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The Sisters of the Dying Branch

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There was an alternative reason for Rowan to head into the woods. In fact, it was more like her primary reason to come all the way out here in the dark. She was still insecure about her powers and she hadn't had a chance to try them out after the wellspring. It couldn't wait until morning, Rowan had a sneaking suspicion it would weigh on her mind all night. She doesn't handle lack of sleep well and she knows it. Luckily, she had a perfect participant to help her out. The badger.

It had been following closely through Rowan woodland ventures and knew that it likely did not have a home up here. "Mum doesn't really think these things through a hell of a lot huh." She was kneeling and petting the badger. "I can't have you out in the cold all night can I. You just wait right there." Of course, Rowan didn't expect and answer from the animal but she did know it would at least comply due to her mother's magic.

Rowan proceeded to cut her right palm and place it on a nearby tree. The badger was a few steps behind watching the whole thing. At first it was slow for anything to happen, even for a moment Rowan feared that the wellspring had done very little to help her. But then the roots of the trees shifted and changed at a rate she had never seen before. A sizable hole opened up in the ground near the stump. It was a badger hole fit for a king, a badger king that is. A regular king probably wouldn't care for it. Either way, Rowan was proud of what she could do.

"I know my mom has brought you up here to look after me or something. But can you please keep that to a minimum. I don't want to be the only one here with an overprotective mom, you know? Its embarrassing..." Knowing that the badger couldn't reply she ended it at that. "Now you just stay snug in there." Now all that was left to do was find those herbs.

Sometime later, Rowan had finished her search and had made her way back toward camp. But entrances were critical when it came to scary stories around the fire. She started rustling the bushes, quiet at first and then growing in intensity before jumping out. But then quickly realized that very few were even taking part in the camping tradition. "Oh, uh, guess I'm a bit late for the scary stories then huh. I got the stuff for the tea but didn't find much firewood, which is strange being a forest and all." It was clear she wasn't telling the truth and she hadn't really been looking for firewood at all. Either way she knelt by the kettle preparing the tea. "Thanks for keeping the kettle going, shouldn't be too long before its ready. So..." she clapped her hands together once. "Whos spook-tacular stories did I miss anyway?"

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Mentions: @Tracyarmav @sassy1085 @Blizz

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

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Rowan stayed around the wellspring for a while sharing her concoction around and helping people out of the wellspring. But ultimately she had to go back to the party, and she alone back through the trail. Well not alone alone she was with the group, just not really talking to anyone. After going through something like that, she much preferred to be left to her own thoughts for a while. Rowan was now in the big bad world of witches and in her mind she couldn't decide what to worry about first. Being able to live up to what her grandmother has done or the fact that even now as a fully fledged witch she still didn't have any self defense magic. Guess time would tell how she will shape up especially when she will be in close proximity to her peers. She tried to get all this out of her head but it would resurface again and again.

Coming back to the party was enough for her to forget about her worries for a bit. Then her dad picking her up in a bear hug was enough to clear her mind of it completely. "I'm very proud of you Rowan" her mom said to her. Rowan's mom wasn't one to waffle on with words, but the small amount she gave meant the world to Rowan. "Thanks mom, I uh guess I'm a witch now." Rowan couldn't help the smile spreading across her face, there was little she could do at all to hide the excitement she felt. "Also, sorry, but could you get my box garden from back home. I... didn't know if I would make it into coven so I didn't pack it for the trip here." Her mom then had her go at hugging her daughter "well luckily for you, someone believes in you a lot more than you do at the moment. The garden is already packed into the house." "Thanks mom, you're the best."

Sister Lark's proposal for a night of camping couldn't be any better. Rowan had already spent sometime camping in these woods. Of course, not anywhere so close to the wellspring though. It was still a tad to early for her to put on pajamas or anything, there was still a lot that could be done. "I think I'm going to go see if I can get us some more firewood. Also I know theres some herbs on these mountains that can make a nice tea, so I'll keep an eye out for that. I hope the ghoul that haunts these woods doesn't get me. OOOOooooOOOO." Rowan had her hands raised as if imitating a ghost before walking off with a chuckle. I mean sure ghosts really did exist, but its not like any were going to get us here.

Rowan started making her way toward the woods, she noticed a badger at the treeline looking at her. No doubt a spy of her moms trying to keep an eye on Rowan, it was comforting to know it was there and she returned a smile toward it.

Mentions: @sassy1085

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《 H. E. R. O. 》

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Starbright spun around on his chair at home. Sure, the multi million dollar mansion was great but his day had been consumed by a feeling he hadn't felt in a while, boredom. The problem was that he felt he should put all of his effort into making sure the others were safe, but there just wasn't much he could do right now. Making a move against Wings would be career suicide and complete very little, he had already exhausted all avenues of news coverage about the missing heroes and doing much else would bring suspicion onto him from Wings. I mean sure he could go do rich and attractive people things, but he has already done that every day of his life plus even just spinning around on the chair he was still doing that. But then he had a great idea.

Wing of Law didn't know that Starbright knew about the kidnapping. So if Starbright were to join the search party they would be none the wiser. Plus it would bring more attention to the disappearances. It all was only a call away, "yeah hi Francine. Could you patch me through to Powers. Yeah, let him know I am will be leading the search party for the missing heroes." He said this fully well knowing there had been no discussion of this previously and completely ignorant to his true (lower) level of importance within HERO.

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@Hitman and potentially: @Duoya@Zoey Boey

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

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"Scars? Oh no no no, scars just won't do. We're witches now, and witches don't look good with scars. I'll make us something to fix them up." Rowan said in a jokingly snobbish tone before returning to normal. "Level with me a sec, that mix made you want to, ..., well you know." Rowan pointed in the direction of Calypso, or rather Calypso's dinner. "I've got some stuff to help with it, I'll start mixing that up before I head back. You just focus on getting people's wrists patched up."

Concluding with the conversation, Rowan went to shore from the wellspring. She took the ceremonial robe off, laying it neatly over a rock to make a nice seat. By all means Rowan was proud of herself, she handled the initiation rather nicely. The bonus of course is nothing in her coat got too wet either. Taking out the small pestle and mortar Rowan begun mixing a variety of different plants from her coat. Then just a bit of water from her water bottle (she wouldn't dare use the water of the wellspring for something this trivial) and ta da! A vial of ginger and peppermint mix, and Rowan spent no time before taking a sip. Overall, she felt much better and tasted good too.

Now she just had to start sharing it around.

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Speaks with : Kate@sassy1085

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Midas sat back on his newly fashioned throne of crates, overlooking the Turnpike operation. He was happy to see how efficiently it all ran, unlike his fighting rings. It was refreshing he had to admit, chaotic environments where anything could happen were good for making fighters but something like this? Well it gave himself some sense of legitimacy in this world. But his daze of smug contemplation were screeched to a grinding halt as he saw the news broadcast on the TV hung in the corner.

So it wasn't some staged event. This Caustic guy really did that to a HERO and didn't get caught, a Wings member to top it off. Of course it wasn't unheard of, Midas had done that plenty of times. But the level of humiliation he brought to that hero made even Midas feel like vomiting. At least when Midas puts someone out of commission they still get to keep their image as a hero. This meant very bad things were coming, first the Gugliano's 'ally' and now this. Any more going down and HERO, or even worse ICOSA, will crack down on everyone. The heroes were nice and lazy earlier especially Wings, but with one of their own dead they will be out for blood. It was time to lay low and listen. To see what HERO will do because of this and to get any information on this Caustic guy.

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

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Rowan didn't have a good feeling about it. A witchling from another wellspring coming in, she could have negative intentions and she was welcomed with open arms. Instead of saying hello, Rowan couldn't help but just stare. This wasn't a Kate situation, Kate's family didn't possess a wellspring of their own. The only thing Rowan could think about is what is Isolde planning. Though, of course, she tried to not show the suspicion on her face.

Rowan was far from Isolde when the line went to single file. Because of this it got her mind off of it a bit, and she let her hand brush against the trees. Rowan felt her grandmothers presence grow stronger as they continued down the trail. What she needed was faith, faith that her grandmother, even in death, is capable of defending the wellspring from those that wish it harm. And as the trail continued with nothing of note happening, she realized that Isolde was probably no threat. Coming to that suspicious train of thought made Rowan feel bad. Even after being taught the same type of lesson with Kate, she still reverted to the same mistakes.

Throughout the journey, Rowan's expression expression was a very stern one. She was determined to bond with the wellspring. Wading through the water of the wellspring, Rowan found the nearest cup and knife. At the sound of "please feel free to get started now" she spent no time before proceeding with the ritual. Sure, the pain was harsh and the mixture was far from tasty. But it was the ritual of bonding, the same one her grandmother did. Nothing was going to stop Rowan.

The surge of power from the wellspring was immediate, it felt fantastic. But Rowan would wait before testing her new found strength out. Hand pressed against her wrist to stop blood loss, she looked around to the witchlings around her. Or should she call them witches now, wait... she is called a witch now. Rowan couldn't help but smile.

Rowan turned to Kate, who was near her. "She? Uh... Nothing to fear. Right?" Hoping she was handling the ritual alright. "Would you.. uh.. be able to patch this up after? If you aren't too busy." Rowan raised her wrist up a bit and back down to gesture toward it. Her other hand still held firmly on it. While she didn't like needing to grab help from Kate, her wrist started to hurt like hell. Plus, Rowan couldn't easily reach into her coat to do it herself. The rivalry could be put aside for now. They were at the wellspring after all. She gave a comforting smile to Kate, Rowan knew this ritual was far from pleasant so hopefully it would help encourage them.

Rowan shot looks to Rebecca as well as Hana and Iris who were also close. Watching to see her fellow witchlings become witches, more out of excitement than anything.

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Speaks with : Kate@sassy1085
Mentions: Iris @Blizz, Rebecca @blackdragon, Hana @Akayaofthemoon

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

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Rowan stood a bit more upright with the two others' encouragement. She then brought her attention to what Kate was saying, clearly teasing Rowan a bit."Oh ha ha very funny, you know a guy just moved in down the road who swears aliens are real." She looked around presenting her surroundings. "No joke. If he saw any of this he would lose his mind."

Her jokey demeanor turned to somewhat more serious now. "I guess I'm beating around the bush a bit here. Yeah I have some clue about what happens at the wellspring. I mean my grandmother was one of the most important witches in protecting it, how could I not right?" Rowan were addressing both of them equally. "All you really need to know is that if you have made your mind up about joining the coven. You shouldn't have anything to worry about." Back to a more chipper mood now, "I think the main thing you need to worry about is how all 20 of us are going get along in one house. Now thats worrying." Rowan was clearly trying to bring the mood up and keep the twos' minds off of the initiation.

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Speaks with : Kate@sassy1085 Rebecca@blackdragon

《 H. E. R. O. 》

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Starbright was enjoying the night and the conversation with Glacia. It was clear she had just joined Wings for the fame aspect, but he certainly didn't mind the other bonuses she mentioned. However the conversation was frequently interrupted by that bald drunken oaf Mr Impressive. While the other two heads were more than respectable, Mr Impressive clearly came to this party sloshed. It was a social gathering, no backwater piss up you expect to see in Brookside or some poor people places. But it wasn't until Starbright paid attention to the words Mr Impressive was saying that he actually decided to do something about it.

You see, Sea Serpent was currently flirting with a sportsman who looked suspiciously like Blake. It isn't too out of the ordinary, a lot of celebrities cheat on their significant others. Sea Serpent was just another industry secret so to speak. No, the problem was when Mr 'I've finished a bottle of whiskey before a social event and think thats' Impressive started threatening first-baseman, Bryan Colby. Only backing down when he realized it wasn't Blake. The next words out of his mouth were along the lines of "good I bloody don't want to see kindling boy ever again. If all goes right tonight no one will have to." It was of course the drunken ramblings of a seasoned alcoholic but it wouldn't harm to check in on Blake, just in case.

Starbright scrolled down, like way way down, his messages to find the invite to Blake's 4th of July party. But he didn't get a reply to his message after ten minutes. 'He is probably just passed out by now, Starbright. You don't need to worry about this, just enjoy the party.' But it kept weighing on him. 'Ok you should check in on him. But what have they ever done for you. Just last week you walked into the common room and no one even complimented your new haircut. Of course you get one every two weeks, but it would have been nice if they said something.'

'Wait no hang on they could be in serious danger, you need to leave.' With his mind decided he needed to excuse himself from Glacia, who had been watching his thought process from the outside. "Are you alright? You seem to have something else on your mind. Ooo I hope it the decision to join Wings. Eeeee!" She was very excited with this idea. "No don't be silly I'll have to check in with my manager first anyway. I just think the alcohol is starting to hit me and I better leave before I become a train wreck, like you know who." Starbright made a slight gesture toward Mr Impressive before immediately leaving the party. Glacia noticed Starbright had not been drinking at all.

Starbright only spent a good 5 minutes talking to news coverage outside. This was remarkably short for Starbright.

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Starbright arrived to an empty Von Brandt house, his stomach sank. So Wings had tried, and clearly succeeded to take out the group. While his first question was why, the more important question is what to do now. Starbright would not be able to implicate Wings in this outright. In terms of media they had the edge on him when it comes to news and image of honesty. But he could still start the search and that required his special Starbright phoneline.

See, Starbright has a few places of special treatment in HERO as part of his contract and a line dedicated to him was one of them. "Hi, yeah, Starbright again. Hi Francine how are you doing? Hope that little problem in the office is patched up." He had begun a bit of banter with the response lady. "Yeah so anyway I have a little problem of my own. Namely the Firebird and the occupants of his party have gone missing. I believe it was a villain attack and a damn good one at that. If you could get an investigation team or something to come down as soon possible that would be great." "Ok thanks for that." With an investigation team already on response it should put pressure on Wings of Law, that was a good start.

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Though Bateman Turnpike wasn't anything fantastic by any means, the road remained fairly clean as the dividing point between Brookside and Watervale. It was a perfect place to begin the turf war. Now Gugliano is out of the picture, an aspiring business man such as Midas can seize upon a few oppurtunities. Along it was a variety of small businesses in Brookside and the road itself was overall the center of much livelihood. It was among the safer areas of Brookside as well, though that wasn't really saying much at all. Because it hosted a little known but lasting gang the Turnpike Ratdogs, best known for distributing contraband and other illegal materials from Watervale docks into Brookside. While being trumped up delivery boys didn't pay well it is vital to gaining power over Brookside criminal markets as well as a reasonable stake in the Watervale markets too.

Midas and his newly fashioned gang, the Brookside Bruisers, were fighters, the Turnpike Ratdogs were no such thing. Once the Ratdog warehouse was found it took very little effort to succeed in a hostile takeover. Once everyone was on the ground Midas begun his speech. "This warehouse is now property of the Brookside Bruisers. Everything you do goes through me. You gave the Guglianos a cut of profits, that now goes to me. If any of you have a problem with that, you can speak up now." There was only silence echoing through the warehouse. "Great other than that its back to business as usual. You can also expect hands on protection from the Brookside Bruisers. You won't be paying your way and being left to the dogs anymore." It was a strong move to begin with, but only time would tell if a hotshot Watervale gang would step to the plate. Either way, Midas had to prepare for retaliation.

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

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Rowan jumped a bit when her name was called from behind her. It was clear she had her head on a whole other trail of thought and the call had yanked her back to Earth. It was Rebecca, a talented witchling if Rowan ever saw one. A lot of witchlings, herself included, didn't even try mediumship due to the difficulty that came with it. But here Rebecca was seemingly adept with it. Rowan wondered if Rebecca would be able to contact her grandmother, but now was clearly not the right time.

"Hey, Rowan. Mind if I join you?" "Sure I don't see why no-" Rebecca wasn't waiting on a reply as Rowan was interrupted. "Any idea what they're going to throw at us? I've asked a few of the spirits, out of sheer curiosity, but they've all been careful not to let anything slip out." Rowan smiled as she was glad someone else shared her same level of excitement. She was, however, jealous she could share Rebecca's level of energy. But before Rowan could form a concrete reply, Kate joined in.

"Hello ladies! What this about talking to spirits? Are we are going summon Satan?" Rowan could help but let loose a very short burst of laughter before rushing to compose herself. Rowan had a professional look to hold up after all, and she didn't want to give Kate the satisfaction. Even though she had just done that very thing... 'Damn it Rowan' she thought to herself 'you are the best in your English class. Are you really going to get upstaged in jokes too?' "Well we were thinking about it, but I don't think Summer can hear us from here." This was delivered in a very off hand but joking fashion. Inside Rowan was proud of herself (even if she had to check back to make sure it really was out of earshot). 'Not today Shuang, not today'. "Haha as a matter of fact, we were talking about spirits. Apparently, they're keeping quiet about the initiation."

Rowan then returned her attention back to Rebecca. "Honestly, I'm not surprised they aren't letting you in on it. Initiation is a pretty important part to becoming a witch, any ghost that knows about it probably also knows to keep their lips sealed. Even my grandmothers reputation doesn't give me any exception I'm afraid. I'm going in just as blind as you, it's scary but we've been waiting our whole lives for it. What could go wrong?" Anyone paying attention could see Rowan was growing visibly nervous in the last couple sentences. But a wave of excitement once again flushed over her soon after and her demeanor greatly improved. This was helped by the view of the coven house that now stood before them.

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Speaks with : Kate@sassy1085 Rebecca@blackdragon

The Sisters of the Dying Branch

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Rowan had been sitting for a while now, mostly in silence. Not that she didn't like the people around her, just that they certainly were more sociable than her. In general, they seemed to have a lot more going on. She caught talks of college, which was a very daunting thought. While she was certainly more than capable of going, Rowan had planned to stay here in service of the coven. Maybe college could help out with that though. After all, she had barely been out of her town let alone state.

The speech from Sister Deborah was a good one and Rowan was more than happy to have the ceremony almost underway. "I think I will start heading over a bit early. Good luck everyone." She rose from her seat and begun the walk over to the house. On the way she passed by Kate Shuang, "good luck, you're going to need it." Again returning a cheeky smile to imply it was just banter.

After that Rowan proceeded toward the house where the group had been told to meet and waited.

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Speaks with : @sassy1085