Open Chronicles The Wolf and The Bat

[Rose]

Rose slowly nodded, biting her lip as she took this all in. A plan then. She had something she could do to pull herself through this. That was a welcomed first.

"Thanks I'll... be sure to do that."

She grinned up at him, relief leaving her light and giddy for the first time .... a year? 10 months? How long had it been, anyway?

"Soo... now that I got you here... you don't happen to mind buying me a mug of milk, do you?" She pulled out a deck of cards, eyes twinkling playfully.

"Joking! Let's play."

 

[Rose]

The night was growing late and even Rose looked tired. The dining room had slowly trickled out to a few late night drinkers and the steady fast presence of the tender cleaning glasses behind the bar. The bags under Rose's eyes had grown to deep hallows, her cards slipping from her hand as Ishar played his winning move.

"No far, you're using magic," she accused, though there was no power to the statement. No true grudge. Just sleepiness and the stubborn disposition to pretend she wasn't.

 

[Ishar Morrad]

"Were that the case I would have been killed long ago." His face was grim as he said it, though that really wasn't too far from his usual expression so it was likely that Rose wouldn't even notice.

Card games were not common in the Blight.

Most forms of entertainment had something to do with training in a way, especially among the Templar. Cards existed of course, but most of the time people preferred to play a game of stones or chess, hone the mind rather than relying on luck. Then again perhaps Ishar was just misremembering.

It had been a long time since he'd been a common soldier. Cards were a soldiers game. That and dice.

"Cheating is frowned upon in the Blight." He explained. "More than stealing.

Stealing could be done out of desperation. Cheating? That required real intent.

 

[Rose]

Rose had the manners to look abashed, sitting up. "I was thiiiiirsty," she reasoned, as if that had been a nudge at her.


"How are we suppose to make money, anyway? It's not like anyone will have us." She blew a wayward curl out of her face, the frizzy mess spilling over her shoulders.

 

[Ishar Morrad]

He blinked for a second. "There are many ways to make money...though it won't be needed for some time."

Ishar had always know that his stay in this village would be a short one. The moon would turn soon, and when that happened he needed go be far away from any sort of civilization. The beat within would slaughter anything living. Something that he'd learned the first time he'd turned. A shiver ran up his spine at the memory, his head shaking for a moment as he did his best to dispel it.

"Your best bet is hunting game." That was what he'd been doing anyway. "You'll be faster than most animals, plus your... Other skills. Catch a dear, a boar, either carry it whole or skin it and take the meat to the nearest village."

A frown touched his lips then he glanced at her. "Say your father sent you. Places like this will always buy food."

Just had to go know how to haggle.

 

[Rose]

Rose crinkled her nose, thoroughly perturbed. "You mean, like, kill it?" There was something innocent about the way her voice squeaked, distraught over the thought.

"Why can't I just.. catch them and bring them back? People like exotic pets, right? Rich ones, at least," she reasoned, eyes wide and urging him to agree.

 

[Ishar Morrad]

He blinked.

A vampire who did not want to kill. Interesting, though sadly futile. Perhaps she had not yet experienced the hunger that came with her plight. Fingers tightened for a moment and Ishar took in a.breath. "You're on the wrong side of the Spine for that sort of thing."

His voice was less gruff than usual, though nowhere near soft.

A sigh escaped him.

"Plants." He said cryptically. "I don't know them, but apothecaries, doctors, researchers will buy the right ones."

Plants and herbs were commonly traded for silver and gold in the Blight. He imagined it was similar elsewhere.

 

[Rose]

Rose frowned, looking over her shoulder to the door, as if the plants lied just beyond her line of sight.

"You... know a lot about doing this surviving stuff," she noted, almost reverent. She swallowed in trepidation. "Okay, but like. Imma have to steal a herbology book then and... you can't stop me."

I mean, he could. But the look she gave him implored him not to, almost asking permission to do this bad thing without another scuffle in the bathroom hall.

"I can bring it back later?"

 

[Ishar Morrad]

"You could ask." He stated simply.

It was an option that she simply may not have considered before. Ishar knew very little of her background, and in truth he wanted to keep it that way.

The former Templar Captain wasn't exactly in the habit of picking up strays.

He felt bad for the girl, sure, but he wasn't looking for a surrogate daughter. He could help her for a few days, but after that he would change...his lips thinned for a few seconds as he considered just what he would go through again. It was a dreadful experience, the cracking of bones, reshaping his skin.

The thought along sent goosebumps up his spine.

"Give them your reasons and they may tell you what you need to find." He informed her. "Do that then you can buy what you need for more."

He breathed quietly, pressing darker thoughts away. "You would do best not to antagonize people."

 

[Rose]

She frowned, her brows pulling in. Clearly, she had not thought of that before. But it was an intriguing thought. Where would she find such a book, anyway? Was she even moving in the right direction?

...Where was she?

She huffed softly at his last words, sitting up straighter and regathering her cards.

"I don't try to agitate people. Anyway, better to be annoying than deadly, don't you think?" She asked the question innocently enough, though her gaze flickered up to him when she did so, catching his reaction.

 

[Ishar Morrad]

"At least with the latter you don't have to worry about dying yourself." His voice was a grumble.

That was the attitude in most of the Blightlands: kill or be killed.

Ishar had always fallen on the line of killing rather than beng killed. That was just logical. He didn't want to die...well not until recently anyway. Death had always been something to fight against. Now, now things were different for him. Was it the same way for her? He frowned for a second and decided not to ask.

"You have to avoid attention." He went on. "It's the only way you'll survive."

Her kind were abhorred everywhere, even with the distant hill tribes.

 

[Rose]

"But how can I avoid attention if I'm going around asking to borrow books?" She countered bluntly, her chin raising almost stubbornly.

He sure did conflicting advice, all moral one moment, then not the next.

 

[Ishar Morrad]

He sighed. "You go close to dusk, say you're looking for work finding herbs. No one will ask too much. "

A frown touched his face.

"I will teach you the basics." Ishar was certain that he could manage that. "Widows leaf, Heavens fern, enough that you'll at least appear to know the basics."

Even if she didn't. "It's that or you survive on rabbits in the dark caves of the mountains with no contact what so ever."

A rather grim fate.

 

[Rose]

She grimaced, actually pulling back from the suggestion.

"I'd sooner let someone kill me," she replied vehemently. Her nose crinkled and she worked her jaw, just imagining the taste that would linger in her mouth after an animal like that... she shuddered, looking away.

"...I'll ask people," she allotted, bending to his logic. Slowly, she turned to glance up at him, almost apprehensive as she asked, "...You'll really help me with it?"

 

[Ishar Morrad]

He didn't like it. He wasn't one to pick up strays. Even with the Templar he'd never liked taking in refugees. People were a drain of resources, people who couldn't fight or refused to were a waste within the Blightlands. Out here though...wasnt it different?

Most importantly wasn't he different?

As much as he wanted to deny it Ishar was no longer a Captain within the Blightlands Templar. He was not leading men anymore, he was not hunting monsters or beating back the tide of Orcs. He was just a man, no...worse, a werewolf, not even a man anymore. Something so much worse.

He frowned.

"Yes." The word was hard to say for some reason.

 

[Rose]

A genuine smile cracked across her features, her eyes alight. She nodded at this in wordless appreciation, remaining outwardly pleased even as the moment passed.

"Soooo... whatcha planning on doing heeeere theeeen... Got a room?" She asked with a poor attempt at nonchalance.

 

[Ishar Morrad]

His frown deepened.

"You can sleep on the floor." Ishar said the words as he pushed himself up and away from the table, apparently not very pleased about the fact that he now had a stray cat following him around.

It was his own fault, he knew that of course, but still.

The former Templar didn't motion for the girl to follow, but presumably she would. A part of him was still thinking about killing her, saving her from a life of misery and saving her victims the same...but he couldn't even kill himself.

Who was he to make that judgment now?

 

[Rose]

"Thank you!" She chirped, at his side at an instant as he pushed his way towards his room. Her bag clinked with spare personal objects as she adjusted it on her back, not even her hood brought up as she walked with a slight skip besides him.

This was a turn of events she hadn't seen coming. She didn't think hard on it, too relieved to have gained his favor and naively trusting the extended hand he offered her. It had been some time since someone had shown her kindness. It's bolstering effect on her remained clear as day as he stopped at his door and went for the keys. She hummed a little tune to herself, waiting patiently.

 

[Ishar Morrad]

The room beyond was of course nothing to speak of really.

A bed with his things, a desk, and then a wash basin with a mirror in the corner. There was a window which looked upon the townsquare and the mountains in the distance, through Ishar had drawn the curtains before he'd gone into the common room. With just a few strides the former Templar grabbed one of the blankets off the bed and threw it at Rose.

"Here."The bed was his though.

He hadn't been able to sleep in a bed for...well months now. It was why he'd come here in the first place, why he was risking half this village. He justed needed a small moment of comfort, just the slightest bit before he turned.

If only because he wanted it.

 

[Rose]

She caught the blanket, shoving it into her face and taking a deep breath.

She hummed to herself, her pack dropping to her feet as the darkness abruptly swallowed her. And that would be that, at least from her. He wanted the bed, she wanted a room. And now she had a blanket. She was happy to lay herself out in privacy and give him his peace. See. She wasn't annoying.

She would be visible and sleeping soundly in a corner by morning.

 

[Ishar Morrad]

Ishar did not sleep so soundly.

Sleep had never come easily to him, and now that he'd been turned things were much worse.

Most every night he had terrors of some sort. Nightmares were a common occurrence, and almost always he could feel himself waking up with only the barest breath. Sleep did not come easily, and when it did...Ishar wasn't sure it was even worth it. The bed helped of course, but by the time dawn rolled around Ishar wasn't entirely sure if he'd had a good night's sleep or not.

He lay there, blinking, staring up at the ceiling and stewing in his own misery.

That was his life, and he doubted it would change now that he'd picked up a stray.

 

[Rose]

She woke at her own pace, any large amount of movement from him enough to drive her to sit up blinking. She glanced around in confusion for a moment then fell back, letting out a content sigh.

"....Mmmmmorning." She stretched, blocking the sun from her face with a slight hiss. "Whattimeisit?"

 

[Ishar Morrad]

"A bit after dawn." Ishar commented dryly, pulling himself out of bed unceremoniously.

He had never been one to wait, and before Rose could get up the werewolf stepped over her and in front of the ashing basin. Hands dipped into freezing cold water and splashed on his face. A deep breath filled him, and the nightmares that had been dwelling in his mind were banished.

For now at least.

"I'll teach you the herbs today." He told her. "While I'm hunting."

She wouldn't like that, but it didn't particularly matter. "Then you'll sleep here for the night."

While he got as far away from this place as possible.

 

[Rose]

"Sobright,sobright," she could be heard complaining under her arm and the blankets. She rolled away from him, wrapping herself up thoroughly in the blanket before coming to a stop in the middle of the room and sitting up like a cocooned caterpillar.

In the daylight her skin was disturbingly ashen. Sick, her appearance screamed, the vampire blinking sleepily up at the werewolf.

And then she perked, catching his words. "Really? Thanks!" She flailed against her self-inflicted cocoon for a moment before surrendering to it in a lazy bout.

"...Now?"

 

[Ishar Morrad]

"Now." Ishar confirmed.

The daylight would burn away quickly, and Ishar knew from experience that the rumor of Vampires being unable to walk in the sun was nothing but lies. He had no idea where it came from, though people on the west lands were usually the ones to spread it. They were foolish of course, making the creatures out to be far more than they actually were.

Bad practice that.

"The earlier you learn the better." Mostly because it meant he could leave the area sooner. He didn't want to stay around and risk getting caught up in something, he was already cutting it close now. "Plus some of the flowers bloom only in the morning."

He was making that up, but perhaps it would get her moving a bit faster than before.