Path of the Vampire forum

Doc: Things had a way of snowballing. Doc knew this. Most times he counted on it. In this current event he had counted on it, except he had not figured how much it would grow. It had all started when Chub invited him, nay, begged him to come. He had prevaricated until she cornered him and made him promise. Alright, ‘made’ him was a bit over-stated, but she had this look she could get when she was really eager and happy, and he didn’t want to make her puddle again, so he had promised.

The night had been fine. He kept to himself, occasionally trading the odd pleasantries with someone, but for the most part he had been ******* well behaved. Which was why this incident and its subsequent snowballing was an unintentional event, but not one he was going to walk away from. He had been in the midst of a private conversation when Jesse reacted like a tween in the midst of her menstrual meltdown, because of a simple ******* question. One that wasn’t even directed at Jesse. But because Jesse went off without thinking through the consequences of his actions, it emboldened a fledge into thinking she could be **** of the walk, and bleat about what she would do to Doc.

Truth be told he had been immensely amused at the fiery little fledge, so intent on protecting her sire. The irony of the matter was, the sire in question had been exhibiting erratic and agitated behavior all night, and did Jesse or the fiery fledge even notice? No. But let him ask what her ******* problem was, and world war three erupts. Doc didn't care in the least that Jesse was upset. Jesse got his knickers in a knot at the drop of a hat, why was this event any different? But the fledge, that had Jesse and the sire that was acting demented, as a role model. She was fucked before she even started. So yes, he pushed her buttons. He did it on purpose.

Fledges learned best when they suffered the consequences of their actions. The sires that coddled their young, just made it harder for them. Because sooner or later someone would eventually come along and kick their ***, and then they whine like a little *****. And when they are sent to the Shadow Realm, the large majority never returned. So the earlier they learned a lesson, the better. So Doc had contacted her, made an arrangement to meet, so she could do her worst to him. He would find out shortly if she were worth the effort of helping, or if he should leave her to the dramatic over reactions of Jesse and company.

Sitting with his back against a picnic table, and his arms resting on the tabletop, he waited at the designated location, at the designated time, for her to show up.


(In game turn based grid attacks)

• You summon physical shadows, which rise up out of the surroundings and strike! Doc catches a glimpse of movement out of the corner of their eye, and dodges aside just in time.
  You were skirmish attacked by Raven Talius , but you avoided their attack!
  Raven Talius tried to shoot you, but they were out of ammo Raven Talius was attempting to engage you in a battle to the death, forcing you to flee to a different location..
  You lay in wait for Doc, and as they come close, you step out into the open and shoot them in the back
  0h 21m ago: You were skirmish attacked and wounded by Raven Talius !
  You cast your spell, and curse Raven Talius with a horrible disease!
  You were attacked by Doc , who used their Disease 2 power on you!
  0h 0m ago: You were skirmish attacked by Raven Talius , but you avoided their attack!
  You fire at Doc from cover, but all of your shots miss.
  You blind Raven Talius with your spell! They stumble around, their vision severely damaged.
  You were attacked by Doc , who used their Blind power on you!
  You summon physical shadows, which rise up out of the surroundings and strike! Doc is caught by surprise as the shadows bite into their flesh.
  0h 0m ago: You were skirmish attacked and wounded by Raven Talius !

Raven Talius: Sighed softly as she threw a glance over her shoulder while making her way to the stupid meeting spot. All day yesterday, people had been sending her messages all day, one especially had gotten old. Well, one type of message had gotten old and she had begun to ignore her phone. People were starting to pin the blame on people who they thought were the simple cause of this whole fiasco. Kaelyn was especially annoying, due to the simply fact that she had this habit of blaming herself. Raven didn’t so much as care as to who anyone thought was to blame. Why? Because she knew that it was her own actions that had bought about this fight. So why couldn’t people just accept that? I was a question that she had wondered as soon as she began to walk out of the den.

Clover had been rather silent except that she had told Raven that she would shoot her afterwards, regardless of the outcome.The fledgling didn’t mind so much, because it was a simple bullet and it was Clover. She wouldn’t admit this to her sire, but when she had spoken with Jesse, she was glad that Clover had been unable to understand their conversation. As it was, her sire had worked out on her own that Raven and Doc would be meeting up and that Clover also blamed Kae. It seemed as if everyone was unhappy with Kae and the fledgling wondered if Kae could handle such a thing. If Kae could handle the heat that she would get from simply associating with Doc. Raven, on the other hand could deal with it because dealing with such heat was the story of her life. It was why she was the way she was, mostly alone.

It was only mostly, simply because she had promised Jesse that she would try to get along with the family, even though it was second nature to basically cause fights and arguments. It was generally how things worked around her. Kae had said that he wouldn’t kill her, however, at this point, she hoped he would. At least then she would have some peace and quiet to herself. Clover was far too protective, Jesse was simply annoying and Kae was… Well Kae. If Raven had to give the woman some kind of description, it might be smothering at this point. Smothering with her blaming herself despite how many times that Raven had told her otherwise.

As she begun to approach the meeting spot, her brown gaze spotted Doc simple sitting with his back to the picnic table and his arms upon the actual tabletop. The woman glanced over her shoulder one more time just to make sure that she wasn’t followed before she simply approached the man that appeared to be simply lazing by the picnic table. “Hey Doc, I hope you’re ready. Although Kae may need a few comforting words afterwards. She blames herself way too easily. I guess it’s not easy when the rest of the family isn’t making it easy for you.”

Doc: Doc pushed himself away from the table, and stood up. He was still dressed in the suit that he had wore earlier to the Asylum. “Well you did you make it afterall.” Reaching into his jacket he withdrew his Sig P229, looking it over and absently racking it as he replied, “Precisely why I wanted Chub kept out of this.” He then laid the weapon on the picnic table and moved to take off his jacket. He had ruined way too many suits doing this sort of thing, and he was partial to this one. It had the perfect lines for hiding the now exposed shoulder holster that he wore all the time.

Folding and laying the jacket carefully to the side, Doc finally turned to stand before her saying, “The only reason she is ******* beside herself.. Is that your ******* sire promised to give Chub wound for wound that you received from me. Because your sire refuses to believe it wasn’t Kaelyn’s fault.” He paused, “Tell me .. who do you think is at fault in this?” Gesturing his with his hands, “Ladies first…” Subtly motioning that she should attack.

Raven Talius: Silently, she shrugged off her jacket and bag and simply threw them to the side, she had no particular love for clothes. With the jacket gun, it revealed that there was a simple handgun tucked into the waist of her jeans. The handgun also followed her jacket, however she took care to place it upon her jacket. She didn’t exactly want it to go off right now. “I see it as my own fault, especially if there has to be someone to blame. It was I who had challenged you regardless if Kae had invited you to the party.” A simple shrug followed these word, she had no love for drama. “My sire refuses to listen to me on the best of days and Jesse does whatever he wants to. The best way to get Clover to stop, would be to convince Jesse. However, Jesse doesn’t exactly listen to me either. I hold no sway in the family.”

Raven held her hands out slightly to her sides and summoned shadows, shadows which pulled from their normal routine and moved across the ground only to strike at the man. “Kae also doesn’t seem to understand that I believe that it is my fault alone. No one really understands that I wanted this.”

Doc: As she spoke, Doc knew, she at least, had a head on her shoulders. She wasn’t the sort that wanted to lay the blame on another, at least in this case. That meant she had a sense of self worth. SElf worth was not something that was easily taught. **** him, he had been trying to teach Kaelyn this for over a year now. That kid’s self worth was so pathetically low, it was a crime. And to know that the ‘adults’ in the kid’s life were intent on keeping her at the lowest level possible, so that they could feel good about themselves and their more loved spawn ; well it was sickening. “I am glad you at least recognize the reality of things.” He wanted to ask her why she stood by … however, that wasn’t his deal. It was Kaelyn’s. Her battle. She had to fight it.

Doc sidestepped the shadows that rose to meet him, causing him to look at her anew. “Shadow.. “ He nodded. “So am I.. “ He motioned her forward, “Try again.. This time, use the gun.. I don’t have all ******* night.. I can’t be expected to slap the **** out of you with you first landing a blow.”

Raven Talius: The woman simply shrugged and leaned downwards to pick up the weapon she had put aside. Weapons were mostly annoying to use, however, humans were easy enough to hunt without bullets. So she didn’t feel the need to load it, hoping to instead goad him into action without using it. “Indeed I am a shadow, which is why Clover wanted me to avoid this fight altogether. I, on the other hand don’t care how long it takes to heal.” Although, if it meant that he too was shadow, then if he did use any of his powers, there would be some that she would recognize.

Doc: She attempted to shoot him, but he recognized sound of the empty chamber. “No.. ammo? Really?” He looked at her and sighed, but then added dryly, “Alright.. In that I agree with her.. Shadows ******* suck. We have the power to .. walk on ******* walter. Whoop-ee-*******-do.” He recalled her the words from the email she sent, she liked the pain. Fine, great, good, but she needed to look beyond her instant moment of gratification. But his thoughts were cut off, as (dont know how to word the battle to death thing.. Jsut yet.. ))

Doc put some distance between them. He wasn’t going to fall for that ****. After a few minutes he came back toward her. “What the ****? This is not the sort of thing you want. You may not know it.. But those type actions are far less satisfying than a good knock down drag out fight.. Providing you ever manage to hit me.. What kind of ammo does your gun take?” The words were barely out of his mouth when she shot him. ‘Well **** me…”

Raven Talius: His curse words made a simple smirk come from her lips then while she remained in her crouched state. While he had been busy talking, she had decided to let him do so. Which gave her time to load the weapon and simply walked away. The woman had waited very patiently for him to start forth before she had turned around the simple tree and shot him in the back. “You see, while I may have appeared not to have ammo, I do. Just a little trick I wanted to save to let your guard down just a fraction.” He had been cocky in that sense. A couple of steps which had been deliberately misleading to appear as if she knew nothing and then to actually throw in a shot that would hit.

It was at this point then that she saw the man’s lips move and the woman felt a sudden itch crawl over her skin. With gritted teeth, she glanced down to view an arm, where she spied slight red lumps start to pop up over her skin. She aimed her weapon then and fired at him, but her shots missed as her itchy skin distracted her from her simple task at hand.

Doc: The bullet wound caused him to wince in discomfort. But he had to hand it to her, she was a thinker. Grinning, he cast disease on her. He knew she was looking for pain, well he wasn’t going to give her the sort of pain she was wanting. This was meant to be a lesson for her, and so far it appeared that his plan was working. He wanted her to see, that even if you think you have your bases covered, things do not always turn out how you think. She should gather that from the fact she shot him in the back.

As she fired at him at again, he spun missing the volley of bullets that had been aimed at him. This time she missed. Doc was going to make sure her shot all pretty much missed. Casting a Blinding spell on her, he pretty much negated her ability to shoot.

Raven Talius: She saw his lips move once more before it was lights out, so to speak. She lost all sense of sight and she gritted her teeth. She moved to sit herself down then and placed the weapon into her lap. The man was smart, that was for sure. Blind someone and they had no vision to shoot, however, she could always listen for footsteps should he be careless enough. Now, all she had to do, was play upon her strengths and be mindful of her weaknesses. Raven reminded herself then, that she was a shadow, screw her eyesight, she didn’t need it to command the shadows. They always seemed to have a life of their own and all she needed was to be able to clearly see her enemy in her mind. She drew in a breath then before drawing upon the shadows that surrounded them and they rose from their natural surroundings to strike at Doc.

While she couldn’t see, she heard the satisfying sound of flesh being pierced and another smirk found its way to her lips once more. “While I may prefer to be alone, the shadows have always been there when I need it the most.” And right now, she had very much needed their help.

Doc: Doc grunted as the shadows bit into his arm. She had spunk and fight. Hopefully she would find a mentor worth their salt, that would be willing to guide her, because sure as **** Jesse and Clover weren’t up to it. All in all he left her in worse shape than she probably ever realized would happen. He had successfully delivered his lesson to her. Whether she learned from it would be on her.

Moving toward the park picnic table, Doc collected his gun and holstered it. Awkwardly shrugging into his jacket, due to the bullet hole in his back, and his lacerated arm, he spoke to her, “Honor is satisfied kid. You did well. I don’t envy you, your injuries, but in a couple days.. You will be fine. Do you need me to escort to a location for your sire to come collect you?”

Raven Talius: Simply scoffed as she felt nor heard no more attacks come her way. Silently, from her position upon the ground, she listened to the man speak and she shook her head. It took all of her left over willpower, not to itch at the skin. “And you leave. This is more than unsatisfying I have to admit. My sire will be less than pleased, but at least there is a bullet for me when I return.” A simple smirk crossed her lips then as she rolled her shoulders. “I would say, sure, escort me home, **** everything else, but there is no need to escort me anywhere.” She lifted a hand and pointed towards the man, well, in the direction his voice came from. “The bag, next to my jacket, I need it.”

Her hand fell to her lap then before they moved to the gun and slid the safety on. “I do hope that Kae doesn’t get blinded, it’s going to a ***** for the next couple of days. Clover will probably have me on lockdown until my sight does return.”

Doc: Doc smirked his typical crooked **** you smirk, “That was the point Kid. You think you’re going to get one thing.. And you get another. Unsatisfying.. As well as having all that family drama that built up to this… I would hope that this was an extremely unpleasant experience as well as being unsatisfying.” Doc moved over to collect her bag and jacket, wincing as he bent over to pick them up. Handing them over to her, the bag first, he held the jacket until she asked for it.

His smirked widened into lopsided grin, “You know .. Kaelyn tried to be me to promise not to hurt you. When I wouldn’t she begged for me to not ruin your face.” He cast a critical eye over her face, currently there were no welts on it. “Even though I didn’t promise.. I think she will be relieved when she sees you.”

Raven Talius: She heard the man’s footsteps cross over the grass, closing the distance between them. The bag was the first thing she got her hands upon and she slid her hand over it finding the flap so then she could open it. “I know, she told me. She told me a lot, especially made sure to tell me that she asked you not to damage my face or to kill me.” A sigh fell upon her lips then as she rummaged through the bag only to produce a book, a book which was a tome. “She had also told me that she wanted you not to hurt me, but I told her that I wanted you to. People just don’t understand that which is relatively frustrating on my part.” Slowly, she moved to stand and slung the strap of her back over her shoulder.

“Jesse argued with me when I first met him. Because upon my turning, Clover had promised pain.” Another shrug followed then as she held her hand out for her jacket, “He didn’t like that. He doesn’t like a lot of things about me. However, I have to try and get along with them, as per the negotiations I made so I could meet you here today.”

Doc: Doc snorted derisively, “Jesse argues with everyone.” He had seen her pull out a tome out of her bag, which caused him to not say what he had been going to. Better to leave it be at this point. He wanted her to think about the event and the repercussions from her initial words. Would she find that this had been worth it? He hoped so. He hated wasting energy on people not worthy of it.

“So you’re good from here on out?”

Raven Talius: A laugh parted her lips then as he asked a question that seemed to be rather irrelevant at this point. “Good, I guess so. After I tome, I will need to find the elevator and then deal with Clover and try to get her not to do what was done to me by your hand, to Kaelyn. She is so innocent. This is all on me, she shouldn’t suffer because of my actions.” A simple smile was given then before she nodded her head. “Also, I kinda want my jacket back. I need to keep up appearances to the humans should I pass any.” Silence reigned over her for a moment as she listened, listened to the world around her. Well, perhaps she would develop her hearing a lot better because of this, at least she hoped so.

“Tell me something, if that isn’t too much to ask, but why bother stopping at blinding me? Why not just kill me and get it over with? Even death would probably teach me the same lesson. Well, a lesson I’m sure was meant to be not to challenge your betters.” The woman angled her head to the right, mostly out of habit at this point.

Doc: As she mentioned her jacket, he held it out allowing it to just brush her arm, so that she knew where it was. He pondered her question for a long moment before finally saying, “I could say because it would hurt Chub.. but that be would be a ******* lie. I could say it was to make Jesse feel differently about me.. But I don’t ******* care what Jesse thinks of me.” He stopped, but eventually added, “Truth is, I have been to the Shadow Realm. It’s not pleasant. Your actions did not deserve death. A slap or two.. Besides, I goaded you.” He grinned, “ And I enjoy a good fight. With that.. I will take my leave.” He crossed the park away from her, melting into the shadows as he went.

Raven Talius: She listened to the man speak and it still left her with unanswered questions. The man was somewhat of an enigma and that was interesting to her. She had felt her jacket brush her arm and she took it from him. It was then that she listened to his steps leave and she slung the jacket over her hand and brought the book around. She opened it to a bookmarked page and began to speak the words. Words which were familiar to her by now so she didn’t need to physically read them. Soon, she would try to convince Clover not to harm Kaelyn.