Sorry for the delay - I just finished my exams and thus my first year of university! Woo! Definitely pumped to have more time to write (and watch tv, of course). This part isn't the longest but I just wanted to give you something to let you know I hadn't dropped the story c: Thank you so much for your kind reviews!


Clarke woke up to the sound of a scratching on her tent flap. She yawned and sat up. "Wha-?" she asked, sleep coating her voice. It felt later than usual; she'd probably caught up on the sleep missed due to roaming the forest at night. "What time is it?"

Finn poked his head into the tent and gave her a goofy grin. She couldn't help but grin back. His shaggy brown hair had fallen into his eyes and he wore an over-sized t-shirt that he'd obviously scrounged from one of his many ancient caches.

"Sleeping Beauty's finally awake," he said, rolling his eyes. She raised her eyebrows in response. "It's noon, princess," he chided, opening the rest of the tent flap. "We thought you'd died or something. Has roughing it been too hard on you?"

Clarke threw a bottle at him but he caught it easily. "Late night, you dolt." she said, stepping out of her sleeping area and out into the center of the camp. The bonfire from last night was still sending little wisps of smoke into the now blue sky. She saw Octavia and Jasper sitting to her right, deep in conversation about something. Monty was likely still in the ship, working on her bracelet and trying to make contact with the Ark via two way radio. She scanned the rest of the camp, noting that there were less people around than the night before.

"Where's everyone else?" she asked, taking a step towards the forest and craning her neck. She couldn't help thinking of Bellamy. "Did another party go off to gather supplies?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah, Murphy gathered ten or so people and they went to see if they could hunt something within the perimeter. Some others left to get water, and I think a boy said something about getting some proper toilet paper." He shrugged his shoulders. "Personally, I don't mind the leaves."

She felt like her eyes rolled much too often. "Is, uh, Bellamy around?" She asked as nonchalantly as possible. He didn't seem to be at the camp, and he was usually the center of attention. "I need to talk to him."

"No idea," Finn said. He raised an eyebrow conspiratorially. "Secret leader meeting needed to be taken care of?"

Clarke ignored him. She frowned at the tree line and told herself that she was being ridiculous. He had obviously come back to camp last night. Maybe he'd found one of the numerous hatches that Finn seemed to pop out of his rear and spent the night there. Maybe he'd gone off on his own to find supplies; it's not like he hadn't done that dozens of times. But what if something had caught up with him? She felt her breath hitch in her throat. There were no many unknown, dangerous things on the ground, ones that even Bellamy couldn't predict. Who knew what was in the forest at night?

She shook her head in frustration. Who cared if he got eaten by a two-headed tiger? Maybe it'd puncture a hole in his head and some of the hot air would escape. Maybe it'd stop him from being such an arrogant-

"Hey, princess!" Clarke spun around and came face to face with Bellamy, looking at her with his usual stone face and irritated expression. "Everyone else is looking for supplies or taking care of tasks; you look like you just got up. Are you slacking off now that there are rules?"

"She's been with me," Finn said, stepped in between them before Clarke could open her mouth. "We were taking a break to get water, which, last time I checked, wasn't illegal." He did a once over of Bellamy and frowned. "What the hell happened to you? You look like shit."

Clarke looked at Bellamy and realized Finn was right. The guy had dirt and moss caked all over his clothing, which still looked wet and cold. There was a small tear in the side of his leather jacket. His hair was matted as a bird's nest, skin smeared with grime, and it could have been her imagination, but his eyes looked red-rimmed and a little puffy. It was like he'd just crawled out of a cave made of pine trees.

She heard him bristle. "No worse than you, spacewalker." He said, turning his head to Clarke so that their eyes met. She came face to face with a brick wall, expression locked with ice. His unspoken glare dared her to say something. "I suggest you two finish your water break and do something to help. Food's running low and we're encroaching on grounder territory."

"Sure thing, boss," Finn muttered, glancing at Clarke. "We were just about to get going, right?"

"Sure." She agreed, watching as Bellamy walked away and towards his tent. Something seemed off, but she wasn't about to press. She was determined to shake every thought of Bellamy Blake from her mind and focus on the tasks that needed to be done.

Tasks like filling water.

"Let's fill the packs," she told Finn, reaching for a few makeshift canteens and throwing them over her shoulder, followed by an empty barrel that had once been broken fuselage. She grabbed her knife as well, just in case they came across an animal on the way. Food was food. "If we leave now we can be back for dinner."

Finn grinned. "We could always have a picnic," He started, reaching for his containers as well. "What's a better way to enjoy the day than roasting some fresh rabbit and keeping it all to ourselves?"

Clarke laughed. "With your hunting skills, we'd be eating caterpillars, at best." She started towards the forest before she could see Finn making faces.


The two walked for an hour before they reached the stream, used as a marker for indicating what was grounders' territory and what wasn't. It was hard to tell exactly what was off limits since they'd never actually communicated with one, but Jasper had been speared as soon as he'd crossed the river, so they weren't taking any chances. Crossing the river was a no-go. They'd also been avoiding the lake since Octavia's encounter with the large reptilian, so the stream was their main source of water. No one had reported any radiation poisoning symptoms yet, so it seemed safe. Even without boiling.

One of these days, Clarke was determined to follow the river upstream and find its source. But that could take days, maybe weeks, and there wasn't much reason to do so beyond curiosity. Mount Weather was their only feasible destination for food and supplies, but it was centered in grounder territory. They knew so little about Earth and what had become of it after 97 years.

Finn splashed some water in his face and stretched out on one of the flat rocks, closing his eyes and sighing as bright sunlight bathed his skin. Clarke bent down and cupped her hands, taking a sip of the cool water. Her reflection wiggled as the current moved, distorting her curls and slight scowl. It had been a while since she'd washed her hair and she could see it in the water.

"Not enough mirrors back home, princess?" Finn asked, propping his head up on an elbow. He had a coy look on his face that, despite invoking massive irritation, always made her laugh. "You'd think you would have had dozens back on the Ark, one for each room."

Clarke raised an eyebrow and tried to look annoyed, but truth was, she was enjoying the light. The past few days had been dark and rainy, and the sun was finally beginning to peak out of the clouds. Every inch of the forest was glowing. Natural warmth was something new for them all; living in a world full of artificial air and machine-regulated atmospheric temperature made it impossible to imagine the feeling of Earth. The pressure before a storm, filling your nostrils with heaviness and weighing every so slightly on your skin. The warmth of the sun's rays, causing your eyes to squeeze shut but giggle in pleasure at the same time. Rain, landing on your face drop by drop, each a different temperature, different size, different width. God, she loved being outside. She'd dreamed of the outside for her entire life, and she was finally able to feel the dirt between her toes and the fresh air in her lungs.

She turned to Finn, eyes still closed beneath the sun. "Do you think this is going to last?" she asked softly, thinking of her mother and the thousands of people above, unaware of their ticking clock. They'd sent the teens to Earth only a week or so ago, but she'd noticed the influx of sick people in the med bays. Her father's predictions had never proven to be completely accurate. "Do you think they'll start sending more people?"

He sat thoughtful for a moment, then let out a slow breath. "Honestly," he said, meeting her eyes. "I think you need to stop worrying about everyone else and start worrying about yourself." He stood from the rock and took a step towards her. The brief sadness she'd seen in his gaze had been replaced with a fierce determination. "You gotta loosen up a bit, Clarke. There's no way to know what's going on up there without contacting the Ark, and Monty's doing the best we can. We're all doing the best we can. You have to stop thinking about everything that could be happening up there, and start thinking about what's happening to us. Right here. Right now."

"You don't think I'm doing that?" She asked, irritated. She didn't need to be scolded. She was only thinking about why they'd been sent to Earth in the first place! Not only were half the wristbands inactive and disabled, no one thought to mention the disadvantage they had on Earth without the adults. Without supplies. No books, reference materials, electronics, medical supplies. They were all living in a fantasy world. "While Bellamy and the others are off living it up like one big party, I've been doing everything I can to ration our reserves and keep things from going completely crazy. It's all about what happening at this very moment. Sue me if I'm wondering about the thousands of people DYING from oxygen deprivation right at this very moment."

Finn held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, you got me. Worrying is good. You win." He swayed over to a nearby tree and grabbed one of the lower branches, using his strength to pull himself up and onto his elbows. He raised his knees and was soon sitting on a thick pine branch. "Show me that you can have a little fun. Forget everything, just for a second. Climb a tree."

Clarke folded her arms across her chest in indignation. Finn was capable of being serious when needed, but god, did he rarely choose to be. She was starting to suspect that he hid behind his joviality in fear of confrontation and revealing actual emotion. Just like Bellamy did with his guarded walls. Ways to protect themselves from being hurt.

Ugh. Men.

"You coming?" Finn asked, already on the fourth branch and counting. He dipped abruptly to swing from his knees, probably ripping his pants in the process. Pine splinters were unforgiving. "Not that I mind staying here all day, but King Bellamy might try and skimp on our share of the fried cougar."

"Eh," Clarke sighed, resolve wavering. Thinking of Bellamy just made her want to do everything she could to piss him off. Including having fun. "If I get bitten by a mutant squirrel, I'm blaming you."

Finn winked. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

With that, Clarke grabbed on to the closest branch and pulled herself up, ignoring Finn's outstretched hand. She crawled higher and higher before settling on a V-shaped arrangement, which allowed both arms and legs to be propped up comfortably. Resting her head against the tree trunk, she grinned. The entire valley was visible from up there.

Finn landed next to her with a thump. "Nice, ain't it?"

She couldn't help but agree. From where they sat, miles and miles of forest swayed in the distance. She could see the river, the lake, the mountains on the horizon... even residual smoke from their campfire.

He pointed towards one of the large mountains. "That's Mount Weather, right?"

Clarke nodded. "Yup. Surrounded by grounders."

"We have to do something about those."

She rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder. Luckily it didn't knock him off balance. "If only they weren't armed with giant spears and god knows what else."

"We could take 'em." Finn laughed.

"You and what army?" Clarke leaned back on the branch and grabbed a pinecone, smiling. "I'm assuming there could be hundreds, if not thousands of them."

Expecting Finn's bravado response, she felt herself grinning. But when he was silent, she turned and saw him gazing off into the distance, eyebrows furrowed. His expression had become more serious.

"You don't actually think we could take them, do you?" Clarke asked, worried that she'd offended him. She touched his shoulder. "I'm sure one on one, maybe, but they know this land so much better than we-"

"Clarke."

She snapped her head in the direction that Finn had now pointed his finger towards, in between the lake and Mt. Weather, but much farther west than the river. "What?"

"Do you see it?" Finn asked in a whisper.

Clarke squinted into the distance and scanned the patch of trees, looking for something out of the ordinary. A couple clearings, different foliage... and then she saw it. Smoke. A thick cloud drifting from the canopy and into the sky, too black and murky to be man-made. It was something that would have come from a crash.

Or a supply drop.

"We have to get the others," she said immediately, already scampering down the branches. If they hurried they might be able to make it before it got dark. "If a pod was dropped containing supplies, the grounders could get to it before we do. Or even animals."

She almost reached the ground when she felt a strong grip on her forearm. "Clarke," Finn said, worried look still on his face. His chestnut hair flapped wildly around his face and he lowered himself so that they were eye-to-eye. "How do we know that's not grounder territory? It could be a trap."

"Don't you think they would've attacked us by now?" Clarke countered, frowning. Nothing was stopping the grounders from hunting them in their sleep, or even attacking them during the day. They were sitting ducks. "Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to have landed on grounder territory." Her heart began to race a little in excitement. And hope. "There are tons of kids back at camp that need medical supplies. Just a few bottles of antibiotics could save lives. We may be doing okay at the moment, but who knows what kind of infectious strains Earth could have?"

Finn sighed. "Then maybe we should go, just the two of us." He suggested. "Bellamy and Murphy might have a different plan, and will probably insist on controlling the ship's contents." He glanced at his wristband. "If we go now and bring the supplies back to one of the caches I found in the forest, it'll stay safe until we need."

Clarke shook her head. Finn's suggestion had merit, but a supply drop would likely have many more supplies than two people could carry. And something about lying to Bellamy... The thought made her uneasy. Guilty.

Mentally hitting herself, she grabbed the canteens from the riverbed and motioned for Finn to follow. "Everyone has a right to know." She said with determination. "If Jasper or Octavia found a pod sent from the Ark, you'd want to know, too."

Shrugging his shoulders apathetically, Finn joined her as they began their trek back to camp. Their legs would sure ache tomorrow.


Sorry for the lack of Bellarke in this chapter! (I need to stop apologizing - I truly am Canadian) There's a lot to come, I swear! I just enjoy building up the story instead of starting right from the blue. I'm just as tortured inside, trust me. I wanna get to the good stuff ;)