Docks should be made of concrete (Smiley hat!)

[Anonymous]

Well the forest had been a fun adventure, but his time there had been…concluded to say the least. Mainly to say, he was bored. With four other voices in his head yelling at him, he had decided to go and find himself something new to do. There had to be anything out there that could entertain him and his other…personalities or souls or…whatever they were. They all wanted to do different things though, one of course asked to kidnap people, another wanted to go find some museum to look at ancient relics, another wanted to curl in the foetal position, and then…well the last one didn’t form an opinion of course.

So of course he decided to head for the ocean. That would be the best place to go.

It would really just throw all of them off.

So there he was now, it was a small town, roads weren’t paved, houses made of timber and brick, and a small market even to go ahead and sell wares. However Zek just…wanted to figure out what this world was like. It was still foreign. After being thrown here through the strange eddy, he had to adapt, and he just still didn’t get it of course. The sun didn’t burn though, and for a vampire, that was good. Of course, the sun never burned him, being instilled with the daywalker trait…but…he preferred night.

Like now.

There weren’t very many people out. Just those good one that were…well…evil and shady. The small time drug dealers, smugglers, that sort of thing. All the pleasant people that he felt good around. After all, no matter how bad he was, these people would always be worst. He would have fed off of one of them too, if he wasn’t worried about the blood that he might receive. Bad blood was never fun to drink. It was like…drinking grape juice that just started to ferment. You just didn’t do it.  Still, he was looking for something…fun. Something to add a bit of fun.

He had heard of a floating bar in this town. It was anchored, but it floated, and they served all sorts of treats, like it was meant to be a family restaurant for that matter! Think of it! A floating restaurant. Maybe they could cook him something other than fish there. Sure, he didn’t expressly need to eat, but tastes were so foreign and exotic for him so once in a while he would indulge his strange tastes and go for it. Tonight, actually having food seemed like a strange taste to him, so he might as well.

It wasn’t a quick walk from the start of town to the end of town really, no more than twenty minutes, but he had a very long stride…and he was rushing a little bit. By the time he got there though, he noted a sign on the door. Closed for the night. An angry growl, a pound on the door, and he scowled angrily as he turned about, stalking to the end of the dock. Great. Missed it. The smells coming from the restaurant though were delightful. There was pan-fried battered things, spices, beers, and…blood? Oh. Fish blood of course.

“Well Zek, now what do you want to do?� Slowly he lowered himself to sitting down on the edge of the dock, careful as he gripped the large metal gauntlets on the edge of the wood. He had to be careful, the claws of the golden coloured gauntlets were very sharp, and well…as he heard the cracking sound he just knew what that meant. With a string of curses and the sound of something hitting the water. He had broken through the wood and cause it to simply…collapse. Well then someone would have to repair that in the morning wouldn’t they?

His arms slowly moved as he kept himself afloat. Alright. Getting out was going to be easy he hoped. His hands grabbed the edge of the dock, trying to get a good grip, but not hard enough to break through it again. Zek pulled himself onto the deck, struggling and kicking his legs for a moment before he managed to actually claw his way onto the dock, his large gauntlets leaving scratch marks and small holes in the wood. Anyone who ever said being a vampire was great was a damned liar. If you couldn’t remember your strength, you could really screw yourself over.

With a  small bit of coughing and sputtering, and eventually ejecting a bit of water from his throat he stood up, picking at his clothes.

Great. Soaked completely.

Pulling his gauntlets from his hands he clipped them to his belt and shook his hands. For a man who looked daunting in a strange black shirt that seemed to be made of a giant strip of black cloth. His pants were at least made of a thin material, perfect for running and stretching. However, not so good when they were wet. They weren’t meant to cling so…clingy like. His soft soled slippers were also bad to get wet. Pale white hands went to his head, where that long strip of cloth that made up the long sleeved shirt ended in a hood that covered most of his face, showing just a bit of his nose and all of his eyes. Well. It was still in place but now it just…it was weird feeling.

“You win this time wooden dock.� He decided to move as quickly as possible from the dock itself to go to the beach and get a fire started. A bit of driftwood was left about, and he soon had a fire going. His shirt was pulled off, showing off that he was really just a young looking man. The cloth strip had been rolled up loosely and put near the fire. Long hair was done up in a sort of a pony tail, trying to get it dry. He rubbed his jaw absently, small canines poking from the lips as he stared into the fire. This was just fantastic wasn’t it?

[Anonymous]

There it was.

It was large, standing in an open field and chewing lazily and endlessly on the grass. It was getting dark, and there was a port town visible in the distance, but Sherah was in no hurry. Her stomach rumbled its quiet protest at having not been filled in the last few hours and her mouth watered at the sight of a number of large mammalian creatures quietly grazing the remainder of the day away. One stood away from the group, not particularly large or small in comparison to the other animals and covered entirely with black fur. Before long, this animal would be meat.

Sherah took a moment to consider the animal; particularly what defenses it may have, and how best to quickly take it down. She was certain that it had noticed her by now, but it didn't particularly seem to care. For an animal to be so out in the open and nonchalant about potential danger, it was only logical to assume that it had some sort of hidden defense. Surely such vulnerability was a ruse.

I'm onto you, beast, she thought.

However, if there was one thing she had learned about people in the time she was enslaved, it was that they didn't tend to react well to the sight of her splattered with the blood of some animal. It was for this reason that she stalked this beast in the nude, as it was far easier to clean animal blood-splatter off of herself than that small white dress she wore. Omri, meanwhile, hovered a distance behind his companion, carrying the article of clothing to ensure that nothing ran off with it.

Having finally decided that she had watched this clever beast long enough, Sherah decided that it was time to strike and see what happens. She crouched low, watching her target intently with a hungry smile, her one draconic arm planted on the ground as well. Her muscles tensed like coiled springs before all three limbs shot her forward at a full (two-legged, for the curious) run which would close the distance between predator and prey rather quickly. Just as she made a final leap, right arm cocked back to land a powerful blow to the creature's head, it turned its lazy gaze toward her and let out its mighty battle-cry:

"MMMoooooooo...."



The dragonkin ate well.



By the time Sherah and Omri had finished, leaving very little for scavengers, the sun had fully set. Sherah was cleaned off, visually at least, and reclothed, and they were set to travel to that nearby town as they had originally planned (once they saw it, of course). However, by the time they arrived there weren't many people out and about. They strolled calmly through the sleeping town, the few people they see seeming to want nothing to do with them. A while later they arrived near the docks, and something caught Sherah's eye - her left eye, to be precise, as the heat from a fire not too far off shone like a moon on a starless night in its thermal vision.

To get a better view of the fire, as well as the person her other eye could see near it (the flaring heat signature from the fire was too bright to make out any heat coming off from the man), Sherah stepped onto the very dock that had been broken not long before her arrival.

Let's move on. We can sleep somewhere else, and try again in the morning, Omri's thought was directed at Sherah.

Not just yet, was her response as her curiosity bade her to continue watching the man by the fire.

[Anonymous]

His <strike>spider sense</strike>vampire senses were on alert for a moment when he heard a distance cry. MMMoooooooooo. A bovine then. He had seen a few on the outskirts, munching away as they often did. This sounded rather desperate almost. Perhaps the wolves had found themselves a meal. That was...one way he managed to get around. He followed animals. Hell, while he had been in this land for the first few weeks, he had followed a small bird around, to see where it nested, where it headed and why. The reason had been for worms apparently.

He didn't much care for the earthy creatures beneath his feet. Tasted horrible.

Zek sighed as he shifted a bit in the sand, his back against a log he had dragged over in order to lean against and get comfortable. He didn't sleep, he went into a sort of trance here and there, or he would just let one of the other souls have a go at controlling the body. He just had to ensure that the body wasn't mistreated, after all, it was his and his alone! They just...borrowed it, that's all.

Slowly he closed his eyes, trying to think without the sounds of all the other voices muddling up his thoughts. You had to be quick, you had to think fast when you had other souls floating around your body. Right now he was picking out smells. That was the easiest way to concentrate. It was focus that was needed here, blocking out the sounds of the people talking to him, to find that one small bit of peace. There. Sand. Burning wood. his own familiar smell, the ocean, fish, the drift wood, the blood, the dragon-like smell, the birds, the-wait. Blood? Dragon like smell? Alright this was a little strange to say the least.

His eyes snapped open and he slowly pulled himself up onto the drift wood log. Blood? Dragons? What the hell was going on here?

His nose wasn't as acute as it used to be, he couldn't pick out the direction, not with all the interfering air currents. Still. He could smell it out there. Something could be lurking. Something could be waiting. Watching. Ready to strike. His belt held his daggers, two rocky weapons that had been carefully crafted in the Old Days, when his own world had been young. Who knows, this world could have been just as young, or maybe twice as old. Still. The daggers were his friends, they kept him safe and he...cleaned them? That was a fair relationship right?

"Hello!" He called out, though, not too loud. He didn't want to wake the town. Maybe it was just a towns person investigating? Maybe it was a dragon flying over head ready to strike. His eyes lifted skyward as he investigated the skies. Alright. He had great vision, Day and night blended together to become some sort of Daght or...Niy...either way, he couldn't see a single dragon flying around the sky. That meant the dragon...was behind him! His head whipped around and he looked, but nothing was there. He crossed his arms, shaking his head. "Really funny Thinker." This was all a joke to the creature in his head called Thinker. Ruthless, tormenting, all around jackass really. Thinker wasn't someone you want to meet in a dark alley, or in any alley or locale, regardless of ambient light.

Now.

Back to that dragon out there.

"Anyone out there?" He wasn't that loud, he just wanted to find out if something was around him. Hopefully it wasn't something that desired his death. Slowly edging himself back onto the log he took a deep breath. Alright. Things were okay. There weren't any giant dragons ready to eat him...or rip him apart...or take his head. After all, this was human land right? It wasn't like a great sea dragon was under the water in a-no! He couldn't let his imagination run away like that. If he became less involved in what was happening now, the more chance he had of the other souls taking over his body.

A few deep breaths and his hands folding nicely on his lap he smiled. Okay. Just keep on a alert and...hey...the dock. Someone was on the dock. Why hadn't he noticed this before. He squinted ever so slightly. What in the...what the hell was that? It looked somewhat like a person...humanoid but...there were things about said creature that confused him. He gave a sharp whistle and beckoned with his hand. "You there! On the dock! Come over here." The thing didn't look dangerous, if he needed to fight it, he could take it. Maybe not easily, but he could still take it right?

[Anonymous]

The two watched for a few moments, though the man by the fire was doing very little. Sherah was curious as to why he was sitting here by the fire, as she figured most people at this time preferred to be indoors and asleep. The man called out, seeming to perhaps know of their presence, which made Sherah more curious.

Does he know we're here? It doesn't seem like he's seen us, she commented, still standing by and watching as Omri landed to sit on her shoulder.

Maybe he can smell us? Or you? I know I could smell you from miles away right now.

Sherah smirked, now looking toward the dragonling perched on her shoulder. Oh, come now. It can't be that bad!

You did just eat...rather messily, I might add.

Well, I can't smell a thing.

Then get yourself a new nose. Now let's go and leave this person alone before he does-

"You there! On the dock! Come over here." the man called out, clearly speaking to Sherah as she was most certainly the only person on the dock.

...Damn it.

Sherah just smiled as she hopped off the edge of the dock and onto the beach. She approached steadily with Omri still perched on her shoulder, her unusual features becoming more clear as she entered the light of the fire. She stopped a respectable distance away and gave the dragonling a slight nudge with a finger from her human hand.

Go ahead, she told him. Do your thing.

Trying not to grumble too audibly, the tiny head swiveled to watch the man by the fire. "Good evening," he said. "I hope we are not disturbing you."

[Anonymous]

For Zek, it wasn't that she smelled bad so to speak, it was that she smelled like blood, and he was always able to pick up on that smell. After all, blood was his favourite form of food! When you had that going for you, plus senses that were supernaturally increased, well, you tended to pick that smell out more often. He was like a shark really, he could smell blood from a mile away and could follow the trail.

He waited for the strange creature to approach, and when she got closer, he blinked. Alright. Now this wasn't funny. What the hell was she? She reminded him of Prince Karovach of his realm, a Draconic being, half human, half dragon. Though, Karovach took on a more...dragon appearance while this woman looked sort of split down the middle. Not to mention she was carrying some strange little creature. He waited for her to speak, but that was when a male voice cut the air. His eyes darted about for a moment until he spotted the creature she was holding. Did...did that thing speak? It must have.

"You would have been disturbing me if you had left." Just act natural, maybe there's a good reason the little dragon thing is talking instead of the big...dragon thing.

"Have a seat near the fire, warm yourself up. I went for an accidental midnight dip personally." Zek slid back down against the driftwood log, legs crossed and arms stretched out on either side.

"So ah," How to put this without being rude. "Mind if I ask you two some questions? I have some things I'd ah...like to know about you, and in return you can ask me about myself." Information exchange. It was either that or he could just...force them to answer but he wasn't feeling like letting Thinker out. He hadn't been in much control of his body lately, and he wanted to at least be able to make a good first impression with these people things. Once more he had all the voices in his head nattering at him.

Run away or they'll hurt us!

Kill the small thing, take the girl and let's see if she isn't close enough to human for us to enjoy a night.

Make something good like tea and we can just talk for hours.

...Just don't trip up.

Well at least someone in his head was in a good mood. Of course, Thinker's response had been automatic. He always loved a good death and then a night of rape. That seemed to be his only answer, and it sort of annoyed Zek but...he really couldn't do much about it. That soul was a twisted monster, and his only real hope was that Thinker didn't get let out very much.

[Anonymous]

Now that they had come closer to the man Sherah could have the chance to get a better look at him. He was very white - unusually so for a human - with very black eyes and very black hair. This was the first that she or Omri had seen someone quite like this, but then again such firsts seemed to have become increasingly common lately. It was most certainly an unusual appearance, which could lead Omri to only one conclusion:

He looks evil...

The next thing the young dragonling would notice, which Sherah with her more average human nose could not, was the man's smell. It was...different. They had lived with humans for a few years, long enough for him to pick out what was the natural human smell and what aspects related to individual odors - hygiene (or lack thereof), foods and the like. He couldn't quite place what the difference was, but it was most definitely present. He found himself curious about this difference and what caused it, though to him it also warranted more caution.

...and he smells funny.

In the meantime, with her right eye (as the left was nigh useless next to such an abundant source of heat) Sherah had noticed something else: his teeth, primarily the especially pointy canines. They seemed somewhat out of place amidst rows of otherwise normal, relatively flat, relatively blunt teeth. It was certainly not the norm for a human, though they didn't stick out so much that they became especially disconcerting. They simply caused a single, neutrally-expressed word to appear in her thoughts:

Teeth.

In accepting the strange man's invitation, Sherah approached a little closer to sit on her knees next to the fire. When she was down, Omri hopped off of her shoulder and onto the beach sand below in a cat-like motion, though with considerably less grace. Sherah would curl her tail to the side and around the young dragon, who would then sit with his upper body resting on the tail just on the other side of the four spikes near the end. With that, the woman gave white-man a smile and a brief nod as if to say 'Go ahead and ask your questions.'

[Anonymous]

Still he wished he knew what the hell she was. She wasn't human of course, she wasn't...well she wasn't a dragon either. She didn't even look like a hybrid for that matter. She just looked like a human had dragon parts grafted onto her. It was strange still, but not really that bad. Still, he was trying to figure just why she was with...whatever it was she had around her. Some sort of small flying lizard, could have been just a small dragon.

He tried to just look natural though.

Not too...well...scary.

She though...her eyes looked strange....her arm looked strange. It was like a claw of some sort...and around her left eye...it was some sort...she had two horns he noticed. At least she had a human mouth of some sort and not a big dragon maw. There was no telling what she was, but damned it he wasn't going to find out right now.

Are you kidding? Fool! She's weak, jump, attack, knock her down, swat the little rodent away, taste her blood, it'll tell you everything! She looks good, looks delicious! Zek winced ever so slightly as the voice cut through his mind. Thinker's answer to everything though was to feed on the blood. Blood had everything in it, and he had tasted so much blood he could identify people and animals from it. Usually. This world had strange blood, it all tasted...well, different here. Even the air smelled funny.

Zek watched as the created moved from the woman's shoulder onto the sand, moving with feline fluidity. He looked up to the woman who moved suddenly, noting that her tail looked really dangerous. It was spiked after all. That could be painful. She nodded to him and he...well did that mean he could ask his questions? Best...to start with names. His name first. "I'm Zek. Zek Derit. I'm ah...I'm a sanguine devourer." It sounded so much better than blood sucker or...vampire. "I eat blood to survive basically. If you don't believe it, just look at my teeth." He opened his mouth, his fingers moving up to run along the four canines.

"So now I got to ask the erm...two of you. Names...species...and why do you smell like blood for that matter?" That was what drove his mind insane. The blood. Sure he wasn't that hungry but...he just loved the smell and taste of blood regardless.

[Anonymous]

Zek Derit. A respectable name, even if it was one that they had never heard before. At least there wasn't an excessive number of syllables to push through.

They were both a little surprised at how freely - and honestly - he admitted that he feeds on blood. Sherah smiled just a little as he showed his teeth as his proof. So that was their purpose. However, the fact didn't make her uneasy. After all, drinking blood wasn't terribly different from eating a creature's meat...either way it resulted in death for the victim. It was because of this similarity that Sherah didn't bother wondering if he drank from humans (or perhaps more appropriately, humanoids). If he did, surely he would have seen the need to be more secretive about the fact?

Hearing that he wasn't quite human explained his appearance and the unusual smell. Perhaps it was because of the late hour, but Omri was growing tired, and was therefore beginning to drop his guard...otherwise he might be more concerned about the whole blood-drinking thing. He would happily have curled up within the embrace of Sherah's tail and fallen asleep had it not been for the fact that he had more speaking to do. Otherwise Sherah would end up sitting in silence as the man tried with the utmost futility to get an answer out of her.

"My name is Omri, and she is Sherah," he said. "I am nothing more than a young dragon. Sherah was born a human, but later became as she is now..."

With that, the dragonling's head swiveled upward toward his companion, who returned the look with a slight shake of the head. Nodding his understanding, Omri's gaze would then fall once again on Zek. "...and that is all that I can say on the matter. She smells of blood because we just recently ate. And if you're wondering, I speak because she can't."

[Anonymous]

((She should meet his brother Burn, or Nhartizhanzibariangor Derit. xDD))

Zek felt that being up front and honest at the very beginning of any friendship was a key. That way someone could accept you better than if you just...let them catch you feeding on someone. That never worked out well, they always got offended or scared and then they would run from you, and he hated when people ran away from him. For the other minds, like Thinker, running was a great thing, the thrill of a chase, of trying to catch someone, he found it terrific. Zek didn't share that sentiment. He barely liked killing as was, that's why he let the other souls do the dirty work.

He was the face so to speak, the charming personality.

Still, he had never seen a pair like this before. Young woman, little dragon, it was kinda cute, they were surely made for each other. Both of them looked so young, but there was no telling what could happen when it came to things like dragons. They lived for thousands of years after all, and they grew slower than humans did. Then there was him, a vampire, and well...he could live for eternity if he was careful, growing stronger, more intelligent, until he became some sort of ancient power. Power corrupts, and he'd become some evil being that would need to be put down.

Ah!

His mind was wandering, he caught himself in time, feeling the push of another soul trying to get his out of the way to inhabit the body. Ah, that was clever. "Omri...Sherah...got it. One a young dragon...the other...some sort of human dragon....hybrid." Yeah he could understand that then.  So she wasn't born a dragon like this, she had just become this strange combination then.

Zek noted the exchange between the two of them, his eyes hardening for a moment. There was something between the two of them...they were speaking, talking to each other. Psychic exchange? Perhaps. "Well, aren't you lucky then. Hope it was a good meal, smells like it was." He smiled a little bit as he started moving himself closer to the fire, trying to warm up his feet. "She's a mute then? Vocal cords cut? Larynx shot? Tongue ripped out? Birth defect? Vow of silence?" There were so many options, so many choices as to why she couldn't speak. He was choosing the ones that he knew best. It could be any number of things really. "I apologize, it isn't my place to know. Ahem. So what're you two doing out here then? I mean, you've got some dragon human hybrid with a young dragon who I think might be of shared minds wandering around in the dark. There's gotta be a good reason for that."

[Anonymous]

((Haha. "There is no way I'm saying all that."))

In reality, neither Sherah nor Omri would have minded telling Zek the truth that Sherah's inability to speak was simply a birth defect. However, he rang off all the possibilities so quickly, and then just as quickly stopped himself and moved on. He did surprise them with his astute observation of them being of shared minds, a reaction that caused them to glance briefly at each other once again. When they looked back to Zek again, Sherah was smiling, though that really wasn't much of a change as she did do a lot of smiling.

"Very observant. Yes, I suppose you could say we are of 'shared minds'," the young dragonling spoke.

Now, why they were here...that was the most important question. Finding themselves lost, they have been in search of answers. So far, they have done little in the way of discovering where their home is, though they have made some progress in discovering where it isn't. That was almost as good, as logic would dictate that once they could rule all the places where their home could not be, surely they would be left with the discovery of where it was, although the difficulty they'd had so far made them wonder on more than one occasion how the humans who had captured them had found their way to their home.

Unfortunately, it seemed doubtful that this man would be able to provide any information on where home was. If he could, then he wouldn't have been so unfamiliar with someone like Sherah; certainly, he would have seen one of the others.

"Some years ago, we were taken from our home by non-augmented humans - normal I guess is what you would call them, but they are uncommon past a certain age where we are from. Sherah was sold as a slave, and I with her as a..." Omri spat the last word: "pet. To shorten the story, Sherah earned our freedom not long ago, and now we're looking to go back home."

[Anonymous]

(((His name changes basically every time I say it actually xDD I never remember it, so I just throw stuff together! Though the Nhartizhan is always there.))

It wasn't really his business as to why she couldn't talk. Honestly, he was alright with the idea that she couldn't talk. It was a simple answer. She can't talk, and that was that. It was less of a headache for him anyway. He smiled lightly as he watched her. At least he knew she wasn't dangerous. At least...she didn't really /look/ dangerous. Erm. If you...if you didn't count the dragon parts. He didn't of course. She had those human parts so...really that countered everything.

Humans were always so...well weak and such. Adorable really. Of course he was human...in a way but still. He was sanguine devourer now.

"Well, people call it different things really. Telepathy, a bond, mind communication, shared minds, I didn't really know what to call it, but I'm glad it made sense to you!" At least he wasn't a rambling, blathering idiot now...well, they might see him like that now. Ahem. Glad he didn't say that out loud. Still, he wondered if they could read his mind. Vampires were intuitive to telepathic powers, he himself had a small variety. It wasn't anything special, but he could create links and such with people.

Of course if he wanted to do that now, he'd have to bite her, and she'd have to drink his blood. She wouldn't become a vampire, but she would become a sort of...minion for him. That wasn't a good idea, the little dragon looked a little scary after all. Though, at least he looked like he breathed fire and not acid, lightning, some sort of liquid metal...Ahem.

"Normal humans? Never heard of those." It was a joke of course, his large toothy grin showed that. He never thought that humans were normal. There was always something strange about them after all. "Well...looking for home again. That's a noble quest. Heh. Is home actually...here I mean? Erm...how to put this..." Did these two know about other planets, other /realms/ for that matter? "Cause me personally, I'm not even from this land...this erm...planet. I'm from a whole different ah...realm. It's a...How to put this..." How could you explain the existence of other realms? "Alright...let's put it like this!"

He dusted the sand, making it flat so he could draw a few circles within a large oval. "Alright, let's say this small circle here is the planet...and then...there are other planets in the oval right? The oval is a realm. Now then!" He drew a few more ovals, putting small circles within them. "There are more of these realms, an endless amount basically. Each of these realms are connected in a way to each other." He started to draw lines between all the ovals, connecting them. "I managed to figure out how to open portal to other realms through use of the ley lines." Of course, he wish he knew that the energy and strength it took to actually open and travel through the portal was going to drain him, and if he tried to open and go through a new one...well he'd be ripped apart no doubt.

Well that was just life!

[Anonymous]

((OOC: Gah, sorry it took me so long.))

Sherah made a motion that could have been a laugh if there had been a voice behind it. It was, of course, due to the joke that Zek had made, but also partially due to the circumstances they found themselves in. 'Normal', she realized, was a very relative term. After all, to her 'normal' was a person with the same sorts of dragony bits that she had. The man sitting before her most certainly didn't fit her concept of normal, yet she figured he must undoubtedly be normal to himself...right? There had to be at least somebody out there to whom being a thin, pale man who survives off of other creatures' blood wasn't the least bit strange.

The two dragonkin were just glad that the man didn't seem to think that either of them would make a tasty snack...although if he did, he would quickly find himself being introduced - rather violently - to the aforementioned dragony bits. He didn't look terribly impressive, though his eyes were odd, and Sherah was freshly fed with draconic power behind her muscles. No problem, right?

Either way it didn't matter; Zek appeared to be friendly and helpful as he went through his explanation of the different realms and planets. Both of them nodded along, leaning toward and staring at his drawings as he went on. It was interesting stuff of which neither had really been aware before, and connected thoughts wondered if that explained him being so much like a human, yet different...after all, different worlds, different places meant different types of people as well, right?

"We understand," Omri spoke up when he was through. "We're not from a different world or realm...at least, I don't think we are. Sherah was unconscious when we were taken, and I was in the dark."

[Anonymous]

((And I apologize for the lateness of my post too! >_<))

Zek smiled big as he saw Sherah make what he assumed might have been some sort of mute laugh. He wasn't completely sure but she seemed to have a rather pleasant look about her so she had to have been amused. That was good then, he could actually make jokes and she would understand them. Hm, probably best to stick to simple jokes though and not dive into the ah...well the dirty ones. Sherah might not understand, but the dragonling might and he really didn't feel like offending dragons at this point. Not all of them were bad tempered but...he had met a few that were positively evil really, and had not appreciated a good joke about a lotion curing up that scaly skin of theirs. Some people eh? Just had no sense of humour.

They're playing us for fools, jump them now before the get the upper hand on you! Thinker cried in his ear, but Zek paid no mind to the voice. He was always suspicious, and if you thought like that, it was no doubt easier to actually hurt people and do the things that ah...Thinker really enjoyed doing. Besides, they had mentioned being freshly fed. That meant they would be getting more energy than he was getting, so the appropriate time to attack would be just before they go hunting again.

Y'know, when they were hungry.

But he wouldn't attack them, he had no need to. The girl's blood might be a mix of dragon and human, and he wasn't very fond of dragon blood. It tasted funny to him. Of course...she was still a girl. They had other uses than just being a food source but...it probably wasn't the best idea to go down that road right now. Or ever perhaps. These two could use a good friend no doubt, and he wasn't doing anything, he could probably help them with their adventure even! If they let him.

"Good good. That saves the trouble then! Realm hopping is not only dangerous but vastly unpredictable so there's no telling where you could end up. Oh and don't even get me started on dimensional universes! Actually I guess I got myself started...and it's probably good to know. Ahem. To put it simply, there are various dimensions. Every path chosen, every decision made, has several choices right? Do you go for the cake or the pie for dessert? You take the left path down a fork in the road instead of a right path. Each choice has a new decision, and a new decision makes a new dimension. There is an infinite number of these new dimensions, so I like to choose the choice that is more fun for me, because then there is me in another dimension, who took the other, more boring choice." That's what life boiled down to for Zek. Just being fun. Life had grown stagnant for a while, but he slowly began to learn more, and as he did, he found himself just wanting to enjoy life. That's all. Life needed to be enjoyed.

"Ahem. Anyway. So you're from this world then. Finally someone interesting then! Not the run of the mill human or elf, but someone with some sort of story to them! Not every day you find some sort of mute dragon woman with a telepathic and talking baby dragon. Which...alright...Not even once in a blue moon do find something THAT interesting." Just like not everyday you found a sanguine devourer with multiple souls and personalities right? Everything was pretty much balanced out there wasn't it?

[Anonymous]

So it was settled, with little actual communication on the matter between the two (or three) of them; nobody needed to attack anybody. Sherah had no need to eat Zek, and not only because she had just recently eaten that large, surprisingly inept beast before arriving here, and Zek didn't want funny-tasting blood. Of course, technically, there was a world somewhere where each of them actually had tried to eat the other...at least, according to the new explanation on separate dimensions that he had gone off on.

See, he's not so bad, is he?

Yeah, I guess not. He seems to like talking about different worlds and alternate realities though.

I see that. It is interesting to think about though.

Ehh, I guess so. How long do you plan on listening? I'm tired.

Oh, don't be such a big baby.

Hey. I am a baby, in relative terms. Baby needs his sleep.

Sherah smiled at Zek's comment about how interesting they were while Omri yawned and then did his speaking thing again. "Heh. Well, we used to see it every day, apart from us. Except the whole mute thing, that's rather uncommon." Sherah looked toward Omri and nodded. "...Okay, so she's the only one who can't speak. A human birth defect of some sort, I think." Sherah just nodded back toward Zek, seemingly unbothered by talk of her condition. The truth was that she had accepted the fact that she would never have a voice long ago, so talking about it - by proxy - didn't bother her at all.

If they knew about the other personalities, there would certainly be more to say. Especially if they knew how vocal a particular one was about attacking, eating/drinking them, and doing...other things.

[Anonymous]

Now if only he could figure out a way for them to talk without this whole...need of a mediator like the baby dragon. Sure the baby dragon's company was welcome still, but just the fact that they needed to go through a third party to communicate? Just a tad annoying for his standards. He was still thinking on that blood thing though...He could form a temporary bond with her that would allow their minds to connect and communicate telepathically...but there was no real way of telling that they would even be here after morning. His blood was precious after all, it took forever to grow back, so just giving it up to her like that...well the idea wasn't very fetching.

The two of them seemed to be having a conversation, and Zek allowed them to, just because he didn't want to talk their ears off, when the only one who could talk other than him was just Omri.

"Well then...i guess that kinda makes...for an interesting thing. At least she's not afraid to talk about being mute!" Even though he was grinning like an idiot, the only things he could hear were the fire and the very awkward silence.

You're terrible. Absolutely terrible. One voice muttered in his mind after a few seconds of silence. Why would you say that? I mean...really Another chimed in. I thought it was funny. That had to be Jeruith, only Jeruith and Zek had the same sort of humour going for them. They were both just a pair of awkward people. "Er...horribly unfunny jokes asiiide...I can't help but notice you look a little tired there Omri." Zek had almost made the mistake of talking to Sherah and acting as if Omri was a pet. He felt that would be a horribly inaccurate thing to do at this point, considering that Omri was not a pet but he was actually a sentient dragon that should be properly talked to.

"If ya wanna get some sleep Omri, by all means do so. As a vampire, I've got my own psychic powers. Just...she needs to drink my blood in order for me to hear her...Eh heh heh heh." Zek rubbed the back of his head. Well let's see how this went, hopefully she wouldn't look at him like he was crazed or disgusting.

"It's just a temporary link, I promise, lasts for a few hours. Never really tested it on something I didn't plan on siring but I'm almost one hundred percent sure that it won't have any negative effects." Being slave to an undead lord wasn't negative, was it?

[Anonymous]

It was a good thing that Sherah had a good sense of humor, and even better that it would take a lot more than a simple joke for her to lose her temper. Ripping off a limb for making light of her lack of speech would have ruined what could otherwise have been a perfectly pleasant night, sitting up by a fire and talking to a pale blood-drinker. Or rather, staring at him and talking to Omri, who talked to him for her. Instead she gave a smirk and a shake of the head, though she was nearly driven to another outburst of mute laughter just from the idiot-grin alone.

Sherah's left eye was beginning to ache. It wasn't accustomed to being so close to a source of such abundant heat for so long; it was a little like staring at the sun too long with a normal eye, but with less potential for actual long-term damaging effect. She closed the eye in what may have looked like a wink, except that the eye would remain closed and her human hand would reach to rub it, as if doing so would ease the ache. Truthfully, while having just eaten could keep her energized for a while, Sherah could do with a bit of sleep herself. But this person was just too...interesting to leave behind now. Sleep could wait!

Omri was a little surprised when Zek addressed him directly. It was the first time since their kidnapping that he had been treated as more than an animal, despite the fact that he could speak and Sherah couldn't. It instantly made him like the man more than before...but only a little. His head perked up, and he suddenly seemed just a little more attentive than he had before.

You see? He thinks I should get some sleep too. That's two against one. Just drink his blood and...wait. What?

Yeah. That's a little weird.

It wasn't as though the thought of ingesting blood was so strange to them. After all, when you ate raw, freshly-killed meat it was only natural that some would slip in. But asking her to drink blood - especially his own blood - was a strange request. It was the same as if Sherah had just pulled off a piece of herself and offered to feed it to him.

And besides, one mental link per mind was enough.

Sherah tried not to let her feelings on the matter show on her face and failed. Both eyebrows - that is to say, one eyebrow and one set of scales where an eyebrow should be - went straight up as she shook her head.

"Ehh, no thanks. I...we don't think she needs any more than one other mind poking around up there," Omri said, deciding to omit the words 'are you crazy?'

As an afterthought, neither of them was too keen in the idea of the possibility of negative side effects. But something else caught their attention too.

"...What do you mean by 'siring'?"

[Anonymous]

Damn, even Sherah seemed a little tired! She was rubbing her eye...which...well that could have meant anything really. She either could have been tired, or it just hurt, maybe she got a lash into it. At least he hoped it wasn't because she was bored with him. Oh heaven's no, that would be just wrong! How could anyone be bored by a mental patient like him! Though, he would keep that affliction to himself, it was best not to scare them off with the other minds and consciousnesses he had. He could tell them about that later. Muuuuuuch later.

Zek would have felt it rude not to address Omri, after all, he was the one who spoke, and he was a separate being from Sherah right? That meant if you wanted to talk to Omri, you talked to Omri, not like some people who might talk to Sherah and refer to him in the third person. That was just really rude and inconsiderate to say the least.

He waited for the two of them to talk between each other, though, he just knew they weren't talking good things. Something about their expressions alone really. Like Sherah's somewhat surprised look that made him feel a little...er...bad? Like he had done some social taboo. Bah.

"Oh...I see. Well if that's how you want it to be then." Zek shrugged, disappointed as he stretched his arms out on either side of him, draping them on the log as he watched  them. "It's a human term. Siring. They coined it, we started using it. Anyway. It goes in a few parts. First with the embrace. That's the act of me biting someone and then feeding off of them. Then they must drink from me, ingest my blood. Then comes death, where they let go of life and all they knew, to become a vampire. Rebirth, they awake, to find themselves changed, a vampire. My hope is if I were to give her some of my blood first, it would stop the embrace, but still allow the first bond to be formed." Zek explained with a small smile. He did love to tell people about siring, though he never really did  turn many people. "Sire and Child have a special bond at first, it's telepathic so the Sire can keep track of his Child. If she were to ingest my blood, she would gain that bond, she would be able to speak to me, when she wanted to. I would have to bite her and turn her into a vampire if I wanted a connection that allowed me to hear her thoughts and poke around in her mind."

Zek just gave a small shrug of his shoulders as he shifted suddenly, his legs crossing over each other as he tried to relax a bit better.

"It would mean basically Omri that you could sleep, and Sherah and I could still talk to each other. You wouldn't have to be our translator so to speak." Honestly he had believed they would jump at this chance. Though, maybe to them it was unfamiliar and scary territory. After all, Omri had been Sherah's voice for quite some time it seemed, and suddenly to not need to do that? Maybe it worried them! "I wouldn't be in anyone's mind poking around, I'd just be able to hear Sherah speak."

[Anonymous]

Now they were getting into unfamiliar territory. Feeding they could understand, but the whole act of 'siring' was something new and strange. Why would you want to turn your food into something like yourself? It seems like they wouldn't be very appreciative, and would probably end up trying to bite back. There was one thing they immediately agreed upon, and that was that neither of them had any desire to be 'sired'. Nor would they want their food standing back up after Sherah killed it every bit as strong, resilient and regenerative as she was. It seemed a rather silly concept, even if there was a mental tie that allowed you to keep track of them. After all, keeping track of them doesn't mean they wouldn't try to get back at you for eating them.

Sherah's left eye stayed closed while her right - as well as both of Omri's - stayed fixed on Zek. Their uncertainty was written across Sherah's face as they thought about his offer.

I don't like it. What if there's some effect he's not talking about...what if he's trying to trick you? He might be trying to...'sire' you, I guess. Or just ea...err, drink you.

You think so? Maybe you're right, but I would think he would have tried something by now.

Unless you look too strong for a direct attack.

Maybe you're right. I don't think he really wants to try anything, but it couldn't hurt to be safe.

Finally it seemed as though she had reached a decision. "Thanks for the offer, but I can stay awake a while longer. I don't mind really."

Sherah accompanied this with a nod and, as before, a smile. Hopefully he didn't suspect their suspicion; if he did and was actually trying to trick them then that meant he would probably try in other ways as well. On the other hand, if he was really just trying to be helpful...well, then it was just plain rude.

[Anonymous]

Feeding was simple, you simply drank or ate something, but when it came down to siring, that was a whole other matter. Vampires didn't reproduce after all, they didn't have children in the normal sense, they had to turn their foodsource into NEW vampires. It was ridiculous really. That's why you never drank them to death. Heh. You always make sure they lived afterward, then you could drink from them over and over again.

Zek could see the both of them, they were watching him, and they looked very uncertain. Well, this was a little bit awkward. Just...maybe a little. There was the silence too, there was a lot of silence. Zek just snuggled down with his back against the log, hands behind his head.

"Sounds good Omri. Maybe sometime in the future. If we all stick around each other of course, you can try it. Y'might get tired of me after a couple day." Zek laughed, just trying to clear the tension. Yeah, or they might discover what...secrets he had. Oh that would just be...bad wouldn't it? Well, maybe if one of the nicer personalities came out to play, but not one like Thinker.

"If y'do get tired though, the both of you, just go to sleep. Though, if you don't trust me, I can go head one of those ways and come back in the morning." He wouldn't actually be surprised if they didn't trust him, how could they? He just told them about siring and they looked very...er...skeptical about it? It was hard to just...describe what it was they had looked like.

Or come back a few hours later when their asleep and take them BOTH. Thinker muttered to Zek, who just ignored the voice. No, he wouldn't be doing that. These were friends, nice people, INTERESTING people for that matter. Try not to scare them off.