[ Insert unnecessarily stuffy thread title here ] #2 (INS, GS, HH, HJ, MB)

Two booted feet strode along the cobble-stone street, their sounds muffled by the feline agility of their wearer. She appeared to emanate no sounds whatsoever, her form seemingly merging with the shadows as she moved from lamppost to lamppost. Dark alleys spread out the main street at regular intervals, between the red-brick terraced housing, cluttered with unwanted garbage and soot. The sky above was vaguely visible amidst the unbearable smoke issuing forth from the countless chimney's dotting the city, the full moon a mere reminiscence of its splendour.

How she despised this place. It was naught but a filthy human citadel, a sprawling metropolis of stone and steel, a monument to human greed and egotism. Her very presence here disgusted her to no end. But she had been forced here by her most basic of desires: to feed.

She could sense it in the air, a subtle scent of human blood drifting amidst the intolerable smog which blighted the city. Her acute sense of hearing alerted her to movement some distance ahead, mere seconds before the slits of her pupils permeated the fog and focused on their target.

Her victim appeared to be a stout yet somewhat chubby man, in his late thirties, dressed in a typical rich-man's outfit: a white shirt beneath a black vest, a pair of black trousers, above which he wore an overcoat with tails and a top-hat. He was also clearly very drunk.

Beside him stood a good-looking woman in her mid-twenties, dressed in an elegant red dress with a lace decor at her chest. One of her gloved arms was held at an awkward angle by the man, who attempted to restrain her so as to plant a kiss on her lips. The woman managed to deliver an angered slap across the man's face with her idle arm, and in the few moments for which the man stood stunned, she managed to escape, holding her dress up as she ran so as not to trip over it.

The vampire moved towards the man steadily, making sure she was heard. She knew his type well, the type who considered women to be naught but herded cattle, only there when required and cast aside when not. Quite honestly, she cared not about the human wench. It was the man's attitude which got to her. She had full knowledge of such attitudes, if her past was any indication. So the man wanted a kiss, did he? She most certainly would oblige him one.

As she neared her future meal, the night-walker became aware that the man's gaze had become fixated upon her, taking in every detail of her silhouette. Suppressing her revulsion, she offered a naive smile, careful not to reveal her fangs - at least, not yet.

"Hello sweetheart," the man bellowed across the few meters which still separated them, followed by a mocking chuckle. "What's a pretty girl like you doing here at such an hour?"

"Oh, nothing much," she replied in as much a soothing voice as she could muster. "I'm just looking for a strong man to help me get home. I'm all alone, and frightened and... defenceless. Would you be so kind as to assist me?"

The man stumbled somewhat off-balanced towards her, anticipation glinting in his eyes. "Why sure honey, I'd love to... assist you," he offered, followed by a contemptuous snort.

Arching his arm over the woman's shoulders, he proceeded to escort her, although the vampire was forced to support some of the man's weight due to his utter intoxication. The putrid scent of humans already prevalent upon him was accentuated by the intense stench of alcohol wafting from his person. Apparently, so blinded by liquor and lust was he that he failed to notice the woman's weapons or the fact that she posed any threat whatsoever.

You contemptuous fool...

The vampire felt the man's arm shift from her shoulders and begin descending audaciously down her waist, and at that moment she became consumed with blinding fury. Grasping the provoking arm mercilessly, she twisted it around, forcing the man before her and eliciting a cry of agony from him.

She would have waited until they had left the main street to dispatch the wretch, so as to avoid being overheard by any witnesses still prowling the streets. At this point, however, it seemed a better option to get the deed over and done with.

Before her victim could react in any way, the vampiress revealed her deadly canines and plunged them viciously into the man's throat. A terrified scream left his mouth and echoed amidst the streets as his warm blood flowed into the woman's mouth. The incessant screaming was brutally reduced to incoherent gurgling as the woman bit down hard and ripped out her victim's throat, staining her ashen face with dark crimson.

The man fell to his feet, eyes wide in shock, grasping vainly at his horrifying wound. Before long, his bloodshot eyes rolled upwards and he collapsed to the ground in a pool of his own blood, dead.

OOC: Hehe. Now then, your characters are in this Victorian setting and they will be drawn to Valdaria's location due to the screaming. Oh, and try to use characters that fit the setting, nothing overtly futuristic please. Now, get posting

OoC: I am using the two characters that are most suitable to this Victorian setting; Raven and Arina. This is going to be so much fun!

BiC:

His mind was in an uproar. He shot up, bolt upright, and panting. Sweat dripping from his chin, he looked around the room. Across the dark room, on the other bed, Arina sat upright, quivering, she was staring at him.

"You heard it to..." Raven whispered.

Arina nodded, her glow lent light to the dense, thick darkness. The scream that had cut through the silence of sleep and dreams had died. The silence had returned, this time, it wasn't peaceful. It had become suspiciously threatening, its deafening attribute held the shadows in its place. Not a soul made a sound, not a soul moved.

Blackened silence.

"Stay here." Raven whispered to his companion, "I'm going to see if someone needs help."

Arina nodded, she pushed her flowing purple hair from her chest and wrapped her hands around herself, still shaking.
Raven got off the bed, he picked up his red cape and wrapped it around himself, his sword he always had by his side.
He creaked the door open and looked out, there was nothing but black. He felt his way around the hall until he found the staircase that leaded into the bar. He cautiously stepped down, step after step. The floor boards cackled and whispered under his weight, taunting the very silence had grasped the room.

He kept moving, the silence accompanied the darkness. They made it seem that anything could happen on a night like this.

Anything could happen.

Raven reached the ground floor, and felt his way around the room, bumping into tables and chairs that had been overturned for the night. Soon, the doorknob was in his palm, he turned it and opened the door. His boots set down on the cobblestone, he pulled the cape tighter, and breathed, adding to the mist.

Drawing his sword, Raven narrowed his eyes and walked towards the source of the scream. He kept moving for a while, making his way through the mist, until he saw something. Something on the ground, what is it? Looking closer, he made out the silhouette of an outstretched hand, and fingers...

Raven moved closer to the mass on the ground, and bent over it. The smell of fresh flesh and blood permeated the air, filling up Raven's nostrils.

"Holy... who...? what...?" He whispered to himself.

The man had grasped his own neck and seemingly drowned himself in the pool of his own blood.

Suddenly, the mist around Raven spoke, with a voice and words with such clarity and deviousness, it seemed unnatural.

"Like a moth... to a flame..."

Raven looked around, and spied a dark figure making it's way through the thick grey towards him. The figure came closer, her eyes locked in a sharp gaze with the young knight.

"Young blood..." She said.

With that, she beared her crimson fangs and licked them clean with her tongue, preparing them for another kill.

"I'm going to enjoy this..."




OoC: I hope I got this right, Andurhil.

OoC: Heh, I wonder who can guess who'll I'll be using?

BiC: The dark figure leapt across the rooftops, his cape trailing behind him majestically. As the figure slide down a rooftop, his boots sent several loose clay slates tumbling to the cobblestone street below. Kicking off from the edge of the roof, the figure flew across the street to a bell tower. Vanyel's heart raced as he crawled up the brick wall on all fours.

Even across the city, his sharp ears had heard the scream. And his heart, or rather, his vampiric soul, had recognized it as the scream of a vampire’s victim. Which, obviously, meant that there was vampire beside himself in the city. Normally, Vanyel wouldn’t run right to another vampire, given their disposition towards him in the past, but so far, he had never seen any signs of a vampire in this city, and he had been here for at least two weeks, leading him to believe that this person was a newcomer.

Van’s teeth flashed in the moonlight as he grinned at the possible outcomes of this meeting. If a vampire was outside their normal territory, they were probably either looking for some new blood (literally), or exiled, like he was, which was what he was hoping for.

Van felt a little guilty in wishing the same pain he had felt on another, but lately, he had been growing rather desperate for company. It would be nice to have at least one friend… He thought, leaping from the top of the bell tower into the open air. The vampire swirled his cape around himself, shrinking as hair grew rapidly all over his body and his arms transformed into wings.

If the vampire who had come here had been exiled, they were probably like him. If they were like him, they probably wouldn’t be opposed to having a companion like themselves around. Of course, it was possible that this vampire was just like all the rest, with nothing other than hate and feeding on the mind. The bat-Van squeaked with excitement as he winged his way down and through the city streets. But yet another possibility was that there were several, rather than just one, vampires here. If that was the case, it was more likely that they were out for blood, rather than friends.

As the smell of blood grew stronger in Vanyel’s nostrils, he soared upwards over the rooftops. For now, he would keep his distance and observe from above. But with luck, by morning he would have someone like him who he could call a friend.


OoC:

Originally Posted by Me, above

bat-Van

OMGZ, its bat-man! Oh, wait......oh, well, bat-Van is better than bat-man.

OOC: Flamel can do a lot of damage in this fight. Link in sig.

BIC:

“I told you to bring the money Creed,” said a cloaked man. He leaned in the shadow of a nearby building, his brown cloth robe flapping about in the wind. He may as well have been dealing with the devil.

“Give me what I came for first,” replied Flamel. He stood with his hands jammed in his pockets, his face devoid of his usual twisted smirk. His yellow eyes rested on the cloaked man, watching for any hostile movement.

“Fine, here’s the damn rock.” The cloaked man tossed a green colored stone to Creed. Flamel inspected the perfectly oval object, finding that it had been polished quite a bit. Zygoth would pay him quite a bit for the stone…

Creed stuffed the rock in his pocket and started to go about on his way when he felt something jabbing him in the back. The cloaked man had quite a badly forged sword poking the Master of Explosives’ back. Flamel sighed and turned to face his soon-to-be assailant.

“Would you rather die now, or later?” he asked. The madman rested his hand on the flat end of the cloaked man’s sword. He could feel several bumps here and there, obvious signs that the sword had been hastily made that morning.

The cloaked man was no fool however, as he quickly pulled his sword back and raised it above his head for a downward swipe. What he hadn’t realized was that Flamel had held onto it long enough. The metal weapon exploded above his head, sending shards of metal into his skull.

“Idiot,” muttered Flamel. He couldn’t help but revert to his usual twisted smirk upon seeing the cloaked man’s body hit the ground. Not only was Zygoth going to pay him quite a bit for the stone, he was also going to pay him extra for killing a rival artifact collector.

Just at that moment a scream pierced through the air. Creed’s smirk was replaced by a look of confusion as he looked back and forth, scanning the immediate area for whoever had seen the murder. Of course, he saw nobody.

“It seems I’m not the only one with a taste for death tonight,” the madman thought. “I may as well see what all the fuss is about. Maybe I can find something better to kill than this ass.”

Creed walked over to a nearby building, inspecting it for a gutter. When he found it he quickly grabbed the part that drained water onto the ground, propelling himself upwards. Before he had the chance to fall, he grabbed it and again flung himself upwards.

Within seconds he was on the roof. A dark figure was darting from roof to roof just a few meters away, definitely something Creed would enjoy blowing to bits. He smiled his smirk yet again, silently remarking to himself about how he wasn’t exactly picky about blowing things up.

The madman quickly ran in pursuit of the dark figure…

OOC: Sorry for the quality of this post. I’ve been low on CJ’s lately…

OoC: I really need to use Cila.

BiC:

The lampposts on either side of the street cast flickering glows on the cobbled stones. Cila walked past them quietly and quickly, almost disappearing into the shadows between each light. She was thankful for the smooth stones as her bare feet traveled along them. The dragoon almost looked as though she was flying along the road. However, her wings were wrapped around her, almost looking like a strange cape so as not to draw too much attention to herself. She hurried. The only reason the mercenary was even in this city was to make contact with a potential customer. The warrior wasn’t attracted to human places and being in one this large made her feel vulnerable.

A scream pierced the silence of the night. Her sharp, purple eyes observed the direction of where she believed the cry to originate from. Cila wasn’t sure but it sounded as though it was the scream of a human male. This didn’t make much sense. Men of any race hardly scream. Maybe yell or cry out, but scream? The dragoon kept her ears open for more, It seems someone has been attacked this night. Curious about the noise and wary that something might be prowling around, she unfolded her wings. The dark scales glimmered in the lamplight and with one powerful stroke she was in the air. Out of the range of any light, the female cast her Shadow spell, making her almost invisible, a shadow against a night sky.

Hurrying along the eventide currents, she found herself circling above an area of the city where an unnatural mist had settled. Near the edge Cila spied the person who must have sent out the cry. It had been a male, already dead with a large tear in his throat and a thick pool of his own crimson fluid surrounding him. But was disturbed her more was that there were two people standing in the middle of the murder scene. One was a young man dressed in mostly black clothing with a red cape. He appeared to be staring directly at the other figure. This one looked like a seductive female, also in black clothing. She was steadily advancing towards him. Of the two, the woman didn’t seem to be worried. I wonder, did she attack the other human? the dragoon questioned.

Not far from the location, she noticed a man jumping to the roofs using the water drains. He was concentrating on something that was also lurking on the rooftops, though she couldn't tell what. A bat also circled near her area, probably drawn by the scent of blood. Cila decided not to get involved in anything just yet. There were too many factors to consider. If she was going to help anyone, it would probably be the man in the mist and whatever that the other man was going after. But she wouldn’t help anyone unless they absolutely needed. For now, she simply circled, a shadow against the night sky.

The moment we've all been waiting for... HJ has arrived! *waits for clapping and whooping*

I have no Victorian characters, so I'll just have to wing it.

Isis: http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/...&postcount=567
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What a filthy town, Isis thought, looking around. She was not refering to the fact that the air was heavy with soot, or that every ten feet or so she got a whiff of urine, but it was the people. The few men that were out reaked of alcohol and shot suggestive looks at her when they passed. Others merely passed out on the side of the street in puddles of their own vomit. She was just about to take off when she heard a scream.

When the goddess got to the scene, things were already picking up. Her eyes darted to the man lying in a pool of blood, the female with the whip, and then to the man with the sword. "What the heck is going on here?" she yelled, utterly exasperated at the situation.
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I'm writing a book report, and my CJs are about as full America's gas tanks right now. I suck at the moment. :embrsd:

Her adversary adjusted his footing and held his weapon firmly as he assessed this new threat. The woman was very attractive, yet something implacable in her filled him with revulsion. He stared at her with an unwavering expression, analysing her movements for any hint of an attack.

"Who are you?" he called to her.

Valdaria eyed her opponent with interest. She perceived him as no more than a mere child, yet the boy wielded a blade with surprising dexterity. A sadistic grin spread across her face. Unlike her previous victim, this one would pose a significant struggle. I love it when they fight back. Passing her tongue over her blood-stained lips, she gathered the crimson residue still plastered upon her mouth.

"Who am I you ask? I'm the last thing you'll ever see, dear," she replied in a confident sneer. Gripping the double-headed snake which adorned the hilt of her blade, she unsheathed Serpentine and twirled it through the air before holding it in a battle stance.

"Are you the one who killed this man?" he asked.

"My my, your powers of deduction are admirable. Not that he had much to offer anyway, his blood was fouled by his incessant drinking. Your blood, however..."

Without the grace of even completing her sentence, she unfastened her whip and stretched it behind her, before viciously flicking the sharp end of it towards her opponent. Barely having enough time to react, the knight jumped a step backwards, causing the whip to hit the cobble-stone street with a loud crack.

"What would your name be, boy?"

Before the young man could reply, a mysterious white-clad woman appeared in the distance, her white wings fluttering slightly. "What the heck is going on here?" she demanded.

OoC: >.> I'm introducing Arina now. >.>
BiC:

The woman in white was standing there, her wings fluttering lightly. Her hair fell about her knees, her eyes were wide, demanding an explanation.

The seductive woman turned to face the one in white, and then faced Raven, and smiled deviously.

"Is she our friend?"

Raven remained silent. He didn't know the girl, but that wasn't a reason to put anyone in danger. The knight lowered his eyebrows, and held his sword even tighter.

"Leave her alone."

The woman smiled again, baring her vampire fangs.

"So... you do know her..."

The lady in white finally spoke up.

"What are you talking about? I do not know this man!"

The vampire turned towards the woman, and narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, but I think you do... otherwise, he wouldn't be defending you by keeping quiet."

The vampire advanced towards the woman in white.

"Stay back!" The woman cried.

She kept advancing.

"Leave her alone." The voice of the young knight nipped the vampire's ear, she spun around to face him.

"And what are you going to do to protect her?" The vampire laughed, "fight me?"

Raven leaped towards her, at the same time she brandished her blade, and brought it upwards to block her assailant's attack. The swords clahed together and rang an echo into the black night. Their swords locked together, Raven pushed himself more against the woman, only to hear the whisper of her words reach his ear.

"Fool..."

With an inhuman strength, she pushed the young knight, he fell. Hitting the cobblestone street, and rolling. The vampire looked down on him. Suddenly a sharp wail filled the night sky, and a brilliant white bird with searing purple eyes descended upon the street. The bird set down, and glared at Raven's attacker. With that, a thought entered the vampire's mind, it sliced through it with it's anger. And with it, came a clear message.

Leave him ALONE!

The woman in white stood by, almost speechless at what was happening before her eyes. Raven got off the ground, and held his sword, he looked up tp see his assailant glaring at the giant bird. He noticed a movement behind them both, a small... dark... thing... had flown down from above. Was it a bat? ... Or something else?

The strange bird flared suddenly, causing the vampire to shield her eyes with both arms and giving Raven the chance he had been hoping for. The knight leapt forward, swinging his blade down at the vampire's unguarded back with a yell. With a speed almost too fast to be followed by human eyes, Valdaria whipped around, Serpentine flashing upwards to block Raven's attack. The two swords clashed together, ringing out through the street. With a heave, Valdraia sent Raven flying back to his original location.

"Ohhh, nice try." The vampire complimented, looking back and forth from Raven and the bird. "So you two do know each other! How delightful!" The woman trailed her whip around the ground in front and behind her in semi-circle. "Oh, yes, we shall have such a very good time."

--}----------{--

Vanyel circled the street from above, watching the entire exchange carefully. For one who was already a vampire, it was painfully clear what was happening. And painfully disappointing. As a bat, he could not sigh, but if he could, he would. As always, once again, Vanyel would find only disappointment and and pain in what he had hoped would be friendship. Sigh.

Oh, well. No matter. At the moment, the lives of these people are much more important. The black winged figure descended slowly, waiting for an opening in which he could possibly immobilize the vampire woman. The bat landed on a flag pole sticking out from the side of a brick building, his claws clinking against the metal. as the people below faced off, Vanyel waddled to the edge of the pole and prepared to leap down at the vampire.

But, for the very first time, he hesitated. Before, he had always leapt forward to defend those in trouble without a thought. And then he had always been rewarded with pitchforks and torches. No matter what, the very people he had saved had always turned against him the moment they realized what he was. Looking down on the combatants below, Vanyel wondered if they would be the same. He certaintly didn't have any reason to believe otherwise.

And yet, he knew that he would help these people, and he always would. It didn't matter if they then turned against him, what mattered was their lives. If he was to be outcast for his heritage, so be it. His nature would not let him abandon these people, even if they were to become his enemies. Besides, he had spent the last 700 years alone in exile; he could spent the next 700 as well.

Flinging himself forward, the vampire bat flew down to the gathering below. With a plop and a squeak, the bat landed in the young man's brown hair. Startled, Raven let out a yelp and swatted up at his hair with both hands. In no mood to be swatted around, Vanyel quickly changed back to his normal form, the hair retracting into his body and limbs rapidly growing.

As the vampire changed more and more back to normal, Raven sank closer and closer to the ground, his knees shaking under the sudden weight. Finally, Vanyel was normal against, and Raven was on his knees, attempting to hold up his head with both hands.

"Hello all." Vanyel called cheerfully, waving at everyone from his perch.

Flamel leapt from rooftop to rooftop. The last time he had seen the thing, it had dropped down from one of the buildings. That was about a minute or two ago, seeing as it had been flying much faster than the madman could run.

With an exhausted sigh, Creed reached the edge of the final building. Before he even reached the edge he knew what was happening. The sounds of battle were ringing out. The clangs of metal against metal, the crunch of perfectly executed melee attacks, and even the tearing sound that happens when flesh is cut.

Flamel peered over the side of the building to find what was causing the noises. In the street below him a beautiful woman was under attack by three different entities. A human, what he presumed to be a vampire (Although he wasn’t quite sure,), and… a bird?

Creed smiled and leaned over the roof. One of the men, the one that was fairly obviously a human, swung his weapon in a broad horizontal arc. The woman however, gracefully blocked the attack. Her apparent superiority over the situation didn’t hold for long, as the other man attempted to strike her.

Vanyel brought his blade up and smashed it downwards in an attempt to cleave Valdaria in half. Both vampires’ blades locked for a brief moment before an explosion tore them away from one another. Flamel dropped down before the dust settled.

Vanyel, Raven, Arina, and even Valdaria stared at the spot with interest. A single figure was standing in the middle of the explosion with one hand jammed in his pocket, his other hand holding a lit clove cigarette. With his usual twisted smirk, Flamel introduced himself.

“Hello, my name’s Flamel Creed. And you,” he said this while inclining his head in Valdaria’s direction. “Look like you could use a little help here.”

The Master of Explosions took a deep puff of his cigarette, letting the warm vanilla flavor dance on his tongue before exhaling it as a ring of smoke. He knew that smoking was bad for him, but blowing up random towns for the sake of fun was probably quite a bit more dangerous.

Flamel dropped the cigarette and ground it into the dirt, not keeping his eyes off of the assembled warriors for even a split second. He turned to Valdaria again, taking a quick note on how beautiful she looked.

“Well, do you want my help or not?”

OOC: Urrrg, CJ's... taking... too.. long.. to finally come back fully...

Hmmm, two vampires, yet they seem to be at odds with each other, Cila observed from the sky. Neither persons from the two parties had noticed her circling slowly above the battle. Then again, she was sure enough in her abilities that it was no surprise. The man that created the explosion took sides with the female vampire, albeit they were still outnumbered two to three. However, that vampire had feed off the dead man, whose blood had finally stopped flowing from the tear in his throat. The dark dragoon figured that it would be better to stay out of a fight if at all possible. But the female vampire had already been able to hold her own against the man and the bird quite well. Even though the other vampire had joined them, the explosive man was probably more dangerous.

The female shook her head and groaned, Too many factors. She landed delicately on the top of one of the buildings on the side of the street. Her Shadow spell was automatically dispelled by the light, allowing her to be seen regularly. I wonder how they will take me? she thought, having already decided on helping the group of three. Many people associated darkness with being evil, that mainly the reason she had been called a demon so many times. That and most people didn’t know about dragoons. I suppose it really doesn’t matter what they think, she stated, leaping off the building and landing gently behind the group of three. “I hope you don’t mind me dropping in and helping,” she said simply.

OoC: Sorry for the short post, it seems I'm still short on the creativity.

I'd just like to say that I'm dropping out of this battle. The reasons are many, but the most prominent is the fact that all of you - every single one - are so far beyond me, that I feel ashamed every time I try to write a post. I cannot write something good enough, and I don't want to be the death of this thread.

That, and the fact that I'm going to be leaving for a few weeks pretty soon.

So, Andúrhil, your post.