Private Tales Savior in black-clad

[Lilette Blackbriar]

The last vestiges of red-tinged sunlight crawled across the rooftops much like the afternoon shadows had hours before. Most of those shadows had since overtaken the city high up where torchlight could no longer reach, leaving the birds to nest and the smaller bats to replace their chirps with the beating of leathery wings and the feintest of squeaks as they began hunting what few insects made their home in the cool air of night.

The larger breed of bats however, would wait for bigger prey.

Like her proverbial kin, Lilette had perched herself atop a ledge part way up one of the many towers overlooking this part of the city, nestled among the intricate carvings and statues that told of the city's ancient history. History that, despite her best efforts, Lilette may even join some day. Though few as of yet, sightings of "The Black Knight" who once terrorized the streets of Vel Anir had recorded here in Ragash, and rumors of a Black-clad spirit were circulating once again.

It was inevitable. She had to feed, and little vials collected from her patients by day could only hold her so long.

But if she could recognize just one thug down there- or better yet a murderer or gang leader- someone whose death tonight would be a service to the city, then she could sate the thirst for far longer and feel good doing it.

That's what kept her going, really, what allowed her to wait so patiently up there while watching the people below. Just a few more minutes, and she could indulge the hunger under cover of darkness and then return to her life as if nothing had ever happened. Continue her research as if she were just another elf living among these people, doing her part for the community.

By Astra, her stomach hurt...

Caits

 

[Caits]

"Shite!"
In all of the places in all the wide world Caits found himself this might be the worst of it yet and from the looking Sweeney's eye and the hold he had on Caits' shoulder he was beginning to believe this might be the last of it too.
"Where is it?"
The goons voice was deep and rough but to Caits the scariest part wasn't the large and imposing Sweeney but the substantially shorter and meaner partner Sweet. Who said little but smiled a lot, not a happy mirthful smile but a dead thing that clung to his face like spider on a stone wall.
"Where's whah?"
Plea ignorance and you just might live longer, words Caits' lived by.
For his effort he received a very painful punch to his guts which brought bile to the back of his throat.
"The Letter!"
So they know about the letter. Feck.
Trying to think of a convincing lie failed him. Maybe it was the look in Sweet's eye or the heaving feeling in his stomach after getting his rocks pushed in.
"I donnae know o' no letter!"
Thrown to the ground and kicked was never a good way to have a conversation but Sweeney did it to Caits anyway. Now on the hard earth in this dusky alley with no hope of help Caits tried to do what any self respecting thief would.
He begged, hard.
"Aw please fellas, Ah swares I dunnae know nout bout no letter. Don' hit me agane!"
Covering his face best he could he waited for Sweeney's kicks to come hard and fast but they didn't. Instead only footsteps. A peek instantly regretted told him Sweet was about to take a turn and drew Sweet then from his pockets his sharp things used to hurt and bleed truth from a victim.
Caits tried to scramble away.
"No!"
Sweeney's boot stood on his back and under the great weight of the large man he could not move.
"Oh gods..."
Caits said to anyone that was listening.
"Help me!"

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

A plea for aid from the gods had become something of a regularity in Lilette's life. Not on her own account necessarily, but it was often heard on the lips of strangers, either those in need or those about to meet them.

To hear such please at this hour, however, was rare. It could only mean one thing.

They filled her pointed ears from an impossible distance, the young bat-kin having tuned out all other senses to better locate it's source until finally her eyes opened, snapping in the direction of the cries. Her body followed next, carrying her with great speed down the tower, fingers hooking into every crevice as she steadily dropped story after story until she could finally bound across the rooftops.

It wouldn't be long before the source was discovered; three men, all looking as if they led rough lives. Two rougher than most, and preparing to toy with the third in that sick way that too many humans did.

Well, she had seen enough.

A sudden clattering of steel would herald her arrival as the Black armored warrior landed in the alley behind the three, white hair settling gently over her shoulders like a cloak of moonlight as she stood.

She took slow, but confident steps towards them, wordlessly sizing up her mark with silver eyes that shone just a little too brightly in these shadows. It didn't take long to deduce that they were of little threat to her, certainly while she wore this armor. What few gaps could be found were not likely to be lethal, not to her at least.


In one fell swoop, as if pulling it from the shadows themselves, A hulking blade materialized in the warrior's hands. It was an uncanny thing, inhuman in it's size and weight, being wider than it's wielder's own waste and longer than she was tall, though styled as if it belonged to a hero of legend from an age of humanity's ancient and forgotten lore.

And heavy as it was, The wielder still swung with a great speed and ferocity that nearly cleaved the 'smiling one' in two, showering the cobblestone in brick fragment from the gash in that nearby wall, which took some effort to wrench her blade from.

Then she turned to the larger of the two men, hefting her sword onto her shoulder, ready to take another swing if given cause.

"I ask thee free this man of thine clutches, and leave this place, never to return again."

Caits

 

[Caits]

"Hmmmm!"
Sweeney's size and demeanour belied a cunning mind. He was not fool enough to take on one so we'll prepared to fight.
Not alone anyway.
Sweet moved first, a trained executed move designed to kill quickly. The long thin blade seemed to appear in his hand as he made a straight lunge for the dark warriors throat.
He had taken lives with this as carelessly as a child might kick a stone down a hill.
Sweeney made his move afterwards, straight for Caits as if he had already considered the interloper dead.

Caits for his part tried to stand but he was still feeling the blow to his stomach. A hunched crawl was all he managed.
This figure who appeared, he was hoping would allow him a quick escape.
If he could only make it to the main street.

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

"Hngh!" Lilette was quick to drop the blade from her shoulder, putting it in between herself and 'Sweet' the moment he stepped forward. Luckily the blade was wide enough to be used like a small shield when held in front of her.

Sweet's blade was deflected to the side, glancing across her upper breastplate and piercing the flesh of her shoulder right under her pauldron, immediately drawing blood.

Lilette would not leave the blow unanswered, however.

She would quickly snatch the man's wrist almost soon as the knife found it's mark, squeezing with an inhuman grasp that could easily break bone given more time, however she was in a hurry. Instead, she would twist his arm away from herself in an attempt to disarm him before slamming both his wrist and the edge of her blade together.

Regardless of the result, this would be followed by a sudden pull designed to throw her opponent to the floor so that she could focus on getting Caits away from the larger fellow.

She may have been a monster, but she had priorities.

 

[Caits]

Sweet was sent to the ground hard. Seemingly unprepared for his enemies strength though still he smiled and there he lay unconscious. While his thin blade landed beside him.

Sweeney saw this and reevaluating his position backed away from the armoured warrior.
"Okay lady. You win."
His hands raised passively.
"But he's marked, see? Dead man walking. The Wanton Hand has it out for him."
The large man backed up again and then turned to run.

Caits meanwhile had made it some way towards the main street, he didn't look back and he didn't care who won as long as he could get away. His belly still hurt but hey, at least he could still feel pain.

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Lilette was quick to kick the blade away as she turned to face Sweeney, her piercing stare being the only warning to step away from their hostage.

Though she would have liked to ask about this "wanton hand" and the origin of this commotion, the man's choice to turn and run was an acceptable outcome all the same. Though Caits' choice, even if understandable, was less desirable. Even so, she had a degree of privacy now, and a prisoner of her own.

She'd have to track Caits down after.

For now, retrieved sweet's blade, using her abnormal strength to slowly bend it around the unconscious man's wrists, securing him to a nearby post that she could feed, and perhaps come back for him later.

She would lift her helm just enough to drink from the man's wound, taking a little more than usual.

Lilette stopped herself just short of killing him, realizing that she'd lose her one chance at consistent feeding if he somehow died. So, she reluctantly slid her helmet on again, bandaging the man's wound and parting from the alley.

Now she was tracking the runaway Caits , searching for blood, tracks in the sand, anything to pick up his trail again. After all, whatever mess he had gotten himself into could lead her to Sweeney's employer, allowing her to clean up the street's of Ragash and perhaps discover a new source from which to feed.

 

[Caits]

"Aw cock, aw bawbags an shite-hawks!"
Finally up and running Caits pegged it through the lamplit streets of Ragash hoping to find refuge, a tavern still open, an alley to hide in hell's at this point he would take a mysterious hole in the ground.
Who was that dark armoured person?
How did they lift that stupidly big sword?
What did they want with him?
The last one he figured was about the letter though. If he had only said no, if he had only just walked away but the shine was too good.
He cursed money, cursed his poverty and his greed.
The hell's is even in that letter?
After what was only a few moments but felt like an eternity to his lungs he came to a suitably dark corner alley with a very handy stack of firewood next to it which he ducked behind.

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

It wasn't blood nor tracks that clued in the vampire, but Caits ' panicked expletives. During the day it would have been difficult to track by sound alone, the cacophony of mortal lives all around drowning out the finer details. But at night while the streets were empty, lone voices- hushed as they may be- were now clear.

Her boots clacked against the dusty cobblestone as she neared the source, slowing into a cautious pace as she scanned the area, nearly walking passed whatever street her query had stumbled into.

And yet, she stopped. Taking a few steps back, she turned towards the alley where she had spied a stack of firewood. It would have been a fine hiding spot most nights, barely recognizable if not for the feintest sliver of moonlight, but the dark knight had her suspicions anyway.

"Be not afraid," She spoke in a soft voice. Almost too soft for one who carried such a blade.

"I require not thine harm. Only to speak- and perhaps- to observe"

 

[Caits]

The hell's kind of thing is that to say?
"Aye, I'm sure ye just wannae chat and geh som' tee."
Caits knew the game was up but he wasn't about to just surrender to this person. Who dresses in all black armour with a sword that big and wanders about at night. Bounty Hunters, that's who.
Or worse.
He decided he'd rather not think about the fishing town of werewolves.
But he didn't know what to do.
"I, I need yer word?"
He didn't usually ask for such assurances but he couldn't escape and he couldn't fight so he had his words.
"Yer word thah ya willnae harm me!"

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Lilette would tilt her head to the side, a little frustrated that her inefficiency in communicating with, well, everyone really.

"If thou'rt planning not to stab me, unlike the last, than yes" She half chuckled.

Then, deciding that perhaps body language would be more effective, she laid her sword aside, and sat down amidst the alley as if about to meditate. She even removed her satchel, sliding forward for the stranger to check if he wished.

"Potions, all for healing in varied fashion. I'd hoped to check thine wounds afore parting ways, though I imagine such trust is difficult on a night like this"

Then she raised her gauntleted hands up, enough to show that they were empty and to keep them within the man's line of sight should he decide to come out and make conversation.

"On my honor... As both a Knight and Doctor, I mean thee no harm so long as thou abstain in kind"

Caits

 

[Caits]

"Why wood aye stab ye? WHERE wood aye stab ye ya big black turtle lookin thing ye?"
Caits leaned his head back and looked up at the very dark sky. He waited a whole thirty beats before finally saying.
"Alrigh,"
And got up out of his hiding spot to face the sitting but still menacing form of the black armoured figure.
There he held up his arms.
"See? I'm fine. No harm done."
Was not fine. He felt like Sweeney's fist was still in his gullet and the taste of bile was getting worse in his mouth. Also those stars were new, where they always there?
How abouuuuuuh hoose....
Caits mind slowed to a crawl and he fell over, hitting the ground like an empty wet sack.
"Feck..." he said weakly through his spittle.

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

"I... I see" She chuckled. He had a point, after all. If he hadn't any experience fighting armored foes than her defenses would certainly appear impenetrable, so now they had a mutual understanding: Nobody would try anything funny.

"See? I'm fine. No harm done."

The armored figure eyed him carefully as he emerged from hiding, and immediately saw that something was wrong, though what was still in question, at least until she caught something about his eyes. It was a dazed look she had seen before, either in a drunkard or someone who'd been hit over the head in battle, the latter of which she was all too familiar with now.

When he abruptly fell, Lilette was already leaping to her feet, and now rushing to his side.

"Thou'rt not fine!" She scoffed in surprise, and for a brief moment, forgot her motive for finding him. For now, it was all just a doctor's instinct.

"Oh dear... can thou hearest my voice still?"

 

[Caits]

His eye was everywhere and nowhere.
Was he able to see?
The dark figure had a woman's voice. Now he knew he was in trouble.
"Aye, ah thnk shoooo!"
His words came slowly like tar through a straw.
The word wouldn't stop spinning. Why was that?
He had been hit before and this never happened.
"Ah... feeel..... unwelllll!"

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

The dark figure dropped to her knees beside him, dragging her satchel of potions and tools along as she examined him. Ashen hair draped over her shoulders as she leaned over him, and silver eyes shone like moonlight in that dim alley, but even behind the blackened steel, one might see the worried expression in them. They could almost be mistaken for an innocent maidens, if not for the carnage that heralded their encounter.

"I don't understand... I don't see any serious wounds to the skull-"

Lillete would tilt her head in thought before a foreboding thought passed, causing her to release a cold, sharp breath.

"Gods, did they- would thine foes resort to poison...?"

She immediately grabbed a lightweight antidote of her own making, and began searching for any cuts or punctures in his clothing that might lead her to a wound from which poison might have entered.

"Hark and listen carefully; I can fix thee of some venoms or common poisons, but I must know for certain. Hath thee any wounds, bleeding or open, from which I could test for such malady?"

Caits

 

[Caits]

There was in fact an small drop of blood on Caits' tunic. Almost hidden in the fabrics well crusted dirt. Underneath a small pinprick where Sweeney had punched Caits in the guts could be found.
A regular doctor might have missed it but for Vampiric senses, even in the dark of the alley it was clear as day. Caits' eye rolled back in his head and bile leaked from his lips which he lazily began to cough on.
"Ghlugh... gaghh!"
Weakly his hands reached up and found purchase on her arms. He was clawing for help. Unable to ask for it anymore but the desperation of his actions was plain.

Lilette Blackbriar

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Lilette winced. It was clear to her now that this man didn't have much time now, and while she would have preferred a more thorough examination, it may already be too late.

"Alright... drink" She held the bottle to his lips, holding his head up carefully as not to choke him with it nor his own bile.

It was a dark liquid, and bitter, though it would certainly taste better than whatever he was coughing up at the moment. It was only enough to weaken some snake venoms and other common poisons, but it wouldn't be enough if it affected the bloodstream directly, in which case resorting to a partial feeding might be the best answer.

It was with this realization in mind that she removed one of her gauntlets, taking up that singular drop of blood on the tip of her pale, slender finger.

Perhaps it might unsettle the man, to see her lift the mask to expose her lips, and taste the blood for herself, but it would at least tell her more about his condition than waiting might.

Caits

 

[Caits]

He drank, then coughed, then drank some more.
Gods blood it was foul.
He felt like retching but didn't have the strength.
Closing his eyes against the dizziness he didn't know what this dark clad stranger was doing but he hoped it wasn't taking his stuff.

The poison was common enough but dangerous. Death was not always certain but it kept you weak. It came from a scorpion commonly called a dune hag. A yellow creature the size of a human hand with red markings on its back.
It was in his bloodstream already and would keep him in this state for a day if it didn't kill him.

Still he clawed at Lilette for help. He wanted to live.

Lilette Blackbriar