376 days since Praimfaya (316 days since Madi).
''Tell me about the Maunon!'' Madi smiled eagerly, gathering up her blankets and sitting up against the bed. Waiting for Lexa's story this night.
Lexa chuckled slightly. Rested against her wheelchair. ''Not now, goufa.''
Madi pouted. ''But Lexa! I want to know more about Wanheda and fighting and wars... I need to know how Clarke took the Maunon base, with the forces of a thousand warriors, and managed to kill them all without so much of a blink!''
Lexa stopped at the Nightblood at the height of her excitement, shutting her up gravely. ''Goufa, you must know—war is nothing to be celebrated. And though it may seem to be fairytales and legends now, we cannot discount war to the bare bones of its superficial, vicarious tales. War slaughters. War maims and cripples and breaks—war is all too real, and yet our tales spur on the fact that it is good.''
The Nightblood blinked. ''Is it not?''
''Trust me when I say it isn't. War is rarely, if at all, good. It separates our people; divides families; and causes countless deaths and injuries.'' One, deep breath, at Madi's disappointment and distress. ''I will tell you the tale, when you are older.''
When you are more rational. When you understand that the stories of our past shouldn't be the stories of our future. When you realise that what we did to the Maunon was—nessesary, but not necessarily the best path. When you know that jus no drein jus daun.
Madi seemed slightly miffled. ''... okay then. But can you tell me something else?''
There was a pause.
Lexa smiled, as she thought of a memory pulsing in the wires of the Spirit's consciousness. ''Let me tell you of a Commander that fell from his horse...''
...
Night terrors. They were all too common.
At first they were sporadic. After Lexa had tucked in Madi and she and Clarke left to a night's hunt or a stargazing's outing, they sometimes came back to whimpers coming from Madi's room. Clarke was worried, of course, and had always insisted on checking up on Madi in her room, but Lexa reassured her that it was nothing a fitful night of sleep wouldn't cure. But they grew frequent over time, until every night, when Clarke was deep in her slumber but Lexa was wide awake in hers—the times when the prickling pain of the fire-ants crawling in her legs were too much to handle—she had heard screams come from the Natblida's bedroom.
The screams sounded around midnight, with a startled, short cry followed with whimpers, and muted sobs.
Lexa didn't intercede. There was a thin line between intrusion and comfort, and she knew that latter was usually mistaken for the former.
(And even if it broke her heart to believe it; but Madi needed to overcome her fear; her weakness, if she wanted to move forward. And she couldn't provide a guiding hand, however much she might've wanted it—for if done wrongly, despite in good-will, (and the thin line was unforgiving in its mistakes), Madi would push her away for the worse.)
And after the fifth night of constant nightmares, the Nightblood stumbled into their room. ''Lexa—'' she began hoarsely, sniffling her runny nose, her blanket draped around her shoulders, painted with wet. Tears.
''—c-can I sleep with you guys tonight?'' the Nightblood's eyes were stricken with fear—as if she wouldn't know what to do if Lexa said no.
Night terrors. They were all too common. Common enough that everyone Lexa knew had been touched, tormented, tortured by it—from one night to perhaps all, if the death and destruction and the need to survive that happened when they were awake wasn't enough.
The Nightblood was sniffling. Clutching at her blanket. Staring at Lexa as if she was her last hope, as her eyes fought the demons of her past.
Lexa nodded towards the Nightblood, and with her hands, moved away to create a space between her and Clarke. And without a further word, the Nightblood slipped under the blankets.
Two hours passed until the Nightblood made the next sound.
''... I still can't sleep,'' the Nightblood said, voice as hoarse—if not more than before. ''H-how do you sleep?''
I mirror my pain into something else and count the names of the Commanders.
Grimacing at the thought, Lexa's fist tightened on the bedsheets she was holding on. It wasn't the best solution, but it was the only solution she had. ''Pick something you know how to do.'' Lexa ordered, gritting her teeth, feeling the sweat course down her neck, and at the Nightblood's srunched up features— ''say it. Out loud.''
''Okay,'' the Natblida murmured. ''Bear traps.''
''Good, goufa.'' Lexa winced, and stifled a cry. Spirits, the pain... ''Now, act as if I were a beginner. Guide me through the makings of a bear trap.''
''A-alright. So first, you need the materials. Old spare parts usually work pretty well.'' Madi murmured, her tone still indicating that she wasn't sure what Lexa was getting at, but Lexa urged her on.
''How do you construct the parts, Madi?''
''First, y-you need a plate to act as a lever. That's—that's the simple bit. Then, you have to get yourself the mechanism parts. Like the till and the bridge-head and the tounge. Y-you also need to make and sharpen two jaws. And then you have to string them up all together—''
''El—elaborate, Madi. Which parts do you connect first?''
''Y-you have to first— screw on the bolts for the stock-heads.''
''G—good. And the next?''
''U-use the springs and connect them at the sides.''
''And the next?...''
...
Clarke woke up to a Natblida snuggling by her side.
Which, okay. Sure. It wasn't the usual Nightblood that (would've preferred) to wake up next to, but that was fine. Really.
Coughing away the bile from the past night, she got up from the bed. Lexa and Madi were still soundly asleep on the bed, as Lexa murmured in her sleep while Madi grasped for something to snuggle. Suppressing a small smile, Clarke left with a bow in her hand and a quiver of arrows slung round her back, jotting down a quick note for Lexa when she woke up.
