Erika had never really been one to think the gods had ever been on her side, if indeed they took sides at all. This was just another thing to add onto the end of a long list of misfortunes, and punishments for being who she was, where she was. She wasn’t bothered by the mocking of crows, or the mocking of men. The decision to cast her into exile didn’t make her feel a great deal of shame, because she didn’t feel she’d ever really been one of them to begin with, and didn’t [i]want[/i] to be one of them. In fact, exile with a small group such as this presented certain opportunities along with its hardships. She’d always preferred her time away from the village. Now she had all the time in the world. At least for as long as she could stay alive, of course.

She walked in silence, ignoring how tired her legs were. Walking was basically all they’d done recently. They had to walk back to the village, which had been exhausting in of itself, and when they arrived, they immediately had to turn around and walk back out. Their supplies were already low, and for the most part, the only things they were able to carry with them was what they had already taken on the raid. Trying to shrug her pack into a more comfortable position on her back, she noticed Audrunar mumbling to himself about tests, Odin and Valhalla.

“Try not to think too hard about it, Aud,” she said, with a bit of a small smile. “We’re still alive. We’ll still be alive tomorrow. Probably.” She shrugged. She did not know Audrunar all that well, but the two were only a year apart in age, and their village hadn’t been [i]that[/i] big. She thought of him like she thought of most of the boys: she envied him.

With water came the time to set up camp, and while no one wanted to move much further, no doubt, there wasn’t much food to go around, and there were more than a few of them with already grumbling bellies. Erika was more than willing to make herself useful, especially if she was going to be applying her preferred skill.

“Saw plenty of deer tracks on the way here. I’m going to go hunt, while there’s still daylight,” she said, dropping her pack and stringing her recurve. She preferred to travel light when hunting. She counted ten arrows still left in her quiver. A couple had been lost in the raid, but honestly she’d had little time to shoot them before they needed to flee. Buckling on a leather belt with her knives sheathed to it, she grabbed her hatchet and hooked it at her hip as well.

She turned and headed off back the way they came, not bothering asking for a partner, though she wouldn’t try to stop anyone if they wanted to come along. Erika didn’t really care to be around if the matter of leadership came to discussion. It obviously wouldn’t be her that would be chosen to lead, and she doubted her opinion mattered all that much to them. If their little hierarchy came to be based on strength, it surely wouldn’t be her that came out ahead.