194 days since Praimfaya (136 days since Madi)
Clarke had been humming as she walked out of the abode, requiring a furious Madi to catch up as she fumbled over her weapons, while juggling one work-in-progress trebuchet in her hands.
Madi had planned to work on her trebuchet by the creek. Mainly because, if she finished the trebuchet there, she had infinite ammo and a lake for target practice. But that plan had went to dust, mainly because... well...
''I don't need your help!'' Madi mumbled as she stole her eyes away from Clarke, and coddling the trebuchet in her hands, trudged at a faster pace to the creek.
Clarke's eyes glinted mischievously, as she poked Madi in the arm. ''Why don't you ask us for help? After all, I am the Wanheda.'' A grin. ''And Lexa's Heda, of course.''
At this, Madi flushed furiously. ''It's only been three weeks since you told me that!'' she huffed, exasperatedly. Nope, she wasn't ready to say their names yet. She did not need the reminder or the memories, thank you very much. Or the mental image of both Wanheda and Heda helping her out with making her trebuchet. Yeah, definitely not that.
''It's been three weeks!'' Clarke grinned, and poked Madi again. Causing the wobbly trebuchet in her hands to nearly fall as she stumbled down a slope.
Madi scowled at the unusually cheery Wanheda, and held on tighter to her trebuchet. Glared at her. ''Three weeks is not a long time to get over the fact that you're both...'' she trailed off exasperatedly. Because no, Madi really didn't need the mental images of everything she'd done to both Clarke and Lexa in the past four months, oblivious to the fact that they were both Wanheda and Heda respectively.
Oh Spirits , how did she not see it AT ALL?!
''And four months is a long time without a name drop.'' Then, elbowing the seven-year old playfully (and receiving another glare), Clarke encouraged with a kind smile: ''C'mon, goufa. Any hints?''
Bear Trap Kid only scowled in a further show of exasperation, and stalked off down the valley towards the creek.
Clarke sighed, and followed after her to the creek. The Bear Trap Kid's embarrassment at their titles was a whole lot more than what Clarke would've expected in the first place. And four months was a long time going without a name.
Oh well. Everyone had their secrets. And so with a small sigh, a mutter to herself of how the seven-year old acted like a moody teen, she caught up with the Bear Trap Kid to the creek.
...
224 days since Praimfaya (166 days since Madi).
It had been about two months since the Nightblood learned of Clarke and Lexa's beings as Wanheda and Commander.
The Nightblood didn't seem to mind so much that they were Heda and Wanheda now, which was mostly a good thing, because Lexa was getting a bit tired of Clarke's jokes and the Nightblood's embarrassment at them. Though, Lexa did admit, watching the Nightblood flush at the mention of their titles did bring slight amusement, despite their current, post-apocalyptic predicament.
And now, Lexa was doing good on her promise to the Natblida of teaching her how to create arrows.
''Practice on the bamboo stick, goufa.'' Lexa instructed, gesturing the Nightblood to retrieve two of the sticks lying on the ground. The Nightblood eagerly picked them up, and passed one to Lexa.
Lexa took the bamboo stick, and gestured to the Nightblood's own. ''Try making an arrow of it.''
''But Lexa—it's too big!'' Madi protested, as she stared up and down at the bamboo stick that was half her size and too thick for any sort of shooting.
Lexa nodded slightly. ''I know. It is for practice.''
The Nightblood still seemed uneasy, but nodded. She sat down on the floor, legs crossed—and got to work.
After a while of cutting, tying, and mutters of frustration, the Nightblood exclaimed: ''Done!''
Lexa's brow furrowed when she examined the Nightblood's ''arrow''. The feather positioning was mostly correct, and the arrowhead was notched in the wood; however, the knot was loose and needed severe improvement. Lexa gestured at the Nightblood to come over. ''Here, goufa. Let me.''
First Lexa untied the knot, as the Nightblood watched keenly on. Gesturing the Nightblood to keep the feathers secure around the bamboo, she began with a clove hitch, and tied upwards with consecutive half-knots and securing each one, until she was finished with the end of the ''arrow''.
After it was all done, the Nightblood seemed visibly excited. ''So, that's it? I can literally make one right now!'' she said, excitedly—which was when Lexa had to cut her off, because it was no time to find more unusable arrows in her quiver.
''Goufa, remember— this is practice with a bamboo stick. For actual arrows, you will have to whittle the stick, sharpen the point, heat it, and secure an arrowhead and add fletchings. It is not as simple as placing feathers and an arrowhead on a stick and calling it a day.''
Suddenly, the door to the abode opened, revealing Clarke, who stumbled in with a loud sigh. Then, her eyes flickered over to Lexa and Madi, seemingly noticing them for the first time as she strolled in. ''Sorry. Am I interrupting something?''
Lexa smiled, softly, as Clarke dropped a kiss on her lips. ''No.''
Behind them, the Nightblood made a face.
Clarke laughed as the Nightblood sulked. Gazing at Lexa, who was smiling as well, she said: ''Mind if I borrow her for a sec?''
Lexa shook her head, and placed the bamboo arrow to the side. A gasp came from the Nightblood as she looked up at Clarke, who had put down her backpack on the table and was rummaging through it. ''Is it a trebuchet?''
''Hah, no.'' Clarke grinned, as the Nightblood seemed visibly miffed. ''But it's something alright.''
Clarke dug into her backpack, and took out one long piece of wood, around sixteen inches long and half an inch wide. The Nightblood's eyes shone in disbelief as she gazed at the wood, awed.
''Whoa!'' the Nightblood beamed as she examined the piece. ''That's perfect for the arm! Thanks, Clarke!'' she yelped, and taking the part from Clarke's hands, she bounded into her room.
Lexa smiled, somewhat in exasperation. ''Don't encourage her, Clarke.''
Clarke only responded with a grin. ''Hey, you don't know when a trebuchet might come into handy.''
