Butterflies and Hurricanes

[Vahid Hesam]

change,
everything you are
and everything you were
your number has been called
fights, battles have begun
revenge will surely come
your hard times are ahead

***

The door to the Sabbat haven shook. In the antechamber, two Lasombra cast curious glances at one another. The Archbishop was not expecting any visitors. None the less, the two Londoners paced towards the door – slowly, cautious of what could be pounding on the front door. One reached out for the handle, but just as he was about to turn it, the door came flying inwards, almost ripped off its hinges. In the porch light, there stood a ravaged figure, barely recognizable from the noble assassin who had crossed the haven threshold previously. He stumbled inside and collapsed almost instantly to the floor, his body incredibly weak from lack of blood. He spoke only two words – Katarina and Baa'li – before falling unconscious.

[Katarina Gordislava]

The Tzismisce...female? that brought Katarina the news interrupted the Archbishop in the middle of feeding. That alone was enough to throw her into a sour mood, but when it was revealed that their assassin was unconscious on the first floor of the manor she leapt to her feet and darted out of the room, leaving a half drained kine to dream himself into death alone. The Tzismisce closed the door to the Archbishop's quarters and went to find the Vizier, though she did not want to have anything to do with the Tremere.

Katarina practically flew down the stairs, anxious for news of Hesam's work. He'd been moved into sitting room, laid out on the rug, and there was a group of Cainites standing around looking at him. No one wanted to get to close, even if it did appear the Assamite was entering torpor.

"What did he say before he passed out?" she snapped, looking at the two Lasombra who had been at the door when Vahid had arrived.

"Your name, Archbishop. And..." they looked at each other, "Baa'li."

She hesitated, wanting to disbelieve what they'd heard, but no Kindred would say such a name without reason. The Archbishop knelt by the assassin's side, noting with irritation that it was impossible to keep the carpets clean when bodies kept bleeding all over them, and cut her wrist, dripping her vitae between his slightly parted lips.

[Vahid Hesam]

The quickening vitae soon returned Vahid to consciousness. He awoke to see a circle of anxious faces looking down at him, while the Archbishop herself was kneeling at his side. The events of the previous hours flooded back into his mind in a sudden jolt. “The Baa'li!” he swore, “The Tremere have been over-run by the minions of Ba'al.”

[Katarina Gordislava]

Her mind raced at his words, wanting to disbelieve. A Londoner spoke up, an edge of worry in his voice. "There are reports of some sort of disturbance by the chantry. A house fire, excessive noise complaints."

Katarina got off the floor and sat herself down in a chair. "The Baa'li, in London." The Tzimisce present were talking amongst themselves, probably saying that one could expect nothing less from the Tremere. A horrible thought struck her, and she added, "Is this intrusion limited only to London?" But how would the Assamite know?

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

There was some commotion downstairs. Sergei had just been about to leave his room, to investigate, when a hulking Tzimisce appeared in the doorway. She grunted something, which he only vaguely understood, then spent a moment glaring at him. He frowned slightly and, slowly closing his door behind him (the lock clicking), calmly walked by. Downstairs, he could hear raised voices, and moved quickly to join the others. They were gathered around a body on the floor. “I take it his mission was unsuccessful,” he asked, pacing to stand beside Katarina.

[Vahid Hesam]

“How should I know?” Vahid began to sit up, feeling his strength growing. “I found your Primogen and took his head. Seconds later, the basement of the kafir pit was chaos. Hell demons were everywhere; a towering sea-serpent erupted from the nearby lake.”

The assassin was on his knees now, looking towards Katarina. “This was not part of our contract.”

[Katarina Gordislava]

She felt irrational, momentary relief that the Primogen had been removed as planned. Sergei entered the room, hanging back slightly so as not to upset the Assamite further, though it may have been impossible to do so. Hesam was rightly agitated, and Katarina snapped her fingers at a fledgling to bring his payment. The Lasombra fled the room as fast as she could.

"If I could have forseen a Baa'li incursion, I would have gone there myself in force to stop it." She got to her feet as the fledgling returned, two pints of Katarina's vitae in transfusion bags in hand. The Archbishop took them both and handed them down to the Assamite.

Turning she skewered a Tzimisce male with her eyes and ordered him to bring the kine from the kitchens (those floors were always spotless these nights) and to get the ghouls to dress her. The Cainite left quickly, and Katarina caught Sergei's eyes with hers. A Lasombra near him had quietly filled him in on what had happened at the Tremere chantry.

[Vahid Hesam]

“The rest of your contract will have to wait,” Vahid said, as he accepted the blood bags hungrily, now standing - if a little unsurely. “Alumut has to know of this heresy... I must leave immediately.”

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

The destruction of the Tremere brought some sick satisfaction to Sergei, who could not help but smirk as a young Lasombra informed him of how the chantry had fallen. It was unfortunate that they had not been the ones to orchestrate the groups demise. The intervention of the Baa'li was both a blessing and a curse. While they had eliminated one of the the Archbishops key targets, it was more than likely that the Sabbat themselves would be high on the list of Baa'li targets.

“What are we going to do?”

[Katarina Gordislava]

The Sabbat cleared a path for the Assamite as he made his way towards the door. The Archbishop turned her attention to Segei's question. What were they going to do?

"If the Baa'li turn on us immediately, we are too few in number to amount to much of a threat." Katarina stalked out of the room, Cainites trailing along behind her as she made her way across the large foyer. She snapped, "I need eyes and ears out on the street. See what the Camarilla are doing."

McClain, the newly christened Bishop, quickly drew off a group of Lasombra, the best suited for spy work, and started relaying orders. The Tzimisce left for the basements to finish their work with the hellhounds they had been creating over the last week. Segei and a few fledgling Lasombra remained at Katarina's side as she practically ran up the staircase towards her study.

Cell phone in hand she dialed the Cardinal's number.

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

Sergei watched Katarina disappeared into her study. He paused on the staircase, looking down behind him. The Cainite's were quick to turn their frantic energy to something productive – yet the kine woman hadn't been presented yet. He stalked towards the kitchen, confronting a pair of Tzimisce males who were 'escorting' the mortal to the Archbishop. He hurried them along and as much as they resented being ordered around by a Tremere, they picked up the pace. He followed behind them as they shuffled into Katarina's study, each with one malformed hand holding Sansa in place between them. They, along with Sergei, waited in silence whilst Katarina spoke on the phone.

[Katarina Gordislava]

She flipped the phone shut, her conversation with Niccoli short and to the point. He told her that he would be in touch and would send reinforcements as soon as it was possible. As much as he personally disliked her, the Baa'li were a threat that if not stopped in London would spread like a plague across the whole of Europe and eventually the world.

The infernalists had to be stopped.

She eyed the kine, who was a little thinner than she'd been when they had taken her off the street, but dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing that night. Miss Martin's feet were still bare, but she did not have time to worry about it. Katarina sat down behind the desk and set out a sheet of blank paper and promptly broke a pen in half trying to compose a letter.

Aggravated, the Archbishop threw the pieces hard enough that they stuck into the wall across from the desk. Taking up another pen she bent over more carefully and started writing. Without looking up she said, "I need someone to take this to Rodermark when I am done."

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

One of the London Lasombra stepped forward, eager to impress upon the Archbishop her loyalty and dedication to the cause. Sergei smirked slightly – the Londoners often reminded him of dogs, begging for Katarina's affection, devouring any scraps of attention she tossed them. The Londoner breezed past the group to the desk Katarina was sat at, looking eagerly over her shoulder.

“Why are you writing to Rodermark?”

[Katarina Gordislava]

Katarina did not reply for a few more moments, scribbling out the end of her sentance before looking up at the Londoner. "I am writing to him because the Baa'li are nothing to be trifled with, fledgling. Have you faced them before? No? Neither have I."

She barely resisted tracing the sign of the cross across her breast, and instead bent over the page again. "If the Baa'li are not stopped, then there will be no London for us to take. There will be no us." The Archbishop glared at her Vizier, "Get them out of here."

Just as quickly she turned to the Tzimisce holding Sansa upright, "Find her shoes, dammit!"

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

Sergei turned and held his arms open wide to the crowd at the door, shepherding them out onto the landing hallway. One of the Tzimisce loped off down the stairs in search of Sansa's shoes. The other Cainities began to disperse, with only Sergei and the newly promoted messenger Lasombra stood outside the study doorway. The female looked Sergei over, managing all the while to look down on him. He ignored her, though thought that she wouldn't have been so cocky if she'd been aware what danger she was putting herself into by stepping forwards.

A thumping distracted Vishnyakov. It was the Tzimisce returning. He threw a pair of shoes at Sansa's feet and ordered her to put them on. As always, she obeyed. “The kine is ready, Archbishop,” the monstrosity slurred.

[Katarina Gordislava]

"Good. Take her.... somewhere else and make her rest." Katarina creased the hastily written letter in thirds and put it inside an envelope that she sealed with a bit of melted wax. A stamp with her initials went into the wax, and then she handed it off to Sergei, who in turn delivered it to the Lasombra.

"Go, and take this to Rodermark. And whatever you do, don't get killed before he sees it. I need you to return with his reply."

The female blanched, curtseyed, and then fled into the Abyss. It would be no problem for her to gain access to the Prince, especially with the Tremere decimated. His position was likely not to be warded against intrusion from the Shadows.

Katarina sat back in her chair, alone with her Vizier for the moment. What had she done to deserve this?

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

They sat for a moment in silence, Sergei weighing up the the situation in his mind. One question was at the forefront of his thoughts.

“...Do you intend to ally with the Camarilla?”

[Katarina Gordislava]

"The demons must not gain a foothold on this island."

The Archbishop twisted in her chair as though trying to get comfortable, and then stood up. She turned to pace the floor, heeled boots rapping loudly against the hardwoods. "The Cardinal has instructed me to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the Baa'li are stopped. Including, I suppose, sacrifice myself. I'm sure he would like that."

She stuck her hands in the pockets of her slacks to keep from wringing them, and added, "The letter tells Rodermark that I wish a meeting with him, and offers his precious ghoul as collateral for our saftey."

[Sergei Vishnyakov]

Only a matter of hours ago their primary objective had been to kill Gabriel Rodermark – and now they were planning to work with him. It was strange how quickly things could change. There was no guarantee, of course, that the Toreador would agree to such an alliance, but Sergei knew that it was in the best interest of the Sabbat, at least until the Baa'li were gone.

It was an offer the Prince of London could not refuse.

[Katarina Gordislava]

An hour passed in tense silence. McClain came back to the haven to report on the destruction that surrounded the Tremere chantry. Katarina took his report in silence, and sent him away.

When the young female Lasombra returned, she came immediately into the Archbishop's study, then stood on the carpets like a child who was about to get a tongue lashing. Katarina skewered her with a stare. "Well? Speak, child. What was the answer of the Prince?"

The blonde started, and blinked rapidly. "He accepted your offer, as long as he chooses the place and only three Kindred represent each side."