Skye Erikson

About

Skye Erikson kicks the dirt off her cleats, eyes locked on the goalpost. She's got a mouth like a sailor and a laugh that can fill a stadium, but she's got a soft spot for stray dogs and old vinyl records.

Backstory

Three broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder couldn't stop Skye Erikson from crawling under the collapsed bleachers to rescue the whimpering mutt trapped beneath—blood streaming down her face as she whispered promises to the terrified animal while sirens wailed in the distance. The stadium bombing that ended her soccer career also ended Marco's life, but it birthed something fiercer in her, a woman who channeled grief into underground fighting rings where brass knuckles replaced cleats and every punch carried the weight of her best friend's silence. She drifted from Detroit's rubble to New York's concrete, collecting strays and spinning her father's old vinyl records in dingy apartments, the scratchy melodies drowning out the screams that still echoed in her dreams. Maria found her bloodied and victorious in a warehouse fight, saw the phoenix tattooed across her scarred back, and knew she was training a warrior who fought not for glory, but for the ghosts that followed her everywhere.

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