Name: Ereka Rosbrook
Age: 25
Alliance: Neutral
Appearance: White hair that falls past her shoulders and striking blue-gray eyes against an unusually pale complexion. She is approximately 5'7 with a slender frame, though fairly strong, after the couple years she and her brother have been on their own, not always knowing when they would get another opportunity for a meal and always being on the move. Ereka has two small, silver piercings in one ear and three on the other.
Skills: Beyond her gifts, she doesn't have many skills to speak of, except those she has developed for survival, whether that's knowing where and what is worth scavenging, moving silently to avoid unwanted attention, or making a quick escape when needed.
Abilities: Energy manipulation. Ereka can convert her own energy into a pure, white-hot heat, and she hasn't encountered much that can withstand it; applied long enough, even metals eventually succumb to the heat. This typically takes the form of a focused energy in her hands, being less costly. At a higher cost, because it requires energy leaving her own body, she has also been known to create orbs or beams of bright, white energy. She can also draw on energy from other, living sources through touch, anything from plant-life (nominal energy) to people (the best source of energy). While she can store greater amounts than the average person, low energy makes her weak and the resulting incoherence makes her practically useless, like someone that hasn't slept in days. It could take days to properly recover if she is unable or unwilling to draw from other sources. Over-doing it can result in unconsciousness, and she suspects even death. Thus, Ereka has to be careful in striking the right balance. In addition, Ereka has displayed a passive healing acceleration. With a minor wound, normally taking a person a week to recover, it's healed in a matter of two or three days. But this part of her gift is also impacted based on the level of her energy reserves.
History: When Ereka was born, she was assumed to be albino with her stark white hair and skin paler than her parents' – that's what they hoped for and expressed to others. In the back of their minds, they probably always knew it was the first sign of mutations. In a small town near Portland, Maine, Ereka's abilities came to her in middle school; two kids were picking on her, her quick temper flaring as it often did, but it was the first time her emotions would trigger her abilities. When she grabbed one of the children, Ereka seared a hand-print into the boy's forearm, a prominent scar that he would carry with him for the rest of his life.
Deemed too dangerous to stay in school, Ereka was expelled, and the local news and newspapers made sure she was notorious enough that she wouldn't be accepted into another. Lacking options, her parents homeschooled her for a time, until a controversial, private school was eventually opened near Portland dedicated to her kind. It was chaotic with the various gifted gathered together in one place, mostly run by normals, and it wasn't exactly the best of educations. But, it was something.
Ereka dropped out at 17, as had many students by then, finding comfort at home with the increasing unrest, but becoming reclusive and embittered. For a long time, she found it nearly impossible to find work, except for odd jobs here and there. By the time she was 19, she managed to find a steady night stocking job, which suited her fine with little public interaction.
But Ereka wasn't satisfied with the mundane life she led, and things were only getting worse. Gifted were popping up across the globe and committing different atrocities, whether it was because they enjoyed it or because they were lashing out, feeling as though they had no choice. For the ones not causing trouble, she closely watched their unsuccessful attempts to negotiate.
When Eclipse formed and they gained significant media coverage, Ereka had seen them as a spark of hope. Having a lack of money and no means to travel, she made it a goal to join their efforts one day when the opportunity presented itself. Her brother, Shane, discouraged her from them despite her treatment under the current government and mentality of the general public, perceiving them as dangerous fanatics.
Of course, Ereka found that Shane was right. Her opportunity came after Eclipse had gone to their more extreme measures; Portland, Maine was among the earlier cities that fell into their control in the Fall of 2045. They quickly spread out from there, taking over any surrounding towns, forcing people from their homes and killing anyone that resisted. As Ereka had a front row seat of what a detriment they were – destroying, injuring, pillaging, killing – her opinion made a quick reverse, and again she found herself with limited options.
Separated and unable to find their parents, Ereka, Shane, and Shane's fiance, Roslyn, were together when they were rounded up by Eclipse. Shane and Ereka were shipped to a camp, while Roslyn was torn from Shane, a valuable nurse that they could put use.
Ereka and Shane lived under Eclipse for two years in Portland; Ereka assigned to assisting in the medical field, which she wasn't particularly good at (bedside manner aside), and Shane as a mechanic. They hadn't seen their parents, nor Joslyn, after they were taken away and had no word on whether they were alive or dead. In that span, Ereka had been offered and reoffered to join their ranks in Eclipse, and each time, she declined. When they grew tired of asking, their offers turned to using Shane as leverage, threatening to send her brother to the opposite coastline in California.
At their threat, Ereka initially accepted. But it was the last straw. Shane had already devised an escape route for them, in mind for months at that point.
They've been on the road as drifters ever since, learning to survive the elements, avoiding unnecessary trouble with Eclipse, and scavenging and trading whenever they're able, making their way from Portland, Maine to land in Richmond, Virginia for what they thought would be a simple supply run.