Fable - Ask Winter

[Heike Eisen]

Heike stayed up on her perch on the tree branch. Watched with no small amount of relief as the blue-eyed swordsman gave her a nod and proceeded into the cabin. The men of the patrol had their duty to attend to, but perhaps the swordsman could do what Heike had been trying all along.

Though she wished dearly to speak to the dying Knight, to possibly learn the fate of her brothers and sisters of the Order, it did not seem like she would have such a chance.

* * * * *​

The dying Knight's eyes drifted from his fruitless search of the cabin's interior, past Velt, and to Takashi. He licked his blue lips. Swallowed.

Said, "Where is she...? Maria. She's...still here."

Takashi Haller Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr Kharia Na'amro

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

(OOC: I should probably point out I wished to give Kharia time to wright an interaction or response, but since the roleplay does not wait for her or I, I shall continue. P.S. In my previous post I did not take the "*****" between the paragraphs to be a cut to a different scene, I shall make note of this in my future posts.)

As the Golem entered the cabin behind Kells and Nues, tugging the bound One-Eye behind his path as he moved. He scanned the cabin, it was cozy. If this was not the scene of two attempted murders that would be the end of his opinion, but something reeked about this place, and it was not the scent of blood or death that covered the dying man. The golem approached the dead-man-babbling, bumbling the magi out of his way as a non-too-subtle hint that he was still quite pissed about him cleaving the hard-made potion the Golem had mixed. He lifted up the sheets and blankets that were over him and looked over the man's state, to put it shortly: not barley alive, before lowering the sheets and blankets back over him with care.

The man mumbled words to him, which were clearly uttered in delirium, borderline unintelligible. Something along the lines of, "..her", not exactly a lot to go on. He looked to Velt, he asked in that monotone voice of his with a slight hint of compassion in his tone, "Inquiry: Is there anything I can do to help the victim?"

"I know your a decent alchemist from the Grendel case, are you familiar with the poultice substitution for Screamers Rot?", Velt asked?

"Confirmation: blood rot root; grows in the east of the darker parts of the forest. Caution: Inquiry: isn't any part of blood rot a poison?", the Golem responded.

"By itself and in a large enough quantity yes, but less and mixed with the right ingredients... it's one hell of a pain-killer and fever reducer.", Velt informed the Golem.

"Understood: Objective updated.", the Golem responded before heading out the door, the bound one-eyed undead being dragged along with him.

As the Golem exited the cabin he was once again having his vision obscured by the snow and fog that the Allirian winter brings, but the loss of sight came with the benefit of silence: with silence, better auditory detection. Honing his more entuned senses he could hear the shifting of weight on a tree just a ways from the cabin, looking at the floor in that direction he could see the frozen and almost blackened blood on the snow. It appears his second victim and suspect was not far from the cabin. The Golem had a decision to make, one that he was deeply conflicted about: he could either continue after the ingredients needed to get the necessary information from the dying man and let his second victim/suspect escape or succumb to the elements or, go after the victim/suspect and potentially loose this information.

The Golem made his decision, he was a man of the law before anything else, thus he would try to get his victim/suspect to come with him. He walked towards the tree that this hedge was perched on, minding his steps and keeping an upright authoritative if passive posture and stance, he stopped before she would become completely visible as to not incite panic, as he assumed this now obviously more or less than human could see no farther than him in this fog. He then beckoned to the hedge, "Attention: I am the Golem of Alliria, veteran watchman and part of the seventh division 'Unstopables' of Alliria. If you are innocent and bare no ill intent you have nothing to fear from me or my fellow watchmen."

He then spoke with a hint of compassion in his monotone voice, thinking that this individual was likely badly wounded and scared, "Attention: I bring you no harm, come with me that your wounds might be tended."

 

[Takashi Haller]

Takashi surveyed the man's wounds with his eyes. He was not expert in medicine or any form of healing, the monks at the Tai'Kon Monastery were too focused on the arts of combat and inflicting pain, rather than curing it, but even he knew that for all of the efforts put into healing him, the knight wouldn't last for much long.

He felt pity and compassion, closing his eyes and uttering a silent prayer, the words being spoken only on his mind, in respect for that brave soul. And then his attention fell towards the tattered insignia once again, as the soldier tried to speak a few words.

Maria. A unusual name, and certainly one that he had never heard before.

But those words put the swordsman on high alert. If that man wasn't just going mad with fever and pain, that meant there was someone else there with them, perhaps in hiding? Or just another monster patiently waiting in the shadows...

"That badge you carry...", he pointed towards the soldier's insignia. "Where is it from? And why does she wear it too?"

He was referring to the one of the 'monsters', the one who had asked of him to talk to the dying soldier and figure out what happened. But her name wasn't Maria... He recalled it now. It was Heike.

There were too many doubts and theories on Takashi's avid mind, and he felt that the situation wasn't as clear as he first saw it - a soldier attacked by a monster in the woods - but far more complicated. And with that many people involved now, getting his answers was proving to be a tricky endeavor.

But before he could tend to those questions, he was pushed aside by the rust giant, so lost in his thoughts that he had barely felt his presence along with the other soldiers as they mumbled about healing herbs.

Takashi took a few steps backwards, eventually stumbling upon one of the near furnitures and quickly turning his head towards the yet burning fireplace, only to see that the cold winds were dimming the fire all of a sudden.

For the first time on that evening, the cold breeze sent shivers down the young swordsman's spine and he couldn't help his left hand reaching for his scabbard, as if he felt a presence nearby.

Heike Eisen Kharia Na'amro Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike watched the Rusted Warrior come back out of the cabin, still with the charge of the One-Eyed Vampire in tow. She felt strange to be perched in so peculiar a position high in the tree, like some kind of owl or other bird of prey. It simply lacked the decorum expected of a knight. And though it was advantageous, though her damned affliction had given her the ability to consider and execute such an option as this, she did not like it. Not only did it lack decorum, but it felt altogether uncouth.

She had a hand to the front of her wound on her abdomen, another down on the branch. And she listened as the Rusted Warrior spoke to her.

A watchman, as was her earlier thought. From Alliria no less, where lived a good friend and contact of hers: Captain Bronmarch. If nothing else, this perching in the tree had at least managed to bring about a measure of calm to what had been a volatile situation. She retained a vigilant amount of wariness, but she decided to trust this Golem of Alliria. To take him at his word.

"Alright," Heike called. "I am coming down."

And she slipped her feet loose of the branch and descended straight down, her hair and her coat fluttering upward against the rush of air from the fall. She landed in the snow near Cauldwin, knees bending once she landed, a slight wince of pain and her palm held a bit tighter over her wound. She stood up straight.

"My name is Heike Eisen, and I likewise mean you no harm. My..." Her gaze went askew as shame crept in, " ...wound may be tended to, but it will not heal by ordinary means."

Not until she slept...after she had fed.

* * * * *​

The dying Knight lost focus for a moment. Found it again. His gaze centering on Takashi once more. This all happening as Cauldwin and Velt spoke to one another.

To Takashi, he said, "From Reikhurst. I am...a proud..."

Son. The word never left his lips.

His eyes started to roll up into the back of his head. He was on the verge of losing consciousness.

* * * * *​

Maria Himmel sat inside of the cabin's tall wardrobe, she having been stirred to wake after hearing some shouting--shouting that had been going on for a while. Cloaks and plain clothes hung inside the dark and cramped wardrobe; indeed, with her knees bent and her chin rested upon them, she barely had enough room to hide away in the pitch dark and from others in here. And now she waited, tense and nervous, as voices continued to talk to one another outside the wooden doors of the wardrobe: Takashi, Cauldwin, Velt, even Hedrig the dying Knight...the fellow Reikhurstan she had attacked, who knew she was still here somewhere.

Once, Maria Himmel had been a proud daughter of Reikhurst. Once, Maria had trusted in Mankind. Once, Maria believed that all men and women were at their core good people.

But that was until she had been unfortunate enough to survive the massacre at Reikhurst. Unfortunate enough to be turned into a Slaughtern vampire. Just like Heike Eisen--unbeknownst to Maria. Heike, the woman she had once loved before Reikhurst's fall.

In all of that shouting she thought she had heard Heike's voice. Could it be? No. No! Heike couldn't see her like this! Pale skin, yellow eyes, grayed hair, fangs, claws. Maria had abandoned her humanity when humanity manifestly abandoned her, when men and women all across the Allir Reach turned their collective back on her and considered her a monster because of what had happened, what she had been afflicted with. To hell with them! She cared nothing for them now. She leaned into the becoming the monster they thought her to be in order to survive. But...but there was one person that she would care about seeing her like this, and that was Heike.

Maybe it wasn't her. Maybe she was imagining it, thinking some other woman's voice sounded like her. Didn't Heike die in Reikhurst? That's what she always thought. Assumed.

Takashi took a few steps backwards, eventually stumbling upon one of the near furnitures and quickly turning his head towards the yet burning fireplace, only to see that the cold winds were dimming the fire all of a sudden.

Something bumped into the wardrobe. Maria felt it. She stiffened anxiously, glad that her afflicted body did not need to breathe. She had fed from Hedrig, slept a little while, so the wounds she had arrived at Hedrig's cabin with were mostly healed. She could run. Fight. Maybe. She didn't know.

Maria continued to be still inside the wardrobe. The cloak and plain clothes she wore stained with old blood.

Takashi Haller Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

The Golem looked over the creature in front of him, tall for a woman, silver locks, and... claws. She said she needed to feed? Likely a vampire, one that still had control over their faculties. One much like Sando. Cauldwin would have to head to his bordello after the Golem's penal patrol and tell him all about it, he would be ecstatic. He considered the situation for a moment, feeding a vampire can be like feeding a parasite: it may bite for survival but drain a host of all...

He had a solution to this, the basics of alchemy only required ingredients and skills from the natural world, but his mother had taught him some of its darker practices and he was more than able to draw blood if it be necessary. He only wanted to know one more thing before he would practice any dark arts, "Inquiry: how much blood?"

* * * * *​

In the cabin the watchmen mucked about somewhat. Glem sat in a chair he had pulled in front of the fire, getting the frost out of his boots. Kells had found a lute and was trying his hand at strumming it, making tunes that sounded more like a dying sheep than a tavern song. Nues sat on top of a table, and was nose deep in a romantic novel inside his copy of "Mixed Unit Tactics". Jophery was leaned against the wall next to the door of cabin, plucking at his long-bow string to make sure it was taut. Velt continued to take care of his patient, changing his bandages with the cloth that remained and feeding him a few poultices made from herbs he had created in the cabin to help dull the pain, but at no avail.

Velt watched over his patient as he murmured words that were unintelligible to him. Suddenly he began to lapse into unconsciousness, something that was quite dangerous for a man who had lost this much blood.
Velt shook him trying to keep his patient with them, "Hey, hey, stay with me here..." While this was happening, Kells strummed a particularly nasty cord that caused something to shift in a nearby wardrobe, to which he said aloud, "Noble sirs, something is in the wardrobe!" Reflexively Jophery drew an arrow from his quiver and aimed it at the wardrobe, Glem jumped up and grabbed his maul, reading himself to strike at the wardrobe. Nues jumped off the table, grabbed his tower shield and raised it in front of him and at the wardrobe, and rested his straight-sword so that the point aimed right at the wardrobe. Kells dropped the lute and drew his longsword, readying himself for a fight. Velt looked over at the wardrobe attentively.

For a moment, a tense dead silence hung in the air... unexpectedly the injured man lurched up and sank his teeth into Velt's shoulder causing him to scream out in pain and shock. In response Jophery turned and loosed an arrow into the creature, going through its eye and pinning its head (still attached to its body) to the wall, and Velt to the floor clutching his profusely bleeding shoulder, in an attempt to staunch the bleeding. Glem in an effort to make sure the creature was dead, slammed his maul into the creatures face, crushing its head and leaving not but its damaged body in the bed. All of the watchmen now turned their attention to the wardrobe, expecting another monster that would try to tear them limb from limb...

 

[Takashi Haller]

Takashi felt the air become heavier and somewhat uncomfortable. Not that he was on edge, particularly after the battle that had happened earlier, but it felt more like that peace wouldn't last for long.

He let the soldiers take care of the dying knight as he strolled around the cabin, hand still at his scabbard as he checked every corner of that small yet cozy wooden place, surprised at its simple and refined beauty. Whoever lived there liked to lead a secluded but comfortable life, away from the common prying eyes and surrounded by nature.

The young swordsman knew what was like to live with the nature, well accostumed to his travels and his early life in the monastery, where he had to be in touch with the base elements of the world in order to truly revel in his training.

And yet, he felt no peace in that moment. Not since he slightly tipped what seemed to be a wardrobe minutes ago, just moments before the fire started to go out, which is why he calmly wandered that place. He already knew what was going on, could even feel it in his bones.

"There's someone here...", Takashi said in a very low tone, practically so only himself would hear.

On the other side of the room, in opposite sides of that wardrobe from earlier, he managed to get a small glimpse of a strange substance hidden amongst some ornaments on the table. As he leaned closer, he could see it for what it really was. Drops of blood, thick and very dark.

Out of pure instinct, his finger pushed upwards the guard of his Nikana, just moments before he heard one of the soldiers alerting of a presence in the wardrobe and the screams coming from behind him, turning to see the wounded knight digging his teeth on one of the soldiers' neck, his eyes now strangely lacking the warm light of humanity and replaced by a void yet hungry stare.

The other soldiers were quicker to react, one of the loosing a well placed arrow towards the knight while his friend fell to the ground, bloodied and in a great deal of pain, and the other slamming his maul ferociously on the knight's head, filling the bed with blood.

Takashi kept his sword halfway drawn from his scabbard, assuming a more prepared position along with the others as they all pointed their weapons to the wardrobe and waiting for what more surprises that evening had in store for them.

Heike Eisen Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike was taken aback when the Golem asked her so directly about how much blood. She had been trying to avoid saying it, yet he had assumed correctly that what she had been alluding to was blood. Was feeding from another living person--as disgusting an act as it was. Truly, there wasn't much else it could have been when she had said by no ordinary means.

Heike's gaze--already askew--drifted down yet more with a shamed dip of her head. Her tongue like lead, her Oath of Truth weighing heavily upon her to answer. And she said, "I do not take enough to kill. And that is often adequate for a singular wound."

Resolve found her again, and she looked back up at the Golem. She held up one hand in a gesture of gracious decline. Said further, "Please, do not trouble yourself with it. I will endure."

Then came a scream of pain and shock from the cabin. Heike snapped her eyes past the Golem toward the sound, and her first instinct was to immediately run toward the danger. But she did not. She wanted there to be no potential for misunderstanding. Instead of acting unilaterally, she would defer to a reasonable judgment from the Golem.

"Your men," she said quickly. "They're in peril. At your discretion I shall accompany you or remain here."

Perhaps he would trust her, perhaps he would prefer her to stay while he and his men (mayhap the swordsman as well) got the situation under control themselves. Yet Heike couldn't help but be tugged by dreadful curiosity: what the hell just happened in there?

* * * * *​

Maria's muscles were absolutely tensed. They knew! Did Hedrig point out the wardrobe? She thought him too far gone for that. Thought that his words spoken in the haze of oncoming death would be regarded as nothing more than delusion.

It didn't matter. Only mattered that they were aware. And it sounded like there were a lot of them out there, whoever they were.

Some screaming came from the other side of the wardrobe doors. The impact of weapons. Quiet followed. Maybe it had been Hedrig, turning--some of her infected blood had probably gotten into him. Maybe it was something else. Something worse than the men. She didn't know.

Maria kept quiet and still in the cramped wardrobe. Frightened to stay, but more frightened to leave. What to do if (when) they opened the doors? She could pounce on whoever did it. Impale them on her claws and use their body as a shield maybe, or throw it at the others. Make a leap for the window or dive for the door if there were too many or if they were too well-equipped.

These were her only options, she knew it. Maria knew well enough now that mercy, compassion, was a lie. Men and women--once her fellow humans--had all turned their backs on her even though she was a victim. Foolishly, she had believed in their goodness in those early days of her turning. But they saw not a woman in her, not a person afflicted with a terrible disease who needed help, no. They saw only a monster.

And whoever opened that wardrobe would see the same. That she knew.

So Maria readied herself. Readied herself to strike first, to lash out immediately at whoever opened wardrobe--kill them before they killed her. It was the only way she could survive. Over five years so afflicted with vampirism had taught her that much.

Takashi Haller Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

The Golem gave a slight nod as the vampire hedge's decline, soon after he heard the piercing scream of Velt. He quickly began bounding toward the cabin, so suddenly that he had knocked the one-eyed undead that was tethered to him off her feet and was now dragging her behind him through the snow. He called back at the hedges statement with a hint of indignance in his voice, "Annotation: they are not my men." As he then entered the door, having to crouch to fit through, with his sword drawn and his arm ready for the altercation. Whatever they were up against had terrified his fellow watchmen...

Takashi Haller Heike Eisen Heike Eisen

 

[Takashi Haller]

The tension in the air was thick, almost overwhelming. From a few quick glances, Takashi could see the soldiers twitching and trembling, their eyes fixed on that wardrobe and waiting for any sign of movement. He was a bit more distant than them, a bit nervous himself but already looking to balance himself again, a common practice of his training.

He stood there along with the rest of them, not a single word being spoken and his hand yet relaxed upon his sword's handle, a measure of precaution in case he needed to defend himself or any of the others from a surprise attack.

The young swordsman sensed movement nearby, but not coming from the wardrobe. He turned his head slightly just as the rust warrior appeared, moments after hearing his soldier screaming, and seeing the other woman just behind him. For a short moment, Takashi was glad that Heike was still among them, as he knew there was still many questions to be resolved and no doubt she was at the center of it all.

One of the watchmen decided to take a step forward, blabbering about finally open the door to behold what awaited for them, but he fell short of doing so as Velt started to scream again. The man had become more pale after the bite, and the veins were beginning to pump out from around his neck, near the wound. Takashi knew not what that meant, only that he needed to be cared for and quickly, but it seemed there was no one left there with the medical expertise to do so.

After a small breath to regain his concentration, Takashi drew his sword from his scabbard, the refined blade now enlightened by a few glowing runes along its edge. Takashi's blue eyes had become brighter, a dizzling tone of white now taking place over its colorized hue. It was like his entire presence had changed with each step he took towards the wardrobe.

"Stand aside and tend to your friend", he said to the rest of the watchmen.

After taking stance with his blade now aligned with his waist, he prepared for a strike, but before he did so, Takashi decided to relay a warning to whoever monster was hiding from them.

"Show yourself, or we won't have mercy!"

Heike Eisen Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Heike Eisen]

The Golem didn't directly answer her--other than his brief correction--but he didn't advise her to stay her ground and away from the commotion. So Heike followed after him, walking slowly through the snow. If her body had been mortal still the pain of moving would have been agonizing, the wound certainly fatal without timely intervention. But, afflicted and unnatural as she was now, the pain was dulled and the blood merely came out at a lazy ooze.

Heike arrived near the open doorway of the cabin, but did not enter. From her vantage of peering through the doorway she could see all those gathered inside the small forest home, all facing the same direction. There was...blood. On the wall. She could see it as well as smell it. Hell's fury...was that the dying Knight's blood? Damn it. Damn it, what happened?

And then the thing they were all facing, the wardrobe, burst open.

* * * * *​

Maria couldn't help a quiet little scoff when someone outside the wardrobe seemed to call out to her directly. Show yourself, or we won't have mercy. As if mercy was even an option. She knew better. Vampires were spurned as monsters, and always would be. So to hell with them and their "mercy." She'd kill every single one of them if she had to--whatever it took to survive.

But she couldn't stay in the wardrobe any longer. If she didn't come out, they might just set the damn thing on fire. And so it was kill them all, or escape. Whatever it took.

Maria stood up inside the wardrobe, hanging cloaks and clothes bunched up on her shoulders and head as she rose. Then she threw open the doors and jumped out and bared her teeth in a fierce snarl and had her claws raised up. Her eyes darted among the sheer number of people inside the cabin. One, two, three...seven. And most were armored. She couldn't possibly take them all, could she?

"I'll...I'll kill all of you!" Maria exclaimed, backing up into the corner of the cabin by the wardrobe. Fear infected the ferocious anger in her expression. There was dried blood on her claws, a small trickle of the same at the right corner of her mouth.

Options. Escape options. The sole window. The open door--

Sudden shock tensed Maria's whole body.

"H...Heike?" she said.

And Heike, visible through the doorway, saw her as well. A mirror of shock herself...yet with a dose of abject horror as well. "Maria?"

The two vampire women, each thinking the other had died five years ago, stood in wordless silence regarding one another.

Takashi Haller Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

The Golem and the other watchmen did not hesitate to react once the wardrobe burst open and the creature screamed she would kill all of them. Jophery loosed an arrow that do to the creatures unnaturally quick reflexes she was able to have it graze her left nostril and cheek. Nues began a shield charge trying to push her into the wardrobe and take away any mobility, she simply jumped and sank a few claws into his shield that then became stuck, she turned to see someone in which she said aloud in astonishment, "H...Heike?". Kells thrusted his longsword at her, trying to run her through for clawing at his brother, which forced her to dance on top of Nues shield to avoid the thrusts from both Kells and Nues. The Golem and Glem began moving in to close the distance seeing that their fellow watchman were now engaged. Velt now covered in his own blood, tore up what remained of the sheet he was using for bandages with his good arm and began to bandage his shoulder and neck wound in order to stop himself from bleeding out.

Kharia Na'amro Takashi Haller Heike Eisen

 

[Takashi Haller]

Takashi flinched only slightly as the wardrobe's doors were burst open and from it came a woman, twisted and disfigured and looking much like Heike and the other woman who had been captured by the golem.

Another monster, Takashi thought to himself.

But strangely enough, she didn't pounce on him on the first opportunity given, merely surveying the situation, out of fear for being outnumbered. Takashi thought it curious that such a bloodlust creature would think like that, having known that monsters cared little for themselves and were merely focused on getting their share of death and blood.

And then she looked to the side, towards the door from where Heike was now coming on just a few steps behind the Golem, and the monster seemed to freeze right there, the shock evident on her eyes.

She spoke a name, Heike's name, and the swordsman instantly knew they seemed to know one another, just as the corner of his eyes picked up on the glimpse of Heike looking as surprised as the other woman, while also noticing how skittish the rest of the soldiers looked.

Without much of a surprise, the watchmen began their charge towards the vampire, while Takashi stepped backwards, reaching for Heike while having doubts over facing that creature.

"Who is she?!", he tried asking while the heat of the battle in such a tight space picked up, as he watched the watchmen battling it out with the woman.

Heike Eisen Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike stood just beyond the doorway. Stunned. Frozen even as the men of the patrol inside the cabin fought with Maria and she fought back.

Who is she?!

Someone. Someone was talking to her. Only Heike's eyes moved, shifting from watching in horror the fight ensuing inside the cabin to the blue-eyed swordsman. He reached for her, and her body limply responded.

Words found her then. And she said with a distant and hollow voice, "She is a woman I loved. I...I thought her dead."

Inside the cabin, Maria had just danced over top of Nues's shield. And with a heavy exertion of blood for inhuman speed she crouched down and like a bolt of lightning lunged out through the cabin's sole window, her arms crossed in a "X" to shield her face as the glass burst outward. Her flight sent her sailing toward a nearby tree. A twist in mid-air. Her boots made contact with the tree and she lunged again. Onto the roof of the cabin she came to rest, clawing herself to a sudden stop and leaving deep trenches in the wood as a plume of accumulated snow was blown all about in the air.

Heike gave a fleeting glance to Takashi--follow me--and ran around to the side of the cabin to get a better view of Maria there upon the roof.

And it was Maria who spoke first, calling down to her, "Heike! I'm overjoyed to see you! But there's no time! Help me!"

Heike stared up at her, face still consumed by horror--

(the claw marks on the dying Knight's armor)

--and she slowly shook her head.

Maria's expression twisted with a hurt sorrow. Eyebrows arching painfully and her bottom lip curving down. "Don't you see, Heike? You're not one of them anymore! See what they do to us?? To them, you'll never be anything more than a--"

"Monster," Heike said, in tandem with Maria saying the same. And Heike raised her hand. Pointed a clawed finger up at Maria. Eyes thinned and small with anguish. "You are the monster."

Maria slammed a hand over her own heart. Seemingly ignoring Heike's accusation and shouting desperately, "BUT NOT TO ME! You're not a monster to me! I love you, Heike! I have, I do, and I will forever!" Maria stretched out her open hand down toward Heike, distant from her on the snowy ground. "Please! Join with me! And we can be together again!"

There they stood. Heike, down on the ground, pointing her accusatory finger up at Maria, who stood on the roof, stretching out a pleading open hand. Horror and desperation.

And the snow continued to fall.

Takashi Haller Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

The Golem and the other watchmen rushed out of the cabin to witness the dramatic scene unfolding.
(OOC: I can tell you want to get this dramatic scene, so the Golem and the watchmen will basically be in the background until the scene shifts. Post away ladies and gents.)

 

[Takashi Haller]

(OOC: Sorry for taking so long, had to take care of some personal problems but it's all good now.)

Takashi watched as Heike seemed to regain her composure, just moments before the woman fighting with the watchmen managed to bolt through the window and towards the cabin's roof, with the young swordsman hearing the thudding sound as she landed.

Heike had asked him to follow her around the cabin, no doubt to confront the woman who seemed to be the cause of all that ruckus.

Before moving with her, Takashi hesitated for a bit, looking at the situation inside the cabin. The soldiers surprised with that creature, trying to collect their breaths in the middle of that heated situation while the medic was still grunting with pain, blood falling from his neck.

He had seen enough. That woman-- no, that monster would pay for all that.

Takashi looked towards the battered and headless corpse of the knight from earlier, towards that crest shown to him by Heike. Even if they had exchanged just a few words due to his condition, the swordsman felt that he had been a honorable man, his life snatched away by dark evil before he himself turned into one of them.

***
​

The young man now appeared next to Heike as the two women stared at each other. He had witnessed the monster's plead for Heike to join her, while the woman called her out for her crimes.

Still, Takashi couldn't act on his own, with his inner balance disrupted by anger. Heike had said that they used to love each other, before both thought of them dead. Even though his hand was now clutching his sword's sheath and his finger slowly propelled the weapon upwards, he still needed to know if Heike would cross that line - to punish the injustice that had happened there.

"Are you with me?", he asked, his blue eyes focusing on the woman while the snow fell around them and strong winds now started to blow over.

He had to be sure, and had to be ready for whatever would happen next.

Heike Eisen Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike still did not want to believe it. To accept what her eyes and her ears could plainly see and hear. Yet it was undeniable. Maria, the woman she had loved after earning her station as a Knight of the Golden Blade. Maria, the woman she had loved after parting ways with Gunther, his opposition to Heike becoming a Knight--to becoming a Citizen and Warrior of Reikhurst--proving irreconcilable. Maria...the vampire. The monster.

How many others? If Maria could be one, how many others were there? Herr Dieter? Herr Elias? Heike's own mother and father? She shuddered to think on it, so banished the thought.

Maria remained. Standing on the roof, casting down a beckoning hand.

Join with me, she had said. Are you with me, Takashi had said.

And Heike made her decision. She lowered her accusatory pointing finger, and she cast a small, sideways glance to Takashi. Said, "Yes. I am with you."

Maria retracted her hand. Recoiled as if physically struck. Eyes wide and glassed and mouth dropped open in utter betrayal. Then she hung her head at an angle. Flexed her claws as her arms hung limply at her sides.

And Maria said, "The vampires didn't do this to me; it was my fellow Man who turned me into what I am now. It was my fellow Man who turned their backs on me. It was my fellow Man who saw nothing more than some repulsive creature in me. And it is my fellow Man now..."

Maria snapped her head back up. Glared at Takashi. And yelled, "...WHO STOLE YOU FROM ME!"

The boards of the wooden roof broke under the sudden presence of Maria's quick and powerful lunge. Her cloak and her hair streamed like sails in a violent storm behind her. Her left arm she had crossed over her chest, her right arched back for a vicious arc of a slash with her claws.

Maria had dove straight for Takashi, intent on unleashing her fury upon him first. Then the rest, Cauldwin and his patrol once she was done with him. All thoughts of her own survival had fled from her mind, so consumed and evident was her rage.

Takashi Haller Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

The Allirain watchmen didn't miss a beat when this thing began its attack. Velt and the brothers began a charge in the direction. Jophery acted accordingly, launching three arrows, two of which the monster dodged, dashing from side to side in actions that looked as a blur, the third struck it in the upper left portion of it's chest. This only caused it to become further enraged.

It frenzied at Nues who had been the closest when it was struck with the arrow, he raised his wooded tower shield attempting to block the strike, but with a single swipe of the monsters claws the shield was bisected. The monster continued slashing with superhuman speed in rapid succession, cleaving into Nues intestines with two swipes, and removing Nues' left leg at the knee with the third, all before Nues could even begin to fall to the ground.

His brother, positioned just to the left and now enraged, let out a bellowing war cry. While the creatures attention was fully consumed by the target in front of it, he slashed downward at the creature with his longsword, clipping its right arm. The monster did not take kindly to this and began slashing Kells with fiendish succession.

While the watchman ahead of them were engaged, the Golem grabbed Glem, stepped forward while spinning with his weight into Glem three times before throwing him right into the fray. Just as the creature had clawed the visor off Kells helm and knocked the self-appointed knight off balance, it was forced to dodge as the flying dwarf landed maul first.

The creature charged at Glem, just as it's head was right above where the maul lay, he wrenched the maul out of snow and into the underside of the creatures jaw, launching it into the air. The Golem, who had now closed the distance, completed the maneuver with a brutal right jab of his heavy iron gauntlet right into the creatures face, breaking its jaw and nose, leaving the lower half of its face completely mangled and bloody, and sending it back a ways in the direction of the cabin. In the foreground Velt dragged the mortally wounded Nues away from the encroaching fight and began applying first aid.

Dazed but still plenty pissed, the creature rose back up, before touching its face and having in its eyes a mild expression of panic as its wounds did not immediately heal, for the Golems fist was pure iron. Of course, panic only turned to pure rage.

The remining watchman readied themselves for another bout with the monster, fully expecting that they were about to see the worst of it...

Heike Eisen Takashi Haller

 

[Heike Eisen]

The fight ensued, with Maria managing to gravely injure one of the men but struggling with the others. Damn it! If only Heike had joined her. If only Heike hadn't been poisoned by their lies! For that was the only way in which these men could have enlisted Heike's help--by deceiving her. They were deceiving her for whatever cruel reason and they would kill her when they thought it time to do so. How could Heike trust them? How could she not know what they were inevitably going to do? She lived with this curse the same as Maria, with the pallor of skin and yellowing of her eyes and the claws, the hideous claws. Surely Heike knew what these men were planning to do. They saw Heike as a monster--Maria knew that they did--and there was only one thing to do with monsters. How could she not see it?

Maria rose back up from the snow after having been punched by Cauldwin. Blood oozed from her broken nose, from the slight slash in her right arm, from the arrow lodged in her chest. Unlike before when concerned solely with survival, she spared her injuries little thought. Being of the same vampiric strain as Heike, Maria could not heal until she had fed and slept...but if she killed these men to the last, there would be no shortage of blood, would there?

Maria gripped the arrow in her chest and yanked it out. Tossed it to the ground. Snarled at Cauldwin and his remaining men. And then a realization emerged her mind.

Where was Heike?

And a blur crossed Maria's vision.

* * * * *​

Heike had gotten into position while Maria fought the men of the Allirian patrol, looking for an angle, a way in. When Maria had been separated from the engagement following Cauldwin's punch, Heike found it.

With a burst of exertion she sprinted and lunged and slashed her claws at Maria as she sailed by, catching Maria in her already injured right arm. Four of Heike's claws sliced through flesh like a quartet of freshly sharpened butcher knives effortlessly cutting through meat. Ribbons of cloth and flesh and muscle flew and left the hardened bone of Maria's right arm horrendously exposed, blood and scatterings of gore all around the snow at her feet, and Maria gave an intense howl of agonized pain.

Heike's feet found the ground again and she slid to a stop and wheeled about, facing Maria from several paces' distance away. The thirst was scratching at her throat tyrannically, now that Heike had spent considerable blood for her inhuman feats and lost a fair amount still from her own abdominal wound. Weakness from blood deprivation was near on the horizon, if she was not careful. Though so too would it be for Maria, with such expenditures of blood and now with the grievous loss of it from her own injuries.

Maria's howl ended, and she briefly looked to Heike. Tortured sorrow in her eyes. And she said, her words slurred pitifully from her broken jaw, "I still want to save you, Heike."

And even though the bicep of her right arm was shredded, the arm itself rendered completely useless, Maria looked back to Cauldwin and his men. Narrowed in on Kells, whose visor she'd knocked loose of his helm.

Maria charged Kells. Recklessly swift in doing so. And she sought jam the claws of her left hand through the opening in his helm.

Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

Kells reeling back the blur that charged him tried to keep it a bay with a swing of his blade, but missed, and Maria's claws burrowed into his eyes, and into his brain, killing him instantly. As she imbedded her claws into Kells skull however, another arrow from Jophery's longbow into her leg, crippling Maria.

As all of this transpired, the Golem could not react in time to save his comrades. This filled him with virulent rage, only hidden behind his visage-less helm. He closed the distance quickly, the crippled and badly beaten Maria tried to jump away from the rusted monster, but could only hop back a measly foot. She turned away trying to make some distance between her and the Golem, but she was not quick enough.

The Golem grabbed her left arm with his left hand, and her left shoulder with his right and tore the limb from her body. He then swept the legs of vampire, holding her legs with his right arm and put his boot down on her head, beginning to crush it between his foot and the compacted snow. The Golem considered whether or not just to end her here and now with one or two heavy stomps of his iron boot, but where was the justice in that? She had likely maimed and fed on the vagrant in the log cabin, which in turn led to Velt's wounding. She attacked men of the Allirian watch, crippled or killed two of them... no... no, he would not end this monster so quickly...

The Golem tightened his arm around the legs of the vampire, drawing blood around his rusted grip and breaking the bones in Maria's thighs with audible cracks. Simultaneously, the Golem pressed his boot into her skull, pressing half of her face into the snow and drawing blood where his iron boot met her skull, as it slowly began to fracture her skull. All the while she looked at Heike, staring into her with a broken gaze. The remaining men of the watch, watched on in a silent horror, to shocked to intervein... the Golem was known for violence but this, this was something else... something primal, angry, dark, and sadistic.. as if the creature in front of them was no longer the Golem...

Heike Eisen

 

[Heike Eisen]

If only Heike had struck Maria's neck--her head--instead of her arm. If only she hadn't misread Maria, thinking that Maria might retaliate, and thus not following up with her slash on Maria's arm and instead getting distance. If Heike had kept herself in harm's way, then perhaps that man--Kells--would still be alive.

But it was over, or at least very soon to be. Cauldwin (with astonishing strength, he was clearly no normal human) had torn out Maria's left arm. Had caught her before she could retreat and held her now with a heavy iron boot crushing down onto her skull.

Heike approached. Slow and measured. Staring down at Maria with veneer of disdain over the trembling heartbreak that she felt.

Maria gave Heike what many Reikhurstans called a "gallows look," the encapsulation of horror visible in her eyes, in knowing that it was all so close to ending and that this said ending was now immediately inevitable. She was terribly exsanguinated, Maria was--she was just as likely to die from blood loss within the next few moments as from having her skull crushed.

Her lips moved, yet no words were sounded from Maria's mouth. But the small movements were unmistakable, even if she were too weak and injured to give voice to the words. She mouthed: I love you, Heike.

Heike maintained an expression of cold steel. Allowed nothing of what she truly felt to be seen.

And she said, "The woman I once loved died in Reikhurst. You are not her. You are a monster, and you disgust me."

Heike flicked her eyes up from Maria to Cauldwin. Gave a slow nod.

Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

The beast didn't shift from his stance, didn't even look at Heike, he only continued the pressure until the skull caved. When it did, he threw the corpse by its broken legs into the wall of the cabin, painting the snow and his rusted plates in more blood. The vampire broken and slain before him, Cauldwin's senses began to return to him. Turning to face the disgusted and horrified eyes of what remained of his penal patrol, he knew all to well how he over stepped.

Looking over to them, Velt knelt over the body of Nues, trying his damnedest to hide the fact he was crying, despite all the doctor's tricks, despite all the years of practice... Nues was gone: died from the exsanguination. Along with his brother... that was a family line gone from this world.

Glem looked at the Golem with a fury in eyes, but said nothing, no harsher a sign of emotion could come from fiery dwarf. Jophery, a mute Allirian ranger could not speak, but Cauldwin could understand the words he wished to say from his look, the same summary of failure that burned in Caulwin's mind. Not only had they failed to keep the peace, not only had they failed to stop any more deaths, but they lost three of their own: the brothers and the Golem.

His final action here was that of brutality and sadism, an action below the station of the watch and his peers, and being that this was a penal patrol, they had all been on thin ice before this. This only meant one thing for the Golem, for the beast... for Cauldwin: they would have to report all that happened here to captain, and we they do, the only thing that keeps him grounded, his reason for carrying on besides the alcohol will be over. This was to be his last day with any honor, with any purpose... his last day as a watchman of Alliria.

Heike Eisen

 

[Heike Eisen]

They stood before the Victory Arch of the Ninth King in Reikhurst. Heike and Maria. Nine years ago.

They had been talking all night. Had shared a few drinks with one another earlier in the evening, during the festivities. Heike had a day of rest tomorrow. Plenty of time for leisure.

Maria abruptly looked to Heike. Said, "May I ask you something?"

Heike glanced over. Curious and receptive. "What is it?"

Slight hesitation from Maria. Her hands clasped down by her waist, turning over one another. Then Maria gained the resolve and with no more words spoken leaned toward Heike and kissed her. Held it for a time. Pulled back. Smiled.

And Heike knew that she would always remember her beautiful--

* * * * *​

--face.

Maria's face disappeared under Cauldwin's boot. And he threw the body away. Heike's eyes followed it, watched it smack against the wall of the cabin and slump down into a crumpled heap.

She stared for a while.

Then lowered her eyes. Turned her head back to face Cauldwin, but with her eyes still lowered, locks of grayed hair obscuring some portion of her face.

And she said, "You did good this day. You rid Arethil of a monster."

Heike reached up with the back of her left hand and brushed some of the hair away from her face. Still, her eyes were downcast in a stoic gaze.

"I am sorry for the men who..."

She didn't finish.

Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

Cauldwin turned his head to look at Heike, his helm and the dark caverns that lead to his eye obscuring his expression. Something that he was thankful for, but one that would not matter for long. He back to the other watchman, at Glem. Glem spoke first, a strong cough in his voice, "Gotta head back an report... all this shite." There was a long pause before he continued, :"Stay here with witness and the evidence. Someone will be back to tell you what goes."

The Golem stood there as Glem and jophery picked up their dead and the other watchmen began their long march back to the city. When they finally disappeared into the obscuring mist of the winter, the Golem turned and entered the cabin, bonking his head on the way in with a loud, "CLANK!" , before grabbing a one of the bottles of alto wine from under the table in the cabin, then sitting down in a chair next to the corpse of the turned man. The chair broke under the weight of him and his armor.

As his ass hit the ground, Cauldwin ripped off his helm, cursing, "FUR FU-", almost throwing his helm, before stopping himself. He looked at the reflection in the bottle, the defeated, one eyed. badly scarred face with long brown curls sticking out from under old dark brown leather coif and chain hood filling him with even more frustration. He was now sitting against the wall, one leg arched up with his hand holding the bottle resting on it. His helm resting inbetween his long rusty plated legs. Cualdwin stared at the bottle, not even bothered by the presence of the corpse next to him, as the cold winds blew through the now haze lit cabin.

Heike Eisen

 

[Heike Eisen]

They left without the Rusted Warrior. Heike watched them go from the corner of her eye. Watched until they disappeared through the distance and the trees and the slow falling of snow.

The Rusted Warrior went to the cabin. Entered it. Heike stood outside in the snow for a small while longer, her back to the cabin and to the mangled corpse of the vampire.

(of Maria)

At last she moved. Faced about and went to the cabin as well. There was one thing that she needed to retrieve.

Cauldwin had already broken the chair and was sitting on the floor, helm off and wine in hand, by the time she entered. She made no comment. Instead went to the corpse of the turned Knight of the Golden Blade--searched the scene with her eyes. She did not know his name was Hedrig, and would never know, for the inscription on the back of his insignia was scuffed with wear, rendering all of it illegible save the "-arrior" from the title "Citizen and Warrior" below the name.

Heike found the insignia on Hedrig's person, snipped the cord with a clawed finger, and held the insignia in her palm. She would carry it with her. Return it to Reikhurst. To the Old Gold Mine, from whence the metal it was forged of had come. It was only right.

Heike pocketed the insignia.

Then spoke aloud. Said to Cauldwin, without directly looking at him. "I need to see to the tending of my wound."

The tending of her wound. That which involved feeding from yet another innocent person, for there simply were not enough of the guilty upon whom she could feed. The scratching thirst of her vampirism was already in her throat, subtly demanding it.

That vile thirst.

Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr

 

[Cauldwin Talson Valfnyr]

Cauldwin didn't stir as the Heike entered the room, his mind was at the time too consumed by his thoughts, trying too hard to resist drowning in the bottle again. He was torn by his morbid thoughts when the vampire spoke, "I need to see to the tending of my wound."

The golem came to his senses at a phrase that taped into his instincts, he lifted his head up and replied, "Right...", before uncorking the bottle and pouring out the spiced fluids unto the ground to his left, then picking up his helm and getting to his feet with a grunt. After all, he was still a watchman of Alliria even if it wouldn't be for all that much longer, besides helping people in need was in his nature. That and Nykios would not be pleased with one of his warriors being so easily overtaken by grief and failure.

Putting his helmet on and facing Heike with his arms crossed he had now put himself back together, he spoke in a voice that lacked the usual robotic echo and monotone as the Golem usually did, "As an Allirian watchman, I can't turn you away if I can help. So, I'm going to show you a simple trick to making sure you always of some sort of feed when you need it." He pulled off his right gauntlet with his left elbow, displaying the large, pale, scarred, thin hand beneath, lifted up his helm just enough that the bright lips between a dark brown handle-bar mustache and goatee could be seen.

He then bit deep into his hand, right between the thumb and index finger, drawing no small amount of blood. Holding his hand over the wine bottle, the dark sanguine liquid poured into the narrow neck of the bottle until it was almost completely full. He then oustretched the hand that held the bottle to Heike, and half-joked "Friend of mine, one-very-like-y'rself, likes to joke that if blood is like alcohol: Nordenfiir blood is like good bacardi, so... don't try do down it all in one go."

Heike Eisen