Introduction
The dark, overhead clouds was something that any human left alive had become accustomed to. They were as certain as birth or death, as the muted light of the sunrise and sunset. No-one could remember there ever being anything but the thick, dark cloud cover that obscured so much of the light and made it cold and drab.
It has been that way for over 100 years, since Dark Day.
Dark Day had become something of a matter of folklore. Materials documenting it still existed, but the regime in power disallowed their circulation and made them hard to find, but all knew in some sense what it was that had taken place. Once, the sun had shone much brighter and stronger, and humans had dwelt out in the open without a master. Then, one day, the cloud arose to cover the sun, the light became muted, and the vampires came.
Thousand upon thousands of them.
For many years, these creatures had hidden their existence from their prey, when Dark Day came, they arose in forces, and they started killing. Killing everyone they encountered as they approached the major cities. Military resistance rose up, and was quickly silenced. The defence attempt was rushed and desperate, and soon stomped down. Within a few months, vampires ruled the world.
That was many years ago, and even those that were spared the massacre, no human remains alive that can remember when the sky was blue and people could walk without fear. All people know now is the threat these creatures pose, whether near to them, or far. The vampire society is the primary one now, a smaller population that has left much of the world desolate and decaying in the strange half-light. They live comparatively easy lives, as time has allowed them to implement a system that allows them the convenience of easily available blood supply, and allows the clouds to be maintained through industrial horrors that pump smoke and fumes into the sky.
This all comes as a price of course, on the backs of the humans. Homo Sapiens are seen as a domesticated species, to be used for blood, manual labour, and little else. This is not to say all are under control of the vampires. 'Feral' humans exist...and they are considered a 'pest' and a problem for the new inheritors of the planet.
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Avonward is a large town in what was once the United Kingdom. It comprises of Greater Avonward, a vampire town, and Lower Avonward, a spartan-looking human settlement. In three directions around the town sits ruined agricultural land now being reclaimed by trees and shrubs, and on the north side stand the factories, the great smoke generators that cough the dark smog into the sky.
Avonward is run by the Town Council, a set of vampires who hold some of the most influential positions in the town. They answer to the Central Government who sits within the ruins of London. However, for the most part, they have free reign to do as they please with the place.
Greater Avonward is, in many aspects, a normal town. It has schools, shops, offices. But there's something...off about it. The same children attend the schools year after year after year. Frightened-looking people in shabby clothes sweep the streets and pick up litter. Posters on walls advertise deadly combat instead of sports matches, and it's not entirely uncommon to see a neatly-wrapped corpse lying with the trash for collection. Avonward is a town with a dark heart.
Problems have arisen, for the vampires at least, in the form of a group of 'ferals' that reside in an abandoned church some miles away from the town. They rob individuals on the road for supplies, and generally seem to take in escaped humans, something the old vampire lawmakers fear will encourage more to try and escape. As such, great length are being gone to to try and find the location of the feral group and destroy it.
The group however seem to have their own intentions, to destroy the smog generator in north of the town and clear the sky over Avonward long enough to provoke a rebellion. To do that though, they would need to get in...
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The apex predator of the new order. Well, they always were to some degree, it's just that now they need not fear the sun, they have risen to what they see as a rightful dominance in the world. A vampire resembles a human much of the time, in most respect. They seem unnaturally pale, generally quite attractive by traditional standards, and have pointed top canines. When a vampire is about to feed, or if threatened, they will snap their fangs out to full length. Their saliva acts as an anti-coagulant, and a bite from a vampire will bleed extremely vigorously.
A vampire was once badly damaged by sunlight, it burning their skin and causing tissue necrosis. Now, with the cloud blocking a lost of the harmful sunlight, the light is more of an irritation than a danger. They will still sunburn easily enough even in the weak light however, and tend to cover up well.
Vampires may eat human food if they wish, but they need blood to survive. They can easily exist on chilled and stored blood bags, but they see drinking from live humans as apparently being a superior experience.
They are extremely strong and fast, their grip easily able to break human bones, though they tend to leave much of their dirty work to the 'lower' creatures.
Vampires are repelled by religious symbols. Crosses, churches and holy items repel them. It is not dependent on the faith, non-christian items seem to work just as well, but only if the person believes in their power to some extend. As such, the vampires destroyed as many churches as they could during the invasion.
Vampires society is ruled over by Town Councils int he provinces, leading back to the Central Government, some very old vampires who determine the laws and how things are run.
The Enforcer: OPEN
The Entrepreneur: OPEN
The Illegal Fledgeling: OPEN
The Pre-War Vampire RESERVED
Old stories talk of them. A merciless killer of men. One who once held the head of one of the human leaders of state for all to see. Nowadays this vampire does their best not to draw attention to themselves, or give any indication of their bloody past...but do leopards really change their spots?
[
Werewolves, a creature from folklore which became known after Dark Day, as vampires began using them as their shock troops. Werewolves resemble a human in every way most of the time, however they are hardier, stronger, and capable of withstanding a lot more damage than the average person. They heal quickly and have a great sense of smell.
When placed under considerable stress, such as feeling of pain, panic, anger, or intense emotion, they change. They become monstrous creatures resembling of grotesque hybrid of wolf and human. In this state they lose the capacity for rational thought and become vicious and animalistic, killing most living things they encounter.
In addition, the coming of the full moon heralds a forceful change, bringing the animal out for the entire length of the night.
Vampires began to take advantage of this in the past, in the months after Dark Day, using large number of werewolves they acquired to overwhelm military encampments on nights of the full moon.
Werewolves have been something vampires both despise as lesser creatures, and rely on in their infrastructure. Capturing wolves and forcing them into servitude had long been habitual, but the new order turned it into an all-out industry, with werewolves being bred, born and raised to follow orders without question and kill without hesitation. As a result the majority of werewolves in the new world are the result of this industry. They are very strong, and fit, but have also been conditioned for their role since they day they were born, and many as a result are too brainwashed to ever consider any alternative.
The Brute: OPEN
]The Prizefighter: RESERVED
Some people have quite specialized talents, and the Prizefighter has found one niche in life they are incredibly good at, fighting to the death. They've been doing it for years, and come out of every battle. It's given them a measure of popularity, even among the night creatures who look down on and despise their kind and has allowed them to live a life where they're comparatively well taken care of....but how long can it really last?
The Underdog: OPEN
They came up from nothing. Starting their fighting life as little more than a bait dog for the real fighters, the underdog has displayed an astonishing level of skill and has clawed their way up to a level of fame and popularity in the Avonward werewolf fights. The Entrepreneur has just purchased their contract, giving them, for once, some level of stability in life. However The Prizefighter is far from pleased by the Underdog potentially stealing their spot at the top.
]The Cur: OPEN
Some dogs are just wrong from the start, and The Cur has been a thorn in the vamp's sides for as long as they can remember. A werewolf known for poor behaviour they are used to receiving brutal retribution for their acting up, but such things were never enough to justify killing them outright. Until they killed a vampire. Now, they're on the run. They're injured from the fight, and they have nowhere to go. The presence of the Feral Group could be some potential salvation, but would they trust something that's been trained to kill their kind from birth?
[rule]
Humans have been the vampire's favoured livestock since the flattening of any military resistance shortly after Dark Day. The majority of the remaining human population, about a fifth of the size it once was, now reside in approved settlements by which they are expected to live to the strict rules of their vampiric betters. Each human is expected to 'donate' blood once a week into the stocks, and work in their factories or farms the rest of the time. Those that become sick are killed near immediately as any blood drawn from them could potentially corrupt the supply, and vampires will think little of culling whole towns and burning them to the ground if an infectious disease takes hold there. Any crime is punished severely. Werewolves are generally used to keep the populations in line, though vampires will happily step in to join in on the brutality. Any escapees tend to be killed....or subjected to one of the worse fates
Aside from the utilitarian settlements there exists more specialized trade for more affluent vampires. A trade in human lives. Vampiric settlements would often trade some unfortunates in that way. A few kept humans on as a handy combination of menial labour and easily accessible blood, however the majority bought were sold to richer vampires simply so the more wealthy night-walkers could enjoy the full experience of killing and feeding. This sort of practice was monitored though, as to turn a human without permission is considered an extremely serious crime.
The : OPEN
The Staff Member: OPEN
Dwelling in a church hidden up in the hills above Avonward, the Feral group are a bunch of misfits thrown together by necessity, and forced to stick together to save themselves. Were they discovered, they would doubtlessly all be killed, and as such they have to get very crafty to get away with things. They hunt, steal, scavenge, and generally scrape by, and they also take in escapees as much as possible.
The Leader: OPEN
The Doc: OPEN
One of the more specialized in skills, the Doc is a rare human in the new world with medical skill. They learned this from once being on The Entrepreneur's staff as the medic that took care of the fighters, something no vampire doctor would deign to do. As such they encountered a lot of that side of Avonward's life, and learned a lot of useful skills. which, in time, they used to break out. Now they are the Ferals' resident fixer of injury and illness, and do their job well.
The Soldier: OPEN
A weapons expert, often found perched up in the bell tower, wielding a hunting rifle, The Soldier has always lived free, something that has not always been any easier than life in a cage. They once had a family, but lost them due to the aggressive expansion of vampire 'pest control'. As a result they have a serious axe to grind regarding vampires and werewolves alike. Mistrusts The Wolves.
The Wolves: RESERVED
Two 'feral' werewolf siblings. Once part of a family they lost the rest of them in a brutal vampire raid and execution when they were children. They encountered some of the wild humans while wandering alone in the countryside, and due to their young age they were deemed to be no threat, and adopted into the group. Now the two function well in the group with minimal mistrust. The younger girl is a skilled hunter, tracker and trapped, and the boy is an expert on improvised weaponry. On the full moon the two either end up locked up in the crypt under the church, or wandering the woods whilst their more...fragile human friends stay inside.
The Scout: OPEN
A younger member of the Feral group, the Scout is a quick and perceptive individual who wanders to the edge of the wilderness to keep an eye on Avonward. Having grown up 'wild' they've never encountered captive humans, and are somewhat morbidly fascinated with their lives, leading them to watch the town and get closer to their inhabitants frequently. What might happen though, when those people begin to notice?
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Character Skeleton
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- 17 posts here • Page 1 of 1
The Story So Far... Write a Post » as written by 6 authors
It was late Autumn, and it'd been daylight for a little while...well...what stood for daylight at any rate. The feeble rays that filtered through the sparse trees were not much to speak of.
Evenso, it was getting annoying.
Dinah Fox groaned, pulling her arm up over her face against the sunlight, and reluctantly pulled herself up to a seated position, rubbing her eyes.
This proved to be her first mistake as she was greeted by the sensation of something warm and damp smearing across her face, and the unmistakable scent of the top commodity in their world: Blood.
Don't be a person. Dinah thought as she opened her eyes and turned. Please don't be a person.
She looked over to her side and was greeted by the empty eyes of a fallow deer, who was by that point, very very dead, its neck broken right around and underside ripped apart by enormous claws and teeth, pieces of its steaming viscera decorating the dead leaves.
Looked like wolfy had had a pretty successful night.
Most of the time she tended t prefer locking up down in the crypt for the night, as at least she'd know where she'd be when she woke up in the morning, but Wolfy got a bit antsy if it was denied the chance to rip something to bloody ribbons for too long, and this was at least going to provide them with some decent meat for a few days. Cut off the chewed bits and they'd have themselves some pretty nice venison.
The young girl hopped to her feet, not as self-conscious as she perhaps should be about the fact that she was naked, filthy and covered in blood, her hair wild and matted with leaves. It was a bit too normal to get worked up about. She'd been through this every month for as long as she could remember and even the weirdest things could feel like routine after this long.
She never remembered the actual change itself, though if what she had been told was true, it involved an awful lot of screaming. Supposedly, a werewolf change was one of the most painful experiences you could hope to experience. It was simultaineously more bones fracturing that you could count, muscles tearing and reforming, and organs each dying and re-starting as they grew in size. It was pretty horrible if you thought about it too much...
...which was why Dinah Fox didn't tend to think about it.
She made a mental note of where Mr Deer had met his tragic end and waded out onto the path, where a old sports' bag hung from a tree, a few feet out of reach of any....large vicious animal that might be keen on ripping it apart.
Having shimmied up the tree to knock it down, Dinah checked out her 'morning after' survival kit that she usually took out. A towel, a washcloth, clean clothes, hair tie, toothbrush and toothpaste. Clothes never survived the night so it was better to take some and hide them out of Cujo's way til morning.
The stream was pretty freezing at that time of day, and washing in it was a part Di hardly relished....but it did leave her looking a little more presentable and a bit less grisly. People did not tend to respond to blood round the mouth very well. She has just finished pulling on her clothes, a faded khaki T-shirt and denim shorts, when she caught sight of another figure, a young man, making his way back along the path.
Cyrus Fox was already fully dressed, and was twisting some bits of bramble out of his hair and looking displeased. Well, Cyrus Fox always looked displeased.
"Morning Dickhead." Di greeted as she hopped up next to her older brother, tying her hair back from her face as they fell into step.
"Caught a deer last night. You gonna help me bring it back, or you just gonna be useless all your life?"
"Is this your idea of a charm offensive?" the young man asked, regarding her sceptically with one dark eyebrow raised.
"And you wonder why you don't have a boyfriend."
"You don't really count as a boy. I'm super charming to everyone else." Di declared as they rounded the corner to the deer and each grabbed hold of two legs each. Werewolves were pretty strong, and Di could've handled it on her own at a push, but she'd rather had someone doing stuff for her, given the chance.
A bit of lifting and dragging, the top of the old church started to come into view. Most village churches had been destroyed in the invasion, but a few remained as their own villages had fallen to ruin years before then. Only ivy-covered walls and mossy beams showed evidence of any other buildings existing there, but the church had remained together, along with the crumbling headstones up around it. Such things emblazoned with crosses and prayers, were repellent to the leeches.
As her brother dropped the deer on the steps, The female werewolf went up to the old, wooden doors and knocked three times, before shouting and displaying her usual level of humour.
"Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in!"
Evenso, it was getting annoying.
Dinah Fox groaned, pulling her arm up over her face against the sunlight, and reluctantly pulled herself up to a seated position, rubbing her eyes.
This proved to be her first mistake as she was greeted by the sensation of something warm and damp smearing across her face, and the unmistakable scent of the top commodity in their world: Blood.
Don't be a person. Dinah thought as she opened her eyes and turned. Please don't be a person.
She looked over to her side and was greeted by the empty eyes of a fallow deer, who was by that point, very very dead, its neck broken right around and underside ripped apart by enormous claws and teeth, pieces of its steaming viscera decorating the dead leaves.
Looked like wolfy had had a pretty successful night.
Most of the time she tended t prefer locking up down in the crypt for the night, as at least she'd know where she'd be when she woke up in the morning, but Wolfy got a bit antsy if it was denied the chance to rip something to bloody ribbons for too long, and this was at least going to provide them with some decent meat for a few days. Cut off the chewed bits and they'd have themselves some pretty nice venison.
The young girl hopped to her feet, not as self-conscious as she perhaps should be about the fact that she was naked, filthy and covered in blood, her hair wild and matted with leaves. It was a bit too normal to get worked up about. She'd been through this every month for as long as she could remember and even the weirdest things could feel like routine after this long.
She never remembered the actual change itself, though if what she had been told was true, it involved an awful lot of screaming. Supposedly, a werewolf change was one of the most painful experiences you could hope to experience. It was simultaineously more bones fracturing that you could count, muscles tearing and reforming, and organs each dying and re-starting as they grew in size. It was pretty horrible if you thought about it too much...
...which was why Dinah Fox didn't tend to think about it.
She made a mental note of where Mr Deer had met his tragic end and waded out onto the path, where a old sports' bag hung from a tree, a few feet out of reach of any....large vicious animal that might be keen on ripping it apart.
Having shimmied up the tree to knock it down, Dinah checked out her 'morning after' survival kit that she usually took out. A towel, a washcloth, clean clothes, hair tie, toothbrush and toothpaste. Clothes never survived the night so it was better to take some and hide them out of Cujo's way til morning.
The stream was pretty freezing at that time of day, and washing in it was a part Di hardly relished....but it did leave her looking a little more presentable and a bit less grisly. People did not tend to respond to blood round the mouth very well. She has just finished pulling on her clothes, a faded khaki T-shirt and denim shorts, when she caught sight of another figure, a young man, making his way back along the path.
Cyrus Fox was already fully dressed, and was twisting some bits of bramble out of his hair and looking displeased. Well, Cyrus Fox always looked displeased.
"Morning Dickhead." Di greeted as she hopped up next to her older brother, tying her hair back from her face as they fell into step.
"Caught a deer last night. You gonna help me bring it back, or you just gonna be useless all your life?"
"Is this your idea of a charm offensive?" the young man asked, regarding her sceptically with one dark eyebrow raised.
"And you wonder why you don't have a boyfriend."
"You don't really count as a boy. I'm super charming to everyone else." Di declared as they rounded the corner to the deer and each grabbed hold of two legs each. Werewolves were pretty strong, and Di could've handled it on her own at a push, but she'd rather had someone doing stuff for her, given the chance.
A bit of lifting and dragging, the top of the old church started to come into view. Most village churches had been destroyed in the invasion, but a few remained as their own villages had fallen to ruin years before then. Only ivy-covered walls and mossy beams showed evidence of any other buildings existing there, but the church had remained together, along with the crumbling headstones up around it. Such things emblazoned with crosses and prayers, were repellent to the leeches.
As her brother dropped the deer on the steps, The female werewolf went up to the old, wooden doors and knocked three times, before shouting and displaying her usual level of humour.
"Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in!"
Dallas' eyes shot open as he laid naked, covered in blood in the forest next to a pond, for some reason his wolf likes to change back near water. He stood up with all his bones cracking and popping. Dallas looked around and saw a buck lying their, torn to pieces. "You gave me a good chase friend. You should be proud." Dallas said to the dead deer.
Dallas kneeled over the pond and started washing away the blood, and dirt that covered his body. He cupped his hand in the water and took a few sips of the pond water. It was nasty, but he can't exactly be picky living in the forest. Dallas took the buck by it's antlers and started dragging it to his current hideout.
After 15 minutes Dallas made it back to his current home, a cave hidden deep within the woods. The entrance was hidden by a large, wooden palate that was covered in leaves, and vines. As long as no one is looking closely enough, they wouldn't even notice that a cave is there. Dallas tossed the palate aside, and continued to drag the buck's carcass inside.
The inside of his den was littered with things he stolen from travelers, the benefit of living so near the ferals is that they get blamed for the robberies, and he doesn't raise any suspicion. Dallas rummaged through his stuff, and pulled out a white t-shirt, blue jeans, a belt, and boxers, and threw them on. Dallas then put on a green hoodie, and a black leather jacket. He then pulled out his knife, and revolver. He tucked the gun in the back of his pants, and attached his knife's sheath to his belt.
Doc woke up and let out a loud, almost grizzly bear-like yawn. As he got up he picked up a dirty sleeveless shirt that was laying in the floor next to his cot, and put it on. Once up he put on a dirty pair of black jeans, a worn out pair of socks, and a equally worn out pair of boots. Once he was finished putting on his clothes, he grabbed his brown toboggan hat, and his golden cross necklace. "Another day in paradise." Doc sighed.
As he got up he could hear one of the wolves knocking on the door, and yelling out lame puns. Doc opened up the door as he put on his hat and necklace. "You know, I had hoped by now that you'd grown out of making those lame ass wolf puns. They make you sound like a dork." Doc greeted with a big smile. "And please don't be so loud. Not all of us are comfortable being awake at this ungodly hour." Doc then looked down at the deer they were dragging. "So, who's your friend?"
Dallas kneeled over the pond and started washing away the blood, and dirt that covered his body. He cupped his hand in the water and took a few sips of the pond water. It was nasty, but he can't exactly be picky living in the forest. Dallas took the buck by it's antlers and started dragging it to his current hideout.
After 15 minutes Dallas made it back to his current home, a cave hidden deep within the woods. The entrance was hidden by a large, wooden palate that was covered in leaves, and vines. As long as no one is looking closely enough, they wouldn't even notice that a cave is there. Dallas tossed the palate aside, and continued to drag the buck's carcass inside.
The inside of his den was littered with things he stolen from travelers, the benefit of living so near the ferals is that they get blamed for the robberies, and he doesn't raise any suspicion. Dallas rummaged through his stuff, and pulled out a white t-shirt, blue jeans, a belt, and boxers, and threw them on. Dallas then put on a green hoodie, and a black leather jacket. He then pulled out his knife, and revolver. He tucked the gun in the back of his pants, and attached his knife's sheath to his belt.
Doc woke up and let out a loud, almost grizzly bear-like yawn. As he got up he picked up a dirty sleeveless shirt that was laying in the floor next to his cot, and put it on. Once up he put on a dirty pair of black jeans, a worn out pair of socks, and a equally worn out pair of boots. Once he was finished putting on his clothes, he grabbed his brown toboggan hat, and his golden cross necklace. "Another day in paradise." Doc sighed.
As he got up he could hear one of the wolves knocking on the door, and yelling out lame puns. Doc opened up the door as he put on his hat and necklace. "You know, I had hoped by now that you'd grown out of making those lame ass wolf puns. They make you sound like a dork." Doc greeted with a big smile. "And please don't be so loud. Not all of us are comfortable being awake at this ungodly hour." Doc then looked down at the deer they were dragging. "So, who's your friend?"
They danced the dance of combat around near the creek, both moving in sync with one another. Their legs moved as a graceful duo. Fresh air flowed into their lungs, as their breathing calmed. Streaming water from the creek was the music for their unusual tango. Fallen leaves were being crushed making the world smell of autumn, but only she could bask in the beauty.
He was strong willed and headstrong, standing his ground when the others fled. This fool began desperately trying to look bigger than his opponent by stretching out and up, while honking at her. It was a pathetic excuse, but amazing none the less.
"Pretty bird, why?" Afanasiia spoke in broken English.
The Bar-Headed Goose just continued to squawk at the creature in front of him. His round dark eyes were stern for a bird.
Afanasiia just smiled playfully, she enjoyed the battle the most.
Her body lunged at the goose grabbing his orange legs just as his wings began to flap. They rolled on the ground falling into the shallow creek. Water splashed around while she was holding onto the goose. Squawking and laughing could be heard from the tangle of flesh and feathers.
Afanasiia's hair was wild and tangled with sticks and mud pressed to her face, while she looked at the no longer moving bird. She had rub marks on her arms from where it pecked her. Her smile stayed while she rubbed her fingers over the marks. She let out a sigh while picking herself up out of the water. She shook like a dog to remove the excess water before heading to her little hut where a fire was burning low.
This was the part she didn't want to deal with. The fangs grew and the beautiful dead goose's blood sated her thirst. After the draining of blood Afanasiia skinned the bird like her father had taught her when she had been human. After the cleaning process she roasted the goose and ate the meal. Memories flooded her mind of sharing similar meals with her father.
Though she could hardly remember the feeling of being full from a well cooked meal, her body relaxed in the memories of her father and mother.
"I will have to be moving soon." Her native tongue was spoken to herself, as she rubbed the fox fur bundled beside her.
He was strong willed and headstrong, standing his ground when the others fled. This fool began desperately trying to look bigger than his opponent by stretching out and up, while honking at her. It was a pathetic excuse, but amazing none the less.
"Pretty bird, why?" Afanasiia spoke in broken English.
The Bar-Headed Goose just continued to squawk at the creature in front of him. His round dark eyes were stern for a bird.
Afanasiia just smiled playfully, she enjoyed the battle the most.
Her body lunged at the goose grabbing his orange legs just as his wings began to flap. They rolled on the ground falling into the shallow creek. Water splashed around while she was holding onto the goose. Squawking and laughing could be heard from the tangle of flesh and feathers.
Afanasiia's hair was wild and tangled with sticks and mud pressed to her face, while she looked at the no longer moving bird. She had rub marks on her arms from where it pecked her. Her smile stayed while she rubbed her fingers over the marks. She let out a sigh while picking herself up out of the water. She shook like a dog to remove the excess water before heading to her little hut where a fire was burning low.
This was the part she didn't want to deal with. The fangs grew and the beautiful dead goose's blood sated her thirst. After the draining of blood Afanasiia skinned the bird like her father had taught her when she had been human. After the cleaning process she roasted the goose and ate the meal. Memories flooded her mind of sharing similar meals with her father.
Though she could hardly remember the feeling of being full from a well cooked meal, her body relaxed in the memories of her father and mother.
"I will have to be moving soon." Her native tongue was spoken to herself, as she rubbed the fox fur bundled beside her.
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On the top of a hill over looking a small group of houses Daniella stood, wearing a pair of black leather 'business' shoes, plain black trousers, a white button down shirt, and her hair pulled neatly into a ponytail. Shadowing her, this years new model. Freshly selected from the crop of new ware wolves.
"Seriously Fido... Breath louder, I'm not they can hear you at the check out... two miles down the fucking road." shaking her head she turned her attention to her to the Mobile phone in her pocket.
"You know if you prove to be as useless as the last mangy kerr I'll sell you to the fighting ring like I did him. He lasted a few rounds till I payed the 'ring master' to put him in with the big feller" she could see a small ripple of disgust start from his shoulders and cover him in goose bumps, a small smile played at the corners of her mouth. A text message flashed up on her screen with a eight figure grid reference and then another from the same person with a different six figure reference...
"Bloody hell, incompetent little shits can't even agree on eight little numbers" popping in the hands free she clicks call. It rings twice before a male picks it up.
"Talk" sort sweet and to the point.
"How many,when and where...? oh and try to get it right this time dickhead some of us have work to be doing" she could be to the point too. He sighed audibly, Dani could almost imagine him rubbing his temple as he did it.
"Uh, Three males, supplies packed, looks like they've been keeping their rations. Two guards injured,"
"Alive or Dead...?" she hears him scratch his stubble,
"We only need one to find out how, feel free to make an example of the other two, Need help...?" Dani just rolls her eyes and ends the call.
"Okay listen up Snoopy we've got three males on the move, probably moving fairly quickly, if they've got any sense." Another text message beeps through with a confirmation of the males last know location. Dani pulls out her G.P.S.
"oh and they've got about 20 minute lead and we'll have to get through two checkpoint stations as well. Fang-Bloody-Tastic" she points him in the direction of the road and they set off to the first check point.
"Seriously Fido... Breath louder, I'm not they can hear you at the check out... two miles down the fucking road." shaking her head she turned her attention to her to the Mobile phone in her pocket.
"You know if you prove to be as useless as the last mangy kerr I'll sell you to the fighting ring like I did him. He lasted a few rounds till I payed the 'ring master' to put him in with the big feller" she could see a small ripple of disgust start from his shoulders and cover him in goose bumps, a small smile played at the corners of her mouth. A text message flashed up on her screen with a eight figure grid reference and then another from the same person with a different six figure reference...
"Bloody hell, incompetent little shits can't even agree on eight little numbers" popping in the hands free she clicks call. It rings twice before a male picks it up.
"Talk" sort sweet and to the point.
"How many,when and where...? oh and try to get it right this time dickhead some of us have work to be doing" she could be to the point too. He sighed audibly, Dani could almost imagine him rubbing his temple as he did it.
"Uh, Three males, supplies packed, looks like they've been keeping their rations. Two guards injured,"
"Alive or Dead...?" she hears him scratch his stubble,
"We only need one to find out how, feel free to make an example of the other two, Need help...?" Dani just rolls her eyes and ends the call.
"Okay listen up Snoopy we've got three males on the move, probably moving fairly quickly, if they've got any sense." Another text message beeps through with a confirmation of the males last know location. Dani pulls out her G.P.S.
"oh and they've got about 20 minute lead and we'll have to get through two checkpoint stations as well. Fang-Bloody-Tastic" she points him in the direction of the road and they set off to the first check point.
Rabits where silly little creatures, a bit stupid but a conveniently small and nutritious prey. Rabbit against Oscar was 5 to Oscar and 2 to Rabbit this week, but those had gotten lucky - they saw a glimpse of their future as roast meat in a flash of prophetic vision, and decided to move in the last second, changing the world... maybe.
Oscar wasn't too hungry now, he had eaten well enough today. When he could not fetch the rabbit there where plenty of berries, some of them edible , and even one nicely red apple for a late morning snack.
He had stopped to rest on a tall oak who's leaves hadn't fallen off yet, surprisingly, though most of them seemed to be decaying into brown. Oscar didn't believe in forest clearings, too clear, too exposed - hunters tired from hunting became prey to keener hunters. The branch was old and strong, Oscar could trust this tree - the tree may not be a hunter, but this one was a survivor. Oscar hoped such a tree would favor him accordingly while he paused for a short while.
Oscar sank his teeth into the apple and tore off a bite, it was a bit sour, but still a luxurious treat. As the distinct flavor of the juice swept through his mouth, Oscar wondered if that's how vampires measured the experience of taste. Did they note differentials in blood? was there good or bad tasting blood? and did the red juice give them a similar satisfaction as this simple little apple?
Oscar grinned, he was sucking apple blood...
With apple picked cleaned of it's treasures, Oscar sighed in satisfaction and rested his head on the branch's rough wooden surface. Between the crumbling leaves, Oscar had a pretty good view of leaf stripped forest and it's surroundings. To the South was vamptowen, smoke columns rising against the horizon and joining the clouds above. To the East where the hills, where the hideout was located, suitably hidden from prying eyes. To the North was the main body of the forest while to the west ran a small river. Beyond an occasional horse drawn cart or motorcar moving past the vamp road, some miles away, Oscar felt secure in the reprieve he had found.
Oscar closed his eyes for a few minutes, then a goose broke up his vacation and brought his instincts and adrenalin to bare. Oscar crouched firmly against the tree branch, and lay still, attempting to blend in with the leaves. The goose went on screaming for a while, and a few distinct splashes clearly told the story of a battle - and probably a larger opponent by their scale. Oscar didn't recall a water source in that area, and guessed that is was probably a region in the forest he hadn't yet explored.
After a few minutes, the goose was silent and peace returned to the forest. Once Oscar felt secure enough several minutes later, he climbed down the tree to investigate what had happened. After about five or ten minutes, Oscar found a small creek and some torn feathers, Oscar was ready to conclude the whole thing as a fox having lunch but then noted a small hut, with a small fume of smoke marking the presence of habitation.
Oscar stayed low among some bushes and scanned the house for perhaps fifteen minutes, waiting for the inhabitant to emerge - but he didn't. Oscar didn't like going into a building he didn't know, he could be cut down by the resident, it was best here where his bow's range would keep him safe.
Normally, Oscar would have discreetly left the scene, but he decided to stick around, curious of the hut. Oscar waited another ten minutes, then he picked up a fist sized stone, sneaked to the hut's door and proceeded to toss it at the door. Oscar then ran back to the bushes and waited to see if any one would come out.
Oscar wasn't too hungry now, he had eaten well enough today. When he could not fetch the rabbit there where plenty of berries, some of them edible , and even one nicely red apple for a late morning snack.
He had stopped to rest on a tall oak who's leaves hadn't fallen off yet, surprisingly, though most of them seemed to be decaying into brown. Oscar didn't believe in forest clearings, too clear, too exposed - hunters tired from hunting became prey to keener hunters. The branch was old and strong, Oscar could trust this tree - the tree may not be a hunter, but this one was a survivor. Oscar hoped such a tree would favor him accordingly while he paused for a short while.
Oscar sank his teeth into the apple and tore off a bite, it was a bit sour, but still a luxurious treat. As the distinct flavor of the juice swept through his mouth, Oscar wondered if that's how vampires measured the experience of taste. Did they note differentials in blood? was there good or bad tasting blood? and did the red juice give them a similar satisfaction as this simple little apple?
Oscar grinned, he was sucking apple blood...
With apple picked cleaned of it's treasures, Oscar sighed in satisfaction and rested his head on the branch's rough wooden surface. Between the crumbling leaves, Oscar had a pretty good view of leaf stripped forest and it's surroundings. To the South was vamptowen, smoke columns rising against the horizon and joining the clouds above. To the East where the hills, where the hideout was located, suitably hidden from prying eyes. To the North was the main body of the forest while to the west ran a small river. Beyond an occasional horse drawn cart or motorcar moving past the vamp road, some miles away, Oscar felt secure in the reprieve he had found.
Oscar closed his eyes for a few minutes, then a goose broke up his vacation and brought his instincts and adrenalin to bare. Oscar crouched firmly against the tree branch, and lay still, attempting to blend in with the leaves. The goose went on screaming for a while, and a few distinct splashes clearly told the story of a battle - and probably a larger opponent by their scale. Oscar didn't recall a water source in that area, and guessed that is was probably a region in the forest he hadn't yet explored.
After a few minutes, the goose was silent and peace returned to the forest. Once Oscar felt secure enough several minutes later, he climbed down the tree to investigate what had happened. After about five or ten minutes, Oscar found a small creek and some torn feathers, Oscar was ready to conclude the whole thing as a fox having lunch but then noted a small hut, with a small fume of smoke marking the presence of habitation.
Oscar stayed low among some bushes and scanned the house for perhaps fifteen minutes, waiting for the inhabitant to emerge - but he didn't. Oscar didn't like going into a building he didn't know, he could be cut down by the resident, it was best here where his bow's range would keep him safe.
Normally, Oscar would have discreetly left the scene, but he decided to stick around, curious of the hut. Oscar waited another ten minutes, then he picked up a fist sized stone, sneaked to the hut's door and proceeded to toss it at the door. Oscar then ran back to the bushes and waited to see if any one would come out.
"I'll stop making them when they stop being funny." Dinah responded chirpily, beaming at the appearance of Doc at the door. She was pretty friendly to the majority of the people in the group, almost as if to offset her brother's general surliness.
"They were NEVER funny." Cyrus muttered as her hauled the deer up the top himself.
"Then I guess the means I'll never stop making them." Di replied with a shrug and she turned to the fallen animal.
"And this is Mr Deer. Mr Deer and Wolfy got on extremely well, so much that Wolfy wanted to take a piece of Mr Deer with her forever. And apparently that piece game from Mr Deer's lower intestine. It's a bit chewed in parts but most of the meat is still good. We can butcher it and salt some of it to pull out in Winter." she remarked. They had to keep in mind what they would eat over the cold months when the foraging dried out. Berries, mushrooms, nettles and such were all well and good when the weather was not too terrible, but the cold months were harsh. They tended to have to resort to stealing...and that was when things got really tricky. Di was doing her best to make up the store as much as possible to help them avoid it. It helped that they'd managed to liberate a couple of hens whose crate had fallen off the back of a stock truck, and who were currently roosting in the chancel and laying a reasonable number of eggs.
"Anything exciting happen while we were gone? " she added after a moment, hopping over and peering inside as if in hope that anything had changed significantly between around eight o' clock the night before when they'd left to put some distance between the church and the wolves. Generally the wolves would be too busy hunting to roam too wide, but it wasn't always the case.
"Did ya miss us?"
----
"I was saying to Cindy just the other day that I'm on the verge of making a formal complaint. I mean, this is Dog work. I don't see why Beckett lands us with these crappy jobs. Place is nasty and the walk out here is killing my feet."
Two figures made their way along a path at a fairly slow rate, dragging something behind them.
"That's because you wear those shitty shoes with no arch support. "
Behind them, on the earth and gravel left on the path, smears of dark red were left where their burden had pulled along the ground.
"That's all just a load of made-up bull. I just dunno why they've got to put the stiff pits so far away from the town."
The two individuals were men, vampires in fact, dressed in the uniform of orderlies, the words 'Morningside Research' printed neatly onto the front.
And the men appeared to be dragging a corpse along with them. It seemed to be of a figure considerably smaller than they were, still wearing something resembling a hospital gown that had gotten bloodied and ruined beyond possible salvage. The visible arms and legs of the figure were marked by cuts, stitches, large purple patches beneath the skin....there wasn't a lot of question as to why they'd died.
"You go to the fights last night?"
The two approached a copse on the edge of the wood, the path becoming uneven with roots and bumping the body around pretty badly, it occasionally becoming caught upon roots and prompting the men to irritably haul it up.
"Yeah, took Tara along. Some pretty good rounds though most of the humans didn't last as long as I'da liked. Wasn't as good as that time one of them climbed up the fence and had the wolf jumping and going for 'em. Watching Dogs trying to climb is always funny as."
After a bit more walking they came across an area at the end of the path, a shallow pit dug into the sandy soil there. In the pit where a number of bodies that had been unceremoniously thrown in, some fairly complete, some clearly practically taken apart before they were disposed of.
"Nasty. Sooner they fix the damn incinerator the better." one muttered, hitching the body up over his shoulder and using the height to throw it over into the pit.
Once that was done, the two turned and started walking back, still chattering away.
The conversation gradually faded out till only the sound of flies and chirping birds seemed to populate the area, and even then it was some time after that, that the body on the top of the pile gasped, and staggered to its feet, stumbling over the lip of the pit and wretching onto the sand.
"They were NEVER funny." Cyrus muttered as her hauled the deer up the top himself.
"Then I guess the means I'll never stop making them." Di replied with a shrug and she turned to the fallen animal.
"And this is Mr Deer. Mr Deer and Wolfy got on extremely well, so much that Wolfy wanted to take a piece of Mr Deer with her forever. And apparently that piece game from Mr Deer's lower intestine. It's a bit chewed in parts but most of the meat is still good. We can butcher it and salt some of it to pull out in Winter." she remarked. They had to keep in mind what they would eat over the cold months when the foraging dried out. Berries, mushrooms, nettles and such were all well and good when the weather was not too terrible, but the cold months were harsh. They tended to have to resort to stealing...and that was when things got really tricky. Di was doing her best to make up the store as much as possible to help them avoid it. It helped that they'd managed to liberate a couple of hens whose crate had fallen off the back of a stock truck, and who were currently roosting in the chancel and laying a reasonable number of eggs.
"Anything exciting happen while we were gone? " she added after a moment, hopping over and peering inside as if in hope that anything had changed significantly between around eight o' clock the night before when they'd left to put some distance between the church and the wolves. Generally the wolves would be too busy hunting to roam too wide, but it wasn't always the case.
"Did ya miss us?"
----
"I was saying to Cindy just the other day that I'm on the verge of making a formal complaint. I mean, this is Dog work. I don't see why Beckett lands us with these crappy jobs. Place is nasty and the walk out here is killing my feet."
Two figures made their way along a path at a fairly slow rate, dragging something behind them.
"That's because you wear those shitty shoes with no arch support. "
Behind them, on the earth and gravel left on the path, smears of dark red were left where their burden had pulled along the ground.
"That's all just a load of made-up bull. I just dunno why they've got to put the stiff pits so far away from the town."
The two individuals were men, vampires in fact, dressed in the uniform of orderlies, the words 'Morningside Research' printed neatly onto the front.
And the men appeared to be dragging a corpse along with them. It seemed to be of a figure considerably smaller than they were, still wearing something resembling a hospital gown that had gotten bloodied and ruined beyond possible salvage. The visible arms and legs of the figure were marked by cuts, stitches, large purple patches beneath the skin....there wasn't a lot of question as to why they'd died.
"You go to the fights last night?"
The two approached a copse on the edge of the wood, the path becoming uneven with roots and bumping the body around pretty badly, it occasionally becoming caught upon roots and prompting the men to irritably haul it up.
"Yeah, took Tara along. Some pretty good rounds though most of the humans didn't last as long as I'da liked. Wasn't as good as that time one of them climbed up the fence and had the wolf jumping and going for 'em. Watching Dogs trying to climb is always funny as."
After a bit more walking they came across an area at the end of the path, a shallow pit dug into the sandy soil there. In the pit where a number of bodies that had been unceremoniously thrown in, some fairly complete, some clearly practically taken apart before they were disposed of.
"Nasty. Sooner they fix the damn incinerator the better." one muttered, hitching the body up over his shoulder and using the height to throw it over into the pit.
Once that was done, the two turned and started walking back, still chattering away.
The conversation gradually faded out till only the sound of flies and chirping birds seemed to populate the area, and even then it was some time after that, that the body on the top of the pile gasped, and staggered to its feet, stumbling over the lip of the pit and wretching onto the sand.
"Good, maybe we won't need to rob travelers on their way into town during the Winter. It won't be too long before it's too much of a risk." Doc said despite knowing that them not needing to steal was a pipe dream. "You guys didn't miss anything, just the usual. And bad wolf puns aside, of course I missed you two." Doc then helped Cyrus bring the deer inside, even though he was probably three times as strong as Doc, he still wanted to help.
"So other then playing with Bambi here, did anything else happen?" Doc asked. "What about you Cyrus? Did you catch anything?" Doc liked being around the wolves, they remind him of the actual good times he had working in the dog fights, even if they were so few.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dallas grabbed some cooking supplies and quickly made a small campfire in his cave. Dallas then took his knife and started cutting into the buck. It took about 20 minutes to get the deer cut up and cooked, he made sure to work fast. Dallas took a small bit of wood and used it as a make-shift plate.
Once he finished scarfing down his breakfast Dallas wrapped up the remaining buck and put it into a small cooler. It wouldn't be long before the meat would go bad, but this way it would last at least till supper time. Dallas then kicked some dirt into the fire to put it out.
With breakfast squared away Dallas decided to take a stroll around the forest. After a bit of walking Dallas came across two vampires leaving, luckily they didn't see him, it was way to early to be fighting vampires. The strange thing about these vampires weren't that they were here, but that they weren't searching for something or carried themselves as if they were lost. No they knew where they were going, and by the way they acted they had already done whatever it is they came for.
This got Dallas curious, so he followed their footprints to where they were. After a bit of a trek, Dallas came upon his destination. "Footprints end here. Now let's see what the fangers are up to." Dallas muttered to himself. What he found was shocking. The vampires had buried some kind of burial site. Dallas started to move in for a closer look but then something popped out of the pit. Dallas quickly hid behind a tree and watched the heavily scarred creature.
Dallas sniffed the air to try and get a sense of what he was looking at. It smelled vaguely like a werewolf, but something was off. Maybe it was the dead bodies, but he could smell something was wrong. Dallas took out his pistol in his right hand, and unsheathed his knife in the other. "Don't move." Dallas ordered as he came from behind the tree, and aimed for her head. "Who, or what are you? You don't smell right."
"So other then playing with Bambi here, did anything else happen?" Doc asked. "What about you Cyrus? Did you catch anything?" Doc liked being around the wolves, they remind him of the actual good times he had working in the dog fights, even if they were so few.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dallas grabbed some cooking supplies and quickly made a small campfire in his cave. Dallas then took his knife and started cutting into the buck. It took about 20 minutes to get the deer cut up and cooked, he made sure to work fast. Dallas took a small bit of wood and used it as a make-shift plate.
Once he finished scarfing down his breakfast Dallas wrapped up the remaining buck and put it into a small cooler. It wouldn't be long before the meat would go bad, but this way it would last at least till supper time. Dallas then kicked some dirt into the fire to put it out.
With breakfast squared away Dallas decided to take a stroll around the forest. After a bit of walking Dallas came across two vampires leaving, luckily they didn't see him, it was way to early to be fighting vampires. The strange thing about these vampires weren't that they were here, but that they weren't searching for something or carried themselves as if they were lost. No they knew where they were going, and by the way they acted they had already done whatever it is they came for.
This got Dallas curious, so he followed their footprints to where they were. After a bit of a trek, Dallas came upon his destination. "Footprints end here. Now let's see what the fangers are up to." Dallas muttered to himself. What he found was shocking. The vampires had buried some kind of burial site. Dallas started to move in for a closer look but then something popped out of the pit. Dallas quickly hid behind a tree and watched the heavily scarred creature.
Dallas sniffed the air to try and get a sense of what he was looking at. It smelled vaguely like a werewolf, but something was off. Maybe it was the dead bodies, but he could smell something was wrong. Dallas took out his pistol in his right hand, and unsheathed his knife in the other. "Don't move." Dallas ordered as he came from behind the tree, and aimed for her head. "Who, or what are you? You don't smell right."
Her memories were dancing with the smoke of the fire. Vasily had light brunette hair that was tangled in wild curls. Harsh grey eyes that cast around the room, but through those harsh eyes, their was a deep love. His strong jaw, was covered in a heavy light color beard, it scratched Afanasiia soft cheek.
Her blue eyes opened slowly as her hand touched her cold left cheek. The noise was distracting and interrupted her memories. Each year that passed her memories of her father faded. A dead yawn escaped her lips as she turned toward the noise on the side of the hut. She lifted herself up and snuck around the back of the hut to avoid going straight toward the noise.
Afanasiia felt no fear. She only felt curiosity and bit of hopefulness. She was tired of having only a skinned fox to converse with. But in spite of that she gripped the pelt tightly to her body as she moved away from the hut to get a clear view of whatever was making the noise on the side of the hut.
It was a man.
An everyday ordinary man.
"Who are you, and what are you doing?" Her words were in Russian and created a confused look upon his face.
Afanasiia paused and spoke again in a thick accented broken English. "Who you? What you doing?"
She looked closer and realized she had been mistaken. He was not a man at all; he was just a boy. His hair was just a tangled, black, shaggy mess. Confusion filled his deep hazel eyes.
Afansiia couldn't help but smile at his travel worn leather clothes. She could sympathize. She was wearing stolen dress clothes from a homestead she had passed months before. Her hands checked the scarf around her neck to make sure it was still covering the scar on her throat.
Her blue eyes opened slowly as her hand touched her cold left cheek. The noise was distracting and interrupted her memories. Each year that passed her memories of her father faded. A dead yawn escaped her lips as she turned toward the noise on the side of the hut. She lifted herself up and snuck around the back of the hut to avoid going straight toward the noise.
Afanasiia felt no fear. She only felt curiosity and bit of hopefulness. She was tired of having only a skinned fox to converse with. But in spite of that she gripped the pelt tightly to her body as she moved away from the hut to get a clear view of whatever was making the noise on the side of the hut.
It was a man.
An everyday ordinary man.
"Who are you, and what are you doing?" Her words were in Russian and created a confused look upon his face.
Afanasiia paused and spoke again in a thick accented broken English. "Who you? What you doing?"
She looked closer and realized she had been mistaken. He was not a man at all; he was just a boy. His hair was just a tangled, black, shaggy mess. Confusion filled his deep hazel eyes.
Afansiia couldn't help but smile at his travel worn leather clothes. She could sympathize. She was wearing stolen dress clothes from a homestead she had passed months before. Her hands checked the scarf around her neck to make sure it was still covering the scar on her throat.
"'Live, Laugh, Love'. Honestly, I'm much more attentive to the first of that list."
When a girl meets a boy, it's supposed to be romantic and sweet, isn't it? Well, apparently not always. It would probably help if the boy was, you know, a boy. And that his face wasn't completely covered in blood. And that he wasn't currently following two of her family members to the one building that housed all of her family.
Shaking her head, Vera smothered a sigh. Honestly, what would she do with these kids?
Lifting her scarf up and over her lips and nose, she adjusted her tight jacket. It was only a bit chilly for the autumn season, but she had been sitting guard outside of the church for a few hours at this point. She lounged up in a tree, completely still most of the time, her leg dangling down and her eyes closed as she listened astutely for the sound of movement in the surrounding nature. However, the slow movement of feet had drawn her attention downwards. The voices of Cyrus and Dinah had been gone for a mere minute or two when the sound had risen, causing her to draw a brow upwards.
My, my - the Leech definitely had some balls to not only come to her domain and threaten her people, but to also follow them so closely was ballsy. It would be admirable if it weren't for those two, pesky first problems.
Rolling, her eyes, Vera silently drew and arrow from its sheath, notched it, and quickly let it fly. It drove him, slicing directly through the neck of the vampire. Blood immediately spewed out, and the leech shrieked in pain, clawing at the Garlic-laced, Holy-Water-Drenched, Cross-shaped arrow.
Hey, you can never be too careful, right?
Swinging a leg over the side of the branch that she rested on, she lithely dropped to the ground, her years of martial arts training allowing her to land without fault behind the vampire. The thing in question spun as she dropped, his clawed fingers lashing out at her. She easily leaned backwards, just out of the vamp's reach. This cause the creature to hiss in anger and launch itself in her direction, which she easily side-stepped out of. She yawned, her gloved-hand lifting to pat at her lips.
"Honestly, you are probably the worst leech I've ever had the misfortune to come across. You can't even touch me, let alone take my blood. I thought you vampires were supposed to be a higher-species than I, a mere human? And yet, here I am - completely avoiding your attacks. Hm, I wonder why that is?" she asked, cocking her head to the side and clucking her tongue questioningly.
The leech snarled, but his lips quirked up a bit at the edges. "Whoever said that I was trying very hard to touch you?"
Pausing, she finally shrugged nonchalantly, her disinterest in his hinting nature obviously lighting the flames of his anger once more.
A rustling behind her was the only forewarning she had of the ambush.
It was only one other vampire, but this one obviously wasn't as furious and injured as the one that she had only just been facing. Turning, she made it so that she could see both the new vampire and the old one, her hand moving ever-so-slowly to her sword.
"Man, don't you know it's completely unfair and unethical to outnumber someone? Come on, how do I even stand a chance at this rate?" she whined, sticking her lower lip out in a pout.
The new vampire snickered, his dark eyes flashing. "Well, my dear - seeing as you admit that all hope is lost for you, why not submit yourself to me? I would love to get a delicious taste of you. I can already smell your blood type - and it is a rare one indeed. Ah, perhaps I will keep you around, if only for the fact that your blood is so deliciously different."
Leaning back, she tapped her finger against her lips. "You know, as appealing as that sounds, I think I would much rather do [b]this[/i]!" she said, her hand flashing out so quickly that a vampire's eyes would barely be able to follow her movement. In and instant, she was on the opposite side of the old, already-injured vampire, and in her one hand she held her arrow. In the other, she held her sword, the tip of which was pointed directly at the grassy floor of the earth.
The following few seconds felt like eternity, but finally, out of nowhere, blood began to spew up from the vampire's neck. His head slowly fell to the side, before completely dropping to the Earth. It bounced a couple of times before rolling across the dirt to come to rest at the still-living-vampire's feet.
The body fell a few moments later - first to it's knees, and then to it's front.
Tilting her head, she glanced at the living vampire with a twisted, dark smile.
"Would you still like to keep a pet that could severe your head?"
The man's eyes darkened in fury, his face contorting in unbelievable anger, and he was moving in an instant.
"Hey, Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber - both of you should stop bickering and just ... Well ... Shut up entirely," she said, and as she passed by both of them, her fists moved out and, if they had made contact, would clonk on the top of their heads with just enough force to jar them a bit. She had only just returned to the church and the entire front of her body was coated in blood. Half of her face was decorated in it, and her vibrant red hair had darker red splotches throughout it. Her light samurai sword rested in its sheath against her thigh, while her equally-light Recurve Bow tapped gently across her chest and back. Her quiver rested lightly on her right shoulder at this point, the feather of the arrows protruding from over her shoulder if she were to be noticed by anyone in front of her.
Turning slightly, she dropped the back of her hand lightly on her hip, her head tilting back so that her often-disconcerting eyes could easily bore into those of the wolf siblings'.
"Next time, be more careful when you're transporting bloody carcasses, not matter the distances from the church. You're welcome in the Clan for so long as you wish to be here, but you both know the rules. If it is found that either of you pose any sort of threat, or cause any type of harm to those who dwell within the Feral Group, you will be banished and will not be allowed to return."
Letting out a breath, she lifted her hand and rubbed at the back of her head.
"Look kids - I'm not trying to be a bitch. But let's just say that there was a bit of a problem caused by the scent of the bloody deer, and I can't afford to have a bloody riot on my hands," she said, dropping her hand and focusing back on them again. "I can't protect you from everyone and everything, and if enough member of the Feral's protest your being here, I can't save you from the obvious outcome, if such an event were to arise. I'm trying to protect you," she said softly, her Irish accent thickening her voice.
Turning her back to them once more, she brushed her hair back from her face. Moving over to where the rations of food was stored, she hefted a bag that wouldn't have been easily noticed beforehand up onto the wooden table that was there. Untying the strings, she removed several items of fruit that she had picked from the small garden that she had started for everyone, placed them all in a bowl, and moved the bowl to the center of the table.
However, Vera's eyes strayed for a moment to a succulent-looking apple in the bowl. They remained glued to the fruit for several heartbeats, and she was jerked from it only by a light touch to her thigh.
Turning her gaze downward, it caught the watery eyes of Schini, a six-year-old orphan that she had found holed up in a hollow, rotting tree-trunk. Despite the members of the Feral's and her own efforts in the ways of obtaining food and other nourishment for the members of the Group, some of the people were a bit malnourished. It wasn't that they were skin-and-bones - it just wasn't a healthy amount of food that they were receiving.
"Vera, may I have an apple please?" Schini asked, his voice trembling with tears. The poor child was undoubtedly starving, for she had found out countless times that he had either given his food to an animal, or that one of the other children had stolen it from him.
"Schini, what happened to your luncheon rations?"
His dirt-smudged face tilted downwards a bit, his toe scuffing the small sheen of dirt that was on the floor.
"... Hala took it ..." he mumbled, a soft sniffle being heard at the end of his words.
Stifling a sigh, she reached out and snatched the apple up, wiped it clean with a cloth, before holding it out to him. "Here, you can eat this one. And this time, don't let one of the other children bully you into giving it up to them," she said sternly, before reaching out to lightly ruffle his hair. He beamed a smile, took a large, hearty bite, before taking off to God-knew-where in the church.
"You're too easy on the boy."
"Ah, Margaret-Anne - always a pleasure. And what do I owe this lovely chance to speak to the all-ruling queen?" Vera asked, the sarcasm almost tangible enough to cut.
The older woman sneered in her direction, her hand lifting to waggle a finger of disapproval.
"You're far too easy on that child. He's going to grow up weak - a loser."
"Margaret-Anne, he's six. He can barely even hold a weapon, let alone wield one."
"I'm just saying, if I were his mother, I'd-"
"Well, you aren't - and neither am I for that matter. I merely took him in, just as I did everyone else here. If you hold such intense and immense qualms when pertaining to my leadership and my ways, than I suggest you find elsewhere to live. Not that there is any such sanctuary out there, but you're welcome to look for one," she said snarkily.
The woman gaped at her, her anger evident in her shock. She suddenly waggled her finger again, before turning and scurrying away, muttering to herself as she did.
Shaking her head, Vera scowled after Margaret-Anne. "'Tis only proof that one does not truly and fully grow up and mature," she murmured, turning back to face the large entrance room that had once been the ownership of pews, idols, bibles, candelabras, and far more objects that were often used in that of the Catholic Religion for mass. Scattered throughout that room was the base cover-up of the feral Group's operations. If they were ever to be found by the vampires, they would not discover them easily.
Instead of their equipment or rooms in the entrance area, they kept only their immediate supplies in the vicinity. Their common weapons, such as arrows, swords, daggers, holy water, a variety of holy items, and like-wise. Vera had long before disbanded the need for guns - not only did they cause and unnecessary amount of noise that drew not only vampires, but other predators that were long-forgotten by many when the vampires came into play, but they also proved useless against vampires. The only thing that they could do was slow them down, but not even long enough for a person to flee.
In addition to the weapons, they had a small array of food and a small amount of their stored water up there, in order for returning scouts, scavengers, and otherwise to be able to seek immediate relief of their bodies' needs.
That was only the beginning, however. Unbeknownst to anyone who had never been in this particular church, there was a dungeon kept below the building, built into the earth. It was a dreary place when she had first arrived, but after nearly a decade of organizing the Feral Group, she had made it into a warm, welcoming home. There were more than enough rooms - cells, whatever you wished to call them - to go around, along with enough home-made cots, blankets, and other essentials to go around. So long as the person was willing to assist in anything that the Group needed, they were allowed to stay.
However, that was not where the building ends. There was a small room that was used to teach the children and teenagers that had come into the Feral's care, along with a training room that Vera used most often to train in new members, a science room that was used for medical research of medicinal plants - that of which Jason Lachawr was the Head of -, a smaller room for people to relax in, and a rather large room that was used solely for the purpose of weaponry and machinery. Not only was there a large array of weapons in it, but also quite an immense amount of technological devices that she worked on quite a bit. Sometimes, she would go three nights without sleep while working on a new weapon or device to use against the vampires - and it wasn't useless in the least. She had succeeded in creating several new weapons that were quite useful on the field. Garlic-bombs, Holy-Water-Sprinklers, Cross-Bows; literally, they were cross-bows. They shot out crossed laced with garlic and doused in Holy Water. Those were only the beginning.
After the weaponry room, there was a storage room designed only for warm-season food, and a storage room solely for food for the cold seasons.
Crossing her arms, Vera leaned her bottom back against the table, her ankles moving over one-another.
"I believe it is past time for me to call a meeting of the masses, don't you agree, Mr. Lachawr?" she asked, her eyebrow quirking upwards inquisitively.
Outflanked! thought Oscar when he saw a figure come upon him... and quite neatly too, Oscar would later admit to himself; he hadn't checked the hut for alternative exit points, which every hideout from the vamp's would obviously employ in one form or another for a quick getaway.
Oscar's instincts told him many things at that moment, jump backwards and get some range, toss some dirt at the person and run away or raise his bow and let loose as quickly as he could.
But, these thoughts of action did not become action on thought, Oscar concluded that had someone come up on him like this and wanted to gut him, he would have been gutted already.
With fear and instinct partially subsided, Oscar now took a good look on the resident; she seemed young, a kiddo, and yet something was strange, eyes older then the face and an unflinching stance which conveyed such confidence Oscar was convinced only foresight could allow it.
The kiddo seemed concerned and said something strange, Oscar wondered if maybe stories of witches and forest spirits where true and looked towards the trees, concerned the girl was calling on the forest to punch him up or something like that.
A strong gust of wind moved the trees, many of the leaves on the oak Oscar had sat on now fell, Oscar tried not to show it but he was beginning to feel quite haunted.
The girl's next words still sounded strange, as if she had come here from some other realm but it was English of a sort, and Oscar could make sense of it - it wasn't fair of him to hold her accent against her anyway as people here didn't often understand what he was sayin, something to do with coming from far North.
Oscar still could not quite quite figure out what was going on, but for the moment he was weary, all his instincts where telling him there was more to this then he saw - maybe the girl really was a spirit?
Oscar carefully put down his bow, to show his willingness to talk rather then fight but not in a hasty manner which conveyed surrender. He then stood up from the bushes, but realized he would be inconveniently tall for a proper conversation. Besides, maybe standing up could offend a spirit? Oscar was not about to take any chances, and simply crouched down besides the bush though not behind it.
"Err, I am Oscar, Oscar Freeman, I hunt around here". Said Oscar carefully, trying not to give away too much information before he knew more about this girl.
"I do hope I, ah, did not intrude on you. I was curious, never seen this hut before so I wondered who lived here. Who are you? do you have a name or somthin you are called by?" Asked Oscar carefully, he then remembered he still had another apple and opened his small back, taking a single red apple out and handing it over to the girl.
"Already ate one, so only fair you get one - they are quite juicy, full of vit-a-mins, you know, things that are good for the blood".
Oscar's instincts told him many things at that moment, jump backwards and get some range, toss some dirt at the person and run away or raise his bow and let loose as quickly as he could.
But, these thoughts of action did not become action on thought, Oscar concluded that had someone come up on him like this and wanted to gut him, he would have been gutted already.
With fear and instinct partially subsided, Oscar now took a good look on the resident; she seemed young, a kiddo, and yet something was strange, eyes older then the face and an unflinching stance which conveyed such confidence Oscar was convinced only foresight could allow it.
The kiddo seemed concerned and said something strange, Oscar wondered if maybe stories of witches and forest spirits where true and looked towards the trees, concerned the girl was calling on the forest to punch him up or something like that.
A strong gust of wind moved the trees, many of the leaves on the oak Oscar had sat on now fell, Oscar tried not to show it but he was beginning to feel quite haunted.
The girl's next words still sounded strange, as if she had come here from some other realm but it was English of a sort, and Oscar could make sense of it - it wasn't fair of him to hold her accent against her anyway as people here didn't often understand what he was sayin, something to do with coming from far North.
Oscar still could not quite quite figure out what was going on, but for the moment he was weary, all his instincts where telling him there was more to this then he saw - maybe the girl really was a spirit?
Oscar carefully put down his bow, to show his willingness to talk rather then fight but not in a hasty manner which conveyed surrender. He then stood up from the bushes, but realized he would be inconveniently tall for a proper conversation. Besides, maybe standing up could offend a spirit? Oscar was not about to take any chances, and simply crouched down besides the bush though not behind it.
"Err, I am Oscar, Oscar Freeman, I hunt around here". Said Oscar carefully, trying not to give away too much information before he knew more about this girl.
"I do hope I, ah, did not intrude on you. I was curious, never seen this hut before so I wondered who lived here. Who are you? do you have a name or somthin you are called by?" Asked Oscar carefully, he then remembered he still had another apple and opened his small back, taking a single red apple out and handing it over to the girl.
"Already ate one, so only fair you get one - they are quite juicy, full of vit-a-mins, you know, things that are good for the blood".
"The usual. Not much to be said. Woods have been quiet enough." Dinah responded as she grabbed her utility knife to start skinning the deer. She did most of the butchering herself, as well as treating the hides, something that most people seemed to stay well away from. The shed out on the edge of the church yard dedicated to it invariably stunk like a dead pole cat when it was taking place, and that was to human noses. A werewolf nose was considerably more sensitive, so it could not have been pleasant. Still, it allowed for furs and leather for clothing in limited amounts, which allowed them to repair stuff they'd otherwise have to steal to replace.
Cyrus who had been holding the deer's legs dropped them onto the flags once they were done hauling it, looking over to Doc over the other side of the animal.
"Nothing worth having. Woke up with a shredded badger nearby which I suspect was me, and something really nasty on my hands and face. Smelled like the goddamn grave. Makes me wonder if the leeches are burying people in the woods now. Always up to something, and of course The Wolf is all over anything dead. Think it was rolling in the stuff or or something...." he was going to speak more when Vera showed up and promptly hit them.
Something that ever-stoic and apparently resigned Cyrus took without a flinch caused Dinah to yell, slipping with her knife, slicing not only the hide but also the back of her hand. The werewolf shouted an obscenity, hopped to her feet again and glared, not in the least bit impressed by the lecture.
"Yeah, yeah I'm such a bitch for bringing you all three days worth of food. I'll remember to know better next time. "she growled.
Cyrus was not the most personable of people, but he did have the virtue of consistency. He was ill-tempered and yet tended to stay more or less on one even keel all of the time. Di, on the other hand, was moreof a creature of extremes. As cheerful as she could be one minutes was always offset by how angry she could be the next, and her brother could tell she was about to go off on one and did not relish it.
"Don't you think it's a little early to be getting on your soap box?" he asked.
Dinah was not dissuaded.
"Fuck off Cy. I spend all my time trying to get enough supplies together so people won't have to steal this winter, skinning them, butchering them, salting them, carting disgusting fucking bags of deer guts miles away from the church so no-one cottons on, and the rest of you don't even want to known how nasty tanning the hides is, and all I ever get is shit for it! Screw it, you can deal with the damn thing yourselves if having the dirty wolf around dealing with your food such a burden to you. I'm going for a walk."
The young werewolf stalked over to the door, punching the masonry so hard it dislodged some of the mortar before walking off into the churchyard. Cyrus had absolutely no intention of stopping her, partially because once she was in that kind of mood she was not listening to anybody, least of all her brother who she didn't listen to even when happy, and partially because he was less than pleased at the welcome himself.
The fact that their inhumanity got brought up so frequently as a topic was a sore spot, and that was kind of an understatement. The two had been part of the group for going on fifteen years, since Cyrus was six and Dinah was four, and Cyrus had hoped that they had moved past the 'if you slip up we'll kick you out because you're wolves' stage, but it was always clear that it hadn't, and in a sense it was Dinah who was a lot more upset about that fact than he was.
Regardless of what she said, Cyrus was pretty sure DInah wanted people to like her. Far as he was concerned that was her first mistake. He could not really care less what people thought of him ultimately and it'd worked pretty well for him.
-----
The figure who had seemed to be dead until recently, was knelt on the sand, forehead resting against the ground as it struggled to catch its breath.
That was until the click of a gun being levelled forced her to her feet.
The figure, a female, stood up to full height....which admittedly was not that impressive. She probably did not even clear 5'3 despite being, if not an adult, not far off it. Reddish hair hung down her back, chocked and matted with blood and dirty, and the eyes that turned to regard the man were not the same colour. One was a sort of greyish blue, the other cloudy and bloody, clearly of no use.
She regarded the gun for a moment, then looked to the man holding it, as she drew in rapid breaths, after a few moments beginning to speak up.
"...D-designation 22475...."Ragna"....f-forth generation nordic werewolf subspecies import....academic and commercial usage...p-property of Morningside Research and...Education Centre..."
It was spoken in the intonation-devoid manner of something that was learned by rote. Many wolves had been taught to memorize their designation and repeat it when asked, as being a shape-changer it was difficult to supply them with any ID. However the majority of wolves with such designations were law enforcement or security. 'Academic and Commercial' was a designation category not often used, and indicated a werewolf not trained in combat....and for most 'employers' of wolves, combat was the only thing that interested them.
Cyrus who had been holding the deer's legs dropped them onto the flags once they were done hauling it, looking over to Doc over the other side of the animal.
"Nothing worth having. Woke up with a shredded badger nearby which I suspect was me, and something really nasty on my hands and face. Smelled like the goddamn grave. Makes me wonder if the leeches are burying people in the woods now. Always up to something, and of course The Wolf is all over anything dead. Think it was rolling in the stuff or or something...." he was going to speak more when Vera showed up and promptly hit them.
Something that ever-stoic and apparently resigned Cyrus took without a flinch caused Dinah to yell, slipping with her knife, slicing not only the hide but also the back of her hand. The werewolf shouted an obscenity, hopped to her feet again and glared, not in the least bit impressed by the lecture.
"Yeah, yeah I'm such a bitch for bringing you all three days worth of food. I'll remember to know better next time. "she growled.
Cyrus was not the most personable of people, but he did have the virtue of consistency. He was ill-tempered and yet tended to stay more or less on one even keel all of the time. Di, on the other hand, was moreof a creature of extremes. As cheerful as she could be one minutes was always offset by how angry she could be the next, and her brother could tell she was about to go off on one and did not relish it.
"Don't you think it's a little early to be getting on your soap box?" he asked.
Dinah was not dissuaded.
"Fuck off Cy. I spend all my time trying to get enough supplies together so people won't have to steal this winter, skinning them, butchering them, salting them, carting disgusting fucking bags of deer guts miles away from the church so no-one cottons on, and the rest of you don't even want to known how nasty tanning the hides is, and all I ever get is shit for it! Screw it, you can deal with the damn thing yourselves if having the dirty wolf around dealing with your food such a burden to you. I'm going for a walk."
The young werewolf stalked over to the door, punching the masonry so hard it dislodged some of the mortar before walking off into the churchyard. Cyrus had absolutely no intention of stopping her, partially because once she was in that kind of mood she was not listening to anybody, least of all her brother who she didn't listen to even when happy, and partially because he was less than pleased at the welcome himself.
The fact that their inhumanity got brought up so frequently as a topic was a sore spot, and that was kind of an understatement. The two had been part of the group for going on fifteen years, since Cyrus was six and Dinah was four, and Cyrus had hoped that they had moved past the 'if you slip up we'll kick you out because you're wolves' stage, but it was always clear that it hadn't, and in a sense it was Dinah who was a lot more upset about that fact than he was.
Regardless of what she said, Cyrus was pretty sure DInah wanted people to like her. Far as he was concerned that was her first mistake. He could not really care less what people thought of him ultimately and it'd worked pretty well for him.
-----
The figure who had seemed to be dead until recently, was knelt on the sand, forehead resting against the ground as it struggled to catch its breath.
That was until the click of a gun being levelled forced her to her feet.
The figure, a female, stood up to full height....which admittedly was not that impressive. She probably did not even clear 5'3 despite being, if not an adult, not far off it. Reddish hair hung down her back, chocked and matted with blood and dirty, and the eyes that turned to regard the man were not the same colour. One was a sort of greyish blue, the other cloudy and bloody, clearly of no use.
She regarded the gun for a moment, then looked to the man holding it, as she drew in rapid breaths, after a few moments beginning to speak up.
"...D-designation 22475...."Ragna"....f-forth generation nordic werewolf subspecies import....academic and commercial usage...p-property of Morningside Research and...Education Centre..."
It was spoken in the intonation-devoid manner of something that was learned by rote. Many wolves had been taught to memorize their designation and repeat it when asked, as being a shape-changer it was difficult to supply them with any ID. However the majority of wolves with such designations were law enforcement or security. 'Academic and Commercial' was a designation category not often used, and indicated a werewolf not trained in combat....and for most 'employers' of wolves, combat was the only thing that interested them.
Dallas studied the scarred female werewolf as she started giving off her designation. "Ragna? Morningside?" Dallas repeated to himself. "Academic and commercial usage? What are you talking about? All our kind is to the vampires are soldiers, glorified cannon fodder."
Dallas then began looking around at their surroundings. "This isn't the best place to be having this discussion. Come on, I've got a hideout not to far from here." Dallas then motioned for her to move in the general direction his cave was in.
"Name's Dallas. Don't ask for my designation, I don't work for the leeches anymore." Dallas introduced himself, somewhat rudely.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Doc glared at Vera when she started berating the werewolves. Dinah stormed off as he expected her to. Doc had thought about going after her and try to calm her down, but he knew it wouldn't help any.
"Yes, I suppose it's time for a meeting. Although I suspect Oscar isn't here. He's probably out doing whatever it is he does." Doc replied. "I don't understand that boy's fascination with the city. It's nothing glamorous."
Doc then went up to Vera's side and whispered in her ear. "Is it really necessary to berate Dinah and Cyrus like that? They've proven themselves plenty of times. Their place in this group should be as secure as anyone else's."
Dallas then began looking around at their surroundings. "This isn't the best place to be having this discussion. Come on, I've got a hideout not to far from here." Dallas then motioned for her to move in the general direction his cave was in.
"Name's Dallas. Don't ask for my designation, I don't work for the leeches anymore." Dallas introduced himself, somewhat rudely.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Doc glared at Vera when she started berating the werewolves. Dinah stormed off as he expected her to. Doc had thought about going after her and try to calm her down, but he knew it wouldn't help any.
"Yes, I suppose it's time for a meeting. Although I suspect Oscar isn't here. He's probably out doing whatever it is he does." Doc replied. "I don't understand that boy's fascination with the city. It's nothing glamorous."
Doc then went up to Vera's side and whispered in her ear. "Is it really necessary to berate Dinah and Cyrus like that? They've proven themselves plenty of times. Their place in this group should be as secure as anyone else's."
Setting
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Daniella stood on the well worn path re checking the GPS device, eying The Brute,
"So we've crossed the housing, two checkpoints, up a fucking hill, through a bloody forest, back down the other side and back around to where we started. I'm just beginning to wonder if your hearts is really in this, AND!! My shoes, are getting dirty." sitting on a fallen tree she takes in her surroundings.
"Miss I can show you, they go in around abouts. I follow smells and prints." The Brute holds his hands up in submission.
"I didn't ask for excuses, I didn't ask for reasons. I want these little shits found. Yesterday! Do. you. understand." stepping toe to toe with the mongrel she shows him the co-ordinates again.
"Fetch boy" sitting back on the tree the dog gets too work. Flicking open her phone she hits re-dial. The same male voice answers again.
"yes...?"
"We're at the last known location, We've made the perimeter sweep, but it looks like they may have been expecting me and doubled back on themselves. Scooby's just trying to pick up the trail now." rubbing her temple
"Well border patrols haven't picked up anything, need another unit...?" Dani senses the sarcasm
"We'll be fine if not I'll send you the mutts heart instead" staring at the dog she could just imagine how the blood would spill, drip, trickle down his neck as his head parted ways with the rest of his body, how his heart would stutter, and finally shudder to a halt and still be warm when she cracked in thorough his rib cage and pulled it from his body. Dani's stomach rumbled, she hadn't realized she had gotten up or that she had closed her eyes, she snapped her eyes open focus brought to the for front her mind. A smell so... pure that it could only be fresh human blood. And it was close. The Brute stops, his nose only a fraction of a second behind hers.
Following the trail they walk back up the hill and into the forest, a small animal path spotted with human blood, small drops. Gaining speed up the gradual incline and loosing track of her surroundings Daniella's instincts start taking over, the blood driving her too feed and kill. A pungent stench suddenly punches through to her conscious mind. Something dead, and from the smell it's been dead a while. After a few more miles of following the blood trail the rotting flesh stench starts giving Daniella a head ache, a white light in the center of her forehead, each new step giving over to a new wave of pain. As they clamber to the top of the hill Dani can no longer keep her eyes open, a white light sits in the middle of her vision and pluses,
"Snoopy stop, there's... there's something wrong" sitting on the bare floor she pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head.
"Miss!!!!" the dog points upwards and behind Dani, she turns and her head pluses, but she can see what he's pointing at. A few hundred meters in the direction that the dog pointed in, is a roof top, she doesn't need to double check. She can see a religious symbol poking from the top, her stomach turns and for the first time in nearly 100 years she thought she was going to be sick. Turning her head away she nods towards towards the building,
"seek it out boy" sending in the hound to see what he can find.
"I'll wait at the bottom of the hill. before i ruin my suit" Come find me in 1 hour. Get it. 1 hour"
"So we've crossed the housing, two checkpoints, up a fucking hill, through a bloody forest, back down the other side and back around to where we started. I'm just beginning to wonder if your hearts is really in this, AND!! My shoes, are getting dirty." sitting on a fallen tree she takes in her surroundings.
"Miss I can show you, they go in around abouts. I follow smells and prints." The Brute holds his hands up in submission.
"I didn't ask for excuses, I didn't ask for reasons. I want these little shits found. Yesterday! Do. you. understand." stepping toe to toe with the mongrel she shows him the co-ordinates again.
"Fetch boy" sitting back on the tree the dog gets too work. Flicking open her phone she hits re-dial. The same male voice answers again.
"yes...?"
"We're at the last known location, We've made the perimeter sweep, but it looks like they may have been expecting me and doubled back on themselves. Scooby's just trying to pick up the trail now." rubbing her temple
"Well border patrols haven't picked up anything, need another unit...?" Dani senses the sarcasm
"We'll be fine if not I'll send you the mutts heart instead" staring at the dog she could just imagine how the blood would spill, drip, trickle down his neck as his head parted ways with the rest of his body, how his heart would stutter, and finally shudder to a halt and still be warm when she cracked in thorough his rib cage and pulled it from his body. Dani's stomach rumbled, she hadn't realized she had gotten up or that she had closed her eyes, she snapped her eyes open focus brought to the for front her mind. A smell so... pure that it could only be fresh human blood. And it was close. The Brute stops, his nose only a fraction of a second behind hers.
Following the trail they walk back up the hill and into the forest, a small animal path spotted with human blood, small drops. Gaining speed up the gradual incline and loosing track of her surroundings Daniella's instincts start taking over, the blood driving her too feed and kill. A pungent stench suddenly punches through to her conscious mind. Something dead, and from the smell it's been dead a while. After a few more miles of following the blood trail the rotting flesh stench starts giving Daniella a head ache, a white light in the center of her forehead, each new step giving over to a new wave of pain. As they clamber to the top of the hill Dani can no longer keep her eyes open, a white light sits in the middle of her vision and pluses,
"Snoopy stop, there's... there's something wrong" sitting on the bare floor she pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head.
"Miss!!!!" the dog points upwards and behind Dani, she turns and her head pluses, but she can see what he's pointing at. A few hundred meters in the direction that the dog pointed in, is a roof top, she doesn't need to double check. She can see a religious symbol poking from the top, her stomach turns and for the first time in nearly 100 years she thought she was going to be sick. Turning her head away she nods towards towards the building,
"seek it out boy" sending in the hound to see what he can find.
"I'll wait at the bottom of the hill. before i ruin my suit" Come find me in 1 hour. Get it. 1 hour"
A gust of wind picked up and whipped her thick hair around to stick to the bottom of her moist lip. The smells of fallen and broken leaves floated around the boy and girl and masked all the other smells of the forest. The strong smells and enchanting noises heightened the memorable moment. Even with the sun overshadowed the forest remained rich with fall colors. The reds, oranges, yellows and browns were lush and breath taking.
Autumn was shared between the two and it was completely peaceful.
His words fell out of his mouth, but she waited and listened to him very carefully. It was clear as day that he was a bundle of nerves. It was cute to see his hazel eyes full of innocence and Afanasiia couldn't help but smile at him. Oscar's movements were slow and careful, yet behind his actions there was a sense of awe more than of fear.
He pulled out an apple and Afanasiia could feel herself crying with excitement on the inside. The apple was a deep red like the ones she had shared with her parents a lifetime ago. But the apple was a symbol more than an actual apple.
"Ox-cure Fri-mam" Each word came out, falling completely flat. But it was not meant to be heard. Afanasiia had to move her mouth in a way that was completely foreign to her.
It had been twenty years sense she had spoken the language. It would take a while to get it down again. Though it was hard to sound out the correct pronunciation, she was lucky to have been taught well.
Her fingers pointed to herself while she spoke.
"Afanasiia." It came out quicker than she had meant to.
Her pale, cold hand reached for the apple and as she gripped her small fingers around the fruit a finger slipped and touched the boy. Carefully her smile widen, all the while she make completely sure that her fangs were never exposed.
"Good- for- blood." She nodded as she kissed the apple.
"Living close?" Her blue eyes stared deep into his.
Autumn was shared between the two and it was completely peaceful.
His words fell out of his mouth, but she waited and listened to him very carefully. It was clear as day that he was a bundle of nerves. It was cute to see his hazel eyes full of innocence and Afanasiia couldn't help but smile at him. Oscar's movements were slow and careful, yet behind his actions there was a sense of awe more than of fear.
He pulled out an apple and Afanasiia could feel herself crying with excitement on the inside. The apple was a deep red like the ones she had shared with her parents a lifetime ago. But the apple was a symbol more than an actual apple.
"Ox-cure Fri-mam" Each word came out, falling completely flat. But it was not meant to be heard. Afanasiia had to move her mouth in a way that was completely foreign to her.
It had been twenty years sense she had spoken the language. It would take a while to get it down again. Though it was hard to sound out the correct pronunciation, she was lucky to have been taught well.
Her fingers pointed to herself while she spoke.
"Afanasiia." It came out quicker than she had meant to.
Her pale, cold hand reached for the apple and as she gripped her small fingers around the fruit a finger slipped and touched the boy. Carefully her smile widen, all the while she make completely sure that her fangs were never exposed.
"Good- for- blood." She nodded as she kissed the apple.
"Living close?" Her blue eyes stared deep into his.
Oscar's earlier concerns where consistently, though gradually wavering away. Maybe it was the kiddo's smile, maybe it was her obvious difficulty with to speak, but Oscar was confident enough to assume this was just a case an abandoned child - lost for maybe a few years in the forests and forced to live out a life away of "the pack".
Oscar quietly noted her paleness, and coldness of hand, but just as quietly dismissed it, he didn't want to put in doubt his relief at finding a conveniently "normal" explanation to this situation.
Her beaming reaction to something as simple as one red apple was all Oscar needed to consider his fears closed.
Oscar sat down on the remains of a fallen tree, the victim of last winter's snows maybe and wondered what should his next actions be; should he stay and make sure the kiddo is safe here? should he maybe take her back to the camp?
The kid's prying question into his residence, brought the second option's sensibilities to his thoughts, even if the kiddo had been safe this long - it could not possibly last, she would be found by ether bandit Vamp or natural predator - the group was much safer and would welcome her in so long as she worked a bit here and there, more as she grew older.
"Sometimes", answered Oscar, avoiding giving away a solid location. "I am curious though, how long have you lived hear? how have you fared? did that hut belong to your parents?. Ya know, it's not easy to live out here alone, most people ether live down with the vamps or in bands, don't know so many independents".
Oscar quietly noted her paleness, and coldness of hand, but just as quietly dismissed it, he didn't want to put in doubt his relief at finding a conveniently "normal" explanation to this situation.
Her beaming reaction to something as simple as one red apple was all Oscar needed to consider his fears closed.
Oscar sat down on the remains of a fallen tree, the victim of last winter's snows maybe and wondered what should his next actions be; should he stay and make sure the kiddo is safe here? should he maybe take her back to the camp?
The kid's prying question into his residence, brought the second option's sensibilities to his thoughts, even if the kiddo had been safe this long - it could not possibly last, she would be found by ether bandit Vamp or natural predator - the group was much safer and would welcome her in so long as she worked a bit here and there, more as she grew older.
"Sometimes", answered Oscar, avoiding giving away a solid location. "I am curious though, how long have you lived hear? how have you fared? did that hut belong to your parents?. Ya know, it's not easy to live out here alone, most people ether live down with the vamps or in bands, don't know so many independents".
Fortunately, the strange werewolf didn't appear too offended by the apparent rudeness of the other... she didn't really seem to be taking it in all that well. She seemed to only really be half listening, or at least making some effort to look as if she were paying attention, however when he began to walk the wolf did start to follow, walking hunched forwards as to imply some sort of pain.
It was after a few steps that she first stopped, grasping hold of a tree trunk and wretching, something that ejected splatters of blood onto the forest floor. This was something Rags was not nearly as concerned about as any ordinary individual should have been, as she merely straightened up against with some difficulty and simply continued walking. She dropped to her knees a few times as well, but forced herself back up again with a sort of dead-eyed stoicism that might have been impressive if it weren't so outwardly disturbing.
It was after a few steps that she first stopped, grasping hold of a tree trunk and wretching, something that ejected splatters of blood onto the forest floor. This was something Rags was not nearly as concerned about as any ordinary individual should have been, as she merely straightened up against with some difficulty and simply continued walking. She dropped to her knees a few times as well, but forced herself back up again with a sort of dead-eyed stoicism that might have been impressive if it weren't so outwardly disturbing.
"Goddamn." Was the only thing to come out of Dallas' mouth as he watched the strange wolf walk. Dallas sighed and rolled his eyes. He tucked his gun away, and holstered his knife. "Crap. Here, lean on me." Dallas said as helped to keep Ragna balanced. Dallas took her right arm and draped it over his shoulder.
"My hideout's not to far from here." Dallas said as he led her towards his cave. They finally arrived to his hideout. Dallas tossed aside the palette that hid his current home. 'Alright, there's some venison in that cooler there." Dallas pointed to his cooler. "There's a lighter over there next to it. I've got some sticks for fire wood, and some pans for cooking it if you want." Dallas said, assuming she knew how to do all that. "I don't know about you but I get seriously hungry after a turn."
"Ok, I've got some questions for you." Dallas said. "First are you ok? You look a little out of it." Dallas asked with genuine concern. "What is Morningside? What did they do to you?" Dallas asked as he stared at her scars.
"My hideout's not to far from here." Dallas said as he led her towards his cave. They finally arrived to his hideout. Dallas tossed aside the palette that hid his current home. 'Alright, there's some venison in that cooler there." Dallas pointed to his cooler. "There's a lighter over there next to it. I've got some sticks for fire wood, and some pans for cooking it if you want." Dallas said, assuming she knew how to do all that. "I don't know about you but I get seriously hungry after a turn."
"Ok, I've got some questions for you." Dallas said. "First are you ok? You look a little out of it." Dallas asked with genuine concern. "What is Morningside? What did they do to you?" Dallas asked as he stared at her scars.
- 17 posts here • Page 1 of 1
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View All » Add Character » 13 Characters to follow in this universe
Newest
Oscar Freeman
"I would not want to live in these housey things, the stone sky could crush me".
Afanasiia
The Immortal Child
Cyrus
"Big Bad Wolf is about to blow your house down."
Jason 'Doc' Lachawr
"Trust me, I'm a doctor."
Sir Maurice Jackson
"Where do you desire to go? What has been your dream? I can supply it. Winter, spring, summer or fall--they can all be yours at any time. Apply to me and it will be easier and better"
Dallas Cassidy
"I refuse to be some fanger's attack dog!"
Vera Valentine
"I was chosen for something 'great' they said - but where was my choice?"
Dinah
"What's the difference between a wolf and a dog? Ownership."
Trending
Afanasiia
The Immortal Child
Cyrus
"Big Bad Wolf is about to blow your house down."
Oscar Freeman
"I would not want to live in these housey things, the stone sky could crush me".
Jason 'Doc' Lachawr
"Trust me, I'm a doctor."
Sir Maurice Jackson
"Where do you desire to go? What has been your dream? I can supply it. Winter, spring, summer or fall--they can all be yours at any time. Apply to me and it will be easier and better"
Dallas Cassidy
"I refuse to be some fanger's attack dog!"
Vera Valentine
"I was chosen for something 'great' they said - but where was my choice?"
Dinah
"What's the difference between a wolf and a dog? Ownership."
Most Followed
Dinah
"What's the difference between a wolf and a dog? Ownership."
Sir Maurice Jackson
"Where do you desire to go? What has been your dream? I can supply it. Winter, spring, summer or fall--they can all be yours at any time. Apply to me and it will be easier and better"
Dallas Cassidy
"I refuse to be some fanger's attack dog!"
Vera Valentine
"I was chosen for something 'great' they said - but where was my choice?"
Cyrus
"Big Bad Wolf is about to blow your house down."
Jason 'Doc' Lachawr
"Trust me, I'm a doctor."
Oscar Freeman
"I would not want to live in these housey things, the stone sky could crush me".
Afanasiia
The Immortal Child
Fullscreen Chat » Create Topic » After Dark Day: Out of Character
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After Dark Day
1, 2by VitaminHeart on Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:34 pm
- 35 Replies
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- Last post by Shifter13
on Mon Dec 01, 2014 9:18 am
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After Dark Day
Most recent OOC posts in After Dark Day
Re: After Dark Day
Hi! I was wondering if, maybe, I could reserve the Soldier of the Feral group? I have something ready for this, but if it's already taken I could make changes to my character and choose something else. :)
Re: After Dark Day
Hey if it's not too late can I please reserve the soldier from the 'Feral' population?
Re: After Dark Day
No he isn't actually, he is a vampire whom I have not found an opening to post with yet.
well.. I refuse to let him go out without a bang (well, a thump) so I will post with him ether way, when I can.
well.. I refuse to let him go out without a bang (well, a thump) so I will post with him ether way, when I can.
Re: After Dark Day
I don't mind if you do. Go ahead, and I'll wait for your post to post. Is Jackson apart of the Feral Group? If not, I'm going to go ahead and post.
Sorry for going AWOL, guys. I'm like ... Dying ... Like ... No joke ... x.x See? It's my death face. x.x
Sorry for going AWOL, guys. I'm like ... Dying ... Like ... No joke ... x.x See? It's my death face. x.x
Re: After Dark Day
Well, things have kind of slowed down, I could introduce Jackson now, anyone want to have an anointment.
Re: After Dark Day
Something like that.
I believe vampires retain a lot of the advanced technology from before the war, however the combination of the world being rules by being that are very old, and the vastly reduced population means tech is not at the same level it once was.
Vehicles still exist but fuel isn't as abundant as it once was so they tend to be reserved for vamps. Trains have made a bit more of a comeback and coal is a lot more widely used as a fuel source, partly down to the fact that it can be mined natively, and because vampires strive to increase pollutants around their towns because it works better for them.
Electricity is still a thing, as are some kinds of computers, however the internet is no longer a thing. There is still some television run by the government but it is probably only a small number of channels and mostly useful for news and current events.
Scientific research on he other hand has most likely advanced further as vampire scientists never age and so never need to stop working, and so their research being unbound by the concepts of ethics, law or good taste would probably have exploded and developed things that would be useful in the new society.
I believe vampires retain a lot of the advanced technology from before the war, however the combination of the world being rules by being that are very old, and the vastly reduced population means tech is not at the same level it once was.
Vehicles still exist but fuel isn't as abundant as it once was so they tend to be reserved for vamps. Trains have made a bit more of a comeback and coal is a lot more widely used as a fuel source, partly down to the fact that it can be mined natively, and because vampires strive to increase pollutants around their towns because it works better for them.
Electricity is still a thing, as are some kinds of computers, however the internet is no longer a thing. There is still some television run by the government but it is probably only a small number of channels and mostly useful for news and current events.
Scientific research on he other hand has most likely advanced further as vampire scientists never age and so never need to stop working, and so their research being unbound by the concepts of ethics, law or good taste would probably have exploded and developed things that would be useful in the new society.
Re: After Dark Day
Question: What is the world's tech level? I am a bit confused on it.
I thought of it being mostly a combination between 21st technology and more primitive stopgap means such as horses and maybe steam. I thought of some remainders of tech being in Vampire hands but it seemes to make sense for vampire society to keep advanced technology out of human hands.
What's your take on it heart?
I thought of it being mostly a combination between 21st technology and more primitive stopgap means such as horses and maybe steam. I thought of some remainders of tech being in Vampire hands but it seemes to make sense for vampire society to keep advanced technology out of human hands.
What's your take on it heart?
Re: After Dark Day
Hey you guys! Just thought I'd let everyone know that the Feral Group's Leader, Vera Valentine, is pretty much done. I just need to do her personality and history, but since I've been working and going to school nonstop, so it's kind of hard to get it all finished. But I thought I'd let you see her almost-completed CS ^^
~'.'~Kura Ravengade~'.'~
Re: After Dark Day
my first thoughts is it is an npc unless Vitamin wants them to be a character. Thanks for asking though! :)
Re: After Dark Day
Ooo, could I please be The Prizefighter?!
I am having so many ideas for them!! :D
I have read everything! And everyone's characters!
I am having so many ideas for them!! :D
I have read everything! And everyone's characters!
Re: After Dark Day
If nobody else wants it, I could also create the human scout character, I feel like a younger character to save me from Jackson's tedious intellect ;)
Re: After Dark Day
IT BEGINS.
Thought I would get a starting post up so you can all get going. I still have another character to upload but felt it'd be goot to kick it off so you folks who've already put characters up can begin introducing them.
Thought I would get a starting post up so you can all get going. I still have another character to upload but felt it'd be goot to kick it off so you folks who've already put characters up can begin introducing them.
Re: After Dark Day
I'm hoping to have my CS completed by tonight, but I need some sleep obviously. I'm off tomorrow night so I'll definitely have it done by then :D
Re: After Dark Day
A werewolf's sense of smell will allow them to determine the species of a creature fairly easily unless there's anything disrupting it, like strong perfume etc.
In wolf form werewolves do seem to retain some degree of connection to those around them, for example werewolves that are close to one another as humans will tend to also be close as wolves. However in regards to how they react to humans they know is more complicated. Largely they will not recognize people and will attack them, but it can depend on the werewolf and the strength of the person's will.
Oh, another thing I keep meaning to mention, vampires can't drink werewolf blood. It makes them extremely unwell.
In wolf form werewolves do seem to retain some degree of connection to those around them, for example werewolves that are close to one another as humans will tend to also be close as wolves. However in regards to how they react to humans they know is more complicated. Largely they will not recognize people and will attack them, but it can depend on the werewolf and the strength of the person's will.
Oh, another thing I keep meaning to mention, vampires can't drink werewolf blood. It makes them extremely unwell.
Re: After Dark Day
Hey, I gots questions if you would indulge me. It's about the werewolves. Can they til the difference between the species with their enhanced senses? And are they completely devoid of human thought when in wolf form? Like for example if say one of the Feral groups werewolves got out on a full moon and say that they are very close to one of the group, would the wolf reqionize their feelings for that person and not attack them?