Cold and Alone

[Clarke Griffin]

Addison

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Her thoughts never focused on winter when she left. Nature and natures influence were far from her mind. She had grown up on a space station so the winter was far from her mind, it kind of surprised her. Clarke had only gotten herself a few things from the dropship, a backpack with the basic things. When the first snow hit, she had just killed two animals, providing her with enough meat to allow herself to rest. She had found a place to stay for the winter. It was similar to a cave, but it wasn’t. It were ruins in the mountains, an old bunker perhaps, with little inside really but a few old cupboards, empty of course.

It allowed her a bit of a rest. Clarke could collect wood and meat for the winter, to stock up. With what she heard every time she entered a trading post, she knew of what the Grounders had started to call her. She knew of the implications of it. It made her want to hide even more. People would be after her. Once she collected enough, Clarke made her way back, to lock herself inside and sit out most of the winter. With the furs, the books she had found in the cupboards and her food, she should be fine for a long time. A small fire was running in a corner of the place, giving it extra warmth. Clarke was bundled up in the furs, a piece of the charcoal in her hand as she drew on the floor, just like she had done in isolation back on the Ark.

[Addison]

A snow storm.. really..

It seemed as if her luck was on a continuous free fall, pulling the old raggedy jacket closed over her torso, she then pulled her bag off her shoulder to rummage through what little she had left in it. She had taken a hike out further then she usually did from her home village, but she would not be missed she had nobody there to miss her. So lost within her thoughts during her trek she found herself lost in the woods. And now a snow storm.

Pulling a fur throw from the bag she then replaced it over her shoulder before tossing the throw over her shoulders letting drape over the back of her head she tried as well as she could to bundle up, the temperature seemed to drop quickly due to the high winds. She hadn't any food left with her and was nearly out of water, and certainly no shelter at the moment, so her eyes shot around looking as far as she could see which wasn't far all in such conditions, she had to find shelter if nothing more.

Continuing on the nonexistent path she had found herself on she continued to look around as her body gave itself over to the cold in shivering uncontrollably. As the visibility became far less than it had been she was unaware of the steep hill a few feet in front of her, and by the time she had noticed it was far to late as she found herself slipping at the edge and plummeting to the bottom, hitting tree branches as she fell leaving on minor scratches.

However what stopped her decent to the ground below and probably a slightly less rough landing was the thicker end of a branch, as her body wrapped around it hard she let out a painful cry as she pushed herself away from the branch this time sliding the rest of the way down the steep hill slower, once at the bottom she tried to stand but doubling over with the pain in her abdomen, out of habit she attempted  pull the bag from it's resting place only to find it was gone, lost in the fall along with her throw. She would perish out here alone with nothing more than a thin worn jacket to keep her warm.

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke didn’t realize what she was drawing at first. It was instinctive. Her hand felt detached from her mind, but that was what she liked about drawing. It was no intellectual thing. It was heart, it was soul. It was the proof that she still had a soul, that she hadn’t carved it out of herself bit by bit. It was only when the fire in the corner of the room started to flicker, that Clarke really looked at what she was drawing. The Arch, the mountains in the background, even the small figures she drew without realizing it. It was imprinted in her mind. It was what she had seen once and the sight she would never forget. Back then she had seen those silhouettes so clearly and they were drawn upon her heart so firmly that it was so easy for her hands to recreate the memory. The likeness of Camp Jaha, of home, was now drawn upon the floor.

With only a few finishing touches to her drawing left, Clarke went to put another few small pieces of wood onto the fire, allowing it to go a bit longer, filling the place with a bit more warmth. She would need it, being all alone in there. And she would need it to continue to dry her meat. She could get through the winter. For a moment Clarke moved to open the door. She quickly gathered snow in a bucket to place it over the water to boil it. At least she would not dehydrate in her shelter.

[Addison]

Finally able to stand, though the few footsteps she could manage that moment came with a slight limp due to her recent fall. Looking around she couldn't see much but she did manage to catch sight of what appeared to be a flattened path though she knew not which direction to take it in. Looking back toward the hill she had fallen down there was no getting back up it the she came down it, however she did see a slight glimmer of hope when she noticed her bag hung from a few of the branches and not very far from the ground, it must have been dropped when she hit the larger of the branches, she thought as her hand moved up to her stomache as she lifted her shirt a bit. Staring back at her where the beginnings of a nasty bruise.

Once she had retrieved her bag from the branches in which it hung she looked inside it grabbing for the flask of water she had inside, it was all she had left on her but if worst came to worst she could use the snow for hydration it was the cold that worried her now.

As she moved through what she hoped was the right direction of the path it didn't take to long before she came upon what looked to be a sort of building  though it lay within a mountain face, making it seem more like a cave with an entry way built in. Glancing around for somewhere to hide , as she didn't know if anyone was inside or not and it may be best to stake it out a bit first.

However just as she had found somewhere to stake it out the front door squeaked open, gasping as she froze in place, she didn't currently have any weapons on her as she wasn't expecting this hike to be as bad as it was turning out to be. A figure appeared to be gathering a bit of snow  and she could guess what it was for, but that meant the place was suitable to be staying in if someone already was. She decided to try and seem as tough as she could considering she wasn't feeling so tough at the moment..

"Hey, nice place ya got here." okay so she couldn't really come up with anything to say that would send the girl running, while her teeth where chattering.

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke froze as she heard someone. That was not the plan at all. She didn’t want anyone to find her. She liked her retreat alone and just to herself, but she was human and usually kind. There was no way she could let her stay out there. She might be known as a killer, but she had so much blood on her hand, she didn’t want more. She had enough of killing. Leaving someone out here, when she had the chance to help, was just as good as that. Clarke sighed softly.

“Come in then.” She held the door open and went inside. If the girl didn’t follow, then it was her problem, not Clarkes. She had offered, but there was not much else she could do. 

Clarke carried the bucket over to the fire she had going. She placed it there, hanging just so the flames could not forever char the hull of the bucket as she still needed it. The snow slowly melted, turning into water, that she needed. She needed it to boil as soon as possible, though. The faster she achieved that, the more water she could collect over time. And water was just as essential as the meat she had collected and the furs. “Close the door behind you. I don’t want too much cold coming into here. It’s a bitch to heat.” It had taken a while to get a steady warmth in here. And even longer to get a routine that would keep her warm around the time. “Careful of the drawings.”

Addison