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Post by ♫ sheeptail on Oct 31, 2009 0:00:47 GMT -5
Headlights of cars flashed by, red and gold, a queue along the street, and people walked briskly along the sidewalks towing shopping bags and casting looks over their shoulders as the night sky rotated miles above them. Stars burned with energy overhead but were invisible, overpowered by the artificial glow of the city. Downtown was bustling like any other city on any other night, and nothing was amiss.
It was the perfect opportunity to feast, if the vampire leaning idly against the dumpster so chose. The people passing in front of the entrance to the alleyway were smartly checking their surroundings, but there was always the naïve kid who hadn’t quite realized they weren’t as invincible as they thought.
And that was the case tonight. As the lean, tall man remained hidden in the shadows, blending in with his dark clothing and cloaking the pallor of his face with a carefully positioned wing, his chosen prey paused to peer into the shadows curiously. With that, he lashed out, grasping the back of the teenager’s shirt and jerking them into his arms until they were limp with fright. His teeth grazed the soft skin of the neck until he recognized the subtly curled red hair of the girl and nearly dropped her with fright.
“…Damn.”
Virair scowled as he realized the young woman was a stranger and pressed his fangs into her jugular with less gentleness than usual, not caring if it hurt when she woke up. He was going to go hungry if the search for his daughter would affect his hunting this much.
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Post by Florii on Oct 31, 2009 0:26:12 GMT -5
Reinira wandered silently through the downtown of Springfield. Her wings were folded to her back, but clearly visible. She didn't care. The stares she received didn't bother her. They'd just think they were crazy, or if they were religious, they would go exclaim they saw an angel to everyone they ever met.
'If only that were true,' she thought with a soft exhale of breath. She had not been a true angel for eons, and every year she seemed to become more vampiric in nature. Each day, her telepathy strengthened. In a matter of centuries, she'd have to make the descent into Hell as a full vampire, just like those exiled before her. Their impurity had changed them much faster. She almost wished the change would have occurred immediately for her. This mid-point was nigh unbearable.
Reinire blinked, a scent wafting to her nose. A scent that had been becoming more and more appealing.... Blood. There was a vampire or demon nearby. Slowly, Reinira drew her shimmering angelic sword. The metal had become warm to the touch. Soon, it would begin to burn her skin where she held it. The fallen angel shrugged this off carelessly and began hurrying towards the scent of blood.
There, in the shadows behind a dumpster, stood a man with the obvious pallor of a vampire, holding the unconscious body of a teenage mortal to his mouth. Reinire gasped despite herself. If this were a demon, she might run at it with her shimmering blade. But, she felt a sort of... kinship with vampires now. "You didn't kill her, did you?" she demanded harshly, her angelic nature still weighing out stronger.
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Post by ♫ sheeptail on Oct 31, 2009 0:44:24 GMT -5
Virair drank quietly, supporting the weight of the girl as the warm blood flooded into his mouth. His eyes swirled with an ugly mixture of crimson and pine, but soon the feeling of hunger subsided and he was left licking the last of the drops away from his lips. He could feel the after-effects of the feeding course through him, that electricity of power, yet he didn’t pause to dwell on it, instead taking it for granted. When he needed the strength, he would use it, but for now it was only a slight benefit as his senses grew briefly sharper. However, the instant that he could smell everything around him—including the fucking dumpster in the back of the alley—some new aroma that was definitely not human caused him to stiffen.
His gaze flicked upward at the woman with the gleaming sword, taking in her features coolly and noting the oddly medieval dress. Slowly he stepped away from the body, still supporting it with a pale arm outstretched, smirking at the question thrown in his direction. Someone else with morals, perhaps, or someone frustrated that they didn’t want in on the kill? Judging by the white wings, it was probably the former.
He regarded the angelic woman for a few more moments before drawling dryly, “Would it matter if I did? She’ll probably overdose or commit suicide in a year or two anyway. Pay attention to statistics these days?” He smirked and gracefully lowered the body to the ground before approaching the winged one, cocking his head and lifting his hands in a peaceful gesture. “No, I didn’t kill her. No point causing unnecessary grief. She might have some boyfriend or at least dysfunctional parents who’d flip if they found her corpse out here. It’d probably serve her right, considering the time of night.”
He spread his feathery wings easily, black to the angel’s white, and hoped that he had judged the distance that her sword could stab correctly.
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Post by Florii on Oct 31, 2009 0:55:36 GMT -5
"Would it matter if I did?" the vampire questioned.
Reinira flinched slightly at this cold, hard logic. She kept a tight grip on her sword but lowered it to her side. "Maybe it wouldn't matter," she admitted, her voice soft. He still held the girl, almost gently as he seemingly justified the killing of an innocent mortal. She remembered a time when someone else had given her a very similar argument. Someone she had loved so long ago. 'They're just going to die anyway.' Would she ever become like that? So disrespectful of their short, meaningless lives? She didn't know the answer.
The vampire continued talking, explaining why he wouldn't kill her, bringing a very faint smirk to Reinira's lips. A vampire with some morals. Now that was an interesting concept. She watched him carefully as he spread his wings. She noticed his eyes were still fixed on the glowing sword. 'All for the better,' she thought, 'He should stay afraid of me.'
"Never heard of a vampire with morals like that before," she muttered, mainly to break the silence.
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Post by ♫ sheeptail on Oct 31, 2009 1:10:25 GMT -5
The angel—at least that’s what Virair was going to assume she was, since he was only off the stories of others and had never seen one—assented quietly at his logic and lowered her sword slightly. He watched the descent of the weapon with a sarcastic, mocking smirk forming at the corner of his bloody lips. Was she some kind of law enforcement for the supernatural? Hurting bad guys who killed innocents? The thing was, if his victim wasn’t as young as she was, he wouldn’t have given a damn and would drain the body dry if he was thirsty enough. Apathy rather than morals saved the lives of random homeless people or distracted businessmen and women.
She muttered that she hadn’t heard of a vampire with morals, and at this he snickered. Leering slightly at her, he took a prowling step forward. His conceit was evident in the slight turn of his head, lifting his chin, maybe making a fool out of himself but that never crossed his mind. “Aw, no vampires have morals. And they all speak in German accents. Don’t forget the garlic.” He laid one gently on his speech, but it seemed to soften it despite the harsh tongue that came with it. He moved on to a more tender subject, briefly remarking, “Maybe because I’m a young vampire. Haven’t gotten away from my human life enough.” His eyes rested on the girl again, almost protectively, before shifting to the angel and challenging her to say anything.
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Post by Florii on Oct 31, 2009 1:20:41 GMT -5
“Aw, no vampires have morals. And they all speak in German accents. Don’t forget the garlic.”
To this, Reinira hissed and lashed out with her sword, aiming to catch him across the arm before pinning him against the brick wall, his victim falling hard to the ground, forgotten. Reinira's voice was a cold hiss as she spoke, close to his ear, "I know more about vampires than you could ever dream, cretin. How long have you been one? A century, if even? I lived in hell for a millennium at least. I was there when the first vampire was made. Don't," her voice grew icy calm, "Insult my knowledge of vampires. Vampires used to have morals. Long ago. Not any more."
Reinira let go of the vampire quickly and stepped back, as though he were something disgusting. She looked at him disdainfully, enraged that such a fledgling could insult her like this. "You know nothing of your own kind," she added in the same deadly voice.
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Post by ♫ sheeptail on Oct 31, 2009 1:33:43 GMT -5
Before he knew it, the blade swung at him.
He curled his lips in a snarl, flashing his bloodied fangs, but made no effort to strike back at her. He recoiled from the swipe but could feel the edge cut along his arm, before his back hit the bricks of the alley wall beside him. Pain impacted him, and he knew that his shoulders and wings were going to be sore the next morning, but he allowed nothing but a quick wince to show on his face before it was cool and collected as normal. He met the light blue of her raging eyes with an irritating calm.
This woman really liked to feel significant was his immediate thought, as she hissed that she was older than the first vampire was, but he didn’t say anything about that while she was in position to decapitate him. His pine green eyes settled on the quickly healing cut along his arm before he looked back at her, attentive to her explanations and threats should he insult her again.
She jerked back from him like he was a snake, and quickly he straightened his tousled black hair. The vampire lowered his head slightly and remarked offhandedly, “Maybe it’s good I don’t know so much about them, if they’ve turned so evil. Means I haven’t been under the influence of that many.” He narrowed his eyes slightly at her, though the gesture wasn’t supposed to equate to glaring, rather focusing her in his sights.
“Am I going to turn evil then?”
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Post by Florii on Oct 31, 2009 1:43:19 GMT -5
“Am I going to turn evil then?”
She gave him a twisted grin, something of a combination of amusement, depression and sadistic amusement. "Just as surely as I will. But who's to tell who will turn faster?" She stared at the healing cut on his arm, smelling the sickly scent of vampiric blood. She looked back at his green eyes. "I can see in your eyes you don't believe that I was around so long ago. But where did vampires come from in the first place? From angels. Cast out of heaven, eons ago. You are no more than a different form of angel. But where's the difference? We cannot make more angels, but you can make more vampires."
She gave the same twisted, pained grin at this statement. Heaven was fighting a losing battle. They would never have reinforcements, but the vampires always would. Hell would reign supreme in only a short time. A millennium more, maybe, and Hell would overtake the surface lands. Not too pleasant of a thought, but Reinira tried to tell herself she didn't care anymore. She wasn't one of them, she wasn't one of any of them.
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Post by ♫ sheeptail on Oct 31, 2009 1:53:04 GMT -5
Her sadistic grin was unsettling, but Virair would never let her see that.
Slowly his lean arms folded across his stomach, putting a boundary between him and the angel. His sleek raven wings tucked lightly against his back, aching from their impact on the wall, yet this also was hidden carefully away. Only the slightest hunch of his shoulders, as if against a cold wind, showed that he was vaguely uncomfortable. Cautiously he met her gaze again, remnants of his earlier disbelieving smirk dancing on his lips, fragments floating and fading as she continued onward. She was growing more and more pensive, warping their conversation that had started as a result of his odd morals.
“But you have the Big Guy on your side,” the vampire said, showing unconcerned disinterest as she implied that the dark side would grow more quickly than the light. Instead, he glanced heavenward with skepticism. If he really was a descendent of angels it might not make sense for his disbelief, but then again he was more human than vampire. Perhaps he would grow out of it and turn evil, corrupted just like the rest of his species.
Quickly he shrugged a shoulder. “I plan to be dead before things fall to pieces. It’s simple.”
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Post by Florii on Oct 31, 2009 2:04:05 GMT -5
Reinira laughed softly at the vampire's comment on "the big guy." "You mean God? Honestly, I don't believe there is a God, per se. No, our creator was just another angel, just the same as the rest of us, come from another land. He's hardly any more powerful than the rest of us. I should think your ruler is just as strong by now." The fallen angel smirked faintly. "The irony of it all. In the scheme of life, evil will triumph. But I don't know where I fall in this. Half and half?" She shrugged and looked at the man sharply.
'Why the bloody hell am I telling him all this?' she wondered. With one inhumanly quick movement, she sheathed her sword back on her belt and fixed Virair with a hard stare. "You're wise to stay out of the wars of the ancients, fledgling. If only I could get away with doing the same." The fallen angel began to turn, as if to leave, feeling she had given away far too much already.
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Post by ♫ sheeptail on Oct 31, 2009 2:26:42 GMT -5
Her laugh surprised him, as he had expected to be struck down by lightning for blasphemy. He nodded slightly at her explanation of a ruler, appreciating the simplicity of a commander, perhaps, rather than a deity. The world existed just because it existed, not because of science or religion, and that’s all that he was going to accept—appreciate it for what it was rather than wonder why.
“One wing in the fire,” Virair mumbled as she asked where she lay. He turned to look at his own wings as a subconscious reflex. Where did he lay? He hadn’t done anything, had killed very few people in the name of hunting just like a carnivore would. It was like a draft for a fucking army, to fight a war that he hadn’t known what was going on. His green eyes met hers when she looked cuttingly at him, and a dark smirk crossed his face, not quite satanic as much as him contemplating anger.
“You’re wise to stay out of the wars of the ancients, fledgling.”
The word caught him off guard, but he knew that was all he was, and for once he didn’t challenge her superior knowledge and experience over him. He merely grinned, biting back his retort of asking her why the hell she couldn’t declare neutrality and hide. He didn’t want to get cut with that wicked blade again—but then again, it had felt a little nice after the shock wore off, and she was turning her back on him to leave. She was too amusing and creepy to just let her run off like that.
“Care to enlighten me on why all this weight is on your wings, angel? Are you trying to save the world from us big bad vampires?”
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Post by Florii on Oct 31, 2009 11:04:08 GMT -5
“Care to enlighten me on why all this weight is on your wings, angel? Are you trying to save the world from us big bad vampires?”
Reinira turned her head around to look at him, shaking teal hair down her back. "Because eventually I'm going to have to choose a side in this war. I can hide forever, none of the ancients can. And I don't know which side to swear my allegiance to. The angels, who threw me out in The First War? Or the vampires, who had once welcomed me as their own, but now hunger for my blood?"
She looked down the dark alley pensively, her cerulean gaze resting on the unconscious girl. "I'd love to stay neutral in this mess, but they would find me, both sides. Hunt me down and kill me. But maybe I will let them. After all, haven't I lived enough of life?" Reinira drew her blade again, still warm to her touch. She stared at the gleaming metal, lost in thought then looked over at Virair. "This didn't burn you as much as it should have. Why's that, I wonder? Maybe it doesn't affect fledglings the same." The fallen angel shrugged and ran a finger down the blade of the sword gently.
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Post by ♫ sheeptail on Oct 31, 2009 11:14:16 GMT -5
Cerulean eyes flickered back to him, as he stuffed a hand in his pocket and leaned against the wall of the building. She responded calmly to his question, and he perked up, listening intently. She must have a lot of power to be coveted by either side, and when she presented her two choices, he frowned. What a decision to make. He sure as hell was glad he wasn’t in her place, feeling more lucky than sympathetic. It sounded like she’d get torn apart rather than be able to actually choose.
“I suppose you lived long enough,” Virair remarked heartlessly. “Around since the dawn of time … damn. Guess it depends if your life was good enough and you’re satisfied with that. Not like I’m going to stop you.” He glanced at the ground and the teenager lying unconscious on the cold pavement, crouching to touch her arm. Memories danced in his eyes before he stood and cocked his head at the angel while she regarded her sword. He put his arms across his chest and laughed quietly. “Guess good things come with being a rookie? Or maybe it only kills evil vampires. I like to think of myself more as a cannibalistic human with wings.”
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Post by Florii on Oct 31, 2009 11:34:23 GMT -5
"I like to think of myself more as a cannibalistic human with wings.”
Reinira smirked in amusement despite herself. "I guess it might have to do with evil," she conceded. "It's growing warm to my touch when it used to be frigidly cold. Guess that means I'm losing my purity." She shrugged, showing she didn't care. The sword was sheathed again at Reinira's waist and she leaned against a wall. Her gaze traveled to the girl on the street, her chest rising and falling rhythmically. "So, vampire, when's she going to wake up?"
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Post by ♫ sheeptail on Oct 31, 2009 11:48:15 GMT -5
He scrutinized the angel with the same brand of apathy she seemed to show with herself. They weren’t friends, and it wasn’t his place to tell her that she’d be fine, that she wasn’t slowly turning evil. She was probably getting darker, for some reason that his comparatively-infantile mind couldn’t just yet comprehend, and that was that. As for himself, he’d get to it when he got to it. He wasn’t going to worry about the future other than plans for perhaps tomorrow.
The woman glanced at the human sprawled on the ground, and his lips twitched as he withdrew what was going to be either a vaguely worried frown or a sarcastic smirk. Lightly the line of his lean shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Soon, I hope, since I’m not going to leave one as pretty and young as this to the mercy of whoever else is wandering through the alleys. I want to get moving.” He spread his wings and launched himself upward, hovering for a few moments before landing on the edge of the building above, where he could keep an eye on both of the females.
“God, I sound like a saint,” Virair remarked mockingly, but curiosity compelled him to flick his wings in a gesture for her to come after him. “What’s your name, ancient one? In case I see you around again from some miracle.”
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