(Author: bellamysgirl)

As we walked, I pulled my hair up into what Octavia called a 'pony tail', leaving my shorter hairs in the front out. The sun was now fully up and I could see the Ark through the trees. Octavia walked up beside me and fell into step with me. "There it is," She said, with an undertone of awe and a hint of disgust.

"Aren't you happy to see it?" I asked. Most of the kids started running up ahead, running all the way to the crowd of people forming at the Ark. "I don't know. Not really, but it's all we've got," she replied.

"How's your leg?" I asked.

"It only hurts a little." I pulled out the piece of cylindrical metal from my pocket and blew into it as Octavia and I stopped walking. It only took a minute for Dakota to gallop down through the trees and slide to a stop near me. He whinnied and bowed down so I could get on. I slid onto his back, feet still on the ground on either side of him. I patted the space behind me and Octavia hesitantly walked closer. I grabbed her arm and helped her on behind me. "Hold on," I said, as Dakota began standing.

Octavia's arms flew around my middle and held on tightly the rest of the way up. I urged Dakota on and we started the trek down a steep hill. Once we made it down, we sped up to a gallop. As we neared the crowd awaiting us, many backed away. Dakota slid to a stop and backed up a few steps.

He could sense that the people were nervous and wary of him. I slid off and then helped Octavia down. I could hear murmurs and whispers, but I did my best to ignore them. Once Octavia was on the ground, I grabbed Dakota's reins and looked around for Yachara and the rest of her group. Mainly I searched the crowd for Bellamy. I felt my heart beat faster as I realized they weren't here, he wasn't here. Clarke walked up to me and sighed. "They aren't here. Did Yachara say anything about where they were going?" she asked. I shook my head and looked at the ground, trying to think.

I glanced up at the group. People from the Ark were hugging their loved ones on the ground. Only a few were, though. I guess no one else had relatives here. I took a deep breath. I searched the crowd and found someone I knew—Jasper. He was talking with a shorter, Asian-looking kid. If I was going to get anything done, I needed someone I knew. I moved around Clarke and walked up to him. "Jasper," I said. He startled and looked at me. "Oh, hey," he nudged the kid next to him. "This is that girl I was telling you about. Jade, was your name, right?" I nodded. "This is Monty," he finished.

"Hi, Monty," I said, trying to act friendly. "Could I borrow Jasper?" he nodded. "Sure," he said. I nodded and grabbed Jasper. I pulled him to an empty space of grass and let go. "We need to get supplies rounded up and counted, and we need wood to start some fires before it gets dark. Can you help me?" he nodded. "Great. Round up three or four kids and get them started on supply inventory," I said.

"Sure thing, boss," he said, before hurrying off to a group of kids. I jogged off into the tree line and unsheathed my knife. I spotted some low branches a few feet away. I stepped under them and started sawing them off the tree. "Need some help?" I didn't bother looking for the owner of the voice. "You got a knife?" I asked.

"Uh…yes."

"Then start cutting, or gather wood from the ground." I cut down four small branches and started carrying them back to the Ark, and it was only then I noticed Jasper had come to help me. I was half way there when I saw figures coming across the clearing. Bellamy, Finn, Lincoln, Adonis, and Alex led a handful of kids toward camp from across the clearing. I felt my eyes welling up with water, seeing both Bellamy and Lincoln alive.

I dropped the wood I was carrying and I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. I clung to Lincoln and he reciprocated quickly. I was crying at that point. I was so happy to see him I could hardly think. I held onto him like my life depended on it. He parted from me only enough to see my face. He wiped away some tears with his thumbs. "I thought I lost you," I said.

"I'm not going anywhere," he said, quietly, pulling me into him. I couldn't believe he would be so willing to even be near me after what I'd said to him. I was mean and hurtful and I was being so stupid. I was so overwhelmed that I hardly noticed that everyone in the group was wet. I stepped back and looked around at the group of people, wiping the tears away. "Why are you guys wet?" I asked. They looked like they were drenched at one point, but had dried mostly by now. "We had to jump off a water fall," Alex said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

"You jumped off a-" I shook my head. "Where'd you go? The nearest waterfall is miles that way." I pointed in the direction behind them. "Where's Yachara?" I asked, glancing at Lincoln and then Bellamy. Both looked uncertain of what to say. "We had to split up. She'll be here soon," Lincoln said, as I watched Bellamy continue on to the Ark. I nodded, only half listening to him. "I'll be right back," I said. I jogged to catch up to Bellamy. "Hey," he said.

"Hey. You have something of mine," I said. He nodded and dug into his pocket. He pulled out my mother's necklace and slowed to a stop as he fiddled with the clasp. I stopped, as well. He unclasped it and then stepped behind me. He put the neckless around my neck and then clasped it. "There you go," he said.

"Thanks," I said. He started walking again. "Bellamy?" He turned and glanced at me with a raised brow. "I'm glad you're not dead," I said, to which he barked a laugh.

"Good to know," he said, smiling. He started back toward the large crowd. Lincoln caught up to me and we walked in together. I stepped aside while Octavia and Lincoln had their reunion, and looked up at the sky. The stars were visible now. The sun was now almost completely gone. I hadn't realized how fast everything was happening until now. I got Clarke and Finn to help with counting weapons, and Bellamy joined in on that voluntarily. After everything was counted, we found we didn't have many guns. We had little to no food either. And barely enough wood to keep tonight's fires going.

We decided to relax for tonight and just focus on be happy everyone got out alive. That was Finn's idea. "Jade! Yo, Jade!" I heard my name and sighed. Jasper, Monty, Raven, and a few other kids were in a group, celebrating their escape by a bon fire. Jasper called for me. He motioned for me to join them. I looked back at the trees. Lincoln said Yachara would be here soon, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to join in on the fun.

I sighed and walked over to the group. Jasper draped an arm over my shoulder and brought me closer to the others in the group. "Guys, this is Jade. One of the grounders that saved us," he said. I heard a booming noise and perked up. Some kids had found things to beat on and were sitting by the side of the Ark, drumming along. "You don't look like a grounder," a guy said. He had dark skin, like Lincoln's. He had to half-shout over the noise of the drums and the sound of celebration amongst everyone. I shrugged. "I'm a different kind," I said.

"The good kind," another guy joked. Everyone in the group except me started chuckling and laughing. I glanced at Raven and she mouthed 'just go with it'. I felt weird, standing there with Jasper's arm around my shoulders and everyone laughing but me. I looked up, past the fire, and caught Bellamy staring at me. He was with Octavia, Lincoln, Alex, Finn, and Clarke, around another fire. He quickly averted his gaze, but I noticed something was different. He wasn't smiling. He looked slightly depressed and he was definitely deflated.

My curiosity was interrupted by worry. Yachara wasn't back yet. Lincoln said 'soon'. What was his definition of 'soon'? I took a deep breath and I realized someone was saying something. "So, Jade, how'd you get roped into breaking us out?" Raven asked.

"Lincoln said he needed help," I said. "So…I helped."

"You two are pretty close, huh?" Jasper said.

"He practically raised me, so yeah. We're close," I said. "Enough about me. Tell me something about you guys."

"I'm supposed to be dead," Raven said, holding up a hand.

"I have a vast knowledge of plants," Monty said.

"Plants? What kind?" I asked. Finally, something I knew about. "Any," he shrugged.

"My mother taught me a lot about medicine and how to use plants. Name a plant and it's use…go," I said.

"Poison Sumac," Monty said. "It can be used as a calming agent. Your turn."

"Plantain. Plantain has many constituents that help with wound healing, protecting the liver, and even fighting off wound infection by breaking up bacterial bio-films," I said. Monty and I went back and forth for a while. I bested him with my speech on the medicinal uses of the Dandelion, making my score six and his four—according to the group. After a while, I said, "So, why were you guys sent down here?"

"To find out if we could survive here again," the dark-skinned kid said. "We were the prisoners on the Ark. It wasn't much of a life anyways."

"Prisoners? What did you do?" I asked. That lead to the deep confessions of what got each of them arrested. Apparently, Jasper and Monty were busted for drug manufacturing. Raven wasn't even arrested. And both of the other two kids in the group were arrested for breaking and entering. "Have you ever committed a crime?" Monty asked.

"According to Grounder law? Yes. Many," I said.

"How many people have you killed?" one kid asked.

"Don't tell anyone this," I said, unzipping my jacket. Jasper removed his arm from my shoulders and I slid out of the left side of my jacket. "But I secretly keep track." I pulled up my sleeve, revealing small cylindrical burn marks trailing up my arm. "All of the warriors do this. To them, it's a sign of bravery and it gives them a sense of pride. My people don't typically do this. But I wanted to see how many lives I actually take," I explained.

I left them visible long enough for everyone to get a good look and then dropped my sleeve. I pulled my jacket on and zipped it up. "You should hold a class or something," Raven suggested. "You could teach us how to fight, Grounder-style." Everyone agreed and I considered it. I wouldn't even know what to say or do.

After a while of talking I decided to get some sleep. It was really late and I was really tired. I parted from them and wiggled through random groups of people. Some random person handed me what they called a sleeping bag, and I found an empty patch of grass to unroll it on. I slipped into the sleep bag and looked up at the stars. Wherever Yachara was, I prayed she was safe. I rolled over, opposite the noise, and tried closing my eyes. I fell asleep instantly.