Editing The Lioness (Warhammer High) (section)

==Part One==

===Dreams===

Lyra stood alone in a forest. For a split second, she believed it to be the forest around her house, but it was different. It was much more... primal. She soon realized where she really was. This was Caliban. But it was different. However, she couldn't really tell what was wrong. 

There was a darkness in the trees. She could feel it, an evil pulsing from within. And even if she couldn't see or hear anyone, she knew that she wasn't truly alone. Something was stalking her. She could sense it as clear the wind against her neck.

“Lyra...”

She turned her head quick enough to see the attacker as it leaped through the air. The beast was large, with muscles that could crush gravcars and claws that seemed thicker then her own torso. The beast was overkill for the teenage girl, and she could only gasp as it opened its maw and stared into oblivion.

===The Fight===

“BZZZZZZZZZT”

Lyra jolted upwards. She had apparently been sleeping in class, but no one had noticed. It was history class and a slide show of notes was all it took for her to fall asleep. She was breathing heavily and had a massive headache. She barely noticed that everyone was standing up and packing their things. Class had ended, but she didn’t feel like moving just yet.

She looked down and noticed a wet pool on her desk. She hurriedly wiped the drool away from her mouth, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. Seemed like people were more in a hurry to leave school then take note of her current distress. Sweat dripped down her neck, and her personal Watcher was packing books and notes, only pausing once to look at her. 

She looked down at him, picked up a heavy book it was trying to move and smiled, somewhat forced. “Don't worry, I'm fine,” she lied. ”And what have I told you about doing my work for me?” The watcher relinquished hold of the book and let her finish packing, standing to the side and waiting for her mistress to finish.

The class was almost empty and Lyra was still at her desk, unsure of how to proceed. She still felt very hot, and must have been blushing as well. Grabbing a mirror from her bag, she quickly confirmed her suspicions, as well as noting her hair was a bit of a mess. The headache wasn’t going away either. She closed her eyes and began doing a breathing exercise, trying to calm herself down before leaving. The meditation trick usually worked, but it did little to ease her pounding head.

“Lyra.”

She jumped in her seat, slowly turning to the source of the voice. Freya stood behind her. 

“W-what?” she mumbled, a bit unsure of how to proceed. Freya stared at her, as if something was off.

“What's with you? You alright?”

“Uh, yeah. Just tired. And have a headache.”

“Hah, you and me both. Ahriman can make an Ork fall asleep with his tales of the Imperium's glory” the tall girl said. “No offense, I know your dad was in charge of that campaign, but I think he went into too much planning. My dad would have just charged in and done it way easier. Plus, you must have heard it like a thousand times from him.”

“Uh, yeah” Lyra agreed, unsure of what the lecture was about in the first place. Her mind was still distracted with her dream, and trying to hide her uncomfortableness from her friend was proving to be difficult. Her watcher jumped into a small pocket of her bag, one she had specifically asked to have made, before she slung the bag unto her back, making it easy for him to stay by her throughout the day.

“You sure you okay?” Freya asked again, nothing that there might be more than she initially thought.

“Yeah, I just had a weird dream.” Lyra regretted saying that, and hopped she didn't ask about it further.

“Ah, alright.” Freya took the hint, not pushing the subject any longer. For that, Lyra was glad. She knew her childhood friend had long since understood not to try to discern her inner workings. Most of her cousins understood this as well, knowing full well that the El’Jonson's had many secrets to keep, and even being family didn't make them easy to tell.

The duo silently left the empty classroom and walked to their lockers. Lyra noted that she had seriously blanked out for a while there in class. The hallway was nearly empty, except for a few stragglers like themselves. One individual stood by her locker, and it only took a moment for Lyra to remember who it was. She had forgotten that she was giving Remilia a lift back home after school on a regular basis. The blond girl smiled at them as they walked closer, and didn't seem to care that they were slightly late.

“Hey guys!” she said, seemingly happy as always. 

“Rem, how are you always so happy?” Freya asked.

“Easy. I don't hang around Kelly all the time.” Freya began laughing loudly at that, nearly buckling over. Lyra could only smirk, knowing full well that it was quite possibly true. her headache began to subside, and she thought it would completely disappear when she got some fresh air. She grabbed her bike helmet and jacket from her locker before leaving school, walking towards the inner parking lot.

“So, I got a question for both of you” Rem asked as they entered the multi-level parking structure. They both looked over at her, waiting patiently for her to continue. “What’s with your dads and the fights?” she asked, and Freya smiled at that.

“Not sure.” the daughter of Russ responded. “Been doing that since I was a baby I think. Maybe since the crusade with grandpa. What do you think Lyra? Your dad ever give you a reason?”

She spotted her jetbike in the distance, and turned it on remotely with a switch as they walked towards it. “I don't know really. As Freya said, they have been doing it since before we were born. However...” she paused before continuing, choosing her words carefully. “I did ask my father once, and from what I gathered, he said your father started it.”

“Oh yeah, coming from your dad.” Freya quickly retorted. 

They were a few steps from her bike, but Lyra froze and glared at her friend. She should have let it go, but her honor didn't let her do so. Also, her headache began to return. “Whats that supposed to mean?” she asked.

Freya shrugged, chuckling to herself. “Come on Lyra. It’s Russ and Lion. They fight just because they can. You can’t tell me that something that happened centuries ago will have any meaning for them now, but yet they still have their brawls. They still fight because a part of them enjoys it.”

“I don’t believe it” Lyra responded. “My Father is better than that.”

“Mine isn’t?” Freya said jokingly, hoping to get a laugh from Lyra. She didn’t. Suddenly realizing she actually believed that, Freya wanted to show how stupid her statement was. “What makes your father better than mine?”

“You tell me. I know my father would not start a fight for no reason. He would only fight one of his brothers to defend his honor. Russ probably did something that put that into question, and keeps bringing it up.”

“Lyra, our dads are best friends. Why would my dad do that? Russ cares about his honor as much as Lion does.” Freya was getting slightly annoyed, but kept herself under control. However it didn’t help that Lyra scoffed at her response. Remilia suddenly began to regret asking the question in the first place, but did nothing as the argument escalated.

“Please Freya. Russ just likes to fight, honor or not. Lion was raised by an order of knights. It is in his blood to be honorable. I know my father, Freya. You don’t.” 

“I don’t? Lyra, we grew up together. I know how he is as much-”

“You don’t know my father!” Lyra yelled, stunning the two other girls. The parking lot was instantly quiet, as the trio just stared at each other. Lyra seemed furious, making it obvious how much the conversation was annoying her. “You don’t know my father” she stated again, this time frigidly. “Don’t ever assume you know anything about my father. You don’t know anything. I do.”

It was only then that Remilia noticed that there was something wrong with this whole situation. She never seen Lyra like this. Sure she could be annoyed or aggravated, but never full blown angry like she currently was. Something had recently gotten under her skin, and she was now taking it out on her best friend.

“Lyra, you’re getting angry over nothing” Freya proclaimed, but this did little to ease the growing tension.

“I’m getting angry because you keep lying to protect your image. Maybe if you told the truth and admitted that it is more likely for your father to start a fight over anything than my dad is to fight one of his brothers. He probably did something idiotic and is just hiding the reasons from you so he won't be embarrassed. Maybe you do know and you won’t tell me since you don’t want to look like a fool. Which is it then?”

Lyra’s accusations had a visible effect on Freya, was trying her best to keep herself in control of her emotions and not be baited by her cousin. Remilia watched the two girls. She needed to defuse the situation before it got any worse.

“Girls, please” she pleaded, holding her arms out in protest. “This isn’t necessary. You don’t need to fight.” Freya nodded slowly.

“She’s right. Lyra, I am trying my best to remain calm here, but you are seriously pushing my buttons. This know-it-all attitude of yours is going to cause you to get hurt. I suggest you stop before things get ugly” she growled.

Unfortunately, Lyra took that as a threat. As if accepting her challenge, she dropped her bag to the side and stared her down. Her watcher had at this point noticed the conflict, and had moved to Remilia’s side, not wanting to get in the way.

“You want to fight? Bring it. I doubt you will. You’re more like a pup then a wolf. All bark and no bite.” Remilia looked shocked by the proclamation.

“Lyra, you want to fight me?” Freya asked. “Are you being serious right now?”

“I knew it. You are such a coward at times.” Lyra no longer noticed her behaviour as anger began to cloud her judgement. Her headache was worse then ever and she seemed to talk without thinking of the repercussions.

Her taunting nearly did it. Nearly. Freya was ready to pounce and rip her to shreds. Freya clenched her fists, clearly wanting to do nothing more then smash Lyra’s face in, but she knew better. Some part of her still said this was her friend, for better or for worse. “You know what? Fuck you.” With that, she turned around and walked away. Remilia thought that was the end of it, but she was wrong. 

Lyra ran up behind Freya. “Don’t you dare turn away from me!” She grabbed her by the shoulder, but the larger girl shrugged her off, her walk unhaltered. Lyra herself growled and pushed her in the back. 

Freya spun around, now visibly angry and sounded more like a beast than human. “What’s your problem?” she growled loudly at her, but Lyra seemed unfazed. 

“That I was ever your friend. You are nothing more then some jackal. A lowlife bitch that just brought me down. Why anyone likes you is beyond me. Pitiful.” She spat the words at her, and Freya could no longer sit idle.

The dam broke as Freya’s anger flowed through her. She roared and swung her arm forward, connecting with Lyra's jaw. For a normal human, that would have ended it there, but Freya was the child of a Primarch, one who was known for his beastly strength. Lyra flew backwards and slammed into her bike so hard that it sent it tipping over, impacting unto the pavement with a large thud. Lyra staggered to her feet somewhat dazed, before noting what just happened.

She looked at her bike with a blank stare, pausing at this event who to the other two daughters thought nothing much of it. For them it was just a bike. For her, it was something special. That was a gift from Lord Cypher, a childhood friend and mentor. He had been a second father to her since her birth. So for her, anything from him was precious. And she got that bike as a birthday present. Hell, he even taught her how to drive the damn thing, even convinced her father to let her use it. To her, the bike held a very special place in her heart, almost as much as Hana loved her bike as well. Now, it lay on its side, scratched, damaged, and maybe even broken. 

Lyra had never felt this much anger in her entire life. She was so furious, she didn't notice she was in pain, let alone bleeding from her mouth. Her headache intensified to the point that she should have fainted, but somehow she managed to stay awake. Lyra turned around and roared in anger as she ran towards Freya, swing back at her. She might not have been as physically strong as her friend, but Lyra wasn't a weakling. Her father taught her how to fence, and kept her in shape doing so. So when her punch connected with Freya's face, it was a total surprise with the amount of force behind it making the larger girl stumble backwards and be stunned for a moment.

Lyra didn't stop there, as she stepped forward with her momentum and this time struck at the girl's stomach, making her buckle over and stagger as she tried to keep standing form the onslaught. Lyra continued her attack as she tackled her cousin to the ground, pinning her unto the pavement with her on top as she began to unleash an fury of punches to her head. For a split second, she thought she was going to win.

What she didn’t notice was the fact that every punch she inflicted only made Freya angrier. She growled under the attacks until she lashed out, striking Lyra so quickly that it sent her tumbling backwards, freeing Freya from her pinned position. She got up at once and wasted no time as she walked over to Lyra, clearly still wanting a fight.

The smaller girl was trying to get up, stumbling from the sudden attack. Freya helped her along as she grabbed her by the throat with both hands and lifted her up, off her feet. Instantly, Lyra began to choke as the larger girl continued to tighten her grip. Freya’s anger disregarded the fact that she was actually starting to kill her.

She could feel Remilia behind her trying to stop the fight. She was screaming, telling her to let go but she didn’t listen. She tried to break her grip with her own strength, but Freya’s grip was strong. Even Lyra scratched at her hands, trying to free herself with no avail. She gritted her teeth as her breath ran out slowly, and Freya could only smile wickedly.

Suddenly realizing what she was about to do, Freya let go and stumbled back, feeling very much disgusted with herself. Lyra fell to the floor, landing on her feet as she grabbed her throat and entered a coughing fit. Instantly Remilia was at her side, holding her in place from falling over.

“Lyra! Lyra are you alright?” she asked, and all the other girl could do was cough. Remilia looked over to Freya with fear in her eyes. She didn’t blame her.

Freya looked down at her hands and realized she had nearly killed her. Killed her best friend. She could scarcely believe she had nearly done it, and could only look back at Remilia with a shocked looked on her face. She looked over to Lyra, worried that she had caused some permanent damage. However, all she saw was a blur of movement.

Before Freya knew what was happening, Lyra unleashed all her strength into a single punch. Caught off guard, the fist slammed into her cheek with such force that it knocked the larger girl off her feet. She fell backwards onto the pavement with a loud thud, right beside a parked car. Freya groaned in pain on the floor, and didn’t bother getting up.

Lyra stood victorious over her cousin, breathing heavily as she took a moment to enjoy the taste of victory. She looked down at her larger friend with seething hate. She wasn’t sure what she would do next, but for now she had won, and that was what mattered. 

Remilia ran over to Freya now, kneeling down to see if the impact had caused any damage. Unlikely she thought, as the daughter of Russ was as thick skinned as they got. She turned to Lyra, unsure of what to make at her. She matched her gaze, cold eyes staring back at her with no emotion to what had just happened.

And then they both noted the sound. The high pitched noise that filled the parking lot in the silence that had followed since the battle. It was growing louder, making it pretty easy to identify the source quite easily. Lyra turned to her bike as it was releasing some gas from within. It took a moment to realize that it was probably from the power source. Which meant that it was releasing volatile coolant. The bike was still turned on. 

“Oh shit” was all she managed to say before the bike exploded in a thousand pieces. Blue fire erupted from within, and although Remilia and Freya were shielded behind one of the cars, Lyra was left exposed as the force of the explosion sent her flying. A shadow crossed her vision, coming right at her, and she could only think about how badly this was going to end. The thought didn’t go far as she slammed into a car’s windshield.

===Lions of Caliban===

Lyra awoke, gasping for air as she suddenly realized what had just happened. The explosion had slammed into her, but she felt no pain. The only pain she felt was a head ache which made it tough for her to focus at first, but began to subside and disappear. She was laying down on the ground and immediately knew something was wrong. 

She could feel grass between her fingertips, and a cool breeze that flowed over her. She sat up, opening her eyes as she began to note her surroundings. She was in the middle of a forest, and she could feel the sunlight that pierced through the leaves. It took her a moment, but she began to recognize where she really was. She was no longer in the parking lot, but back on Caliban. She was dreaming. 

Usually though, when she knew that she was dreaming, she would awaken soon. But as she paused for a sudden rush of reality, it did not come. She stared at her environment, noting that this was indeed Caliban. She could not forget her home planet. 

She paused to admire the primal landscape surrounding her. She had spent several of her childhood summers on Caliban, and remembered how different it was from Terra. Most of the planet had been preserved, leaving its majestic forests untouched from the arrival of the Imperium, so few cities doted the landscape. She couldn’t count the number of times she had stared off at a sunset after a long day, only to wake up in time to watch it rise again.

She was so caught up in her memories that she noticed the large shape looming behind her. Indeed, for all her memories, she had forgotten one thing: Caliban was still a death world. It wasn’t until she heard the twig behind her that she spun around, clearly surprised. Surprised at first, terrified soon after.

Behind her was the creature of her dreams, and now she got a good look of it. At least ten feet tall and twenty feet long, the large beast was even bigger than space marines in power armor. Large muscles flexed under thick skin as the beast paraded itself around her. Its mane of razor sharp spikes flared and tensed as it eyed her cautiously. She began to recognize what she was looking at but had only seen it in ancient books: a Calibanite Lion. One of the creatures that had nearly killed her father in his youth.

She knew that this was a dream and that she shouldn’t be worried, but all her senses were telling her otherwise. She could smell the beast’s vile breath, could hear it breathing through its snout, could feel the ground shake with every step he took.

“You can’t be real” she whispered to herself as the beast continued to eye her curiously.

“Lyra.”

The new voice startled the young girl. When she turned to where the sound had come from, she saw nothing. But as her eyes adjusted, she started making out shapes. Watchers. Several of them, just on the edges of the shadow, hidden by the forest. They all looked like WD, but they were taller, and their robes seemed more worn out. They chanted her name, their voices blending together into a strange chorus. It reminded her of when Angela would speak to her with her powers, as if there was really no sound but what she was hearing inside her head.

“Who are you?” she asked, standing up. They continued to chant, ignoring her question. The beast beside her laid down, staring at her as if expecting her to do something. She was completely confused as she stared at the lion, then back to the watchers. One of them stepped forward as they continued to chant her name.

“You aren’t real” she declared and hoped she would wake up from this dream. She could hear growling from the beast behind her, but ignored it for the time being.
 
“We are as real as the lion is, Lyra” the watcher said to her. She shook her head.

“Calibanite lions are extinct.” She turned to the lion to make her point, but she stopped and stared. The beast was growling at the watchers, clearly displeased with them as much as she was. She looked into its reptilian eyes and saw her reflection. 

“But Lyra, as long as you live, the lion is real.”

===Explosions===

Lyra woke for a second time, and this time she did feel pain. Lots of it. Her entire body felt bruised, and she could only groan and shift in place. She could feel glass cracking under her, and wasn’t quite sure what had happening around her. Her eyes hurt as she tried to force them open, making it hard to focus. All she heard from around her was high pitched ringing, which she assumed was from the explosion damaging her ears. She thought it couldn’t get any worse, but then felt a steady stream of water droplets fall on her. Each drop reminding her of how much pain she was in. 

As her senses began to return to her, she felt a hands grabbing her shirt and arms, pulling her upward. One strong pair of hands held her in place and she recognized Freya’s strong scent. She made no move to stop her if she wanted to fight, but no blows came. She thought she heard someone speaking around her, but the ringing in her ears were still too loud. Her eyes began to focus as she spoke to them.

“Ringing... loud...” she muttered. She took a look around and saw both his cousins around her, a worried look on their faces. Remilia nodded, and pointed at her chest. She looked down and noticed she was clutching something. Somehow, WD had ended up in her arms. The tiny brown robed figure seemed so alien for a moment after her dream. Still, she tightened her grip on him. He didn’t move.

“WD...” Lyra murmured, but no response. She suddenly began to panic, thinking the worse. “WD” she said, a bit louder, but still no response. The ringing was beginning to subside, and her hearing was returning to her slowly.

“Whats wrong with him?” Freya asked to her side, and she really didn’t know.

“WD!” she shouted, her strength returning to her. She shook the tiny body with her hands, but it did not move. “He’s...” she started, a tear forming at her eye. Remilia and Freya stared at her, suddenly wondering if the worse had come to pass. “He’s...” Lyra began to sob, unable to finish the sentence. She squeezed him, hoping for any response. And then she heard it. 

“He’s asleep” she said flatly. Lyra made an annoyed face at WD, and her cousins could only stare in confusion.

“He’s what?” they both said in unison. Lyra nodded.

“Listen” she said, and they tried their best with the sound of the fire sprinkler system still on. But they heard it. Tiny amounts of snoring came from WD. They simply stared, unsure of what to make of it.

It was then when Lyra looked around her, suddenly realizing what had happened when she was knocked out. The explosion had demolished her bike, and she could note several of its parts scatter around the area. At the epicenter of the explosion was a black scorch mark, the floor underneath seemingly unfazed from the explosion. Nearby cars had been struck by shrapnel, including some larger pieces of her bike. 

And when she looked at herself, she was untouched. Not a scratch on her from the explosion. Her uniform had been ripped up a bit in the fighting, but she was otherwise clean. She looked behind her and noted the same thing. In every direction the explosion had left its mark, but not around her. 

“What happened...” she mumbled, clutching her head. The headache was there, but minuscule to what it once had been.

“All I saw was you flying backwards and the blue flames following,” Remilia stated. ”Then WD had jumped in front of you and I looked away from the fire. A second later, I looked back and saw you were on the car with him in your arms.” Silence followed as the trio tried to understand what happened. It was Lyra who eventually said what they found too silly to be the answer.

“Did WD save me?” she asked, looking at the tiny creature. Remilia was about to say something, but noise behind them stopped her. It seemed that the authorities had finally arrived to the scene as several emergency crews ran at them. 

“Not sure how we are going to explain this one” Remilia muttered.

“Don’t worry,” Freya stated grimly, “It was my fault. I’ll take responsibility.”

“What are you saying? I started the fight. It’s my fault.” Lyra had stepped up beside Freya, and both stared each other down. Neither side budged as they began to argue again. Remilia looked worrisome on the side, unsure if this would escalate again.

“I punched you. I made you tip the bike over, which then exploded. My fault.”

“I taunted you into punching me. I even pushed you. I forced your hand. The blame is mine.”

“And I almost killed you!” she shouted, but this did not faze Lyra in the slightest. 

“The stuff I said Freya... it’s inexcusable. I am so ashamed of myself. I have no idea why I said the things I did. I started this, I’m going to live up to my mistakes.”

Before Freya could respond, the emergency crews had finally arrived, inspecting the wreckage. Their leader, an old man with a bionic eye walked over to the trio as the rest of the crew fanned out to stop any lingering fires and check on the damage.

“Ladies, are you alright?” he asked.

In unison, the duo turned to him and shouted. “It’s my fault!”