Vertte

Hi Leyla!

*You're not free of me, not yet.*

Vertte was one of the many characters found on the OCSMP, a light-aligned Feline. She was known to reside at her Manor, across the lake from Lightwood.

## Backstory

### Early Life

Vertte of Manor, once a young girl, had lived religious servitude for her earlier years. Her parents, a Feline and a Wolf, along with much of her Village, had passed in an act of domestic arson, as she would've, had it not been for a wandering Stranger saving her from near-death. Waking up to her razed village, she decided to stomach her grievances and follow the footsteps of the stranger who saved her, leaving the scorched jungle she had called home, and finding her way to The Big City. In pursuit of a suffocating question, *why*, she would change from living a life of piety to living a life of freedom as a Stray Cat.

### The Big City

Not speaking a word of what she'd come to find out is referred to as Common, she was quickly put into a foster system... for about two days. She snuck out in the dead of night to pursue any leads her Stranger had left, having only a shattered hilt she believed may have been the Strangers. She would then be a street urchin for years, learning the language and learning to trick, steal, lie, and deceive to get what she wanted. Eventually, she had come into possession of a false ID, "Vertte", and she found work in a Mansion at the age of 16 as a traditional custodian, desiring the opportunity to pilfer light goods. This didn't last longer than a month however, when she heard rumors of a land far to the east, where opportunity was ripe but there was a degree of chaos. She'd been in The Big City for over half her life with absolutely no luck, and decided that she had to try something new.

Packing what little she had, her Hilt and her Dress, she snuck aboard a train heading east.

## Story

### Act I: Interloper

Upon exiting the forest clearing, she saw many characters of varying races and languages communing. Beings of fire she'd come to learn are referred to as the "Blazeborn", Humanoids of multiple legs and frail compositions similar to that of Arachnids, and ghastly specters sitting in the shade semi translucent as if Phantoms. Stepping backwards on a twig, an infernal Blaze craned it's neck, witnessing their interloper attempt to slowly back into the woods. It's infernal armor shining, it gave chase, nearly charring the forest in the process. She would outrun her pursuer easily, being adept at evasion.

Finding herself on the other side of the woods, she stepped into a vast desert, witnessing a humanoid creature standing on a dune. He sat, seemingly witnessing something on the other side. She would follow the treeline until just out of sight, before crossing the dune herself.

It was then she saw what she would come to learn is one of two capitals of the land. The sight of another Feline and the smell of something cooking urged her to enter, remaining wary of what she would find in what she would come to know as "Lightwood".

### Act II: Domestication

She'd come to consider Lightwood a homebase, where she could restock on materials and hear any important gossip before setting out on a mission. Gossip was slow, people were unreliable, but she figured with enough speech the truth could eventually be deciphered. Finding herself in the halfway point of the world, where Dark and Light intermingle, she had set out notices, requesting interviews with the dreaded Dark-Aligned. Her requests were not denied as she found herself meeting a creature of Shell and Strength, a Shulk named JJ.

These meetings left Vertte with another impression, one not of greed or selfishness, but of confusion. JJ had wished to one day be part of the Light-Aligned but was scorned by all who passed them, having constant doubt passed on him for his alignment, a factor out of his control. This was what lead to Vertte challenging the rules of Lightwood, inviting JJ to be a worker for her. Together, they would create a Manor for Vertte, but that was only the cover. In truth, Vertte took a liking to JJ, and decided to extend a hand.

Vertte would do this for multiple Dark-Aligned, giving them faux-passes to be on Light premises. She knew it would fall on her if they misbehaved, but she'd already misbehaved enough on her own. "Domesticating" the Corrupt and Evil was her greatest plan, and it worked flawlessly. It drove officials mad, and she was gaining more power and influence by the day with these stunts.

### Act III: Providence

*JJ is kill on sight, if you see him, tell him to pack his bags*

She stared in disgust at the signboard posted in front of her, a silent wrath. She'd tolerated enough of the governments encroachments on her territory, and she was going to make completely certain they stayed in their lane. She was an independent faction, she did not have to abide by these rules. She was more powerful than they could ever have dreamed to be.

Marching to the government office, she snuck in from the back entrance with a spare key she'd obtained, sneaking into this supposed "Deputy's" room, grabbing him by the throat from behind and slamming him against his desk, sending papers flying.

*"You never talk about JJ like that, you lay so much as a finger on him and I burn your capital to rubble. Your rules are not those I abide by, and you'd best remember that."*

Dropping the flailing body, she began walking out. Casting nothing but a glance at Dipiz, "*Deputy*".

*"I'd like to see what exactly your presidents will think of this."*

As she walked out, she could barely make out the mumbling of "*They already know*..."

Stepping out, she would make eye contact with the Primary President of Lightwood. Casting glances at each other, Vertte marched over solemnly.

*"I have numerous complaints with your stance against JJ, but foremost, you will not lay as much as a finger on him. He's under my protection.*"

With a face of confusion, Boss looked over at Vertte.

"*What stance with JJ?"*

"*The one where you kill him.*"

"*I never...*"

Stumbling out of their office, Dipiz was made painfully aware of their screw-up.

Glancing at Dipiz, Vertte coldly replied;

"*He told me another story*"

Boss, looking back at Vertte, ushered her to the main office, to negotiate.

Not about JJ, but of getting Vertte to work for Lightwood under conditions that she just couldn't pass up. Vertte would get access to all sorts of knowledge about the peoples dealings, of material she could take advantage of. In exchange for that and the permission to allow as many Dark-Aligned on her premises as she pleased, she'd simply cooperate with the government of Lightwood, taking the mockupation of Secretary. An act of providence, becoming above all laws.

She'd slowly begin to take a liking to her Boss, eventually becoming adopted, but that's not quite relevant.

### Interlude: Soloners

They'd met long ago, before Vertte became known for being headstrong, or rather incredibly stubborn, and they found themselves taking seats across from the yet to be built Manor. They went by Soloners, and they'd been friends about as long as they'd met. Years as a street urchin taught Vertte the importance of being alone. *Alone is safety, groups are danger.* She had moved all the way out from Lightwood due to the desire to be safe, but found herself inviting Solo not to live near her, but to live with her. She took to Solo, the two becoming fast friends. They'd discussed plenty of an upcoming group, an Empire of Light wishing to oppose the Lightwood Presidency. They questioned whether or not assisting the government was the optimal play if the goal was power, and Vertte assured Solo that this was the right move. That this was "The Play".

Solo and Vertte would remain friends until the end of days.

Of her many regrets, Solo was not one.

### Act IV: Empire

She first came into contact with the Empire through a friend, Tabloid, Tabby.

Through Tabby, she'd find herself meeting the hotheaded, brash, and very, very loud heir to Empire, AquaDragon. Despite Empire being a growing threat, she found herself around Aqua. This was ideal, as she'd been tasked with finding the location of this Empire, of uncovering it's secrets, of stopping it before it could crumble the presidency.

Working from the shadows meant Aqua wouldn't know Vertte was their biggest threat, and that's what lead to Vertte walking an invisible path through hell.

She'd been tipped off regarding the location of the Empire's main base, using hell itself to travel there unseen. She wasn't completely convinced she could trust her sources, but a portal back to the world was present where she'd been told it would be.

Going through the portal, she braced for a trap.

She came out on a snow-capped mountain, turning to witness a keep embedded within the peak, reached by staircase. She took in her surroundings and continued upwards, silently.

Exploring The Empire, she found various things. Books transcribing meetings amongst Empire, gear, materials of all sorts, but only the books held value. She went deeper.

She found rooms made out to individuals, and slowly found herself disappointed. Surely there'd be more secrets? This couldn't be-

Footsteps. On the stairs. Coming upwards.

She ducked into the nearest room, pressing her body to the furthest wall to minimize potential contact. She became acutely aware of the situation she found herself in.

Two sets, a loud voice. Aqua was about to pass by, she held her breath and waited.

*"Lightwood won't have a chance, we've got enough troops to make it easy. It's really not even a question."*

The footsteps got further, and Vertte slunk out of her corner, checking the hall before bolting away from them, back to the portal, a bit too loudly.

Out of eyeshot, she could hear them running back to the portal, straight towards her. Nowhere to hide. She wasn't sure she'd make it to the portal in time to not be seen, but reached for it, not even moments too soon. They'd just missed her.

Finding herself in hell, she bolted the opposite direction from where she came without moments to spare. They'd expect that the intruder would run to Lightwood, and she was right. She witnessed a Merling and Aqua step out and pursue where they'd thought she'd gone.

With no benefit to herself, Vertte had survived. She'd had nothing to show for it except some transcriptions Boss would be interested by. But she knew on some level she wasn't doing this solely because she'd been tasked to find important information. She'd come to like them, or atleast respect them, despite her... family... Vertte chose to believe there was a bond created, two individuals of power working together to control everything. One from the Light, one from the Dark.

Books in her possession, she went back through the portal. She elected to walk back to Lightwood from the Overworld.

### Act V: Swan Song

A reputation for ruthlessness led to Vertte receiving one last task from Boss.

A war was soon to be waged, Empire and Lightwood will clash, one will fall, neither presidents equipped to deal with the logistics of managing this clash. Someone was needed to lead the charge, and it was almost certain that this someone would die.

Lightwood could not find a suitable fighter, someone to take up the price. Boss was no fighter, she was better alive anyways. No one else was available to stall, reinforcements were too far.

Someone had to stall, to hold the line until reinforcements could arrive, otherwise Lightwood would fall before anything could be done.

There was no winning. Not even surviving. There was only *stalling*.

Lightwood was not easily defensible. Whoever chose to take up the mantle of stalling would fight in a field far from home. They would die, alone, with no burial. Their bones would not be recovered. Their tools would rot and rust in those fields if not taken by the opposition post-mortem.

There were no other capable fighters. The cost of allowing them unimpeded access to Lightwood would be disastrous.

She glanced around the silent Manor.

JJ was visiting Darks Den and didn't know of the war.

Tabby and M4 were far too good people to die for this. They were the type of people she would do this to save.

Sabbie had been missing for a while now.

Solo... Vertte wouldn't let Solo die... not for a cause they didn't believe in.

Ginger was too far away to reach.

Phil was fast asleep, and she just couldn't bring herself to ask for help one last time.

Even if all of them, her best friends, could be here now... she wouldn't want them to. She could never forgive herself for marching them to their deaths.

Walking through the dimly lit Manor, she picked up a book, her final Will and Testimony. Hiding it in JJ's chest. He'd have to forgive her for this.

Getting closer to the entrance, she couldn't help but stop upon seeing her shield on the wall. It's vibrant baby blue, electric pink, and harsh white hanging proudly for all to see. She raised her gloved hand, propping it off the wall, and wore it like a backpack. It being just a bit tighter than she'd remembered it being.

She stepped out of the Manor, the wind blowing her pink hair all over her face. It was lightly raining, but she felt no colder than as if she were inside.

Walking past the stables, she couldn't help but glimpse upon the sleeping figure of her mare. Placing a bit of extra hay in her stable, she figured she'd be fine on water as long as Solo noticed. And Solo would notice, she made sure of it.

Finally at the gate to Manor, she took some letters from her satchel.

*Phil, Solo, Boss, JJ, Ginger, M4, Tabloid.* *Phil, Solo, Boss, JJ, Ginger, M4, Tabloid.*

She placed the letters in their respective mailboxes. Each one a brief reminiscing of their time together and an apology for doing this, imploring them not to try and stop her if they read the letter too early.

*"This isn't your fight, those aren't your people, you don't have to do this."*

She turned around, one last look at Manor.

She couldn't help but smile as she walked off into the darkness.

*She would not go quiet into the night.*