Daya's father left her and her mother when she was only 12 years old. He grew tired of his home, his life, and most of all his confinement. He was one of the few that knew he was an actual prisoner of the land, and that seeped into everything he did. He saw his household as "the establishment" (whoever they are/were) trying to keep him in line.
He was the hunter. He was the defender. To say he was doing it purely out of a sense of duty would be a mistake, but he had some fondness for his fellow captives. From fishing and crops alone, they could have survived, but he made sure the village lived well.
The day he left, he sat down with Daya and laid out her life in his image. You will be strong. You will escape. You will know freedom when you've destroyed those in control of you. No talk of sheltering the weak. His dreams were not rooted in noble hopes, but in anger.
He died 4 hours after this speech at the gatekeeper's hand, but had left such an impact on Daya, she knew he was still alive. She would wake up every morning and think of what wrong her father was righting by his violence. She mapped his movements, like someone would track a dream or a ghost, charting what jailer he had killed and where.
Every conquest won meant her father was further from her. So Daya trained. She fought every day. She hunted, but never for food. She hunted to triumph over something stronger than herself. She thought of herself as a weapon. Her father's dream of freedom slowly warped, changing into Daya's own dream for her father.
She had no other friends and had become cold to her mother. Her mother understood her. She had never felt the urge to become free, but she wanted Daya's father to return, and also for Daya to stay.
Completely driven, she waited for a sign. Something to shake her very roots and throw her into the world. When the troops came, she fought. She fought them for hours, until eventually she was captured.
Instead of being taken back to the boat, Daya was left tied to a burning building for what she had done to the other soldiers.
...Only to be rescued by "the fucking mute".
He was the hunter. He was the defender. To say he was doing it purely out of a sense of duty would be a mistake, but he had some fondness for his fellow captives. From fishing and crops alone, they could have survived, but he made sure the village lived well.
The day he left, he sat down with Daya and laid out her life in his image. You will be strong. You will escape. You will know freedom when you've destroyed those in control of you. No talk of sheltering the weak. His dreams were not rooted in noble hopes, but in anger.
He died 4 hours after this speech at the gatekeeper's hand, but had left such an impact on Daya, she knew he was still alive. She would wake up every morning and think of what wrong her father was righting by his violence. She mapped his movements, like someone would track a dream or a ghost, charting what jailer he had killed and where.
Every conquest won meant her father was further from her. So Daya trained. She fought every day. She hunted, but never for food. She hunted to triumph over something stronger than herself. She thought of herself as a weapon. Her father's dream of freedom slowly warped, changing into Daya's own dream for her father.
She had no other friends and had become cold to her mother. Her mother understood her. She had never felt the urge to become free, but she wanted Daya's father to return, and also for Daya to stay.
Completely driven, she waited for a sign. Something to shake her very roots and throw her into the world. When the troops came, she fought. She fought them for hours, until eventually she was captured.
Instead of being taken back to the boat, Daya was left tied to a burning building for what she had done to the other soldiers.
...Only to be rescued by "the fucking mute".
