Private Tales A hunter in the streets

[Wren]

Wren had bore witness to architecture of this nature and scale a few times before, only a few of which she could actively pull from memory of her younger self. The capital of Loriden, built into the side of a forested cliff, resulted in captivating stonework and masonry of a similar variety.

This was plainer, clearly of human making and origins, but also steeped heavily in magic. This whole area had been crafted by mages and, she felt, for a very specific purpose. But a purpose that it no longer served. Her trained eyes slowly roved the carvings along the walls and encircling the columns.

"This place is ancient..." she remarked as she stepped across a bridge, brow furrowing slightly, "by human standards, anyway. Isn't the college supposed to be the oldest part of this city? What if this is the oldest part of the college..."

 

[Rainer]

He didn't have an immediate answer for her. He had found the world far vexxing enough without teetering on hypotheticals. But what was more interesting was her innate intuition towards the nature of the open cistern. He had felt the presence of something more as soon as they entered. But he had also been a Vedymin for more years than he cared to admit.

Maybe some of her past was still living in full bloom, beneath that youthful expression of defiance and rebelliousness.

Or maybe it was just a wild guess and she was just passing the time.

"Can't have a settlement with a privy..." And shit always rolls down hill. Or to the city, as it were. It made sense with the way the Maesters carried themselves, like they were above it all. And to them, it was likely a blessing. Because their shit smelled like roses. "It would make sense on how that beast got trapped down here. It was probably sleeping when the world upturned around it. There could be protective runes down here, the sort that would have worked to keep it from wandering..."

Burnt brass turned to look towards Wren. If it worked on the progenitor, it might work on her as well.

 

[Wren]

"No..." Wren shook her head as her gaze surveyed the higher reaches of the ceiling far above their heads, "I don't think that's what this place was made for."

It was far too grand to be a sewage pot. Too much thought and care had gone into constructing it. By human standards, the quality of the craftmanship was exceptional, and that was saying a lot coming from a halfbreed elf. The mention of protective runes drew her gaze, meeting his own for a moment where they somehow shared the same thought.

Perhaps the Alukrah's essence was still yet active.

Her brows raised, upper lip curling in alarm.

"What are you saying, I could be stuck down here like it was?"

 

[Rainer]

It was all postulation now, on the whims of Maesters or whatever other creatures decided this place should exist. And if Wren was to learn anything from this adventure, it was that age never implied wisdom. In many cases, age led to boredom, and boredom led to nonsensical things.

Shrugging, he looked around. "Maybe. If that's the case, I might head on up and grab and beer and a bath. Maybe wait this out and check back in on you in a couple days..."

He was looking around for an escape plan. Or at the very least, proper way to evade her next punch to his thigh. Or worse...

"Huh, look at that..." He pointed towards another tunnel on the back of the cistern. The entrance was, to any common human, completely out of reach due to the collapse of the access bridge. "Might be our way out?"

 

[Wren]

A livid glare snapped away from curious perusals to the nonchalant expression of her fellow Vedymin, upper lip curling further to reveal the gleam of pointed pearls.

"You. Wouldn't. Dare."

He probably would... slithered through her mind and down the back of her skull, raising proverbial hackles as it went.

Narrowed gaze tracked him with an unblinking heat, breaking only to spy the other tunnel he pointed out. Now she was determined to leave - ancient curses and wards be damned. She'd tear this place apart stone by stone if she had to. Broad shoulders pivoted as she made her way further across their current bridge until she was directly across from the tunnel.

Wren took three measured strides back then dug her boot into the ground and ran forward, launching herself with a fraction of her inherent speed through the air and across the open expanse. She landed with a grunt, left foot and right knee smashing into the stone floor, sending what little was left of the landing crumbling away beneath her. With a stumble she pulled herself up to her feet and into the open archway, giving the respectable drop into the abyss a harrowing glance.

 

[Rainer]

He wouldn't dare. And for good reason.

Following after she had cleared the gap, he led with a few strides and cleared the gap - taking several steps along the side wall at blinding speed to assist with the maneuver. Coming to a stop just beyond the place where she had landed, he looked over the edge with seeming disinterest.

Heights didn't scare him. They were moving further away from the thing that brought him distress.

"You're right, I wouldn't dare." Loathe as he was to admit when she was right with any form of sincerity, particularly regarding his choices and decision making processes. He had spent too much time alone to squander companionship on a bender while his partner toiled in the recesses of a glorified shit hole. Admittedly, when he thought about it that way, it did seem a bit more entertaining. "Who's going to carry me out of the bar if you're stuck down here?" He pointed away from the gap.

"I think I see light..." With that, he headed in the general direction away from the cistern.

 

[Wren]

Her eyes remained narrowed in suspicion. Though she'd only known him for a short while she'd come to find he had an odd sense of humor. Jokester - at least he thought he was. Finding amusement in things like keeping a goddamn map of their target in his pocket for two days without a word while she deteriorated from hunger.

Hil-fucking-arious.

Wren strode after him, a frown solidly locked into place in her expression.


Fresh air hit her face and she wished she had a better way to describe it other than a breath of fresh air. The light Rainer had seen had been fed down through a rain-collection grating situated at the base of the outer wall encircling the college grounds. An access ladder easily enough granted them a way up the several levels it took to reach it.

Gods above, she thought they'd never get out of there. Turns out there weren't any protection or entrapment wards ... or if there were they hadn't effected her.

Stepping out from the wall they were greeted with a moon high in the sky - not quite so late as it felt. They'd only been underground for a few hours, which meant plenty of time to deal with the Alukrah's head, collect the bounty reward, and get that bath-beer. Rainer could beer and then bath (amateur), Wren would be working efficiently instead.

 

[Rainer]

He greeted the location of the storm grate with a bit of enthusiasm. Stretching, he slid the cast iron grate back over the frame and breathed in deep. For a while there, he had been anticipating entry into the college, rather than some periphery. And what that meant was red tape and bureaucracy and shirking around the shadows. No book thumpers here, none that he could see. No one to tout their worldly learnings and their practiced magics.

Just the quiet of the night. And a severed head of the progenitor. And bloodied Wren...in particularly well fitted pants.

"Alright..." Eyes of gold squinted as he looked around, chasing the moonlit horizon for some sort of monument or roof that seemed out of sorts. It didn't take long before he landed on it. It went without saying that where money passed, religions were likely to follow - taking the crumbs and pocket lint for alms. "There we go."

He pointed into the distance, a sconce reflecting against a stone rooftop monument carved from alabaster. White skin, white gown, white hair. It was Astra, he was sure of that.

"A church for Celestialism should do. We'll dunk the head and call it..."

 

[Wren]

Wren followed his gaze and gave a grunt in reply.

Churches. Something told her she liked them but she couldn't for the life of her recall why. In the present moment as she followed his lead back along the mostly empty cobble roads of the Merchant District, she had to wonder if her Alukrah meal might put a damper on the visit.

"Anything I should know before walking into a church?"

Like was she going to burst into flames or something?

 

[Rainer]

He wasn't exactly sure what she was getting at. He felt like he had two options. Either she was wondering about some sort of dark past of his, which was fair. Or she was wondering about her ongoing ancient proclivities. In which, he knew just about as much as she did.

Stopping just shy of the lights edge, leading into the open doors of the church, he looked back towards the elf hybrid and shrugged.

"I've known a couple pastors in my day. A good deal of them are full of shit and play a mean hand...might owe some a bit of money here and there. If the pastor recognizes me..." He waved his hand out flat. "I'm broke."

With that, he rolled his shoulder and headed towards the entrance. The place was grand and old construction, sticking out like a sore thumb to the earthen tones and clay roofings around it. The place was standing at the threshold between where the fishermen sold their goods and where the fishermen bedded up for a good nights rest. Or maybe not so much rest as much as companionship. It was a place of worship, in more ways than one.

 

[Wren]

That ... was not even close to what she was getting at, but now she knew what sort of company he kept.

And how bad at gambling he was. Somehow not entirely surprised.

Wren fell back at his heel, letting the man take the lead at the church entrance and waiting until he wasn't paying attention to test her luck. She paused just outside of the arched doorway, tentatively lifting a hand, fingers flexing in the air. Lips pursing in expectation, she stuck her hand in through the doorway and waited for any pivotal effect that would bring a sour end to her night.

Nothing happened. Wren released the breath she was holding, glanced around to make sure no one had been watching, gently cleared her throat and strode in.

A cat then promptly dropped down from the top of a shelf in the entryway, landing right in front of her.

Wren shrieked, nearly leaping out of her skin, the sound echoing strangely through the vaulted ceilings of the building. The cat meowed and took off up the center aisle, running past Rainer with a tail like a bottlebrush.

 

[Rainer]

The Vedymin turned, absolutely sure that whatever that noise was - it hadn't come from the battle hardened, shit talking, timber mole. The cat purred as it crossed Rainers path, brushing up against the shin of his boot and weaving rhythmically between his two feet. He didn't quite have the heart to shoo it away. After all, it had eyes like them.

Crossing his arms, Rainer looked sternly towards Wren before approaching her. Inspecting her briefly, he nodded. "Huh, so the Alukrah isn't weak against entrance into a holy building...no fire, no pain. Just fear of cats...Hmph." Nodding again, his jest was interrupted as a priest approached.

A female priest. Of Astra.

He cursed beneath his teeth, realizing the sense of it all. She was petite, gowned in multiple layers of sheer cloth with hair of deep auburn and a hood of white. Beneath that, she seemed to be adorned with a golden crown that created an artificial widows peak across her head. Her eyes were deep green, like stirred up moss on a lake of an overcast day, and her skin tone nearly matched her gown pigment. And above all, Rainer was sure he could see the deep blue of her veins beneath her nearly translucent skin.

He often questioned the telling of time for Celestialism. The Age of Uroghosh, the Age of Wonders, the various deities. It all seemed like bullshit. But when he saw something like this, for a brief moment he understood how a single breath could give life to a cult.

"Violence will not be tolerated in these halls."

A declaration. A threat. Rainer felt the hint of magic roll off of the priest and he knew, with a stones throw from the College. He knew. She was more than a priest.

"But...clean or bloodied, you are welcome in this place of worship."

 

[Wren]

"Listen, you -" the battle hardened timber mole was about to get a new round of shit-talking started, winding up with a sharp poke at the man's chest, but what he was listening for never hit the air.

Pointer finger stuck at his chest, Wren's eyes switched sideways towards the approach of the Priestess. A frown immediately formed on her lips.

Violence will not be tolerated in these halls.

The half-elf's upper lip ticked. Not that she'd dream of kicking Rain's ass in a church, no, she just had a problem with authority figures. Including weird-ass priest women. Somehow the welcome didn't hit quite home with her. Maybe it was the vibe this broad was giving off. Something unnatural about her.

"Thank you," the words definitely sounded more like bitch, fuck off, but Wren maintained a model of decorum by politely dipping her head to the priest and then roughly elbowing Rainer in the middle, "we're here on a bit of business."

 

[Rainer]

He grunted in response to the less than gentle nudge. Just bony enough to push in at his leather armor and jab a few of his ribs. "Right." He nodded, reaffirmed and less transfixed on the women's appearance.

"Business." He nodded again and breathed in deeply, taking in the feint tones of incense that burned in the back of the holy building. Smoke seemed to waft out from hidden sconces and gathered near a domed ceiling, revealing an intricate mural of the constellations and stars.

"Business?" The woman asked delicately, folding her hands over each other just at her waist.

Rainer nodded and leaned over, snatching the severed head off of Wren's hip. Lifting it by the mane, he gestured to the severed head and the woman looked on. Surprisingly to the Vedymin, she was seemingly unmoved. "I need you to bless a basin of water with whatever Deity you worship..."

"Astra." She interrupted.

"Right." That's what he figured. "Well we need you to bless a basin of water under Astra and then this guy..." He cleared his throat as he tucked the head under his arm. "Is...intent on bobbing for apples."

 

[Wren]

"I see," replied the priest gently, face inscrutable.

Wren frowned. She hated that tone. Hated that combination of words. She'd used them plenty enough herself to know a bitch readying herself to cop-out when she saw one, and she was starting right at her.

"Listen, Sister," Wren cut the woman off before she could bring up whatever-the-fuck'th of 100 reasons why this was unorthodox or not the way of things, "the bounty that's been pinned to your bounty board by the city entrance has clearly been sitting for a long time and we've seen enough evidence in the last three hours to assume whoever else went for it didn't make the grade. You've had an ancient monster living beneath the city for evident centuries, preying on the people of Elbion, and now you don't."

She gestured first to herself (the bloody, filthy mess that she was) and then to the head under Rain's arm.

"It's been a long two days and I am dying to get out of my armor and into a long fucking soak with a big fucking pint of ale. If you would be so kind to lend us a hand so we can dunk this fucker into some Astra-blessed water so we can be on our way, that'd be great."

 

[Rainer]

Her tongue was about as sharp as that glowing sword, maybe even sharper. But for all the elevated tones and vulgarities spewed at the holy woman, as well as the clear benefit their presence has brought, it didn't seem the red head was quite intent on budging. That was unfortunate because through that whole tirade, he could agree with Wren on several factors. But most importantly, a bath and a pint of ale did sound nice.

"I am not your sister." The woman responded, once more unmoved. A hand, draping long white cloth, gestured towards various benches that stood before an empty dais. All beneath the mural of stars.

"Please take a seat and find peace. Then you may come to find that which you seek." Rainer winced at the inflection, feeling the woman's presence and the obvious magical aura. The statement sounded like a request but everything else stood far closer to a command.

The woman turned and headed toward the dais. Rainer looked towards Wren and sighed, giving off an obviously frustrated tone. "Don't test her. We don't turn from the path." It was an easy code. If they were on a bounty, they were fair game. Otherwise, unless provoked, it wasn't the Vedymin way to kill needlessly. Particularly in the case of humans.

 

[Wren]

Wren's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets but to her credit she didn't snap back. Something about losing her temper fully and loudly in a church just didn't sit well with her, even if she didn't like the priest.

She snapped a heated glare at Rain, "I am not-" her voice was hushed but clearly strained with bubbling anger, she pointed off towards where the Priest had indicated, "going to sit here and wait. My peace is back at the inn in the form of a big brass tub full of soap, hot water, with a tankard of ale on the side."

 

[Rainer]

In other moments, that heated glare might stir something else beyond frustration - or maybe something keenly resembling it. But he wanted the same things she did, though maybe the order had gotten all topsy turvy. There was beer and there was a bath and most certainly the removal of someones armor.

"Fine..." He shook his head, running his hands through the Alukrahs mane somewhat thoughtful. He began to to drum against the severed heads forehead as he considered his options. He was effectively between a rock and a hard place. Though he couldn't decide which one was Wren.

He could have swore she wasn't this impatient before he changed her. It made him wonder what he was like before his change. Was he less sarcastic? Did he have more consistent moments of somberness? Was he more than just a bounty hunter, moving from meal to meal?

"Well...don't sit here and wait. Stand. Or...go outside?" He shrugged, tapping the Alukrah thoughtfully on the melon. "Al and I are going to go make our peace with Astra. Shouldn't be too long."

 

[Wren]

A grimace stole her expression as he handled the head in his hands like a toy. The man's proclivities were odd at the best of times and damn near unsettling at the worst.

"Fine," she hissed back, softly, before throwing a glare back towards the direction of the Priest. With an indignant sniff the half-elf-turned-vedymin made a hasty exit.

Didn't go far though. Not that she intended to stay and wait outside like she was suggested, but the fact of the matter was that she actually found it difficult to stray too far from the man. If it was from some esoteric power he held over her as her progenitor or simply for the fact that he was the only source of information and guidance for this new life she couldn't say. He didn't seem to have any sort of control over her that she could tell ... but Wren had to wonder if that was simply for a lack of the power actually existing or a lack of him caring to try.

By the time he managed to make his exit he'd find her sitting on the stairs leading up to the church entrance, glowering at nothing in particular.

"I wanted to sit."

 

[Rainer]

He gathered that that was all for the best, despite the fact that what she might have felt was intrinsically felt by him as well. It was as much a gift as it was a curse, the attachment between the vampire and the sire. He could always feel her presence but as it moved away, it was like he was leaving his house and had forgotten something. Maybe something important...like a wallet?

Either way, he was fortunate to have Al keep him company. And as the Priestess made a basin available, finally, Rainer dunked the head and got on with it. But not before he cleaned some of the blood from his hands and his face. He assured the Priestess that it was all part of the process.

Stepping out from the Church, he sat down on the steps next to Wren and breathed out heavily. Setting the head down on the step next to him, he nodded and smiled. "In your shoes, who wouldn't? It's been a particularly tough night..." Ancient beasts, feral vamps, and a pain in the ass Vedymin to dog her step. He shifted and accidentally elbowed the severed head, knocking it down several steps and into the mud.

"Damn...I just cleaned that."

 

[Wren]

Wren sat hunched forward, bloodied armored elbows resting on stained armored knees. Her body still ached from the bridge incident. Nothing quite so horrid as the inferno of searing hot agony from before, but a steady, dull ache. She imagined this is what it felt like to be a human succumbing to age and arthritis.

A moody glower settled over a deep sigh, her eyes following the progress of the head down to the mud.

"Now what do we do with it?"

 

[Rainer]

Wren may have been working under the false assumption that Rain had all the answers. Not only did he not have the answers, he didn't have the ego to pretend he had the answers. Leaning back on the steps, he pressed his hands into the stone porch and looked up towards the sky.

It wasn't entirely unlike the mural within the church. The sconces were dying and the stars looked almost blue in the absence. There was a slight chill, which felt refreshing compared to the heat of the day and the lack of current beneath the Elbion cobble.

"With it?" He shrugged but it may have not been entirely noticeable given his leaning posture. "The dunking was just for safe measure. Good shot we are done. Could throw it out for all I care...or hang it from a hook on the saddle. Scare off all the baddies." He looked towards Wren, who still seemed to be brooding. A fact that despite his nonchalant exterior, brought him no joy. "As for everything else...well I've heard tale of a bath and beer."

 

[Wren]

She was absolutely operating under that assumption, and Wren couldn't tell if she was pissed off because he didn't know, or because it sometimes felt like he was pretending he didn't know. Both were equally adept at ruffling her feathers. Why didn't he know? Why would he pretend not to?

Dark blond set low over her brows. She wiped at the scarred side of her face, glancing to her hand to find she'd only managed to smear drying blood and grime on it rather than off it.

"Yeah, well," pushing back up to her feet she stepped to the bottom of the stairs, leaning to scoop up the head, "we still need it to claim the bounty reward." And after everything they'd gone through in the last several hours, there was no way in seven hells that she was not claiming the pay.

 

[Rainer]

The whole bounty component of the process may have slipped his mind. He found himself distracted by more worldly considerations. Like beers, baths, and the absence of armor.

"Right. So..." He leaned forward, setting himself upright as she grabbed the severed head. "We'll turn it in tomorrow. I doubt the Baron will answer the door this late at night."

Baron meant very little in these parts, The man had clear hereditary ties but the city was run by a combination of merchant council and college Maesters, all of which has various needs that often didn't align. But a far away Baron on some far away hill had little authority. But he seemed fine on concern and fine on currency.

 

[Wren]

"Mm," a grunt in reply, Wren eyed a group of drunken men as they staggered off to the nearby flop. That same gaze then drifted upwards to the moon-filled sky. Right, it was late ... for normal people. Baron would be in bed, most likely.

~~~

"That'll be three silvers."

Three silvers for two drawn baths and a continuous supply of ale? Wren's lip twitched, "We'll have it in the morning once we collect our bounty pay," she nudged the severed head on the counter beside her and watched the jaw drop open.

The Innkeeper had apparently seen his fair share of grotesque things in his day. He'd only given it a glance of disgust, "No IOUs. Pay first."

"Here," CLANG as she dropped her elven sword on the counter, sheath, strap and all, "it's elvish and worth enough to buy your entire inn and the rest of the block. Hold on to it until morning. You'll get your bloody three silvers."

"Mmm," he considered this and nodded, "that'll do. Marge'll have the baths ready for you out back in a half hour."

"Good, we'll take our first drinks now."