LORE: End Game (MATURE)

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad ignored all the other questions, focusing in on the priest. He walked straight up to the arrogant man, pressing his face in close. It was something he wouldn't have been physically comfortable doing in his normal form, but right now, the man seemed harmless - to him. "You will not cast any form of spell on her. You will keep your talismans to yourself. She is like a child - she doesn't know better. You don't point a bomb at a child," he growled. "The child will just get curious and reach out to touch it. And it will be your fault. Do you understand me?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele could hear the sound of feet coming towards her room. She turned, pressing both her hands against the door. "Lady Raider," a voice said. "We've come to help you with your problem. Please, allow us entrance."

"I'm sorry, I cannot," Tenele replied, pressing her forehead to the door. She enhaled deeply, and could smell them from where she was.

"Please, go away." She muttered. "Really, this isn't wise of you." She could hear the wonderful beating of three hearts. Music to her ears. She couldn't stand it. It should be easier to handle now, shouldn't it? She backed away from the door, and it groaned as her weight moved away.

She stepped to the middle of the room, running both her hands through her silver hair. It was then that they proceeded to force her door open. She turned to them, and had no time to react before they were tossing holy ruins into the room as if to create a barricade around her. One slapped into her arm, and she felt it like a hot poker against her skin. It brought back memories of being captive in Arken, memories she'd rather choose to forget.

She clutched her arm and in mid spin away from them she disappeared, only to reappear on the deck just a few feet from the crowd. Sudden silence took them over, and Tenele looked up from her slightly doubled over position. Red eyes fell on a started and frightened crowd of onlookers, and the sent was the most beautiful thing she had ever smelled. She tilted, and the corner of her mouth tugged into a smirk ever so slightly. It was then that a good number decided to scream and run.

On instinct she moved forward and grabbed one by the arm, then reached around with her hand and picked him up by the neck. She looked up at him, eyes twinkling before registering exactly what she was about to do. She dropped him quickly, but this sign of relinquishing her thirst seemed to not reach the eyes of those on board, and they continued to run. Well, not all.

The priest put his hands together and then knelt, slapping one hand flat against the deck flooring. A white symbol appeared and a jet of energy shot towards her. It seemed like a rather powerful spell, but really it was quite minor. Tenele dove to get out of the way, and almost made it. It struck her feet and sent her spiraling upwards, head first in a spiral and landing with a thud on deck.

"See, precautions must be taken besides the ones you put in place, my Lord," he didn't seem as cocky as before, actually, he seemed a little startled.

The running ceased, and the fact the vampire seemed for the moment off balance and disoriented, brought them courage for now. "This is too dangerous. We're trapped on this ship with her! She'll kill us all."

"Maiden Raider is not herself.."

"I know she is loved by many, but we must consider our own lives!"

Tenele pushed herself to her feet. Her eyes fell to Vlad, and it seemed the holy magic was keeping her hunger in check for the moment, but she could still taste the sweetness of Vlad's blood on her lips. She wanted more, but he had said that it would soon eb, and not be a strong. But, what was his definitiion of strong? She didn't feel sorry for those who wanted her away, she could understand. She clenched her hands, wanting so much to lash out at them despite her understanding. Whether out of some strange anger, or for food she wasn't quite sure.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Enough!" Vlad roared. He broke his own rule by running to Tenele's side and standing between her and the priests. "Idiots! Every one of you is a fool! Hold still, and shut up!"

His booming voice sounded over a silent deck as the arguing crew fell silent to glare at him distrustfully.

"We are on a diplomatic mission. The Outlanders will not nod politely if we cancel this meeting when their FLEET is meeting us in the middle of the ocean. The Maiden has very little time to learn to control her new form, and you're up here BLITHERING like a herd of swine. SHUT UP!" he reiterated as a few men began murmuring again.

"If you're not steering, then WALK to your quarters, now," he ordered more quietly. Amazingly enough, the crew seemed to obey, shuffling nervously off. "Unless you're holy," he amended as he noticed the priest beginning to slink off. It was clear from the glare he cast the monk that the anger in his eyes was all for him. "You stay put," he said, and turned to Tenele.

"What are you doing out here?" he whispered harshly to her, kneeling beside her and scanning her for burns.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele held her arm with one hand, and sat up slowly. "Oh, this is ridiculous," she muttered, examining the small burned scrape where one the holy ruins had brushed against her skin.

"Can I be human again, now?" she asked, exasperated with the sudden swarm of hatred. She had only heard Vlad speak as he had to those people once or twice, but never with conviction. Tenele pushed herself to her feet, noting that the stinging was going away. The small scrape, which momentarily had burned so feircely, was now starting to heal. She could get used to that...

"I had to, stupid priests and there ensessent need to 'help' me with my issue. Its alright though, I'll just go right back down and kick them out. I just panicked at the sudden entrusion. I didn't want to eat them, and I really didn't know if they were going to kill me or not. I've seen what horribly nasty wounds holy magic leaves on you. I didn't want to experience it first hand." She smiled at him, despite how she was feeling.

Suddenly the world was beginning to spiral out of her control.

She kept her eyes focused on Vlad, not allowing them to linger on the livestock- eh, people.

[Soran Nightblade]

"I said not to go near anybody," Vlad said somewhat sharply. He turned to the priest. "And I said don't approach her!" he snarled, the anger in his voice growing five-fold for him. He stepped away from Tenele and pressed himself into the man's personal space. "You may think you're protecting this ship, but you're not. Go find your friends and do your best not to get us all killed," he seethed. He wanted to snap the robed flake's neck, but starting a holy war on board didn't seem like a terrific idea at the moment.

[Emora Deen]

"I didn't go near anyone!" she tried to say in her own defense, but suddenly he was turning and in the face of the priest. She folded her arms, cocking her head to the side and waiting patiently. Was it just her, or did this new race come with a temper problem? She was very aggitated and short tempered, which though usually she was fiesty it was never to this degree.

"Excuse me," she said while Vlad was contemplating snapping the priests neck. "Could you run along, and get those damned things off my floor."

The priest forced a bow and hurried off down the steps towards her room.

"Really, one moment I think this is grand, ad the next I really, really, want to be my old half-elf self again." She rubbed her arm idly, flashing her crimson eyes towards the ocean and the setting sun as it slowly faded across the horizon. "I like you being the vampire... and me being the human. Things were never this complicated the other way around. Why can't they treat me as they treat you? I haven't ate anyone... yet..."

Though, she had drank blood, she was still feeling awfully thirsty again...

[Soran Nightblade]

"I'm under the Queen's protection," Vlad answered, the temper leaking out of his voice like rinsing a brush in water as he turned back toward Tenele. "They have learned to tolerate me, and I have learned to tolerate the hunger. You have not. Yet," he said to her.

[Emora Deen]

"When?" she asked soflty. "When can I get this need to kill out of my system?" It wasn't just the need to kill, it was the need to eat. Drink, rather.

The priest returned quickly and informed her that her room was free of all holy magical items. She would have thanked him, had she not been considering paying him back for his friend's vist. She looked to Vlad. "I'll be down in my cell," she said softly, and was suddenly gone.

Despite how much she didn't like her situation, being a vampire had its perks. Escaping quickly from uncomfortable situations could be very useful to her.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Tenele," Vlad tried to call to her as she began to disappear, but she was already gone. His actually tried to summon magic to teleport after her, but there was nothing to draw on. No powers. He stared at where she'd been and clutched his hands into fists at his sides. His stomach chose that moment to knot up, reminding him with annoying persistence how hungry he was.

He turned to see the monk still standing there. Vlad's glare was enough to make the man look nervous, but not scared. He probably should have been. Had he known how narrowly Lord Dracul came to wrestling him to the ground and killing him, he might have done more than just calmly step out of the way as the ex-vampire stormed past.

Vlad forced his anger down carefully, knowing it would be a bad idea to murder the twit. He forced himself to walk to the stairs and descend into the ship, making his way toward the dining hall.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele grabbed a bag of blood, climbed onto her bed, and wrapped herself in the thick creme covers. She stared at the fading sky and the bright white moon. She looked at the blood in her hands, and though she was seriously craving it, she had no desire to drink it. In fact, she was angry with herself.

No, the shinning brilliance of being a vampire had suddenly worn off, and Tenele was missing her fragile human body more and more each minute. She glanced over her shoulder at the chest, and floated the blood back to it. Well, some powers would be missed...


She pulled the covers up over her head like a cloak and hood and stared out the window. She knew she'd feel a whole lot better if Vlad wasn't mad at her for going near people. She hadn't a choice, so what was the matter? Maybe he was just worried she'd kill to many people?

Maybe he was scared she'd kill him?

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad sank into a chair at one of the tables in the kitchen and stared with sullen determination at the food he'd selected. It wasn't that he wasn't eager to sate his hunger. But eating, chewing, was too strong a reminder of his changed nature. He felt incapacitated; impotent. There was nothing he could do to prevent what Tenele would suffer through. Could he keep the crew under control until they reached shore? And what difference would that make, anyway? How could he restore her to normal?

Hundreds of years without tasting food, and Vlad had savorlessly finished half his plate while lost in his thoughts. It might as well have been sawdust. The non-vampire ignored the stares of the other men in the room. They weren't friendly. He heard his name whispered a few times, but couldn't care less if they were nervous. He was hungry, damnit.

He glanced up as a palm slammed down on the table. Vlad looked up to see one of the soldiers who'd been at the meeting earlier leaning over the table like a vulture.

"Listen up, bloodsucker," he said, pushing into Vlad's personal space, He smelled of tobacco and metal; normally, Vlad would have noticed from across the room. "You might have your way today, but if she screws up ONCE, just once, then we handle things OUR way," he said coldly.

Vlad had a tempting mental image of jamming his fork through the man's skull. Diplomacy, right. "If you do, you will not live to enjoy it for long," he said darkly.

This didn't seem to intimidate the man, who leaned closer into Vlad's face; they could have kissed. "I'm not scared of you, freak. Talk as big as you want, but the way I see it, you're just blood and guts, just like the rest of us. Act scary, but I'll believe it when I see it," he sneered. The soldier leaned back off the table and gave the edge a nonchalant shove, tumbling what was left of the no-life king's meal into his lap. Vlad looked down at his lap blandly, corralling his temper. Lashing out now would not help Tenele. It could put her in danger. He slid his chair back and stood up.

"Your bill, sir," prompted the chef from behind the counter.

"His tab," Vlad said icily, noting that several of the onlookers shriveled back into their booths when his eyes scanned the room. No one, including the soldier, pushed the issue as Vlad left the room with frightening calmness.

Five minutes later, Vlad came to the door to he and Tenele's quarters. He stared at the knob for a long moment before turning it. It was locked. "My Lady," he spoke against the wood, knowing she was already aware he was there and could hear him.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele sighed, standing and walking to the door. She unlocked it slowly, placing one hand on the door frame she opened it up and peered out with her red eyes. For a moment her eyes searched his face over and she stepped back to allow him entrance, besides, the smell of him was much more enticing that a chest full of leather and cold blood.

She climbed back up onto the bed, lying on her back one hand beside her head and her other arm draped over her abdomen.

"Sorry," she said softly, turning her head in his direction. "I'll stay in here from now on, don't worry. I won't threaten the crew." She through him a brilliantly fake smile, which revealed the shimmering pearl white fangs.

"You get into a food fight?" she asked curiously, noting the bits of food on his pants.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shook his head and locked the door behind him. "Just a little sloppy. It'd been a while since I've had to wear my napkin in my lap," he scoffed, although he didn't make much effort to brush away the mess. He studied her as he walked to an armchair that was set in the corner of the room and sat down on it. His body felt much better now that he'd eaten something, and he'd downed nearly a liter of water. It hadn't done much for his mood. He could see something missing in her smile, and he had the oddest urge to....apologize. However, since he couldn't for the life of him envision himself doing such a thing, let alone imagine how he would do it, he kept the idea in the back of his head, turning it over like a rotisserie until he was sure it was done.

"It's not forever. Just for a few days, until your thirst calms. You should be feeling a better sense of control by the time we reach the Outerlands," he said in his low, earnest voice. He really wanted to go to the bed where Tenele lay, but his logical side told him to stay in the chair. "Then we'll find a way to reverse this."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded, turning her attention back to the night sky, that now was filled with twinkling stars and the almost full moon. She glanced back at him once or twice and longed for him to be closer to her. To be lying next to her, and he looked as if he wanted the same thing. But, he was keeping his distance from her purposely, and she didn't like that.

But, did he really have a choice?

No, he didn't did he? She could kill him with the twitch of her hand now. That frightened her. What if she got to close to him, and became so overwelmed with hunger? No, it was best he kept his distance.

"Yes, not forever," she replied where he could here her, then followed up with mumbling, "Just long enough to kill someone important to me." She kept that smile nevertheless.

The longing she felt, however, was driving her mad. She wanted his touch, his reassuring presence. She always felt safest and more hopeful when he was there, holding her. She thought that it seemed rather silly now, but that was the way she felt. Her red orbs flickered back to him, and his handsome face. The hand beside her head clutched the pillow a bit tighter as she tried to control the urge to go to him. To help stiffle this incesent need, she turned her face from him and stared at the water.

[Soran Nightblade]

A shadow fell over Vlad's expression as she turned away. He wanted to see her, if he couldn't touch her, but he knew that was slightly selfish. "You won't kill me," he said too quietly for normal conversation, but loud enough for her ears. "I'm going to change," he said suddenly, going to his bag and burrowing for clean clothes.