Dance in the Snow (open)

[Corin Diechi]

Corin sat in the middle of the snow her long golden hair flowing in the wind behind her a dress of the softest blue on with the skirt in a circle around her so her legs and feet where covered. She had no coat on because she did not feel the cold. She had no shoes on her feet though no one could tell that at this moment. She was looking up at the sky through the trees in the meadow she had found in the middle of the forest.

It seemed that the Fae left her alone. She had no idea why they did because she knew that any vampire was always attacked by them. She had also been attacked at one time by them but no more it seemed. As she sat there a fawn came over to her and lay beside her. Animals where not scared of her and on her lap were a bunny its fur white as the snow. A fox cub was near here as well as the mother. She was surrounded by the animals and she liked it. She was not alone with them around. She was not alone in her family. The voices in her head had changed from being mean to her to ones that encouraged her to do things that where good. Her mind and all of her had changed.

She was a kind soul and with the new voices in her head she was even kinder. Even her charge Arron was good for her. She had left him asleep on her boat and he seemed to like it there than anywhere else. If anyone came upon the scene in the forest they would see think a goddess or something was in the woods. The way she was surrounded by the animals of the forest even the ones that would have hurt her. It was a weird scene to behold but only if one did not know what the young woman had been through. She was off in her own world as she as she ran a hand over the rabbit in her lap and thought about the past year. In a few hours it will be a new year and she did not mind. Everything was different for her in just this past month. Who knows what will be around the corner for the next one.

She looked from her lap back up to the sky as a soft snow started to fall and land on her. As it landed on her hair it sparkled in the moon light as if she had diamonds in her hair. She did not mind the snow as she looked at the animals and told them to go she did not mind. All but a few left her the rabbit comfortable on her lap. The animals where keeping her company and did not want to leave her. A Fae was off to the side watching her with the animals it did not move at all because it was wondering about this vampire. It was the same one that watched her every time she came into the woods.

Picking up the rabbit and setting it on the ground she got to her feet and started to dance in the snow her bare feet leaving prints as she went her arms bare and reaching to the sky. This area she had never seen a mortal in but that did not mean one would not come. Then again she had not seen anyone in this area but her. The animals and Fae watched as she danced to a tune only she could hear. Her eyes closed as she moved with grace and beauty.

[Hanei (DELETED 3287)]

A black, dirty suit, with a loosely worn black tie, a white button up shirt with the top button undone, black slacks, black formal socks, and black dress shoes. In other words, the picturesque image of a businessman having a bad or stressful day. In reality, Johnathon-aka Hanei-was not a businessman nor was he having a bad day. Then again, he wasn't exactly having a good day either, as he was no closer to finding that damnable Fae than he had been the day before or the day before that. He had vowed to kill no one other than that Fae, no creature would find death by his hands, neither vampire, nor human, nor animal.

He had wandered that night, allowing his feet to take him wherever they would, hoping he would find something to occupy his mind as he continued forward, in any way possible. It wasn't healthy to obsess over the Fae, or anything for that matter, but then again he was a Vampire, and the rules of medical concern hardly applied. Many things could still harm him, but not nearly as fatally as before. Still, he looked up and found himself in the quiet, dark, snow covered forest, and it was never wise to be inattentive here.

His feet seemed to be following some unseen road, an invisible path leading to an unknown destination that was both terrifying and intriguing. His dress shoes, borrowed from a thrift store in Honeymead, crunched against the snow with each step, and his pale features practically blended with each darkly colored branch that bore the weight of white crystals. Some sound was drawing his attention now, like the rushing of wind but not quite as wild.

His charcoal black hair, a mess of short unkempt locks on his head, remained practically still despite the slight breeze, and devoid of all snowflakes that would intrude upon it's coloration. He saw a collection of animals, varying from deer to rabbits to a fox pup, standing on the edge of a clearing, and a blue and golden spectacle dancing in the center-bare footed no less. After a moment's pause to observe, Johnathon knew who it was, and approached silently, with the practiced footsteps of one who did not wish to be heard. He watched his Sire, the one who cared more for his well-being than he himself did at times, dancing in the snow to a tune none could hear.

It was something to behold, as he leaned against a burdened tree and watched this sight, the woman he had always taken for granted, having Turned him and given him a second chance at life, dancing away without a care in the world. How he envied her apparent bliss, the way she seemed not to care that anything could go wrong at a moment's notice. Then his envy was replaced with admiration, as he noticed her soft facial features, slender proportions, and graceful sway. He admired her greatly, perhaps even more so than he should, and silently watched, feeling strangely alone even as a few more innocent animals stood with him on the edges of the clearing to observe.

[Zodiac]

Snow.

Well, there was a first time for everything, she supposed. She had been careful so far to fly on clear nights. Not because she felt her animal form could not cope with it, but extreme weather meant additional problems with flying and finding one's way home. She had no desire to sit in the wilderness waiting for a storm to pass because she could not spot her landmarks she used to guide her to home. It was not storming now. Just gentle puffs of moonlit crystal falling softly, but that could change very quickly.

Her wings took her higher so more of the world below could be viewed with ease. Quickly she figured out where she was in relation to the town. She was somewhat safe if things got too hairy, so relaxed and continued to skim along the tree tops. Her eyes searching the ground below as the flakes began to settle on the frozen earth.

Something moved in a small clearing south of her. The moon was still showing its face enough to light the way, so she turned gracefully to see what she could see. A few flaps of her large wings and she took perch in a branch of a tree that overlooked the scene below.

Someone was dancing.

The white feathered head cocked as she watched the woman dancing without a care in the world. She wasn't a witch. There were no signs this was part of some ritual or summoning or devotions to a higher goddess. The woman was simply dancing. The snow owl saw them both (three if one counted the rabbit, and the way some of her kind could shift their shape like she could, she would not be surprised if it was another vampire). She didn't know the male, but it appeared he was more interested in the girl dancing than anything else, so she relaxed. But the girl was familiar somehow.

Yes, she remembered now. Someone Temperance had introduced her to back at Isabella's wedding reception when she had married Jacob. Karen? Karwin? The owl gave its head a slight shake. The girl was not all that talkative that night either, and she had only seen this one in passing a couple times after that meeting, so there were few details for her to work with. She simply settled onto her perch and watched and if her beak could form a smile, it would have.

Therapy for the soul is what her Nana had called dancing, and in her own experiences she could totally agree. When one just flowed into movement, the cares and worries sometimes melted away until there was only yourself and the dance. She too was guilty of breaking out into dance at times. Dance covered a multitude of things, actually. From dancing at coven to special ceremonies, to simply dancing for the fun of it, to dancing with purpose and to dancing naked when the sun arose and returned to greet the day. Some would not understand (or even try to) why she did the things she did. The sun was as much a part of the vampire's existence as the moon. The light of the sun warmed those not touched by the darkness such as they. It encouraged them to grow and be strong and continue so that when night came round again there would be food for those who danced in the darkness.

It was a cycle that had to be respected, thus she danced in greetings of a new day as well as the coming of the dark. A world without sun might sound perfect at first to a vampire, but if they thought about it they would see the folly of it all.

The snow owl sat still, not doing a thing to betray the fact the owl was far more than an owl and watched the girl medicate her spirit so liberally in such a setting as this.

[Mike Barone (DELETED 2047)]

Mike yawned, he had fallen asleep at his work desk but he felt something tugging at his hair. He looked up to find Sparks, the Grey Parrot there.

"Sleepy Head." Sparks said, bobbing his head and walked over to what he was working on. "Boom, fizz.."

Mike frowned, "Its not going boom or going to shock anyone." he complained. He put the wires and boards away so the parrot wouldn't chew on them.

Sparks moved his head from side to side, the bird didn't believe him. "Feed me Seymour." the bird said and jumped up onto its perch.

Mike sighed, never let parrots watch shows. It picked up on stuff way too easy.

"Will you shut that thing up?" Rude Robot said, scurrying across the floor on its short legs.

"Oh wise guy ah. Let me at'em!" Sparks said, flapping his wings.

Tala the Trayonetic wolf took the annoying ball robot into her mouth and dropped into the clothes hamper.

"*****! Hey! Get me out of here. It has your dirty underwear!" Rude shouted.

"I think Tala wants you to shut up. We all do." Mike replied, he poured some food for Sparks and filled up his water. He then grabbed his backpack and headed out of the apartment, Tala at his heels. He ran a hand through his hair as he just wanted to get out. He had been in his apartment for a long time other than to go to school and work. Life was boring. Which seemed odd for a city full of vampires but he wasn't one that would go out and look for trouble like his sorta friend Windy. Maybe it was because he was a paladin. Mike was only in the Order to offer support and healing. He had a few vampire friends so he knew they were not all bad.

He pulled his jacket closed, well it being cold was a very good reason not to go out. Tala was romping in the snow, even though she was a undead, zombie wolf, creature, thing, she did act like a canine at times. That included chasing after a rabbit, but Tala had no interest in biting it or eating it for that matter.

"Tala stop. You may not mean to harm it but it can have a heart attack." Mike said, chasing after the strange wolf. Mike wasn't paying attention to where he was chasing Tala, who for something that was deadish, sure was fast. Mike really needed to work out.

Mike was wishing he had boots for all this snow, the coldness seeped into his sneakers. He managed to find a log under the snow and tripped right over, rolling down a hill. He protected his head as he tumbled down and just didn't move when he came to a stop. To say Mike was accident prone would be an understatement depending on the day. Being the geek he was, instead of checking to see if he was hurt, he looked in his bag. Groaning when he saw that his video camera was busted. He dropped the bag beside him, the pain setting into his leg. He reached down and healed himself. That power right there was worth everything. He helped random people at the hospital but he had to cool that off as to not be noticed.

He flopped back down, looking up from the ground and blinked. "Corin?" he said. She was one of the few family he had left, grandpa kept disappearing but the last time he saw Corin was for his birthday.

Tala came pounding over, growling but Mike hugged the wolf around the neck. "She is family, chill." Mike said, Tala looked at him for a moment then sat down, behaving.

Mike got up, feeling the cold set into him because of his now wet clothes. He wondered if a Sirocco Blast could be controlled enough to dry yourself. Nope, he'd most likely set himself on fire with it.

He gave a smile, "How are you Corin? It's been awhile." he said.

[Elizabeth]

The elder vampiress rarely ventured out for long lengths of time these nights. Winter, though it bothered her not, was not her favourite season. Not even her second favourite. But she did try to get out once in a while. Usually to the caverns and then back home.

The long, blonde haired woman skimmed through the closet with her left index finger, looking for weather appropriate clothing. Sweater dresses. Those, she did love, oddly enough. The one thing about winter that Elizabeth looked forward to wearing. She found a gray, long sleeved sweater dress with a black Aztec pattern that decorated the bottom of the sweater dress, and a gray scarf that matched it. Next came a pair of black leggings she would wear under them, a pair of lambskin, brown calf high ankle boots and some silver earrings to finish the attire.

After Elizabeth was dressed, she left the suite, took the elevator to the roof and disappeared through a fadeportal. From there she took a train to the other side of town and a few minutes later the woman found herself in the woods. Making her way to the caverns where she would collect a few baubles and save them for any potential future usage.

She didn't get far before she saw someone in blue spinning around. They appeared to be enjoying themselves. A curious head tilted to the right as Elizabeth watched the woman and heard someone address her. Someone unknown to Elizabeth. After a minute, perhaps two, the woman progressed into the woods to address her grandchilde. "Good evening, Corin." She said slowly, blue irises focused on the unidentified male next to Corin.

[Corin Diechi]

She stopped in the middle of the dance and looked over at her cousin with a smile. She had heard him with the hearing aid she was wearing it was a new one and had better sound. She turned towards him and walked where he was. "Hello Mike. I am good and how are you and Sparks doing? Your cold where is your coat Mike. No worries I have an extra one." She walks towards where there was a bag and pulled out two coats handing one to her cousin. It was a males coat she considered them warmer than most women's coats. She placed the other one over her shoulders not messing up the snow in her hair as she did so. Hearing her grandsire whom she called grandmother she smiles and turns. She also felt the presence of others but did not say a thing to them. "Hello Grandmother. How are you this evening?" Granted the girl was still barefoot in the snow but she did not mind. The new year was just around the corner she could feel it. This was what she was dancing for the new year and a new beginning. She would take this year in a better stride than all the rest. Looking up at the sky she softly says "Happy New Year."

[Hanei (DELETED 3287)]

Hanei was used to being ignored, for years that was all he had ever hoped for and known within his natural life. Being driven with the constant need and desire to kill made one wish to attract no attention, as it prevented having to deal with the authorities in any state, city, or country that one may find themselves in. Johnathon Kelvin Anders didn't mind now, even though he wanted more than anything to speak with his Sire, as he knew she was happy dancing about on the eve of the new year. Many a person he had...stalked in the past, and even known on simple acquaintances people who enjoyed dancing just before the new year greatly. While he had never had the chance to learn to dance, Johnathon could admire it from the edge of the clearing where-in his blue dressed Sire now danced again, having greeted her Grandsire and apparently an acquaintance of some sort who looked oddly similar.

[Zodiac]

Now another male appeared. She did not know this young man either, but it was apparent this one and the other knew the dancing girl. A name-finally. Corin. Yes, that sounded right once her memory had been jogged. Outside of shaking its head to free itself from a few collecting snowflakes, the snow owl held its place on the thick branch and did nothing.

Now another arrived. It had always amazed the gypsy how the most desolate of places could magically attract a crowd at any given time. The woman she knew, but their last face to face encounter had not been on the best of terms. Hot headedness on her part or arrogance on the others or a combination of both she supposed. She had done her best to avoid the affairs of Deux Corbeaux as well as other family or faction groups since then. Such things just simply did not work for her, sadly. If they were still alive? Zodiac could see herself showing up at Liz's place and sitting and hammering out the issues (if there was still any issues that is) over tea laced with a healthy dose of Jack Daniels (or his partner Jim Beam as the song said) but that was denied as well.

She had been tempted to reveal herself, but perhaps this was not the best time. She doubted things would get stupid but not being sure how Elizabeth would react and two unknowns as well did not seem the smartest act she could do at the moment. The gypsy had no desire to break the moment the girl was enjoying.

The owl's beak opened as if calling out as it flapped its wings a few times before launching itself into the air. It glided away from the gathered group and began to climb higher into the moonlit skies. It spun a lazy circle over the scene below before banking to the south back in the direction of the town.

"Never stop dancing. It is the balm that keeps the soul alive" she whispered softly to Corin's thoughts alone. With luck, the girl would think the fae was whispering to her or something. A hot bath, a warm bed, and a cheery fire called to her now as she glided effortlessly across the tree tops.

[Mike Barone (DELETED 2047)]

"Sparks is good. Very smart bird, he surprises me everyday." Mike replied, "I'm good too." he added. "Guess I did underdress for such weather." he said sheepishly and put the coat on. He looked from Corin to the woman who showed up as well, hearing Corin refer to the woman as grandmother, he had to wonder if she was related vampire wise. Though he wasn't sure if he should say anything, from what he understood some vampires could get into trouble when humans know about them, though Corin wasn't the reason why he knew about vampires and zombies.

"Hi, I'm Mike. I'm Corin's cousin.." Mike said to the woman, vampires knew when one is a human he was sure. He just hoped he was safe here.

[Corin Diechi]

Corin heard the woman in her head and smiled sending her back a message I will dancing cleans the soul. She felt her childe but did not call to him because she did not want to make him embarrassed. She looked at her cousin and then to her grandsire and smiled at them both. She hugged her cousin and smiled ""Hey have you seen Grandpa lately? I have not seen him in a long long time." She wondered about the old man that was family. She also wished she had seen him she had a Christmas present for the old man. She also had one for Mike but it was at the boat. That was the only place she would take her cousin that was not a vampire haven. "Mike I have something for you at the boat when you get a chance you need to come and see it." It was then she realized she had no shoes on and laughed softly. She placed her bag on the ground and took out a pair of blue shoes placing them on her bare feet. "Well I almost did a major no no."