Tuscany Trip

"Thank you," Khaat smiled. "Brian's been talking to you, I see. Well, I try very hard not to bring that sort of negativity home. I don't know what I would ever do without Abbey or Dakota, but...oh never mind. The point is, yes. You and Steven don't really need to rush about anything. You don't have any sort of time constraints. You only have the next 60 or so years in order to have kids and to raise them and still enjoy your life. I guess at that rate you could have...um...80 kids?: She frowned for a moment, double checking her math. "Yeah, that's about right. 1 child every 9 months for 60 years? That's at least 80 kids, not counting any twins. Suppose you could make the house big enough?"

"I know," Khaat said. "That happens. I guess I just don't want to see bad things happen to people I care about...."

As she was speaking, the same wild haired woman apparated again into their midst. Khaat felt a wave of panic like she hadn't known for quite awhile. "No!' she exclaimed. She made a flying leap at her and clutched her cloak and purposely apparated out of the house with her would be assassin in tow. She was not letting any battle take place here. If she lived, she would allow Brian and the others to gripe at her later.

Khaat apparated with the woman miles and miles away from the Tower Villa, on a rocky cliff overlooking the sea. She drew her wand and barely got time to get it out of her pocket before she was being fired upon. She refused to let anyone else be dragged into hell again one more time with her. Whoever this was, was after her. And she wasn't letting any of her companions or family risk their lives because of her. Not even one more time.

This battle was not going to be short or easy. Because she was already wounded, Khaat was fairly evenly matched. She tried to bring every word Remus ever taught her back to her mind. She had to stay sharp, not miss a trick. It was going to take everything she ever knew, magic and muggle.

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It was getting dark. The battle had literally raged for hours. Khaat was feeling like she was just completely exhausted. She was just firing now in the dark, blind with fatigue. Out of sheer luck, she managed to fire off a shot and she heard her opponent finally scream. She'd really hurt her this time. Finally. She fell, in a limp heap on the rocks, behind a very large rock that she had been using for cover. She glanced up to see the woman, bleeding profusely, finally shouting profane curses at Khaat and swear revenge, before she apparated out. She blacked out, in sheer exhaustion before she knew if she had been hurt or not.

"She'd better not be dead because I"m going to kill her," Brian hissed under his breath. "Let's go, then. Accio!" He called for his medical bag from his room and slung it over his shoulder. "And we won't even discuss what her father's going to do to her. That's just going to be ugly."

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Khaat woke slowly. She hadn't been out for long. She was just more tired than she could ever remember of being in her life. Her mind was dulled and slow. She was too tired to even think anymore. She felt filthy dirty, and she was thirsty. She was hot and sweaty. It was dark, and the sea air after dark was damp. It actually felt good. She wasn't sure she wanted to look out from behind her rock. Not that it would be much cover if that woman had sneaked up behind her while she'd been out. She was hoping against hope she was still safe. She wasn't sure she had any magic left to apparate back home with. She figured she was going to have to rest before she did anything more.

Khaat heard the distinct sound of apparating not far from her. It made her hunker down silently in the deep sea grass. She heard the sound of footsteps, and her heart began to pound. There was more than one. Oh, lovely. Freaking reinforcements. Just what she needed.

Brian arrived with Steven at a seaside cliff. He could hear the ocean roaring only a few feet away. What the hell kind of duel site was this? A misstep here would be fatal, magic or not. He tried to look around but could see nothing in the dark. He tried to listen, but heard nothing but the waves. Well, Lupins knew well how to be silent if they had to be. Remus used to teach them that in the dark on the farm when he and Khaat had been kids.

"Lumos!" he lit his wand, but not overly brightly. He wanted to avoid any more announcement than he needed to have. There was chaos everywhere. Burnt grass, rocks and trees blown apart, things just destroyed everywhere around him. He searched around but saw nothing more that was helpful except scraps of torn and burned fabric, spots of blood. What he wanted to know was how much of this was Khaat's.

"Khaat!" he called, finally, still not seeing her. "Khaat! Answer me!"

Khaat was so relieved when she heard Brian's voice that her eyes stung with tears instantly. She had not expected to live through this. But she had managed to hold her ground. She'd driven her off. This woman had needed to know that Lupins were not so easily taken or defeated--any Lupin. And she had made her point. That had been all she had been out to do. She tried to gather herself up onto her feet, but all of a sudden her legs would not hold her. She chalked it up to simply being overwhelmed. She gave in and called to Brian--just once. "Brian--over here."