Age of the Lupine

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

"Look out the window, missy. You can see Figaro Favoura now."​

Her Mother's voice sounded almost too real in her head as images of the moon flashed before her eyes at the same time as her eyes saw the green moon on the window ahead. It was as it was in her memory, every detail, even from this distance. It had only been nine years since she had been here but Katrine knew that hadn't happened yet. It would, someday. Her younger self would one day see the moon for the very first time after so many stories from her Father.

"We'll be landing shortly," she informed her cousin as she worked on the controls. The Firecracker had been the ship to have the exact coordinates of Figaro Favoura VII, having been there before. This ship, however, needed an update on its maps in order to get them there. While Katrine had been to the planet, she hadn't piloted any vessels here before. The small, one person vessel, was Father's, just as the Deceased Star was. The only reason she had taken it with her on her journey to find Chloe was because she knew that if she did anything to the Deceased Star, Father would have been furious with her. At least when she crashed the small ship, he would have been fine with it and because the young Lupine was the kind of pilot she was, one that took risks, she'd been able to achieve as little damage as possible so the repairs later paid for by Uncle Isley's card weren't all that expensive. Just like the repairs she had done to the Crimson Shadow after Concord Dawn hadn't been either.

It was hard to explain why Katrine had chosen to come back to Figaro Favoura VII now consider the work she had with the Mandragora but she felt she had to come. Hard make a plausible reason, even harder to explain but the blonde trusted her gut feeling enough to know it hadn't stirred her wrong... sometimes, it put her into trouble but most of the time, it was good trouble so really, she wasn't about to stop trusting it now.

The drop through the atmosphere was bumpy as she remembered, her hands moving through the controls to adjust her speed. She knew almost immediately that the Templar-class Light Freighter would be noticeable as they came through but as she observed the area, she sought out a decent landing space near the Schwartzweld. "50 miles outside the Capital City of Volfstadt," she could hear Father's words on her first visit as he began introducing her to the lay of the land. Theirs was the Schwartzweld, so massive, it was roughly the size of five major galactic cities combined together. "Why do we need so much?" She could remember herself asking about it. "Power." Father had only said, providing no other explanation. Katrine had gone to assume that the Van-Dervelds were larger in number once and as one of the Lords of the planet, it was most certainly a case of power. Where there was once Lupine families upon families, they had all died out eventually, leaving no one but the House of Van-Derveld who would become the sole rulers of the planet, and rulers of the humans who had made the mistake of moving in on their planet when they had been foolish enough to assume it was deserted.

Coming to a stop in mid-air, she slowly came down to the ground, shutting down the engines a few short seconds after the Light-Freighter had landed. From where she was, Katrine could clearly see the Schwartzweld through the window. It looked dark and menacing but also quiet. There were no Van-Dervelds occupying it now.

"Come on," she'd only said as she got off her chair, heading towards the cargo bay. Katrine could feel her giddiness over where she was. Nine years was a long time for her to stay away one of the two homes she had in this galaxy. On Dathomir, she had been born and spent most of her childhood but she longed for Figaro Favoura VII because of that. Some midway through the ship, she'd picked up into a run, hurrying towards the cargo bay doors, reaching out to the Force for a moment to use it to open them, not needing to stop as she continued running through the hall opened doors, making a small jump down to the ground before she'd finally stopped to look at the estate, inhaling the air. "I missed this place."

[member="Damien Van-Derveld"]

 

[Damien Van-Derveld]

Damien had never seen, nor set foot on the ancestral home of his family. All he had ever heard were the stories, stories that might as well have been fables and fairy tales. Were they though? This place had always been something in his imagination. Razielle and his mother had always told him he would see the place. His father had been there, but for now, it was once again empty. The hallowed tales of the Van-Dervelds did not bring the terror the name once had. Had the family been relegated to the myths and legends they had helped to create to scare little children, and keep them away from the palace?

It seemed Kat was quite different she had been there, she had seen the moon. The minute she had said they were approaching Damien was like a kid on the edge of his seat on some fun ride. His eyes widened to see the view of the moon from where he sat. It was not like he imagined, and yet it was. There was pull, a tug, as if something in his blood was screaming inside him that he was coming home. Damien was coming home. He belonged there, his blood knew it, and so did he.

As the ship landed Damien got a view of the palace. It was MASSIVE. He could not remember seeing something so large in his entire life, and it all belonged to their family.

"That is going to take days to explore... maybe weeks..." Damien said in shock.

He unstrapped the restraints and followed behind Katrine as she told him to follow. "Damien was dressed less messy than usual for this trip. Though, he wasn't wearing a more formal look like Katrine liked to be seen in. A Van-Derveld that liked to look pretty rather than vicious. It was still an anathema to Damien, but he liked her. They were family, and Damien liked having family.

"So tell me again... why is it that we are here? What was it again?

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

She'd heard what Damien said about needing to take days or maybe even weeks to explore the palace. "Possibly," the blonde had only responded to that. Her last visit had been more guided. Father knew the place well enough in the future that he'd helped cut down the time necessary by a lot. Katrine wasn't sure now though when he'd gone exploring at all. Had he done it already or would he be doing it in the future? She didn't know for sure.

Once they were outside, her cousin asked her why they were here. Katrine didn't really know the answer to that. "I don't know," she admitted, looking back at him. "It's just one of those things. I knew it was time to come home." Katrine explained. The Lupine figured the reason would reveal itself soon enough.

"Let's go on!" She called out, running again towards the massive doors, giggling as she did. Katrine was, without a doubt, having fun already, even when she was only just running towards the stronghold. Palace? House? City? The Witch wasn't really sure how the Schwartzweld was called when it wasn't referred to by name. Witches called their structures strongholds and it somehow made sense to do so with this one.

Halting before the large doors, she thought how the size of them suited the whole structure so well with how massive it was. She remembered all too well when she first asked for the key and gained a demonstration on how the doors opened. Now, she'd lifted her hand, biting into her finger with more strength she normally bit into anything in her human form, feeling the sense of pain as she did, making her bit even harder until felt herself pierce the skin. Blood emerged from her finger and she ran it across the doors, watching it disappear against the black color within seconds before the lock undid. Almost immediately, she glanced back at Damien with a smirk. "Welcome home," she told him as the doors opened slightly, requiring her to push them open completely.

It was a good method of protection, only their own blood able to open the massive doors. Better than most security systems.

A stale air caught her nostrils as she did just before the movement of the doors had caused a gush of wind to pass through, making particles of dust and leaves to dance around. Katrine coughed slightly, her hand waving around to get rid of it before she'd moved forward. The first hallway was mostly covered in darkness, no windows, with the only light coming from the main entrance.

[member="Damien Van-Derveld"]

 

[Damien Van-Derveld]

Time to come home. Damien didn’t know what those words meant because home was some leather and fur tent in the woods of Dathomir, whichever tent belonged to the woman who wanted him for late night calisthenics. His eyes watched as Katrine big down on her finger. The blood which she drew seemed to be the key for the door, which opened to a room full of dust and a musty smell. The sensitive nose was pinched at first, and Damien’s first thought was not pleasant.

The entrance appeared as though it had not been used in a while, save for a single set of tracks which Damien wondered if Katrine noticed. Of course she would have. If someone was in the estate she would sense it, or the spirits would tell her.

Home and belonging suddenly rushed into Damien’s senses as being among the ancestral home finally hit him. Many Van-Dervelds had walked these halls. His parents had, his grandparents, many others before him. Katrine even had. It was odd that she was both older and younger than him at once. They were there to find something, and maybe what Damien felt was all. At the same time, Damien felt there was more to this place than either of them knew.

They needed light.

Eyes fell on torches, and under his breath, Damien muttered a spell which lit them. Fire appeared on the torches which acted as sconces along the walls. Everything about the place was old fashioned. It suited the family and their legacy. Looking to his cousin, Damien smiled.

”This place has missed us I think....”

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Asantas]

It has been a very long time since he last walked around this city that was his home, He came back home out of nostalgia really to see it was good to see that the lock mechanism still worked and let him in as he walked around and started exploring the place. He simply stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked around as his mind remembered this place as it was before he left to go find Chloe, It was a bit more lively then it is now but there wasn't alot he could do about it for now except explore and see what he can find here in the mean time. As he walked around he found himself in one of the libraries which was perfect because he was looking for a library to just sit around and read what he missed since he last was here and thats what he started to do grabbed a few books wiped the dust off a chair and a table and sat down and started reading away.

[member="Damien Van-Derveld"] [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The sight of the flame made her turn, watching the torches come to life from then and forward. Her sapphire gaze followed them, seeing the light. In the complete darkness and the fire-ridden light, she could suddenly see the footsteps left in the dust and leaves just as she inhaled and felt the lingering scent in the hallway. A smile appeared almost immediately as she glanced back to Damien. "You feel that?" The blonde asking without hesitation. "That spells of family," Katrine announced and proceeded, guided by memory and the scent she was tracking now.

A Lupine could always feel another Lupine being nearby and they never forgot a scent. As such Katrine could always recognize some scents she knew more than any other. Father, Mother, Chloe, Ram, and Seren. Damien now too, she realized after a beat. He was family too and he'd been around her so much that she was beginning to tell him wolf scent apart from those she knew all too well. This one though belonged to her twin, that was without question.

Katrine continued walking forward as Damien pointed out that the stronghold had missed them. "Don't be silly, it doesn't know us yet. Not at this time. When I was here last time, it was clean and lived in. Father had seen to it. Now, you can tell nobody has lived here for so long." It was without question that was the case though she wondered how Father had achieved it. Had he made use of the humans who no doubt saw their arrival? Perhaps he'd used the Force to do it. Katrine didn't know but she remembered the place looked far better the last time she had been here.

Her movements continued to be dictated by the scent and memories, eyes registering familiar spots as she continued. A set of doors greeted her at the end of the hallways and she only had to push them open to continue into the next area. An open space, clear skies above, a trail leading to the very center where the fountain shouldn't have been running. There was only still water with fallen leaves inside as well however, Katrine noted as she circled it, following Ram's footsteps. He had gone through here, she didn't need to see the disturbed ground to tell. From the open garden, she could go to a number of locations but she knew exactly where she was going from where she was, her footsteps moving faster now as she hurried forward into the next set of doors, this one open. Another hallway. "Spark that burn ignite. Sparks that ignite, come alive," she whispered against her palm as she came close to one of the touches than blew into it applying a tiny bit of telekinesis into her breath. The small flame flew to the first torch then continued, one, two, three and so on until all of them on one side. She repeated her spell and action on the other side again before she continued.

"This leads to the throne room, library, and some of the more secure chambers," Katrine informed Damien as she moved. She remembered it well enough. "Ram's this way," continued as she moved. Soon enough, they would enter the first round of chambers, then the throne room that was lavish enough or at least it was the last time she had been. From the throne room, they were only a doorway away from the library which was accessible through several different paths.

[member="Damien Van-Derveld"] [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"]

 

[Damien Van-Derveld]

"Silly, look at this place. It wants to be lived in."

The sight was clearly not what Katrine had remembered, and she knew what it would become. To Damien it was a shell, empty and devoid of life. There was little discussion however, because they were not alone, and the scent was another. Katrine knew it first, and who it was right away. This was the second time since they had been traveling together that he was chasing in her about in search of family. For her sake, Damien hoped they found this one. There was always a weight about her as she talked about her family, as though their circumstance was hers to own. Perhaps he would ask one day, but the drive to find them was born of more than just loss.

The tour was quick and brief. They only paused for Katrine to light the torches down the next long hall. The throne caught Damien's eye, and he began to move toward it. His grandmother had told him that it would be his one day, though he was unsure of that now. The scent was still through to the next room, the library. Damien shook his head and moved away from the pull to claim the throne for himself. He followed her down the hall and stopped at the door.

He smiled and pushed it open.

"After you... he is your brother after all."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"]

 

[Ket Van-Derveld]

A cold wind came through the hall where Kat and Damien walked. The flames of the torches flickered, and the wind kept going.

The cold wind blew through the library, and the torches there too flickered as Wolfram sat reading.

It carried a sound, a sound that echoed through these halls regularly once uoon a midnight dreary. Yet these nights, the halls fell silent. Save tonight. The sound the wind carried was faint at first, but picked up speed and volume. As all the flames flickered, so to did this sound, until it gained substance. The Howl of the Wolf.

Bones cracked, Fur turned to hair and receded. There, upon that cracked throne of weathered flesh and yellowed bone, He sat.

Quietly, waiting.

 

[Asantas]

He heard the voices outside one of the doors but he recognized [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]'s scent but not the scent of [member="Damien Van-Derveld"] but had to be a friend or relative to be in here, But he decided to not react to hearing them and simply put down one of the books he was reading and got up to stretch a little reading family history was refreshing to say the least getting all caught up and such after being away for a long while, Meeting the family .....Nearly getting fried in a bar and almost arrested was something that will probably ensure he doesn't want to set foot in a bar with him ever again but right now he just wanted to hang around and hopefully have a pleasant normal day back at home but then again he remembers what family line he is from and how the word normal doesn't apply to them in any way shape or for, He heard the howl for a moment but paid little mind to it as it was probably just the wind.

[member="Ket Van-Derveld"]

 

[Ket Van-Derveld]

"Walk...Walk...Find Yourself..."

The words were whispered into the wind, yet the Force heard them. The Force was a mysterious thing, and within the dark conduits one could not see, nor taste, nor touch...

...the words found their way to Wolfram's ears. And they held the tinge of a Van-Derveld's voice. Whch one was kept in hushed tones one such as Wolfram would not be able to define. But others of the blood, they might hear and know.

"Walk...walk and find me..."

[member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"] [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Damien Van-Derveld"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

OOC: Liz made me do it.
Tags: [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"] [member="Damien Van-Derveld"]

​

She was not a Lupine. She was not a Van-Derveld. She was not related to this family in blood in any kind of a way. And yet here she was, at the ancestral home of Katrine's family. She'd arrived on her own on the Giggledust, and she still had no clue what she was doing there.

Because, yeah, okay, sure, she was Katrine's Ward, and that was sort of like adoption. It also made Katrine the closest thing she had to a family aside for her aunt Asteria and a few cousins, but the relationship with them wasn't as tightly knit as she wanted it to. There had also been Auntie Morgaine, who was sure that Scherezade was Nessarose sent back in time to become younger and then bounced back into the future to take her ship, but that was a whole clusterkrak in itself.

Again, what was she doing here? There seemed to be a meeting of sorts of the family, and the place was massive so they weren't going to waste space, but still...

Hey Kat, she sent through telepathy after sensing the Nightmother on the premises, I'm sort of here. How horrible would it be if I just came in unannounced? Do you have an old aunt I can go poke for the most embarrassing stories about you as a child? When is dinner?

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

It wants to be lived in. Her head turned, looking at Damien as she found herself nodding without fully realizing she was agreeing. She was though and Damien was right. The Schwartzweld called, felt lonely without them. It was meant to be lived in by Van-Dervelds. "It's grown lonely," she shared the pattern of thoughts. It wasn't alive, not the way the Altar of Spirits was yet its own soul in some odd unexplainable way, with so many generations passing through it and eventually, growing silent.

The whole Schwartzweld carried the scent of family, many of the faded scents unfamiliar to her. The scent of her twin had led her through the lit part of the throne room, passing through it as Damien opened the doors for her to pass. With the extra door opened and the other behind her still unclosed, the dash of wind brought another scent to her nostrils, another one she knew. Current, alive, not lingering. They weren't the only Van-Dervelds in the Schwartzweld either. The howl supported that as well.

"He's here," she said, glancing back at Damien just as she'd stepped into the library, eyes resting on her twin brother. "Both of them." That left one 'he' still missing. Katrine had picked up [member=Seren]'s scent on Relovian and yet she couldn't tell if it was the effects of the drugs or if he was actually there but the scent was undeniably there. And now Father and her twin brother were both home.

In a moment of childish behavior, Katrine marched over to her twin. "Ram!" She was tiny but her voice left an echo as she moved. She'd punch her brother into the shoulder... okay, it was more just above his elbow. "Why did it take your four years to find me?" It didn't last though, she was still glad he was here and they weren't in a bar full of people where murder distracted sibling fun. Katrine was already throwing her arms at her brother for a hug when she heard the hushed voice through the Force, making her stop half way. "Father's here, we'll get back to this later," she said out of the blue, waving him to follow as she made her way back, trailing the scent.

Mid-movement, she heard Pebble's voice in her mind. How horrible was it that she came unannounced? And did she have an old aunt she could poke for embarrassing stories about her? She smiled first and chuckled second as she walked. She's not here, at least I don't think she is. She wouldn't have stories about me though. Father's here, as is my twin brother. You can come meet them if you'd like, Kat sent a thought back before she'd arrive into the throne room, using her nose to trail to the source, the eldest of Lupines there.

"Father?" She called out.

[member="Damien Van-Derveld"] [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"] [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Ket Van-Derveld]

There He sat. The one true Lord of the Schwartzweld. The Sole heir to the Lupine race. This was HIS planet. His and NO ONE else's. Yet He knew. His legacy lay beyond this backwater planet. His was a legacy that the whole of the galaxy, no...the Universe itself would be beholden to. Keticus Van-Derveld was more than the sum of His titles. He WAS the Lupine. He was the one whom would bring their race back to the forefront. His offspring were destined to OWN this galaxy and far beyond.

Yet, for right now, He would settle for what the Force gave him. His bloodlines. He felt them as they came closer. His only one regret? That his younger brother was not here. He missed Cat more than he missed his ow mother. And Celene...she was a good mother. Despite her addictions, she always tried. He miss their mother so...The grandmother of his children. He missed his children's mother even moreso. His morsel...His Ruu. Force be dammed, He would sacrifice anything and everything just to have her near once more. To have his finger caress her cheek one more time. Gods, He was such an idiot. He had let that which meant the most in his life simply go. And He hated himself for that. Curupira...His Mate. His Love. His only reason to still draw breath. Perhaps He might get lucky, but the man known simply as Ket...He doubted it.

One day...maybe.

One day, she might forgive His trespasses and be with him once more. Maybe, He might be able to go forth into that unknown with her and simply cease to exist.

But for now, He was cursed to be the Patriarch of the family line.

...
....
.....
....
...


"Come to me, my little one. Find me. Bring your brothers.

I Miss you. I miss much, but you are the closest thing I shall ever have to true happiness."


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"] [member="Damien Van-Derveld"] [member="Cat Van-Derveld"] [member="Curupira Hawk"]

 

[Damien Van-Derveld]

Damien was happy to see that some of @Katrine Van-Dereveld’s immediate family was on the grounds of the massive estate. He still wanted to call it a palace, and would have argued that it was alive, though when compared to the Altar of Spirits he would have to concede. This was the place every Van-Derveld called home. His parents had at one point, if only briefly. If only he knew what had happened to them, and his sister...

They had more company. Another scent. It wasn’t just [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"], but [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] was there as well. His grandfather’s brother. Ket was an uncle Damien had never met, but it seemed he was about to. Then outside. A girl.

”This is going to be quite the party.”

Damien was awkward around introductions. He was used to following Kat around like a pup, literally. He knew that couldn’t last. It was time to learn more about his family.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Tags: [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"] [member="Damien Van-Derveld"]

You can come meet them if you'd like.

Scherezade sighed. She wasn't sure if she was ready for this. This was Katrine's family, and technically, that sort of made them her family. It was still weird though. She'd never had the family experience as an adult. She wouldn't know the first thing to do. Was she supposed to be all weird and say hi? Be the special cousin on the bus? Find a cousin and rub his hair in a weird way?

She groaned.

Despite all her deeds within the Confederacy, Scherezade wasn't really good with people. Especially in groups. It was easier when there was a common enemy, someone they had to shoot or kill. But this? Fine. Time to go and meet the puppies.

Scherezade took a deep breath and left her ship. She was wearing the usual - jeans, pale pink T shirt, combat boots. Armed to the teeth beneath her clothes, only her gun laid snugly against her hip. The big structure didn't phase her too much. The Galaxy was fully of big places.

She entered quietly from the front door, and followed Katrine's Force Presence.

 

[Asantas]

As he got up to greet her he got the greeting he expected from his sister given the circumstances was a punch above the elbow and the where have you been for the past four years question being asked, He caught the sent of others in the house that caught him off guard for a moment before he was about to answere his sister's question but she said she would continue this later as there father was calling. That alone made him abit nervous given the last time he met his father a whole cantina got fried among other things...But he couldn't exactly say no to a summon plus when was the last time this many of his family got together for anything.

So he followed [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] and [member="Damien Van-Derveld"] as they started making there way to [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] hopefully this time it wont involve frying half the room but he will see as well as remind himself to explain to Kat where hes been for the past 4 years at some point when there isn't any interruptions.


[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Ket Van-Derveld]

[ Our Theme for this particular post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRlKI9KZsQA ]​

Ket felt an off sense of pride. He was the sole Lord of all that Figaro Favoura held. Once upon a time, He might have felt apprehension. But this new crop of Lupine, displaced from time, They had no idea what it was like back then, None of them understood what it meant to be the Wolf. None truly understood what it was to be a Van-Derveld. Even his beloved, even she who bore his children knew not what it meant to harbor such power, to hold such power in the palm of their hand. That the palm itself was better suited to the paw.

No one... not one knew.

Yet, there his children stood as they finished their way into his throne room. Never would they know of their grandfather, Diego. Of their uncle, Vega. They knew only Keticus Van-Derveld. Lord of the Schwartzweld and Master of Figaro Favoura.

He sat upon that throne of flesh and bone as if He were unaware of the deeds He himself had committed.

Sapphire eyes looked from one to the next, yet they fell to Wolfram.

His first born Son. His namesake. His very reason for being. True, Katrine would inherit all that Ket had as Ket had decreed, but Wolf...Wolf would know His father better than even his mother knew. Such was the way of the Van-Derveld. He was the ONLY son. He was by birthright, GRANTED the opportunity to usurp all that was his father's. Ket might have the ability and authority to change tradition, but He wanted to see if his First Born Son was up to the challenge. The Wolves had their ways, and something deep within told Ket that times were indeed changing. But this, this was HIS land. HIS home. HIS kingdom. And a kingdom it would become once again. Yet for now? The ties of blood and family mattered most. There were matters to be attended to.

Could the boy before him, who looked as He once did in ages long since passed, could he actually prove himself worthy? This was the boy's first task.

"Wolfram Van-Derveld... Come before me. Your name is honored among the Lupine. You are MY son. My first born male heir. You have heritage you aren't even aware of. Bring yourself to my throne, and accept your fate, boy."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"], [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"], [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"], [member="Damien Van-Derveld"]

 

[Asantas]

As he heard [member="Ket Van-Derveld"]'s words he hesitantly at first stood forward not sure what he had in mind for him given the last time he approached him his windpipe nearly got crushed, He listened as his father spoke and mentioned him as an heir he figured he had something to inherit down the line but if his father intends to show him what he has in mind then he will do what he can within reason to receive it. But he had no idea what would be within reason in this family and what wouldn't be within reason, He simply walked forward and waited to see what his father had in mind for him as he kept in mind of his brothers and sisters who where present and wondered for a moment all the time that he had missed finding out he had brothers he hadn't known about and all the time he had with [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] and all the time he missed and intends to regain later down the line.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Damien Van-Derveld"]

 

[Larentia]

The dead could feel this moment. It was this moment that the Schwartzweld woke. And it was this day that she would hear of as the beginning.

Of the end.​

The lone figure walked through the wounds. She knew this day. She knew of it through stories and memories unlived. She knew it form her visions and from the images shared in memories of her. Even from the distance, Larentia could feel the Lupines inside. Four. The number seemed so small, unsual. She knew though, there was a time when the numbers were weak and they were eager to grow strong. There were four siblings in times yet to come and yet two of them were inside in that very moment. She recognized them though they wouldn't recognize her.

I remember the Winnowing.​

A thought emerged as she walked, her hand raising to the Amulet hidden behind the leather of her clothes. It had been a gift to protect her. She had run, she had passed through the barriers to get to here because despite the future she was raised to have; her last vision had showed her it was not to be. He would end her in the battlefield. He would rip her throat out and end her life because she dared. Larentia would always dare for the good of the family, for the Kingdom. They knew none of this still. Not when their memories of the future spoke of peace, of a life with loving parents, of Dathomir. They couldn't begin to imagine what path they'd formed with their decisions, actions. It was her who had attacked her, it was her that Larentia battled. Wolf against wolf. He had interrupted, broken the rules of combat all to protect her. And he had killed her. The vision didn't lie, no vision had ever lied. However, the future could be saved, altered.

I am a Witch. I will never be a Sith.​

A vow. Larentia had made a vow before the gods of old, before the spirits of new. Before living witnesses who saw as she did, what would destroy them. Blood couldn't have blood, the wolves could not fall. Another vow she had given. One she intended on keeping. Perhaps she would not return but she would be damned if she was going to let her people suffer the fate that had been pushed on her, on her kin. Sacrifice yourself for those around you. They had failed to understand this, Larentia would not.

Raising her hand, she summoned a small dagger to her hand. A figure had entered through the open doors and now they had closed. She cut into her palm and smeared her blood against the doors, forcing them open again. With a glance to the palm, she called to the Force, watching the cut close and heal before she stepped inside, catching pace behind [member="Scherezade deWinter"]. "Ahead, in the throne room," she told the brunette before she had moved past her. She knew who it was, recognized her. Her mind still prepared for what was to come. Not the young but the old.

Larentia concentrated, rising a shield around her thoughts before she had gone to face what needed to be faced.

This time, she used her hands to push the doors forward, opening them. She immediately saw [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] and [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"] near each other, [member="Damien Van-Derveld"] and [member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] further back. They could all recognize the Lupine when she had entered and so Larentia did what she always did, walking to the center of the room before she had bowed before the King. The first King of Figaro Favoura VII, and the last. Now, though, he was but a Lord of Schwartzweld and Master of Figaro Favoura. Larentia knew her history.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She'd still been walking when a woman ran by her, telling her to go ahead into the throne room. Scherezade blinked. She didn't know who this was, had never heard Katrine mention her. She could sense through the Force that she was a Lupine, as were the rest of the presences she could catch within the mansion. She already knew how to pick up that special part in people's presence in the Force, the thing that set them apart as Lupines. If there were more of them in the 'verse, it would have been a very good ability to have. But, considering the things she knew, she figured that the vast majority of those that existed were now in this house.

Still, Scherezade walked on, and entered the throne room, seeing that woman kneeling in the center of it. The others were there, and she saw Katrine, and a bunch of faces never seen before.

She remained standing close to the door, inside but ready to bolt in case of need. To say that this was awkward to her would not even begin to properly describe it. The intimacy, the memories, the closeness or lack thereof of those here... Had nothing to do with her. She resigned to just wait, give it a few more minutes, and then she'd thank Katrine and make a quiet exit.


[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"] [member="Ket Van-Derveld"] [member="Wolfram Van-Derveld"] [member="Damien Van-Derveld"] [member="Larentia"]