Private Tales Hunt or Be Hunted

[James Lanvarok]

Leaves crinkled beneath James' feet, crushed with every step he took. He tried to walk lightly, something that had never come naturally to him, as he was clumsy and usually walked with a slight shuffle, like a small bear, but in this instance, he took extra care to ensure that he wasn't heard. A breeze blew through the trees, disrupted only by the crack of the leaves against James' feet. Colours of green and orange melded together, dancing under the light hand of the wind which pushed them.

Bottom lip hanging open, he eyed the space between the trees vigilantly, combing his empathetic senses for any sign of his target, but there was nothing, just a blank canvas where emotion should have been. Her immunity to magic had been an obstacle for him, but at the very least, it cleared his mind and allowed him to concentrate. Without emotions to feel, he was left in the dark, and had no idea what he was dealing with.

"Damn monster hunters, why couldn't they catch their own vampire?" He growled to himself.

He knew he wasn't qualified for the job, but fuck it, he needed the coin. If he wanted to eat that night, he would need to catch the regional leader a vampire, especially with the amount of food he ate in the first place. Breathing in, he steadied his hand on his crossbow, which was already locked and ready to fire. He ran his hand along the arrow, and ignited the flammable substance with which it was coated. Eyes wide, he cut across the path and walked up a ledge, where the trees gave way to a small cliff overlooking a field.

There was a flash of movement, and James the white hair of the woman he needed to capture. He dropped to his knees, placed the crossbow on the ledge and took aim, then fired.

"Ow, FUCK!" He shouted.

The string lunged forward, and the weapon was forced back with the impact, hitting him right in the face. "Owieowieowieowie," grasping his nose, James dropped the weapon and stumbled back, pain surging through his face.

Gasping for breath, he looked up, and saw that the woman wasn't there any more. There was body, she was just, gone.

"Shit," James cursed.

Blood trickled down his nose and into his mouth. He dabbed the area around his eye. It was bruised, and would probably end up black, but nothing was broken. Behind him, he heard the leaves crack and lunged forward to grab his crossbow, when he saw that it was gone. Leaning over, he held his hands above the grass and felt his heart sink into his stomach. Slowly, he turned around, to see the woman standing right behind him.

"Where the fuck is my crossbow?!" He shouted.

 

[Heike Eisen]

The Jackal had escaped justice for his crimes many times. Far too many times. Enough to garner him a reputation in certain circles, that he was a bounty hunter of fearsome brutality. Relentless in his approach, callous in his methods, unflinching in whatever atrocities were asked of him, he had a grim dependability that select clients valued; he was not alone in this among bounty hunters. But his bloodlust and depravity extended far beyond the scope of his profession.

He would not escape Heike's justice. She had kept him in the back of her mind when first she heard of him. A difficult task, that. Simply trying to overhear things now. Her forays into the larger cities did not always go well. And it was the taverns in these cities, the dirty, dim, and squalid taverns, that always held the hints and whispers she needed. Only days ago did she overhear two men in just such a tavern in Elbion whispering about the Jackal. They didn't know his name, but his description matched what Heike had heard before. They had seen him--here, in Elbion--at another local haunt rife with bounty hunters, right before a man had come in and pointed at The Jackal and The Jackal rose from his seat as if he'd been expecting him and they left together. The man? A servant for a Elbionese nobleman.

The Jackal had gotten a contract. He was bound to leave the city. He did. And Heike had been on his tail.

She'd not seen him, no; she, hopefully, had been tracking him by scent. Heike knew a unique quality of The Jackal's, something not many knew: that he had the arm of a beast. She knew not how he got it, why just one arm and not his whole body, or even if he was a werewolf or not. She only knew that he had it, and the peculiar scent she had picked up upon leaving Elbion may or may not have been his.

All things decided. It need only be seen if Heike had followed the right trail through the wilderness surrounding the city. If she had not, such would merely delay her justice. Even now with her affliction, with her cold blood and still heart in her chest, she held true to the oaths she had sworn as a knight of the Golden Blade. For The Jackal had been judged guilty, his crimes egregious, and it was incumbent upon Heike's honor to carry through her sentencing.

And so she chased after him. He did not know that he was being hunted, and Heike would have it no other way.

* * * * *​

Heike thought she had been close. Perhaps she had been. But the thirst born of her damnable affliction had stolen some of her time, and she had to stalk and prey upon a merchant bound for Elbion in the night. He had woken up as she was feeding, and there was no greater feeling of embarrassment and shame and--admittedly--awkwardness than that very situation. He struggled in his alarm and panic, hurt himself in doing so, and Heike had to sedate him and spend more time and potions ensuring that he would be alright.

But at least her thirst had been slaked, and she could continue her true hunt.

Dawn had already come when she found it. The cabin was far off the beaten path, nestled comfortably into the woods. A garden out back, growing a variety of plants and herbs, no doubt with various alchemical uses. And she caught the familiar smell of death as she drew near.

Heike approached the front door. Ajar. She pushed it open.

They were all dead. The man in adventurer's clothing, the pregnant woman, the two boys, the infant girl, even the dog. All of them hung by the neck, the ropes painstakingly attached the wooden ceiling, and in those baleful nooses they dangled. The man had been savaged, great tears and slashes in his armor and flesh alike, gaping holes gouged in several places throughout his body. The dog had dried blood about its mouth, on its teeth. And something else. A scrap of cloth.

Heike stepped forward and took the scrap stuck to its teeth. Sniffed it.

This was his work. And this, surely, was his scent. He had been here. No question.

* * * * *​

The day wore on as she pursued. And she became aware of The Jackal's scent looping back around and heading west, heading back toward Elbion. West. The same direction the sun would be sinking toward soon enough as evening clawed closer and closer.

Troublesome. She had to take the utmost precautions when walking in the daylight to prevent direct sunlight from striking her skin. The small hood of her coat she kept up, her shawl she wore draped down from her shoulders and tucked her arms and claws inside like a monk, and she canted her head down and preferably kept her back to the sun. She wouldn't have that option, and as the sun set further and further down, the more she would need to cant her head until the horizon spared her the sun's oppressive gaze and evening shadow blanketed the earth.

Heike had come out from the trees and stood in a small clearing. Her feet at the edge of a short, rocky cliff, her eyes scanning the field below.

He found what he was looking for, hadn't he? Or did what he was meant to do, one of those dead in the cabin the object of his contract. Perhaps. Perhaps not. He might not be heading back to Elbion, but only in its general direction. Maybe he wasn't done, but had tortured the adventurer for vital information, and was now heading to his true destination. Heike pondered the possibilities. She didn't know either way. Not for sure.

And Heike heard something. The tiny crunching and cracking of dead and dried leaves.

She looked back. Saw dropping down to his knees. Pointing something at her. A crossbow. There a glinting of fire upon the weapon.

Surprise widened her eyes. She'd but a second to exert herself and spring from the ground and leap high up into the tree branches above. Blood wasted on exertion, all because she had let her guard down. Allowed herself to ponder too deeply and let the world slip away for a few critical moments.

Heike landed lightly on one of the branches, a faint rustle of leaves as the branch swayed under her weight. Stay mindful of the sun, Heike. To her left, slightly more to her front than her back. Not great, not bad. She looked down. Saw that the man with the dark wavy hair had...struck himself? Somehow? He'd bloodied his nose, his crossbow just there on the ground.

Her first instinct was to simply flee. The man had done nothing wrong, and there was no guilt in him that she knew of. Heike knew what the people of Arethil as a whole thought of her repugnant state, that to them she appeared a monster. And yes, they were right, and that very merchant from yesterday night could attest to it: she and others twisted by this affliction had to prey upon those who were once their kin, prey upon them like base and abhorrent parasites. And she knew well that she was something of an anomaly among those afflicted with the thirst, that others so afflicted were in many way more monstrous and certainly leagues more wicked. So she did not judge those who hated her, those who wished her dead, even if she foolishly wished for them to feel otherwise. Foolish, for she knew even she would not have given herself a chance, if the knight she once was had through some paradoxical means met the vampire she had become.

But she wanted to know. Know, if she could, if the man had been sent. If he had, then she had made yet another mistake, somewhere, somehow. It would be a chance to learn. Adapt.

Heike dropped down from the tree branch above. Landed deftly close by the man--the young man, it appeared. She bent over and picked up his crossbow--turning such that her back was to the sun as she did--and flung it away from the two of them. And she hid her claws back inside her shawl.

The young man turned around. She regarded him. Tilted her head just so.

Where the fuck is my crossbow?!

A small motion of her head. Back and over her right shoulder.

"Somewhere over there."

She stared at him. An intense scrutiny. Blue eyes, the color striking a chord. Reminding her of one of the many mementos she carried.

"I'll not stand in your way if you answer one question for me. Who's paying you?" Her tone direct, firm.

 

[James Lanvarok]

James stood in the center of the road. Eyes wide, he stared the woman down, his bottom lip hanging open as she nonchalantly tilted her head to the side. Rage boiled up in his chest and amounted in his head, veins bulging from the sides of his temples. He was disappointed in himself for fucking up his shot, and now the woman, this vampire, was rubbing it in his face. He curled his hands into fists and breathed in, chest heaving up and down.

He stepped forward, motioning to walk past the woman, but something about her demeanor stopped him from walking any further. She was fierce, not the seductive type, just harsh.

"Get..." He yelped. He was about to tell her to get out of his way, but recoiled, bringing his hands up to his chest as she stepped in front of the crossbow.

She then asked who was paying him, and James huffed.

"None of your business!" He shouted.

He didn't want to tell the scary vampire lady that he had been sent to hunt her as payment for asking out the Earl's daughter. He curled his hands into balls, his nails digging into his palms and stood his ground, his eyes trailing to the crossbow laying in the grass.

He wanted to run and grab it, but something told him the woman would beat his arse if he tried. He had tried to shoot her with it, after all.

 

[Heike Eisen]

He didn't answer. Some level of intimidation usually worked, but Heike was far too reluctant to apply anything more than the casual pressure she already had. She'd no intention of following up on any threats she could make. It was true that she wouldn't stand in his way if he answered her question, but she also wasn't committed to standing in his way if he did not. That was the extent of it, the level of intimidation she was willing to engage in, a tone of voice and a mere implication. A vague implication at that, whose consequences were only made real by the welcome allowance to read more into what she had verbatim said.

Icy ground, that. Treading dangerously into the realm of the unspoken and the implied, where the true intent of one's word could be blurred not only to the listener but to the speaker. But she had not violated the Oath of Truth. Had been careful not to. Yes, the crossbow was somewhere behind her on the forest floor, yes, she stood between it and this young man, but simply stand there she would--that or flee, if he had more talents than he was letting on. Stand there like a tree or some other static obstacle, free for him to move around.

He was not guilty, and she was not thirsty. She would not harm him.

Which proved a conundrum. She wanted to know what he knew, but she wasn't willing to do what might well be necessary. Heike had no reservations against battle and slaying, for that was a major facet of knighthood, but torture--even against the guilty--distressed her. A potent shame and disquiet, as if she were filling the mold of the monster others judged her to be and making it somehow more real than it previously was, whenever she did it, the necessity of the action seeming to matter not an ounce in the aftermath.

So Heike stood her ground. Just watched the young man. Strange, that he wasn't making a more concerted effort to do what he came here to do. He seemed more frustrated than determined. Was he inexperienced? A novice? It correlated with his apparent age. She flicked her eyes up and down, a quick scan on his person. Explained the lack of a backup weapon; other hunters had been armed to the teeth.

"Do you know my name?" Her tone less firm, moreso calm and level. "Or did I match a description?"

Heike smiled a bit, the motion mostly veiled by her mask. Intimidation she'd taken off the table, so why not try something else.

"Perhaps you've found the wrong quarry. Are you certain?"

 

[James Lanvarok]

The woman asked if James knew her name, which he didn't. He had just found her from the information the Earl had given him. She smiled slightly, but James was still fuming. Hands curled into fists, his nails dug into his palms as he stared the woman down.

"No," he stated, "I only found you from the information the Earl gave me." Suddenly, he sprung up, mortified and clasped his hands to his mouth. As usual, his honesty defeated him and he couldn't lie to save his life.

"Fuck!" He cursed. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Slamming his eyes shut, James threw down his hands and stomped the ground, enraged and frustrated with himself for giving up the identity of the person who had ordered him to catch the vampire.

The woman then asked if he had possibly found the wrong person, which pissed him off quite a bit. He had followed the Earl's lead down to every detail. There was no way he could have hunted the wrong person. There was an unpleasant pause, disrupted only by the leaves as they cracked beneath James' feet. He groaned, raised a hand and scratched his head, debating whether or not he had found the right person for a moment.

He turned around and spat, "look bitch, I came all the way out here to catch the Earl a vampire and that's what I'm gonna do." His words were harsh and unrefined, slurred slightly.

"I don't care if it's you or any other vampire, as long as keeps that old bastard off my arse," he shouted.

Truly, he didn't care if he had found the wrong person or not. If it shut the Earl up about James hitting on his daughter, then he would settle for any vampire.

"This isn't what I normally do, I just need the coin!" He was clearly fed up, tired and couldn't be bothered with this shit.

"I'm a friggen mage for fuck's sake, not a vampire hunter!"

 

[Heike Eisen]

It worked well enough.

The "Earl", he had said. Heike was unfamiliar with just who that might be. It would be useless knowledge if she couldn't deduce where she had gone wrong, the mistake or mistakes which had brought this young man--this ostensible hunter--to intrude into her path. And this, of course, if indeed the young man was telling the truth.

Which...it seemed he was? He had a curious fit just then. It might be that he was a good performer, but that seemed doubtful and, furthermore, didn't make much sense. Why put on a show as opposed to saying nothing. To mislead her? No, a gambit of telling Heike about this Earl in the hopes of having him assassinated seemed a needlessly risky and convoluted ploy. So she ruled the notion of a performance out. He did seem genuinely frustrated about his slip, and maybe it was as simple as that.

Look bitch...

Heike's eye twitched. But she kept listening.

He didn't care if it was her or any other vampire. Catch the Earl a vampire, he'd said. That seemed to bode well enough for her. Implied there wasn't a specific contract out there with her name on it. Perhaps it was that she had been made by someone in Elbion, recognized for what she was, someone who couldn't or simply dared not confront her and instead went to this Earl. And if this Earl wanted just a vampire, not her specifically, it seemed to imply further that there was a list of vampires or probable vampires on this contract. Meaning then that there were other vampires active in or around Elbion.

Disgusting.

As much as Heike desired to bring justice to The Jackal, it might have to wait. Again. She did not delude herself into thinking that she alone could rid Arethil of this horrid scourge of vampirism, but when her path crossed inevitably with the path of another vampire, she seized the opportunity to make a difference.

And the young man's lamenting sealed it. A mage, not a vampire hunter. Clearly. He was going to get himself killed over the promise of a handful of coins. He was insolent, yes, petulant, yes, but while those qualities weren't personable neither warranted a sentencing of death.

Heike shifted just a bit, enough to ensure the sun was behind her, the shade of a tree upon her. Then she slowly withdrew a clawed hand from inside her shawl--partially on purpose to show him--and reached up and carefully pulled down her mask; he already knew, and he needed to see her face, see that she was sincere. The firm look in her eyes softened to one of patience.

"You're right. You're not a vampire hunter. This would have gone differently if you were," she said. "And this would have gone far differently if you found what you were looking for. A real monster. Don't you think it odd that you and I are even talking right now?"

She let out a small puff of air from her nose. A faint echo of life.

"Take your crossbow. Go home and get your nose cleaned up. The coin isn't worth it."

 

[James Lanvarok]

The woman's features softened as James laid his problems out in front of her. It became apparent to her that he was not a vampire hunter, just a mage forced to do the Earl's bidding to repay his crimes. Head in his hands, James gripped his hair and muttered to himself as he looked for an explanation. The woman then said something which intrigued him.

She said that he would have most certainly been killed if he had been looking for a real monster, but then, what did that make her? Surely she was just as bad as the rest of the vampires.

But then again, she hadn't killed James when she had the chance. She was right. It was odd for them to be standing and talking, when she could have easily killed him already.

She huffed and pointed to his crossbow, then told him to go home. An eyebrow raised, James beheld the weapon plainly. He wanted to pick it up, but suspected that there was more to this woman than she was letting on. She didn't seem like she wanted to harm him, not like the vampire the Earl had described. Bottom lip hanging open, James shifted his eyes insolently and took a long, much needed breath.

"You're right, you didn't try to kill me," he mumbled.

A pause followed, then he looked up and barked, "what gives?!"

"Aren't all vampires monsters?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. He reached around and scratched the back of his head, cocking his head inquisitively to the side. He eyed the woman dumbly, perplexed by her mercy.

"What are you hunting anyway?" He asked, curious about the woman's intentions. "The Earl didn't say anything about that."

Shrinking into the collar of his coat, James considered the more practical issue at hand. If he didn't bring the Earl back his target, he would be thrown in prison and would have to face trial for trying to consort with his daughter. He breathed in, his heart beat slowly increasing in speed and groaned, thinking to himself about what he was going to do.

"Man, if I don't bring the Earl what he wants, he'll put me in jail," James moaned, gripping his hair as he looked at the ground.

 

[Heike Eisen]

The smell of his blood. Faintly gracing her nose now. The sweetness of sin in it, the abhorrent made alluring. Enticing, even after she had so soon fed. Like the aroma of a feast to a woman already full; little desire to act upon it, but pleasurable nonetheless.

Aren't all vampires monsters?

The smell. The taste of it, the damnable and euphoric taste of it. The merchant from last night bore witness to her vileness. Him and all the other innocents she, lacking the guilty and the deserving to satiate herself, preyed upon. Heike liked to think of herself as being in a middle ground. She knew well that she was no longer human; she held no delusions about that. But she vehemently distanced herself from them. The other vampires of Arethil.

But that smell, the silent and gnawing hint otherwise.

Heike blinked. Refocused.

What are you hunting anyway?

"A bounty hunter known as The Jackal. A brutal man. Guilty of murder, theft, rape, and torture of the innocent. And I will find him. I will rain down upon him the justice he has eluded for his crimes."

The young man said something else. Something...intriguing. Sparking a grim curiosity.

"He'll put you in jail," Heike repeated. And her brow dropped into an inquisitive slant. This, along with her tone. "Why would this Earl put you in jail."

She watched him. Closely.

 

[James Lanvarok]

James noticed a change in the woman's composure as the blood from his nose. Had she sensed it? Was she about to pounce on him? Lightly dabbing his nose, James swallowed a gulp and took a few steps back, his eyes as wide as frying pans.

"What are you doing? Stay back!" He threatened.

Throwing up a hand, James grabbed the air and combusted it, creating a burst of flames. He flung it at the woman, then jumped back a few meters.

"I don't need a crossbow to burn you to a crisp, bitch," he shook his head and shouted, staring the vampire fearlessly down.

He had never killed before, but was willing to do so if it meant saving his own life. There was a pause, disrupted only by the wind as it blew down the road, throwing James' cloak into a flurry. He held out his hand, the flame hovering above his palm and breathed in, his chest heaving up and down as he beheld the woman. She told him who she was hunting, a bounty hunter who went by "The Jackal." She further elaborated on his crimes, rape, murder torture among other things.

James immediately lowered his hand. His features softened and he waved the fire away.

The woman wasn't a monster after all. In fact, she was the one who hunted monsters like the Jackal, real monsters.

She was just affected by the stigma of her condition.

She was just like James.

"The Earl was full of shit." He scratched his head. "You're not a monster, you're the one hunting monsters like that guy you said," he said, looking dumbly at the ground.

When the woman asked him why the Earl would put him in jail, heat rushed to his cheeks. He recoiled, shrunk into his cloak and looked at his feet like a dog that had just been hit for pissing on the floor. He shifted his eyes, not wanting to answer.

"I asked his daughter to go out with me," he mumbled beneath his breath. His cheeks turned scarlet and he closed his eyes, releasing a heavy sigh.

"I didn't even do anything!" He threw his hands up and yelled.

James sighed. Slumping his shoulders, he reached around and rubbed the back of his neck. The vampire woman was immune to magic, so he couldn't sense her emotions, which was very comforting. Most of the time, other people's emotions drove him nuts, so being around somebody on whom empathy had no effect was nice. "Listen, I don't want to kill you, but I do want to help you hunt the Jackal." A nod, and he walked past the woman, then picked up his crossbow.

"He deserves to die, you don't," James shook his head.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike's calm and level demeanor dropped when she saw the fire manifest in his hand, replaced immediately by an alarm to match the young man's own. And he flung it at her.

She didn't like exerting herself. Spending blood to do so. Many times such exertions were necessary, but whether they were or were not, her thirst was always accelerated by it. By small margin or large, it came back to the same dilemma: she would be forced to feed again--likely on the innocent, for the guilty where a rare commodity--sooner than she otherwise would have.

Here, it was reflex brought on by fear. Necessary or not to dodge the fire, she did it. Heike had learned early on in her affliction the dangers of fire and light. Small incidents. Accidents, trial by error learning in truth. Painful enough to sear them into memory all the way down to a primal level but not lethal enough to render such learnings brief and pointless.

Heike pressed her hand hard to the side of her head to hold her hood in place, and leaped off to her right side in a burst of unnatural speed. Dirt and leaves stirred in the air where once her feet had been. She'd dodged the fire but inadvertently rammed her shoulder and side into a tree in so doing, enough to shatter the outer layer of bark and dredge up the dull, muted pain her affliction allowed for. In another time such an impact would have broken bones; now, for worse more often than better, things were different.

She subconsciously moved to be completely in the shade of the tree, her back pressed to it. Brought her hand to her right shoulder in a poor effort to lightly squeeze the pain away.

And she watched the young man, a glint of caution in her eyes nonexistent before. Insolent and crass he was, once again, but that mattered little. Things had gotten more dangerous for her. She thought previously that she had the unquestioned upper hand in this exchange, that she was in complete control of the tempo of their interaction; foolishness and carelessness, two ways in which one's guard slipped. Now it was readily apparent that he could kill her just as easily as she could kill him.

The impulse to simply flee was enormous, so much so that Heike's leg jerked for a split second in the direction she intended to run. The thought of "It's not worth it" crushed down heavily on her considerations of what she should do, but it did not smother them completely. The young man and his fire magic was volatile and dangerous to her, yes, but a lot of that stemmed from her willingness to stand and talk with him, that she gave even the slightest bit of a damn. He was no hunter, that much was clear, and so--fire or no fire--what might happen to him if he went off on this quest of his? In search of those who had no such willingness?

So Heike decided once more to stay. To answer his question of, What are you hunting anyway? She told him.

And he lowered his hand, extinguishing the magical fire. Heike drew in a breath of air merely to sigh it back out again. A small relief that he'd done away with it, but still, a lingering wariness that he could summon the flame again at a moment's notice. The implication that the Earl (however he'd found out about her) thought her a monster came as no surprise.

The young man mentioned possibly being jailed for something, Heike--her interest piqued and polarized by such a possibility--pressed him on it, and...the answer disarmed her. Heike's hard, inquisitor's gaze fell away immediately, like a house constructed by a poorly skilled carpenter collapsing in on itself. Bewilderment followed.

She had expected something of the usual, much like any crime plucked from The Jackal's own list. Or even a lesser offense, one of a certain moral failing but not necessarily against the law of the land, like infidelity. But...the mere courting of the Earl's daughter. That. That was the reason he'd been sent on pain of imprisonment by this Earl to hunt a vampire.

Heike heard him. Heard the young man say he didn't want to kill her (a further relief) and that he wanted to help her hunt The Jackal. Watched him walk over and collect his crossbow. Acceptable, this proposal; she could perhaps alleviate his woes of coin and help get him out of the mess he'd gotten into.

Still, through all of it, the look of bewilderment persisted at what he'd said. Bewilderment and a budding, distant enmity.

Heike brought the hand from her shoulder and hid it back inside her shawl. Stood clear from the tree on which she'd been pressed up against.

Said, "And what is your name? Mine is Heike Eisen." She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Thought for a second. Added, "I think I would like to have a few words with this "Earl," once our business with The Jackal is done."

 

[James Lanvarok]

James thrust his hand forward, and the spear of flames zoomed past the vampire. With her remaining energy, she dodged it, swerving to the side with unnatural speed. To James, she appeared a blur. He withdrew, mouth agape and jumped backwards, blinking in a panic as he tried to discern where she had landed. Leaves and grass billowed up, clouding his vision.

The dust cleared, and James walked forward.

Brow creased, he approached a tree where the woman had landed and saw her leaning up against it's trunk. She seemed injured, or simply overexerted, as though it had taken her a great amount of strength to dodge the fire.

"Sorry, you spooked me a bit there," he muttered.

It was rare for James to apologize, and he only ever did it towards somebody he respected, and he respected this woman. It had been wrong for the Earl to want her dead, and that man probably had his head so far up his own arse he couldn't tell right from wrong.

James held out his hand, offering for the woman to take it if she needed to do so.

"Thought you were gonna pounce on me or something," he chuckled with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

She asked his name and a pause followed. "James," he said, "James Lanvarok." A slight smile crept onto his features as the woman told him her name.

Heike told James that they would deal with the Jackal, which made him smile again, more widely, this time. He couldn't sense any of her emotions, which was absolutely refreshing. He felt calm and could actually think clearly for once. She then said that they would pay the Earl of the settlement a visit, which cause the end of James' mouth to kink upward, denting his chubby cheek.

"Let's give that son of a bitch what for," James said, an eager snide to his tone. "But I warn you, he's a syphilitic lunatic, the disease will kill him eventually if we don't." An eyebrow raised, he walked past Heike and picked up his crossbow, which he slung around his back.

"Hates vampires and anybody who touches his daughter," he said as he walked down the road.

"Hypocrite," he spat.

 

[Heike Eisen]

James. So it is, then.

He had offered her a hand. A gesture of goodwill and politeness, but one Heike almost as a matter of course declined by hiding her own back inside her shawl. She could have taken his hand; she'd become far more accustomed to her claws, the added length to her fingers inherent in having them, in the five years since her condition. But it didn't matter how many eggs or apples or delicate things she could pick up now without damaging them, still she was wary of the danger. It was akin to having knives strapped to each and every finger. And so she tended to abstain from the risk, however slight it might be, as often as she could.

She walked along beside him, bowing her head some such that the opening of her hood pointed more toward the ground. It would be a while yet before they got back to Elbion, or wherever The Jackal was heading. The timing would be perfect if they came upon him at night.

And Heike listened. James was quite enthused to turn his circumstance concerning the Earl around. The syphilitic Earl. A curling down of her bottom lip, though Heike knew she didn't have the position to judge in that regard. Her affliction acquired through a different means, yes, but it was nonetheless foul as well, speculation on which might be moreso inane. That she let pass with no comment.

But James' next remark turned her head. Heike intended to pursue The Jackal first, and to simply give this Earl a harsh tongue-lashing afterward. The man--at a minimum--flirted with the abuse of his power and station, if he did not regularly perpetrate such abuse. His sense of what constituted an offense, the balancing of "crime" committed to appropriate punishment, and likely a number of other judgmental skills clearly in disrepair. In need of some stern corrective maintenance.

The implications of what James said, however, might well change things. It was evident that the 'hypocrite' part wasn't in relation to the Earl hating vampires; he wouldn't have sent James out to possibly kill one if he was some kind of delusional sympathizer, and it seemed needlessly convoluted to send James on a suicide mission even if the Earl was a sympathizer intent on delivering up some fresh blood to a vampire. So that left...

"Are you saying that this Earl has violated his own daughter?" This, spoken with a keen interest and restrained, flaring hatred.

 

[James Lanvarok]

Heike refused James' hand, and when he looked down, he could see why. Rather than fingers, she had a set of monstrous claws on each hand, which would surely tear his hand to shreds if she took it. He swallowed a gulp and shifted his eyes, accepting her refusal of his gesture.

The two of them walked down the road through the forest. Leaves, carried by a deceased wind, blew from either side, carried in a small hurricane which blew James' hair around. Crossbow in hand, he remained vigilant, combing the undergrowth for the emotions of any enemies nearby. There were a few presences, but they were benign and James paid them no heed.

When James said that the Earl was a hypocrite, Heike expressed a thought of her own, one which made James feel sick.

"W... WHAT?!" He gasped.

He hadn't thought about the possibility of the Earl committing incest, as he wanted to keep his daughter chaste for marriage.

If it was true, then he might just be the first person James wanted to willingly kill.

"No... I..." He stammered, frantically rubbing the back of his neck as he gathered his thoughts. "I said he was a hypocrite because he has syphilis." James nodded assuredly, a weight of dread pulling down on his chest.

"He fucks everything that moves and loses his shit because I ask his daughter out to a dance," he stated, his tone stern. The Earl, whose name was Iva Ambrose, was a depraved lunatic who had his way with every tavern girl and maid in the town, but got angry when some lonely virgin dared approached his daughter.

But now that James thought about it.

"I don't really know if there's incest involved, he wanted to keep Oriana pure for marriage." Rubbing the back of his neck, James raised an eyebrow as he thought to himself. "That's why he was so mad when I approached her." James wasn't the most outstanding person in terms of his behavior, and he knew that, but what the Earl had potentially done to his daughter was one of the worst things he could imagine.

The mere suggestion of it enraged him.

James and Heike walked on, the road winding between trees. Crossbow in hand, James treated as quietly as his weight could allow. They reached the end of the road, where the forest looked out over a spanning field. The breeze, as devoid of life as a corpse, scraped the grass, whistling through every blade like a flute out of tune. Leaves rolled over the hills, clinging to James' ratty hair as the wind pulled them out of the forest where he had emerged with Heike.

"So you got any leads on the Jackal? How far away do you think he is?" James asked, reaching around to scratch his backside.

"I'll be able to sense him once we're near," he informed Heike, revealing to her that he was an empath.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Well. She got that wrong.

"Hmm," her only response as James explained.

Facetiousness aside, Heike recognized that her zealous drive to pursue the guilty was burning a touch too bright once again. First she had assumed the worst about James' jail comment, and now this one. In her efforts to spare the innocent the predations cruelly mandated by her affliction, she was becoming far too quick to ascribe wrongdoing. An executioner gone mad with her headsman's axe. What if she had overheard this, James' description of the Earl and his comment of 'hypocrite' to the same, in a tavern? What would have happened, had there been no elaboration on it as James had done now, and she set out with an ill-formed notion?

A chilling thought, one that made her stutter in her step alongside James. What if she already had jumped to conclusions before?

No. Don't. Heike, don't. Let that thought vanish into the night. What's done is done. Fated, all the world's happenings arranged and ordered and brought to be by the myriad happenings preceding them, and in this there was no changing circumstance, no altering of course--sheer inevitability.

A tiny (and false) comfort in the rationalization.

"A truly despicable man, this Earl, from the sound of it," Heike said. A disdainful smirk, and she added, "Stack shit in a pile as tall as him and I'll warrant it'd be worth more."

Yes. This Earl fit every description James and Heike had labeled him with. But he was not necessarily guilty. A thoroughly unpleasant man even in the most charitable of considerations, of course, but insofar as Heike knew this was the extent of his transgressions, unless he--in fact--forced himself upon those he was promiscuous with; or if he harbored some secret crime that she or James were yet to be made aware of.

She couldn't let her rage run rampant over her sense of justice, to become that mad executioner. To search too hard for a thing sought often led one to find it everywhere. There the madness, she the fallen knight turned executioner. Allowing for all punishments to be deemed permissible on whomever she so chose, whether they be--in her estimation--thoroughly unpleasant like the Earl or just mildly disagreeable like James, would turn her irreversibly into that which she loathed. She would be in league with the monsters of Arethil.

So no. Heike had thought to let James decide who they should pursue--The Jackal or The Earl--as a sincere means to garner trust with him. But, with what James had said of him so far, the Earl was reprehensible, yes, but lacking guilt. A tyrant perhaps, but those with ruling power the world over suffered to some degree the seductive corruption of it. Lacking flagrant crimes over the governed, this Earl was a terrible sovereign certainly, but no criminal. And thus not Heike's business to pursue.

They stepped out from the forest, Heike and James, there at the sharp transition of the treeline and the field. James asked about The Jackal. Good. The Earl was still in for a stern talking, but afterwards.

Heike dipped her head down some, now that there were no trees to block the sun--mostly to her front now. They had been heading in a westerly direction, chasing after the sun in its retreat from the apex of noon. It was going to be difficult as evening got closer and closer; Heike wouldn't be able to look up at all in a couple of hours, her hood the thin and only layer of protection from the daylight, the sun in its sinking crawl constantly trying to peer under it.

"Yes. I have a lead." A pause. "I can smell him."

Having said it, Heike realized how strange and--awkward, frankly--her statement probably sounded. Well...it was the truth of the matter. Like the alluring scent of James' blood, since the subject of smell was at the forefront of mind. Those small portions inside James' nose still and the portions he'd wiped away on his hand.

Stop. Best to just press on.

"I don't know how far he might be. I've no way to tell, or at least I do not think I can. This is all very...new to me." Her chest expanded as she drew in air and deflated in the exhale. "He's heading west. To Elbion, or a place nearby Elbion."

James had also mentioned something of note; sensing The Jackal when they got close. Maybe he knew more than fire magic. The exact means of this sensing, however, escaped her.

"Sense him. How so? Is there something I could do to help?"

 

[James Lanvarok]

James looked to the horizon as Heike thought about his answer. He wasn't entirely sure if there was incest involved or not, but considering Iva Ambrose, a man as depraved as he was secretive, nothing could be certain.

"Iva Ambrose says that he's keeping his daughter chaste for marriage, but you never know. He could be lying." A shrug, and he walked on.

He smirked at Heike's description of the Earl. "At least shit can grow roses."

The two of them walked on. Crossbow in hand, James combed his surroundings for any presence. The forest gave way to vast field, spanning for miles, a gentle breeze pushing the grass over. It whistled, like a final breath escaping the lips of a corpse, it scraped the horizon and sang a shrill, disjointed tune. James huffed. Slumping his shoulders, he loosened his finger on the trigger of his crossbow and reached around to scratch the back of his head.

The blood running from his nose had dried, melding the hairs on his top lip together. He sniffed, scratched his nose and wiped the blood away.

He noticed Heike recoil as she stepped into the sun. He knew vampires were sensitive to natural light, so that must have been why.

She said she could smell the Jackal, and James nodded. "We're about two days from Elbion. We can make it in two if we keep walking."

James wasn't particularly new the area, and had been traveling since he escaped from Vel Anir about a year ago, so he had a good idea of where they were. He knew they could get to Elbion quickly if they kept walking, but then Heike would be exposed to the afternoon sun, which could be a problem. James was also not sure how much more walking he could take himself, as he wasn't exactly physically cut out for that much exertion.

"But if we keep walking the sun could hurt you and I, well..." His words trailed off, and he smirked, "I'm too fat to keep to walking all day."

"I'm an empath," he said when Heike asked how he could sense the Jackal. "I can sense people's emotions when I'm near them, but you're immune to magic, so I can't sense anything from you." With a shrug, he smiled slightly and pressed on, his crossbow ready in his grip.

"Which is pretty refreshing actually." James scratched the side of his head. "Sensing everyone's emotions drives me crazy," he chuckled.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Two days from Elbion. That was a good reckoning...for those who required sleep. The thought disgusted her as soon as it entered her head, how it starkly cleaved her away from the greater whole of humanity, but...it was true. Not even just for reasons pragmatic--her ability to simply cover more ground walking over the course of a single whole day--but true in general. She was separated from the greater whole of humanity. A mocking blow instead of a merciful killing one, delivered by the callous vampiric hands which sacked Reikhurst.

She did not know if The Jackal slept or not. He'd been able to stay ahead of her, whether he did or didn't. Regardless, if she left James behind in order to make for a faster pursuit then the young man would be left with no choice but to go back to doing the vile Earl's bidding. A task of which Heike was absolutely certain would not end well for him.

"Two days," she said. It might well be that The Jackal was returning to Elbion to redeem his contract, having done whatever nefarious thing he had been sent to do at that adventurer's house. Possible, then, that he might stay in Elbion long enough for her and James to catch up. If, might, possible, these were tenuous words Heike didn't particularly like, but this was the best she would be able to do under the circumstances.

But if we keep walking the sun could hurt you... A minute softening and a receptive look crossing her expression, mostly concealed by the bowing of her head and the hood. It was always surprising, pleasantly so these days, when people actually took her well-being into consideration.

"An empath. Oriana must've fancied that." Heike knew she didn't have any room to make judgments, but her wry smile and sardonic humor was reflexive. What she did know was that if Gunther or Maria had been empaths, Heike herself would've found it to be mildly frustrating, with plenty of space for 'mildly' to fester into 'monumentally'. Having one's emotions constantly sensed wasn't quite the same as having one's mind open like a book, but the invasion (albeit inadvertent) was close enough to be discomforting.

Immune was a strong word, but James said his empathic ability gathered nothing from her, so fair enough in this case.

Although, Heike hadn't considered empathy from the opposite side. "I can scarcely imagine what it's like being in a city. Sensing all of that at once."

Back to the task at hand.

Heike shifted, turned such that the sun was to her side and she could afford to look up from under her hood. "As long as direct sunlight doesn't touch my skin, I'll be fine. I can follow behind you when it comes to the point that I must lower my hood such that I cannot see much of anything ahead. We can keep going until you become tired and require rest. I'll keep watch throughout the night."

A pause. And Heike slowly became aware of how that could potentially sound.

"I give you my word, James, that I will not--" Feed. It's the truth. Say it, Heike, "--feed from you while you sleep."