Chapter Text
There once was a girl who spent her entire life living in the woods. She doesn't remember how she got there but to no avail she'd go fishing and hunting to feed herself. She grew wild plants and kept chickens for eggs. Her cabin was small, just one room but it always had a warm roaring fire. In the afternoon she takes her food to the river and watches the wild animals that came to drink. Most of them were used to her by now. She never took more than she needed and although she did hunt, it was only to survive.
Overtime a brown colored wolf would come to the other side of the river, they’d watch one another. The girl would eat her food and throw scraps across the small river to the wolf who ate them happily.
As it grew colder, the girl didn't venture out to the river as often. It was too cold and the fish were less popular. She would store quite a bit of food to help herself through winter but there was always plenty to do around the cabin. She first started noticing the wolf coming closer while carrying water back to the cabin. It wandered around her home but wasn't acting dangerously. The girl quickly let herself inside and stayed in for the rest of the evening.
The next day she headed out but carried her handmade bow and quiver. It was unlike predatory animals to come towards the cabin in such a way. Wolves were pack animals, she wasn't sure why this particular one always seemed to be alone.
As winter came, the ground covered in white snow and the girl could see the tracks of the wolf that moved around her area. She shook her head but continued about her daily tasks. During winter, one of the biggest tasks was fueling her fire. She took her ax, which was made of a pointed rock tied to a sturdy stick and head out. The girl always removed her winter jacket when cutting wood because if she soaked it in sweat, it would freeze in the bitter air.
She spotted the brown wolf easily as it sat under a tree nearby, keeping it’s distance away from her. The girl put her head down and continue chopping the wood. It hasn't hurt her yet, so why would it now?
She made several trips to the cabin with arms full of cut wood. She stack them neatly inside against the the wall that held the fire, keep them thawed. Frozen wood took so much longer to burn. She decided next time she was going to remember to take her pull sled, that way she could load it up and pull it back home. Enough of making so many trips with a handful of wood.
Winter lasted longer than usual. The girl found herself running out of food. She tried to ration herself, hoping that spring would start soon. She needed to go hunting but there weren't many animals out during the winter months. She plan on setting a few traps to try and catch something. The wolf followed her around as she set up small game traps. The girls secretly hoped the wolf would understand and stay away from them. She had started growing attached.
As a few days turned into a week, the girl had completely run out of food. She tried hunting, even fishing in the icy river. She looked for anything that could add nutrients to her body but she had started running out of options and was growing sluggish. She’d used all her energy and fell in the snow one afternoon. She tried crawling towards her cabin, it wasn't far.
She blacked out while trying, her energy spent beyond belief. Her body trying its best to keep warm and sustain breaths. It took a long time before she woke again. She felt warm. It was strange. She was warmer than she could ever remember. If felt as if someone had been laying next to her moments before. She stretched and could smell what she thought was meat. In her confusion she tried to get up quickly but felt dizzy, sitting back down onto her bed again.
As she opened her eyes she could see the sun starting to rise. The last thing she could remember was a blanket of snow surrounding her face outside. She looked to the fire and sure enough there was something small sitting there on the spit, cooking slowly. Her stomach growled loudly and she gingerly made her way towards the fire. She picked up her knife and cut herself a small piece. The girl ate and groaned loudly at how delicious it was while looking towards the door. There were footprints all over the ground of her cabin so she must have forgotten how she'd cooked meat and gotten back home.
That day the girl spent her time resting and eating to build up her strength. It wasn't until she'd run out of water that she had to go outside. She took her large pail and made her way slowly down to the frigid river, filling up her bucket and heading back. To her surprise, there was a small deer laying next to her door. Beside the deer was the wolf. The wolf's green eyes looked at the girl and nodded before trotting away.
The girl thought about those green eyes while she skinned the animal and cut the pieces to be cooked and saved. She never wasted any of an animal, thanking it for giving its life for her. She smiled softly to herself, wondering what the wolf was doing and why was helping her.
Before long, the wolf came often and was close to the cabin. The wolf brought the girl food when she could not find her own and would always leave before the sun set. The girl started to miss the wolf, even when it had only been gone for a short while.
As spring started to finally arrive they would go out in a pair, searching for food. They would play foolishly in the open areas, running and laughing. The wolf would laugh in a series of yipping noises in the girl loved it. It was now what the girl called the rainy season. Sometimes they would find themselves huddled under a tree for a period of time, not wanting to get soaked on the trek back to the cabin. When the wind blew and the rain poured, the girl could feel the warmth radiating off the wolf and the fur would curl around her.
It was nearing the end of spring and her companion joined her nearly daily. She would talk to the wolf as if it could understand. Normally the wolf acted like it could. The girl was growing use to having a friend, which was a completely foreign concept to her. She’d play her fingers in the soft, brown fur and they would tease one another in their own ways. The girl would even feed the wolf pieces of cooked meat and water from her cups. It was an interesting relationship but comforting in a sense.
One morning the girl had gotten up, started the daily chores. She’d even gone down to the river and pulled a few fish. The wolf hadn’t been around and as the sun reached midday, the girl started to wonder. The day dragged on slowly as she kept her eyes out for her brown furred friend but night surely came, and the wolf never arrived.
The next day she sat out with her pack and bow to search for her friend. She spent hours looking but found nothing. Upon returning she decided the next day she would look in the other direction.
After she spent half of the following day looking, she started to see skuff tracks, she picked up her pace, drops of blood marking a few rocks along the way. She grew more and more worried as she followed the trail. It didn't take too much longer to find the brown fur covered in red, tucked under a bolder, hiding. She got closer and could hear a soft growling, snarling. She took steps towards the rock. She was slow but talk quietly at the sound, confident it was her friend. At the soft sound of the girl speaking there was a quiet whine and a wolf nose poked out in her direction. The green eyes were filled with pain. She beckoned the wolf out softly, trying to get it to come out but there was a shake of the wolf head in response.
The girl continued encouraging the wolf out but it could hardly move. She told the wolf to stay put and ran back to her cabin. It took longer than she wanted it to but she decided the sled was going to have to do. She drug it back, again cursing the distance. By the time she had gotten back, the sun was growing low in the sky. She hurriedly tried to convince the wolf into the sled but again it refused. So in her stubborn state the girl said she wasn’t leaving and would stay the night if the wolf would not come back with her.
With obvious reluctance the wolf tried to leave the small opening under the rock. The girl had to help drag it out and place it into the sled. She apologized for the jostling the trip would most certainly cause. The wolf just stared back at her with green eyes, looking slightly frightened.
As the girl huffed and puffed, she dragged the blood covered animal back to her cabin. The sun was growing lower and lower, the light fading. She finally reached her home and carried the wolf inside. Laying it upon her bed she moved quickly, finding rags and warming some water to start cleaning the fur and wounds. She talked to the green eyed creature, speculation what might have happened. Telling the wolf that she’d been worried. Even making jokes about how she should probably see the other guy, who was most likely worse off.
Once she had finished cleaning up the wounds to her satisfaction, the girl took a fur blanket and lay on the floor but the wolf got antsy. It tried to move off the bed as if to tell the girl to get in the bed instead. It was strange how it was so keen to the girl's feelings or well being. In lieu of the situation, the girl stood and curled up in the bed with her furry friend, falling asleep quickly against the warmth.
As the darkness of night covered the land, dreams consumed the girl. She was running, screaming, she woke with a start, sitting up and clinging to the furs in her bed. She looked around the dim room, the fire was low and barely lit the room in a soft glow. The girl gasped as the form of a person neared her bed. She struggled against her covers, with her back to the wall. She cried out, asking who the person was. The door had been locked. How could anyone be inside?
The person knelt slowly at the edge of the bed and finally in the glow, green eyes met the girls. The same green eyes. She knew those eyes.
She frantically searched the room for her wolf friend. Her eyes landing back on the ones staring at her. The girl asked how this could be and who she was. There was no answer. She pushed out of the bed and stood, looking at the form of a woman. She furrowed her brow and found an extra shirt quickly for the naked, green eyed, tan and muscled woman. While the girl tried to figure out what was happening, the wolf woman stayed away from her. It was obvious that the woman was in a lot of pain. The girl ushered her back into bed but kept her distance, sitting on the floor by the fire and watching the woman in her bed.
It took the the wolf three days to heal under the girl's careful care. They didn’t talk at all. At night the wolf turned into a woman and the girl would sleep by the fire. Their friendship was strained by this new found secret. They didn’t know how to go about being around one another anymore. The girl wondered if the wolf really had been able to understand her. She wondered why the wolf helped her and stayed close by.
As the wolf got better, she’d run off and be gone for long periods of time. During the day, she’d come and go, watching the girl. It was an interesting form of protection but the girl wasn’t uneasy about it being a wolf anymore. She was uneasy because it was also another person.
As summer came, the girl spent longer nights outside. It was warm and she’d build a fire just outside the cabin. She enjoyed watching the stars and thinking about the universe. Maybe it was supposed to be strange, being alone all the time, but it’s all she’d ever known. When she heard the crack of a twig she jumped up with her bow, an arrow notched at the ready. She aimed in the direction of the noise and it was then that the woman came walking towards the fire. She stared at the girl, asking for permission with her forest colored eyes. The girl let her hands fall down slowly, the wolf in human form walking closer and sitting on a nearby log. The girl watched the tan skinned woman closely, who now had on some rough garments.
The woman played with her fingers softly and looked at the fire, “you think you don’t know me” she said gently before looking up at the girl across the fire, “but you do..”
The girl shook her head no in response, not trusting her voice right away. Her legs were bouncing anxiously. She’d spent many seasons growing used to the brown fluff that accompanied her everywhere. She’d started to feel safe and grown comfortable. It was strange and bizarre to be looking at the same set of eyes but a different form. “I only know one side of you” she finally said through the silence of the air. “I don’t know this person I’m looking at, not at all.” She felt her voice betray her as it wavered.
The woman smiled softly beside herself, green eyes remaining attached upon the girls. “You do know me. Though my form is different, I’m still the same.” She raised her eyes to the sky, looking at the stars for a moment before looking back at the girl again. “I still favor the trout you fish because I’m a poor fisherman. I still enjoy the soft scratches on my back, as you well know.” She whispered softly, a gentle flush showing on the younger girl's skin. “I still hunt, I still bring you food if you need help.” The woman smiled again and tossed a small bag at the girl, “or even when you don’t need help.” The younger girl had caught the bag and opened it to find her favorite berries inside. “You don’t recognize the form, but I’m still me.” The green eyed woman let her voice carry softly through the flames while the other girl’s legs started to stop trembling.
The woman could tell that though she’d made some sort of impact, perhaps pushing wasn’t the best thing to do. She did as she normally would and slowly got up, walking away. Before she could get too far the girl cried out, “What do I call you?” Which was a question that had been weighing on the younger girl's mind since she’d first seen the other woman.
“Lexa.” The tan woman responded. “You can call me Lexa” her voice was soft, calm and collected. Finally she made her feet move again and disappeared from the warm light of the fire into the woods.
The girl pondered this and played the name around in her mind. It seemed fitting. She hummed softly to herself while she finished the small pouch of berries and headed in for the night. This continued, by day the wolf would come and by night, the woman would move to the fire. They’d talked quietly about little things. The girl never spoke the woman’s name but it came to her mind often.
A few nights later, the girl asked a question that she’d never thought she’d ask. Vanity was the furthest things from her mind. “What color are my eyes?” The girl asked gently. She was too shy to look up into the green ones she knew were staring at her. Without a moment of hesitation the wolf in human form responded. “Blue.” She said firmly, taking a deep breath before continuing. She didn’t want the girl to interrupt the depth of the answer, wanting to provide more than a singular word. “Your eyes are blue like the sky. Blue like the river in early spring, after the snow melts and makes it shimmer. They’re bright and sparkle like the stars at night.” The girl finally looked up into those green eyes, seeing how soft they were when looking into her own.
The days passed and soon they would be sitting next to one another at night. They’d talk with their hands and their laughs would grow loud, echoing in the hills on occasion. When the nights were warm enough, they wouldn’t even start a fire. The two would lay on furs outside the cabin and watch the stars. The woman with the green eyes would point out starts by name and force the younger girl to make wishes upon shooting stars. It made the young girl curious where she’d learned these things.
“I want to ask you something.” The blue eyed girl said again, quietly against the warm air surrounding them. She leaned up from her back onto her elbow and looked at the other woman.
The green eyes flicked to meet hers, a smile tugging on her lips, “Sure, but I want to ask you one first.” The playful tone drifting up to meet the girl. The pale skin of the younger girl shown brightly in the light of the moon. She bit her lip while contemplating letting her companion ask her a question first. Finally, she nodded lightly and waited patiently for the question.
“What is your name?” the wolf woman asked. The words rang out softly and the blue eyed girl scrunched up her face. She leaned back and then moved away from the other woman, slowly standing and heading inside. The wolf watched her go, wondering if she’d done something wrong. There had been no intention to hurt the girl with a question that the girl had once asked on her own. Sighing softly she got up, she had heard the door latch behind the other girl in the cabin. Perhaps it was time to go, the older woman nodded softly to herself and headed back into the forest.
Before she’d gotten out of hearing range she heard her name, soft from a distance, vulnerable. She spun on her heels and darted back to the cabin, seeing the girl standing in the doorway.
“Where did you go?” The younger girl asked quietly, her fingers shaking as she tried to clutch something small in her hands.
“I thought you’d gone for the night” the wolf responded just as softly, walking slowly closer to the girl before her.
“I had to fetch something..” she said gently as she held out a small and faded piece of fur. The tan woman took it tenderly, inspecting it and turning it over in her hands. It was almost like a child’s blanket she thought to herself and then noticed some stitching in the fabric. “I can’t read” the younger girl whispered, “but it’s the only word I’ve ever seen, on a blanket I was very close to, growing up here alone, I can only assume -” her voice trembled, looking up towards the eyes of the other woman. It was dark but she could make out the features perfectly. The full lips, the sharp jawline, even the soft pull upwards of her eyebrows as the wolf realized what the girl meant.
The older woman smiled delicately and met the blue eyes with her green ones. She tried to speak, twice, before taking a soft, full breath. “Clarke” She spoke, with a gentle click of the ‘k’. “Your name is Clarke.” She smiled again ever so lightly at the younger girl as tears built up in the blue eyes.