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“So, tell me again why I have to do this?”
“Hunting increases a warrior’s skills. You learn stealth, how to kill more efficiently, how to improve upon failure. Don’t be naive, Clarke,” Lexa sighed impatiently as the pair moved through the forest. Gripped in Lexa’s gloved hand was a spear while Clarke donned a blade, but only upon Lexa’s insistence. She was tempted to chuck it into the woods, seeing as a gun was more her forte anyway.
“Excuse me for not doing cartwheels at the thought of killing something,” Clarke muttered, which earned her a studded look from Lexa. The morning sun was sickeningly bright, the sun glaring around tree trunks and dense undergrowth. Clarke was enjoying the feeling of warmth on her pale skin and the way the rays danced on her golden hair lying flatly on her shoulders. She would’ve much preferred this to be a leisurely stroll but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Lexa had requested her presence bright and early for a hunting lesson that morning and Clarke had made sure to take her time in getting ready.
“Clarke, you show far less remorse with a gun in your hands,” Lexa pointed out, stepping over a fallen log, willing for Clarke to be quiet.
Clarke bit her tongue to keep from snapping back a retort. The words hurt, in a way. Lexa knew Clarke was not fond of killing, whether she be exercising the dangers of a gun or blade. She nearly tripped over the log trying to contain her temper and without thought she grabbed onto Lexa to try and keep her footing. The other girl seemed to instinctively grab her elbows to keep her steady, abandoning the spear, but as soon as she realized what she had done she cleared her throat and let Clarke go, bending down to pick up the spear. Clarke stepped back and decided the two were better off in silence.
Silence, however, would prove to be difficult. The two hadn’t walked much farther when a sudden scuffling caught their attention. Well, it caught Lexa’s attention. She froze, glancing around, her sudden stop nearly cause Clarke to run into her. Lexa raised her spear in anticipation, but was quick to put it down when she saw what it was.
A few feet away a gray mound of fluff was ambling along. Clarke’s eyes widened at the sight of the strange animal. It had a thick tail decorated in dark ringlets, a pointed snout, long ebony paws that had a resemblance to hands, and a masked face. It was the color of ash with white highlights around its face and underbelly, but the mask is what caught Clarke’s attention. She glanced at Lexa’s face, noted the black paint covering her eyes and dripping down her cheeks and couldn’t help but start giggling.
Lexa shot her a look of confusion, clearly aggravated that all this was all they had found. “What are you laughing at?”
“That.. that thing. I can see what you reference your makeup too now,” Clarke laughed, her eyes dancing with amusement. Lexa, however was anything but amused.
“Are you telling me, Clarke of the Sky People, that you believe I look like a raccoon?” Lexa asked, her words nearly a hiss as she shot a glare at the little animal which was now scurrying up a tree.
“I can’t believe the Commander is trying to take after a cute little animal,” Clarke giggled, knowing she was bound to push Lexa too far at this rate, but too much in hysterics to care. “Do your people know this?”
Lexa’s eyes hardened as she dug the tip of her spear into the soil, marching towards Clarke and into her personal space. She had a gaze that could cut through marble, Clarke was sure, but she wasn’t the least bit intimidated. Not this time.
“You seek to mock me, and for what purpose?”
Clarke felt about ready to kill over with laughter, and trying to contain her laughs was making her stomach hurt. The closer Lexa was to her, and the more she could resemble the black mask surrounding her eyes to the woodland animal she had just witnessed, the funnier it was. Letting out her breath she grinned and sidled around Lexa, taking a few dramatic steps away from her.
“I guess I’ll have to call you raccoon face now. There’s just no other way I can think of you. You’ve ruined your Commander status.”
Risking a glance back at Lexa, Clarke could swear she saw the slightest hint of a blush heating up the Commander’s face. Destroying any trace of it, she stalked forward and grabbed her spear, pushing past a rather triumphant Clarke.
“If you tell anyone about this, I’ll do a lot worse then drag you away to hunt,” she growled.
“If you want me to stay quiet about it, you won’t be doing anything at all,” Clarke grinned, twirling her blade. Perhaps hunting hadn’t turned out to be as bad as she thought.