BROKEN BONES • THE 100 [3]

i. INDIGNATION

ERICA PARKER walked through the forest, fingers curled around her bow, heavy boots crunching the leaves beneath them.

The sun hung low in the sky, hues of purple and blue bleeding into one another over the horizon. The cool evening air pricked against her skin.  

The past three months had not changed Erica much on the outside, other than the tattoo Kol had given her and the fact that her hair was now just below shoulder length, seeing as she'd cut it off one night during a moment of impulsivity.

She was unrecognizable on the inside.

The weakness that had held a firm place in her heart had been crusted over with anger, like a butterfly frozen in amber. Hardened, buried, untouched by time. 

She had forced herself to become stronger, forced herself to abandon who she once was. 

After Mount Weather, Erica spent two months wandering around the woods, living in a treehouse she'd built poorly all on her own. An old car door shielded her from the unforgiving rains, a mat created from thin twigs and large leaves served as her bed. 

On the brighter side of things, she developed a knack for climbing trees, although she earned several bruised ribs and scraped knees along the way. 

Erica had grown to like the treehouse during the day, but she was terrified to be alone during the dark and cold nights. It wasn't until she found a wild dog wandering around the woods that she took comfort in a companion. Finding this dog was the first time she'd smiled since she'd left home.

After two months, the loneliness began eating her alive.

She was picking berries for her dinner, and she came upon a fawn, the first deer she'd seen on this planet that actually looked normal. The dog waited a few feet away, wagging its tail in excitement as she for Erica to call her over.

She approached the deer slowly, tossing a berry on the ground for it to eat. He came near, nibbling on the gift apprehensively.

"Must you befriend my dinner just as I go to kill it?" A familiar voice called out from behind her, causing her to jump and scare off the fawn.

"Kol," Erica gasped. She couldn't believe it.

"Skaireina," Kol nodded. "It's an honor to see you again,"

The name brought upon a wave of slight nausea, guilt swirled in her stomach. She hated that name. 

"Please don't call me that." Erica paused, allowing the silence to stir for a moment. "I'm not the Queen of anything, let alone the sky. People just want something to believe in." Erica looked down at her feet, shaking her head slightly. Her heels dug into the soft dirt beneath her. "Skaireina is just a legend, and I'm not her."

The thirteen clans had heard stories about Skaireina, and how she saved her people time and time again. Erica resented this title, it gave her a glory she didn't deserve. They thought her a savior, but she was only a murderer, and she had been since that day on the Ark.

Over the last few weeks, Kol had become a sort of a friend to Erica. They lived together in harmony. Erica hunted, Kol cooked. Kol taught Erica how to fight, she taught him how to grow food. They were happy, they were safe.