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Sleepwalker [Complete]

Posted: September 28th, 2019, 7:29 am
by Lanae Ofnowhere
Location || Ambience

The moon was swollen and bright where it sat among the stars in the night sky. The world below was silvered by its ethereal radiance, with long shadows stretching away from the towering forms of trees. Indistinct shapes moved in the darkness between the light, wholly unidentifiable if not for the chattering, chirping, and scratching that revealed them to be nocturnal creatures hunting for food.

A small, fuzzy mass detached itself from the deeply shadowed undergrowth. Moving in a zigzagging path, it scampered over the uneven earth on tiny pink feet in fits and starts, scarcely disturbing the leafy detritus littering the forest floor. With every momentary pause, it would raise its head to scent the air, pink nose twitching between trembling whiskers.

Perched on a tree branch above, unnoticed and all but invisible to the rodent below, a large owl shifted its weight purposefully. After another moment, the owl spread the shroud of its wings like the cloak of death and descended with nary a sound, yellow eyes fixed on the frenetic motion in the semi-dark.

Quite possibly the owl would have found its mark and the rat, so keen on its quest, would have perished to sustain life elsewhere. It has happened many times in the history of this forest, and likely would again. Tonight, however, the ground heaved violently and split open in the instant before the owl's talons could close around the rat's soft body.

A white arm punched through the rend in the earth with the suddenness of a thunderclap and with nearly as much force. The owl was snared at once, caught in the iron grip of a white hand. In a second, it was gone, pulled shrieking and flapping into the clutches of a predator bigger and more ferocious than itself. The rat, meanwhile, darted back into the underbrush to live another day.

***

Lanae emerged from the cool embrace of the Ordinuad, all evidence of her evening meal and her daytime resting place born away on the river's current. Crossing the muddy riverbank to her belongings, she climbed back into her dress, unconcerned with how the faded blue cotton stuck to her wet skin, and replaced the crown of dried flowers atop her head.

The tune of a song she heard once -- she couldn't recall when or where -- came to her as she donned the rest of her meager garb. She began to hum to herself, low and vaguely dissonant, while buckling her belt around her waist and slipping her hands through bangles of polished wood. It was, she knew, a fruitless attempt to distract herself.

The hunger was still there.

Lanae could feel it pressing on the back of her mind and twisting the hollow of her shriveled stomach. She knew better. She knew better than to hope that it would ever go away completely. The sensation was embedded in her skin like the tattoos twining about her limbs. Unlike them, however, she wouldn't be able to carve it out if she really wanted to. And she did want to. Didn't she?

A memory, or perhaps several memories, brought Lanae's puttering to a gradual halt. The taste of fresh blood lingered on her tongue, hot and delicious, no matter that it came from a beast. It wasn't enough -- not nearly enough -- and man was better, but she was still a ways away from the next closest town. Then, too, she would have to be careful; owls were easier to overcome after all.

Coming back to herself, she finished dressing, slung her knapsack of meager belongings over her shoulder, and retrieved her scythe. Moonlight sparked off the wicked blade, illuminating for just a moment something dark and long-since dried spattered along the razor's edge.

***

Lanae did not truly know where she was going. She hadn't really given it much thought. The woods passed her by as she trudged through them, twigs snapped and leaves crunched under her bare feet, but she didn't notice any of it.

More than anything she noticed the silence; Lanae scented the animals cowering in their assorted nests and burrows, sensed the panicked beating of their terrified hearts, but they made no noise. They must hear her coming and, collectively, hold their breath.

Something about that struck her as funny. Lanae's lips peeled away from her teeth in a smile that, on account of the two needle-like incisors, looked decidedly feral.

A laugh bubbled up her throat just as she emerged from the treeline onto a dirt road, and Lanae staggered, almost drunkenly, into its center.

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: September 28th, 2019, 7:07 pm
by Katarya Frost
As the cart pulled to an abrupt halt, Katarya's eyes snapped open; she hadn't even realised she had nodded off. Rubbing her head, she groaned.

"There's someone on the road, Kat"

The young Witch groaned again. What now?

Keeping up Lilian's, the little shop that boasted a wide variety of herbs for many ailments, was proving to be more work than Kat had ever realised. Serving both as a shop and a place where people came to get treatment when they couldn't afford the prices set by the more up-town healers, Kat was trying to be a business woman, a nurse, an owner ... and a Witch. When she wasn't mixing lotions and potions, she was studying in secret, from the tome that her grandmother, Lilian, had left to her when she had died. Honestly; Kat had no idea how the old woman had managed it all.

And, she had found that, though she could order in most of her supplies, there were some she would have to go and visit other herbalists in the villages and towns surrounding the city. Though it was always pleasant to get out of the city, her days of going anywhere just for fun were now replaced by trade.

Pulling her cloak on, she peered over Karl's shoulder (whom she had convinced to take her to a herbalist selling a particular plant she was out of), Kat's eyes narrowed at the woman, staggering on the road. "Well, whoever it is, they don't look in the best of shape." With a kick from her heeled boots, she was on her feel, climbing out of the side and onto the dirt road.

"What are you doing?!" Karl asked, swinging round to look at her, as she smoothed her dress and began making her way over to the other woman.

"I'm painting my nails, Karl ..." She shook her head. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to check to see if she's alright."

Karl shook his head in frustration and shuffled along, swinging his legs round and jumping down from the cart. "Are you mad?"

"A little." She replied as she stepped forward, taking the lantern from the cart and moving off.

"She could be anyone! Anything!" The well muscled, handsome smith who looked like he could take a bear in a fight, sounded more than concerned.

"I'll be absolutely fine." She responded, primly. "If you're so scared of a poor, obviously in need of help, woman; then stay in the cart."

Whether if was the jab at him being frightened, or out of concern for the woman he had been (unsuccessfully) trying to get to be his wife, Karl jogged along after her. "You're impossible." He complained.

"I am, aren't I?" She took a few more steps, then stopped. Suddenly, she wasn't so sure of herself. The pendant that had once belonged to her mother, before her untimely death, suddenly felt warm against her chest. The small, oval blue gem was worth very little in the way of coin, but as a mild warding charm, it had been invaluable many times during Katarya's life. It warned her of potential dangers, or of magic being used. Her hand went up to it, unconsciously, as she held the lantern a bit higher, her eyes fixed on the woman a few feet away. "Excuse me!" She called out. "Are you okay? Do you need help?"

As she waited for a response, Katarya hoped that it wouldn't be she and Karl who needed help!

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: October 3rd, 2019, 3:48 am
by Lanae Ofnowhere
Lanae could have been blind and deaf for all the attention she paid the travelers to start with. Caught up in her own world, her own disconnected musings, she might not have known they were there at all until Katarya -- accompanied by her faithful companion -- approached. In spite of the man's warnings, her intentions were noble. It was too bad that Lanae's, by comparison, were not.

Their voices filtered into her thoughts as if from far away. She turned her head to peer askance at them, a tendril of lank blonde hair laying across her right eye, effectively bisecting her vision. In that instant she could suddenly smell them, as if man, woman and horse hadn't been flesh and blood beings until they stood within her line of sight. The fact that there was still a bit of distance between them made little difference to her heightened olfactory senses.

Collectively they smelled of dust and sweat -- byproducts of time spent on the road. He had the stench of leather and horse upon him, while she smelt like green things, paper...and something older. Some other time, some other place, that hint of ozone, like bottled lightning, would have meant something important. Right now, all Lanae really cared about, was the thump-thump of their pulses.

At a distance of several yards, it would still be quite plain to anyone that Lanae was not all right, not in any sense of the word. She looked bedraggled, perhaps even a bit feral given the general unkempt state of her hair, her clothes, and the fact that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Her skin was pale, which wouldn't be terribly alarming in and of itself if not for the fact that it was too smooth, more akin to marble than actual flesh. More unusual was the scythe loosely clutched in her left hand.

All of that might have had a non-threatening explanation and could have been justified if not overlooked entirely. What could not be ignored, however, were the eyes which gleamed amber in the dark like a cat's, and the too-long pointed teeth just visible through the part of her lips.

"Help," she parroted back tonelessly, not a statement but not quite a question either.

There was a pause and her eyes started to slide away, as if she was trying to figure out what that word meant. Then they snapped back to Katarya, fixing on her, and her lips parted, stretching into a wide, unhinged sort of smile that left no question about what she was.

"Yes," she said, and her tongue held the last letter, stretching the word into a hiss. Lanae turned slowly to face them fully and took a step in their direction. "I do need help. I'm lost, you see. I was in the woods and I got all...twisted around."

Another step nearer, her eyes still leering at them both. "Can you...help me?"

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: October 3rd, 2019, 4:17 am
by Katarya Frost
Katarya's suspicions were very quickly, and very chillingly confirmed.

Vampire.

From what she knew of that species, which was little, it was that they were 'unpredictable' and that was putting it mildly. The forbidden tomes of knowledge she held passed down some scant lore of these creatures, and she knew they were as different and varied as snowflakes ... if snowflakes wanted to rip out your throat, that is.

She had also read of Vampires, often referred to by more learned folk as Korcai, that lived peacefully among other beings, in certain places of the world. But what she knew right now was that in his area, a Vampire would find no friends.

The pragmatic side of her told her to run ... but she was not going to outrun a creature like this, for if legends spoke true then she could be on them in an instant, and Kat's charmed jewellery would not slow the Korcai down long enough to make an exit or to counter-attack. She took some comfort in the fact that the woman had spoke at all! It meant something, at least. Either she was going to accept the help, or she was a cat, toying with her prey.

"We can help." She called out, her hand going to the pendant round her neck. "I know what you are, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid ... but people like me don't hold the same animosity to others that are ... different." She whispered a single word, and the pendant shimmered with a blue light for a few seconds, she was glad Karl was behind her, so he could not see. He had no idea what she was. "I am not your enemy. And yes, we will help."

Karl also knew what this create was and he, however, was not at all happy with this. "Are you insane?!" He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder and pulling her back.

Irritated, she shrugged him off. "Don't you man-handle me, Karl. Go and sit in the wagon."

He all but growled in anger. "I am not letting you go through with this madness!" He glanced up at the Vampire. "We'll be dead if we don't leave now!"

"You don't get a say in what I choose to do or not do." She turned back to the woman in the road. "I have a feeling I know what you need, and you might just find it, if you're lucky. But you don't look in good shape to me." She took a single step forward. "You know what I am." It was a guess, really. Could a supernatural being like this woman, sense Kat's own magic?

"What do you mean?" Karl asked, confused and scared.

Kat ignored him. "I am Miss Katarya Frost. If you are willing to give me your name, and to swear that we will be safe if we aid you, then I believe I can help you." She thought of her contacts back in the city. They could get anything, right? That's what they said. Could they get a sentient being's blood? Or even a person to act as a donor? She might be pushing her luck, but she could try. "If you can give me that, then I will help you. If you can't, then we will leave you be, but know this:" she raised her head a little. "I know how to defend myself." She touched the pendant again, and the shimmer came and went, as if in warning. "What will you choose, Korcai?"

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: October 4th, 2019, 8:35 pm
by Lanae Ofnowhere
The woman was surprisingly chatty. Considering how accustomed Lanae had become to chasing down screaming prey the moment they saw her, this particular vessel's level of aplomb seemed nothing short of intriguing. She was afraid, that much Lanae could tell was true, but she wasn't making an attempt to flee. This was interesting and disappointing in equal measure.

Arrested by the prospect of a meal without a struggle, Lanae slowed to a stop and cocked her head, her leering grin gradually relaxing into a closed-mouthed smirk. The new angle afforded her no new insights, but it lent her the appearance of predatory thoughtfulness as she considered the pair, not unlike how a bird of prey might scrutinize a mouse. Or, as was the current case, two mice.

Karl's urgency did him no credit. Drawn by his antics and the sour stink of terror wafting from him, Lanae's eyes snapped in his direction, riveting to his face. Within the pools of yellow, black pupils expanded and contracted in an unsettling fashion.

"So much squeaking," Lanae said with an obvious edge, "from a rat of such unusual size."

It took a moment or two for her attention to return to Katarya. Karl's fear was distracting, inhabiting her mind and underscoring the hunger still gnawing away at her belly. With an effort of will, she dragged her eyes away.

Lanae scrutinized Katarya with a bland kind of smile on her lips. After a protracted silence she said, "You may try to defend yourself but you cannot stop death, black magic woman. Tonight, tomorrow, or ten years from now: it comes for everyone in the end."

The Kerasokan word for "black witch" rolled smoothly off Lanae's tongue, melodic but damning to anyone who understood what it meant. It wasn't precisely a nice word either, verging on derogatory. She didn't look sorry to have said it. Instead, she shifted her grip on her scythe, letting it slip forward so the blade came to rest in the dirt beside her.

"Names are powerful things. You may call me Lanae and I will answer to it. I give my word not to raise my weapon against you...or the mouse."

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: October 6th, 2019, 4:23 am
by Katarya Frost
Kat's eyes widened at Lanae's upfront use of the words 'black magic woman'. She glanced at Karl who's handsome face held a mixture of confusion and anger. "What's she talking about? What did she say?" He enquired, his eyes returning to the Vampire.

The witch sighed in frustartion. She's have to make sure that information didn't stay in his memory. "Think nothing of it, just an Elvish insult is all. She said, smoothly. "She's just trying to provoke me."

Karl glowered at the predator that stood, ragged but somehow graceful, in the road. Still, he was too scared to risk offending her. "We should go."

Kat ignored him. "I accept your promise." She said, after a moment, ignoring another "are you crazy?" from Karl. "Please, join us in the wagon. We'll go back to my home, I have contacts ... they may be able to help." She actually had a more nefarious motive in mind, but she couldn't say in front of Karl ... as it very much involved him.

Karl crossed his arms. "I won't drive a monster in my cart."

Exasperated, Kat turned on Karl. "You can either do it, or leave." She said. It was risky, but she was pretty sure that he wouldn't leave her. "I mean it Karl." She warned.

"Bloody hell." He said, flicking his gaze to Lanae, before turning and climbing back on the wagon.

Kat looked to wear the Korcai stood. Please .." she said, motioning for her to follow. As the woman drew near, Kat spoke softly. "I prefer to keep what I am a secret; I request that you respect that and keep it to yourself. I'd be taken and never seen again, should the authorities find out. Also, I suggest you keep your fangs out of sight." It wouldn't still hide exactly what she was, but it would be something. "When you're ready, we'll go."

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: October 13th, 2019, 6:50 am
by Lanae Ofnowhere
Lanae's eyes twitched in their sockets like candle flames, swaying between man and woman as they argued. She felt her lips parting, forming another sharp smile. There was something endlessly amusing about the witch's obstinance in the face of the threat standing before her and -- to a lesser degree -- Karl's insistence they run away. He was smart to heed the animal instinct that told him to flee; it was just far, far too late for that. The witch, surprisingly, seemed to know it.

As soon as Katarya accepted the terms, Lanae swung her scythe up from the ground to lay it against her shoulder. The blade whistled faintly as it arched through the air, but she paid it no notice, still focused on the humans. Their exchange grew heated, each volley a bit more acerbic than the one before, and she made no secret of her delight; it was as plain on her face as the fangs gleaming in her mouth.

Quite suddenly, the bickering ceased. Karl turned and flounced back towards the wagon with a stiff spine. Lanae did not watch him go, but instead approached Katarya, her gaze fastened to her upturned face. There was a four inch difference in height; not dramatic but certainly noticeable. This, too, pleased her.

Lanae fell in step beside the slightly shorter witch and appeared entirely unconcerned by her plight or her warnings. Now that the excitement was fading and the ache of her hunger more prominent, her attention was turning inward. Rather than look into herself, though, she was mentally counting Katarya's heartbeats.

"Mm," she hummed, her distracted tone verging on dismissive. Peering sidelong at her Lanae continued, adding more softly, "Hide while you can, but like calls to like; your fangs are not invisible either -- to those who know how to look."

There was a pause, and then she laughed, a mad little sound.

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: October 16th, 2019, 10:43 pm
by Katarya Frost
Kat nodded, and motioned for the woman to follow, indicating that she join Kat in the back of the wagon. It was chilling to be in such close quarters with a creature such as her. Nyx was flying ahead; she at least had the sense to stay away from the Vampire, and occasionally a disapproving squawk came from above.

They had not gone two yards before Kat asked turned, moving to the front of the cart and behind Karl. His large back was to them, and he was muttering to himself angrily, no doubt about the passenger and the bullying from the woman he loved, so. Katarya put her hand out, hovering just an inch from his body, then she closed her eyes. "Fúmë." she whispered; the Elvish word for sleep.

Karl's body immediately sagged, then fell sideways as the sleeping spell took full effect. Kat had to grab the reins of the horse and pull it to a stop. Then she glanced back at Lanae. "I told you I could get you what you needed." She said, a little dispassionately. "Don't kill him; if I think you're taking too much, I will ... take steps. I'm not completely defenceless, you know."

She shifted her body away, so that the Vampire could have access to Karl. She didn't this done in the city, and she could definitely not let it happen at Cora's or the Goose! Better done on the road at night.

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: October 18th, 2019, 5:21 am
by Lanae Ofnowhere
Inside the wagon, Lanae was an odd fixture among the witch's things, which were familiar and comfortable -- two qualities utterly at odds with the cold, alien thing in their midst. She sat opposite of Katarya and looked completely at her leisure, with her hands laying atop the scythe resting across her lap. In such close proximity to one another, her lifeless state was even more pronounced, underscored by the fact that she wasn't even pretending to breathe.

With Karl more or less out of sight, and lacking anything more interesting to watch, Katarya bore the full weight of Lanae's attention. Bright yellow eyes bore into her, as if she could see something just under the surface. In fact, she could: the life-giving blood pumping through her veins painted a vivid road map stretching outward from the heart. With every powerful contraction, there was a corresponding vibration that she could feel on the surface of her own skin. The lids of her eyes lowered fractionally and she started to sway in time with the beat.

The trance was broken when Katarya moved. Lanae's gaze sharpened on her trim figure but she remained perfectly still -- literally. As the witch cast her sleep spell over Karl, her focus shifted momentarily to his prostrate form. They didn't linger, returning to Katarya's face once she regained her seat.

Lanae cocked her head and appeared to be taking Katarya's measure. Her lips parted and the tip of her tongue appeared briefly, touching the tapering point of her left fang as if to test its sharpness. After a moment, it swept slowly towards the right, gliding along the blunt edges of the lateral and central incisors, before coming to rest in the same place on the other side of her mouth.

"How very magnanimous of you," she said, plainly mocking her. "And I suppose you expect me to believe you won't strike me the moment I am most vulnerable? I am not so foolish."

A single dark brow arched and Lanae's mouth twisted into a disdainful sneer. She appeared not just bemused, but a little angry as well. Then, as if an idea suddenly came to her, her features relaxed.

"I may have a solution," Lanae began, her voice smooth, almost conciliatory. She lifted a hand, palm tipped towards Katarya. "You could feed me. Then we would be on equal footing, no?"

As a show of good faith -- or something like it -- Lanae hefted her scythe from her lap and put it away from her. The wagon wasn't so large that it was going to be out of her reach if she really wanted it, but it was no longer immediately in her grasp either. She didn't take her eyes off Katarya even for a second.

"I did swear not to raise my weapon against you. And you may strike me down if I do not stop. As you said...you're not without your claws." She said it with a straight face and without any hint of mockery this time.

Re: Sleepwalker [Open]

Posted: October 18th, 2019, 5:33 am
by Katarya Frost
Kat sat under the gaze of this creature; the power and presence that emanated from her was quite something; if she had not been what she was, would she have fallen to pieces under such a gaze?

At her proposal, she fell silent for a moment. Indeed, the air felt heavy between them. They were both creatures of shadow, but they were also so very, very different. But Katarya could not deny the compulsion to accept. Though was it compulsion, or something else: curiosity, the sweet danger ... the lust?

She flushed slightly as she considered this. Was she entertaining this proposal because she wanted it, rather than just helping out another person who didn't fit in to the world of 'ordinary' humans?

The witch flicked her gaze to the scythe, and nodded as it was put away. "You'll have to indulge me, first; with answers." She said. "First: I have a lover ... won't he notice the scars left on me after you have finished? And second ... forgive my ignorance; but will this affect me beyond feeling a little weak? Is there truth in the tales that when your kind feeds on a person, you're able to feel their emotions, sense when they are in danger, and all of the rest?"

She couldn't believe she was considering it. But Lanae; despite her unsettling nature and aura, was so compelling ... it was as if someone had used one of Kat's own spells against her!