The Sheath really is at its most beautiful at night, Nessa mused to herself. As sentinel of the sisterhood, she was tasked with leading the warrior division who guarded the massive wall made of sturdy ancient wood that surrounded the sisterhood's secret base of operations and training grounds. But it had been decades since the last time an outside force had ventured deep enough into the Eastern jungle to find the outer limits of the Sheath. And considering there were no survivors among that group it seemed unlikely that many would be interested in trying again.
So, Nessa indulged herself a glace backwards, away from the endless green of the jungle's tangle and towards the place she'd called home her entire adult life. Three trees the size of mountains stood in the center of the Sheath. Numerous structures housing many of the sisterhood's warriors were built out of and into the mighty boughs of the trees and there were still many lighted windows emitting a glow from the branches like fireflies. The contrast between the soothing image of the Sheath wrapped in twilight, and the violent killers it was home to, brought a smile to Nessa's face.
Nessa's gaze wandered over the landscape of the Sheath's interior, noting the Coliseum where the sisterhood held their most important ceremonies in the western corner of the city, then over the training grounds where the warrior women taught each other the way of the ninja. And finally, to the eastern wall, where many members of the sisterhood's rank who preferred not to sleep high off the ground in the great trees had constructed their abodes. Nessa had spent the last seven years in a small house she had built for herself down there.
However, her new position as sentinel had come with it a glorious chambers located on the uppermost section of Gaia's Grace, the largest of the three trees. She could easily spot her treetop apartment from her place on the wall.
She had only been anointed sentinel few short months ago. Before that she had served as a hellcat, the sisterhoods legion of its most dangerous field agents. But truth be told, she always felt most comfortable in the Sheath, training new recruits to the sisterhood and patrolling its walls. When her predecessor retired Nessa was the obvious replacement. Being sentinel made her the sixth ranking member of the council of elder sisters and had required her to replace the purple ribbon she wore around her neck to mark her as a hellcat with the yellow that had been wrapped round her throat at her ascension ceremony.
Besides the canary choker Nessa wore little else this evening in protest of the sweltering jungle. Just two tiny pieces of dark cloth covered her small upright breasts and her pert rear end. She was a small woman, both short and thin, and she wore her brown hair in a tight bob which she believed matched her rueful spirit. A redneck, called that because of the red ribbons they wore signifying themselves as fledgling members of the sisterhood, had once described her as "spunky", only for Nessa to quickly wrestle the much larger woman to the ground and rub her nose in the dirt to remind her of whom she spoke to.
Nessa suddenly spun around fast as lightning, her flashdagger appearing in her hand as she dropped into a combat stance. A small four-inch blade, perfect for slicing open throats, with a colored gem placed in the hilt matched to the assassin's rank. The yellow encrusted jewel inside Nessa's twinkled in the starlight while the girl who had been sent to relieve her of her watch nearly toppled over as she frantically tried to strike a defensive pose.
"Gods and goddesses! You startled me lady sentinel!" Nessa grinned as the poor thing tried to catch her breath.
"Just testing your reflexes." Nessa said as she slid her flashdagger back to its place strapped to her thigh. "Stay vigilant. Our task is vital and our duty to protect the Sheath is sacred."
"Yes, lady sentinel." The young warrior replied demurely, still rattled
Nessa nodded curtly and sprung off the wall towards the Sheath's interior, falling almost twenty feet before turning into a somersault and landing nimbly on her feet. Nessa trotted off vaguely in the direction of training compound, trusting that her instincts knew the way as her mind again drifted.
There was something strange about the Sheath these past few days. Throughout her years of service to the sisterhood, Nessa had honed her senses to a razor-sharp edge. Her sight, smell and hearing were far superior to that of any normal human and now those same senses were telling her that something was...off.
Nessa inhaled through her nose and tried to figure out what it was that has been keeping her on edge. Nothing cried out that her or her kin were in danger. Instead, it seemed as if the entire city was on the verge of something. Sisterhood warriors went about their day with an undercurrent of excitement, each one seemingly cued into the same disturbance that Nessa detected, but no one able to articulate the reason why.
In any case, the unspoken disturbance meant that Nessa, who barely slept in the best of circumstances, would not rest easy this evening. So, she moved towards the training compound, knowing a brutal session sharpening her gymnastics and combat skills would exhaust her enough to close her eyes eventually.
After a few minutes of prowling through the only semi-tamed jungle floor that made up much of the Sheath's ground level, Nessa reached the spartan sandstone building that housed her favorite of the city's many war academies. Inside was completely empty, normal for this hour, although the lamps stayed lit to accommodate Nessa and others who shared her insomnia. There was little for them to illuminate besides several wooden posts with poles jutting out of them at angles meant to simulate the limbs of an opponent.
Nessa planted herself in front of one of the dummies, closed her hazel brown eyes and took a long slow breath, clearing her mind so her body could perform. Her eyes opened and her arm whipped out in the same instant, smacking the wood with significant force. The dummy spun in response to her blow and she effortlessly halted its movement with a solid elbow strike. She followed with two rapid punches, the sound of their impact echoed through the chamber as part of the wooden pillar splintered slightly under the hits. Nessa flicked the dummy into motion again and just as quickly stilled it with a kick.
Soon she fell into rhythm, hitting the dummy in a consistent pattern designed to allow her to flow through something approaching a realistic hand to hand fighting sequence. But she had barely finished the first leg of her routine when she realized she wasn't alone.
It wasn't a sound that tipped Nessa off. Rather it was just a disturbance in the air, a tiny change in the scent of the place. Nessa couldn't place it, it seemed both foreign and familiar all at once, but it was more than enough to let her know that she had company.
Nessa turned around to see one of her sisters had joined her in the compound. A beautiful slender woman with long flowing black hair. She wore the traditional black bodysuit that sisterhood assassins donned to complete assignments and the purple ribbon round her neck marked her as a hellcat.
"Good evening, Kat." Nessa called. "It's nice to see you returned from your first foray as a team leader in one piece."
"Well met lady sentinel." Kat called back. "It is good to know that the council made such a wise choice to guard my home while I was away."
Nessa smiled at the compliment. Kat was the newest and youngest sister to achieve the rank of hellcat, but she had risen so quickly for a reason. Kat was considered one of the finest fighters the sisterhood had ever produced, and Nessa recalled being blown away by the younger ninja's skill when she had the opportunity to lead her in exercises during her training period. Nessa remembered hearing that Kat had returned from her first series of outside missions as the hellcat leader of a sisterhood detail a few days ago, but this was the first time she had lain eyes on her in more than a season.
