Chapter 8: A Test Of Strength
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At the end of one of the hallways that are connected to the kitchen is the Armory. The Armory has multiple holds for weapons and other small instruments that would help the Night Witches in their missions. The equipment is even in order of the names of the members so they don't get mixed up with others. There's a new section with Celeste's name on it but, of course, there's nothing there yet as she had joined just yesterday. Sav’akk walks in and finds Celeste rummaging around.

"What are you doing?" The Rapteric asked.

Celeste turns, looking at Sav'akk from Jack's equipment. She has on one of Jack's jaw bone face masks and has her ears wrapped around her head, and one covering an eye. She stands triumphantly, showcasing herself. Sav'akk is silent.

"Alright. Fine by me."

Sav'akk goes to her section and takes a mask that leaves her mouth open. It’s all black and has red glass allowing her to see. She puts the mask on then turns around. Celeste follows her out toward the base's main door. Though Julie steps out in front of them before they walk out. There's a strong Herbal smell in from her. 

"Where do ya think ya goin'?" She asked.

Sav'akk steps back. Celeste is unaffected.

"Boss. I was just bring Celeste to test her strength at Sorn-"

Julie puts up a finger and wags it. She smiles.

"No no no. Ya stayin' here. ‘Ah wanna test her."

Sav'akk looks at Julie hard.

"You think you're sober enough to do so?" Sav'akk asks.

Julie chuckles at Sav'akk challenging her

"‘Ah'm the boss. ya do what ah say. Ah am. now go watch Rose or somethin for me."

Sav'akk looks shocked at Julie's thought.

"Boss I'm just making sure."

Julie turns around, putting her mask on. She waives off Sav’akk.

"'Ah said get goin'"

Sav'akk looks at Julie semi-irritably. Celeste is standing there watching everything unfold. Sav'akk sighs.

"You're looking better by the way boss." the Rapteric said.

"Flirtin now?"

"I wasn’t flirting boss!" Sav'akk shouted.

Julie looks at Sav'akk and chuckles. She looks at Celeste after.

"Come on Quiet. Let’s go." Julie said, waving the bunny to follow her.

Sav'akk takes another look at Julie and realizes she is already in her guild outfit.

"Boss... how the hell did you get your outfit?" She asked.

"‘Ah have one in my room."

Sav'akk sits silent. Julie waves Celeste to follow her and they leave Moonshine Run. It's a warm day outside with low cloud cover. Julie brings Celeste to the side of the Night Witch to give her a horse. She hops on her midnight black horse that has a white mane and tail. His name is Sarron, a strong and powerful steed. Julie turns to Celeste.

"Which one ya want?" She asked.

Celeste looks at all the horses then at Julie clueless.

"Ya don't know how ta ride?" Julie asked, chuckling.

Celeste shakes her head. The Witch leader is confused about Celeste's behavior.

"Don't need one." Said Celeste.

The mask not showing her inner thoughts, Julie is stuck with Intrigue by this statement.

"Is that so?"

The Bunnisarian nods. Sarron begins galloping off. Soon after Celeste is running beside them. Julie takes notice.

"Ya pretty fast!" She yells to her.

"I trained Alveta!" Celeste yelled back.

"It’s gonna be a while ya sure ya won't tire out on me!" 

Celeste nods. Julie shrugs and continues riding on. They reach Sorncoliv after around 40 minutes of riding. Celeste did in fact get tired halfway there and rode with Julie. She dismounts Sarron and pats his snout. Celeste, also dismounts from Sarron being energetic again. Julie turns to the village and scans it. She notices a group of bandits. She runs toward them, stopping a bit before and sliding over.

"Hello there!" She said in a happy tone.

The bandits look at Julie and Celeste. Their faces contort with terror and they begin running away, realizing who it is.

"Some bravery. The balls on some of these guys Quiet. Make trouble in my village then run like bitches when they see me." She said. She laughs her and her beasts slightly bounce with it.

The woman that was being robbed also begins running away, despite being saved just now By the Black widow. Julie places her hand in front of her, open palm. Julie fires a light blue fireball at the woman, making her combust into a same colored flame. Celeste stands there, mortified. The woman screams in pain and agony as she runs and writhes within the light blue fiery grave that envelops her. When all is said and done, the flames dissipate, leaving a charred corpse of a woman lying on the ground. Widow chuckles. Celeste is highly disturbed.

"'Ah told ya ta not come back," The Black Widow stated.

She looks at Celeste.

"Bet ya'd like an explanation."

Celeste is silent and nods in curiosity. A fate so terrible. To be burned alive.

"She tried turning the Village into a rebellion against me," The Widow said.

The Night Witch leader walks to the center of Sorncoliv. People who see her immediately fear what's to come next. People freeze and look over wondering the reason for her arrival. They Notice Celeste and few begin thinking it's going to get bad. Black Widow raises her arm, Celeste stands to her side. She looks at Widow, then at the crowd then takes a powerful stand. 

"'Ight! Ya fuckers ain't been payin' my guild like ya promised. Where's the headmaster?" She yelled out.

The people whisper to each other. No one has enough courage to talk to the Black Widow, especially from the display earlier of burning the woman alive. They all feared they'd share the same fate. Eventually, a person speaks up from the crowd.

"He's not here!"

"As expected," The Widow said silently.

She turns to Celeste and motions to the crowd, shaking her head. The Black Widow turns to the crowd again.

"Anyone know where he’s at?"

The crowd seems to be in agreement that no one knows with everyone turning to each other and shaking their head or shrugging. The Night Witch boss crosses her arms impatiently.

"Well, y'all ain't been payin' us. If ‘Ah don't get the money y’all owe me 'Ah'll have ta destroy equal amount of what ya owe."

There are murmurs of fear in the crowd. With the headmaster gone and no hope in sight, the people are in fear of the situation.

"‘Ah'm feelin' pretty good so y'all better not take my kindness and fuck with it." Widow yelled.

Julie looks across the crowd of people, seeing families in fear Mothers and Fathers hug their children afraid of loosing their homes. Julie thinks to herself how she would feel being one of those families with Rose. Rose, that's right. That's the reason she does this. She snaps out of her thoughts.

"Either y’all can try ta get the headmaster here, y’all can pay on your own, or ya can let me and my friend bust this bitch up." She said sternly.

"How much?" Another brave soul spoke up.

From under her mask, the Widow smiles thinking she found the headmaster.

"The payment is 590 Garsils a month. Y'all haven't paid in-" The Guild leader thinks for a moment. "About 4 months. Do the math."

Many people in the crowd are shocked at the amount owed. 2,360 Garsils. Widow gets sassy and places a hand on her hip. No one speaks up after that.

"'Ight, y’all testin' me now. How 'bout this then, give me half now and half in 2 months. But if we do it that way we ain’t gonna protect ya." She said.

Julie looks again at the crud of people that have lost hope for their home. One man in a black cloak walks up. It was the same man that had asked about the amount owed, his face was unseeable.

"I don't live here but will soon. I'll pay it all." He said.

The Widow is silent for a bit before chuckling. She though it outrageous for someone to be carrying that much with them. "Wow. That's a carein' one. Sounds like he's young too," he thought.

"Ya think ya got it all?" She asked with a sassy tone.

"Take it or leave it Widow." the man said, his voice was deep. The man was also very tall, about 7'3".

Black Widow was shocked. Being talked to in such a manner, it was as if this person had no fear of her.

"Ya cute if ya think ya could pa the debt off that easily. 'Ah doubt that ya have that much o-"

The man quickly proves The Widow wrong by holding up a large sack of coins. Both Widow and Celeste are in shock and look at each other then back at the man. The Widow clears her throat.

"'Ah assume ya want special protection?"

"You'd be wrong. I would like close contact with you when you come around though." He said casually

Widow is surprised, yet intrigued. She moves her tuft of hair to the side. Under his hood, the man's eyes seem to gently sparkle.

"Why would ya want that?"

The Cloaked Man looks to the right and pulls down the hood on his cloak, hiding his face more.

"Who wouldn't the presence of infamous and beautiful Black Widow?" The man says

Celeste is in surprise and just watches this event take place, Widow is just hit with that and shocked her entire perception for the moment.. "Was 'Ah just flirted with? As the Black Widow? By a civilian?" Julie couldn't believe her ears, nor could Celeste, despite them being warped around her face. Widow was hit with that line like a sudden burst of gale force wind. The man throws a large sack of coins toward the guild leader. She catches the bag and opens it up. It's, as expected, filled with coins. First the flirt then full payment of a villages debts, He had impressed the Black Widow.

"What's ya name?" She asked, throwing the bag to Celeste and stepping to the man.

"You will learn later." The man said.

"'Ah'm curious though."

"Such worry will taint your beauty, Widow."

Julie tilts her head curiously. There it was again. "This one's odd." She thought.

"Well, y'all been spared today. So because of that ‘Ah will leave. But the next time. ‘Ah won't be so nice." She said sternly to the crowd of people.

The crowd murmurs again as Julie turns with Celeste in tow. Someone from the crowd jumps out and at the Widow, Celeste kicks them away from her. The man simply watches. The Widow turns and draws her sword. She pointed it at the attacker. It was the Trenkeian Hero: Fenish Ra. Being Trenekian he had deep brown skin and had red tattoos on his body. He has dark hair with red streaks dyed into them. He was wearing a tribal outfit of a bear's hide war-belt and few golden necklaces. As he hit the ground he lunged back at Julie, attempting to strike her again. But Celeste once again hit him away before he got to close. He landed once more and looked at the bunny that stood in front of him.

"My quarrel isn't with you rabbit. Begone." He said motioning his arm to the side.

Celeste got mad quickly at being called "rabbit" and got into a ready battle pose. Its Alveta's battle pose. The crowd of people, Fenish Ra and the cloaked man all looked at Celeste in shock. She leaped at the hero at speeds which made her a blur. The Black Widow and the Trenekian hero were almost unable to see her, The cloaked man seemed to follow her perfectly fine. Ra braced for an attack, a crushing kick from Celeste to the right arm and had made a blood curdling crunching sound. Celeste multi backflips back into position, and Fenish Ra's right arm falls, covered in blood, limp. Celeste had shattered Ra's right forearm, Bicep, as well as dislocated his shoulder. If it weren't for Fenish Ra being highly trained, his arm would be clean off his body. He grabs his arm, Celeste stands a good distance away from him, waiting for him to move.

"I underestimated you... my fucking arm." He said, holding his arm in agony.

Fenish Ra's tattoos begin glowing. Celeste goes to attack But is Interrupted by Black Widow.

"Stop! Let him heal."

The Night Witch leader motions for Celeste to get close to her. She does so and walks over.

"‘Ah wanna have some fun too." She said chuckling.

Fenish Ra realizes the shit he's getting himself into and runs away, his tattoos glowing red as he heals. Quickly though, Widow catches his legs in a rock grip she made using earth magic. She motions her fingers in a spinning motion and Fenish Ra turns toward her, the rocks encasing his ankles moving him. She then bends her finger, bringing the dark hero in front of her. Fenish Ra is enraged and in fear as the Black Widow gets in his face.

"Afraid of a little criminal like me?" The widow asked.

Ra punches at Julie. She grabs his hand and twists it.

"'Ah never said ya can punch me." The Widow smiles under her mask.

She snaps. Rocks emerge from the ground and restrain Fenish Ra's hands. She places her hand in his chest and her hand glows white. She's healing him. When she's done, she punches Fenish Ra through the earthy restraints. The crowd scatters in fear of the damage the fight will cause. Julie walks toward the hero as she tosses her sword to Celeste. Fenish Ra's tattoos glow a bright red as he uses a signature magic. He crosses his arms over each other and slides them outward, showing his open hand. Julie is unfazed and keeps walking.

"Flame Vortex!" the hero yells

Two large fireballs circling each other in a double helix motion fly at Julie. Just before they can hit her a small, flat disc of  light appears before Julie, leaving him baffled.

"A light barrier." He said irritably. The widow just walks toward him

"I have no time to play with little girls. Stop messing around."

"Little... girl?

Fenish Ra runs and attempts a punch at The Black Widow with a flaming fist. She envelops her hand in light and catches the hit. The guild leader then wraps earth magic and punches the dark hero downward, making him fall into the ground. She snaps.

"Ya' out of ya league here. Leave now. Leave beating me to the real men." She said, testing him.

Ra swings his legs around and envelops them in flame. The Widow is tripped and rolls to the side, standing after. The cloaked man just watches, enjoying the fight.

"Really?" She said.

The red tattooed hero once again realizes he is in deep shit, but doesn't back down. He moves quickly attempting to punch the Widow multiple times, slowly his hands light on fire. Julie constantly dodges and envelops her left hand in a deep green. Poison. The next time Fenish Ra went to attack, she blocked it and showed the poison magic. Ra jumps back quickly.

"Poison magic. That's only usable on those with open wounds," Ra said. He feels his nose and realizes its bleeding.

Julie places her right hand on her hip and tisks.

"That punch from earlier broke ya nose."

Ra just stands there. His mortality before him. Falling to the notorious Black Widow. He lowers his head in defeat and coughs. He felt sick.

"That's right bitch. Ya poisoned now. Ya got a few hours at least. And ‘Ah turned ya body into a bomb using explosion magic." The Widow said smiling.

Ra, furious, runs at the Night Witch. She laughs. He goes to punch her but his hand hits a light wall. Ra attempts to attack again. Widow dodges then punches Ra in the stomach hard enough to make him spit up blood. He coughs a few more times as well, the poison doing a number on his body.

"'Ight this is going on too long. ‘Ah'm bored." She said.

"You're... You're making a fool out of me!" Fenish Ra yelled out tired of looking stupid.

Ra charges at Julie again, his anger has the best of him. The large Night Witch back hands her opponent away. Ra charges again. She blocks the punch, circles her arm around his, catching it in her armpit, and pulls up with her fist, breaking his arm. The tattooed steps back in agony, yelling. The bone is visible. The widow walks over and picks the hero up by the hair.

"Go home boy. Ya ain't ready for the big leagues." The criminal said, chuckling to herself.

The Black Widow turns around to walk away. Ra is sitting there in despair. He can't believe he's been beaten and by a woman no less. He gets up and with the last of his strength, lunges at at the villain.

"Here, you fat whore!" Ra yelled as he attempted to punch Black Widow.

The Widow turns and sticks her hand out, she sends a beam of light around the dark heroes' body, disintegrating him.

"He wasn't ready."

She turns and walks off. Celeste is shocked by the power demonstrated. A light magic attack of that caliber is no easy thing to pull off. "Her cast stamina must be insane!" Celeste thought.

"Now let's get home." The terrifying criminal said, waving Celeste to follow her. She does, thinking to herself about the power display.

The cloaked man stands there. smiling from under his hood at the show put on. Julie mounts Sarron and she rides off to Moonshine Run, Celeste running by her side, not much being spoken. They arrive 40 minuets later and get there Ierra is back and sees Julie.

"Darkling, there you are." Ierra said smiling.

Ierra looks down and notices a faint glow coming from Julie's arm. It was white, and her veins looked yellow.

"Lumen Blight." The Elf said.

"Ran into a hero, used a light beam ta wipe him from the world." Julie said taking her mask off, Celeste nods.

"Ya put way too much power into it didn't you?"

"Nah. 'Ah used some before too for a barrier. 'Ah gotta train my Light magic a bit more before 'Ah can use it more."

Julie walks in and throws her mask on the couch.

"Well, in good news. Fenish Ra is dead." She smiled.

"Wonderful," Ierra said smiling widely.

Out of nowhere, Jack bursts into the base with Jacklynn behind him carrying a man. Jack was in his Guild outfit which was black and tight with light leather armor on it. He, like Jacklynn, had a face mask as well with a creepy mouth design on it. He also had his black hair up in a bun, as to keep it out of his face.

"Boss we found someone!" Jack yelled out carrying someone.

Julie forgets about her conversation and so does Ierra. They both rush over to Jacklynn who has the man. He's pale and has red hair with a blue streak. His outfit is all torn up and basically rags. He's passed out and very thin.

"Lets get him fixed up, come on." She said Motioning Jacklynn and Ierra to follow her.

"Darling, he'd know who we are. its dangerous enough that he's brought here." Ierra wondered.

"We're the Night Witches, if anythin' he'd keep his mouth shut more when he finds out. Jack 'Ah need ya ta help me in the kitchen."

Ierra sighs, believing this to not be the best idea, but goes to set the man in the med bay with Jacklynn as Julie requested. Jack follows Julie into the kitchen. Julie walks up to the fridge and brings some things out.

"What did you need me for, boss?" He asked ready for anything.

"Help me make food," She said.

Jack walks next to Julie, aiding her in doing so. There's a brief silence before Jack speaks up.

"I find it odd." He said

"Hmm?"

By this time the plate already had quite a few sandwiches on it, so jack and Julie stop.

"Well, we're criminals but we take care of people like this. Why?"

"Jack, just because we are bad guys doesn't mean we are 'bad guys'." Julie explained.

"Well yeah, most of us are women not guys." He smiles.

Julie stops and looks at Jack with an eyebrow raised.

"No? Not funny?" The Yanjung asked

Julie shakes her head, smiling.

"Kind of. Go take a look at the boy."

Jack nods. and walks off.

"This is unexpected." Julie said to herself.

Rose walks over holding Mr. Cuddles and tugs on Julies pants. 

"Not now baby, ok. Mama has to take care of someone real fast then ‘Ah'll play with you." She told Rose softly.

Rose sadly lowers Mr. Cuddles and walks away. Julie watches and feels bad. "Ah feel like a terrible mother," Julie thought. She picks up the plate and quickly walks to the Medical bay, handing one to Rose on her way out. The small Malenterian smiles and eats it. Emarru is there as well as Jack and Jacklynn.

"So you found him on the ground and just thought 'Hey here's a random fucking person. Lets bring him to our home'?" Emarru yelled.

"He was dying! I had to help him." She yelled back.

Julie walks between them both.

"Enough," Julie said coldly.

"Are you serious?" The Swinovo woman asked angrily.

Julie sets the plate of sandwiches down and turns to her, pointing at herself.

"Do not talk to me like that! ‘Ah am the fuckin’ boss here."

Emarru says nothing.

"Do ‘Ah make myself clear?" Julie asked for assurance.

Emarru just huffs and looks to the side, sitting down. Jacklynn sighs and looks at the injured man. Julie waves everyone off.

"Guys go, give him some space for when he wakes up. Jack, watch him while ‘Ah change." Julie said walking out of the room.

He nods.

***

Celeste sees Rose cuddling with Mr. Cuddles and walks over.

"Hi Rose. Wanna train?" Celeste asked happily, in her battle pose with her but out, shaking it slightly.

Rose shakes her head. She stops and stands normally patting her head.

"What do you wanna do?"

"Iz wanna play with Mama!" Rose said.

"I bet that when she is done that she'd love to play with you." Celeste said smiling.

Rose smiles back and Plays with Mr. Cuddles, awaiting her mothers free time.

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