Of The Sea : John Murphy

Goldie Locks

"Can you not wave that thing around?" He growled impatiently. "It's a weapon, not a damn play thing."

I scowled and lowered the gun. "I know that..."

"God, this was a mistake." He uttered under his breath.

"Think again, plank." I uttered, just as low as he did.

"Why do you keep referring to me as a plank?" He questioned in annoyance.

"Of all the information you could ask of me, you wonder why I call you an inanimate object."

"Fine." He sighed, keeping his eyes ahead. "Tell me what you know about the grounder's tactics, their ways in fighting."

"Hmm..." I hummed, thinking about the surroundings of Ton DC. "I have only to their village once, but they appear to be strong, skilled, and I don't think Anya would attack alone, not by her choice though, she is a proud woman." I explained. "I however could read their commander like a book, she wouldn't let her people perish easily, she'd want them to have the upper hand."

"She?"

"Yes." I furrowed my brows in annoyance. "Is that suprising to you?"

"I guess not."

"Good." I turned back to our path, "You wouldn't be able to take a fight to her, defences are too strong and your numbers are too low. You need to wait for her to strike, but until then, you must train your people, make them strong."

"I still don't trust you, but..." He looked at me with a hint of respect. "Thank you."

I nodded. "Anything to vanquish Anya and her people."

"You seem to really have a grudge against her." He noted.

Once again I nodded. "With all my heart and soul, I will wait for the day she falls to her knees and the life drains from her eyes, even if my bones begin to ache and my muscles lose their strength." I hissed through gritted teeth. "I will be sure her blood is spilt on my hands."

"I mean it's probably rich coming from me but, what did she do that was so bad." He was curious. Curiosity meant he was letting his guard down and willing to let a little trust fall upon me, besides, what did I have to lose by telling him anything? Absolutely nothing.

"She took my son away from me and held him ransom. My son for her healer." The pain of his memory stung my heart but I held back any sadness that would present as weakness. "After that, I had no choice but to send him far from this place."

"That's some heavy stuff."

"Just when I thought the feud was over, and I had cut all business from her so that we never had to interact ever again." I went on. "She then took Murphy from me, to my dismay, and poisoned my entire crew."

"Woah, woah, woah, Murphy? How does he fit into all this? I thought the other grounder's had him." His face dropped.

"They did." I nodded. "But believe it or not, I had grown fond of him from the moment he opened that snarky mouth of his, so I asked for him when they were finished with him. Three days it took."

His face twisted with distaste and almost horror like, almost as if he had seen the saggy breasts of an elderly woman.

"Like I said, believe it or not."

"It's just a strange combination, you're so... And he's so... Psychotic."

I laughed and shrugged. "You haven't faced real psychosis until you meet my people when angered."

"I guess you did threaten to wear my throat as a neck piece."

I grinned and nodded. "I was serious."

His eyebrows pricked up but he laughed it off, finding my attitude humorous.

"Let's just find something and bring it back, I'll let you know if I need anything else."

"If there ever is a battle, do not hesitate to ask for assistance, ally's are important in this world." I offered with a firm tone.

He nodded and turned his attention back to a trail we had been following for a while,

We got closer to the origin of the trail of a rabbit and fell completely silent. I squinted into the near distance and found a pair of twitching ears sticking above the tall grass.

I nudged him and pointed in the direction the large hare was. He pulled out his blade and aimed carefully. He threw it with a swift flick of the wrist but it was no sale, the blade nicked the rodent's ear. It's legs tensed, getting ready to bolt but an ax pinned it to the bark behind it.

Bellamy looked from the missing ax from his belt to the hare, confused after my sudden and swift movement.

"Dinner is served." I gestured. "Back to camp?"

He nodded and went to collect the kill before we made our way back.

"It is getting dark after all." He agreed. "Let's go."

We arrived back and went our separate ways, in which I had to skin and prepare the communal feed.

Murphy was busy scaling some fish so I decided to join him.

I held up the hare and smiled. "Ever had grilled rabbit before?"

He let out a short laugh and shook his head. "No, I can't say I have."

"Well then, tonight's your lucky night." I joked, pulling out a knife and getting to work.

He just chuckled but continued to deboning his fish.

"I'm going back tomorrow morning, are you coming with?" I asked.

He looked me up and down with puzzlement. "Of course. I wouldn't dream of staying here any longer."

I smiled and nodded, "I'm glad, it's been a while since I last spoke with you properly."

"It's been a while hasn't it."

I grinned and stuck wooden stick through the meats I cut up to be cooked.

When Murphy was done with his fish he wiped down his hands and faced me with a strange look on his face.

"What is it... you've been strange to me since I've got here." I narrowed my eyes and studied him.

"I have something for you." He smiled, though it was still a strange one. He reached into his back pocket. "Here."

I looked down at the strange item in his palm and bent down closer to see it better. "What is this?"

"Its a comb, remember? I told you I'd get you one." He smiled.

I squinted at it with interest then picked it up, running the tip of my finger along the teeth of it. "It's rather strange, how do I use it?"

"Here, let me show you." He took it from my hand and nudged my shoulder gently to make me turn.

He grabbed a bit of my hair and ran his fingers gently through it, then using the comb to brush it out. He brushed the hair in front of my shoulder and I stroked it. "It's so smooth..." I gaped at the strange item.

He smiled at my enthusiasm and placed the metal comb in my hand. "It's yours, but, it wasn't exactly mine so don't let anyone know you have it."

I laughed and pocketed it. "I'm not afraid of some teenage girl who lost her precious comb."

He chuckled and nodded, "I suppose I wasn't thinking about that."

I squeezed his shoulder affectionately and grabbed handfuls of meats, "I'll talk to you soon?"

"Yeah." He replied half-heartedly.

I looked to him with slight suspicion but refused to think anything ill of him.

"Don't forget to clean those wounds of yours in the drop ship." I reminded him.

"Sure thing, mother."

"Move along before i bury your ass six feet into the ground." I growled jokingly.