Arcanus

[4]

 Each lie that Katrina told made her more guilty then ever, but what choice did she have? She promised Kylie, and she wasn't one to back out of promises.

A yell interrupted Katrina and Bat's conversation. Bat's eyes brightened.

"My friend must have come!"

She hurried outside, the creaky wooden door swinging behind her.

Katrina let out a deep breath. Bat had mentioned that her friend was a Wanderer, that traversed the world. Bat was probably not coming back for a bit.

Katrina rubbed her arms self consciously. They were covered in blood, grime, and dust. She barely had enough time to throw on a disguise before hurrying to Bat's house. The high collar on her jacket would only be a disability during a fight, but she thought it made her look more regal.

Pulling out the small contractable mirror she always kept on her, she studied her face. Bags hung beneath her eyes, shadowing her face, giving her a haunted look.

No wonder Bat flinched at the sight of me. She thought, folding up the mirror and putting it in her pocket.

The door opened, and Bat came back in. Despite her cousin's death, she looked quite...happy. Hopeful even.

"Mar brought me some cosmetics. You should totally meet her. I'd bet you'd get along so well! She's a great fighter, just like you told me you were."

Something nagged at the bottom of Katrina's mind, but she ignored it.

"But what about your cousin?" Katrina cringed at herself, for bringing up another slew of interrogation, but Bat smiled brightly at her.

"I don't like to dwell on the negative." Bat explained. "And Mar is such a good friend that it's totally cool."

Katrina put on the expression of a worried friend.

"But...Kylie..."

Bat shrugged. "Coming or not?"

Katrina sighed. "Coming."

"Cool. We're meeting at Arcanus Valley at sunset. Which is in about ten minutes, sooooooo we better get hiking!"

Katrina pretended to groan, only doing it for show. In reality, she didn't mind a ten minute hike. Why should she? She's traveled further on assassination missions.

Bat grinned slyly. "Well, can you fly?"

Katrina shook her head in puzzlement, and Bat ran upstairs. A few minutes later, she emerged from the upstairs with a tank top that revealed a lot of her back. But that didn't matter, because her bat wings covered that. Katrina stared, slack-jawed in awe. She had never seen anything like that, ever in her entire career.

"My mother had the Bat inside her, and one day, during a family reunion, her aunt gave her a beautiful set of bracelets. But they were made of a metal that she couldn't transform when it was in contact with her skin. She didn't know that, so when she went to show off the Bat to her cousins, she got stuck, and only her wings sprouted. She passed that down to me."

Katrina felt the leopard inside her tugging at the deepest pits of her soul.

"I have the Leopard." She offered. "But I can't fly."

Bat laughed. "Of course you can't. Leopards can't fly."

Hmm, but I wonder if a hurricane could propel me far enough. Katrina thought, then shook her head. It would only reveal her identity.

Bat extended her hand, as she began fluttering a few feet off the ground.

"My wings slightly mutated, so it can carry me and you." She said cheerfully. "It's a handy feature."

Katrina grabbed her hand, then dropped herself.

"Oops!" Bat laughed. "Let me get the harness."

She came out of her room minutes later with a small harness strapped to her shoulders. They spent the next two minutes getting Katrina- or rather, Raven- in it.

"We're going to be late." Bat stated, then took off, Katrina fit snugly to her chest like a baby bat.

They sliced through the air like it was butter, and in almost no time, they arrived at Arcanus Valley.

Removing Katrina from the harness took a bit of time, and a woosh of air a few feet away and a whoop notified both Bat and Katrina that "Mar" had arrived.

Katrina turned to see this "Mar", and her leopard went crazy.

"You." Katrina snarled.

"Me." The Wanderer smirked, herhand drumming at their watch face. "Long time no see, little one."

"Wait. You guys know each other already?"

Neither Katrina not Mar acknowledged her.

"Were you hired to kill this one too, Katrina? I'll let this one get away as well."

"You only won once." Katrina spat. "You prevented me from my target only once."

"That was the one time we met." Mari drawled lazily. "So I have a 100% record, unlike you."

Katrina lunged, her katanas materializing out of thin air, in her hands before she realized it.

Metal clashed against metal, a sword appearing in a flash of light, blocking the assassin's attack.

"Nuh uh uh, little assassin. Still haven't learned to control your temper, have you?"

"What do you mean? That's Raven. She's not an assassin!"

Bat stood, confused on the sidelines.

Katrina finally gave way to the snarling leopard inside her, and shifted. Her tail swished dangerously, her amber eyes glowing with the adrenaline of the hunt.

"Try harder." Mari taunted. She touched her tear earrings, and murmured something under her breath.

The sky darkened, blinding, pure white lightning striking the ground next to Katrina, making the grass burst into blue flame.

The leopard dodged all the attacks, loping across the valley in a zig-zag fashion.

Mari's eyes were closed, and she laughed as rain splattered onto her like blood.

Katrina sunk her claws into Mari's chest.