[edited 3 January 2017]

is the right way?" Murphy asked, kicking at a pebble as he walked. They were currently searching near a creek bed; Clarke and Finn said that they had found some blood around here and were convinced it belonged to the injured boy.

"We don't. Spacewalker thinks he's a tracker." Bellamy stated with a huff.

"It's called cutting sign, fourth year earth skills. He's good." Wells told Bellamy in distaste.

"Keep it down, or should I paint a target on our backs." Finn hissed over his shoulder.

"It's a bit late for that, don't you think?" Raine spoke, catching the attention of Murphy, Bellamy and Wells.

"What do you mean, Mist?" Bellamy asked her.

Narrowing her eyes at the nickname, she scowled, "We fell out of the damn sky. As soon as we landed, we became targets. To these grounder people, we're the bad guys."

Murphy snarled, "We'd still kick their ass in a fight."

Raine laughed humourlessly, "Really? The spear that hit Jasper? It was thrown with pin point accuracy from three hundred feet away. They could've killed us all, Octavia included."

Raine glanced at Bellamy when she said this, and he gritted his teeth. He was glad that it wasn't Octavia who got taken; he could care less about the other ones who went.

Finn stopped, his eyes landing on a broken branch. Holding it up gently, he let it fall before squatting. On a small rock, the size of his fist was a few droplets of blood – Jasper's blood. A pained cry echoed through the air, and the group glanced at each other in shock.

"What the hell was that?" Murphy asked, holding out his blade. Raine took hers out of her pocket, silently thanking the man who gave it to her.

Clarke glanced at Bellamy, "Now would be a good time to take out that gun."

The group headed through the forest silently, Raine batting away bushes that got in her way with her stick. She was planning on stripping all of the wood and turning it into some sort of weapon.

They came to a clearing, and Raine's eyes widened as she spotted Jasper, hanging at least twenty feet in the air, tied to a giant tree. He was moaning, a sound that made goose bumps rise on her skin.

"Jasper." Clarke whispered.

"Let's go, we can easily climb that tree." Raine spoke confidently, heading towards the boy.

"No, wait." Wells told the girl, but she didn't hear him. Bellamy frowned, and then took after the girl, watching as a scream fell from her lips as she fell down a hole. He dove forwards, grabbing her wrist in his hand.

For the first time ever, Raine looked afraid. Her she was, dangling over a pit filled with very sharp looking spikes and her saviour was the boy she despised. The way that he was looking at her didn't help the situation, either. It was a mixture of anger and smugness, like he knew that the girl was going to fall, and he was angry at having to save her.

"Pull her up!" Clarke yelled, and Finn and Murphy raced over, each grabbing onto Raine. They heaved her out of the hole, and Raine landed on the grass, breathing heavily with wide eyes.

"You okay?" Finn asked the girl, and she nodded.

"Yeah... let's just get Jasper." She said, her eyes glued onto the pit that almost killed her.

"We need to get him down." Clarke said firmly.

"I'll climb up there and cut the vines." Finn spoke, mentally picking a route to climb.

"I'm with you." Wells spoke, but Finn held a hand out.

"No, stay with the girls, and watch him." He said, gesturing to Bellamy. Bellamy shot daggers at the boy. "You, let's go." Finn said to Murphy, and hesitantly, the boy walked after him.

"There's a poultice on his wound." Clarke noticed, seeing the small green spot on his chest where the spear was.

"Medicine?" Wells spoke, frowning, "Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?"

Raine's mouth opened in shock, realising that that was exactly what he was: live bait. Bellamy voiced her thoughts, "Maybe what they're trying to catch likes its dinner breathing."

"Maybe what they're trying to catch is us." Finn spoke gravely.

•••

"Hurry up Murphy." Finn spoke, the boys working to untie the injured boy. A low growl vibrated through the forest, and Raine's heart began to thump. This is what the grounders had been trying to catch.

"What the hell was that?" Murphy spun around in the tree, looking to where the sound came from.

"Grounders?" Bellamy suggests, but Raine shook her head.

"No, this is what the grounders were trying to catch. And it sounds hungry." Raine said her eyes landing on a giant black panther covered in what looked like scales. She took a shaky step backwards, the growling animal stunning her.

"Bellamy, gun!" Clarke yelled, and the animal began to run at them. Raine readjusted her grip on her staff, hoping that maybe she could get one good hit in before it attacked her.

Bellamy reached for his gun, but it wasn't there. He looked around in horror, gun shots going off. Wells had the gun, and was shooting haphazardly at the animal. It screeched as one of the bullets bit it skin, and disappeared into the bushes.

The bushes around Raine and Bellamy rustled, and Raine subconsciously took a step closer to him. It went silent, and then the creature erupted from the bushes, flying towards Raine. She screamed and covered her face with her hands, and Bellamy pulled her close to his chest. Her hands moved to grip his jacket, her face burrowed in his chest.

With a single shot to the head, the animal fell dead at their feet.

Raine was still clutching at Bellamy, his arms wrapped securely around her. It wasn't until Raine heard the gun click repeatedly did she look up. Bellamy's eyes were wide, his large hands around her waist. Coughing awkwardly, Raine stepped backwards, Bellamy's arms falling to his sides.

She turned to Wells, who was still trying to pull the trigger, the gun clicking. She stormed over to him, snatching the gun from his hand.

"You're an idiot." she spat at the boy, a hand coming to rest on her shoulder. It was Bellamy, and Raine shoved the now empty gun at him before taking a few steps away, her fingers curling into her hair. She glanced at the dead animal, blood trickling down the side of its head from where Wells shot it.

Wells had had no right to take Bellamy's gun, even if Bellamy had stolen it in the first place. Just because Wells' dad held some kind of authority on the Ark, didn't mean that he automatically got to become the leader down here.

"Raine," Bellamy called, and when she turned she saw him holding out her staff. A part of it was splattered with blood, and when Bellamy saw her face he quickly wiped the blood away with his sleeve.

"T-thanks." She spoke, taking the staff in her hands. He simply nodded at her.

"Alright, he's untied." Finn said, and Raine remembered where they were. She had temporarily forgotten about the three boys in the tree.

The group worked to carry the boy, Raine having to slip her staff in her belt to help. It felt awkward next to her hip, but she ignored it. All that mattered was saving Jasper.

Jasper looked deathly pale, and his chest barely moved as he breathed. Cuts and scratches covered his body, and Raine thought he looked like death.

She looked at the group, "Let's get him back."

•••

It was dark when they arrived back at camp, and Wells and Finn were carrying an unconscious Jasper. People stared and whispered as they past. Clarke was leading them toward the drop ship when Monty stopped her.

"Is he...?" he trailed off, fearing for Jasper's life.

"He's alive. I need boiled water and strips of cloth for bandages." She told Monty and he nodded, leaving to find what Clarke had asked for.

Raine watched as Murphy and Bellamy carried the dead animal over their shoulder, dropping it next to a raging fire. A crowd formed, people looking at the animal in awe. Bellamy bellowed, "Who's hungry?"

The crowd yelled in response, throwing their hands into the air. People cheered for Bellamy, and his mouth curled upwards smugly. Raine shook her head; he was using the people's needs to gain followers. Octavia hugged her brother, a wide grin on her face, and Raine watched as Bellamy pulled her close, smiling at her.

His eyes scanned the crowd before landing on her, and he held Raine's gaze. Raine's face was blank as she looked at him, and with a single nod, he knew that she had come around, just like he knew she would.

•••

Raine pushed her way to the front of the line, shooting glares at people that tried to stop her. Bellamy had made it so that if any of the teenagers wanted to eat, they would have to take off their bracelets. Raine, as much as she didn't want to admit it, thought that it was clever.

Bellamy smirked as she appeared, calling, "I knew you'd come around eventually, Mist."

"Just take them damn thing off." She told him harshly, and he laughed.

"Alright then. This might sting." He cooed mockingly, and she prepared herself. A boy placed a piece of scrap metal in between the metal and her skin, and without warning began to pry the bracelet open. Raine fought the urge to cry out, instead gritting her teeth as the metal bit her skin.

The bracelet popped open, and Raine threw it on the fire triumphantly, not only earning a cheer from the crowd, but from Bellamy. She nodded as she walked past him, snatching not one, but two sticks of meat. Bellamy was in surprise when she then turned around and held one out to him. He raised an eyebrow as he took the stick.

"So," he spoke, "You took it off. Why?"

She shrugged and dodged the question. "It was annoying me."

They both took a bite of their meat, Raine not realising how hungry she was until the food slid down her throat. She involuntary let out a small hum and Bellamy chuckled. He watched her as she finished her meal quickly, her eyes darting back over to the cooking animal quickly. He had only eaten half of his, so he held it out to her. She looked at it for a moment, but taking it.

"Thanks." She mumbled, biting it. "You've got quite the army." She gestured towards the crowd of teenagers that were eating, their bracelets melting on the fire.

"Every army needs a leader. I just so happen to be the leader."

"Really?" she mocked.

He scowled in response, "Yes, do you have a problem with that?"

"I thought you came down here for your sister, not to take out you pent up teenage angst." She responded smoothly, dropping the sticks onto the fire.

"I did." He defended himself.

"Well start acting like it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have stuff to do." She excused herself, disappearing into the drop ship, the same time Clarke came out. Her eyes landed on Bellamy and the line of teenagers ready to take their bracelets off, and she opened her mouth in horror.

"They're taking off their bracelets for food? No way, I – I won't do it."

"You don't have to." Finn walked over towards the food, reaching down to grab some.

"Whoa, whoa, hey." Murphy said, stopping him, "You think you play by different rules?"

Finn stared at the boy, "I thought there were no rules."

Clarke smirked as she watched Finn leave with a stick of meat, and she quickly walked over and grabbed one as well. One boy reached forward as well, but Bellamy caught his wrist before connecting his fist to the boy's face. He shot glares at the other teenagers, before storming off.

Meanwhile, Raine was working to smooth the wood by scratching off the bark. There was a small pile at her feet, which steadily grew larger. When she had finished scratching off the bark, she started to carve a ring around the top bit of the wood, where she would eventually tie a bit of material around it to attach it to her belt.

It was almost midnight by the time she finished, but she wasn't to know that. Her eyes began to droop and the knife slipped from her fingers as she fell asleep.

•••