[Nyxia]

Click for Vampire Form

She'd awoken that next eve alone in the hallway, a puzzling thing since she remembered another being resting here, a man if her memory served her well. Stretching out her upper back and shoulders, L slowly rose to her feet and inspected the area around her. Sure enough she was very much alone in the cursed hallway, the only sound she could pick out was the soft echo of chants which resonated through out the ancient place. With a soft shrug of her shoulders Lucina felt it would be best to return to the chapel area to see if he'd returned to there, maybe over looked her in her hiding place. She almost floated as she exited the hall via the door she'd once entered, and immediately she was hit with the smells of human flesh, sweat and blood, and incense which lingered like ghostly fingers in the air. Being of her age, the Thirst did not grip her as it did her sons, and made it so she could go nights without feeding. Thankful she'd fed the night before, Lucina made her way back into the chapel, soft click of her boots on marble and stone announced her before she was seen.

It was in the chapel that she sat once more, listening quietly to chants and prayers of those who sat in the front benches. It was an idle thing to do while she looked for the man, someone she could figure out. A second scan of the room told her that he was not out there either, causing L to growl a bit at herself, she shouldn't care at all where this person went to. She was about to stand up and leave when she heard a woman's voice praying, asking for forgiveness before she disappeared through the large wooden doors. At first Lucina paid her no mind, it wasn't her problem; that was until she heard a noise beyond the doors. First she thought it nothing more than her imagination, but as she listened closer she could hear the soft cries of a kit. That was disturbing enough to bring the vampire out of the chapel and into the snow in order to investigate further. Once in the snow she could see the pale pink blanket half buried by the mounds of white pillow like snow, that woman had left her baby to die.

[Nyxia]

The woman, a young blond had vanished into the flurry of snow before Lucina could question her. She was left all alone in the snow with a small mewing kit who was not to be of the living long if left out in the snow. Reluctantly L picked the small bundled blanket up and turned to take it back inside the chapel, at least she wouldn't be responsible for it after this, and she could go back to her searching for this mythical thing. Once she'd made her way back into the chapel, L quickly found one of the monks who wasn't chanting and attempted to hand over the kit and trouble it came with to him. "Ah, good sir." She started her voice thick with her Romanian accent, holding out the pathetic little kit. It's dark fur seemed somehow darker against the blanket, and she seemed to have quieted. The man however looked over Lucina and the kit with a very mournful expression, puzzling the dark woman further.

"Miss." He began slowly, watching her with a great deal of patience as he spoke. "It is as we told her mother, none that are tainted can reside here." He continued pushing the blanket back to her, the years showing in his eyes. "It would be best if you took her back to the snows, let the gods have her back." He finished with a deep breath, it showed how he hated to do this, but it was his duty never the less. Lucina however stood there stoic expression clinging to her face as she listened, could all the living be so heartless. Her liquid silver eyes cast down to the kit snuggled in the warmth its blanket provided, surely they weren't really planning to leave this poor kit out in the snow to die. The confusion must have shown on her face because the man gave a heavy sigh, "We realize it is a difficult choice, but this child is tainted. Touch by a darkness that is ancient." He told her, hoping she would understand.

[Nyxia]

She didn't though, no matter what evil in the night these living filth feared; Lucina herself could feel that the child was fine, untouched by it. However she knew, from her past experiences with religion and those who practiced it that this was what they felt was best. Scoffing the dark woman shook her head at the man and pulled the blanket back to her chest, the poor kit would it seemed become her problem after all. Once, many years ago, when she was much younger and first a darkling; Lucina knew she would have thought nothing of leaving the kit to its fate. Now, five hundred years later, and after being a mother to three boys; she knew she couldn't turn her back on this little one, even if she wanted to. A mixed blessing a soul turned out to be after all, the pink blanket snuggled back to her chest, she turned to go back for the hallway she'd left after waking. Kit or no kit she was here for another reason entirely, and that reason was a mysterious creature. She was going to find what was hidden in the depth of this lonely place, even if it meant doing so with a small furry bundle in tow and took her weeks to do. Her face remained expressionless as she passed the rows of benches in the chapel, the clicks of her boots on the floor carrying a steady rhythm as she moved.

[Nyxia]

As she turned away, Lucina could hear the monk chasing after her. He was trying not to disturb those who were here praying, but he wasn't doing a very good job since his commotion alerted one of the patrons to the unfolding events. "Miss, you can not keep this child in here!" He whispered harshly at her when he had finally caught up with the woman, grabbing her arm roughly. "This is a place of the gods, and you...you defile such a place with a being touched by darkness. This will not do, miss you must either return the child to the snow, or leave with it." He huffed, gripping her pale arm hard; honestly he was too old to be chasing after people in here. L for her part was about to snarl back at him, show him what "touched by the darkness" really looked like, she was struggling to keep her cool; while on the outside she amazingly looked down at the old monk with an icy indifference. She didn't speak, she couldn't; her own hate for the living was enough to make her sure she should do as he said and then take his blood as payment for his annoyance of her. She wouldn't have the chance to make a decision either way though.

From one of the middle benches a dark hair man listened to the going on behind him, his head bowed in silent prayer it seemed. He wasn't sure what had drawn him to this remote place, nor what compelled him to have stayed for a night already. The bone mage in the forest had told him to "let the fates guide", and he had. They were either on something, or had a sick sense of humor to have lead him here. For all his feeling about his past life, for all his regrets Korrё had never thought he would see the inside of a chapel again in this lifetime. Now here he sat waiting to see what those drunk string pullers had brought him here for, he wasn't usually so cynical, not normally one to allow such a negative view to cloud his mind; but this night he was in no mood for games. When he heard the monk's words to the woman behind him, he felt a pull to aid her. But as he got to his feet, Korrё could feel her too; another darkling, like himself. Only she was far older than he, and far more powerful. Without thinking too much on her, he quickly approached the monk, carefully laying a hand on the older man's shoulder. When the monk turned to look, Korrё smiled to him something between forced and genuine. "Good monk, there are others watching." He whispered very softly to the man, it was something L heard loud and clear with her hearing; but the monk strained to hear him. To emphasis his point, Korrё nodded his head over his shoulder to the robed women watching the three from the corner of their eyes.The man, obviously not happy with this sudden news turned to face the women who pretended they weren't looking and continued in their prayers.

[Nyxia]

The man provided a long enough distraction that L had time to pull away from him, rather than physically doing so though she and the kit in her arms disappeared in a black mist drawn up from the shadows cast by the candles in the chapel. With a jerk the monk's head snapped to where she'd just been standing when he felt nothing but air in his hand. That was also the cue Korrё was looking for, he too vanished from his place on the other side of the monk. The man was left standing in confusion, looking about the room for either of the pair. "Evil...pure and simple." He muttered with a shiver before returning to the doorway which lead visitors from the chapel back into the snows of the mountains.

When she came out of her shadow mist, L found herself right back in the hallway she and the man had traveled into. At least she'd gotten where she wanted to be this time, minus the foolishness of a silly old breather. Her next problem was the kit, it wasn't like her, not like her children either. What did they feed these little things to keep them alive? She was pondering the question, leaned upon the wall behind the statue when she heard footsteps. She could feel another dark aura coming closer to her, but not one with her power. Thankful, L cloaked herself and her power as the footsteps rounded the corner and she came face to face with the man from moments before. "Oh, my." She breathed, a forced habit for one who didn't need to do such a thing anymore.

[Nyxia]

He could feel her, for a moment at least he could tell what she was; and then she cloaked herself from him and any other prying eyes. That was typical of their kind, to not want to be too well known by those not of their clans. He knew he should have left her be, a powerful vampire like her could easily have killed him; but he was intrigued by her want of that little kit. Like her he could feel no darkness on the kit, no sign of the taint she supposedly carried in her. Still he wanted to know what such a creature as this vampire could want with the innocent little thing, when he rounded the corner he was about to find out. She acted startled at him, but he knew better and he knew she'd felt him coming. He would play her game though, just to learn what she planned. "I'm sorry." He told her genuinely, bowing a bit. "I only meant to see that you were alright." His eyes caught on the kit, and despite his best efforts he couldn't keep from staring at it.

[Nyxia]

L for her part was less surprised and more displeased with the man's arrival, she could feel the dark blood pumping threw his veins, stolen just as her own was. She could see him staring at the little one she held, but she could also tell he wasn't one who fed solely on blood. It put her a bit more at ease with him, "Yes, Prořok. I am fine, as is this one." She couldn't put her finger on just way the other dark kin made her feel so at ease, but then she wasn't willing to look to hard at it either. Instead she leaned back on the wall, one arm cradling the small kit, the other resting underneath it.  Watching him carefully, who knew this evening was going to turn into such a wild ride.

[Nyxia]

The fact that she called him by what he was, rather than attempting to find a clan name made Korrё wonder. She didn't at first glance seem like a Vellpha, but then again looks could deceive. Without glancing he put his hand to his shoulder, allowing one of the spiders to climb upon it. The small furry thing looked pleased to have a better sitting place for a few seconds before it wanted back onto his shoulder, and let him know with a high pitched squeak. Korrё merely smiled at the spider before replacing it, and turned his attention back to the woman before him. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" He carefully questioned, he could see on her arm the mark she carried. It was the blood mark of a very old clan, one he thought may have been close to dying out if he'd last heard right.

[Nyxia]

A smile crossed her pale lips at his question, it almost amused her in fact. Tipping her head softly to one side she kept the smile on her face for him to see. "Why are You here?" She questioned in return, this could be interesting indeed. Still L felt his magic pull at her, seeking an opening in her shell to enter and see her thoughts. His kind were all the same in that respect, nosy, and though it usually bothered her; this night she paid it little mind. "I came here to find something." She cryptically answered him, turning her head to look down the hallway. For what it was worth, she didn't know if those tales held water or not, but she was willing to find out either way. "But, it seems I wouldn't know the first place to look." She let her shoulders settle a bit, watching him from the corner of her eye. In her youth his kind had provided a source of amusement and she felt this time would be no different.

[Nyxia]

He was slightly put off, so she would play games with him in a place like this? Then she gave him a half answer, or a whole answer to his half question as it were. Oh how he hated this game and its rules, he'd actually almost forgotten that until now. "Ah, well..." He was defeated, but he had to play no matter how much he hated it. First because she could kill him, second because the snow storm kicking up outside would prove difficult, even for him, to travel in. "Alright, I am here because the fates brought me here." He would bend the rules a bit, at least once to see what she would do. "My turn, what is it you're looking for here?" Oops, he'd slipped up. The first rule of this game was that you never admitted it was a game. This was working wonderfully, he groaned cursing the fates.

[Nyxia]

He'd broken the first rule, but it didn't matter to her a bit; a game was a game, and she wasn't a stickler for the rules to begin with. She couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in her throat though, spilling out of her lips. No she wasn't laughing at him, more laughing at his reaction to the knowledge he obviously had about this little vampire game of secrets. "Fairs fair, I guess." She mused at him, the smile lingered. "I am here seeking something that many in these lands say is only lore." She explained, normally she wouldn't have been in such a mood to give that up so easily, but he seemed annoyed and she needed a hand with this little one. "Would you care to join me?" She asked motioning to the kit in her arms. At least he could hold her while she hunted for this illusive thing if he did not wish to follow.

[Nyxia]

Korrё was both surprised and pleased that she was willing to end the game, even if he didn't like being laughed at. Joining her on this outlandish hunt through such a place, while seemed crazy, was at least a way to pass the time while the storm blew over. It would take the storm a good three nights to move on, so he had plenty of time to kill. His eyes were on the kit again when she motioned to it, the realization set in finally. That was the same kit the preluhna had come in with, had she really left it in the snow like the monk had told her; or had she given it to a stranger? Which was really worse, he wondered as he scooped up the blankets and kit into his arms. Such a pretty little thing, and her fur was so soft that three of his spiders had crawled down to cuddle with her. "I think I have the time." He told the woman before him, then as though it were some after thought he looked back up at her. "I am Korrё Xaϯmryn." He announced to her, an introduction was always proper when traveling with another.

[Nyxia]

Watching as he took the kit from her arms, L couldn't help but ponder this strange darkling and his spiders. It wasn't that they bothered her, it was more that they were unlike anything she'd ever seen before. It was perplexing, this strange world, but more so were the things that thrived within it. Shaking her head at the thought she watched him coo and coddle the kit, at least someone was showing her love. "And I am Lucina Fellshrone, of the Ilztirahn Manor." She calmly told him, seeing as how formal introductions were out of the way. "You can call me L, like most do." She added before turning to go down the long hallway.The door to this place had bore the mark of those cursed pets, making it in her mind, the perfect place to look for a hidden creature. The hall itself seemed to go on beyond what even her sharp mercury eyes could see, the whole journey seemed to finally be underway at last.

[Nyxia]

He watched her start down the stone hallway, dark and hollow as both their steps echoed on the stone floor. Part of his wondered what they were after, the other part wondered just how sane the idea of bringing a helpless kit along for whatever was. He mentally kicked himself, what else were they going to do with her, leave her somewhere near the entry way; may as well as left her in the snow then. Since there wasn't any point in voicing these thoughts, Korrё went along behind this mysterious woman, L. She wasn't like most of the dark kin he'd known in his life, or unlife as it were. There was far more to her and her power than met the eye, even to his she was closed off and guarded, her aura not betraying its true colors for him. They were a little over half way down the hall when the kit hiccuped at him, and rolled a bit in her blanket. "Do you think she's alright?" He questioned L. "I mean from the cold and all, since we don't feel things like that anymore." He knew he was stating the obvious, but honestly he was worried.

[Nyxia]

L stopped where she was, he was right after all; it had been years since she'd felt the cold truly prickle her skin, since she'd known what it meant to really take comfort in a warm room or jacket. Five hundred years later and here she stood feeling the thorns of a life she thought she'd finally left behind, missing those things she'd known when she'd been alive. This wasn't the time or the place for such burning memories as she looked back over her shoulder at him, really what could she do about the kit if it was cold. "I don't know, she probably isn't seeing as how she was half buried in the snow when I found her." She told him truthfully. "Could you spare your coat to her? Otherwise we have to hope for the best." As much as it pained her it was true, she had no spare article of clothing she could strip away and still be decent. If he wanted his coat then unfortunately the little one would likely freeze, but if he was concerned as he seemed maybe she wouldn't. "As long as he isn't Reima I can bet she'll be kept warm." She darkly thought, pushing away the images of her one night stand with the arrogant hunter; again something that didn't belong in this place with her.