Chapter 2
Lexa stood next to the tree in the forest outside Polis, and inspected the arrow stuck inside its trunk. She had decided to join some of her people on a hunt today after reports of a beast in the woods came in. The reports had been of a girl screaming followed by a roar that shook the very earth itself. They had left just after sunrise and had been investigating for about an hour when they had stumble across the remains of a fight. She had just turned to inspect the nearby arrow impaled in the ground, when she heard someone calling for her.
“Heda!” She heard Ryder calling her. She jogged over to him and felt her heart stop when she saw what he was holding.
“Clarke,” She whispered as she took the knife from his hands. It was the same knife that Clarke carried with her everywhere, only now it was covered in dirt and blood. The people feared there was a Pauna in the woods, and Lexa had to swallow past the lump in her throat that had formed at the idea of Clarke running into one.
“It’s Wanheda’s?” Ryder asked, indicating the knife.
Lexa took a shuddering breath and steeled her features before nodding. The idea of Clarke dying without knowing how bad Lexa felt for abandoning her made the brunette’s heart clench. She felt like she had left a piece of herself at that mountain when she and her troops left. But now wasn’t a time for showing weakness. There were those who saw Lexa as weak for taking the deal, especially after news of Clarke defeating them all single-handedly started to circulate. She needed to look every bit the stoic commander her people thought she was, even if the guilt tore her apart every night.
“It’s still fresh.” Echo noted. She had decided to abolish all ties to any clan and asked Lexa to allow her a place on her personal guard, stating how it was the only way to pay one of her life-debts. Lexa didn’t need to ask who the other debt was to.
They followed the traces left behind from the struggle to a steep hill nearby, and Lexa sighed in relief when she saw the bulky corpse leaned against a tree at the bottom.
Her relief was short lived, however, when they approached the fallen bounty hunter and took stock of his cataclysmic injuries. Whatever had killed this man, was big and dangerous.
“Heda!” One of her guards called from the mouth of a nearby cave. She noticed that the rest of her guards had drawn their weapons as she approached, and was halfway through pulling out her own sword when she froze.
Just inside the cave was a bear bigger than any animal Lexa had ever seen. It was laying on the ground, eyeing them all warily with shockingly blue eyes, and Lexa found herself unable to move, let alone look away, until her attention was shifted to Echo nudging her with her elbow.
The smaller girl pointed just past the bear, and Lexa felt her breath hitch when a familiar head of blonde hair appeared against the beast’s dark fur.
Clarke.
She watched as the monstrous animal curled around the Sky Princess and nudged her gently with its nose. She saw the moment Clarke realised they weren’t alone when she went from nuzzling the great beast’s fur to standing with it in anticipation to an attack in less than a second.
She was broken from her trance when she watched as Clarke swayed dangerously in place. She wanted to rush forward and catch her before she collapsed but opted instead to grab Echo and keep her from running forward.
The gigantic bear saw their hurried movements and stepped in front of Clarke before opening its mouth and unleashing a roar so powerful Lexa swore even the spirits heard it.
“L-Lexa?”
Lexa sighed when she saw Clarke limp shakily around the bear to look her in the eye.
“Hello, Clarke.” She allowed herself to smile at the blonde’s relieved posture, before attempting once again to rush forward when her legs buckled. She wanted nothing more than to help the girl, especially when she noticed the wounds on her side, but she stopped once more when the very earth itself seemed to shake as the large bear growled lowly in warning.
“It’s okay, Juno.” Clarke whispered. “That’s Lexa. Remember I told you about her?”
Lexa watched as Clarke spoke to the beast, and even more surprising, as the great bear listened. She sighed in relief when the bear nuzzled Clarke’s cheek with its big snout before laying down with a huff curled around the girl.
Lexa kept her eyes on the beast as it watched her edge closer to Clarke.
“It’s okay,” Clarke said hoarsely. “She’s just being protective.”
“Of course.” Lexa replied as she finally kneeled in front of her. “She probably thinks of you as one of her cubs.”
Clarke looked from Lexa’s green eyes to Juno’s bright blue. The bear seemed to agree with the Commander’s assessment, and for some reason it made Clarke smile.
“So how did you and…”
“Juno.”
“So how did you and Juno meet?” Lexa asked conversationally as she examined the cuts on Clarke’s torso.
“I found her stuck in a trap. I gave her some food while helping her, then just ended up telling her everything about myself.”
“That would explain the cold attitude towards me.” Lexa muttered under her breath.
“Lexa-“ Clarke started.
“Not now, we can talk later.”
“Okay,” Clarke looked down and leaned farther back into Juno’s soft fur. “But you should know… I don’t hate you. I don’t trust you, but I don’t hate you.”
Lexa smiled softly and reached up to stroke the blonde’s face before turning back to her guards.
“Echo, I need you to come look at her wounds. Ryder, build a fire, we’re going to be here a while.”
Ryder nodded before going off to gather firewood, probably happy to get away from the gigantic beast in the cave. Echo, on the other hand, was not so lucky as she grabbed her materials only to freeze when another growl rumbled the earth beneath their feet.
“Heda, I don’t think Trimani Nomon wants me near Wanheda.” She croaked.
Lexa looked between her guard and Juno before turning back to Clarke who was glaring distrustfully at Echo. Noting the correlation between the bears snarling and the blonde’s glaring, she leaned down and gently cupped Clarke’s cheek with her hand.
“Clarke,” She whispered, “Echo isn’t going to hurt you. She wants to help.”
She released a breath in relief when blue eyes turned to her, searching her face and upon finding only sincerity, relaxed.
She took a step back and allowed Echo to work, cleaning and dressing her wounds.
“Would you mind telling me what happened, Wanheda?” Echo asked gently.
“I was attacked by a bounty hunter, I managed to stab him, but we took a tumble down that hill out there and I hurt my wrist. He took advantage of my incapacitation to return the favour.” She flinched slightly when Echo pressed a little too hard and smiled at the sincere apology the girl gave her. “He said he was going to take me to the Ice Queen so she could kill me, but Juno appeared before he could and saved me.”
She smiled fondly at her new friend, and couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped her when Juno nuzzled her cheek with her cold nose.
Lexa watched as Clarke smiled at the bear. It was the same smile she used to give Anya, and she knew that somehow this beast had found its place into the blonde girl’s heart. It saddened Lexa slightly that Clarke had to look to a bear for the comfort she craved, but maybe the spirits sent Juno because it was exactly what she needed.
“The spirits must have taken a liking to you if they sent Trimani Nomon to protect you.” Echo observed.
Clarke considered the other girl’s words, translating them in her head, before responding. “Forest Mother?” She asked.
“Sha, Wanheda. She is the protector of the Trikru. The spirits must have seen your worth and sent her to you.”
“Please don’t call me that,” Clarke whispered brokenly. “I haven’t done anything worthy of celebrating.”
“I disagree.” Echo stated. “You may not like what you had to do, but you eliminated a monster that cast a shadow over our people for years. It’s thanks to you that I know none of my loved ones will ever have to go through what I did in that place, and for that I owe you a debt.”
“Thank you, Echo. But I was headed towards Polis so that I could get a fresh start. Away from the politics and the wars and the killing.”
“Then you will.” Lexa said. “You will be given a house, and after that you may chose a profession and start again. You have my word.”
Clarke considered her words for a moment, before responding. “Only if Juno can come too.”
“Of course.” Lexa nodded, a ghost of a smile on her face. “We’ll put you near the woods and the water so that she may hunt to her delight.”
“Alright, it’s a deal.”
*(OoO)*
Clarke slept through the rest of the day, and Lexa didn’t leave her side once. They left at sunrise the next day, and by midday Polis was within sight.
“It’s beautiful,” Clarke gasped. Unlike TonDC which mostly consisted of tents and a few huts, Polis was filled with buildings of all sorts. She almost forgot about the pain and exhaustion she felt as she took in the city before her, until she hit a root and tripped. She braced herself for impact, only to find strong arms around her waist, holding her up.
“Perhaps we should rest.” Lexa suggested.
Clarke flushed at their proximity but shook her head. “It’s only an hour or two away, I can make it.”
Lexa frowned slightly when they heard a great huff beside them, and turned to see Juno crouching down and looking at Clarke imploringly. “I think she wants you to climb on her back.”
“Yeah because that’s inconspicuous.” Clarke muttered sarcastically.
“You’re walking into Polis with the Heda and a fifteen foot bear. I think people are going to notice anyway.” Echo teased. She and Clarke had spoken quite a bit on the way back, and Lexa was happy to see the blonde getting along with her people.
Clarke grumbled good-naturedly but climbed on Juno’s back anyway. Within minutes she was leaned forward, her head between the bear’s shoulder blades as her eyes struggled to stay open. She looked down when she felt a warm hand against her thigh. She followed it until she met surprisingly warm green eyes.
“Rest,” Lexa told her softly. “We’ll be in Polis soon, you can see it up close then.”
Clarke nodded and closed her eyes. Within seconds her breathing had evened out as the soft motions of Juno’s walking lulled her to sleep.
The Commander and her two guards continued in silence as they approached the gates of Polis. She nodded to the workers in the field who greeted her, ignoring the glances to the small blonde girl sleeping atop the giant black bear.
By the time they reached the gates, they were already open. People gathered in the streets to watch their Heda return. Upon noticing Clarke, there were a few hushed whispers of Wanheda, but a quick glare from their Commander stopped them. The crowd stayed mostly quiet out of respect for the sleeping girl and fear of the hulking beast she rode.
They were almost to The Commander’s house when their small procession was halted by a small boy standing in their path. Cautiously he approached them before looking up between Lexa and Clarke with a mixture of fear and reverence.
“What can I do for you, little one?” Lexa asked as she crouched down to be level with the boy.
“Heda, is she the one who defeated the mountain?” He asked.
“She is.” Lexa responded, she looked up and smiled when she saw blue eyes watching her.
“C-Could you tell her Lindol said thank you for saving my mother?”
“Why don’t you tell her yourself, Lindol?” Lexa asked and as if on cue, Clarke slid off Juno’s back and crouched next to the Commander. Lindol looked at Clarke for a moment before diving into the blonde’s arms.
Clarke was stunned momentarily as she wrapped her arms around the boy, but when he leaned up and whispered “Mochof” in her ear, she couldn’t stop the tears that sprang forward as she buried her face in his sandy blonde hair.
Everyone immediately started cheering as Clarke stood up, and she couldn’t stop the flush in her cheeks as Echo whispered in her ear. “Told you people would notice.”