It Has Begun

[cassandra]

Sebastian walked in looking every bit as pissed as a cat can look. Taking a moment to survey the room, he saw Cassandra, and made a beeline to her. Jumping onto her shoulder in one graceful leap, he hissed in her ear, "Nice try at locking me in the bathroom. You should know cats are notorious for turning doorknobs! I don't know why you thought you were going on this mission without me, after all I was sent to help you!"

"Get your claws out of my shoulder, and I'll discuss this with you later, furball!" Cassandra hissed back, resigned to the fact that she now had one extra on the raid. One extra whose usefulness had yet to be determined.

[Eli]

"I do have one question. Who's Lily? But other than that, I can handle that no problem."

[Kratos Cage]

Kratos noticing Cassandras motioning him, walked towards the storage room. Waiting just outside the room for her to come closer. He stood silently while she finishes her conversation.

[cassandra]

"Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot you hadn't met her yet...ummmm..she's about somewhere...Cassiel will point her out to you...she's the bait to distract Melacham. While Cassiel finds her and introduces the two of you, I need to be excused for a moment. I need to have a conversation with my brother." So saying Cassandra turned and entered the storage room and shut the door.

Giveing him a hug, she released him and just looked at him. It was still such a blessing to her that she had someone who shared her blood. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to tell him all she'd learned...about the both of them...and their true heritage.

"Kratos...I don't know how to tell you this so I'll just say it straight out. The king wasn't our biological father. The god Osric was. He wanted a son, by a shifter, for unknown reasons, to inherit his...powers. You were born first..but didn't inherit them. I did...but I was female...so he washed his hands of both of us. It was the king, though, who had our mothers killed...or allowed them to be...I know this is a lot to digest...I just wanted you to know." Cassandra stood back and gave her brother time to absorb everything..unsure of what his reaction would be.

[Kratos Cage]

Filled with confusion and anger, Kratos stood there, thinking to himself for a few moments. Taking in everything his sister had told him. "We are the children of a god? Did the king have our mothers killed because of this god? Everything I have ever know to be true, turns out to be a lie. I never knew how deep the lies went. I have lived my life with this feeling inside of me that there was more than met the eye. To be the son of a god, and then to be banished because we were not what he wanted. The king will pay for this soon!"

He pulled his sister in front of him and looked deep into her eyes. "Know this my sister, the king will be the first, but I swear to you today that our father, this god, will be destroyed!"

He paused to wait for his sisters reaction. Kratos knew there was no way he could defeat a god, but his vengeance and anger would not let his mind hear such things.

[cassandra]

"I'm content to leave Osric alone, as long as he does the same for me. After all, he never harmed me, he just didn't want me. The king on the other hand....and Melacham....They're going to pay. For what they did to our mother's...for what they did to us...I had said I would be content to just overthrow the throne...not anymore...the king is paying with his life!"

Sebastian gave a hiss and when he was satisfied he had both their attention said, "Osric may not have been thrilled with the pair of you, but he has watched over you both. He's taken care of you from afar, in his own way. How else do you think you survived? You were cast out on your own at very young ages. I can see why you wouldn't love him, but there's no need to hate him either."

Cassandra just gave the cat on her shoulder a glare and shrugged. Giving Kratos another hug she said, "The talking furball is my familiar, Sebastian. He seems to know quite a lot about the both of us...I'm going to go and change into clothes more suitable for fighting...I love you, my brother, I'm glad I found you...and I pray to all the gods that I don't lose you on this battle...See you soon." And she left him.

Going into the room where she had stayed with Kaden for so long, she dug through the closet until she found a box of clothes from when she was much younger. Smiling, she changed into a pair of black jeans, a black tee shirt, and a pair of steel toed Doc Martens. "Dunno what Kade is gonna think of my goth attire, but he has to admit Doc's are perfect for ass kicking!"

[lilyrose]

Lily slipped into the back room to change, Cassandra had made it clear that in this case less was probably more so she went through the few clothes she had brought with her and settled on a long black skirt , long boots and a tight fitting off the shoulder top. Brushing her long dark hair and pinning it back she turned to admire herself in the mirror "What man could resist?" she muttered under her breath smiling, adding a touch of makeup.

Walking back into the club she approached Cassandra smiling , giving her a twirl she said "There is only one thing missing " Putting one leg up on a chair she raised her skirt slightly to reveal an empty sheath strapped to her leg. "I could use a dagger of some kind, a girl can't rely on charm alone !"

[cassandra]

"You know what? That is an excellent point! Follow me, Kaden has some knives and things out back and I think I might go back on my usual no weapons policy and grab a couple myself. You look stunning Lily, and I can't tell you how proud of you I am...or how much I appreciate what you're doing. This place is my home, and I hope you think of it as yours as well...but you've been here such a short time to risk so much to save it!"

[lilyrose]

Lily followed Cass outside and took in the impressive array of wepons, picking up a beautiful short handled dagger she turned to Cass and said "I've travelled a long way and passed through a lot of towns , yet I have never found anywhere I would care to call home. Night World may be having its fair share of problems at the moment but the people I have met since I have been here make it a place I would be honoured to call home and if I have to kick some ass to make that happen then so be it !"
Lily gave Cass a brief hug "I'm glad that you trust me enough to let me play my part in this Cass, I know how important it is to you, all I can say is that I will do my best to help you all pull this off"
Sliding the dagger into the sheath on her leg and another into her boot for good luck she smiled at Cass. "Now I'm ready!"

[cassandra]

Hugging the girl back hard, Cassandra closed her eyes for a moment and said a silent prayer that she would make it back safely. She had known Lily such a short time, but already felt so close to her. Pulling away and pasting a smile on her face she reached for 2 stiletto's and put one in each boot, deciding that a dagger strapped to her waist under her shirt wouldn't be such a bad idea either, she then turned to Lily and said "Ready?"

[Eli]

Eli shifted and perched in the middle of the club. He was ready.

[lilyrose]

"Ready as I will ever be " Lily replied , placing a hand on Cassandras arm she added, "Things are going to be ok you know , I can feel it " Smiling at her friend she headed back inside the club.
Lily looked around the room at all the people gathered and said a silent prayer for the safe return of all of them , those she knew and those she didn't. Her eyes locked with Naryms across the room and she offered her a little grin trying to appear more confident than she actually felt. Lily took a deep breath and prepared herself for what was yet to come.

[cassandra]

Clearing her throat Cassandra stood up on the bar and began.

"We'll reach the outskirts of my father's kingdom around daybreak. For those of us who are daysleepers, there's a grove of trees, and a cave with fresh water running through it, so we'll rest there. At dusk, Eli and Lilyrose will make thier way to the garden outside the west wing of the castle. When Lily has Melacham distracted, Eli will fly over to the garden outside the east wing and assist Cassiel in knocking out the king. Once Cassiel is inside the king's chambers Eli will fly straight up in the air and signal to Fallow, who will then communicate to Narym. At that point...." Cassandra's words caught in her throat at that point, and tears came to her eyes. Blinking them back furiously, she would NOT cry! She had the heart of a lion, dammit, and she would act like it! Taking a calming breath she continued. "....at that point the first wave hits the castle. As soon as they're in the second wave follows. If there's no questions, then everyone grab your stuff and follow me to the camp."

[narym]

Narym had done a double take when Lily came back in the room. Gods, what was she wearing! She had guessed that she had gone with Cass to arm herself, but was totally unprepared for the outfit. She was armed in more ways than one, it seemed! She saw Lilys nervous smile and beckoned her over. Lily reached her side as Cass began to speak. This was it then. The time had arrived.
" Ready?" she asked her friend softly.

[lilyrose]

"Ready" Lily answered trying to sound more confident than she felt. "
"So what do you think?" she asked giving a brief twirl "If this doesn't work nothing will, although how im going to run in this skirt is totally beyond me !" She grinned at Naryms reaction to her outfit.
Lily suddenly became more serious "Before we go I was wondering if it's possible could you take this for me ?" she handed Narym her crossbow "I can't take it with me because it's not very easy to hide but I can't fight without it ."