A/N: I mostly use the italic for sentences written in English but meant to be in another language, be it Trigedasleng or Italian. And if there are no " " it's someone's thoughts.
I'm sorry if there are mistakes, English is not my language.
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Chapter Thirteen: Dangerous hope
Nyx and Clarke just came back from patrolling, they haven't talked more but Nyx stops at Clarke's tent to wish her goodnight before retreating to get some sleep. She's there when Clarke searches her bag looking for some water and finds a little envelope she doesn't remember taking with her. She opens it and gasps slightly when she sees the little crystal in her hand. She recognises it from the waterfall, it was one of the blue crystals she saw under water.
Nyx recognises it as well and smiles. "Aeryn really cares for you."
Clarke looks up startled as if she forgot the warrior was even there. Nyx's comment troubles her and she wonders how true that sentence may be, the crystals looked very valuable and difficult to retrieve, but most of all they seemed sacred to the people of Cristallo. Aeryn's gift is not one to take lightly.
"You don't look very happy about this." Clarke can hear the concern in the other girl's voice.
"Let's just say last time didn't go very well." She then raises her eyes from the crystal and turns her gaze on Nyx. "I'm just confused, I don't really know what to do."
"Well, you have time to think about it, our journey is not gonna be a short one." Then surprisingly Nyx lays a hand on her shoulder and offers a little smile. "You should sleep now, Clarke. Tomorrow we need to convince my people to help us, it's not going to be easy." Nyx still calls her Daire most of the times, just to be safe, but hearing her real name spoken so softly makes Clarke feel a bit more at peace.
She nods to the girl and thanks her, a thank you full of meanings that the warrior seems to understand, and then she finally goes to bed, placing the crystal back in her bag.
Lexa's scouts report movement in the Sword Clan, an ally to the Ice Nation, and some generals want to take troops to the border just to be safe. Lexa, anyway, knows it would be seen as an attempt to attack and it could cause the enemy to attack sooner.
She feels so powerless and it incredibly frustrates her. She can't just do nothing while her enemies prepare for war. Still, all she does is send soldiers to the villages near the border. They are to be careful and try hard not to give away their presence to the Sword Nation's scouts. It's going to be difficult but she'd rather not give her enemies knowledge about how many resources she has and where they're positioned.
The clans are going to be at war again, and she's not ready to lose.
She knows the clans will not attack until the Ice Queen orders so and even if scouts have reported movements of soldiers in the Ice Nation, it was not about soldiers coming to the borders and no troops were spotted, instead her scouts reported movements toward the capital, to the inside of the lands, not to the outside. And Lexa thinks she knows what that means.
The Ice Nation has always been a very strong clan, they've always lead their allies in war, they've never avoided a fight. So everyone expects them to be at the head of the attack. But Lexa knows better than to underestimate the Queen.
Tecla knows what her enemies expect her to do, she knows they believe she's going to be at the head of the first warriors to attack. And she won't do that. Lexa knows she doesn't want to waste time, this war is not going to be like the previous one. The Queen is not just out for blood, she wants Lexa dead once and for all, she wants to conquer, she wants to win. The previous war was about war itself, this one is about victory.
And that's why Lexa believes the Queen will send the other clans first, she will make them attack from all sides, creating confusion, forcing her enemies to split, weakening them; and then, when Lexa's army will be divided, when the other clans will be just as divided, she's going to bring her whole army down to the Trikru's lands and she's going to destroy everything on her way, she's going to go on until every land, every clan that opposed her is in her possession, under her control, until everyone knows her power.
And Lexa will not fall for that.
It's not dawn yet when they go different ways the next morning. In the dim light that precedes the sunrise the group of friends says goodbye.
Malaya comes say goodbye to Nyx and she glares at Clarke. "You better not screw this up, Princess", then she addresses both of them and she shakes their arms, "Have a safe journey". They repeat the farewell and the warrior leaves with the nine rebels who are to go with her.
The other group leaves right after in the opposite direction, they're lead by Liri and the woman comes over to Clarke before leaving. She tells her to be safe and to hide her identity as best as she can, when Wit argues that they should let the people who are going to join them know who she is because it could encourage them to fight, Liri scowls at him. "It would put her at a great danger. And all of you along with her", then she adds more gently "When we'll be all together, we'll tell those who are with us, those we know we can trust. But we don't know how the people could react now, and the Queen might want her if she knew the great leader of the Sky People, the slayer of the Mountain, the..." for a moment it seems like Liri is about to say yet another title, but then she covers it and goes on "the one who defeated alone an enemy we weren't able to fight even united, is here. She could very much want her as a prisoner. She's only safe as long as no one knows she's in these lands. She was right at being careful with us about her identity. If I were her I probably wouldn't have told the truth so soon. I guess I'm glad she did though" she gives Clarke a thoughtful look, then she says her farewell as the others and leaves with her group. And Clarke is left thinking, pondering; she notices the worried expression that took over Wit's smile and she tries to reassure the boy promising him they'll be careful.
Liri must have spoken with Nyx as well, because the girl is looking over at Clarke and she wears the same worried expression as Wit, though hers is determined and doesn't show insecurity.
Clarke's group is now made of Nyx, Wit, Chayim, Faith, because the little girl wanted to be with her favourite warrior and the destroyer of the Mountain, and other five rebels Clarke has just started to know.
There is Meike, a tall girl with dirty blonde hair and glassy light blue eyes, that honestly are kind of scary, a slender body, she carries a slim sword on her right hip and knives attached to her belt, she looks even more deadly than Nyx, although Clarke has no doubts Nyx could take her, she saw them sparring after all. Rokh is a hunter, his muscular body speaks about fight with wild animals, his green eyes reflecting the cold forest, his hair a dusty light brown, he has an axe stripped to his back and carries long hunting knives on his hips. Xavier Clarke knows to be a fighter like Meike, he has a sword and some daggers, his features are gentle and if he weren't dressed as a warrior he would probably resemble a child, he easily did when they were in front of the fire the night before, spending those last hours with his friends before starting the dangerous journey, his long brown hair stops somewhere below his shoulders, his blue eyes filled with determination, Clarke knows him to be a kind person, a funny companion at dinner and someone who cares very much about his family and his people. Jivin and Goral stay little behind, watching the back of the group; the first is a hunter, his curly hair is cut short but still some curls sometime fall before his eyes while he walks, his heavy thick broadsword making almost no noise at his side; the second one, Goral, is a warrior, as weapon of choice he always wears two short swords, they're light and easy to carry and Clarke saw how good he is with those, he also stripped some throwing knives at his belt, his hand caress the sword as he walks, his clear green eyes never stilling, wary of any possible danger.
After briefly going over their plan to approach the people in the village again, they finally reach the first houses and their mission begins.
