Dinner time!

[Anonymous]

Lla'rete soared down the street after the vampire, his grace in movement slightly lessened by his awkward attempt to re-don his leather jacket whilst still holding his axe and sword. After a couple of stumbled steps in which he nearly dropped the axe, the slayer re-holstered the melee weapon and unsheathed his sword once more, still in motion so as not to allow the vampire more ground than it already had. He obviously didn't have the rare vampiric attribute of unlimited stamina, but he was young and limber, and not bogged down by armour and weapons made out of precious metals. Even so, Lla'rete made a good enough attempt of catching up, especially as seemed to get a burst of speed when he was jacketed again, the liquid-seeming material flowing out behind him like a dark tide. Lla'rete was an exhibitionist at heart, a trait that had grown on him the longer he had been a slayer.

Aaand... The vampire had dodged down a side street. Typical, the bizarre creatures couldn't seem to hold a steady route for any amount of time. Fortunately, Lla'rete had passed this street on the way to the building. It was a dead end, and the vampire had already proven that it couldn't fly. The hunter slowed down to walking pace, and gave his silver sword a twirl before stalking out into the center of the road that lead down between the houses. The vampire's words hit his ears just as a convenient gust of wind billowed his jacket impressively. Lla'rete smiled, baring a gleaming tooth.

"I'm not afraid of you," he spoke without raising his voice, despite the vampire's distance. he knew the sound would carry.

"And If I was afraid of you, I wouldn't believe you. And if I believed you..." he sighed, inwardly. This part hurt. The vampire was sincere in that he didn't want to hurt him. He had been a human once, and thus had some reserve of humanity. But it always faded. The most merciful became just as the rest, when they realised that they were superior. When they realised that humans were inferior to them, just as cattle were inferior to humans. When anger had faded, and when Lla'rete was no longer motivated by his vengeance, that was what he had clung to. That was what he knew. They were the dead, their tale had ended. Lla'rete took it upon himself to show them that.

He looked up, and gazed into the eyes of the vampire. All vampires.

"If I was afraid of you, and if I believed you, I wouln't stop. I couldn't stop. All of you, and one of me. For what it's worth, I'm not like the rest of them. I don't believe that you're all evil. I know that you could be like us. But eventually you won't. You're something greater, and you'll realise that. And when you do you'll become one of them. A true vampire." He ran a hand through his hair, and stared at the sky briefly. It was a cloudy night, but a few stars were beginning to peek through. To Lla'rete, for some reason, they spelt foreboding. He looked back at the vampire. Am I a true slayer yet?

"For what its worth, I'm sorry. For what you've become, and what you would become later. For what you've done, and what you would do. For what I must do now." He raised his sword.

"If you regret it, fight me. In the end, the outcome is the same."

[Anonymous]

Lore gave a quick nod, eager to get on with the hunt, and pulled his head into the shadows, which shrunk and disappeared. The door shut loudly on his way out.

Aid, not ‘protect him’ or ‘save him’, nope just aid him. Support, that’s what it means. He grinned in thought while silently following the hunter. He was in his black shadow that leaped to the next building with fluid motion, more like some sort of ooze than a real shadow. It sometimes flowed like a large black cape, mimicking the hunter’s own with two ‘arms’ pulling it across the distance, then would morph into a beast as it leapt into the alleyways and out again, keeping the hunter that is hunting another hunter in his sight. He suppressed a giggle. That would make Lore a hunter too. He was still high on their adrenaline and fear.

They turned a corner down an alleyway; Lore’s shadowed form becoming smaller and less noticeable down the darkened passage as he slunk closer to the ground behind Lla'rete and had only caught what he said in reply to the vampire.

Man what a boring speech! It was like he <I>wanted</I> someone to easily catch up and stop him from hurting the vamp. Nah! He obviously liked for his victims know why s/he was gonna get killed by some psycho hunter bent on some vendetta.
Lore’s mind almost wondered once he reached “If I was afraid of you, and if I believed you…� but kept hidden, if the hunter were to suddenly turn around, he wouldn’t see anything out of the ordinary among the few shadows.

During the monologue Lore watched the vampire, perhaps he will see if this kid had any tricks up his sleeves. It was a risk that the vamp was completely helpless, but it wouldn’t be good if Lore suddenly jumped in the rescue his sorry ass, nor would it be any fun. The vamp would flee, but maybe if he let him get soften up first he may be more inclined to come see what his mistress wants him for.
Gah, listen to him! If it weren’t for her he’d have fun torturing the vamp and hunter, well it wouldn’t be as fun as but he’ll make the most of it.

�…If you regret it, fight me. In the end, the outcome is the same…�

Now let’s see how this will turn out.

((bah it’s crappy))

[Rhindeer]

Kujin straightened abruptly when the slayer finally appeared at the entrance, walking, looking quite at his ease and confident, even twirling his silver sword. Kujin took a couple of steps backwards before pausing and squaring his shoulders. Not that they were very broad or anything as they'd never gotten the chance to mature. "I'm not trying to scare you," he answered calmly, even though his heart was drumming wildly, and if he'd still had the capacity to sweat, he probably would have had a nice sheen to his face. Once again he was cornered, but he wasn't quite as panicky now that he was out of that cramped room that had started to make him feel very claustrophobic, and especially now that he had a plan. It gave him some hope and confidence.

"I'm just telling you. I don't wanna fight." He took another backwards step, then sighed and met the man's gaze levelly. Some vampires had the ability to overpower a mind just by making eye contact; Kujin didn't have that ability, but it surprised him a little that an experienced slayer would take that chance.

Or maybe it was because the man was experienced that he took that risk. Because he could somehow tell Kujin lacked that ability. Maybe.

It didn't really matter. The man's words hit home and rang truer in his head than the slayer could probably know. That was a constant fear of his, that he'd one day lose his humanity and becomes just like so many others. Just like the vampire who turned his sister who would then go on to turn him, regardless of his own wishes, just because she didn't want to lose him. Just like his sister. Back in the beginning, her heart had still been in the right place, if misguided; Kujin had been dying, and while the act was selfish, she really hadn't meant it to be back then. She'd been afraid, and it had been all she knew. But since then she'd changed; she killed for fun, bragged about it, even. Humans were weak in her mind, sheep whose only purpose was to nourish their parasitic existence.

She'd forgotten that they were ever even human. Truly forgotten. It wasn't as though she wanted to forget, or as though she'd simply pushed the memories aside--she honestly didn't remember anything about their childhood, about growing up, not even about how she was sired. It was like a whole chunk of her life had been wiped clean, and she didn't even care.

It was a thought that haunted him, that one day he'd become just like that. And it scared him almost more than the threat of hell or non-existence did.

Almost. Because he still couldn't accept the idea that he should be punished, that he should be damned or lose his life or soul for something he'd never even asked for. Perhaps he was selfish--people had died as a result of he and his sister’s curse, even though he did his best to be careful--but he wasn't just going to roll over and die; why should he? All life thrived off of death. Humans killed, too. What made him any different, really? He still considered himself human. He hadn’t forgotten. He tried not to forget…

No, he fought tooth and nail to maintain his existence, and he certainly wasn't going to bow his head now and make the slayer's job an easy one, no matter how pure his intentions.

"For what it's worth..." Kujin began, holding his gaze steady and unblinking. "I believe you. I really do. And I forgive you…" Suddenly his eyes narrowed. "…for your blindness. I also hope you'll forgive me, too, because I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to call it quits just yet. I'm just not like that." He took a couple more steps backward and away from the slayer and his raised sword, though he had also suddenly quirked a small, rueful grin, flashing sharp white fangs. No, he was definitely not ready to bow down and die; there was a hint of defiance in that grin, and anger swelling in his voice.

"I also hope you’ll forgive my language, but you’re full of horse shit. I believe you and I believe you believe yourself, but you still don’t know shit. You really wanna help me? Then help me! You think I can be like you? You’re really worried about me losing my humanity? Then help me maintain it!� he hissed angrily, though there was a thread of desperation there. "Or are you just acting sincere to make yourself feel better?" he asked almost mockingly, accusingly. For a moment there, he forgot all about his plan as irritation took over--almost. No, he still had it in mind. And he'd still do it. But it just wasn't in his nature to attack unless he'd been attacked, and who knew? This man was different. At least that much was true. None of the other slayers had even offered an explanation to him, and this man seemed like he was doing it less for the glory and more to...well..."save" his victims.

Maybe...

[Anonymous]

((Hope no one minds me jumping in here.))
Well, things certainly were looking like they were about to get very interesting. Going against some guy with weapons was usually not a good idea, but Luild had never been big on listening to what was and wasn't a good idea. She didn't really have much of what normal people called a conscience. Not enough to interfere, usually, but in this case, the poisons master had her own reasons.

You know he has powers way beyond ours, right? You really want to get into this? Ingdest asked her.

You know that answer already

A lot of people would jump in to defend a poor kid being chased a guy carrying more metal than most people owned back where she lived. But this was a big city, and things like this happened every day. Hell, normally she would have let one die and checked the body for anything useful. But maybe if she stood up to the killer, the others would. If not... she ran a mental inventory of her own weapons. Left thumb and right index, paralyze and cause a little internal bleeding. Ingdest had better be right about this kid being somebody special, somebody who could recompensate them appropriately.

She wouldn't admit even to herself that she felt a little sorry for the kid. You never knew who could be listening.

She burst out of the door of her rented room, and walked up to the imposing man. She hadn't heard what was said, but she had seen mouths working out the window, and she could guess it had to do with money. Or maybe the power this kid had was something he stole. She hoped so. "Just what do you think you're doing to this poor boy? Whatever you have to say to him, maybe you could say it when you don't look like you're going looking for werewolves?"

[Anonymous]

Lla'rete was just beginning to answer the boy, something scathing about there being no cure for vampirism no doubt, when the girl marched out of the building. The slayer barely spared her a glance, analysing her as little threat in a split second and only doing a quick double take because of her height. He moved towards Kujin regardless, making no effort to answer her question. Interferences at this stage were to be ignored, as the vampire was still as likely to make a break for it if the opportunity was given. At least the arrival of the stranger had given a satisfactory interruption to his answer. He didn't have another good spiel planned anyway, despite his level of conviction, and he had already said his piece.

He closed the gap between himself and the vampire in a few bounds, leaving a couple of paces between them and giving himself the oppurtunity to fall into his primary impaling stance. This meant his feet spread far apart, sideways on, and his sword held in both hands next to his head and pointed at the target. It didn't give much oppurtunity for defense, but the killing strike could come fast enough to stay any potential attack, unless the vampire suddenly revealed some aptitude for magic. Unlikely, seeing as he hadn't made use of it thus far.

Lla'rete didn't say another word, to the vampire boy or the woman. The vampire had turned down his offer of a quick execution, and therefore battle was joined, hopefully soon to be done. As quick to fight as he was, the slayer didn't take any pleasure in the combat or killing. The tall girl was unlikely to be a threat, as she was unarmed and the prospect of her having magic was as unlikely as the vampire himself. She could raise an alarm, but with any luck Lla'rete would be out of there in a matter of seconds...

Yes, absolutely nothing could go wrong, now.

[Anonymous]

‘Nothing could go wrong.’ It was as they say, famous last words, as typically when someone said or thought, or even narrated that simple sentence, it always went wrong, like the Macbeth of the real world. The utterance of that Scottish play’s name before curtain rise caused the performance to fail. This was an unwritten rule of the universe where ‘nothing could go wrong.’ Always did.

Lore stayed hidden in the depth of his shadow as it moved to the wall. He was curious for a second about the very tall girl, he remembered being that tall once, what kept his curiosity about her was he could sense two presence on her body, like she was carrying a little sprite or something, for once he wasn’t sure what it was, so dismissed it as nothing of importance. Emotions were primary coming from his entertainment so that was where his attention was.

The demon-child stepped out of his shadow and leaned against the wall with his arms folded, purple eyes watching as the hunter made the pose to strike a deadly blow. Lore was shrouded by the real shadows and only his small outline could be made out. He would interfere when needed and not before. If the vamp had no plan, tough luck! You lose! Then his mistress’ feelings nudged their way back into his mind. Not the self-pitying ones, the deeper emotions that Lore knew made her stronger than she looked. He sighed inwardly.

The fair skinned boy started muttering under his breath; in this weaker form he couldn’t do some things with his mind alone, it needed a kick-start to work. He felt it working; a small blob of his black shadow slid over to the warring pair and disappeared into Kujin’s shadow. It wasn’t much but at least he could claim he tried and it didn’t affect either one of them unless the vamp received a killing blow, it would only work once,  that was when the fire works started, if it worked that is… First time for everything, he guessed.

Resting his head against the wall he basked in the adrenaline, fear, hatred and anger. Why couldn’t he find emotions this strong every day? He sighed in mild thought, feeling a bit weaker than before the casting.

[Rhindeer]

[Sorry it took so long! XD I lost my original post due to computer spastic-ness, and then I lost my muse. >_< Losing posts is always so depressing. XD]

Ha! His plan had worked! Sort of. One girl had apparently been attracted to the commotion and, well, that was better than nothing, he supposed. Really, Kujin probably should have thought this through more...but, he really hadn't had a lot of time to do so. Now, as he was standing here in the street and able to get a better look at his surroundings, he was starting to realize he'd made a mistake. This part of town? It wasn't a good part of town, from the looks of it. If he drew more attention, there was a good chance that it wouldn't be good attention; thugs probably lived around here, too, so he'd have just as good of a chance of getting attacked and mugged by his would-be helpers as helped by them.

It could turn out even worse if any of them realized he was a vampire...damn it! He hadn't even thought about that! He'd hunted around this city before...maybe people would know about him, or at least know that a vampire had been to this place before, and, thus, believe the slayer if he said anything...

Argh! Wow, Kujin, you were really screwing up big time tonight...

He supposed that left him with only one other option.

His attention snapped away from the girl and back onto the slayer when the man started to move, crossing the distance between them. Jolting in alarm, Kujin hastily retreated as the man set his body into an offensive stance, silver sword pointing at him. Clearly, the guy was through talking, and the girl was being ignored--the slayer was intent on destroying him, and chances were, that girl wouldn't be able to do anything. Honestly, Kujin didn't want her to interfere; his idea, which he'd realized was a pretty stupid and bad one, had been to draw a crowd to serve as a distraction, not to risk having some girl get hurt by trying to defend him...

Hopefully she stayed out of the way. Just in case, he called out quickly to her, "Hey girl, stay out of this!" The guy had his bloody sword out. He was in fight mode. Kujin didn't think he'd hurt her on purpose, and he knew he wouldn't, but if a fight broke out and she got in the way...it could be bad.

Anyway, there was really no time to think too deeply about his options. He had to act fast, because the street was ending as he backed up, and the guy looked about ready to lunge. And if he did, he might not have enough room or be quick enough to avoid it.

Taking a few final, quick steps backwards to put more space between them, he suddenly raised his left arm and slashed his own wrist with his sharp teeth before letting his now bleeding arm drop back calmly to his side so the blood could flow freely. No, it wasn't some angsty attempt at self-mutilation or suicide, but the reasoning behind it soon became apparent as the blood welled out of the wound to the point where it would be logical that it should start dripping onto the ground, but it didn't. It simply seemed to evaporate before it could trickle down off his fingers, a sign that his "offering" had been accepted.

Blood magic. He had to give up something of his in order to get something in return. That's how Kujin's magic worked, and it had even been that way before he'd been sired. Every type of magic had a price of some sort, whether it be time, energy, or something even more critical, or at least that's what he understood. Sometimes, the price was invisible...but in his case, he could see it good and clear, and he could feel its effects right away. Somehow, he imagined it to be a sensation similar to what his victims must feel when he fed from them, drew blood from their wound...already he could feel himself starting to grow dizzy.

It all took a matter of seconds. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to do this!" he called out to the slayer quickly, and abruptly he stopped drawing upon his magic, the blood finally allowed to splash onto the ground when it was no longer being "drained". Not a second later, and the wind around the slayer picked up, tendrils of air swirling tightly around his weapon to hold it in place. Or so, that's what Kujin was hoping. He had no time to stand around and figure out if it had worked, if the thread of magic had been strong enough, because even if it hadn't, he was banking on it at least taking the man off guard. It wouldn't last long, though, whatever happened.

Which was why he had to move.

Wasting no time, he bolted toward the slayer, dodging to the side to get around him and grimacing as he stumbled, his limbs shaky and feeling distinctly like rubber. Damn. Well...he hadn't known what else to do. He was fresh out of bright ideas. Lifting his hand, he licked quickly along the wound, lapping up the blood and sealing the wound shut before he could lose more than he already had.

[Sorry for the suck. o__o]

[Anonymous]

((Pay no attention to her character sheet. It sucks.))

"What? You think I can't handle it?" Luild shouted at the boy. Forget running, she was in this for better or worse, and for now, she was sticking to the plan.

He's definitely doing something Ingdest announced as the boy cut himself.

No kidding was all Luild had time for as she ran through the various poisons even a simple stratch could get into anyone's system. She much preffered them over weapons or magic -- they were, in her experience a lot more relaible. But that wouldn't appear to be the case with this kid. Something funny was happening to the big guy, but she ignored that and just lunged with one hand at him, trying to get something really nasty into his system.

"Don't ignore me," she snarled, not even caring what happened to him. It might well be hilarious, though. Normally she mixed fingers for maximum comedic effect, but a bunch at once tended to really crack her up. She'd never tried ten at once, though, because too many could cancel some of them out. As she lunged, she saw the kid try to run for it. If he made it, he owed her big time.

[Anonymous]

At the first sign of action, Lla'rete went in for the kill. In any case an attempt at movement  meant fighting back or running, and at the sight of the oddly behaving blood Lla'rete immediately knew that he had grown overconfident again. Blood magic was common among vampires, even if it could be used by mortals, and he was well aware that it was often only used as a last resort because it was directly related to the vampire's normal powers. Once more, he'd underestimated the cornered fox.

The air's grip wasn't particularly firm, but he was in motion. His thrusting sword slowed to a stop as a flailing zephyr thread that had broken on his blade cut his cheek. He tried to snarl as his body recognised the lack of movement, but he had even been so careless as to allow his breath to be knocked from him by the barrier of air. Now the vampire was dashing past, and the realisation that he had failed again hit Lla'rete with a force of demoralisation. He had learnt the same lesson so many times, but he still allowed himself to be taken over by his determination. His impatience.

The air's grip on the slayer allowed him to turn his head and watch as the vampire shot down and out of the alley. The anger left him quickly with the vampire gone, and its void  filled with regret. And a disturbing tinge of disapointment. Suddenly he realised that the  tall girl from before was still coming towards him. What would she do? She couldn't be trying to help him, as not enough time had passed for his capture to be obvious to an onlooker. On top of the fact that she had just seen him come close to killing what looked like a young boy. In fact, she had a look on her face that Lla'rete would have recognised had he ever looked at himself before killing a vampire. It hit him just as her nails broke the skin of his shoulder.

She thinks she's the good guy.

And as the magic dissipated, Lla'rete collapsed with a groan. If that demon's still here, it'll be enjoying this.

[Anonymous]

The demon was indeed enjoying this little show and also relieved he didn’t have to stick his neck out for that wimpy vampire. He laughed as the tall girl sunk her nails into the hunter, feeling the venom in her words; now his presence was know he stepped out from the darker parts of the alleyway and gave a toying grin at Kujin as he ran past, a look that clearly said; See you later.

“Well, well, that was an interesting turn of events.� He commented to Lla'rete in a tone similar to one talking about the weather but with a lopsided, smug grin.
“And,� He looked behind him briefly.
“He got away, from an experienced man such as yourself. Thwarted by a boy barely past his teens.�
The twelve year old said walking towards them, rubbing the hunter’s failure into fresh wounds, his purple eyes were bright and the wind brushed through his spiky mousy-blonde hair. He briefly looked at the girl, a third candidate to join in his fun; he wondered what she could offer besides anger. It seemed like he’ll find out soon enough.
The demon bent down to look into Lla'rete pained face, a look of childlike amusement displayed on his features, like it was all harmless fun, but he was sure to keep out of swinging distance.
“Awwww, what’s the matter? Aren’t you gonna try and get him, mister?�

Lore stood and looked at the girl with a serious expression, he’d follow kijin later; right now he wanted to make sure the hunt was still on and would push it if needed.
“What did you do to him?� He asked her as he circled the slayer, and then gave a swift kick in his side as a test that he was still amoung the living.

[Rhindeer]

Well, it had worked. For now, at least, it seemed he was home free, because he certainly couldn't hear anyone persuing him at the moment. Which was a good thing, because that was the last trick he had up his sleeve, and it had certainly cost him. Blood was energy, and there quickly came a point where he couldn't run any longer, dizzy and fatigued. Ugh...which also meant he'd have to feed again, soon, though he obviously couldn't unless he was horribly stupid and wanted to throw his life away. That slayer was obviously a good tracker and, since he knew what he looked like and where he frequented, for now, it would just be best to keep a low profile. He wouldn't be feeding in this town again.

Especially since the guy very well could still be tracking him, and he just didn't know it yet. Ugh. Paranoid, much? Sure, and he had good reason to be now. Life in Arca had been rather unnotable and the going had been smooth. There was bound to be a time where drama would pop up again. Hell, it would probably be a good idea to leave the city altogether as soon as he could manage.

For now...he'd just lay low.

Even when he no longer had the energy to run, he kept walking steadily and kept his ears open and eyes peeled for any sounds or sights that might signal he was being followed. Finally, when even that became too exhausting, he settled down on the ground between two rain barrels with his back pressed against the side of the building, leaning his head back to rest. It was sort of out in the open, but that was intentional--he'd learned his lesson about racing down random side-streets that could very well end up being a dead-end and so, while this wasn't the safest place to be, he was fairly well hidden and if someone he didn't want to see did show up, he could take off again without the issue of being cornered arising. Heh...then it would only be an issue of who was the swifter runner.

Oh well. Here, right now, he looked like any street kid scraping around for a safe place to spend the night. And it really sucked, even if it was something he should be used to. After all, he'd been born an street urchin ages ago, but it still sucked. Being bloody hunted sucked, too. He hadn't had to face that for years, and he really was feeling like a fox chased by hounds.

Drawing his knees to his chest and listening carefully, it was just a matter of waiting it out until morning. In the morning, there would be plenty of crowds, which meant safety in numbers and a chance to leave the city. Because it seemed that not only did he have a slayer hounding him, but that demon kid had seemed far too excited about the prospects of bloodshed, and he hadn't liked that look he'd given him when he'd bolted. Bastard. He'd probably lead the damned slayer right to him if it was up to him. God he hated demons...always sticking their noses in other people'd business to cause as much trouble as they possibly could for all parties involved. It all made sense. This was a set-up. That woman and the slayer and the demon. It was too big of a coincidence. The second girl, of course, was just a bystander. Hopefully she'd be all right.

Resting his chin on his knees, he sighed in annoyance and waited for morning. And for the world to stop spinning.

Stupid slayers and demons. Argh.

[Anonymous]

Now, where was that kid going? She needed to keep up with him, or the entire incident was pointless... or was it?

What was that? she demanded of Ingdest. That hadn't been any magic she'd even seen before.

Something bad. Ingdest sounded worried. Blood magic. Nobody uses it who isn't in some way associated with the dark arts. There's something weird about this kid.

"Oh, nothing fatal," Luild said, trying to keep from smiling. "Nothing too bad. I just wanted to teach I'm not someone to ignore. So he won't be able to move for a few hours. And because he ignored me," the anger was totally gone now, she was simply citing it as a reason, "a couple of body parts will itch for about an hour longer than that."

 "Hey, you know that kid?" She asked Lore. "I need to talk to him. He owes me for taking out that guy. What's his deal, anyway?" she indicated the big man by prodding him with a foot. "He attacked some little kid, ready to kill him. I can only assume he was a thief, but he must have stolen something pretty important to have that guy after him. Unless..." she frowned, "he didn't look like a murderer." No, murderer was unlikely. He was probably in possession of some ancient secret or something. Climatic battles between mages, huge armies moving onto each other, knights and dragons, that kind of thing happened all the time in the city. Or in Luild's version, anyway, having rarely seen so many people together. And it was certainly looking that way now. This was city life, huh? Less then a week and she was already caught up in something. And she'd alright had to teach a lot of people lessons, she thought, glaring at the big man.

[Anonymous]

The slayer had flopped limply onto the floor, seeming in every respect to be dead aside from the fact that his eyes still held the angry, self-disappointed look of one recently shamed. The dead had an innate disability to regret what they'd done. His sword fell from his useless fingers and struck the floor with an expensive-sounding clatter, and as he himself landed face-first in an unfortunately placed puddle his breastplate collided with a similar chord.

It wasn't chance that had lost him the vampire, and fate itself hadn't led to his embarrasing defeat at the hands of some kind of fingernail-witch. That was his own fault. But he found solace in the fact that it was sheer ill-luck that had landed his inactive face in a shallow pool of what tasted quite like the output of a chamberpot.
On my spirit and my father's blood, don't let it be shit. Lla'rete thought bitterly.

Oh, and now he was drowning.

Even after being paralysis, his breathing had subconsciously kept on at the slow and thin rate of someone who doesn't actually need to breathe all that much because they've been paralysed. Now, however, his thin lips and nose were flattened into a small but suddenly critical pool of foul-smelling sewage. And he couldn't even move his head enough to life one nostril out of it. Curse chance, curse fate and curse my ill-luck! he screamed inwardly, whilst using the rest of his concentration to stop himself inhaling the unfortunate affluence. The people standing over him seemed content with talking about him regardless of what he was doing, (Though the demon was probably well aware of his predicament.) and he didn't need to hear from the woman what was happening to him. He couldn't move an inch, couldn't even feel his hands and feet. He wasn't itching much, though. Apart from that annoying little spot on his upturned palm that was probably attributable to a malignant insect that thought him a corpse. A flick of his wrist and it was gone.

Hey, wait a second...

He knew it. He had definitely just moved, if only for a split second. His attention was suddenly wrenched from his breathing problem. Could it have been subconscious? But then the chemical must only be some kind of mind-drug, making him believe that he couldn't move himself... Or was the girl wrong? Or has the poison not affected me for some reason? Well, thinking about it won't help.

Slowly, so as to not be obvious to his aggressors, he tried moving his right hand towards his blade. A momentary lapse and a flicker of pain, and there he was. His fingers rested on the wire-wrapped hilt. He tried it with his other limbs, one at a time, and encountered similar results. Was the poison very short-term? Or had it become ineffectual for some reason? The woman who had used it probably thought he was out for a while, yet. She'll soon learn her lesson. the man thought with a mental tone of vengeance. Suddenly remembering to lift his head out of the "water", Lla'rete gasped a breath, then froze. That'll have given me away.

In one relatively smooth movement, Lla'rete jerked himself onto hands and knees, gripped his sword and performed a slightly wobbly forward roll, before leaping to his feet and spinning around to face the tall girl and the demon. I can stand! That girl seriously screwed up, and she's about to find out how much. Ready to leap forward and impale them both, (Well, maybe just rough her up a little,) the slayer suddenly swayed visibly, and had to steady himself and grip the sword in both hands. Was the poison acting again?

No, just a head rush. Flexing his neck and grinning malevolently, Lla'rete darted towards the demon, preparing to shear his head off one-handed. He hated mind games. He hated attempted poisonings significantly less.

[Anonymous]

Lore nodded that he knew the boy, but didn’t explain any further. Her curiosity would draw her in and if not, it was no loss to the game. He didn’t like to have to crane his neck to look up at Luild as he was only 4�6, so instead he looked around the dreary alleyway while she twittered on, occasionally glancing back at the paralysed hunter while he formulated his plans. Yes, he knew the hunter was face down in a puddle, but Lore was sure he could hold his breath for a little while longer, maybe until the girl noticed.

She was watching of course, Feilene, he had sent her what was happening. It wasn’t a true mindlink, he didn’t want her in his head, only a way to see from his eyes and hear the words spoken by him and the others. If she really wanted to speak to him, he would hear her, but he was in charge with what she saw and heard through him. So far though, it had been unedited.

“A few hours, eh?� Lore dryly commented as Lla'rete rolled to his feet. You can never trust Alchemists when they say a potion or poison will last a certain amount of time, or in fact work; they always seem to get it wrong. Although the slayer was swaying so he wasn’t faking it before, it just only lasted a few minutes rather than hours.

The cute demon returned Lla'rete’s grin with his own, that hatred was directed at him again, funny how it was always stronger towards Lore than Kujin.

The visual link to Feilene was cut just as the slayer swung a strike at her pet. Not because his head had been chopped off, Lore always liked the dramatics, making her worry over him then reconnect the link like it was only a glitch, it gave him a rush to feel her reactions.

The demon child leaned back, the blade passing over his head a mere few centimetres, he was immortal, but he could still be killed so he would like to keep harassing people for a lot longer than the slayer wanted.
His palms touched the floor and he flipped himself over in one swift, fluid motion and landed on his feet out of swords reach from where the slayer stood.
“Is that all you got?� He goaded with a smirk.

[Rhindeer]

[Just a quick OOC note: go ahead and continue on without me since there's nothing Kujin can do for now. XP]

[Anonymous]

Alright, that was just annoying. So, granted, it was experimental. Sure, if she hadn't been playing around with the formula to add in the part about the itch, it probably would have lasted more than a few minutes. But she was going to fix it. In the meantime, this guy needed to learn that just because one of her poisons hadn't worked, she couldn't be entirely discounted. He was trying to decapitate another little guy, which concerned Luild quite a bit less â€" there was something just plain wrong about that kid that for some reason made him very hard to care about. In fact, she almost found herself wanting him to get hurt.

My turn? Ingdest asked anxiously. He hadn't gotten to play for two or three days, and he was beginning to get very, very bored. After all, when you're a sentient plant, there's only so many different things to do.

Soon Luild told him. First, she had a question for these two.

"Hey! What the hell did that guy do? Answer the damn question! Quit killing each other, I'm not done talking to you!"

Frustrated, she removed the pack containing Ingdest and swung in a much practiced arc designed to get the little guy airborne, aiming for the head of the big guy. If he inhaled the moss, then Luild had the situation under control, and of he didn’t, Ingdest would be alright until she figured something else out. It wasn't until he in the air that she realized that still left the other guy.

[Anonymous]

Uneven odds were something that Lla'rete was most definitely used to, even though the girl seemed to be doing more to annoy him than to stop him altogether just yet. He hadn't really expected the first strike to connect, so it was little trouble, even with his still slightly numb limbs, to draw back and sheathe the sword without getting off-balance. Then his axe was out, held comfortably in one hand, though it could be used with two. The vampire may have escaped for now, but he could take out his anger on this annoying little demon. The single-edged blade hadn't been sated in quite a while, come to think of it. He could feel it's enthusiasm for the kill, so much so that it was close to vibrating is his palm. It was a good axe, and he'd gotten a lot of use out of it. Only marginally less than he had from his sword, though that had been wielded by his father.

The slayer caught the bag with his left hand and sent it flying back to its owner with a disinterested flick of his wrist. It probably didn't even contain anything of significance: The girl was just trying to slow down a man who she thought was attacking another small boy. Damn cute monsters. I'd better get rid of this guy before she interferes again, though.

He knew he couldn't, though. Combat was a particular vice of his, that had grown on him with his experiences. The besting of a foe, a better or equal, was far better than slaying a poor, mainly defenceless vampire that he could find himself feeling sorry for. Demons like this didn't give sympathy, and so they didn't deserve it. Killing one of them was something he could feel good about doing. Vampires were just a duty the slayer had to go through with. For his conscience.

Lla'rete leapt towards the demon again, swinging the axe over his head and down in a vertical sweep that a human's skull would prove little resistance to. Not that he would know.

[Anonymous]

Apparently not.

The girl’s questions went unanswered, why spoil her rage by quenching it with acknowledgment?

Lore rose an eyebrow at the girl’s attempts to stop them fighting, by swinging a rock in a sack no less. Surprisingly it didn’t work against an armoured encrusted guy bent on hacking a 12-year-old-looking smart alack demon kid to death. Funny that.
He returned the link between him and Fei again for no particular reason.

He eyed the axe with a bored look, and returned his purple gaze back to the hunter, his smirk still hung on his lips.
He didn’t move as the axe was swung above his head, then he were engulfed in thick black smog. The axe carved straight through it, Lore wasn’t there any more.
He stood behind Lla'rete shaking his head at the foolish hunter’s attempts. Something wet was felt on his head, raising a hand he touched it and looked at the red substance that he rubbed between his fingers and thumb. Blood. His blood. He scoffed, at the lucky hit. So Lore’s timing was off, it was only a scratch, so what?
A flicker of annoyance swept through his features before being replaced by that smug look.
“You know he’ll leave the city as soon as possible, we could be at this all night. Well I could, you look like you’re about to drop dead any minute, or at least she’ll do it for you if you don’t.� He nodded in Luild’s direction, barely taking his eyes off of his assailant as he motioned. How come Lore didn’t get a long rant about why he should be destroyed? It might have given the slayer an even change by boring the kid to dearth. Ah well, his loss.

[Anonymous]

"I am not going to kill him! At least not if one of you answers the damn question! What in the great and terrible hells of the earth did that kid do! I just jumped in to save him, I have a right to know! Because, if he did something really bad, then I'm going to go after him and make him pay, and if he didn't, he owes me some big favors for sticking my neck out for him! All I ask is that one of you take two minutes and give me the common decency to explain what the hell I just got myself involved in!"

Yes, if she approached the situation rationally, she would actually have a chance of making a difference in this fight, but Luild was far beyond attempting to be rational, which meant she was more of a nuisance than a threat. Until she calmed down enough to realize that poisons might help, whereas physical attacks would not.

Unfortunately for her, she hadn't reached that point just yet. She was bursting with anger, and just looking for someone to take it out on. She picked up a stone and threw it at the big man â€" not that she thought it would hurt him, she just wanted someone to pay attention to her.

[Anonymous]

(Heh ^^; I'm bak XD lol.  Sorry for the disturbance. ^^)

Sitting at the edge her bed still, Feilene stared off into space, fatigued eyes directed at the floor in front of her.  Bur, she was only half paying attention to Lorie.  She was in a trance of sorts, sitting like perfectly still.  Her body then jolted and she came to as Lorie's vision cut out.  Her heart almost skipped a beat and she blinked rapidly, her expression filled with shock.  She covered her mouth, a small gasp escaping her.  Then the vision came back.  A wave of relief hit her, though she was slightly upset, she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at little Lorie.  And no matter how Lorie fed on that little bit, it was always overpowered in the end by her sheer warped liking of him.  She smiled and sighed in relief, he body relaxing.  That little brat! She wiped a stray tear from her cheek.  

At that moment, Natasha yipped at the door and began scratching at it.  Feilene gazed slowly over at her.  "Natasha...??" she called curiously before the little runt popped the door open and scuttled outside.  "N-Natasha...!! " she called tiredly.  She scrambled to her feet and stumbled toward the door, falling on her face when she made it to the foyer.  There was a thump and a crack before she moaned and pushed herself up.  She broke her glasses...  She whined dismally, but didn’t have time to look for her other pair and made her way out the door, closing it behind her.  She leaned against the knob, breathing slightly heavy and looking around. "Natasha...?!" she called again, but the little dog was already clear down the street and turned the corner.  What had gotten into her??  She's never disobeyed before...  

Sucking it up, she trudged after the pooch, her hand guiding her against the building walls.  She was slow and very exhausted...  Dammit Natasha! She pouted and sighed again.  Feilene arrived at the corner and turned it.  Natasha was nowhere to be seen...  Feilene just kept walking though, hoping to find her eventually.  "Natasha...!" she called again and again as she made her way further from home.  







A little jingle was heard in the distance, and around a corner came a little familiar dog, sniffing at the ground, tiny tail wagging.  Natasha looked up, spotting the hidden Vampire and scampered on over excitedly.  The little jingle of her collar grew louder as she approached him, bouncing and grunting happily, trying to climb into his lap.  She panted and licked at the boy playfully, eager to see him again so soon.  

Feilene heard the jingle and her attention drew across the street. "Natasha...?" she said to herself, crossing the empty street and scanning the alleys, still moving little by little, bracing against the walls for support. She then heard the gunting as she came to the next alley, and she peeked down to see Natasha wriggling about beside some barrels.  What could she be do... Feilene then spotted the Vampire boy and gasped softly.  "N-natasha...!" she called out weakly, hurrying her pace down the alley, which was a bad idea in her condition.