AJAX: KINDNESS, EMPATHY AND EMOTIONLESS CRUELTY
- THE AMBITIOUS TALE OF A DREAMER - PART ONE
( All prone to be changed in the future; canon-compliant till Friendship 4 )
Life was certainly not always quite merciful in Snezhnaya – the icy wind would always cut into any unprotected skin and despite their advanced technology, achieved over many centuries of unrelenting research, the common folk often struggled to see another year. Resources were mostly well spent to develop even more dangerous weapons or maintain the very order in and outside – yet it hardly supported those who did not serve the Cryo Archon. Truthfully, their society itself was widely split between those who committed their entire soul and devotion to Tsaritsa and those who merely made an attempt to survive. Nonetheless, what both groups had in common, was their wish to see a brighter future in which their limbs would not be frozen and buried beneath a hateful avalanche.
Suffice to say, Ajax’s family had never belonged to those who were disrupt by their own greed, hatred or suffocating longing to escape their lives. Nonetheless, the young Ajax learned from young age on to support his loving parents – particularly after Tonia was born – to provide for their food and wellbeing. It was difficult to cultivate their lands; thus the greatest income his family could provide was by fishing in the frozen lakes nearby, often from dawn to dusk. Cutting the thick layers of ice was already considered hard work for a grown-up man, even more for a young, haggard boy with from the cold blushed cheeks, who rarely ever saw enough food served on his plate.
Despite all of this the Ajax had always enjoyed the hours spend with his father – more so since he attempted to at least preserve parts of his son’s innocence and childhood midst the seemingly endless winter. Fortunately the man was a gifted storyteller, perchance due to the many impressions in his earlier years when he had been travelling the lands as an adventurer himself – never growing short of another story to tell whilst sitting on the ice with his son. For the boy who had never seen more than the snowy hills, the frozen flowers and the harsh life, these tales were like a warm dream he often had sitting next to the fireplace.
These tales spoke of far more than what he usually heard – so much more. He would listen to the lives of far too many heroes, of entire armies and families who overcame everything in the world. He heard of hidden places, of mysteries – of treasures, awaiting to be discovered by someone. More than just once he asked his father if he could – just perchance – see all the places he had mentioned; and his father would always gently smile at him as answer.
When Tonia had been born, and then shortly later Anthon, the time of tales slowly ceased. His father slowly became ill from the struggles of the past years and often enough Ajax would find himself working in the deep snow midst the icy lake by himself. Alone, freezing and without any hope. He was not even eight years old back then. Worried that he might not survive by himself in the wilderness, he always promised his mother and father that he would return safely; day by day. His mother always tended to say that family meant everything – and the boy understood this all too well. With two younger siblings he often gave up on his own food just for his younger siblings to not fear any hunger – and it was for their wellbeing that one, painful thought crossed his mind.
What if their lives never got any better…? What if their family would once not withstand the next harsh winter? What if their father’s health would get gradually worse over the years…? Who would provide for them?
Ajax’s secret ambition, to once bring such bright future his father had spoken of to all people of Snezhnaya, was omnipresent in his mind – and whenever the boy found some free time, he would begin to train and shape his own body worthy of an adventurer who would be able to achieve as much. Naturally, as young as he was, his so-called training was not as much; but the exercise increased his stamina, flexibility, agility quite well already.
Yet, as he had feared, his father’s condition seemed to get worse over the years – and he begun to take over the position to take care of his siblings whilst leaving to the lake every single morning as well, in the hopes of making a good catch. Upon his return, he would always tell the stories his father had missed to tell his siblings so far – which made his answer to Tonia’s question one fateful day what he would want to be once he’s taller so more impactful. An adventurer. An hero who would save them and always protect them.
It was one such tale, however, which made the small four year old Tonia believe in all her beloved older brother said – thinking that there truly existed one chest filled with toys near the frozen lake to their house. Not fearing the consequences, the young girl ran off without any notice – and when the distressed Ajax found his sister, she was already standing on an ice floe midst the lake, not knowing how to return to the safe shore. In his attempts to save his sister’s life, the young boy managed to pull her out of the water – yet, in reality, he merely exchanged his very life for hers. Feeling the sharp coldness of thousand knives wrapping his small body, slowly drowning in the freezing water, his Vision awakened.
Having lost his consciousness, the young Ajax was not exactly sure what had happened; yet when he opened his eyes again, spitting out the cold liquid, he found his Hydro Vision inside his hands and a sniffling Tonia next to him. From this day on everything changed; and his ambitions to become stronger grew beyond the childish dreams of a child. In some way he thought his former self to still be on the ground of the lake, drowned to emerge better, stronger – strong enough to achieve what is father or any hero he spoke of could not.
The truth was, he did not hate Snezhnaya or its people – but he hated their life circumstances. He hated the hunger he had suffered; the poverty his family went through from early age. And thinking about all of this, knowing that his siblings would have to endure the very same he did – getting bloody hands from the coldness, freezing in the corners of their rooms to save what little firewood they had, made his blood boil in pure rage. In the possession of his Hydro Vision, however, he was now ready – ready, to make the change.
With the age of fourteen, during the very same year when his youngest brother Teucer was born, Ajax had long joined the Fatui and became ‘Childe’. The boy who was so very often no longer human on the battlefield.
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