CHAPTER ELEVEN.
old friends.

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Since their adoption of Emori, the group mood was definitely more tense. Sage didn't mind the tag along considering she had spoken to the girl briefly and they had bonded ever so slightly however the same could not be said for the older members of the followers who were clearly irritated with having a grounder in such close proximity.

Murphy didn't seem to mind either and he had hit it off with the girl. They had been speaking for awhile, Sage included until she stopped mid sentence,

"Um, I'll be right back." The girl spoke quietly, she remained frozen for a minute as her eyes glued onto a man up ahead.

She carefully walked away from the pair, leaving them as she strolled towards the man she couldn't take her eyes off. Noticing he was in a conversation with the woman beside him, she hesitated a moment. Sage walked behind the pair, eavesdropping on their conversation in attempt to hear their voices. The girl's heart skipped a beat when she secured a clear sound of their voices. She knew those voices.

Their conversing ended for a moment, and Sage took her chance.

"Um. Hi, I-"

"Sage." The man breathed out.

The man's arms instantly engulfed the younger girl as she pushed herself into his embrace. She soon felt the arms of another joining the hug and both of them knew exactly who it was.

The couple pulled away from the girl and Sage examined their faces, they were older than she remembered but of course that was inevitable with time. The man's hair was grey now but his smile was just as she remembered while the woman's hair hadn't greyed over the years. Nonetheless just seeing their faces, tattered as they were was enough for the girl.

The people before her went by the names of Kyra and Harrison Jones and were old friends of Sage's parents. The families were extremely close when they were young and Sage was good friends with their son Everest before they were both locked up in the skybox. Everest and Sage had reunited on the ground when they were both apart of the hundred. They were separated again however when he was taken to Mount Weather. Sage was confused as to why his parents weren't back at Camp Jaha helping to retrieve their son and were instead standing in the middle of the dead zone.

"Oh my god. If only they could see you now." Kyra muttered sadly, patting down the top of Sage's unruly hair.

"How have you been dearie?" Harrison questioned, looking down at the girl.

"I've been okay. It's been an eventful last couple of weeks." Sage confessed, looking off to the side.

"Why's that?" Kyra asked softly.

"I'd rather not get into it." She muttered. The older two travellers nodded at her words, understanding her silence.

"How have you been though?" She continued.

"Not bad, we really miss our Everest." Harrison stated sadly, looking to his wife who looked as if she was close to tears.

"Yeah, speaking of. Why aren't you guys back at Camp looking for him?" Sage questioned.

"We... we were told he didn't make it to the ground." Harrison explained, speaking for his wife who clutched her hand in his.

"What? That's ridiculous, t-that's wrong! We spent time on the ground together. I saw him literally two, three weeks ago." Sage exclaimed. She couldn't believe it. Who had told them that? Something was wrong here, who in their right mind would tell two desperate parents their son didn't survive when he really did?

"What?! You saw him!" Kyra exclaimed, disbelief spreading through her as her face lit up at the thought of her son still being alive.

"Yeah, he came down like the rest of us. I...I saw him almost everyday, we survived together!" Sage rushed, unleashing her information on the yearning parents.

"Oh my god, Kyra! Our boy!" Harrison grinned, smiling at the thought of his son.

"Where is he now?" Kyra questioned.

"Last I saw he was in the dropship, he... well-" Sage began.

"What is it?"

"He was taken to Mount Weather with the rest of the hundred. Only some of us managed to make it out of that situation." Sage revealed with a frown.

"Oh God." Kyra muttered, turning to her husband.

"We have to go back. We have to find him." Kyra stated, tugging on her husband's arm as he nodded vigorously.

"Thank you Sage, for telling us all this." Harrison smiled softly, placing his large hand on the girl's boney shoulder.

"It's no problem. I really hope you find him, tell him I miss him." Sage chuckled, reminding herself of the boy.

"We will. And um we have something for you." Harrison reminded his wife.

"Oh that's right." She realised, reaching into the side pocket of her backpack where she carefully pulled out a small folded piece of paper.

"What's this?" Sage questioned as she retrieved the paper from the woman's hands.

"It's a note, it was left by your parents before they.... and well they left it with us and we found it when we were preparing to leave the ark. Figured we'd find it and give it to you." Kyra explained.

"M..my parents?" Sage asked carefully.

"Yep." Harrison assured, smiling softly at the girl.

"Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me." Sage smiled, her eyes softened as she gripped the paper within her fingers, not daring to release it.

"It's no problem. They'd be so proud of you Sage." Kyra grinned.

"I hope so. But please don't let me keep you, you need to get back to Everest." Sage reminded, glancing between the pair.

"We will, don't worry about that. But we're going to have to turn around now so it's not too far of a walk." Harrison said.

"Tell Jaha, maybe he has a spare map." Sage shrugged.

"Why don't you um, come back with us?" Kyra proposed.

"No, I'm sorry guys. But there's um, there's a reason I left Camp Jaha and I just don't want to go back to that." Sage apologised, scratching her neck nervously.

"That's fine dear, we hope to see you again soon." Harrison nodded, softly patting her shoulder.

"You will." The girl smiled, looking down at the note before up at the pair.

"Goodbye Sage." Kyra grinned hugging the girl quickly, her husband following in suit.

"Goodbye. Say hello to Everest for me." She smiled.

"Of course." Harrison nodded.

Sage waved the pair off as they departed, trudging over to Jaha and telling the man their plan to turn around. Despite the man's protests the couple trekked away, leaving the group with the intention and determination to find their son.

But as Sage watched them walk away she knew that perhaps she was letting one of the last remaining pieces of her childhood go.

↯

Since her reunion with the Jones couple, Sage couldn't stop thinking about her parents. She hadn't read their letter yet but almost couldn't bring herself to do so. Other than the various photos and small anklet her mother used to wear, Sage didn't have a lot to remind her of her parents. Therefore this newfound paper Sage had acquired was awfully significant to her.

She pushed the thought from her mind, uninterested in dwelling on the loss of her parents. As much as she wanted to remind herself of everything that made them the amazing people they were, she couldn't bring herself to think about them without reliving the sorrow of losing them.

Murphy and Emori hadn't stopped conversing since they adopted the grounder and her cart and while both were happy to have Sage join their conversation she found herself feeling like an intrusion.

In a way she was glad they were speaking, it meant she had some time alone to think. But now that was the opposite of what she wanted. Being left alone with her mind was proving to be quite a sorrowful issue.

"Who is she to you? Lover?" She heard Emori ask,

"No, she's just a friend. Um, we've been though a lot together." Murphy replied, Sage couldn't see his face but it sounded like he may be smiling. The thought sent a fuzzy feeling through the girl.

"Oh right. Sorry, I thought she may be your partner." Emori apologised awkwardly.

"It's fine. I actually might um.... never mind." Murphy stopped.

In that moment, Sage wanted to turn around and ask him to continue. She was curious to know what he was going to say, to see if he had a confession to make. But she couldn't. Not when she wasn't sure how she herself felt.

"Who were those people she was speaking with before?" Emori questioned.

"I'm not sure. I think they knew her parents." Murphy responded, lowering his voice in hopes the girl walking in front of him couldn't hear. But she had heard more than he thought.

"Right." Emori nodded.

Sage jumped in her tracks when she heard commotion behind her. A shout in trigedasleng sounded and the curly haired girl spun around quickly discovering Emori holding Murphy hostage with a dagger to his neck.

Her eyes widened to the size of small planets as she watched him struggle. The others around her began to shout in protest, arguing amongst themselves while all she could do was watch as her partner in crime thrashed with a knife pressed to his neck.

"Everybody put your weapons and supplies in the cart and nobody gets hurt." Emori instructed, tightening her grip and raising the knife further up his neck.

"If we give you our supplies, we'll all die out here." Jaha stated, gesturing to his troupe.

"If you don't, you'll die right here." She spat firmly.

"Do as she says. Now!" Jaha commanded. Sage watched the scene for a while longer before removing the rifle from around her shoulder and walking to the cart where she placed it in with her backpack. The girl glanced at Emori with disappointment as she strolled to stand beside Jaha.

The grounder stationed on the horse beside Emori stated something in trigedasleng to which the girl responded in the same language.

"How's your faith holding up, Chancellor?" Murphy breathed.

"Shut up." Emori shut him down instantly.

"Unwavering." Jaha responded.

Sage's fingers fumbled together as she watched Murphy struggle, she felt helpless standing their beside Jaha as they obeyed Emori's orders.

"You don't want to do this." Jaha shouted, stepping closer to the girl.

"Stop walking!" Emori demanded.

"We all came out here searching for a better life, same as you. Maybe we can find it if we work together." Jaha preached, sickeningly optimistic as always.

"Thanks... but no." The girl objected.

The grounder on the horse again addressed his female companion, although she ignored him.

"Now, everyone, back away from the cart and get on your knees." Emori instructed. "Now!" She yelled when not one member of the group obeyed.

"Do what she says." Jaha commanded calmly. His tone wasn't as harsh as Emori's and he knew it was the only way to guide his group.

Sage did as she was told, falling down onto her knees carefully. A frown etched its way into her eyebrows as she followed their orders despite her disagreement. She wasn't fond of surrendering her backpack and water, in fact now her only belongings were the anklet she wore on her ankle, the hairbands around her wrist, her clothes and the letter she had received from Kyra and Harrison.

"You, too." Emori demanded, her eyes focused on a still standing Jaha. The man's hardened eyes remained glued on the female grounder. Clearly displeased with the instruction, he slowly dropped to his knees without fondness.

Sage had to refrain herself from jumping to her feet when Emori manoeuvred the boy in her hands. She moved slightly, flinching as she remained kneeling while she watched the grounder push the boy to his knees and face her.

"Oh, what a surprise. You're just like everyone else." Murphy drawled, his hardened eyes travelling up to her face.

The girl leaned in closer to Murphy, again causing Sage to almost run to the pair, only refraining when she noticed Emori whispering something to the boy before bidding him good luck.

Once again, Sage felt the urge to jump to her feet only this time she didn't stop herself when the end of Emori's dagger rammed into the forehead of a confused Murphy. The two grounders made quick travels and attached the cart to the horse before riding off into the desert. Meanwhile, Sage rushed over to a now unconscious Murphy, praying his injury was only minor.

The group quickly huddled around the boy while Sage investigated his condition.

"Light bash to the forehead, no evident blood, possible swelling and definite bruising. Should wake in an hour or so." She muttered to herself as she concentrated, her eyes darting around every angle of his facial features in search of any other visible wounds.

"An hour? Let's just leave him here." Caspian scoffed causing the girl to frown at him.

"Are you joking? Just because you're an impatient fuckwit, doesn't mean he should suffer for it." Sage spat, running her fingers through Murphy's messy hair as he lay in her lap.

"Who do you think you are kid? Didn't you ever learn not to speak to adults like that? What kind of parent raises a child like that?" Caspian asked rudely.

Sage took a great offence to this, she didn't care if people had issues with her, sure she wasn't overly fond when people didn't like her but if there was one thing that pissed her off instantly, it was any sort of insult towards her parents or their approach in her upbringing.

"I'll have you know, I will gladly call out any kind of bullshit, no matter how old the person is. That's what my parents taught me so if you say one more stupid thing and I swear I won't hesitate to lose my shit." She spat, her whole body tensing as her anger towards the man only increased.

"Relax, both of you. Let's just focus on waking the boy up." Jaha interfered, physically pushing Caspian away from his opponent.

"He won't wake up for a while, he was knocked unconscious if you haven't realised." Sage drawled sarcastically.

"Okay, we will relax for a while and sort everything out when the boy wakes up. Sage you watch him." Jaha instructed.

The girl nodded before making herself comfortable within the sand, if it were even possible. She left Murphy's head in her lap, assuming it was comfortable for him.

Before long, Jaha had begun to grow impatient and considering night had fallen he wanted to move. The group were growing angsty and irritated, clearly displeased with the situation of having to wait for the boy to awaken. Sage didn't care, there was no way she was leaving him out in the desert.

"John. Come on. We got to go." Jaha tried, frowning when the boy didn't even stir.

"Murphy. Wake up." Sage spoke softly, combing his hair back. The sensation seemed to work and the boy soon stirred in his slumber, groggily opening his eyes to meet the concerned faces of Jaha and Sage.

"There. He's up. It's about time." Caspian muttered bitterly.

"What did I fucking say?" Sage threatened, grasping the front of the man's shirt and pulling it towards her sneering face. Murphy chuckled at the sight.

"Easy Sage. Be quiet Caspian." Jaha scolded, bringing an end to the pair's bickering.

"You all right?" Jaha questioned as he watched Murphy wince at his aching head.

"I'm okay." Murphy grumbled, standing to his feet with the assistance of Jaha and Sage.

"It's time to go home." Caspian interjected. He was now further away from the three, closer to the rest of the group.

"And where exactly is that?" Jaha questioned, pausing his assistance and leaving Sage to completely lift Murphy from the ground.

"Sir, I know you're trying to take us to a better place, but look around. We've got no food, we've got no water, and no idea how to find it." Caspian sighed. As much as Sage disliked the man, she couldn't say he was wrong.

"Due North. She said due North." Murphy noted, attempting to make the group's decision easier.

"What is due North, John?" Jaha asked, turning towards the boy.

"She was talking about the City of Light." Murphy continued.

"Did she say that?" Caspian asked, doubtful of the situation.

"No." Murphy muttered.

"Did she say how far due North?" Jaha inquired.

"No. She didn't" Murphy sighed. Sage ran her hand over her face in exasperation, far too tired to deal with the situation.

"But she wouldn't be sending us there if we couldn't make it." He continued.

"Who's that? The liar and the thief who robbed us and knocked you out? Sir, I really hope you are not considering this." Caspian retorted, beginning his sentence with his eyes glued on Sage and Murphy before turning to Jaha.

"John, we have no weapons and no rations. If we go North and you're wrong, then all of us will die. If we turn back now, we live." Jaha shrugged, staring down at Murphy.

"So that's it? We've reached the point of no return? You just want to give up?" Murphy asked incredulously. Sage glanced at Jaha as they shared a surprised expression, since when was Murphy so big on optimism?

"I didn't say that." Jaha shook his head.

"You didn't not say it either." Murphy noted, shaking his head also.

"That is the North star. After you." Jaha pointed. He and Murphy shared a hard long stare before Murphy smirked and began to slowly tread backwards.

"You coming Noon?" Murphy questioned, glancing over to the girl who studied the situation for a moment longer.

"Why not?" She shrugged. Sage followed after the boy and jogging to catch up with him. She quickened her pace, the boy smiling down at her as she arrived by his side.

"You don't have to come." He reminded her.

"I know." She nodded. "But I want to." The boy flashed her a grin which caused her to mirror his expression. She didn't know when he started making her feel so elated. She couldn't remember when she allowed him to be one of the biggest joys in her life. But somehow he had become one. Which was exactly why she was willing to follow him into the sandy abyss.

"Sir, this is a mistake. You're not gonna find it, you're not gonna make it." Caspian voiced from behind.

"See ya Caspian! Ya dropkick!" Sage yelled, turning around and flipping the man off, her hands high in the sky as she grinned at the disgusted expression of his facade.

Murphy chuckled at the girl's antics before throwing his arm over her shoulder and continuing to trek through the sand.

"I believe this is what they call having faith, John." Jaha called from behind causing the pair to stop in their tracks or rather Sage having to stop because Murphy did so.

"Faith? Nah. Just got nothing better to do."

author's note.

so since i have been so inactive, and the world's worst wattpad writer, i decided to update for you guys just so you know im not dead, just struggling under the stress of school and work and dancing and everything else.

but anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter, i really like the dynamics between sage and murphy and again sage's protective side is coming out to play. their pact is staying strong and we know they'd follow each other anywhere. ( cuteness overload !! )

lots of love!

— clovdy