The Ark really should have sent someone else. Sending a group of criminals to obey the government on a mission far away from their punishing hands was one of the worst decisions in history. Clarke was no fool, of course. She knew first as to why the Ark would send people to recolonize Earth, and it was because all the life-support systems on the space station were either faulty already or were a ticking time bomb, with only months of functionality left. The Ark had no choice but to send someone to find a new home for the human race before it was too late- but criminals? Sure, if Earth wasn't ready to be inhabited yet due to a radioactive environment, people who would've been executed anyway would've been all that was lost. But now that it was pretty likely they would survive, everyone from the drop ship was stretching their wings to do as they pleased.

Clarke had tried to take the reins before things went out of control, but it was too late. Hours had gone by since their landing and everyone had started to faction off in some way, expressing no desire to even begin their mission. The first thing on their list was to secure shelter in an old bunker named Mount Weather, which was assumed to have nonperishable food supplies and medicine, but no one quite seemed to understand its importance just yet. Clarke felt her frustration begin to bottle up, coming closer to the realization that she hadn't been sent to Earth with criminals, but with idiots, who apparently thought lounging about was going to keep them alive.

It also didn't help that a stowaway was already introducing anarchy to the 100 inmates. Bellamy Blake had smuggled himself on board somehow, claiming that he did so to accompany his sister, Octavia Blake. The Ark had strictly practiced population control, so the talk of siblings wasn't completely foreign because of the general topic of birth control, but no one in the history of the Ark had actually raised a second child to maturity without the government's knowledge like the Blakes did. It was a shame they were caught, and Octavia no doubt went into the history books to forewarn the future generations of the Ark about the consequences of having more than one child.

With his charisma, and stolen guard uniform, he enticed the others to be carefree and disregard their responsibilities to the Ark- which Clarke vehemently reminded them that it was actually a responsibility to humankind. But Clarke's words weren't completely ignored, as she attracted a small band of supporters who agreed that shelter should still be their top priority. Responsibility to the mission or not, they still had to survive. This was enough to even get Bellamy's group of lazy rebels to agree, and Clarke began to realize the key to getting these misfits to stay on track: self-interest. She made a mental note to remind herself on how to manipulate them in the future: make all necessary tasks seem like it's about them, not about the Ark. She informed the camp that she would be departing within the hour, and that if anyone wanted to join up, to come see her before she left.

Studying the map sent in the mission essentials pack, Clarke frowned as she tried to navigate their necessary path to Mount Weather with her pen. It seemed that the Ark had failed with their trajectory of the drop ship and landed them miles away from their destined target. Feeling something grace her arm, Clarke looked away from the map to see if it was perhaps an insect, one of the first she would be able to see outside of a biology class. Instead she was greeted with a drawing of a biohazard symbol. Her breath caught in her throat, relieved that her soulmate was up to their usual behavior. Clarke had always wondered what it was about symbols that intrigued her soul mate so much, and if they had any actual significance.

As these thoughts swam in her mind, Clarke found herself thinking down a particular path that set the hairs on the back of her neck standing. Her last communication with her soulmate was right before she was taken into custody. There was no word from them during her processing, her mission briefing, and the flight to Earth, yet now, after the adjustment period of everyone getting their "Earth legs", communication had resumed. Clarke's mind raced as she began to entertain the thought that perhaps communication was stalled because her soulmate was going through the exact same thing! Clarke couldn't respond because she was not enabled to. If her soulmate still had their freedom, they would've been able to respond any time during this time lapse.

And this biohazard- could it have been their way of expressing what they felt about Earth's environment? The planet was still toxic with levels of radiation, as informed by the briefing report, so how would this symbol not be used in relation to their situation? Sending her heart into an even bigger frenzy, the word "Mountain?" began to bleed onto her arm. Ecstatic, she smiled as she hastily replied "Come with me to Mount Weather?" She must have looked crazy to everyone in the camp who caught a glimpse of her, smiling like a fool at her arm the way she was, anticipating the next response. But everyone had to know, they all had soul mates themselves, and the bond between soul mates was typically respected.

"So how long do you think it's going to take?" asked a cautious voice. Startled from her thoughts, Clarke looked up to see Wells, her long time best friend, who also happened to be the record holder for Clarke's longest grudge.

"Wells!" she shouted, getting to her feet. "What are you doing here?" Wells was one of the most disciplined citizens of the Ark, and being Chancellor Jaha's son, seeing him here was like a sign of the apocalypse.

"I had to come with you," he shrugged, "I couldn't let you go by yourself."

"I can handle myself, Wells." Clarke retorted, "You ruined your life just to tag along with someone who doesn't want anything to do with you."

Wells' face had already fallen, but Clarke knew that on the inside he was at his lowest. As if Clarke would ever forgive the snitch who got her father killed.

"I'm still going with you to Mount Weather," he brought himself to say. Clarke's mind immediately flashed back to the invitation she sent out to her soulmate, who was somewhere among this camp. Her consciousness immediately reminded her that Wells couldn't have been her soulmate, because back when they were 16, they had been dared by other kids in their class to write on their own arms in front of them so they could see if Clarke and Wells were destined for each other. The situation had only happened because they would constantly be teased for spending so much time together. You know how it is, the older you get, the less likely people believe a friendship between a male and female can actually exist. Clarke had to shut them up, so she rolled up her sleeve, hastily rolled up Wells', and drew an Egyptian ankh on her wrist. The classmates huddled around as they waited for it to appear on Wells, but it didn't. Instead, a new bizarre symbol reappeared on Clarke's within seconds, much to the onlookers' dismay.

"No you're not!" Clarke felt herself warm with anger. "You're going to stay here and help them build this base camp. I don't want to go anywhere with you."

"Well damn, I guess this isn't where we sign up for the Mount Weather trip, huh?"

Both Wells and Clarke turned their heads to address the new voice, and gazed upon Octavia Blake, who had Bellamy grumpily behind her.

"You're not going!" he tried to mutter in her ear.

"You can't tell me what to do, Bellamy," she snapped like only siblings could, immaturely pushing him away. "You can't look after me forever."

"Hey, we're coming too!" Two young boys came jogging up behind the Blakes, out of breath, but full of excitement. It was Jasper and Monty, two boys she had seen during the mission briefing, who were paying more attention to each other than the informing guard before launch, obviously thrilled at being reunited as partners in crime. Clarke felt a bout of shallowness, hoping to any living god that one of these two wasn't her soulmate. She could accept Octavia, but not these-

"Me too," chimed in one more voice. The small party silenced as they saw Finn Collins, the notorious "Space Walker", make his way towards them. Clarke could've laughed at the humor of the universe. If Finn was her soulmate, they were already on the wrong foot, as she held him directly responsible for the death of two inmates who died upon landing, because they followed his example of not staying in their seats.

"Well I'm not," Bellamy said gruffly.

"Take Wells with you," Clarke said, nudging him into Bellamy's path. Wells stared in disbelief at Clarke's passive aggression.

"Come on man," Bellamy continued, guiding Wells away, "Someone has to watch the order of the camp." With that, he gave a last disapproving look to Octavia, and the two walked away.

"What order?" Octavia mocked as she watched him disappear in the crowd of the remaining inmates.

Clarke turned to look back at the rest of the camp, determined to make one last call to her soulmate, wherever they were, just in case they weren't standing by her, and shouted, "We're heading out now, if anyone else would like to come, now's your chance."

"No one wants to join you!" cackled a voice in the crowd. The other inmates burst into laughter and mockery.

Okay then, Clarke thought to herself. Turning to her small band, she looked at the faces in front of her. One of these was her soulmate. Swallowing her anxiety, she nodded.

"Let's get a move on, then…"

Concurrently

Lexa had been pacing her room for the past five minutes. Her soul mate was from the Mountain, and had invited her to the deadly fortress. It was a trap. It had to be. Not even a soul mate bond could stop the Mountain Men from being so malicious that they would lure their soul mate just to murder them. But the words! With? Come with? Mountain Men only left their underground city to capture her people. Perhaps her soul mate was one of the abductors, looking to take her to their home.

But the romantic inside Lexa couldn't be tamed, and a small part of her wanted to believe that her soulmate knew they were star-crossed, but still wanted her in their life. There was nothing more tempting than a forbidden romance.

I'll just… see who they are, Lexa began convincing herself. I owe it to myself… just to see. I'll hide and watch them wait for me… just to see…

Instantly, Lexa was blessed with an idea. Hastily she walked towards the doors of her chambers and ripped them open, the excitement of this dangerous and secret mission fueling her energy. She startled the guards who stood watch.

"I wish to go on a hunt, I am restless," Lexa informed.

"Yes, Heda," obeyed one of the guards, his voice deep. "Shall I have the hounds prepared?"

"That won't be necessary, I wish to travel and hunt in the lands of Ton DC."

"That is quite a ride, Heda. The wildlife around Polis is bountiful; there is no need to go so far."

"It is where I want to go," Lexa said, her tone becoming deep herself, warning him of his place. "Prepare the horses and gather me a small party of no more than three riders. I will rendezvous in the village of Ton DC tonight. I will be safe among my people. Do you think they will not host their Commander?"

"No, Heda, forgive me," The guard bowed his head in repentance, waiting for the forgiveness of his Commander.

"Go," was all she said. "I wish to depart as soon as possible. I expect them to be ready when I am finished changing into my hunting gear."

"Yes, Heda." He turned and left briskly, making his way down the hall and leaving the other guard to continue his watch by Lexa's door.

She didn't know how much time she had in this window to see her soul mate outside the fortress of the Mountain, so she had to make haste, and if it was a trap, have the smallest amount of blood on her hands if her riders were captured.

When they set out, Lexa lead the charge fiercely, making excellent time through the dense forests. Her riders exchanged nervous glances at each other as they galloped for miles, wondering what exactly had their Heda bursting with so much deterministic energy. All they could see in front of them was fast pacing streaks of green, brown, and gray, their ears drowned in the sound of galloping hooves, as they dashed across the Commander's expansive territory.

"Heda, the horses must rest," warned one of Lexa's riders, who just happened to be one of her most trusted lieutenants, Indra. Lexa stole a quick glance at her stallion, who was indeed starting to foam at the mouth as he continued to race on. They had been going for at least two hours, and they were still quite some distance away from Mount Weather.

"There's a river nearby," Lexa shared, out of breath, "We shall take the horses there to regenerate, and begin our hunt."

"Yes, Heda," Indra said, grateful to see the desperate charge come to an end. However, she felt suspicious, and the rest of the party did as well. "This hunt," Indra began, "What made you desire to hunt in the grounds of Ton DC, and on the half of their fields that leads to the Mountain?"

She did not waste any time in implying her suspicions. Before answering, Lexa let her horse transition to a trot, hearing it puff exhausted exhales. She felt sorry for the beast. She shouldn't have forgotten about his wellbeing for the sake of her eagerness.

"The closer to the Mountain, the more unique the game," Lexa lied casually. "There's a two-headed buck in these parts somewhere, I wish to mount its head as a trophy in Polis one day." Finding the river she spoke of, she and the others tied their horses up onto nearby trees. She unsheathed the spear holsters from her saddle and slung them across her shoulder. The others followed suit and armed themselves with spears, as well. Determined, she planned to have her riders follow her, subtly taking this hunt closer and closer to the Mountain. "Let's begin."

For a moment, Clarke forgot about the fact that her soul mate was with her on this trip, and got lost in the world. The books she spent hours staring at in the Ark did not compare to the real thing. Her senses had never felt so amplified! The wind blew gently in so many directions in a split second, gracing across the thin layer of sweat developing on her skin as the hike across this undiscovered area took a toll on her fitness. The sound of the gravel and twigs breaking underneath her boots- and the actual feeling of it through the thick textured soles- sent her nerves into overdrive. She felt sensationally sensitive. The sight of a bright blue sky! All she had ever seen in her life was the glorious, yet dark, expanse of the galaxy, but this brightness! There was something about it that aided her happiness. And clouds! What bizarre shapes they created in the sky; her artistic soul never failing to see some sort of shape in them.

She couldn't help but yearn to touch everything she passed, feeling the rough scratching of a tree's bark, the prickling of one leaf, and the smoothness of another. She even saw animals- mutated, though. That two-headed buck really threw her off. She felt hunger stir in her stomach, but paid it no mind, as the promise of finding Mount Weather meant having a meal once they got there. Besides, this hike was starting to feel less like a mission and more like leisure, as she even took a small moment from her responsibilities to take a quick glance at Octavia, who decided it was a good time to take a dip in a river- a small moment. And then there was this over-looming thought that her soulmate was nearby, and Clarke couldn't steady her heart as Finn handed her a swinging rope to travel across the river. She felt a rush of excitement she had never felt before, as she stared into his eyes, searching for confirmation.

The excitement was short lived as the most bizarre thing happened next. Jasper, who had made it across the river first, had been impaled by a spear that came out of nowhere. She wanted to scream, but it just didn't make any sense.

No one was left one Earth.

It just…

No one.

Grounders had been a boogey man tale told on the Ark about the people who were left to endure the radiation-plagued Earth during the nuclear apocalypse. But… there's no way they survived.

She had taken off, fueled by her instincts. She could hear her company call out after her, but she couldn't stop running. Her brain pleaded with her to calm down, to stop and stay where she was so she could be found, but her feet just kept telling her to escape. Survive!

Traversing through the woods, she swatted at branches in her way and practically hurdled over bushes and rocks. Her throat dried as she breathed anxiously through her mouth, and soon her side began to cramp. Giving in, she let her feet tumble beneath her, and she tripped onto her hands and knees, feeling bile creep up her throat.

She watched her fingers gripping onto the long strands of grass, giving her anxiety something to focus on in order to calm down. The scent of the dirt and the fresh meadow filled her lungs and did their duty, bringing her back to her senses. She cursed at herself for not being able to keep it together. Her flight or fight response had let her down. As a medical student, she was used to gruesome wounds and blood, but there was just something different about witnessing an attempted murder. Seeing someone receive the injury was different, and the thought that she could be next was even worse.

Focusing on her breathing exercise, she brought herself up to just her knees, kneeling in the grass. She could make her way back now; she just had to listen for-

But she froze, for what she saw in front of her just threw her right back into her stages of disbelief. Three people were in front of her, people she had never seen before, and she could definitely tell that they were not from the Ark. They were all dressed in dark black fabric and leather armor. Two were side by side, brandishing spears, while the last one was frozen as she knelt by a dead deer, its insides torn open with massive chunks of its flesh and muscle resting in wicker baskets. The look on her face was just as confused as Clarke's was. Panicked, Clarke decided she'd rather look at the haunting green eyes of the huntress than the menacing faces of the armed individuals.

She heard someone walk up behind her and her head turned to see who it was, and she bore witness to another stranger, unarmed, but alarming all the same. He was dragging something behind him. Her eyes darted down to see Jasper, unconscious, or probably dead for all Clarke knew, being dragged by his leg. She quickly looked back to the previous three individuals, and saw that the woman who was cleaning out the deer was cautiously rising to her feet, her right hand covered in blood as she revealed a thick hunting knife.

"No, please," Clarke pleaded, her heart ready to explode. She could only wonder what Abby was thinking in the Ark as she observed Clarke's vitals. Clarke couldn't bear the thought that her mother was about to witness her flat-line.

"Heda," grumbled the man dragging Jasper's body. Clarke's hopes of begging for her life began to diminish as she recognized that these people probably didn't speak English. The green-eyed woman nodded, and lowly muttered something in their foreign language, and before Clarke could utter another word, she felt the back of her skull meet a ferocious hit, and the world went black.