Private Tales Strange tales of Jakub Corvinus

[Jakub]

If there was one thing that Jakub didn't want to do, then it was being caught. Especially while he was climbing on the roof of someone's home with the intent of kidnapping them. He just had to tho, the target in question was a vampire and Jakub had no other means by which to acquire a living test subject. The world wouldn't miss one bloodsucker, right? Jakub thought of this while scaling the building side, climbing onto the roof, and steadily approaching the nearest window available.

It was night-time and vampires didn't require the same amount of sleep as mortals do. It'd be unlikely that Jakub could ambush his target, not without a fight. This only made the situation harder for him, since he couldn't kill the vampire in question. He did come to an ingenious conclusion tho, that he could sedate it. Jakub was trotting a fairly sizable glass cylinder filled with a potent neurotoxin. A large, metallic needle was attached to it and the whole contraption laid strapped to his utility belt, easily accessible at moment's notice.


The house he was trying to assail was fairly sizable, a borderline mansion even. Its owner positioned it on the very outskirts of Amol-kalit's urbanized area. In retrospect, this was probably a smart idea on the vampire's behalf. The location was secluded enough that people wouldn't be snooping around. et it was also close enough to civilization that the leech could pick up victims at its leisure. A bloody smart creature it was, Jakub would make sure to cut its head open and scramble around its brain for a while.


He took a deep breath while nearing the closest window. The damned thing was locked, Jakub had to use force to get in. Jakub quickly wrapped his fist with a piece of cloth, looking to avoid any nasty cuts that'd hinder him on the mission. Winding his arm back, the male released a powerful punch that shattered the window's colorful frame. The glass was sent forward in million pieces, spraying the floor like the colors of a rainbow. Landing on his feet, Jakub had to make sure to avoid any larger, more jagged shards of glass. His boots were made from tough buffalo leather, but he didn't want to take any chances. Jakub was already at a disadvantage and wouldn't allow himself to cut any further corners to his plan.

 

[Raaji]

Raaji looked up at the building in whose garden he was standing. The house was huge, but all the trees and vines, all the ornaments on the building, they gave him good opportunities to climb it up. It was perhaps just not his best idea that he had choosen the night for his undertaking. Normally, Raaji preferred the shelter of the darkness, but in the face of a vampire, that was no longer so much of an advantage.
And there were many other difficulties in trying to kill one, too. The most of which could afford a mansion like this where old and the most of the older ones were skilled in combat, so he had to be carefully. But Raaji would also rather not let it come to a fight. After all, he was no warrior but an assassin.

With quite steps he walked through the garden as he approached the house. He looked for a good spot to start and just as he found one, he deftly climbed up the wall. Raaji was carefully whenever he was near a window, because he wasn't sure if his target had assistents who might be awake. But it was all dark and silent inside as far as he could sense it.

At one of those windows Raaji paused. He squinted in first, checking the inside for activities, but there was nothing to be seen. So his next step was to unlock the window. He could help himself with his ability to manifest, form and move crystals and he did this to open the window from inside as soon as he found out the mechanism behind it. Some forms of crystals grown in a soft clink that Raaji couldn't hear from outside, they moved with his will and pushed the window open. It was quite easy. He could scurry inside now almost noiseless.

Leaving no evidence behind, he closed the window silently again as soon as he jumped in. It was pretty dark inside and the moonlight didn't offered much of light. But it was just enough not to stumble against some stuff here, like side tables or vases.

Raaji sneaked through the corridor, approaching an open door that lead to another room, as he could hear a sudden noise of shattering glas. He flinched and hid behind the wall and besides the door he was just about to enter. What was going on here!? Raaji snatched his daggers before he leaned forward to take a glimpse. He could distinguish a silhouette in the darkness, another person. It looked like he took as well the window to enter the house, but unlike Raaji the person had broken the glass.

But who was he? The person didn't look like his target, this one probably wouldn't have necessarily damaged his own house either. So it had to be someone else. Maybe other people had also sent an assassin after this vampire? Raaji wasn't sure if he should talk to him or continue to observe. But he needed to find out who the person was before he could proceed with his work. Raaji straightened up and stepped forward.

"Hey.", he drew attention to himself, but his voice was not too loud, "Who are you and what are you doing here?", he asked with his dagger up, ready to fight or defend himself.

 

[Jakub]

Jakub shook himself off, removing any glass pieces currently clinging to his attire. Looking up from the floor, he noticed a feminine male. The stranger had one dagger extended towards Jakub, which made the taller man tilt his head sideways. This person wasn't the vampire, nor was it likely that they were an accomplice. The whole situation was brow-raising, to say the least. "Who am I?"

Walking closer, Jakub inspected Raaji. From his superficial observation, he deduced that Raaji wasn't a vampire. None of the features were fitting for a true nosferatu. No gaunt, leathery skin; no claws or fangs; no elongated ears or an accented nose and no glowing eyes. This one had to be a human, albeit strangely dressed for a desert. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that? Since I arrived here first." A small smile curved around the edges of Jakub's lips, betraying his amusing nature.

"Judging by the fact you broke in, you can't be one of the vampire's servants." Jakub chuckled, tightening his leather gloves. Reaching into his pocket, the male retrieved a glass syringe, its cylinder filled with a viscous green liquid. "What am I doing here? Now isn't that the million-dollar question?" He smiled at Raaji, squeezing out some of the liquid from the syringe. Jakub was calibrating the perfect amount required to sedate his target without killing it. "Since you are also an intruder, I see no point in trying to hide my intentions from you."

The green liquid hit the wooden boards below their feet, causing them to sizzle lightly while emitting a foul smell. It was a toxic substance, potent enough to tranq an animal weighing hundreds of kg, much less something the size of a human. "I've come here to drug the house owner, kidnap them and then experiment on their body. They are a vampire and I need a test subject; currently trying to develop a cure for their affliction." Jakub quickly reverted his attention to Raaji, swaying his head from side to side. "And let me guess. You came here to slit their throat and take their belongings, something along the lines of that?" Placing a finger to his lips, Jakub shrugged. "I don't care if you sack their house, it doesn't hurt me."

Raaji

 

[Raaji]

This man was taller than average, but that didn't intimidate Raaji much. Tall people were also generally more sluggish in their movements. And Raaji had already killed various people, some taller than him, like orcs. Not that he had any intention of killing this one, he had no reason to. But Raaji might had to defend himself, it depended on how the stranger behaved. As the person approached him he kept his guard up.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that? Since I arrived here first."

Raaji doubted that. AWhen he had heard the glass shatter, he was already inside, which meant that this man had appeared after him. Unless the stranger had already been inside and broke the window from within the room, but Raaji doubted that as well. It did not matter. They both didn't seem to belong here. The one who would have to ask that question was the vampire itself.

"Judging by the fact you broke in, you can't be one of the vampire's servants."

"The same applies to you.", he responded with a calm voice and unchanged features. Raaji didn't liked how the man inspected him or how he smiled. But he liked even less what he pulled out of his pocket. The green colour already made it more than clear that the substance was very likely toxic.

Raaji watched him very vigilantly as the other man messed around with the cylindric container and as something dripped onto the floor. The liquid even visibly and audibly did damage to the wooden floor, Raaji didn't wanted to know what the man was up to with it. If it corroded wood, what would it do to a living being? His nostrils twitched as he smelled the stench.

"Since you are also an intruder, I see no point in trying to hide my intentions from you."

Raaji looked at him with a sceptical glance. He wasn't sure if the man would use whatever poison was in his hand against him as soon as he would have the opportunity. His whole demeanour was anything but trustworthy.

"I've come here to drug the house owner, kidnap them and then experiment on their body. They are a vampire and I need a test subject; currently trying to develop a cure for their affliction."

Raaji snorted. That sounded weird. He wanted to drug the vampire with this acid? And he wanted to do what? Experiments? Raaji shook his head slightly at the word 'test subject'. The only positive thing about it was that he wanted to do it to find a cure. It admittedly confused Raaji a little and he didn't know how to feel about it now. He could not claim that this vampire was innocent. There was a good reason why they had put an assassin on him. Nevertheless, Raaji did not support cruelty. And experiments sounded a lot like it.

"You put quite a lot of effort into it. Have you done your research before entering this house? This vampire is quite old and not to understimate.", he remarked and lowered slowly his dagger, so to show that he was not necessarily hostile to him.

"And let me guess. You came here to slit their throat and take their belongings, something along the lines of that?" Placing a finger to his lips, Jakub shrugged. "I don't care if you sack their house, it doesn't hurt me."

"I am not interested in material things.", he responded, "But you're right with the other assumption."

Raaji took a deep breath. "I need him dead. But I can imagine cooperating with you. As long as I know that he will die when your experiments are over."

Jakub

 

[Jakub]

"You certainly raise a valid point, but there is no going back now, not for me at least." Cracking his neck, unwinding it to relieve stress and promote healthy blood flow, that was what he did to prepare himself for the upcoming conflict. Things were only going to get messier from this point. "I am sure that whoever hired you has their reasons for it, but my cause has far more weight behind it, both logically and emotionally." The brown-haired male gripped his glass cylinder tightly, reversing it into an ice pick grip. His thumb was positioned atop the injection piston, allowing him to empty the syringe's rancid load in one go.

"One dead leech doesn't mean much in the long run. But the ability to permanently cure the affliction we collectively call 'vampirism'? Now that's one hell of an achievement." Jakub's eyes gave off a sinister glint and he chortled, a deep, with a burst of menacing laughter escaping from the pit of his belly.

"Think about it. When there is a rat infestation, what do you do? Do you go around killing individual rats? Of course, you don't, only a fool would do that. Instead, you remove their food sources, destroy their hiding spots, you take away their ability to multiply rapidly. And when they can no longer replenish their numbers so easily, BAM, that's when you strike." Jakub's eyebrows suddenly slopped into a serious expression, he wasn't looking at Raaji anymore, but past him.

"Speaking of the devil...." Surely enough, the pair could hear a low, inhuman growl coming from the room's darkest corner. A pair of glowing yellow orbs hungrily peering at them. Their owner emerged slowly, revealing itself as a creature of unholy glory, with looks so revolting that they could drive a grown man fleeing in terror. It was undoubtingly humanoid in shape, but that was the end of its resemblance to a human. Its face was hideous, with grey, leathery skin, elongated ears, oversized forehead, and an atrophied, bat-like nose.

It snarled at them, sniffing the air with its almost non-existent olfactory organ. The vampire was swift to extend a pair of clawed hands forward. No, calling them hands would be too kind. They were talons, sporting claws long enough to perforate a human torso.


Raaji

 

[Raaji]

"I am sure that whoever hired you has their reasons for it, but my cause has far more weight behind it, both logically and emotionally."

Raaji smirked a bit. Wow, this fellow was sure quick to judge without knowing much about his intentions at all. While it was true that Raaji was an assassin, he hadn't mentioned the fact with a single word. But it was usual for people to think assassins would just kill when they have been tasked to do so, as if they had no conscience and will of their own, as if only the one who hired them could have reasons.

Raaji refrained from correcting him. He had not come here for discussions and he already offered him his help, so there was no point in debating about who had the weightier motives. For a second, his eyes swifted down to the man's hands. He didn't particularly liked what the stranger was doing with the glass container. It looked a little like he was getting ready to strike with it. It did not give a friendly impression, rather Raaji expected to become a target himself at any moment.

"One dead leech doesn't mean much in the long run. But the ability to permanently cure the affliction we collectively call 'vampirism'? Now that's one hell of an achievement."

"I don't care about your reasons and you don't have to justify yourself. Just tell me if he dies at the end of your experiments or not.", he responded.

"Think about it. When there is a rat infestation, what do you do? Do you go around killing individual rats? Of course, you don't, only a fool would do that. Instead, you remove their food sources, destroy their hiding spots, you take away their ability to multiply rapidly. And when they can no longer replenish their numbers so easily, BAM, that's when you strike."

"Geez, you sure talk too much. This is not the time nor the place to get philosophic. The longer we stand around talking, the sooner the vampire will notice us.", Raaji replied in an slowly impatient tone. He didn't cared for the vampirism nor was this the reason why he was here. He only needed that one particular person dead, not all the vampires out there.

"Speaking of the devil...."

Raaji sighed. That's what they got now. He did notice the presence just as the stranger mentioned him. Raaji tightened his grip on his dagger and turned around to where he could hear the strange noise. And he could now see the shape emerging from the darkness.

"I'll try not to kill him but I can't promise you th-.", Raaji said to the stranger in a low tone but got interrupted. The vampire dashed forward without warning. Raaji manifested a wall of diamond which shot out of the ground. It did not yet gain enough strength when the vampire bumped into it and so it shattered with a clang - but it slowed the monster down enough that it did not immediately hit its new fellow but stumbled for a moment. With an angered screech, it reared back and lunged with its claws to attack the larger man.

Jakub

 

[Jakub]

The vampire moved with unexpected and blinding speed. No normal human could replicate such fast-paced movements. Its supernatural quickness was almost uncanny. Jakub had a small window of time to apply one enchantment rune to his speed and one to his durability. First allowed him to dodge the attack, but just barely. It still nicked his skin, giving him a shallow cut across the chest. Jakub increased his durability to prevent muscles and tendons from tearing when making such sharp, sudden accelerations.

But the leech was relentless. Reaching down, it grabbed a fistful of broken crystals, crushing them into small fragments within its unholy grip. It threw these fragments at the pair who assailed its home, hoping to temporarily distract; if not outright blind them. A dirty creature it was, full of tricks and foul play. Jakub made sure to raise both arms in front of himself, trying to protect his face. Gods knew that if any of those sharp, jagged pieces got into his eyes, he'd be crying fucking blood within minutes.

There wasn't a whole lot that he could do tho, not when the vampire decided to punch him in the ribs; an experience he'd describe as most uncomfortable. Its fist dug into his flesh and if it hadn't been for Jakub's reinforcement magic, his ribs would've been pulverized under the pressure. Jakub tried to grab the vampire, to stab it with the sedatives, but it slipped away from him amidst the cloud of crystalline particles.

Raaji