"No one can take away your right to fight
And to never surrender,
Never surrender."

Phil Collins - "Never Surrender"

She'd had that dream again. She hated that dream, that one most of all. Her father, as she had last seen him, standing still, looking at her. No - staring at her accusingly, would be more like it. Then William walked up to join him - even worse, that. Her packmate, her fellow Ahroun, her childhood playmate. The one she risked everything for, broke the Traditions with. The two simply gazed at her in utter silence. Then darkness swallowed her father; her lover separated into seven discrete pieces. Just as she had last seen him, torn apart in the Umbra. And the blood… oh, Gaia, the blood! She was swimming in it, and it was rising, threatening to drown her, and somewhere, someone was laughing…

Sioneva came awake with a near-scream, choked down just in time. She huddled in her bed, and wept softly, trying not to wake Maria. But when she looked over, her roommate was not there. When the young Ahroun recovered sufficiently to note the oddity of that, she checked the clock. /It's 2 AM! Where is she? She's never out this late. I'd better go look for her. I never sleep after that particular dream anyway./

It was but a moment's work for her to sneak out of the dorm - it had taken her an hour or two, her second day, but she had memorized all the obvious and unobvious exits from the building, from long habit. /See, Conor? I can be taught! Know your terrain, you always said - but this is too easy!/ She circled around to the front of the building, murmured, "Now, where is your scent, Maria? Where did you go?" The campus appeared deserted, save for a couple snuggled together on a park bench. Eva ignored them - not important. /Scent's only an hour or so old. It's not like her to sneak off - not like me, if course - she went that way. Let's see what transpires./

She walked silently down the streets of the sleeping city, unsurprised when the unseen track she was following led her toward the rougher part of the city. Where all the best bars lay. Meaning, the tough, less reputable ones - she'd made herself familiar with them as well, of course. A grin sprang to her lips, displacing her bad mood, as she remembered one in particular. /That was a good brawl, that was. Half the tavern - wonder how many chairs we broke? Pity the police had to come and break it up. A few minutes more, I could have laid out the bums in neat rows. Maybe some time again. Humans. Oh, and now, what's this?/ She stopped walking, peering down a dark alleyway. /Don't tell me. Didn't you have any better sense, girl? Well, I'm not going to stand here all night./

Sioneva strode boldly into the alleyway, tall figure backlit by the streetlights behind her, only for an instant. But long enough. She had time to see the crumpled form of her roommate, before the soft rustle of clothing from the shadows warned her - as if the man's smell had not - that they were not the only ones here. Her nose wrinkled, and she spoke out loud to the would be attacker. "Ye, my friend, positively reek of alcohol. Now, I don't mind the smell of the good stuff, but seems to me that yer clothes have been drinking in the cheapest liquor around. Positively a crime." She deliberately spoke with the thickest Irish accent she could get away with, hands resting at her sides. Then she simply waited, glancing down at Maria. /Breathing. Good. I'd hate to lose a roommate this quickly!/

Waited, that is, for the drunk, enraged male to approach her - waited for his slurred order, "Shut up, you b----. I have a gun." Waited him for him to get between her and the mouth of the alley. Silently yawning, she moved back into the alleyway as directed by the wavering motion of the gun, directing her to do so. /Not too good at this, is he? I was hoping for more of a challenge. But the way he smells, he'll pass out on his own any second. Unless those bullets are silver - nah. He couldn't afford that. Maria, my friend, just give me a minute, then I'll see to you. Just a moment…/

Gun or no gun, drunk or not drunk, the mugger obviously knew what he wanted, and it was all in his eyes as he reached a hand out to paw at his apparently helpless victim, laughing raucously. Eva thrust a hand out as well, fingers doubling into a solid fist. She made contact first though, reactions not dulled by alcohol, and her 'attacker' half spun around from the force of her blow, loosening teeth in his jaw, even knocking out one. The girl was not inclined to pull any punches. As the man spit out the tooth, howling in outrage and pain, his finger reflexively squeezed the trigger, though the gun was pointed at an innocent section of alley wall now. The retort echoed off the stones, bringing a grin to Eva's face.

"That was a mistake, my drunken friend. Every cop in the area will be converging on this point, now. And we'll be gone. But first…" She stepped in swiftly, both fists ready this time. Swinging low, the first, in a classic dirty move, straight to the stomach. /Saw that in the movies - flashy, but if it works, it works. Yes./ As he predictably doubled over, her other hand caught him on the other side of the jaw, freeing another tooth or two. He spun quite artistically to the ground, to Eva's great satisfaction. "Yes. That is better. Come along, Maria. It's time to get moving." She bent to hoist her still unconscious roommate over her shoulder, then paused, looking around. "Oh, yes. Let's get reclaim whatever this man stole, shall we?" A quick search of the drunk's pockets unearthed a tidy amount of cash, a few IDs, and assorted bits of lint. "Excellent."

Her head went up at the sound of police sirens, and she quickly tossed her friend over her shoulder and made for the mouth of the alley, flat out running to get clear before they closed in. Even carrying 120 pounds of deadweight, she managed to make it back to the dorm in record time, laid Maria out carefully on her bed, and fell into her own. A satisfied smile lingered on her face as sleep caught up with her again, her thoughts chasing her into the blackness. /Wonder if Spiderman was a werespider? Just call me Super-Eva!/