Day 048: Kom Skaikru
Summary: Gideon has an offer and a request of Kane.
Date: 16 July 2016
Related: Gideon/Grey logs and Nokru
Gideon Kane 


The Row, Camp Jaha

The arching ring of Alpha Station rises high above this still-developing shantytown. Living quarters, workshops, and storage have been built out of panels from the uninhabitable parts of Alpha Station. They run down on either side of a pierced-metal plank roadway, ending in a metal-topped dirt ramp leading up to an airlock entrance to Alpha Station. A large section of Alpha Station's hull has been removed to open up what used to be a work-bay, and has now been turned into a garage for the Ark's few rovers.

A metal fence surrounds the camp, with an open space and then an electrified wire fence beyond that. Outside of the wire fence is a rolling meadow, a peaceful lake, a little stream, and then the lush forests of Trikru lands.

48 Days After Landing

The buck is heavy across Gideon's shoulders, arms bracing the dead animal across its hips and shoulders. Eyes trail her as she moves deeper into the camp, following the roughly hewned road that creates the main thoroughfare through the road. Laborers working on what will become exterior housing look up from their welding, drawing up their visors to watch the Grounder woman with mute interest and suspicion. She stops close to the entrance to the Alpha Compound, bounces her shoulders a bit, the corpse being slid off her shoulders and onto the ground with a soft thunk. Strangely, she is very gentle when she lowers its head finally to the ground, carefully twisting it so its antlers are free from the ground. She steps up to the guard at the entrance, nodding slightly. "Heya… would you please inform Chancellor Kane that Gideon kom Nokru would like to speak with him?" She nods to the deer. "And offer some provisions for tonight's meal."

The Row is rarely quiet, either in activity or in volume. Now is no different, and the arrival of a Grounder with a deer on her shoulders is enough to attract a good deal of attention, even from those working to get the wall and row housing in place. And so reports have already gone in, although they have not yet gotten up to Chancellor Kane yet… until her request. The Guard looks at the deer on the ground with something between disgust and hunger, then shakes it off and speaks quietly into his comm unit. "It'll be a couple minutes." There's a long moment, and then the name clicks, "Your Grey's girl, aren't you? Lucky bastard." Thankfully, it really only is a couple of minutes before Kane steps out of the Alpha Station door, offering up a formal sort of smile, "Gideon kom Nokru. I'm Chancellor Marcus Kane. Thank you for your donation to dinner." He hesitates a moment, then adds in, "Would you like to share in the meal?" Perhaps outside, at The Row.

Gideon arches a brow slightly at the guard's compliment, and she nods slightly at the question. But, any real answer is lost when the Chancellor steps out. Gideon offers another slight nod at the thanks, and then she glances down at the buck. "Of course, Chancellor… it will need to be drained and cleaned, but I can show your people how to do that." Then she hesitates, feeling her nerves bundle up her belly. She brushes her hands down her hips and outer thighs, as if trying to remove the bit of sweat on her palms. "Chancellor, I would like to speak with you… privately, if that is alright? I have a proposition to make… as well as a request."

"I'm sure that our food service techs would be most interested to learn the method. A few of the One Hundred have provided some guidance in that regard." Kane's response is polite, appreciative. The query that follows draws his brows up, but he gestures off to one side, beginning to walk alongside the hull of Alpha Station. Behind him, the Guard snickers at Gideon's wording, leaning over to whisper something salacious to his fellow… who promptly gives him a cold 'grow up' sort of look. Kane walks with his hands clasped behind his back, studying the camp growing around him as much as the Grounder walking beside him. Once they've put some distance between them and the main areas of construction, Kane speaks up again, "What can I do for you?" He hesitates then, "I was going to say that I just spoke to your heda, but if No Crew means what I think it does, that may not be the case anymore."

<FS3> Gideon rolls Alertness: Good Success. (1 7 3 4 7 3)

Gideon casts a cool look at the snickering guard, but then she falls easily into step with Kane. She tucks her hands into the pockets of her long duster jacket. Her chin is lowered as she allows them to walk in silence for a few moments, but when the question is posed, the Grounder looks up. "Yes… I asked Indra kom Trikru to release me from service…" The words drift slightly, filling the silence, and giving Gideon time to remember how she had rehearsed this. She intakes a breath through her nose, letting it out her mouth, and says, "Chancellor, I wished to speak with you… because I would like to join your clan."

Kane nods slowly at her response, letting her work through things in her time for now. Evidently, he's been expecting this, because he notes, "This would be why I've gotten messages from Mister Blackwood and Mister Lapointe singing your praises." He glances back the way they came, "You brought your own reference, I see." Half-twisting as he continues walking, the Chancellor inquires directly, "Why do you want to join us? Are you running toward something, or away from it?"

Gideon is a bit surprised when she hears Morgan and Elias has been speaking on her behalf. She even glances around, as if expecting to see them skulking around. Then her gaze returns to the Chancellor, and she rolls her injured shoulder. "Both, Chancellor… running away from a life I never quite fit-in, and running toward a life I want." She hesitates, heeding Grey's warnings. "I have grown affectionate toward Grey kom Skaikru… you would know him as Lucian Grey." She nods her head slightly. "As well as others of The 100, but Grey more so. We have talked long about what we think lies ahead for us… my people do not need me, Chancellor… but I think I could be useful to yours, and perhaps find a home here."

Kane nods slowly at Gideon's first point, although the mention of the Grey causes him to shake his head, "I know him as the son of the worst Guard I never could deal with." The words are more a grumble than anything else, and he smiles a half-hearted apology, listening as she continues. "You took a risk to help The One Hundred, from what I've heard." His eyes glance back toward the Trikru encampment just now disappearing around the side of Alpha Station, "And, I think, you paid for it, if reports are accurate. Thank you for that. For all that the mission was necessary, it was not an easy decision to make." His feet take him several silent steps further around the bulk of the station, and then he inquires, "What would you see yourself doing here, in Camp Jaha, if I accepted this offer?"

"Sons are not always like their fathers," Gideon says softly to Kane. Then she looks over toward the looming hulk of Alpha Station, gaze lingering over it. His thanks and gratitude are met with a simple nod of her head. "I did what I felt was right… but even the right thing can have consequences, Chancellor." When he asks the question however she slips into thoughtful silence, then she gestures out to the woods surrounding them. "I am a scout… I hunt, gather, forage… I kept my people safe, while also making sure that we were fed. Your people will need to learn these things… I can bring in game and other things… help Elias with the garden…" She shakes her head. "I do not feel I would be accepted as a warrior for the Skaikru, but there are other things I can offer."

Kane looks dubious at her support for Grey's present in comparison to the family past, but nods solemn agreement with the mention of consequences, "They do indeed." Her description of her skills gets another nod, "Those are all valuable services, Gideon kom Nokru. Especially the ability to teach these skills to others. You are a unique case where you might actually be accepted by the members of the One Hundred and their parents, given your assistance to them in their hour of need. How would this work among your people? Just what is it that you are offering us?"

"I don't have a people anymore, Chancellor," Gideon says seriously. "I asked to be released from my clan, and I was… as for how it will look from the Trikru." Her shoulders roll slightly. "I'm sure that it will not be all that different from how your people treat Kai kom Trikru. There will be those that understand, accept it… and those that think I have betrayed them, and that I am a traitor… but I was already viewed like that because I helped train your people and prepared them for war against the Trikru." She digs her hands a little deeper into her pockets. "Chancellor, I'm offering to become a… an Arker." She looks at him. "Your people would become my people, and I would work on providing for them in the ways I know how… like the deer I have brought, and offering to clean and prepare it, and even help your cooks make a meal of it. That is what I am offering… to be part of the community."

Kane nods his acceptance at the correction, starting to speak up to correct his words, and then she is continuing on and he merely listens. When she comes to the end of her offer, he nods again, considering, "And you would also live under our laws, and obey the rulings of the government, do as the Guard tell you in a crisis, just as if you had been born on the Ark?" Of course, not all of the Ark-born really do all of those things, but…

Gideon looks confused by the question, as if the need to ask it seems relatively rhetorical. "Of course, Chancellor… is that not what it means to be part of a community?" Then she nods slightly at each note. "I will… I will even help fight if you require it of me… but I do not think that I would be welcomed in the Guard…" Plus, Gideon is still getting over her terrible fear of guns.

Kane smiles wryly at that, "In my limited experience with," he starts to say 'your people' again, but changes his words in time, "the," and there he was going to say 'Grounders,' "Trikru, I've found that it's good to get everything precisely understood. And no, I don't think that you would be welcomed into the Guard." The finally reach the second corner to Alpha Station, turning it to walk along the next line of hull panels. "In fact, despite your actions for the One Hundred, you may not be very welcomed at all by some of our people. Many are hurting due to the loss of loved ones, or are distrustful of people who do not seem as civilized," there is careful emphasis on that phrase, "or are scared of how their world is changing around them. You know that even if you consider yourself a part of the community, it may not consider you a part of it."

If Gideon notices the slightest changes in direction at the beginning of his words, she doesn't register it. Her gaze lifts up to the arc of Alpha Station, taking a moment to marvel it again up close. His words draw her gaze away almost as quickly as it lifted, and she nods slowly. "I know, Chancellor… our people are not so different… but perhaps my presence, helping where I can… perhaps I could be of help there."

Kane is quiet for half the length of the next stretch of Alpha Station bulwark, and then he nods slightly, "It could indeed help." It's another several paces before he comes to the decision, "Camp Jaha will accept your citizenship on a probationary status, Gideon…" he pauses, frowns, and then tries, "kom Skaikru? You'll check in with the Guard at the gates when you go out and come back in… they keep track of others leaving and returning as well, so that's nothing different. We'll get you set up teaching others to hunt and forage first of all. Food will become an issue before anything else. While you're on probationary status, you'll be given housing in The Row," rather than within Alpha Station. "Do you have any questions?"

The Grounder stays in-stride with him, moving with her hands clasped now behind her back. She glances up toward him as he lays out his terms of her citizenship, and each is met with a thin smile and slight nod. She looks up at the looming Alpha Station, and then back to Kane once more. Her lips thin even more. "Will I be allowed in Alpha Station for general use? Or is that something…" The next word is said with a touch of bitterness, "earned."

"Yes, it is something earned, Miss…" A small huff of amusement lifts Kane's lips into a wry smile, "That really doesn't work when you don't have a last name. Yes, it is something earned, Gideon. What we have that the Trikru does not is our knowledge and our technology. I have to protect it if it is going to be valuable enough to earn us an actual truce, and to be used in trade afterwards. Your people know a great deal about surviving down here that we do not. Until you've proven yourself as…" he hesitates, then just gives up and uses the Grounder term, "Sky Crew rather than Trikru, I have to be careful of it. I mean to see my people thrive and prosper, Gideon. If you are truly with us, that includes you. If you're not…"

Gideon offers a single, brusque nod. Though she does smile slightly at his notice of her lack of a last name. "Very well, Chancellor… I will accept that… but I hope that I can earn you trust." Then she turns and offers him her hand and forearm. She has cleaned herself of ash, oil, and dirt, but her tattoos stand out sharp and black against her lightly tanned skin. Some part of her Trikru past will never disappear, no matter how much she may try.

"You will definitely be given every opportunity, Gideon." Kane smiles, and then reaches out to take her hand rather than her forearm, an Ark-style shake rather than a Grounder's warrior-clasp. "Welcome to Camp Jaha, Gideon kom Skaikru."

Gideon accepts the handshake, and she is wise enough not to try to challenge grips. She just offers a steady grip, shaking slowly, and then she nods. "Thank you, Chancellor." Then a pause. "Will my horse be welcomed in your… ah… vehicle storage?"

Kane actually chuckles at that, nodding, "Yes, if he'll be alright with the sound of power tools. I think that your horse counts as a vehicle for now. We'll set aside an area for him," yes, it's a patriarchal assumption that the horse is male, "so that the rest of the room stays clear. Although I suppose that if we get many more horses, we'll need a…" he searches for the seldom-used word a moment, "stables."

Gideon nods, grinning ever so slightly. "I'm sure she will do just fine wherever she needs to be housed." Then she glances at the Row, looking over it, and then back to Kane. "I would suggest that you speak to the Horse Masters… and the Houndsmen… dogs are also useful animals." That is when she realizes she never asked if she could take Bru with her, but that is a question for Veks when the time comes.

"She, then. Once we have a peace, perhaps I'll ask you to make the proper introductions to other interested members of the community." They've circled the third corner of Alpha Station by now, and are headed back toward the entrance, "Be careful with Mister Grey, by the way. He had… very poor examples of how to behave around family. Paris Grey was about the worst Guard I could never get floated, and he was a worse husband."

Gideon frowns at Kane's memories of Paris Grey — stark differences from how Grey remembers his father. She nods all the same, even if there is a touch of uncertainty in her expression. "Thank you, Chancellor… I will keep that in mind." Then she offers him a brusque nod of her head in farewell, and begins to walk back toward where she left the buck so she can reshoulder it and find a place to drain and begin to prepare it for the food techs.

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