─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

A SHARP EXHALE MADE ITS WAY OUT OF JUNE'S MOUTH THAT SHUDDERED, REMINDING HER HOW COLD IT WAS. She shuddered, pulling her dark jacket around her shoulder tighter as if it would help. She thought for a moment, that maybe if she wasn't so stubborn and would listen to the demands by Clarke to remain in her tent, she wouldn't be so cold. But June was having a restless night so far, throwing herself around in her tent, until it became too much. She hadn't liked sleeping alone, and Clarke was long gone, left somewhere on her own after the wristbands were fried. June didn't push it.

The place June felt most secure was outside of the dropship's gate, in front of Wells grave. She knew how dangerous it was with the grounders, who could be circling their camp any time. But she didn't care. She's been on Earth for almost a week and has already lost so much. June wasn't going to let them take the feeling of solace she held onto, being at Wells grave. Sighing, she pulled her knees to her chest, setting her hands on top before beginning to mumble, only wanting to clear her head.

"I wanted to hurt Murphy. Then I wanted to hurt Charlotte." June paused, digging her nails into the mud-stained pants she was sporting. "Really bad. I've never wanted to hurt anyone like that." She drew in a deep breath. "I miss you." It came out as a short mumble. "I wish you were here."

June only stopped speaking when her brown eyes flickered up, seeing a bright light in the sky. It wasn't completely odd, but it was still enough to catch her attention and put her on guard. She squinted her eyes, confused by it. For a minute, she had even considered that it was a shooting star, but it didn't exactly look like one. June picked up herself onto her feet, remaining steady, and trying to make it out. It looked as if it was hurtling towards Earth, with a flame trailing behind it. There was only one space station in The Ark, which only meant one thing.

Dashing back into camp before sneaking through the gate, June glanced around to see most of her friends were out of their tents and staring in awe at the sight. She was glad they were excited, but there were more important issues to be concerned about. The thing from The Ark could have important supplies inside, and they had to be quick enough to get to it. June waved towards Roma, seeing her practically half-naked in the cold with a layer coated over her. "Hey, where's Clarke and Bellamy?" She asked.

"I don't know where Clarke is, but Bellamy is in his tent," Roma answered reluctantly, pointing behind her to the exact location. June sent her a curt nod in thanks before heading towards the direction of her target.

Flipping open the tent's opening, June ducked and made her way inside. Bellamy and Jones were looking over a map, and Octavia was just beginning to speak. "We should get moving," she says. "Everyone's ready."

"No one's going anywhere," Bellamy declared. "Not while it's dark, it isn't safe. We'll head out at first light, pass the word," he ordered to Jones who nodded back and left. June scowled, crossing her arms over her chest in irritation.

"Are you insane?" June questioned sincerely. "We need to get to it now before someone else does."

Taking a side step, Octavia covered the exit to keep Bellamy from leaving. "Everyone for a hundred miles saw this thing come down," she reminded him. "Bell, we should go now."

"I say, we wait until sunrise," Bellamy shot back firmly. Octavia gave him a pointed look, angry by his actions before she was bolting out of the tent.

"And because I don't take orders from you," June retorted, prepared to leave herself. "I say, go to hell."

Before Bellamy could speak in argument, June clenched her jaw and left the tent without a second look. She headed straight for her and Clarke's tent, making her way inside and grabbing an old bag. It was the same one Wells had made, and she made sure to stuff it with useful supplies for a short trip to scout the area. She didn't need Bellamy's permission, June decided, as she threw the bag over her shoulder. There was just a small part of her that might have been slightly fearful of heading into the woods on her own, being unsure of where she was going, but she shoved it aside and remembered what was important.

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It wasn't like running through the woods was fun, and June only got lucky when the sun rose, giving her more light than the piece made from the dropship by Monty. She was pretty sure she had taken the wrong turn more than once but had to have been nearing where the pod landed by now. Her feet ached with each step and figuring that she had prominent blisters wasn't making it any easier. She wasn't a tracker like Finn or had even run through the woods like most of her friends had without blindly fighting for her life. June was tired, but she didn't trust Bellamy. Not now, anyway. She just knew she had to get there before the grounders did.

The sound of two familiar voices speaking caught June's attention quickly. She snapped her head to the side, perking up. It had to have been Clarke and Finn, she realized. She took a deep breath before taking off towards the source of the converse, believing they were only a short distance away. June slowed down when she was close enough to see them, peering beside the trunk of a tree, and silently thinking of how to make her presence known without being stabbed from the surprise.

However, June's company was made aware when she took a step to the side and broke a twig. She winced at the sound, watching as the pair she was shadowing whirled around with makeshift knives pointed in her direction. She took another large step to the side and held her hands up in defense with a timid smile on her face. "I come in peace."

"June?" Clarke spoke, startled and dropped her weapon. "What are you doing here? We could have stabbed you."

"But you didn't," June pointed out, smile widening, as she lowered her hands. "I should be asking what you both are doing here. Are you after the pod too?" She questioned, approaching closer.

Finn nodded. "We should be getting closer," he stated.

"Maybe we should split up," Clarke suggested, knowing that the pod could have dropped at any range from them.

"Yeah," Finn agreed. "You two go that way, I'll check the bottom." As they accepted and broke up, June sprinted forward along with Clarke in their given course.

Clarke didn't show any signs of slowing down, but June's curiosity was getting the best of her. She would need some private time as anyone would sometime, especially after when they deemed themselves dead when Monty accidentally fried their only connection to The Ark. "Hey, where did you go after last night?" June spoke up, asking with a pant.

There was hesitation on Clarke's side before she replied. "I went to the bunker with Finn."

"Woah!" June exclaimed in shock, feeling the tip of her boot getting caught over a large root sticking out of the ground from the admission. She would have landed face first on the ground if Clarke didn't slow down to grab her arm. June took no notice of her near tripping experience, instead choosing to stare back wide eyed at her friend. It didn't take any genius to figure out what Clarke had meant. "You and Finn, like... Together?" She uttered in a babble.

Trying to smile, Clarke loosely shrugged her shoulders. She seemed happy, even if it was just for a moment before she was dismissing it just as fast. "Come on, we have to find the pod," she said before taking off once more. June let out a huff, knowing that they couldn't dwell on their feelings, not if they wanted to get to the pod, but not liking it. She followed in suit, this time careful not to trip other any plants.

June's running ceased to a stumble when she saw something in an open spot in the woods. There was a sizable, smoking pod stuck in the ground. "Hey!" She called. "Is that it?" Clarke leaned forward in front of one of the trees before nodding in confirmation and running towards it. "Wait!" June exclaimed, considering the endless possibilities. "We should be careful, there could be anything in there." The Ark didn't seem like the type of civilization in the sky to arm a bunch of criminals, but anything was possible.

Coming to a stop in front of the pod, June let her hand drag her hand across the pod's outside wall slowly before grasping the handle of the closed door. She looked over her shoulder to Clarke, waiting for the okay, before giving it a tug and pulling it wide open. As the door slid open, June wasn't sure what she was expecting. Supplies and a radio, nothing more, but never another person.

But there was. A girl in a spacesuit, with a deep gash on her head and blood cascading down her face. June wasn't sure if her breath was caught in her throat, but her brown eyes widened at the sight of the stranger inside. "Oh my God."

Oh God, she's hot.

"Hi," the girl spoke in a greeting a bit awkwardly, making June snap out of her thoughts. She was still sidetracked by how pretty the other was but tried to mask it with a smile. "I made it?"

Giving a short nod, June confirmed that she survived the crash to Earth. "Come on, let's get you out," she said softly, holding her hand out. Her heart thudded as she unbuckled herself and grasped it, practically leaning on her as she cautiously stepped out of the pod as if she'd explode when her feet touched the ground.

Clarke helped her wipe most of the blood off as June stood in awe, watching as she was stripped from her spacesuit and left fascinated at the planet she was on. Her arms were spread, her head tilted back and the largest grin on her face. "Oh, I always dreamed it would smell like this," she breathed out in amazement. She pointed upward, questioning the pair when feeling wet drops hit her skin. "Is this rain?"

Nodding, Clarke answered. "Welcome home."

Before June could speak, possibly ask the pretty girl who she was and what she was doing here, someone shouted. "Raven!" June turned her head, confused when seeing Finn approaching with a look of shock as if he was staring at a ghost.

"Finn!" The girl, Raven - like the bird, called back in relief. At least June knew her name now, she thought, as she ran to him and threw herself into his arms. Finn caught her quickly, holding her upward. "I knew you couldn't be dead!"

Still astonished, Finn looked her up and down like Raven wasn't real before eyeing the wound on her head. "You're bleeding," he noticed.

"I don't care," Raven whispered before she was surging forward and kissing him.

This time, June couldn't hide her surprise. She was more hit with shock when remembering her earlier conversation with Clarke, who looked hurt by the scene. She wanted to speak, ask the endless list of questions that would be more directed at Finn's mistakes, but she clamped her mouth shut and kept her feelings to herself. It wasn't June's place, she knew.

Pulling away, Raven smiled warmly before they had their own private conversation. June figured they were together in The Ark, but still, Finn had slept with Clarke just last night. She tried to take her mind off it, more worried about how Raven staggered after speaking as if standing for too long was painful and leaving her head spinning. "Come on, sit down," Finn urged her, leading her to a boulder. He shrugged his jacket off before draping it over her shoulders. "Let me get something for that."

Catching on, Clarke cleared her throat as she took a cloth out of her bag to use as a bandage. June tilted her head, pitying her, as Finn dashed over and let out a low, mumble of an apology. "I'm sorry."

"Nice timing, Finn," June commented lowly, making sure Raven couldn't hear.

Clarke pushed the bandage in his hands. "Let's not talk about this." She ignored Finn's attempted explanation that came to a stop as the three approached Raven. "She needs to put pressure on her wound."

Accepting the bandage handed to her by Finn, Raven complied by pressing it to her injury. "Thanks."

"This is June," Finn began introducing, pointing to her. June gave her a small smile and a short, shy wave. "And Clarke. They were on the dropship too."

At the name, Raven perked up, her head lifting. "Clarke?" She repeated while wobbly standing. "This was all because of your mom," she informed her as she lowered the cloth.

"My mom?" Clarke questioned, her voice soft at the memory of Abby.

"This was all her plan," Raven said. "We were trying to come down here together. If we waited-" She cut short with sudden realization. "Oh my god. We couldn't wait because the council was voting whether to kill three hundred people to save air."

June felt her jaw slack open. She knew The Ark had harsh laws that were enforced, but hearing they were going to kill their own people to preserve air was horrifying. "When?" Clarke urged, equally outraged by the news.

"Today," Raven declared. "We have to tell them you're alive!" She bolted to the pod, stumbling as she peered inside the open door for the radio. June followed, leaning over, hope crushed when Raven sighed in defeat. "The radio's gone. It must've gotten loose during reentry." Angry with herself, she backed up. "I should've strapped it to the A-strut. Stupid!" She fumed, punching the pod in her rage.

"No, no," Clarke argued. "This is my fault."

June frowned. "This isn't anybody's fault."

Clarke shook her head. "Someone got here before us," she stated, her blue eyes flickering to June and reminding her without needed words who beat them to it. The truth hit June quickly and her expression turned into a scowl. "We have to find him."