her midriff exposed. Her skin prickled as the cool air met damp skin, cooling her off.
Lexa lunged forward with her katana, a quick strike aimed towards Aldrin's stomach. Aldrin brought his own sword up in a block just in time and then he used his strength to push back, forcing Lexa to readjust her footing. This was not challenging for Lexa however and her feet re-positioned themselves with the speed and grace of a dancer. She came at Aldrin again, but this time she used a feint and quickly switched the direction of her swing. The blade stopped just short of Aldrin's neck before Lexa lowered it to the ground. Aldrin did the same with his own weapon. They clasped arms to acknowledge Lexa's win and to reassure that this remained a friendly spar.
Lexa had always relied on speed when fighting. She was toned yes, but still she was not as large or as strong as many of her warriors, or her enemies. She banked on dispatching them as fast as possible, before their superior strength could give her any problems. Where she found herself more evenly matched, which was not often, she would use her speed to dodge and taunt. She would wear her larger opponents down until they eventually made a mistake that Lexa could exploit. As such her prized dagger was her preferred weapon, or a short sword. But she still liked to keep in practice with her katana. Even the Commander had areas that required extra work and concentration to get right.
Lexa sheathed her sword and motioned to Aldrin that they should rest a moment. Lexa took a long drink from the canteen she had brought out from camp and then began to stretch her muscles out in a warm-down. She straightened up as she saw a girl exit the camp carrying an empty sack and watched her make her way into the woods. Lexa didn't know who she was, but had seen her around the Camp before, often with the group Lexa recognised as Clarke's closest friends.
"She should not be gathering food alone," Aldrin stated, "The woods are too dangerous."
Lexa watched as the girl disappeared into the trees, "Maybe she wasn't sent out. People will do reckless things to help their own."
"But a settlement needs order. A process of doing things and doing them right. They make things harder for themselves. Commander do you honestly think we can help these people, even if they accept our aid?"
Lexa bit her bottom lip and thought. "It's going to take generosity on our part. But I will not see the Sky people die needlessly," Lexa answered and then, "I do not want to let Clarke down, Aldrin. Not now. Not unless it means putting my people in harms way." It was an admonishment that she'd make to nobody but Aldrin, or Clarke herself. In fact, in her time as Commander, Lexa could count on one hand just how many people she would choose to be so open with. Three of those people were dead.
Aldrin offered a look that showed he understood and respected his Commander's honesty. "Then I hope you can find enough of our people with the same patience as you, Commander Lexa." Aldrin's tone was one of mirth, the use of Lexa's name at the end of her title a symbol of familiarity. Lexa gave a laugh.
The joyous noise was interrupted by a high-pitched scream, emanating from the treeline. It was coming from the same direction that the girl had walked off in. In an instant, Lexa began to run full pelt towards the sound, her hands ready to draw her weapon at any moment. Lexa moved nimbly through the woods, jumping roots and dodging branches. She could hear Aldrin running behind her, his duty to protect her driving him to follow; he probably wanted to halt her progress. But Lexa was too fast. She wondered what had caused the scream. Had the girl fallen into one of the trikru's traps? Lexa had ordered the ones that were too close to Camp Jaha to be removed but one could have been missed. Or was it one of Lexa's people themselves who had posed a threat to the girl?
Whatever it was, Lexa was determined to make sure that the girl was safe. It would be too much, too horribly ironic, for one of the Sky people to die immediately after Lexa had spoken so openly to her bodyguard about wanting to keep them safe.
Finally, Lexa tracked the source of the scream. In mere moments she analysed the scene before her and weighed up the pros and cons of acting. The girl was cowering before some sort of flying electronic device. It had a bright light trained on her but that wasn't what caught Lexa's attention. Lexa's focus was drawn to the gun mounted on the bottom of the flying metal thing. She did not know if it meant the girl any harm, but the sight of the gun and the fact that the girl obviously did not recognise what it was was enough to spur Lexa's decision. She angled her run so that she would flank the flying machine without being seen and drew her sword as she moved. As soon as she was within reach, Lexa lunged forward. She plunged the katana into the metal, using the momentum of her run to do so quickly with one hand.
The next thing she knew, Lexa felt a sharp and extremely painful contraction in her arm. With a yelp, she found herself being thrown backwards until she landed on the forest floor with a thud. She was too dazed from the shock to register the pain of the landing and she remained still, her vision blurring. In a moment Aldrin was at her side, skidding to his knees and checking her over.
"Commander are you alright? Commander?"
Lexa managed to blink in response.
"Go and fetch help. We need a stretcher. And people to bring that thing to camp," Aldrin ordered the girl who was still cowering on the ground. The whole thing had happened so quickly.
Lexa heard as the girl picked herself up and began to run back towards Camp Jaha. She must have blacked out because in the next instance she was being carried past the camp gates on a stretcher. Aldrin carried one end and Bellamy the other. They took her into the medical tent, where Abby was already waiting. The meeting must have ended, or Abby had postponed it after hearing about Lexa's accident.
Lexa winced as she was transferred from the stretcher to a gurney. She tried to focus her thoughts and her eyes sought out Abby's face,
"Lexa can you hear me? You've received a minor electric shock and probable concussion from your fall."
Lexa blinked rapidly, "Shock?" she managed to say. She was not familiar with such an injury although she knew the cause of them. The electrics of the machine must have shorted and sent a current down her sword.
"Yes. You were lucky. Had your muscles not contracted the way they did, you would not have been thrown back and the shock could have been fatal. As it is, I am more concerned with the injuries sustained when you fell."
Abby was about to shine a light in her eyes when Lexa heard a ruckus at the entrance to the tent. She could not see who had come rushing in, but Lexa could guess,
"Lexa?" Clarke's voice was filled with panic. Lexa wanted to sit up and tell Clarke that she was fine but she resisted the urge. She knew that moving before a proper assessment of her injuries would be foolish, so instead she waited for Clarke to come to the bed. Clarke looked down at her.
"Clarke, I won't let you stay in here if you are going to get in my way," Abby warned. Lexa watched the two women talk, one standing on either side of her bed,
"Is she ok?"
"Probably. I'm about to do an assessment."
"But what-"
"Clarke, I'm fine," Lexa said and now Clarke paused and looked down at her and seemed to calm down after hearing Lexa's own voice.
"Yeah, well you might not be when I'm finished with you. What the hell were you thinking Lexa?"
"Clarke!" Abby warned again.
Lexa saw Clarke roll her eyes and scan the room. Once she had located what she was looking for she retrieved the jar and opened it. Clarke began to cover Lexa's right hand and forearm in what looked like aloe jelly. It was then that Lexa realised she had minor burns. And of course, once Lexa was aware of the injury she also became acutely aware of the pain it was causing. She gritted her teeth at the tight pulsing of her skin.
"Honestly, that was so reckless of you." Clarke continued, as if making herself useful had granted her the right to continue fussing. Lexa and Abby exchanged a look.
"Glad she did it though," came a new voice as someone else entered the tent. Lexa recognised this voice. It was the girl called Monroe, "Is the Commander going to be ok?"
Lexa didn't like being spoken to as if she wasn't there, but circumstances considered she allowed Abby to answer for her,
"Oh she'll live. If my daughter lets her."
Now Monroe came into Lexa's field of vision as she approached Clarke. Monroe put a hand on Clarke's shoulder in reassurance, "Big shock for you both, huh?" Lexa could here the wit in Monroe's tone and was the first to let out a snigger.
Clarke laughed at the terrible joke too and nodded. She finished with the jelly and began to bandage Lexa's hand.
"Well I'm glad you're good Commander," now Monroe acknowledged Lexa. "Harper's still pretty shaken up by the whole thing but she wanted me to come and say 'thank you' for her. We don't have a clue where that drone came from but it sure as hell doesn't look friendly,"
"Are the engineers looking at it?" Clarke asked,
"Sinclair and Raven are on it as we speak," Monroe confirmed. She looked as if she was about to leave, but then she paused and regarded Lexa again, Lexa raised her eyebrows and waited for her to speak. "Look what you did for Harper was really selfless. The gang were thinking about having a drink tonight, maybe get a campfire going. You should join us, if you are well enough. You too Clarke, we haven't exactly given you the welcome back you deserve, right?"
Lexa smirked and looked to Abby.
"She should be well enough, if she spends time resting now," Abby said.
Lexa mulled the offer over. It was definitely going to be outside of her comfort zone, but she figured she might as well take the opportunities her stunt had granted. "I'll be there, if I am indeed welcome,"
"I'll make sure you are," Monroe replied and with that she left Lexa to be tended to by the Griffin's.
When Clarke had finished bandaging her hand, Lexa lifted her arm to inspect the work. Clarke had done an excellent job. "Did you know that your daughter has been working as a healer in Polis. She has helped a lot of people and passed on many new techniques," Lexa spoke to Abby. Abby regarded her and then looked at her daughter with a smile,
"Clarke, that's wonderful. You must have learned a lot from the tree people as well?"
"I have. Things that I'd like to teach to you, to everyone here if they'll let me."
Abby reached across Lexa and took her daughter's hand in her own, "We'll get there Clarke."
Lexa watched the tender moment between mother and daughter. She almost felt like an intruder on the touching scene. But there was another part of her, a louder part that was telling her she was right where she belonged at that moment in time.