Path of the Vampire forum

Title: Iced Rage
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Characters: Valerian, Katalina Black

Valerian must post first, outlining a story on the following theme (feel free to get creative):

Setting: A frosty cavern
Backstory: The group ended up crossing paths as a result of some criminal undertaking (some or all characters).
Occurance: an anti-vampire protest rally passes you by.
Variable: The sun is about to rise.

Participants: 2
ARES: yes
Speed: slow
Chapter: no
Minimum Words Per Post: none
Maximum Words Per Post: none

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This thread was generated via the Roleplay Matchmaking System.

Valerian looked at the picture of his target again, an assassination mission. Oh how splendid its as. He had had some bad experiences in the past, but he'd gotten better. It wasn't the fighting that caused the problem, it was the sneaking. A few times the guards saw him coming, but he'd started being a little more sneaky then they were attentive. This individual in particular was not someone he really felt any need to feel sympathy for, not that he was supposed to anyway. Just another corrupt businessman, in this case, he had apparently had a few people killed from a "rival"'s family. Unfortunately, sed rival was equally willing to put out hits. Valerian heard about the job, and decided to take it.

However, this particular businessman...was a bit of a fool. He had gone to one of the caverns found in the forest, one known for having various gems of sorts not far from the surface, and had his guards hacking at the walls of the cavern with pickaxes hoping to "See the gems dug up fresh out of the stone."

You could just barely see the light cresting through the trees as he closed in on the cavern. He ran a hand down his weapon inside his leather jacket, a spider crawling across his hand, he smiled at the creature, "Gonna have a bit of trouble pretty soon. Better be ready." wasn't like the spider could respond, but he talked to it anyway.

Katalina booked it into the trees. Nothing like a ruined hunt. Then again, she should have saw the humans coming around the corner like a pack of angry dogs. The mobs had become more prominent in the passing months, and a quick kill was more of her forte. But, it had gotten to the point where stalking prey was the only option. Usually she stayed in the Quarantine Zone. The people there may have been a slimy meal, but she felt less bad if she drained them dry.

The issue staying there was that Katalina felt cut off from the rest of the world. Being a Vampire had made her more of a recluse than she used to be. An endless cycle of: sleep, hunt, feed, repeat. That was not going to be her life. She was not going to settle with that kind of existence, regardless of the madness that she had to endure. So, she traveled far out of the Zone, and went off to see the place called Harper Rock. Only to see all the towns and what they have to offer. It was different seeing the world above ground. Or outside of the apartment she had been offered. Had she really slipped that far in the past year? Absolutely.

It wasn't until the third day that the demon within her reared its head. She thought it best to not wait, considering the longer she did, the more impulsive the hunger became. But, she had chosen the wrong street, wrong person, wrong time. An angry mob of vampire killers descended upon her just as she had leapt upon a man darting into the alleyway. The people barred her and sent her running. She could have killed them, but a mess like that would have her face plastered on every sign on this side of the border.

Katalina watched as the screaming humans rioted passed her. No doubt looking for her blood-sucking body; little did they know she lay feet away. Rather than following the road back the way she came, Katalina took a detour through the forest. "A more scenic route." She muttered in an almost optimistic tone. She would have been more so had she actually felt full.

Ryan had never quite had many interactions with vampires yet, he was prone to sticking around humans, or around other Jorogomo. But vampires? No. At best he crossed paths with them, knowingly, in the sewers. It wasn’t like they were on good terms, vampires fed off of the people that the Jorogomo needed to reproduce. They were a threat in many ways to humans and Jorogomo alike.

And yet he was about to run into one anyway. Ryan put a hand on the cave wall’s entrance, then heard a sound, not from within, but from the forest. His eyes darted to either side, he didn’t see anyone yet. But if there was someone nearby watching and it wasn’t merely an animal, his assassination wouldn’t be going so well.

So he moved quietly as he could, to a distance just far enough that he could see anything near the cave and a little away but where he could hide within the branches of a tree, watching, patiently, hoping that if it was a human, they wouldn’t know where it was he went or if he was there or not.

Katalina wasn't too focused on being silent. At this point, she was too far out for the humans to notice her and any animal knew well enough to stay away. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like the creatures had some vendetta against her, but they must've sensed the wrongness of her in the air. It would explain why the trees had gone silent of the usual chirping. This left only the light breeze to rustle the tree's leaves high in the canopy.

At first, this is exactly what Katalina had played it off as. Her. A hum started to slip from her closed lips, bouncing this way and that, almost like a violin at fast pace. Anything to drown out the quiet. The deeper she traveled however, the more an aroma started to mingle in the air. One that was familiar, sweet, sticky, yet a pungent oder. Human. Something about it made both her joyous tune and feet abruptly stop their humming forward. Could they see her? The forest seemed thick enough to blend seamlessly; the darkness was enough to cloak her under a black knee length dress. But, that night that she loved so dearly wouldn't be staying for much longer, she knew - she felt it.

Watching, listening. A hum he heard, very feint at first and barely noticeable to attract his attention. But it grew nearer, and louder. He thought he could just barely see her through the leaves and limbs just before she stopped. Someone was there for certain, though he could not see them very well.

The question was, what to do. Should he attempt to speak to them. Or attack them. He was trying to keep his breathing as quiet as possible. Were they a threat to his mission? Or would they be quiet about it if they saw him. Neutral or enemy. Those were the only two options he saw in this scenario. Sun would be rising soon and he might know for sure if what he was seeing was actually a person, or just the way the light was in the darkness. He had to do something, if it was a person, they must have stopped for a reason.

How does one deal with that kind of problem? He remained silent, if they moved, he should know. Otherwise, he could only watch to see. Any movement from him might alert them, if they were even really there.