(Post co-written by NotAFlyingToy, Tiko and Leli)
The fingers of the sunlight were receding from their hold upon the sky, inching back towards the western skyline in a full retreat. Amidst the beckoning darkness stood a shadow, with mocha skin, dark glasses, and a muscle shirt strapped down with weapons of various shapes and sizes. Behind the thick glass was a quirked eyebrow as he studied the clearing he stood in; dead leaves mingling with browning grass, gentle breezes flowing through the trees that encircled the area. As he finished his cursory scouting, the shadow stepped into the open, one hand firmly enclosed around the handle of his Katana.
Into the clearing stepped the Shadow.
Into the clearing stepped Torrential.
It was a shitty spot for an ambush, and he truly doubted any of his would-be companions would risk attacking someone that they needed in order to fight off their prey for the night. He was useful; even the wild and care-free Lessard girl would admit that, though his former ally of the Vankyroth may be harder pressed to come clean about his skill. Either way, Torrential didn't think much of his companions opinions.
He was here to kill a mutt.
Checking his watch, and noting that he was indeed on time, he sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing, and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds around him. He was a competent tracker because he relied on all of his senses, and he took the time to hone them whenever possible. A deer crunched a leaf a few miles to the south, two squirrels chased each other over nuts, and the chattering of a mockinbird rose above the din of the forest.
With all of his concentrated listening, it was little wonder that he heard one of his companion's approaching him. With a smile, he spoke.
"I wondered if this was going to be a Solo hunt, after all."
It was Varia who stepped into the clearing, clothed as impractically as ever. Milky cream skin glowed in the night, hardly seeming fitting for the hunt ahead. The only saving grace to her scant clothes were the numerous blades adorning her figure. Fortune would have it at least, that the darkness cast by the new moon kept her numerous piercings and metallic ornaments from glinting in the moonlight.
Behind her, dark shapes took form as several wolves detached from the trees with her. They were lean and ravenous beasts, as wild as Varia's heart. However, as she moved to join Torrential, the animals dogging her steps fell back to wait within the shadows.
“Lovely night for a hunt, wouldn't you say?” Varia inquired with a glint of fire in her wolfish eyes.
"Lovely night indeed." He opened his eyes and looked up at her, letting his gaze travel from her feet to her face, slowly, languidly. He cracked a smile, flash of fangs in the darkness.
"I was pleasantly surprised when you asked me here, Varia. Hunting the mongrel would be most pleasing to me."
“I hope that's not all that's pleasing to you,” Varia replied with a coy wink as she sauntered past him to keep watch for Charles.
He let his eyes wander on her for a little while longer, and he rose to his feet. "You have me curious," he began. "Most Lessards I've heard of - though you're the first I've met in the flesh - seem to be uptight..." He paused, looking for the right word.
"...Dickwads. Yet you seem less so. I imagine you don't get along well with your brothers in fangs."
"Maybe you just haven't met enough of us yet?" Turning, she lounged leisurely with her back to a tree. Everything about the woman seemed wolfish, from the amber hue of her eyes to her coy grin.
He grinned back, liking that particular expression on her face. "I don't think that's a bad thing. Vankyroth, Lessard... all you group types are bad for business. I prefer the thrill of the hunt to the boredom of politics."
“And yet here we both are, same night, same patch of wood, hunting the same werewolf. Me a Lessard, you a... whatever you are. Not so different, eh?” she retorted.
Torrential nodded, one hand touching the silver dagger, the only piece of silver the vampire owned, at his belt. It wasn't nearly enough to take down the werewolf by itself, but at least he wouldn't witness a wolf's eyes grow back after he popped them out.
"I prefer to think of myself as a... free agent." He rolled his neck on his shoulders, arching his brow. "But I agree. Not so different after all."
A pause. Then, "What are you doing after we bag the werewolf?"
Dirty ashen hands reached out beneath a dark green cloak, silver trimmed cuffs taught on the arm slid off the wrist revealing more of the pale figure. His steps were quiet, his breathing almost unexistent. Blackened nails gripped the loose bark of a young sappling, skinning it to expose the green underneath, as they coiled deeper into the young wood.
His first meeting with Varia was over the corpse of a man he’d just come to know. Though he thought nothing of him, the attack against a group he’d sworn allegiance to couldn’t go unnoticed. It was there he was offered the aid he came to know he needed so badly only a few weeks before at the hands of that same wretched wolf and one of her pups. And only a few nights after that he’d found himself in her presence once again, taking her up on the offer.
And so here he was.
“Late, am I?”
He had no need to run his eyes over either of the two, the metal of their blades had already caught his attention long ago. But something was to be said about the poor clothing that Varia wore.
He spoke again, “Lets not linger on me, I’m sure we’ve all places to be for the night.” a tug pullin his dark lips into a crooked smile.
“Ah, and Mr. Tall, Dark and Broody appears,” Varia remarked at Charles' arrival. Torrential's question would apparently have to await an answer for another time. They all had more pressing matters to attend to for the time being.
"Bout time." Torrential quipped, as Varia finished her sentence.
Varia pulled a small dart out of her hair and flashed it to Charles. “Wolfsbane. One drop of this should bring down even the largest of werewolves. Gypsy alchemy,” she explained before tucking it back behind her ear for safe keeping until they needed it.
Torrential cocked his head at the sight of the dart, an eyebrow arching. "Cool toy. Where'd you get it?"
"The gypsies of course," Varia replied mischievously.
"Interesting. Nimble fingers or brute force?"
"Now now, I can't go giving away all of my secrets now can I?" Varia retorted with a wink. “Shall we then?” she added with a wolfish grin before she turned and departed into the woods. The wolves converged around her as she moved, and before long she had broken into a run, keeping even pace with the ravenous beasts.