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The Rambler
01-18-2018, 08:41 AM
The sun was bright and shining, warm rays of gold spilling through the tree branches and leaves overhead like water falling through a sieve. Henry tilted his head back and closed his eyes, drawing in a deep, contented breath. While the young man was easily more at home within the stone confines of the city, he was not adverse to wandering through the woods for a few hours. His training in bowmaking had often required him to do just that, delving deep into the woods to find a suitable tree or sapling to use.
His fingers drummed against the case that was currently resting slung against his hip. He hadn't seen any other people on this trail for a few fair hours now, and he was beginning to get a bit - lonely. Growing up in the orphanage had meant he always had someone around, and while the forest was not exactly a quiet place - birds chirped in the distance, and somewhere nearby the fiddler could hear a stream babbling softly to itself - it was not the bright cheery sounds of a living city.
Henry kicked up his staff and tucked it through the holster strap on the left side of his travel pack. He'd been using it to help stay on his feet while he wandered off the beaten path, but he would need both hands free if he was going to walk and fiddle to entertain himself. After making sure the securing straps were in place, holding the staff secure against his side, the brown-haired young man flicked open his fiddle case and let the instrument fall into his waiting hand.
As soon as he was holding it, he immediately felt better. The finely crafted fiddle was a strong source of comfort for him, a reminder of the happy, warm ‘family’ he had grown up with, who cared enough to purchase this for him. He slid the fiddle stick from the sleeve on the side of the case and spun the fiddle up to his shoulder with a rather needless flourish - there was no one around to see his showmanship, but even with no audience, he felt a need to practice and push himself.
Henry was just about to start playing when he froze, his sharp, trained ears picking up an oddity. For a moment, it had sounded like there was another noise on the breeze - not one of nature, but one of distress. Of anger. His eyes narrowed before he closed them, concentrating on his hearing. There it was again, faint, but discernable.
Someone shouting, cursing, and the distinct ring of metal on metal. Someone was fighting, and sounded quite unhappy about that fact. Henry drew in a deep breath, and picked up his pace, deadening the sounds of his footstep as he went. He would see, observe what was happening, and intervene if he needed to.

realize.real.lies.
01-18-2018, 04:59 PM
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

The sound of fabric rubbing together was all the dhampir could hear. Her long legs carried her quickly from the sea of civilization to the silence of solitary confinement of trees. Ever since what had happened to her few months back Karina couldn’t take others being close to her.

Bruises and brandings healed but the internal pain was imbedded into her mind. As soon as she cleared the tree line she stopped moving all together. She stood so still she almost could have been mistaken as a statue. A look of sorrow etched deeply into her brow as she let the rays of the sun warm her cold skin.

Slowly she closed her eyes, drinking in the heat, willing herself to feel something other than emptiness. The hollow feeling of what was taken from her was all that accompanied her these days. Her green-gold orbs held now twinkle of mischief of hope any more. Large dark circles took a permanent place under her eyes now from the lack of sleep.

Karina wasn’t sure how much time had passed as she just stood there in the rays that managed to break through the treetops. The sound of footsteps coming towards her broke her from her trance. When she moved her head to one side or the other the footsteps stopped.

So much for keeping away from trouble, she thought bitterly.

Inhaling deeply she could tell there was four different scents maybe two hundred feet to the east. “Come out, come out wherever you are,” she called taunting whoever dare stalk her.

Four semi large men stepped from out of the trees, one with silver hair, two that almost looked like they had been cloned red hair up turned noses only thing that separated them was their eye color one brown the other blue. The finally guy was the largest, Karina picked him to be the ringleader. He looked like an overstuffed sack of meat, his muscles looked like if you took a pin to them they would pop. His dirty red hair looked artificially dyed.

“What happened Stonevale run outta steroids Buffalo Bob?” She sneered at them.

“Oh cocky are we? We will see when we are done with you if you are as snarky then bitch.” The red took a few more steps toward her.

Before he could get an advantage point she sprung into action. She used her half vampire strength and used all the muscles in her legs and jumped into the air. She landed in the middle of the two twins. She took their heads into her hands and forcefully smashed their skulls together.

“You are as ignorant as you are fucking stupid if you think you will be able to take me!” Karina roared with anger. Her voice carried in the distance between the trees.

The silver hair guy lunged for her, withdrawing a knife. She turned at the last moment, instead of the dagger landing it’s mark in her gut it grazed her forearm. “You bastard,” she hissed, her face started to red as the blood that leaked from her arm.

“Give up now and we won’t be too rough with you,” the ringleader sauntered forward, his eyes filled with hunger and lust.

“Give it your best shot you mother fucker!” She growled bouncing on the balls of her feet.

The Rambler
02-06-2018, 01:06 PM
The fiddler frowned as he watched the fight. The woman was holding her own - but against two men who were both larger than she, that was only a matter of time. He sighed and shook his head. Henry had intended, if it had just been friends arguing, to come in playing a cheerful, soothing tune. But this was far from the right situation for that. He slipped his fiddle back into its case and the stick into its sleeve, and set both it and his bag on the ground. A glance over his shoulder showed the woman dodging another strike from the silver haired man.

He unstrapped his staff from its place, and leaned it against the tree he was obscured by. He currently had the full element of surprise, and he was going to use that to rather drastically alter the tide of this battle. He unhooked his composite, layered bow from its spot on his bag, and quickly strung it. A few test plucks to make sure the anchorings were holding, and the man nocked an arrow to the string.

The woman sprang out of the way of a clumsy, lumbering grab from the big man, and Henry acted. The bowstring snapped forward, launching the arrow fast and hard. It shot through the air, splitting it with a slight whistle - and buried itself on the back of the silver haired man’s right shoulder. He let out a pained cry as his arm went limp - and Henry dropped his bow, kicking up his staff and moving swiftly into the thick of the battle as the silver haired man spun around to look for the source of the attack.

“Didn't anyone ever teach you lads, it's not polite to gang up on someone?” Henry sidestepped a swing from the red-haired brute, and cracked him across the side of his head with his staff. The larger man went staggering to the side as Henry shot the woman a quick grin. “I hope you don't mind me cutting in, lass. Ah, watch where you're swinging that sticker, neighbor!” The blue eyed fiddler danced backwards, avoiding a stab at his stomach.

The damsel in distress stared confused, her unique orbs narrowed. Her ample breast rose and fell with her rapid breathing. Her long chocolate brown curls were disheveled as she cocked her head to one side. “Uh, sure,” was all she mumbled.

“Excellent! Wasn't sure if you were one of those - sir we are trying to have a conversation!” Another one armed lunge from the silver haired man drew that retort from Henry, as he rolled his staff end over end, spinning his wrists around as he deflected the blade. As the knife-wielder drew his hand back, having nearly lost the short blade, Henry’s bright blue eyes narrowed. “I think it's time someone sat and thought about their actions, lass.” He shot this over his shoulder towards the brown haired girl as his wrists picked up speed in their movements, spinning the staff faster and faster, end over end until it was nearly a blur. It made an odd sound, almost like the saw of a mill, as it cut through the air.

“And that someone, is you, lad.” The staff suddenly shot out, coming down in a hard crack before the silver haired man, who had been disoriented trying to follow the spinning wood, could react. Iron-clad oak smashed down in the center of his head, and his eyes crossed before going blank, and the man slumped to the ground. Henry caught the staff on the rebound from the blow, and let it rest across his shoulders as he turned to face the other man, the large, muscle bound dyed-red hair man. “How now, good lad? You don't seem to be as rude as your friend here - or am I wrong?”

realize.real.lies.
02-10-2018, 08:33 PM
Karina watched in a mixture of awe and confusion. The boy-man-fighter? Whoever he was seemed to enjoy the array of combat he was dishing out. The large sack of meat-man glared at the bowman and then back at her. She stuck her tongue out at him like a small child.

“I told you to give it your best shot, he just saved you from a long painful death.” She nodded at her savior. “I was going to skin you alive,” she shrugged.

“Hmm. Seems you lads picked the vastly wrong target. Go on then, you look strong enough to carry the rest of these louts off.” The staff-wielding man’s voice was disconcertingly cheery, though he had started a bit hesitantly before he found his groove. His attention was locked onto the red-haired man and his back towards Kara.

She rolled out her shoulders, a few pops and cracks as she relaxed. A sickeningly sweet grin flirted with her crimson lips. Slowly her fangs elongated and poked at her pouty bottom lip. The red head’s eyes widened with fear, he stumbled a few steps back.

“Yo-you’re a fucking vampire?” He stuttered.

A small, childish giggle came from Karina as she could smell the fear rolling of of him in waves. Before she could respond to the disbelieving words, the brown haired man in front of her shrugged his shoulders.

“Nah, I'm a fiddler.” Came the amused reply from him. “And really, if the lass was a vampire, you lot really, really tugged the kelpie’s tail, didn’tcha?” The man turned his head to her - and paused, his blue eyes going wide. “Ah.”

Karina rolled her unique eyes at both of the brutes. “Dhampir,” she corrected him calmly.

She could start to feel the thirst building inside of her. Just being around others with her fangs deployed was like sticking a hot branding iron down her throat. It had been a few weeks since she had fed from a human and the hunger was growing.


She let the tip of her tongue roll over the sharp points of her fangs. A small shiver ran down her spine as she was almost certain the red head was either going to soil himself or pass out.

“Hey now lad. Why don't you expedite a rather hasty retreat here, with your friends?” The brown-haired young man had turned around to face her, planting his staff on the ground as he gave her a tight smile. “I'll have a chat with the lass in the meantime.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around I feast on the men that were going to rape me, not the one that saved me?” She slowly tilted her head to the side, her intense gaze now on the bowman. His smile tightened a little more.

“Aye, perhaps, but I am not strong enough to carry the unconscious lads away. Besides - the silver haired idiot is now likely brain damaged, as are the two you took out, and I doubt our last friend here will ever think about way laying women again. Right, neighbor?” The end of his words were raised, directed to the man behind him - though his blue gaze remained locked on Kara. “One life, against four. Besides, I hope you won't kill me, lass.” He tried to grin, but it came out rather weak.

“Only problem is now that my fangs are out and I am hungry. I never said that they would be alive when I was done either.” She purred softly, taking a step closer to the bowman.

The Rambler
06-30-2018, 11:46 PM
Henry’s grip on his staff tightened as he watched the vampire - dhampir what the hell was a dhampir - slowly stalking towards him, licking her lips and fangs. He swallowed, his throat now rather dry. Behind him, the fiddler came up hear sounds, and grunts, but his attention was well and truly locked on the ‘young?’ woman moving into his space. The young man was feeling a bit hot under the collar as those intense eyes never wavered from his.

“Ri-right. And I would hope th-that feeding on me instead of the louts means you are less likely to kill.” Why in the name of the Thaynes wasn't he running? Why did he kind of, not want to run? This was a blood-sucking vampire. A legitimate, “They'll be dead when I'm done” vampire. And the idiots, now three quarters brain damaged if they hadn't been already, had tried raping this woman. If Henry had any lick of sense he would have left the fools to their fates. But no, he just had to try to help everyone, even those who probably didn't deserve it.

She was only a foot from the fiddler now, her well manicured hand stretched outward. “You’re offering yourself to me,” a coy grin curved her crimson lips upward. Henry swallowed, his throat very dry. Why the hell did it sound like she was asking a lot more than just blood? Or - claiming it, since that had not been a question.

“I - suppose I am? I doubt a lean, wiry fiddler like myself is going to be really satisfying to feed on, but I - suppose you can take what you want?” Just what was behind those eyes, what intent was driving her? Because it did not look like just simple hunger at this point. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder - the unfortunate bandits were gone, likely the sound he had heard before. When he turned his head back - the woman was now inside of his arm length, his staff behind her, so that she was just barely not touching him as his arm hung in the air above her shoulder. He hadn't heard her move.

His eyes went wide. Every breath was nearly brushing their clothes together as her chest rose and fell. Henry let out a strangled, odd noise, but when he started to stumble backwards - he tripped over his own feet. And his staff, which had been behind the vampire, slammed into her back as he fell, bringing them both tumbling to the ground. Reacting on instinct from years of catching other kids who fell from trees Henry’s arm snaked around her torso, cradling her as they hit the ground.

Her hair fell around the two acting like a curtain. Her face hovered over his own, if it weren’t for her ample breast pressed to his chest he would have been able to feel her racing heart. He watched the tip of her tongue roll over her fangs once more. “So much for being gentle,” she purred close to his ear, her breath fanned across his face.

“I - I fell! Are - you OK?” His voice came out in a stammer as he tried to reorient himself and make sure neither of them had been injured. Henry was also trying very hard to ignore her being on top of him or the way her breath sent warm shivers down his spine. He let his staff roll down off of her back and from his hand, and tried to sit up.

A hand pushed him back down as she leaned closer to his ear, her soft lips barely grazing his lobe. “I can smell the sweet scent of nervousness and lust on you.” He could feel her fangs brush against his neck, her warm breath fanned across the crook of his neck. Henry swallowed nervously.

“La-lass, let's talk about this, right? I-oh dear.” The fiddler had no idea what to say, actually. He had offered himself as a meal to get the other men away, and they were well and safely away. He doubted he was strong enough to get up, either - when she had pushed him back down he had tried to resist, but hadn't been able to. And he'd let his staff go so it wasn't like he could try to use it as leverage. Finally, he spoke. “It.. Won't hurt too much, will it?”