bad omens { open }

[Marlow (DELETED 6865)]

She watched his still form with casual interest. Muddy brown eyes released him from his hold as she pulled out her own knife in respond to him wielding his own. She knelt down on the ground then, her knees becoming dirty. She might as well take the hide from the bear, though she had never skinned an animal before. This would be new for her. She could already smell the animal from this distance. It was a strong pine like smell, it was comforting to Marlow. It was home. For a moment her eyes closed and she let herself breathe it in.

After a few moments she suddenly felt self conscious and knew that Kitchi’s eyes were on her. She turned her gaze to the male and her inclined her head towards the bear. Her fingers trembled. Nerves getting the better of her as she found herself standing up and make her way over towards the other vampire she closed the gap between them in mere seconds and stood inches from his face. She made no sudden movements. She couldn’t.

“Oh”

Came her breathless response as she nodded her head.

“Kitchi”

She spoke his name quietly, slowly. Catching his attention as her hands still trembled. If she couldn’t even skin the hide off the bear and used it for her own needs then what use was she as a vampire? She was clearly terrible at this it seemed.

“I can’t..”

There it was again, there was a tremble in her voice now.

“I can’t skin him. I took his life. Yet, I can’t even skin him.”

The guilt consumed her and she found herself nestling herself into the man’s shoulder. Closing the gap between them. She didn’t care if this was intrusive upon his personal space. She just wanted connection. Kitchi would be that connection. She wanted him to hug her and hold her tight - to comfort her, and tell her this new life was going to be alright. He smelt of pine, like the forests. Much like the bear was. She found herself relaxing against him, but abruptly pulled herself away.

“I’m sorry.”

The apology slipped through her lips instantly.

[Ambrose Acheron]

Listening to the exchange Ambrose can't help but feel a plethora of emotions. Desire, at least the remembrance of such. Hesitation, remorse, empathy... He has lived through all these things and some very recently. There is nothing he can do for the pair. Not at this point. Emotions must run their course. Perhaps it is his Allurist Path along with his sire's teaching that stays his hand from interfering...

At the same time with his own recent issues he is drawn to the exchange. Privacy and the concept thereof is lessened by the time his grew up in, the culture in which he was raised. Had he been a decent modern man he would have slunk away and gone about his own business. As it was though, he was out of time, out of place (due to cultural assimilation) and simply... curious. This same story had played out for him recently and he wished to see if this union, the bond forming between the two was brought on by the same influence his own meeting was caused by or it it was simply two vampires meeting and connecting on a way he has only twice in four hundred years.

Instead of retiring to handle his own pressing affairs Ambrose instead reaches out, invading the mind of each of the vampires in turn, reading their thoughts, appraising them, curiosity once again overtaking propriety in his list of priorities.

Not just Marlow is of his brood, the other is Kitchi. Two third generation vampires of his line... No rules bar their union, not really. Publicly they may be frowned upon for the potential of creating a nether spawn but as far as Tizoc/Ambrose is concerned they were well within the boudaries of the teaching of their line. Brow furrowed and lost in his own thoughts of the situation the vampire waits to see where this meeting could be going.

He remains where he is, a voyeur unseen, passive yet invasive.

[Kitchi]

Skinning a bear was not for the faint of heart. It was needing to be done. The bear was not to be wasted. The spirit had moved on and what remained must be honored with a purpose. Kitchi eyed Marlow as she tried to begin but found she could not handle the task. His attention went from her to the leg where the bear’s paw was missing. He felt compelled to act instead of watch. The visual at his feet was a process that was incomplete and he had to step in. He was about to ask for her blade even though he had his own. That was until she moved. Her body lifted to stand and those eyes worked their magic.

Three in the cave and only one dared to move. Kitchi’s mind moved with her feet. She could take the life out of the bear, set the spirit free and have him standing still as a totem pole with that look from her eyes. As she moved he saw mystery and power in the woman who couldn’t take the coat from the bones at their feet. She was far more than was meeting his eyes. The sounds of her bare feet pressing into the dirt beneath had him encouraging her in his mind to take the last few required to arrive where she finally did. He knew nothing of the woman. Nothing except that her name was Marlow. His mind spoke it again. Marlow had those eyes. Eyes that left him standing there while she was a breath away and his feet did nothing to change it.

Marlow. His mind was speaking while his lips stayed closed. The scent of her filled him like a sweet reward as she came to lean against him as if it would soothe her. It was a relief to him. The corner of his eye caught the contrast of their long dark hair blending at his chest. In his mind he slid his hand down her shoulder to brush the remaining strands back. His long fingers did not mean to curl to form around her arm but they did. A comforting caress took place as it moved down past her elbow and ultimately stopped at her wrist. He could feel the petite bones beneath and already could count their number as they began slipping away from his touch. The cool skin parting from his stirred memories and cravings that perhaps were unknown until that moment. As his other hand slid around to comfort her or perhaps himself he realized his mind was moving away with her but his body had not. As unexpected as she was in merging her body to his she quickly pulled away. He stood there feeling the loss yet the gentle smile found his face once again.

“I need this…” He spoke softly as his hand extended out between them and reached for her knife.

[Marlow (DELETED 6865)]

Marlow wasn’t one to get briefly touched by a man. She had lived a very sheltered life. A life filled by her family - and the moving of camps. This much she knew but when she had sought Kitchi for comfort moments ago she didn’t expect him to reach out and comfort her. To briefly run his fingers along the elbow. It made the woman weak at the knees almost and she instantly want to feel it again. Chocolate brown hues looked at Kitchi as there was a gap between them now. She missed it.

She missed the way his fingers traced the veins along her wrist. She canted her head to the side letting her loose brunette hair fall to the side and caress her shoulders. A soft sigh escaped her lips as Kitchi re closed the gap and took the knife from her grasp telling her that he needed it. She simply nodded her head and relinquishing the blade to him.

He could have whatever he wanted from her if he asked nicely. Muddy hues looked to the entrance of the cave something was there that made her look but when she squinted to see if anything was there she saw nothing. She heard nothing and assumed it was her - going crazy. She turned her gaze back to the man in front of her. Kitchi.

“Yes, you can have it.”

She said finally after a moment - as he had taken the knife from her petite, bony fingers moments ago. The way he took the knife from her grasp made her think that he was going to do what she could not. He was going to skin the bear. A smile twitched at the sides of her mouth tugging it upwards before her eyes rested on his gentle smile. How sweet his lips looked, and possibly tasted.

Marlow mentally scolded herself for thinking such a thing and turned away. Ashamed. She shouldn’t think such things - especially of a nice man who was helping her. Helping her do what she could not.

[Ambrose Acheron]

Ambrose watched the exchange in silence. He pondered for the briefest on instants before stepping forward, allowing his stocky frame to block out much of the moonlight, casting the entryway of the cavern into darkness and framing him against the sky outside as he looked down the length of the cave to the two. The blade held on Kitchi's hand, the bear dead, paw mutilated.

Images flash into Marlow's mind

The young boy, he was barely old enough to be called anything but held the stone dagger in his hand before him was a jaguar. Two arrows pierced it's side. The boy looks back, his father and the other hunters motioning him forward.

Turning back to the cat he saw it try and rise only to stagger sideways and crash down into the undergrowth of the forest. The boy's eyes squint as he moves forward. He raises the dagger as the cat's head turns toward it and... he can't. He freezes and for an instant an understanding passes between the two, boy and cat.

The boy turns back to the hunting party and shakes his head. Behind him the death rattle of the great cat's final breath rolls out from between it's razor tongues and it's tongue lolls out.

He motions then to Kitchi. "Watch and learn. Next time you will do this Marlow."

With no explanation as to how he found them or why he is here Ambrose turns his gaze toward Kitchi and nods toward the bear.

[Kitchi]

Kitchi’s hands stretched out and pulled the bear to roll on its back as if he had done this a hundred times before. He certainly had. The sounds of his elders coaching him filtered through his mind reminding him once upon a time he did this beneath their eyes and with their guidance. A man that seemingly came from nowhere spoke and instructed Marlow to do the same. Kitchi did not look up. He was aware instantly.She was never alone as he suspected. It should have disturbed him, set him on his guard but the woodland cree killer did not react. It was a gathering for the bear. The spirit of the animal was that powerful. All was as it should be.

The scent of the bear exploded beneath the blade as it disappeared into the thick, coarse fur and penetrated the flesh under the lower jaw to begin the evisceration cut. Kitchi’s hand gripped tighter so that his fingers curled and his thumb overlapped at the hilt. With the strength he had it was a far easier process than before. The blade parted the flesh and to the night air the carcass opened in celebration rather quickly. The hide was intact and massive. Marlow found a giant and now she would have warmth within what was left for her once it dried. For the rest he continued to move cutting what would have fed so many mouths. He was a blur of his own earth seasoned skin, fading silver of the tool in his hand and blood blood of the bear as he continued to work. He was taught well. Each choreographed movement was an honor to the spirit of the animal beneath his hands and his elders who continued to guide him from far and above.

Blood was everywhere on him. The warmth it provided was temporary but the scent stayed with him deep in his lungs. So much of it would remain as all the others had. His hair was saturated at the tips dripping with what had not been wasted. His hands slick with the red fluid went to his face and he pulled them down to smooth out the lingering fatigue of the muscles beneath his skin. He had carried the discomfort for months and now the relief flowed from the massage of palms over each as he pulled them down and free from his chin. He was getting better beneath the eyes that watched him. Healing of a different kind was washing over him and he did not part with the moment to look for confirmation. It had already come as the sounds of his fathers drums echoed in his head and his grandmothers flute filled his ears.

KItchi stood slowly and looked down to what was at their feet in the blood soaked earth. It would need to be further cleaned. The fur had work yet to be done before it would be of use. His dark eyes drifted to Marlow then to the one who had joined them. He spun the knife in his hand and wiped the crimson coated blade at his thigh were his denim pants were anything but blue. Another twist of his wrist had the knife clean and offered up in the empty space between he and the two he did not know prior to entering the cave. His gaze set on the woman's eyes finding their power present as ever. This time he found the strength to pull away to focus on the male observing.

“She is yours.”

Kitchi spoke with acceptance. He was fine with the results. The bear was a female. No cubs were left behind. She was now Marlow’s and it appeared Marlow was under the watchful eyes of the man he extended the blade to in respect.

[Marlow (DELETED 6865)]

The young Cherokee stopped what she was doing - still as a totem, as she blinked a few times images were pushed into her mind she felt like she was watching a scene a young boy and a cat - predator and prey. The boy was unable to kill him and then the scene fades to black and Marlow is back within the small cave. Blinking tears from the corners of her eye as she raises an eyebrow towards the Ambrose who seems to slink through the shadows and blocked the entrance to the cave with his own large build.

Eyes are solely focused on Ambrose as he tells her that she needs to watch and learn, and do this next time. Bile rose in her throat as she turned to the bear. The man in front of her was the man that had found her the night she was sired, before Kika had run from her in fright - perhaps. There had been no exchange of blood between them, Kika’s bite had turned her alone. It was different from what she had learnt from the myth and legend about vampires. Not completely unorthodox though.

“Ambrose.”

The words left her lips slowly. She was watching the Patriarch of their bloodline with inquisitive eyes. She didn’t say anything her eyes fell back to Kitchi as he carved at the bear. Removing her pelt for Marlow. It would be a lovely treat. Something to make something out of, or something she could perhaps sleep in.

She watched for several minutes as Kitchi worked, expert hands worked quickly and Marlow was entranced with the work he did. He had clearly done this before but she said nothing - nothing until the man got up and extended the blade towards Ambrose. She didn’t look back at the man, no her muddy brown hues were still firmly locked on Kitchi.

“Thank you.”

She offered her arm to the man, fingers brushing his arm - the arm that had been working on the bear vigorously. The arm that was caked in blood.

“Kitchi”

She finished.

[Ambrose Acheron]

Reaching out to the proferred knife Ambrose takes it in silence. His eyes wander of the blade as he tests it's heft and checks the edge with an expert eye. A single nod of approval sends him to the discarded innards of the beast where he kneels down and reaches into the pile of offal.

Organs slip and slide as his finger search for the familiar feels of what he needs and finally they close around the four chambered organ sought. Lessons needed learned, the old ways needed observed. He cuts the heart loose from the fatty tissue surrounding it and rises from the steaming entrails, blade in one hand, heart in the other.

Another image flows through Marlow's mind. Vega's turning, heart removed and brought to Ambrose's mouth, the same with Kika, then Machk...

He says nothing though, simply stands to the side of the two, heart held out to Marlow, bloodied blade held out to Kitchi. He man is also a recipient of Ambrose's mental communication...

"You are one of mine... I am the vampire who made your sire. My name is Tizoc but only among our brood. Others know me as Ambrose. Brace yourself childe of Machk for I am about to gift you with the knowledge of our kind..."

[Kitchi]

Awareness was filling Kitchi as he studied the faces before him. It took full effect while his black flecked eyes took in the one holding the blade. The knife was sharp with promise as was the energy the older male exuded. An incoming breeze drifted over his weakening muscles at the caps of his shoulders. A weight was slowly settling over each solid joint once again. The familiar sensation of what those in his current company could not see wrapped around him like a protective weave of honor, tradition and pride. Just as Marlow was not alone neither was he. Never for long.

Perhaps it was the blood of the bear that was beginning to crack and release his cool skin from beneath Marlow’s touch. Or it could have been the fresh nutrient rich heart offered to her while the blade was extended back to him. Something about that moment spoke to him and told him to be receptive but cautious at the same time. His gaze left the faces of the two and drifted down to the length of the cool fingers over his arm.

“Keep your eyes open, Kitchi.” Kisikaw’s reminder flowed through his thoughts. A mother could reach her own no matter the distance or time traveled. “There are monsters in every man. Undefeatable forces that will be under the guise of what you wish to see. Never allow yourself to want to the point you become the fool.”

Tizoc. Ambrose. Machk. Marlow.

Kitchi’s face went cold and could have frozen for the lack of movement that took place beneath the fading colors of blessing that only the sun could bestow with time. His stared hard at the man who entered his mind and felt fire building beneath bone deep. The woodland cree was informed of this unexpected presence and it’s origins.

Gift. Knowledge. Our kind.

Yes, all of that was possible. It would have to be taken into consideration once it was pushed through. It had a place where it would be absorbed. So would the cold facts that the one before him offering him a weapon and waiting for it to be accepted was responsible for more than any man he had known that was filled with that darkness that had consumed Pitikhawa. Tizoc had taken far more than was acceptable in his mind without provocation. Machk’s life, his wife and his last breath and his very own. None of those had been his to take. He had a term for that. Thief. Killer. The heat of warning was about him now. It served him well each time it arrived.

[Marlow (DELETED 6865)]

Tizoc, or Ambrose. Whatever he wanted himself to be called was still pushing images into Marlow’s brain. Showing her things. A circle, candles. Blood a lot of blood. She shakes her head, brown bands of hair shook as she brought her hands up to her head, squeezing the temples. She wasn’t used to this, she wasn’t squeamish. The fact that he was intruding on her personal space, was worrying for the little fledgling necromancer. She saw the faces flash through her mind, faces she didn’t know - besides Kika’s. Oh yes. Marlow remembered Kika’s face, the woman was her sire - her killer.

As she blinked away the remaining bloody images, she turned her eyes back to their patriarch only to see him with a heart in his hands, her eyes were focused on the blood dripping from the vital organ. The blood mixed with the dirt of the cave floor as she shook her head in dismay. Did he really want her to eat that? Was that really what she was expect to do?

Slowly, with a shaking hand she took the heart. It was slippery in her grasp as she raised it to her mouth, and took a bite. The raw, uncooked organ crunched in her mouth. Blood from heart seeped over her lips, and down her chin and onto her shirt. Bloodying the white shirt. Eyes closed, she ignored the stares of Ambrose and Kitchi and ate it, the blood escaped from the valves, the last remnants of the bears organ. Minutes later the heart had been completely consumed and she was left looking at Kitchi, and Ambrose with bloodied lips, her chin was completely soaked. Her hands were red, thick with blood. Her shirt. It needed to be discarded and burnt. She felt horrid. She had never consumed a heart before.

She doubled over. Her head looking to the ground as she began to gag.