Welcome to the supernatural creature's haven, Kinau. Kinau is a fictitious town on the O'ahu island of Hawaii. Why supernaturals have congregated in the island city is still unknown, but the inhabitants, human and supernatural alike, are learning to adjust to their new reality.
This site aims for a supernatural spin on a slice-of-life city, complete with an academy and college to ensure everyone has a place here.
Events
the valentines dance is open to all. staff will post a starting thread and you can post an entry or make a thread of your own. the dance will take place near the beach. its all outdoors with the dance floor being in large pavilion.
for those that show up without a date. fret not. we have a little sign up sheet for blind dates.
if you don't want your character to participate in the blind date, don't worry they can still be part of the dance.
apart from the dance there will be food/drinks and of course access to the beach.
Updates
01/29 we have a new skin! a new species and are now accepting gradeschoolers incase anyone feels like making younger characters!
Clutching her sketchpad and pencil to her chest with one hand, the other carrying the two bags of stuff she’d bought today, the brunette couldn’t help but reflect on her seemingly mundane routines. Perhaps she was still kidding herself, trying to live a normal life amongst the other civilians – not that she actually lived in the town residential area. As it was, she was making her way towards the forested outskirts surround Kinau, to a small little alcove with a run-down stone temple from a lost era – a place she had fixed up a little and warded with what little power she could muster safely. It was far away from prying eyes and the rest of the townsfolk – they probably meant well, and she’d even started to make a few friends, but Chidori was always going to live a life of secrecy in one way or another. She wasn’t even a proper citizen of Hawaii – she was still technically a fugitive, and an illegal immigrant, having smuggled herself onto the island with the help of some less-than-reputable men who made her edgy the entire trip from Japan.
Still, it was a small price to pay to be away from the city where it had all happened – and in a town that might well be strange enough to hide her oddities without too much trouble. As it was, the bookshop and art supplies store didn’t seem too fussed about her coming in every so often to buy more things – they didn’t question her foreign accent or appearance, or even pry about her life here. They were nice, really, which was probably why she felt comfortable going back quite regularly to get more sketchpads, pencils, and books to read.
Nevertheless, she knew she couldn’t let her guard down fully; who knew when her past would eventually catch back up to her? No, she could pretend to be a normal young woman with some money and a lot of freedom, but Chidori would never be free or safe. Never be fully comfortable around others, let alone learn to make deep, lasting friendships. If she couldn’t even do that, there was no chance of something more, either – or so the brunette had convinced herself. Besides, it was safer for herself and others that way; she had some control over her powers, but not a lot – not nearly enough to make up for their randomness. Out here in the wilderness, it was so much easier to experiment, so long as she was very careful to only ever try fire-related concepts inside the stone temple, where water was nearby and she had no chance of starting a forest fire.
All in all, she was plenty preoccupied with her thoughts as she made her way back towards the forest’s edge, not particularly aware of her surroundings as she likely should have been – she had dropped her guard a little, after all.
Post by Merrick Bartholomew on Jan 2, 2017 4:30:49 GMT -5
“What?? You can’t be serious!”
“I’m serious, Miss Bartholomew. Our delivery truck broke down and it would take two or three hours before the next one will be made available. Your… special delivery will be delayed; we’re very, very sorry. If there’s anything we can d-”
“N-Never mind. Just… do what you can so you can have my request d-delivered to my home as soon as possible…”
Merrick shivered visibly as she cut off the phone call from her blood supplier. It was not good news; her stocks of blood were drained and she neglected its decline for quite a while due to her busy schedule. This may be the case, but it was no excuse when she knew that eventually, she will need to drink. More bad luck came her way when she was called up by her supplier that they cannot deliver a fresh batch right away to her home.
…and she was getting really thirsty.
Her throat was itching so much that she almost wanted to claw it open. A vampire’s urge to feed can be so strong that even the most seasoned of her kind can go crazy if they went too hungry. In a swift push off her chair, the woman fled to the kitchen and desperately tried to find at least small bag of blood, only to find none. She was done for, but there was another way… but it was something she rarely does these days. It was brutal in her eyes but it was how vampires like her should be feeding.
She needs to hunt.
Merrick’s eyes were already red, her fangs bared and the urge was even stronger than before. Each passing second made her lose more and more of her rational thinking; so using her inhuman speed, the woman ran out of her home and decided to find an unsuspecting victim. The moon was covered by some clouds tonight, so she was able to slip through the shadows and move even quicker than the eye can see. She managed to get on top of one of the buildings when her keen eyesight fell upon a lone figure making its way towards the forest. Taking a huge gulp of air, she took in the scent and her throat burned even more when she realized what her target was.
Human…
By now, Merrick was running on pure instinct now. She ran towards the direction where her victim would be and ducked in the shadows before she took another quick whiff. Yes, she can taste it now and she can hear this fragile little creature’s heartbeat thump loudly in her ears. The vampire hid behind a tree and silently waited for a moment; it was perfect because it was not always do authorities search for bodies in this forest. She can hide the body somewhere else or just chuck this one off the cliff or something. No one will ever know…
Climbing up the tree was an easy task, but her hunger was making her weaker by the second. Merrick needs blood now and in a quick heartbeat, the vampire leapt over to her victim to tackle her from behind as a feral snarl rumbled from her opened mouth.
Luck. Some days, that was all that she had left – when she couldn’t rely on her magic to solve her problems, or to keep her out of trouble. Her uncanny luck for keeping out of serious trouble had only really ever failed her once, though that one time was enough to make her think twice about leaving herself entirely unprepared to defend herself. That was why, even now, she had runes inscribed on her body – usually she’d hide it somewhere along her legs or waist, since it was often not the right kind of weather to wear clothing that would cover her arms.
Even so, without her good luck, she might never have realised the insistent pangs of intuition and guidance that her runes gave her; lost in her own thoughts, it was like having the voice of a distant Goddess whispering in her ear. If she’d been focused on her surroundings, or on making her trek back to her home, she might well have ignored it – but knowing she’d been caught up in her own thoughts, she listened to the voice immediately when it told her to turn around and draw a new rune.
With a speed humans shouldn’t ever have, Chidori whipped around, thanking her luck once again for having a swift reflexes rune inscribed over her left leg – sure enough, there was someone charging her, letting loose a feral snarl. A quick analysis told her plenty – the red eyes, the snarl, and the prowling attack from behind; supernatural, and most likely a vampire out for blood. Her blood. Despite the warning from her guidance rune, and her reflexes being fast enough to have let go of her shopping bags to draw a strange looking pen from a hidden pouch, the brunette froze up with panic. Not once in her 2 years of hiding had she ever actually encountered the supernatural; she knew they were here – it didn’t take much to find out from townsfolk that the rumours were very much true.
But being face to face with a vampire thirsting for her blood was another matter altogether; the panic seized hold of her, freezing her in place, her heart pounding in her ears. Blood… the vampire was after her blood. Blood that had been spilled before for power, for greed, for a deal that had damned her forevermore. In that brief moment of fear, Chidori found herself back in that cold, dark room, naked atop the altar, the wound at her throat still burning as she watched the demon ‘take care of’ her parents. All she could think about was the fear, the guilt, the anger – and above all, the wish for it all to stop. If only she could have stopped it from happening – stop everything from falling into place as it had, stop…
Stop.
That single word filled every fibre of her being, surging along the tide of panic, of fear, of raw emotion threatening to drown her in its cascade over her. Her hands moved automatically, the motion divorced from any sense of control; all she could think about was the raw emotion pounding through her alongside that single word – stop.
She drew so quickly that one might think that the symbol on the page had appeared out of thin air, her hands a blur as she brought to life a new rune, the concept so strong and pure in her mind that every ounce of her emotion and power was channelled into spearhead – a rune that would likely freeze the vampire mid-pounce, restraining her with almost every drop of Chidori’s power. Of course, that meant that as soon as it went off, she would be drained of the requisite energy, leaving her panting near-silently for air, barely able to stand from the exhaustion. With keen perception as all vampires possessed, her attacker might catch a glimpse of the rune as it glowed with power like a star going supernova, binding her in place – a single star, containing a spiral inwards that ended in a neat little cross, rather than a point.
Post by Merrick Bartholomew on Jan 2, 2017 5:52:28 GMT -5
Yes, she can smell the fear in the air as soon as the human female knew that she was there within the area. Merrick had always been told that strong emotions made the blood taste better, far better than the finest wine. The way the heart made it pump quicker than normal made it even more enticing. Just from the scent itself, the vampire was already willing to let her rational thinking be thrown out the window. Her hunger was just too much right now, she did not care anymore; all she wanted, all she ever needed was to feed. Was she sorry? Not now maybe, but she can go mourn for the poor soul once she had her fill of hat precious red liquid.
Her confidence in bringing this weak human was so overwhelming she did not expect that her target was capable of actually defending herself. She knew supernaturals were able to defend themselves because of their magical properties; like how some of them have blood that can kill a vampire in an instant or their overall nature was capable of snapping anyone’s neck in two. Human, however, were very much at the bottom of the food chain so they were the prime targets of the so-called ‘more superior’ supernaturals. No wonder these normal beings had hatred for them. Right now, Merrick was in for the surprise of her life.
It happened too quickly that she had no time to process what had transpired in that fraction of a second. The vampire did catch a glimpse of what seemed to be a rune of sorts scribbled on a clean sheet of paper and from that symbol, an invisible but powerful wave knocked into her in mid-pounce. It was like getting hit on the chest with a large chunk of rock to the point she coughed out and the tie that held her hair up in a ponytail was cut somehow, her dark hair now floating freely in midair. It does not stop there though, for Merrick felt her limbs… or more like her entire body freeze completely after she was hit by that mysterious wave.
It was like a terrifying yet mesmerizing picture that was more than real: Merrick’s graceful form in suspended animation, her hands set into claws, her mouth opened to reveal those sharp fangs, her dark red eyes focused on her would-be victim, powerful legs perfectly positioned in a mid-spring and her long blue-black hair flowing behind her like a dark curtain.
No, no, no…
Merrick felt her chance slip away slowly as she tried to move any part of her body, but alas, she was bound by the rune that was cast upon her. She was stuck like that and she was clueless on how she can get away from it. Not once in those past two centuries did she encounter anything like this; a human capable of stopping a supernatural in its tracks. It made her angry with herself for being so careless and for letting the tables be turned around on her. How foolish she was.
What in the… oh goddess, she’d done it again! It was still a shock and amazement to the brunette whenever she created a new rune, let alone one created in a brief moment of pure emotion to defend her life – and it had worked. In fact, it worked so well that her attacker was now frozen as if in suspended animation, the tell-tale signs of her inhuman nature so much clearer at this distance. Chidori’s suspicions had indeed been correct; another point for her guidance rune it seemed. Her luck however, was about to run out – she knew what happened when she made a powerful rune, what it cost for a human to wield such power. In the moments before it could hit her, she tried to scramble away, completely forgetting the bags she’d dropped near her feet and finding herself falling head over heels when she tripped straight over them.
Despite an obviously painful fall, she made no sound, not even a grunt – she was not able to do so after all. Instead, the fatigue now setting in, the brunette could do little more than draw herself up into a sitting position, barely more than a couple metres away from the woman who had been about to attack her. Breathing hard, she had little else to do except study the vampire’s appearance; the tales of their stunning beauty had not exactly been exaggerations. If she had the energy to focus her thoughts, she would probably have been ashamed of herself for thinking like that, but in her exhausted state, she didn’t really have the energy to lie to herself about such moral quandaries.
The worst part, perhaps, was that even if she recovered before the vampire did – there was no telling exactly how long the rune would hold – she had no clue how to undo it. Inscribed runes were easy enough; you just had to remove them, or disrupt them. Cast runes like the one she had made just now… either they ran out, or there was a counter-rune of some kind. Given how strong her panic had been, Chidori couldn’t even be sure that the rune would run out on its own. That was when she realised she was starting to feel concerned, despite the clear intent of this woman to attack her – if what she had heard and read was true, it was thirst driving the vampire right now. Even the strongest could succumb, having little control over themselves beyond primal instinct; could she really, truly, blame this woman for trying to survive? It wasn’t like her parents, who were out for power, power they didn’t need to live.
Amongst the exhaustion evident in her expression, concern now clearly flooded her face as she regarded the woman. Slowly, as if each movement took an agonising amount of effort, she reached for her fallen sketchpad and the strange pencil, seemingly made out of a crystal octagonal prism, and began to etch something onto a new page. Her brows furrowed in concentration, and she flipped the pencil around, making motions as if she were erasing something (though the pencil didn’t appear to have one on its reverse end). In those few miserable moments, she tried to figure out how to undo her rune; if she could figure it out, maybe there was even a way to make it a slow release – enough for her to stagger away from her attacker, but still let the woman go. At the end of the day, Chidori just couldn’t help herself; this vampire was clearly a person in need, someone she didn’t have the heart to just walk away from without at least trying.
Post by Merrick Bartholomew on Jan 2, 2017 6:58:14 GMT -5
Even though she cannot move, the woman was completely aware of what was happening. Her blood lust was momentarily stopped by the thought that she may be in grave danger. Merrick can see the caster of this damned rune momentarily look at her, probably to gloat at her predicament then leave her there until she starved, or worse, until the sun comes up in a few hours’ time so she will be burned alive. That was completely low, but she felt so stupid for letting herself get caught in this trap. If she could only scream out that time, she would be cursing the human for putting her in this state. But then again, this girl was only trying to protect herself, right?
However, Merrick was never someone who gave up easily. She may be in a sticky situation right now, but she was confident she can get around this somehow. Her hunger was making her weak, but her strength was still there with her. It may have been halved or so, but she wondered if she can try to break through this cast spell with brute force. There was no harm in trying, but she knew she will be consuming most of her strength for this task. If her target got away, then to hell with her, at least she was free from that suspended animation. Freedom took a higher priority now compared to her hunger.
Slowly, the female first started to move the fingers of her right hand one by one, realizing that they acted like tough rocks that were impossible to move but she pushed on. Whatever this rune was, it was quite powerful but Merrick was hoping for the best and her will was far stronger than any spell there is. Her forefinger and middle finger moved a small bit, then her ring finger and pinky followed suit. At a gradual pace, those fingers closed into her palm and balled into a shaky fist. That task was enough to tire out Merrick but she was far from over. She repeated the process with her left hand and had to add more to her actions, pulling back her arms and closing her opened maw. Her inhuman strength may help her now but she was slowly being drained of it as she strained to free herself.
Sweat rolled down her temple as she was now able to move her arms and neck a little and Merrick let out a loud, anguished growl as she pushed herself to her limits. She moved her arms around as she set her blood-red gaze back on her former target. What was she still doing here? Only a fool would stay behind now that their attacker was slowly getting out of the spell. The vampire paused to take a few breaths when her ears caught the labored breathing coming from the girl herself; wait, did she exhaust herself with that cast rune? The spell was effective, yes, but did that take a huge toll on the girl?
Whatever this girl was doing, she was not going to stick around to find out, but only after she managed to free herself completely. Every ounce of her strength was spent on trying to move the rest of her body and she was feeling lightheaded both from exhaustion and hunger. Her torso was next to be freed, her hips and finally, when she got to her legs, she almost felt like it snapped from beneath her and like a broken rag doll, Merrick fell from at least a ten foot drop in the air and crumpled on the grass in a messy heap. She was able to break free, but she was exhausted, weak and very hungry.
She coughs out as she lay on her side, sweat now dotting her brow as she shivered weakly on the spot. Merrick’s blood red eyes were closed half-way as she looked at the girl, mumbling to herself, “So thirsty… So tired…”
Consumed in her own efforts to try and undo the magic she’d unleashed on the vampire, Chidori didn’t notice the woman slowly but surely beginning to push through the rune’s hold. If she had been paying attention, or had the energy to do so, she probably would have intuited the change in the rune’s magic thanks to the guidance rune still humming silently with power at her leg. However, her focus was on the counter-rune, and so it wasn’t until the woman actually broke free from the magic that she finally noticed, looking up from her sketchpad with a flash of curiosity followed by a mix of fear and shock.
She’d never used these runes on supernatural beings before – perhaps being human limited the power’s peak, even when she put every ounce into it. Nevertheless, it had worked initially, so if she ever got a chance to, Chidori knew she’d record this rune amongst the others, locked away for an emergency. Perhaps, if she had the time, she could use it in small bursts to test a counter-sign as well. As far as she could tell, the magic may well have simply expired suddenly on its own, though she had a vague gut feeling that it had been burst, rather than bleeding out slowly as it should have if it were to expire.
This of course, led to a new problem; she was still quite drained, and now her attacker was free again. The undercurrents of fear began to surge again, just enough to get a shot of adrenaline going in her veins… only to realise that the vampire seemed even more exhausted than she was. Had breaking out of the rune been so challenging as to chew up the last of her strength? There was even sweat across the woman’s brows, indicating a great deal of exertion. Most of all though, it was the half-lidding of her eyes and the mumbling that hammered the message home – she was weak right now, extremely so.
That was when she remembered that the sun would surely destroy the vampire if she was still here when it rose. It was still some time off yet but… she knew it could take a while for a human to recover from exhaustion; a thirsty vampire might not recover in time at all to move. Geez, now she felt guilty for something else! Despite the fact that the woman had been planning to attack her, and quite possibly kill her in the process, Chidori knew deep down it was a matter of life or death that drove the desperation – or so she hoped. It was a leap of faith… but she couldn’t bring herself to walk away, either. Or perhaps it would have been crawl away in this instance, but it was much the same still.
Carefully, in case this was all some ploy to deceive her into becoming a victim again, Chidori shuffled to her bag of shopping, fumbling through it. The books wouldn’t work, neither would her pens and pencils. Most of the other materials were either soft or pliable, so they were out as well. All that was left was… Sighing inaudibly, the brunette retrieved the small ruler-protractor tool she’d bought. Running through the core was a decorative filament of stained glass; without much further indication of her plans, she used what physical strength she could muster to crack open the tool, snapping the glass filament to provide her with something angled, sharp, and long enough for her purposes.
Pausing first, she summoned every ounce of energy she could spare for one last rune, including the precious few minutes’ worth she’d recovered so far, marking on her arm a rune shaped like a sun with an hourglass at the centre – the swift recovery rune. Hopefully it would help her in the aftermath of what she was about to do as she then crawled over towards the vampire, the glass shard in hand. Gulping silently and pushing away her hesitation and fears, Chidori slashed across a section just below her wrist on that same arm, avoiding vital arteries, but all the same creating a wound that would bleed slowly but surely. This was why a book or pencil wouldn’t have helped; the cut would be too thin or too shallow.
Taking a deep breath and gritting her teeth against the pang of pain, she weakly offered the bleeding wound to the woman’s lips, hoping to high hell that she hadn’t just made a huge mistake. If she had, then….well, at least one of her bleak wishes would come true.
Post by Merrick Bartholomew on Jan 2, 2017 8:15:23 GMT -5
Maybe this was how she was going to die. It was not the most dignified of deaths, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt relieved because the loneliness would soon be over. Being an immortal with powers beyond the human imagination may have its advantages, but not everyone can be prepared to bear the solitary life entailed by it… and that included Merrick. Seeing the death of her beloved one after another was far too much to bear in an endless lifetime. She was not human, but it was far too harsh to bear witness to. Her skin may be cold, but her heart was not. Was this a weakness? Maybe, but she cared not; it was the only part of her that made her close to being human after all and proof that supernaturals had felt emotions as well.
Her breathing was getting ragged and slow and finally her eyes now closed completely. She felt that her body was getting colder by the second… was this how dying feels? Merrick’s hearing could only pick up a dull humming sound now, her eyes were closed so she cannot see anything and her sense of smell was simply picking up the earthy smell of grass and the fresh dew that clung onto them. A weak breath escaped her lips as the shivers began to cease and the cold began to envelope her frame.
Maybe this is the end…
She turned motionless when her keen nose suddenly picked up something enticing, something alive. Merrick was about to ignore it when warmth brushed along her cold lips and something liquid flowed along her mouth. The rusty, warm aroma was familiar and it can only be one thing: blood. Slowly, the vampire opened her eyes, now a pair of dark red orbs that were almost black due to how hungry she was. The girl who cast the rune was still there and she was offering her sliced up wrist to her. What was she thinking? Was this girl mad?
Her hands weakly grasped the human’s arm as her mouth pressed upon the flowing wound, her tongue gently licking up the precious red liquid and drinking it up. However, it was not enough to promote a stronger stream. Merrick looked up into the girl’s eyes, as if she was silently telling her; don’t be afraid, this won’t hurt too much. She moved her mouth over the wound, only for her to sink her fangs into the spot where the veins would be. Rich blood would flow from the puncture wounds and the woman would start to feed. By now, her so-called savior will be plunged into a strange, pleasurable high as the vampire fed from her.
Merrick’s instincts told her to drain this young girl dry and the hungry urge was strong, however, the rational part of her brain told her that she should at least be grateful that this female actually risked everything just to satisfy her thirst. Guilt racked her being as she hesitantly ceased in drinking that intoxicatingly sweet liquid, her tongue brushing along the two puncture wounds to clean up the blood there. The girl may feel a little lightheaded from the blood she lost and the orgasm-like high she experienced would suddenly be cut. The woman’s thirst was slightly sated at least and the red in her eyes faded, turning them back into their normal molten gold hue. She soon let go of the brunette’s arm and slowly sat up the ground before she whispered a couple of questions.
She had to blink a few times to clear the blurriness from her eyes as the vampire began to feed; it was quite slow at first, and she caught the woman opening her eyes to look at her, likely in confusion. Even if she had the energy, she wouldn’t have brushed away the hands that came up to weakly grasp her wrist, holding it steady for her to feed. There was still some faint pain from the wound she’d sliced herself, but it was barely noticeable to Chidori – she’d endured worse, after all. Not to mention accidentally inflicting worse on herself when experimenting with runes too. Still, the reflex to pull away when those fangs sank in reared its ugly head, and took most of her leftover willpower to quash it.
Then the strange sensation of euphoria flooded her, washing away the pain, taking the edge off the exhaustion. With a silent sigh, she closed her eyes, barely able to feel her lifeblood being sucked away to sustain another’s life. A part of her wondered if this warm, gentle feeling was what death felt like – in that moment, she didn’t even mind if it did come for. She’d kept the woman from dying, hopefully, from the mistake with her magic, and she couldn’t lie to herself right now; part of her wanted to die; to have her suffering end; to be able to forget the memories that haunted her almost every night; to not have this chilling power that constantly reminded her of her guilt and sacrifices. Almost in a trance, she mouthed the word she knew would accompany the end of her life – Finally.
Perhaps, if the vampire was paying attention, she would read that single word from her lips, and understand the depths of despair and anguish that accompanied it. Possibly, she might even understand the kinds of horrors and tragedies that would make a young woman, barely an adult, want to give her life away at the hands of a complete stranger, who moments ago would have killed her in order to survive.
Nevertheless, death did not come for her – not yet anyway. Wearily, as the high faded, Chidori re-opened her eyes slowly, a faint expression of concern evident in her features. Had it been enough? Would the woman be able to move now, and escape the rays of the morning sun? She hoped so. The brunette probably wouldn’t be moving much anytime soon though; she was exhausted from her magic, from the loss of blood, from the unusual euphoria that swept through her, albeit numbed thanks to the remnants of the only other rune on her body – a rune warding against manipulation. That had been a difficult venture, and she’d never properly tested it. Then again, maybe right now was a test, proving it worked partially at least.
The sound of her whispered voice made Chidori’s expression soften again, the concern now warping to relief, as strange as it was. If she had recovered enough to speak, then it was a good sign – a sign that was working. If she’d had more energy, the brunette might have even tried to give the woman a recovery rune as well; her’s was the only reason she’d be able to move again after several hours, as opposed to a day or two. Of course, now she had to figure out how to communicate with the woman, as even mouthing was an effort right now. On a distracted note, she noticed that the vampire’s eyes had changed too, into a lovely kind of gold really. It added to that strange beauty, that was for sure.
With as much strength as she dared muster, Chidori tilted her head and pulled at the neckline of her dress, pointing gently at the faint scar across her throat, and then shaking her head very slightly, trying to indicate that she couldn’t speak. Then, slowly, she pointed to where her sketchpad had fallen when she had cut herself to get the blood flowing, trying to will the woman to understand she might be able to write something, if given a bit of time to keep her hand steady.
Post by Merrick Bartholomew on Jan 2, 2017 10:53:34 GMT -5
She was waiting for the girl to answer her but nothing came from those lips. Was she still in shock? Perhaps she must have taken a little too much of her blood? No, Merrick knows when to stop drinking to ensure that she will not totally incapacitate a person. Why was this girl looking at her like that? Is she disgusted to see a vampire in the flesh? Was she disappointed she did not ‘finish the job’? The silence was almost deafening that it made the woman uneasy. A lot of questions still plagued her mind but the source of answers was tight-lipped. The idea of literally shaking the answers out of this girl crossed her mind, but she shook off the thought, thinking that it was best to preserve what strength she has that time.
Just then, she got a response from the strange teen though it was not the kind of reply she was expecting. Merrick noticed that she pointed out towards her neck and despite the low light between them, she was able to make out a faint marking of a scar that ran across her neck. She got the idea of the girl being mute due to that particular injury; it must be really serious since it robbed her of her speech. This stumbling block in communication what unexpected but she kept her patience intact, thinking of a way for her to understand this human.
The answer was provided by the teen; they will communicate through the form of writing. Merrick noticed that the girl was pointing to a discarded sketchpad not far from where they were. Without a word, the vampire nodded and stood up to retrieve the item. She picked it up from the ground and lightly brushed off the dirt that clung to it before she looked around and saw the bags that littered the ground. Even though the teenager never indicated anything about taking the bags, the older of the two females gathered the scattered items and placed them in the bags before returning before the brunette. She silently set them down beside the human before handing over the sketchpad as she crouched down.
Just when she had the sketchpad in hand, Merrick glanced over at the girl’s wrist where she fed from and muttered while holding out her other hand, “Can you give me your injured wrist for a moment? I… want to help you heal up those wounds. Don’t worry, I won’t bite you again.” She was looking right into the brunette’s eyes to show that she will never break her word. If the girl would allow it, this next action of hers may be considered as a form of thanks.
Though it took some time, it seemed her miming was not lost on the woman – at the very least, Chidori could have sworn she saw an inkling of understanding in that beautiful face. It was hard not to notice her, really; being exhausted simply meant she didn’t bother to push the thoughts away. She’d already trusted this woman, this vampire, so much – she could have left it all behind and fled…like she usually did. The brunette was tired of running though, and so far it seemed like she hadn’t misplaced her trust. Time would tell though – it was really too early to call it just yet.
Nevertheless, the woman retrieved her sketchpad, and to her surprise, the rest of her things as well. Which was good, considering the only thing Chidori had held onto was the special pencil, clutched in her right hand still. She’d almost forgotten it was there, until she felt the familiar pressure of it between her digits as she shuffled a little to a sitting position, gingerly taking the proffered sketchpad. A sliver of anxiety shot through her though, as the vampire remain crouched near her, looking back to the wound at her arm; the bleeding had slowed, but the cut would still take time to heal, even with her recovery rune. If it was still working, that was; sometimes it petered out of energy almost at random.
Chocolate brown eyes blinked a few times however, when she heard the woman speak again. Something about helping to heal? Glancing into those pools of molten gold made her noticeably shiver for a moment, though Chidori had no idea why. Still, if the woman had wanted to harm her, it would have been easy enough to do so already – so once again, she took a leap of faith and placed her well-being in the vampire’s hands, giving her as firm a nod as she could manage. She raised the injured arm gently, to make it easier to access, inhaling slowly and deeply in a feeble attempt to quell the rising anxiety surging through her.
Post by Merrick Bartholomew on Jan 3, 2017 2:16:55 GMT -5
She will understand if the girl felt that she cannot be trusted; she cannot blame her if she saw her as a monster, a cruel and heartless bloodsucking monster. Merrick already made a bad first impression on this one, she was sure, and no amount of good deeds will ever erase that initial meeting from the teenager’s mind. All because of one small blunder, she had put a stigma on the vampire race. The hand that she held out towards the brunette would then be withdrawn, slowly curling into a loose fist at first before it moved to her long raven tresses, her pale fingers running through the silken strands.
Merrick looked to the side and had decided to leave the human be, but once more, the girl surprised her when she actually allowed her arm to be inspected. The woman was now completely puzzled by this young one’s behavior, even though she seemed to be tired and helpless, this was no ordinary reaction towards someone who had the intent of attacking just minutes ago. Either way, the golden eyed female gently took the injured arm in her cold yet gentle grasp and her oculars assessed the wounds. It was still bleeding, though not too much now, but it would definitely be free flowing again if left untreated.
Her forefinger would press itself upon her cool lips, as if telling the girl to stay quiet, even though she knew that she cannot speak anyway. Or maybe she was implying that she was going to show her something that was not seen a lot of times. The wrist of that hand would soon her pressed upon Merrick’s lips and her fangs sank into the pale flesh, drawing out her own dark red blood. For a small wound, vampire blood flows quite freely and she allowed some of the liquid to drop over the wounds of the girl. Vampire blood would be cold once it hit the skin and almost immediately, the brunette’s wounds would begin to close at a rapid rate while the healing blood seemed to just dry up after doing the job and turn to ash.
Merrick’s self-inflicted wounds had already closed up and she was now brushing off the ash-like material from the human’s arm. She seemed to have earned a faint scar from the cut she made and two markings from the vampire’s fangs. Cold fingers would brush over these new blemishes once more to give it one last look before she lets the arm go.
“I’m sorry for what happened earlier. This is the least I can do to help you. I didn’t mean to scare or hurt you too much… and…”
She was trying to find the words to say but she was still ashamed of her actions. Merrick knew she owed this woman and the healing she did was not enough to cover for what this girl had done to her.
She couldn’t hold back the gentle shiver that ran down her spine as the woman’s cool touch brushed against her skin, inspecting her arm more closely. She’d forgotten about that – the part of the myth that suggested that vampires could be found by their lack of warmth. She wondered if that was truly the case, or whether this was simply an exception of some kind – maybe it only happened when they were nearly driven insane by thirst? Normally she’d have pushed the errant lines of thinking aside to focus, but without the energy to do so, the brunette simply let herself entertain the strange tangents that floated into her mind.
Most were interrupted however, as her chocolate brown gaze caught the motion of the woman’s finger being pressed to her lips; a universal sign for keeping quiet. Given the vampire already knew she couldn’t speak, Chidori figured she meant keep quiet about whatever she was about to do in general, presumably some kind of secret. With curiosity in her eyes, she watched closely as her would-be attacker bit into her own wrist, drawing an unusually fast flow of blood. It wasn’t until that chilling liquid graced her injury and began to heal it that it finally hit her – the healing properties of vampire blood. She’d forgotten about that as well it seemed; it might not work for her throat, but the demon had never said it wouldn’t work for other injuries. Still, it seemed like it might be a risk for the vampire to shed her blood right now, given she had been so thirsty not very long ago.
Hoping things wouldn’t turn south again, she could do naught but wait in silence, her heavy breathing the only real movement she made as the wound sealed closed, an ash-like substance covering the new scars. The woman brushed it away for her, and inspected her arm again, as if to ensure that there were no complications or other injuries to deal with; perhaps, peering this close, the woman would see the numerous remnants of faint scars and burns marring her skin. Normally people wouldn’t notice, since her recovery runes meant they looked a lot older (and therefore had faded more) than they really were. Up close, with the keen vision of a vampire though, they probably weren’t hard to spot – most from her own experimenting, and a few tangles with animals.
Listening to the woman speak, Chidori started to think that, just maybe, she’d made the right call in trusting this woman. Her gut instincts, plus the rune, had been quite accurate if her words and intonation were to be believed. It wasn’t hard to see, nor to recognise, the guilt and shame though – emotions she was thoroughly acquainted with herself. Before she could even think about it, the brunette found herself smiling just a little, and shaking her head, as if to indicate that it wasn’t a problem – as if she were trying to console her attacker. Really, it was just that – the brunette didn’t blame the woman, and it was just poor circumstances that had led to this point. At the very least, neither of them had seemed able to walk away from the other just yet.
Carefully, and slowly, Chidori used the energy she had begun to recover to start writing something on a blank page of the sketchpad, though it took time since she had to steady her hand against the shaking from her weakness. Neither of us intended the other harm. You didn’t seem to have a choice, much like I didn’t when I trapped you. I couldn’t just leave you here, at the mercy of the sun either. Thank you for healing the wound. Perhaps, the brunette might have written more, but as she shakily finished the last word, her vision began to blur, and her grip on the strange pencil faltered. As it dropped to the ground, Chidori had the strange sensation of the world collapsing inward, like a knot of pressure burrowing into her face, and she promptly blacked out, slumping to the ground unconscious.
Post by Merrick Bartholomew on Jan 4, 2017 10:00:23 GMT -5
How can this girl be able to smile and seemingly shake away the worries when Merrick herself felt really terrible? The vampire may have lived for centuries but she will admit to herself that she may never completely fathom human nature. Humans were fragile creatures, like they are made of glass because of their mortality. They had no special powers to aid them when it comes defending themselves against supernaturals like her, though somehow, they managed to live through their lives well enough until their time here on earth had expired. Well, most of them were powerless though a few like this girl here was one of the few exceptions to the rule. Somehow, she was able to acquire some magic and gave her a little leverage compared to other humans. The vampire was not exactly sure whether it was a blessing or a curse, for things such as magic are often a double-edged sword.
Whatever this seemingly innocent teenager did before, Merrick can only wonder now. She had seen and felt faint scars litter the young one's arm and who knows whether there were more elsewhere on her body. If it was from using her runes or from saving supernaturals such as herself, well, that would be her choice. She was not one to judge anyone for what they want to do with their lives; she was no one's sitter or guardian. Right that time, the woman just shook her head in wonder, confused at the recent decisions this fragile little creature made. Yes, she may never really know.
Her eyes would fall upon the sketchpad when the brunette began to write. In her thoughts, she was rather relieved that at least they can communicate with each other instead of going about looking like they were playing charades and guessing games. Merrick does not even need to look closer to see that the girl's hand was shaking; was this because of fear or something else? She carefully read the words and thought about having no choice during those times; in a way, maybe she had a point... and to think she even said she did not have the heart to leave her just like that. This human was really making her even more curious by the second. She ran a hand through her hair once more (while wishing she had an extra tie to fix it) and let out a soft sigh when she noticed that the girl was slowing down in her writing until she dropped the writing item.
Merrick was quick to grip the girl by her shoulder just when she had lost consciousness, keeping her from falling face first into the ground. The vampire furrowed her brow and gave her a shake as she said, "Hey, don't you black out on me! Hey, kid!" A snarl rumbled from her throat when she realized that it was useless to keep shaking her awake; the teen looked exhausted, drained even that the woman assumed she would be out like a light for a while. She would be willing to look through her pockets for identification and take her home, but Merrick felt her thirst bother her again. It was clear that she needed more blood tonight or else she will be feeding from this girl and she will not stop until she is bled dry.
"How troublesome..."
She momentarily let the girl lay on the ground as Merrick began to gather the bags and throw whatever items the teen had into them. She almost shoving them irritatingly inside the paper bags but she tried to breath calmly to cool her head. She gripped the bags in one hand before she went back to the unconscious human, crouching down to carefully lift her from the earth and carry her bridal style. The vampire would have opted to go full bat if she did not have anything on her hands, but for now, she had no choice but to half-shift, which she hated doing without 'preparations'. The back of Merrick's shirt began to rip apart as large bat wings grew from her back which soon flapped a little while her ears began to turn pointed and her eyes turned purely black. She hated going in this form.
In no time, Merrick was flapping her leathery wings and her feet left the ground. It only took a minute before they were high in the air and the vampire went to the direction of her home with her extra 'cargo'. She made sure that she was carrying the human and her things properly or else she may just accidentally drop them, which would be terrible. Once this girl wakes, the woman wishes that she will not think that she was kidnapped or freak out.
Chidori Tsukino || sorry for the delay and the shitty post. D:
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