Carved by the Gods

The Visit

Seeing Clarke turn into that venomous creature of nightmares was something else to behold. The way her claws slowly grew, her skin glistened with something clear and noxious, scaled formed like burns on her skin, it all looked so painful to me. The bronze image of Clarke was sitting against a tree later that night, staring blankly into space, it was like she was reliving the trauma of her past, including this afternoon. We hadn't gone any further since her outburst, I was surprised I had been able to bring her back to reality so quickly. Her anger seemed to spew toxic gas, but yet, nothing died. Nothing perished despite the pure rage boiling from within her. She had been shaking non-stop since the incident, she warned us not to touch her until she could safely wash off all of what she called venom.

"You're staring at her." Maya whispered to me. I shrugged and kept staring at her in the shield, she was a strange person.

"How are you holding up?" I asked her. She shrugged and gave me a lopsided smile, turning her back to me she lay down on her small, woven blanket. Of course she had been shaken up, luckily for here she didn't get a good look at Wanheda. Snakes let out soft hissing, and slipped through her headdress, nipping at her cheek. She brushed them off as if they were stray hairs, which in her case, they were. Strange patterns danced over their heads and backs, yellows, whites, browns, and reds, all poisonous, all deadly, but strangely enough, they were protective of their owner. In the few hours we had seen them, they only snapped at us, not Clarke.

"They're like my children when you think about it, annoying, but they love me. I've grown used to carrying their weight." Clarked said suddenly. I jumped as I hadn't noticed her staring back at me in the shield.

"We should leave this camp tonight." She said. Maya began packing up, even though she was just beginning to fall asleep.

"She's right, we can get to the Graeae by dawn, it'll be safer for Clarke anyways." Maya said. I nodded and began to pull my knapsack over my shoulder. The snakes on her head began to stir, getting anxious with every movement we made. She hushed them and stood up, adjusting her wrap, tucking them all back in.

"Your wrap is lovely." Maya smiled. I nudged her with my elbow and chuckled lightly. It must be nice to have another girl around for her, but deep inside, my heart yearned to see my sister smile like that. To fawn over something so simple as a beautifully detailed wrap, or himation. Octavia's blue eyes would shine light the stars in the sky on a still night at sea. She would bounce on her heels, excited to see their reaction, she would prepare to ask how and why and could they teach her their tricks. She would have been an amazing seamstress like mother was, and an even better huntress. Heaviness weighed down as I remembered her.

"Thank you...I made it myself." Clarke said softly, the smile was evident in her surprised tone.

"Did you make the beads too?" I asked. Looking at her in the shield, her eyes held so many questions, but she nodded.

"I heated stones up and molded them by hand, and pierced them with a small needle. The polishing took longer than the creation."

"How are your hands not completely pink and burnt?" She asked incredulously.

"The curse has its moments of being nice. I feel the pain from whatever is being done, however, it never makes itself visible on me." She explained.

"So...if you die what happens?" Maya asked. Clarked gave her a look of confusion.

"Lets hope I never find out." She said simply. Maya blushed furiously and shoved her blanket back into the bag. Grabbing a handful of dirt, I began putting the fire out, the subtle orange light dimmed quickly and the dark began to cradle us. We began crunching our way through the darkness and trees, the world fell silent each step we took.