A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, favourites and follows – keep 'em coming, they're very encouraging! I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter – I'm actually still writing, so there'll be another update later today, but I thought I'd publish what I'd written so far so it's less of an essay later!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own the characters, events and world of The 100 – that honour goes to Kass Morgan and the writers for the (amazing) TV show.

Chapter Three

Bellamy

If Bellamy was honest, leaving Finn behind would have been the smarter plan. The other boy was behaving a tad erratically – muttering to himself and running off in random directions like he'd just been set loose from the asylum. Something about the little blonde leader clearly sent him off the rails. But he was also apparently the only one who'd paid any actual attention to Earth Skills back on the Ark, and consequently the best tracker they had.

"Is it me, or is the forest floor morphing into quicksand?" Jasper muttered.

"It's just you, buddy." Octavia laughed.

"We've been walking half the day," Jasper moaned, "Maybe Finn's wrong and we're following another two-headed deer."

"Pretty hard to mistake Clarke for a deer, two-headed or no." Bellamy scratched his brow.

"Over here," Finn exclaimed excitedly from the top of the rise they'd been climbing, "she must have fallen."

Finn took off down the slope before Bellamy could reach him. He jogged to catch up, carefully sliding down the loose rubble – restraining the urge to throttle the crouched boy.

"Finn, man, you've got to stop running off." Bellamy warned. The rest of their search party huffed and puffed at his back in agreement. Jasper even slumped to the fern-swamped ground with a look of pure relief.

"Blood," Finn whispered harshly, oblivious to the annoyance of his companions. His fingers scraped at a dark, congealed stain on a large rock. "She was here – someone carried her away. I've got her now."

Finn looked up at Bellamy with a new gleam in his eye. "Let's go."

Bellamy watched him run off through the trees with exasperation. "Alright everyone, looks like our hound has caught the scent."

Mbege and Roma snorted with mirth, but eagerly followed when he started up a fast pace after Spacewalker. Jasper groaned and rose, stumbling after them.

They'd been walking for another twenty minutes or so, glimpsing Finn at intervals ahead, when Roma snagged his elbow, pulling him to a halt. "Oh God," she screeched.

Bellamy shook her off, his ears ringing. "Thanks for that."

Finn stood waiting for them, staring warily into the trees. At least he finally seemed to be coming to his senses.

"I don't speak Grounder," Finn said seriously, "but I think this means 'Keep Out'."

The path ahead was a mass of impaled corpses. They rose up from the ground on crooked blood-stained stakes as a warning – it was gruesomely effective. And a clear indication of grounder territory – they'd hit a border and nothing but trouble lay beyond it.

Bellamy would be lying if he said there wasn't a certain amount of hesitation hitting him right now, but he was committed to finding Clarke. He knew they had to stick together if they were going to survive down here. He was also pretty certain, if the purposeful flash in Octavia's eye was to be interpreted, that his baby sister would still go on, even if he headed back.

"No way I'm going through there," someone exclaimed.

"Fuck this, let's go back," said another.

Bellamy examined the rag tag band who'd been diligently following his orders, and felt absurdly worried. It was no new thing for him, having felt deeply responsible for Octavia since her birth. But these kids were so young, and they looked up to him and Clarke. They might even follow him blindly – they had at first, when he'd expounded chaos instead of peace.

He cleared his throat. "If anyone wants to turn tail, now's the time. There's no shame in being afraid."

Several teens separated from the group and silently headed back the way they'd come. Bellamy met the eyes of everyone left – Octavia, who smirked at him; Jasper, Mbege, Roma, Diggs and Monroe. And Finn, who looked more determined than ever.

"Right – weapons at the ready. You see something move and it's not Princess, attack first, ask questions later."

"Great advice, Bell." Octavia scoffed.

"If it keeps us alive, then hell yeah it's great advice." He retorted.

He turned to Octavia when she went to walk past him and lightly grabbed her arm. "Don't leave my sight."

She nodded and Bellamy chose to ignore the accompanying eye roll. He clasped his makeshift knife with a sweaty palm. There was no backing out now.

"Let's do this!" Jasper surged after Finn.

Raven

Raven kicked the side of the dropship and only succeeded in stumping her big toe. The transmitter was a complete loss. The only task she'd been given so far and she was epically failing. She felt like she'd done nothing but fail since she'd come down here. Circumstances outside of her control were a real bitch sometimes.

Frustration bubbled up her throat and she swore. "God damn it, does nothing on Earth work?!"

"Your temper sure does."

She turned around to eye the boy who'd been keeping the delinquents in line in the absence of both leaders. He slouched against the wall watching her, his dark beany hat pulled low and a silly grin on his face.

"Miller, right?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," he smirked.

Raven laughed dryly. "Call me ma'am again and I'll show you just how well my temper works in a physical context."

"Did you just say you want to get physical with me?" he asked with a straight face.

Raven sent him a miffed look and turned to her work space – inspecting the mess of wires before her. Even with her back turned she could sense he was still there – probably waiting for another freak out.

"Don't suppose there's a supply depot around here I can get some new parts?" she queried – her voice dripping with forced calm.

"No such luck," Miller replied.

"Just as I thought." She threw down her tools.

Miller approached and started fiddling with the discarded and broken components littering the crude table surface.

"Where's Monty?" he asked.

"Made a break for it." Raven snarked.

"He's good," Miller casually ignored her sarcasm, "Clarke had him modifying wrist bands when we first got down here, to try and contact the Ark. It didn't work, but at least he tried."

Raven sighed. "I am trying."

"You clearly know what you're doing with this stuff," Miller continued, "Bellamy wouldn't have given you the task if he didn't think you were up to it. Clarke would have done the same thing."

Raven leant back and observed him – her thoughts whirring. "Why do you trust them to lead you?"

Miller frowned. "Bellamy and Clarke?"

"Yes Bellamy and Clarke." She rolled her eyes.

Miller crossed his arms and cracked a grin. "When we first got down here it was crazy – nobody wanted to be anything but uninhibited and reckless. What happens, I guess, when you send 100 delinquent prisoners down to Earth with no adult supervision."

He shrugged and Raven nodded for him to continue. She was curious – not just at how the rebel became the leader, but about Clarke too. Not that she wanted to admit that to anyone.

"Bellamy encouraged it, at first, and I guess that got him a lot of respect. That – and the fact he's just got that authority vibe, you know? You listen when he talks. Clarke's the same, but when the two of them talk over each other, he seems to win. Maybe it's because he's older, I dunno. But people trust him. I trust him."

Raven snorted. "Sounds like a dictator to me."

"But a commoner. Clarke tried to unite us, but no one would take her seriously – her being from Phoenix and all," Miller smiled faintly, "It wasn't until we found out about the grounders that Bellamy realised she'd had the right idea all along. He started getting us organised – said we didn't need the Ark, just each other. Then there was the trouble with Murphy."

"Murphy?" she asked, confused.

"Yeah, you didn't have the pleasure. In short – Jaha Jnr was killed by a kid named Charlotte. Clarke accused Murphy, which wasn't that out of bounds, and then everyone bandied together to float him. Charlotte fessed up and Murphy was saved – Murphy tried to get her floated but she was just a little kid – no one wanted to do it. He didn't care and hunted her down. She threw herself off a cliff to save Clarke."

"Jesus," Raven winced.

Miller nodded. "After that the two of them decided to work together – said we needed rules to live by. Clarke's really smart – her and Bellamy might not always see eye to eye, but together they work. The Princess and the Rebel."

"You make it sound romantic." Raven remarked hopefully.

Miller sent her a strange look. "Those two? Naw, not in this life."

"Because that would just be too convenient, wouldn't it?!" Raven muttered under her breath. It was obviously louder than she thought because Miller straightened.

"I get it," Miller rumbled, "she's easy to hate. Easy to like too, if you appreciate that sort of thing."

He sauntered away, leaving Raven's mind swirling. She'd begun suspecting there was a Finn and Clarke the minute she'd seen them together. Neither of them were all that subtle – half blinded by her bloody head wound, even she caught the intense looks they shared. Then there was the entire lack of sensitivity in her interactions with the others at camp. Now she just had to work out what to do about it.

Octavia

"I've lost the trail," Finn looked lost at this admission. He sank to his haunches and softly filtered dirt through his fingers, as though it held the answers he sought.

Octavia watched him cautiously – if they didn't find Clarke she had a suspicion it wouldn't go down so well with Spacewalker. Admittedly, Octavia felt a little bit jealous over the obvious feelings Finn held for Clarke, but then she dismissed it, remembering Raven. She had no desire to be part of a love triangle – things on the ground were turning out to be tough enough. Nah, she was enjoying her new found freedom too much for that.

"You'll pick it up again, Finn." She called reassuringly.

She looked at Bellamy with raised eyebrows, knowing they were thinking the same thing. Sometimes having a sibling came in handy.

"Hey, where's John?" Monroe asked suddenly.

Octavia looked around them puzzled – she mentally counted the group and realised Roma was right, they were a man down. "He was just here."

Bellamy sighed. "Spread out, he couldn't have gotten that far."

Octavia started to head back the way they'd come when a large thump came from behind her. She gasped in horror and backed into a tree at the sight of John Mbege's body – his throat slit wide open. Octavia felt like she was going to throw up and looking around her told her all she needed to know. She wasn't the only one scared out of her mind right now.

Bellamy grabbed her arm, pulling her firmly to his side.

"The trees," Finn mumbled, staring into the canopy.

Bellamy and Octavia followed his motion, realising Mbege must have been dropped from up high. Probably grabbed from above when at the back of the group and no one had noticed. They unconsciously moved closer together, forming a small circle.

Jasper grabbed the hand on her other side and it lessened her panic momentarily.

"Now can we go back?" Roma asked in clear panic.

"We shouldn't have crossed the boundary." Diggs started backing away from them all.

"Over there," Jasper's voice was high pitched. Any other time and she would have laughed, but there wasn't a lot to laugh about right now.

Grounders were circling them from a far – moving through the trees with total silence and rapier stealth. They were there one second, gone the next. Octavia felt light headed – she'd never been in a situation as daunting as this.

"We should run." Finn declared.

So they did – taking off in the same direction, trying their best to stick together and stay ahead of the danger. Octavia leapt over logs in her path, dodging tree roots and trying not to stumble down small ravines they passed. The adrenaline spurred her on and she just hoped they were going the right way.

"I can't run much longer." Jasper gasped.

She hadn't realised he'd fallen behind and she slowed down to help him when he tripped. Bellamy, Finn, and the two other girls joined them, glancing about alertly. But Diggs kept running.

"Stop," Bellamy called out firmly, "we need to stay together."

Octavia cringed back and let out a small scream when a tripwire sent a large wooden grounder trap flying at Diggs and suddenly he was skewered several feet off the ground. Too many pieces of wood punching holes in his body for her to count. God, they were all going to die out here.

That was all it took for the terror to take hold. Grounders were circling them again – like the sharks of the forest. Hunting. It was like they could scent the blood, scent the frightened teenagers in their mist.

When one of them edged closer Roma screamed, flying off at a galloping pace into the forest to their right. Then the grounders were gone again and Octavia was breathing just as heavily as the rest of them.

"Where'd they go?" Monroe shrieked.

"After Roma." Bellamy looked appalled.

They set off after Roma and Octavia prayed it wasn't too late. It wasn't like she even liked her brother's latest bed warmer, but she wasn't selfish enough to want anyone dead.

Clarke

When Clarke woke alone for the second time she decided she'd spent enough time indulging in her own wants. It was time to make a break for it – get back to camp and make sure everyone was still safe. The fire from a torch set in a wall bracket burnt low – flickering shadows over old-world paraphernalia her grounder must have collected.

"Hello?" she called into the dim light, "Is anyone there?"

She carefully tossed off the blankets shrouding her, smiling faintly at the memory of her grounder covering her up, and rose to her feet. She couldn't hear anything, but with how quietly he moved that didn't necessarily mean anything. Still, she didn't think he would have ignored her calling.

She discovered her leg still hurt, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She limped to another path she'd observed off this main room, following its narrow, winding curve. It was abutted by sharp walls of rock and hanging vines, and seemed to have no ending. Water dripped on her face when she passed under a particularly low roofed section, startling her out of her search.

When she looked up, Clarke could see faint strands of sunlight coming from a weakened spot in the defence. It might just be enough for her to claw her way out. In the face of no other options she started digging her way through the rock and loose mud.

It was exhausting work, but she finally had a gap big enough to crawl through. She squirmed out of her precarious exit and sprawled on the forest floor at the base of a large tree. It was strange, but Clarke felt a reluctance to leave. She didn't really want to examine those feelings yet, they felt raw somehow. She limped off, choosing a direction at random.

She had no idea how far she was from camp, but hopefully it wouldn't take too long to find somebody. She didn't know how long her leg would hold up to the pressure of a forest trek. Thankfully, the trees started to space out and the undergrowth was less dense.

She'd only been walking for a short time when she heard a shrill scream, and then Roma was darting through the giant trunks ahead of her. Clarke ran for her, worried about what had the girl so scared. She was a stones throw away when a spear came flying through the sky and she was pulled back into a hard chest. She found herself crouching amongst roots and ferns, firmly held against a large male body, a hand smothering her screams.

Roma flew through the air right before her eyes and was impaled mid-flight to a tree – she died instantly. Clarke blinked back tears at the swiftness of the violence and struggled to calm her breathing.

She was yanked to her feet and turned to face her grounder. He looked furious. He grabbed her arm and marched her back the way she'd come. After a while he let her go and stalked ahead, his face stoic and his stance rigid.

She hobbled along – still following him – her mind a deep void. He'd saved her from that spear. His people were killing them off, but he'd saved her. He really wasn't like the others.

When her mind cleared she realised just how badly her leg was aching. She paused to lean against a tree, exhaustion settling in. He stopped when she did and turned around – giving nothing away, as usual.

"My leg..." she murmured, glancing down and letting her hair fall over her face.

He was in front of her the next minute, hauling her into his arms. He started up his fast stride again, staring straight ahead and refusing to look at her.

But she looked at him – stared at the proud set of his jaw. "You saved me," she said softly, and reached for his cheek before she could help herself, "thank you."

He looked at her then, his eyes heated. She could see his nostrils flaring and didn't know whether it was in anger, or something else altogether.

He knelt to place her on the ground and Clarke vaguely recognised the area abutting his cave. He slid a concealed hatch open and bundled her through, carefully walking through the caverns to place her back on the bundle of blankets.

"I know you're angry right now," she said when he walked away, "but if Roma's out there, then the rest of my people are too. I can't let any more of them die. Please."

He strode back and pulled her hands towards him – she complied until he started wrapping chains around them, fastening them with a lock.

"Hey, wait," she struggled against him, "what are you doing?!"

He grunted and looped the chain through a metal ring in the wall and before she knew it she was trapped.

"I don't understand," she yanked at the chains but it was futile.

He walked off and didn't once look back. She shouted at him but it was like shouting into the void of space. Clarke was alone, and imprisoned – a little like the last year of her life in solitary.

Frustration and anger settled in her heart, but with it was the knowledge that he would be back. He cared about her – he might not want to, but he did.