New Moon Rising: Part Two

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Katrine had instructed and then she had waited. It hadn't gone over her head the achievement Pebble had achieved unintentionally but there would be time later to discuss it. Right now, they needed to work on the power they were working on and on the others they had to cover today.

When her Ward said nothing though, Katrine had waited for her, well aware she was trying. Her sapphire gaze was focused on the boulder when it moved... once, then twice and so on. It kept going closer that it made Katrine glance back at Scherezade, realizing she was still concentrating, eyes closed and not seeing what was happening. The boulder kept moving towards them still, a smile coming to Katrine's face as she watched. Katrine had no intention of interrupting her now.

Not until Pebble had actually opened her eyes to see her accomplishment. "You did it!" She cheered now, happy for her and proud at the same time but she said nothing else, letting it sink in for Pebble as well what she had done. And it wasn't just a simple, singular move as most did. No, she understood what she did and she'd moved it completely, several times over to them.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Katrine was cheering her on. Scherezade nodded, obviously less impressed than the Nightmother at the feat. She had been trying for a while now and it hadn't worked, and now that it had, it somehow felt... Underwhelming. Moving things was nice and all of that, but it didn't feel like it was worth a lick in terms of what she still had to achieve. The time to get excited over baby steps was long gone. She had to become a better weapon, and she had to do it soon.

With a shrug, she turned to Katrine. "It's not enough," she gave the simple statement, "I need to know more."


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Her cheer calmed down quickly at the sight of Pebble who clearly wasn't as happy as she was about what she'd accomplished. Not just one power in a short time but two. And even before that, writing her own spell. It made her sigh. "You really should cheer up. You're already moving at high speed. Not everyone moves through their studies this fast, especially not when they don't start really young." It had only been months since she was free, months since she had begun training. Katrine saw all the reason in the galaxy to be happy for Pebble even if she didn't.

It wasn't enough though, the girl declared, pointing out she needed to know more. "Okay," Katrine responded as she looked around and nodded to Doashim, whom she could see to the side. He roared loudly and slowly, from the shadows came one of the demons, red eyes focused on them as he approached slowly. "Next, we thought some choking with the help of Force could be useful to know," Katrine explained as the Doashim approached, looking exactly as the spirit did, except the animal could be seen now by Pebble too.

"It's really just a form of telekinesis. Use it to grip his neck and squeeze. Just don't kill him," she said, giving a simple explanation to a power that was overall simple but useful at times. Katrine didn't explain further, letting Pebble give it a try.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"Not everyone has five centuries to make up for," Scherezade replied somberly. Kat was right, of course. The problem was that Scherezade was right too. On one hand, Scherezade was still a young girl, sort of. Her body may have looked like someone who's just about to end puberty, but her mind was a mish mash of child, teenager, young adult, and adult. On the other hand, she always felt too behind on everything. Behind on her training, behind on her social abilities, behind... Well yeah. Everything. There was too much she constantly felt like she had to make up for, to cover up for the time lost. Training was simply where it was the easiest to catch up, even if she still wasn't satisfied.

"We?" came her next question, and out of the smoke came something that, for lack of a better title, looked like a demon. Scherezade responded instantly, moving to stand between it and Katrine, her knives already out, eyes squinting, ready to attack.

Only then did Katrine's instructions register in her mind. Scherezade blinked, confused, turning to look at her, and then back to the demon thing. "Oh." She was really going to have to work on her kill first ask questions never thing. Some day. Maybe.

Still, she relaxed herself, taking a more laid back posture. Gripping the neck like with telekinesis, but not kill. She wanted to object to the not killing part. Still, she did as instructed. The moment Katrine had mentioned the form though, the rest already snapped in place.

Scherezade Force Choked for the first time in her life. And didn't want to stop.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Five centuries to make up for. Kat's head tilted as she watched her. "That is not your fault. Don't hold it against yourself like you did it to yourself. Ever." She understood even if they didn't talk about the grandmother anymore. They had talked about her enough to know about her, enough to understand from her point of view how ancestors could be a burden just as they could be a lot of help.

Her words sparked a question in the teenager. "Doashim. He is lending one of his own creatures for this," she explained even as Pebble had looked away to see the demon approaching, standing between the two of them with knives outstretched. "You're Mandragora. You needn't fear a Doashim. He won't harm you," Katrine pointed out. "And besides, he's aware what his purpose is here and he accepts it." He was a living breathing creature same as the two of them. He would no doubt protest at some point but he knew what the task was and he accepted it by his arrival.

Once all that should have been said was said, Katrine leaned back onto her heels and waited, feeling the Force at work. For a while, the demon withheld, remaining perfectly still but as it progressed, he began to protest, fighting against it. Katrine and the spirit allowed it, letting it go on for a while, thinking she would stop but when she didn't, Katrine reached out for her shoulder. "It's time to stop, Pebble," she told her.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

It didn't matter that it wasn't her fault. Of course she knew it wasn't. But it still did not change the fact that she was the one who had to deal with the consequences of what had happened. Her grandmother, her mother, the rest of her family. They did not. It was only her in the now, only her dealing with the need to train, to make up for time. Not even her Aunt or cousin could change that, even though they were both much better trained than her.

She put those thoughts aside as she continued to Force Choke the Doashim demon. She reveled in it, the feel of power that overtook her. She wanted to find a battlefield and see if she could do it to each and every person that was there, at the same time. There was freedom in this ability, pure and unadulterated. She never wanted to stop.

But then Katrine touched her shoulder and Scherezade jumped away from her in surprise, her concentration broken, Doashim released entirely. She spun around, emerald eyes landing directly on the woman, the rage in them needing a moment to cool down.

"Sorry," she apologized for taking it too far, "but there are better ways to get my attention."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Her hand on Pebble's shoulder had made the teenager jump. She recognized the reaction, retracting her hand as she waited for her to settle down, expression softening before Pebble apologized. There were better ways to get her attention. "Sorry, needed to distract you before you killed him," Katrine admitted, without explaining, already knowing what was next.

And it was the main reason why she couldn't kill the Doashim before. "Now, you can drain him of his life force," Katrine announced. That was why the demon had accepted a fate when he came. Not just come to help but came to die for the purpose of the training.

Explaining the power was a bit trickier. "It's like feeding. You have to find his strengths and you need to draw them into yourself," she tried, glancing at her, one eye slightly narrowed as she waited to find out if she had been helpful in this regard. Katrine didn't use the power, she hadn't in so long. It wasn't even a case of it being a dark power but she didn't have a use for it in her life. Any additional strength Katrine required, she could gain through other powers, which she was more comfortable with. Like others though, it was useful in its own way.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Katrine apologize about the touching, and Scherezade merely nodded in response. There was no need to talk about it; she knew Katrine understood. The two's relationship, sisterly as it was, did not include physical contact unless to protect one another. She had done it moments ago, when she's thrown herself on Katrine to protect her from the Combustion, and she would do it again without thinking if the need rose again. But in between... Personal space was personal.

The next phase would be Drain Life. Her mind already connected the dots, the big grin already on her face before Katrine finished explaining it. It was the power her mother had most often used, used it to feed on others to protect herself from the Arduer. Sometimes, Scherezade's mother had to do it by Force, but after she discovered her ancestral home planet, people were willing to give their lives to her so she could drain them in order to maintain control.

Because that was how leadership worked. Her mother and father had been seen as leaders, not just on the ancestral planet, but outside of it as well.

And Scherezade had to learn how to do that as well. It had nothing to do with the drain life though. She had to force her focus back.

Wordlessly, Scherezade stepped to Doashim. No, not Doashim. An animal. You could not actually drain a spirit, something in the back of her mind reminded her. How did you drain someone's life? It was more about the strengths and drawing him into her. When you drained someone, when her mother had drained someone, she had not taken their strengths; she had taken their life force. Was this the same? Was Katrine perhaps referring to something else that had a same name?

Scherezade kissed Doashim on the top of its nose. When she killed on the battlefield, she spent no time thinking about the death she caused. But here... There was something more intimate, more personal. She closed her eyes and kissed him again, the Force brushing against her face like a breeze. She didn't have to open her eyes to know that she was doing it. She could feel it. Not Doashim, but the animal's life was flowing into her, while emptying the beast's body like a dried prune.

She knew that she could stop. She knew it did not have to be a complete thing, until death. But she did not want it to stop. She wanted to drain the animal to death, to leave nothing behind but a carcass.

When Scherezade opened her eyes, her pale skin was softly glowing, and the animal lay on the ground, shrivelled and dry. She turned to Katrine with a soft smile on her face.

"This is how my mother learned to control her curse," she found herself saying, giving a piece of history she had not given her adopting sister before, "one of our ancestors cursed her but claimed it was a gift. My mother had to choose, to constantly choose, between sex, and food, and life. If she did not feed the Arduer, it would consume her, and she would lose all ability to control herself until the Arduer was properly fed. She almost killed my father once, when it happened. Eventually, he let her drain some of him, just enough so that they would not kill each other."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Standing where she was, Katrine had watched Pebble approach Doashim and kiss the top of its nose, causing a smile in the Nightmother as she said nothing else. The draw on the life force was evident enough through the Force and soon enough visually. It had been a long time since she'd been taught how to use it but she'd never seen anyone else do it. Somehow, in the way Pebble had done it, looked natural. She wondered if that was how it always looked or if the power simply looked natural on the girl. Katrine didn't know.

Eventually, the Doashim had lost its energy and began to crumble off his feet before the last rays of strength abandoned him and his head fell last. There was more life in him still and Pebble to all of it, until here was nothing but a drained body left behind, appearing though he had died weeks or months ago. Dry skinned and empty, red glow in irises long gone now.

When she was done, Pebble began to tell Katrine about her Mother, a subject the two rarely embarked on considering how sensitive it was for the both of them. This time, it was to speak of a curse her Mother had been given, an Arduer that needed to be fed either through sex, food or life. If she didn't feet, it would consume her. It almost caused her to kill the man she loved. "I've never heard of such a thing," Katrine admitted, "but you know I believe in curses. That one seems particularly rough." At no point did she deny its possibility, however. Curses were very much possible. A curse unheard of before was just a curse she had to learn about still.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Katrine had never heard of such a curse. Scherezade nodded. It made sense. "The ancestor claimed that it was the only one of its kind," she said, slowly drawing out on the memories while she walked back to Katrine and took a seat beside her, "that only one person can have it at any given time. That if my mother died and returned, it would return with her, because it was attached to her soul."

It sounded... Like something that did not make a lot of sense. Her mother hadn't actually died at any point; she'd gone to sleep, she'd traveled between realms, but she hadn't actually been dead. The spirit world, as far as Scherezade knew, was foreign to her, entirely so. But then if her mother died and someone else got the curse and then her mother returned, what would happen?

Ugh, it hurt her to think about it.

"But you're going to have to talk to my grandmother, or to the ancestor,to know more," she added with a careless shrug, "but I don't recommend it. My grandmother is on my kill list for what she's done, and the ancestor... From what I understand from my grandmother's information, is not someone you ever want to meet. She can't be defeated. She simply comes and goes as she wills. I think my grandmother looked up to her in that regard, and is working on doing the same."


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The only one of its kind curse, one person at a time could have it. And this particular one was attached to Pebble's Mom so even if she died and came back as someone else, it would still be attached to her. Katrine nodded. "Makes sense," she only said, realizing just how much it did make sense for a curse so unique.

Pebble continued by saying Katrine could take to her grandmother if she wanted to know more, making Kat's brow arch just slightly, knowing full well that was one of those things she wouldn't do even before Pebble had gone on to say her grandmother was on her kill list for what she did. The ancestor, according to her grandmother, was someone who couldn't be defeated. "She's trying to kill the ancestor, rather than finding her strength or tether to this world?" Katrine wondered. It hadn't occurred to her before Avarisa but now that she knew what she knew about her, Kat knew that most spirits had a tether of sorts providing them with a footing into this world.

Whether they were bones as it was with Avarisa or something else that held Ceta near, Katrine wasn't too sure. But it would make sense in this case too considering the individual couldn't be feated as herself.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Katrine asked if her grandmother was trying to kill the ancestor rather than find her strength or tether in this world. Scherezade blinked. She hadn't really known that there was supposed to be a strength or tether in this world. Katrine had told her about Avarisa's bones, but that wasn't the same. Or perhaps it was? She wasn't sure; her grandmother dealt with curses and such only late in her life and most of the information Scherezade had in her head about it was on par with fairytales and folklore.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully, "but I'm sure that Shery wants to have those abilities, if she doesn't yet. Maybe she does. Maybe she's something worse now."

You had to be something worse to mess with your family like that, weren't you? What other reason could there be for her grandmother to try to hurt her or her family?

Scherezade sighed. "I don't think I can really kill her," she confessed to her sister, "I don't think even centuries of training would put me on par with her in terms of abilities o that front. I think the best I can hope for is putting a part of her in a jar or something, a part that would keep her from being able to return, or sever her from her powers. And keep the jar safe somewhere so no one could free it. Maybe bury it somewhere or something."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Her question got an I don't know answer. Pebble didn't know how Shery was trying to get rid of the ancestor but she did know her grandmother was out to have those abilities. Katrine nodded very slowly. "Does she though is the question," she considered out loud, lips pursing together and eyes narrowing just slightly as she thought about it.
"If she doesn't, figuring out if we can keep her from them might be good." The Witch finally considered. It was definitely a course of action to think about. If Shery wanted those power so bad as Pebble was sure she did, it might have been something to keep from her if she didn't obtain them yet.

The next admission from Pebble made Katrine look at her. The girl didn't think she could try to kill her, not when faced with someone as powerful. She could best hope for putting her in a jar or something or sever her from her powers. Katrine thought on it too. "You can kill her. Maybe not by yourself but you could build an army. More of us could make it happen. But killing her isn't the right goal, you may be right. She's logged herself into the spirit realm, gives her a different footing. Locking her up from being able to move between realms might be more important."

A lot of speculation went into that. Katrine knew Shery could enter the spirit realm because it was where she drew her in to tell her about Pebble so there was already that. It was because that meeting that Kat suspected Shery could move between realms.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Keeping Shery from getting Boadicea's powers? Scherezade blinked, and then shook her head to herself, noticing only now that the name had popped into her mind. These memories were an annoying thing. It would've been better probably not to have them at all. But how did you get rid of what was probably about eighty percent of the information stored in your mind without entirely losing your brain? It was not a question she was ready to voice though, already somewhat guessing what Katrine might have to say about it.

Now, an army... "Bigger groups are easier to run away from," she said quietly, quoting her grandmother, "even the most organized of them."

Scherezade made a face, willing her grandmother's words out of her mind. "It wasn't her first time in the spirit realm," she said, looking at Katrine now, "but she's not of it. She goes where she pleases. I think. Maybe I should learn how to do the same, when I'm better trained?"


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]