Initial Planning: Beginning of War?

Previous Chapter - The Last Straw: A Call to Arms

Long Road Ahead
Everyone had successfully navigated the town without encountering the Magic Council, and had boarded a boat bound for Genosha. Once onboard however, most of them broke of into individual groups, ether preparing for the upcoming battle or discussing the situation. Some remained outside the boats cabin, others stayed in the ships public areas, while others still shut themselves in their cabins.

Located at the back of the ship, Rift and June sat simply enjoying each others company and watching the water churn from the ship's propellers. Rift sipped on a soda he had gotten from the ships restaurant, while June sampled an entrée plate from the kitchen. "So you're sure about this?" Rift asked, finishing his drink and tossing it over the railing. "Just walking back in like it's nothing? You sure you'll be alright?"

"I need to do this. If not, it will never end..." She said sighing before taking a long swig of her soda as she looked at the ocean.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it'll end." Rift argued, cracking his knuckles in the palm of his hand. "No tricks this time. I get a chance, I'll cut her down myself." Rift laughed a bit, before reaching for another soda and flicking the top off. "But, I mean, it could have ended for you the day Jaina woke you up at Phantom Breaker. But here you are, literally sailing back into it again."

"Pretty much, and believe me, I continue to count the days I live and survive... Believe me, I do not take anything I do lightly" June replied as she leaned on his shoulder.

"Long as your sure." Rift put his arm around her shoulders. "Just hope this time we do better. We don't have Isa or Jaina now, but we got Zumma, the rest of the S-Class guys, and Raven and most of his team." Rift scratched his beard as he thought for a moment. "And whoever the Breaker's send in I guess."

"Not to mention the two who know her most..." She said looking over to see both sisters arguing with each other as they were drinking some soda.

"Yeah. Them too." Rift gulped down the rest of his drink and stepped away from June. He tossed and caught the bottle a few times in his hand, before rearing back and lobbing it over the side again. He made a tossing motion, and a small metal dart flew from his hand, shattering the bottle in the distance. He pumped his fist, before looking back at June. "What do you figure they want out of this? I mean I can't speak for the kid but Kat's never liked killing people, no mater who they are."

"Maybe some kind of closure. I mean even if she was a stone-cold bitch, they want to believe that maybe she is still human in some sense...." June replied finishing the bottle as well.

"As good as any answer I got." Rift quipped, taking June's bottle and tossing it away, shattering it the same as he had done with his. "Is that what you're after too? Some sort of comeuppance for all the bad crap she's done to you?"

"Honestly, I just want the truth, why me? Out of every soul in all of reality, why did she choose me?" June said looking back towards the ocean as a tear came down.

"Sorry to say it June, but even if there is an answer to that, I don't think you'll like it." He looked back to see the sisters had left some time ago, before wrapping his arm around June's shoulders again. "I wouldn't expect to find out though. She's not exactly known for playing nice." June leaned in close to Rift, letting him know she didn't want to talk about it any more. He agreed, and the pair of them went back to watching the ocean behind the ship.

Deeper within the ship, Kat and Fiona sat together at one of the restaurant's booths. "Just so we're clear..." Kat said, for what felt like the hundredth time. "We're not going to fight. We're helping people put their lives back together, ok?"

"How many times are gonna keep telling me that? Yes I know sis, no fighting, just helping" Fiona said blowing bubbles in her soda.

"Yeah, sorry." Kat slumped down in the booth. "I'm just worried about you. With everything mom's done in the past, I don't want her getting her hands on you again." Despite this she cracked a small smile. "That said, it's probably not a good idea for us to get our hands on her ether."

"Can I ask you something? I know this is probably gonna sound like a stupid question, but I mean.... Was she ever different....?" Fiona asked looking with a curious tone.

"You asked me that already, remember?" Kat leaned forwards, resting her elbows on the table. "The day after Geno, Shelly and Zumma rescued the both of us from her."'

"Well I mean I know you told me a lot about her, but what about our father? I mean through the time we spent together, you haven't said anything about him" Fiona said looking down at the necklace that she was wearing, wondering about the person who wore it before her.

"He was..." Kat had a hard time remembering much about him. Through his mysterious death, being chased out of the village, and learning she had a sister, her childhood seemed like a blur. "He was nice. Then again next to mom, so is Raven." They both snickered a bit, but Kat continued. "He'd always took real good care of me, you know? Make sure I was safe all the time."

Flashback, 27 years earlier

The sun was shining on the mountains for the first time in years as many of the people were outside in a small village, often going to get new supplies or new crops that survived the frozen tundra. A small family could be seen walking there, one woman with ample breasts was carrying a bag as her husband was carrying their young five year old daughter on his shoulder.

She looked around with amassment at all that was going on around her, turning her father's head in every direction with every new discovery. "Daddy look! More food!" She chirped excitedly. "Where's it all going?"

"It's for the village Kat." He replied, taking hold of her arms so she would stop pulling his head. "The winter wasn't as bad this year, so there's plenty left over."

"Though at least with this much produce, I can make my best dishes" She said smiling as Kat jumped up and down on her daddy's shoulders. The family then began working to pick up some of the fruits and vegtables, trying to find the best ones they could. Kat went to help out, seeing some of the watermelons, her mouth drooled and she went to grab some.

"Careful Kat, those can be heavy." Despite her fathers warning, Kat found the largest melon she could reach, and attempted to lift it off the stand. Her tiny arms made the task near impossible for her, however it was enough to cause a shift in weight, and one of the melons on the top of the pile fell towards her. Her Dad quickly reached out, and caught it between his palm and bicep. "Kat, what did I say?"

Oblivious to what had just happened, Kat looked up at her father and immediately saw the large melon tucked under his arm. "Let's get that one." She said with a big smile. "It looks like Mommy's big boobies."

A blushing Sabriel quickly went over to pick up her daughter, "Now now Kat, remember what we talked about? We don't say that stuff about mommy...." She said chuckling nervously as Kat's dad chuckled and put the watermelon in a wagon he got before going to get more produce. "Listen, why don't you go pick out some grapes, they're a little lower on the mountains so be careful" She said looking at her as Kat nodded and took off running.

Following after her, Kat's father watched as she sprinted towards the nearest bush. Just as she began to close in on it, he noticed that it was dangerously close to the edge of the mountain. "Kat, stop!" He cried .She tried to stop to see what was wrong, but slid on the dirt towards the edge. Just before she fell, he wrapped his arm around her waist and tossed a rope dart into the ground behind him, stopping them both from falling to their deaths. Pulling them both back to safety, he held Kat close to his chest. "Dammit Kat. I'm not always going to be around to look out for you ya' know." She nodded dumbly while looking up at him. "You got to be more careful from now on." Kat nodded again, wraping her aroms around him and burying her face in his shoulder.

Back to Present

"He didn't deserve what he got." Kat muttered to herself, before taking a drink of soda. "I'd always thought about what would happen if I ever met her again, but I never actually thought I would." She switched seats to sit next to Fiona, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "Turns out I got an awesome sister out of the deal."

"And I found a great sister as well. Even if she does snore like a Vulcan" Fiona said laughing.

A vain popped in Kat's forehead, and she began roughly pinching one of Fiona's chicks. "I'm trying to be nice you know. Miss bottomless stomach." They both began to laugh, and failed to notice someone approach from behind their seats.

"Having a nice trip?" They both jumped, though Kat knew who is was before she even turned around. They looked up to see the burning red eyes of Raven Tyran staring down at them. "You two ain't having a moment, are you?" He asked with a sarcastic grin.

Fiona glared at Raven, out of the entire people in the guild, she didn't like him one single bit. The way he acted often reminded her too much of her mother.

Kat leaned away from Fiona and sighed. "What do ya' want Raven?"

"Just hanging out." He shrugged, taking a seat across from the sisters, much to their annoyance. "And to find some food on this damn boat. If Clair makes me eat another one of her 'special lunches' again, I'll light myself on fire."

"It'd be more entertaining than having you sit with us" Fiona said huffing as she went to drink some more soda, question how someone like Master Davin would've let him join in the first place.

Raven gave a dull laugh. "Aww, it's almost like you care." As he spoke he reached into his pocket, retreated a small candy bar and took a bite, chewing it while he talked. "Besides, I do that, and I don't get to meet this mother of yours everyone's so fond of." He looked back and forth both Kat and Fiona, looking for any sort of response. "She's got that your blond boyfriend shakin' in his boots. Makes me wonder what sort of monster we're up against."

"She's not a monster Raven." Kat rebutted in an exhausted tone. "She's just a person, a very bad person."

"I'm a bad person." Raven argued. "A bad person is easy to deal with." Both sisters snorted at the idea, though he ignored them and continued. "She, on the other hand, sounds more like something straight out of a horror story. Something to tell kids to make them go to bed at night."

"And you would know horror wouldn't you?" Fiona said glaring at him, getting irritated with him talking to them.

"I figure I've seen my fair share." He shrugged. "I'm wondering why the pair of you came along though, knowing all that she's done in the past." Raven finished his candy bar and tossed the wrapper over his shoulder. "You sure this ain't about revenge? Because there's a saying about revenge and having two graves, or something like that."

"What do you care? You're probably only here just to fight her. Why even come if it's just to pick a fight?" Fiona replied in an aggresive tone.

Raven opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a voice echoing down the hall. "Raven darling. Where are you!?"

"Ah shit, I got to run." He jumped up and was about to take off, before stopping himself short. "Oh yeah, to answer your question. While it's an attractive bonus, I do in fact give a shit about whether or not you all come home from this." With that, he turned on his heel and disappeared around a corner.

Just as he did so Clair entered the restaurant and scanned over the area, finding only the sisters sitting at the booth. Marching up to them, she asked. "Have ether of you seen my darling?"

Fiona was about to say, but remembered what Raven had said right in front of her. "No, Sorry we haven't seen him" She said as Kat nodded in agreement.

Clair eyed the sisters for a moment. "Are you hiding him from me?"

"We said we haven't seen him Clair." Kat replied. "Not since we all got on the ship back home." disappointed by their answer, Clair turned up her nose and marched out the same door she had entered from. After waiting for her footsteps to fade away, Kat put her arm around Fiona. "That was unexpected." She quipped. "Thought you'd sell him out in a second."

"I don't know, he may be stupid, irritating, a complete ass, and about as likeable as a porcupine. But he's honest about a lot, and what he said kind of surprised me" Fiona said sighing as she took a sip of soda and looked back at her.

Kat chuckled a little at her responce. "Aw, just another part of our little family, right?" She ruffled Fiona's hair, pushing a handful of her bangs into her face. "You're just the cutest little sis I could have ever asked for."

Fiona blushed as she blew her hair up and chuckled a little at her sister's response.

The next thing they heard was the bell from the ship's intercom, signalling that the captain was making an announcement. "Attention passengers. We are now approaching Genosha. Please gather your belongings and make your way to the main deck."

Kat breathed a heavy sigh, then got up from the booth and gulped down the last of her drink. "Well, ready to do this Fiona?"