|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 1, 2008 18:46:17 GMT -5
The birthday of Daisuke Ashikawa was always a big event in the social circles of the Kinryû Mountain, the elite socilaites from across Hagakarin gathering in the beautiful spa towns scattered around the base of the mountain, enjoying the luxeries of the bathing houses and the exoitic mountain wildlife that bloomed in the spring. This year it was a double event, the year marking the 25th anniversary of his marriage to his darling wife, Alaise, as well as his 47th birthday. That probably explained why the festivities seemed to have been doubled this year, the planning having taken place since the beginning of winter. There was food to cook, accomodation to arrange, their house to clean and decorate, invitations to be sent, dinner places to be set, musicians to be found and, of course, tailors to be contacted for their outfits; only the very best of the best was acceptable for the Ashikawa family and money was no object to them. They spend money as if it meant nothing to them. A couple of hundred gold coins for a fan or silken slippers? Done without blinking. Money meant nothing as long as they were getting the best quality good, nothing was too much to ask when he was buying for his wife or daughter. Then again, paying tailors and merchants was better than letting their money get all dusty in a vault somewhere, wasn't it?
In honour of this celebration Daisuke had rented out all the free rooms in the area, and the business the family had given local tradesmen would earn them enough to put their children through university. Plus, the most ancient and noble of slayer families were even crossing the great oceans to honour this day. If anyone knew how to throw a party, it was the Ashikawa's. Daisuke, in his generosity, had even given his guards the evening to do as they wished, why should they need protection when the whole of Hagarkarin was looking their way tonight.
However, his generosity was the thing that lead to his eventual downfall.
Amaya, the only child of the Ashikawa family, had been awaiting this event for weeks, having comissioned the creation of a new dress, and she had to admit that the tailor had done an amazing job. The dress was a deep green in colour, favouring more her mothers Avalan heritage rather than her fathers, because she had always found Avalan fashion much more fun than the modest yet beautiful Hagakarinese clothing. The dress was, of course, made from the finest and lightest of emerald silks, cool against her skin, the skirts rustling around her legs as she walked. It was a mistake though, a beautiful mistake to wear such a dress tonight, a dress that she could only hide a mere few daggers about her person; a mistake that had nearly cost her life.
The house was painted in blood instead of splendor now, the air filled with screams instead of music. Oh yes, this would be a night she remembered for the rest of her life, though she doubted that her life would last too much longer. Her wonderful dress was now splattered with dark blood, her hair wild and free from it's delicate style, and all she wanted to do was change into her trousers so that she could move without her legs getting tangled in her skirts, making her movements clumsy and often flailing. She wouldn't give up though, determination gleamed in her amber eyes as she spun around gracefully, black bladed sword whistling through the air before striking the neck of her victim, another of their attackors, slicing cleanly through flesh, bone and muscle so the head rolled off over the floor in a rather vile manner. She knew her mother was just up ahead if only she could...
..."MOTHER!" It was more of a desperate scream than anything else, Amaya freezing in her place, thick blood slowly dripping from her swords as tears gathered in her eyes. She had found her mother, limp in the arms of one of those vile, blood sucking monsters, his fangs planted firmly in her neck. Oh God, oh God no...she could feel her legs weakening beneath her and before she knew it she was knelt on the floor, shaking, clinging to her swords as if her life depended upon keeping hold of them. "No...please God no..." She whispered, her voice quivering, threatening to break to let loose a torrent of tears and dispair.
|
|
|
Post by Chani {♥} on Apr 1, 2008 19:53:47 GMT -5
Kevin's legs swung under him ferociously as he ran at the speed of a vampire who had been doing this all night. As soon as the sun had tucked itself securely under the horizon, Kevin had burst into the shadows and took off toward the Ashikawa household at Kinryû Mountain. He had been there once before, but he was young then, with no ties to a curse he could not control...
He had heard the plot to attack only a few days ago. He had gotten behind in his work at the smithing shop and had thus spent a lot of time there, only going out to feed, for a couple weeks. It was the talk of the vampiric society, all the way in Idaitokai. If only he had went to the inn the night before, he wouldn't be struggling to keep up with these vampires. He was a skilled fighter with a smithing shop --- he probably could have put on the masquerade that he wanted to join in, too. What kind of vampire wouldn't? It wasn't so crazy that you'd want to be a part of something looked at as a rather great event in your kind's history.
He didn't know what he was doing. Acting on impulse, that was what he was doing. The only thing he had that tied him back to the mortal world was his connection with Daisuke. He would have stood beside him then, and, even if Kevin had turned into the thing that Daisuke most hated now... he would stand beside him still. He tried to forget that he was a vampire. If he remembered, then he would not be doing this. It was crazy. He'd be an outcast, hated by humans and vampires alike. Probably killed within the first couple of months. There was no way he could take them all. They had not underestimated the Ashikawas.
He was nearing the house now. He could smell blood, see torches. He was short of breath and his legs were tiring. He hadn't felt this bodily tiredness since he had become a vampire, not this much anyway. He just wanted to stop, regain his breath, but he couldn't.
He pulled up the hood on his cloak, not that it mattered. The vampires would see right into the shadow it cast and they would know his face. They would burn it into their minds and, if he didn't die tonight, it wasn't likely that death was so far off. Nevertheless, Kevin was driven by a friendship that he didn't rightly understand. What were friends? And how had he forgotten? He hadn't spoken to Daisuke in decades, he had become the thing that Daisuke hated, yet here he was, coming upon the manor's gates. They were already open, the stench of blood was thick.
He had four swords and a dagger on him. He had to be careful not to touch the blades; they were silver. For once, he had to buy his weapons instead of making them himself. He couldn't touch the stuff without being scorched and he hadn't the time to waste. He had purchased the silver swords and dagger with a passionate intention to slaughter men just like him. And he was fine with that.
He came to the double-doors, grand and intimidating as they had always been. The vampires had closed them; probably to prevent any telltale screams from leaking out. He tried opening it, but they had locked it, too. He stepped back about a yard and then thrust himself forward on vampire-powered legs, plowing his shoulder into the doors and busting them open. He ran down the hall, following the scent of what he recognized to be the closest source of blood. There was a lot of it...
He came into a spacious dining hall. There had obviously been a great feast planned for tonight, but now the place had been blown apart by chaos. Broken glasses and silverware had been knocked off the table, there was food everywhere. Blood was splattered on walls and floors, there were dead vampiric bodies here and there, and then a few piles of ashes that had once been vampires, Kevin assumed. He heard a moan come from one of the larger dining tables and ran to it. Behind it lied an Ashikawa, covered in blood so that Kevin hardly recognized him as the friend he had sparred, studied, and laughed with, once upon a long time ago, when his life was a fairy tale and not a macabre story that ended in happily never after.
"Daisuke," he whispered, kneeling next to the man. A lot of the blood was from vampires, but a great deal of it, Kevin smelled, was his. He couldn't possibly still be alive, could he?
"K-Kev?" Daisuke gasped, his words barely audible. "P-please... tell me..."
"Yes, it's Kevin Bradley Pierce," Kevin said, not knowing why, but feeling a stirring in a heart he had not remembered that he possessed until now.
"You... didn't... but my wife," he choked, spitting up some blood. "My baby girl, Amaya..."
"It's going to be fine, Daisuke," Kevin said, feeling his eyes burn and not recognizing why at that time. He hadn't felt that in so long. "You... you can survive this... you can turn. They didn't kill you!" He knew deep down that these words meant nothing to Daisuke, but he had to say them anyway. He had to cling to a hope. He wanted his best friend back. Daisuke laughed, very surprisingly, though it ended in another cough of blood.
"You know... me better than th-that," wheezed Daisuke. "Now, take...," he gasped for air, "my head and... save my... family... Hurry, th-they're... upstairs..."
"Yes, friend," Kevin said. He would have argued, but he owed Daisuke this much. There were still other lives at stake, he had to act quickly, and he knew that an Ashikawa would never accept what Kevin was offering him. An unlife. He stood up, drew his sword, and swung it downward, closing his eyes as he did so. He had never taken a life with his eyes closed, not before now.
A last, peaceful whisper from the dying Daisuke. "Amaya..." And then, a blade wedged between his neck and his collarbone, a quick slash and it was severed completely.
Needing to act and remembering where the staircase was, Daisuke went through two more rooms before he came to a very large one with a staircase. He heard the cling of metal. He rushed to the stairs, taking them two at a time.
"MOTHER!"
"No," groaned Kevin, jumping the last three stairs. A young woman was on her knees, trembling. And there was Daisuke's wife, the one that Kevin's younger sister had introduced to him, but older. A vampire had finished feasting on her blood and had threw her to a couple other vampires, turning to Amaya with several others. "Do not touch her!"
Ripping another sword free so that he had one in each hand, he charged forward, the vampires readying themselves to battle him as he came to stand between them and the last Ashikawa.
Slash, block, lunge, lean, stab, dodge. It was all happening so fast that he barely had time to think. He was used to human prey; so much slower and weaker than vampires and normally too stricken by the fact that one was attacking them to put up a fight. But these were like him, fast and strong, and everything to die for. They were trying to become legends and put an end to a family that had been killing their kind for centuries.
As he lodged a silver blade in one of the vampire's chest, he released it and whipped out another. He couldn't just pull it back out; it needed to sit a while, and burn that creature from the inside out. The spinecrawling shriek of a vampire feeling the unfathomable burn of silver in his chest hurt Kevin's ears, and the scent of burning flesh stung his nostrils, but not enough so that he had trouble beheading another that didn't have time to defend himself. He was a blur, hissing instinctively when a blade came too close to him for his liking and fighting on a wild mixture of impulse, strategy, and grief. After lodging another blade into yet another vampire's chest and picking up the other one, which was by now sitting in a pile of ashes, he kicked the final vampire over the railing and sent him falling to the floor below. It wouldn't kill him, but Kevin didn't know how much longer he could keep up this speed of combat.
He turned and noticed more vampires, coming up the stairs. He grabbed Amaya's shoulder.
"Come," he demanded. "Now!"
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 2, 2008 9:03:16 GMT -5
The death of her parents had been something that she had grown up fearing, a shadow that loomed over her life and infested her nightmares. Without her parents she had no idea what she would do. They had always been a close family, but she didn't have any brothers or sisters...and the other parts of her family were scattered through Hagakarin, and she didn't want to leave the Kinryû Mountain; her whole life was here...well, her whole life had been here. Tonight everything that she cared for had been mericlessly ripped to pieces and throw to the wind. Poor little Amaya, a girl that always knew exactly what she needed to do was suddenly stuck by an awful and overpowering sense of abandonment and loss, not sure which was she was supposed to turn or what she was supposed to do to make everything better; was it even possible to make everything better? She didn't know, Amaya who was always so sure in everything she did suddenly didn't know what she was supposted to do, struck by a sense of hoplessness. Maybe...just maybe...she should go out fighting? What was the use in getting out of here alive when she had nowhere to go and nothing left, she may as well get her revenge on the monsters that her ruined her life, even if that lead to her own death.
She was disturbed from her disjointed thoughts by the man...no...he wasn't a man...by the vampire who came hurtling from behind her to leap at the others, tilting her head to the side in bemusement as he fought...he fought like a slayer? He wasn't a slayer, not a pure one anyway, he didn't hold any resemblance to any slayer family that she knew, and no self respecting slayer would let themselves end up in his condition. A real slayer would rather die than become the thing they hated the most. But, that left the question of who this vampire was and why he was helping her? Unless he wasn't helping her at all and was only killing the others so that he could kill her for himself or something? Who knew? Amaya wasn't about to sit around and wait for him to bite her.
Her swords were grasped tightly in her hands, angrily pushing her dark hair back from her face as she rose to her feet, breathing slowly in an attempt to regain control of herself and her emotions.She needed to make sure that her mother didn't turn, that was her top priority right now, everything else, including her safety and/or her death could wait until she had made sure that her mother wouldn't have to suffer the fate of turning into a monster; it was the last thing she could do for her.
She moved swiftly, footsteps light as she skirted around the fighting vampires, bottom of her skirts dancing over the bloodstained ground as she crouched down next to her mother's body, tilting the woman's head to the side a little to study the wound on her neck. She could feel bile rising in her throat, looking away quickly to press her eyes closed, a shudder running through her. Damn it, how come she was suddenly squeamish now? She got a grip on herself before she looked back at her mother, lightly touching her fingers to her forehead. "Goodbye Mother, may you rest in peace." She whispered gently before standing up, raising one of her swords before bringing it down quickly, the sharp blade severing her mother's head from her body, ensuring that she couldn't change.
She looked up at the male as he touched her shoulder, tensing as if she were about to turn and attack him...but what if he really was helping her for some reason? "Go? Where? What about my father...his is downstairs, I can't just leave him." She snapped, though she knew in her heart that her father was dead.
|
|
|
Post by Chani {♥} on Apr 2, 2008 9:16:08 GMT -5
"Daisuke is dead," Kevin growled, as if he felt nothing. He couldn't, not now; what he had been forced to do tonight could be sobbed over later. Right now, he had a promise to fulfill. "You can trust me or you can trust them." He nodded his head at the vampires who were at the top of the stairs by now. At first, they stopped, looking at Kevin as if they were waiting for him to kill her. They were stumped.
"He's not one of us!" one of them finally deducted. Kevin's stare persisted on Amaya, looking her right in the eyes so familiar to him, a stare demanding a decision from her instantly, a stare unhindered by any emotion. If she wasted one more second, he was going to swing her over his shoulder. Armed Ashikawa or not, he was going to save his dead friend's daughter.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 3, 2008 7:12:29 GMT -5
Kevin received a rather deadly glare in response to his words. She had known that her father was dead, somewhere in her mind wondering how the Hell she was still alive, but having that confirmed out loud just made it...real for her. Plus he said it without even a shred of emotion, but what had she expected? He was a vampire, something that had neither a conscience nor the ability to feel anything but thirst and hate. If she survived this she really would enjoy her revenge, hunting them down one by one because their faces would be burnt upon her mind for eternity. If they thought that it ended here tonight then they were wrong.
Her eyes flickered over his shoulder to the creatures which were racing up the stairs, her grip on her blade tightening for a second, as if she were planning on staying there and fighting, before she shook her head a little. Staying would be suicide, and if she died now she could never avenge the deaths of her parents. She nodded to him a little, not sure on how he was planning to get out of here but if he thought that he could get her out alive then she had nothing to loose by following him did she? "Fine, let's go."
|
|
|
Post by Chani {♥} on Apr 3, 2008 8:55:38 GMT -5
It was a hard thing, battling between what was more important; a man he had loved like a brother dying, or that man's dying words. He didn't have time to think about whether he had made any mistakes tonight or if he was making one right now. It wasn't like him to act first and think later, but he needed that right now. He tried his best to grasp a trait that had never been his for the sake of a dead man.
Amaya had said something while he had been battling internally. Had it been consent? He didn't care if it had been. They had no time. He spun, whipping his sword through the air and releasing it at the perfect time. With vampiric strength it was thrown and whipped horizontally through the air toward the vampires. He snatched her Amaya's arm and began running toward the vampires, hoping that she trusted him and didn't struggle. A disgruntled Ashikawa was not something you wanted to deal with, not in any situation and especially not in a tight spot like this.
The sword distracted the vampires, four ducked out of it, the fifth had a finger cut off from reaching his hand up to block it (moron) and an ear was slashed, too. This hindered the flight of the sword and it finally landed in the railing, stuck there with the hilt in the air.
At the last moment, a mere yard from the other vampires, Kevin swooped down, wrapping an arm around Amaya's waist and leaping over the railing. A normal mortal would not be able to land without injury, but Kevin's leg strength allowed him the power to forcefully stomp on the ground as he landed, canceling his momentum. It was a good thing the Ashikawas settled for none but the best; all it would have taken was one weak floorboard to turn that brilliant idea into a messy disaster. He sat Amaya down, knowing by instinct that, if she was anything like her father, female or not, she would not take nicely to being carried out. Ashikawas were proud, and even if they hadn't been, no slayer would much like being saved from vampires by a vampire. He planned to go out the same way he had come in. Beyond the house, the smell of blood wouldn't be so thick. He could use his sense of smell out there without it being thwarted by blood that had already been spilled.
He had reached for Amaya's arm again, prepared to lead her through the doorway, when several vampires entered through it.
"Give me a break!" he bellowed, as if to rebuke the gods for such an act. Another idea had already formed in his head by the end of his exclamation, however.
"Back door, into the mountain," he whispered, more to himself than Amaya.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 3, 2008 16:20:04 GMT -5
Kevin was lucky that Amaya hadn't got her swords in her hands when he grabbed her arm or his hand might have been removed from his body. However, moments before she had slipped her swords into the thick, leather belt that sat on her hips at a jaunty angle, not matching the dress at all but she had grabbed it when she had dashed up the stairs, plus fashion wasn't really one of her main priorities now; no matter how vain she could be even Amaya realized that times like these allowed no time for outfit changes. She would just have to struggle along in the unsuitable dress that she was wearing. Pesky vampires, they could have at least given them a warning that they were coming, but there was nothing; it was clear that they had been betrayed, as Amaya would realize when she had time to sit down and think.
She stumbled at first when he grabbed her arm, surprised by the sudden motion, though she swiftly found her feet, holding her skirts up off the ground to make sure that she didn't trip over them, tripping right now wouldn't have very good consequences. She didn't even have time to pause and wonder why this vampire was aiding her escape, unlike him Amaya was used to acting on a whim, quickly able to make up her mind and rush into action without thinking things through properly, but that was probably one of those family traits which she had inherited. All Ashikawa's were rash and determined, fully believing in everything that they did.
Her eyes flickered wide as he lifted her into his arms, looking above them as they fell through the air, her hair flowing through the air behind them, settling around her shoulders as their fall stopped suddenly. "Don't you dare do that again." She warned as he put her down, glaring at him threateningly as she took a step away from him, to put a safe distance between them to make sure that he couldn't try anything like that again. She may not be able to run as quickly as he could but that didn't mean that he could just go around picking her up, she wasn't a doll.
She shrugged his hand away as he tried to grab her arm again, already having turned and started sprinting off in the direction of the kitchens at the back of the house before he had even decided what he wanted to do. He was saving her, but that didn't mean that she had to hang around and wait for him to get them killed. "I know where we can go." She murmured, knowing that he would catch what she said because of his vampiric hearing. For her 18th birthday her father had built her a secret retreat in the mountain, hidden by a secret spring, the perfect place for escaping the pressures of society and for times such as this. She didn't really want to let Kevin know where it was, but she doubted that she could stop him following her there. Oh well, if he turned out to be a threat or seemed like he would tell where her retreat was then she would just have to kill him.
|
|
|
Post by Chani {♥} on Apr 3, 2008 20:24:10 GMT -5
Her threat fell on deaf ears. Kevin had been plotting to go into the mountain. He didn't know it as well as Daisuke had, but they had explored it a bit in his stay here. Amaya seemed to have an idea of her own, jerking his arm away from her and bolting off.
"I know where we can go," she was murmuring. Kevin made a growling sound in his throat as he followed her. If she hadn't been Daisuke's child, he would have been hoping for vampires to intercept her. But she was, for better or worse, and it was his job to defend her. He wasn't at liberty to get annoyed and leave her to fend for herself.
He caught up with her quickly, strong legs giving him powerful strides and having freer movement than her since he hadn't chosen to wore a dress tonight (or any other night, for that matter.)
"I just hope you know how we can get there," he hissed in a low voice. "There's no way we'll lose them at this rate." The further they got from this blood-reeking house, the better the vampires would be able to smell Amaya, especially since she was covered in blood. He doubted, however, that they'd even have to rely on their sense of smell if they kept up such a slow pace in vampiric standards.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 4, 2008 9:42:29 GMT -5
It really was rather a good job that Kevin wasn't wearing a dress, and hadn't ever worn such a garment, because if he had shown up to save her wearing a dress Amaya would probably have thrown herself to the vampires rather than go with him, so not wearing a dress was a smart choice. He could, however, have dressed up a little. It was a celebration, everyone was supposed to wear their very best clothes; it didn't matter that he seemed to be here to save her, he should have at least made and effort. Tsk, vampires.
"I have fought vampires before, you know." She snapped as she glanced at him, as if annoyed that he was even doubting that she could get out of there and make sure they weren't followed. She had been fighting these creatures since she could walk, of course she knew what she was doing...well...almost... "I am not a complete idiot." She growled to him as she skidded around a corner into the kitchen, not bothering to run around all the counters, hopping up and running over them instead. Oh well, it wasn't as if the kitchen staff would be annoyed with her seeing as their blood painted the walls.
She was out of the back door as the vampires entered the kitchen, darting straight off across the manicured gardens. There was a small waterfall at the bottom of the garden and that had always been their escape plan. Dive in and hold your breath and follow the under water tunnel that was hidden amongst the thick reeds. She had practiced as a child and knew that she could hold her breath and find her way, she just worried that the vampires would be able to follow seeing as Kevin would need to follow her...and there would be the problem of swimming in the dress. Oh well, she would just have to deal with that.
"You can swim, right? Just hold your breath and follow me." She told him as the large pool came into view, moonlight dancing over it's dark surface, the sound of the waterfall evident now, as were the yells of the vampires behind them. Just a little further and they would be on their way to safety.
|
|
|
Post by Chani {♥} on Apr 4, 2008 17:45:43 GMT -5
"I don't care if you've fought vampires before, you can't outrun them!" he snapped back, though he still followed her. There had to be some brains in that pretty little head of hers. Her attitude was her mother's, but there was something in her that reminded him of his old friend. As far as he knew, there weren't any insane people in their bloodline, not that the Ashikawas would admit it if there had been... He shut off his mind, putting faith in Amaya. He would have prayed, but Daisuke had once told him that the gods shut their ears to abominations like him.
Impressed, for lack of a better word, was what Kevin was when they came upon the pool of water. Daisuke had told him there were hot springs around here and he had, of course, heard of them throughout his life in Hagakarin, but they'd never had time to explore them. The warm water would render the vampires' infrared vision useless, even if they could stand keeping their eyes open underwater. They couldn't very well use their noses underwater (though he could hope that they tried and drowned), and using them above water wouldn't result in anything but lost time. He just hoped that Amaya could swim fast or that the vampires made a few mistakes along the way. Their strength would make them streamlining fish effortlessly. He decided he'd let her swim ahead of him and focus on showing him the way, if she even had a place planned to go to, and he'd hang back behind her and fight.
"Alright, just try to stay close," he said, but not in a demanding voice. You didn't get anything from Ashikawas unless you asked nicely, and, even then, there wasn't always certainty that you'd get what you asked for. He just hoped she listened. They had somehow made it this far, he didn't want to lose her in the water.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 4, 2008 18:06:29 GMT -5
"Then you are going to have to keep up with me, I can't outrun a vampire, remember." She glanced at him, smirking a little. They were drawing closer and closer to the pool, and Amaya was working on controlling her breathing, but they still had a problem; she just wouldn't be able to swim in that dress. It would drag her down and wrap around her limbs until she drown or got caught, and there was only only possible solution; take the dress off. So, that was what she did. Not very lady like or medest but Amaya really didn't care as she struggled out of the dress, dropping it to the ground at the side of the pool. That left her standing there in her corset, her stockings and the light, silk slip that she wore under her dress, the belt with her swords on falling back to sit on her hips, her necklace of amber falling over her chest. There, now she could run and swim, even if it was a little cold.
"Stick close." She told Kevin before taking a deep breath and diving into the surprisingly warm water, her hair billowing out around her head as she swiftly and powerfully began to swim through the reeds, battling through them to find her way into that under water tunnel, not pausing to glance back for Kevin as she swam. She had told him to say close, and he was a vampire, he would be able to hold his breath longer than her and swim faster than her, so leaving him behind really wasn't one of her main worries right now. Actually, one of her main worries was that the tunnel was pitch black, Amaya having to feel her way along the bottom of the tunnel, scraping both her hands and her knees, cursling inside her head as small puffs of blood lingered in the water where she had been. Hopefully they wouldn't be able to smell it under water, hopefully.
She was running out of breath by the time she spotted the silvery light reflecting through the water at the other end of the tunnel, a determined look in her eyes as she put all her concentration into getting to that light, small bubbles of air escaping from her mouth now, racing up toward the surface. Yet...she also found herself hoping that Kevin was following. After all, no-one really wanted to be alone did they? She may have been an Ashikawa but she had feared being left alone her whole life...though that didn't mean that she would ever admit that she wanted him to follow her. Heavens no, that would be improper behaviour from her and she couldn't have that.
|
|
|
Post by Chani {♥} on Apr 4, 2008 18:36:34 GMT -5
Kevin frowned at her. He'd have no problem keeping up with her, he just didn't want her going off on her own. Speed meant nothing if he didn't even know where the hell she was. I mean, seriously --- what the...? Was she removing her clothes? Sure this was for practical reasons, he simply kept looked behind him at the vampires, gaining ground rapidly. He turned and she was diving. He inhaled deeply and jumped in after her, but something grabbed at his elbow. He sliced at their arm, severing it, but had wasted enough time that he couldn't sheath it before he hit the water as he had planned. He couldn't get his arms positioned right to break the water and, even being a vampire with rapid healing, he didn't want to break something. The most he could do was get his free elbow in front of his face and take in another quick breath of air as he broke the water's surface.
He followed her easily enough; he couldn't see her, but he could feel the slight interruptions in the water she caused. Touching her wouldn't be too genius, either. She was half-naked and armed. He imagined he'd be swimming slower than her if he had one of his hands removed, which wasn't exactly an insult --- this was definitely not her first time swimming.
He had to open his eyes when he felt the water break behind him, though they were entering the tunnel by this time. He wasn't necessarily surprised; she was Daisuke's daughter after all, the full-time slayer, part-time outdoorsman. He smirked at the fond memories of climbing in the mountain and roaming the countryside just beyond Idaitokai's city limits.
Finally, she surfaced. He looked behind him, though he couldn't see anything, and held perfectly still for a moment. He felt no movement in the water, meaning that they at the very least hadn't found the tunnel. He came up behind her at a slower pace, not wanting to disturb the water too much, especially since he didn't know if there was a way to the surface from this tunnel. If it was below water-level, he doubted it. It was scientifically impossible for an underwater cave to have an escape to the surface; the air would be let out and replaced by water. He tried not to let these pessimistic thoughts swarm him as he inhaled fresh air and flipped the hair from his face, wading. Were they above water level? He couldn't tell, he had been too focused on following the current she created to have kept track of the depth.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 4, 2008 19:00:41 GMT -5
Amaya gasped for breath as her head broke the surface of the water, shaking her head swiftly to shake the water on her face away from her eyes before swimming over to the edge of the water. They seemed to have emerged im a small pool by the edge of a outcrop of rocks, the pool barely big enough for the pair of them to surface at the same time, hence Amaya dragging herself out of the water as quickly as she could, still trying to catch her breath as she pushed her hair back from her face. The pool was in a small clearing, surrounded by a dense and dark forest that could look intimidating to a stranger but it was welcoming to Amaya. Thanks to her parents she knew this mountain like the back of her hand, she could naviagte here with her eyes closed, able to face anything the terrain could throw at her.
She was sat on the carpet of thick grass when Kevin surfaced, having regained her breath, currently fussing over her attire, or rather her lack of attire. How indecent, if he dared to say anything to her she would remove his tongue before he could finish his sentance. She tugged the top of the corset up a little and smoothed out the slip, thankful that she had worn a black one today so it hadn't gone see through in the water, if that had happened she would have died of horror!
"Come on, we need to go in case they are following." She told Kevin bluntly as she rose to her feet, wringing the water from her hair to stop it clinging to her shoulders so uncomfortably. Her hands rested over the hilts of her blades, her eyes glinting in the moonlight as she watched him carefully. They were alone now, or seemed to be, and she had no idea who he was or why he was there, she just knew that if it weren't for him she would probably be dead by now. "What's your name?" She questioned curiously as she looked down at her feet, realising that she had lost one of her shoes...oh things just got better. At least she had other clothes at her retreat.
|
|
|
Post by Chani {♥} on Apr 4, 2008 19:15:42 GMT -5
Kevin climbed out after her. He didn't find much embarrassment in half-naked women surrounding him. He wasn't the kind of guy to show any sort of weakness someone could pin against him, and shyness was one of those. He was anything but shy, but he also knew better than to gawk at her. He found an interestingly shaped rock to stare at while she fussed with her attire. His hair had curl to it now, water had that effect, but he didn't bother with it. It would straighten as it dried, it always did.
"Come on, we need to go in case they are following," she said. He moved his gaze from the rock to her face and nodded.
"Alright," he muttered, standing up. Then, she threw a question at him. Not much feeling like an interrogation, nor putting up a fight against one, he shrugged.
"You would not know it if I told you," he said quietly, "but I would not think you were his daughter if you hadn't asked." He itched the back of his neck. "It's Jagger." He told her his vampire name, just in case Daisuke had spoken of him once or twice. He could dodge a few other questions and a life story this way, at least until he felt like telling her. She had a right to know, but he decided that he had the right to remain silent. He looked at her hands, placed on the hilt of her blades, and noticed that he still had his own in his hand. He sheathed it.
"You can keep suspecting me, I don't blame you," he sighed. "And you probably won't believe me when I tell you this, but I'm not like that. There's the vampires that hate what they are but, for whatever reason, don't end it, and then there's the vampires that love what they are and chase after titles among their cannibalistic society. I'm not the first one, but I'm closer to that than the latter." He was ready to start moving, he hated standing in one spot, being interrogated. What was he supposed to do if she decided to try and behead him? He couldn't counterattack for fear that he'd kill her. He concluded that he'd try to dodge. He only had to live long enough to fulfill this promise he had made to Daisuke, but that could be a problem with her. She had even more fire than her mother had.
|
|
|
Post by Angel ♥ on Apr 5, 2008 15:58:56 GMT -5
Gawping at her would have been a bad idea, espcially when she was already in such a foul mood. Under any other circumstances she would probably have taunted anyone who stared at her like that, but right now she was more in the mood for mindless violence like scratching his eyes out, that would be a fitting punishment for staring at her while she was half naked and soaked, wasn't it? At least her lack of clothes meant that she didn't smell as badly of blood, most of it having washed off in the water, though her various cuts were starting to ooze blood again.
She was walking before Kevin, or Jagger, answered her question, heading off into the thick undergrowth, no path there for them to follow so they were relying on Amaya's memory. "Jagger hmmm, so you're not from around here?" No, she had never heard mention of that name amongst the vampire circles in this area of Hagakarin, so he obviously was from further away. "And if you aren't from around here why exactly did you come tonight? Wanted to join in with the fun and games?" She questioned rather bitterly as she picked her way through the forest, careful with where she was standing seeing as her feet were bare and the last thing she needed right now was a twig stuck ouf of her foot.
"No, I don't quite think that I am in any position to believe you, and being suspicious of you really does seem to be the best option for me right now." She smirked at him, rolling her eyes. She had the fire of her mother and the practicality of her father. He was a vampire than she didn't know and didn't understand his intentions, of course she wasn't going to believe a word he said until she saw his actions reflecting what he said.
|
|