Chapter 6

Anya didn't move. Clarke paced in the back storage area. She was trying to calm herself down. She'd almost slapped Anya. She wasn't violent, mostly, but when she woke up and Anya was missing, Clarke got worried. And, now, she found out that Anya had gone out into the storm for some idiotic sense of honor or something. Clarke wanted to ring her neck, cut her braid, and march to Lexa with a proclamation of peace. It would never work and she knew it.

Clarke was irrationally angry. She knew it. Anya knew it, but was smart enough to say nothing. Clarke knew why, too. She was still trying to process the trauma of the Mountain. She didn't want to admit how much it affected her, but it did. And, Anya shared that with her. But, then Anya was just gone and Clarke was alone. Clarke didn't do well when she was alone. It gave her too much time to think, to remember, to be haunted by the ghosts of people she'd killed in lives she can barely remember.

And, that was the crux of the problem. Clarke cared. She cared because she knew who Anya was to Lexa. It might not be the total or correct motivation for Clarke to want to keep Anya alive, but it was working. They'd escaped together. They hadn't really fought. Hell, she'd even agreed to go back to Lexa as Anya's prisoner. But, Anya had to prove herself and went hunting in the storm. And, Clarke definitely wasn't feeling like she was Anya's prisoner anymore.

"Of all the alpha male shit," Clarke mumbled. "I expected better of you, Anya. Bellamy, I could see doing this. He's an idiot that thinks he knows what's best, but you...you're a fucking general. You...no, I didn't expect it, because you're smarter than that. Guess I was wrong."

"I needed to repay you," Anya replied.

Clarke came flying out of the storage area with a thin strip of metal. Anya looked at it and realized that was the other half of whatever she'd used to "forge" the knife she had for Clarke. Looking at the metal and then back at Clarke, Anya could only wonder what it was for.

"You don't have to repay me, Anya. We saved each other. I just want the killing to stop, and the only way I see that happening is with a union between our people. You agreed with me, but then you went out there and did this. I just don't understand."

"The spirits demanded it."

"Oh, the spirits huh? What did they demand of you, Anya? To die in the rain?"

"No, to fulfill the offerings of a union with you. I have nothing to give you here, but you have already given me so much. I had to repay it. My honor demanded it. I am general and the fos to our heda. I have a high rank among my people. To not repay you would be seen as..."

"Poor etiquette?"

"I do not know this world, niron. You will have to teach it to me, and I will teach you our language of Trigedasleng," Anya told her. "No, my honor would be tarnished if I didn't repay you after I accepted your offerings. It would make the dealings between our people worse. I couldn't allow that to happen. Your offerings have been different but they fulfilled all the requires for the bonding of our union. And with our union, you will have a better chance to speak with Heda and get terms for your people."

Clarke huffed and deflated. She looked deeply into Anya's gold-brown eyes and saw all the emotions swirling there. Clarke wanted to laugh because it was always in their eyes. They could hide the pain in their bodies, but their eyes always betrayed them. Closing her eyes, Clarke took another second to center herself. Opening her eyes, she found that Anya was reaching for her hands.

"Would you deny me help now, niron, when we are so close to finishing the union?"

Clarke looked at her. She knew that even though they both spoke English, they didn't. Nuances, slang, and phrasing were different. Clarke was still speaking a modified and evolved version of English from pre-bomb Earth. Anya spoke a bastardized version that was more formal and bookish than dialect. She knew that this was through teaching since Trig had become the master language of the survivors. English was taught to the warriors because of the Mountain. So, Clarke knew that worlds had meaning, but she wasn't sure that she and Anya proscribed the same weights and meanings to their words.

Holding her hands, Anya looked into her eyes. Clarke shook her head and pulled her hands free. She reached down and ripped the pants leg open further. The gashes were deep, but too jagged and spread for stitches. She wanted to scream at her and call her an idiot, but Clarke held her tongue as she assessed each wound. Shaking her head again, she grabbed the oil lamp and placed the thin metal in its flame. She would have to wait for the metal to get red hot. While she waited, she cleaned the wounds and Anya's leg as best as she could. Cloth after cloth was tossed in the corner covered in blood, muck, and rainwater as Clarke cleaned Anya up. She muttered under her breath the entire time and it made Anya smile. Clarke was doting on her like a houmon would after a warrior returned from battle.

"It didn't hurt much," Anya told her.

Clarke looked up into her eyes. Cocking an eyebrow at the expression, Clarke looked at her incredulously. When she looked deeper into Anya's eyes, she could see the mirth.

"You are an ass," Clarke told her as she sat down in the desk chair to get closer to the wound. "You aren't getting any hooch this time, and I hope it hurts. You big idiot."

Anya just laughed at her distress. Clarke shook her head but got to work. She started by make sure that there was no debris in the wounds. When she was done, she checked the edges of the wounds and realized that while it was a jagged cut, it was clean. Letting out a breath, Clarke reached for the ointment. She was going to seal it inside and hope for the best. It wasn't the greatest, but Anya had already proven to have a strong immune system with her arm. She could only hope that it carried over into her leg as well. After smearing the ointment on the wound, she looked at the sliver of metal. It was ready. She grabbed a small piece of cloth and wrapped it around the end that was on the desk as she gingerly lifted the metal from the flame.

Looking Anya in her eyes, she told her that it was going to hurt. Anya just nodded and pointed to her leg. Clarke understood the gesture for what it was and proceeded to burn the marks shut. She hated the smell of burnt flesh, but she knew that it was the best way to make sure that Anya didn't get an infection. It would scar, but Clarke knew how proud warriors were of their scars. It reminded them that they survived when others didn't. It was so stupid and such an alpha mentality that Clarke wanted to scream.

When she'd finished burning them all shut, she lathered on more ointment. She wanted it sit for a few minutes before she rubbed on the salve. She wanted as much treatment on the wounds as possible. She stood up and moved to start cleaning. Anya didn't move. She stayed seated on the desk and watched Clarke move. She was still muttering as she went. Rounding quickly from the storage area, Clarke stared her down. The healer realized that she needed to check Anya completely because the warrior woman might be hiding some other wound just out of bravado.

"Take off your shirt," Clarke demanded as she started back into the room.

Anya did as she asked, keeping her eyes on Clarke. She felt a little off. Clarke was angry, but she was still pushing forward with the union. She took a deep breath and reached out for Clarke again. Holding her hands, she could feel the other woman trembling.

"You do not need to be afraid, Clarke. I am a good warrior and hunter. It will take more than a big wolf to end my fight," Anya said trying to reassure her.

"Well forgive me for wanting you to be healthy and whole. I like your spirit where it is, Anya. I need you for this union. We need this union to save our people and you..."

"Got the offerings required to fulfill the union, Clarke. I am sorry to have worried you, niron, but my spirit would not rest until I had offerings for you."

Clarke looked up and met her eyes. She heard the seriousness and something more in Anya's words. And, she was calling her something besides "skygirl," and she didn't know what the new nickname meant or was. It didn't sound bad. It sounded almost loving, but Clarke shook off the notion.

"Do you want to know what they are?" Anya asked her.

"The offerings?"

"Yes, niron. Do you want to know what I've gotten for you to close our union together? They are in the bag," Anya told told her and looked down at the pack she'd brought back from the cave.

Clarke stood and looked at the bag. She didn't move to grab it, so Anya did. Pulling it closer to her side, she flipped it open and pull the flaps apart so Clarke could look inside. After a few seconds of Clarke just standing there, Anya leaned forward and pulled Clarke between her legs. Meeting her eyes, she could see the worry still. Anya knew that she had to make it better. Holding Clarke by the waist between her legs with her left hand, she reached into the pack and pulled out some of the apples and other fruits that she gathered and taken from the cave.

"I saw how much you liked the berries last night. I thought you would like more fruits to try. I found these while I was out. They've been washed so there is nothing on them to hurt. I made sure," Anya said as she handed a small red apple. "This is my offering of nourishment."

Clarke looked at her puzzled. She didn't know why Anya was offering her food for their union, but she'd only had an apple once and liked it. She took the apple and took a bite. She had to hold in the happy moan that wanted to escape, but her eyes didn't hide the emotions from Anya. The warrior smiled at the healer as she took another bite.

While she was chewing, Clarke thought about the alliance that she'd had with Lexa. The Commander had never gone to such lengths for her or for the alliance. Clarke racked her brain and couldn't remember once where Lexa had provided her food as an offering to cement their alliance except at the ill-fated feast they were to share that ended with Gustus' death, Raven being scarred, and Clarke drinking hundred year old vodka to prove a point. This was different, but the more that Clarke thought about it, the more she was confused. Anya wasn't talking about an alliance, she said union. It was the same words that Clarke used, but it seemed more intimate. She trusted that Anya knew what she was doing, because she needed her to go to Lexa. They needed to both convince Lexa to mount up against the Mountain.

"Okay, it was good, but you didn't need to get me fruit."

"I did," Anya insisted.

"To appease your spirit for the union?"

"Sha," Anya replied and dug around in the pack again. This time she pulled out the wolf skull and handed it to Clarke. The blonde took it slowly and turned it over and over. Anya realized that it took her a minute to realize what it was.

"Is this the...?"

"Sha, I killed it. The skin is drying in a cave not far from here. We'll have to get it. It will make a nice cloak for you. I want you to stay warm in the winter, but it will also mark your rank among your people with that," Anya explained, pointing at the wolf skull.

"And, how would that show my rank?" Clarke asked as she flipped the skull over to see the teeth hanging down.

"It is a pauldron. You wear it on your shoulder. This lets all the people around you know that you are important. Heda has one that bears the sash of her station. I will make sure that the wolf pelt hooks into it for you. This will show everyone that you are the leader of Skaikru and they will give you the respect that you deserve, niron."

"Well, it will certainly say something, but I'm not the leader of my people, Anya."

"You are. Heda will accept no other. She's been told about the girl with the yellow hair that commands the sky warriors. Our people already know of your feats."

"Great," Clarke lamented as she sat the wolf's skull back down.

Anya reached over and picked it up. She turned it over and then pulled Clarke closer so that her right shoulder was in front. Placing the skull on her shoulder, Anya smiled.

"I hollowed it out so that it would fit your weak side. You fight from the South and not the North like most warriors. I will stand to your North and guard you when we meet Heda. With the pauldron on your shoulder, she will see that you have rank and that I put you in a place of honor," Anya stated as she made sure that it fit. "I will make you a strap from when you don't have the cloak. It looks well on you."

"That's great, Anya. Thanks for that," Clarke said as she pulled Anya's hand and the skull back down. "It is something that I always wanted."

"Mockery is not the product of a strong mind, Clarke," Anya quipped back at her, but let Clarke move her hand anyway.

Clarke smarted at the words and looked deeply into Anya's eyes. She lost herself in memories, but in them all, she knew that Anya had trained Lexa. It would make sense that she learned the phrase from the older woman. This made Clarke question Anya's age. She trained Lexa and Lexa was only a few years older than Clarke. Anya couldn't be too much older. Clarke wasn't that worried about it, but it nagged her enough to ask.

"Anya?"

"Yes, Clarke?"

"How old are you?"

"I am twenty-eight winters old," Anya told her.

Clarke quickly did the math. That only made her ten years older than herself. It also made her wonder how old she was when she took Lexa on as a sekkon. Lexa was just twenty years old. She knew that sekkons were taken on young and in most cases around eight. Tris had been around twelve, and she was probably Anya's second sekkon. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked back up at Anya. The older woman was still a mystery to Clarke in so many ways.

"Does that matter to you, niron?" Anya quickly asked when she saw Clarke thinking.

"No, no, it doesn't. I was just thinking is all," Clarke answered. "You are young to be a general, though, right?"

"Not so young, no," Anya answered.

"Okay," Clarke replied and hoped to drop it.

"The pauldron is my offering of protection," Anya said, as she tried to capture Clarke's attention more fully again.

Clarke turned from Anya's eyes back down the skull. She thought about what Anya was telling. She'd given her offerings of nourishment and protection. She thought about what Anya had said about their union. There were offerings to be made before the bonding could be complete. Had she unknowingly been giving Anya offerings of her own. And, if so, when did she start and what were they? Anya said nothing, though. She just kept Clarke between her legs as she sat on the table. She held her gently there, but Clarke knew that if she wanted or needed to move she could.

"How many offerings are there in total, Anya?" Clarke finally asked.

"Four," Anya replied.

"So, you've giving me the offerings of nourishment and protection."

"Sha, niron," Anya said.

"And, that is was in repayment of my offerings?"

"Sha," Anya answered.

"So, I am guessing that you accepting mine offerings then, for our union?" Clarke questioned as she was trying to reason out what was really going on between them now.

"Yes, I did. That is why I had to bolster my spirit. You gave them freely, and while in most cases of a union only one gives the offerings, my honor would not let me accept without giving you offerings as well. I want this to be a strong union between us and to accomplish that, my spirit has to be strong like yours," Anya told her.

"So, can I ask why you agreed to accept my offerings?" Clarke inquired, hoping that Anya would tell her what the offerings were, too.

"You asked me to trust you. I know that you are a strong warrior and leader. You suggested the union to bring our people together. It made sense once you explained your reasonings and I know that having a union with you, being bonded to you, would raise your status with my people. You were right in the fact that it would make talking to Heda easier as well. You offered it freely after saving me from the Mountain, and then you agreed to be my prisoner to help me with Heda. You showed your strength, so I decided to trust you. Then, you showed me the bunker and sheltered me from the storm and fog. It was an offering of protection. You also cared for my arm when you didn't have to do more than basic treatment. You did more, cementing the offering, by helping me keep my arm."

"So, that was it?"

"Sha, I knew that you understood how unions worked when you shared the food stores with me," Anya added.

"The offering of nourishment," Clarke replied in understanding.

"You had already given me shelter from the storm and now, you were feeding me. You had no need to share, but you did. I was grateful for the nourishment that you provided. You also explained that I needed to eat in order to feel better and not be so weak. You provided for me. I had to repay the offering to show that I could provide for you as well. I would be seen as weak among my people if I didn't answer your offerings with my own. So, I knew that I had to go out in the storm and find food."

"You mentioned a cave?"

"Sha, there is a cave close to here that would have sheltered us from the storm but not the fog. The bunker was a good choice. Inside I found some nuts and other vegetables to make a thicker and more hearty stew for us to east. The wolf's meat can be chewy, but it is fresh. We should keep the rest of your jerky for our hike to the village after. There is also wolf jerky," Anya explained as she held Clarke closer. "I had hoped that you would like the apples and what I brought for us to eat. Do you?"

Clarke smiled up at her and nodded. "I do."

"Then my honor has been answered."

"And, what is the third offering?"

Anya turned, letting Clarke go. She looked down at the table until she saw the drawings and picked up the ones of Tris. Anya gave a sad smile at the paper as she handed them to Clarke. She waited until Clarke looked up and met her eyes.

"I wasn't sure if this was your offering of creation or not, but I believed that it was," Anya started. "You captured her so well for never having really known her. Tris was a good warrior, young, but she was learning. She was my sekkon, but I know you knew that. Having that will let me mourn her and not forget her smile. It is a beautiful creation."

"Oh, I wasn't...that was just so I could..." Clarke stumbled over her words and then looked deeply into Anya's eyes, before lowering them, again. "I'm glad you like it."

Anya smiled and sat the pages down all together. She reached out and tipped Clarke's chin up to make look up again. Blindly, she reached in the bag until she pulled out the knife. She turned it around in her hands and reached for Clarke's left hand. She placed the knife there and waited for Clarke's reaction.

"A knife?" Clarke questioned.

"It is my offering of creation to you, Skaiprisa," Anya told her and reached for it. "I honed it myself from some metal. The handle is carved deer antler that I found in the cave. If you look closely, I marked the stars of the Phoenix one side and the Boshonta on the other. They are the stars of the night you came to us."

"The Phoenix?" Clarke inquired softly as she examined the detail.

Clarke realized that it was a mixture of stars she knew. First there was Orion, which she assumed was the "Great Hunter" that Anya was referring to. Then there was a mix of Pieces and the Big Dipper. She knew then that the namings of the constellations had changed and would be different. They all had the same stars, but different stories to why they were there and what they were. This was part of the Trikru culture and she'd couldn't correct it. For them, it was truth.

"It's beautiful," Clarke replied. "But, why a knife, Anya? I'm a healer."

"Does a healer not need a knife, Clarke? It is small, sha, but it will serve if needed. I also made a sheath for it. You can carry it on a belt, hide it, or carry it on a leather string around your neck. I made it to work for you," Anya explained. "I will also make sure that you know how to use it to defend yourself."

"So, that makes the three of the four offerings for us both, shah?" Clarke reasoned aloud.

"Sha, Klark, sha, tri," Anya replied.

Clarke looked at her, swallowing hard. Her brain was running so fast, and the way that Anya was looking at her now wasn't that of an enemy but more of a lover. Clarke's eyes widened. She realized what Anya was proposing, and by accident she had stumbled into with her. Anya's union was more a less a marriage. It wasn't that she was opposed to it. Anya was a beautiful and strong woman, but when she suggested the union to unite her people, she hadn't meant a political marriage.

Float me, Mom is going to kill me, she thought. She was too deep now, though. She knew if she'd refused Anya, it would hurt her honor. The woman was strong, but she didn't know if she would live through this if word ever got to Lexa. The Commander might just kill her outright for failing to bring the Sky people to heel. At least with a marriage to Clarke, they would have some weight behind the negotiations on both sides. It wasn't an ideal match, but Clarke could think of many worse.

Swallowing again, Clarke, afraid to actually know the answer, knew she had to ask, "So, what is the fourth offering?"

"Our bodies to each other, then our souls will bond, and our union will be complete," Anya told her.

Clarke's mind reeled. This was happening. She couldn't stop it. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she didn't want to stop it. She wanted to see how this would change things. She hoped that this would bring about peace between her people sooner rather than later, and they could change the outcome of the Mountain.

Clarke looked deeply into Anya's golden-brown eyes and smiled. She'd made her bed, so she'd lie in it, with Anya, and become her...wife. She could do this. She could.

"My mother is going to kill me," Clarke mumbled. "And, Raven and Octavia are never going to let me live this down."

To stop, Clarke's rant, Anya leaned forward and kissed her.