Ketsuri's Study

RP Below

Ketsuri unlocked his study, finding a letter he began writing Chorus, it would seem that we have a problem. My target is more guarded then what i originally thought. I have located however both my old master and the girl as you requested. Unfortunately my old master it would seem is sided with her, on what level and to what extent i do not know. Be advised though that in order for me to complete the task of capturing or eliminating her i will need more time, and preferably somthing to distract my former master he wrote, setting the letter out to dry, and retrieving a messanger hawk from a cage. "Now to await the tasks of the day" he murmered to himself, setting about the stack of papers on his desk. Walking over to the liqour cabnet, he began pouring himself a glass for the evening. Then the scream. Ketsuri, dropping the glass on his foot swore loudly "So help me if it's one of those brats playing a prank!" he growled between clenched teeth an fists. Limping out of his study towards the Summons room.

Ketsuri returned to his study, locking the doors behind him. The messanger hawk eyed him, not happy at having to fly again so soon. He wrote:sorry to report in so soon, but again we have hit a problem, and unfortunately this one is unknown. I came upon the girl in the main summons room. The mages are dead, but somone else, perhaps even deadlier than my old master now guards the girl. He was able to completely misdirect me, and he very quickly ambushed me and drove me off. Chorus, be careful, this one will strike without warning. I am surprised and at the same time all the more concerned that i am even being allowed to write this letter. However i think we can use that to our advantage. I think so long as we avoid the girl for now until we figure out who this shadow warrior is, then we should be fine. The girl is here, but i dare not stop her from being moved until i know full well the type of advasary i am up against. Any information you have reguarding this new problem would be most welcome. You ally, Ketsuri he sent the hawk flying fast in the direction he had come from. Ketsuri did not know Turan had a pupil before him, for Turan never spoke of it.

---

A cloaked figure pushed open the door to the study, peering inside for any sign of life. The hood covering its head, while only a slender arm stuck out from under the cloak, holding open the door.

Ketsuri finished filing away a reef of papers for a class he had coming up "I've been away to long, though at least they have a good brace of substitutes...some of them not so bad looking either" he laughed to himself. Hearing the door open he turned "Yes?"

"I...I am sorry to distrube you, sir..." said the cloaked figure softly. "I was looking for Ketsuri..."

"You've found him, and what might your name be miss?" He replied, surprised he got visitors to his study thinking he had frightened any students off unless they really needed help or to make up a failed exam.

The cloaked figure came into the study fully. Staying back more towards the shadows, the figure pulled back her hood of the cloak. "I... my name is Nadya...I hadn't been to Crystal Academy before... but..a friend had told me your name...." she said softly, pushing back some of the loose long brown hair that had fallen into her face. "I didn't mean to distrube you..."

He looked around "No, you aren't disturbing me, actually i just finished most of the days work...and i say most because with my luck any moment one of the little student aids will come blundering in with a stack of papers they missed" he shook his head "What can i do for you?"

"I...wish help in locating information involving...." she said softly. "...vampires..." She didn't want to reveal herself.

He turned slightly more to her "Vampires are a near extinct race little one....and most that are still alive you won't be able to find..." he cut himself short not wanting to dissapoint her "But, there is a vault in the lower levels of the catacombs that has most of what is left of this lands lore on Vampires"

"Really? Oh sir that would be a wonder to be able to look through such books..." Nadya said, wanting to seem the eger learner. "I have heard tales...though not many....that circle around the area I call my home...within the Griffin Kingdom...."

"What tales?" he said, curiosty now etching his tone "I can take you to the vaults if you like, speaking tales...supposedly the Library keeps a few feral Vampires down there...not sure how familiar you are with those....i don't take much stalk in them...but then again i'm also down there with eight mages at any one time" he laughed.

"Feral Vampires? The tales I grew up listening about involved vampires that were born just like any body else...not created.... that there was a noble family that lived in the forest of the Griffin Kingdom who were such...tales of a great hunt called by the king...." Nadya said. It was all true, she had heard, during her traveling, many of the parents warn misbehaving children of vampires, and when questioned, the parents may give little explainations about what they knew of vampires.

"Ahh yes i have heard of it. Many people mistook them originally for Crusnik, who of course can also be made or born. I have heard of the noble family you speak of" he said walking around to an oldish looking vault "In fact, supposedly these where taken from their manor after the hunt....terrible thing really...there where many, including myself who took up arms and killed many of the hunters" he mused before unlocking it "Hmm, there are two...no here's the third" he pulled out in turn each a medium size book and set one atop the other on his desk "They've been kept in pristine condition, plus or minus some minor damage....it's interesting to note that they use the same metal cover as most other vampiric clans. Most notabley the dreaded Von-carsetines" he shuddered slightly.

Nadya came up towards where he had set the books. "The Rose Seal...the single rose surrounded by thorns...." she said softly. "The tales say that their's in the symbol of a rose....by which the name Rose Manor... and the House of the Rose came from in refering to that vampire family...." Nadya looked at Ketsuri. "You...you were there at the hunt?"

"I hunted the hunters" he said softly "I took a group of fifteen while Turan went to go try and get help from the sirens and coastal dwellers. Somewhere on our way to the manor...i can't be sure exactly where, we where caught in a dissorientation web, the kings men knew where where coming and had planned accordingly. By the time we got there, i think it was a week later, we arrived weary to the bone and many of us hurt or injured. We didn't even find any of the bodies....but on the way back we encountered one of their camps and this is how i came about these books"

Nadya looked close to tears. "I...I... I'm sorry...you have seen the graves then as well....I've been through there.... it's just so sad...." she said softly. "You...you wouldn't mind if I looked inside the books would you?"

"It's been a point of bitterness between Turan and i...While en-route someone offered him a clue to his past and he pursued it like a blood hound, forsaking all other duties...he is no where near as obsessed with it now but it used to be he'd throw aside anything to find the simplest of inklings into his past....i'm not sure i could entirely blame him now, but we came to blows over it...especially when it came to things like this and eventually we parted ways and have been some what enemies" he looked at the stack of books "The graves? No, we only looked for living, or perhaps even dead bodies...we found traces of a black cat but that was the only living thing in the manor itself...there are compelling clues though that perhaps a few survived the ambush" he shook himself "Apologies, of course you may read them"

"Thank you sir..." she whispered, remembering what had been learned from Evan and then from Maddy. She was close to crying, and this man, Ketsuri, had been there, even Turan, but he had never said anything. Nadya reached out to take the books, books that may even had been within her father's private library. Taking the books, a ring on her right hand came into view to Ketsuri, with a crest identical to the one found on the books. Nadya hugged the books to her chest, and turned to leave. "Thank you sir Ketsuri...I...I think I will be in the library...." she said continueing to be soft in voice.

Ketsuri looked at the ring "Where did you get that ring? I have one just like it, but they are the only ones of their kind"

Nadya looked up at Ketsuri, scared. "I...I...it's my ring, sir...why?" she asked softly.

Ketsuri's eyes widened, unsure wether or not to be suspiscious or let his near smothering curiosty get the best of him. He looked out into the hall way "If i hear of any eves dropping i'll hang the lot of you!" he belowed, sending a few indisctinct figures scurrying well out of hearing range. He turned back to her "What do you mean that it is your ring? Easy now, no need to be frightened...i won't hurt you" he said calmly.

Unable to leave, Nadya just hugged the books closer to her. "I mean it is my ring...I have had it all my life...I never take it off..." she said softly.

"You're of the Nyx blood line? B-b-but how?!" he spluttered, excitement and intrigue now more than evident in his voice.

"My name is Nadya Nyx... my father was the lord of Rose Manor...." she said softly. "I...my brother hid me away...I knew nothing truly of fighting...and...with one of the strange abilities I had...I had choosen not to age beyond the appearance of being 10 years old.... seeing as I can age and de-age at my will..." she whispered. "I...I..."

He went a fished out a few more things from the vault "This is what i was able to recover from the looters...the rest is most likely by now long remade into something els" he said slowly "It is all yours, i have no right to it...I am sorry for what happened...we did try to reach them. Don't fault Turan for his end, though i never heard from him at least on friendly terms much after that i can imagine that he would have had a compeling reason seeing as the Sirens and were-creatures where unlikely allies unless their own lands where being burnt...." regret and a slight note of anger edged his voice "Their time will come soon though..." he shook his head "Humans, especially nobles, have little appreciation for the older races of this world, and would see it all brought forcefully under their domain...."

"Thank you sir... but I...I can't even be who I am without fear of hunters... I learned that my brother and some others had been taken by the king of the griffin kingdom.... and many have been killed...I don't know much...sir Ketsuri..." Nadya said softly. "I just want to learn why or how I have the abilities I do... I...I..." She had tears in her eyes. "I just want my home back... I burried my family...those loyal to us..."

He placed a gentle hand on her "Griffin Kingdom is not a good place to be, the others though are far safer especially to be open about it. The Rulers there are currently to fearful of a fulscale uprising should they try to do what the king did here in Griffin....there was severe backlash for the hunt and many say it is why he died. As to your abilities, those who are born with abilities are always given a set that reflects their dominant nature"

"Dominate nature?" Nadya questioned looking up at him. "I...I can control my aging, freezing it...speeding it up, and reversing it..... I can move things with my mind....and I shift into a little black kitten, not an adult cat, but a little kitten... what dominate nature is there in that?"

He smiled "Survival, as befits your race and as has always been the case with Born nobel Vampires. You can change into a kitten, because inadvertently it is easier for you to get accepted and to blend in, likewise your ageing. You can appear as a little girl, an elegant maiden, or a wise elder. All three of whom are well liked and well respected" He paused "Normally, and for reasons not entirely known to me, Noble Vampires had a bad habit of infighting, often arising to physical confrontation and thus over time it became something of a secound nature, which is why whomever in your family line most likely built Rose Manor where it now stands. It is isolated from where the other clans where established, and it is also in a place where an easy ally base could be built up and established"

"It is just ruins now..." she whispered. "And...sir Ketsuri...what...what do you know of Gurthar?"

Ketsuri nodded "If you're asking if he'd feed off of a noble just because he got hungry the answer is most definately a no, and the reason for that is his wife was a born Vampire, but she was lost in the hunts....he's what many of the remote villagers call a 'pest' controller....he attacks the feral vampires...the ones that would ravage an entire city if left to their own means. He keeps to himself for the most part, though i do know that he is a born Crusnik, and that he goes to great lenghs to keep the location of a group of born Crusnik hidden somewhere deep in the woods. I think you'd get along with him, though getting him to talk much beyound surface stuff will pose quite a challenge"

"I've...I've meet him on several occassions....many of those...it was a threat to my life..." Nadya told him. "Then he saved me from demons....just to threaten me again later... he's...he's even bitten me... Ketsuri...he...he says that there is something about my blood... that attracts me to me..."

He looked lost in thought for a moment "Then that's probably because your blood smelt alot like that of his wife....he would never drain you though....bite, well apparently so, mostlikely because feeding off of feral Vampires that are created are just enough to sustain him, as not only are none of them virgin....but he's described to me in every bit of rancid unwelcomed detail just what they are into...so now that i think of it i'm not entirely surprised he couldn't resist"

"Not entirely surprised?" she asked. "What do you mean?"

"That he would attack you but not drain you. He would never kill a pure blooded born Vampire maiden unless he was left with no other choice, that being said your blood probably smells and tastes far better than diseased and corrupt blood from created Vampires....so in short it's nothing really against you, to him your very smell is like a powerful narcotic"

"I... it makes some sense...I guess... it's just that I had always heard fearsome tales about his kind..." she said softly. "Ketsuri...he told me...you could find him...."

"Crusnik are often renowned assasins, as their blood magic enable them to paralyze their targets senses or even freeze them in place entirely. In the past one or two kingdoms have tried to eradicate them, but that has always ended in disaster as while they do not mind humans and cohabit easily with any race, they also will not hesitate to destroy anything that threatens their clan" he nodded "Yes i can find him, i believe he is still here in fact"

"Here? As in...in the academy?" Nadya asked, holding the books even closer. "I..." she blushed slightly.

"After getting my wits scared out of me by his showing up all the time i tried getting him to wear a cow bell...didn't work...i thin..ahh here he is" he said as the Crusnik walked in.

Nadya looked up at Guthar. "I...hi..." she said softly. "I...Ketsuri had some old items of my family's....I...I had come looking for information on vampires...I was trying to understand....I..." she stopped talking. "I...I'm rambling....sorry..." she whispered, looking down at the books.

Gurthar laughed "Better Ketsuri the warrior monk get ahold of it than anyone else...they would have turned it into the nobility....bunch of prudes" he shook his head.

Ketsuri frowned "I'm not that bookish thank you very much, i just have a knack for preserving the elder cultures"

"I..." Nadya sighed and then looked at Ketsuri and Gurthar with determination. "I want to restore the name of the Nyx family...hunts or not..." She sighed. "Officially...unless my brother is found.... I am the head of the Nyx family...I wish to be stronger mentally and physically..."

Gurthar looked at her, a myriad thoughts and replies running through his mind "Very well" he said slowly "You know though that Rose manor currently stands now just within the borders of wolf territory? They won't take to kindly to the return"

Ketsuri looked knowingly at Gurthar. For the Crusnik this would be an excuse to drive the were-wolves from the forest, after having been unable to prove that recent attacks where directly related to the resident pack.

"I know... after our meeting in the woods, before that council meeting... which I still never got an answer from any of my friends on whether there was a vampire there within the council.....after you had left, with me running in the wood, I was being hunted by wolves... but then... then I was saved another wolf..." Nadya said. "That wolf took me to Rose Manor...and then to where the meeting was happening... They may not take likely... but I know that my father always fought for there being a unity among the races...."

Ketsuri and Gurthar both looked at each other for a moment "Then you weren't saved by a wolf, a shapeshifter...and a powerful one at that, but unlikely that it'd be a wolf from those parts"

Nadya just looked at them, and then at Gurthar fully. "That may be...but I have visited Rose Manor for years to place flowers on the graves...no wolves have ever hunted after me before....and do you think, Gurthar, that I was actually left alone by those demons...?" she said softly.

"That you where left alone by them? certainly not, and it could very well be that they are the one's who possed wolf bodies and attacked you....i'm just curious as to the wolf who intervened on your behalf" Gurthar said thoughtfully.

"The reason why up until now that you haven't really been attacked is that the two major packs that now control the region only just concluded a huge, bloody, and brutal power struggle" Ketsuri said returning to his desk to look at something "Yes....i have a couple reports on the matter if you wish to see them"

"I believe you Ketsuri...in the century since the hunt that killed my family... I stayed close to my old home, though I would take trips after for periods to look for my brother...I just want to continue my father's work..." Nadya said. She looked at Gurthar. "The wolf that saved me is a friend of Turan....that's what I know..."

This clearly baffled Gurthar "Your old master Ketsuri has more to him than what you could even have guessed"

Ketsuri sighed "He always did"

Nadya shook her head. "It's not his fault....not his fault he can't remember....this friend...this friend was from before he lost his memories...."

Ketsuri nodded "I for one would like to know just what happened but i suppose that is a tale for another time"

Nadya nodded to him. "It is a tale that Turan must learn first...." Looking at Gurthar, she said, "Hmmm... do you think we can train some more....?"

Gurthar inclined his head "Of course"

Nadya smiled big. "Oh thank you Gurthar...thank you..." Looking at Ketsuri, she said, "I'll leave my father's books with you...." Then back at Gurthar she said, "Where shall we practice?"

Ketsuri nodded, returning each of the books carefully to it's wrappings before placing each in the vault.

Gurthar smiled slightly "Depends on what you want to practice at"

Nadya laughed slightly. "I have pretty learned what I can with my aging....and I'm only able to shift into a kitten....Using my ability to move things with my mind...I want to strenghten that...and...and maybe seeing if I can do anything else....." She said the last few things with out laughing, just looking at Gurthar.

"Do you have an attraction to any element?"

Nadya nodded to Gurthar. "Sometimes...sometimes I would hear things as a breeze blow by me....as if a message carried on the winds..."

"Like what for example?" he asked casually

Nadya looked at Gurthar, and then hugged her self. "They didn't know...my brother didn't know...the breeze that blow through cracks in the area I had been hidden in....the breeze carried the screams of the war...." she whispered.

"Hmm, perhaps empathatic abilities, or some can hear along the fourth dimension...we shall know in due time"

"Thank you Gurthar...for helping me...." Nadya said with a smile, she smiled also at Ketsuri. "Thank you..."

They both nodded in reply. Gurthar looked at her "Now then, what would you like to practice in this time around?"

"Move objects again, please..." she said.

"Elemental or inanimate?"

"Moving elemental, Gurthar....I've practiced moving inanimate objects for more than a century...."

"Very well, then let us go and find one of the dirt arenas....we may have to spar for it, but leave that to me" he walked off down the dimming halways.

Nadya nodded and followed him.

They walked down the steps "Since it is during the day, i would assume that underground would be best, besides its' cooler, and the sun is such a bore" he walked into a large arena that was in turn divided into eight large training circles.

Nadya nodded. She took off her cloak. "I like it down here..." she said. "I feels nice a cool..."

Gurthar walked to the center of their training pit, going rigid as water began to crack the ground and leak up around him. He dislodged a portion of rock and used the water to propel it at her.

Nadya waved her hand, push the rock a side.

Gurthar whached as the torrent of water continued towards her from behind the rock.

Nadya's eyes went wide, and then pushed out her mind, thinking of a shield around her.

He arced two more from different angles "You're doing well Nadya"

Nadya smiled, and then went to push her mind in both directions.

He sent a third and a fourth blast as well, testing her to see just how far she could go.

Nadya's smile disappeared, and she went to push the next two blasts away from her.

He sent multiple smaller, weaker blasts at her, disguising a more powerful one behind them.

Nadya worked at blocking the smaller ones not seeing the bigger one.

Gurthar whatched as it cascaded over her "Luckly this wouldn't normally happen in real life, that and you'll just be cold and wet for the rest of practice"

Nadya growled softly to herself, looking down at her soaked gown. She looked back at Gurthar. "Again?" she asked.

He shifted his feet as everything went dry in the room. Almost painfully so "As you wish" he formed several heavy icy spears before throwing each at her in turn. he whached each one carefully so that if she didn't block it it would mearly amount to another cold water blast.

Nadya shifted her stance. She pushed out with her mind to block each of the ice spears as they flew at her. She blocked them all but one, not seeing it behind one until it was too late.

It flew into a thousand smaller shards that cascaded around her "Very good" he said calmly, not wanting to let onto just how close she had come to getting speared.

"You think so?" Nadya asked coming over to him, shaking her wet gown out some.

"For never having practiced like this before, yes"

Nadya smiled up at Gurthar. "Thank you...I've had a great teacher..."

"Shall we continue?" he smiled at the comment

"Yes please..." Nadya said, smiling still.

He smiled "This might hurt alittle, but it is to test your concentration" he said calmly. Slowly, water began forming from her skin. He was drawing from the moisture in her body. He formed a whip in the other hand and cast it at her.

Nadya throw up a shield against the whip.

Gurthar's eyes turned crimson "Very good, now only because it is entirely possible should you or particularly Abarhi piss off someone powerful, we are going to try smomething that i can promise you will hurt. I am going to draw out your own blood...no i won't bite you, nor will i drink it. It will be painful because some of the veins in your body will burst" without warning, blood began to coalesce on her arms.

Nadya cried out in pain, her body shaking as she tried to stay strong and not cry.

"People will use things like this to distract you, to make you vulnerable....set aside the pain, try to focus" his calm voice echoed. He formed another whip and sent it at her.

Nadya nodded, looking up at him, pushing out her mind to form her shield again. Her body shook more as she tried to push past the pain as he said to.

"Let me know when it is to much for you, you've had alot thrown at you...no pun intended and if only for today i'll cut you a break" he said with a smile.

Nadya fell to her knees, still pushing the shield around her. "Gurthar.... please....no more...."

He stopped as soon as he saw her knees buckle "Easy now" he said walking over to her "You alright?"

Nadya looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I..I'll be okay Gurthar....I'm just tired and hungry....and hurting like a crazy...." she said softly.

He placed his hands on her arms, numbing the nerve endings to eliminate the pain "The numbing effect will wear off as soon as the pain does" he said softly "As to hunger....hmmmm, i'd say try one of the students who has a vampire obsession but you probably wouldn't like them...impure blood if you know what i mean" he made a face.

Nadya looked up at him. "Probably not as impure as the blood I have been drinking for the last century.... the blood of bandits and robbers that I had come across....."

"Suit yourself, maybe it's because i've had the luxury of picking an choosing...i don't like promiscuity" he shuddered "tastes nasty, but no matter...last door on the right...knock her out afterwards though so Ketsuri can say she was drunk"

"You got to pick and choose.... we always had those willing to give their blood to us...and they died fighting along side my family against the hunters.... you are right...I've never had the chance.... and yes there are alot of bloods out there that taste nasty...." Nadya said softly. "I'll go feed and do as you said.... but no matter what....thank you for your concern..." she said with a soft smile.

"Mine where always willing, i never took forcefully" he said slowly "Take this to" he pulled out a clear liquid "It'll reinforce our saying she was drunk" he nodded "you're welcome"

Nadya nodded, taking the liquid. "I'll be back...." she said. A half hour later she returned looking better than when she had left. "Thank you again for that liquid....and for everything else....." she said with a smile. She then hugged him. "Thank you..."

He smiled, for once managing to shut out the semi-intoxicating smell of her blood "You're welcome Nadya" he placed an arm around her and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"You are a great guy," Nadya said with a smile up at him, her eyes sparkling.

He laughed lightly "Abarhi found a good one in you Nadya"

Nadya blushed deeply. "Thank you....I hope you can find happiness Gurthar....I really do..."

He shook his head "Maybe someday...you know..you remind me of a Vampire i once knew...no i didn't bleed her dry...she was..a friend" he said turning towards the ring "But that was along time ago"

"Gurthar...I understand...I...I hope that you do fine happiness again....you are a great guy..."

"Keep your head low Nadya" he said gently "There's another hunt brewing, which in part is why i agreed to teach you"

"Why is this happening? The hunts?" Nadya said softly.

He shook his head sadly "Because men are superstitious creatures...they erradicate and subvert that which they do not understand and fear....the were-creatures are slated to feel the wrath next. If anything though...they have numbers, which means it will most likely lead to war, one which i hope can be avoided"

"I don't want any to go through what I have..." Nadya said.

"Do not get involved Nadya, things are different this time...they are not going to be so inclined to blow it off as rumor as they did in the Vampire hunts" he finished the last phrase with a note of bitterness "No, no this time i think they will fight"

"I....I still don't want others to go through being alone like I have...."

He nodded "As i said...this time the King will find an army awaiting him. He will be ambushed at every turn....this time, this time he will have to fight and fight hard" a note of bitterness stung his voice.

Nadya nodded. "Gurthar....I...I'm sorry for your lost...." she whispered, hugging him.

"It wasn't just my fiancee...but they also attack our entire village and killed any they could find...they mistook the Crusnik for Vampires....and attacked without warning" memories arose unbidden about the first signs of trouble, all the way down to fleeing the burning ruins and realizing she was no longer alive.

"Gurthar I am truly sorry for what happened to all you knew and loved.....I am..."

"Such is war, and such is the price of Human ignorance"

Nadya nodded sadly then hugs him.

He noticed a familiar sweet smell, it took him awhile before he realized the extent to which he had blocked out the scent of her blood "So then, i think you've had enough for one day....slight sensory overload an all. Do you wish to continue tomorrow?"

Nadya nodded. "Yes Gurthar...I would like to continue...."

"Meet me here in the morning then, you've had enough for today and i don't want to push you to hard"

Nadya nodded with a soft smile. "Gurthar, thank you...where...where should I sleep....?"

"Hmmm, good question...if you sleep in the dormitories then there's a chance one of the male students might try visiting you at night and that would cause a stir....you can have my room. I have no need of sleep...i haven't slept in the better part of a year now. And if you where asking, yes Crusnik can live without sleep, though it is draining"

"Thank you Gurthar.... since I've met my other friends I have actually roamed during the daylight with my cloak...and then sleep the night and most of the next morning away..... But why do you choose not to sleep....? "

"I have little need of it, most of my hours see me protecting what's left of my people from hunters. Fighting political and physical wars in open and in secret. What isn't consumed is spent here or wherever i please. I rest two to three hours, perhaps i will sleep for the first time in a year though since i have nothing left to accomplish at the moment"

"You will sleep then?" she asked.

"Yes" he wondered what Ketsuri and Corus where up to. Games where fine, so to was fighting for a reason however he grew tired quickly of fighting other peoples battles.

"Gurthar...if you have a couch in your room...or even just a comfy chair...I'll sleep in that.....I don't want to just take your bed from your...."

"It's not a bother, i had just assumed you wanted a room to yourself, and yes i do have a couch"

"I really don't mind sharing....I've been alone for too many years...I like the presense of someone close by..."

He laughed "At first glance one would think you a shy an reserved person...quite the opposite...you like danger, regularly interact with what would be your natural predator and court a shadow assasin's love" he said in referance to Abarhi "You truely are more than meets the eye" he looked over at two students whose training was begining to lead to something else "Not in the arenas if you please" he barked

"I don't mean to attract dangerous attention...if I remember correctly, you just grabbed me and threatened to kill me infront of Abarhi....the demons...I don't know...but I know you are more than meets the eye too, Gurthar.... every chance that seems to place me near you, you could have killed me....but you don't....the worse you have done to me is drain me a bit to fool the demons....and tonight was just training..." she said with a smile. "Plus I've never been really shy...it is I'm trying to get back to interacting with others again....truly interacting..."

"True" was all he could manage. She reminded him so much of what seemed like long ago. It was a pleasant memory though, not bitter or sorrowful in the least.

"You keep your bed....alright, Gurthar? I'll take the couch...." she said with a smile.

"As you wish" he removed his armor, taking each peace of in turn and hanging it on its' stand. Then came the sword and mail shirt, His dark purple robe tied neatly to him as he unpinned his hair and kicked off his boots

Nadya smiled at him. "You know...you are definitely not like the old stories I was told... definitely now...and I like it..."

He sat in the arm chair opposite her "That was probably in no small part due to the wars...that and we had what Crusnik call the lost...depraved damnable souls who are little better than crazed beasts looking to feed in order to stave off their own demesise"

"I am sorry for your loss, Gurthar...your village...the one you love...." Nadya said saidly, sitting on the couch, curling her legs under her. "I really am..."

"There is a reason to everything....i think that is why i stopped pursueing Abarhi, and why i stopped hunting Turan....if only i'd known i would be replaced by someone more deadly....one who while they may harbor some of the same feelings he is not as of yet afraid to go against them"

"Does this mean there is a reason why we always meet?" she asked.

He paused for a minute "I suppose so"

Nadya sighed. "A reason for everything....?" she whispered. She looked at him. "Could the hunt have been because of something my father was doing? Or at least trying to do?" She looked at him fully in the eyes. "I wish..." she stopped, and looked down at her hands.

"That i'm not so sure about...the hunt was a genocide against the Vampires. Your father and your family where amoungst the nobelest of your kind so i seriously doubt it was anything they did. As for trying to do, the only thing that would come to mind is that they had integrated well with the locals...a thing unheard of before" he looked at her "What is it?"

"I wish my father could see us...it's like he's work is continueing...you and I... and my family may have been amongst the noblest, but do you think that humans as a whole...especially the king believed that all the races could conexsist? Fear breeds hate...." Nadya said softly. "I also wish we could have met before now...I wish I could have met many before now..."

"The King is the poster child for Human shallowness and fear. They fear what they cannot control, that the natural order of things will see them surpassed and they hate that...thus they seek to dominate those which they fear" he nodded "I wonder how things would have been then"

"You long for your love as I long for my family..." she whispered.

"Long for would be putting it lightly" he said softly "There was a time when i wanted nothing more than to drink the blood of the King after forcing him to see the destruction of his entire palace and death of his family...i nearly did it to...going so far as to enter into his daughters room....but then i saw her and i refused. I will not hurt his family, but i will not hesitate to kill him if i see him"

"But...isn't that king dead now?" she asked.

"A part of me would still have the son pay for the sins of his father, especially now since he is following in his father's foot steps"

Nadya shook her head. "I don't want to think about the hunts of then or now..." she said softly. She leaned over the air of the couch, resting her chin on her hands.

"Nor do i" he conceded "I do wonder though just what Corus is up to...."

Nadya looked at him. "WHat do you know of Corus? Who is he?"

Gurthar looked thoughtful for a moment "One who is embittered at the gods for being betrayed to his families death"

"Oh...." she said softly in thought. "Death seems to be around so many..."

"There was a time when it became an intermingled aspect of daily life, fortunately we are now riding the after math of much of the conflict, though if the idiot king has his way then there will be abit more work to be done" he popped open a liquor cabinet and poured a soft brown colored drink.

"You definitely aren't like the stories that I grew up hearing.... then again... my parents always would tell me not to listen to those that know nothing of vampires or crusiks....that the stories are just inventions of fear by those that don't know..."

"I can asure you that the stories are not far from their mark and may even understate what they seek to describe" he sipped lightly at his glass "Care for one?' he offered.

"No thank you...." she said, but then looked at him. "So you are saying that this is not far from their mark....that your kind take vampire women, and rape them over the course of time that you have them, slowly draining their blood to save for later? I don't think so...not from hearing about your vampire love....."

He spluttered an sat up bolt right "Well i've certainly never heard that before...not even in the wars between our kind. With all things there are depraved individuals, and we are not without our own...though i assure you they are very few and most if not all are slain swiftly"

"I'm glad.... I always hated hearing that story.... though recently I have heard human parents tell their children that we vampire will sneak into their homes and steal them away to make them into soup....into blood soup, cruzhing up their bones into the soup just for seasoning...." Nadya said softly.

"Again...there are depraved individuals, i had the misfortune of happening on one such individual, but those cases are so rare i wouldn't have thought to bring it up"

"I had never...so to me it was only a story...." Nadya looked up at him. "What are you drinking?" Her nose was twitching.

"A mix, granted an odd one but i find it elegent. Subtly strong alcohol mixed with blood...there are one or two people here that i would drink from, though sadly they left awhile ago so i sip away at this only sparingly"

"So you drink human blood too? Not just vampiric blood...?" she asked.

"Human blood only has a sweet taste to it and woefully few other effects....though in the case of a human it can only be from a willing particapant...otherwise it is a dreadful poison" he made a face at the memories "A nasty trick that has sickened many...which is why we have to be careful which rivers we drink out of..even if someone was killed upstream by say a wolf or another human or elf then the water would still sicken us"

"I guess that is why I have always felt sick and slept for the rest of the night and then the whole day.... during this past century....before I met my friends...." Nadya said looking at him.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I...killed to feed...during the years after losing my family....I had never not had willing blood...."

"I don't see how that would influence your being sick one way or the other...then again i'm not familiar with all aspects of Vampires"

"I have been feeding off of bandits..."

"Who most likely thought you a defenceless young girl...no, it wasn't that they where unwilling Nadya, just that they had bad intentions and where corrupted"

Nadya nodded. "That may be true...." she said softly, and then yawned.

He drained the rest of his drink, the slight amount of blood taking the worst of his desires with it.

Nadya laid her head back down on her arms on the arm of the couch, curling her legs closer. "Sleep well....Gurthar..." she said softly with a smile towards him, then closing her eyes with a sigh.

He sucumbed to sleep, closing his eyes. Anyone in the room would have seen a brilliant red creep into them right as they closed. The war within himself had begun.

Nadya rolled in her sleep, stretching out on the couch. She hugged one of the pillows to her body, snuggling into it.

Gurthar awoke, the thick curtains rendered the room as dark as night, but he knew it was morning. He quickly drank from the bottle he had out from last night, knowing his eyes would be burning red. He felt the thirst subside as he shuddered. It had taken him months to build up a relationship with the giver of the blood, and had been far harder to keep her pure. He was thankful his luck hadn't yet run out.

Nadya rolled over, opening her eyes. She stretched out, before sitting up. She looked over towards Gurthar. "Good Morning...you know...my schedule has been turned upside down these last few weeks....it's strange...." she laughed lightly.

"It has been an interesting last few weeks to say the least" His voice held the heavy sound of someone who slept well. His eye color was normal.

Nadya nodded. She looked towards the curtains, and then looked for her cloak. Seeing it, she smiled. "Heavy fabric....good thing for heavy fabric..." Nadya looked at Gurthar with a smile. "Training.... or something else.... through I don't know if I'm up for another round like yesterday...just yet..."

"It helps when i don't wish to see the sun, that and well, oddly enough this is where i met my paramor. This was her room" he said absentmindedly "No i wouldn't put you through the same regimen as yesterday. That was only to test and see how far you could be pushed before reaching breaking point"

Nadya nodded. "You know I'll have to get past the breaking point some time...and, you met her here? Oh...it's a really nice room...I like it..."

"Yes it is, and as to the breaking point it is only good to try an push yourself past that after you've developed more...otherwise you'll end up doing more harm than good"

"Thank you for your worry....your paramor was a lucky one...."

He smiled "She was also a pure blood...oh the stories that came with that, her parents where initially opposed to the idea, and quite honestly so was i. She had a way of getting whatever her heart truely desired"

"She must have seen a side of you that you hide from the rest of the world..." Nadya said with a soft smile. "Pure blood... a born vampire.... so few now...."

"Oddly enough her father an i became on speaking terms until they dissappeared. The uniting factor was that neither of us could ever really say no to her...she never asked for much of anything, indeed she was very reserved and shy...even around her family. I helped her look for her family, there was no trace of them though...it's as if they vanished into thin air" curiousity piqued his voice "Not that i could ever face them now"

"Do you....do you think they may have been the first? The first ones of the hunt before it truly became the hunt?" Nadya sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. "I could never say no to my mother...she wished for me to always be her little girl.....so I kept my age unchanging from the appearance of a ten year old....and my father and brother would gladly keep me that way, to protect me....."

"It could be, to this day though i remember the last days we spent together" he said wistfully "I still don't know how they could have mistaken us...maybe they where after her...either way...we drove them off but some how a group had gotten through an slaughtered many"

"I'm sorry Gurthar...."

"Perhaps that is why Turan is so prone to fighting....humans seldom see reason when they are in such a powerful posistion, and the only way to make them see clearly is to utterly destroy that power...not them per-say but the power they weild"

"Not all would see more clearly...."

He gave her an inquisitive look "Perhaps, but this is why i probably aligned myself with Corus...i'm not like him, so consumed with hatred...at least for the time being i can keep a clear mind...but he an i share alot of the same sympathys"

"But....but both sides have lost so much before now....you say Corus....and of course you...I've lost loved ones....and so has Turan...hell, there was this young man at the midwinter ball that seemed to have lost someone...." she said softly.

"As i said before....loss is a part of life no one wants to deal with, and who can blame them? What sets each apart though is how they react to it"

Nadya nodded. "I was angry... when all of my family and those loyal to us were gone....but I was more angry that if any had survived... or if any allies had come to help.... that no one looked for me..."

"As you heard Ketsuri say...they did look for you, but you left no trace which i'm not surprised...any would have done the same in your case"

"Gurthar.... I didn't know how to survive...if it weren't for being attacked by a bandit not long after leaving the manor...and draining him in instinct...I don't know if I'd be around...." Nadya looked at him. "The bandit attacked me with my brother's own dagger...a dagger I drew for him and he had crafted...."

The Crusnik smiled "It would appear Ketsuri wasn't as thorough as he'd have liked in recovering everything"

Nadya pulled up her cloak, and out of a pocket, pulled out a silver dagger with a cougar handle and curved blade.

He looked it over "Very nice" he commented trying not to yawn in the process.

"Are...are you tired still or do you find it boring?" Nadya asked.

"No no no, not bored...i just take awhile to wake up fully, which is quite annoying really"

Nadya smiled softly, standing up, stretcking again. "I'm glad I'm not.... I'd think I'd be sad if I was...."

"Hmmm?" he asked reaching for the bottle on the nightstand.

"I'm glad I'm not boring you....and I see, well I believe I see all that your love saw in you...." she said with a smile.

"And what exactly is that?"

"You don't mind my rambling...." Nadya said. "You don't get upset because of it...you could just tell me to stop...but you don't...."

"I honestly don't mind rambling, so long as it isn't vulgar or otherwise irritating in that reguards...just ask Ketsuri, he has me tutor the drunk students because i actually find it entertaining" he laughed

"But how would one learn drunk though? I'd think that they wouldn't remember anything taught...."

"Which is why i have them write it down, then when they are sober they can decipher their own writing....little is learned study wise, but it does teach them not to get so horrendeously drunk"

Nadya giggled. "It would be so funny to read some of those notes...."

He reached for a reef of papers "These happen to be from that student who you drank from...as you can see, she's not one to change her ways"

Nadya giggled. "These are so funny... oh my...." She looked at Gurthar. "I see why they are entertaining..."

"And why they usually sober up during semester, well...most of them at least. Especially after i have the class try an decifer them as a group project"

Nadya giggled more. "Do any of them really learn anything?"

"Yes, that sobriety will save you from having often emaressing ramblings read aloud in class....often if it is about someone then by the person they wrote it about....people are....honest when they are drunk at times"

"They are? Wow...does that include those like us?"

"Let's just say i've had a few vulgarly worded proposistions that i don't dare read aloud" he shook his head.

"Oh..." Nadya said. She fixed the skirt of her dress, and then smiled at Gurthar. "So...do you know what's going now? This time of year...something that happens only once every two hundred year...."

"I believe it's the Fey ball or something like that, i've only been once and that was during happier times so i've forgotten most of it"

"I had heard that it was beautiful... my parents had gone to it...."

"And if you two are done snickering behind closed doors about i don't want to know what then you both are going" Ketsuri popped in "Here's the invitation, and i for one have no desire to go"

Gurthar rolled his eyes "Hey! that's not...oh i'm not going to get into that with you" he growled throwing a pillow at the door.

Nadya giggled. "What were you thinking Ketsuri...?"

"That Gurthar ha...ooomph what the hell?! Those are heavy!" he shook his head "That he had gotten over himself and still found his old ways likeable"

"Gotten over himself?" she repeated. Nadya looked back and forth between them, then giggled. She throw her own pillow at Ketsuri but also at Gurthar.

The Crusnik shook his head, giving Ketsuri a you're going to get it look. He prided himself with being the king of pay back, a fact Ketsuri was keen to rub in his face when it backfired.

"So... we are going to be going to the ball....right?" Nadya asked Gurthar. "It shouldn't be that bad, should it?"

"No just a bunch of outwardly good smelling stuck up snobs whose blood wreaks of words i will not utter" he laughed

Nadya laughed softly. "My parents enjoyed the ball, but you just described them how they did....."

"What? It stinks if i pay to much attention, which happens because i bore easily of such things. An don't you laugh at me, you'd hate it to if you could smell their blood" he said to Ketsuri whose normally sombre nature was contorted in his attempt not to laugh.

"Be nice..." giggled Nadya. She moved closer to Gurthar, placing a hand on his shoulder, smiling softly. "Now..." she started looking between the two. "Do either of you know where I may find something nicer for this ball?"

"Yes, if you don't mind borrowing then there are quite a few here who would lend you one of theirs and talor it to whatever style you like" Ketsuri replyed, still trying badly not to crack a joke.

"Thanks...ahh you two aren't going to get at it while I'm gone, are you?" Nadya asked heading for the door.

"Count on it" they both said in unison before looking at eachother.

Nadya sighed but giggled. "You two are something," she said, and then quickly left the room to find a gown for the ball.

Ketsuri waited for her to go before turning to Gurthar "Corus has ordered Abarhi to be eliminated"

The Crusniks' features hardened "You know i won't" he replied simply

"I know, that is why Malik is already on his way" he said heavily "Do her a favor, if Malik is sucessful, which i see no reason why he shouldn't...don't let her walk into that mess"

Gurthar gave an exasperated sigh "An just what do you want me to tell her?"

Ketsuri looked at him emotionalessly "The truth, you found out about it here, well after it happened and that even if she knew there would be nothing to prevent it" he took a seat in the far corner an poured himself a glass.

Gurthar nodded as he began to pack for the short journey.

Nadya came back in a while later wearing a light blue gown, parts of her hair braided and pulled back. She smiled as she came into the room. "No fighting I hope..."

"None whatsoever" the both chimed, Gurthar shook his head "We've known each other to long...as evidenced by this" he laughed.

Nadya giggled as she came into the room. "It's just as if you two were twins...I think its cute.... it must mean in some way you two are good friends....I'm glad..." she said. She swirling around as she came towards them. "What do you think?"

Gurthar bit his tongue "Quite nice" he managed.

Ketsuri nodded in agreement, elbowing him

Nadya looked between them. "Is...somthing wrong?" she asked. "Why did you elbow him....?"

"Inside joke" Gurthar replied quickly "While i dart in here to get ready try not to embarass me to much" he said to Ketsuri before dissapearing down the hall for the washroom.

"I've never seen him seem....so..." she started to say to Ketsuri. "So...nervous...what's really going on?"

"Well at the moment it would be because he finds you attractive in far more ways than one, don't worry he's not a pervert. And the other....well it's more or less at the potential of it rather than it really happening" a weighted look stole into his eyes as he realised he actually didn't want Malik to suceed as much as Abarhi pissed him off.

"More or less at the potential of it rather than it really happening...? What do you mean...? I..." Nadya blushed. "He...he find me attractive...I... Abarhi...he and I....I...Gurthar...." Nadya looked conflicted now to Ketsuri.

"Yes he does find you attractive Nadya, you forget he is perhaps one of if not the only one of his kind to marry a Vampire and from how he talks and from what she told me when she was alive it worked quite beautifully" he bowed his head "The potential of having to face you when you find that Abarhi is dead. I do not know for sure and believe me niether does he. Corus informed me that Malik had been sent to dispatch him because he found out about something"

Nadya jumped, her eyes wide. "WHAT!? But...but..." she started, breathing heavily. "Ketsuri...he...I....why? Why? Please tell me....why?" She had tears in her eyes. "I...I know Gurthar threatened Abarhi....he used me to threaten him....but...but he didn't kill him...and this Malik....why? What was Abarhi doing?"

"Lower your voice!" he hissed "Abarhi went with the Siren Porter, i don't know where but wherever it was apparently he now knows far to much. Malik? if you thought Gurthar was dangerous...at least he has a heart, albeit a shielded and guarded one. Malik is the last of a thankfully now extinct type of assasin known as the shadowseers. That is all i know on him. Last i heard though Abarhi made it to the island where Roan an Turan are so for now he's safe"

Nadya sat down on the couch, holding her face in her hands. "Abarhi..." she whispered. "Ketsuri....I can't just sit here....I wanted to get stronger to help Abarhi and not hinder him....but now I feel like I am unless...."

"You're here and i can tell you right now that alone has saved your life. Had you been there he would have killed you with impunity before looking for Abarhi" he said softly.

Gurthar returned, his bone white hair pinned in a perfect pony tail. His attire was all black, with high boots. On each shoulder sat a gold inlay pauldron, with a silver colored decorative breast plate. He looked at Nadya and then at Ketsuri "What did you say?" his voice was stern.

Ketsuri got up "Only what you would have had to tell her eventually"

Gurthar caught his arm "You don't even know that happened" he growled.

Nadya looked up at them. "Why....?" she whispered. "Gurthar... why do I lose people...? If...you...I were to...I'd lose you too...wouldn't I....?" She covered her face again.

"No, you wouldn't lose me, it just happens that those around you have chosen to not stand by idly while the world burns. They care and the consequence for that is that they get burned or killed" Gurthar said slowly.

Nadya looked at him. "So...I hide and don't burn...and then become alone...."

"No, you hide and you live. You won't be alone Nadya, and when this all settles down you won't have to worry about it"

"And my friends.... the ones I care about...?"

"your friends are imperiled right now because of the missing god. Once he is found and replaced there is nothing more for them to be in harms way over"

Nadya stood up. "I want this all to end....I don't want to lose any more that I've met or known to anything that is much like before...." she said softly. She wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry I was crying...."

"No need to be sorry, you've lost alot. Know that you aren't alone though" Ketsuri said calmly.

"I...thank you Ketsuri...." Nadya said. "Gurthar....Ketsuri...thank you for not hiding what you know of what Malik has been ordered to do....but I don't know what to do anymore..."

"Do nothing, continue as you where. You are meant to live Nadya, that is why you haven't fallen afoul of the same fates as your friends and realatives"

Nadya hugged herself. She felt like a coward, so small and helpless, like a child. Maybe I should just become a child again....but maybe after the ball... she whispered to herself in her mind. She looked up at Ketsuri and Gurthar. "Ah...when do we leave for the ball? Is it far?" she asked. She was worried about Abarhi, and also worried about Roan and Turan.

The Crusnik nodded "When you are ready"

Nadya nodded. "I...am ready..." she said, with a small smile.

He led the way to the court yard "You'll be fine Nadya, don't worry...they will be to" he had found a letter from Talos telling him of his plans to intercept Malik.

Nadya nodded. "i hope so..." she said with a smile to Gurthar as they headed out. "So horses or something else...? To get there I mean...."

"Well since it's a blue moon, or the eve of one i should say, yes it will be horses. We can't use any form of magical transportation"

"I...didn't know...I'm sorry..." Nadya said softly. "Will it take long, do you think, to get there....?"

"I know the way, it's a short distance from here, it won't take long at all"

Nadya smiled, and then took his arm before for he could say anything. "Lead on to the horses...and onward to the ball....good sir..."

He summoned a carraige to take them to the blue harvest ball




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