Chapter 11 Gathering Storm

She rounded the corner, her strong hand stalling along the wall before the room. She didn't yet hear any voices, she wondered if she had the time right. "Illea?" Delphinea crossed the archway into the room and nodded to the elder. "I see I am early," ever proper, ever polite, the bulky Amazon walked quietly on the floor and seated herself on one of the lounges. Her tan skin stood in stark contrast to the pure colors of the room, mostly due to the fact that there was so much of it showing. From her swept back damp hair to her large bare feet, Phin usually hated wearing clothing. She thought of it as cumbersome. Her strong form was covered in a short white sheath with a golden cord at her waist. She did, in fact, look like an Amazon in every sense of the word. She relaxed and smiled to Issy, waiting for the meeting to begin.

Just because she didnt "live" in the house the other's shared...she dared anyone to say a single word about it. She was still a daughter. The crimson of the sash at her hips that seemed to match the hue of her hair agreed with her.

Yet it was black silks that whispered against the floor as she entered, not the white of the others. She had her own reasons for her color choice since she handed the temple she built over to Eddie.

Hard eyes, yet still carrying a smirk, greeted the sisters that had already gathered and the warmest of smiles and nods to each. She didn't feel like airkisses and smooches at the moment nor alot of formailty.

She couldn't wait to see how this turned out....who would dare not show up....and who would dare speak the truth of their heart, their fears, hopes.

Then in a flash, a brilliant smile as she took a slow slinkable, sinkable spot right in the middle of some pillows near the fire of course, a small pillow was pulled to her stomach as she rolled on her side, a deeply golden arm draped across...

Trixie McAllister was not one to be somber, usually. And she most certainly did not fit in formality. If the High Priestesses back home could accept such truths, her Sisters most certainly could. So, following this logic, the Harlequin casually entered the room her Sisters were gathering in, very glad she wasn't the first to show. Think of what that'd have done to her reputation.

Her black wife-beater and frayed denim shorts did not show the Elder position off, but wasn't that the point' She had, at least, worn a simple crimson choker to show her loyalty, because as unconventional as she could be, Trixie was not without Scathachian pride.

She crossed the threshold, giving her Sisters upnods and smirks along the way, before sinking down to sit cross-legged in an open chair near the right wall. Once seated comfortably, she opened up the little container she had tucked under her arm. Snacks were necessary in keeping the beast chill during a potentially long talk.

Illea had watched as each Sister had entered and had received them all warmly. It was comforting to have them here, in the safety and closeness of their home away from home. She knew that there were a few more Sisters en route, but Isuelt believed it was better to begin. She was sure that those who had arrived already were curious.

"Blessings of strength to each of you, Daughters of Scathach," she began the traditional greeting. "We have gathered in this city to do Scathach's justice, to fight for the righteous and to defend the innocent. We have been called upon to bring this city to order." She paused and looked to each of them in turn with a smile, there was still a Priestess in Isuelt that believed whole-heartedly that they were here by divine providence. "We have been doing great work, Sisters. The gruesome habits of the WestEnd seemed to have lulled for the moment. Even petty crimes are on the downswing. However, none in this room are so foolish as to think that we have completed our task. And I further would believe that none in this room are so foolish as to think that there is just one person or thing out there causing all this chaos."

Isuelt's crimson robes whispered against each other as she moved into the center of the room and continued, "Therefore I want to ask each of you to be alert, not just for criminals, but also for unseen forces working against us. People that seem to be our allies may not be." She paused to let her words sink in before she inhaled deeply and pushed on, "Just recently, as Phin will attest to, there was another 'set up' for a wrongful imprisonment. A seemingly harmless old woman, is not necessarily a harmless old woman anymore. In addition to that, our enemies may be walking freely amongst us, and not just in the WestEnd. Trixie, you were at the Inn when that...that monster came out of nowhere when we were speaking to that woman. A woman that had been in the Inn with us not but ten minutes previous."

She sighed heavily, "As much as I hate to say this, my Sisters in Scathach, we are in full battle mode now. And we do not know our enemy. Our enemy could be anyone, anywhere. Please take the utmost care in what you say, and to whom. We walk amongst the enemies of Scathach each day." Her brow knitted, it was indeed hurtful for Isuelt to admit these things; that the very people they were trying to protect could be responsible for tragedies, both past and future.

Her tongue licked impatiently at her suddenly dry lips as she looked around the room to see how the Daughters of Scathach would respond.

She was, pretty much, the zoney kid in the class. It's not that she was ignoring Izz. She loved Izz! She thought the highest of her. But she was also preoccupied with sniffing around at her other siblings, both well-known and somewhat acquainted. Plus, Janet had just stolen a spot next to her, so she just HAD to turn and waggle a finger in mock disapproval.

That changed when Izz called her out. Or,uh, when she thought Izz called her out.

She raised both eyebrows on instinct, trying to create something of an innocent and unknowing face, as she turned her head to the front of the class. She dropped it in an instant. Hellooooooo, rest of that sentence. Gone was that stupid smile, since Izzy had just reminded her of that night. She made a face at the use of the word 'monster', looking almost offended by it.

"Wasn't juss one. Couple ov' 'em. Who knows? Maybe even more. A..." She looked to her container of raw rabbit bits, tongue flicking against her lip-ring just once. "...pack."

She let her emerald eyes cut over to Isuelt, again.

"An' while yer right that we don't know all the enemies, we do know some of 'em. There is the woman ya juss mentioned, there are those...other bein's...an' there was someone else there, too, I think. We got those. We find them, we can find a trail or hopefully a solution. O' course, it'd be stupid for us to try takin' on all of them."

She could feel the girl squirming between her arms for just a moment. God, and how that fellow had tried to make her take a bite...

"Divide an' conquer." She growled it, before giving an almost self-conscious glance around at the lot of them, promptly shutting up.

She wondered if perhaps their enemies were trying to do the same to them. Maybe that was the second part of the plan, you know, after 'wear them thin'.

"Yes, I speak in agreement with the others. And Illea, that old woman was not an old woman." She nodded her head, "I think that the Lady Ravenlock and your Mister Wraitharan would concur. Perhaps she was a twin, a shapeshifter or something of that sort. There is no way she could be dead and alive and in two places at once. Certainly, there is something foul in this city and it runs deeper than a devious criminal or two. There do seem to be other forces at work here, almost as if there is a conspiracy."

Much like Akemi, Phin was usually one of the quietest in the group. She preferred to let her skills do the talking for her. But this was something she felt she must speak out against. "I agree with Izanami, we should not be split up. And like Harlequin states, if a pack is pursuing us, we need to make sure that we become a pack ourselves."

"Yer underestimatin' yer opponents."

She could have growled it, but her anger wasn't directed at any of them. There might have been a warning in the look she tossed to Mirage, though.

"These aren't pound puppies on steroids. I'm not sayin' someone isn't given 'em orders...but the one I scrapped with' It talked to me. It provoked me. So to dismiss 'em as nothin' more than a thoughtless slave is foolish."

She let one of her feet slide to floor, the container repositioned on her lap. She leaned forward, green eyes hopping from Sister to Sister.

"It looked, ta' me, at least...like these guys were protectin' that girl. She's mortal. I could break her. Almost did. I don't think she's the mastermind, no. But she is involved. An' like I said, she's quite easy to break. If we want information, I say we go to the weakest link."

But then, she was kind of action-oriented. Most of her Sisters knew that. Sitting around, waiting for a break was not her style—-but then again, biting before everything came to light wasn't really most of theirs. Realizing her suggestion might sound drastic to some of them, she frowned and leaned back into her chair, averting her eyes to stare at the blue tattoos on her hands.

"Now, whether they're part ov all the other murders, I dunno. But juss cuz we've yet ta solve that doesn't mean we should ignore other predators."

She glanced to Phin, then to Akemi. She kinda sorta smiled to each, since they seemed to have gotten her point. A moment later, she fell silent to munch on some raw bunny bits.

The hot-heads should not have been put in the room together.

Trixie was tired of the attacks piling up without proper justice. She was exhausted from talking about who, what, where, when, and why. And the word "monster", which had been tossed in there earlier, had gotten her a little heated.

Truth' She related with the winged things. They smelled like playmates, and their flesh felt good in her hands. She didn't know what they were, but they knew what to play off of. They were very aware of what lurked inside the goofy Harlequin, and given time...she had trouble doubting they'd provoke something out.

Therefore, since she couldn't rightly mention a sick connection with her opponents to her siblings, she just got tense. And the attitude coming from Mirage, whether warranted or not, was not exactly relaxing her.

She looked to Serena, the left half of her mouth contorting to show off the pearly and pointy teeth resting under her lips. She let a guttural something roll out oh-so subtley, before twitching her nose and returning to her snack. Cool it, McAllister.

There was only a slight rustling of the crimson robes as she turned to face the hearth. Isuelt's ears listened carefully to her Sisters as they discussed their views and voiced their frustration on the WestEnd situation. As the youngest, Diana, spoke up, Isuelt realized that she was very right. Mirage and Harlequin were passionate about getting to the bottom of the mystery that haunted the Scathachians, but neither of them had ever been accused of being overly patient or "gentle."

Isuelt's shoulders rose as she inhaled and spoke into the mantle, "You speak with the wisdom of your patron, Eddie." Slowly, she turned around and nodded to the youngest Daughter of Scathach. "I'm sure that Trixie and Serena would agree. As I am sure you all would agree that Trixie and Serena speak from their hearts and that they are perfectly beginning to lay out a plan of attack." She knew that Trixie was sensitive to the wording that Mirage used; "monster," "creature," and words of that sort had earlier slipped from Isuelt's lips. She had seen the effect they had on the Harlequin. She tried to diffuse the situation as quickly as possible as she turned to face the group. "These beings must have been taking orders from someone. But perhaps the best way for us to find that someone, is to enlist Harlequin." Isuelt looked directly at Trixie, "Your senses far surpass any of ours. I'll bet that if we can somehow find those who attacked us the other night, we can follow them back to another lead."

She finally moved toward a seat and took a place next to Reeni. She slowly nodded, "The time is now upon us. We will find our way out of this darkness and we will spear the defiance. There are friends and loved ones in this city who are depending upon us, and we will not let them down."

Isuelt seemed mildly startled at first as Delphinea conjured up the oath. She had not heard it in several years and it had been a few more years since she herself had said it.

What's more, is that the oath was usually sworn in cloistered war rooms or the chambers of the High Circle, never a "living room" type of gathering. But as Isuelt's ears soaked in the rousing words, she thought that perhaps the idiom of different times and different measures took hold here. The Daughters of Scathach were dealing with something quite new and quite different. A change would not be that uncalled for or that inappropriate.

She nodded and echoed Phin's words with her own, "I pledge myself and my blades to this cause. May Mother Scathach see me through. May I strike straight and battle true. If I fall, may I do so aiding my Sisters and those who would count on my protection."

Let the Sisters be called and fastened to war, just as their Patroness once was. Let the villains beware, for the Judges have in hand the gavel.