Author's Note:

Hellooooooo! Thank you so much for sticking with this (even though it's only the second chapter ahaha), it means a lot! Thank you for reviewing and favouriting (not even a word, but thanks anyway!) and following! Those notifications complete me :)

So, just a little ask: If you guys want to see anything happen in this, e.g. Clarke come back, Murphy reappear, another war etc. Please tell me, just leave a review or something because I'm writing this for me, sure, but mainly for you and for fans of The 100!

Thanking you for your lovely support

-Everliah

"How did you get here if you came from the Ark? Isn't that in Space?"

Bellamy raised an eyebrow. It had been little over forty minutes since they had last spoken, but he had sensed her building need to ask more questions. It seemed Auriela was just as curious as he was.

"I got here on a rocket ship," he smirked in reply, watching the way her dark eyes brightened in awe.

"A rocket ship?" She asked, smiling. "That sounds a little dangerous, Bellamy Blake. Are we taking the same rocket ship back to the Ark?"

He laughed. "Unfortunately, no. As much as I'd love to take you on a rocket ship, the Ark is on Earth."

Her face slackened and her eyes flitted to avoid his. Earth. Her dad had said that the Ark was an impossible place, full of tyranny and cruel dictators. But it was where she came from; she needed to at least see it.

Her past, she could only remember in snatches. A corridor of grey. A dull room. Other people bustling past, ignoring her, as they went about their business. But try as hard as she could, the scenes always morphed into one of the meadow near her little home, or the cave itself. She couldn't imagine a life other than the one she lived.

"How did it get to Earth?"

"They flew it down from Space," Bellamy said matter-of-factly. Auriela frowned.

"But that's impossible," she disputed. "The thrusters keep the Ark in Earth's orbit… There's enough atmospheric friction to slow orbits over long periods of time so each component station has thrusters; how could you just rewire the entire operation like that?"

Bell smirked, shrugging. "Somehow, they found a way to use the thrusters to turn it into one massive dropship." He could see the cogs whirring in her brain as she absorbed this information. Then he realised something. How could someone, who had lived on Earth for ten years, who wasn't sure if she had even seen the Ark, know so much about it?

"How did you know that?" He asked slowly. The knife in his belt pricked his flesh and he itched to wrap his fingers around the hilt. "You've never stepped foot on the Ark… So how do you know anything about it?"

She froze. Her Walkman dug into her chest. Glancing at him, she replied, "I have my ways."

Bellamy shook his head. He'd been fooled before; never again. "Auriela, don't try getting out of this. How did you know about the Ark?"

"Why does it matter?" She asked, confused.

He looked at her in exasperation. At some point, he had retrieved his knife and she eyed it, stunned. Gesturing in the direction they were heading, he said in a shaky voice, "Because I am leading you to my people and I'm not going to be responsible for any more deaths!"

Auriela stared at him for a couple of minutes.

Then, with slow movements, she reached inside her jacket. He watched her carefully, half-expecting her to draw a weapon. But her fingers wrapped around something cold and she held it out to him.

Bellamy hesitated. Her green eyes were searching his and he averted them to look at the object in her hand. It was bright yellow, with various other colours marking buttons. When he got close enough, he exhaled in badly-concealed relief. It wasn't a weapon. He frowned. He didn't know what it was.

"What is that?" Bell asked.

"It's a Walkman," she replied. "It lets you listen to recordings."

"A Walkman?"

Sensing his bewilderment, Auriela offered it to him. Her mind was screaming at her, urging her to withdraw her hand quick and not let him or anyone else touch it, but she knew she had to. This was the first and only person she had seen in a decade; she wasn't going to jeopardise this chance by something as silly as this. And what he had said before had made something inside of her wrench.

Bellamy took it unsurely and turned the device over in his hands, scanning every part of it. Looking at the front once more, he frowned at the Play button, and let his finger hover over it, but he didn't push it. He looked at her, but she didn't react; her face as blank as ever. He clicked the button.

"Hey Rel," a man's rough voice broke out through the eerie silence, an undertone of static accompanying it. "I hope you're okay. And alive. But, of course, if you're listening to this then you must be alive… I miss you. You're only at school, but it seems like ages, and the room gets lonely, but you probably know all about loneliness." The man sighed. His voice was so tired. "I'm sorry, little bird. I know that you don't understand this, or maybe you do, and I'm just rambling on trying to justify something that can't be justified to make myself feel better. But I know this is for the best. Life isn't good up here. The Ark is dying, Rel. People are dying. We're all dying. And I can't sit back and watch you suffer. I hope that one day, you'll forgive me, and that day probably isn't today or tomorrow, but I love you, little bird. Remember that-"

Bellamy stopped it. He felt sick. As he looked at Auriela, Rel as who he assumed her dad had called her; he saw immediately the tears in her eyes. But she didn't let them fall.

"I'm sorry," he said. And he meant it.

"For what?"

But honestly? Bell didn't know. He couldn't apologise for her dad sending her down to Earth to die. He couldn't apologise for her life and the loneliness she must have to cope with. Suddenly, his troubles were reduced to nothing. Sure, he'd faced war, but he'd had people by his side. This girl, stood in front of him with strength screaming from every bone in her body, had no one.

He just pursed his lips.

"I've got lots of them," she said, feeling an inexplicable need to explain. "Telling me different things, teaching me stuff. They're back at my cave. They keep me alive. That's how I survived."

"It sounds like he cared for you," Bellamy said softly. Her face tightened.

"Yeah," Auriela replied in a bland voice. "Because that's what loving parents do, send their kids down to die. Or do they? I wouldn't know, after all."

He could have laughed because back on the Ark, they had done exactly that, but he didn't. Instead, he replied, "You'd be surprised." Then, added, "Cave?"

Her lips quirked in a half-smile. "Well I don't just wander about aimlessly. I've got a home too, you know."

Bellamy looked at her in amusement. "You live in a cave?"

Auriela smirked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. What, too common for your Arker lifestyle-?"

"Can I see it?"

"Not so fast, Bellamy Blake. You show me yours, I'll show you mine."

Bellamy laughed, finding the double meaning to her words more than comical seeing as she didn't even realise what she'd said. She looked at him, confusion blurring her features. He explained, "That's not the first time a girl's said that to me."

Auriela frowned, but he just laughed. They hadn't stopped walking and the sunlight streamed through the trees. It felt good to laugh so freely.

"What do you do then? Just listen to tapes and hide in your cave?" Bellamy asked, curious to how she lived.

"No," she replied, scowling jokingly. "I hunt and collect and read-"

"You read?" He raised his eyebrows, shooting her a look.

"Yes, I can read. Don't sound so surprised."

"No," he said. "It's not that. It's just- I can't remember the last time I even saw a book…"

Auriela stared at him, with an unreadable expression on her face. "I don't know what I'd do without them. They make the world less lonely."

"That sounds unhealthy; trapping yourself in paper?"

"It's a hell of a lot easier to live by yourself, when you can stop the pain by just closing the book."

Bellamy clenched his jaw. "Wish life was that simple."

"Don't we all?" She replied wistfully. There was an uncomfortable silence. He took in her clothing once more.

"Where'd you get your clothes from?"

"I made them."

"You made them?"

"Always the tone of surprise," Auriela commented sarcastically. "Yes, I made them. I can sew."

"Where'd the material come from?"

"My resources."

"Resources."

"Are you hard of hearing or do you just like repeating everything I say?"

Bellamy grinned. This sort of light conversation was refreshing; he'd missed it. "So what are these resources?"

Her playful tone vanished and she swallowed, evading eye contact. He frowned. "Let's just say, the Walkman wasn't the only thing my dad left me with."

Bell changed the subject immediately. "The people at the Ark might be a little overwhelming at first."

She smiled, "So I'll be bombarded with people?"

The excitement leaked into her voice. "Don't get your hopes up. People aren't as good as what you think," he said, but he couldn't stop his lips from turning up ever so slightly at the edges.

"Bellamy Blake, I've only ever seen one over person and that's a sarcastic boy with nice hair and pretty eyes, and now I'm going to see a hundred. Maybe more. They could try to kill me and I'll still be spitting fireworks," the truth of the statement burned in her eyes and he blushed a little at being called pretty. She didn't seem to notice, though.

They walked for about ten more minutes in relative quietness and Bellamy noticed that she was getting more subdued the closer they got to camp.

"We're nearly there," he said, glancing at her. Auriela nodded. "You okay?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it again, before saying, "What if they don't like me? I mean, I've never met anyone before! What if they don't like me? What if I say something bad? Oh God, what should I say?"

Bell smiled a little to himself, watching her fluster over it. "Hello might be a good start. And then maybe tell them you're name."

"Hello," she repeated, trying it out in various voices and tones. "I'm Auriela. Hi, I'm Auriela. Hello, I-"

"Don't be so worried. They might want to check if you're okay in medical first."

"Medical?"

"Yeah, like your health and stuff like that."

"Why would they need to check my medical?" She asked, looking down at herself. "I'm not bleeding."

"It's not just wounds like cuts and bruises; it's diseases. You might be infected- in fact, for all we know, you could have passed on some deadly germ that's slowly eating me alive-"

Bellamy cut off, seeing her horrified face. "I'm just… joking," he finished lamely. She nodded, but no colour returned to her cheeks.

He stopped when they were on the edge of the forest, and the camp was in site. She didn't realise however, and stumbled into the back of him. Frowning, Auriela peered over his shoulder and her jaw dropped.

The main part of the camp seemed to pierce the clouds, rising up tall and proud. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It looked like a metal tower, reflecting the light from above, as it watched the people buzzing about below it. There were so many people! With all different appearances, she could see just a few clearly from her position. Compared to her little cave, his camp was like a mighty haven.

"Welcome to the Ark," Bellamy muttered, eyes locked on her, gauging her reaction.

She smiled, speechless, tears threatening to fall again. Her gaze never wavered.

"Wanna get closer, angel?" He asked her, face shining with mirth. All Auriela could do was nod.

The guards immediately aimed their guns on the two of them, and Bellamy held up a hand, signalling for them to lower their weapons. They did, albeit hesitantly, with a few odd glances at his partner.

"What have they got in their hands?"

"Guns."

She frowned. "What are guns?"

"Toys for grownups. Only, you mess with those toys and you can end up dead."

"Oh."

The gates opened with a hiss of electricity and a chorus of creaks and screeches. People barely spared a disinterested look in their direction, but the few that did instantly did a double take. Soon, a crowd had formed, murmuring about the newcomer.

"Who is she?"

"More like, what is she?"

"A Grounder?"

"Can't be. Too clean."

"She isn't one of us."

"Then who is she?"

Bellamy glanced at Auriela, hoping she wasn't taking their curiosity the wrong way, but she didn't seem to have. Instead, she was staring at them all in what looked like blatant awe. This close to her, however, the emotion was a tad different; she looked to him as if she had just seen not one, but a whole city of ghosts.

Abby pushed her way through the throng of people and stopped in front of them both. "Bellamy, what is the meaning of this?"

"I made a new friend."

"I can see that," her attention shifted to the girl in question, and in a blunt tone, she asked, "Who are you?"

"Be nice," he warned under his breath. Abby frowned at him.

"Hello," she breathed. "I'm Auriela."

And for some reason, a spark of pride shot through him when he detected no tremor in her voice.

"I'm Abby Griffin, Chancellor of Camp Jaha."

Auriela's eyes were wide and attentive. "It's nice to meet you Abby." Then a huge grin broke out across her face. "Oh my God," she whispered. "There's so many people…"

Abruptly, she turned to face Bellamy and looked up at him. "Thank you."

He just smiled.