A familiar-looking Banshee, her face hooded, a gossamer of silver fire wreathed around her. Her head was low and eyes closed, as if mourning.
"Órfhlaith!" Elena cried, running to the ghostly old woman. "What are you doing here?"
"I have come to wish you well, my dear," replied Órfhlaith warmly. "You and all your friends."
"Banshee?" Alaric breathed, wide-eyed.
He had never laid eyes on one, but he had heard stories. Powerful, intangible, immortal. Their scream signalled death and they couldn't be touched by mortal weaponry, and the one rule impressed upon every hunter, vampire or otherwise, was to keep one's eyes averted at all times.
"Do not look me in the eyes, young mortal," she laughed well naturedly. "But yes, that is what I am. I will not scream. Not for you, at least." The laughter faded. Her lips turned down into a frown, and she let her gaze rest upon Elena momentarily. "There is something I need to talk to you about. But that can wait for a while. I was asked to come here and keep an eye on the battle."
"And what's she doing here?" Damon snarled at Katherine, baring his ivory fangs at the vampire.
Katherine sighed snootily. "Come on, Damon. Does that really need answering? I'm here to help you get rid of Klaus."
Only for your own gain, thought Elena. Katherine only cared for herself. If she was with them to get rid of the werewolf, it was solely so she could stop running. So she could live the rest of her eternal, undead life without having to deal with hunters.
Alaric stood with a crossbow trained on the vampire. Several other hunters lifted their weapons upon Alaric's sudden tension. "Don't make me laugh. You're only here to help yourself."
Órfhlaith drifted forward and pressed the barrel of Alaric's crossbow down. His gaze snapped to her, affronted. "You have the same goal," rasped the Banshee carefully. "Granted you might not accept her words, but it's not the point. She's here to rid the world of that walking plague. Unless it is to harm another soul, it shouldn't matter what her reason is. That should be enough of a reason for you to accept her aid. Now is not the time for fighting amongst our allies or for turning away another warrior."
Elena frowned deeply. She didn't like this any more than anyone else did. Katherine spelled trouble, she knew that for a fact. Looking over her shoulder, she could see that Elijah's eyes burned with apprehension. He was anxious about this new turn when it was so close to the eclipse. Any problem now was going to complicate things far too much. On his shoulders, Duncan and Philip looked equally as uneasy. But Duncan's eyes were fixed on Órfhlaith, as if she was the problem, not Katherine.
"What should we do?" she asked quietly, approaching the father-to-two. Frankly she wasn't quite sure. Órfhlaith was right, saying that they did need more strength. But when that strength came in the form of a loose, lit cannon on a rocking pirate ship, she wasn't quite sure. "Do we trust her?"
"Do we have a choice?"
Aaron slipped neatly over and dipped his head forward. The Original was slightly taller than Elijah, at Kol's height. His shoulder-length blond hair were caught in a hair tie set near the bottom of his curls, and his eyes were like chips of ice.
They began murmuring quietly. Elena strained her hearing and managed to hear the hushed conversation going on between the two.
"No, this is a good turn of events," said Aaron positively. "Katherine looks remarkably similar to Elena. Think about it, my brother. We can use her. When we reach the quarry in the forest, we can substitute the two of them to trick Niklaus."
Elijah tipped his head forward. "But can we trust her?"
"Do we have to?" Elena pitched in, causing the two of them to look at her. "We can keep an eye on her. One sign of trouble, we stake her." The very thought of it sent a thrill through the doppelgänger. She wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.
Elijah growled. "If she runs off, she could alert Klaus to the plan. How did she even know we were here?"
"Órfhlaith?" Elena suggested. But then she shrugged, unsure. "Aaron could interrogate her."
"We don't have time to play twenty questions with a vampire," Duncan intoned. "We have to get moving as soon as we can. The faster we get set up, the better."
Suddenly Philip broke rank and rushed over to a cluster of witches gathered about a map. He began talking to them; Elena caught the words barriers and coven before she turned back to Elijah. She blinked in surprise when she saw the look on his face. He was staring straight through to a crowd, where another set of cars were pulling into the small glade.
At any other time, this would look like a picnic.
"Start setting them up into groups," Elijah told Aaren after a long moment. "You remember the list, don't you?
"Leave it to me." Patting his younger brother on the back, Aaren trotted over to the others and started issuing out instructions.
"Who am I going to be with?" Elena couldn't help but ask.
"You'll be with your father." Elijah told her. "Rebekah will be leading the witches; Kol, the wolf pack. And you'll be leading the hunters alongside Alaric, if you have no objections."
Elena's eyes widened in surprise. Her? He was choosing her to be a patrol leader?
It didn't make any sense. There were so many other people present who had much more experience and knowledge than her. Damon would be a better choice simply because of his (redeeming) leadership qualities, his confidence and swift decisiveness. Or Philip, who wasn't as old as Damon, and whose child-like appearance constantly deceived her and caused her to drop her guard. He could fight on par with an Original, utilising a defensive fighting style that turned an opponent's strength into his own.
Elijah gave a coy smile, like he was reading her thoughts. "Why not?" he said smoothly. "You're crafty, brave and intelligent."
"Alaric has more experience than I do!"
"But I trust you. And I know he does, which is why you're being paired with him."
Elena regarded him with a look of concern, but that gave away to calm joy when she realised what he was trying to do. Family was important to the both of them and allowing her to ride out with her step father would give them time to spend together, no matter how brief.
He's so thoughtful, so considerate. Should anyone ask about her behaviour, she would defend it later. Before he could abandon her to see to the battle parties, she wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. Pulling him closer against her, she murmured a quiet thanks into his breast. His body was so cold, so still and quiet in death and Elijah stiffened in surprise, but he did not pull away.
After so long living amongst vampires, it did not worry her that she heard no heartbeat within the steel cage of his ribs.
"Really, thank you." Elena smiled to herself contentedly. "For everything."
Elijah paused for a moment, his eagle-sharp eyes flicking along the forest floor uncertainly. Finally his hands raised to rest on her shoulder blades. He said nothing, simply stepping back when she released him. She mirrored the movement, respectful of his personal space.
"I don't know what we'd have done without you."
"Let's hope you don't find out," Elijah rumbled seriously. But there was a slight movement on his face; the weak crinkles below his eyes joined by the smallest of twitches at his lips.
Someone cleared their throat behind the two. Damon's icy eyes were locked onto them both, a grain of suspicion lingering in his pupils. "We're ready to move," he said crisply.
Elijah inclined his head. "Alright. Then we should go."
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ x ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Charlotte padded at the front of the pack with Sumatra; the chestnut stallon's ears twisted atop his head, his hoof falls on the snapping twigs helping the blind white she-wolf to navigate.
Her pack of wolves and vampires were in animal form thanks to the witches, who cast a spell on the forest to allow them to transform. Sharpclaw, who was still suffering the after effects of his transformation, was settled atop the stallion's back to rest as much as he could before he was required. Jasmine continually glanced at them from her position in line, fidgeting restlessly.
Humans would undoubtedly have become concerned if they saw the precession. Birds, cats, dogs, wolves of all shapes and sizes—even a goat, penguin and a monkey—proudly parading through the foliage, maintaining a still and dutiful silence as they listened vigilantly for signs of danger. The smaller of the birds scouted ahead while the bigger settled in the tree tops.
In line with Rebekah, the witches cast their powers, forging and reinforcing shields, barriers and spells over the park. There was one to prevent anything from leaving and another to keep humans from entering.
The task they had was not to help in the fighting, but to indirectly assist where possible. The only warlock who would be battling would be Elijah, though they all knew they were free to shoot a stray fireball or a lightning bolt their way if it helped.
Elena and Alaric walked on foot with a group of determined hunters at their heels. Alaric was at the head with Elena behind him, his crossbow in arms. Elena had the dagger she had been given, and overhead a black crow cawed as they spread out further to avoid being detected.
Satin's beady black eyes burned. Something had snagged his attention over towards the hunter's line. As silent as the shadow of death, he swerved in mid-flight and swooped.
Sharp talons sank into cold flesh, spraying blood across the rocks. Alaric raised his crossbow and aimed, ready to fire at whatever had disturbed the peace, but he couldn't get an accurate lock between the frenzy of fur, claws and feathers.
"Stay in line!" Misty Sight barked to her followers.
Alaric held out a hand to his hunters. "Hold!"
The scuffle could be heard by everyone; the agonised wailing of a creature with rows of sharp fangs and the rapid heartbeat of wings. The crow fought with the fox; a large, lean beast with eyes filled with hate.
Rearing back, Stefan screwed his eyes shut against the pain and slashed wildly. A lucky strike batted the avian down onto the ground and onto his back. Planting his paws on his brother's shoulders, Stefan lunged forward and sank his teeth into Satin's throat.
Satin couldn't get a good peck in at the way he was being pinned. Stefan began to rip and tear, and no amount of scratching and writhing was helping him to flee. A large bear thundered towards them and batted the fox aside with a heavy paw.
Northstar landed and nosed him to his feet. "Into the trees, quickly!"
"No!" Satin roared, raking his talons across the fox's face over and over. Blood swelled from the wounds. "This is between me and my brother!"
"This is no time for nest mate quarrels!"
"It's time this one ended," Satin spat. "I've been waiting a long time for this, Northstar. I'll be struck by lightning before I allow anyone else to interfere."
"You're holding up the line!"
Northstar shook his head in frustration. "Stubborn chick!" he snapped. "Fine. Arrow, release that four-leg! Let them settle this family feud. But we can't stay here and watch."
"I'm not asking you to. Fly ahead, start the real fight. I'll catch up once I've dealt with him."
Satin gave him no chance to respond, barrelling into Stefan's front and driving his beak into his eye.
Jasmine crashed through the bushes, wide-eyed and covered in thorn scratches and bites. "H- Hybrids!" she gasped. "They're attacking the pack!"
Gunfire rippled to their left. Alaric roared an order, his voice drowned out by an explosion. He briefly heard Elena crying out with pain in the distance.
No, no, no! Everything is going wrong!