Ray of Truth

[Aylen Hawkins]

Mercury

The sun shone today, as if it wanted to shed light on every dark corner, and drive the darker creatures out of the shadows and hold them at bay. Its rays touched the face of any student that decided to venture outside on this fine day, and quietly teased those who were trapped behind windows indoors. This could have been any other day. The sun could have shone any other day, but it chose today. Surely this was a sign of good fortune.

The hawk leaped from branch to branch, calling out every few minutes to ensure the others knew where to follow. Not that he was hard to miss. Thanks to the four fledglings that refused to be left behind, their incessant squawking and squabbling was driving Mercury insane. Well, to be honest, they were somewhat past the stage of fledgling, but still seemed to have minds of one.

Earlier, he had managed to pick the lock of the History of Magic classroom and free the four younger hawks from their cage. They had been given to the Professor that taught there as a birthday gift. Unfortunately, he did not know how to care for these birds and sought the help of Mercury’s owner. Somehow through all the fuss, Mercury had been stuck with the responsibility of feeding these chicks. Despite his reluctance, the merlin ended up doing it anyway. Hawks never forget their own.

That was part of the reason he was here. His friend and master had gone missing in this very place, and Mercury saw his exact location. However, homing pigeon he was not, and he admittedly led the rescue group into a few dead ends. But this time he was sure of the route.

(ooc: Celebrate the return of my muse! XD)

[Sylph]

OOC: does celebration dance #9. Nice post-ness. ;D

Hot on the heels - if hawks had heels - of Mercury was one very annoyed girl. So far he had led them to the classrooms, to the place where the fairies lived - literally - and finally to the place that Sylph had been setting her mind on all along - the graveyard. Something in her gut had told her that all paths posted 'Angelus Mortii' led to this place, and now she was glad for the time she and Roan had put into knowing their way around it. There were hundreds - maybe thousands - of tombs here, and it was easy to get lost. As the three of them - Aednat, Ashlle and herself - reached the rusty old gates that led to the sacred grounds, Sylph pulled out her wand. Who knew what was lurking here, lying in wait for them... or standing guard over the missing Aylen. Sylph briefly debated getting her invisibility cloak out of her backpack, but there was no way it would cover all three of them. They would just have to be quick, quiet and furious in defence if need be. A grim smile crossed the girl's lips. No problems with that last one. They were all Gryffindors, and Gryffindors with considerable talent in the area of defence against the dark arts. Besides, they could not leave the hunt until they found Aylen. Especially as mercury was being so unusually obliging, even if for some reason he now had four chicks in tow. Sylph wondered vaguely why they were up in the classrooms at all - maybe Mercury had been busy with another hawk...

Sylph shook her head, getting her mind back on the matter in hand. The sun was bright, but not overly so, and its fragil January warmth made her feel a little better. Glancing over her shoulder she caught sight of Aednat and Ashlle running after her, keeping pace quite well, as it happened.

"Quietly now," she whispered back at them. "And wands out. Aylen can't be far away now."

[Ashlle G. Rainier]

Ashlle obeyed quickly, reaching inside her Hunter's Robe for her wand. She's have felt much better with perhaps another one of her weapons also but she hadn't any idea who would attack them first, an so choseing one wepon over the other woulds surely slow her down. Instead she focused herself so that should the need arise her Elemental magicks could be sommoned quickly. The wind held it's breath as if waiting to be directed.

Steath was one of a Hunter's main attributes, and while some might mearly try to be quiet, Ashlle moved noiselessly, helped by the fact that despite to warm weather the ground was still hard. She kept her eyes wide and her ears perked, her sensitive Hunters nose sniffed the air for traces of wizard, lycan or other scents. Slyph was right Aylen was not far off . . . or where Alyan had been was not far off.

(OOC: How's my muse doing?)

[Aednat]

At the beginning, it really was looking as though they were on a wild goose, or rather, hawk chase. A classroom? It was bizarre. Since then, they'd been to a few odd places too, back-tracing more than once. Now, they were finally at the Graveyard, the place they all guessed they'd end up. Aednat shivered. It just wasn't right that a graveyard was a place of such vioence and terror...it should be a peacful place, respected.

Well, today was the last day she should be worrying about keeping the peace and luckily it was. The Irish girl was one hundred percent ready to use any spell she needed to to keep herself or the others safe and to harm their foes, if all came to all... disturbing the peace or not. It wasn't like anyone opposing them would care.

That meant that Sylph's whisper wasn't really needed. Aednat's wand had long been out and ready for use- since before they had even left the school, as it happened. Nevertheless she nodded, and took care to stay quiet. She naturally ran lightly and quietly anyway, so that helped she supposed. Funny, that, as she wasn't really a quiet person at all. Generally she made noise with her voice though, laughing, talking, singing... not that she'd dream of opening her mouth now unless she needed to.

Blue eyes took in the maze of tombs as they went. Her thoughts echoed Sylph's, though she didn't know it. It would be easy to get lost in here, and Aednat had a very poor sense of direction. Her memory was good, but unless she kept track of every turn they made and every tomb they passed, she'd never guess the way out just by natural sense of direction. It would be nice to think she'd remember the way in that case...but she doubted that even now she'd be able to find the way back. Well, that just meant she had to make sure not to get lost, that was all, she told herself firmly as she ran quietly after Sylph.

The hawk seemed very sure now. It couldn't be long until they reached the place they sought, Aednat was convinced of that much. Butterflies or some creatures more violent began a sudden, unbidden assault on her insides, but she forced herself to turn the nervous energy into adrenaline. The "fight or flight" instinct ran through her. Aednat had never been one for flight.

[Aylen Hawkins]

The sound of the chattering hawks finally led the expedition to a clearing. The gravestones were old, and many of the bigger structures—for whatever reason—lay scattered about in pieces. The entire area gave off an air of suspense, as if a fiendish monster could be hiding anywhere, though there weren’t many places where anything much bigger than a human could hide. Most of the graves were arranged in neat little rows; simple and unadorned. However, one great structure stood out. A large angel statue marking the grave of a Henrietta Cornelia Helion dominated the courtyard. Over time, vines had snaked their way up and around the statue, seeming to bind the angel in place. Old and uncared for, this truly was the heart of the graveyard.

Perching on top of this statue, Mercury stopped to preen his feathers. This was the last place he had seen the Hawkins boy and his captors. Apparently Sylph and the others had already dealt with one of them. Now there were only two others to find, plus Aylen. Meanwhile, the four younger hawks frolicked about, playing air tag, squawking at each other when they caught themselves. Grumbling irritably at them for making so much commotion, Mercury cawed indignantly when they paid him no heed. He had no choice but to settle down and sulk on his angelic perch.

[Ashlle G. Rainier]

There was a battle here thought Ashlle looking around at the broken tombs. She dare not speak her thought aloud, for fear of attracting attention of whatever lurked in the brush. Still she was happy to see that there was no blood to be seen. That meant hopefully that Aylen was somewhere whole, if perhaps not sound.

Ashlle began to sneak round the Back of the Tomb that Mercury rested on, making sure no one was hiding behind it, waiting to jump out at them. Once she'd made a full inspection of the environment she spoke softly.

"Nothing. Whoever was here, is gone."

[Sylph]

Sylph looked around her at the surronding rubble, the debris, it seemed, of a major wand fight. She had pulled up from her running as soon as Mercury had assumed his current perch. Slowly, she approached the angel he sat upon. There was something significant about this particular monument, almost as if it were a centrepiece, and Sylph reached out a hesitant hand to brush over the name that had been mostly worn away over time. Henrietta Cornelia Helion she read, wondering why on earth that name was familiar to her. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted as Ashlle reappeared from behind the statue. Sylph nodded in agreement at her soft words. This place had been the site for something important, but whatever it was had ended long before they arrived. Still, Mercury now seemed at a loss, so maybe this was the end of the trail. Sylph thought quickly. There didn't seem to be anything here, but her gut told her that this place was vital to their search. She wanted to linger, but knew that doing so might be very risky. Still, Sylph never had beena play-it-safe kind of gal.

"Spread out," she hissed to the others. "Look for clues - anything that might show us where events went from here. We won't stick around here too long if we don't find anything, but there must be something here. Even footprints will do."

[Aednat]

"Spread out. Look for clues - anything that might show us where events went from here. We won't stick around here too long if we don't find anything, but there must be something here. Even footprints will do."

Aednat nodded silently, but first stepped up to the old monument. No, she wasn't trying to waste time, but like Sylph had, she wanted to talk a closer look at the monument. Was it significant? For some reason, Aednat couldn't help feel that it was. Bright blue eyes looked keenly at the stone angel. Angelus Morti. The angel of death. If the statue was significant what was it that made it so? The name engraved on it? The location on the monument? Or the angel itself?

Henrietta Cornelia Helion

A small hand reached out as she looked at the name. Who was Henrietta? She traced the carved letters slowly, etching the name into her memory. A small smile came to her lips as she re-traced the last four letters. L-I-O-N. "Lion," she whispered quietly. Maybe it was a good omen. They were three Gryffindors here this morning...with luck, they'd find the missing lion.

Noting, where Sylph and Ashlle were, Aednat turned from the monument and took a different direction, wand still held ready in her hand. She moved slowly, checking everything that she passed carefully to make sure it bore no signs of another presence or a recent struggle, or anything at all that would help them.

For a while, nothing stood out. Then, taking care as she was of where she trod, something caught her eye. A twig, snapped in two at the centre. Well, that in itself was nothing unusual. It could have been broken by anything or just any visitor to the graveyard, and probably had been. Then again, it could have been caused by one of their quarry. They couldn't afford to overlook anything, so she stopped down to check. Not four foot from the branch, she found something.

Her breath caught. She leaned forward and her blue eyes searched the ground in front of her. There, clearly marked, were sets of footprints. One, possibly Aylen's. Another larger set she didn't recognise. A smaller set. Three in all, at least. There were some more markings in the ground nearby, a patch where it looked as though someone had fallen. Turning back to the footprints, her eyes followed the direction in which they pointed. Even though they disappeared a few feet on, they clearly pointed the way toward back to the angel monument.

Angleus Morti, she whispered, the Angel of Death.

Getting to her feet, she ran lightly to where Sylph was examining something.

"Sylph, there are at least three sets of footprints in that direction," she gestured behind her, still alert but for some reason calm. Maybe the thought that they were in the right place had heartened her even further.
"I didn't examine them thoroughly, I thought I'd let you guys know first. Three sets of eyes are better than one, and all that. They seem to be leading toward the angel monument..."

[Ashlle G. Rainier]

Ashlle frowned and she too began to examine the angel. Could it be possible that it was hollow inside? She began to feel around for a latch or a button that would make it open somehow. She knocked on it to see if it was hollow. However the stone was so hard she couldn't do this for long.

"It seems solid to me, but seems is the key word." she told them and kept searching. They had to find Aylen. She must tell him . . .
tell him what exactly? said a sinister voice inside her. You have never been loved - you don't know what love is.
You said it not me she thought to herself to make the voice shut up. Still what indeed did she wish to say to Alyen? Hadn't she said it all in Charms when she'd told him he made her happy? What more was there to be said? The ball was in his court.
He must live to realize that she thought and nodded to herself. Yes that was the reason she was out here. To make him realize the ball was in his court, and she needed an answer.

[Fenris Fenrir]

"So nice of you to drop in", came a deep voice yet it was impossible to place where it had come from. All of these crypts, mausoleums, and tombs were the perfect environment for any being to remain unseen if they knew how to do such a thing. So it was three children; that was the best that the school had sent to try and figure out what was happening? Pitiful; it appeared that no one took this as a major crisis, but it would surely become one over time if left to fester in the darkness. And once that festering was done; all Hell would break loose, but it would not be here. For there was an escape that was unanticipated; the Lightening Mage had awoken and escaped in the dead of night. So Angelus Morti pursued Windwaltz to a foreign land while Fenrir was ordered to stay behind but a little longer and deal with any that came into this area of the graveyard.

And they had come; the red-headed nurse that fired those blasted, silver bullets into him but they were not enough to bring down the Lord of the Hunt. Such a foolish girl, for the Lord had seen her reaction to Rutherford and if she thought that any part of Rutherford was in Fenrir; she was going to be dissappointed. Then there was the purple-haired witch; she was a newer foe, but a foe none the less now that she had entered the Graveyard. The other girl was one he had never caught scent of; so she was of even less of a concern than the purple-haired girl was.

"I know what you seek and I know that you shall not find it. Hawkins was such a brave, but delusional human; it really is a shame that he was fighting for the wrong side. He fought for those that are weak; those that have no honor and he thought that he could win. The fact that you are here is testimony enough that he has failed, and now those that seek him out shall face failure as well.", came the bass voice once more; only this time closer to the group. "To even get close to the boy; you would have to posess something that I already have and I know you have it not nor can you take it away from me. The fact that you are degenerate humans is enough to make you unable to find him; so instead of him...you shall find me."

A cold wind came from the direction of the Forbidden Forest and with that wind came an ill omen. Shadows began to dance about the Graveyard and fog seeped up from the ground. The wind started to roar about the tombstones; eerie noises came off of them as the wind blew by bent on it's course. And out of the wind, shadows, and fog came something that was much worse; Fenris Fenrir. He slowly materialized out of the maelstrom and stood before the students as a man; the remnants of a Russian uniform dyed black as the night still clung to his skin. The silver motiffs of wolves on the uniform flashed dimmly in the light that broke through the maelstrom, but it hardly mattered; for Fenrir is fear. He is fright; the Wolfmaster is danger, and the Lord of the Hunt; is Death.

His black eyes blazing without any hint of former, humane qualities, Fenris slowly made his way until he was an even distance from every student that entered the Graveyard. Yet there was something different; the lycan didn't wear his broken glasses for there was a newer ornament on him. Around his right hand that was clutched into a fist was an early type of boxing glove favored by the Romans. It was simply several straps of tanned leather that were used to hold a lead bar of the finest quality in place. Only these straps were not made of leather; they were tanned pieces of human skin that were taken from Rezna Lardale as a toll.

"But perhaps you can prove me wrong children; perhaps there is honor still left in the human race after all, though I doubt that you would willingly do as I ask you despite it's equity. You have come here to find Hawkins; to fight if you must and fight you shall, but if you use your wands or man-made weapons against me; you shall be crushed with no regret. Yet if you fight me as Man once fought all in his life; with his bare hands then there is a chance that I shall let you if you prove you are honorable. She that defeats me is free to go, but those that fail stay here.", came the taunting, yet menacing voice of the Wolf.

"Yet a word of caution to you all. Those that dare lift their wands or man-made weaponry doom all that are here to a fate of assimilation; inside of my digestive tract. If you are not afraid, then let us begin this honorable fight."

[Ashlle G. Rainier]

"Oh for pity's sake!" said Ashlle, more annoyed than frightened thought frightened she was. "And I suppose you will not use your super strength or teeth? Come on! How honorable is it to fight with people who are littler than you?" she asked "Not to mention girls! I swear, Mr. Fenrir there is something a bit askew about your sense of honor if you think hitting or eating" she glanced at the glove for she recognized it for what it was, "little girls is ok!"

She had her back to the monument now so nothing could come from behind her. She would have called the wind to force the mist away, except the was afraid Fenris would say that was cheating though the magic came from her hands.

"Listen, we can work this out." she told him. Being a hunter she had noted the Human-less look in his eyes and despite this she thought perhaps she might reason with him. Even a wolf has wants.
"You like to rip things up and eat them? I could buy you as much as you want, I have that kind of money, all we want in Aylen back . . . if we can't strike some kind of a deal that way, than I suppose I could try and fight you. But honestly . . ." and she shook her head at him, her eyes never leaving his. Honer, she thought Honor is nothing if you can't settle it with Gallons or other exchange of goods. Wisely she didn't say or think this aloud.

[Fenris Fenrir]

"Pity?", snarled Fenrir as his face contorted with barely hidden anger, "You humans are the last beings that should tell me about Pity. There was the occasion on which I pitied a human, but all that human did to me was turn her back on me. If you think that it was wrong of me to pity someone that I considered to be a daughter, then you are the one that is flawed here. Hayzie Roberts was the daughter that I never had; the minute that she said nothing when I asked such a small thing of her I knew that she rejected me. I asked her to say that I was her father; she refused. You have no idea the pain that you...you...children have caused me."

Whirling about in a maddened state, Fenrir slammed his right hand into a tombstone marked Benjy Clemington; the lead that was strapped to his hand coupled with his strength shattered a third of the tombstone. Flexing his hand before glaring daggers at Ashlle, Fenrir begin to walk closer to her though he had enough restraint in him from harming her for saying one of the few words that made the civilized turn into the barbarian. Standing right in front of Ashlle, Fenris glared down at her and said in a cruel voice, "You think that there are parts of me that are slightly askew? Well perhaps you need to fit into my shoes Missie. To me; any human is an enemy. Your kind destorys the environment; they kill more than they need to when hunting for food; if you humans are supposed to be rational then why does this continue in your culture?"

"I do not care where you are a girl or a grandmother; you are fair game in my eyes. And you little school brats have been overly apt in defending yourselves, so it doesn't matter if I hit you or the Queen of England herself. But I cannot make my strength just vanish; that I am stuck with", growled the male lycan while backing away from Rainier, "Your going to have to fight me the way that I am and I shall fight you the way you are; no magic whatsoever, yet only a fool would challenge me. Does that make you a fool girl?"

Though what made the lycan laugh was the fact that this girl thought that she could bribe him; tempting his primitive instincts so that he would hopefully be contented with the meat of other animals. Well unfortunatly for them, Fenrir had gone on a diet; an all human diet. Disdain dripping from his words, Fenrir almost cackled, "You think that you could've bribed me girl? Well if we are on that topic; here was what you could buy me. Buy me one hundred humans for me to rip to bits and feast upon; that is more than enough for your Hawkins. But you see; something called emancipation has taken place and I am afraid that humans are no longer sold; so no deal."

"And as I said; I am not fighting just you; it's fisticuffs for the lot of you. But if you want to be the first attemptee; here are the rules. You can use the entire terrain of the Graveyard as the field of play, but the chances of you elluding me for long are slim. You are only strike your oppponent with your fists; reproductive parts are not targets. The same rules apply to me, but I only have one target; to smash that little, china face of yours. So are you ready Dearie, or do you need time to make up your mind because I can assure you; you have all the time in the world."

[Aylen Hawkins]

Sharp eyes watched from the top of the angelic statue, but refrained from making himself known. Though the bird seemed to be not much more than a nuisance until now, the instincts of a shrewd predator resided within him. Merlins were small—they were not much bigger than a foot long. They could not rely on brute force to win their survival; they had to rely on their wits. However, despite their small size, these hawks were very aggressive and territorial; they often chased hawks and gulls much bigger than they were away from their territory. Yes, these hawks could take care of themselves.

Carefully gliding to a better vantage point, he waited for the right moment to strike, as he always did when stalking prey. Approach the prey. Act harmless. Fool the prey. Then strike. Kill. Eat. Survive. Honor had no prevalence in the animal kingdom. Only humans came up with such silly notions.

And then there was poor Fenrir, who could not find peace in either.

[Ashlle G. Rainier]

"You are quite wrong Mr. Fenrir," said Ashlle in a deadly voice, "There is a Muggle slave trade still in existence, though it's reasons for existing are so foul (OOC:and X-rated) that I can not mention them here. And it is very unfortunate for us that I don't deal in that trade, yet -I must say- fortunate for them. I was hoping you ask for something a bit more attainable, but alas, as you say only the meat of the Humans who foul this world will satisfy." Ashlle sniffed and frowned deeply.
"However, if you'd hurt me than you'd take to the grave one of the good Witches of this world." she emphasized witches because she too hated the besmirching Muggles and hated to be taken for one.

"I have never polluted, I use clean magic, I don't litter, I don't buy more than I can eat and my septic system at home is all natural." She assured him. "I buy Pretty things -yes- but I never buy fur or feathers. In the rare occasion I buy hide I buy it from reputable places that used the whole animal, or wait for the animal to expire naturally (like in the case of dragon hide) and if I hear they don't, I stop buying from them." It was clear now that Ashlle was holding back pure rage at being lumped in with Muggles.

"You say humanity is evil and humanity has betrayed this world? Please be my guest and go hunt humanity, for I have not a drop of Human in me! I am Magical, all my forbearers were magical, and I'll never stop being Magical or helping to purify this world and make it as it once was, pristine. If Aylen has committed such crimes, let me take care of him . . . I'm sure I can find someway for the boy to atone."

She was quiet serious. Although -seeing as Aylen didn't know what plastic was- she sincerely doubted whether he had ever lived any less pure a life than herself.

[Sylph]

Sylph could have cursed Ashlle, and it was by remarkable restraint that she did not even send a dark look her way; if Fenris was here now, they all needed each other - any cohesive weakness and they were doomed. Still, Sylph hugely resented Ashlle's magical superiority - they were all human, wizard, witch or muggle. When would people learn that? Sylph herself was half-blood, the perfect example of harmony, and she was willing to fight for people either of her bloodlines.

On the other hand, Ashlle had made a good point. Where was the fairness and honor in a fight between the three of them - with no wands - and a lycan the size, though not the shape, of a small elephant? Sylph's face was set in grim fury, her peridot eyes flashing with such vehnemence that it was shocking not to see the air in front of her spark. Her fists balled instinctively, but she did not release her wand. No, in a battle of brawn and brain, they were better off with brain.

"Fair game?" she growled. While the lycan was in fact terrifying in appearance, Sylph seemed not to notice, so great was her own rage now. It may not have been wise to lose her temper in front of such a foe, but she couldn't help it. "Fair bloody game? Do you enjoy your delusions, Fenrir? You enjoy being no better than a bully, the kind of human you say you in fact detest? Tell me, do you remember your humanity at all, Fenrir? You strike me as the kind of man who used to pull the wings off flies when he was young. And you know what? I used to slap boys like that." Sylph paused, nostrils flaring and eyes still sparking like gas lighters. She took a step forward, towards their enemy, but took care to avoid his reach.

"And you say you are stuck with your strength, well we are stuck with our magic. No man made magicks or weapons you say, well magic is as much a part of us as that as your teeth and claws are of you. You speak of honor, but you have none." Sylph paused again, in a split second replacing her furious scowl with a much more natural dare-devil grin, as if a sudden idea had struck her as funny. Few would look so happy in the face of such danger, but that was Sylph; wry humor never failed her.

"You also mentioned, pity, Mr. Fenrir," she continued, her voice far more controlled, her appearance more relaxed, though her every muscle was tensed for the off. "Well, let me tell you, it was pity that led us here. In fact, pity now stands in front of us... I pity you, Fenrir, for you have not the wit to comprehend the concept anymore. And I pity anything with more fur than intelligence." She was taunting him now, smiling enticingly, daring him to go for her. At least then the others would have time to run and get help - or find Aylen. He couldn't be far away.

"So come on, what d'ya say, wolf-man?" she asked, getting cheekier by the second. "You want to take this little fly on? I dare you try and pull off my wings - but first let's play a game of hide and seek. All I ask is just one piece of magic - I'll send up sparks when we're ready for you to come find us." She took another daring step forwards, smiling infuriatingly. Tilting her head to one side and grinning her devil-may-care grin, she stared him down.

"What d'ya say?"