Now, this had been an interesting little hunt. Since seeing the masquerading monster, I had followed ‘her’ throughout the city, curious. And waiting for her to try to get someone alone so she could feed. And yet, despite tracking her from the center of the city outwards, she had never once tried to get anyone in private. In fact, she had avoided getting close to people as much as possible.
It was an outlier. A significant enough one that my curiosity was piqued. At this point I was fairly certain I could take the thing out with ease. But variations always warranted investigation - you never knew when it was an entirely new race, completely separate from what you thought you were hunting. So I bided my time, following her in the shadows. My dark clothes and darker skin made it almost too easy - but when dealing with a beast, there was no such thing as ‘too easy’. She ducked through alleys, and I paused at the entrance.
She'd been hesitating just a little bit recently - likely having at least an inkling of my presence. So I waited a few moments, letting her look behind her and see that there was no one there. Then I slipped in behind her, and unhooked my Saw-Spear from the hook on my back, and deployed it to its full state.
She was slowing down, apparently thinking she was safe. Strange, she shouldn't feel at her best when alone, there was no one here for her to feed upon. She paused near a wall, and I took my opportunity. I rushed into her, feet whispering across the stones, and slammed her into the wall. Her head bounced off of it as I spun her her around, and planted the tip of the Saw-Spear against the wall, the jagged teeth just barely pressing against her flesh.
Oh? She was coherent? That was another oddity. Lost in blood lust, she shouldn't even be able to form words. I narrowed my eyes behind my glasses.
“What manner of beast are you, pray tell?” My voice was hard and cold as studied her, watching her trying to recover her bearings. I could see her slowly starting to get a grip on her bearings.
“I’m not a fucking beast,” she spat at me. This one had spirit a fire in her that I found oddly out of place - sanity, and full coherence. I tilted the Saw-Spear away from her ever so slightly.
“Hm. Manners then, if you are no beast. I am known as the Huntsman, and you, match the description of a monster I was told was in this area. Is this merely an unfortunate coincidence?” It was rare, but it happened. I flicked the Saw-Spear away from her, clicking it back into its folded up state, and stepped back from the small human, watching her. If I was wrong, and she was the beast, I would have moments to react at best. Plenty of time.
I watched her spit on the ground looked as if she was bleeding. Odd that she would spit out the crimson liquid. “Well Huntsman I am no beast but thanks for the foreplay it was great.” She rubbed the back of her skull and winced slightly. Hmm.
“Well then. I suggest you leave the city posthaste. Elderly men warned me of a monster stalking the streets, and you resemble it. Others may not be as - circumspect about moving in for the kill.” I took another step back, watching her.
“The fucking ancients,” she growled with frustrations. “God’s can’t they leave me alone, heaven forbid that a dhampir mixed with their royal blood live. An abomination and we must strike her from existence.” She mocked what I had to assume was the ones she called the ancients. I frowned and tilted my head. The Saw-Spear clicked out, and I pointed the sharp edge at her.
“So. You are my prey, but you are not actually a blood thirsty monster ripping through the citizenry.” I had been lied to, about a hunt. That - that infuriated me. Very few things got through my calm, but this managed it. I growled under my breath. “Explain your relationship with the wrinkled liar, if you would be so kind.” I forced my voice to stay steady and calm.
“Get that thing out of my face if you would be so kind and I may abide by your request.” She quipped back at me, her gold green gaze narrowed. I clicked the blade back, letting it hang loose at my side. She huffed, watching me.
“My father is an ancient vampire, my mother is-was a human. It is very frowned upon for a vampire to mate with a human especially an ancient. Since I am a dhampir with ancient blood they look at me like an abomination that needs to be taken care of.” She rolled her eyes, “leave it to them to call me a beast when they have enturn been hunting me for three years and killed my mother.” She said bitterly.
Hm. It seems that my feeling that the liar was not right was accurate. An ancient vampire. Rare breed, and usually kept well out of mortal affairs. I folded the Saw-Spear back up and hung it back under my cloak as she continued her tale. I folded my arms across my chest and let her speak - though in truth, I did not really care that much. It was sad yes, and interested me only in so far that these animals had been stalking the woman for three years. Still, I was not so stupid as to tell her that.
“They seem rather dedicated to the task. Well. If you are no beast and no threat to the city then I suppose we have no further business. My apologies for - well. I suppose I should not apologize for doing my job. But I would suggest leaving the city immediately, good lady. They are aware of you being here. Now, unless you wish something from me, I should be off. It seems I have a vampire that needs an explanation on why lying to a Huntsman is a terrible idea.” I bowed to her, my coat flaring with the motion.