LORE: End Game (MATURE)

[Soran Nightblade]

"Yes. I suppose you're right. As foolish as he is, it's good that he's safe," Sinead said, seeming calmer and more like her usual stately self.

Vlad glanced away from the look she gave him, actually embarrassed by all this attention.

"I'll let you two take care of things. The council can't wait for me much longer. Vlad, don't forget to eat," Sinead warned, and the connection faded off.

Vlad sighed. "Nosy woman," he scoffed. But it was nice to know that Sinead had worried, for some reason. He thought himself foolish for thinking that way, but he did anyway. She cared about him, but more than that, she trusted him to protect to Tenele. It reminded him that no matter how sorry he was for Tenele's trauma, he didn't regret what he'd done for an instant.

"So," he said in a charmingly skeptical tone, "Who is a mean ass?"

[Emora Deen]

She narrowed her green eyes at him. "Oh, I think you know exactly who I was talking about!" Tenele poked him in the ribs, and then suddenly through her arms about him, tackling him to the bed. She held him tightly. Like, if she didn't hold him tight enough he'd float away from her. She was warm again, or rather felt extremly hot. Her finger tips were stinging, and the knuckles of her hand were screaming to be released from the pinned position between the back of his neck and the cushioned coverlet. "What were you arguing about with those idiots out there?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad let Tenele pin him to the bed, thoroughly enjoying the more playful contact, although it took some control not to cringe when she poked him in the chest. Although that focused throbbing was the main thing keeping his hunger back at the moment, so he couldn't say he resented it.

"They said they weren't going anywhere until they saw you, so I took care of them." His eyes sparkled with mischief, and he obviously couldn't wait to be asked how he took care of them.

[Emora Deen]

She brushed her hair off of her shoulder so it cascaded down one side of her face, revealing her warm neck. The color was completely returned to her face, and now there was contrast between her silver hair and her lightly tanned skin. "How did you do that?" she was a little worried about know exactly how, for she had been wittness to many of Vlad's pranks.

[Soran Nightblade]

"I gagged them and hung them on the wall by their ankles," Vlad said, relishing in his revenge. "Now they can watch your room without any problems." He spared her the detail about HOW he'd hung them, because he had a feeling she wouldn't approve. He felt light years from finished when it came to the crew's punishment.

His concentration immediately shifted off of the crew as Tenele's hair slid back to reveal the soft flesh of her neck. The hunger flashed through him so fiercely that he actually felt dizzy. Maybe he was pushing himself too hard; he didn't want to end up biting Tenele after what she'd just been through. His hand shot to his burnt chest and gripped it firmly. That helped him focus and gradually ease the tension in his ready-to-pounce muscles. "My Lady, I may have to eat something," he breathed, leaning away from her and the intoxicating scent of her blood.

[Emora Deen]

"I say take the priest...." she muttered darkly, glancing to the door. "Or the Colonel. But, if you choose to be a good boy, there is always your crate of supplies." She pointed to the crate over in the corner. Instead of making him walk, she stood up and carried herself gracefully over towards it. She tossed him a pack of blood and knelt down to her own suitcase to dig for a first aid kit.

When she had a role of bandages in her hand she turned and sat back down next to him. "It seems holy wounds don't go away even after turning-- What happened to your chest?" She had glanced back at him, but her eyes had focused on the way he held his chest, and how it seemed to be painful to him.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad caught the blood gratefully, extending a claw to slice the top corner of the bag open. "It's just a burn. It will heal," he said to her casually, pulling the unburned part of his shirt across it so that she wouldn't see the unsightly wound. But he already knew it was going to leave an impressive scar. Idiotic priests..what were they thinking, performing sacraments on his body, anyway? He raised his chin and drank from the bag of blood, an elated expression washing over his face. Bagged blood was like drinking dirt, but damn if this wasn't the best dirt he'd ever had. The bruises on his neck faded and then disappeared entirely in the space of a few seconds as he drank. He finished his meal quickly and looked at her, his eyes alive with energy.

[Emora Deen]

When he was finished she handed the bandages to him. "Would you mind?" she asked. It was a thin strip of ribbon like guaz that would be flexible and keep things from brushing against her burns. "I knew that holy magic could hurt you. I just never dreamed it was so horrible. So painful... I'm sorry you had to watch over me as if I were a child." And in a way she had been, but still. It annoyed her to no end that she had been so strong, and so very helpless all at the same time.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad took the gauzey fabric and began wrapping it very precisely around her fingers and palms. He made sure his movements were so controlled and still that the friction was minimized. "You were very strong, for a new vampire. Even in the salt circle, you resisted me. You wouldn't have bitten if I hadn't forced you," he spoke calmly as he wrapped. "It's too bad we didn't have more time...you never had a chance to become used to the bloodlust. That's probably for the best. When I was human, it seemed very strange for that urgency to be missing. I was so used to it, I kept thinking I still felt it. It was almost like losing a limb. Better for you not to become too used to it."

He stopped talking as he finished her hands, realizing he'd been practically babbling. All this excitement and the fresh blood in his veins were making him feel loquacious. "Are you burnt anywhere else?" he asked her.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele brought her feet around in front of her, bending her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs. Her toes, a little bit singed and blistered pocked out from underneath her skirt. "I don't think you can wrap those up," she said with a smile, "there rather small."

She eased forward and kissed his lips, her bandaged hands cupping his face. "I'm so happy your okay," she whispered to him, kissing his cheek gently and then resting her warm forehead against his cool one. "I don't know... I don't know what I would have done if... Don't -ever- do something like that again. Ever."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad let out a cool breath as their foreheads rested against each other. She felt amazing. She felt right for him, which made no sense. They had to be the most unnatural couple that ever existed. A year ago, he probably would have scoffed at the very concept of becoming so involved with a human. There was no person on the entire planet he would have deemed worthy of his protection, let alone his self-sacrifice, unless the queen had ordered it. And the same was true in reverse. No one, not even the queen, would have walked into a room full of holy magic for him the way Tenele had. After living hundreds of years, he would have thought it was impossible to change so much in so short a time.

"You are an incredible woman," he whispered to her. "I have lived a very long time, and you have not. If another time comes when the situation draws an ultimatum between our two lives, I will make the same choice." He raised his eyes to hers seriously. "And I will expect you to live on," he said, firmly.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele pulled away from him slowly, far enough back that she could look his face over. Her eyes fluttered and she glanced to the window. "Live on..." The concept seemed foreign suddenly. She hadn't the slightest idea why she had wanted to do nothing but die a short while ago. There were so many factors. The largest being the fact she had been the one that had killed him.

"Can we change the subject?" she asked after swallowing hard. She didn't want to think about it anymore. She kissed him again, and bringing her body so that it rested against his side, and she could hover slightly over him.

That is when she heard his voice. "What the hell! How did you get like that? Where is that damned vampire!" The Colonel was obviously looking for Vlad. "Is she alright? Hey! Open up you, too!" His fist was banging on the door.

"I can't answer that door. I'll slit his throat..."

[Soran Nightblade]

"I'll do it for you," Vlad smirked, disappearing. He nearly scared the man to death when he tapped on his shoulder, his crimson eyes leaning just next to his face. "Don't tell me you're back for more," Vlad said disdainfully, running a cold finger over the edge of his left fang. "I don't give out freebies all the time, you know."

[Emora Deen]

"We can't take your word for her safety..."

Tenele suddenly opened the door. "Oh, so kind of you to care about my safety now!" Her eyes were feirce and angry and all the men in the hall stared at her. Even the ones that were still currenly upside down. She blinked, trying to hold in the laughter and remain sturdy on her position of currenlty being angry.

"You didn't seem to care when I was being burned by holy magic, or trapped, or starved. All of you will go under a trial upon our return to Ighten. I have already sent a message to the Queen!" Of course, she was partially lying, but a mutinee wouldn't be the greatest thing considering what they had just been through.

"We had no choice, you were a wild animal."

Tenele stepped forward into his face. "And would you consider me a taimed one at the moment? We could go up on deck and I could show you what a real animal is." Her voice was dark and filled with vile hatred. She really did hate that man, especially for being the root of all their problems. "You know what, I'll let Vlad tend to you. I might get out of control and do something animalistic." She was pretty sure Vlad would do worst, and that was the real reason she was letting him handle the situation. She closed the door then, folding her arms across her chest and looking at the dagger lying in her suitcase.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad leaned into the man's face, his eyes red and sparkling. "I don't like you," he informed the colonel. When the man paled, but did not move, he added, "And I can run very fast."

That seemed to register the message. The colonel called nervously to those of his men who were still mobile, and they evacuated the corridor, leaving the others hanging helplessly.

The vampire watched them go, deep in thought. "No," he mused aloud, not enough."

He teleported to block the colonel's escape. "I'm afraid you're too slow," he said with a dark smile, drawing his hand back. Without much ado, he plunged his fingers through the man's chest as if his hand were a knife, until his arm emerged on the other side. "You're not even worth eating," he whispered close to the man's horror-struck face. He retrieved his arm roughly, flinging the body to the side like a dead fish.

The two men who had been with him stared at Vlad in terror, backing away uncertainly. "Clean this up," Vlad spat, clapping his bloody hand casually on one cadet's shoulder. The gesture was enough to make both men jump, but they didn't say a word as the colonel sputtered on the ground. "I'm taking command of this ship," Vlad added as he began walking away. "Call the crew to the deck."

With that, he walked back down the hall. With a flick of his wrist, his six captives fell headfirst onto the hardwood floor. "On the deck," Vlad instructed them flatly. Not failing to miss the fresh blood coating the vampire's arm, they didn't even bother to fuss with the gags on their mouths as they scrambled over each other toward the exit.

"The crew seems to be shaping up," Vlad said with paternal approval as he re-entered the room with Tenele. "But the colonel had an accident."