LORE: Training a Hell Hound (MATURE)

[Soran Nightblade]

"Just a bunch of complete nonsense," Vlad said, trying to remember exactly what Tenele had told him. "That he could change, that she should come with him. That she could even bring me. It really didn't make sense. And it still doesn't. It's not as if she could possibly be Attara."

[Emora Deen]

"No," Talon agreed. "That's not possible. It could have been another ploy to get at you, especially if he wanted her to bring you along. Still, that is very strange, then again I guess he doesn't have to make much sense."

Talon grabbed a bottle of water from the top of his desk and pored it into a glass, replacing the cork. "Vlad... I know we don't get along, but I'm going to ask you to do me a favor. Don't... tell Tenele. Please."

* * *

Tenele looked at her new boots inside the bag, knowing they’d keep her feet warm on their journey. She knew that her job was important, but still… She would have liked to be home a little longer. To sleep in bed and not have the obligation of being up so early in the morning to travel to yet another war torn place, to face possibly another army or the Gods only knew what else.

She glanced down at her hand, and the ring on her finger, and she smiled softly. It was nearly impossible for her to actually believe she’d be marrying the vampire. A little too good to be true, and part of her didn’t want to really think about it or get excited, encase it could never be true. Still, she had all these thoughts racing through her head about things they needed to figure out. Which room they’d occupy. Hers, or his. When they would marry. She thought about her name, and how she’d be taking Vlads. Tenele Dracul, well, it didn’t have the nicest ring to it, but that really didn’t matter.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad stopped moving and frowned at Talon. "She will learn eventually," he told him seriously. "If you don't tell her now, she's going to figure it out in the end, the hard way. Is that how you want her to learn the truth?"

[Emora Deen]

Talon glanced down. "Tenele will be going away with you tomorrow. The last thing she needs is her mind distracted with worry," he told him. "I made a promise to our mother that I'd look after Tenele and protect her. I intend to do that, even if it means keeping some things from her. I'll tell her when she returns. I'm not going to kill over and die tomorrow. Besides, I'm still looking for a cure. Though, my father searched for most of his life and never found one. A lot of years have passed since then, who knows?"

"She can't know about our father being alive. You know Tenele as well as I do. She'll go off half-cocked in search of him, and end up in the hands of Arken," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad had to think on that one for a minute. "I understand why you want to hide the truth about your father, but if she knows about your illness, she can help you look for the cure." He glanced away for a second and then added, "Either you can tell her the details so she can help...or you can tell me, and I'll keep your secret." He grimaced slightly at the fact he'd just offered such intimate assistance to Mr. Anal-Retentive.

[Emora Deen]

Talon looked up to Vlad, wondering if maybe he’d passed on and this was some elaborate place between the world of the living and the afterlife. He watched the vampire for a moment, wondering if he declined to accept his help if he’d run and break the news to Tenele. Knowing Vlad, the young half-elf wouldn’t put it past him.

So Talon told him that it was disease of the body, and no amount of magic could help. That it was his entire being, and not a specific place.

“The likelihood of finding a cure is slim, I know… But I want to find a cure, I have to find a cure. Maybe I can make one… So if Tenele has inherited it, she can be spared.” He glanced up to Vlad. “I think it might be something in the male genes, though. I think my father’s father died of the same thing, I just can’t prove it because the records are not as good.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad listened and studied the man's feverish complexion skeptically. He'd never heard of such an illness. "I'll do some research. Don't die too fast," Vlad finally ordered, making his way to the door. Then he looked back over his shoulder with a devious smirk. "I'm going to need a best man." With that, he let himself out.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele was fiddling with the bottle in her hand and not paying attention that she had neared Talon’s room so quickly. She looked up just in time to see she was about to run into a tall sturdy man, but before she could stop herself short she pumped up against him. “Oh, sorry,” she said, smiling. She took a step back, only slightly, to recover her balance. “Did you get along?” Her skin was pale from being out in the cold, and her cheeks and nose a little flushed from the wind. She brushed strands of hair back from her face with the back of her hand that held the small bottle and one of her fingers, the light catching the bottle and casting a red glint for a second before she lowered her hand.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad looked a little distracted as he glanced down at the light form that had bumped into him, but then he smiled at her. "Well enough. Possibly a record. Sort of makes me want a shower," he shuddered in response to her question. "What's in the bottle?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele looked down at the bottle in her hand, holding it out as it rested in her palm. “I don’t know… I was in the market and I saw one of Verin’s temples that I destroyed… “ She glanced up at him quickly then, not quite sure if she remembered telling him what she had done in his absence. “I wondered a little too close and this rolled out into the light. It’s strange… Has a little note on the inside.” She lifted it up so her eyes could see it better. “It says relief. I was going to see if Talon could tell what the contents were.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad narrowed his eyes on the bottle. Something was very suspicious about its message, and he felt confident whatever was in there was anything but relief. "I'll bring it to him," he said, holding out his hand for the bottle. He was aware as soon as he said it that it sounded ridiculous, but Talon was obviously and visibly not well at the moment. He had his own doubts about his oath of secrecy to the man, but he wanted to stick to it for at least a bit more than 10 seconds.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele arched an elegant eyebrow at him as her eyes flickered up. She held the bottle in her hand as she looked at Vlad with puzzlement. “I can take it too him…” she said slowly, narrowing her eyes. She lowered the hand that held the bottle and went to maneuver around the vampire, which would take some pushing since he was blocking the entire door.

“What, are you trying to hide the body?” she asked him with a laugh, and then realized how oddly possible that was. Talon could have tried to kill him, and she wouldn’t put it past Vlad to be tempted to do so also. She paused looking up at him for a long moment, and then she smiled. “Well, if you two are getting along now…” She slowly reached up and handed him the bottle, her warm finger tips running lightly over his skin as she withdrew her hand.

She backed away slowly, still watching him, and she placed a hand on Stalker’s head. “I know something is funny,” she informed him. “But, I also know that I’ll find out eventually, so I’m going to let you two play whatever game this is… Partly because I know Talon will eventually crack…”

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad showed her a teetering smile. "Yeah, I'm sure he will," he muttered sarcastically as he turned back to Talon's door and opened it without knocking. He shut the door behind him, letting Tenele form her own theories about what was going on. He had a feeling anything she might conjure up would be preferable to the truth.

"That best man crap was a joke, just to be clear," he said offhandedly as he sauntered back into Talon's room. "Your dear sister got a present from Verin," he said, setting the bottle on the counter.

[Emora Deen]

Talon looked up slowly at Vlad and then to the bottle. He lifted it, examining it. “Well, that’s obviously not a good sign considering the conversation we just had,” he sighed, narrowing his eyes on the inscription.

He took the cork out of the top and smelled it, and then went over to another table towards the back of the room that was littered with papers and test tubes and other things. He poured a couple of drops into a metal beaker and then added a yellow powder. When he sprinkled the powder on top of the red liquid it turned a deep black. The young half-elf frowned. “Poison.”

He looked up to Vlad. “He didn’t honestly expect her to drink it?” he muttered, looking back at the inscription. “And what is he trying to imply by naming it Relief?” He took his seat again, feeling his energy had drained for the day.

[Soran Nightblade]

Well, the god had a sick sense of humor," Vlad said. "And a penchant for forcing people into gruesome psychological ultimatums. My guess is it isn't something we want her carrying around with her." Wait, 'we'? He suspected he was getting along with Talon a little too well.