A vampire and scholar walk into a bar...

[Ycharley]

Scarlett looked down at what he was eating as he shook her hand. His hands were warm and a bit rougher than her own. And his pulse, the surging of warm nectar through his veins. That brief moment her hand rested in his was was near torture. Her core instincts demanding her to have a taste of him. She knew she had to resist though and resisted the urge to flinch or pull her hand from his.

"My night went better than I expected," She spoke with a soft smile as she pulled her hand back. She decided that traveling with this man wouldn't be so bad, though she knew she would have to eventually tell him her secret.

She knew she would probably have to tell him sooner then later, though she could do a day or too hunting animals, animals wouldn't do for too long.

"I will um.. Pass on that food. It doesn't even really look etable if you ask me," She spoke offering a smile though it was a bit forced.

"I am ready to go if you are, do you have a horse?" She asked quickly, waiting for Jonas to stand.

[Looshi]

OOC: Sorry for the short post, my next one will be a bit of a timeskip so that it's the night of their first day of travel.

IC:
"I don't think it is edible." He said with a laugh. To be honest, he hadn't brought himself to even taste it. The smell alone was enough to make him want to gag. Some porridge speciality it was.

His expression fell when she mentioned a horse. And he shook his head. "No. No, horse. We'll be walking. It's only a few days trek away from here, if one knows the way. Which I do."

Jonas stood up and stretched his arms over his head, hearing the cracking noise of his joints. He then picked up his rucksack and slung it over his shoulder. "This will be a merry adventure."

Sarcasm.

[Ycharley]

Scarlett laughed at his remark about the porridge. It might not be edible but Jonas, he was definitely edible. She knew she would have to tell him her secret and finally planned on telling him once they had traveled for about a day.

She put her hood of her cloak up over her head. She was ready to go. She hoped that he had had enough rest to travel at a decent pace.

Her mind then began to wonder. She wondered what type of curse he had. What did the curse do, was it anything like her own. She doubted that it was anything like her own curse. She took a deep breath waited for Jonas to lead the way.

[Looshi]

A long road was ahead of them, Jonas knew. He wasn't speaking of the few days travel. His mind was always wandering to the tomb of Sala'ful. It was not a place a person treaded lightly, or went to on a jovial walk. It was the resting place of the god of mercy. And it was a mercy that few mortals could understand.

Jonas gave Scarlett a soft reassuring smile before the headed out, despite his stomach twisting into knots. He did not want to go. He did not want to go. He did not want to go. Part of him wanted to throw a tantrum like a child, but the adult side of him fruitfully reined it in.

The clouds parted for the day, and the spent their time trailing down a rocky road. Past wooden signs that would point them to more comfortable travels. His heart yearned for them. But he did not have the will nor want to tango with his travel companion's determination. He already lost at that. It was a rival to his own. Her journey would be his journey all the same.

They walked partly in silence. Jonas fretted about some topics but they quickly died on the cool air. It was the fact they were strangers. He didn't know how to speak to her. Not that he couldn't talk to women - he could. Sort of. It just didn't seem tactful to jump out and say 'so what curse do you got? Do you throw up frogs?'

She didn't throw up frogs, not that he noticed.

When night came, the found a hallow in a wood, off the beaten path. Jonas came back to their camp with sticks and twigs in arm to build a fire.

"Seems safe enough, doesn't it?" He said awkwardly.

[Ycharley]

Scarlett looked around. She could see fine with no difficulty. "It looks perfect," She said not seeing, hearing, or smelling  anyone. She sat down close to where he was building a fire. She honestly didn't need a fire. It didn't do her any good. Her body didn't need warmth and her eyes didn't need light to see in the darkness. Plus, most animals stayed naturally away from her.

"So what exactly is your course. You tell me yours and I will tell you mine. Though I would almost bet money that mine is worse," She said with a slight chuckle. She knew out here that unless he had superhuman speed he wouldn't be able to outrun her and she planned on making him take her to the tomb even if he decided to change his mind later.

Her hunger was building, biting at the edges of her mind, screaming and demanding for her attention. A constant destraction, Jonas's heart beat, steady and strong. She knew he would be a big temptation for her.

[Looshi]

He set the wood down, and fiddled through the pile as he set up ring of it with dried weeds and bramble in the middle. It had been difficult to find, and he was nearly sure he wouldn't have been able to, but the rains let up here a while ago, it seemed. He thanked the gods for his fortune. For their fortune.

His hands paused in the movement of striking with the flint. They tightened, and he bit at his lip before he answered. His curse. He wouldn't call it a curse. Jonas didn't know what to call it. It was just different and he didn't want it. It felt like something alien squirmed through his veins where his blood was, and it was taking over him.

He didn't know how to describe it except for one way.

"I'm...Becoming something inhuman." He said after a long moment. "I..." He scrunched his face up, trying to think of the words. "I want to stop it."

[Ycharley]

Scarlett watched him carefully, she could easily tell that he didn't like what he was becoming and he didn't like the way he asked the question. Of course she knew about his thing for his god, she felt that it was just full of bull. What type of mercy was this. She took a deep breath, now it was her turn and she was trying to pick the words carefully.

"Well... I'm a vampire," She blurted out. Jonas would be one of a very few people she told. She looked at his face trying to judge his reaction. She hoped that he wouldn't try to run or anything. She really didn't feel like running and chasing him down.

"I'vebeen this way for... A rather long time," She added after a pause, looking down. She understood what he was talking about. Being a vampire was much different then being human, and she wished she could go back.

[Looshi]

"A...Vampire." He echoed back. Jonas' eyes stared at her, their black pupils widening. A creature of the undead. He had heard of them. Everyone had. They were in children's stories, myths and tales, and rumours that were all too true for some to handle. His knuckles whitened as his grip on the flint tightened even more.

He should have guessed it. He should have known.

"Are you...Going to kill me?" He said quietly, with his heart in his throat. It was a brisk way of putting it, but he had no other words.

[Ycharley]

Scarlett laughed at his fearful question, finding a sort of twisted humor in it. "No, no Jonas I'm not going to kill you, at least I'm not planning on it. I'm the the horrific monster that people paint in stories. I don't kill people when I feed from them and I don't turn them either. I wouldn't wish this curse on anyone," she spoke her to e soft and deeply serious.

"So calm down and breath, you are relatively safe," she said leaning back slightly. "I have not lied to you, I need your help, my curse is some how linked to this tomb and I need to know how," she took a deep breath. "Though I must admit, you do look tasty... In a completely none sexual blood sack type of way," her voice was riddled with a hint of sarcasm, leaving the true meaning of her words slightly unclear.

[Looshi]

Relatively safe. Jonas breathed in sharply, the cold air of the night burning at his lungs. He was sitting in camp with a predator of the dark. A hardly mortal creature that had a taste for blood. The same blood that was running through his own veins. And her next words confirmed it. He swallowed back a lump in his throat.

"I'll...Take that as a compliment." He said awkwardly. He should have been more afraid than he was, but when one has survived injuries that should have killed them it was difficult to feel fear at the sense of danger. Yet her words also rang in a certain calm. She wouldn't wish it on any one. That included herself. She wouldn't be searching out a god if it wasn't true, he assumed.

Jonas took a deep breath and set the flint down. He rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and bared his uncovered wrist to the cold air. No doubt she wanted blood. He would rather give it willingly that be woken up in the night with her fangs to his throat.

"I don't know how human it is..." He said, and moved closer to her. "But if you need it, my blood is yours."

[Ycharley]

Scarlett was taken off guard. She had never been offered blood, never had a willing donor. She sat for a moment in her shock. Most men would have run away in complete fear not offer up their arm for a taste.

"You know you don't have to do this, I have control of myself, I'm not a fledgling," She spoke softly, placing her hand gently under his wrist. Her fangs slide down and her eyes seemed to fade into a dark crimson, revealing her true nature.

She looked up at him one last time, giving him a chance to pull away, to say stop, or no. She didn't want to force anything upon him, not even being fed upon. She had had this curse forced upon herself and she didn't want to be like her maker in anyway. Of course in some ways she was like him, but they weren't similarities by choice.

[Looshi]

"I never assumed you were a fledgling." He said. Honestly, he didn't know there were differences in vampires. He knew nothing of their ways. But the way she sat in shock at his offer, was enough to tell him that most didn't do this. He was surprised at himself, even.

"I heal quickly." He continued. "It's no trouble for me. And it's a tad selfish on my part. I want to know how human it tastes....Because... I just... I want to know how much time I have left."

[Ycharley]

Scarlett looked back down at his wrist. She hesitated for a moment for biting into him. She hoped his blood wouldn't make her sick or anything. The moment his blood  hit her tongue a rush went through her. His blood was like nothing she had had before. It was like a drug, she only took a few gulps before ripping herself from his arm. She threw herself back a few feet, she had to to make sure she stopped feeding. His blood, it was different.

[Looshi]

He hadn't expected the way her fangs would feel sliding into his flesh. Or how it would feel to have his blood drained from him. Jonas had been wounded before, but this was different. Much different. Even after the sparse gulps the vampire took from him, his head began to feel slightly light. And he began to think that perhaps this wasn't the best of ideas.

   Then she shot back, and the sudden movement left gouges in his wrists, more painful than the simple dip of her fangs. With his other hand, he grasped his wrist with haste, and put pressure on it. Stop the bleeding. Stop the bleeding. The mantra was ringing through his head. It only took a moment for the blood to clot.

   "Wha..." He muttered out, looking to where Scarlett was. He could make out her form in the fading light crossing through the trees.

"Did it really taste that bad?" He said jokingly

[Ycharley]

"Oh my friend, that isn't the problem... Your blood is, like a drug, damn near addicting," She spoke, her eyes glowing a dark crimson. She slowly moved back to where she was originally sitting. She looked up at Jonas, he was telling the truth, he was changing.

"Sorry if I hurt you more than was necessary.. It was just really hard for me to pull back... Your blood, it is like human blood concentrated a hundred times," She spoke looking down. She didn't want to deliver bad news and she didn't know how he would take the news,

[Looshi]

His brow furrowed at her answer. Not out of anger, nor confusing but for the lack of knowing how to express what he was feeling. He felt cold, right from the pit of his stomach. It spread through his limbs, and he could feel it bite at the back of his throat like a bad cough waiting to happen.

"Concentrated by a hundred?" he echoed dumbly. Jonas looked down to his wrist, then back to the vampire. What did she mean by that? Part of him didn't want to know, but part of him had to.

[Ycharley]

"Your blood is powerful, like nothing I can describe. It is pure in a way that is unbelievable. I could survive more then twice as long off your blood then a normal human's," She spoke with a sigh, knowing this was probably not what he wanted to hear.

Scarlett sighed, leaning back. "Would you like me to build a fire, or catch you some food? It is good for you to eat after I feed so your body can recuperate better," She spoke feeling a bit awkward.

[Looshi]

"I..."  His voice caught in his throat. He could say nothing. Jonas could only stare at the blood. His blood. Blood this vampire said was powerful. His heart ached at the mere thought. He didn't want this. It took him a long moment to be draw back to earth from his thoughts.

"Huh, what?" He stumbled, tearing his eyes away from the wounds that were already healing. "Oh no, I have dried meat in my bag that will do for a while. I heal quickly, remember? This...This is nothing."

With that, he stood up, taking it easy to his feet, and began to look for his rucksack. "But I'll take you up on that advice. I haven't eaten all day. If you want to start a fire, I left the flint over there to help get it started."

[Ycharley]

"I'm sure fresh meat would do better, but if you insist on eating that I will get the fire going," Scarlett spoke with a shrug. She grabbed the flint, it was easy to tell she could see perfectly fine. She had the fire going with a few minutes with little to no problem.

She sat back, leaving the flint so Jonas could put it back in his pack. She looked at Jonas for a while in silence. She could tell that he didn't like the news, she could smell the disappointment, the fear.

[Looshi]

Once the fire was going, the warmth was comforting. The orange light danced over both their faces. It made Scarlett's almost look comforting, if he didn't know she was a vampire. But he couldn't talk about being human, or something that was completely harmless. He wasn't. He wasn't... He didn't have an appetite anymore and left his rucksack to lay on the ground, lonely. Long moments passed between them, and Jonas had the right of mind to sit back against a fallen tree near the fire. Through his clothing he could feel the moist bark press up against his back. The dark was closing in around them.

"There were four others with me in the tomb." He said, out of the blue, his voice quiet. "Three of them sell-swords we had hired to protect us along the way. In our religion, to enter the tomb was sacrilegious. But we needed to know if our gods were dead, if they had abandoned us."

"We were considered heathens at best. They used to say the gods were sleeping, that they had spent so much time in the world, even their immortal bodies could not take the burdens of humanity anymore. It's said that once we knew how to carry our own, that they'd be back to ease our suffering."

"Sala'ful...The god of Mercy." He trailed off, and cleared his throat. "I believed foolishly that mercy would be taken on us. But gods see it differently than we do."