Author's Notes: This is my first fan fiction. Reviews will be greatly appreciated.
Familiar Confrontations
Wunstorf Air Base, Karlsland
19:00 Hours
It was late in the evening. Dark clouds formed over Wunstorf Air Base and the wind started to pick up. Flight Lieutenant Heinrike Prinzessin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein pulled on a pair of black pants and buttoned up her jacket and made her way to the hangar. The night witch was greeted by the wolf, Wing Commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke, once she entered the hangar.
"Are you seriously going back up there?" were the first words that came out of Minna's mouth.
Heinrike continued walking and Minna matched her pace.
"I don't see what the problem is," Heinrike said as she stuck an earpiece into her ear.
Minna grabbed Heinrike's arm tightly forcefully stopping the night witch in her tracks.
"You know damn well what the problem is," Minna said sternly.
Heinrike jerked her arm away from her auburn haired superior.
"Well, I guess I'll go and fix it!" she countered and she whipped around and headed for her plane.
Her BF 110 D still had the obvious scars of bullet holes from the last time she went out on a night patrol. Everything went very wrong then. Heinrike hopped into her BF 110 D and a man with a camera jumped into the rear gunner's seat.
"We can't risk losing any more witches!" Minna shouted but her words were drowned out by the 110's twin engines.
Heinrike pushed the throttles forward and taxied to the runway. Minna put her arm up in front of her face to block it from the harsh propwash. The witch sighed in frustration but noticed spots of red on the floor. She ran her shoe over it and it broke up into tiny red fragments. It was dried blood.
In the tower, the air traffic controller saw Heinrike move onto the runway.
"Black Cat, you don't have a scheduled night patrol for today, over."
"Scheduled or not I am going up now," Heinrike said.
While the controller tried to get Heinrike to stand down, Air Commodore Adolfine Galland looked at the plane through the scope that hung from her neck.
"Adler, give me the radio," she ordered. "Wittgenstein, do you really want to fly at this moment?" she queried after receiving the radio.
"Yes. I do…ma'am," Heinrike answered with a hint of dread in her voice.
"Okay. Then let me give you some orders for this flight. One: You are to do reconnaissance and only reconnaissance. Two: You are to be back at base by twenty-four hundred hours. Three: If you spot any Orussian aircraft, do not engage and call for immediate backup. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it," Heinrike replied.
Adolfine handed back the radio. "Black Cat, you are cleared for t-." Before he could finish his sentence, Heinrike punched the throttle forward and took off down the runway. The controller put his hand on his face and let out a sigh and Adolfine shook her head disapprovingly then headed out of the tower.
The raven haired witch walked past the witches rooms on her way to the dining hall. Rudel's room door was closed and so was Heidemarie's. But when she reached Erica's room, there was a loud crash. Adolfine didn't bother to open it and check since it was probably a mountain of Erica's garbage falling down another mountain of junk. A few doors down and she reached Captain Hanna Marseille's room and the door was left wide open. Adolfine looked inside and it was a complete mess for Hanna's standards.
Her clothes, which were covered in dirt, along with mud trailed from the door to the bed. The bed sheet was on the floor and the door and some drawers of her dresser were open. There was also what appeared to be a fully loaded rifle that resembled a Sturmgewehr on the floor. If the weapon's layout made any sense then the safety was also off. There was a knock on the door and Adolfine turned around and saw Hanna Rudel standing in the door way.
"Excuse me, Adolfine. Wilcke would like to see you," Rudel informed.
"What for?"
The scarred witch shrugged and picked up the rifle from the floor. She took the magazine out and pulled the charging handle back, ejecting a fresh round. She slung the rifle over her shoulder and headed out the door.
"Where are you going with that?" Adolfine queried.
"Out to the gun range."
"Where would I find Wilcke?"
"She said to meet her at the infirmary." Rudel said.
Minna stood at by the door inside the infirmary. The now 24 year old witch had her left arm across her body and her right hand over her mouth. The room was quiet except for the monotonous beeps of the heart beat monitor. She had a sad expression on her face as she looked at the only occupied hospital bed a few beds from her. The bed was along the wall where the was with the headrest against the wall.
"You wanted to see me Wilcke?" Adolfine asked.
"Yes. Yes I do," Minna said as she went out of the room to talk to the head of the witch corps. "I need you to get a witch with healing magic here now." She pointed to the ground for emphasis.
"You know how to use the radio," Adolfine said. "Why can't you do it?"
"You're the superior of all the witches in the military. They will take you more seriously. They will actually listen to you…" Minna lowered her head in defeat. "…instead of someone like me, a Wing Commander begging for help."
Adolfine stood with her arms crossed, wondering if she should give in Minna's plea. Minna grabbed Adolfine's arms and asked, "You care about the witches' well being, right?" Minna was tearing up even though none were shed.
"Yes, I do."
"Then please, do it for Hanna."
Adolfine pushed Minna away from her.
"Marseille? Why would I call for help for her? She was on her feet the last time I saw her," Adolfine said, raising her voice.
Minna grabbed her superior's arm and pulled her into the room. "Look," Minna simply said. Adolfine moved her eyes to the only occupied bed. Hanna Marseille sat in a chair on the left side of the patient's bed. The patient was a blonde woman in her early twenties and she had black cat ears and tail out. She lay in the bed unconscious with her untied hair spread out on the bed. Hanna held the witch's hand in both of her own hands. Hanna's once sparkling and lively blue eyes are now dull and empty. Even with her strong build, she looked weak and frail as if the smallest whisper can blow her away. Suddenly, the heart beat monitor started to beep faster. Hanna's head shot up in alarm.
"Doc!" she screamed in desperation.
A man in a white coat rushed over to her and quickly checked the bed ridden witch's pulse.
"Her blood pressure's dropping," the doctor reported. "Adam! Get the defibrillator!"
Another man in a white coat brought a metal box about the size of two decently sized hardcover books stacked on top of each other along with two wires connected to two paddles.
"Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to stand back," a nurse said as the doctors set up.
"I'm not going anywhere," Hanna said.
"Please ma'am, you have to-"
"NO! I am staying with her!" Hanna shouted.
Adolfine watched in amazement. She couldn't believe that Hanna would actually care for someone other than herself. Adam released the first charge into the witch. There was no response.
"Increase the voltage," he told the other doctor. After the defibrillator charged, he shocked her again. After a few seconds of pause, the monitor started beeping faster.
"No, no, no, no…" Adam said. "Increase the voltage."
"Come on Ev. Stay with us," Hanna begged.
The beeping from the monitor became even faster. Adam sent the electric current through the witch once more but to no avail.
"She's nearly flat-lining," he said and ordered the current to be set at maximum output.
"No, No, NO!" Hanna screamed "Evelyn, stay with us! You've cheated death many times to make it this far." The heart beat monitor closed the gaps between each beep until Evelyn was a hair width away from being taken from this earth. "Evelyn! Come on! Don't leave! Don't leave your loved one! Don't leave me!"
The doctor shocked Evelyn and her body jerked slightly as the powerful electric current coursed through her body. After a few painfully long moments, the beeps slowed down until her heart was back to a healthier state. Hanna, still holding Evelyn's hand, collapsed onto the bed crying with relief.
"Do you see know?" Minna asked her superior.
"Yes, for Meyer anyway. But still; why does it concern Marseille besides the emotional attachment?" Adolfine asked.
"Hanna was poorly fed for the five days, if at all, when she was taken prisoner. She hasn't eaten anything for the two days she's been back. She won't even touch a glass of milk. She is starving herself to death."
"Okay. But she still seems self centered. She wants Meyer by the looks of it." Adolfine stated.
"Stop being so stubborn. Hanna isn't thinking for herself. And besides…" Minna dropped something into Adolfine's hand. "Evelyn's married." With that, Minna headed to the radio room.
Adpofine looked at Evelyn's golden wedding band that was in the palm of her hand. She pondered for a moment then tossed the ring into the air and caught it as it came back down and headed to the radio room. Unbeknownst to anybody, a black cat with a long tail sat on the window sill outside of the infirmary and trained its emerald green eyes on Evelyn.
The feline stared at the hospitalized witch, dropping into a crouch when one of the doctors passed the window. The lights was turned off and a few night lights were on. It slowly moved its head back and forth, checking to see if everyone had left. Once it saw that the coast was clear, the window slid up, without the cat or anyone touching it, giving the cat just enough room to crawl into the room. The window closed behind it as it hopped down onto a hospital bed and made its way to the unconscious witch. Nimbly jumping next to Evelyn without making a sound, it stood over her and looked down with wide and concerned eyes.
Evelyn opened her eyes and saw the pair of green eyes looking at her. She opened her mouth and asked weakly, "Arya. Why did you leave me to die?"
In the radio room, Adolfine tried to contact tried to contact the 504th but was unsuccessful. She resorted to using the phone to try to contact them.
504th Base, Romagna
19:30 Hours
A loud metallic rattling echoed through the halls of the base. Three men pushed a gurney with a victim to the infirmary as fast and carefully as they could.
"Where do you want this one?" one of the men asked when they entered the infirmary.
Fernandia Malvezzi answered without looking at them. "Another attack? Take him all the way down to the spot on the right."
Fernandia had her jacket off and had the sleeves of her red shirt rolled up passed her elbows. She had white latex gloves on that were stained red as she bandaged a man's bleeding leg. As the gurney passed Luciana Mazzei she recognized the victim and shouted to Fernandia.
"Officer Fer, it's Angela."
Fernandia looked up and started to head to the Hispanian witch after ordering a nurse to finish bandaging the man. Angela was in a bad condition but alive. There was a gash on the left side of her head which made her left cheek and temple red. She had stab wound on her left arm and dislocated right shoulder. Fernandia told Martina Crespi to get some more bandages and meet her by Angela.
"You look terrible," she commented to the injured witch.
"You should have seen the other guy," Angela said with a grin.
Fernandia sighed and wished her healing magic was as strong as Yoshika Miyafugi's; so many wounded and so little time as she looked around the infirmary. When Martina arrived with the bandages Fernandia instructed her to bandage the witch's head wound. Then the phone started to ring.
"Can someone get the phone?" somebody shouted. "Malvezzi, can you get the phone?"
"I can't. I'm busy," she shouted back.
"Quiet down if you please," Federica N. Doglio requested as she picked up the phone with a bandaged hand. "Hello? Oh. Hi Adolfine."
"Federica, I have a favor to ask. Can you send Malvezzi to Wunstorf? I have a seriously injured witch and another who won't leave her side until she wakes up."
"Uh…" The Romagnan witch pondered as she looked around the hospital full of injuries. "I'm very sorry. I don't think it's possible. She is needed here."
"Is there any possible chance at all?" the Karlslander asked.
Federica stiffened when she heard a crack followed by a painful scream from Angela when her shoulder was relocated.
"Err… Never mind. I heard that." Adolfine said.
"Sorry I couldn't be of help," Federica apologized.
"It's okay. Take care of yourself."
"You too."
Wunstorf Air Base, Karlsland
Adolfine hung up and looked at Minna.
"It's no good. Do you want me to try and see if Miyafugi could come? It would take her a while to get here," Adolfine said.
Minna nodded and she tried to raise Fumika Kitagou but her call was transferred to a hospital. That can't be good, Adolfine thought.
Fuso, 15 kilometers west of Hiroshima
Fumika waved good bye and walked out of the room Tetsuko Wakamoto was in. The younger witch was getting better ever since her exposure to radiation after the incident in Hiroshima. Fumika was going to meet up with Junko who was visiting someone in the same hospital. She was about to head into an elevator when an announcement came over the P.A.
"Kitagou Fumika. Please come to an information desk. Kitagou Fumika. Please come to an information desk."
The Fusoan witch walked out of the elevator before the doors closed and walked to the closest information desk.
"I was called here. My name is Kitagou Fumika," she told the receptionist.
The receptionist picked up the phone and handed it to the witch after pressing a button.
"This is Squadron Leader Fumika Kitagou. Hello Adolfine. How's it going?"
"Not too well actually," the Air Commodore admitted then told Fumika about Minna's request.
"I'd love to help but no can do. Pilot Officer Miyafugi is extremely ill after receiving prolonged exposure to radiation when she headed into Hiroshima without the magic help from her familiar," Fumika said. "What happened? There was an... um... 'incident' in Hiroshima."
"Not that. Where was Miyafugi's familiar?" Adolfine asked.
"That's something Junko would know. She seems to kno…WAHHH?!" Fumika was interrupted when she let out a surprised yelp.
"Fumika? Fumika, what's wrong?"
"There's something in my jacket!" the Fusoan stammered in a high pitched voice.
She felt a down word swipe of a hand on her back and whatever was in her jacket fell out.
"There you are you little trouble maker," Junko said as she picked up something and displayed her arms as if she was holding a puppy. "Just because I don't allow you to jump into my uniform doesn't mean you can jump into others'."
"Uh, Junko? Who are you talking to?" Fumika asked holding her hand over the speaker.
"Yoshika's familiar; Kuji Kanesada," Junko explained and Fumika turned her attention back to the phone. Adolfine asked if she was okay.
"Yeah, I am. Anyway, I'm sorry that the Pilot Officer can't go to help," Fumika apologized.
"It's okay. Well, have a good one," Adolfine said.
"You too…Wait!"
"What is it?"
"Can you can keep an eye out?" Fumika asked. "One of our witches went AWOL."
"Sure, who is it?" the Karlslander asked.
"I believe you met her back in 1937. She asked you to teach her how to use the Magic Eye."
Adolfine stayed quiet when it dawned on her who this witch was. Adolfine gave a farewell to the Fumika who kindly returned the favor then put the phone back onto its cradle.
Wunstorf Air Base, Karlsland
20:30 Hours
The raven haired witch looked up at Minna and shook her head. Minna slammed her fists down onto the table and cursed. The dark red headed witch the then thought of one last solution although it was risky because of the current relationship between the two countries.
"What about-" Minna began.
"I am not going to call Orussia and ask Novikova to come and help," Adolfine interrupted. "It is far too risky with the current situation."
"No one will pick up even if you tried," said an empty voice.
Both of the witches looked up and saw Hanna leaning against the door frame, looking down at her Knight's Cross medal she had in her hands. Hanna looked dreadful as if she had a hangover although she did not have any alcohol recently.
"She's dead. Evelyn killed her," Hanna said without looking up.
"I thought Tatyana was her friend," Minna said.
"She was," Hanna said. "Until Tatyana tried to kill her. She seemed like such a sweet girl from what Evelyn told me."
The sounds of an aircraft approached and Minna took off towards the hangar leaving the other two aces in silence. Hanna was the first to move and tossed her medal to Adolfine who caught it.
"Give that to Evelyn," she said simply.
"But, this is yours," Adolfine stammered.
"Yours, mine, I don't care. Just make sure she gets one." Hanna turned around to head out but said one last thing. "I encourage you to look at Evelyn's file. You'll see why she deserves that medal just as much as I do." With that Der Stern von Afrika vanished from Adolfine's sight.
Hangar
20:45 Hours
Rain hammered down by the time Minna reached the hangar. She saw Heinrike next to her BF 110 arguing with her back seat gunner who had the camera in his hands. She shouted something at him that Minna couldn't make out then snatched the camera from his hand and stormed towards Minna.
"What are you doing back so early?" Minna asked. "Galland told you to be back by midnight and it's not even nine."
The night witch stopped in front of Minna and shoved the camera into her chest. Heinrike was looking down not showing her face.
"G-G-Get these pictures developed," the noble said. Her shoulders started to tremble and Minna could tell that she was in distress.
"Heinrike, what's wrong?" Minna put her hand underneath the witch's chin and lifted her head up. What she saw caught her by surprise. Tears were streaming down Heinrike's cheeks and she covered her mouth before she could let out a cry. All Minna could do was watch as Heinrike walked to her room on quivering legs. Minna stood frozen for a few minutes trying to figure out what happened and when she started to head back into the base, she heard a single wolf howl somewhere out in the rain.
Minna walked along the dim hallway that had doors on her right and large windows on her left. She had given the camera to the technical staff. Besides wondering what could have put the Princess in such a mental state, she couldn't shake off and uneasy feeling. As she passed another large window, something outside moved from the shadows and matched the witch step by step. Minna's ear twitched nervously and quickly turned her head to see who was outside the window. There was nobody there. She looked back forward and nearly jumped out of her skin. In front of her stood a grey wolf that stared intently her. A flash of lightning illuminated the hall and the wolf disappeared. Breathing a heavy sigh of annoyance Minna made her way to the roof. On the roof, Minna stood in the rain. The wolf stood a little ways away, giving Minna the same stare it had done before.
"What do you want Lupo?" Minna confronted her familiar. "Now is not a good time."
Living Quarters
22:00 Hours
The barracks were quiet and dark aside from the pattering of rain on the windows and the occasional thunder clap. In Minna's room, Chris Barkhorn was curled up in a corner holding a picture of herself and Trude. The last time Chris saw her sister was when a building collapsed in between them while they were running away from an air assault. All she could do was pray that her sister was still alive. Heinrike had collapsed onto her bed still wearing her uniform. The horror she had seen that made her return to base early was too much for her. The normally childish witch had cried herself to sleep and she still let out whimpers. The only other witch that was in her own room was Hanna. She sat on a soft chair staring at nothing in particular in her dark room. She then pricked her ears as she heard someone call out to her even though the only sound was the rain pattering against the glass. Hanna shut her eyes, covered her ears, and clenched her teeth with anger as she tried to block out the incoming voice. Finally, she snapped.
"What do you want?!" she shouted. There was no response. "Huh. You're angry with me?" Hanna scoffed. "I should be the one angry with you." Whoever she was speaking to, only she could hear its voice. There was a pause in Hanna's speech whenever that unheard voice spoke.
"I already apologized for that accident," Hanna said.
"Again, I am very sorry that your mother died."
"I'm not the only one to blame. You can blame striker engineers who made the BF 109 G-0."
"Well your grudge nearly got us both killed last week."
"You didn't come to me when I needed you most."
"Yeah I survived. I was nearly raped and killed because of your grudge."
A Steller's Sea Eagle landed window sill. Hanna stared at her familiar with anger burning deep in her eyes. She stood up without taking her eyes off the eagle and walked towards the window until the only thing separating the two was the glass. A streak of lightning lit up the sky and neither of them flinched.
"If you don't trust me, you are welcome to take away my magic and go off to find another witch."