Raven

Chapter 10 - Mission

Dropping from the third step was becoming a habit, I noticed as I landed at the roots of the old oak. I turned towards the training field, where I could make out the silhouettes of my friends.

It was then that I realised that I'd never seen Ella in costume before, and from what I could make out in the dim light, she had a throw-together outfit like mine. Her hair was tied in two braids that stopped just past her shoulders, a red mask covered most of her face, and her outfit was a simple black dress with red stockings and black boots. She was twirling her mallet like someone might twirl a staff, and practically danced around the area- despite this, her boots never made a sound on the brittle twigs.

Harley wore the same outfit that he had at the factory last week, and was inspecting a pair of dark guns which he holstered in his belt upon my arrival.

"Alright, you two." He said, cracking his signature grin. "In case you don't remember: we get into the area, find what we can regarding the base's exact location, and get back out. We good?"

"Yup." Ella chirped.

"Sí." I echoed.

"Let's do it then." With those final words, Harley jumped down The Slope and rolled at the bottom. Ella and I skidded down directly after, and the three of us took off through the bush. Harley cleared his throat after a few minutes.

"I'll scout ahead. Follow along a little behind." Ella and I nodded assent, and slowed down a little as Harley vanished among the trees.

I was surprised that it had taken this long for the usual unfounded anxieties to surface, and I skidded to a stop after nearly tripping over. That's never good.

"H-hang on a sec."

I trembled a bit as I spoke, leaning against an unfamiliar tree with one hand. I closed my eyes to the world, trying to dispel the dizziness in my head and the pangs of fear in my gut that threatened to make my heart jump into my throat. Not now, I told myself sternly. "Sorry. Just need a minute, this happens occasionally."

"Just be quiet about it, take as long as you need." Ella crouched down beside me. Her bright stockings and pale skin making her visible in the scarce light, and I could just see how watchful she was being, despite her obvious curiosity.
After a few moments, I stood back up and nodded to her. "Ok, let's go."

Ella and I trekked through the bush, minding our steps as much as we could to make as little noise as possible. Despite all my training, I seemed to always be the one to accidently snap a twig or almost fall over. Thankfully, Ella didn't mind all that much and helped me through the area until we caught up with Harley, who was crouched behind a thick shrub. There was a little more light here from the compound over the hill, and I could see my friends' faces as I waited for info.

"So I found out some shit," he murmured to us as Ella and I crouched beside him. "Not sure if-"

There was a flash of black and a catlike hiss, and Ella jumped backwards with her mallet at the ready. Her reflexes are ... quite fast, I realised with a start. There was a wild look in Ella's eyes as she faced the stranger, who had landed lightly and spun to crouch on all four of her limbs. I stayed crouched there for a moment in surprise, but then drew a quill silently as I stood up.

This figure slipped behind a tree, and after a moment of glaring after her, Harley turned back the way we came.

"Right. If she knows we're here, mission is over. We have to go back to base." He sounded tense and irritated.

"She? Oh darling, I have a name and you know it all too well."

We all looked up, to see the figure from before sprawled across a thick branch above our heads. She had spoken in a warm purr, and now that she was still I could make out very dark curly hair fiddled with the wicked claws on the ends of her gloves after sparing Ella and I half a condescending glance. "Your pets might not, though."

"Excuse me?" I blinked, offended once again. "Honey, since you're the one that's dressed as a cat, I'd reconsider your stance on that insult." Harley snorted, and the girl drew herself up on the branch before dropping down to the ground easily.

"Listen here, blackbird. I'm assuming you're new to this, so I won't cut you any slack-!" She leaped back as I threw the quill, and turned around with a snarl as it stuck into a tree behind where she'd been standing. She recovered with an offended huff, curly hair bouncing at her shoulders. "Cats eat little birds like you, you know."

"Good thing I'm Raven then, kitten. So, you going to try and prove that point of yours or what?" Fight me. Do it. A sudden sting in my hand reminded me of my earlier mistake, and I silently promised that I wouldn't make it again. But I still wanted to fight the cat. I drew two of my quills, waiting.

"The natural order will prevail." Cat Girl bared her teeth and leaped at me, and in the second before her claws met my neck, I couldn't help but marvel at how cat-like she really was. Then I flipped out internally and flinched, buying me another split second to turn and semi-deflect the blow to the left side of my shoulder with my injured hand.

I exhaled sharply as the sharp claws tore at my jacket, coming away bloody, but didn't feel anything outside a very slight sting.

"Jeeeesus Christ," I heard faintly from behind me. If I hadn't been so focused on dodging claw after claw and parrying with two of my remaining quills, I probably would have made a smart-ass comment in reply.

Just when I thought I had Cat Girl's style figured out, she spun on one hand and kicked me back with one leg- something I'd only ever seen Harley do before. I stumbled back and landed against the trunk of the tree, winded, but opened my eyes in time to see her running at me again. All I could do was roll out of the way at the last second, which led her to thud against the trunk.

"Harlekella, that's your cue." Harley had jumped back again, and held a knife in his mouth while he loaded one of his pistols. I squinted. Is that my quill?

"Got it!" I heard Ella exclaim, and I snapped back to the current situation. She came running with her mallet, and Cat Girl narrowly avoided a harsh blow to the hands by tearing herself to the right. She stumbled but then stood up leisurely despite her heavy breathing. She stretched her arms above her head, inspected her claws (which had my blood on them, sticky and dark in the dim light), and shrugged, before she made to leave the scene.

"I've done enough damage." She announced coldly, though the incessant purr in her voice was starting to irritate me. "The rest of The Samurai will be ... interested to hear of your new recruit, Acrobolt. Shame you couldn't fight me, though. I did look forward to a challenge, and your pet just didn't deliver." She pouted, winked at Harley, and then casually disappeared into the bush.

A few moments later, I stood up with Ella's help, and Harley handed me my missing quill.

"Don't bother wiping it, I held it in my teeth. Besides, we need to get back to base. I'll brief you guys when we get back." I placed the quill in the pouch, made a mental note to clean them later, and nodded.

"Alright. Also, what the hell is going on with her?" I hoped that the way I spoke made it obvious I had been talking about Cat Girl. Whether or not it did, Harley shrugged and turned back the way we'd come. Ella shot me a look that made me think she wanted to tell me something, and I decided to ask her about it later. No further words were spoken, and we set off back to the treehouse base.