Welcoming Ice

[Isa]

❅AI GONPLEI❅

AI SWIS

It was the Azgeda who found @murphy after the Skaikru banished him. Knowing well the aggressions between the people from the Sky and the Trikru, they came to the decision of taking him. The Trikru desired information but the Azgeda saw more potential in Murphy.
It took some negotiations but soon the Sky Person was left in their custody under the condition that they share any information about the Skaikru with their allies. 

He was strong and they welcomed him into their community as a potential Grounder rather than a prisoner.
Isa stepped forward and claimed him as a possible second and the camp went about its business as if there was nothing odd about having a stranger in their midst.

Isa was not much of a diplomat, but she was a fierce and skilled warrior. She shared what she had with Murphy and provided him with basic weapons and, most important, began teaching him how to use them properly as she gave him bits of information about the Azgeda ways.

"Do you hate them?" She asked one day as she sat honing the edge of her blade, the first truly personal question she had asked him. "The Skaikru, for what they did to you?"

created by lilith

[Deleted]

When Murphy had been initially captured by the Grounders, he thought he was done for. Being thrown in that cage, the threats of violence to him clear even though they didn’t speak English to him initially, and the realization that no one would come looking for him resulted in the knowledge that he was going to die alone and painfully. Dying alone was one of, if not the, biggest fear of his. He knew he had screwed up in the past and he had done some pretty shitty things, but people had also done some pretty shitty things to him too. Nothing he had done was without reason, even if that reason wasn’t necessarily the best. He would never make excuses for his actions but that didn’t mean he wasn’t haunted by certain events.

However, before the torture could really begin, another group of Grounders had stepped forward to take him. Of course the only thought going through his mind was that surely there would be even more torture as they tried to get all of the information they could from him on the other delinquents who had come from the Ark. Even as they marched him to their camp, the entire time he was trying to figure out a way to escape or at least not give in to whatever they would do to him. Though there were people he hated with a fiery passion back at the drop ship, there were also innocents (well, as innocents as any of the juvenile criminals could be) and he didn’t want their blood on his hands. He just hoped that these Grounders would kill him quickly, rather than stretch it out, but even that he knew was farfetched.

To his surprise, once they were at the camp, one of the Grounders stepped forward to claim him as a possible second, which of course he had no idea what she was saying at the time, but would come to understand. By her doing so, he wasn’t forced to sleep in a cage and he was almost treated like one of them. He was wary, of course, knowing from experience that nothing good ever came without a price and he had been betrayed countless times so why should this be any different? Yet days had gone by and there had been no torture or prying of information and instead the female Grounder, Isa, had begun teaching him the ways of the Azgeda, the name of this Grounder tribe, and teaching him survival skills. He was a quick learner and tried to glean as much information as he could. There were times when he didn’t even think about the drop ship but then other times, especially when he was sitting by himself, he wondered what was happening back at the camp. Not that he should care, especially after what they had done to him.

Skaikru. That was the name the Grounders had given them, the ones who had come from the Ark. Murphy sat there quietly, working on his own blade, and glancing over at Isa every now and then. Gone were the clothes he had worn when he had come down from the Ark, replaced with worn materials and pelts, and other Grounder gear. He had balked initially of course, again, not trusting them after what the Grounders had done to the delinquents up until that point, but eventually he accepted the clothing knowing that it wasn’t going to get him anywhere by refusing it. Did he hate them? He mulled over her question, not answering it right away.

“Not all of them,” he finally admitted. Without conscious thought, he reached up to massage his neck where the ligature marks were still healing. They had mostly faded at this point but he could still feel the steel cord around his neck, cutting into his windpipe as he hung there, trying to break free as he slowly strangled to death. Just thinking about it caused his gaze to narrow and a scowl to appear upon his lips. He pressed the wetstone a little harder against his blade as he continued to sharpen his weapon. “Others? I’ll kill them if I see them again,” he said darkly, imagining exactly what he was going to do to the bastards that had strung him up and ostracized him. “Teach them a lesson about accusing the wrong person. Fucking hypocrites.” They hadn’t even thought twice about stringing him up but as soon as that bitch had told them that she had killed Wells and not him, they went to protect her. He had taken people after her, to get revenge for her nearly having him killed, and that had resulted in him being banished. And he hadn’t done a damn thing. “You ever have something like that happen? What did you do about it?”

Isa

[Isa]

❅AI GONPLEI❅

TAG: @murphy

Isa was pleased by Murphy's aptitude. Although it was clear he did not trust her or her people, he made no attempts to escape or betray them. He learned quickly and she rarely had to repeat or demonstrate a technique more than a few times. He was shaping up to be a fine Azgeda warrior.

"You are wise to only hate those who deserve it." The approval could be easily heard in her generally deadpan voice. That was a lesson that she could not have taught him. Her hands stilled and her eyes lifted from her blade. They paused on the ligature marks and she noted they were healing well, but had a feeling they might not fade completely.

"Something similar." A small smile softened her face, but the glint in her eyes was cruel with sadistic pleasure. Isa was a warrior through and through and took pleasure in a good fight and even more pleasure in revenge. "I was second to Valdis and he was jealous. He tried to sabotage me and turn her against me. When that failed he tried to kill me himself... So I strung him up with his own entrails."

Her eyes returned to her blade and she resumed working the whetstone against the edge. She felt no shame about what she had done to that man. She had not regretted it then, nor did she regret it now although sometimes she heard his screams in her sleep. Even that did not bother her. "We like to keep things fair. Pay what you owe, and collect payment from those who owe you."

She fell into her thoughts for a time, not speaking again until she set aside the whetstone and tested the sharpness of her blade against her thumb. A hum of displeasure left her when it took too long for her tastes to draw blood. Isa picked up the whetstone again and continued to sharpen it.

"Blood must have blood, Murphy, but be sure of the debt that's owed." She glanced up again. "Funnel your hate into strength and creativity, but make your judgements and take your payments with logic rather than emotion."

created by lilith