Katerina wasn't the only one having nightmares the evening before the pirates arrived. For a prolonged period of time – even before coming to the island – Natsumi had been suffering feverish dreams and a lack of restful sleep. She tossed and turned at night, worrying Saya with her cold sweats, all because she was too stubborn to let events proceed naturally. She was trying to fight something she had no power to control, trying to resist the newest mutations that The Handler had imposed. This enduring effort made her weak, especially in the mornings. That was why she wasn't already moving around the camp by the time Katerina left, and also why she didn't notice the approaching danger until it was too late.
She had to force herself awake that morning, the Ice Queen, and moved from the comfort of her blanket to relieve herself outside of camp. She was surprised to see that her guest was already gone, having not heard anything like she normally would have, and equally surprised when she returned from her potty break to find a collection of nine, crudely dressed men standing in the middle her home. Her thoughts immediately jumped to her daughter when she saw them, but, while she was worried, the groggy Natsumi decided to play coy in case Saya had managed to escape in time.
"I do hope you gentlemen have a reason for invading my home without permission, or I'm going to have to ask you to leave." She spoke with a clear, if subdued, tone, smoothing out her frizzy hair from the previous night while doing so. She didn't have time to do anything else, though, not before she spotted a very unwelcome development.
"Stop struggling, kid!" Behind his eight fellows, the man who was speaking had his arms around a wiggling Saya. She was struggling ferociously, and eventually freed her mouth enough from her captor's hand to bite him. Her sharpened teeth sunk into flesh from that act of desperation, drawing a substantial amount of blood as well as a shout. "Ow! You little witch!"
Of all the things that could have happened in that heated moment, few were more detrimental to the men present than attempting to kidnap Natsumi's daughter in front of her. Yet the one who had his hands on Saya found one of those few things when he struck the small girl on the head as punishment for her resistance. His fist came down on Saya's skull, causing her to yelp as a trickle of blood ran down her forehead. She went limp after that, as did her assaulter when Natsumi retaliated in merciless vengeance.
Barely even five seconds after the man had punched her daughter had Natsumi impaled him through the throat with her cat claws. The movement was a fluid mixture of teleportation and item summoning, combined for the purposes of a fatal conclusion. That pirate never stood a chance, especially not since he thought Natsumi was too far away to pose a threat.
"We got a live one!" exclaimed one of the men that were now behind her after he realized what had happened. His comrade was next to speak, but with a far calmer attitude than he had displayed.
"Listen, little Miss. Why don't we just make this easy on everyone, and have you come along quietly. You do that, and we won't beat you in addition to having you pleasure us." Natsumi was barely even listening to the foul creature's, arrogant posturing while it was occurring, instead choosing to forcibly remove her claws from her latest murder victim and kneel over Saya. Her immediate examination revealed that the girl had been wounded and stunned, but was not unconscious. She was absolutely thankful for that; but, even with welcome news, the mere site of her injured daughter sent the Ice Queen into an inconsolable rage.
"Counter offer," she seethed while turning around to face the eight remaining members. "You run, and I hunt you down like the slugs you are."
"Hah. Now that's not much of an offer from someone who is outnumbered eight to one."
"I wasn't negotiating!" Natsumi shouted as she punched the ground between her and the scoffing slaver, setting off a sizeable explosion that shook the entire camp. The remains of the campfire from last night were toppled, along with the scum that had invaded her sanctuary. Then, as the men tried to get to their feet, the Explosive Fist leapt into action.
With the speed of a cheetah and the strength of a gorilla, Natsumi laid into the invaders. She began her assault by cart-wheeling toward the nearest member and smashing his head against the rocks with a heel drop. The man nearest him tried to prevent the death of his shipmate, but only to find himself impaled through the heart and flung across the camp like a bludgeon. Six members remained now, with Rauru diving down to reduce it to five.
While they don't typically prey on fully grown humans, harpy eagles are particularly deadly with their claws. Rauru had grown accustomed to utilizing this fact for hit and run attacks; and was able to pierce the back of one of the men's skulls in a well timed dive-bomb. He flew out of reach afterward, distracting the remaining seamen long enough for Natsumi to close in.
"You think you can make a fool of me," the next dead man asked while bringing out his sword to block the druid's claws?! Her foot that came up against his ribs following that remark – along with the explosion spell that tore him in half on impact – was her way of saying, "Yes." He died before he could react any further, but, unlike the others, Natsumi didn't stop with just his death. She capitalized upon her kill, animating the slain man's sword and commanding it to fight two of the last four warriors. This left only the confident man and his second in command for her to deal with, both of which seemed fully ready for the coming assault.
"I know you," that scum leader said as he maintained a defensive stance with blades in both hands. "There's an obscure rumor among pirates that frequent the ocean, especially slavers, of a woman as white as the snow wielding a very deadly form of hand to hand. She's been a thorn in the side of our rivals, but we've never had the privilege of meeting her in person." He spoke calmly, considering the circumstances, and maintained his posture even as another of his men fell. Natsumi's animated sword had just beheaded its first victim, and was distracting the second long enough for Rauru to make another run. There were only two pirates left once he did, and both were being faced down by a teenage woman soaked from head to toe in the blood of others.
"And yet you still thought it wise to go after my daughter," the crimson assassin muttered while standing still; a response that elicited a chuckle from the two survivors.
"Not like we knew she was yours," the leader said. "She's very unique and would catch a pretty price from some nobleman looking for a daughter or, more likely, a pet. You, on the other hand, are worth several times more than she-." He was unable to finish before Natsumi's rage erupted once more. She charged at her opponents head on, leading them to believe that she was going to commit a frontal assault. They prepared for such an occasion, only to be surprised she stopped mid-stride and grabbed an unassuming mug from a nearby stone.
"This is why I hate the kind I came from," the Ice Queen said angrily while tossing a potent smelling liquid from that container. Highly purified liquor poured from its mouth in endless proportions, coating the two pirates and causing their eyes to burn. "Humans are so ready to take whatever they want so long as it means progress, never showing respect or remorse toward the lives they ruin in the process!" She stopped throwing the alcohol, and summoned a fireball in her one, free palm. "Screw you and your damnable progress! You can burn with it!"
"What are you doing," the leader and his subordinate shouted as they tried desperately to see what was going on?! They recognized the smell of alcohol coating them, but did not suspect how far Natsumi was willing to go to end them. They would soon learn the depths of her conviction when she released the fireball and ignited liquor.
The screams of those final two victims echoed out into the forest as they burned alive, but, rather than showing pity, Natsumi simply turned her back on them. She returned to her daughter's side in concern, not really caring how much of a mess her camp and she was now. Both entities were covered in blood, bits of flesh, and soot; but, unfortunately for the young woman, she was worse off. She had only just made it next to Saya where her vision grew unbearably hazy.
"Damn it," she gasped weakly as her legs gave out on her, "Not now." She had overexerted herself, and could no longer even walk. Her body was already flat on the ground and barely conscious by the time Katerina returned. It would look like she was dead with the amount of blood on her, but Natsumi was at least able to eke out a response to the wolf-demon before she started screaming uncontrollably. "I noticed."
Saya finally snapped out of her daze when she heard her mother's cries. She crawled to the writhing woman's side and tried to comfort her even as the stench of death instilled fear.
"Natsumi," she cried, "Stop fighting it! I don't like seeing you in pain!" The little girl was referring to the curse, of course, for she had known all along that her adoptive mother had been fighting her transformations. Natsumi was, obviously, surprised by this revelation, but was too preoccupied by the sensation of her bones melting to really vocalize her emotion. Instead, she simply grit her teeth, and granted her Saya's wish.
In a spray of her own blood, wings erupted from Natsumi's back. They rapidly grew feathers, taking shape as her human ears finally disappeared. The pain from these avian appendages would only subside when her entire body had been transformed to be airborne, and, by that point in time, Natsumi was barely able to talk.
"You probably figured this out by now, Katerina," the druid panted as her torn clothes repaired themselves by magical filaments. "But neither Saya nor I are normal people anymore. We were human, once; and it is only by the power of the curse that afflicts us both that we have been so heavily changed. My pain is because I tried to fight a hopeless battle against an entity that not even the conclave can control; and by doing so, I put my daughter in danger." Turning to Saya, Natsumi was obviously bleary eyed as she reached up to pat the little girl's head where he had been hit. "I'm so sorry, Saya. I promised I'd protect you when I took you in, and I let me own pride get in the way of that."
