Strangers Not Like Me

[Echo]

Echo was trading information in a village under the Tree Nation's banner, when she saw it. When they all saw it. Something feel from the fire, and it was a ball of fire. It came down with a jolt so hard that you could almost feel the trimmer from miles away, and thought she could not actually feel it, she could see the ground tremble. Many moved to regroup and spread the wood, but a few--like Echo--went to find out what had fallen.

It was just just a day later when Echo was close enough to see. Men! Men and woman had fallen from the sky in a giant . . . . thing. She felt herself frightened for the first time, but Echo did not allow herself to show signs. Who were these people? These . . . . Sky People. How did they live up there? Echo had so many questions, but she knew before any could be answered she had to learn more. So she watched them, for a whole day. Watched as they danced, and played, and lived in a chaos that made no since. She moved back to talk with others, and let some take this information back, while she stayed to watch.

Going back she watched the more, trying to find one who looked like a leader but the few who could be the leader moved in a pack. Did they have more then one? Which one was the alpha? It was hard to tell from so far away. So she begin making a plan.

That night, Echo walked among them. Most were sleeping, but a few stayed up. It was not hard to silently walk behind them. They made so much noise that it was too easy. They talked. And talked. Echo knew their words, for it was the ones of the mountain men! Were they apart of that tribe? They had no weapons that she could see. Some held small knives but nothing like the sword on her back, or the blade in her boot. Echo walked by one of the coverings and heard voices saying words she dind't understand, but the tones she did. They were here but days and they had no protection, no food, no way to survive but they mated. They danced.

They were no threat. She could kill most of them right now and they'd never see her coming. As the dawn came, she walked tot he middle of the camp and waited. She wanted to know how these . . . children of the Sky would react to a warrior among them. The best way to know what your enemy was capable of was to push them into action, and she was here to give them a tab and see. It did not take long before a scream broke out as one of the younger ones saw her.

Finally. It could begin.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: Echo

the  grounders

SHOULD WORRY ABOUT US

Bellamy had been lying in his tent, an arm around Roma who was nestled against him, as they were sleeping soundly. Bellamy wasn't exactly a deep sleeper, quite the opposite. But hearing someone scream out jolted him awake, as he immediately shot up in an upright position. Roma groaned and turned to her side. It was the next word that someone shouted that made Bellamy move even quicker. "GROUNDER!" Where? Here? In the camp?! Quickly pulling on his pants, with the gun holstered to his side, and his shoes -- not bothering with a shirt right now -- he pushed back the flap to his tent and stepped. Sure enough, right there in the middle of their camp . . . was a damn Grounder.

And a damn idiot at that. What the hell was she thinking?! All Bellamy could consider was the fact that she had not come alone. That she was sent in as a distraction while the rest surrounded them. If she was alone for some odd reason -- perhaps just having stumbled upon their camp -- well, it meant that they had been found. Thus, there was no way this Grounder would be leaving here.

The delinquets were already forming a circle around the Grounder, as Bellamy just silently watched. He was taking in her appearance, seeing what she was armed with. John, having stood next to Murphy, stepped toward the Grounder agressively, now standing directly in front of her. . . which, in Bellamy's opinion, was not the best move. But he didn't say anything to stop the clearly enraged delinquent. "What the hell are you doing in our camp?! You got a death wish, Grounder?!" He shot out. Whatever she was doing here, whatever the reason . . . Bellamy knew one thing for certain: this was not good.

[Echo]

They began to come around her, and Echo watched them. No weapons yet. There was fear, and most kept a distance from her. She was one, and they were many, yet they feared her. This was pleasing to her, yet annoying all the same. They were all small, and young, and foolish. The few who had small hand made weapons--the same type she made a a child--came up to group together and stand before her. Fools! They were going to make killing them so easy. She could wipe this place out with so little work and return to the village by tonight. One of them stepped forward, and she didn't move. She didn't blink, or waver, or even lean back. He talked in a loud voice, clearly trying to use that to prove he was the master here. Was he now?

Echo used only her eyes to take in the crowd before looking back at the loud one. What had they called her before? Grounder? She knew the word ground, but the ending was odd. Was that what they called her people?

Deciding she was done gathering her information she moved to walk past him and he moved to cut her off. Fine, she would do this his way. Pausing only a moment to rock backwards, she moved forward quickly, using the top of her head to come down and break his noise, before reaching back to draw her long blade that was on her back, and using the hilt to smash into the face of the next one who came at her. There was another one, a quite boy until now, charged forward and she kicked her leg out to land a blow between his leg and making him fall to the ground.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: Echo

the  grounders

SHOULD WORRY ABOUT US

Bellamy stood there as all hell broke lose. John got head butted, and the others that tried to advance toward her were met with the hilt of the blade. Interesting, that she didn't stab them. She hadn't killed any of them and Bellamy had to wonder why, knowing it was intentional. She could have just as easily sliced their face instead of just wound them. It was just as perplexing to why they speared Jasper and then healed the wound -- even if it was to use him as live bait. But that hardly meant Bellamy was going to be amicable towards her. She was still a threat. She was still an enemy. Bellamy advanced from behind, one arm around her neck as he pressed against it to halt her movements but not enough to kill her or cause her to pass out.

His other hand simultaneously grabbed her wrist that held her blade, forcefully twisting it behind her back until she dropped it and once it hit the ground, he kicked it away. With the front of his body against her back, and the position he had her in -- arm still around her neck and hand gripping her wrist, while the weight of his body pressed against her other arm to hinder any movements -- he had her less mobile now. "We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way," he told her, his tone not overly agressive but it was serious, showing no signs of humor nor suggesting that he was bluffing. Though he had his gun and could just as easily kill her, she was more useful alive. They could extract information from her, no matter how forceful. "Get some rope," he demanded, while a couple of them hurried toward where they would be able to find some.

[Echo]

Someone came up from behind her, a move she had almost expected but not for it to be done as forceful and effective. There was a fighter among them. Finally! She paused her fighting when she lost her grip on her blade, and she looked for her exit. It was time to get out of here before this one learned more about her then she was ready for. Fools. The lot of them. The man who held her told her that they could do this the hard way or the easy way. Liar. There was only one way here.

"Smеrt chem bеschestie" She told him in a quite, deep voice. Death before dishonor. She used her boot covered foot to dig into his knee, and slam down on his foot, digging into his shin on it's way down, while her other hand--the one he was not holding hold in his hand yanked up to fist into his hair. She bent at her wast, trying to use his own weight to pull him over her shoulder so he would let go and she could leave.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: Echo

the  grounders

SHOULD WORRY ABOUT US

The Grounder said something that Bellamy didn't understand, but he hardly doubted it was words of surrender or appeasment. Especially with her actions that followed. She dug into his knee, and slammed onto his foot. Bellamy cringed in the sudden pain, but continued to use his strength to keep a hold of her. Her hand then grabbed onto his hair and tried to life him over her, in attempt to throw her over her shoulder. Like hell he was going to let her get him on his back like this. He dug his heels into the ground to keep his footing, her strength more than he had initially expected but he knew far better than to underestimate an enemy.

Especially a woman. He needed to gain the upper hand again, so he moved his foot, wrapped it around her angle for a moment as he pushed her forward so that she tripped over his foot. He moved with her, until the front of her body was against the ground and the front of his on top of her back. He had her pinned against the ground, now taking hold of both her hands and yanking them behind her to hold her in place, able to use the weight of his body to properly pin her against the ground. "Hard way it is," he said as he grasped both her wrists in his one hand. With his now free hand he took the rope and began to tie a strong knot to bind her hands, uncaring of whether the rope burned into her skin.

[Echo]

He kicked her leg from under her, and they both fell straight down. Echo felt the edges of her vision darken from the weight of him landing on her chest. She forced herself to suck in air even while it burned for a moment, before she was able to breath normally again. He had knocked the breath out of her. "Tá tú trom; agus boladh maith leat an soith crawled tú díreach amach as." She muttered bitterly to him in a deep breathy tone, as she begin pulling at her bound wrist.

This had been the opposite of the plan.

Not planning to make this easy for them, she paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. If she didn't keep her wits about her, this was going to end with her death rather then information. Still, you could learn a lot from others by how they treated their prisoners. She would adapt to this--but not for long. It was hard not to show the panic she knew she was coming. She still had a blade in her boot, but she would not draw attention to that. At some point later they would turn their backs and then she'd use it to free herself. When the heaves one moved off her, she rolled to her back to glare up at him, and see his face for the first time. This was the one who had been enjoying the women. This was their warrior?

While watching the only warrior among them, the one that she had kicked between the legs moved to stand near her knee, and look down at her. If she was going down, she was taking one with her. Kicking her leg out, she kicked that one in the knee hard enough that he would fall, and then wrapped her legs around his neck.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: Echo

the  grounders

SHOULD WORRY ABOUT US

Once her hands were bound, Bellamy moved off of her, as he held his hand out expectantly. Fortunately, they understood for Miller passed him a shirt. Keeping his eye on their prisoner, Bellamy only looked away to pull the shirt over him, yet that split second was all it took. She had her legs wrapped around Finn's neck, clearly squeezing the life out of him. Had this been any other circumstances, Bellamy would have offered a wise ass remark about this being the only time a woman would wrap her legs around him . . . but the timing didn't call for such a joke. He reacted quickly, knowing he had two options here. The first was to use his gun . . . the other, was to use the blade that she had once held.

He didn't know these Grounders well, so deciding to go by the weapons they knew rather than the ones they may not. Hell, he wasn't even sure if she spoke English. She kept talking in her language, clearly wanting to be heard but not understood. Still. Bellamy was not going to assume anything. He reached for the blade, gripping it in his hand and used the blade to cut across one of her legs that was wrapped around Finn. This wasn't about saving Finn; it was about not letting the prisoner kill any of them. Bellamy then moved the blade to her throat, still staring down at her as he pressed the tip against her skin, not hard enough to cut it, but there was clearly no hesitation or jest. "Let him go, or the next slit will be against your throat." Whether she understood English or not, the first cut had been a warning and a way for her to release Finn. The second cut, would cost her her life.

[Echo]

Clearly her point that even while bound, she could fight then was made, for the warrior cut her leg, causing Echo to let out a sound of pain, but not surrender. Then he moved it to her neck. She paused a moment before letting the boy go. She never looked from the warrior's eyes, refusing to give an inch. Or to show fear. If he was the only one among them who would fight, then she knew who had to be taken out before an attack.

If he fell, the others would follow. She knew it now. Could see it play out. They had handed him a shirt, they had obeyed his commands. He fought for them, and they let him rather then fighting at his back. Echo controlled her breathing, refusing to show fear, but in her head she was all too aware of the blade he held, and the look on his face. He meant it. He'd kill her now. Even knowing that, she refused to look away--he would have to look away first, for she would die with her honor.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: Echo

the  grounders

SHOULD WORRY ABOUT US

The Grounder locked eyes with him, hardly flinching or looking away. She showed no sign of fear, but she was compliant as she loosened her hold on Finn. He stumbled away, gasping for breath, but Bellamy kept his eyes locked on the Grounder as she stared at him. She understood him. Part of him was really starting to believe she understood his words. Though again, maybe that was too presumptuous of him. Either way, she got the gist of it. He kept hold of the blade, but slowly removed it from her throat. "Take her to the drop ship," he instructed them. Jasper was still on the second level, but would soon enough move back to his tent as he was recovering. Besides, it would be easier to confine her to the top level. While it was also exposing her to what was really their only shelter . . . as Bellamy already knew, they couldn't exactly just let her go.

She had seen far too much of their camp for them to just release her. She'd go and tell her people and it would give them a massive advantage. As a few of them took her where ordered, Bellamy held the blade and followed. He entered the drop ship after them, watching their newest prisoner. "Tie her to the chair," he instructed them. He didn't trust their knots so he would have to check them after. He continued to hold the blade, deciding it was best to have two weapons on hand. "Take off her coat and shoes." So that he could see what the hell else she carried on her. Miller, Atom and John complied, doing as instructed. Bellamy set the sword on the table as he then went for the strabs that had once been used as seatbelts, and lowered himself to tie her legs against the chair. It was best to immobilize her as much as possible, since she had displayed use of her free legs earlier by capturing one of their own in a choke hold.

[Echo]

Take her where? A ship? Where the fires were they going?! Echo had to use every ounce of control not to react to his words. What SHIP?! This was the worst plan she had ever had! There had been no SHIP! THERE WASN'T EVEN WATER NEAR BY! Where was there a ship?

Thankfully they pulled her up and toward the big metal chamber. She almost sighed with relief but that would be too telling. Once they had her in it, the warrior ordered them to remove her coat--and boots! She had a weapon there! She wasn't going to just hand it over to them!

Echo looked around the room, taking in the sights, while they forced her to sit. What was this place? She could not think of it's function no matter how hard she tried. It had too many odd things in it to narrow it down, and nothing looked helpful toward her escape! She waited until the warrior bent down to bind her feet before she used them both to kick him in the chest!

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: Echo

the  grounders

SHOULD WORRY ABOUT US

While the others removed her thick coat -- something that he was certain would come in handy later -- Bellamy focused on tying her legs against the chairs. The knots would need to be done strongly, which would be easer with the removal of her boots. That and taking off her outer layer would allow them to see if she had any weapons on her. They had taken the blade, but he doubted that was the only one she carried. He wasn't about to take that risk. Bellamy hardly got one of the boots off before she kicked him.

It didn't hurt but it caused him to pause only for a brief moment and it seemed that was all she needed to adjust her position. This damn woman really didn't learn a thing. Out there, she had dealt with irrational and overly impuslive idiots. In here, she was among those who had a bit more intelligence -- there was a reason Bellamy felt more trust toward Miller and Atom. So if she thought she was going to be breaking anyones nose in here . . . well, she had another thing coming.

[Echo]

The kick didn't phase him as much as she was hoping, but she had almost only done it to piss him off more then trying to escape. Before he could come back at her however, a sound from above her distracted her. It was a moan. Not like the ones she had hear from his tent earlier but one of pain. Someone was hurt. Did they have another one of her people up there? She had not seen anyone injured here or someone brought in. . . . was there a sickness here? Something else?

Echo looked up at the roof with her face of confusion for a moment before she looked down at their leader with an angry one. This was growing tiresome. There was one of his men mouthing off about something to the right of her, and her hands gripped the chair, as she pushed to stand what little she could and quickly bring the leg of the chair down on one his foot. He yelled out with pain, but she refused to look away from the leader, or blink. She was not going to be his victim.

[Bellamy Blake]

Tag: Echo

the  grounders

SHOULD WORRY ABOUT US

This was getting damn ridiculous. The others were being incompetent. Really, they couldn't handle a single woman?! Bellamy was getting tired of this shit. She had slammed the chair leg onto someone's toe and if he didn't do something drastic, then this was not going to stop. Rolling his eyes he rose to his feet, withdrew his gun and held onto it, directing the hilt toward her. But not to shoot her. Instead, he struck it on the back of her head, hard. Enough to knock her out but not kill her or cause any other sort of serious damage. When she fell to the ground unconscious, Bellamy looked at the others as they recomposed themselves. Finally; she was out, and they could position her properly.

This is what they should have done to begin with and it could have saved them a lot of trouble and time. "Tie her up. Properly this time," he ordered, as he tucked the gun back behind him and adjusted the chair. He proceeded to tie her legs against the chair -- far easier this time as she was no longer kicking -- while Miller and Atom each tied her wrist to arms of the chair. When they were done, Bellamy checked the strength of the knots they had tied, and pulled it a little tighter. It was durable, and should be enough to keep her restrained. "Keep an eye on her," he told them as he turned to leave. "Wait, you're leaving us with her?" Atom questioned. Bellamy suppressed an eye roll. "She's tied up and unconscious. Stop being an idiot." With this words, he departed the drop ship, taking a few other men with him to do a quick survey of the nearby area. He needed to make sure no one else had accomponied her here. And if they did, well, they needed to be prepared.

[Echo]

Echo felt herself waking up, which was odd because she didn't recall falling sleep. That would be embarrassing--falling sleep while a hostage. Wait! She was a what? Echo forced her eyes opened and the pain in her head made them close right back before she forced them open once again. Had he hit her? With what?! That had hurt! She tried to move but everything was stiff--no! Damn it! Everything was tired down! Her arms were numb, and she had to pee. This was not going to go well.

Rolling her head around she tired to take in where she was. Same place. Just locked down. Silently she sat there, trying to sort her thoughts. How long had she been sleeping for? Where her people looking for her? No, they wouldn't think she was this weak. Somethings she knew she'd never live down. Echo looked around for him, ignoring the others. Bastard had not even bothered to wait until she woke up! Was she unimportant?! She wished she'd kicked him harder. She begin slowly trying to turn her wrist in the rope. It was tight. At least they seemed to be able to do one thing right.