Day 008: A Little Morsel
Summary: Devin pays a visit to the Archer.
Date: 11 May 2016
Related: Several. See We Are Grounders.
Archer Devin 


Secondary Passenger Hold, The Dropship
The top level of the dropship was once the secondary passenger cabin, hosting rows of seats, may against the dark gray walls. Emptied now of its seats, and stripped to bare metal, this level is much smaller and closer than the ones below. It has been refitted into The Box — the delinquent camp's makeshift lockup. The lighting here is dim, casting deep shadows in the far corners of the room. Some of the harness straps have been roughly knotted together to create shackles so that prisoners can be bound and fettered to the walls.
8 Days After Landing

The Secondary Passenger Hold is being called the Box. The two Grounder prisoners are being kept on opposite sides of the smaller passenger hold, and a massive stretch of parachute fabric has been pulled across the center to divide the space into two rough cells. There are always two delinquent guards present, keeping a close eye on both of the prisoners. At some point, the two's shackling had been changed from them being forced to be on their feet with the arms spread out at the shoulders, to being able to sit and relax their arms. They still can't move freely, and loosening the knotted ropes and harnesses at their wrists is almost impossible, but at least they aren't in total pain.

Both the Archer and the Big Dude look as though they've had water poured over them, most of their facial markings cleaned away and their hair a bit less oiled and ashed. The Archer looks as though she has been in a tussel with someone, her left temple bruised. She is seated cross-legged, arms spread out slightly from either side of her. Her head is slumped forward looking as if she is sleeping. The Big Dude, in contrast, is in a deep crouch with his hands on the ground to steady him. He is watching the delinquent guards with sharp, steady blue eyes.

After the previous night's events, Devin has remained away from the vast majority of the other delinquents. So it comes to him as a surprised when he is informed that he would be able to seeing them when Cookie needs someone to deliver the meals to the prisoners and Devin is volun-told. This brings Devin to the Box, carrying the meals for the two Grounders. As he stands before the two Grounders he has seen before, though the look on his face is slightly solemn. He glances back over his shoulders towards the guards before he approaches the cells, offering each the meal in turn. "I'm sorry." He offers softly to the Big Dude then to the Archer, he adds. "I hope they are treating you as well as you had treated us." He says, but the bruise on her face would suggest not.

The Big Dude looks up to glower at Devin through his fall of dirty blonde hair, and he leans back a bit from the meal in an obvious show of refusal. The Archer, however, lifts her heads lightly through the fall of her darkened hair to stare up at the familiar Delinquent. She tilts her head slightly, regarding him with those greenish hazel eyes, and then she drops her head a bit. She is not able to actually reach the offered food with the way her arms are held out from either side of her, but she does offer a slight nod toward the offered plate. Yup, Devin, you're going to have to feed her. How sweet…

Devin glances back towards the guards again as the Archer nods towards the plate before he moves forward towards her, sitting down in front of her close enough for him to feed her easily. "I know you don't talk to us much, but I want to thank you for helping us with our wounds. Quinn especially." He says as he picks up a piece off the plate and offers it to her. "You saved her life when you didn't have to." He says softly.

A slight flash of humiliation touches her features as the Archer realizes that the skaiboi is required to feed her if she wants any sustenance. She leans forward, taking the bite of food carefully between her teeth and off Devin's hands. She tilts her head back, chewing a bit before swallowing. Her eyes close and her shoulders soften as the well-cooked meat warms her belly and makes the pains in her stomach lessen. She looks back up at him after a moment, and then she takes in a breath, "The girl was a prisoner of war." The English is precise and slightly accented.

Devin seems to be a little surprised when she actually speaks to him in English, a slight smirk forming on his lips. "So it's true. You can speak English." He says simply as he offers up another piece of the meat for her when she's ready for it. "I still want to thank you. I just wish our people could have gotten off to a better start." He is silent for a moment, looking down at the plate before he looks back up at her again. "Can I ask why we were attacked? Did we do something wrong to offend your people?" He swallows slightly. "I only ask so that we may learn and it not happen again."

The Archer leans forward to accept the second bite with the same careful extraction, and she leans back once more. Her eyes remain fixed on Devin as he poses the questions, and for a long moment it seems as though she will not answer. Then she shakes her head slightly. "You were headed to the Mountain." Again, her sentence is precise and lacks details, almost like breadcrumbs of responses.

Devin thinks for a few moments before he nods his head, thinking. "And the mountain is off limits. Because it's sacred?" He asks, trying to piece the picture together. "Is there anything else we should avoid? Despite what many of the others want, I hope we can find a peace between us. I know there's so much you could teach us about how to survive here." He waits until she wants another piece before offering it again.

The Archer fixes Devin with a quizzical look. She starts to say something, but there is a grunt of warning from behind the parachute, and she drops into steady silence once more. She leans forward, mouth open to accept another bite of food. She accepts what is offered, chews, and remains thoughtfully silent as her gaze moves over the skaiboi. Her hands flex and wrists pull a bit at the bindings, and a flash of deep ache betrays her features before she lets out a small exhale.

Devin glances back in the direction of the grunt from the other side of the parachute. He frowns and looks down at the ground for a moment as he turns his head back to her. "I'm sorry." He offers before he looks up at her again. At the sign of her discomfort, he frowns again. He isn't sure what to do for her since he knows absolutely nothing about medicine. He raises an eyebrow. "I don't suppose you have any of the stuff you gave Morgan for his pain, do you?" He asks, glancing back to the two guards behind him, setting the plate down next to him.

The Archer relaxes once more into her bindings, allowing her shoulders to fall as far as they can in their joints. She looks at Devin for a long, silent moment, and then she shakes her head ever so slightly. "No, and even if I did… I would not accept it. The pain will go away… when your people release us, or when you kill us." She looks at Devin steadily, gaze easily holding his own. "Tell your people to let us go. If you do not, the retaliation will be more than you can bear."

Devin nods his head, frowning slightly. "I don't think they'll listen to me." He says with a slight sigh. "I don't think they trust me as much as they had. I argued for better treatment for you two and to try for peace and diplomacy, but I fear they want revenge for the two that were killed." He admits, looking back up at the woman. "I don't doubt that your people could wipe us all out easily if you wanted to. I have seen your village and the skill you guys have with the bow. I don't think they're thinking straight."

"The longer we are kept here, Deveen kom Skaikru, the more unlikely your people's survival becomes." The Archer draws a tongue across her lips, tasting her own sweat on her dry skin. Then she flexes her fingers again, keeping blood and sensation moving through the long, dexterous digits. She takes a deep breath, and a shadow seems to fall over her head. "If your people release us, and you do no stray far from your camp again… perhaps you will be left alone."

Devin frowns a bit at the news, biting his lower lip slightly. "If we do release you, do you think we could create an alliance or something between our people? We need help here if we are going to survive. We are barely managing to hunt. We don't have nearby sources of water and I don't even know how we are doing on medicine. We can learn a lot from your people." He glances down at the plate next to him for a moment. "I don't want a war between our people. We won't survive it."

The Archer looks aside, almost like a bird watching a curiosity in profile. She then looks around the makeshift cell they have devised for her holding, as if carefully judging it. Then her focus returns to Devin. "What I am hearing is that you need us more than we need you… and that is a poorly balanced alliance, Deveen kom Skaikru. I hear nothing that you can give us, beyond more to care for." She shakes her head, and there is a hint of pity there.

Devin nods his head slowly, knowing she's right. "That's true. We don't have much to offer. We have little to offer, but our arms and our knowledge. We survived in an environment without the things you have down here. Maybe we could exchange information that we know with our growing methods and the like." He falls silent. "This is all moot though. If the others won't release you, we'll be dead anyway." He glances back to the guards before he starts to stand. "I'll see what I can do, but I don't have much hope that they'll listen to me."

The Archer nods slowly at Devin's observation. Her fingers stretch again, and her arms flex as she continues to keep the limbs comfortable in the restrictive bindings. "Do so… though I still do not know that your people have even decided who your leaders are." She starts to lower her head, almost as if she is preparing for sleep once more now that she has been given a morsel of sustenence.

Devin shakes his head. "No, but I know who people are starting to look to." He says simply, mostly to himself, before he starts back to the hatch to start down it again. He has someone he needs to find.

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