✓ | rarity. ( john murphy )

twelve. (full circle)

After Clarke promised to keep Nova's secret to herself, aside from Miller, they said their thanks and waved goodbye. She wanted to help them reach their camp, their final destination, but Anya would have her killed if she wasn't back in time for the start of the battle, so Nova thought it would be wise to leave.

All that surrounds her now is the emptiness of the woodland. No sound. No movement. Even the birds have disappeared.

   "Oh, war is here all right," she mutters to herself, kicking the leaves in her path with her outgrown boots.

Without warning, Nova's startled when a crunching sound is barely audible from behind her, yet her senses are so heightened she manages to hear it. Her eyes dart around the seemingly endless forest, trying to find the source of the noise.

But she sees nothing.

Until she squints her eyes and notices a person cowering behind a tree in the distance. Their dark sweater is the only thing visible against the amber glow of the fallen leaves, their back against the tree.

Nova doesn't even have to decide if she should approach the person or not. She's banished after the war is over, so she's got nothing to lose.

As she nears the figure, small cries can be heard escaping their lips while simultaneously taking deep breaths, as if they're trying to stop themselves from showing weakness. Her mind wants her to be rational, to run away from the potential danger, but she feels compelled to help, to somehow ease their suffering.

"Are you...Are you okay?"

At the sudden sound of her quaint voice, the person jumps to their feet. And the realisation makes Nova stop dead in her tracks, frozen in place.

It's Murphy. Of course it's Murphy. The world is truly trying to test her, waiting to see her break.

For a moment, they're both in dismay, staring at each other with incredulity, but at the same time rendered speechless. They want to speak to one another, but no words are able to form. Heartache returns at the pit of Nova's stomach, more intensely than ever before. But, Murphy soon let's rage seep in. He can't help it. The last time he saw her was when she was sticking a knife deep into his skin, the scars still littering his body, a grim reminder of how their relationship ended.

"You're the last person on Earth I want to see right now. If you get any closer to me, I will kill you," his voice and his words are both forceful, and he means every one of them, with a blood-stained knife firmly in his grip. Nova can't ignore how hearing those words come from his mouth feels like death itself.

"Murphy, please!" She pleads, her voice straining.

   "You left me to die. Sorry you're not at the top of my best buddies list," he sneers with his back turned to her, already leaving. He may be miserable, but his wit never fails to shine through. Murphy is a lost cause, she knows that. But she has to talk to him somehow.

She feels driven to not give up on him, to run after him and apologise a million times over. But she doesn't get the chance. Being so caught up in the moment, Nova hasn't realised someone creeping behind, stalking her. A blacked-out sheet is forced over her face as, once again, she's taken at the mercy of someone stronger than her.

   Her mind is willing her to kick and scream until her lungs give out. But her heart knows it's a waste of time, so she stays limp. If anyone saw them from afar, it would seem as if her capture is carrying a dead body.

Along the journey, Nova loses count of how long they have been on the move for. It seems like so much time has passed, but, realistically, she knows it's only been an hour or so. That is, until she's dumped onto the rugged ground with not a single care for her. She lands heavily on a few fallen tree branches, cursing aloud before demanding her blindfold to be taken off. Surprisingly, they listen to her.