Witch Trials | Knights Obsidian & Mandragora (CIS)

[Katria Vekarr]

Stewjon.

The name of the world didn't stick. There wasn't the slightest inkling of contemplation in her mind as to whether or not the world held any meaning to her. All she knew was what she had dredged up from the archives of the Confederacy, and it was a dredge of nothing but superstition, ridicule and barbaric ridiculousness. Even still there was a call from the Mandragora to have the Knights Obsidian assist them and the Nightmother in freeing innocents from Witch Trials.

Questions and feelings still running rampant in her mind, lost to her in a sea of confusion and potential disappointment, Katria strode towards the village in question. Towards a mission she knew hardly anything about, following orders she hardly understood, with only the thoughts lacking in understanding throbbing at the back of her mind. What was simpler to a troubled mind that slaughtering those doing wrong towards innocents? Putting those miserable ingrates into a grave they didn't deserve.

She didn't try to communicate with Katrine, nor with any other witch for that matter, as she approached the village. The sound of a wolf rang out on the wind, a sound she twitched her head at momentarily, before the brunettes eyes fell on the first of many men characterized for her. With a draw of her arm, a cock of her verpine and a squeeze of the trigger the man fell dead with a stunned look on his face. Then another and another until she found herself standing amidst a crowd of people, a small litter of corpses strewn behind her, the expression on her face one of callous discontent.

She could see desperation, fear, hatred and joy mixed among the faces of those who stood before her. It was then that a thought came to her mind that captivated her focus: Where was Katrine and who was the Lupine she had become involved with? Pushing through the crowd of people before her, holding her verpine forward to deter interception, the former mercenary pursued the more important notion. Up until she finally reached the section of the village in question. No Katrine in sight, witches here and there as radicals continued to fight against the intervention, the brunette heaved a sigh.

Once again she raised her arm and fired at one of the men she'd been ordered to cut down.

She'd find Katrine later, along with some kind of explanation.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Maple Harte]

Inside the police facility, Maple made sure to move extra slowly, especially as a lot of guards were moving past her position. This Sasori Coating was a dream, but if you moved too quickly it stopped working. This didn't help much for the adrenaline. They all seemed to be going to stop the others from the CIS. She sensed three of them faintly. Two signatures were far more "ragged" around the edges. Katrine's aura was laced with that of the spirits who worked through her.

We should hurry, Little Shadow. Your words about them trying to take her hostage as a last resort strikes a chord with me Doashim rumbled from within.

You're worried they'll kill her like I'm worried?

Given the reactions we've seen so far I wouldn't put it past them, so yes

What if we can't save her?

We 'must'. The Spirits demand it. 'I' demand it. For if we cannot have the girl, we will have the blood of those who ruined her. It shall flow in the streets like water. What is happening now in this pathetic idea of a Jail will pale in comparison to if the girl dies.

I'm moving as fast as possible, believe me.

Oh I know. I just have to light that fire under your feet. Its sort of my thing.

You're so cool, Doashy!

Likewise.

Maple spotted a security office that had been left open. One guard inside looked like he was on the verge of voiding himself as he watched Katrine on screen push through ever closer, unstoppable. Maple stunned him unconscious with a simple tap from her staff end. She then began hacking the system, looking for the girls cell. She found it on one of the cameras, and spotted guards setting up machine gun nests close to it. Skip. Serpants were growing out of her skull! And her gaze could turn men to stone and women into cheese! Skip. Not real. Back to the jail.

"Maple Harte to nearby CIS forces. I've found the girls cell. She's in some sort of max-security section. They've got machine gun nests set up close to it. Hold on...some of them are arguing...

Maple brought on the audio.

"Screw this! We're gonna die anyway! We should shoot her just to spite them!" One of the guards shouted at another. "They're witches and demons who should be burned at the stake anyway. You know what they'll do once they get here and find us still stupidly guarding her cell!"

"And they'll do worse if we kill her. I've heard of these people. Some of them make zombies..."

Maple had heard enough. "Guys, killing her is looking mighty good to some of them! I'm going in!"

Maple snuck out of the office, carefully creeping towards the restricted section. Everyone was panicking themselves (and rightly) over the Nightmother's rampage. She put her staff ends in a sling on her back, pulling out her pistol.

She crept closer to the machine gun nests, manned by two, burly looking, angry men. She could almost think it was bravery, until she remembered they were getting themselves killed trying to petulantly keep an innocent woman locked up for being different. This, in an age of space wizards, werewolves, and space wizard werewolves.

The correct term is 'Lupine' Doashim interjected at her musings. I know, I know, To-may-toes and To-maa-toes...

Maple got closer to the Machine Gun nests, she readied her tranq gun, silently getting closer. She froze when one of the machine guns swiveled her way. She waited for it to pull. He'd probably seen a shimmer. She was about twenty meters from both down the passage. She began moving when it swiveled away. She fired, two quick shots using a center-axis-relock stance as the cloak didn't let her see the sights properly, that decloaked her temporarily with how fast she moved and dashed forward as the other guards noticed the knocked ones slumped over with darts in their necks. They panicked, one of them rushing to what looked like the girl's cell, fumbling for the keys, likely to kill her. The other two fired back at her as she dodged the slug throwers, using the Force to enhance her reflexes as she dropped to the floor, firing the short range dart, which hit one in the arm as she slid across the floor, another right in the chest, and managed to nail the last in the head just as he threw open the cell door to kill the girl with his rifle, screaming Die, witch filth as he did so, but the drug took effect before he could pull the trigger, and he fell backwards, asleep.

Maple, heart pounding at how way, way too close it had been, slowly rose up, breathing hard. She rushed to the cell of [member="Alwine Lechner"].

"Miss Lechner? My name is Maple Harte, I'm here to rescue you." she said, going into it. "Can you walk? How bad are your injuries?"

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

[member="Varick Lechner"].

 

[Varick Lechner]

Objective: Free Alwine & continue giving Ger as much grief as possible
Location: The Prison
Attention: [member="Alwine Lechner"], [member="Gerwald Lechner"], [member="Maple Harte"], [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]


“For Alwine’s sake, very well. But we will have words, little brother. And you will not like what I have to say.”

Varick snarled as he held his wolf back, the bones of his wrists audibly snapping and deforming for several moments as he held his change back. Much as he wanted to let his wolf free, now was not the time, and his ability to be of use to his sister would be severely hampered in his Lupine form. There was too much that needed to be said, so the alpha bit his tongue and turned his ferocity on the guards.

Some of whom he’d trained with, and others still who had undergone training beneath his iron grasp. Men he’d thought were decent until that fateful night when their lives had ended, and Alwine’s horror had begun. He tore through the pair that dashed into the small antechamber where they stood, breaking one’s neck with a savage blow, and severing the other’s jugular with the knife from the belt of the first.

His dark gaze passed from his little brother to the fierce woman that stood at his side and then back again. So very much to say indeed…he would need time after Alwine was taken to safety before he’d be able to speak properly and with a controlled manner befitting his stature and station.

He strode past Gerwald without another look or word, steps taking him directly to the door of his sister’s cell. Even with all of his connections and the rank he’d worked so hard to achieve, he had so rarely been able to slip in to see her and comfort her in any way. That was his own shame, and something he’d have to beg her forgiveness for when she was well again. That there would be violence involved, he had no doubt, but in regards to this? He would accept it without complaint.

Varick owed her that much, and more.

He paused at the doorway, taking a deep breath and nodding to the mercenary standing just inside the door. “Allow me…Alwine is my sister.” He said quietly, giving the woman a respectful tilt of his head before moving past her to kneel at Alwine’s side, a hand gently brushing a lock of hair from her damp cheek.

“Lotha dalninil…I need you to open your eyes. We are getting you out of here. Wake up for me, sweetheart. Please…” Varick’s voice cracked as his heart broke, his gaze drinking in the sight of what had been done to her. It was all he could do to maintain his own sanity...but she needed him, and he would sooner see himself dead before he failed her again.


Lotha dalninil = little sister

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

In her ear, Katrine heard [member="Maple Harte"] speaking, agreeing to her order before she'd gone on about strategies. "They'll fail," she only returned. She didn't end on negotiating and no matter what they thought, they wouldn't expect her powers, not the full extent of it.

The guard had charged at her but she hadn't moved, intent on letting the guard come to her. Instead, it was Gerwald who'd ended up. Moving quickly inside, more guards waited for them and more vibroblades met her chakram. Not for a moment, did the Nightmother think to draw her sword as she fought, making use of the Force to deal with them. No longer did she give warnings, not when they kept calling her a Witch like it was some sort of insult. No, only Seren could have used it in that tone and get away with it. Her hand moved quickly, meeting blades and slashing through exposed skin against weak armor before she had felt the nearing presence of the Lupine. Already, Katrine knew the Lupine ahead was present and she knew who it was. This, she could only assume was the Lupine whose presence she hadn't felt that night. Not Gerwald's Mother for sure. Good, Katrine though as she slashed the throat of the guard before she'd heard the voice.

She turned, hidden behind her armor still and took in the sight of the brother. Varick. The snarl was undeniable. It was enough to have Gerwald change but when she glanced at him, she caught sight of him taking clothes from the dead guard. 'Eww,' Katrine just sent a singular sound. It wasn't even the fact that the man was dead. It was the body of a guard, a guard they fought, a guard that made sure his sister was locked up. She would sooner burn the body and everything on it than wear any of it. For a moment, she'd even considered giving an even bigger spectacle for Stewjon but maybe it was better to leave that for the grand finale, she decided on a whim. She had yet to show the rest of them what a real Witch was. In the meantime, Gerwald had taken the time to speak to his brother, about arriving when they'd heard, about the trials ending and his siblings leaving today. "All that can wait," she muttered beneath her mask, just as she caught the sight of a guard rushing into the antechamber and threw her chakram at him. It hit him and stuck, requiring her to summon it with the Force to dislodge it from the fallen body, catching it with her hand as it returned.

Her head turned slightly towards the passage as she felt her approaching, even Doashim was quiet at the moment as Maple snuck towards the cells. It was a bad idea for a stranger to approach the Lupine now, especially if her suspicion about Alwine not changing this whole time. After all, she knew about the Lechners, she expected nothing less from her than to keep protecting her family no matter what toll it took on her. "No time," she muttered and hurried, knowing full well they could be too late. Varick knew too, he was already moving, making her slow down to let him move first. He was the best option right now, though the risk was still there, she realized as she moved towards the open doors, watching him approach his sister. She didn't even look completely human with everything done to her. It made her angry. At herself, at Gerwald but most of all to the monsters that had done this to her. Whether she was a Witch or not shouldn't have mattered, whether she was guilty of her crime shouldn't have mattered. This was not how any prisoner should have been treated. And the fact that they had done all this to a Lupine had made her furious. She wasn't a Nightmother right now, she was the Lupine. Her body shook as she held back her change, forced herself to stay in her human form. They didn't need the wolf right now, they needed the Witch. And the Witch was going to make Stewjon pay for every victim that had been put through this.

They would all pay.

Her anger grew, the energy built. And as it did, she barely had a split second to divert it before she unleashed it where it shouldn't have been. Her head snapped to the side, seeing other doors in the corridor and before she even realized what had happened, forced them all to combust. The sound and sight of it made her shudder and look away from the blasts. "She needs to change," she muttered as her eyes shifted back to the sight of Varick and Alwine.

[member="Varick Lechner"] [member="Gerwald Lechner"] [member="Alwine Lechner"]​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Gerwald filled his eyes at the older wolf. He didn’t care that Varick was technically older. Gerwald was larger and stronger. It was why he’d always acted independent of his siblings more than they did of each other. He was never content being treated as less than by his brother, especially when he was not. His words only reminded him that despite how close they were, Var still saw himself a superior. If they fought later, they would fight later. However, Gerwald was free, and no one would have him under their thumb ever again. It was why he loved Katrine, one reason, because she always treated him as her equal. Scherezade had as well. Both of them had shown him that no one was his superior, not in a way that his culture had taught him.

”Fine,” he replied to Varick, and looked to Katrine as she urged them on.

He wanted to have words... such a big threat from his older brother. Gerwald’s time away from his family showed him how mistreated they all had been, and he was certain Varick would not like what Gerwald would have to say as well.

As they found their way down the hall to where Alwine was kept, Gerwald was furious. He dispatched the guards no one else touched. He ripped them apart with the blades he had picked up off the dead body. He’d heard Katrine in his head, and shrugged. It might be gross but he wasn’t going to run around naked.

He could smell Alwineand caused him to run to her. Varick has beaten him there, Katrine stepped in to look. Gerwald felt pushed out, but athis height he could see regardless. It was better for him to be in the back.

”She needs to change,” Katrine said.

Gerwald was surprised she hadn’t yet. Months of not changing she was bound to be in a fragile state. They had taken her clothes, it was an attempt to shame her. Gerwald was going to kill the magistrate, save for it was Alwine’s kill. It had to be reserved for her.

He pressed his mind into that of his sister’s.

”Wake up and change. Let you wolf free!! You are no longer bound by Stewjon, or our mother. Hunt the magistrate, hunt our mother...”

Katrine had said Lupine blood should not be wasted, but he hoped in this case she would not disapprove.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Varick Lechner"] [member="Maple Harte"] [member="Katria Vekarr"] [member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

Location: Prison Cell
Tags: [member="Maple Harte"] | [member="Varick Lechner"] | [member="Gerwald Lechner"] | [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

Things were happening outside of her cell. Alwine knew this. The wolf inside of her knew it, could taste it in the air. Blood was being spilled. She could smell it all the way to her little cell even though it was so far away. She thirsted for the blood, but she did not know whether the thirst was to shed it or to eat it. The little wolf inside of her begged her, pleaded with her to break free, to be let loose. But Varick... If the fights did not end well and she changed, he would still be in danger. She could not risk his life, would not risk his life. Gerwald had abandoned them and Varick was all she had left. If she were to be forced into leaving her last brother as well, she would do so in safety, in peace, in a way that would never condemn him. Another tear rolled from her eye to the cold ground. Her lips moved, but no sound came out of them, as she prayed to every god she had ever heard of, that she would have the strength to hold on just a little bit more. Just...

The smell of another person in the room. Alwine was already trained in this. She kept her eyes closed, pretended to be unconscious. The guards would always try to check her this way, see if she responded. It never ended well when she did. There was no mercy for witches on Stewjon, and there was even less mercy for the farmer class' witches. Her body, which her mother had worked so hard on to keep pure and free of marks save for a few lash whips on her back and buttocks so that it would not hurt her chances of finding a husband, were now covered in the remains of the deeds she had experienced at the guards' and interrogators' hands. Her skin was no longer unblemished. Perhaps it never would be again. But she kept her eyes shut, tried to control her breathing as much as she could. The person - a woman ([member="Maple Harte"]) - was asking questions. That was new. They had never sent a woman to her in the prison before. The women they had made her meet under interrogation were considered too frail to be brought to the prison. It had always been outside. By the river, by the bone breaker, by the...

She knew he was there before she heard his voice. Her brother. Her Varick. He called her his sister. Did that mean everything was all right? Did that mean...

Two more smells.

The wolf inside Alwine raged. One of them was a smell she had never thought she would smell again, not after returning home that morning and finding him forever gone. His smell had probably lingered, she'd imagined. If she'd been at home, she would have known, she would have smelled. But now it was here and it was so strong. The abandoning brother, and with him...

A small gasp came from her mouth as she continued to fight the wolf inside her. The smell of the queen who had taken her brother and left her and Varick stranded on Stewjon. She had never thought she would smell Gerwald again. She had hoped that she would never smell the other Lupine again. But now that she had, her wolf wanted nothing but to come out and rip her apart. But things were not safe, not yet. She had to keep the wolf inside. Keep from changing. Keep herself from putting Varick in danger. Protect Varick, no matter the costs. That thought alone was the one that could keep her under control, had kept her in control these past few months.

Lotha dalninil...

Alwine's eyes fluttered open. The strain it took to open them now was quite visible. She could feel her brother's arms around her, feel the ends of his hair tickling her forehead. She looked up at him, plain brown eyes meeting the sky's blue, and her lips, dry and cracked, curled into the gentlest of smiles. With effort, she managed to raise her hand, the tips of her fingers curling in his hair. It was a tender moment, one of intimacy that would have easily confused a stranger on the outside for one between life long mates and not mere siblings. She, naked in his arms, and he, holding her, whispering to her as she looked into his eyes and curled her fingers in his hair. There was closeness there that the rest of the galaxy could only be jealous of. But siblings they were. She was his lotha dalninil and he was...

"Jatha'laurl dalninuk..." she whispered. She had done it. Varick was holding her. Varick was safe. She had heard what he'd said. They were leaving the planet. A sound no human would ever be able to commit erupted from her throat. Had she been in her wolf form, it would have been a happy bark, for there was nothing but tenderness and joy she could offer this dalninuk.

But they were not safe yet. And worse, they were not alone.

Alwine's gaze moved to where the others were standing. She had heard the words of the queen, and she heard Gerwald's words in her head. Had she more strength, she would have panicked, trying to understand why they formed as thoughts inside her own mind, slapped him for daring to violate her like that. But now was not the time.

She looked at the woman first. The other Lupine, and instantly hated her more than she had before. She was the Breaker of Packs, the one that took Gerwald away and not once stopped to speak with the other Lupines in the household. She had broken the pack of the Lechner siblings and there would be no forgiveness or atonement for that. There would be nothing. If Alwine met her on equal grounds, she would rip her throat and belly out and let crows pluck her eyes out. There was no tenderness in her gaze then, but only the pure rage, now cranked up to a level that not even her brothers had ever witnessed from her before. Not even at her mother had she ever looked with such despise. And she was not done.

Brown eyes moved to her brother. The dalninuk that had left her, left her and Varick, abandoned them to this life on Stewjon. He looked well fed and well taken care of. Why had he remembered his siblings existed? What had changed? And in truth... Did it matter? For him, her gaze did not scream of rage or hatred. For him, her face gave one very simple and very clear message out.

This is what you have done to me, dalninuk. This damage is your fault.​

​

​

Hunt the magistrate, hunt their mother, what care did she have for any of that? She was about to die and the only thing keeping her from going worse was Varick holding her, Varick close to her, Varick, free and not in danger. Never place Varick in danger.

They wanted her to change. Everyone wanted her to change. Even the wolf wanted her to change. She had to. Everyone in the room, perhaps the woman who had arrived first and did clearly not smell like a Lupine, new she had to change.

But Alwine raised her other arm and pointed at the queen.

"Not... in front... of her..." she said, her voice dry and broken, every damage she had endured these past months thickly felt within it, and she gathered the last shreds of her strength to scream; "NEVER in front of her!"

But the wolf had other plans. Alwine closed her eyes.

Among the Lechner siblings, she had the easiest time to adapt once the change had arrived. She had relished in it, bathed in it, glowed in it. Behind the closed doors and in the depths of the forests behind their house, she had been more than a Lupine - she had been a wolf, in the fullest sense of the word. Changing brought her pleasure. She did it every night, smiling as her body shifted, as bones cracked, as fur took place of smooth pale skin. And almost every night, she had guarded her bothers as they slept, either inside the house or outside in the forest. How she had always hated to change from wolf to human, and how she had loved changing from human to wolf, she had loved it more than life itself, and she had loved it only a sliver less than she had loved both of her brothers.

But the wolf did not care now. There would be no pleasant change now. The screams came out of Alwine before she realized what was happening. She was still a young thing, only nineteen, much younger than both of her brothers, and they were all still in age ranges in which that mattered. For her, it meant that it would take several minutes, and not seconds.

Alwine screamed as the wolf began to push out. She could feel the bone of her leg breaking again as bones began to shift. She could feel every place they had cut her, burned her, stabbed her, frozen her, as her skin began to spurt the fur. And she could feel the gurgle in her lungs from when they had drowned her as her rib cage began to shift, began to ready itself to accommodate that of the smallest wolf in the pack. There was no joy in this shift. There was no pleasure as the wolf forced itself to be released.

Alwine screamed with pain, and could not stop.

​

jatha'laurl dalninuk - biggest brother
dalninuk - brother

 

[Maple Harte]

[member="Alwine Lechner"] looked pretty bad, the more Maple assessed her wounds. These nerfherders hadn't gone easy on her in the slightest. Then she sensed death outside, and suddenly another man, [member="Varick Lechner"] arrived, and given he was her brother, Maple stood aside, watching as he cradled her. Maple had never had that. Never had someone to just hold her when she had been in the Marksmen. It was always kill and move on. Until Siva. Until Mimban.

Maple didn't have siblings as far as she knew. Staring at that sight the two comforting one another just because made Maple jealous for a moment. She was never going to have kids. And if she did have a sibling then it was safer for her to stay away from them...she'd made so many enemies as a Jedi Shadow, they would surely kill the sibling in revenge.

All Maple had sometimes, beyond ships and weapons, was the long faded blood on her hands. And the comfort she could sometimes find in the arms of others. But it never lasted. She would always have to part in the end.

In the end, in so many damning ways, she was alone.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] entered, radiating fury at how one of her own had been abused. The look on her face was one of utter murder. Maple was frightened of that look. It was the kind of look you get when you don't just plan on stopping once you got what you wanted. Maple knew that look. It had been hers. And Ursula's.

Another man, (This one with a magnificent beard just like the other.) [member="Gerwald Lechner"] entered, and she felt the room tense up instantly between the two men, but even more between Alwine and Katrine, though it was far more one sided. When Katrine said she needed to change, Alwine had screamed, even in her misery, that it would not be done in front of Katrine. Maple did not even try to pretend to know what was going on between them. And why should she? Maple was an HRD disguised as a large housecat and her intestines were made of plastic wrap. Skip. Back to reality. Alwine was screaming deforming, growing fur. She had never seen a Lupine transform before.

Maple, not wanting to possibly fatally distract Alwine from what looked more painful than she could imagine tried to telepathically communicate with Katrine. It came out screwed up, due to her condition.

Thousand red bellies engorge the ants of eternity, a thicks stream of blood licking every eye and heart. Damned are the collectors of that final taxation upon the flesh, a flowing torn off wing carressing the throat and making the mouth speak of the devil waiting under all of our eyelids, those same eyelids which serve as the parchment of the judges of evil. Katrine, I understand how infuriated you are. But I beg you, whatever anger you are holding towards Stewjon, punish me in their place for asking if you must vent your wrath, but any more blood on Stewjon will only make US look bad. We got who we came for. Her torturers are punished and humiliated. Show mercy to the rest. I offer my own life in exchange! There has been enough death.

 

[Varick Lechner]

Objective: Free Alwine & continue giving Ger as much grief as possible
Location: The Prison
Attention: [member="Alwine Lechner"], [member="Gerwald Lechner"], [member="Maple Harte"], [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

He remembered the day Alwine had been born, Her tiny hands curled into fists as she was brought into the world, screaming for all she was worth as if she were announcing her addition to the fabric of the universe. He and Gerwald both had fallen in love with their little sister in that very moment, matching smiles warming their features.

Varick smiled softly, the expression as gentle as he could keep it whilst gathering Alwine into his arms. Her fingers curled into his hair and he sighed that she’d used what little strength she’d had for the gesture she had been making since the first time he’d held her as a baby. He focused on that warmth of memory, instead of the broken, bleeding mess their kin and countrymen had made of her.

For daring to be different. For daring to be strong.

In spite of it all, she had endured and woken enough to speak. To use her damaged voice to speak comfort to him, to produce a sound that should have been joyous and full, but was instead shattered and raw. To scream at their brother and the one who had taken him, leaving them behind to wonder what they had done to deserve such a fate.

Varick murmured softly, sparing a glance to Gerwald and his companion before turning his broad-shouldered frame to block her view of them, concentrating on Alwine as her wolf finally broke free and began her change. Where once it had been effortless and free, it was now excruciating and tore the most inhuman sounds from her already raw throat.

He continued to talk to her as he held her, keeping his voice low and even, struggling to keep his own wolf at bay. To an outsider unaccustomed to the Lupine shift, it would look as if her body was shattering itself from the inside and rebuilding with the pieces it had created. Which was accurate as the wolf emerged and built the form it needed from physical pieces available.

“Rescho, ssinssrigg. Rescho. Ori’gato l’thir'ku plynn dos...ori'gato ol resch dosst jiv'undus. Nindel's ol, gaer ol zhah. Fridj saph nindel, lotha dalninil. Usstan inbal dos.”

He kept up the litany of words even as he adjusted his hold, giving her shifting form the space it needed while refusing to place her back on the cold, stained ground of the cell.



Translation: Easy, love. Easy. Let the change take you...let it ease your pain. That's it, there it is. Just like that, little sister. I have you.

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The release of her energy hadn't done much for her anger, Katrine realized. She heard the scream before she looked to [member="Alwine Lechner"], finger pointed at her. She only glanced at Gerwald even when she was aware of the change occurring, bones loudly cracking after months of not doing it. Considering the outburst, Katrine had no intention of sticking around and walked from one entrance. 'Get them to the ship', she only sent to Gerwald before she moved into the next cell, no doors holding them anymore. There, she found another victim of the Witch Trials. The woman on the bed seemed almost as broken as Alwine, muttering, shaking.

"Sssh," she managed as she knelt beside the woman. "It's okay, they won't hurt you anymore." Katrine could have helped Alwine but considering the reaction, she knew the Lupine wouldn't accept her help right now as it was. Instead, her hands moved over the damaged tissue of this woman and began to heal her. She wasn't aware of what was happening, though Katrine imagined once she did, she would freak out at what was being done to her. Witches were feared on Stewjon. She moved from one wound to the next, the woman stirring from the lack of pain. When she paused, it was to activate her comlink and contact Nocte Aranea. "Send a medic to my location," she ordered, receiving an affirmative response as she stood. The rest of the wounds were weaker and it was better if a medic handled them instead of her.

As she stood, she heard [member="Maple Harte"]'s thoughts inside her mind. It was jumbled and poetic but she stood and listened. She wanted Katrine to punish her in place of Stewjon. To show mercy to the others. Katrine let out a sigh as she walked out of one cell and into the next. 'No one but the guilty will suffer. There are other jails like this, filled with other jailers doing the same thing,' Katrine returned. She had no intention of harming innocents, no matter how bad her anger was. SHe would have to save her strength for the Lupine's rage as it was.

Kneeling before the next one, she accessed the wounds. Broken bones burned flesh, cuts, and bruises. It went on and on. Still, her anger raged on as she began to heal another one.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"] [member="Varick Lechner"]​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Gerwald turned and looked at Katrine when Alwine began to yell about not changing in front of her. His anger at the tone he took when regarding Katrine was felt in a way he didn’t know was possible. It washed over his face as he glared back at his sister who was content with suggesting that what had been done to her was his fault.

Katrine was in his mind, telling him to get them to the ship. He nodded, though he was not intent on going directly there. First they would deal with thier mother.

Alwine’s screams made him want to run to her, but Varick’s body language was clear. Gerwald didn’t like this one bit. There would be no time to argue about all the reasons why most of what happened was not his fault. They did not get to escalate this from him leaving to Alwine choosing to set fire and get caught. Even if it had been in response to him leaving her reaction had been her choice. Everything else that happened, well those at fault would pay.

”Varick we have to get her to the ship. We are leaving this place, but not until we have dealt with those guilty of these witch trials... and mother...”

Gerwald turned and grabbed his weapon. Alwine would be finished changing soon and when she was, no on would be able to control her. Katrine was in the cell next to them, Maple followed her. Gerwald wanted to, but he could not leave his siblings this time. Never would he leave them in the learch again. Besides they had a home to find and one of them had to take the Lordship that Katrine had said Gerwald would not have. He knew he was the bridge between them all. In time his siblings would see it, but for now Gerwald would take whatever it was they wanted to send his way.

More guards were coming.

”Var... your sword...”

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Varick Lechner"] [member="Maple Harte"] [member="Alwine Lechner"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

Location: Prison Cell
Tags: [member="Maple Harte"] | [member="Varick Lechner"] | [member="Gerwald Lechner"] | [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

Anger. Joy. Confusion. Happiness. Rage. Bewildered. Relieved.

The wolf did not know how to digest the raw emotions that passed through her all at once. Where before, her range had been mostly limited to rage most of the time, protectiveness and joy when it had to do with her brothers, and hatred when it came to her parents, now there was a mixture swelling inside of her, confusing the wolf to such a degree that even the woman noticed it, despite the pain, despite the shifting of her body that still resumed despite her will to not even begin it yet.

Joy and happiness were the easy ones. For all that had occurred, for all the rage she had felt towards Gerwald for abandoning them, he was back now. For better or worse, the Lechner siblings were united again. The wolf's tail would have happily wagged at that if she had not been mid-shift. There was no denying that she and Varick were the closer pair within the trio, and while there had been reasons for that, her love for Gerwald knew no bounds. He was her brother. He was part of her pack, no matter how you tried to twist the angle of the pack around. He had hunted with her, shared a sleeping space with her, had used the fact that mother loved him best of the three more than once to get her out of trouble with the woman, or minimize the damage the woman tried to inflict on her. Yes, their relationship had been damaged by his abandonment, damage that probably ran down to the very foundations. But right now, it did not matter. He was her brother, and she loved him, and they were united again. Whatever else was in store for the three, they would again be able to face it together, after they healed the damage that had been caused. And they would heal it. She had been raised into servitude, but both the wolf and the woman were fighters, and she would fight to fix things with Gerwald. She would fight to fix thing between Gerwald and Varick if she had to.

And Varick... Her brother was holding her in his arms as she shifted, his Lupine scent providing a layer of protection that in this cell was needed that moment. Varick, her biggest brother. The one she had fought so hard in order to keep safe, even when she was the one being tortured and held in captivity. Varick, who had been the first to offer her a sword. How the three of them had laughed time and time again while commenting that the sword was taller than Alwine herself. They had thought back then that she would grow taller than it. She never had. Varick, with whom she had become closer since Gerwald's disappearance, even though she had seen him and shared the same air as him less than a handful of times in all those months that she had been locked in the prison cell. Varick, who was her reason for not losing herself, not going mad, for surviving these months without shifting. She knew for a fact that without him, she would have been reduced to someone's new fur rug before the first week was up. And Varick was holding her now, softly whispering to her, making her screams lessen even though the pain of the shift did not.

But where was Gerwald? Even while shifting she knew he had not come to them, not joined his siblings, not come to her as she shifted for the first time even though she knew her screams had not gone unheard. For all the look that she had given him but moments ago, this confused her, the wolf not understanding why the third one chose to stay away. Under normal circumstances, it would have tossed the wolf into a fit of anger. But now, beneath the confusion, was the hurt, swiveling and mixing with the rest of her emotions.

Not since her first shift had a shift been so emotional on her. When her throat gave out, by both combination of exhaustion, pain, and changing into a wolf, her screams became whimpers, high pitched yet low in volume. It was almost done. She was almost completely a wolf now. She would never again walk in her human form unless absolutely needed, and it would not matter whether her life would end that night or many years from now.

And suddenly, it was done. The shift had been completed. Inside the prison cell, still in her brother's arms, stood a wolf. Lupines were meant to be bigger than regular wolves, but even in her wolf form, Alwine was as tiny as she was when she was a woman. The adult proportions were all there, but in her size was hardly larger than a cub. Another small body that could never properly contain the raging winds that she was, and yet she would not have traded it for all the worlds she had ever heard about. This was her strong form, the form that mattered, the form in which she could truly be herself, the form in which she was free.

But it was too soon to take joy in it. Her leg had broken again during the shift, and she was now standing on three instead of four. But it didn't matter. Three was still better than two.

She barked once, signaling to Varick that he could grab his sword and do what needed to be done.

For herself though... She knew the chances of anyone trying to kill a cub-looking wolf, even in a place like this, were slim. The guards would not think of her as an enemy while there were two grown men with swords in the room, not until it was too late. They'd been trained to deal with witches and criminals, not what could be easily confused at a glance with a puppy.

But if her brothers wanted to relish on the killing of the guards, of the massacre that was happening on Stewjon while they dealt with family affairs, it was not something Alwine shared. Alwine had a bigger prey in mind. If they truly were to leave this planet that had served as a giant prison their entire lives, then she had a kill she would take, and there would be no consequences to that.

She darted out of Varick's arms and on three legs, half ran and half limped towards the stairs. As she had assumed, the guards barely even registered she was there. Unless one of them interfered, she would be running straight home.

Mother was waiting.

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple let out a large sigh of relief, not just because [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] assured her no one except the people who needed to go would be going, but also the whole 'Not-gonna-die' part. Not that she wouldn't have done it but it would have sucked, like a class seven on the scale of suckage. Maybe even a class eight. At least, thats what all those flying squirrels hiding between her teeth thought. Skip. Maple was running through the cornfield in the middle of the night, running from the Mind-Binder. Skip. She was back in the Stewjon jail, following Katrine to another cell. These jerks had been busy. Alwine wasn't the only one.

Maple looked in the other cells. More injured women, and a few men. Some of the conditions...the smells...were worse than Alwine.

Maple recoiled in disgust, trying not to throw up as she spotted a cell with a dead woman in it. It looked recent. She'd been dead maybe ten minutes before they got here. She'd starved.

Maple grimaced, grabbed the guard she had tranqed who was about to kill [member="Alwine Lechner"], sliced open the cell lock with one of her staff ends, and dragged him into the cell, waking him by punching him in the groin. He shot awake, and his face was met by her boot. He screamed as his nose broke.

"Scum." The Assassin within snarled, breaking his wrist, forcing him to look at the dead prisoner.

"YOU SEE THIS?!" Maple snarled, breaking the same arm with the broken wrist, making him shriek.

"You're the one who should be rotting in here! You'll pay for this! And all the other ones you SICK KARK!" she shouted, punching him again and again until he was out cold.

Maple left the cell and went back to Katrine. "We got injured here. This area is where they keep people who are...different. Like us...I can feel the Force from them but many of them are weak and I'm worried about moving them--" Maple was interrupted as she watched a puppy run/limp out of the cell next to the one Katrine was in.

"Huh..." Maple grunted, still distracted, before refocusing on Katrine. "Second strangest sight I've seen this week...the first was that sausage and the Rodian...what the hell was that guy doing? Why was the sausage so long...?"

Maple snapped out of her reverie. "I gotta go help your buddies, Nightmother. Hail Spirits!"

Maple went slow, letting the cloaking function go active. "Don't freak out guys, its just me." Maple said as she went by [member="Gerwald Lechner"] and [member="Varick Lechner"].

She set her staff ends to heavy stun as the reinforcements went down the passage to Alwine's cell block. She felt her adrenaline creep up, freezing as one got within striking range. She controlled her heart rate, then struck, her arms a flurry of swings and clubbing actions, one man got his jaw broken as he was knocked cold, and another got a skull fracture as Maple spin kicked him into his other comrades.

Maple felt a slow building coldness at what she had seen in that cell block. She was going to break as many bones as could be broken without killing...

 

[Varick Lechner]

Objective: Get out of the prison & follow Alwine home before getting TFO
Location: The Prison
Attention: [member="Alwine Lechner"], [member="Gerwald Lechner"], [member="Maple Harte"], [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

He took in a deep, ragged breath when Alwine’s shift was completed, and her wolf was finally free. It was the form she’d always felt the most comfortable in, the one in which she could be wholly and completely herself. There was a fierce joy in her lupine features, and her stance, though bespeaking the ravages of the torture she’d endured, was strong. He watched her closely as she stalked around her small cell, using only three legs instead of four, and he realized the damage done to her human form had affected her shift. The broken leg her wolf favored must have done so during those excruciating moments where all she’d done was scream as her wolf clawed its way back out.

Varick wanted nothing more than to take that pain upon himself, but knew that even if he could have, she wouldn’t have allowed him to. The overly protective streak that ran deep in every fiber of his being would have to evolve as she did, lest he run the risk of pushing her away. That thought sobered him quickly and brought a measure of sense back to his wildly circling thoughts and emotions.

He sighed heavily, running his hands through his hair as he pushed it back over his shoulders. It took him a moment to stand, but before he did, Alwine barked once, her meaning abundantly clear. He pressed his forehead to hers briefly, then got to his feet as she dashed out of the room with purpose in her hitched stride. Varick’s gaze followed her until she rounded the corner and was out of his sight, at which point, he heard Ger’s voice for himself and nodded.

“Let’s go.”

There was so much desperate to be said that they had neither the time nor the freedom to express. It was a fact he kept lingering on, he realized, and quickly shook his head once in a very lupine fashion to force himself to clear his thoughts. There would be a time and a place, but his siblings were correct. They had a family matter to attend to, and it needed the three of them united for that to happen.

Varick drew his sword from the scabbard over his right shoulder, the long, curved blade gleaming wickedly in the light. He transferred it to his left hand for a moment, before turning to face Gerwald and offering his right to him.

To his brother.

In spite of everything that still needed to be said and resolved between them, they were still brothers and always would be. It had been them against the world for a very long time, perhaps they could be so unified again at some point.

In a gesture the pair had long used, they firmly clasped each other’s wrist, holding the gesture tightly for a moment. The only thing missing was Alwine’s delicate hands clasped around them, her bright laughter echoing through the air. Varick nodded before releasing Ger’s wrist, taking his sword back in his main hand.

The blade flashed through the air, spinning once as he settled it into his grip and allowed a tightly controlled measure of ferocity to wash over his features. There were reinforcements coming from each of the main corridors, but primarily down the central one that offered the most direct route. Maple swept past them as she engaged her cloaking mechanism, warning them of her presence, which was a welcome tactic. Varick nodded even as he spoke, “Thank you, hunter. I would have words with you when this is done, if you’re willing.”

A moment later, Gerwald and Varick both stormed down the hallway, fighting through the guards side by side, the way they had always been, as if nothing had changed. It was a brutal, violent span of time that saw blood spilled, bones broken, and lives taken from those that had committed atrocities of the worst sort against their sister and all the others who dared to simply be different.

Varick raged against them, these men that he had trained and thought he had known, these men whom he had believed knew better. But they had not, and they now bore the brunt of his attacks. There was little of finesse to be found, but there was severe, murderous efficiency as they lost sight of Alwine, and knew precisely where she was headed. While capable and fierce on her own, their mother was not one to take lightly, so the brothers moved forward with vicious intent.

**Posted with Gerwald's writer's permission.**​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Alwine ran, and he already knew where she was going. He’d gotten Varick’s attention and he was already on his way as well. The two of them ran forward, and seeing the guards decided to put everything behind them for now. They fought together as though nothing had ever happened. This was their language. Combat was what they knew best, and it was what bound them outside their family. His skill was rarely unmatched by those on his world, but Stewjon was a small pond compared to the galaxy. [member="Varick Lechner"] was the only one who could match, and exceed, his skill. When together the brothers seemed unbeatable, and it was good to fight along side his brother again.

”We have to reach her. This ends today, but she’s not doing this alone...”

Fighting their way out of the prison, Gerwald knew the others would deal with the court officials. He felt guilty about leaving Katrine behind, but he was the bridge for their families, and the work he had to do was clearly going to take longer than he’d hoped.

They ran though the city to a small farm just outside the city. The community did not look as nice as the reached the home Gerwald had grown up in. Surrounded by the forest, the family had often run through them, but now it was just a reminder of the world he’d left, and the mother who had mistreated his siblings. Gerwald loved her, but having been away had shown him how wrong she had been.

He sighed seeing the house. The door was open.

”She’s already here...”

[member="Alwine Lechner"] [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Maple Harte"]

 

[Alwine Daye]

She half ran half limped through the village. Even as a woman, the place had always seemed too small for her, despite her own petite size. And while she had been a villager of this specific village her entire life, this was the first time she waded her way through it as a wolf. The wolf hated it even more than the woman had. It wasn't too small. It was too tiny. Everywhere the scents of those who had wronged her, those who had pretended to be safe, those her mother would have her believe would try to kill her if only they knew the truth. But mother had been wrong. They had tried to kill her even without knowing the truth. They had tortured her. They had paraded her as an accused through the streets, and the very men and women she had grown up with and had known as boys and girls had not held back, had joined in, had thrown remains of food on her as she was escorted to the prison.

And while she could not deny her joy at knowing the place was burning, could not properly understand that part of what she was feeling was the presence of other Force Users on the planet, she could not help but wonder why they were all here. She had not been raised among the warriors, but she was not stupid. Gathering forces was a time consuming thing. When had they found the time to do so? It would not have been done unless they knew of her predicament. But if they knew... Did they take the time? And perhaps she had been wrong. Perhaps her brother never knew what happened while he'd been gone, but had come with the Confederacy for other matters entirely and happened to stumble across his sister in the process. But those were questions that would be asked at another time.

For now, the angry wolf made her way through the village and all the way up the path that led to the Lechner house. The lights were off, and the house was silent. A stranger would have mistaken the house to be empty.

Alwine knew better.

Her mother had known Gerwald had returned. And she knew the scent of the other Lupine, the one she had met. And her mother, for all her shortcomings, was not a stupid woman. She knew what would happen the moment the secret was out, and by all the gods great and small, it was as good as out. Alwine was a wolf. She had run through the village as one. She had shifted in the presence of non-Lechners, despite her wishes. The only way to out the secret more was to invite the entire village for a reenactment.

She had expected her mother to be in her wolf form, to be snarling, to be ready to attack her as she certainly intended on attacking her.

Instead, she found the woman seated on the sofa in the living room, fingers entwined with each other, giving her that stern look that always came with the same sentence, the sentence she had been reared on ever since she could understand speech well enough. Alwine's kneed bent ever so slightly as she lowered to the ground, her ears sharp and up, her fur rising.

"Know your place, woman."

There it was. She growled lowly, the drool of the force gathering at the base of her teeth. She snarled, readying herself to spring on the woman, to tear her throat out, when an arrow flew by her ear. The wolf danced back, whinnying in surprise.

"I can't let you do that, Alwinetje," said her father's voice. The wolf looked at him. Of course. Their entire lives, he had his behind their mother, letting her emasculate him. With her brothers, perhaps he was different. With her, he was always in the background, always looking longingly at the daughter he could not truly have, for she was not a son, and for their mother would always have the last word but with Alwine, she had the first, second, and all the words. Could he have loved her, as a father? Perhaps. But he had been absent in her life and in her heart, a mere tall shadow looming somewhere in the background, busy with the grounds or with her brothers or with anything that had to do with her.

And even now, he stood by the woman who had ruined their lives. Alwine had always known there were other Lupines in the galaxy. Her mother's stories never made sense. And his father had been brought in, chosen to mount her mother because he would remain quiet. Because he had no back bone. And now he would protect the woman who had ruined hi children, sons and daughter alike.

Alwine launched her attack as another arrow flew by her ear, this one closer. She couldn't let him stop her. Their generation was done. They'd had their chance to provide for the family and they had failed. They had only one role left to fill, and tht was the role of the dead parents. Her mother would come first. Her father, second. And then the sweet taste of freedom would fill her mouth, would brush her fur. She would never be reminded of her place again, never be told to hide again, never be told to be smaller than what she was again.

But while her father had shot the two arrows, her mother had shifted. Sh was old enough for it to take a mere handful of seconds. Her mother was more similar to her brothers; a big wolf, rather than a little one. It had always raised questions for Alwine, but now was not the time to ponder them.

The bigger wolf of the two was unharmed. Alwine still only had three legs, and a fourth that hurt. But she would not let that stop her.

The arrows ceased as mother and daughter tumbled on the floor of the Lechner living room. Fur flew around as the two bit each other, clawed at each other. Her mother might have been old, but she had years on Alwine on how to fight as a wolf, if not as a human. For a moment Alwine wished she could shift and strangle the life out of her mother using her human hands, but to shift now would hurt beyond measure, and would give her mother the window needed to kill her first.

She would've screamed if she could, as her mother's paw came down on her face, the blood coming from Alwine now soaking into her fur. She was smaller and faster, but her mother's brute force was winning.

If she could have used her vocal chords to speak, Alwine woudl have said "so be it". Better to die on four legs than on two. Better to die fighting for her freedom rather than hiding who she was and letting old age or disease do the job for her. And still she fought the other wolf.

Because like her brothers, Alwine was a fighter.

And she would fight until her very last breath.


[member="Gerwald Lechner"] [member="Varick Lechner"] [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Maple Harte"]

 

[Maple Harte]

Maple's staff ends smashed into the face of a guard as she and the men with beards of doom bashed their way through those sent to stop them. She drunkenly spun her sticks as she advanced, her weak Force sense helping her avoid certain bullets, her sheer agility and reflexes helping her avoid the rest of them as her foot crashed into the face of a guard so hard she was sure she'd fractured his skull as she smashed her sticks into shoulders, ribs, and jaws. The suffering she had watched [member="Alwine Lechner"] go through, as well as the other women, had caused something to snap inside of her.

She had not come here to kill. She would keep that oath. But she was going to break these men. And break they did. Ribs, toes, noses, groins (Don't ask.), elbows, knees. It all shattered at the heavy sticks wielded by an angry Ex-Shadow. Her arms were a blur, the red metal of her staff ends, an experimental near-frictionless alloy uncovered on Katanos VII, was capable of slicing almost without effort through nearly any conventional metals and materials at max-settings. This was set to stun. Heavy stun. Jaws would still need to be wired shut, that is, if [member="Gerwald Lechner"] and [member="Varick Lechner"] weren't hell bent on avenging their sister by viciously tearing through anybody who'd been dumb enough in this pit to actually follow orders.

Maple pulled off an elaborate torso-axial flip to dodge the swipe of a vibrosword from a larger, heavier opponent. She didn't hesitate, jamming her split apart staff ends into him. He went down like he had been punched by a baby rancor. Maple smacked one of her weapons into the face of another, feeling his nose crunch under the balaclava. She felt Doashim from inside, egging her on, delighting in the combat. She still hadn't figured out how to pull off a twelve-hit combo. The ancients had been wise to hide such a secret, for the one who could pull off a twelve-hit combo would win at life. At least, thats what those cockroaches she'd been talking to five minutes ago had told her. The cockroaches knew secrets. Even the newborns. But they were all addicted to glitterstim. That was okay...Maple had swore she would never tell anyone.

The mobile beatings continued, Maple's sticks and feet crashing into, smashing the ribs of and knocking the teeth out of every guard that got between her and the jail's courtyard. The alarm klaxons sounded a long, deep drone as The three got to the courtyard. Maple had left a pile of badly wounded but still alive men in her wake. As Varick and Gerwald took off to do...something...Maple waved at Varick "WE SHOULD TOTALLY DO SOMETHING AWESOME SOMETIME!" She called out as he ran to where no doubt his sister had gone.

Maple sensed danger. It was a mass of life, but as her sense was weak, she could not exactly define the threat, so she went to moving very slowly, letting the stealth field kick in. A squad of muscle-bound giants in Stewjon swat uniforms, gold and black in color, burst through an entrance from this facility's administrative section, armed with shotguns, chainguns, and flamethrowers. The big dogs, huh? They had just missed Varick and Gerwald. As Maple stood still in the courtyard, invisible, she knew she was good but she wasn't that good. Those crap guards in the jail were pushovers who'd likely never done more than a few busts. Their reflexes had been slow from her perspective, Their aim, while excellent, had still been geared to fighting distant targets. Not highly mobile and aggressive opponents at melee range, worth Force training. It had been almost a foregone conclusion they would lose, especially considering they had not had to deal with just one Adept, but Three.

The same could not be said for this band of thirty men, some armed with mag-lock grenade launchers and...Rocket Launchers?!. She saw how they twitched as they moved, arms as thick as her waist, fists as big as her head. Hefting large weapons effortlessly. They moved quickly and silently into the Jail,. No way she would try taking those men by herself. One of them would get her. She might take three, but one of them would get her. They looked to be heading to [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] 's position.

"Katrine!" Maple hissed quietly, into her comlink. "You got thirty heavily armed men coming. Shotguns, chainguns, flamethrowers, grenade and rocket launchers. I can't take these guys by myself! I think they mean to level this place, with them in it, if it means killing you! Either pull something badass or get the hell out of there!"

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Another one healed, she stood. Her head tilted to the upcoming sound of soldiers arriving. Her hand had reached for her chakram and then froze as Katrine remembered a conversation with Gerwald just a few days ago. There were battles into which she couldn't follow him. Perhaps he was right after all. She was there, she could fight alongside him if he needed her but he was united with her brother and sister and these men served their oppressors. They were Alwine's jailors.

Siblings had gone soon enough, and she remained, feeling fresh Lupine scent fade away with them, remnants left behind of their presence. The prisoner was coming to, reminding Katrine it was time for her to leave too. The medics would be here soon. Walking out of the cell, she slowly made her way towards the exit. On the inside, the Witch could feel herself still burning. They had hurt Force Users, women and they had tortured a Lupine, driving her into madness in her unyielding desire to protect her family because of the teachings she had been given; they had been given. Every single last one of them wrong.

Katrine could almost hear the voice she had long vanished, she could almost hear her taunting her at the moment. A reminder of the monster she could be. She had been destined to be the lone wolf, the monster of her kind, the mad Witch... She had altered that destiny, found her center, her peace and yet right now, she was burning, she was eager to rip out their throats, burn them alive. Every last one of them, and none more than the Lupine who didn't deserve to breathe, to exist.

It was [member="Maple Harte"]'s voice inside her head that made her stop, listening. Thirty heavily armed men were coming, armed to the teeth. She was sure they wanted to level the prison. 'There are still prisoners inside,' Katrine snapped in response. They weren't going to be leveling anything, the Nightmother decided as she marched through the antechamber and towards the exit. Inside her, she had summoned the anger that had built, the rage. "Dukra. Fatajir. Jena'tes. Irus. Nuyak pyktis, nuyak saud," the Witch began to chant as she moved. One Witch marching onto the man marching torwards her. She came outside and just as Maple had said, they were coming towards her, rising their weapons at the sight of her. "Nuyak drastâona valia mtoni ant sis diena. Tau valia lyteti tave kanasaza Nu jisteka." It was magic Katrine chose not to envoke, chose to not think about but she always knew she could tap into it if it came to it. Today, it had come to it. Today, they would feel the wrath of the Witch, of the Nightmother, of the Mandragora.

And the spirits, they too had come. They too were angry. The soldiers were aiming their weapons at her as she gasped, feeling the energy as though it was ripping out of her. Her body jolted as she released, concentrating still, releasing it as she'd never released it, feeling it leave, burst towards them as a powerful blast, spreading quick and sharp at the unsuspecting men. They neither expected it nor did they understand what it was doing so when it hit them, it swept them like chess pieces off the board. The very first of them were hit the worst, causing flesh burns onto their exposed skin as they fell back, remnants of the Force Blast hitting those that weren't knocked off by others. Their weapons fell from the impact, long enough for her hand to raise and summon them away, removing immediate damage. This jail wasn't going to perish today. Not as long victims of their actions were still inside.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"] [member="Varick Lechner"] [member="Alwine Lechner"] [member="Maple Harte"]

Spoiler

Daughter. Heir. Darkness. Light. My anger, my fire. My opponents will burn on this day. They will feel the wrath I possess.

 

[Cezar Alexandrescu]

Objective: Reach the ship and call it good
Location: City streets and Transport ship that brought her to Stewjon
Armor: Project GARUDA | Obsidian-type Strike Armor (Look)
Weapons: Purple Lightsabers and Mini-Gamorrean Axe

“Halt Witch!” Commanding voice from the left side of Cezar came as she had been limping along the street for some time.

Looking slowly over to her left, she let out a sigh. Blasters were pointed at her. Pain from the crash and explosion was making every nerve feel like fire. However, all that did not matter to Cezar. Anger and hate rose to the surface to her. How dare they call her a witch. The Dathomirian witches ruined that meaning to her. Maybe the Mandragora witches that brought her were different, but on Dathomir the abuse and torture solidified the hatred of the single word which made all witches the same in her book.

Cezar slowly turned to the men that were aiming at her. Taking a deep breath with her hands moving behind her, she lunged at them. They opened fired. The armor cracked and broken from the first several hits. She pulled out her sabers at the same time. Igniting them, she blocked the rest of the shots. They stopped when Cezar cut their hands off. Then she took their legs. Standing over the one that called her witch, she plunged a saber in the man’s mouth as she shouted, “Never call me a witch!”

“Don’t send anyone after me and people will live… if one armed person shows up and fires at me, I will hunt down your families and kill them. So best make sure you tell everyone leave me be.” Leaving the other two on the ground after they agreed, the sabers were deactivated. Cezar went back on limping, bleeding, and hurting with each step down the street. It took her some time to get to the ship, but she was so thankful to making it. Putting her sabers back on her belt, she found a spot and laid down on the floor of the ship. There was a big desire of not wanting to move again. She just watched in her hud conformations of kills from other knights roll in. They handled the court house and couple of the remaining big wigs at their homes. Also checking in were the ones that went on to the jails after the other kills. Cezar was glad she did not need to get up and try to continue the mission. The ship floor felt so good right now.

 

[Varick Lechner]

Objective: Finish off the family & GTFO
Location: The Lechner House
Attention: [member="Alwine Lechner"], [member="Gerwald Lechner"], [member="Maple Harte"], [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

The moments drew together, strung along in a blur of time that seemed endless and far too slow. Alwine had reached the house ahead of them, Gerwald had the right of it with his statement. The house stood dark and the door ajar, and for the briefest moment, they heard nothing. Varick’s heart shattered and rebuilt itself a second later as he heard the sounds of the fight within.

But he also heard the draw and snap of a bow, and knew that their father had once more chosen his side. It was always his way, to bend knee to their mother and flatly refuse to give his children the love and support they were due. Never in all of his years had their father gone against their mother’s wishes, but part of him had hoped he’d have seen reason by now, at this, the very last hour.

But he had not.

Varick remained mostly human, though his features contorted into the beginnings of his lupine shift, and the snap of bones in his hands and wrists was audible as his claws emerged. A roar soon followed, the unmistakable call of a firstborn son, of an alpha, and it was replete with the anger of all of his years. It echoed through the narrow streets and those neighbors emerging with pitchforks and makeshift weapons fled in fear at both the sight and sound.

He no longer cared who saw him as he was.

He no longer cared who saw him the way he had every natural right to be.

The open door was summarily torn off of its hinges and thrown aside as Varick stalked into the house. He forced his attention to remain on his father for a moment, his voice dripping with every ounce of intentional threat he could muster. “You dare. All these years, you stood by and did nothing. NOTHING! You allowed that queen to do as she willed to your own flesh and blood. You would kill-“

He fell silent as his father nocked an arrow and sent it unerringly into his left shoulder. Varick’s features turned feral, the smile born on his lips one blessed with rage and certainty. The arrow was snapped off, leaving the tip and part of the shaft embedded in his flesh, while the splintered end was soon driven through their father’s right eye. Buried into his face and his brain all the way up to the now blood-stained fletching, it was a fitting end, Varick thought, watching as the body crumpled to the floor.

Blood pooled rapidly around their father as he turned his attention to the wolves engaged in bloody combat on the floor. He lashed out with one foot, a well time kick with his durasteel-toe boot, shattering the elbow of his mother’s lupine form, above the wrist he’d broken earlier that morning, rendering her right front leg utterly lame and useless.

“Never. Again.” He snarled, and kicked out again, rendering her other front leg useless as the elbow and forearm shattered above her paws, both limbs now showing shards of bone as they tore through skin and fur alike.

“Lotha dalninil…dalninuk…this is yours to finish.”

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Gerwald stood by for a time. While this could have been his fight, these deaths belonged to his siblings. He knew that for some reason his parents had treated him better. It was still an oppressive life, but the abuse was something he’d watched, but not experienced to the level that his siblings had.

A frown fell on his face as he watched the scene play out. This is not what family was supposed to be. All this anger bottled inside needed an outlet, but what would become of them once their parents were dead.

[member="Alwine Lechner"] was already fighting their mother, and losing because of her injuries. Varick evened the playing field after killing their father whose blood was beginning to fill the scent of the house. Gerwald was not going to allow his mother to hurt his sister anymore. When she wasn’t looking, Gerwald moved, aided by the force, so quickly that there was no way she could stop him from breaking all her legs.

Tears streamed down his face as he looked to his sister in her wolf form and nodded. She would know what Gerwald was telling her. They, the three of them, would always be united, provided he never had to choose between them or another again. They still needed to talk. They needed to know he would be at Katrine’s side. The Lupine’s would be strong, and he would be the bridge between their families, the only bridge for the sake of their species.

Gerwald knew he couldn’t watch. After doing what he’d done, he left the house, but didn’t go far. Alwine could come to him when it was done. They would both know why he couldn’t watch.

[member="Varick Lechner"] [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]