The charm of the sun on her skin had quickly worn off not thirty minutes into their trek. Anya came to a pause beside a large tree, her brow glistening, her hair a mess against her skin and her chest rising and falling much more quickly than it had ever done on the Ark.

The rifle in her hands felt weighted, too, its mass feeling heavier than it should. She had expected it, the first hundred volunteers had already warned them of the increased effects of gravity on Earth's surface. But being mentally prepared for the heaviness of the world didn't compare to the real thing.

Octavia stood by her side, the younger woman taking a sip from her flask with a groan. Anya wasn't necessarily worried about where they were, and what was around them. It wasn't that she was foolish or unaware of the dangers that now lurked in the forests. But Mount Weather had told them they had sent out scouts and had cleared the area as best they could of reapers.

At least her Earth skills classes as a child were being put to a use now. She could still hear birds, she could still hear the occasional scamper of small forest creature underfoot and that gave her a sense of calm. At least nothing really dangerous was nearby. That thought brought a smile to her lips — she had never, ever thought that she would have a use for any lessons taught in that particular class, and yet here she was, on Earth recognising that animals making noise was a sign of safety.

"I didn't think it'd be this hard," Octavia's voice came out tired, breathy.

Anya wiped the back of her hand against her forehead before she pulled out her map, eyes narrowed as she took a moment to orient herself.

"Yeah," she grimaced just a bit as she realised they hadn't got as far as she had hoped. "How are you holding up?"

"I could be better," Octavia said with a quiet laugh.

Anya would be lying if she were to say that what she was doing was foolish, that it carried more risks than simply waiting for reinforcements from Mount Weather. But she had promised herself she'd get answers, that she'd find out where Lexa had been taken and find out if she was even still alive. Anya didn't even know why she believed Lexa hadn't been killed yet. Or she did. It was a message being sent, if only secretly, perhaps even unintentionally.

And she knew Lexa was alive for the simple fact that the reapers were brutes, were more than willing to kill someone and leave their body behind. And yet no sign of Lexa's corpse had been found. In fact, whoever had taken her had hidden their trail, the sign that they had even been there the disturbed supplies and a few scuffled footprints in the dirt before they had conveniently disappeared in the forest. So Anya knew. The lack of evidence was evidence enough for her to throw caution to the wind and try and find her friend.

"Hey," Octavia's voice cut into her thoughts. "I lost you there for a moment."

"Sorry," Anya answered with a shrug before she rolled the map up and slipped it back into her pocket. "I think I need a break."

It was one thing to marvel at the forests when they had stepped out of the remnants of the Ark, too see the trees that had been blown aside. But now that she stood amongst the trees, amongst the forest of greens and browns, she thought it different. Anya looked around them, not to look for danger but to admire what she had only ever dreamed of.

Grand trees as tall as she could imagine reached up into the sky, their trunks so wide that looking around a single tree took movement, took steps and seconds. Moss covered most trees in shades of green, some of it darker, with a depth that seemed to blend into the shadows. Other shades of green seemed vibrant, perhaps tinged with youthful yellow as if the moss itself had captured what little rays of sunlight pierced through the canopy overhead.

And it was beautiful. If she ignored the fact that danger probably lay in wait, if she ignored the fact that she found it harder to breath than usual, if she ignored the fact that she held a rifle in her hands she could find it magnificent.

Part of Anya thought herself a fool for having given up so easily when she had been in space, but part of her couldn't blame herself. Not when she could never have imagined life on the ground with all its sights, with all its scents and sounds.

She found herself sitting on the ground, her back to the tree trunk and her legs kicked out in front of her. The rifle lay in her lap though her thumb was placed ever cautiously upon the safety lest she need to bring it to bear with little warning. But for some reason Anya couldn't shake the feeling that this part of the forest was safe, was void of reapers.

And perhaps that one fact was the thing that kept wriggling in the back of her mind. It did make sense that the Mount Weather security detail's scouts had kept the forests clear for the time being, that their increased presence had driven the reapers away. But again, if she was a reaper, if she had seen the first hundred come down to the ground, wouldn't she try to attack, to make sure they couldn't establish a secure path from one outpost to another?

That why still didn't make enough sense for her to feel comfortable. Perhaps the only answers she'd get to all her questions hinged on finding out what happened to Lexa. At least it would give her some kind of closure.

Anya's gaze shifted from the distance where she had been looking at a particularly charming tree to Octavia who sat opposite her, the woman's own legs kicked out seemingly in an attempt to give them time to rest in the increased gravity.

"What do you think we'll find?" Octavia asked quietly, and Anya thought it an attempt to avoid breaking the calm of the forests, perhaps in an attempt to draw as little attention to their presence.

"About?" Anya asked, but she thought she knew.

"About what we'll find?" and Octavia shrugged a slim shoulder.

"Answers," Anya said and she meant it.

"You really think they're both still alive?"

Anya thought it the first time Octavia had actually voiced her worries. Of course she'd have thought about the possibilities of both Lexa and her brother being dead. But Anya assumed Octavia had avoided the question in the hopes of not willing that demise into existence. Truthfully Anya didn't blame her either. But she thought that now they were both on the ground the truth, whatever it may be, seemed a little more tangible than it had when they were in space.

"I do," Anya answered, and that, she did.

"Why?" Octavia's voice was quiet.

Anya considered sugar coating the truth, she considered not answering at all, she even considered lying to Octavia. But only for a second. Octavia was where she was because she wanted answers. Just like herself.

"They're alive because their bodies weren't found," Anya said. "Everything Mount Weather has told us about the reapers says that they're brutal, ruthless. Why take only Lexa and Bellamy? Why not kill them from the start?" Anya took a moment to organise her own thoughts. It wouldn't surprise her if the reapers had been watching the volunteers and had made the assumption that Lexa was in some way the leader. Or at least someone with enough knowledge to answer their questions. And that was it. Perhaps Lexa had been taken to be tortured for information. And yet even that didn't make sense to her. Would the reapers know what torture was? Would they have thought processes to be aware enough that they would recognise the need for more information? "They're alive," Anya said.

Octavia remained quiet for a moment, perhaps she was trying to make sense of what she had said, perhaps she was trying to think of what to say or even how to say whatever her thoughts had come up with. But Anya let the silence linger. Maybe she wanted to know what Octavia thought without interrupting her, perhaps she wanted to know if Octavia would have her own opinions. And maybe she simply wanted to know if she had made the right choice taking the woman under her guidance, however foolish it may seem.

"You think they're being tortured for information, don't you?" Octavia said, and Anya felt the slightest sparks of approval flit through her mind. "That's why you're so desperate to find Lexa."

"The thought crossed my mind," Anya said. "Why else have they been taken? Why has no one else?"

"But that doesn't make sense," Octavia trailed off in thought and again Anya let her continue to think, continue to ponder. "Aren't the reapers beasts? Aren't they supposed to be monsters now?"

"That's what we were told," Anya answered, and this time she found her own voice was low, quiet, lest they be overheard by the forest.

"But knowing how to torture—" Octavia began. "Knowing who to torture would mean the reapers are more than just monsters, that they think, they plan, they understand."

"Yeah," Anya said as she rose to her feet, her hand held out to help Octavia up. "That's exactly our problem."

As they both came to stand Anya looked out at the forest, she took in the quiet of the animals that still made noise, she took in the rustling of every bush and she took in the depths of the greens and the browns and she knew there was more. There had to be.

"There's a reason we haven't seen reapers yet," Anya said quietly as she gestured for Octavia to follow her as she turned to continue walking in the direction of the drop ship.

And so Octavia fell into step beside her, the woman's eyes gaze peering out around them ever so cautiously, "and it's not because Mount Weather has been keeping them away," Octavia finished

"Exactly," Anya said with a grim smile.

Perhaps she had made the right decision taking Octavia under her wing.

Costia sat in perched high up in her tree, her furs and leathers pulled tightly across her body lest the wind make her shiver and rustle the branch she sat upon. Far below her, on the forest floor, sat the two women she had been tracking since they had left the new vessel that had crashed to the ground.

It hadn't taken her long to realise which direction they travelled, just as it hadn't taken her too long to realise they were in some way friends of Lexa. She could tell the older woman was the first, if these Skaikru even had firsts. She seemed more aware of her surroundings, or as aware as could be expected of people who had never lived amongst the trees. The second was a quick study though. That was obvious from the way she seemed to mimic her first in step and motion. Even the conversations they had had said as much.

Part of Costia disliked any likening of her people to reapers for it seemed almost an insult. But part of her couldn't feel a little impressed that at least these two people had been able to gleam a little more of the truth than the others. She could respect that. Just as she respected her enemy. And that was what they were for now. She knew Heda meant to court them in some way, to get them on their side in the coming war. But she was also sure Heda would be more than willing to give the order to kill each and every one of these new skaikru should the need arise.

The sound of Lexa's name brought her attention back to the present and Costia found herself taking note of the fact that the first - Anya - she thought, spoke highly of the leader. That intrigued her as much as the fact that Anya seemed foolish enough to traipse through the forest almost entirely alone. Costia wondered what Lexa had done to inspire someone to so willingly throw themselves into potential trouble, perhaps she'd ask if given the chance. And perhaps in another life she may have found that ability to inspire loyalty attractive. But for now Lexa and her people were barely more than enemies. And Costia wouldn't let wandering thoughts distract her from the task at hand.

And so, as Anya and the second - Octavia - stood, Costia began to move in the direction of Ton DC. She knew where these two people were going, and she knew they looked for Lexa, and that, she thought, was something Heda would want to know.

Camp drop ship as it had come to be known as was a bustle of people, many in the middle of erecting walls made from scrap metal, or hastily cut down trees. Burning torches were already lit to chase away the encroaching dark of the coming night.

As Raven shrugged off her travellers pack it didn't entirely surprise her to see more of her people than those of Mount Weather. Logistically she didn't even know how Mount Weather stayed above ground as long as they did, even with the injections she had seen them give themselves. She assumed they had supplies hidden above ground strategically. She didn't care too much though. At least not for the moment as she looked around in the hopes of seeing someone she recognised.

"You know," Monty's elbow nudged hers and she looked to her left to find him eyeing the bordered off section of ground clearly tilled and ready for planting. "If I didn't have to worry about being attacked by reapers I wouldn't mind being a farmer out there," and he gestured behind them and to the gate they had just walked through. "There's a lot of land we could use between here and the main camp."

"There is," this time it was Harper's turn to add to the conversation. "I'm sure there's plans ready to go once we've secured the surrounding areas."

Raven shrugged a noncommittal answer, her feet still sore from the hastily planned trip to the drop ship since the rest of the Ark's arrival down on the ground. She didn't really know why she had decided to even come to the drop ship. She could see they had more than enough people to defend and build as needed. But something had been prickling the back of her mind ever since they had been attacked. Maybe it was the simple fact that they had been attacked by reapers. But she thought there was more too it. She couldn't put her finger on it and that frustrated her. At least when she was working on something, an engine, a piece of machinery, she could diagnose, she could listen, hear the sound of a poorly working machine. But the problem she faced was something had no idea how to address. Or even where to start. She supposed going back to the place it had all began was better than nothing.

And then that left her with Monty and Harper. She was thankful they had volunteered to come along. It gave her a little company, and it made her skin crawl just a little less to have people by her side as they moved through the forests.

Maybe the sole reason she felt the need to at least try and find out what happened to Lexa was the simple fact that the woman had got them as far as she had without any of them dying. Though she hadn't had the time to get to know her as well as she had hoped, she thought she owed her at least an attempt to find her.

And yet, now that she stood where the attack had originally happened, she found herself feeling woefully unprepared to even begin analysing the problem. She didn't know where to begin, where to look, what to look for. And that frustrated her more than she cared to admit.

"So," Raven said as she kicked a stick that lay on the ground by her foot.

She felt more than saw Harper's eyes on her and she looked up to find the woman nodding her head briefly.

"Yeah, I feel the same," and she shrugged and gestured around them. "Where do we even start? It's not like they left a trail for us to follow or we would have found it by now."

Raven was thankful Harper was as lost as she was.

"We could try all the places we went to before they were taken," Monty offered, his gaze focused somewhere in the sky in thought. "The river?"

"Maybe?" Raven half answered, half asked. "The reapers clearly knew who to take," she tried thinking of any and all situations where Lexa's role as the de facto leader of the volunteers would have been on display. "What abou—"

"—Hey," Monty's elbow nudged hers again, and Raven followed his outstretched arm to find him pointing at two women who leant over a makeshift table looking at a map. "Isn't that Bellamy's sister?"

It didn't take anyone on the Ark longer than a second to recognise the first sibling ever born on the Ark. Octavia's face had been plastered all over the Ark as news had spread after her discovery. But it surprised her to find Octavia had somehow found her place on what seemed like a scouting party - she didn't think many would have accepted her. It wasn't even that she agreed that Octavia should be shunned, but everyone had been trained practically from birth for a much needed role on the Ark and the fact Octavia had lacked that training meant she had hardly any skills. She had seen the young woman in her overalls on the Ark as she had scrubbed bulkhead and deck plating, she had seen her be treated as almost a second class citizen whose sole purpose was to clean. And it wasn't fair. Raven thought everyone deserved a chance, especially if they had done nothing wrong.

All those thoughts spun through Raven's head in seconds, and she wondered why Octavia was there with the other woman. But then it clicked. And it was obvious.

"She's looking for Bellamy," was all Raven said before she began walking towards her.

It only took Raven a moment to recognise the station patch sewn onto the other woman's uniform - GoSci Comms Chief. Perhaps this woman had had the same opinion of Octavia as she had, perhaps she had taken her under her wing and given her a chance. Raven wouldn't even be surprised if they had crossed paths through incident reports and maintenance logs - she was sure the woman had been responsible for one of the many requests for her to fix any kind of issues plaguing the Ark's communications systems.

And so Raven came to a stop before both women, her hands on her hips and Monty and Harper by her side.

"Can I help you?" the Comms Chief said as she looked up from the map, frown upon her face.

"Yeah," Raven said with a nod. "I'm Raven," and she gestured to Monty and Harper. "Monty, Harper," she paused as she looked at Octavia who glanced to the Comms Chief before meeting her gaze again. "You're Octavia," she said.

There was a moment's silence before the Comms Chief's arms crossed, eyes narrowed slightly as her chin lifted.

"Is there a problem?" the Comms Chief's voice was ice.

"No problem," Raven cursed herself. She hadn't considered the fact Octavia might have been used to people treating her differently. "We were all part of Alpha Team," she added quickly. "With Bellamy."

Octavia's eyes widened at that and she watched her move forward half a step.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Octavia's voice came out a rush.

"No," Raven didn't mean to wince so openly at the way her words made Octavia deflate. "But that's why we're here," and she gestured around them. "And that's why you're here, too, right?"

The Comms Chief remained quiet for a moment longer before she seemed to relax, whatever measure she had been taking of Raven clearly more favourable than not.

"I'm Anya," the Comms Chief said as she held out her hand.

"Hi Anya," and Raven found herself shaking her hand. "The name's Raven. Nice to meet you."