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#Post#: 66--------------------------------------------------
Alt WIP
DIR By: Lucy Pyre
Date: September 14, 2024, 11:50 pm
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[center]Alice let out an exaggerated sigh as she ran one hand
through her raven-toned hair, looking throughout the bar once
more before resigning herself to her fate for the night. Her
partner had informed her that she would be heading home with a
man she'd picked up earlier in the evening. However, this would
be far from the first time that she changed her mind last
second. It would seem that tonight was, unfortunately, not one
of those nights; leaving Alice to return to her own home on her
own. Reaching up to her hair once more the young woman would
ensure the hairband keeping her ponytail secure was still
tightened properly before taking a step to turn towards the
door. As she began to move, however, she suddenly felt a hand
upon her shoulder.
Turning her attention to the direction that the new presence had
come from, Alice's breath hitched in her throat immediately as
her eyes took in the sight before her. A woman almost a foot
shorter than her stood a few paces away, long hair the color of
purest snow which went halfway down her back. Only one
breathtaking silver eye, her left one, was visible as the bangs
of her hair covered the entire right side of her face & most of
her nose. She was wearing an elegant black dress which perfectly
complimented her incredibly pale skin with a lovely contrast.
Only after Alice spent a few moments absorbing the beauty in
front of her did she suddenly become aware of the gentle warmth
on her chest; the Hunters' medallion every hunter possessed
which carried a protective spell to ward off the passive charm
of the supernatural. Feeling this heat which she knew all too
well, Alice's excitement quickly turned to a gentle sigh. Of
course the one time a woman approaches her, and one this
breathtaking at that, it would be just her luck that it would be
a monster. Still; she knew what was likely about to happen and
it was her duty as a huntress to lead the creature somewhere
safe before engaging.
"Pardon me, miss. You looked like you were about to leave and, I
do hope I'm not overstepping here, but you seem rather lonely.
Perhaps I could interest you in some company for the night?"
When the woman spoke it was nearly enough to enrapture Alice in
the sound in spite of the protective charm she wore. The
monster's voice was like the finest silk to her ears; and oh how
she hated that she wished to hear more of it. No matter. She was
a huntress and she had a duty to fulfill. Quietly clearing her
throat, Alice put on a polite expression before giving a
response. "Oh, no, you're perfectly fine I assure you. I suppose
I'm just easy to read tonight, huh? In truth I was looking for a
friend of mine but it seems she changed her mind and won't be
showing up." She then paused for a moment, appearing to think
over the other woman's offer before continuing with her train of
thought. "You know what? Some company for the night does sound
quite lovely. Although, I think I'd rather go for a walk and get
some air if that's alright with you, miss...?" The monster
across from her suddenly had a glint in her visible eye; likely
from the thrill of believing she had ensnared her prey. "Nadia.
I would give my surname but I typically make a woman wait until
at least the third date for that." The tone of Nadia's voice was
incredibly flirty and Alice be damned it made her hate what this
woman was even more. "Nadia is quite a pretty name. Mine's
Alice. Now then, that walk?" With a quick sidestep Nadia
motioned for the other woman to lead the way and, with that, the
two women quickly made their exit.
Once outside of the bar Alice took off towards a specific
location which she knew well; an old lot with multiple abandoned
warehouses. It was thankfully very near the bar which they had
just left and she would hopefully be able to lead the monster
behind her there without arousing undue suspicion. While she
hadn't gone out tonight expecting to be on duty and, as such,
didn't have her more lethal weapon on her person, she still
possessed multiple silver knives which should be more than
sufficient to get the job done. Strangely, Alice noted, Nadia
made no attempt to spark up idle conversation. She couldn't be
sure if the other woman had meant for her to lead in both
direction and conversation or if she simply had no desire to
speak to one she believed would shortly become her food. Nadia
even made no comment when she was lead into the secluded lot and
into one of the warehouses. It was only when Alice came to a
sudden stop in front of her that she let out a small whistle.
"Well darling, is our walk at an end? Can't say I expected to be
led to some dusty old warehouse but, hey, I'm not going to fuss
as a guest." The sudden flirtatious tone in Nadia's voice made
Alice twitch with discomfort as she turned to face her, pulling
a hidden knife into each hand as she did so before taking up a
defensive posture with the weapons. For her part Nadia tilted
her head sideways and gave a questioning look, but neither made
any attempt to move or said anything further. More than anything
this annoyed Alice. She had purposely led the monster to a
secluded location; why would she not drop the ruse and attack?
"What are you waiting for monster? Attack me already!"
What happened next was anything but what Alice had been
expecting. Rather than a sudden lunge the woman across her
instead broke out into laughter. A laughing fit which lasted for
nearly a whole minute before Nadia managed to contain herself.
After which she reached down to the small pouch strapped to her
right thigh and, upon opening it, pulled out a cigarette &
lighter. Returning the lighter to its previous location after
use, she huffed on the cigarette for a few moments before taking
it in between two fingers to huff out a cloud of smoke,
chuckling low to herself as she did so. "So that's what this is.
I knew I smelled silver on you but had hope that it was just
jewelry and not blades. Such a shame that a woman as gorgeous as
you turned out to be a huntress. Let's drop pretenses then,
shall we?" During the final sentence Nadia's voice changed; or
rather, her accent. She had spoken it with a natural Russian
accent before giving Alice a small curtsy with her
cigarette-free hand. "Nadia Petrova at your service, huntress."
As she spoke her full name Alice noticed the woman's one visible
eye shift from silver to a deep crimson as the nails on her left
hand extended a few inches before shifting into razor sharp
claws. Not waiting any longer to allow the monster the chance to
potentially change further, Alice lunged forward and
attacked.[/center]
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#Post#: 67--------------------------------------------------
Re: Alt WIP
DIR By: Lucy Pyre
Date: September 15, 2024, 12:27 am
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[center]When Alice's blade was within inches of biting into the
other woman's upper body Nadia deftly brought her left hand up
and, using her claws, deflected the strike away. Without letting
the human counter she quickly thrust her talons forward to
plunge into the huntress' shoulder. The motion of the strike was
much slower than her defense had been, however, and Alice was
easily able to sidestep the blow. The huntress then used the
momentum from her dodge to swing one blade towards the elbow of
her foe's left arm in an attempt to remove the only weapon she
currently possessed. Unfortunately for Alice, however, Nadia
twisted her body away from the strike in a blur of motion. It
was only when the huntress felt a palm push against her back to
playfully shove her away that she fully recognized where the
other woman had gone. As Alice turned around to face the other
woman she noticed that Nadia had made no attempt to move towards
or attack her once more. Moreover, she was simply idly standing
in place, still casually huffing on her cigarette as if her life
was not actively being threatened.
That particular train of thought is what made Alice realize the
situation she was in, bringing a scowl to her lips as she spoke.
"You're toying with me." This elicited a flirtatious smile from
Nadia. "Darling, but of course I'm playing with you. I've no
desire to harm you so this little dance doesn't quite have a
point, I'm afraid. After all it isn't like you're capable of
killing me with those toys of yours even if I were to stand here
and let you slice me to ribbons." The woman's claim that her
silver knives weren't capable of killing her made Alice
uncertain. She had been fairly confident that the woman across
from her was a vampire. However, there were a few other species
of supernatural that had shapeshifting abilities such as she had
witnessed that weren't weak to silver. Those creatures rarely
ever made trouble for humanity, however, and so the Hunters'
Association tended to let them live their lives in peace. Had
she misjudged the situation that gravely?
"Silver can't kill you? Did I make a mistake in judging you as a
vampire then? If that's the case, I offer my sincere apology
for-" Once more Nadia broke out into laughter, this time
interrupting Alice's speech as she did so. "Oh no dearest,
you're spot on in that regard. I am most certainly a vampire.
That said..." The now-confirmed vampire's eyes darted down from
Alice to the blades in her hands before wandering up to her eyes
once more. "Those little knives are going to do little more than
cause me some mild burns. If you don't believe me then toss one
over here. I'll happily plunge it into my own heart if that will
mean putting an end to this farce." Eyes widening from shock,
Alice stared at Nadia with uncertainty. In spite of herself she
decided to humor the idea. After all, it wasn't like she'd been
able to land a blow on the vampire, and Nadia clearly had not
lacked for a weapon to defend herself with. Thus Alice dropped
one silver knife to the ground and pushed it over to the other
woman with her foot.
It was clear that Nadia hadn't actually expected the huntress to
agree to the suggestion judging from the look in her eye. She
quickly composed herself, however, before reaching down to pick
the blade up with her left hand. "Hope you aren't shy, darling,
but I really don't want to have to replace this dress." As Alice
was beginning to wonder what the other woman meant Nadia placed
her half-burnt cigarette between her lips before using her right
hand to slide the straps of her dress off of her shoulders. The
garment fell to her waist and exposed her chest completely. In
spite of herself Alice couldn't help but momentarily stare at
the other woman's moderately sized breasts; a small blush
appearing across her face. Nadia made it clear that she'd caught
the huntress staring with a smug grin before twisting the blade
in her hand to point at herself and, after a moment's delay to
allow Alice to register what she was doing, drove the knife
directly into her chest; right where her heart would be located.
The entire length of the blade was embedded within the vampire's
chest, which did elicit a pained exhale along with a wince from
the woman. Afterwards, however, she simply released her grip and
stood idle facing the huntress.
There was complete silence between the two women for almost two
minutes before Alice finally relented. It was clear that she had
spoken true and that the silver was doing little more than
causing her pain & discomfort. In spite of this evidence,
however, she still found the fact nearly unbelievable. Never
before had she encountered or even heard tale of a vampire
unaffected by silver. "How is this possible? You should be a
pile of ashes on the floor by now...!" At the huntress' words
Nadia slide the blade from her chest and tossed it onto the
ground next to the other woman. While the wound did not bleed
due to a vampire's ability to control such aspects of their body
Alice did notice that it did not immediately begin healing
itself closed like a typical wound would. While not lethal it
seemed that silver still had some limited impact on this
particular monster.
"It's quite simple, really. You could say that I'm...special.
Being thousands of years old does give once a few perks that
other vampires aren't privy to, after all." The flirty tone in
Nadia's voice was back as she returned her dress to its previous
position. Alice, however, barely even noticed. Her mind was
reeling at what she'd just heard. Thousands of years old? The
Association had some limited understanding of vampire society;
enough to know that one of their kind was considered an
'ancient' once they reached one thousand years of age. They also
knew that those of such great age often developed abilities
unique to them as well as, generally, being multitudes stronger
than any other vampire. An ancient was a creature to be feared
and respected in equal measure, as the Association had no record
of ever slaying a single one. Thankfully for humanity, however,
vampires tended to be a very power hungry species. Infighting
was common among them and it was all but unheard of for any
individual to live long enough to reach ancient status. The
Association kept records of particularly high profile vampires
which posed a significant threat and, even among those, the
oldest they were aware of was only halfway to becoming an
ancient. To make matters worse this particular vampire had said
thousands, plural. Alice's mind could only imagine just how
dangerous the creature across from her truly was. As such her
only interest for the moment was to ensure that she got out of
this situation alive.
"It seems you're telling the truth, and if nothing I can do is
going to matter then I don't see a reason to continue this. So,
how about it? You said you had no desire to harm me, yeah? Wanna
call a truce so we can both go home tonight?" There was almost
no chance this was going to work, Alice knew. Even if the
vampire truly had no intention to harm her beforehand there was
no way she hadn't been angered enough to have changed her mind
now. To her surprise, though, the other woman merely gave a
small shrug of her shoulders. "Sure. Honestly I should make you
give me a taste for all the trouble you've put me through
tonight, what with how irresistible you smell. But I suppose I
did get to have a dance with such a gorgeous woman so tonight
wasn't a complete waste. So, sure. We'll call a truce for the
night. I do hope to see you again, miss Alice." Once more with
the overly flirtatious tone of voice Nadia blew an exaggerated
kiss towards the huntress before turning on her heel and walking
out of the warehouse. Alice watched dumbfounded as the woman
left, only having the presence of mind to return her knives to
their hiding places once the vampire was well and truly
gone.[/center]
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#Post#: 68--------------------------------------------------
Re: Alt WIP
DIR By: Lucy Pyre
Date: September 19, 2024, 9:54 pm
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[center]A number of weeks passed since meeting the ancient
vampire in the club. In the time since Alice had made a short
tryst back to headquarters in order to give a full report on
what she had learned in person. It went without saying that
leadership was more than a little concerned about the
information she had given them. A vampire who claimed to be
thousands of years old, whom had appeared completely unharmed
after leaving a silver dagger embedded within her heart for
multiple minutes straight? Even the greatest hunters &
huntresses under the Association's command would be incapable of
felling such a beast; at least until they learned more about
her. As such, Alice was ordered under the strictest of secrecy.
No one other than the council itself was to know what had
transpired that night, lest panic swell within the ranks. She
was given one additional order as well; to attempt to track the
creature down and take advantage of her seeming lack of interest
in harming Alice in order to coax any information out of her
which she could. Alice knew that she was practically being given
a suicide mission. No matter how indifferent the beast seemed to
be there was no chance that she wouldn't kill Alice once she
discovered that she was using her for information. Of course,
that was presuming she was even able to find her again in the
first place.
As it would turn out, finding the vampire in question was
laughably easy. Only three days after her return to the city did
Alice stumble upon the woman. Once more she had no weapons on
her person beyond her emergency knives, as the huntress hadn't
left her home this particular night with work on the mind. No,
Alice had merely stepped outside to take a walk & enjoy the
crisp night air so that she could think about her predicament.
It was in the process of doing exactly that that she came across
the vampire again, sitting on the edge of the large circular
fountain in a small square only a block away from her home. The
way the other woman's gaze was upon her from the moment she had
rounded the corner made it all too clear that she had been
tracking her scent for some time. Alice wasn't sure how to feel
about that.
"I wasn't expecting to ever see you again. Did you finally
change your mind from the other night and come looking for that
drink? I distinctly remember some mention about how
'irresistible' I smelled." Alice placed one hand casually on her
hip as she spoke, hoping to give off a non-threatening air. Not
that she thought she was capable of being threatening to the
woman across from her in the first place. For her part, however,
Nadia's lips turned upwards in a small smile. "As tempting as
that offer is, no, my reason is nothing so pedestrian. I suppose
I could tell you why but where would the excitement in that be?
Isn't it more interesting to have a little mystery involved?"
While Alice desperately wished to know the real reason she had
no way of knowing how far she could push the vampire's buttons
just yet and, as such, chose to leave the subject alone for the
time being. Besides; there was one particular matter that held
her curiosity even more. During the time she'd spent back at
headquarters the huntress had looked through the records to see
if she could find any mention of a vampire named Nadia Petrova.
Hoping that, perhaps, someone in the Association's past may have
had an encounter with her and would be able to share vital
knowledge. What she had found was quite the opposite of that,
however.
"I'm curious about something, Nadia. If you don't mind my asking
a question of you?" The one visible silver eye on Nadia's face
seemed to twinkle with interest at the statement, but the woman
merely gave a shrug in response. Alice chose to take it as
permission to continue. "As I'm sure you won't be surprised to
hear, I looked your name up in the Association's records. I was
hoping to find some sort of information that would help
understand a vampire if your age better. However, the one thing
I did find was a reference to a very old, very respected family
of hunters who helped found the Association. The Petrova family
supposedly migrated from what would become modern-day Russia
before building a reputation as one of the greatest family of
hunters of their time. One record in particular stuck out to
me." As Alice spoke the expression on Nadia's face began to grow
more neutral, almost approaching grim. She seemed to know
exactly where this conversation was going, and apparently didn't
like it one bit.
"The Petrova family had a daughter by the name of Nadia. Her
personnel file described her to be quite a short woman with
snow-white hair and eyes of purest silver. But, the most
striking part of the record was that it stated that Nadia was
slain in the line of duty. So on the possibility of having just
made an utter fool of myself, I must ask. Have I found the long
lost heiress to one of history's most prominent hunter
families?" For a long while there was only silence between the
two women; the expression on Nadia's face completely unreadable.
The deafening quiet extended for a handful of minutes and, when
Alice began to suspect that the vampire wasn't going to give her
any answer, she finally spoke. "So, that's what the official
record says, eh? I always suspected that they'd claim I met my
end in some stupid 'honorable' fashion. Although I find myself
not being nearly as pleased at being correct as I always
believed I would be. Well, to properly answer your question miss
huntress; yes. I am indeed Nadia Petrova, dishonored heiress of
one of the founding families of the Association."
Having her suspicions confirmed did not bring any joy for Alice.
In fact, it left her even more confused than she had been
originally. Every single hunter & huntress swore an oath upon
receiving their title; an oath that, should they ever find
themselves in a situation where one of the monsters they hunted
forced their curse upon them, that they would take their own
life rather than allow themselves to become the very thing they
vowed to protect humanity against. It therefore made absolutely
no sense to her that a woman who was from such a renowned &
respected family would allow herself to continue on after being
changed. She knew that asking about that particular fact was
dangerous territory yet her curiosity would not be sated without
doing so.
"How? How could you not fulfill your oath!? One of the most
important parts of a huntress' duties is her oath. I understand
that death is frightening but, still. How could you accept
living as a monster!?" Alice's voice grew to nearly a full on
shout by the end, and she failed to notice the dark look in
Nadia's eye. "A monster, huh? You want to know the reason why I
didn't fulfill my oath? Fine, little huntress. Since you're so
eager to know I'll give you the whole damn story." The tone of
the vampire's voice was, Alice noticed, a strange mixture of
anger and; weirdly enough, hurt. "I never wanted my family's
life, you know. Oh they certainly tried. From the moment I was
old enough to understand language my family taught me all about
the 'evil monsters' that posed such a horrid threat to humanity.
How families like ours were the only hope that we paltry humans
had against the diabolical threat of the supernatural. For a few
early years I even believed it. I was an impressionable child,
after all. That didn't take long to change, however. It was a
few days after my eighth birthday. I was left alone to play in
the large forest a ways behind our home and, as any curious
child, I wandered. After a time I stumbled upon a small shack. I
didn't think anything of it at first, and so I went to check it
out. Inside I found a young woman reading a book. Even for an
ignorant child as young as I was it was clear as day to me from
the moment I laid eyes upon her that she was a vampire; my
upbringing made sure of that. I was terrified at first,
naturally. Right here in front of me was the very monster I had
spent years being warned about. I even called her such before
attempting to flee. Yet in spite of this, she never harmed me.
Instead, she gently stopped me and asked what I knew of
vampires. To summarize a very long handful of hours; she told me
quite a lot about her kind. From the beginning she kept a
neutral perspective. Never once did she deny those of her people
who were as my family believed. However, she also made sure to
go into detail about the things that my family never would have.
Vampires who went out of their way to avoid killing, who only
wanted to live their lives in peace. Suffice to say it was an
eye opening discussion. Afterwards she simply allowed me to
leave."
"Over the next few months I visited her multiple times. With
each visit I grew more and more fascinated by her. It quickly
became clear to me that the idea of vampires my family raised me
to believe was only one side of the coin; and a very hate-filled
side at that. Unfortunately for the vampire, my father
eventually found out. In my naivete I led him right to her
shack, believing him genuine in his desire to meet a peaceful
vampire." There was a long pause as Nadia seemingly played the
events of that night back in her mind. "I watched my father run
her through with a silver blade right in front of me, screaming
about how he wouldn't allow a hellspawn to corrupt his child. I
never even found out the woman's name before I wound up being
the cause of her death. After that night things changed. I was
suddenly forced into the most strict regimen you could possibly
imagine. Every second of my life was spent being taught either
about the danger & evils of vampires, or how to fight them. Any
trace of affection my family had for me died just the same.
Suddenly I wasn't their daughter, but a potential disgrace. No
longer was I the beloved heiress of the Petrova name. I was now
a risk to the Petrova name because I had dared to sympathize
with the enemy. From that day onward I never again felt an ounce
of love from a single member of my family.."
Once more Nadia was silent for a time. This time her expression
was somber; almost depressed. "For twenty years this continued.
Even once I became an adult, nothing changed. I wasn't allowed
to be a person, an individual. I had dared, as a child, to show
a shred of sympathy. That marked me as a permanent risk to the
family. I was constantly monitored. Never allowed on missions
alone without an elder member of the family to make sure I was
kept in line. It isn't a stretch to say that I wasn't even
treated as a human for those two decades. Well, you push anyone
far enough and they reach their breaking point. I had long since
felt the love of my family turn to disdain, of course. Hatred,
though, that took longer to develop. And so, one day I had a
sudden thought occur to me. They were already treating me barely
better than a monster myself, all because I had dared to show an
ounce of sympathy; a willingness to be understanding. That
hadn't changed either. Ever since that day I hadn't ever felt
hatred towards vampires. Hell, in some ways they fascinated me.
So I decided; if my family were going to treat me as barely more
than the same monsters they hunted then I might as well become
the very thing they despised. Quite a poetic way to take back my
life, if you ask me. I got to spit in their collective faces
while simultaneously disgracing & shaming them all at the same
time. Thus, to answer your question, little huntress; I did not
enact my oath because this was my choice. I became a vampire
willingly. It was my choice."
The stunned silence from Alice was deafening to the vampire. Not
that this was surprising to her. No, not in the slightest. Most
huntresses were rather fanatical in their devotion. That one of
their own would ever willingly allow themselves to be turned was
not only an affront to them but a heresy of the highest caliber.
To top that off, here was a woman of one of the most praised and
respected names in the whole of the Association's history
standing proudly before her proclaiming not only her
willingness, but outright desire to have been turned into a
vampire. To say that Alice was shocked would have been quite an
understatement, and the silence that accompanied her wide-eyed
gaze as it stared at the woman across from her carried on for
quite some time.[/center]
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