Ramblings of a Bigoted Priest. (Hyrulian Hero, insaney)

“And so my brothers,” the priest shouted, clutching at his altar as though it were the only thing keeping him from floating off into space. “I come to you with but one message: We must protect ourselves against the invading menace!”

Several agreeing murmurs swept through the mass, but the majority of those present were politely listening to Father Ulrich. In the back of the church, however, there was one that knew how this sermon was going to turn out, and didn’t like it.

“They have invaded our homes, killed our brothers, raped our sisters, and enslaved our children!” Ulrich shouted, drawing more murmurs of agreement. “There is no end to their bloodlust, their taste for destruction!”

“I speak of one thing, my brothers and sisters: The damned. Demons, vampires, homunculi, succubus, incubus, they are all beings sent by the devil to ravage mankind! We must strike back and show them that we are not afraid!”

At this the entire church burst into cheers, all except for the one-eyed one in the back. Unseen by the others, he rose and left the church, for he didn’t feel he’d be able to sit through more of the priest’s rambling.

“That priest’s a bigot,” Cain thought, turning outside the church and heading for the inn. “He does have the support of the people though. Pretty soon he’ll rally enough citizens to start an all out war…”

Adonai scowled, clicking his tongue against his fangs. Nobody around him would have understood what he was doing, but in his world it was the vampire equivalent to flipping somebody off across a distance. It was pretty much a way of telling somebody, ‘If you don’t stop, I’m going to drink your blood… *******.’

Father Ulrich was a truly formidable opponent against any ‘unholy’ beings. He rounded up followers fairly easily with his ranting and raving, usually getting several people to join his religious organization ‘DAM’, which stood for ‘Demons Are Monsters’.

Though the title of his organization didn’t directly say anything about vampires, it was obvious that he considered them to be in the same category as demons. In his eyes anything that wasn’t created by God was unholy, and thus inherently evil.

Cain snorted, disgusted by the Father’s inaccurate view of the undead. As far as Adonai was concerned, a human thinking themselves to be better than vampires was no different than a chicken believing itself to be better than humans.

No, it was worse than that. At least chickens couldn’t fight back. Humans have been hunting vampires for generations, and that was just back in his world. Who knows how long humans have been hunting vamps here.

Before long Cain found himself standing in front of the inn. Attached to the wall was a board used for job announcements and, not surprisingly, it was covered with anti-demon messages and proverbs, with several quotes from Father Ulrich.

Seeing this gave Adonai an idea. He’d stamp out Ulrich’s support before it grew too large, and effectively derail the priest’s war effort before it even began. Such a job would be too much for the Class S vampire alone, however. There was a DAM presence in the town, and every DAM member was a trained undead hunter.

Not only that, but the villagers would probably be able to arm themselves with silver and garlic, as well as holy objects. No, he’d need help with this one. He’d put up a small bulletin in the corner, nearly unnoticeable to anybody looking. That is, anybody that wasn’t a vampire, of course.

"We are not afraid!"

The congregation in the church was roused into cheering. The man beside the vampire clapped an whistled, shouting and waving in agreement to Ulrich's words. From what Rain had gathered, the priest had gathered most of the town and recruited them into his... 'organization'. This D.A.M. had experienced undead hunters, the scent of vampire and demon blood practically reeked from their hands and weapons. But no, recruiting the experienced wasn't enough, he had to recruit the innocent, who had probably never seen the likes of any kind of war in their soon-to-be cut short lives.

A man, no more than twenty-five, beside the vampire, was whistling and shouting along with the crowd, he seemed to be caught up in the whole thing. Rain decided to interrupt his celebration.

"What are you people going to use to fight off the vampires?"

Rain's question had caught the man slightly off-guard, delivered with an innocent smile and the concealment of his fangs. The man smiled, seeming to pity the vampire's obviously answered question.

"Why, we melt silver, and make it into bullets! We'll use holy water, garlic and crucifixes! Those bastards will pay for even thinking about setting foot on God's earth."

He shouted over the dying cheers, and Father Ulrich had heard. Rain glimpsed a small smile spread across his face, realizing that most of the congregation would be dedicated to his ignorant cause, he began to speak again.

"Right you are, my brethren! These hideous and unholy monstrosities must be purged from the earth!"

Another round of whistling and cheering filled the halls of the sacred building. The man beside Seraph refused to cheer, he seemed tired, his throat soar. Rain moved slightly closer to him, in order to hold his words over the crowd's cheering.

"Are you sure that's going to work?"

"Pfft," The man laughed at Rain's petty attempt at curiosity, "What's wrong with you? What can they do? Dodge bullets?"

... You'd be surprised.

Rain leaned back against the hard wood of the church benches, looking away from the person next to him, sending his eyesight among the various people gathered in the church, most of them standing and cheering, others sitting and clapping, all eyes on the priest. He wasn't just looking at them, he was searching them, sifting through them. He had felt it ever since he walked in here, the rambling of the priest drawing his attention into the building. He was sure.

Humans were not the only ones here.

His eyesight suddenly shot back, as if, by fate had held it and tossed it backwards. It landed on a small girl -seemingly not more than eight years old- and an older woman, both huddled in a dark corner of the church, watching the priest's words. Both were pale, not looking like blood was pumped from them, but it was as if they had not tasted a drop of blood in years. Yes, they were vampires. Rain's sixth sense had told him they were here, and his eyesight pinpointed them. Their faces alone told him that they had not the bloodlust that most vampires have. There was love between the girl and her mother, one could tell from their gestures and concealed smiles.

And to think... such love and innocence would be wiped out because of one man's brewing war.

Rain knew that even undead and demons could live peacefully, with no desire to kill and destroy. He also knew that this brewing war against the undead of earth would mean the death of not only what they fought against, but who they fought alongside.

Ulrich had to be stopped.

The man that was beside the vampire, was now beside an empty seat. Seraph had stepped out of the church. Even outside, he felt his sixth sense screaming at him from the silence of his mind. It directed him towards the entrance of an inn, where his sense had wailed at the sight of a figure sticking something to a notice board. Another vampire, no doubt, and an overwhelmingly strong one too.

The unknown vampire had moved away now, not far, but Rain's curiousity had pulled him towards the notice that the previous vampire had stuck there.

Seraph lowered his gaze slightly, smiling to himself, and turned. He looked at Cain, who, conveniently, was staring straight back at him.

The priest’s ranting continued into the night, the feverish and passionate speeches broken only by short breaks for rest and food. Vanyel leaned against the church’s doorframe, his arms cross and his expression blank. The vampire scoffed—for perhaps the twelfth time since nightfall—as Ulrich’s speech took yet another hateful turn, going from denouncing supernatural beings in general to condemning “those evil blood-suckers”. Vanyel rolled away from the wall to pace around the back of the church, his feet kicking a large rock back and forth as he retraced his steps. That man . . . that man must be stopped! Ulrich was single-handedly destroying everything that Vanyel had strove to achieve. Every second that he spoke, more and more humans became encompassed by unjust hate. Every derogatory word brought a holy war closer and closer to becoming a reality.

This was unacceptable. Completely, utterly, and undeniably unacceptable. There was not a single iota within Vanyel that would allow this to continue. How many centuries had he slaved to bring humans and vampires closer together? Oh, he knew fully well that the two races could not co-exist as a whole, but humans need not fear a being for their fangs alone. There were vampires who were just as good as humans. Similarly, there were humans who were just as evil as vampires. One need not fear or judge the other by racial reputation alone. That, wholly and truly, is what Vanyel believed. Yet, this priest, this Ulrich, was about to obliterate any chance of co-existence on even a small scale. Vanyel would continue to be hunted for the rest of his undead life, only with more hatred and malice. And fear. Oh, how Vanyel despised the fact that he was feared. How it wounded him when his true heritage was revealed, and was responded with looks of terror and fear.

The vampire stalked through the sparse street, moonlight gleaming eerily along the hilt of his broadsword and the rims of his sunglasses. His heart did not beat, yet Vanyel’s blood coursed angrily through his veins, his entire body throbbing with fury. Vanyel did not usually feel rage such as this, even in extreme circumstances, but he felt it now. Indeed, this was surely the first time in his seven hundred years of undead life that he had held such feelings of malicious towards any being.

The vampire’s pale hands clenched tightly, the knuckles turning as white as parchment. Vanyel’s violet orbs began to glow, their entirety turning a piercing white that shown even through the dark lenses that hid them. The vampire stood alone in the moonlit street, and how thankful he was that it was so. His muscles tightened with supernatural strength as he scanned the empty street, almost praying that a holy warrior would pop out, merely so that he could vent his frustration by tearing him to pieces. Vanyel’s glowing orbs passed over a large bulletin board, covered with brightly colored sheets. Even across the street and at night, Vanyel’s superior eyesight picked out a single word on a single piece of paper.

Had there been an onlooker, they surely would have sworn that the dark-clad man standing in the middle of the street had disappeared. Had they then looked around, they would have found that same man some twenty feet away, bending over as he scanned a piece of paper in the corner of the town board. Had they still been looking a moment later, they would have thought that they had no business wandering the streets at night, for their weary eyes were playing tricks on them, causing them to see phantom men that were there one moment, and nowhere to be seen the next.

OoC: I'd just like to remind both of you that Vanyel can't be out in daylight at all, although that is soon to change. Hopefully.

Ulrich wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, smiling to himself the whole time. His preaching was so far successful. It wouldn’t be long before DAM is overflowing with new recruits. Then those undead scum would be wiped out, and he’d be forever known as a saint.

He scratched his bald head and chuckled. The priest’s chuckling continued until he felt a massive hand on his shoulder and a gruff voice muttering, “There’s a problem.”

The bigot turned to meet his security guard Elm, an agent of DAM. To call the man huge would be an understatement. Easily dwarfing the 5’8 Ulrich by at least three feet and several hundred pounds, the muscled behemoth was the archetypical bodyguard. All muscle, and virtually no brain.

“Your holiness,” Elm said. “Hoge wishes to speak to you. He says it’s urgent.”

The large man pointed a brown sausage of a finger in the direction of Ulrich’s chief advisor, Father Hoge. The unshaven man was twiddling his thumbs and casting nervous glances in the direction of the crowd, currently taking a break to eat.

Ulrich hobbled over to his advisor, frantically wiping off his brow on the way. If Hoge was worried about something you knew there was a big problem.

“Sir,” Hoge said, rushing over to meet Ulrich. “There are vampires in the church! I can tell by their auras. There were more earlier when you were speaking, but there’s only two now.”

“Two!” Ulrich replied. “There shouldn’t even be one! Which ones are bloodsuckers?”

“There’s a girl and her mother in the far back. Their auras are gray, the sign of the undead. They also have incredibly pale skin, allowing me to identify them as vampires. I suggest we use this to your advantage, your holiness.”

“How would we do that?” Ulrich replied, raising his eyebrow.

“We can convince these people that the threat of the unholy is real by showing them the vampires. Their auras are weak. Elm should be able to take them both up to the front of the church fairly easily. Once up front we can expose them to the church and kill them.”

“I like how you think Hoge.”

Meanwhile, the three vampires that had been sitting in the church earlier were preparing an assault. The night was still young, and much blood would soon be shed…

Chaos erupted inside the church. Cries came from inside the walls, as the increasing volume of protests on the tongues of the townspeople became prevalent. The two vampires Ulrich's advisor were forcefully brought up to the front of the congregation, causing an uprising of protest against it from the people.

"What are you doing?! That's just a girl and her mother!"

Ulrich frantically tried to calm the storm of the crowd. He waved his hands, faking a smile and shouting over the cries of pain and anger.

"My people," He said, "My people, listen to me!"

The crowd's cry began to die. Elm held on to the crying young girl while two other DAM agents held on to her struggling mother. She was too weak to break free, and her daughter was too young to understand. Ulrich gestured to one of the DAM members to go collect something from the back of the church for him. The man nodded and exited, returning a few moments later with something small and wooden in his hands. The priest took it from him, and held it up to the crowd, and once more, he shouted.

"My people!"

Ulrich rose his arm up, the small wooden crucifix he had took from the agent in his hand. The crowd's voices died instantly.

"Now!" He shouted, soon realizing that his normal tone was able to convey his message, he repeated, "Now, my people, you shall see that these vile monstrosities can be found anywhere, ready to strike us down at any moment!"

He continued, waving the crucifix about, much to the confusion of the congregation.

What was he going to do...?

"They have infiltrated our homes! Our schools!"

Ulrich placed emphasis on that last word, he lowered his hand and pointed to the girl suddenly. She stumbled backwards out of fright, but Elm had a firm grip on her.

"They have desecrated our churches by their very presence!" He screamed, now turning his finger of accusation towards the mother, squirming in the DAM agents' grasps. Ulrich paced towards her, baring the cross as a weapon. He looked at her face with a disgusted grimace as she struggled to break free.

"They have infiltrated our very lives."

The woman looked at him, seemingly sensing the fate that was about to befall her and her daughter. Tears began to flow from her eyes.

"Please no..." She pleaded, "At least me, not my daughter..."

Ulrich gritted his teeth, obviously ignoring her pleas.

"You are not God's work, you are a work of Satan! You are a lie, placed upon this world!"

She shook her head at his words, and continued her pleading.

"Please, don't hurt my daughter. Someone save my daughter..."

"Shut your filthy mouth." Ulrich snapped. He rose the crucifix, and pressed it into the vampires chest.

She screamed, writhing with pain. Steam rose up from the wound as he pressed harder into it.

Her daughter began to cry, to scared to move.

She was too weak to withstand the pain. Her heart slowed and her eyes closed as she drew her last breath.

"Mommy!" Her daughter cried, "Mommy."

At that moment, it seemed as if a massive wind flung open the doors. But it was no force of nature. A dark figure with bright eyes leapt upon Elm, sinking fangs into his neck. The agent was forced to let go of the girl. Elm grabbed on to his attacker's clothes with both large hands, ripping him off his neck and throwing him unto a nearby wall. The vampire's feet slammed the bricks, his knees bent, causing dust and creaks of the building's ceiling to fall from above. Regaining himself, the attacker stood up, perpendicular to the wall. Gravity did not affect him. He bent his neck upwards a little whilst standing on the wall, making it so Elm's gaze met his gold eyes. Elm's blood slowly dripped from Rain's lips.


OoC: XD for a few moments there, I typed out 'Elmo' instead of 'Elm'.

Ulrich hissed angrily at the vampire, clutching the crucifix tightly and turning back to the girl. Except, there was no girl. The bigoted priest turned on the spot, his angry gaze sweeping the congressional. His blazing eyes froze, resting on a tall pale man in the corner, the little girl huddled in one arm.

“Yo.” Vanyel called out, giving a little wave with his other hand. A wide smile split his face, vengeful and deadly. His eyes blazed from behind his shades, as if illuminated from the inside by pure white flames.

“Filth!” Ulrich yelled, his ample belly jiggling in a very non-jolly way. “Monstrosity! Demon! Damned!” Within the space of a breath, Vanyel was behind the priest, his blade out and flashing in the candle and torchlight.

“No.” He said calmly, lowering his face towards the rapidly stiffening man’s ear. “That would be you.” The vampire’s left fist came barreling in, driving deeply into the man’s side and sending him to his knees. As suddenly as he had come, the dark-haired man was gone, back to where he had left the little girl. Scooping her up in one arm, Vanyel’s powerful legs sprang towards the window. Glass exploded outward in a deadly rain, the black-clad vampire hurling through it and into the night sky. He dropped down lightly onto a nearby roof, merely a dark shadow among shadows.

Without pause for breath, he was gone again, leaping towards another building. His dark form was silhouetted by the full moon. Finally, he came to rest amid a forest as dark as the night above it. Setting the weeping child down gently at the base of a trunk, the vampire looked around. Assured that the immediate area at least was safe, he dropped into a crouch to face the girl.

“Shhh. Hush now, child.” He said gently, stroking her hair softly. “It’s alright now. You’ll be safe here.” The girl looked up at the stranger, her face tear-streaked. Vanyel’s heart shattered with unbearable sadness.

“T-t-t-t-they k-killed her.” She blabbered, clutching herself. “They k-killed mommy!” With that, the girl broke down once more, hanging her head and shaking uncontrollably.

“Don’t worry.” Vanyel said again, his own hands shaking in rage as he stroked her head. “I’m going to leave for a moment, but I’ll be right back. I’ll be back, and I’ll take care of you. Don’t worry. It’ll all be alright.” Vanyel continued to murmur quietly to the girl for several minutes, but her sobbing did not cease. Rather, tears of his own joined hers, his heart torn with pity and sadness for the girl. Here before him was a child about to go through every bad experience he had already lived through. No, she would suffer even more, for Ulrich and DAM would hunt her relentlessly, unceasingly and mercilessly. But not if Vanyel could help it. Murmuring several last parting words, the undead warrior slipped off into the night, leaving the girl sobbing and huddled beneath the trees.

Any rage he had felt previous to this moment paled before the fury that coursed through him now. No child, human or vampire, deserved that kind of pain, that kind of heartbreak. The vampire came crashing down on the edge of a roof across the street from the church, the bricks crumbling under his feet. By now, his newly found allies had caused considerable panic and mayhem, people running through the dark streets, screaming their heads off. Ulrich and DAM tried desperately to create some semblance of order, yet only succeeded in causing more panic. Armored men wielding guns, swords, and lances poured through the streets, chasing vainly two dark figures flittering through the streets soundlessly.

“Don’t,” Vanyel said, though there was not to hear him. “Don’t take all the fun!” The dark-haired man shot down from the rooftop like a bullet, barreling through several armored men and towards Ulrich. “I. Will. Kill. You.” He growled, yanking off his glasses and bearing his fangs, letting the priest feel the full force of his fury.

Rain brought his hand up to his lips, sweeping away the blood that trickled down with his glove. He and Elm saw eye to eye, literally. The D.A.M. agent didn't seem to be afraid, gritting his teeth as he saw the blood in his hand after wiping his neck. The vampire cleaned his fangs with a flick of his tongue, tasting thick crimson sweetness with a slight tang of sweat. His fangs didn't sink all the way in, they were just pressed in slightly and then ripped out when he was thrown.

Then, out of no where, Elm drew a handgun. The bullets fired were countered with wide golden eyes and maneuvering upon the wall. The dark clad one leaped off the wall, spinning to avoid the flurry of bullets.

The man in the congregation who Rain had conversed with before still sat in his seat, paralyzed with fear, his trousers dark and dripping. Wide-eyed, he muttered softly.

"Whoa.. They.. They really can dodge bullets..."

He was even more shocked because that vampire dodging the bullets was the same person he had spoken with not hours ago. He thought to himself how close he had come close to a vampire, such a deceptive one. 'A deceptive death' he thought, gritting his teeth as bullets smashed the stone wall.

Rain gnashed his teeth and crashed into the ground suddenly, his landing foiled. He gasped for air as he held his stomach. Rain's own blood soaking his shirt and staining the ground.

"V... Vanyel," He coughed, gasping for air. Elm grinned and lowered his weapon, not fearing that the little surprise he had hid in the barrel of his gun would now be out in the open.

"Vanyel..." Seraph stumbled as he was standing up, a tear rolled down his cheek, "It's silver.. the bullets... the bullets are silver..."

Elm chuckled.

"Time to go home, demon."

The agent reloaded and aimed. Rain heard the hammer click as Elm chuckled through grinning teeth. The vampire heard Vanyel call out suddenly, the agent turned around, and at the same time, a girl appeared at the doors to the church. She resembled the young one Vanyel had carried to safety, but it definitely wasn't her. She was a little older, and her hair was longer, but she still held the thin frame and pale appearance that her sister had shared with her mother. Oh! The poor girl... her mother... she doesn't know yet...

Her eyes seemed to sparkle with her own tears as she searched the confusion for her sister and mother. She hadn't known. How would she react if she saw her mother's body...? The girl knelt suddenly, taking her mother's hand into hers. Her reaction was understandable, albeit unexpected. She clenched her mother's hand tightly, tears flowed but her teeth were clenched. The girl looked up at the chaos surrounding her and her eyes met with the gold of a kneeling vampire. Rain looked at her, then turned to see Elm careening towards him. Vanyel had rammed him from behind, the gun went off a few times, and the towering Elm came crashing down. The kneeling one tucked and rolled out of the way, his next aim; to get this girl out before Ulrich or Hoge-

Hoge! That blasted fool. He had already detected her gray aura and sent agents to get the girl!

Even in his current state, Rain was more than a match for a few men. He disposed of them swiftly, breaking bone and washing blood upon the stone. His bloodied hands found his way around the girl's waist, his eyes looked into hers, sparkling with tears.

"Mommy..." Was all she said.

"We..." Rain hesitated, closing his eyes. The pain of his silver inflicted wound coupled with the girl's tears searing into his heart made him blink away a few tears of his own, "We have to leave now..."

The girl shook her head slowly as her mother's fingers passed between hers. Rain sighed and lifted her off the ground, hoisting her up. She seemed to accept defeat, resting her head on a stranger's shoulder while digging her fingernails into his clothes. Rain ran out and leaped upward, clinging to the young girl in his arms tightly. He landed on a roof just opposite the church, and whispered a late piece of advice.

"Keep holding tight."

Rain felt her cheek rub up and down against his shoulder, signifying her nod of approval. The vampire leaped forward again, clearing a few more rooftops. When he landed, he set her down in a small place where two roofs met, a 'valley' of sorts. He knelt in front of her, spotting blood on her clothing.

"Are you... okay?"

She nodded in response, looking down and squeezing her hands hard. Rain looked down, lifting his shirt to look at the bullet wound. The veins around the ruddy injury started to turn black, infected with silver. The poison was spreading. The girl turned away slightly, curling herself up in a fetal position, bringing her knees to her forehead. The vampire trembled as he rested his hand gently on her back.

"I'll be back soon... I have a friend back there. Promise me you'll stay here?"

She seemed as if she didn't have the strength to nod, but she did, very slowly, as if she were being paid to perfect a simple nod. The vampire stood up, his own shadow raging around him as his eyes flickered from gold to red. He turned and narrowed his eyes at the church he had just left.

"Ulrich..."

Blazing white eyes turned from the retreating form of Rain to the rising figure of the well-muscled priest. Vanyel shot forward, moving around the man in the blink of an eye. Thin white fingers curled around the black hilt poking over the vampire’s shoulder, the powerful, corded muscles of the connecting arm swinging the blade down to bare. Elm ground his teeth, his wrist snapping up as he aimed at the new enemy. Vanyel flipped Soul blood over in his hand as the priest pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting the flat of the blade and bouncing away.

Supernaturally powerful legs sprang, launching the vampire over Elm’s head. Vanyel lashed out with the blade as he came down on the man’s other side, drawing a long red line down Elm’s back. The priest spun on his heel, flinging his arm out wide to blow the damned creature away. Blazing eyes watched the movement in almost slow motion, and Vanyel brought Soul Blood swinging up with ease, lopping Elm’s hand off and sending it flying through the night sky trailing a stream of blood.

The large man howled in pain and fury, his remaining hand pulling forth another handgun from his belt. He hadn’t even aimed it when Vanyel’s knee smashed into his face, bending the man over backwards and sending him bouncing along the road. In an instant, the vampire was standing over the sprawling man, one foot pressed firmly against his chest. Elm screeched in fear and fury, bringing the gun to bear and firing haphazardly. Elm’s second hand flew off in the opposite direction of the first, but not before a silver bullet grazed Vanyel’s cheek, etching a thin red line that oozed blood onto the man below.

“I am not normally so cruel,” Vanyel growled, bending down towards the priest. “But for what you have done to those girls, for what you would do to them in the future, you will pay.” Soul Blood came thudding down as the dark-haired man finished speaking, impaling Elm and driving several inches into the earth beneath. Vanyel hissed angrily through his teeth, the man’s life force flowing through the rune-covered blade and into his body. Echoing bangs caught the vampire’s attention, several bullets ripping towards him from behind.

Vanyel ducked and twisted to the side, but hissed in intense pain as a silver projectile blasted through his side, tearing through dark leather in a spray of blood. Tearing the broadsword free of the dying man at his feet, Vanyel swung Soul Blood across in a great sweep. Invisible energy flew from the blade to tear into the newcomers, ripping through their clothes and into their chests, blood spraying forth in twin fountains.

Vanyel’s form became blurred as he stepped off the corpse, Elm’s absorbed energy fueling him. Several armored men came barreling around a corner at the far end of the street, spotted the vampire, and yelled. The leader brandished a large halberd, ordering his men forward. The words were not yet fully from his mouth before the ethereal blur that was Vanyel shot towards them, his blade ran through the man’s torso.

OoC:Link to the version of Rain used in this RP.

BiC:

Vanyel withdrew his blade from the man’s chest, letting the blood squirt freely out of the wound. In pain, the armored man clutched his chest plate. Vanyel was about to deliver the final blow when a shadow covered the two. The shadow grew bigger. The vampire and the man looked upwards, but it seemed only Vanyel recognized what was about to come upon them. He stepped back.

Rain’s right foot smashed into the man’s face. As the man dropped to his knees, Rain pressed his weight down harder, bending his knee before hopping off. He took a few steps back and stopped at Vanyel’s side. Both looked at the group of men in armor. The same group whose leader was just killed. Rain gritted his teeth and cringed, leaning forward and placing his right hand over the bullet wound. A drop of sweat ran down his forehead.

"Hey," He said, not looking at Vanyel, but at the trembling group in front of them, "Having a little trouble?"

Rain turned the gritting of his teeth into a grin.

In a scared, blind rage, the group before them attacked, a few of them wielding large weapons. Claymores and axes came towards the two. Rain feigned an attack, making one of the men swing his huge axe blindly, clobbering one of his friends instead of the vampires. Rain bent sideways, avoiding the swing, but irritating his wound at the same time. He needed, to heal and he needed to heal fast.

Without a second thought, he was upon the man with the axe, leaping over him, but planting his fingers on his helmet. When Rain landed behind the man, he pressed his foot against his back, pulling the man’s head back at the same time. He pulled off his helmet, as his back was bent. The man was screaming in pain, trying his hardest to breathe between screams.

He began to scream even more when he saw Rain’s bright gold eyes and fangs over him.

"P-Plea-Please!" He stuttered.

Rain hissed.

"Ulrich. Location. Now."

"I-I…I don’t know!" The man replied.

"Very well then." Rain sighed. The man screamed as the vampire’s fangs went deep into his neck. The red liquid flowed over Rain’s tongue. He felt it slither all the way down his throat and into his stomach. The pain from the wound began to fade. Rain tossed the main aside; he was still alive, but just barely. The bullet wound was gone now, the silver poison no longer posed a thread. His eyes wandered over to Vanyel’s location.

Not a bad idea, Vanyel thought to himself, watching his ally toss away the drained man and lick his lips. The vampire transferred Soul Blood to his left hand, clamping his right down tightly over the burning wound in his own side. The black-haired man lunged forward, leaving an after-wake of blurred images behind him as he shot into the group of halberd-wielding men. He slipped his broadsword under one man’s armpit, the blade resting against flesh through the vulnerable gap in the armor. His powerful arm snapped up, severing the limb at the shoulder. The man’s screams masked the swoosh of the incoming halberd, but Vanyel sensed it anyways, dropping into a crouch and grabbing the falling halberd of the wounded man. Shaking the dismembered limb off, the vampire spun around, the stolen weapon leading.

The silver-edged blade dug deep into the one-armed man’s waist, sending a spray of blood out towards the others. Vanyel followed through on the attack, whipping the halberd out of the man’s side and lunging forward to impale another one. Letting go of the weapon’s shaft, the pale-skinned man whipped Soul Blood up to the side, shearing through the descending halberd and slipping up under this newest fighter’s arm, dropping the broadsword. The vampire snaked one arm around the man’s chest from over his arm, his other wrapping over the limb and firmly grasping the wrist. Hissing, Vanyel squeezed both of his arms in towards his middle, earning a sickening crack from the armored man’s elbow joint as it popped out… the wrong way.

Disengaging his arms from around the man, Vanyel darted back around to the front, his long, slender fingers rocketing forward to close around the man’s throat. The burning light from the vampire’s white orbs almost blinded the man as he was lifted—armor and all—into the air like a doll. The vampire ignored the DAM agent’s feeble hand clawing at him—the other still twisted out to the side at an unnatural angle—and swung him up over his head and slammed him into the ground, hard. Hissing as he closed in on the man’s exposed throat, the vampire sank his fangs deep into the artery-rich flesh, blood seeping into his mouth in rhythmic bursts. Rain watched for almost a full minute as Vanyel drank deeply, finally dropping the man and gasping. Blood was smeared all over Vanyel’s lips, and two dribbles of it ran from the corners of his mouth. Yet the cut running across his cheek started closing even as Rain watched, the wound in Vanyel’s side similarly healing.

“Well?” Vanyel asked, approaching the other vampire and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “What do we do now?” Rain shrugged, not having an answer.

“What happened to Cain?”

Rain didn’t have an answer for that either.

“Then, let’s just go find Ulrich on our own.”

Rain shrugged and nodded.

“… You’re very quiet, aren’t you?”

<====}=0 – 0={====>

“I thought we were going to stop it while it was small?” Vanyel said tensely, the wood lip of the building splintering under his tight grip. The two sat overlooking the church from the roof of an adjacent building, huddled in the shadow of a larger building. The huddled group of gatling guns shining in the moonlight in front of the church didn’t look so little to Vanyel. Neither did the suspiciously silver bullets set into the leading cartridges. The three heavy guns formed a half-circle in front of the church doorway, with three equally large men manning them. Lightly armored priests ran everywhere, tossing holy water over everything in sight; the guns, bullets, the church walls, the ground, and even on the men manning the guns themselves. Predictably, Ulrich stood in the doorway of the church, smiling proudly as his watched his minions running around. Bastard, Vanyel couldn’t help but swear inwardly.

OoC: Let's make this fun.

"What happened to Cain?"

He probably went after Ulrich.

But Rain wasn’t sure, Cain had been missing since the st