24 SkaiKru No More

John has been getting better this past week, he still couldn't land a scratch on me but he at least learned not to swing his sword wildly. I taught him not to use the sword as a weapon or tool, but as an extension of yourself, and extension of your arm if you will. He has even gotten friendly with a few of the Nightblood, though I had to explain to him what they were and why they were training. Expectedly, he wasn't too keen on the idea of a bunch of kids being taken from their families to fight each other to the death. To him, it was too close to what The Ark had done. Not the killing each other part, but being forcefully taken from their families and sent to Earth without say.

Lexa has warmed up to John a little bit, well, she didn't mind his presence at least. A few times she has actually tried to embarrass me by throwing out a few innuendo's here and there in front of John. I knew we wouldn't be able to hide our relationship from him considering the nature of our jobs, so I told him that Lexa and I were involved.

He took it better than expected in all honesty. It probably had to do with the fact that he didn't understand the culture well enough to realize the implications it could present. Either way, we made sure to… advise against letting any information out. Knowing first hand what I could do to him, he readily swore to never tell anyone for fear of his life.

He had undergone quite the change since becoming my second. His hair wasn't nearly as long as it was and the sides were shaved, giving him a more disciplined look. There hasn't been any huge muscle development in the simple short week, but he has definitely gained a more lean look due to his heavy training. Swinging his sword around precisely and dodging wasn't really a strength building work out, it was more of a focus on endurance more than anything else. If you can't beat your opponent by skill or strength, your best bet is to simply tire him out.

After quite a bit of begging on John's part, I finally agreed to allow him to witness the deadly art that Lexa and I call sparring. I wanted payback for her trick that caused me to lose back in Ton DC, she actually tried to pull the same move once again. I did not fall for it again though, I held a grudge and regained the crown. Throughout the entire battle, John seemed in a trance. More than once I saw him whispering "how?" to himself. The next training session I noticed a new spark of motivation and drive. He seemed to be pushing himself harder to be able to prove to himself that he could do it.

This last week hasn't been all good though, we received news that one of Skaikru's leaders, Clarke, had tried to negotiate a peaceful agreement with Anya. That wasn't the issue, no, Lexa was glad that Anya took it upon herself to get an audience with the Skaikru leader. It was a very good opportunity to see what they were planning. Untrained and undisciplined individuals were very loose-lipped, which was proven to be true when Clarke started discussing The Ark's intentions and plan. Unfortunately the meeting went to complete shit when Skaikru opened fire and one of them managed to actually hit Anya. To be fair, Anya didn't expect either of them to not bring any weapons.

What Anya didn't expect though, was to be shot with the same weapons that mountain men use. That is another act of war committed by Skaikru, not even adding the fact that they killed more of Trikru's warriors with said weapons. Skairkru were digging themselves into a deeper and wider grave every day. With the most recent act of war, Lexa has ordered Anya to march on Skaikru and kill them all. I've never seen her so enraged before.

There was one thing that we seemed to gain from all of this though, other than the information of course… an ally. The woman that Lincoln has been spending time with turned out to be none other than Bellamy's sister, who was the other leader of the Skaikru camp. Under watch, Octavia had been recently spending a lot of time in Ton DC. She has interacted with them and has gotten to see that they were just normal people living their lives, that they were not savages.

During Skaikru's blatant attack on the bridge, Octavia had been the one to get Anya out of harm's way. That was an act of bravery and the act of a fine warrior. Once Anya explained what happened to Indra, the strict and battle hardened woman saw something in her. Indra saw in Octavia the exact same thing I saw in John. She had offered Octavia the position of her second.

I saw this as an amazing opportunity for her and I was glad that Octavia had accepted. Indra was a fine warrior and I know that she would make Octavia a fine warrior in return. Even though she was now considered Indra's second, the information regarding the march on Skaikru was only given to her in small amounts. We knew that hiding all information from Indra's second would be impossible so we thought it best that the information was filtered instead. From what I understand, Indra had told Octavia of their plan to destroy Skaikru as some sort of test. In response to the knowledge of her peoples destruction and in consequence, her brother's, Octavia was understandably distraught but understood the reasoning for it and didn't try to sway Indra's nor Anya's mind.

I discussed my concerns regarding this matter to Lexa and we eventually came to the decision to have Octavia come to Polis. The reason for this was simple, we wanted to see what kind of person Octavia was. We would have her head to Polis in the company of Lincoln and Indra so that she would know how to act in the Heda's presence. It would also be a good experience for her to be able to see the largest city in all the clans, further reinforcing the thought that "grounders" were not savages.

They would begin their journey the morning of the battle against Skaikru so that Octavia would not be present in case she interfered. It's not that we didn't trust Indra's decision, but we both understood how powerful feelings can be when making decisions. Especially regarding the only individual to have a sibling on The Ark.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Again!" I ordered forcefully, encouraging my second to push past his limits to reach greater heights.

With tiredness and fatigue, John slowly rose to his feet with determination on his face. Once he was in position and gave me a nod to confirm he was ready, I rushed. Knowing what came next, John quickly parried a powerful thrust that would have most certainly meant his end.

I smiled proudly beneath my mask, he has only been my second for a short time but his skills were growing at a fast pace. I guarantee that in a few more short weeks he would be able to beat every nightblood in Polis.

Surprised by his own success, John didn't even see the strong kick I launched his way following the sword thrust. My powerful front kick knocked him off his feet and caused his sword to clatter on the ground behind him. Seeing him take my kick to his chest quickly caused my proud smile to be replaced with a scowl.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" I asked condescendingly, ignoring how John was sputtering and gasping for breath, my kick having knocked the breath out of him.

"I got distracted." He managed to wheeze out, still regaining his breath.

"Exactly." I nodded. "Distractions in battle can mean life and death. If I was an enemy, you would be dead." I continued seriously.

I have seen many men and women die from distractions in battle, both friend and foe. If one does not pay attention during a fight, they will die. It's as simple as that. All it takes is one small attack to slip past your defenses and by then it's already too late.

"At Least you understand what you did wrong, I figure my kick is punishment enough?" I ask teasingly, knowing there's going to be a pretty large bruise forming on his chest.

Nodding in agreement, John slowly gets back up on his feet and retrieves his sword. Getting back into a combat stance, I shake my head at his actions. Even though his determination is something every second should strive for, I have already put him through enough torture today. It's near sundown and we've been at this for more than five hours already.

"That's enough for today." I tell him, walking towards where Lexa was giving tips to a few of the younger nightblood.

Hearing my Approach, Lexa turns towards me with a smile on her face.

"Done beating up your second?" She asks wryly, having watched me send John to the ground more than once.

"Just for today." I answer humorously, stopping next to her with John in tow.

"With Octavia coming to Polis tomorrow, I need to remind you that not only will you be representing yourself, but my shield, and myself. Do you understand?" Lexa asks John seriously, watching his reaction intently.

John has been informed of Octavia's own position as Indra's second and understands what kind of image that he needs to put forth. He has told me that he and Octavia haven't really interacted all that much so there wasn't any real antagonistic behavior between them, or so he says. Either way, I will be finding out soon enough.

"I understand, my Heda."