Chapter 17: Gathering Stars

Cattia R. Prepells was currently in the court of King Morpheus and Queen Maeve when a sharp alarm suddenly went off. Dana Withers, who was with Cattia at the time, noticed the ringing and gently kicked her newfound friend until she woke up.

“Your, ahh, neck’s ringing,” she pointed. Cattia groggily opened her eyes and let out a scowl.

“Hm? Wha... ?”

“There’s something on your neck ... ringing...” said Dana again. Cattia yawned, and finally noticed that, sure enough, the device attached to her neck was going off. With a grumble, she flicked it off, and activated what appeared to be a transmitter.

“Looks like my sister’s back,” she muttered--then, speaking into the device, she said, “What?” Dana couldn’t hear what was on the other side, probably because the receiving piece was in Cattia’s ear. Dana would later learn that this device her friend had was actually a connection with Cattia’s ship, the Tatania.

“Good, I’m glad to hear that,” said Cattia again, apparently to the person on the other end. “I’ve been waiting for a long time, Tia. I was starting to worry that you’d never make it ... Excuses, excuses ... Getting held up by the Asteroid Belt Police Force was never a problem for you in the past, Tia ... Look, we can talk about this later. Just make a landing and we can handle everything after that, okay? ... Mmmm, probably ... Uhhh ... I guess ... around the North Asian district ... Yeah, I’m sure. Okay. I’ll see you later. Loveya ... bye...”

“What was that all about?” asked Dana as Cattia flicked off the receiver. The scarred woman stood up, stretched, and dusted the moss off of her clothes.

“That was my sister, Tania Prepells. She’s got the other part of the data I need to complete my mission--I already told you about that, right?”

“Yeah...”

“Good, cuz’ I hate explaining things ... Anyway, I guess we should get moving now. You’ll wanna alert your other friends about this as well.”

“About what?” asked Dana. Cattia gave her an empty but attentive look.

“Listen, just radio everyone and tell them to meet us at the North Asian district of this planet--I guess what that Shift guy would call Russia. I’ll tell you the exact coordinates later--just do as I say, all right?” A pause. Dana cautiously deliberated what she had heard so far, but unless she moved right away, Cattia would accuse Dana of having another lack of trust and would probably attempt suicide again. The blonde woman certainly had a high opinion of honor and trust--so much so that she would stake her life on it--and since Dana had admitted to trusting her one-time enemy, she had to put that trust to the test and thus called her allies.

Both Gregory and Zet had been given radios so they could be alerted about Cattia’s reinforcements, and it only took five minutes for Dana to call both of them. Greg, Sahn, and Jerwon were off in the North American district, hanging out and wasting their lives as guys tended to do, but they were up to moving away and thus scampered towards Russia with top speed. Zet and Diana were also eager to leave their sojourn, for they had had several nasty encounters with the mages that wanted to recapture the demi-human. They were fine for the moment, and since going to Russia and regrouping with the others would be safer than wandering around alone, they eagerly went along.

Neither Cattia nor Dana knew this, but their old acquaintances Dustin Harper and his partner Woolyford were also heading towards the Siberian region. They had had a run-in with one of their former employer’s top assassins, and although they had escaped with their lives, it would seem as if their desire to take revenge on the company that had double-crossed them was too great to bear, and so they were off as well. This only left the two girls and the Eternenenite who was taking care of them.

“Well, that’s all of them,” said Dana as she turned her radio off. “I gave them the coordinates as you said, so we should expect to see them by tomorrow. Is your, uh, friend gonna be there too?”

“She’s my sister,” groaned Cattia as she stretched her tired muscles. “And yeah, she’ll be there, if we don’t get caught first. Heh, but don’t worry, there hasn’t been a hunter skilled enough or a trap elaborate enough to hold me down!” Dana couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s confidence. Cattia wasn’t just saying all that, either--Miss Withers had learned the hard way that the Space Cat was a slippery woman, and not easily taken down. She would probably prove to be a very valuable ally in the future.

“Well, I guess we don’t have anything to worry about,” said Dana. Cattia shrugged.

“No, I guess not.” Both women then turned towards Sayrah, who had a look of sweet sadness to her haunting smile.

“It looks like this is goodbye again, milady,” waved Dana. The tall woman nodded her head.

“Yes ... This is indeed a farewell, but certainly not a permanent one. We shall meet again, Searching Star, and the same goes for you, Swift Star.”

“Hey, I don’t get it,” said Cattia. “Why do you call us stars? Does it have something to do with what you were muttering awhile back?” Sayrah chuckled politely at Cattia’s less-than-eloquent language, but as usual, she refused to be blunt with her friends.

“Perhaps,” she sang. “But it does not matter a great deal just yet. For the moment, just believe me when I say that it really is nothing more than ‘muttering’.”

“Sorry,” smiled Cattia bashfully. “I’m just not used to hangin’ around tall ethereal women with more than six arms.” Sayrah chuckled again in her melodic laughter, and bent down to give both women a gentle embrace.

“The path ahead is a long one, with many a twist and turn. Follow not the horizon before you, for it is never constant. Instead, follow the stars, as they have been watching over you for eons, just as they have watched over thy ancestors and will watch over thy descendents. Be safe, young ones, and always remember to follow your hearts.”

One day later, Cattia and Dana landed outside the city of Moscow in a rental ship. Zet and Diana were already there waiting for them, as were Greg, Sahn, and Jerwon. A short reunion between the adventurers was held, wherein Dana vouched for Cattia’s reliability and even declared her newfound friendship. Those that knew Dana had little choice but to trust Cattia as well, and those that had no interest in the blonde woman just accepted her anyway.

However, all of the happiness was cut short when two familiar characters waded through the tundra. One of them was dressed in a heavy brown cloak with a sword resting at his side, the other was also well-suited with his snowy-white fur. The taller one of the two smiled grimly as he approached the adventurers.

“Oh, great,” grumbled Jerwon. “It’s them again!!” Soon, everyone noticed the duo, and turned around to face them properly. The two newcomers, Dustin and Woolyford, continued to stand there and smile despite the hostility they got from the other side.

“Stand your ground, the lot of you,” said Dustin. “We’re not here for any of you. In fact, if you’ll have us, we’d be glad to help you out again.”

“You’ve gotta be jokin’!” spat Greg. “Need I remind you what happened the last time we met? You two fought us like there was no tomorrow!”

“Indeed, and had we failed, there would be no tomorrow for us!” shouted Dustin. Confusion masked everyone’s faces.

“ ... Huh?”

“You see,” began Dustin as he paced around, “our employer expects perfection out of all his subordinates. He sent us out to capture or kill Cattia Prepells, and as you all know, we failed at this. We gave our boss a report as expected, but we soon found out that our definition of termination and his definition were ... well, two completely different things.

“He sent an assassin after us,” continued Dustin darkly. “We escaped somehow, but now that we’re safe and sound, we would like to take revenge on this most horrible double-cross. Our employer is a very powerful man, as Miss Prepells might’ve figured out, so perhaps it would be wisest for us to join forces in order to take him down.”

“You’ve gotta be outta your--”

“Hold on!” exclaimed Cattia, raising her hand to gain everyone’s attention. She paused just long enough to make sure she had everyone’s ears, then addressed the two that had been to attack her. “ ... Are you saying that you might know a few things about this guy?”

“Not a lot, but probably more than most other people,” sniffed Dustin. Cattia nodded her head and turned to face the others.

“Listen,” she said, “this guy’s right. The man I stole those discs from is extremely powerful, and I know for a fact that he’s not working alone. If we have any hope of stopping him, then we’re gonna need all the help we can get. I say, we join forces for the time being, and if they double-cross us--”

“That will not happen, milady,” said Dustin with a bow. “I guarantee it with my honor.” Cattia paused and inhaled deeply.

“All right. I’ll just have to trust you. But you’ll forgive me if I still act suspicious.”