Talk Grounder To Me

[Clarke Griffin]

Nicolette Carmichael

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Things were tense here. Polis was not a place to take lightly and apparently Arkadia agreed. Clarke was glad that they made a good choice about this. They had sent a guard she liked and appreciated. Nicolette was a great person and great guard. Clarke admired her and she knew, if she went about this the right way a lot of grounders would admire her for her strength as well. She was not 100% physically fine, but she didn’t let that stop her and that in itself was damn impressive. Clarkes rooms, the rooms of the ambassador, held bedrooms for the two of them, for Nicolette as her bodyguard. It worked out well so far.

Today there was not much to do, though. She did not have to sit with the others, there was not much she could do, so Clarke had retreated to the rooms, intending to stay in them as relaxed as possible, with Nicolette of course. She didn’t like the notion of a bodyguard, but it was mostly for show anyway. The Grounders needed to see strength, strength Clarke no longer knew she possessed, but Nic certainly did. 

“You should learn their language, Nic.” She suggested. She wore the blue robe again and was sitting comfortably on the furs in the window. “You should know what they say. I could teach you a bit, if you want.”

[Nicolette Carmichael]

Nic was honoured. To be able to go to Polis with Clarke. It was an important job. Though she had thought that maybe they sent her because she was expendable, in case something happened. Or maybe because she was also a woman. Or maybe because Clarke knew her. Whatever the reasoning was, she got to go. It was exciting stuff, seeing Polis, being there, and learning and witnessing what went on. She couldn't be too invested in the surroundings, she had a job to do. But she could still appreciate the way the grounder's lived. 

Today was a slow day, Clarke didn't need to go anywhere. So Nic was hanging around in the room, watching over Clarke. She stood, leaning against a wall, close to the window. The view was wonderful. Clarke suddenly suggested she learn the grounder's language, so that Nic could understand what was going on. Nic had never thought about it, learning the language. The question had brought Nic out of her thoughts and looked at the younger girl. "You think?" Nic asked. She smiled though, at the thought. "I think that's a great idea." It would be very interesting, learning. It couldn't hurt to learn more. Nic loved to learn, so why not add this into her knowledge. It could definitely come in handy. 


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Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

So there was their plan for the day: Start to learn Trigedasleng. For Clarke experience had taught her more of the language. It as still a bit tricky, but it worked. It worked enough to know the essence of what people were saying, to piece it together and to speak with them. Clarke had no doubt that it was still clumsy in her case, but nobody ever called her out on it, even though she might need it in order to correct mistakes. Well, the easiest parts could be given to Nic easily. That was she could find her way around Polis even with those who did not speak English. Clarke crossed her legs, to get a little more comfortable where she sat.

“It’s a bit tricky. The Grounders don’t write. They have apparently abandoned that a while ago, so there is no written records as far as I know.” She began. With written records, learning was easier for her. But they couldn’t have something like that here. And it was understandable in the reasoning. “They couldn’t have records anyway. Trigedasleng developed from English due to Mount Weather. You know they were their enemies. Trigedasleng is part code for them so Mount Weather could no longer spy on their secrets through language. That’s why the warriors still speak English. That way Mount Weather could no longer learn of their secrets, but they could learn Mount Weathers, or hoped to. We are… strange to them with our willingness to learn Trigedasleng, but I know especially the common people will appreciate it. You know what Mochof or chof means?”

Nicolette Carmichael

[Nicolette Carmichael]

Clarke proceeded to give a little history behind the language, and Nic took in every word. It was rather interesting that a language could develop for those reasons. It made it all the more intriguing. Nic had sat grabbed a chair and sat near Clarke, facing her. It's been a while she had any kind of lesson, and it excited Nic. "You know what Mochof or chof means?” 

She had definitely heard the words before. "Does it mean thank you?" She said cautiously. Sometimes she could pick out certain words, but it was definitely something that you had to learn to fully pick up. Nic had never needed to learn a new language before, so the prospect was exciting, and it would certainly be useful. It showed that she respected their culture. Sure things had been difficult between the grounders and the arkers, but now was the time to change that relationship. Little things like this went a long way. So she hoped. 

She was happy that Clarke was giving her this opportunity, and it gave them something to do for the day. It otherwise would have been a pretty dull day. 
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Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

“Yes.” Clarke replied with a smile. It was one of the easiest words to learn and perhaps the most useful one. It was never a bad idea to be able to thank someone. There were a few words completely essential to the culture, though, words people learned first. And that should be to identify themselves, then maybe to identify threats. Clarke smiled. “Very good. Now we want you to be able to introduce yourself.” Clarke smiled openly at her guard. She hoped it was understandable why this was what she wanted her to learn first. With warriors and around the tower it was mostly unnecessary, it was for out there or when merchants or civilians got into the tower.

“You will encounter people who are not warriors. As the warriors kept English to be able to spy on Mount Weather, civilians didn’t, it wasn’t necessary and potentially dangerous. Now you will look dangerous to them. Your gear, your weapons, probably even just your leg, will scare them. So it’s important you know how to introduce yourself. Fear of the unknown goes away a bit when you know what to call that unknown thing. Give the unknown a name and it is aleardy a pittle less unknown. And it will show you are making an effort. It’s ‘Ai laik – your first name – kom skaikru.” She said the last part slowly, wanting her to be able to understand. “Sounds pretty similar to English, doesn’t it?”

Nicolette Carmichael

[Nicolette Carmichael]

Nic listened to Clarke, taking in as much information as possible. It was important to know more about the people they were interacting with, that was for sure. "It’s ‘Ai laik – your first name – kom skaikru.” The words were unfamiliar, but that was the fun of it. It was a challenge and a practical one at that.  “Sounds pretty similar to English, doesn’t it?”
 

She nodded. "Yes. It does." Then she thought about it before trying to say it herself. "Ai laik Nic kom skaikru." She said it slowly to let the foreign words roll off her tongue. It wasn't too hard, so she said it again and again until she got more confident. She smiled lightly to herself and looked at Clarke. "What else can you teach me?" So far things were going good and she was happy about it. Learning something new was fun, but she had never learned another language. Nic was eager to learn.


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Clarke Griffin