Okay guys! Another Tuesday, another chapter. So many awesome reviews for the last one, it blew my mind! You guys are the greatest. So, there a couple of things I would like to address.

Firstly, translations for Trigedasleng: I do read fic myself, obviously, and I've kept up with Trigedasleng enough to know the translations without having to scroll to the bottom. However, I do also know that when you don't know it, having to go all the way to the bottom to know what's being said is a hassle. So, if there is Trigedasleng in a chapter, the translation will be there. Either it will be bolded in the same paragraph as the language, or the translation will come up in the chapter via questions the characters who don't know the language ask. So if you don't see the translation, it's because a character asks for the translation themselves.

Second: sadly I can't make everyone happy with their ships. From the reviews I've gotten, Linctavia is going to be the ship for Octavia and we'll just have to wait and see what happens for Raven. It won't be Finn though, not for long.

Last: I am looking for a beta. Whoever's interested, please PM me and we can talk. Perks of being my Beta: You get the whole of the fic as I write it, no waiting for chapters. This is so when the time comes to post a chapter, it won't be late.

Awesome, I think that's it for now!

Disclaimer: See chapters 1-3

Before:

"After your little rant, on the dropship and off, I heard what some of them were saying. They think that you've got some good points, and that you seem to know what you're doing. After this little hunt, I can't exactly say that I disagree. My brother is just older, and as much as they might not want to admit it, having an adult around makes them feel safe."

...

"The Ark is dying, Octavia. That's why we're here – why we're all here." ... "These things are monitoring our vitals so that the Ark knows that it's clear and safe to come down. I know you probably don't hold any love for anyone up there, especially not the Chancellor, but there are innocent families, children. If they don't know that it's safe to come down, they'll be dead within the next few months."

...

"I was hoping that maybe, with time, we could be friends."

...

But that didn't stop her from being responsible, for her being haunted by each and every one of their deaths.

"Wake up." A voice whispered in her ear, but she could only barely hear it over her own thoughts.

...

"Gather the people." Clarke said to Octavia. "When they're all awake, pull them together and tell them what I told you.

...

"We ready?" Bellamy brought the knife out of his pocket that Octavia had slid into it before she walked off. Clarke let out a short laugh and shook her head. Wells also brought out a knife and Clarke was surprised he'd made one. She was glad though that she wouldn't have to give one of hers up.

Now:

Soon they were on their way and Clarke told Wells the story of what had happened the night before at his prodding. After that, they walked in a somber silence, following Clarke until they were at the river. Both boys looked at it in awe, the first time that they'd seen so much water in one place.

Clarke smiled before motioning to the high rocks. "That's where Finn jumped from, the vine's probably still up there."

"Why don't we just go through the water?" Wells asked. That was a good question, Clarke thought, and then realized that Finn hadn't gone that way. Did he see the creature in the water or had he just forgone getting wet. Oh, that was a good answer.

"You want to keep walking through the forest soaking wet Wells, be my guest." Clarke motioned to the river and Wells realized he didn't know how long they would be walking for. Bellamy noticed something though.

"Didn't you say he was hit right on the other side?" Clarke nodded and looked over, seeing a patch of blood on one of the rocks.

"It looks like whoever speared him, took his body." She said. Bellamy just nodded and adjusted his feet.

"Why would they take him, what do they want?" Clarke looked at Wells.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be good." Her eyes moved over both boys. "Can we get moving now?" Both of them looked at each other before nodding and the three made their way up the rocks.

Clarke jumped first, landing on the other side and tripping over her feet, stumbling a little before she caught herself and turned. She swung the rope back to the boys.

"Tie it to the litter and swing it over, then come over yourselves." They did as she asked and soon they were off again, Clarke heading the group and making a show of pointing out all of the tracks leading them to the jaguar trap.

They heard it, or at least Clarke did, when they were getting close. Finn was moaning and groaning with each breath and the three moved closer until they could see him tied up on a dead willow tree. Clarke turned back to Bellamy and Wells.

"He's still alive, so they must have wanted something from taking him. Be careful. If whoever took him could throw a spear from that length and not pierce his lungs or his heart, then we have to watch out for anything else they could have in store." She waited for the two to nod before she was on the move, hoping they'd follow her.

Clarke moved closer carefully, putting light pressure on the ground in front of her, feeling around for pitfalls in the ground. She found one and then held a hand up. She looked around and found a stick before crouching and poking at the patch of flimsy "ground". When she put enough pressure on it, the loose thatching collapsed and revealed for Wells and Bellamy exactly what she'd been worried about.

They walked around the hole and Clarke discreetly slipped the gun from Bellamy's waist, disguising it as a nudge as she motioned to the tree.

"Can you get him down? Wells and I can load him onto the litter if you can lower him." The older boy nodded and rolled up his sleeves before climbing the tree. Clarke only spared a moment to wonder at why he was being so co-operative when last time he'd been opposed to her. She shrugged it off and credited it to him listening to his sister and at her not being at odds with him.

"There's a poultice on his wound." Wells said and Clarke nodded, his words breaking her from her thoughts as she scanned the area for movement. "Why would they save his life, just to string him up as live bait?"

"Maybe," Clarke said quietly, "whatever they were trying to catch likes its food alive and breathing." Clarke saw the grass moving and pulled the gun, pointing it in the same direction.

"Hey!" She heard Bellamy call, who had probably just realized that the gun was gone. But Clarke wasn't paying him any attention as the black jaguar had just shown itself, the front of its body sunk low to the ground as it prowled forward.

Clarke took aim calmly, centering her focus, and then let off a shot. The bullet hit its intended target – between the cat's eyes – but Clarke had fallen to her knees, gun falling to the ground.

The bark of the gun had brought back the memory of the night she was shot and both of her hands were pressed firmly against her abdomen as she was stuck in her mind. She didn't hear either of the boys calling out for her, and she didn't feel Wells' hands on her shoulders. All she could feel was two bullets tearing through her stomach.

Clarke tried to breathe deeply but she couldn't take in any breaths but shallow ones. She kept hearing the bark of the pistol over and over again, that and the sound of Cage's voice, taunting her.

She heard a growling and feared for a minute that that was the jaguar; that she had missed and then faltered; that they were in danger. The noise brought her out of her mind and Clarke realized quickly that it was coming from her. Her face fell and she drew in another breath, as deeply as she could, and looked around, noting the dead jungle cat and Wells in front of her. Clarke looked down to where her hands were pushing against her stomach and quickly moved them to rest against her thighs.

"Clarke? Are you alright?" She nodded and closed her eyes, shaking her head gently to try and clear her mind. This, she thought, this is a weakness. Clarke laughed sardonically as Lexa's words came unbidden to the forefront of her mind. She smiled though, remembering the Commander. With memories of Lexa focusing her mind, the tightness in her chest lessened and Clarke opened her eyes to look at Wells.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright."

"What was that?" She heard Bellamy ask. She knew what he was talking about, but she shook her head and looked over Wells' shoulder.

"It looks like a jaguar to me, but it's dead now, right?" She looked over her own shoulder at the brunette who had, at some point during her little episode, gotten Finn undone and down from the tree. "Let's get him back to camp, yeah?"

Clarke stood, and started walking, not waiting for the boys to follow her. She trusted them to be able to make their way back if they didn't come with her.

They made it back to the dropship without incident, the walk being a quiet and tense one. Clarke didn't want to talk about what happened, she couldn't, and neither of the boys wanted to risk asking her about it again.

The walk gave Clarke some more time to think about her plan. Before being sent back, it had taken far too long for things around the camp to get started. Clarke realized, that if they were to have any chance at talking to the Ark before Raven came down, they needed Monty to have a working wristband. And to do that, people were going to need to take off their wristbands.

Clarke had laughed at that. Last time, they had taken their bands off to make the ship believe they were dying so no one would follow. Now, they would be taking them off for the exact opposite reason, and anyone who still opposed the Arkers coming down would keep theirs on for the sake of inhibiting communication. Hopefully though, people would volunteer so Monty could go through his trial and error with plenty of supplies. A hundred chances to get communication up.

Sure, last time all of the wristbands had fried, but maybe Monty could figure out something else this time. Any chance they had was worth a shot, she decided. If he got started earlier, maybe he wouldn't try the same thing he had done last time.

By the time they made it to the dropship it was dark outside. Clarke was pleasantly surprised to find a good portion of the wall around the camp had been cleared and there was a basin for water by the fire pit.

"Bellamy, Wells, can you guys take Finn to the dropship? Put him on the upper level so no one disturbs him while he's recovering." Both boys nodded and Clarke heaved a sigh of relief as they walked away. There were still some people milling about outside, all of them taking note as Bellamy and Wells walked past them with a very much alive Finn. Well… not very much, but more alive than they had probably expected with what Octavia had no doubt told them.

Speak of the devil, "Clarke!" Octavia was at her side in a few strides and Clarke smiled at the brunette.

"Octavia. What happened?" She got a look for getting straight to business but Clarke merely gave the girl one in return. She was tired, it was late, and Clarke knew she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight as she planned to sneak out to gather some of the red seaweed from the river. The faster that tea was made, the faster Finn would heal.

Octavia rolled her eyes but gave her a report anyway. "I gathered everyone like you said. But Monty was up earlier than the rest. I gave him and Jasper the low down first and they got to salvaging inside the dropship. Once the rest of them were up I told them what happened and what was happening to the Ark. They had some questions I couldn't answer but most of them I could. Once they heard what happened to Finn though, they got pretty motivated to work."

Octavia gestured to the wall and to the partly built smoke house. "As you can see, fear is as good a motivator as any." Clarke nodded. "There were a few, I'm sure you can guess who, strong-arming the rest and trying to run things while you and Bell were gone, but no one really listened to them. Guess they've decided on who's the boss, boss." Clarke stilled again and looked at Octavia critically.

"You really want to follow me? You barely know me, why would you listen to me of all people." Octavia took a minute to think before giving Clarke her answer which was a prompt shrug.

"I meant what I said, and I see where the others are coming from. You said Bell cares about what happens to them Clarke, but you do too. I can see it. And it was clear as day, even when you were threatening them to stay in their seats. And you're about the only one of us who seems to be able to lead through that and not through aggressiveness like some other people." Clarke raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.

"You got that after just a couple of days? That I can lead a hundred minors and keep us alive?" Again she got a shrug from Octavia.

"You fed them, got them working, and your ideas are what are going to keep this place alive. I think you and my brother can easily handle a hundred people who look up to the both of you." Octavia looked down then and Clarke saw a rare moment of shyness from the girl.

"And about me specifically, well, I'm sorry about what I said the first day. But even in the short time we've been here, you've been nothing but kind. We're friends now, or on our way there, and I don't mind following you as long as you keep on keeping on like you do." Octavia looked back up at her with a bright smile and Clarke couldn't help but return it.

For a minute she felt like this was stolen. She had let Octavia down before and now here she was with a fresh slate and the two of them were quickly on their way to being fast friends. Clarke had to remind herself that, before she had died, their friendship was on the mend so she didn't feel as guilty.

Octavia left soon after, on her way to Bellamy to get the story of what had happened while they had gotten Finn. She didn't ask Clarke because she wanted to see her brother and also see how Finn was holding up after being speared in the chest.

Clarke sighed once she was alone and looked around the drop site. It shouldn't take too long to finish the wall at the rate these guys are going, she thought to herself. Not long at all.

ooOoOoo

It, in fact, took nine days to complete the wall as well as the additions of the smokehouse, a more sturdy spit over the fire and a large water basin for what they brought back from the river. Everyone had gotten tents set up, and some were still staying on the second level of the dropship.

In that time, much had gone the same as it had before Clarke came back, and much had gone differently.

The night that they brought Finn back from the jaguar trap, Clarke had gone off on her own to get the red seaweed and returned some time the next morning. Thankfully she had arrived before anyone woke up and so she got to making a tea for Finn to drink. As a result, Finn healed a couple of days faster than Jasper had and without an infection in his cauterized skin.

Some people must have questioned it, but nobody came to Clarke with questions about it and she didn't voluntarily give any reason for his seemingly miraculous recovery.

The night that Clarke found Charlotte after her nightmare was one of the most significant changes that Clarke hoped to make. She hoped that by talking to the girl more, helping her come to terms with her parents' deaths, she could sway Wells' death into the 'still alive' column.

She found Charlotte where she had before and they started talking about how their respective parents had died. Clarke for the second time. She told Charlotte about her father and how he had been the one to discover the flaw Octavia had told them all about and how, because he wanted to tell the citizens of the Ark, they floated him.

"You see that bright star there, Charlotte?" Clarke had asked, pointing out the glowing lights of the Ark station. "What happened up there? We're all trying to leave it up there. When we were chosen to come to the ground, anything that happened while on the Ark, things that got us locked up, it was all wiped away. Down here? We get a second chance.

"We can't change what happened, Charlotte. Especially not people like you and me who lost people we love. Nothing can ever change that, and we will never forget that it happened. But we keep the people we lost in our hearts and we try to do better by them, we try and make them proud.

"It's not going to hurt forever, it's not. One day you're going to wake up and the ache in your chest will be gone, but that's a good thing. It doesn't mean we have to forget. But until that happens, we keep ourselves busy, distract ourselves, and keep going for the people around us." Clarke had motioned towards the dropship and given the girl a small smile. "These people here, now? They're our family, and we need to protect them. We need to be strong for them."

In a turn of events that Clarke thanked whoever was listening for, Charlotte had designated herself to be Clarke's second. Of course, the girl had no idea what that was, but that was what Clarke related her position to.

Charlotte stayed by Clarke and helped her get things done. That included getting the hunting party geared up and ready to go out and get food for the rest of them while they worked on things inside the camp.

There were a couple parties; Bellamy's group that consisted of the people it had had in the previous time, and Wells' group. That had surprised Clarke after the unwelcome greeting he had had from the hundred, but it seemed that they were on good terms now.

Charlotte and Clarke made sure that the packs that they took out with them had tents (Clarke made sure at least two people had one in case of Acid Fog) and, though Charlotte sometimes slipped and caught herself looking at the younger Jaha in disdain, Clarke was pleased that they seemed to be getting along.

Of course, when the time came that Clarke remembered having found Wells dead in the forest, she approached the area with some trepidation. When she found the area clear of a body, her own sagged with relief and she almost cried right then and there.

There were two cases of Acid Fog in the eleven days that they had been on the ground. Both times, no one had been killed, leaving Atom, Trina, and Pascal all alive and well.

Everything was going smoothly, Clarke thought. On one of the hunts, the car that she, Finn and Wells had found previously had been discovered, as well as the bunker with supplies and the one with firearms and ammunition.

Clarke made sure that they made a few trips back to the one with the guns in order to scout the entire place and find the extra barrels she remembered Kane having spoken of.

Another thing that happened like it did previously was Monty frying each and every one of the bracelets that was relaying their vitals back to the Ark. This happened at almost exactly the same time that it had before and Clarke was worried that, as much as she was trying to do better, some things couldn't be changed.

Monty had, however, gotten a good supply of volunteers to donate their wrist bands.

Murphy, because he wasn't accused of murder and because he and his people couldn't hunt for skrish, became useful around the camp and out.

All in all, things, Clarke believed, were going well.

One day she had even taken to herself and gone to the bunker with the art supplies to get herself some paints and brushes and pencils and paper. She even grabbed some clothes for herself and made sure to tell the others about it when she'd taken what she needed. Clarke brought her small bounty back to a small clearing near the dropship she had found. There was a cave and, in it, she stored her own supplies. After the art and clothes came water, after water came food, and after food came a ready to go pack that she would take when she left the hundred to look for her… to look for Lexa.

During the days, she and Octavia, and several of the hundred, would leave the boundary of the camp, only a little, to practice throwing their knives at targets they had made. Clarke had promised Octavia, and Clarke wanted to try and teach the brunette before she left. The two of them had garnered some notice the first time that they went out.

They were throwing their knives at trees, Clarke hitting them more often than she was missing them and Octavia quickly throwing the same with pointers from the blonde. That first day though, a few of the hundred had followed them – what they thought of as – discreetly and watched as one of their leaders sunk knife after knife into the hard bark of several trees.

After that, Clarke had a group of people wanting to learn to throw knives. Even though they had guns a plenty and bullets to spare, the rudimentary attacks would serve them beyond limited supply of bullets.

Awesome guys! So, what'd you think? Still going strong or..? There's a bit of a time skip there at the end, but the highlights are, well, highlighted. Next chapter - Enter: Raven Reyes, Engineer Extraodinaire.

Seriously though, I'd love to hear your thoughts, like always. Next chapter shall be out on Saturday, and, if you didn't read the AN at the start, I'm looking for a Beta. Details are up there!

Have a good rest of the week guys, and I'll see you Saturday.

-Bad Wolf