Skadi's birthday moments always include something that makes it seem more scary than it really is.
Like her looming over a barely awake Grani at some untimely hour of the day, offering something for Grani to take before simply leaving.
She's most likely going off to hunt, something that needs to be done, but she did make time to give a little horse something nice.
Its a whistle, its a whistle that mimics some sounds of the Aegir tongue that most can't do themselves, and that most can't even hear.
But now Grani has this little whistle, and with the right tune, with the instructions provided, she can 'sing' the words 'Thank you' in Aegir tongue. Its mostly just a hum of the words being said, but its a start.
Grani seriously wasn't sure for a moment whether Skadi's shadow was Skadi or the Skadi-Shaped Sleep Paralysis Demon again, but the presence of a gift left behind pointed signs to the former.
"I wish she could stay around more," Grani murmured to herself, looking at the whistle in her hand. But she smiled all the same, a little small smile.
She may never truly know Skadi's language herself... But this could help.
Later that day, after the party (Skadi's absence noted, but excused by Grani's insistence), Grani headed to Rhodes Island's top decks. The sea could be seen off in the distance, just barely, off the port side.
"Well, Skadi -- I hope you hear this...!"
It was a low hum, just enough for Grani to hear it. For Aegir it was probably horrifically mangled. But it was, nonetheless... Grani's thank you to Skadi. For everything she's brought to Grani's life; both good or ill, Grani cherishes it indeed.
One hand had flipped up the face shield she habitually wore. The other held a very, very sad looking cupcake and... her uniform looked covered in flour. The cupcake had a single candle in it, and the only reason Grani hadn’t rushed to Skadi’s side was the fact she’d lit that candle, and didn’t want to put it out. Still, Grani’s swift walk brought her to Skadi’s side, and she looked up with a cheery smile on her face.
“It’s your birthday, Skadi! I made this for you!” Not that it was very well-made, but considering the amount of flour on her and in her hair, Grani had certainly tried.
GreyThroat’s seated at her usual place in the command centre. The hairpin that Blaze had given her last year was prominent on the left side of her hair. That wasn’t unique; she’d been wearing it more often than not nowadays.
The birdie was just focused on her work, though. It was her birthday, but she wasn’t used to the idea of people celebrating it. So she hadn’t brought it up to anyone.
Can you describe Greythroat personality? I'm still don't understand some parts of her.
GreyThroat is somewhat cold, asocial, and quiet to those who aren't close to her. When she does speak she tends to be very blunt, and occasionally her choice of words is very insensitive. She's been the sufferer of extreme trauma for her entire life, and is working hard to try to overcome it. Underneath the surface is a very sensitive person, who's slowly finding, hey, it's okay to be who you really want to be.
Though uninfected herself, GreyThroat's just as much a victim of Oripathy, and it colours how she's acted for years. She's trying to change. The state my GT is at is approximately the start of Twilight of Wolumonde; someone who may relapse into previous bad habits (as is realistic) but is genuinely fighting to change how they are, for the better.
Nowadays, “I don’t care whether my friends are sick or not.”
I'll put the rest under a read more so as to not clog up the dash.
GreyThroat's parents were researchers and doctors, who weren't part of RI but worked with RI. People suffering from Oripathy were their patients -- until a riot broke out, and their very patients murdered GreyThroat's father in front of her eyes. She watched him die, watched others die, at a very young age. Her mother went insane, but before she disappeared, she dropped off young GreyThroat at Rhodes Island. This irrevocably traumatized her, and left a mark deep in her psyche.
How long GT's actually been at RI is unknown, but what is known is that she was severely traumatised by the riot. She developed phobias of blood (hemophobia) and of Oripathy, seeming prejudice against Infected - because she watched them kill her father. The operator who was taking care of her missed the signs early on, and the seeds of her later discrimination was planted then.
It's not exactly a good environment for someone terrified of blood and oripathy, to be raised in a pharmaceutical company staffed by primarily Infected, using Originium-based equipment, treating Infected for their oripathy.
To make it clear, GreyThroat doesn't have a specific hatred or discrimination against Infected. She is deathly terrified of the disease itself. To the point that at some point in her youth, she bumped into a piece of equipment that ran on originium, and sandpapered her own arm raw in her fear. Obsessively checking her blood levels and using all the protective equipment she can.
She never once crossed the line from prejudiced statements to actual radical behaviour.
But things have changed, thanks to Amiya and the others. With a peer who was accepting of her, GreyThroat slowly opened up, speaking to Amiya about things -- and Amiya convinced her to try to become an operator. Together they went on a long rescue mission -- and GreyThroat came back seemingly entirely changed.
GreyThroat had become curious about Infected, how theirs lives were changed, how they were discriminated against. Her questions were blunt and insensitive, and she still at times said things completely unacceptable. But they were asked for a purpose; to understand a worldview not her own, to conquer her own fear.
Throughout Chapter 6 we see GreyThroat always asking questions, always wondering why. Her first interaction is with Blaze, who threatens to rip her throat out if she speaks to Infected like that again. But GreyThroat is merely trying to understand. Her bluntness grates upon people like Blaze, who are so used to those questions being asked dismissively or in malice. Blaze later witnesses GreyThroat risk her life for an Infected child, completely altering her perception of the sharpshooter. She finds it difficult to raise arms against Reunion; she’s learned to treat Infected as equals. Fighting against Reunion, against Faust, she had trouble because she saw that same plain human decency in their ranks.
GreyThroat is an incredible case of personal strength and will, where she’s not just overcoming the moral justice of treating the infected as people, recognising their suffering. She's having to deal with a real, bodily fear of oripathy herself, which will never leave her.
GreyThroat's been so deeply mired in trauma and prejudice that other people, good people, consider her just a racist. It’s not easy, but GreyThroat's actively fighting to overcome her fears, learning how to fight for what is right. She's getting better everyday through exposure to them, learning from their experiences and developing her own views.
And the thing is, about GreyThroat?
She makes it.
Her Bloodline of Combat skin is implied to be one from the future. Her hair is longer, her outfit is completely different... It's named 'Homecoming.'
“The outfit worn by Operator GreyThroat while participating in a rescue operation for the Infected within the Catastrophe zone of Sugar City. Disregarding protection or camouflage, upon this outfit is etched the will to protect the next person, and save another life.”
Someday, sometime, in the future GreyThroat will be dedicated to the cause so extremely that she's willing to risk her own body against Originium, in order to save lives.
