AN Given that the Senshi will be reborn, they will have new names. I'll let you guess who is the Senshi and which one she is, and post the answer at the end of the story arc.

This story comes almost directly after "Broken Star - Purpose" in "Lovehammer GE: Serene Star".

The Watcher and the Wind

The wind was strong that night. It howled like a wounded beast, as it chased the thick, dirty clouds across the night sky. Qamar had run off to feel it, knowing she would likely not have an opportunity to do so any time soon. It teased her short hair and bit into her exposed cheeks and arms, filling her with an odd sense of freedom.

She wanted to be closer to the sky. Without thinking, she scrambled onto the roof of an old, crumbling refinery. Her hands and knees were scratched from climbing, and her body shivered with exertion, but the girl-child felt it was worth it. Alone like this with only her and the wind, she felt different. For the first time in her life, she felt…

The moment burst like a bubble, when she spotted another. A child, like her, lying flat on the roof. She froze, undecided. Instinctively, she looked up, following his gaze. The sky was dotted with white glowing pinpricks of light. For the first time in her life, she was seeing the stars.

Then, movement caught her eye. The boy sat up and turned his head towards her. His eyes were grey and curious.

For a moment, they stared at one another, before she fled.

Cthonia was not a world for the weak. Perhaps ages ago, it had been different, but the age when it was inhabited by honest working men and women was long past, their only legacy being the ancient mines honeycombing the world's crust.

Qamar darted through the corridors, as she crossed the no-man's land on her way back. It never paid to be careless, especially if one was still young. A child was an easy target, a way to force its parents to switch teams or give over valuables. If one was lucky.

She relaxed fractionally, when she noticed the familiar markings on the walls. She was entering the territory of the Black Hearts, the gang to which her brother belonged. Soon enough she slipped past the sentry—it wasn't that hard, given that he was asleep.

She didn't stop weaving and hiding, until she finally snuck into the part of the gang's den she and her brother shared. She carefully pushed the curtain that separated their space from that of the others and breathed out in relief. He was still asleep and she wouldn't have to explain herself.

Last time she had tried to sneak out, he spent an hour lecturing her on the dangers that awaited her. On how she could get caught or lead a rival gang to their hideout, how it was irresponsible…

But none of this had happened. Qamar knew that she could be like the wind, if she tried hard enough. None would catch her.

There were many unused passages in the Cthonian mines. Sometimes decades could pass before someone used such a corridor. The one he chose now was covered in a thick carpet of dust. Carefully, he wiped out his footprints, at the same time trying to keep an eye on what was going on in front of him. It was not easy, but he managed. He was used to moving like this.

Life would have been much easier, had he joined one of the gangs, but somehow it did not feel right. There was something more important he would need to do. The nagging feeling that there was something else kept him away from the other humans.

It was not their violence—he knew the same destructive tendencies lurked in his heart. The best answer he could give was that it was not yet time. Something needed to happen first.

There was something still waiting for him.

Tael came running, breathless and excited. Qamar was not particularly impressed with the scout— with the certainty of an eight-year-old she thought she would not have been out of breath. It was really unfair that they kept her away from all the excitement and insisted she was too young for nearly everything.

"Off-worlders," Tael puffed, bent in a half as she tried to catch her breath.

Qamar perked up instantly—she was not the only one who felt a flush of excitement at the word. Everyone knew the stories. That they were descendants of people from the stars, that there were other human worlds scattered across the galaxy… For years, those had been merely old-wives' tales, but in the last few years strange people had started appearing on Cthonia.

They obviously had no idea where they were and how carefully they ought to tread. They knew nothing of where the no-man's land ended and how to avoid ambushes. So far, several gangs had caught those newcomers and made examples of them.

And yet, they kept on coming.

The Black Hearts smelled their chance and started shouting questions at Tael.

"How many?"

"Do they have weapons?"

"What did they look like?"

It reminded her of the time the Black Hearts had gone against the Rippers. There had been the same under-current of violence and excitement in the air as they prepared. Guns were loaded, knives were sharpened. Whoever the off-worlders were, they would learn the folly of traversing gang-territories.

It had been unfair. Qamar was not a baby and found the idea of being left behind like a little child to be an unforgivable insult. She was not going to stay behind. As soon as the ambush party left, she snuck off behind it. It was easy. It had always been easy.

She followed the others, taking care to stay out of their eye-sight. She slipped through the shadows and kept quiet, until finally, she could see the off-worlders. It was as intriguing a sight as she had hoped it would be.

There were three odd creatures in red dresses with cowls, surrounded by armed men and women. And then, there was a giant. He wore white armour and his shoulders were covered by the pelt of some animal, its muzzle resting on an enormous pauldron.

How could any gang hope to go against someone like that? Qamar froze, eyes widening in fear as she realized those were not the usual off-worlders. These were not easy prey.

The Black Hearts must have realized the same, but it was too late. Tael fell just as she jumped out of cover, her head blown off her neck by one shot. Others followed, cauterized wounds gaping in their bodies. Not all of the wounds were lethal—her brother merely lost a leg and started crawling away.

The giant snarled something, his tone disgusted, and brought down his armoured foot on the ganger's head.

The next moment, wind was howling through the corridors. It hit the off-worlders and picked them up, tossing them against the walls. Only the giant remained standing. He tried to make a step forward, but stumbled and fell to one knee instead.

Blinded by tears, Qamar could barely see what was happening around her. She didn't care—all that mattered was that her brother was dead. She wanted him back. She wanted him to get up and come to her, but knew this would never happen.

Instead, there was the wind—if she became the wind, the pain would go away. Its wail sounded more real then the mewling sounds of her own sobs. It drowned them, and took the pain with it. She felt as if she were pushing it out, feeding the anger and the grief to the howling gale. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else existed anymore—just her and the wind. She fell to her knees, shivering, and only then did she realize she had no strength to stand.

She tried to blink away the tears, but her vision wasn't clearing. The wind kept on howling, the sound filling her ears, as she slumped down and darkness claimed her.

"This was unexpected," Apothecary Caius Iras rumbled.

He looked around, assessing the damage. Several of the soldiers were dead, their necks snapped and the rest were badly bruised. He noticed one woman cradling a broken arm. The adepts had fared better, undoubtedly because of their augmentation, but as far as he could tell they were sore and dazed too.

He knelt down next to the young psyker and started checking the child's vital signs. It was unconscious, but breathing steadily. Having ascertained that it did not need any immediate medical help, he took out a specially prepared syringe with a soporific. He injected it into one of the veins on the child's neck.

As he hovered over it, he heard the clicking steps of one of the adepts.

"We need samples," the adept announced, his voice low and monotone.

"That is why we are here," Iras agreed. "You can take gene-samples from the dead, and we have the little psyker."

"Compliance," the adept replied. The others were also getting to their feet behind them, those less hurt helping those who had not been as fortunate. The adepts were already setting to work, taking blood and skin samples from the dead gangers, as Iras picked the child up.

He wondered if the little psyker would prove of any use to the Luna Wolves.

Qamar woke up strapped to a bed. A creature with large green eyes and a metal face was bending over her. Behind it, a huge man in white armour loomed. The creature said something but she didn't understand it at all. Then it started flashing lights into her eyes, making them water. She turned her head away, and the creature said something again.

The giant rumbled in response, his words equally incomprehensible.

"Let me out!" she croaked. She strained against the straps holding her down, but could only do so for a moment. A few seconds later she fell back, feeling nauseous and weak.

The giant rumbled something again, his voice cold and stern. He was pale, with wide-set grey eyes. There was something about his face that seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Let me out!" she tried again. "Don't you understand me, you dumb, overgrown bastard?"

Her insult did not elicit the expected reaction. The giant chuckled and said something in an approving tone. Qamar snapped at him again, dragging up all invectives she had learned from the Black Hearts, but it was to no avail. The giant did not seem to care.

Then somebody burst in, a young man, and gasped out a message, much like Tael had done not long ago. The giant and the creature froze, and then turned to stare at her. The creature remained unreadable, but the giant was clearly shocked.