One of the shorter Dash pieces here, he meets up with Katherine Swift, whom I hope to start using as a NPC more and more in the future.

It's a shorter piece. A setup to a Catrina/ Dash/ Swift piece we'll see a little later on.. Decent enough characterization, though.

Right now............

 
Would it be pushing things to say I should have known this was coming?

Our story opens with the disembodied voice of Sebastian Dash, although our first scene if one of chaos mixed with the promise of very imminent violence.

To illustrate, Dash is standing, with a shapely girl at his back, surrounded by hordes and hordes of Knob Goblin thugs. There are also a handful of Penguin Mafia members, but they've been sufficiently dealt with.

Things were too quiet from the start. Everything went just a little bit too ... right.. for my luck to continue.

He wasn't alone, either. A real beauty had his back. Despite the noticeable scar on her face, she was quite the looker! Two knives were kept in her belt, ready to quickly be drawn if required, although that didn't seem likely, as she wielded a thorn vine whiplash in one hand. White leather gave her that sexy, carefree assassin look.

Then again, who'd have thought the Knob Goblins were becoming so bold? So.. fearless?

I just hope Katherine is as good as I remember!

In battle, he meant.. presumably.

 
Earlier...

 
Dash had literally run into her in the pitch black of the moonless night. He'd been keeping a low profile for the last few days. He'd found nothing of the supposed creature torturing downtown. Such an odd case, but the rumors he'd heard came via credible sources for the most part, so it wasn't something he was aching to dismiss as flat out hyperbole. The idea it was a trap crossed his mind, but if that was the case, he'd have smelled it coming in, and even if they'd avoided his experienced senses, it certainly would have been sprung by now.

Things were surprisingly quiet in regards to the Penguin Mafia and Knob Goblins, too. Dash shrugged it off, figuring even though things had temporarily quieted down in South Degrassi, it didn't mean the threat or influence of the two rival groups had passed away from Degrassi Knoll. Still, it was at least making his time down in South Degrassi just a little less stressful. He'd even managed to track down a relatively safe spot to spend the nights at.. a little South Degrassi Inn that he'd determined to be fairly safe. Not that sleeping came that easy, with the thoughts of being attacked in the middle of the night by a Penguin Chef or Knob Goblin thug out for revenge.

At least with the Knob Goblins, Dash figured, there'd be a decent chance of their stench wakening him up the second they entered the room. And to be honest, Dash wasn't entirely sure if a Penguin would just attack him or do that disgusting thing where they leave the horse's head in the bed again. (Which was the main reason Dash had left his own horse to keep Catrina and Vixen company.)

Not surprisingly, the locals didn't seem too happy with the presence of the Knobs, nor with the penguins. "Could we ally with them?" Sebastian had asked himself of the local Knolls. "Or are they simply too untrustworthy to keep around?"

Those thoughts had danced in Dash's mind earlier that night when he'd managed to stumble into a bunch of Knob Goblin teenagers on his way to the inn. Dash originally prepared for a fight, but, to his surprise, they weren't out causing trouble... or at least, they'd put their trouble making aspirations aside when they'd spotted the well muscled, 6'2 figure wielding a broadsword, if Dash could be allowed a little bravado, rather expertly.

"Hey, guy, we don't wants no troubles, see?" the head of the teen pack had started. They'd dropped a few obvious lies, but the real gem information sounded too good to be true. They claimed to know where Dash could get more information on the object of his hunt. They nailed all the talking points. Big huge yeti, no doubt. Capable of speech, they said, and quite cunning. With wings, though! Dash hadn't expected that gem of information. Yeah.. wings, and talon like claws, possibly poisonous barbs, and howzabout rat ears, maybe-whynot?

Alright, so some of it sounded exaggerated, but the core story, Dash decided, was worth looking into. Especially the part about them knowing where it hung out.

A mine shaft, built below one of several cobblestone cottages. Abandoned long since, it supposedly made the perfect hideaway for the yeti.

"Hey, get off me!"

Deep in the heart of the cloudy, near moonless night, Dash had been moving silently through the outskirts of Degrassi Knoll in pursuit of the rumors he'd heard. Despite the lack of vision, Dash had figured to rely on his other senses to avoid running into anyone, literally or otherwise. He'd done this sort of thing countless times before, usually alone and sometimes with Catrina at his side. Sneaking around wasn't something new to Dash, nor was avoiding potential unexpected surprises.

*THUMP!*

This one was simply to silent to avoid, and before Dash knew it, he'd run midair into.. someone. Something Dash thought impossible, yet before he knew it, he was on top of.. someone. But it was far too dark to see who. Whoever it was, she felt and reacted like a warrior. Whoever she is, she's in shape. Probably tall, too. If not for the lack of a distinctive sensation of a familiar fur on his skin, Dash might have taken her for his own Catrina Whiteclaw. Dash instinctively jumped back.

She was clearly armed. Dash mentally chastised himself for his sluggish reactions. Was it really surprise that caused it, or was he that taken by the sudden feel of soft skin.. no.. Dash pushed that thought out of his mind, a task made a bit easier by the sound of the crack of a whip. Dash quickly jumped to a crouching position. Although it was black as sin under a moonless night, he could just make out the outline of her body. Sebastian Dash had his trademark broadsword ready in the breadth of a heartbeat.

Something about this felt horribly familiar.

Fate, coincidence, or destiny, who's to say which is to blame for what happened next?

Dash started to say something but quickly found his arm entangled in a thick vine.. Her whip! Dammit.. The small thorns sunk into the tape covering Dash's wrist. Dash swung at the whip with his sword, but it was too clumsy a swing. He could see her reaching for .. something. Acting more or less on instinct, Dash grabbed the thorn whip with his free, and fortunately gloved, hand and gave it a yank. She moved forward with the sudden rush, and nearly knocked Dash over, but he held his ground.

Destiny kissed the meeting in a sense. Just has her body slacked into his, the clouds shifted past the moon.

"Katherine?!" he asked, confused.

"Sebastian?!" she asked, equally confused.

But who was she? Why'd she recognize Dash? What was she doing here, and how did the two end up fighting side by side later?

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode- "Katherine's Big Score!"