character :: Kat Falkner
When the world goes to shit, some of the first to suffer are women. Time gets shifted back, and as the human race relies more and more on fists to get by – women find themselves either seeking shelter from pig-headed men or fighting a disorganized and losing battle. When the bombs were dropped and the world plunged into chaos, the typical pattern of abuse began anew; until about 25 years ago when Kat Falkner came into her prime. With a set of rough-hewn armor and disgusted with the way she’d been treated by her abusive father and a boyfriend she had unwillingly been taken captive by, the teen took things into her own hands.
Femme Fatale
is born.
In the beginning, the group threatened to collapse after the original members fled abusive homes to seek her out. The women made no friends and many enemies. So, walls were built, and over the years her tribe grew. A new style of fighting using the common battleaxe was developed here by Kat herself, and before long, every last one of the women became experts. The larger they became, the more infamous – before long, no lone man would mess with any of the trained fighting machines that Kat had assembled. This extended for any lone man, of course, for one bunch of people existed as a bane to their existence: the Helter Skelter. This group of nasty men raided the Femme Fatale camp many times, but one minor slip up would spell disaster; Gabriel White, their band leader, fell right into Kat’s capable clutches.
Instead of killing him on the spot (as she should have done), Kat wanted nothing more than to shatter his fragile ego by offering him a way out: if Gabriel won a fighting match, the Femme Fatale would immediately disband and each of the women would be up for grabs as new (and skilled) wives for the Helter Skelter .They would also earn the armor, weapons, and supplies inside of the well-stocked camp. However, if Kat should win: the Helter Skelter should disband, Gabriel would become a ward of the Femme Fatale, and his 7-foot long double-headed battleaxe named Gristle would become hers.
The fight would become legend as Helter Skelter and Femme Fatale gathered together to watch the grapple in the dirt ring below. Of course, our Kat won; not by a long shot, but the victory was clear. The Femme Fatale had claimed their rightful throne as leaders of the Badlands, the Helter Skelter all fell into smaller rings of raiding camps, and Gabriel White relinquished his mighty battleaxe to a fighter who could actually, you know, use it properly.
As life normally goes, however, Kat falls to a great tragedy when she eventually falls in love with her dashing young servant. While it begins as a pride thing at first, her feelings for him grow; and, in a wild turn of events, Gabriel White assumes Kat’s name to become Gabriel Falkner. Kat’s troubles are compounded by the fact that no married women are allowed to become members of the Femme Fatale; and, after a long reign as leader, Kat retires as the leader of Femme Fatale and bestows her title upon the strongest young fighter in her ranks: Kara.
The couple move just outside of the Femme Fatale camp, however, and Kat stays in close contact with her old clan. Over the next 14 or so years, the two produce four children: Gabriel Falkner Jr., Rebecca Falkner, Daniel Falkner, and the baby Emily Falkner.
should have trusted
a man.
One day, her husband takes their youngest son out on a scavenging party while Kat stays behind to train Gabe and Rebecca some basic fighting styles. The two will never return, or at least, that’s how the story is told. A dark cloud ascends over the family once more when a raiding party seize the house as a young teenage Gabe is out seeking his father and kid brother; the barbarians claim the life of Kat’s oldest daughter, Rebecca in the fight. When Gabe returns, the two take shifts keeping watch over the home; and when Gabriel Sr. returns in the night to steal from his former family (having abandoned them and moved on to a new raider camp himself), his own son assassinates him without a clue. Kat pretends not to know as she watches over her young son dumping a body in the dried riverbank a few miles out; but the darkness is too much for her. Kat succumbs to drink, and by the time Gabe is a man and Emily is old enough to hold her own axe – she is a shadow of her mighty self, drinking her days away and staring off out into the distance.
Kat Falkner is not done yet. It’s been five years since she’s taken a knee to her troubles, and her flowing black mane has since turned grey. No one assumes much of the widow who hasn’t touched Gristle in so many months, but a rumbling in the distance marks the end of her time of rest – because there ain’t no rest for the wicked.
