❝ 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲
𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲
𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵
𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

After taking in all the sights, Nova sits down on a log near the entrance. I sit down next to her as a couple warriors on horses enter Tondc. Their white warpaint and thick clothing makes the lightbulb in my head light up.

"Azgeda, right?" I ask Nova and she nods with a smile.

"Watch your back when it comes to them. Never trust the Ice Nation. They're ruthless and cold hearted" Nova warns me and I nod in understanding.

"I'll keep that in mind" I reply.

I look down at the bare wood of my bow and a find myself reaching for my switchblade. I start carving into the wood and I feel Nova's gaze burning into the side of my head as I hum to myself. I carve three names into the wood and let out a small sigh. My eyes scan over the names 'Finn', 'Mom' & 'Dad'.

"They'd be proud of you" Nova states.

"I hope so" I mumble before carving a couple more names, like 'Charlotte' and 'Sterling' and 'Atom'.

"I also hope I don't have to carve anymore names into this" I add.

"Hopefully you won't" She says.

I feel Nova's elbow nudge my side and I look up to see Clarke rushing into the entrance. I jump up and jog over to the blonde.

"What's wrong, blondie?" I ask curiously.

"Where's Lexa?" She snaps.

"That way" I tell her, pointing to the station.

She runs off and I look at Nova, furrowing my brows in confusion. I see Octavia join the rushing blonde and then Lexa leads her into the station alone.

"How about we train a little?" Nova asks, coming up beside me.

"Sure" I shrug.

I put my bow into my quiver and Nova leads me forward. We reach a large tent and Nova ducks inside.

I follow after her to see a man sharpening a blade. He has messy blonde curls, bright blue eyes and a cheery smile on his face.

"Nova!" He greets her happily.

"Ren!" She grins, wrapping her arms around him.

"Who is this? She's cute" Ren asks in trig.

"Thank you. You're quite cute yourself" I grin cheekily.

His cheeks turn a rosy pink and he looks at Nova accusingly.

"You taught her Trigedasleng" He grumbles and Nova chuckles, patting his arm.

"Ren, this is Ava, my skola. Ava, this is my friend Ren" Nova introduces us.

"Nice to meet you, Ren" I smile sweetly, holding out my hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, Ava" He replies, shaking my hand.

"What can I do for you two lovely ladies?" Ren asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I think it's time Ava has a sword of her own" Nova explains.

"You're teaching an archer to sword fight? Do you want her to be good at everything?" Ren laughs, as he turns to look for something.

"Yes. She needs to know how to wield a sword if she's going to be one of us" Nova declares and I look at her in awe.

"You want me to be a grounder?" I ask quietly.

"I want you to be a warrior. Trikru or Skaikru, it doesn't matter to me. It's up to you" She tells me, nudging my arm.

A smile tugs at my lips and Ren spins around with a sword. He tosses it and my eyes widen as I catch it.

The cool leather fits in my palm perfectly and I grin excitedly as I pass the sword from my left hand to my right hand a couple times.

"How's that?" Ren asks me.

"It's great" I say in amazement as I twirl the sword around in my right hand.

"Okay, that's enough, before you take someone's eye out" Nova snaps and I glare at her playfully.

Nova hands me a belt with a sheathe on it for the sword. I loop it around my jeans waistband and slip the sword inside it.

"Perfect" I chirp.

"We're heading to the woods if you want to join us" I hear Nova speak and I look up to see Ren smile.

"Why not?" He shrugs and follows behind us as we exit the tent.

I see the small smile on Nova's face and I elbow her with a smirk. She rolls her eyes and elbows me back.

We make our way through the busy streets of Tondc to the outskirts and into the calm forest. We reach a large clearing and Nova unsheathes her sword. I shrug off my quiver and jacket before unsheathing my own sword.

Ren leans against a tree and watches intently as Nova runs at me. She strikes downwards with her sword and I lift mine up to block her. The metal clashes loudly and I lift my foot, kicking her chest back.

Nova stumbles backwards and I swing my sword at her side. She narrowly dodges the blade and swings at me. I duck from her blow and kick her knee. She falters and I swipe at her arm.

The blade slices her forearm and she drops her sword in pain. I hold the tip of my sword to her throat and she looks at me in defeat but I know it's an act.

"You win" She sighs.

I don't make a move and she smirks softly, knowing that I'm on to her. She spins, pushing the blade and tries to grab my arm but I kick her back.

The blow to her stomach sends her flying backwards and she hits the ground. I put my boot on her stomach and the tip of my blade at her heart.

"Now I win" I grin.

I hear slow clapping and I sheathe my sword, helping Nova up. I slip my jacket back on and throw my quiver over my head.

"That was the highlight of my week" Ren laughs loudly and Nova glares at him.

She sweeps him off his feet and he hits the grass with a thud.

"And that was the highlight of mine" She declares with a smug grin.

Ren reaches out and grabs Nova's ankle, tripping her up. She hits the ground next to him and I smile at how familiar the scene is to me.

I let out a laugh and before I can react I feel hands grab my own ankles. A squeal leaves my lips as I fall forwards onto the grass and my head thumps off the ground. I hear two loud laughs and look up to see Ren and Nova howling with laughter.

I turn onto my back to look up at the moon shining through the clouds and all of a sudden I see a large orange flame headed in our direction.

"What the hell is that?!" I exclaim in horror.

Before I can even open my mouth again I realise it's a missile and I scream as it hits Tondc. I'm sent flying from the impact and my ears start ringing.

I open my eyes and the trees start spinning around me through the thick smoke. I hear the muffled screams of people in the distance and I then hear a closer voice.

"Nova! Nova!" Ren shouts.

I scramble to my feet as fast as I can but that seems to be a bad idea because my vision blurs and my knees give up on me, crashing to the ground. I crawl towards Nova and see that she's waking up with a dazed look on her face.

Ren's eyes meet mine and his face holds as much fear as I feel. He helps me pull Nova to her feet and we race back to the city which is now in flames. The first thing I see when I exit the trees is two familiar figures standing on top of a pile of rubble.

"O! Linc!" I scream.

They turn to us and I rush forward, throwing my arms around Octavia. She hugs me tightly and I look out the corner of my eye to see Lincoln holding Nova to his chest in relief.

We all part and Ren comes up beside me as we all look down at the ash and rubble that's left of Tondc. Cries and screams fill the smoky air and a lump forms in my throat.

once I get my hands on whoever did this, they're going to wish they were never born