Raven and Octavia were no strangers to passion. They'd both masturbated plenty of times, of course, and had dreams that left them wet and wanting almost as often. One usually led to the other, after all. And both had certainly found themselves stripping quickly in the past, for a variety of reasons, and even in front of others. But never before had the two been combined like this, and never with each other.
They'd barely taken the time to sweep out the tower -which consisted mostly of finding old clothing and rags from the main body of the terminal and using sticks to jerry-rig brooms to sweep out the glass and debris- and put some padding on the floor before they'd fallen on one another, hands moving in clumsy excitement to strip themselves and each other of clothing, their mouths feverishly seeking out whatever skin they could find with often-bruising force.
Octavia's mouth latched onto Raven's neck, sucking hard enough to leave a mark while her fingers fumbled with the clasp of Raven's bra roughly enough that, had she the presence of mind, Raven might have worried it would be broken. Instead she gasped, arching into the touch as she yanked Octavia's shirt over her head, tossing it carelessly aside and letting the younger girl's own bra-clad breasts bounce free. Then she moaned, as Octavia buried her face in her out-thrust breasts and nipped at the side of one soft globe, a spike of thrilled pleasure lancing through her body at the feeling.
"Fuck, O!" Raven hissed, tangling her fingers in Octavia's dark hair and tugging sharply, pulling the girl's face back up to her own. Their lips crashed together, teeth clacking in their urgency, tongues sliding against each other with desperate need. It might hurt, when the lust-born endorphins died off, but that was a problem for the future. All that mattered now was how they felt and who they were feeling with.
Octavia's hands finally succeeded in unfastening Raven's bra, and she yanked it away, flinging it somewhere into the dusty corner of the tower room. Her palms immediately covered Raven's larger breasts, squeezing them with a firm possessiveness that made Raven's knees weak in a way that had nothing at all to do with all the walking they'd done, and only a little that had to do with the purely physical reaction as well.
Then O's lips wrapped around one of her nipples and 'weak' became 'useless' as she slumped against the wall behind her before sliding to the floor, Octavia following her to the ground and straddling her hips without breaking her suction for even a moment.
"God, O!" Raven breathed, her head falling back against the concrete with a dull thud she barely registered. Her hands scrabbled at Octavia's shoulders, nails leaving crescent marks as the younger girl's tongue swirled around her sensitive peak. Each flick sent jolts of electricity straight to Raven's core, making her hips buck involuntarily.
Octavia hummed against her skin, the sound distinctly smug and pleased, and the vibration adding another layer of sensation that had Raven biting her lip to keep from crying out. They weren't exactly hidden up here, and while many of the windows were intact, they were also several hundred feet up surrounded by a great deal of land that was still mostly flat and empty. If they made too much noise, it could easily carry quite the distance and draw attention that they didn't want.
When Octavia switched to her other breast, Raven -regaining some semblance of mind- took the opportunity to fumble with the clasp of the more aggressive girl's bra, cursing under her breath when her trembling fingers struggled with the hook.
"Need help?" Octavia murmured against her skin, sending a whole new and different type of sensation through her, and Raven growled something wordlessly in frustration as a response, pulling a soft laugh from her friend's throat as Octavia sat up and reached around to unhook her own bra, letting it slide down her arms and freeing her breasts to Raven's eyes. The sight stole Raven's breath away, their bounce and sway from the movement nothing short of mesmerizing. Octavia's breasts were smaller than her own, but perfectly shaped, with dusky nipples pebbled tight from arousal and begging for attention. Raven reached up, cupping them in her palms, feeling their weight and warmth.
"Beautiful, you're just…" she whispered, the words more a breath than syllables, rolling her thumbs over the sensitive peaks and watching Octavia's eyes flutter closed, her lips parting on a soft gasp. It was an intoxicating look on the other girl's face, and Raven immediately decided that she wanted to see more of it, as often as possible.
Octavia rocked forward after a moment, grinding down against Raven's stomach, the damp heat of her sex easily felt even through the layers of fabric still between them. That knowledge, the knowledge that she was arousing Octavia as much as Octavia was arousing her, sent a fresh spike of heat straight to her own damp folds, and she suddenly wanted nothing more than for the clothes seperating them to be gone.
"Too many clothes!" Octavia muttered before Raven could even open her mouth, apparently agreeing with the unvoiced thought and feeling suddenly impatient. She climbed off Raven just long enough to shimmy out of her pants and underwear in one swift motion, revealing long, toned legs and a neatly trimmed triangle of dark, damp curls at the apex of her thighs. Raven's mouth went dry at the sight of her friend fully naked, all lean muscle and smooth curves that seemed to glow in the filtered sunlight streaming through the tower windows.
"Your turn, Rae." Octavia demanded, her voice husky with need as she knelt down and reached for the waistband of Raven's pants with the intent of stripping them off. Something Raven was more than happy to help facilitate, lifting her hips without a moment of hesitation to allow Octavia to tug the material down her legs, wincing slightly as the motion jostled her bad leg. Octavia noticed immediately, her movements becoming gentler as she eased the pants over the arch of Raven's knee.
"You okay?" she asked, a flicker of concern crossing her features, putting the pants aside slowly and hesitating to reach for the supine Hispanic.
"Never better, babe." Raven assured her, spreading her legs and pulling Octavia back on top of her. "Don't you dare stop now, O. You promised to take me to bed, so take me already."
"Bossy, for the girl on the bottom." Octavia smirked, but her eyes darkened with renewed hunger as she settled between Raven's thighs and made herself comfortable. "I like it. Like having you under me even more. God, you're gorgeous, Rae."
She lowered her mouth to Raven's collarbone, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down the slightly-sweat-dampened skin of her chest. Each press of lips -and the occasional swift swipe of a tongue- left goosebumps in its wake, and Raven squirmed beneath her, desperate for more contact where she needed it most. Octavia took her time, though, mapping every inch of Raven's stomach with her tongue, dipping into her navel and nipping at the sensitive skin just above her hipbone.
"O, please," Raven whimpered, threading her fingers through Octavia's hair and trying to guide her downward.
Octavia resisted, glancing up with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "Patience, babe. You told me to take you, and I will…when I'm ready to. I decide when things happen now, not you."
Raven shivered at the casual dominance in the words, and found that she didn't mind in the least. She'd never thought of herself as much of a sub, certainly not for anyone but Clarke, but then again her only real relationship before she had dedicated herself to Clarke and to the blond girl's visions of the future had been with Finn. Who had never left her feeling like this, and certainly never left her waiting eagerly for more instructions. So maybe she was a sub after all. Maybe Clarke wasn't the only one that was going to top her. She was fine with that.
No, she was happy with that.
"Fine, yeah." Raven exhaled shakily, relaxing her grip on Octavia's hair and surrendering herself to whatever pace the younger girl wanted to set, whatever Octavia wanted to do with her. "You're in charge."
Octavia's smile was nothing short of predatory as she crawled back up Raven's body, their naked breasts brushing together in a way that made both young women gasp. "I like the sound of that, Rae. I like it a lot." she purred, capturing Raven's mouth in another bruising kiss, nipping at her bottom lip. "Say it again."
"You're in charge, Octavia." Raven breathed against her lips, still a bit surprised by how much she meant it. There was something liberating about giving up control, about letting someone else take the reins for once, at least someone other than Clarke and in something so very different from the way their Princess had so often commanded her. Though she couldn't help but imagine, briefly, as the words flowed towards Octavia, what it would be like when she was underneath Clarke…or, better yet, Clarke and Octavia together.
"Good girl," Octavia murmured, and the praise doubled the pulse of arousal that flashed through Raven's body at the mental image of being dominated by the two most important women in her life simultaneously. Then Octavia shifted, positioning herself so that one thigh pressed firmly between Raven's legs, the friction on her pussy sending Raven gasping as her hips bucking involuntarily against the wide length of Octavia's thigh.
"That's it, babe." Octavia encouraged, her voice a husky sigh, clearly enjoying the feeling of Raven's slick folds pressed against her skin almost as much as Raven was enjoying the stimulation. "Show me how much you want this."
Raven couldn't have stopped herself if she tried, which she most certainly didn't. Her body without the slightest instruction from her conscious mind, grinding against Octavia's thigh, leaving a slick trail of arousal on the younger girl's skin. Each rock of her hips sent waves of pleasure pulsing through her body, a slowly rolling tide of pleasure that she could feel building into something spectacular.
"O, fuck!" she panted, her fingers digging into Octavia's shoulders for purchase, whatever discomfort she had felt in her leg washed away by what she was feeling now. "You…it feel so good, I…"
"Mmh, I can tell. You're so wet, Rae." Octavia purred in response, her own breath coming quicker as she shifted to straddle Raven's good leg and grind her own sex against it, moaning lowly at the firm stimulation, creating an inexperienced but instinctive and sensual rhythm between them. Within a minute, Raven's thick was as slick with her need as her own was with Raven's, and she couldn't help but feel a strange sort of pleasure at knowing they were marking each other like this. "And so am I. God, I've wanted this for so long, Raven. Almost as long as I've wanted Clarke."
Raven's rhythm faltered at the confession, her eyes widening as she looked up at Octavia's flushed face, eyes searching. "You too?" she whispered, feeling suddenly vulnerable and seen in a way she hadn't expected despite what they had spent the last several minutes doing. "I thought I was the only one who..."
Octavia leaned down, pressing their foreheads together as their bodies continued to rock against each other. "No, not the only one. Never the only one." Her voice was softer now, though no less intense. "We both love Clarke, we always have, but how could I not fall for you to? It's been you and I for so long, always together, always working to save our people, always teaming up to do what Clarke needed of us. You've been right there with me, every day, every night. You're my partner, Raven. How could I not?"
Raven felt tears prick at her eyes, the emotional revelation somehow more overwhelming than the physical pleasure coursing through her body. "I never thought..." she managed, her voice catching. "I thought I was crazy, loving both of you. I…even with Zoe and Harper, I thought it wasn't possible…"
"You're not crazy," Octavia whispered, brushing her lips against Raven's cheek, her movements gentler now though no less passionate. "Or if you are, we're both crazy together. And I can live with that, can't you?"
Their rhythm slowed momentarily as they gazed at each other, a new understanding passing between them, and Raven smiled with a small, almost shy nod. Then Octavia's eyes darkened again, and she shifted her position, slowly rising to her feet and stepping forward until her sex was only a handful of inches from Raven's face, the scent of her arousal washing across the girl beneath her with every breath she took.
"Taste me, Raven." Octavia instructed quietly, firmly, and Raven hesitated only for the briefest of moments -from nervousness, Octavia could recognize that easily enough, and not from disgust or dislike- before scooting forward and tentatively pressing a kiss to her mound. The sensation sent a shiver through Octavia's body. She braced herself against the wall with one hand while the other threaded through Raven's hair, guiding her closer. Directing her gently, controlling her softly, and Raven loved it.
"More, Rae. That's not enough." she whispered, voice husky and as dripping with need as her pussy. Raven obeyed in an instant, parting Octavia's folds with tentative fingers before leaning in to run her tongue experimentally along her slit. The taste was unfamiliar, compared to her own, but far from unpleasant. Tangy and musky and uniquely Octavia. She felt the younger girl's thighs tremble as she explored, growing bolder with each swipe of her tongue, and she couldn't help the small smile that briefly creased her lips in pride.
"God, yes, good girl." Octavia moaned, her fingers tightening in Raven's hair, enough to sting and thrill. "Just like that."
Encouraged, Raven circled Octavia's clit with the tip of her tongue, drawing a sharp gasp from above her, feeling a surge of power and satisfaction at the way Octavia's hips jerked forward involuntarily, grinding against her mouth. Eager to give more pleasure, and feel better herself in the effort than she already was, she wrapped her lips around the sensitive bud, sucking gently while her hands gripped Octavia's thighs to steady her.
"Fuck! Raven!" Octavia gasped, her free hand tightening into a fist and thudding dully into the wall. "Right there, don't stop!"
Raven hummed against her, the vibration making Octavia's knees buckle slightly. She explored with increasing confidence and a certain sort of hunger, alternating between broad strokes of her tongue and focused attention on Octavia's clit. When she cautiously slid one finger inside Octavia's entrance, the younger girl practically howled.
"Yes! Rae, more!" she didn't squeal -the sound was far too domineering and firm for that, to like a growl- but her voice certainly went up a couple of octaves as she started rocking her hips in rhythm with Raven's movements. "Another finger!"
Raven obeyed, adding a second finger and curling them upward, searching for that spot she knew -thanks to plenty of experience finding it for herself- would drive Octavia wild. When her fingertips brushed against the slightly rougher patch inside, Octavia's entire body shuddered.
"There! Right there!" Octavia gasped, her head falling back as she ground down against Raven's mouth and fingers. Her thighs were trembling near-constantly now, the muscles taut with tension as she chased her release, the first one she'd ever receive at the hands of someone other than herself. "Don't you dare fucking stop!"
She didn't need to worry, because God knew that Raven had no intention of stopping anytime soon. Certainly not before she made Octavia cum. Instead, she kept going, working her fingers in a steady rhythm, curling them with each thrust while her tongue flicked rapidly over Octavia's clit. The taste of Octavia's arousal was intoxicating, rapidly becoming something that she was fond off, and the smell was making her head swim in the best of ways.
Octavia's breathing grew ragged, her moans higher and more desperate, more eager, more tremulous as she raced towards her peak. "Raven, I'm so close! I'm so—" Her words dissolved into a wordless cry as she finally crested, her orgasm, body stiffening and then shuddering violently. Her thighs clamped around Raven's head, holding her in place as she rode out the waves of pleasure against her friend's talented mouth.
Raven kept her movements steady through Octavia's climax, only slowing when the younger girl's grip on her hair loosened and her trembling subsided, coaxing ever moment of pleasure out of the younger girl that she could. She placed a gentle kiss against Octavia's inner thigh before looking up, a mixture of pride and arousal written across her cum-stained face
"How was that?" she asked, unable to keep the smug satisfaction from her voice, and her tongue darted out almost absently to collect some of the fluids coating her lips, humming softly in satisfaction at the taste.
Octavia slid down to her knees to straddle Raven's lap once again, her legs apparently unable to support her any longer, and cupped Raven's face in her hands. "Fucking amazing, babe." she breathed giddily, before pulling Raven into a deep kiss, seeming to have no objection to the taste of her own cum on the submissive girl's lips. After a moment she pulled back and licked her own lips clean, eyes hooded with desire. "Now, it's your turn…"
Raven could only gulp and watch with wide eyes and bated breath as her friend…no, her lover, started to slowly slide down her body towards her own dripping sex, and as the first gust of Octavia's breath washed over her heated flesh, she leaned her head back against the wall and let herself fall away into a pleasure that was nothing short of bliss.
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Hoofbeats thundered through the forested road-ruins of Arlington as Clarke, Kassandra and a full dozen members of the Sentinels at her back road towards the distant crash sight, her beloved pups -larger than they had been even when Kassandra had taken her to The Vault, and she had made a mental note to ask when she had a moment- loped alongside the black stallion she now sat astride. Sleipnir, she'd named him, unable to resist double -no, at this point, it would be tripling, wouldn't it?- down on the reference to her 'true nature'. A nature she'd had no time yet to grasp, and likely would for some time to come. Not until she secured the safety of whoever it was that had just landed, got them back to the safety of Polis, and figured out just what the fuck was going on.
Until she figured out why the Ark had sent someone else to the ground so quickly, who was responsible for doing it, and just how badly she was going to have to hurt them for betraying her agreement with the Council like this. Thank God for ALIE, who'd detected the launch and safeguarded it from The Mountain's attempts to redirect the pod closer to their territory in an effort to protect the inhabitants. And thank God for Kassandra, who -though she had a lot to explain about a lot of subjects- had acted quickly and decisively to get Clarke ready for the rescue mission that was now underway.
Which included pulling out a few family heirlooms to replace those that Leksa still held in Polis and to…streamline this particular rescue mission. Heirlooms that she honestly found to be too powerful for someone as inexperienced and untrained as she was to use them, which is why she'd only accepted a couple of them. The armored robes of an ancestor, black and crimson, and what Kassandra called a 'Ring of Eden'. An ancient artifact, Hnituðr, that she had refused to let Clarke leave behind, telling her that it would protect her -and anyone standing behind her- from gunshots, with the less-than-subtle reminder that she'd already been shot twice as it was, and she was the sole hope for the Ark and the best hope for mankind as a whole. Not the sort of person who should be endangering herself out of some bizarre sense of fair play, and certainly not out of some sort of misplaced sense of pride either.
Clarke had grudgingly accepted the ring, slipping the golden, rune-marked band onto her upper arm and feeling the strange sensation of ancient, nigh-magical technology wrapping around her in a protective shroud. It was oddly warm against her skin, almost alive in a way she couldn't articulate, and she'd found herself losing a certain degree of tension that she hadn't even known had existed until it was gone. It made sense, of course, in hindsight. She knew that she was safer, now, and that meant that her people were safer now.
"Clarke! Two miles, now!" Kassandra called from behind her, astride her own chestnut mount, and Clarke gave a wordless call of acknowledgement and focused on holding on to her mount. She'd gotten plenty of riding experience, and plenty of lessons, since she'd arrived on Earth, but her previous mounts had been small, sweet mares that had been ridden -outside of desperately fleeing the yong pauna- at a very sedate pace. Sleipnir, on the other hand, was massive, powerful, and fierce. Seven feet tall, at least, if Clarke was to guess -she'd never exactly met something that tall before, but she knew how tall she was, and he towered over her- and she was willing to bet that the old saying 'weighs as much as a small car' wouldn't be much of an exaggeration when it came to him either. And he was fast, too. Faster than anything she'd ever ridden before or even imagined a living thing could be, his powerful muscles bunching and releasing beneath her with each stride as they tore down the overgrown highway. And thank God for the high-front, high-back saddle that Kassandra had provided, because without it she was sure she would have been thrown from his back within the first quarter-mile, and probably broken her neck when she hit the ground.
"One mile!" came another shout from behind, a few minutes later, and Clarke leaned lower over Sleipnir's neck, her heart pounding in rhythm with his hooves. She could see smoke rising in the distance now, a thin gray column that stood in stark relief against the afternoon sun, and she couldn't help the spike of worry in regards to what they would find when they finally arrived. Who had been sent down, and what shape were they in? Had there been some sort of revolt, a civil conflict, on the Ark? Were her people dead, wiped out before she could finally save them all?
She shook her head sharply, banishing the thought from her mind.
No, she couldn't think that way. She had to believe her mother was safe, that Raven and Octavia and Zoe and Harper and Wells and all the rest of the Ark's population were still safe and sound and waiting for her to bring them home. She had to have faith that all was not yet lost, she had to push aside even the briefest thought of failure, of despair, and focus on accomplishing her goals. This had to be some part of some sort of plan to help her succeed. The Ark wouldn't have sent anyone down without good reason. Not after everything she'd done to ensure their cooperation, not after the bargain that she had struck. The Council knew better than to betray her, so this had to be something else. Someone acting independently, maybe, or an emergency she hadn't foreseen, or -as she had thought just a moment before- some sort of help. Maybe they'd realized that she was alive and had sent the equipment she needed to radio them? She wasn't sure how well that would work, but even a garble transmission would be better than nothing.
They broke through the trees at last, and she reigned Sleipnir into a trot, eyes widening, as she took in the massive, sprawling complex that was now laid out before them. She'd seen pictures of airports before, of course, and she knew -intellectually- that there were airports vastly larger, the size of towns, in other parts of the country. But this was still the biggest thing she'd ever seen that wasn't Polis itself, and that just wasn't the same, was it?
"The smoke is still fairly distant, but whoever it is definitely landed here at the airport. A couple miles more, maybe." Kassandra remarked, eyeing the much-closer column of grey with a speculative, experienced eye. "We shouldn't have any trouble reaching it, the runways have always been fairly clear and most of the metal in the area that could endanger the horses was salvaged decades ago. Ought to be careful and take our time anyway, though, just in case."
"Your call, you're the experienced person here." Clarke acknowledged without hesitation, going so far as to move Sleipnir to the side to clear the way for Kassandra to take the lead, and the ancient woman flashed her a smile as she trotted forward, casting an evaluating eye on the vast expanse of cracked and overgrown concrete.
"Sentinels, spread out. Keep your eyes open for any movement. We don't know who or what else might have spotted this landing. And look for signs of the pod's inhabitants, in case they've already exited the transport." she ordered after a moment, her subordinates obeying immediately and silently, their eyes roving the world around them as Kassandra led the entire group forward in a light trot.
They carefully made their way across the vast, flat expanse of the ruins, following the smoke trail that grew clearer with each passing minute, . Clarke found herself scanning the horizon constantly, split between watching for potential threats and searching for any sign of movement from whoever had landed, her heart progressively climbing higher into her throat. Geri and Freki ranged ahead, noses to the ground, occasionally circling back to her as if reporting that all was well before bounding forward again. It was reassuring, in a way that she hadn't quite expected, to have the two devoted canines so involved in the investigation.
"Mentor! There!" one of the Sentinels called out, pointing to what -at least from this distance- looked a lot like a crater, dirt and concrete and plant life broken and scattered around a small, unmistakably metallic object. Clarke's breath caught as she recognized the shape: a drop ship, similar in design to the one that had brought her down to Earth. Which meant that the Council hadn't stabbed her in the back and sent the Skybox kids down en masse.
"Let's move!" Clarke urged, spurring Sleipnir forward with renewed purpose, with hope and fear alike warring in her heart. The stallion responded immediately, accelerating once again into a strong canter, and she grimaced faintly in guilt as she heard Kassandra growl and bark commands to their guards. The woman, her entire clan really, were dedicated entirely to keeping Earth ready for her arrival and protecting her, but Clarke wasn't exactly making it easy for her. Under the circumstances, she couldn't feel too guilty, though.
As they drew closer, Clarke could make out more details. The pod had created a modest impact crater, but appeared completely intact, which was definitely a good sign. The parachutes had deployed properly, she could see, and was now draped across the nearby ground like a cluster of deflated balloons. Scorch marks blackened portions of the exterior, and there were more than a few sizeable dents in the hull, but despite that it seemed to the naked eye to be unbreeched. Most importantly, there were no signs of Mountain Men or other potential threats in the immediate area. Still, she couldn't let herself get too excited until she looked inside and saw for herself if it was empty or…or not.
"Kassandra, cover me." Clarke called as she dismounted a little more swiftly than was perhaps wise, her feet hitting the hard ground with a soft thud. She winced slightly at the impact but recovered quickly, her eyes never leaving the pod. "I'm going to check for survivors."
"Clarke, wait." Kassandra cautioned, dismounting as well but with significantly more grace. "Let me secure the area first! We have no idea what the situation is!"
But Clarke was already moving, her heart hammering in her chest, utterly uninterested -no, unable- in waiting any longer. Each step toward the pod felt simultaneously too slow and too fast, her right hand falling onto the hilt of the sword at her waist, and after a frustrated huffs Kassandra barked orders once again. The Sentinels fanned out around them, weapons drawn and eyes sharply scanning, creating a protective perimeter around the landing site. Geri and Freki darted ahead, circling the pod and sniffing cautiously at its metal exterior.
The wolves showed no signs of aggression or concern, which Clarke took as a good sign. If there was danger or a threat within the pod, her loyal companions would certainly have alerted her. As…as they would have if there was shed blood, and she clung to that hope.
"Geri, Freki, back." she commanded softly with a whistle, and they obeyed immediately, retreating to her sides but remaining alert, their ears perked forward and tails held high. She pried her hand away from her sword long enough to run her hands over their heads, finding comfort in the simple gesture, before moving forward again, stepping into the crater itself.
"The door is open…" Kassandra murmured softly from her right shoulder, and Clarke swallowed heavily as she saw exactly what the older woman was talking about. The gap was a small one, but it was obvious that the door had been opened and then pushed shut without actually being latched properly.
"They got out already," Clarke whispered, heart pounding in her throat, a hopeful smile creasing her lips. "Whoever was in there has already left."
With renewed urgency, she rushed to the pod and yanked the door open fully, Kassandra peering in over her shoulder. The interior was empty, as expected, but signs of recent occupation -two people, not one, she noted- were everywhere, including discarded space-suits. There were obvious signs of emptied storage compartments too, which meant they'd come down with extra equipment. That was good.
Grabbing one of the spacesuits and hauling it out of the pod, she whistled her wolves over. Half a heartbeat later, they were snuffling at the heavily padded clothing before putting their nose to the ground and starting to track.
"They can't have gone far, not in the time they've had. I was the best prepared person on the Ark, and I barely made it a couple of miles my first day." she remarked to Kassandra, watching them work, getting a soft hum of agreement in response.
"Your wolves will find them, Clarke. There aren't many things in the world that can fool a wolf's nose, especially not wolves like these two." Kassandra assured her as the wolves snuffled at the ground a few feet away from the pod, before Geri broke away and loped over to some nearby trees to investigate them. "Hmm. Two people, it looks like, but we already knew that from the pod's interior. Looks like they're on to something, as well."
Indeed, the pair of canines had met back up and were now working their way up the slope, away from the pod and back towards the distant terminals of the airport. Clarke and Kassandra exchanged glances before following, the watchful Sentinels shifting their perimeter in response.
"They're heading for cover, smart." Clarke muttered, already moving to follow. "Very smart. Looking for shelter right after arriving. Probably sore, possibly injured. The terminals would make a good spot to hide."
Kassandra nodded in agreement, signaling to the Sentinels with a quick hand gesture. "Spread out, keep a wide perimeter. We don't want to frighten whoever's out there by looking like an invading army."
Clarke, for her part, whistled sharply, catching Geri and Freki's attention as they started to rush ahead. "Easy, you two" she commanded, fondly exasperated despite the circumstances and the stress of the moment. "Gentle search. Gentle."
The wolves adjusted their pace, slowing from an eager lope to a more measured trot, their tails held high but not bristling. They understood what she was saying, that these were people to find, not prey to hunt. God, she was so proud of them, they were such good pups, and for all that she'd only had them a matter of weeks, she couldn't imagine living without their companionship.
The airport terminals loomed in the distance, their once-gleaming glass facades now broken and vine-covered, nature slowly reclaiming what humans had abandoned. She could see why someone from the Ark would instinctively head there, of course, especially if they weren't as well equipped and trained as she had been. The promise of shelter, potentially useful materials, and a defensive position from wild beasts would be appealing to anyone newly arrived on Earth. And, she had to admit, the opportunity to explore the Old World in a somewhat-safe way, as well.
"Kassandra," Clarke spoke quietly as they walked, eyes roaming the world around them. "if they're from the Ark, they'll be terrified. Confused. We need to approach carefully."
"Of course," the older woman replied, her voice equally soft. "Your wolves will alert us before we stumble upon them. We can call out, make our presence known before we're close enough to startle them. And you'll stay out in front so that they can recognize you're with us."
The wolves paused suddenly, both their heads swiveling toward a particular terminal building about a quarter mile ahead, before darting forwards. Clarke swore and charged after them, the rest on her heels, and when they all skidded to a halt beside the worn-down structure she could see that the pod's door wasn't the only one on the airport grounds that had been opened recently.
"Weapons ready, but don't draw them yet. We've no idea what else could be in there. Clarke, you stay behind me, understood? We're not rising you at this point." Kassandra ordered firmly, her tone making it clear that there would be no argument this time, and she bobbed her head obediently, hand going to the hilt of her own blade once again. Whoever was inside, she was sure that they were a friend, and by God she was looking forward to seeing them again.
She just hoped that they were okay.