─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
A HAZY FOG SURROUNDS THE CAMP'S GATE. June can hardly see through it, bravely standing on Bellamy's side with a gun cocked in her hand. Her brown eyes were locked to the outside, waiting until she saw a familiar figure strolling through. Clarke had left after Lincoln's revival to speak to the Commander once more, adding the finishing touches to their truce, if it could be granted. June felt like her heart was beginning to pound out of her chest when two grounders approach as well, leading Clarke to the shut gate.
"Hold your fire! She's back!" Bellamy called to the guards. June took her finger off the trigger. He signaled to one of the guards. "Open the gate."
With ease, the gate slides open, allowing Clarke access. June's gut immediately tells her that something is wrong. Clarke isn't smiling like everything went right, instead, she's tense as she marches inside. "Clarke?" June called in concern while lowering her gun, causing their gazes to connect. June can see how frightened she is in her features, and it settles a feeling of distress in her.
Finn came running, pushing through the crowd to come to Clarke. "You okay?" He asked worriedly.
Without an answer, Clarke shakily called out. "Shut the gate!" At her command, the doors of the gate sling shut, leaving the grounders that guided her on the other side. Clarke tugs Finn's arm away, June and Bellamy on their tail. "You can't be here."
The next to come running was Abby and Raven, Abby quickly pulling her daughter towards her and tightly embracing her. "What did she say?" She asks once she' released. "Is there a chance for a truce?"
"Yes," Clarke whispered.
But she isn't alright. Something isn't right. "What's wrong?" Finn questioned her, forehead creasing with worry.
"They want you." Clarke lifts her head to look at Finn. "If we want a truce, we have to give them Finn." June's jaw drop into a gape as she processed what she was told. She hadn't liked Finn recently, not after the massacre, but there was a part of her that still cared about him. She's known him since her first day on Earth, but hearing they'd have to give him to the grounders for peace, June felt nauseous. "That's their offer," Clarke finished more quieter.
"That's not an offer!" Raven exclaimed. June could almost feel how tense she was from the distress at the delivered news.
"It's punishment. For what happened at the village," Finn finished for her. His eyes shift, realization of his possible fate settling in. "Blood for blood."
Pressing her lips tightly together, June shakes her head as Bellamy spoke the words in her head. "That's insane."
"Insane?" June repeated. "Violence for peace isn't right." Everyone on both sides would be haunted forever, no matter
Shaking her head, Abby held Clarke by the shoulders. "If we refuse?"
"They attack."
A sharp exhale came from June. She wanted to panic, shout that this couldn't be right, or they'd be in a never ending circle. Though, the few residents in the camp who overheard Clarke didn't agree. "I say we give him up!" A man calls. A few more comments like that follow, and June whirls, wanting to warn them but stopping. She could see how frightened they looked, scared of the grounders. It was just human instinct.
"Easy, people!" Major Byrne cautioned everyone that started circling them, passion filling the crowd as the chants grew louder.
"Give him to the grounders!" A man with curly hair shouts, daring to step closer.
Raven spun on her heels, lower lip curling. "Back off!" She snarled, shoving his chest. He went to lunge at her, but June grabbed her arm with one hand while Clarke grabbed the other, pulling her back as Bellamy and another guard held the man away, calming him down.
"Hey, Raven," Clarke tried to grab her attention. "Listen to me. Nothing is gonna happen to him. I promise, okay?" She vouched.
"I'm not dying for him!" The man shouts over Clarke, angering Raven who seemed to start to calm down. "Spacewalker burned three months of oxygen from The Ark! We should've floated him a long time ago. Throw him out!"
Suddenly, Raven rips out of June and Clarke's grip and darts to him before either can stop her. She swings, missing when Major Byrne puts herself between them and strikes the woman instead. In seconds, guards are on her, tugging her back and pulling out handcuffs. "What?! Stop!" June calls, trying to push her way through the crowd as Raven's forcefully pulled away. "Let her go!"
"June, enough," Abby warns her with her hand up. "She's being taken to lock up."
"She's just scared!" June exclaimed in frustration, knowing how much Finn meant to Raven. Hell, she'd lash out the same if it was Clarke.
But it wasn't. It was Finn, and June felt like soon, there'd be nothing any of them could do.
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Those fears became a reality when June stood outside the camp, brown eyes locked on the outside, nearly blinded by the sunlight. She still felt a shiver crawl up her spine, feeling cold as she stared back bravely at the grounders just outside the fence. It's more than two, more than a few. There's a horde, some on horses, a few holding torches, but every one of them chanting the same phrase. "Jus drein jus daun!" (Blood must have blood.) June didn't understand the words, but she could guess easily it didn't sound good.
"Jus drein jus daun," June whispered, finger resting on the trigger of her gun. She looked over her shoulder, seeing Clarke standing beside Abby. "What's that mean?"
Clarke's tone was faint as she responded. "Blood must have blood." June slowly turned back around, feeling uneasy. She knew it was all for Finn. That these people wanted justice for the murderers at the village massacred, but she couldn't stop the fear settling in. These were people she hadn't trusted since the beginning, and she hated that they weren't getting justice for their own people killed. June pushed the thought away as soon as she thought of it, Bellamy speaking in comfort.
"They're trying to scare us." Bellamy's dark eyes flickered from June to Clarke, gun cocked, proving how brave he was. June swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to feel the same, but unable to dig up the emotion.
Both Clarke and Abby whisper to one another words June couldn't hear, before Abby was marching forward, jaw clenched but hands shaking. "Open the gate," she ordered the guards. The doors swing open with a hiss, revealing the two original riders on horses. June can't see the faces of the grounders through their masks of skulls, but she can only guess they were male.
"Where's the boy?" One demanded in a deep voice.
"We're not giving him up," Abby declared. "We're ready to fight if that's what it comes to."
As if it was on cue, a horn bellows in the distance. It reminds June of the war they faced not too long ago. Without another word spoken, the grounders nudge their horses to turn around and ride away. They gallop far from the camp, others following. "Watch the woods!" Bellamy commands snapped June out of her daze. "Watch for movement!"
Without Bellamy's words to Abby and a few others, June wouldn't have a gun in her hand. She was thankful he had done so, feeling more confident and comforted with the firearm in her hand. She positioned it correctly just in time to hear a guard announce; "Movement on the tree line!"
June rushed closer to the gate, hearing a familiar voice call back a few yards away. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" She has to blink a few times to be sure she's hearing and seeing right because Marcus Kane is appearing out of hiding place behind a few large rocks with his hands up in surrender. He takes hesitant steps to the camp until he's confident no one will shoot before lowering his hands. Kane doesn't look so well, June noticed, seeing he was covered in dirt where his skin cracked like he hadn't taken a drink in days. He's even sporting a few cuts, black hair a disheveled mess, and a blue bruise around his eye along with red rings around his wrists, like the grounders, had him held captive for a while.
When Kane comes to a stop at the open gate, Abby nods in greeting. "Marcus."
"Chancellor," he replied respectively.
"I was afraid that I wouldn't see you again," Abby says thinly.
"I had those fears myself," Kane admits, stepping past the gate and looking around, scanning the area with a sudden smile on his face. "It's good to see this place again."
Lowering his gun, Bellamy motioned with a wave for June and Clarke to follow as he approached Kane. "You can't be out in the open," he informs him. "We need to get somewhere safe."
Smiling like he hadn't a care in the world, Kane let out a short laugh. "It's safe for the moment," he answers indifferently. "Come on. We need to talk. I managed to buy us a bit of time."
The phrase was never good, especially when spoken by adults.
But since they were the adults, and they were the "children", none of them were allowed in the council meeting led by Abby. June waited impatiently outside the room in The Ark for what felt like hours with Raven and Bellamy until the door finally swung open, but only Abby left. She wasn't given a chance to greet them before Raven is questioning her in a state of panic. "What's happening?"
"You were in there for a long time," Bellamy adds.
"There was a lot to talk about," Abby said calmly, showing no signs of any emotion.
June's eyebrows furrowed. "And?" She urged her to continue, picking up her pace to keep up with them.
"There was a lot to talk about," Abby repeated.
"Hey!" Bellamy took a long step to stop in front of her, forcing Abby to come to a quick halt. "We are not turning him over to the grounders."
Holding her head up, Abby gave him a warning. "Step aside now." Bellamy clenched his jaw, hesitantly stepping back. "We're all trying to find a way out of this," she timidly reassures them, before leaving the three to process that.
Bellamy shared a knowing look with June and Raven. "They're gonna give him up."
Tracking down Finn was a lot harder than June expected it to be. But once she catches sight of his raggedy brown hair, leaning against a beam for support while he spoke to Clarke, she makes a noise to catch Bellamy's attention. "Finn!" Bellamy calls, catching his attention and causing him to turn his head. Once they are close enough, he drops his voice to a lower tone. "You need to get out of here."
"Where would he go?" Clarke asked, surprised at the warning.
"The dropship," Bellamy answered simply, like the idea just popped in his head, as he grabbed Finn's jacket and began to haul him away. Finn doesn't move or speak in protest.
"Hold on," June spoke up. "They know where the dropship is."
Bellamy shakes his head. "They're turning on him. This isn't any safer," he argued. "We can protect him at the dropship until we figure this thing out." June knows this isn't going to just go away, but she nods curtly, following them. A few residents eye them wearily, backing up like they were scared, of Finn. Bellamy ignores them, speaking to Finn and Clarke. "Grab your gear, meet at Raven's gate in five. She's cutting the power for the fence."
"Nobody's coming with me," Finn protested sharply, pulling his arm away from Bellamy.
"Now's not the time, Finn," June uttered in a sneer, having been repulsed by what he had done, but refusing to allow him to have any say in how they save him. "Nor is it up for discussion."
"We are surrounded by grounders," Clarke whispered, reminding them.
"And, we're surrounded by them," June countered, mentioning the people continuing to watch, and Abby. Either option was a losing situation, but running seemed to be the best decision for now.
A voice speaks loud over them, one June doesn't recognize. "There he is." She looks up, seeing about five or six men blocking their path with stares of rage. The one who spoke stepped forward, seemingly the ring leader in their band. "He's gonna get us all killed."
June slowly holds her hand up, trying to stay peaceful despite the nerves washing over her. "Let's just talk about this - "
Before she can finish, the man lunges, heading straight for Finn. He can't get any closer than a few feet before Bellamy stops him, swinging the butt of his gun into his head and knocking him out cold. His friends cheering dies down when he hits the floor. Bellamy narrows his eyes at them, chest heaving with each breath. "Anyone else?" He demanded.
Finally realizing that they were right, Clarke tugs at Finn's jacket. "They're right. It's time to go." The men don't fight back as the group pushes through, prepared to leave the camp for their home.
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"I checked again. Still no sign of them."
Raven's words cause June to heave a deep sigh of annoyance. She, Bellamy and Raven had been in the dropship for too long, waiting for Clarke and Finn to show up. The pair were still gone, in the woods taking their time when grounders could be anywhere. Her boots thudded against the dropship floor as she paced, trying to keep herself calm. "Where are they?" Bellamy said through a groan.
"They should be close," June tried to reassure them and herself.
"We shouldn't have split up." Raven shook her head but was startled when footsteps echoed outside of the dropship and a figure came closer to the curtain.
Quickly lifting his gun, Bellamy announced. "Someone's coming!"
Barely given a chance to hold up her own, June's eyes suddenly connected to Murphy's as he strolled through, coming to a stop when he saw barrels of the guns pointed at him. His hands shot up in surrender.
"Are you kidding me?" June voiced her thoughts, glancing from Bellamy to Raven.
"What are you doing here?" Bellamy asked, lost.
"I believe I was invited..." Murphy trailed off, gesturing to Raven, who looked calmer than the rest.
"I thought we could use an extra gun," Raven explained.
Tilting her head, June brought her gun back down. "And you couldn't have asked anyone else?" She questioned her, only receiving a loose shrug in response.
Looking away from June and to Murphy, Raven tried to peer past him through the curtain. "Finn should've been right behind you."
"Don't worry," Murphy said dully, walking further inside. "The spacewalker's gonna be fine."
For once, Murphy was completely right. It only took a few minutes for Clarke and Finn to return, making June glad until she saw the blonde being carried in his arms. Clarke was completely unconscious, blood gushing from a wound on her temple. "Oh my God," she panicked, heart pounding in her chest as she slung her gun's strap on her shoulder.
"What happened?" Bellamy exclaimed, rushing to help Finn carry her.
"A grounder hit her on the head," Finn responded breathlessly as Murphy waved them over to a small spot he had put a rolled-up cloth in.
June touched Clarke's head, her hands becoming covered in her blood as she's gently lowered down. The injury is deep, but not enough to kill her. "I need a bandage, a rag, now!" June exclaimed to the others, uncaring who handed her one as she kept her palm on Clarke's head.
"Got it," Murphy announced, passing her a torn-up rag. "Here."
"Hold her head," Bellamy said to Finn, keeping Clarke's head leveled as June carefully wrapped the cloth around it tightly. "Clarke, can you hear me? Clarke?" She doesn't groan, doesn't sigh, only stays limp. "Clarke, you're gonna be fine. You just need to rest."
Once the rag is tied tight enough, June gently brushes her friends hair out of her face. "It's okay," she whispered shakily, hoping she'd only have a killer headache when she woke up. "You're going to be okay, Clarke."
Raven rises when Clarke is settled, touching Finn's shoulder in comfort. "Hey, it's just a bump on the head. Clarke's gonna be okay. Are you?" Finn shakes his head wildly, making her frown. "We'll figure this out," she promised kindly.
"That's what she said," Finn says lowly, panting. "Right before I almost got her killed."