Open!

OOC thread

Profiles

As she walked through the falling snow, footsteps softly crunching on the sidewalk's fresh layer, Sapphire's mind was on the strange man she had met. The marks on the base of her neck tingled as she remembered what he had done to her. Apart from that and the strange hunger that had taken up residence in her, she felt no different than she had before. It was still hard to process that she had become a vampire of all things. And to know that there were other creatures straight out of a fairy tale book living in the city! It was all a bit much.

The man had explained to her a few of the basics to the darker side of Gehenna, such as the different creatures and the politics thereof. He also showed her how to feed, but that was where his help ended, or at least until she fed. That had been his condition: he would train her if she could feed off of someone before she went feral or died. The thought had terrified her, but she still felt that she needed the training in order to be safe. Not to mention the fact that he had made it clear that she would die if she didn't feed within the next few days.

The thought weighing most heavily on her mind was how her parents would react if they ever found out. She was really just glad that they were away for the weekend at an art convention in New York. They would have been worried sick when she hadn't come home by curfew, and there would have been a ton of unanswerable questions. Considering she was a terrible liar, that wasn't an option either. No, the best course of action would be to keep it secret, at least for the time being.

"Where am I going to find someone I can... feed from?" she asked herself, mentally trying to go through a checklist of sorts. Her friends usually held a sleepover or something on Saturday, which would be the following day. Maybe if she got herself invited to one? The thought of sucking the blood out of one of her friends revolted her, but if it was necessary for her to survive, she would have to do it.

Another sigh escaped her as she pushed the button to change the crosswalk sign. Really, she was just wandering around the city and trying to come up with an answer. She knew where to meet the man when she had fed, but that was rather irrelevant until she had done so. The light changed and she crossed before resuming her walk as she tried to come up with a way to avoid feeding from any of her friends.

Standing at the railing outside of his room, the converted observation deck of the old warehouse, Mike watched his pack go about their daily business like always. Several of the men were over at the bar, drinking and laughing. The women seemed to lean towards nursing the wounded werewolves back to health, as well as taking care of the children, of their own accord. It had never been forced on them, and Mike knew that they could fight just was well as any of the men.

What caught his eye, however, was the man running up towards the stairs leading to him. His pants and shirt were tattered, indicating that he had transformed. As he neared, Mike was able to put a name to his face: Jack. He was a good guy, though a bit rash when it came to fighting and his temper. "Sir! We ran into a few Hunters while scavenging, but we managed to get away without fighting," he said, panting a bit. "More interesting is the fact that we found a werewolf, though we didn't approach her."

"Great job on avoiding the fight; we don't need pointless casualties," Mike responded, ears twitching at the mention of a werewolf. "Give me a description, Jack. And could you tell what pack she belonged to?" As he spoke, he signaled a nearby werewolf to grab him and Jack a drink from the bar. He nodded and went off to do as requested, though it came from respect for Mike rather than a sense of obedience.

"Uh... She was female, about 5'5", looked to weigh about 97 lbs, had brown hair, and wore dark clothes," he replied, looking up as if to remember. When the drinks arrived, he took one gratefully and took a swill before continuing. "She was packless, sir. Or at least, she hasn't been around her own for a long time. The only werewolf we could smell on her was herself."

Tapping on the rail as he took a sip of his own drink, Mike thought it over. If she was from a pack, she wouldn't have come alone, especially not if the distance was enough to remove the scent of her pack. No, she was probably packless, which indicated that she was freshly turned. "If you see her again, confront her, but not with hostility. If she is packless, we'll want her to join us as soon as possible," he said, finishing off his drink before setting the empty glass on the the small table nearby. "You go get some rest, though. You deserve it, Jack."

Jack saluted before turning to do just that, heading towards his room. They weren't much, but they were better than the rolls and tents that they had used before. Scavenging for supplies could be dangerous, but it was how they obtained enough wood to build small rooms inside of the other rooms of the warehouse. His was actually the only bedroom to be in the main living area, but that was just so that he could be found easily.

After a few moments of standing there and thinking it over, Mike gave into the urge to be out on the street and grabbed his coat from the peg next to the door. He threw it on quickly and easily, the tattered thing flapping faintly as it caught the air. "Octavian! I'm heading out!" he called as he made his way to the door, nodding and waving every time a member of his pack caught his eye. Still, he didn't slow down until he was a block away from the warehouse, though he only paused to scent the air before taking off again at the same brisk pace.

The street was almost empty, the buildings were starting to give away to warehouses, though this fact made the violet eyed female to stopped in her tracks as she looked down at a map that she her slim fingers. With a furrowed brow, the fair skinned female turned around on heel as she headed back the way that she had come. Briefly glancing up to avoid what she could only describe as a bear of a man compared to her petite figure. She soon sighed heavily before she stopped again, flipping the map in a different direction, still trying to figure out where exactly she was at so that she could find the sanctuary that she was staying at. Being directionally challenged was down fall to being in a new place and having no clue as to where she was going.

"Gah!!! I can't believe i am completely lost!" The scarred female named Roxie said allowed finally as she rubbed her head furiously before shaking her. She sighed heavily once more before sitting down on a nearby bench, pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket to look at the address that was on it once more. Violet eyes were then directed back towards the rather confusing map as a hand went up to rub the back of the slim neck attached to the female. A rune marking could be seen at the base of the neck if you came up from behind her, it was the only thing that clearly marked her as a Hunter, and the fresh ink made even more clear that she was very new to the job.

Finx watched the people walk by her hood up hidding her black hair and blueish green eyes. She often hid herself for fear that people would realise she was a witch and not the midwife that she was. Though she dabbled in the secret arts of the witchs she did not like to think of herself as the witch she really was prefering the tiltle midwife instead. With a sigh she glanced at the house that her mother had come to this evening waiting for her to be done with her preperations so that she may enter without the women or her husband being mad.

Rena walked the streets glancing around her she smiled when she caught a person staring at her purple hair and eyes. People often stared at her like that wondering if the color was real or dyed and if she was wearing colored contacts or not. She wasn't of course and her haid was a natural color but she knew that they would believe it fake allowing her to go on her buisness without them figuring out that she was a vampire.

"Don't forget to lock up, ya hear?" That was Cook. The owner of the diner Avril worked at waitressing. "Yeah, yeah. I know." Avril rolled her eyes as she took off her apron. Avril loved Cook like a grandmother. A really sweet, crazy, and fiery Grandmother. Although, Avril hadn't had any real family do to the fact her pack was slayed.

As she bent down to pick up her bag a knife went wizing through the air and stuck into the wall, about two inches from her face. Avril stared at it wide-eyed "Are you trying to kill me!?" She spat at Cook. Avril knew that Cook was well aware of what she was doing. She was scerily acurate with knifes. "I saw you roll your eyes, missy. I don't go for that attitude!" Cook was an older woman and it showed. Her skin was wrinkily and sagged in more than a few places, and she didn't seem like much of a threat at first glance. Piss her off and you'll find otherwise.

Avril pryed the kitchen knife from the wall and dropped it into her bag. Any weappons would help her in her mission. She had prepared her whole life so she would one day find the hunters who had killed her pack. She would avenge them if it was the last thing she did.

"Goodbye, Cook. See you tomorrow." Avril called towards the kitchen as she hoisted her bag over her sholder. She heard Cook mumble something uninteligeble, probobly cursing at her, but Avril was already out the door and locking it up for the night.

Fishing for her keys in her pocket, Avril walked around out back to where her motercyle was. When she finaly found her keys, she straddled the bike and turned it on. Making sure her bag was all zipped up and secured on her sholders, Avril reved the bike and shot off towards the edge of the city.

Avril wouldn't have colloge in the morning so she would be able to stay out lte tonight and head back with enough time to get about five hours of sleep before going to the diner.

Lee stood in his room at the main house. He had slept in late again unfortunatly. The lord neer minded, since he was quite fond of Lee, and the young male always got his work done, but it was not usually like him. He sighed a bit, and slid a hand over his side. The scars were aching a bit today again, and that could not mean anything good. He wondered if he should go to see the doctor, though the main thing he would want is to take blood.

Lee sighed a bit, and left the room, making his way down the stairs. A few maids bowed and said good day to him. Most of the people here and in the clan showed Lee this kind of respect, holding him higher then others, the main reason being he was the lords second in command, and also that they did not want to piss the lord off. He couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought of the overprotectivness and jealousy that came from the man he called lord and master. It was kind of cute. He rounded the corner and sighed, spotting Nel down the hall.

He would have rather avoided the overgrown fool, but by the smile that spread over the other's face as he spotted Lee, that was not going to happen. "Well well, if it isn't the lord's pet...not by his side yet kissing his ass?" Nel spoke with a cocky voice, he always liked to put on a show and appear bigger then he was. The others around the, laughed a bit. Nel never seemed to like Lee, for his age, his abilities or his status with the lord. So he often set about in this meaningless way of trying to get to him. Lee crossed his arms, looking the other over a bit. "Your still alive? I figured you would have been enough of a disappointment already to be done away with....though I suppose the lord does need a laugh, and what better incompitent fool to give him one" he shrugged.

Nel gave him a death look, stepping closer. His fangs were bared a bit "now listen here you-." "I do not have time to listen to your meaningless threats or banter, I actually do my job" Lee says passing him to continue down the hall. He pauses for a moment "ah, and if I could make a suggestion...the term 'breath mint' is one you might want to look into" he says, before disappearing around the corner.He could hear the echo of Nel's angry roar follow him. He smiled a bit, the fool made it to simple and so effortless to turn things around, even by the most simple and foolish come backs.

He wondered if Nel even paid attention half the time, either way he had failed in his attempt to get under Lee's skin. He paused at the doors that led to the makeshift throne room and took a deep breath. He glanced in a shield that hung by the door, hoping his appearance was alright. Shaking his head, he smiled a bit once more. It was amusing that the lord still had the effect on him to make him worry about his appearance in front of him. There was no need for such trival things. They had seen eachother at their highs and lows, and now it was time to get down to buisiness. There was work to be done, and if it did not, things were going to go out of order and that could cause problems. He moved to turn the knob and step inside.

After a while in the city, Michael was beginning to give up hope of catching the girl's scent. Where had Jack said they had found her? He probably should have asked after all. Of course, it was also the night that he ran into literally everything else that lived in the city. A few ghouls, a witch or two, and, oddly, a recently turned vampire. Or at least, her scent wasn't very strong and she appeared rather confused. Still, he avoided that thornbush. While the two races were more or less allied against the Hunters and their Mages, they didn't always see eye to eye.

Just as he was about to return back to the Den and get some shut-eye, a girl on a motorcycle roared past, her scent riding the following air current. Of course, there was only one werewolf scent amid the swarm of human ones that came from living in the city. Bingo, he thought, turning to follow. So long as she didn't get several days ahead or something, he could follow her without having to hurry. It was actually quite useful as there was no chance to alert the target that you were following them until it was too late.

From the way her scent meandered, it appeared that she was heading towards the edge of the city. While there were some houses there, it was best known for being home to several bars. So, it appeared that she was a partying kind of girl. Michael had never cared much for that lifestyle after ninth grade, though many of his pack had. Some of them still were, known for heading out on the weekends to party and enjoy life with humans. So long as it didn't get out of hand, he let it pass.

---

Inwardly sighing over how boring patrol duty was, Hek jumped from lamppost to lamppost via his lightning magic. The view did offer him a great search area, but it was so tedious that it nearly put him to sleep. Nothing ever happened so near to the Sanctuary after all.

After another round, however, he did notice something strange. A girl was walking around as if lost, peering at what looked like a map. "Interesting," he mumbled, squatting on the lamppost to watch better. She certainly didn't appear to be a threat, though that meant nothing. Even a fledgling Vampire could prove deadly in combat.

It wasn't until after she passed underneath of him that he noticed the faintly glowing rune on the back of her neck. A Hunter! That was a bit more exciting, though a part of him felt disappointed that he didn't get to fight anyone. Seeing that she stopped at a nearby bench to try and decipher the map better, he hopped back another two lampposts and dropped to the ground before walking up nonchalantly.

"Can I help you, Miss?" he said, giving her his charming smile. "I'm rather familiar with the area, so maybe I can give you some directions?" He was supposed to use the code word, he knew, but she didn't seem like she would even know it if she heard it. It really couldn't have been more obvious that she was a rookie.

"Orion's belt sure is hard to see tonight," he said, dropping the code word as he stared up at the inky sky. After having stood still for just a few moments, he had gathered a fine layer of snow, which he promptly shook off. The flakes were coming down rater lazily, but the sheer numbers more than made up for that. The plow trucks were already out in force, salting the road to keep it from freezing and moving the snow up along the sidewalk.

Roxie had stared at the map a while longer before setting it aside to pull out her platinum sugar glider from the pouch/bag that she had been carrying with her. Giving her a small piece of dried carrot to eat while she looked towards the sky, not really looking at anything but still looking at the same. "Well Moonlight it appears that we are lost." she said to the creature in her hands before she chuckled, tickling its' belly with one of her fingers before placing her back into the bag. She had not noticed a man above her, in fact she only noticed those that had been and are around her, not above her.

When the male had dropped down from the lamppost and finally came up to her she couldn't help but hide behind her pale brown hair to hide the pale scars that were from the attack. She didn't say anything to him, trying hard not to be notice as he spoke his mind to her, that was until he said something about Orion's belt. She was sure it was the code but not completely considering she only vaguely remembered something about stars and a belt. "It must be the city lights. I am Roxie and yes i can use some help." she said to him as she smiled, finally looking up at the male, taking in how he looked.

"Hmm, I suppose you could be right there," he said, suppressing his frown. So she didn't know the proper response then. Oh well. He knew that she was a Hunter, which should be good enough really. Crowell, the old man, would probably disagree, but he was too paranoid for his own good after all. "Where are you looking to get to?"

"I'm Hek, by the way," he said, offering his hand as he waited for her to tell him where she was going, though he had a pretty good idea by then. "Might I ask you for your name?" Throughout their miniature conversation, the smile never left his face, nor fail to light up his eyes. Certainly, it was clear that he was typically rather cheerful.

---

After another fifteen minutes of wandering the city, Phire had finally decided to head home, which took only a few minutes incidentally. As she stepped up to the door to their apartment, she fished her cheap, old cellphone out of her pocket and checked for any messages. Quite surprisingly, she did have one text from one of the nicer girls at their school about a party that was going on the following night. That settled the question of where she was going to find someone to feed off, though the thought of actually doing so made stomach do a bunch of somersaults.

Upon opening the door of the small apartment, most people were rather taken aback by the different items decorating nearly every surface available. The various materials for creating the decorations didn't help either. Still, she was comfortable with it and had no problem navigating through the small living room. Even though it was nearly pitch-black in the house, she had no trouble getting to the carpeted stairs that led to the Craft Chamber, as they had come to affectionately call their working area. Part of that was due to her enhanced vision as a vampire, though it hadn't set in fully.

Working on her latest project, a simple glass bulb that would go over a light bulb to provide colored light, seemed like a great way to take her mind off the recent events of the night. Unfortunately, the set-up in their apartment was rather small due to space constraints, so she couldn't do nearly as much as she wanted to with it. They managed to make do with what they had though, so it wasn't much of an inconvenience otherwise. Pulling out her project from the cluttered table while the oven started up, she began to plan what she would need to do. As it was, it was only half-formed, but, with several hours of work, it could be nearly finished. Smiling, she sat down and got to work, losing herself easily in the process.

Roxie watched him for a few more minutes before motioning him to sit down, she was clearly on guard, moving ever so slightly, a suspicious look on her face. "Call me Rox. I am trying to find a friend's place. But considering i have not been here before and it is rather large, i got lost rather quickly." she said to him as she chuckled, it seemed as if she was relaxed around him, acting as if she was just a normal human before a hand went up to her tracing one of the vicious scars on her face, a few minutes passed by as she looked for any sign that he was not human, that he was something else but she found none.

"There isn't this many lights from where i come from so your able to see the stars a better but here, with all these city lights.....you can barely make out the constellations." she said to him absently, trying to make small talk with him. She was trying hard not to give anything away, not to let him know that she was a hunter, after all she didn't even know if he was someone safe to talk to at the moment.

Nodding at her offer, Hek sat down on the cold bench, subconsciously running electricity through it to heat it up a bit. While she talked about finding her "friend's" house, he peered over at the map, noting the area that had been circled in what appeared to be red marker. "I know that place, Rox," he said, squinting a bit as if in thought. "Yeah, I could easily escort you there within a few minutes. It's literally only a few blocks away." The fact that she was trying to hide what she was was rather obvious, but only because he already knew that she was a Hunter. In actuality, she wasn't a bad actor.

"I wouldn't know, having never been out in the country before," he said, his Hawaiian accent clear on his voice. Upon noticing that the street was deserted, he stood up and continued. "But what do you say we cut the crap and get onto business? I know you're a Hunter from that rune on the back of your neck. You're probably on your way to talk to the Brotherhood, right? If so, we'd better get going." As he finished, he offered his hand, bowing slightly. If she demanded evidence that he wasn't a normal human, he was more than prepared to give it. It would break up the monotony of the night so well.

The motor of Avril's bike growled as she approached the edge of the city. Slowly the lighting along the streets became lighter and lighter. The edge of the city was a very shady place. It was certainly no place for a girl her age, wandering around alone. She might get hurt. Avril smirked at the thought of one of the men at the bars trying to take advantage of her. He'd most likely become her dinner.

Avril slowed as she neared a bar. Tons of neon signs made it difficult for anyone with basic human vision to see. Not Avril. Her sight, along with her other senses, were hightend. Having K-9 traits definitely had its benafits. Avril brought her bike to a halt close to the entrance of the bar. She hopped off and took the keys out of the ignition. The bar was only about ten minutes from the edge of the woods. Okay, i'll get a quick drink and head over. She thought to herself. The pain of transforming was near unbearable without something to dull the impact. Avril, however had begun to build up a tolerance to the pain. pretty soon she'd be able to do it with nothing at all.

Watching everyone's facial expressions as Avril walked into the bar was almost as fun as the transformation itself. All the sideways glances and eye-rolls she got had become tiresome for Avril to take in. She looked young and frail compared to everyone else in the bar. That wasn't exactly what bothered her. Avril liked to be underestimated. It made it all that much more interesting for her when she proved them all wrong. No, what Avril didn't like was the ignorance clouding around everyone in the room, mingling with lust and desperation. If Avril didn't have to be there, she wouldn't. Just being around these people made her sick. She wanted to transform right then and there and rip them all into pieces. The fate they all truly deserved.

"Vodka." Avril slammed a five dollar bill on the counter and turned her stool to face the windows as she waited. Through all the neon advertisements it was hard to find an unabstructed view.

Walking along at his clipped, almost leisurely pace, Michael was left behind quite rapidly by the girl on the motorbike, as he had expected. Still, being on foot was usually more mobile than being on a vehicle, so he was able to follow her to the bar with about five minutes between their arrivals. Observant as always, he picked up on the fact that they were quite close to the woods outside of the city and concluded that she probably intended to go hunting. Several of his own pack did so regularly after all.

He opened the door to the bar, bringing the eye of most of the other patrons due to the gust of wind that blew in. It was certainly picking up as the night went on. But he didn't pay them any mind, walking forward to sit on the stool next to the girl. "I'll take Scotch," he said, voice gruff as always. The bartender nodded and accepted the ten that he had pulled from his wallet, walking away to get the drink without further conversation. Michael did tend to have that affect on people that he didn't know well. Military bearing and all that.

As the two of them waited for their drinks, Michael stole occasional glances at the girl, trying to gauge her reaction to his presence. He had no idea if she would even be able to detect his scent, which he was hoping she would be able to do. The heavy haze of smoke in the bar, as well as the alcohol that permeated the building itself, made it hard to pick up on individual scents. That didn't mean that he didn't still have hers, however. Training had taught him how to distinguish between some of the more... mixed scents.

Eventually, their drinks came, the bartender apologizing for the wait. Michael waved him off with an assurance that it was of no concern as he took a sip of his drink. It was stronger than he was used to, but that wasn't a bad thing. He had been tempted to order Guinness for that reason. Some of the stuff at the den was far to weak for his tastes. His watch revealed that it was around twelve-thirty, which meant that he would probably have to wrap it up and get back before too much longer.

Avril smelt him before she saw him- a tall man with a military build. He looked normal enough, well as normal as it could get around here, but he definitely didn't smell normal. Avril hadn't had much experience with tracking, but she knew the sent of a hunter just fine. This man definitely wasn't one. Although, Avril could certainly picture him as one.

It all made Avril that much more conscious. One wrong move and the whole bar would become a slaughter house at any given moment. Avril decided it was better to just observe him. So far he seemed harmless enough.

He had only just sat down next to her when the bartender brought her back her Vodka. Avril downed it and looked at her watch, it was now twelve-forty three. If Avril was going to hunt she needed to go do it now. As soon as the sun rose she'd have to get to her classes.

Clearing her throat, Avril stood and set her glass down hard on the bar counter. Everyone in the bar immediately fell quiet, once again all eyes on her. Not paying any attention to the sideways glances, Avril brushed a hand through her hair and headed back through the door she'd come from, the steady thud of her black combat boots now the only sound in the small and musty bar.

Avril fished in her pocket for her keys and immediately inserted them into the ignition. She straddled the bike and revved the engine, starting it up. Avril smirked, the purr of her bike always calmed her and brought her back to reality.

Kicking the kick-stand away Avril accelerated away from the bar leaving the dank, musty people she hated to be around even for a few moments behind.

In only five minutes the edge of the forest was visible, pine trees stretching off into the distance and clumping with others in huge masses. As Avril got closer she slowed and turned down a small dirt road only she knew of. She brought her motorcycle to a halt next to a large bush. Avril hopped off and brought out small camouflage covering out of her backpack and draped it over her bike.

Avril sighed and began to undress. One by one she put each article of clothing back into her bag. Finally when she had completely undressed she rolled back her shoulders, inhaled through her nose, closed her eyes, and slowly exhaled through her mouth. With a gut wrenching crack Avril felt all of her bones break all in unicine. The Vodka could only help her so much. She shook with pain and fell to her knees. Squeezing her eyes shut and gritting her teeth she could feel her bones and organs realigning themselves in their correct positions. Avril let out a moan but it came out as a muffled growl.

Opening her eyes, Avril slowly stood. The transformation itself always felt as if it would kill her, but being in her wolf form was far more blissful than anything Avril would ever be able to explain. It just felt right.

Looking up to the sky, now choked out by trees, Avril let out a howl. She knew her pack was long gone, but it felt right to let out her pack cry every time she changed. It felt natural. And sort of like an ode to the pack she would never truly know.

Avril bounded away from her stashed belongings and further into the forest. Her favorite hunting spot wasn't too far from there.

Lee sighed for a moment. He was out among the buildings and the people milling about. Even now, he wore a dark pair of sunglasses. The bright lights, and more of the people laughing and chatting were an annoyance. He paused on a corner, and crossed his arms. He had been at this for awhile. He had been sent out to find a vampire that his Lord wished to speak to, one that would not be someone to come willingly. Why send him though? Out of all the jobs available why would the lord send him? He must have his reasons, there was always a reason. Everyone knew the Lord trusted Lee more then the others, and he was often the one to get the harder or dirty jobs that no one else could accomplish. Was there something more to this then he knew? He sighed, lifting his slender fingers to the side of his glasses fixing them.

This place smelled of hunters and wolves, from what he had to guess, there was either a bar or a base nearby they were congragating in. What a pain, why would a vampire want to hang so close to where natural enemies were. Unless he was a squealer that was..An informant for another race. Lee felt the slight itch over his skin at the thought. Betraying your own kind for what, money? Power? Whatever drove another to do that disgusted him. He caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye, someone vanishing into the ally. So, the sources had been right, his target was here. He causally strolled towards the ally, he did not want to tip off any humans or anyone else who may be watching. Lee was not the type to let things get to messy, he liked to keep them clean, precice and done swiftly. Stopping at the ally opening, he noticed the area was deserted. He stepped between the two buildings with a sigh.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are" he mocked a bit, stepping deeper within the ally. From the looks of this, it was deffinetly a trap, but he did not mind that at all. This guy was a low class vampire, hardly a threat to him at all. The corners of his mouth twitched a bit. He couldn't help but feel a slight excitement from the thought of battle or the thought of getting hurt or such. He knew the likeliness of that with this vampire were slim. A flash to his left, the vampire had made a lunge at him. Using his higher speed, he turned with a graceful movement, and in the same one, had the other by the neck, slamming him to the wall. It wasn't hard enough to go through or anything at the moment, but enough to rattle the other a bit. "Tsk, Tsk, you should know better then that...your mind sticks out to much when your all alone" Lee's voice had a calm and cool almost silver like tone, but the beautiful words could not mask the dagger like intent below.

The other vampire hissed a bit, showing his fangs, as if that would be intimidating. "So your master sends his lapdog to do his work, not brave enough to come himself?" he hissed. Lee's grip tightened a bit at the disrespect. "My Lord has better and more important things to do then to waste time on such a...pathetic cause" he says, his eyes sliding over the other. Pitiful, the other looked weak, he had obviously not been keeping up with any sort of training or feedings or anything. He shook his head, to many had let themselves go like this, it was a discrase. He would have to talk to his lord about this later. For now however, he had a mission. Lee reached up, lightly slipping off his glasses, to reveal his eyes. A soft smile playing on his lips, as he slid his hand on the other's neck up a bit to under his chin, turning him to look at him. "Now then, you will do as you are told..."



Yuske whistled while he worked, flipping through the pages of a history book. He was taking classes on the side as he worked for the whole hunter buisiness. Right now things were going pretty slow, he was sitting behind his computer screens, just watching the city through the eyes of various traffic cams, etc. He wasn't really paying attention though, he had a paper to finish up on Henry the eight. Sighing, he leaned back in his chair. Man what a pain, he was smart, and knew a lot about a lot of things, but one of the things he hated most was history. It was so boring, dragging on and was about as exciting as watching paint dry. He glanced up at the screens, and shook his head. The city was dead today, no pun intended there at all either. He placed a boot on the edge of the table with the computers, and kicked himself away from it. The chair rolled across the room on its' wheeles, to another table where his latest project was at work.

He was working on how to make guns less noisy, flashy, and able to do more damage. Simple enough...in theory. The table was quite simply, a mess. Parts and papers, as well as books and such were strewn across the surface. He rarely ever worked in to clean of a space, but he was more organized when things were a mess, then he was when they were really neat. He slipped off his glasses, and pulled on a pair of tinted goggles he used in his work. A sigh escapes him, as he picks up a small pen like welding tool, and pulls one of the guns he had been working on over to him. He wondered what other hunters were up to, those who were field agents and such. He was more comfortable behind the scenes, and right where he was. It kept him out of trouble, danger, and kept him from causing anyone else harm or to lose their- DAMMIT! The tool had slipped, clipping his glove on the finger. He sat it down, and pulled his glove off. It hadn't done much, but he should have been paying more attention.

He glanced back at the monitors for a moment, before leaning back in his chair again. His eyes on the cieling, he pulled his goggles up, and took a deep breath. Closing his eyes, he counted back from ten to calm himself. It was a trick he had learned. the craving to have a smoke was slightly setting in. There was not supposed to be smoking inside of the office, but he did not feel like going all the way outside, it was going to get cold tonight.Besides that, he knew he needed to quit, it was a bad habit and so many told him that. He had picked it up about a year ago after...He shook his head, pulling the goggles back down. He moved back to the table, and got back to work. That was the past, it ment nothing now, and he had been told a long time ago he had to move past it and work harder to get better. Easier said then done. This kind of thing was always a possibility in the field of work he was in, bit he was hoping that they would get better. Hey, a guy could dream.

Michael was almost amused by how the girl watched him. Clearly she was old enough to tell that he wasn't human. That was good. Less of a chance that she'd die before he could talk to her that way. He was only there for a few moments before the bartender came back with her drink, which she proceeded to swill down. He was one of the only patrons to not react when she slammed the glass onto the counter, cracking it a bit. The bartender looked as if he was going to say something, but changed his mind, shaking his head as he delivered Michael's own drink.

To avoid suspicion, he drank it slowly, checking his watch every so often as if he was waiting on someone to show up. When his drink was gone, however, he stood and left as quietly as he came. As before, her scent was heavy on the air, though a little disturbed by the falling snow. The trail would be cold by morning. With a sigh, he began walking towards the edge of the city, following the trail inconspicuously as always.

It took him slightly longer to reach the edge of the forest. But that was really to be expected. What really surprised him was the fact that she was off and hunting. Normally, newer lycans never really felt up to it until they were shown how, which meant that she was very confident or she had been a werewolf for a while.

His trained eyes picked out the fluttering cloth covering the bike easily despite the fact that it was camouflage. She really should have weighed it down, though the wind would have made it rather pointless either way. He tapped his foot a few times as he thought about how to proceed. On the one hand, he could just wait by the bike. She would definitely head back there once she was done. But tracking her through the woods seemed like it would be a lot more fun. Not to mention good practice at that.

Decision made, he tossed his coat next to the bike, stretching in the darkness. While he wouldn't shift unless he had to, he really would prefer to keep the coat from getting shredded. Not to mention that it made too much noise fluttering in the wind like it did. His training dealing with cold weather would help him avoid hypothermia and frostbite, as would moving about and his nature as a werewolf.

The imprints of her feet in the snow were superimposed by the tracks of a wolf, indicated that she had transformed completely. They went off into the woods further at the pace of a running, which wasn't all that surprising. He knew perfectly well how strong the bloodlust could be once a werewolf transformed. Even halfway was almost too much to handle sometimes. Her own tracks were soon joined by his human ones as he jogged after her, following her scent and the physical signs she laid. So far, he was unable to hear her. Padded paws would do that, though. A smile graced his face as he exhaled, a cloud of mist bursting from his mouth. This was going to be fun.

The smile on Roxie's face dropped as the male dropped all pretense that she had been trying to keep up, she finally stood, a serious look upon the scarred face. She tucked the map away so that he could not see or read an more that was upon it. Her hand gripped at the bag she been carrying while the other one rested on the pouch attached to her hip, narrowing her violet eyes at the male, clearly on the defense now as she stepped away from him.
"Since you know what i am...it is only fair that you tell me what you are." she said to him bluntly in tone of voice, backing up when he moved closer to her, she knew he was foreign from his accent, even though he was good looking, she was not going to fall for something like that. She unconsciously reached a hand up and ran her delicate fingers across the scars that were there. "Sorry but I don't feel like having to kill someone right now. So just go on home and I shall be on my way." she said to him as she gave him a fake smile, giving him a three fingered wave as she headed back down the way that she had came from, looking back to make sure he was not following her.

Avril made her way to the spot she knew well. She paused before she entered the clearing before her. Coming here always made her slightly tense. She couldn't remember much about the day her pack had been killed, but she could remember the large alpha stuffing her down a large rabbit hole. It was right over there. Avril crossed the clearing and looked down at the hole, now covered in snow. Suddenly she was overcome with a glimmer of a memory.

"They've found us! Ready yourself for a fight! Our pack will not die!" The huge alpha transformed right before them, shreds of his clothing scattering to the spring floor of the forest. "Females run, us males will fight. Get Avril to safety! Whatever it takes!" That was another large male. Not as big as the alpha but still bigger than the other wolves. A blade pierced his arm and he whipped around to face the hunter before him, fury in his eyes. Young Avril watched in awe as the male, only partially transformed, swatted a huge clawed paw at the hunter's head and made impact. Before she was forced away, young Avril could see a splash of scarlet emanating from the hunter. Then, she was being rushed away. A female had picked her up and was now running with her. Avril looked around frantically, females were scattering about, some transformed, others fallen dead, frozen in their human form. The young Avril was unaware of the hunters pursuing her and the female carrying her. Then Avril was on her back, the body of the woman covering her like a shield. Though Avril was under her chest, she failed to feel a heartbeat. Then young Avril was being scooped up again, this time by a fully transformed wolf. His fur was warm and reassuring as she was jostled along, clinging to his back. Avril nearly fell, but was caught by strong hands. "Transform. Now!" Young Avril did as she was told, turning into a small pup. "Whatever happens, stay here. Our pack will live with you. Always remember that." With those words, the alpha shoved Avril down a rabbit hole. She squirmed, confused. "You will grow into your tile one day. Until then, keep yourself safe. We will always watch you." A rock was pushed over the opening of the hole closing out the light above. Young Avril stared wide eyes at the rock enclosing her in. he wanted desperately to come out and follow her alpha into battle like every other wold, but she did as she was told and stayed put. Faint screaming and the faint sound of screaming and ripping flesh reached her ears, but Avril just closed her eyes in an attempt to force them away. She would do as her alpha had commanded no matter what. She had to.

Avril opened her eyes and growled low. That small, defenseless pup was left behind in the hole. What emerged was what Avril was now. Hardened and strong. To this day she would do as her alpha had said. She would avenge her pack. Whatever it took.

Grunting, Avril tore her eyes from the hole. She had to hunt or she would be weak. She couldn't allow that to happen. She needed to be able to attack a Hunter if need be.

With that Avril slinked further into the woods, smelling the air for a small animal she could hunt.

Hek certainly did not appreciate Rox's sudden rudeness. The least she could have done was tempered her paranoia with a little common courtesy. Tutting, he dropped his hand and stood again, opening his mouth to answer her question honestly. It was a fair question after all. Instead of waiting for a response, however, she turned, mocked him with a fake smile and wave, and began looking for the Sanctuary again.

By now, Hek was rather miffed. It wasn't often that he got to meet someone new to the Brotherhood, and he certainly didn't appreciate being treated like a second-class citizen. If she wanted proof, she was going to get it. He looked to the sky briefly, contemplating the clouds before he redirected his gaze to a stop sign ahead of her on the road. Instantly, a bolt of lightning dropped down, resulting in a deafening clap of thunder and a stop sign that was glowing a faint red.

Within seconds, he was standing in front of her and to her left, a twinkle of mischief in his eye. "I would be Hekili Chapal, Seventh Degree Warlock of the Iota Coven and associate to the Brotherhood," he said with a smirk on his face, arms crossed over his chest. "Now, would you like me to escort you to the Sanctuary like I'm supposed to, or would you rather explain that you refused my assistance and prevented me from doing my job?"

---

After a few minutes jogging through the woods with no sign of her, Michael was beginning to think he had let her get too much of a lead on him. If he had, chances were that he wouldn't see her until morning, which wasn't a very pleasant idea. Just as he was about ready to turn back to the bike to wait, he came into a clearing, fresher tracks leading through it. It was apparent that she had slowed down, which meant that she was now actively hunting.

He stopped for a few moments in the clearing before turning back. Chasing her down wouldn't be worth it. It would take a lot of energy out of him and probably scare her away too. No, it would be better to wait for her and try and talk diplomatically instead. Maybe he would even get a nice fire going.

Almost half an hour later, making it around two o'clock in the morning, he had a good bonfire going, his coat steaming in the heat. A few rabbits were suspended over the flames, having been caught quite easily in the midst of their hibernation. Hunting them would have been more fun, but the time it took wouldn't have been worth it at the time in all honesty.

Still, the fire and the rabbits had been a great idea. Surely she would be able to smell the fire and the rabbits in the air, probably piquing her curiosity enough for her to come and investigate. If she didn't, she would still have to come and get her bike before she could head back to town, or would head back to town for that matter. It seemed like she was really attached to the piece of metal.

Relaxing a bit on the grass that had been cleared away of snow by the heat of the fire, he set up to wait. Patience was a virtue that had been drilled into him by the military after all, so waiting was inconsequential. At the very least, it was definitely a game he would easily win, regardless of whether she knew she was playing or not.

Roxie had certainly not intended to be rude, she in fact felt as if she was still being nice about it all, though her movements were stiff as she moved about. When the lightning hit the stop sign in front of her, she couldn't help but jump back and curse allowed. She placed a hand on her chest as if that was going to help her to calm down, she closed her eyes for a few moments before she checked on her sugar glider. When Hek mad moved in front of her, she had finally gained her composure once more. "Wizard." she mumbled under her breathe, personally she didn't trust anyone, not even the Magical race. After all they all have an advantage over her and could kill her no problem if they wanted to do so. "Roxie Curcio. Recently joined the hunters." she said to him before she sighed, rubbing her face as she let Moonlight sit on her shoulder, looking the male over once more in a slightly different view. "Fine.....not like i would have found the place on my own." she grumbled, clearly reluctant at having to give up some control of the situation, well a lot of control.

The incessant knocking on his door was what woke Hek from his slumber, but it wasn't content to just wake him. No, it wasn't appeased until it dragged him out of bed and to the wooden door to answer its call. The old man stood on the other side, gnarled hands wrapped around and equally gnarled cane. "What?" he asked, rubbing his eye to get it to focus.

"You need to go and show out newest Sister around," he said gruffly before he continued down the hallway. "Breakfast is in fifteen minutes!" he added on, calling over his shoulder. Hek only grumbled at the geezer's back before he went about getting dressed. Of course it would be up to him to give her a quick rundown. It seemed like he always got the most menial of jobs.

Dressed in his burgundy keikogi and hakama, he made his way to the half of the sleeping quarters that housed the females. It took him a few moments to remember what section of the building her room was in, but, with a few directions, he made it there with plenty of time to get to breakfast, knocking on the door almost as incessantly as the old man had. Why did he have to be the only one to wake up like that?

Roxie was already awake before Hek had came to her door and started banging on it. She ignored it as she finished getting dress, using make-up to hide the scars on her body that were showing. She then placed the sugar glider with in her make shift cage, smiling as the small creature slept before finally making her way over to the door and opening it.

The make-up she wore, hide the circles under her eyes, though the look of her room said that she had worked heard to make it look like it belongs to her. Even though it was simple. All it held was a cage, a violin, a picture face down on the night stand, an old bow and arrows hanging on the wood chair in the room. She didn't bother blocking his view of her room, she looked him over and noticed how he was dressed, which she had to admit was a surprise to how he had looked last night.

She on the other hand wore the same worn leather boots that stopped before her knee, the same black pants tucked inside of said boots, an ivory fantasy shirt with a under-bust corset, the only thing that was different was that her long pale brown hair was loose. "Your going to wake up Moonlight if you keep that up." she said to him finally before she stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her as she looked him over once more. "How can i help you?"

Avril crouched low behind a bush. It was thin enough she could see through it but not so thin that the deer she was stalking would see her. She licked her lips as she watched the huge antlers of the mighty deer dip down low to take a drink from a near by river. This would all be too easy. The deer was weak and far slower than Avril. She would have no problem catching up with it. The thought made Avril's mouth water. That meaty deer, just within reach.

Avril's thoughts were interrupted by a small twinge of sudden urgent hunger. She needed to hunt and she needed it now. With that Avril lept out from behind the bush and sunk her claws into the back side of her prey with a mighty growl. The deer's head shot up as soon as it heard Avril's growl. She manage to take a chunk from the deer's back, but it was off running as soon as she did. Damn it! I need more practice! Avril cursed as she bounded off in the direction the deer had run off in. In a matter of seconds Avril had caught up with it. Leaping again, Avril managed to propel herself onto the deer's back. Avril's claws locked into the deer's back and she sunk her teeth into the back of the deer's neck. That was enough to break it. The deer gave way beneath her and fell to the floor, it's leg twitching as the last of the deer's energy was wasted in a final attempt to flee.

Smiling a menacing, toothy grin, Avril walked in a circle around her prey. She'd go for the neck meat first. That was always her favorite. Padding up to the dead carcass, Avril bit into it's back and violently ripped a chunk of meat from it. Scarlet blood dripped down Avril's chin as she scarfed down that piece the went for more.

When Avril had finally had her fill she gathered a few of the deer's strongest bones into her mouth and headed off towards where she had stashed her belongings. The deer bones would make excellent handles for a few new throwing knifes.

"Don't care. It's more than late enough for everyone to be up," Hek replied, hiding a yawn behind his hand. He was admittedly impressed that Roxie managed to get some decor into her room in one night, though he would be darned if he let her know that. "Breakfast will be starting in around seven minutes, and then I have to give you a tour. Then we'll report for training and go from there." With that, he turned and began to walk down the polished hall to the dining area, a large room with several rows of tables where the entire Brotherhood met for meals.

"What you're wearing is fine for today, but you'll be expected to tone it down in the future," he said as he turned another corner. "If you need different clothes, the Sanctuary has plenty to give. Just talk to one of the Masters about it." A few more turns and the doors to the mess hall stood open, allowing the aroma from the food to waft out into the hallway. The meals were never extravagant, and getting food was a relatively quick process, so Hek was seated at his usual spot by himself within moments, a bowl of oatmeal and berries in front of him.

---

Though lightly dozing, the sound of an animal in the woods was more than enough to wake Michael up, though he remained still for a few moments to avoid provoking a wild animal. When he was certain that it wasn't right next to him, he stood, spine cracking as he did so. He had been in the same position for hours, something that was never very good for the back. The fire in front of him had died down to be only coals, though a little wood and care brought it back to a decent little blaze.

He was certain that the girl would be along shortly, as the sound he had heard had been distinctly wolf-like in nature. He supposed that it could have been a fox or a similar quadripedal mammal, but it didn't seem all that likely. He pulled out his cell phone to check the time and send a message to the pack telling him that he was okay, and that he was making contact with the female werewolf. Her response would determine how they reacted to her, though he didn't really want to dwell on that too much.