The Angry Wolf
About a week after her conversation with Gerwald, Alwine had been alone on the ship when a knock came at the door. She accepted the package and signed her name on it, not having expected anything to arrive from anyone. At first she thought the package was a joke, a nearly terrifyingly large stack of papers bound to each other. Was someone trying to make fun of her reading capabilities? Anger rising, Alwine opened the first page, realizing it included a lengthy introduction. The main word that sprung to her eyes was the word Lupine, but she moved on to the second page, anger now mingling with curiosity.
The words on the second page were blurry to her as well, but the one thing she got from them before shutting the stack down was the date. Whatever it was, it was something that was written while Gerwald had been away from Stewjon, and before Alwine and Varick had been taken from it.
Carefully, she unfolded the note that was attached. It was a long note, and Alwine sat down to read it. It began with “To Alwine and Varick, We were meant to meet weeks before your eventual extraction from Stewjon.” Alwine’s hands shook as she continued to read. It took her the better part of an hour before she could understand all the words, and then it was hours before she stopped reading the note again and again and again. It was already dark outside by the time she managed to make herself put the note aside, a hand over her heart to still its wild beating. For once, she was glad that Gerwald was not expected on the ship that night.
Alwine had things she had to do. But first, she hid the package.
Now she knew how to spell the woman’s name. It was maddening to her that despite her improvements with reading and writing, she had still not managed to come up with a version that even resembled what it was supposed to look like. Too damned many letters. To make things worse, she had spent an entire day with a droid in the Knights Obsidian HQ, trying to find any mention of the name. Yet just as with her badly spelled variants of it, nothing came up. There had never been a woman by that name anywhere in the files, at least the ones that her KO rank gave her access to. Did Alwine require higher access? She did not know. And with Caid gone, she had no one she trusted enough to ask.
But during the festival on Hypori, that had changed. While he had not meant to, Gerwald had introduced her to Scherezade, who apparently now went by the name Madalena Antares. She had given her full name, and Alwine could sense that something was off. She had denied knowing a Scherezade, had acted as though she did not know her brother.
And while Alwine had said nothing to Gewald about it, it made sense. The note that she had received had ended with a “by the time this reaches you, I will no longer exist.” It was an odd phrasing, but Alwine had taken it as though she meant she’d killed herself. But obviously, the girl by the name of Madalena was the same girl that her brother had fallen in love with despite his claims and bad choices.
The rest of the letter had made thing more personal, more personal than her brother would be able to guess. Alwine knew she would tell him when she herself was ready to. She loathed keeping this from him, but now was hardly the time, especially when he was so under the claws of the auflaque. For all that she loved him, his insistence on remaining with the Breaker of Packs and the Would be Queen Only of her Family, it made Alwine trust him less. She prayed that this would change, and sooner rather than later.
Armed with the new information, she returned to the files of the Knights Obsidian and the Confederacy.
And at last, Alwine had a list of possible candidates.
The first three wo were even within the Knights Obsidian themselves, but when she questioned them, they claimed that Scherezade had left the CIS and good riddance, and when she questioned them about Madalena they had stupid smiles on their faces that made the petite Lupine want to punch them for being such idiots.
The next two too were in the Outer Rim Coalition, which meant that Alwine had no way of getting to them. It was too far. But then there was the Silver Jedi Order… Something inside her whispered that the Silvers were a good place to go. Madalena often acted as a liason between them, and there were official missions that dated back before she got the packages, though none Alwine’s extraction from Stewjon. Still, it felt like that could be it. And so Alwine borrowed a KO transported ship and made her way to Kashyyk.
“Greetings,” she said to the receptionist, standing up straight so she would reach her full 5”0 of height, “I am Alwine Lechner, representative of the Knights Obsidian of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. I am hoping that Jedi Master [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] is within, and that he is available for an urgent meeting to discuss an old friend.”
The words on the second page were blurry to her as well, but the one thing she got from them before shutting the stack down was the date. Whatever it was, it was something that was written while Gerwald had been away from Stewjon, and before Alwine and Varick had been taken from it.
Carefully, she unfolded the note that was attached. It was a long note, and Alwine sat down to read it. It began with “To Alwine and Varick, We were meant to meet weeks before your eventual extraction from Stewjon.” Alwine’s hands shook as she continued to read. It took her the better part of an hour before she could understand all the words, and then it was hours before she stopped reading the note again and again and again. It was already dark outside by the time she managed to make herself put the note aside, a hand over her heart to still its wild beating. For once, she was glad that Gerwald was not expected on the ship that night.
Alwine had things she had to do. But first, she hid the package.
Now she knew how to spell the woman’s name. It was maddening to her that despite her improvements with reading and writing, she had still not managed to come up with a version that even resembled what it was supposed to look like. Too damned many letters. To make things worse, she had spent an entire day with a droid in the Knights Obsidian HQ, trying to find any mention of the name. Yet just as with her badly spelled variants of it, nothing came up. There had never been a woman by that name anywhere in the files, at least the ones that her KO rank gave her access to. Did Alwine require higher access? She did not know. And with Caid gone, she had no one she trusted enough to ask.
But during the festival on Hypori, that had changed. While he had not meant to, Gerwald had introduced her to Scherezade, who apparently now went by the name Madalena Antares. She had given her full name, and Alwine could sense that something was off. She had denied knowing a Scherezade, had acted as though she did not know her brother.
And while Alwine had said nothing to Gewald about it, it made sense. The note that she had received had ended with a “by the time this reaches you, I will no longer exist.” It was an odd phrasing, but Alwine had taken it as though she meant she’d killed herself. But obviously, the girl by the name of Madalena was the same girl that her brother had fallen in love with despite his claims and bad choices.
The rest of the letter had made thing more personal, more personal than her brother would be able to guess. Alwine knew she would tell him when she herself was ready to. She loathed keeping this from him, but now was hardly the time, especially when he was so under the claws of the auflaque. For all that she loved him, his insistence on remaining with the Breaker of Packs and the Would be Queen Only of her Family, it made Alwine trust him less. She prayed that this would change, and sooner rather than later.
Armed with the new information, she returned to the files of the Knights Obsidian and the Confederacy.
It had taken several days before she’d cracked it. There were dates there, a huge list of them, of people that Madalena had met as part of her work with the Confederacy. Alwine had carefully memorized the names of those that kept popping up during missions, the names of those that kept popping up during diplomatic events. And she also noticed their dates. She had to work out of the assumption that Scherezade became Madalena around the time that she received the package. There were many dates mentioned that were around the time between Gerwald’s leaving of Stewjon and Alwine and Varick’s extraction of it.And at last, Alwine had a list of possible candidates.
The first three wo were even within the Knights Obsidian themselves, but when she questioned them, they claimed that Scherezade had left the CIS and good riddance, and when she questioned them about Madalena they had stupid smiles on their faces that made the petite Lupine want to punch them for being such idiots.
The next two too were in the Outer Rim Coalition, which meant that Alwine had no way of getting to them. It was too far. But then there was the Silver Jedi Order… Something inside her whispered that the Silvers were a good place to go. Madalena often acted as a liason between them, and there were official missions that dated back before she got the packages, though none Alwine’s extraction from Stewjon. Still, it felt like that could be it. And so Alwine borrowed a KO transported ship and made her way to Kashyyk.
When she at last arrived on the planet, Alwine wasted no time. She marched from the docks to the Rest as though her life depended on it, and did not pause until she was standing in front of their receptionist, a big bag lumped over her shoulder.“Greetings,” she said to the receptionist, standing up straight so she would reach her full 5”0 of height, “I am Alwine Lechner, representative of the Knights Obsidian of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. I am hoping that Jedi Master [member="Josh DragonsFlame"] is within, and that he is available for an urgent meeting to discuss an old friend.”
