~Caught My Eye... (Not My Teeth)~

A role-play of the vampiric variety

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Name: Valeriya "Val" Yvanova
Age: Val has the appearance of a 17-year-old.
Appearance:

Val has piercing red eyes that match her flaming red hair.
She is a princess in her realm and has many servants.

Name: Léandre Arcturus Skelter
Age: Seventeen
Appearance:

Léan has ice blue eyes and white-blonde hair.
He is a merman, captured as a servant, who can control others with his Siren Song, but only when he's completely submerged underwater.

Valeriya skipped as she walked through town to the auction. Choosing a new servant was always a happy occasion for her. She was followed by Marié, the one servant she vowed never to kill. Marié was a servant she'd had for a very long time. Nobody was sure what race she was, but it was apparent that she lived for a while. In any event, Marié was basically her best friend. "Marié," she said, "isn't this exciting?" Really, she had the look of a girl on her way to a candy store. She didn't get out enough.

"Very exciting, Val," Marié calmly answered. Really, she liked the girl. In earlier years, she'd been afraid like all the other servants; Valeriya was unpredictable regarding her hunger. However, one day Val told her that she'd never, ever drain her, no matter what. It was extremely comforting, and they'd become friends, of sorts.

Soon enough, the auction was happening right in front of them. Val looked down the line of all the beings there. About two thirds of the way down, a boy with blue eyes and white-blond hair stood, somehow standing out from the rest.

She turned to Marié. "Him!" she told her, excitedly, pointing to the boy. "I want him!"

"Which?" Marié asked, getting out Val's coin-purse. Val was not actually trusted to hold it for herself; for all her many, many years, she still acted like a seventeen-year-old. That was okay, as she was really endearing--unless, of course, she hungered. Besides that, she was bossy but endearing.

"The one with blue eyes," Val explained, "and light hair."

((I'm so sorry it took me so long to respond. I'd written a response a few days ago, but then my page refreshed or something and I lost it. I have slight issues starting >.< but I'll go start the others, too!))

The people running the special auction today at the market considered themselves lucky that they could keep merpeople in the cases they came in, since they could breathe underwater. Merpeople could be docile and innocent, but the worst injuries and most gruesome accidental deaths here had been from merpeople fighting back. The last one they'd sold had been a particularly buff merman who had lured one of the employees to his tank. When he'd leaned over, the merman had pulled him in, screeching like some sort of primal animal, and had started ripping him to shreds.

Merpeople were rare, so it wasn't often they got one to sell. It was a relief, and a regret--people paid top dollar for them, due to their rarity.

This particular one had been a bother ever since he'd been captured. He'd bitten everyone who'd gotten close to him and screamed like a wild banshee all through the night, smacking his tail against the side of the sealed tank they'd thrown him in repeatedly and trying to crack the reinforced glass.

He wasn't screaming now, since he'd worn himself out over the night, but he'd hissed and spat at the employees when they'd hauled his small tank up onto the stage to put him with the other merchandise. It took four people to move his tank, so the extra help to move him was included in his price.

He couldn't quite hear what all the people outside of his tank were saying, since it was sealed and made of reinforced glass, but he did notice one of the buyers pointing at him. He bared his razor-sharp teeth at her and hissed, smacking his tail defensively against the glass and making a dull, but very loud, thumping sound.

"Awww, he's so cute," Val squealed. Marié rolled her eyes, amused by Valeriya's odd preferences. If she thought hissing merpeople with razor sharp teeth were cute...well, more power to her. It wasn't as if she was a frail thing; she was extremely strong, though she didn't look it. "I want him, I want him, I want him!" Val continued. "Really," Marié thought, "she needs to get out more."

She sighed and walked up to the group who looked to be running the auction. "How much for the merman over there?" she asked an official-looking man. He gave her a price which was rather exorbitant but not beyond their price range. Val's family was very wealthy. Very, very, very wealthy. It was a good thing, because the girl was a bit spoiled. Of course, Marié would never tell her that. In any event, she was really a great girl deep down--the fact that it was easy to think of her as a girl was odd. Sometimes she acted her true age, to give the girl some credit, but most of the time, she just acted the age that she looked to be. Ah, well. Marié wasn't complaining.

Val really liked the merman so far, even though she hadn't yet spoken with him. So, she strolled over to his container. "Hello!" she said, brightly. "You're to be my new...servant!" To make sure he understood, and because he was still baring her teeth, she showed him hers.

The merman, true to the instinctual and animalistic 'if I fluff myself out and look bigger than my opponent, they will back the hell off' nature most of his species exhibited, reared up in his tank, letting loose a feral snarl and snapping his jaws at her.

He wasn't a social thing to begin with. He'd been captured alone, in a fishing net off the coast of the Bering Sea. Most merpeople were caught in groups, or at least in pairs. This one was alone, and had been for quite some time, based on his extremely antisocial nature and lack of scars from mating battles with other males.

He spoke perfect English, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. They'd discovered this when they were trying to force him into his container, for he spewed out a myriad of foreign curses and degrading terms. The only language they hadn't recognized had been a squeaky, musical one, presumably the language of his kind.

He was not going to be an easy one to control, despite his young age. He couldn't have been over nineteen years old.

"Aww, you're so cute," she gushed. "I'm not going to hurt you! Just relax, okay?" Despite her somewhat ominous appearance, Val could easily turn on the charm. It made things very easy in life. It did help that she was a princess and was actually taught, at a young age, how to be one. Even though she could just kill someone, quite easily, she needed to know how to manage a realm, which meant charming people in order for them to do what she wanted. She wasn't worried about this one; they always succumbed. He was just a little more anti-social than most.

Marié was coming back over to her, telling her that she had bought the creature. "Awesome! Thanks!" she enthused, and ran over to give the woman a hug. "So, um, how do we get it back to the castle?"

Valeriya and her servants lived in a castle, of course. It was a very large castle, but despite its cold appearance, the inside was rather nice--except, of course, for the dungeons, which were not very nice at all. The problem was that the castle was up on a hill, and they were currently in town. That could create a problem, since she wasn't sure the creature was going to calmly walk yet. She'd have to work on him, since she liked everyone around her to not be mutinous. Quaking in their boots was alright, but wanting to murder her while she rested was not okay at all.

"Well, we can just hire someone to carry it up there," Marié said. "The container is closed, isn't it? We'll just pay some more money." Unspoken, of course, was that if it wasn't closed, neither she nor Val should be the ones to have to deal with the silly creature's temper tantrum. She walked back over to the group to ask if there was anyone who could bring the creature back to the castle. Two men volunteered; it was probably because they needed the extra money. So, they picked up the creature, whose name was still unknown to everyone--but, most likely, the creature itself--and started the walk up to the castle, which was not terribly lengthy but was not short, either.

The merman reacted quite negatively when his tank was lifted, and jostled around a bit. He bashed himself against the side of it several times, trying to break himself out. But even if he broke out, he wouldn't be able to go anywhere, not without legs. He could try to crawl, but he wouldn't get away.

At this point, he was just frantic. If he kept attacking his tank like that, sooner or later, it was going to bust. The first thing he would do was attack the first thing moving around him and sink his teeth into it.

He continued this bitter and irrational behavior, only ending up hurting his right shoulder with his bashing, as the tank was carried back towards...wherever he was going, which just couldn't be good. He stilled after a few minutes, and then arched backwards, throwing his head back.

The Song Of The Siren was the most powerful weapon a merperson had. It could hypnotize unwary people, draw them to their deaths--usually unintentionally, since the unsuspecting person would lose focus of whatever they were doing at the time--and often caused shipwrecks at sea, due to captains becoming distracted.

He let loose the sound, which was heavenly and wavering and had no words, from his throat, and it could be easily heard even through the reinforced glass.

"Ooh, that's a beautiful song," Val remarked as the merman started his Siren Song thing. That silly merman was trying to break out of the container one way or another. She was, in fact, expecting something of the sort. She'd had a merman as a servant before, some fifty years ago, and he'd tried to distract her with the Song of the Siren multiple times. Ha, as if! "Hey, guys," she shouted to the two men who probably weren't aware, "don't get taken in by the song!"

Hopefully, that would snap the men out of the trance in which they'd begun to fall. Then again, it didn't seem to be working, but oh well. They were just hired help and didn't matter in the broad scheme of things. She was happy to see that Marié was also still in control--that was probably because she was around for the last merman. "Oh, what was his name?" she thought. She furrowed her brow, twirling her lovely red hair around her finger. "Marié, what was the last one's name?" she asked. Marié would know what she was talking about, of course. "Andrew, I think," Marié answered. "Ah, right, Andrew," Val responded, smiling. "You know," she remarked conversationally to the merman, "I don't know your name. Andrew, the last one, put up quite a fuss at first, but he learned soon enough that it wasn't really worth it. I'm Valeriya, by the way, but some people call me Val."

The merman cut his song short when she shifted a bit closer and began speaking to him. He couldn't hear her properly. All he heard were muffled sounds, because of the reinforced glass and the fact that his tank was sealed up. He did understand English, so he would be able to understand her if he could hear her...but the material the tank was crafted out of was making that impossible.

Instead of responding--which he really couldn't, since he hadn't heard her--he raised his upper lip up over his teeth. It was a blatant threat, and a warning to back up and give him space.

"Maybe he can't hear you," Marié, always the voice of reason, offered. "Aw, that's true," Val said, looking down for a moment. She wouldn't let him have the satisfaction of "scaring her" though; instead, she smiled and waved at him--then she stepped away. The idiots carrying the thing finally snapped out of their trance and mumbled apologies when Val glared. Finally, they continued their trek to the castle. Actually, by now, they were pretty close. Some of her lovely servants were already outside.

"Pippin!" she called to a half-elf who was cutting some shrubs. "Look at my new friend! He's a merman! Isn't that great?" she asked enthusiastically. Pippin had always been a little scared of her, but her exuberance was always infectious. "Of course, Miss Val, I'm very happy for you!" he responded.

"Cool! Well have fun with the shrubs! See you later!" she said, in a farewell, skipping merrily along. Marié chuckled at her excitement.

Other servants were met in the same fashion; Val didn't lose any of her energy for the entire trip back. Finally, they were at the castle doors. "Yay, I get to show mummy and daddy my new servant!" Val remarked happily.

((I'm actually not sure how the vampire reproduction works anymore--too many vampire things out there have tainted anything I ever really knew. Do you happen to know?))

((I usually say it works like human reproduction...but with a shorter gestation period...I'm not quite sure how growing up would work, but I usually say they grow up like humans, age-wise, and then stop aging anywhere between sixteen and fifty years of age. If a human is changed into a vampire at an age earlier than sixteen or older than fifty, then they stay that age instead.))

Léan recoiled at the sight of Pippin, even though he seemed mostly harmless, at first glance. He hated males of other species even more than he hated females. At once, his struggling started up again. He cried out in pain every time he slammed against the glass, due to his hurt shoulder, but he continued anyway. He was desperate to get out.

He wasn't irritated by her actions--instead, he relaxed a little more when she backed away. Close contact with other people was something he wasn't fond of. When everything seemed to fail in his escape attempts, he tried punching the glass.

Again, he cried out in pain, and he clutched his arm to him. Defensively, he curled up at the bottom of the tank, wrapping his tail around himself and hissing in an unhappy, unfriendly sort of manner.

((Ah. That makes sense. Merci (: ))

Val frowned at the merman hurting himself, even if it wasn't actually on purpose. She did want to know his name, but that wouldn't happen until they got him out of the container in which he currently resided. "Aw, honey, don't do that," she said, but knowing he probably couldn't hear her, she shook her head and touched her shoulder. Hopefully he'd get the hint. "Silly merpeople instincts," she muttered lightly.

"Anyway," she added more loudly, "this is my castle!" This she followed by sweeping her arms to encompass as much of the castle as she could, as if she were a salesperson, then pointing to herself. "Charades is fun," she remarked to Marié, giggling. "Now where's Mummy and Daddy?" she asked loudly, hoping some of the servants around would know the answer. One did, and told her that they were in the third-story drawing room.

Marié paid the two men and told them to leave, as there were lots of servants who could move the tank if necessary. "I want to show Mummy and Daddy my new merman!" Val exclaimed again. "That's fine," Marié replied, "but you'll probably need some help, since they're on the third floor. "Kay!" Val responded, then called a few of her servants to help. Marié interjected, telling her it would be better to stick with females if possible, since it was obvious that the merman responded more roughly to males.

Soon enough, they were situated and two females were carrying the merman up the stairs. "Try not to jostle him!" Val instructed, bouncing up and down energetically.

The merman sneered at her from inside of his tank when she touched her shoulder, probably inadvertently telling him to knock off his thrashing. No. He would not let his guard down. Not now, not ever. He did not trust easily, and he didn't trust members of other species altogether.

Merpeople, more than most other species, were seen as nothing more than animals. Pets. Savages. This was mostly attributed to the fact that they reacted harshly when captured and placed in a new environment, and were difficult to gain respect and trust from.

It was simply self-defense. He was looking out for himself, and himself only. Everyone else could back up into a corner and die for all he cared. Nothing else mattered, other than self-preservation. Only he mattered. The world revolved around him, and if someone else didn't like it, they would have to deal with it.

He snapped a brief clicking noise at the females carrying his tank, tailfin rigid and straight up in the water. A sign of aggression, dislike. Merpeople, when cornered and panicked, acted almost purely on instinct.

Survive. Break free. Eliminate threats. Protect yourself. Beat down all those who stand in the way of your survival and happiness...

The group found themselves at the doors of the room in which Valeriya's parents apparently were located. She burst through the doors, seeing that they were indeed there. "Mummy! Daddy! Look at my new servant!" she exclaimed. "He's a merman! Isn't that awesome? It so is!"

Her parents nodded in answer to her question. They had learned to humor her rather immature reactions because she found them more fun then being "boring and overly mature", and it wasn't as if they minded terribly. She could be rather thoughtful when she needed to be, of course. "Lovely," Val's mother replied.

"Yup! Well, see you guys later! I'm gonna get this guy to stop snapping at me. Haha, snapping!" She laughed at her own pun, which was somewhat weak, and skipped off with Marié and the people carrying the tank following.

((Oh, um, what happens when she wants him to do stuff? How does the breathing thing work?))

((He can breathe on land, but needs to be submerged in water at least once a week.))

The merman in a show of defiance, reared up and hissed at her and at her parents, while nursing his injured arm. He wanted nothing to do with these people, and he would fight tooth and nail to gain his freedom.

He couldn't stay up long, since his arm hurt, and he sunk back down into his defensive little ball, growling in an unfriendly, antisocial manner.

He was calming down, since he was nursing his injury, but his guard was not faltering. He hissed and spat at sudden movements, tail straight up in the air and hair on end. it was a frightening sight, but since he was detained, there was really nothing to fear.

((Ah, okay!))

It would take more than a hissing merman to frighten Val, though Marié looked a bit affected. Val thought for a moment, then said, "I think we must lock him up until he learns respect." There was a room with bars made of the strongest materials that were rather close together, just for situations like this. They called it "The Room" because, as Val had decided, it sounded cool and imposing. "Please bring this one to The Room," she intoned dramatically, quirking her lips.

So, they all went to The Room, which was luckily on the same floor, just a long way down the hallway. Finally, they got there. Val frowned. "How do we get him out of his tank and into this...er...cell thingy?'

They decided to call up three huge golems, who could possibly--hopefully--force the merman in there.

The merman hissed and pressed himself against the bottom of the tank, tail flicking back and forth in an aggressive manner. The golems first worked on prying the top of the tank open, and then the largest one reached in to grab him.

He threw his head back and let loose an earsplitting scream. Since the tank was now open, it was full-force. It even made the golems cringe away.

The glass on the tank began to shake and shiver, like it was going to crack soon.