Call to Destiny

Chapter 3

The Warriors

Day two.

"Just five more minutes," Ginny mumbled, feeling around for her alarm clock. She opened one bleary eye to see what time it was. The alarm clock read, 'Get up you lazy bum! Don't want to be late for the convention!' Remembering where she was, Ginny jumped out of bed. A fresh wave of excitement rolled over her. She looked over at Draco who was still asleep. For the next eight weeks, one of the first things she would see in the morning when she woke up would be his face, Ginny thought wryly. She made her way to the bathroom, gathering her things along the way.

A quick shower and drying charm later, Ginny came out of the bathroom. She had been expecting Draco to be impatiently waiting for the bathroom to free up, so she was incredibly surprised to find the Draco was still sleeping! It was eight thirty and the convention was at nine!

"Malfoy," Ginny hissed, "Malfoy, get up!" She was reluctant to touch him.

Draco just turned over and mumbled, "No more dancing jelly doughnuts,"

Ginny filed this information in the back of her mind. "Malfoy get up! The convention starts in half an hour!"

No response.

"Malfoy, Celestina Warbeck is running naked outside."

Still no response.

"Funny, worked on my brothers," Ginny commented, reminiscing. Well, if waking him up gently wouldn't work, then... Ginny grinned wickedly and ran into the bathroom. Moments later she came back out with a bucket full of ice cold water. This is going to be fun, she thought wickedly, tiptoeing over to Draco's bed. She gingerly tipped the bucket.

"Aaaahhh!" Draco should out of bed like a rocket. Turning, he saw Ginny standing there with the bucket. His eyes blazed.

"Uh oh," she murmured.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" Draco yelled.

Ginny, not one who would take to being yelled at well, yelled right back. "To wake you up! The convention starts in less than half an hour!"

Draco glared at her, as he gathered some clean clothes.

"I could've gotten up myself," he muttered walking into the bathroom.

Ginny gave an exasperated sigh, "Boys!" They always seemed to want to have the last word.

~

Ginny and Draco walked into a large room where the orientation would take place. There were a bunch of chairs standing before a small stage. Taking a seat, Ginny looked around. There was nothing all that special about the room. Ivory walls and a dark green carpet. She looked over at Draco, how was studying the room critically.

"Sickle for your thoughts?" she asked.

Draco looked at her, surprised. He seemed to have forgotten that she was there. "I thought that there'd be more people,"

Looking around, Ginny noticed that there were only about a dozen people there. Puzzled as to why, she turned back to Draco.

"I did, too."

Ginny looked around again. She had just opened her mouth to comment that some of the people looked like they weren't in school anymore, when the woman from the front desk got up on stage. Draco shushed her, and turned his attention to the witch. Giving Draco a last glare for his unfair shushing, she did too.

"Welcome," the woman began. "I bet you are all wondering why you were chosen to come here." There were a few murmurs from the people.

The witch gave a laugh. I really need to learn her name, Ginny thought.

"Well, I'm going to tell you, but first, I will tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Kiara Melstrimlen, but I am also known as the Wildcat. My body is twenty six years old, but my soul is many centuries old."

Silence greeted this statement.

"Is she nutters?" Ginny asked in a whisper. Draco shushed her again, he looked as though he was trying to puzzle through something.

"I know that sounds ridiculous, and I probably sound insane," she looked pointedly at Ginny, who blushed. "But I assure you all. I am completely sane. I am a part of a group of protectors. We are called the Warriors. The Warriors are a group of just that, warriors, that are sworn to protect the world. Both magic and muggle worlds. Many centuries ago, in the time of King Arthur, a group of wizards decided that they needed a group of people to protect them. To fight off the demons other wizards summoned. To protect the world in times of peril. And to keep the demons from interfering with the battles between Light and Dark. There were ten wizards and witches, each picked an animal, one animal which they would kill. They would then use a spell to transfer that animal's soul into themselves. That would give them the strength and power they would need to fight off demons and other wizards. They called themselves the Warriors."

What she was saying was complete and utter nonsense, but Ginny couldn't help but believe her. Something was telling her that this was true, and that it was important.

"They soon realized that they would soon be gone, and that the world would be left unprotected. So they created me. The eleventh Warrior, the soul of a human and a wildcat combined. Until the world was threatened or in peril, I would be hidden in catacomb, deep underground, in the form of a wildcat. Then, when something threatened to destroy the peace the first Warriors worked so hard to establish, I would be awoken. I would then seek out ten others, those who were chosen. I must then find those people, inform them, train them, and send them out to fight. When all are ready, I am released into my catacomb, where I wait till the world comes to peril again."

"Well, my job is partly completed. The ten of you in here are the chosen ones. You are the next Warriors. Destiny is calling. You have no choice, to be a Warrior or not. You were chosen at birth, now you must fulfill that destiny. You may not tell anyone of this, not your friends, not your family. Until the final battles, no one will know. No one must know. It could endanger your life. All of you know that the peace of our world is being threatened, and you know by whom. Lord Voldemort knows of the Warriors, he knows they exist, and he knows they have been called. If he gets wind of who they are, you are as good as dead. Why? Well, because he wants the demons on his side, and this time around the Warriors are placed in the position to protect the Light."

A ringing silence fell over the room.

"I know this is a shock, to some maybe a good shock, to others a terrible one. Some of you may not even believe me, but you must. The fate of this world lies partly in your hands. There is still a lot more you must know, but I need to know if you are ready to hear it. Should I continue?"

The answer was silence.

Kiara smiled weakly. "I'll take that as a yes. The training of a Warrior is intense, and very hard. But it must be, you need to be able to fight off the strongest of demons with your bare hands. You will learn how to fight with your body, weapons and your mind. I will be truthful, the life expectancy of a Warrior is short. Most do not live through the final battles of war. I will give you some time to think this over tonight, but by tomorrow morning I need to know if you think you are up to the life of a Warrior. But, remember, an ancient power lies within you. You are strong, you are powerful and you are few. Please, think carefully about this. Are there any small questions?"

A young woman with short brown hair raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"What are the ten animals?"

Kiara smiled again. "I'm glad that you asked. In order of highest to lowest rank, there is the Dragon and the Phoenix, the Basilisk and the Sphinx, the Wolf and the Tigress, the Lion and the Panther, and the Eagle and the Raven." She looked around with critical eyes.

"I know this is a lot and it sounds pretty surreal, but go back to your rooms and think it over."

Ginny sat there, her head buzzing. She'd always wanted something to distinguish herself from the rest of her family, and now here it was. The thing was, that this sounded like some big joke. Something to get her hopes up and then bring them back to earth with a heart wrenching crash. And why her? Why little Ginny Weasley? Why not Harry, Ron or Hermione? Or the rest of her family? Why not them? This was the sort of thing that happened to them. Also, why was Draco here? Wasn't he supposed be a Death Eater in-training? Speak, er, think, of the devil, was he talking to her?

"Weasley."

"Huh?" she asked, blinking.

"Are you just going to sit here all day?" he asked with a slight trace of a sneer.

Ginny glanced up at him. "Go ahead, I need to ask her something,"

Draco shrugged and walked away. Getting up, Ginny made her way over to Kiara.

"Um, excuse me..." she began feebly. Damn, she thought. How the bloody hell can I be a 'Warrior' if even my voice is weak?

Kiara turned around. "Yes, Ginny?"

"I, um, I was w-wondering, that is, is it..." Ginny stuttered.

"No, Ginny, there hasn't been a mistake," the Wildcat said giving Ginny a warm smile. "You underestimate yourself."

The redhead smiled sheepishly. "But why isn't Harry Potter a Warrior?"

"Because he is one of the Light. His destiny is to fight the Dark, not the demons."

"Oh, well, er, thank you," Ginny managed, heading for the door.

"Oh, Ginny?"

She turned around, looking back at Kiara.

"I'd like you and Draco to both consider this very carefully."

Ginny nodded and left. So, now she knew why Harry and the others weren't picked. She remembered what Kiara had said in her speech about the Dark and the Light. The Order were the ones of the Light and Voldemort and his Death Eaters were the ones of the Dark. So, nobody in the Order were Warriors because they are part of the Light, the ones the Warriors protect, Ginny reasoned through. How Draco fit into all of this was a mystery to her, and what did the Wildcat mean when she said to consider this carefully? Well, whatever it meant, Ginny knew she was staying no matter what. Oh the look on Ron's face when she told him! Ha! Ginny's face fell. Oh, right, she wasn't allowed to tell.

Damn it.

~

"What took you so long?" Draco asked as Ginny came through the door. He was lying on his back on the couch, tossing the remote control up and then catching it. He hadn't so much as looked at her.

"I had to ask Kiara something," she explained sitting down in the chair beside the couch. "So what do you think?"

"About what?"

"About the whole Warrior thing."

"Oh, well, live and see, right?"

Ginny nodded, knowing she wasn't going to get more out of him than that. She looked up at him, still tossing and catching the remote. No time like the present, right?

"Erm, Malfoy?"

"Hmm?"

"Why, um, well, Kiara said that the Warriors fight against the Dark, and I don't mean to be rude, but you're, well..." she trailed off hopelessly.

"Evil?" he asked, sitting up.

"Yeah," she answered quietly, avoiding his eyes.

"I don't know what I am anymore."

"Did something happen?"

"Well, you could say that."

Ginny was silent. She was curious to know what had happened, but at the same time didn't want to get on his bad side. Which she probably was on anyway.

"Maybe it's because I don't want to follow in my father's footsteps," Draco said, more to himself than to Ginny.

Ginny looked up at him startled. "So you don't agree with You-Know-Who?"

Draco looked at her, although he didn't seem to be really seeing her.

"I don't know."

"No man's land?" Ginny suggested.

Draco gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, that's about right,"

"When you figure out, would you tell me?" she asked, startled by her own question.

Draco looked at her for an intense moment, as though unsure of what he was seeing.

"If you want."

The two fell into silence again. It wasn't an awkward silence, though. It was somewhat comforting actually, Ginny mused, leaning back in the soft chair. She looked up at Draco once more, to find him looking at her. She looked away quickly.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.