Unholy War XXII: With just an ounce of faith......

[Faith Augustin]

1st Ymiden, 719

Unholy War
From the start of life
To my dying day
In the dark of night
And the burning light of day
It's a Bloody Fight
]But I can't walk away
I'm prime, for the front line
Unholy war. Unholy War.
I'll try. I'll fight until I die
It's an unholy war
We'll fight, cos we ain't on the same side
~~
When I'm all alone... unholy
With your thoughts of pain....
I can break on through
With just an ounce of faith

"OH! Oh, you got me!" Faith cried out as she fell to the floor in a heap. Madison and Noah both let out giggles at that and, as Faith landed next to them dramatically being pulled down by them, she laid still as they began to clamber over her. It was only when they were more than half on her that she let out a low grumbling noise. "Oh... no... I've become a... a...." Madison started to squeal with pre-emptive delight and Noah giggled as Faith's hands moved quickly and began to make the truth of her words, ".. a TICKLE MONSTER!"

At the squeals of laughter from her children, Faith felt emotion overwhelming her and she wrapped her arms around them, showering them in kisses. "Mama loves you both, very much. You know that don't you?" Katie - her grandmother-in-law, was in the room and she knelt down next to Faith, stroking first Noah, then Madison's hair as she did.

"Are you alright, Faith?"

Faith looked at Katie and first nodded, then shook her head. "I need them to be safe, Katie. I need to know they are, without a doubt, safe." Kissing both children on their foreheads, Faith's hair fell down and covered her face. While Madison pulled it apart to play 'peekaboo', Noah lifted his hand to Faith's cheek.

"Sad. Mama."

Faith smiled at her son and shook her head. "No, darling. Mama is very happy. And loves you two little pumpkins with all of me."

As Faith spoke, the two Velduris wolf puppies appeared next to the twins and, she had to admit, she always felt better when they were there. The puppies moves and snuggled into the children but then, through the door, walked another wolf. And this one? This one was very, very far from being a puppy.

"Well, that's a big dog," Katie said, her hand moving, but Faith raised her own hand, glancing at the former mercenary that she and Padraig had dubbed the "Glitter Monster".

"Not a dog, Katie. Wolf. Velduris wolf, if I've ever seen one." And she had. More than one. Here was one, and another, and two more behind them. The children looked and giggled, but Faith noticed that their puppies stayed very close to them. The four, frankly enormous, new wolves walked in and the first one to enter was, quite obviously, the one in charge. The Alpha, she supposed. She - and Faith was quite sure that it was a female wolf - lifted her head and looked at Faith with eyes which brimmed with intelligence.

But they moved no further forward. Faith, for her part, met the Alpha's gaze and she used the Famula-granted ability 'Know the Master' - she concentrated on the wolf, checking that it was just who it seemed to be. It looked back at her and Faith was in no doubt that this creature - all of them, in fact, were of and with Karem. She sighed, slightly. "Kura said she'd ask," she said, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes, but holding them in. This was right and for the good of the children, it just was not something she relished. The idea of her children being elsewhere. "You're going to take them?" The large wolf lowered her head and Faith breathed in.

"Alright. I need to... I need to tell you things, and let you know. I know it probably won't matter, but I need to for me."

There was no doubting the intelligence in the large she-Wolf's eyes. As Starr, the black pup with silver eyes - Noah's companion - moved and sat, unceremoniously in Faith's lap, Katie looked at the young woman and she sighed. "Well, I'll go and get their things packed, shall I?" Faith nodded her head. "Shall I tell Padraig?" Katie asked and Faith shook her head, smiling a soft and melancholy smile.

"He knows."

Katie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course he did.

[Faith Augustin]

And so, Katie went upstairs to start packing and Faith sat, calmly and earnestly speaking to an enormous wolf. She was in no doubt that the wolf understood her, so Faith explained the children's routine, their likes and dislikes. Favourite toys, songs, games. Each thing that they did, that they were used to; Faith went through each of them. In fairness to her, the enormous she-wolf sat and seemed to listen - head tilted to the side and a low whine now and then as though to affirm that she had heard Faith's words.

As Faith gave her directions, she had both twins on her lap, holding them close. As though they understood - and Faith believed that they did to the extent that they could - they stayed still and held on to her, too. This would normally be a very unusual circumstance. The pair of them were more likely to allow hugs for a few moments, and then would be off to more interesting things. But they sensed, Faith thought, that she needed to hold them right now. Noah lifted his arm and put it on her cheek, his small face smiling up at her and Faith leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Then, as Katie came in with bags, Faith smiled down at the children.

"You two, you're going to spend some time with Karem. Yes, that's what you're going to do. Now Karem, is a very important person," there was almost an air of disapproval from the she-wolf, Faith lifted her head to glance at her and she smiled. "Not because she's an Immortal, but because she's family. Family beats all of everything and, so, you will be very safe, and very happy," and if anyone tried to harm these children, they would end up very dead because, Faith thought, Karem felt quite the same about family as she did.

"So you two are going to behave yourself, or I'll hear about it," she said, tickling them both. She might well hear about it, but Faith would do very little about it - she was about as far from a disciplinarian as it was possible to be, simply knowing that she adored her children and wanting them to know the same. "You'll be safe, and you'll be happy, and you just remember how much Da and I love you. Tell them, please? Please?" The young woman who was general of an army over half a million strong, who had worked tirelessly to abolish slavery and who, without doubt, was a medic of beyond the highest calibre lifted her head and looked at the she-wolf and, in that moment, she looked like the twenty-arc old girl she was.

"It's time, I know," the wolf whimpered, as though in empathy and Faith nodded. "The pups will take care of you, my darlings. Mama loves you. So, so much." Looking up at Katie, Faith was not ashamed of the tears in her eyes. With a final kiss to both of them, she put them down and watched as her son and daughter teetered over to the massive she-wolf and then, they all simply vanished. Katie put her hand on Faith's arm - Faith smiled at her. "It is for the best, without doubt. We just must have faith."

[Pig Boy]

The children were guided safely to Karem's realm, beyond the veil. The she-wolf lapped at the necks and ears of the pups, as if in mimic to Faith's affection and play with her children. When the time came for them to finally leave, the she-wolf gave a knowing glance to Faith, as if she understood perfectly well what it meant to send her children away. Then, the group were off, spiraling into Karem's Realm, such as it was.

And so, Faith was more alone than before, as alone as one backed by an army of so many could feel at a moment. The night following, she would note a strangely colored rose growing from the rose bush in her garden. Unlike the others on the bush, it was growing in the colors of, of all things, House Venora.

Faith's dreamless sleep, for whenever she could manage a moment of rest, would be occupied by thoughts that echoed the voices of her children, and one other child, perhaps unknown to her.

!	Message from: Pig Boy
	Faith's children have been delivered safely to Karem's realm, and will be able to be recalled when the War is over. In the moonlight of Ymiden, one of the roses in her garden reflects the colors of House Venora.

Faith

Points

10/10 these points may not be used for magic.

Knowledge

Caregiving: Letting your children out of the nest to protect them.
Caregiving: Playing with your children to assure them that everything is normal.
Caregiving: Wrangling your children for a big move.
Detection: The sound of a wolf whimpering
Disciplline: Doing the hard thing when it's the right thing.
Psychology: Seeing the pain of separation reflected in the eyes of another.

Loot/losses

Children going on vacay with auntie Karem.

Wealth

-

Renown

15 It's a pretty big deal that your children are becoming wards of Karem.

Comments: This was a nice, and at turns sad thread. It's never easy to let your little ones go into the unknown, but Faith is brave enough and wise to see that their current accommodations aren't safe.

Very well written.