Kill...or be killed.

[Khthonia Rowan]

"Easy... easy sweet girl." The young witch crooned to her companion, running her hand over the coarse dark hair covering her long legs. "Not much longer.."

The situation was dire. They had crossed mountains, literally across the top of the ridges, and had cautiously crossed plains of lava. They had eaten things that even carrion had left untouched, so as not to starve. Now, it was their turn.

Khthonia, Sister of the Nightspiders had taken up a defensive position in front of Empusa, the spider that had been her mount since she said farewell to her childhood. When she became a Nightspider, she had gone to the hatchery, and from among the pulsating translucent eggs had chosen one for herself. That egg was now the giant gaping spider at her back, broodlings of her own clinging to her hairy hide.

And she was wounded. Bright drops of glowing yellow blood made a trail from where they had come, and other desperate predators had picked up the scent. One came for them now..

In the charred brush ahead, Khthonia could hear cracking as something drew near. Something big, and nasty. Two long tusks pushed through the blackened foliage, followed by a snout that sniffed after them both. The boar kicked at the ash covered ground, screaming it's intent to murder them where they stood.

"Come get some...", Khthonia mouthed off to the overgrown pig.

It screamed again, and charged her..

[Kinzie Rowan]

It wasn't everyday that Kinzie and Khthonia were away from one another. Bound by life and the Force, the Twin Nightspiders did near enough everything as one. They shared their joy, their pain, their laughter and so much more. Trials of blood, trials of the hunt... why stand alone when you can stand together and be the stronger for it? That was their life. They lived as one, they fight as one and...if Gethzerion was merciful, allowed them to die as one. They had their own forms of communication. A language all of their own that only they could understand. They had a well versed pattern when it came to hunting, though, this time, things were a little more harried. Khthonia's spider mount, Empusa, was injured and if they didn't guard her and treat her wounds, Kinzie knew trouble would be on the horizon.

As children, they were taught to live off the land, so all they needed was to stem the flow of blood. Riding on her own spider, Arcene, she managed to find some healing herbs and had some old cloth that she could turn into bandage for the Spider once she returned. As she made her way back, however, Kinzie sensed the wild animals stir at the smell of Empusa's blood. A roar of a wild boar alerted her to impending danger and she implored her spider to run faster. There was no way Kinzie would allow her twin to fight alone, nor allow her to take the prize by herself!

As Arcene drew close, the Nightspider jumped off her mount, landing beside her twin as the boar charged at them. Kinzie had her role to play and it was this moment. "Well now... this just won't do! You can't attack my sister without my approval... and its something you'll never have!" Kinzie said before channelling dark magic into her hands. As she thrust her hands forward, Kinzie cited an incantation that surrounded the boar in dark magic. Its push and hold on the boar so great that it stopped it in its tracks... unable to move and the screams of intent to murder became squeals of pain. A dark smile pulled on Kinzie's lips as she looked to her twin. "Will make a nice sacrifice for the hunt...wouldn't you agree?" she mused. "The spiders will enjoy this meal once we've had our share."

[Khthonia Rowan]

The arrival of her sister caused the boar to skid to a stop, kicking up dirty ash everywhere. Damn pig should have known better than to attack them. The law of the Nightspider clan still applied; Weak were meat for the strong to eat. They were strong, especially together. When Kinzie raised her hands, so did she, knowing what her sister would do. Khthonia lent her strength to her sister's incantation. Together, their voices wove a web of control (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Control_web) that could contain creatures of lesser intelligence. For now... In time, with training they would be able to command those same creatures. One day, assume control over larger more complex species.

First they had to survive. Which meant they had to eat..

"I would, indeed, sister."

While the Dathomiri boar was contained, Khthonia pulled forward the bow slung over her arm, notching and taking aim. One shot, right through the eye socket, quick and clean. Which was better than the thing deserved, considering it had meant to ram it's tusks into her guts..

Which gave her an idea. "Let's keep it's tusks. Could make useful spear points." Kinzie was good with magic, better than her. Khthonia though, her passion was the hunt, the kill. It had taken both of their skill sets to make it this far.

[Kinzie Rowan]

Kinzie smiled as their web surrounded the creature and fed off its panic as it desperately tried to break from the sisters' control. Stupid creature. They will never understand the power the girls wield over them. Sure, they weren't yet as powerful as they could be. That would come in time... but even at the strength they were, they could overpower even this great beast. Mother would be so proud of them.

While she continued to hold the web, her sister dealt the killing blow, sending an arrow cleanly through its eye socket. Feeling the creature grow heavy and its life force drain, Kinzie broke the incantation, allowing the web to disintegrate and come away. She watched as the creature passed into the unseen realm, its body twitching as rogue signals from its dying brain fired. There was once a time when Kinzie detested the thought...killing an animal when it could potentially serve them instead. However, young Kinzie learned quickly that it really was a kill or be killed world on Dathomir. If you hesitate, the prey will kill you. Now, Kinzie took away a sense of satisfaction with each kill they made together. Crouching down to the now dead boar, Kinzie took out her machete and began hacking away at the first tusk. "We should strip this down as quickly as possible. The bigger predators will smell its death before long." Kinzie said as the first tusk was cut away. She inspected the tusk before packing it in one of the pockets on Arcene's saddle. She then dropped the bag she carried off her shoulders and handed it to her sister. "Here. There be plants and bandages to stem Empusa's wounds... at least until we're away from here." she said, making sure her sister had a hold of the bag before returning to the carcass, turning it over to hack off the other tusk.

As she worked on the carcass, she looked to her twin, showing some concern. "How bad are her wounds?"

[Khthonia Rowan]

"Then we'll kill them too.. I'm not letting some thing eat Empusa." Khthonia did not mean to snap at her sister, and knew her twin would understand.

Smiling into the many eyed face of Empusa, and her young she had to be honest. It was not the injury to the spider that worried her. It was her broodlings. Empusa has never had brood of her own before, and while it was not common for one hatching to signify the end of a gaping spider life cycle, some mother's did perish when their young moved on. Khthonia was distraught that something would happen to her friend and companion. Flames, predators and planetary upheaval be damned... she would not allow harm to come to Empusa.

Calmed down a bit, she thanked her sister for the medicinal herbs, taking stock of what they had, and how she could best make use of it.

"That saurian's claws shredded a couple of her legs. I think.. I can make a paste. Could you get Arcene to spin some more web, I'll bind her legs and we can move on after we eat."

[Kinzie Rowan]

Kinzie frowned a little when her sister snapped at her, but decided to let it slide because of her worry for Empusa. For all their tough and frightening exteriors, their spiders were really very delicate at heart. Any injury could be seen as a disaster if not treated properly and Khthonia's extreme protectiveness toward Empusa was extended to her broodlings attached to her underside.

When her twin asked for some of Arcene's webbing, however, the nightspider looked at her twin, then at Arcene and shook her head. "Hey, if you want some of Arcene's webbing, go ahead...but I'm not going back there after what she did the last time." Kinzie said. Stepping back from her spider and gesturing to her sister to get it herself. To say the last time Kinzie had tried to acquire webbing from her spider was a disaster was an understatement in itself. Arcene was all enraged by the intrusion that Kinzie found herself wrapped in the webbing and unable to get out of it without assistance. That assistance came after a period of uncontrollable laughter on her sister's part and Kinzie swore she'd never do that again any time soon. "You were always better at acquiring the stuff than I."

[Khthonia Rowan]

"I tried not to laugh, you know.. It was just..."

In the middle of a scorched land, with barely any food or water, and no reprieve in sight, Khthonia burst out into completely inappropriate laughter at the mental image of her sister rolled up in Arcene's web. The way she had tottered from side to side comically. The teenager lost it and let go of some laughter that came right up from her belly, before catching the unamused stares of both her sister, and the many disapproving eyes of Empusa who was still waiting on medical attention. She wiped a tear from her sooty face and got it under control, muttering an apology.

"Arcene.. doer ghil.", she bade her sister's mount to come to her. Unfortunately, the humor at Kinzie's last attempt to collect webbing from the spider, had made Arcene become surly.

Skittering around on great hairy legs, Arcene reared up on her back legs before Khthonia and swatting at her with her front legs, telling her to back off. Khthonia was not to be dissuaded from her task however.

"You want to fight me? Fine."

And like that... Nightsister and Gaping spider were set upon each other in a fierce battle. The spider was bigger, and faster, and stronger than the witch. But Khthonia still had the advantage, she had been trained to bring the giant arachnids to heel. Hands, covered in weathered, finger-less gloves, found purchase on the front legs of the spider preventing it from kicking her aside. Strength flowed through her blood, the strength of the Dathomir born. It made her too, a predator. She fought to turn the big bitch over and show her who was boss, but lost her footing and was trampled beneath the spider. She could hear her sisters shouts for Arcene and Khthonia both to stop fighting, but stress and frustration had made this encounter inevitable.

Pinioned beneath the spider, Khthonia hissed back at it. "You want your sister to die then?" The multiple eyes moved about, darting toward the injured spider and that was the opportunity she needed. She kicked upward, boots nailing Arcene in the gut while she was distracted. She followed with a punch into one of her many eyes, and rolled out from beneath her.

"Now enough! She needs care or she and her young are going to perish. You'll be the last of your kind, and have to cart me and Kinzie around. That what you want?", she glared. "Now turn around."

Sufficiently put in her place, the spider turned lifting her spinneret, obediently producing the strong material that would bind up her sisters injuries. Khthonia stood by, collecting it carefully wrapping in around forearm and palm until she had enough. "Easy, easy Arcene... Thank you.", she patted the spider on her hairy rump and went to her own mount, shooting her sister a look of triumph.

[Kinzie Rowan]

Kinzie grew concerned as Khthonia and Arcene went head to head to get some of Arcene's webbing. Knowing how surly Arcene was, she never expected Khthonia to really fight her. As Arcene reared her behind Kinzie tried to intervene in an attempt to calm her spider mount. Things just went from bad to worse, however as a fight ensued between both. "Enough! Will you two just stop already?!" Kinzie shouted. "We've already got one spider injured. We can't afford to be fighting!"

Kinzie's pleas were ignored by both her twin and the spider. As her fear turned to anger, Kinzie was a about to cast a spell to separate them when the battle finally ended. Khthonia had won and thankfully, Kinzie's twin and spider came out of it none the worse from the battle. Kinzie sighed with relief, yet pursed her lips at the look of triumph Khthonia gave one Arcene had finally given her the webbing she needed. As the spider made her way back to Kinzie, she scowled at her, slapping one of Arcene's front legs in the process. "You and I need to talk about your surly behaviour Arcene." she said before mumbling to herself embarrassingly, "And I need to learn to control you better..."

Grabbing her knife, Kinzie went back to the kill and started to skin it. It's leather would be useful for clothing, blankets, weapons and more. Once she managed to calm herself, she looked over at her sister. "How's Empusa doing? Will she be okay?"

[Iseult]

A crackling came from the brush, but no snuffling pig-nose appeared out of the blackened forest. Instead, it was a soot-stained girl, her hair the colour of fire-licked sunset and a crude spear in her hands.

Her feet were bare. Her body was wrapped in loose furs, tied together with cord woven from tough old vines. There were words on the tip of her tongue, barbed and ready to sling, but the sight of the two over-sized spiders snatched away whatever she had been about to say.

Her pale eyes were wide.

“What th' fuck.”

[Cearia Tserta]

She had been on the run for days. Weeks? Cearia couldn't remember how many days have passed since everything she had known was decimated by fire and ash. Fire wildly swept throughout her village, triggered by the volcano's eruption. Large, fiery debris rained down on her helpless people that instantly destroyed buildings and lit flammable material without provocation throughout the Red Hills. If she had been there instead of on a hunting run, Cearia would have been killed along with her people. For all she knew she was the last survivor of her clan!

To navigate the land during the treacherous time was the least of her concerns. It were the beasts rampaging in terror as the planet was hell-bent on destroying almost every living thing that had grown here. Food that had been plentiful was now scarce and even the water in some areas had been contaminated with a foul taste.

Brown hair and face had gone almost grey with soot residue, the black war paint on her face caked in ash. The animal hides covering her were fraying and filthy and it had been two days since her last meal, which her belly prompted rumbled as a reminder that she was hungry. Arrow knocked at the ready, Cearia had been hunting boar. Tracks had been seen about a mile back but her prey was no where to be found. Curiously leaves and branches had been broken and the ground trampled by powerful hooves. Following it further, she heard a commotion of voices. It almost brought her to tears with the hope she felt, but it was fleeting. Other survivors might prove dangerous and quietly approached in the direction she heard the voices, keeping cover with brush as much as possible...

[Khthonia Rowan]

Drama ended for the time, Khthonia saw to her spiders injuries. Quietly sitting beside one of Empusa's legs, she worked the healing herbs into a chunky paste. Truth be told, it was pretty foul smelling, but it would do the job. The long jagged scratches from the flying creatures claws went deep in some places, and the gaping spider did not appreciate having such tender tissue poked and prodded at, but the witch crooned softly to her. The gentle, but firm, manner of a mother seeing to her child. Only in this case, the child was an enormous spider..

She nodded to her sister. "She'll be fine, but I won't be riding her for a while. They won't heal with the burden of carrying me."

Cleaning her hands on the lizard leather of her pants, Khthonia rose and would have joined her sister in preparing the kill, but the sound of something else approaching stopped her. The arrow was already notched and drawn back before the intruder crashed through the prickly bramble. Behind her, the gaping spider reared up on her back legs, ready to fight despite her own wounds.

Her dark brow also notched upward, with a degree of incredulity. They had seen no other survivors in days and this was what they got?

"Hello to you too." Khthonia made no move to lower her weapon. She had her sister, and their spiders to protect. "Lost?"

[Iseult]

Iseult reached for the Force. As ragged and faint as it was to her in that moment, she pulled what she could feel of it tight about her like a cloak and held the shaft of her spear tight, though her knuckles were already white.

“Y'do realise there's a manky great spider behind y', right?”

[Kinzie Rowan]

Kinzie was glad that Empusa would make it, though like Khthonia said, her wounds would not heal on their own if she was on her back. "Then you can ride on Arcene with me until she recovers." Kinzie responded, glaring at Arcene when she seemed to hiss with protest. "You've had this conversation with Khthonia already Arcene. This isn't up for debate." she said to her spider. "You don't yet have the burden of spiderlings to carry so quit your whining hissy pants!"

Arcene stood down, as if realizing this wasn't an argument she was going to win, leaving Kinzie to return to her skinning and butchering of the boar meat. The sound of something approaching, however, quickly made the witch draw her dagger and enter a defensive stance. Arcene hissed behind her with the intent of intimidating the intruder, who seemed quite frightened of the fact that there were giant spiders in the vicinity. A cold, cruel smile pulled on Kinzie's lips as she decided to respond to her words. "These 'Manky great spiders' you refer to are our pets, Petal." she said coldly. "They will not harm us...." Kinzie then canted her head slightly. "You on the other hand, may well be in danger if you do not tell us who you are or why you've come here."

[Cearia Tserta]

Crouched behind ample cover, eyes peek through a the narrow openings of grey covered branches, its tiny bulbs desperately trying to bloom fresh green, and silently waited to see how this played out. Two parties were already on edge and adding a third would just cause further, yet understandable, anxiety. Not to mention the two commanded large spiders! She didn't want to spook the beasts and cause them to attack. Cearia kept her arrow ready to be safe and watched the scene unfold with unblinking eyes...

[Khthonia Rowan]

"Yep."

Khthonia acknowledged the obvious, that behind her was indeed a manky great spider. She made no move to lower the weapon, but she did tip her face away sizing the newcomer up. The girl looked like she'd been through hell. For that matter, they all did. Their lands burned, and death was all around them, closing in, but there was more to her story, Khthonia would bet a skin of cold water on it. If she had one... The girl did not wear the armor of a Nightsister, in fact she looked rather ragged actually. Still, she was someone. The first someone they had seen in days..

"She's a survivor. Must be The One likes her. Something like that?", she arched a brow at the ragged ginger witch.

[Iseult]

At the mention of danger, Iseult's expression darkened.

"One of them things comes near me with 'is teeth out and I'll take a chunk out of it."

She lowered the point of her spear and eyed the spiders with a scowl, wary of taking her eyes off them.

"What clan are you?"

[Khthonia Rowan]

Khthonia exchanged a quick look with Kinzie, one that suggested they would very much like to see this stick of a girl try to take on one of their spiders. If the loss of energy did not concern her, she'd be tempted to put that to the test. As it was, Empusa was hurt, and Arcene had just exhausted what little energy she had left fighting her. It was a fight that could be won, but the cost was high and not at all worth it.

"We're Nightspiders. Obviously. That's my sister, Kinzie. I'm Khthonia."

"Now.. since I could have this shaft through your brains in a second, and our spiders are hungry, we're asking the questions. My sister asked you who you were.", she lined up the shot again with the girl's angry eyes.

"Also....what in the hells are you wearing?"

[Cearia Tserta]

Torn between leaving and curiosity, Cearia remained hidden to watch this unfold. The Nightsisters were unsurprisingly aggressive, but they did have the upper hand - that was no lie. There was no way of knowing how this situation would unfold. Would the red head get skewered regardless of the answers she gave, or would their be a genuine understanding that chances of survival would increase if they all worked together...

[Kinzie Rowan]

Kinzie couldn't help but snort at the possibility of this woman try to attack the spiders. A girl like her take on Empusa and Arcene? That would be the day! "You dare try to attack our spiders and you'll become more than just dinner for them!" Kinzie responded. Letting her sister introduce them, Kinzie looked around them. If there was one, surely there would be another waiting in the wings. Being the cautious sister, Kinzie allowed Khthonia to talk to the newcomer while she kept an eye on both her and her surroundings.

"How many of you are there?" Kinzie asked, not making direct eye contact as she scouted around. She wanted to be certain there was or was not more people surrounding them. As a Nightspider, Kinzie was always distrustful of anyone and everyone outside their clan. Yet with everything that's happened to date, Kinzie wondered if others had survived...and what her sister wanted to do if there were more survivors.

[Iseult]

How many? She'd been one of many, once. Not that long ago in fact, but the clan-mother had put that to right (http://sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?22743-A-Sacrifice-to-the-Stormfather), hadn't she? For all Iseult knew, the whole rotten lot of them had been burned. Let the Stormfather take 'em all, she thought.

“There's me and only me,” she said, half-sullen half-defiant. A glance down at herself and the defiant half won out. “- and I'm wearing all I could put me hands on. “

[Khthonia Rowan]

"Uhuh..."

Khthonia was far from satisfied that the girl was alone. A witch on her own, in sawed apart skins and vines, had survived in these conditions? The ginger witch was either a liar, or it was as she had joked earlier, The One had chosen to favor her miserable life.

"Is that so? Alright.. but if you're lying, we'll eat you.", she promised. Sharing a look with her sister Kinzie. They had just scored the boar meat, so they probably wouldn't eat her, but she could make no promises for the spiders.

She lowered the bow. "So do you have a name, or what?"

[Cearia Tserta]

She licked her lips with anticipation, for if they spared this woman, Cearia's chance of survival may increase. Numbers were the key to living in these harsh conditions and these two witches has tenacity, spiders, and most importantly - food.

If this went poorly, she would have to make haste with her escape ...

[Khthonia Rowan]

-nudge ttt-

Let's revive this, ladies, and get these characters introduced already!

[Lee Sin Quan]

Through the brush, the screeching cries of another boar rang out, along with a series of violent curses from what must have seemed, even upon a planet in the throes of destruction, quite out of place. A man.

The sounds of confrontation continued for a few moments, before a figure was thrown violently from among the bushes, landing a short distance from the trio of Nightsisters and the pair of Spiders. Pulling himself to his feet, the tattooed male brushed a snagged branch from his shoulder, seemingly unaware he was no longer alone.

"Vin'ult (john_davis2001), Dalninin (caradine76@yahoo.com)..." He said, without looking at those he addressed and somewhat out of breath, "Belbau uns'aa (jesusbane@hotmail.com) natha klew'nor (fpe@po.cwru.edu)..."

Grabbing the spear that he had dropped when he had been unceremoniously tossed out of the brush, the strange fellow simply ran back in to continue his battle with the foe.

A minute or so later, the commotion subsided and, after a couple more minutes of silence, the man returned. Bleeding from his brow and his abdomen, favoring his left leg and using his spear as a crutch of sorts, he hadn't been left unscathed by the fight, yet he was clearly in good spirits. Over his shoulder he carried a sturdy wooden shield and, at his belt, an axe and a pair of long knives. Although his leather armor, quite unusually for a Nightbrother, bore a depiction of an aspect of the Winged Goddess, his tattoos marked him as one of their kin. Bowing his head in respectful greeting, he grinned at the women.

"Ussta kaas (tas@deathsdoor.com) zhah Lee (http://www.eilistraee.com/chosen/language.php?page=add&common=Lee). Lu'oh (fpe@po.cwru.edu) xal Usstan tlu d'klath'ra (Isabels_funny@hotmail.com), malla Dalninin (caradine76@yahoo.com) d'l'Orbb?"




http://www.eilistraee.com/chosen/language.php (http://www.eilistraee.com/chosen/language.php)

[Iseult]

"Name's Iseult-" the witch started, unable to finish as something burst out of the bushes. Instinct flared in Iseult, told to her to move, but whichever way she shifted put her either closer to the spiders or nearer to the blood-stained man brandishing a spear. At least the spider's were apparently under control of their handlers; the same could not be said for the male, who - based on the gibberish he was talking - was feral.

"Is that with you an'all?" she asked, jerking her chin at the male.

[Khthonia Rowan]

Just when she thought it was safe to lower the bow, yet another ruckus turned up. It was just that sort of day really. From what she could hear, beyond the obscurity of brush, it was two pigs. One on four legs, one of the bipedal variety. Male. They did not do well among the spider clan. Most of their male offspring were sent away when they could toddle about, to be raised among their own kind in the Nightbrother village. Some were not even that fortunate. Spiders had to eat after all.. That was simply their way of life. Khthonia knew no other way.

At least this one seemed to know his place, giving them some sort of greeting before rushing back into the fray. The young witch wasn't sure if she should loose the arrow and aid him, or the boar to be honest. She did neither, leaving him to his own noisy devices and shrugging at her sister.

At Iseult's question, she looked at the ginger witch like she'd completely lost her mind. "We don't keep his kind around. Does your clan?" Her nose wrinkled a little, disturbed by her own suggestion.

"Dos shlu'ta alu inbau nindel vlees. Sila ol ulu uns'aa lu't'yin ser ul'mubar, dalninuk."

Behind her, the spider's legs kicked at the ground aggressively, waiting for her mistress to give the word. She hungered.

[Lee Sin Quan]

"I could do that. Although by the time I've carved up that boar, the three Rancor I've been tracking will have found us."

Lee still had a smile on his face, although it had become much more sinister. While he served loyally, like most Nightbrothers did, it gave him a great deal of satisfaction to basically tell a Nightsister to shove it, when he had grounds to do so. He was no slave, no beaten dog that cowered and bent to every whim. He was a warrior, a survivor and a soldier of the Twin Gods.

"Alternatively, I could just leave. I'm sure you or your spiders would kill me if I tried, but I guarantee that even if you did, at least one of you would be too wounded in the process to outrun the Rancor."

Lee tightened the straps of his armour; making ready for either fight or flight. He unslung his shield, gripping it in his offhand. To run with it on his back would be both impractical and painful.

"Or, most wisely, we could leave the carcass for them, and we can leave together. The Shaman Megaera and another group of survivors were about two days West of here when I was sent out to search for others."

[Khthonia Rowan]

He was a lippy one. She'd give him that. She'd also give him an arrow through the throat if he didn't close his trap soon.

Khthonia looked toward Kinzie, unsure of what their next move should be at this point. Eating, patching up Empusa and moving on had been their plan before random people started showing up. It was becoming a regular party now. If the male was to be believed and rogue rancor were heading their way, staying was a poor idea. It would be more than a paste and patch job if a rancor tangled with their spiders. One of them might get seriously hurt. Still, she wasn't taking orders from this guy..

"Never heard of her.", she stated.