"You really wanna know?" Cody said between breaths. He wasn't happy with his current weakness. "I got ambushed... a buncha dirty thieves tricked me into coming here... stole what I had left, then tortured me up until I died... a few times. It's still a game, so I didn't stay dead long, but," Cody paused at this point, to try and stand up a little better. "they had it planned out. Overcame me with numbers, and I sorta didn't know when to quit..."

---

"Oh...That's too bad," Austin said genuinely as he put his hand to his head, trying to repress a memory.
"You are endangering everyone. Therefore, it's best if neither of you exist."
"Please. We want to help you. By repairing you, we could all get out of here," Jeremiah's voice pleaded.
"There will be no mercy for you hackers!"
Austin snapped back to reality, sweating and panting slightly.
"Well...Seems like they're gone now..."

---

"Well, did you see anybody come in or out? I sorta lost track of time after a while... I dunno how long I just laid there after those... those..." Cody gritted his teeth. "...if I ever see their lot again, I'll tear their faces off... with my bear hands..."

Cody stumbled on a rock but managed to regain balance again, looking around a little to warily; spooked. 'You never really cherish life until you nearly lose it.'

---

"No, I didn't..." Austin replied. He inhaled through his nose, trying to smell if there was a large group of humans by the cave, but he only smelled all the moles and bats and everyone that was by the entrance.
"And it seems they're not around here, either..."
((With that, I'm off. Gonna be gone all day tomorrow, (from the moment I wake up until 8PM in all likelihood) so...Yeah. I'll follow this and all other RPs when I get back.))

---

"That's right, you're a werewolf..." Cody said. He paused, thinking to himself. All he could do was come up with the same answer.
"I... I must have been laying here for at least a few days. Scents usually hang around, so..."

'They've already escaped.' He though, finishing the sentence to himself. 'They beat me down so much, I guess they really did leave me for dead. No chance of tracking them now...'

---

Zoey trailed behind the pair, an unlikely trio of Vampire, werewolf and human. She still wasn't breathing, so she couldn't sense if there was any danger, which she hated. She resolved to taking a breath every minute or so, just to see if there was any ominous scents behind the tempting human one. She listened to Cody's story with interest. She suddenly spoke out.

"Were these thieves all human?"

---

"Well... I can't say. No defining markings about them, though none... tried to drain me, or turn into a beast..." Cody said, thinking back. "The only one that stood out for me was their healer... the fact that they had one was the oddest thing. It was proof I was set up."

Cody glanced back to Zoey, pondering her words. "I... I never thought about it, really. Best guess would be to say that they appeared to be all human... though a demon could easily have hidden within their ranks."

---

Zoey nodded, slightly disappointed by the vagueness of his answer but also excited at the prospect of humans. She cleared her throat awkwardly.

"You would want to kill them with your own hands?"

---

"That's what I said." Cody replied curtly. He would like nothing better right now than to go at his offenders and tear them apart one after the other-- something he knew was unlike him, and not possible considering how recent events had played out.

---

Nina gave a little gasp of joy and clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Oh, a Glowing Pixie! Such adorable little creatures~ But I didn't know one was in this cave...I've yet to see it, anyway~ I'm sorry~" She spoke apologetically.

Suddenly, she could hear voices, and could see Austin and Zoey coming towards the entrance, but with a human in tow...

Instantly, Nina walked towards the trio, completely forgetting the warrior behind her. She had an eye for injuries, and she could tell he was hurt.

"Where's your injury, please~" She spoke in a calm, light voice.

---

Cody wasn't surprised by this angel's approach, and could instantly peg her for a healer. "Well... you'd have a better time asking me where isn't an injury..." He looked himself over, noticing the now visible bruises and welts lining his body in the increased light. He looked back up to the angel, his eyes glinting in separate shades of color, body shaking visibly. "I can feel very little right now, but I know nothing is broken too badly... I don't think I can stand for much longer..."

---

"Hmm~ Well, we'd best act quickly then...yes..." Nina murmured. She closed her eyes and began to play her harp delicately, strumming the strings slowly but with fine movement.

Then, a small ball of pink light, appeared and flew around the human, it's purpose to calm the muscles and heal the body in fall.

"There we go..." Then, Nina suddenly stumbled against the cave wall, putting a hand out in time to stop her crashing into the rocks.

"Oh dear...seems I've used up a bit too much magic~" She whispered, her smile still there, but with a little less life in it.

---

((Wooo! Time to get started.))

"New Virtual Reality Computer Game Sucks Life out of People... Literally" Jay had been studying the news article intently. "They're just now reporting this stuff? Hasn't anyone ever heard of World of Warcraft?" he said with a laugh, "But seriously, this is an interesting line of stories. More than 500,000 people have succumbed to it in the mere few months the game's been on shelves."
"Wow, all those people... Is it because they enjoy it so much? They don't wanna leave? ...Or is it that they CAN'T leave," Jeremy thought aloud.
"Interesting theory. Of course, being one of the first virtual reality games ever mass-produced, it's bound to have some... glitches. I would have never thought anything this large, though," Jay pondered, perusing some highlighted paragraphs of news clippings he'd laid out on his desk.
"Seems like something worth looking into..." Jeremy added, looking over his copies of the clippings.
"But what if WE get stuck too? Still, I guess it's worth it if we can find the answers to the mystery," Jay replied.
"...Good point," Jeremy said hesitantly, "But it's not like this is the first crazy thing we've had to deal with, merely the first crazy thing of this proportion."
"Yep," Jay agreed excitedly, "And we may actually have fun 'playing' the game, too."
"Right. If we're gonna possibly be stuck in there forever, the least we can do is make the best of it," Jeremy explained while adjusting a few strands of hair, "But until we get to know a few people, let's act natural, like we bought the game to play it."
"Okay, so the 'investigation team' thing's on the DL until we get used to the place and have made a couple friends." Jay repeated to make sure he'd gotten it.
"Affirmative, Agent Jay. Now, let us acquire our target objective," Jeremy joked. About an hour later, they were back at the house with two copies of the game. They discussed what sort of character each one wanted to be, and they both agreed to keep it simple and be human magicians. They were wearing the outfits they planned to start with; Jeremy in green and Jay in blue, and had on their silver bracelets, on which the tiny blue gems glowed ever so slightly.

They had each sat at their computer, clasping their braceletted hands together. The disc was in the drive and the game had been installed. 'No turning back now!' Jay thought as the loading screen appeared. WHOOSH! The brothers felt themselves being pulled into the black void of the monitor. They watched the hovering white text appearing above carefully. A minute later, the bad news was relayed to them. They were indeed stuck in the game. 'So it was true...' Jeremy thought disheartened. 'Yeah... so what now?' Jay replied in his own thoughts.

They felt a definite falling sensation. Suddenly, they hit solid ground (or what seemed to be... they were inside a computer game after all.) and stood up, each staring at their own giant screen in front of them displaying "WELCOME! PLEASE CREATE YOUR CHARACTER SO YOU MAY JOIN IN ON THE FUN." They started tapping each field, filling in the relevant information on the floating keyboard in front of the screen. Jay had chosen to focus on electricity as his element of choice, and Jeremy decided on water/ice. They both finished and clicked the "OK" button simultaneously. The screens now displayed "GOOD. NOW YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS. ENJOY, AND PREPARE FOR ARRIVAL." The screen faded away and a glow washed over the brothers and they noticed they now resembled the characters in a role-playing game. Their bodies still looked like themselves, but they definitely felt like "character models" now. Suddenly each felt himself being pushed forward and were forced into a sort of "Superman" flying position. They were rushing forward at high velocity. In the distance, they noticed the light of the "outside world" as it got closer and closer.

Soon enough, they were out of their separate "portals"... and headed straight for eachother. They tried their best to slow down, but still ended up colliding into eachother in mid-air. They both fell to the ground, which felt like... grass? It felt real enough, despite it being a game. "Owww. Thanks a lot, game!" Jay commented with a groan as he and Jeremy stood up. They checked themselves and inadvertently looked up to see an HP bar above their heads, which was still full. "Oh well, at least it was nice enough to not make that crash hurt us," Jeremy said, dusting himself off, "But wow, this place FEELS real enough, even though I know it's not."
"I know. The designers must have put a lot of work into this." A cool breeze was rushing by and it blew the brothers' hair slightly. "I just thought... How can game reviewers, well, review this game? If they're all stuck, then, hm..." Jay trailed off.
"Good question, but let's save that for when we're not stuck in a totally foreign land," Jeremy noted.
"That's true. So, what's around us, anyway?" Jay asked, almost like he wanted a narrator to tell them what was in the area. It was a nice, pristine grassland with gentle rolling hills. There were a few clouds in the sky, but it was still sunny. To the south (Jeremy noted, as he had out his compass while looking around) looked like a forest and maybe a bit of a cave in the distance. To the north, rather far off, was a village. There seemed to be not much more than grass in the other directions, but the brothers couldn't see particularly far (as it was a game, there had to be a limited draw distance covered up by fog, natural or not.) Next, they checked their cases and examined the items inside, laying them each on the ground for a better look. Looks like they had a few basic potions and some food rations... And some Starburst that Jeremy had brought along. "I can't help it! They're so good," Jeremy explained. They also had a few sketchpads that they'd labeled "SPELLBOOK"... They needed to record spells they learned somewhere. One was for black offensive magic, one for white defensive magic, and a third for other spells. They each looked to find that a basic offensive elemental spell was already written down as well as a low-grade healing spell and a couple other assorted spells. "Do we not start with weapons?" Jay inquired as he finished checking his items. Just then, he looked over and noticed two short wooden staves on the ground. "Hm, must've fallen off our person when we ran into eachother..." Jay thought aloud. They picked them up and noticed their bracelets glowing sort of brightly. "Cool," Jeremy remarked. They decided to start exploring and began walking towards the south, to the forest and cave in the distance. Their journey had begun.

((...And finally, this post is done. Geez can I write! Sorry everyone. They won't be nearly this long after this one!))

---

Ronan was going to thank the angel for the trouble of saying that, even if she hadn't seen anything regarding his mission, when three figures approached the entrance, the one in the front looking like a beat up human, definitely not at his best state. Ronan was alarmed, though, when he saw the vampire yet again, almost not noticing the presence of the other human that came along. He stood there and observed as the angel healed the other human, with noticeable curiosity. The art of healing impressed him. He never had the privilege of having a healer watching his back: while he did his missions to try and enter for the clans (that seemed to reject him most of the times for whatever reason, maybe because he was still too weak), he was always alone. So he stood there in awe of the angel's healing skills, until she stopped and stumbled against the wall. Worried, and since she had called his attention before in the first place, he felt like he shouldn't just stand still. He advanced, trying to forget that a vampire was right ahead, and closed in to Nina.
"Are you alright, m'lady?" he asked, uncertain, when he got close enough to Nina to check on her. The glow in her wings seemed to have decreased all of a sudden. Or maybe he was just under that impression because he was seeing her weaker now?
Suddenly I feel like I just barged in the middle of everyone for that...without being invited. It's not a very comfortable feeling. He thought, but shoved this off his mind. He should be just looking out for the angel, he shouldn't care so much about what people thought...but he knew, he couldn't help it...his image was very important, after all...

---

Austin stood there dumbly. Not because he didn't know what to do, even though that was part of it. Mostly, he could feel himself transforming, and he knew moving even a little could result in moving further than he bargained for. He fell to the ground, sweating. He tried to form words like, "I'm fine," but they wouldn't come. He started growing larger. A brown mass of tangled fur. With a growl, he had transformed. It was a good thing he was used to sewing.
"It's...Okay," he rasped. Generally, werewolves couldn't speak after they had transformed. Austin, however, was an exception. "I'm not...Going to attack...Anyone."

---

Javin jumped back in supprise. "Oh right. Do you need help? With the transformation?" He reached into his pocket for his spell-book.

---

"Don't worry about it," Austin replied. His voice was raspy, but his English wasn't broken anymore. He rose up onto all fours. "I've transformed about over 100 times by now. I'm used to it." He gave him his wolf smile, showing all of his sharp teeth. "But thank you for your concern."

---

Zoey's eyes widened with wonder, and she walked closer to Austin, trying her best to ignore the smell, which was growing steadily easier the more time she spent with him. She reached a hand out to his tufted fur on his head before hesitating. "Can I...?"

---

Cody felt rejuvenated. The angel's magic had helped, though he was still worn out-- nothing a nights of rest couldn't help fix. The sudden following commotion was beyond Cody, and he decided to pick a spot on the ground and rest a bit more. He sat cross-legged on a clear spot in the grass nearby the cave, still holding his scabbard in his hands.
The pause let him look and observe these people, and ponder events.
'So... a vampire, a werewolf, an angel, and various others all commuting together. I guess the racial stigmas aren't as strong founded in most players afterall. I don't know how much I should be grateful to them for finding me in there, but if all else, I should at least show some gratitude... Then I should get back to finding those thieves, and my sword.'

---

Jay and Jeremy had been walking for about an hour. They were well into the forest and heading towards the cave area.
"Man, when will we learn a levitation spell?" Jeremy complained, "Why didn't we bring our hoverboards?"
"Aw, c'mon. It's not that bad!" Jay retorted, "Besides. That would have made this too easy and people might have freaked out."
'Why couldn't this game take place in a FUTURISTIC setting?' Jeremy wondered. "Yeah, you're right," Jeremy responded, "By the way, don't we have a map?"
"Yeah, hold on," Jay answered, digging around his inventory, finally finding it. "Apparently, the cave we're heading towards is known as 'Altmir'."
"Sounds interesting. And where there are caves, there are bound to be fodder monsters just waiting to get killed!" Jeremy almost shouted, pumping a fist in the air.
"Whoa there, cowboy! We're level ones, now. We don't wanna get too cocky before we even start," Jay warned, "Though it will definitely be the perfect place to do some leveling."
"Uh huh. I was just joking around anyway, but I know what you mean," Jeremy admitted, "Do we have everything in order? These clothes aren't exactly the best armor..."
"Well, we have zero money, remember? That's why we decided to avoid the village for now," Jay explained.
"Dammit! Why didn't we bring our wallets? ...Oh wait, I bet American money doesn't work here."
"Exactly. Now, did you study your spells and how to cast them? There hasn't exactly been anything to practice on."
"Yep! I just say 'persona' or something like that, right? ...Or is it slashing motions on the bottom screen?" Jeremy joked, stifling a chuckle afterward.
"Uh... totally wrong games. Get serious!" Jay said with a laugh of his own, lightly slapping Jeremy on the back.
"Okay, okay! I know how to cast them! They each have a unique motion I have to perform. To select multiple enemies, I have to point at each one and THEN perform the motion. Otherwise, it'll attack the target I'm looking at, unless it's an all-foes/allies-targeting spell, in which case I just perform the required movements," Jeremy explained in his best stereotypical 'old wise man' voice.
"Haha, great. So, the cave isn't far from here. We haven't done anything, so all our meters are still full, I guess," Jay said while pulling out his "menu" PDA, clicking 'status' and making sure everything was in order. They were both in perfect health, and they were now nearing the mouth of the cave. It was night-time and the moonlight, the glow of the PDAs, and the bracelets' gems were the only thing lighting the area around the brothers. The brothers shut down their PDAs and slid them back into their inventories.
'Looks like we got company... There are a bunch of people, a few of them are fighting monsters, and... there's also a werewolf it looks like,' Jeremy thought as they neared the entrance.
They stopped about 20 feet away, surveying the people. 'Yeah. Did you read the beginner's guide? Apparently all the races are humanoid, but they have distinguishing features. Let's see... I see a few humans, a demon, a couple angels... and a vampire.' Jay thought, looking at all the different figures.
'U-uh, crap. We didn't bring any vampire repulsion items, did we...' Jeremy wondered, shaking a bit and nervously pushing aside a few strands of hair that had gotten into his eyesight.
'Hm, no we didn't. I guess we'll just have to be very careful. Now, let's go,' Jay replied, motioning a hand forward. They began walking towards the entrance once again, then noticed someone on the grass nearby. 'Who's that? He looks exhausted. He looks alright, though,' Jay thought, looking at the man cross-legged on the ground.
'Well... I guess the only thing we can do now is wait for someone to make the first move,' Jeremy responded, looking around at everyone, 'I hope these guys are friendly...' Jeremy thought worriedly.

((Darn, another novel chapter... Oh well, it took this much to finally get to the point where people could interact with them, so... yeah.))

---

Javin glanced at the newcomers. "You got stuck in the game as well?"

---

The brothers turned their heads to find out who was speaking to them... or was he even speaking to them? The brothers could only assume.
"Stuck? Hm..." Jay began, 'Relax, we're not "investigators" yet. Just have fun,' Jay remembered, "Yeah, I guess. We both thought this would be an awesome game, but neither I nor he knew we wouldn't be able to escape this place... By the way, I'm Jay, and this," Jay pointed to Jeremy, who waved politely, "...is my brother, Jeremy."
"Nice to meet you," Jeremy said as naturally as he could, still nervous about some of the people around there.
"We're still level one, having just arrived here but a few hours ago," Jay began, 'Uh, Jay? Was it a good idea to just blurt out how weak we are...?' Jay thought, scolding himself, "But we're quick learners and hope to make some friends here." Jay continued.
"These are nice people, right? I mean..." Jeremy asked a bit sheepishly, trying to find the right words, "I mean, we wouldn't like to fight other people, especially other players, unless they attacked us first."

---

Zoey withdrew her hand from Austin quickly, whirling around towards the source of the new voices. She inhaled deeply and shuddered.

More humans. Make my life more difficult, why not?

She reached a hand back and grabbed hold of a handful of Austin's fur, anchoring herself to the spot. The fur was course, yet somehow soft, she noted, trying to distract herself.

---

Austin noticed Zoey clutching his fur in an effort to stop herself from lunging at the humans. There were now four of them, all within reach. He knew it would be hard for her to control herself. Zoey did the smartest thing she could by grabbing him. If she let go, Austin would feel it and act accordingly. He craned his head to Zoey and smiled at her.
This is good practice for you, huh? Then he turned back to the two men who walked in.
"You are in good company," Austin replied. "We won't attack you." And I could stop anyone who tries to now. He smiled at them. "I'm Austin."

---

Zoey rolled her eyes and winced at the gravelly voice in her ear. She dragged Austin's head around so he could see her eyes.

I don't call 3 humans good practice. I call it ME BEING HUNGRY.

She leant over to his ear and took a small breath.

"I need some human blood, Austin. I have not drunk for a few weeks now."

---

Javin noticed her discomfort, and took them to the side. "We are friendly, but stay away from the vampire. She may not be able to control herself. I'm Javin."

---

((OOC: LOL, Persona reference. Sorry, had to type this out.))

Ronan turned his head to see the newcomers, two men that didn't look alike, but had matching staffs and bracelets, probably magicians. He wasn't sure what to say, though, since he was in a situation similar to theirs, he had just got in the middle of that group. So he said nothing, and didn't move from Nina's side.
The werewolf transformation, didn't really surprise him, he had saw it sometimes before, when he was at the village. So he just looked to the newcomers, though he quickly glanced over to the vampire as he feared she would attack him. Nothing, though she didn't exactly seemed at ease. He wondered whether she was hurt or was trying to control herself. But then, fearing his fears would be detected, he looked back at the newcomers again.

---

"Excuse us," Austin said. He picked Zoey up and was out of the cave before anyone could even blink. Okay. Look. I'm going to level with you. I can't get you human blood without risking them bleeding to death. However, and I know the angel won't like it, there are several great creatures out here. Not as tasty as human blood would be, but enough of these things will make you considerably less hungry. He bounded away and came back, holding a huge, dead buck. It looked so small compared to him, though.
I didn't even bite him. Poor fella. Anyway, drink up. We'll hunt some more when you're done. He placed the buck at Zoey's feet. It had a puncture mark on the top of its head. A brain can't be exposed to oxygen for long. It was the only way I could think of to give you enough blood to stop you from starving.

---

Last edited by Lida_Rose on Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

'Yikes! Now why'd we have to go and be humans? We could've been angels! Demons! But no, humans...' Jeremy thought nervously as the brothers backed away a bit, acting like they were examining the area (which they did, and of course, nothing but grass, trees, and rock all around, save for the numerous people and the very, VERY hungry-looking vampire).
'Worse thing is, if she gets away, we're only level ones, so there's no way we could stop her with anything we have... Not like we'd want to anyway. I mean, she seems like a very nice person--er, vampire, even if she... IS a vampire,' Jay replied. "Uh, hi Javin, Austin, it's nice to meet the both of you... uh," Jay was having real trouble not sounding nervous. He knew the people around would protect the humans, but the brothers weren't quite good for danger yet, especially at their extreme greenhorn state.
"Yeah, um... hello to the both of you. it's a pleasure," Jeremy said shakily. Even in extreme nervousness, it was of natural habit to be as polite as he could be. He looked down at the two bracelets, which were looking as nervous as the brothers themselves; the gems on them pulsating slightly and randomly in brightness. All Jay and Jeremy could really do was hold on tightly to their staves with both hands, almost digging them into the ground (but not, as they knew that'd probably break them.)

((EDIT: @Aliucon: Yeah, I know. I don't have a PS2 sadly, but I've been watching an "endurance run" of Persona 4, and I love the game even though I can't play it.))

---

((Is it too late to join??

))

---

((It's not too late to join, but read the first few posts. Last I checked it said to PM your role-sheet to Serenity, as well as an incident involving Nadindi who did the same thing you did. XD))

"Well, my name is Cody Aliech for those of you who don't know it yet." Cody piped up from where he sat. He really had not introduced himself yet, and it felt odd to just let his name be unspoken after being helped. Then, speaking directly to the two newcomers: "So are the two of you really neophytes? I don't know about the rest of this group, but I won't take kindly to liars and thieves."

---

((I will admit, I had to look up the word "neophyte" ...Damn my not-so-expansive vocabulary.))

"Oh," Jay said as he turned around to Cody, "It's nice to meet you, Cody. And yes, we are recent arrivals to... whatever the heck this place is called. The map we got didn't have a 'country name' or whatever on it."
"And no, we're not thieves either. We'd only steal from those that deserved it, if we were that type of people," Jeremy added, answering Cody's other implied question.
'He seems to have a grudge against thieves... That scabbard he's holding looks like its content's gone missing, so I guess that's why,' Jay thought, glancing at swordless scabbard in Cody's hand.
'Hm, these people seem trustworthy... Do you think we should tell them who we are in the real world? Or will we have a group introduction session before long y'think?' Jeremy wondered, seeming a lot less nervous.
'I say we have nothing to hide. If they ask, we'll tell, even if it means revealing our true purpose here,' Jay responded in his own thoughts.
"You have a thing against thieves, Cody?" Jay asked after a second, "I'm sure everyone does, but you definitely seem to." The brothers had also brought a few blank pads for writing down notes about the people they met and the sights they saw within this game. If they ever got out, it'd make some good memories and stories.

---

Zoey growled, a feral noise that echoed into the cave as she picked the buck up and threw it, flying high over the trees and into the distance.

"Ugh! Animals! That is ALL I've had! If I needed ANY blood, I would have fetched an animal myself! And all of the humans here are only level ones, so none of them would be a conscientous meal because they would not wake up!"

Zoey's eyes were wide, wild and a dark, dark red. She turned and disappeared into a fast red blur, running straight towards Tepple.

---

Nadindi wrote:

And all of the humans here are only level ones

((To assume makes an ass out of you and me, dear Zoey~ ))

"Yes, I do dislike thieves." Cody said, following up with a muttered "Thank you captain obvious."

When Zoey's snarl carried to his ears, and Cody's level of alert shot right up. Standing back up as quick as he could, he glanced around fervently for the source of the noise. Now that he had been at least slightly recovered, he wasn't as much of a burden to himself and others, but he was in no way willing to let himself get jumped.

---

((LAWL, she tends to look down on humans, no?))

Arriving in Tepple, Zoey was infuriated to find the streets deserted. She slowed to a walk, inhaling deeply. She could smell the humans but...they were hiding from something. Her..? She walked around a corner into the town centre - straight into a minotaur. She jumped backwards, landing lightly on a roof. Minotaurs were level 35s...she could normally defeat one easily, but now as she was deprived of blood..

---

Austin was on Zoey in less than a second, tackling her out of the way of the Minotaur's attack.
"You think too little of me, dear," he said, smirking. "You really thought I wouldn't catch up to you?" He leapt expertly over the hammer that was coming down at him, and lunged right at the throat, ripping it out ((LoZ: Twilight Princess, anyone?)) and letting the minotaur fall.
"Will that suffice, or do you want to attack a helpless human? If you try to hurt anyone, I won't merely stay behind you. I will attack with little mercy," Austin explained.

---

Ronan heard the other human introducing himself, in some surprise. He didn't know exactly if all of the present people knew each other and were from the same clan or something, but apparently they weren't all that familiar with each other, after all. So he decided he should introduce himself, though he took longer than he would normally since the growl coming from the vampire struck some considerable fear on him: "And, well, for those who don't know my name either, I'm Ronan Farfnair. I'm just here for the accomplishment of a mission, so I can clinch my place on a clan from Tepple..." he said, though he wasn't entirely sure if he would get his place after this mission, finally, or if they would just hurl another mission back at him...again.

The other moment, though, Ronan was eyeing the two newcomers' bracelets again, with interest. Now that he looked to them better, he didn't remember seeing any similar design before. And they matched perfectly, both worn in each men's left hand. Maybe it was more of a magician's accessory, and that's why he had never seen it before. The blue gems that encrusted it were quite pretty too. He just stopped later because he feared that this was considered inadequate and rude, and he DEFINITELY didn't want to make a bad first impression, despite everything... Image was something strong and lasting.

---

((Okay... But I was going to post it here anyway so you guys know who my character is.))

---

“I know you’d stop me!”

She paid no heed to her own abbreviation, tears leaking down her face despite herself. She looked like a frightened teenager.

“You think I want to kill people? You think I like ending the lives of people like that?” she pointed at a body that was lying in an abandoned doorway.

“I would stop myself, Austin, but…I can’t. “

She leant back so that she was sitting, bringing her knees up to her chin and wiping the tears away angrily, ignoring the minotaur’s blood.

---

"..." Austin hesitated. Seeing Zoey cry...He knew he had been too harsh. But it wasn't like he wanted to be a jerk to her. He just wanted her to not try to kill humans. "I...I'm sorry, Zoey..." Austin began. "But...You have to fight this. You can't drink human blood...I know. It'll be the hardest thing in the world for you to eat anything else. Human blood just...Smells so appetizing to a vampire, and you'll be around humans all the time. But we both know...You're trying your best. You might not be able to stop yourself, but that's why I'm here. At night, I can stop you without killing you." But during the day, I'll be powerless to stop you. If you succumb to your instincts, there'll be nothing I can do. Austin then started howling a melody. One that would make Zoey determined to stop drinking human blood. The body on the doorway...Did Zoey do that? How come he didn't stop her? He was ashamed of himself, and the undertones of the melody indicated that.

---