[Ander]

Achilles, anthro form

Claws clenched and released, evidence of the barely contained rage coursing through taut muscles. Monsters! Was he descended entirely from monsters? Monsters that, at their prime, may have killed his own dam... Another grunt of rage flowed from the Lucain's parted jaws, accompanied by a gout of flame. Never in his memory had he felt so furious. Innocent dancers, slowly becoming aware of the creature moving a full head above most, parted before the heat that rose in a simmering aura from his pelt.

If not for the sheer scariness of it's bearer, it would have been a very nice pelt. The deep, woody brown was neatly saddled by a lighter shade, currently tousled by the beginnings of sweat. The bright orange blazes that wrapped around those handsome tones made it look as if his very fur burned - the Shadebane, though his was brighter than many shades - was a gift from his father. Creamy orange wingblades lie flush on either side of his spine. And his eyes - well, he really was his father's son. Bright, achingly deep blues, perfect for mesmerizing the victims he didn't want to take.

For now, their depths flashed a warning to the endless throng of shakers, revelers and patrons of the Heart's Beat - which Achilles was completely lost in. 'Out of my way,' they gleamed. 'Now.'

[Citanul]

Iahmes, Human Form

Caine of course had gone to find his mate - Lysandroth needed to be informed of this new... Adventure. He had told her of the new pups, though not that he was bringing one home. He was sure her surprise would turn into a slight rage - but she had grown to love Brujah and Oz.

Iahmes shifted slightly - being the one in front of his firey brother, he was not going to be pushed around so easily. "....Calm down, Achilles. Please. Fighting father like this will only cloud your mind. There are innocent people here."

Bright blues - nearly the same shade - looked into his younger brothers - serious as anyone could be. These people were here for a good time, not to be in the middle of their blood-feud.

[Ander]

Younger brother. The thought occurred to the taller male, if dimly. He was the younger brother - how strange. Particularly given the older version that had appeared in front of him. "Or what, brother?" The last word was sneered. Mean. "Will you attack me as our sibling did? Do you have another waiting in the wings, or will you war with me fairly?"

Though he had a point, reluctant as Achilles was to admit it. These people were not part of his quarrel, nor his meeting with the creature that was the vampire's mate. He would be no better than the vampires if he injured them. "I will not allow evil to thrive in a world where I walk. Move out of the way, vampire. I will burn you otherwise."

[Citanul]

Hands shook slightly, though Iah did not back off. Many of his siblings were certainly intimidating, with their extra powers... Where he held none. "Brother. I do not wish to harm you, I know you would best me in a fair fight. I just want no more bloodshed, not between us."

"...Father is not evil, Achilles. You must understand that. He is misguided, he has paid for his misdeeds. I wish nothing more than for his redemption, to help him understand all that has been wronged. But, that cannot be done with this constant warring!"

The last words were not loud, but they were strong, and his steady gaze held, feet unmoving.

[Ander]

His words seemed to send Achilles into another temper, at least at first. Ears perked and swiveled forward as the damp fur on the back of his neck rose. He bared his teeth to the gums, shiny and red with the heat that regularly washed against them. But as his pale brother moved on - 'redemption' crossing his lips - those black lips slid down by degrees. "You are foolish if you believe that one who did what he says to my dam is...anything but evil. Anything but a monster. But I know that the monsters don't know what redemption is." Achilles stepped closer, heat rolling off his barreled chest. Ears had relaxed just enough to be curious instead of angry; his mouth bore just the slightest snarl. "Yet if you would not war, what would you do?"

[Citanul]

There was a part of him that wanted to back down. That knew how dangerous this was, to rile the temper of anything that came from his father's lineage. Even without the firey herritage of his mother. The heat rolling off of his brother was making him a touch uncomfortable, he pulled lightly at the collar of his shirt unconsciously.

"I do not see myself as foolish. I know I wish for something my father does not understand - but he will. He must know, he must be shown. I would show him, teach him... Father will listen. He does love his children, brother. Even if you do not see it like I do."

[Ander]

"He'll eat you alive." Achilles gave a skeptical snort. His eyes roved his half-sibling, sizing up the pale fur and physique, the eyes as blue as his own. He wondered if, to other eyes, he looked like they shared brotherhood: the two of them as blazing as the sun, and shining as the moon.

The heat of the dance floor was beginning to wear away at the younger Lucain, and now that he was no longer flooded with anger, the dancers were beginning to irritate him. Music pounded uncomfortably in his skull. Close as he was, it would take nothing but a swift movement to grab his brother's arm and drag him from the dance floor - there, to a hallway that was just barely visible in the midst of gyrating elbows. There wouldn't be a warning save a snarled, "Come with me," as he moved to grasp the older creature roughly.

[Citanul]

A small shake of his head was given as Iah seemed plead with his brother. "He would never. Father loves us, Achilles." A bit of worry came to his eyes as Achilles seemed agitated - was it the heat, or his words? He made no struggle, just following his larger brother to the corridor. He had endured much rougher treatment than this.

"You want to go outside?" He asked after a moment, pushing open an exit door and visibly relaxing as the gust of cool air came over the both of them. "I hate this place." The club. The pounding music - it was for his siblings, he was sure, that his father made sure it was close to their home.

[Ander]

The reply was a grunt, but Achilles was indeed happy for the cooler air. He released his sibling - somewhat relieved that he hadn't needed to apply actual force - and stepped into the open. Sea air wicked the warmth of him away, combating the creature's natural temperature. Saltiness flickered comfortably in a gently snuffling nose. Iahmes had found the patio exit, currently empty, and bearing the remnants of the last concert to be held here. It was nice: clean, outdoors, with the tiniest hint of sand brushing over the floor from the coast not far away. Given the current conversation, it was almost all lost on the male.

"Father loves you, perhaps." It wasn't a question. Nor was it said with any bitterness or scorn, just a simple statement of fact. "Loves you because you are like him, forced to share his monstrosities. For me? He has no love. Only a willingness to enslave and destroy." Large hands fell on the railings as Achilles spoke to the sea, a deep frown on his features. "Like he did to my dam. That is the way of monsters, is it not? That is what I have to stop!"

[Citanul]

The salt-tinged air had always been a comfort to Iahmes. The only real comforting memories he had were here at the beach - a day out with his mother, just him, while Caine took the other two to train them in their budding abilities. He walked over next to his brother, leaning against the railing and looking out to the ocean. It would have been peaceful, if not for their discussion.

"Father loves you. And Brujah, and Spardia, and Oz. He loves all of his kids, powers or not. Vampire, demon, human... It does not matter. Father said that your mother was weakened by your birth. He wouldn't have lied about that. And he didn't just leave you there, when that other male came. He brought you home. As messed up as we are, Achilles, we are a family. You have six brothers and seven sisters, and we all care about you. Even Nas. He was just trying to say hello, he's just... Well. He's Nas.'

[Ander]

Iahmes' speech... Well, it gave Achilles plenty to think about. He was more than a little impressed that the older male could weave so much reason into his heart, particularly while he raged about all of this. Humans, demons and vampires. Monsters and his brothers - and the only sister he had met thus far, who surely fell under the banner of the former. "Wouldn't he? It would not take a vampire to lie to suit his own ends. All things with words do that." Those depth-less blues looked askance at his pale sibling, both ears flicking quietly in his direction. "Regardless of what you say, I...cannot see love in that man. Not the way he behaves. Not the way he takes only what he wishes, with no regard even to his own mate. Who would love that way?"

He would not, certainly. Achilles was drawn to thoughts of love strongly just then, for reasons escaping his measure - but he knew he would not love like that. The male leaned closer to the rail, claws biting into hard wood, pads warming until they steamed the finish. He would love truly, deeply and honestly. Powerfully.

Though the mention of Nasimine drove that line of thought right out. "'He's Nas'?" The boy spat the words, incredulous. "Are you so used to that behavior from him? Is he always...?" Achilles raised both hands, claws miming an explosion. He had no words with which to describe the madness in Nas' actions, or the chaos he sensed within.

[Citanul]

Oft having been told he was the voice of reason in his family Iahmes had the patience to go along with it. He had to - who else would be there to pick up the pieces of his family? A small shake of his head as the near-identical blues looked to Achilles, for a brief moment stroking a patch of rogue hair upon his jaw. "Father loves in his own way. He protects and he cares, but he has moments where time gets to him. He is the oldest vampire, older than even the ruins of the Cathedral, you know. The first, and... Malkov, he is not even thirty. He was alone before mother. Alone, for hundreds of years, Achilles. Can you imagine what that would do to your mind?"

Love was something Iah rarely thought of. He loved his family, loved his brother. He had no time for anything else, not until his quest was finished.

A gentle chuckle at Achilles' actions as he smiled. "Nasmine is my twin brother, Achilles. I have dealt with it since we rested in mother's womb. He's not always so... Mad. He was excited to meet you though." It was odd, how no one seemed to realize that the brothers were twins - identical at that, aside from the actions they took.

[Ander]

Despite the head-shake, Achilles felt driven to hold Iahmes' gaze for as long as possible. Age was no excuse for what he had allowed himself to become. Power could not be forgiven. The amount of death Caine was responsible for, alone - not even counting those that he had turned, Sired, made just as irredeemable as himself! - was reason enough to see him burned at the stake that would pierce his heart. But loneliness? "I...suppose." His voice was soft, and the admission of sympathy with his father grudging at best. Spending that much time with nothing to occupy you but yourself, no one to lean on or call your own...? Involuntarily, Achilles shuddered. "I suppose that all things need companionship. Still, once he found her - this mate of his - why leave her side? If she is all that he has hunted for through time immemorial, why take another into his embrace?"

The boy leaned back towards the water. His claws, returned to the rail, scraped thin furrows nervously into the lacquer. He was on the edge of something, he felt. Some very important idea, something close to the subject of companions, and it filled him with unnamed unease. "Twins? No." Eyes filled with Iah widened in a moment's disbelief. "I wouldn't have guessed it. You are a vampire who is, somehow...not so monstrous; he is everything that, I'm sure, his Sire would have him be. And I am not so sure I am fond of his excitement.

"Is he, though... Is he always so...comfortable, with his sister? The shadowy one?" Though her name escaped him, Achilles wouldn't forget the female who had stood up to him. Caine had defended his mad son passionately - enough so that the younger male could see how much Nasimine meant to him. But she had leapt to his aid with an ardor eclipsing even that. "Are they...ah. Hm." The claws gestured again, however uselessly: he had no words to describe what he suspected between the dark pair.

[Citanul]

It seemed so odd, to stare into Achilles' gaze. So familiar - father and Nas had the same color. Nas even had that same intensity, the burning drive to do -something-. Their reasons were different but he didn't hold the gaze for too long. It was too reminiscent of Nas when he was in a particular mood.

"Leave? Father wanders.... I think, honest, he forgets. Not that he loves mother, but that he has someone to come home to. I know that Brujah and Oz's mom tricked him. She was not a good woman, and Oz told us she said horrible things about father. Not true ones. I know what he's done Achilles, and he doesn't hurt people on purpose."

A soft laugh fell from his lips as Iahmes gently put his fingertips over Achilles' claws, prying them from the soft teak wood. "Identical twins, brother. Though we do not act alike, it was a fun game to confuse mother. Before Nas' hair darkened up anyway. I will have to show you baby pictures sometime."

Frowning slightly he sighed. "Mm. Our sister. We're twins and she is the third from the litter. Nas has always been.... Close to her. They are..." His own gesture was similar, trying to convey what Achilles was implying. "In recent times, yes. It was... A little relieving. They left me alone once they got closer."

[Ander]

Achilles knew that his brother was trying to be reassuring. Yet, no matter how he tried, the younger male found himself toppling closer and closer to the edge. Heat, natural and ever-present, began once again to rise from his fur - it chased away the breeze from the coast. Iahmes' touch, gentle fingertips over rough, unruly claws, only made things worse. Where he touched, the fiery 'Cain felt already warm blood burn. "'Relieving'," he echoed, voice rough with disapproval. "I'm sure that Nas is a handful, but this emotion between them. It is...is..." He had no doubt that Nasimine could be...bothersome? Unseemly? No - unkind to live and grow up with. But his own sister? To seek solace, satisfaction, and affection within his own blood? It was...

Understandable. A million other words flew after: detestable, horrid, unconscionable, derelict. Yet the loudest and truest was the first. It was understandable.

That thought hit Achilles like a pile of bricks. Where was his righteousness now? There was nothing just or proper about the relationship between Nas and his own sister - nothing right! And yet... The larger Lucain's breath caught in his throat, temperature skyrocketing as he glanced askance at Iahmes. A blush hovered underneath the bright fur of his cheeks. Only now was he recognizing his reactions to his older sibling for what they were. Only now did he realize why he could sympathize with Caine's alleged loneliness, still hate his adultery, and find Nasimine's and Lasombra's coupling acceptable without a second thought. He cared for Iahmes, the vampire that quested redemption. He cared too much!

"It is disgusting." Achilles' voice was the barest, baleful whisper. Very slowly, very gently, he moved his paw out from under Iah's touch - and hated how difficult it was to will himself to do so. "There is nothing right about it. No wonder that people see the vampire as a monster, devoid of morality... Surely, you are different, brother? You could never do such a thing?"

By god, he hated the hope in his tone.