Maybe she was sick. Yes, that had to be it. There had to be some kind of explanation for her oddity. That's what her parents liked to deem it, anyway. Aria Dante was, to put it bluntly, different from the others. There was never really a period in her life where everything suddenly changed so she could explain as to why; she was always, honestly, completely and utterly idiotic. Her marks were always terrible, often unable to bring home a grade above a D. Her teachers struggled the most with her, having to stay after hours just to reteach a lesson they had went over previously just so she could get it through her head.

They made up a nickname for her. Around the Ark, 'Dumb Dante' was used to describe someone saying something completely stupid or doing something outrageous. Some people accidentally let it slip in front of her, so she knew it well. It all became really embarrassing for her parents, who honestly believed the most important thing was reputation. She knew, deep down, they thought her foolish. Well, they weren't wrong. She couldn't grasp simple concepts, and she often made herself look really silly when teachers called on her in class to answer an easy question. She never failed to make her classmates laugh.

Aria was a lonely girl. Even if you put her poor grades aside, she was still just an odd girl. People thought her too weird, making it a game of avoiding her when she walked down the corridors. Her classmates often snickered as they passed around notes, describing to themselves what they would do if they were forced to have Dumb Dante as a lab partner. It was a wonder how she even advanced to the older grades. There was a rumor the teachers only did it because Aria's parents would slip them units. Since she was part of the privileged, it was no skin off their ass.

In conclusion, Aria simply just didn't belong. She was too stupid for her classmates and too weird for the adults. She could never win. She would never win. With just her luck, she landed herself up in the Sky Box with the rest of the delinquents. Granted, her crime was not nearly as bad as the others, but she still violated the law. She remembered how frightened she was when she saw the guards approaching her, their sticks lined with electricity in their hands.

Of course, all they did was strap her in metal cuffs before throwing her in a cell and deeming her nothing more other than Prisoner 247. She was sure she even heard a few of them call her Dumb Dante when they'd come for meal times. Aria truly did have the worst luck. She had an ignoramus streak, a spirit that simply put others off, and she had officially disappointed her parents more than she probably had before.

Stealing from her Earth Skills teacher was one thing, but she had taken his key card to get into his classroom. She not only had theft charges over her head, but she also got arrested for unauthorized trespassing. She did it all for the right reasons, though. Pike, their teacher, had announced he would be issuing them a test that would be worth half their grade the next day, and he had already told Aria's parents that he would not be conned into passing her with units. He had more credibility than that. In an attempt to get the answer sheet she knew was in his desk, she had gone to the mess hall at dinner time and swiped his keycard before finding his classroom.

She barely got four steps in before they found her. Apparently Pike had noticed his keycard missing far too early. They didn't believe her when she said it was just to get the answers for the quiz. She has been in her cell ever since, rotting away within its concaved walls and glass ceiling that revealed space in all its beauty to her.

Well, she was rotting in that cell into that exact morning.

She normally slept in most days. Sleeping helped her forget the guilt. Her parents visited occasionally, but they definitely didn't see her as much as they should. Aria knew they hated her now. They just had to. They had been very proud people; they needed to let others know they were superior. To be superior was to be better, and Aria simply wasn't better. Nevertheless, she always slept in. This morning, however, her slumber was very rudely interrupted.

"Wha-?" she mumbled tiredly, opening one eye to peek over. Someone had entered her cell. Two people to be exact. Both of them were wearing guard uniforms, and one of them were holding one of the shock batons Aria was so terrified of. That woke her up instantly, flying up and hitting her head on the metal rod of the bed. Seeing stars, she grunted and rubbed her temples.

"Prisoner 247, get to your feet and face the wall," one of the guards barked.

"O-Okay!" she weakly protested, jumping to her feet in fear. She was still slightly dizzy from the blow. "D-Did I do something wrong? I-Is it my eighteenth birthday already?" Her light voice was very shaky. The guards ignored her. Instead, one of them grabbed at her right wrist roughly, clasping something to it that made her yelp in pain. Looking down in alarm, she could see a small metal bracelet was now attached to her hand, and it didn't look like it was about to come off anytime soon.

"What's this?" she asked, slowly turning on the spot to look at them. Neither answered. Instead, the one with the shock baton suddenly seized her by under her arm and practically throwing her from her cell, sending her straight to the railing that she nearly toppled over had she not grabbed it. Eyes widening, she could see just about every prisoner stuck in the Sky Box was being uprooted from their cells, all wearing the same metal bracelet she was. What was going on? "Wh-What are you doing to us?"

"Keep it moving!" the guard huffed, shoving her forward down onto the steps. She fell after two measly steps, nearly catching her face on one of the steps and causing a serious injury. She quickly pulled herself back to her feet, mouth now trembling. Tears threatened the corners of her brown eyes. They were killing them, weren't they? It was a mass homicide in order to make room for more prisoners. She kept her arms close to her sides as she numbly followed the other kids, all looking just as confused as she was. For once, Aria wasn't the only one in the unknown.

If they were doing a mass killing, what were the bracelets for? Aria wondered. The guards disappeared from her sights as soon as she got stuck within crowd of delinquents, all of them easily surpassing her in height and preventing her of seeing where exactly where they were going. She could feel the atmosphere becoming colder and colder, but perhaps that was because she was so scared. She really wished her parents were with her right now.

Aria didn't deal with stress very well. Her arrest was a big example of that. She had practically thrown herself to her knees with her wrists held out when the guards had arrived. What was worse was that she didn't know what was going on. Why wouldn't they tell them? This didn't make any sense. Aria trembled visibly, trying to hunch over in order to hide her face. She was slightly worried that if the people walking beside her realized she was Dumb Dante, they'd make more of an effort to get away from her. It might be scary, but she'd rather be surrounded by strangers than guards.

"Single file! Single file!" someone ordered from ahead. In unison, the delinquents shoved each other around so they could be one behind the other. Aria was ultimately pushed until she was standing behind an Asian boy with thick black hair and a boy with shaggy brown hair and a mischievous smile. Neither of them paid any attention to her, thankfully. Moving about as much as she could without alarming the guards that she wasn't following direct orders, she could finally see that they were being led what looked to be a drop ship.

A drop ship?

Aria skidded to a stop, causing the boy and several others to knock into her. He looked down at her curiously, not angry or irritated.

"You good?" he asked simply.

"W-What's going on?" she squeaked. "I-I don't understand!"

"You there! Keep moving!" one of the guards growled, about to go and throw her forward. Thankfully, the boy behind her prevented that, holding up a hand to stop him and hissed into Aria's ear, "Keep moving, c'mon. He'll take any chance to put his hands on us." She didn't want to move, but she also really didn't want to be tossed around so angrily again. Nodding her head to the unnamed boy, she continued walking, avoiding the gaze of the furious guard as best as she could.

She has never been so terrified before, not since her arrest. It took a while for her to eventually get to the mouth of the drop ship. When she finally did so, she was able to see what it looked like inside. It was dark and murky. There were many seats surrounding her, with orange seatbelts protruding for them to strap themselves down. Unfortunately, this level was already full, so she would have to go even higher. All the while, she still didn't know where they were going.

"Here," the boy said, reaching around her waist and giving her a boost up on the ladder. Not used to such kindness, she could only muster a jumbled thank you before she went up to the next level until she saw seats available. The boy came up behind her. "How the hell did someone like - wait...you're Dumb Dante!"

Aria flinched visibly, blushing furiously.

"Sorry, sorry, that totally came out wrong. Um...I'm Finn. To be honest, I've never really called you... Whenever you walk by that's what my friends had called... Sorry," Finn looked really awkward now, rubbing the back of his head. Aria didn't even give a reply, numbly walking over to one of the seats and strapping herself down. As if he wanted to do the exact opposite of what she really wanted, taking the seat beside her. "Hey, uh...to answer your earlier question...I'm guessing you weren't chosen for those Earth Skills classes, huh? Well...I'm just assuming, but I think we're going down to earth."

Earth? Did he just say earth?

Aria's eyes widened and she quickly went to try and unbuckle herself, but it seemed once it clicked, they wouldn't unfasten until landing.

"Woah, hey, calm down! Stop!" Finn protested, trying to grab her hands. "I doubt they'd be sending us down if they weren't positive earth was survivable! Maybe they found something!" Aria shook her head furiously, not wanting to listen to a word he said. What little she knew, Aria understood that earth was not survivable. As most of her teachers constantly said, it was still vastly coated in radiation and wouldn't be ready for another hundred years. They couldn't possibly be going down there. Aria refused to believe it.

"Hey! Someone help! She's freaking out!" Finn called, still unable to stop her from flinging herself about like some kind of psycho. Thankfully, a guard was already up there to do a run through and see if everyone was strapped in. He pulled his helmet up as he approached, jerking back as Aria made a frantic grab for him.

"Pl-Please! I don't wanna go to earth! I don't want-"

She was unable to finish her mantra. Sensing that she was in a panic attack, the guard had took out what initially looked like a gun, but the only bullet that flew from the mouth was a dart that shut her consciousness down and placed her into a deep sleep. Finn watched on, shocked. By now, a lot of delinquents were watching as Aria blacked out and slumped forward. The guard moved to make sure she was truly unconscious, before situating her head so she leaned against the seat.

"Level three clear!" he yelled, turning his back and making his way back to the ladder.

Aria had no idea that her attempts were never worth it, for just a few minutes later the drop ship launched and separated them from the Ark...forever.

He didn't like to think of it as exile, personally. Well, it was what it was. Lexa had to be sure his face would become a thing of the past after his sentence was said in front of everyone, including his power-driven mother. Since then, he hasn't seen Polis for himself in over a year. Initially, he had been pretty heated about it. He'd often seek out nomads traveling just to beat the living shit out of them and blow off steam. That was back before Lincoln had discovered him, so he looked far dirtier with his hair unkempt and chest bare. None of the nomads recognized him, so he was given the nickname the 'Hunter'.

Lincoln had him on his ass before he could even blink. He didn't stand a chance against him, but he was strangely fine with that. Lincoln wasn't even a nomad; he just preferred living on his own. He recognized Roan when he eventually pinned him. Alarmed, he had originally just wanted to take off and leave him there to prevent any altercations with Lexa for contact with the exiled prince, but seeing Roan in that state must've set something off in his generous soul, so he took him back to his camp and he's been there ever since.

Roan liked it, personally. They'd both go out hunting during the day and would have a tremendous meal at night. Lincoln and him sparred a few days of the week to help Roan perfect his fighting stances. Soon enough, they had ultimately become somewhat friends. Lincoln was a very caring being. Roan was sure he didn't have a bad bone in his body. He often hoped he never accidentally ran into his mother. She loathed people like him.

Roan often had to leave the cave now and again when Lincoln told him someone from Trikru was visiting. If they knew he was hoarding him, Lincoln would probably be sentenced to some kind of severe punishment. Or worse, he'd be exiled himself. Nevertheless, he considered this life much better than the one before. He didn't have to deal with his overbearing mother any longer, and he also didn't have to listen to Echo go on and on about his wasted potential. She always knew he would make a better ruler than Nia.

At the moment, he had returned to the cave early. He had been tracking a deer for two days now, and it paid off. It was fully grown, too. He was surprised nobody else had caught it. Lincoln was still inside, sharpening one of his blades by the fire. He barely acknowledged Roan as he dragged the poor beast to one side to skin him.

"You took your time,"Lincoln said, speaking in their native tongue out of habit. "It better be worth it."

"It's more than worth it." Roan grinned, moving so Lincoln could see. The other smirked. "We'll be eating like kings by dusk."

"Nice pun," Lincoln said, placing the blade down in order to approach him. "Anya sent scouts here this morning. I'm grateful you didn't come back at that time. They wouldn't hesitate to shoot you down. I'm sure she'd be more than glad to take your head back to the Commander."

"They wouldn't even have time to take out their weapons," Roan scoffed, taking out his own weapon to begin the process. But he didn't even get to the fur, for something interrupted the quietness that had surrounded their home. It started as a low roar before it echoed and nearly popped his eardrums. Clapping his hands to his ears, Roan stumbled to his feet and rushed for the entrance to see what was causing such noise. Lincoln was right behind him.

It was hard to see at first due to the high brush of the trees. But it was unmistakable.

"A ship," Lincoln mumbled in English. "How is this possible?"

"There is only one ship. Do you think anyone will be on it?" Roan asked, glancing at his companion.

"I don't want to find out."

"This is a threat, is it not? Anya will see it as such since it's landed in her territory," Roan pointed his dagger toward the trees where a crash sounded, the air nearly sending them tumbling to the ground.

"If so, I have I go and speak to her. It's her call," Lincoln grumbled, running back into his home, leaving Roan standing there and staring at the trees as though he expected someone to walk right out of them begging for a fight. He has heard the legends of ships coming to the ground with the intention of stealing the land his people and Lexa's fought so hard to keep. He never expected it to actually happen in his lifetime. He wondered if his mother witnessed it, too, with how far she was from this location. He almost wanted to see for himself, but he wouldn't leave Lincoln.

Speaking of him, he returned wearing armor and his mask that concealed his identity. He looked to Roan.

"It would be wise of you to clear out for now in case Anya did send out scouts. I don't want them discovering you."

"I want to go investigate," Roan insisted.

"Don't be stupid."

"You're one of her best warriors. She'll have to send you. Just find me when you arrive."

"Roan, your impulses are what got you exiled in the first place. What if the people on that ship, if they even survived the landing, are violent?"

"They won't be as good as me." Roan said, his mind already made.

Lincoln sighed, bowing his head and shaking it. Despite being younger, he always found Roan's more dangerous plans foolish and childish. He often went against them, but he knew Roan would do it anyway because that was how he was raised. Queen Nia led him to believe that because he was destined to be king, any and all decisions would eventually have to come from him. This was his decision.

"At least stay hidden until I arrive with Anya's orders. If they so much as glance at you within the trees-"

"They won't."

"Fine. I'll be back soon enough. Don't be stupid until I get back."

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

The two embraced, the brotherly teasing coming to an end. Pulling away, Lincoln gave him a final nod and took off in the direction of TonDC, ready to listen to whatever Anya asked of him. As for Roan, he was rushing in the direction of the ship, his excitement overtaking any nerves that decided to settle on his broad shoulders.

It wasn't too long away from their camp. It was probably around a twenty minute trot before he caught sight of it. It was far bigger in person than it was in the air. From what he could see, flames weren't emitting from any sides of the metal contraption. But it was still concealed, not letting him know whether or not there were any survivors on the ship. He looked around, deciding the higher ground was his best bet for now. Seizing the base of the biggest one, he yanked himself until he was high enough that he could jump safely on the top of said ship.

He waited, his knife in hand. He wasn't going to kill anyone just yet, but if Lincoln was right and they were violent...he wouldn't hesitate to take their lives. The door was opening. Roan leaned forward, his long hair flowing past his ears and obnoxiously getting in his face. He had forgotten to pin it back. He refused to move, however. He wanted to see who was inside. It could just be one person. Or it could be hundreds.

The door fell to the ground with a deafening roar. He squinted through his hair, leaning slightly forward. Many heads were spotted within it. He couldn't count, but he knew it was sure as hell more than one. All of them looked around in amazement, as if the earth was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

One of them made the first move. She was small with pale skin and bright blue eyes. She opened her arms wide as she took a deep breath, completely unaware she was being watched. She hesitantly moved forward until she took a small leap and had her boots dig into the ground, grass uprooted from the impact. She twirled on the spot, smiling widely.

Then she opened her mouth wide and shrieked, "WE'RE BACK, BITCHES!"