[b]Written with and primarily by EvangelineMarie, EdgyErwyn, Luftwaffles, PrinceOfHeaven and BlondyMcHuggles[/b]

An uncomfortable silence filled the air more than a massive argument could; Erwyn’s recruitment of Élise the night before didn’t leave most of the travellers in a talking mood. 

Rhiara had been thinking about introducing herself to Élise all morning, to make her feel welcome more than anything. Of course, she didn’t take the plunge. For all she knew, vampires could smell fear and they ate their own children. Athaliah had always said that those stories were made up to scare misbehaving children, but she wasn’t in a hurry to speak to the vampires either. It was Erika who gave Rhiara the little push she needed. As Rhiara fell back to the rear of the group towards Élise, Herbert, Erika and Athaliah kept their distance but were ready for anything nevertheless. Just in case…

“Uh… Élise, was it?” Rhiara said after clearing her throat, trying and probably failing to hide her own fear. “I’m Rhiara, and I… uh, just wanted to give you a proper welcome…” she fiddled with her hands and looked at the ground. “We’re not normally that… poisonous. The quest we’re doing has just got all of us on edge…”

“I would not worry about it; I understand completely,” the vampire responded, “people like me should not expect a warm welcome.” Élise, who had been walking on her own with her cloak covering her face to stave off the morning sun, was quite surprised that someone was actually willing to come and talk to her. Any happiness this brought to her was quickly lost, however, as she noticed how scared Rhiara seemed to be of her, reminding Élise of her monstrous nature. “I didn’t exactly make the best first impression myself last night either, but I do appreciate that you want to talk to me, it means a lot. Most people would just see me as nothing more than a fiend of the night, and so it gladdens me that you are willing to give me a chance. Thank you for that, Rhiara.” Élise pulled her hood back slightly to expose more of her pale face, and she let out a brief but friendly smile as her intense blue eyes made contact with Rhiara’s.

Rhiara felt herself calm down somewhat; not getting mauled to death instantly was a great start. “We’re going to be travelling together, so… we should get to know each other better.” She even smiled back at the vampire. “I’m really sorry if I’m overstepping my bounds, but… uh, why were you covered in blood last night?” Rhiara was fearful of the implications of it and she knew full-well what she did, but she figured that hearing it from the woman herself would be best.

Élise froze. She had not expected Rhiara to ask her such a difficult question, especially so soon into their conversation. This situation left the vampire feeling incredibly uncomfortable, and it showed in her expression. If she were to tell the truth, she could be putting herself in great danger, and yet if she were to lie, she would never gain their trust. An awkward silence ensued for some time, until Élise finally worked up the courage to answer Rhiara. “I will not lie to you, Rhiara. Last night, when Erwyn found me, my vampiric curse got the better of me and I lost control.” Her voice was shaky and her eyes had become watery as she answered and was forced to remember what she had done. She spoke quietly, to avoid having the less tolerant members of the group hearing about the events of last night. “I had not fed for a while, and the second I noticed a girl from the village I was staying in venture into the woods alone, the hunger within me took over and I… I murdered her.” Élise wiped the tears from her eyes before they had a chance to run down her cheeks. “I am sorry. I’m sure you can understand that talking about this is difficult for me, but it was a mistake to have told you what I did. You probably just see me as a monster now, although with that said, perhaps you would not be wrong…”

Rhiara looked down at her feet, unable to find the words to reply. Strangely though, she didn’t run off screaming, like she herself thought she would. Instead, she nodded solemnly and allowed an awkward silence to come between them for a minute, though it felt much longer to her. “I’m… I’m sorry for asking.” She put her hand onto Élise’s arm, with an immense amount of reluctance. “I’m glad you told me the truth. If you ever need to talk about it… well, I’d be happy to listen.”

Not expecting Rhiara to be so understanding, Élise found herself stunned yet again. She could sense Rhiara’s hesitation, but even still, the fact that she was willing to actually listen to Élise without being judgemental, and then go on to offer her help, was a great relief to her. “It is fine, you did not know,” Élise replied, easing up and beginning to feel more comfortable talking to Rhiara as she raised her own gloved hand to meet hers. “Thank you for being so understanding and for your offer though, I might just have to take you up on that. As you can probably imagine, I have not had anyone to talk to for far too long.” She felt comforted as she made eye contact with Rhiara again, her own eyes now slightly reddened after holding back her tears, even going so far as to cause her to smile involuntarily. Perhaps it was just the fact that someone was actually willing to listen to her when she needed it, but Élise found herself feeling strangely happier as she talked with Rhiara.

“It’s nothing. Really.” Rhiara replied with a smile of her own. “We all have to stick together now, with the god-killing dragon we’re hunting. As far as I’m concerned, we… well, we can’t afford to mistrust each other.” She looked towards the others in the group, some of which subtly looked back at the two girls every so often. “I’ll, ah... I’ll go and talk to the others, and see if I can get them to go easier on you. Take care of yourself, okay Élise?” After giving the vampire a parting smile, Rhiara skipped over to Herbert with a spring in her step.

With a smile on her face, Élise watched Rhiara walk away; almost wishing that she would stay and talk for a while longer. Many thoughts flooded the young vampire’s mind as she mulled over what had just happened, and she came to a surprising conclusion. She was falling for her new friend. Élise attempted to banish such thoughts, although she found it impossible to do so. She was already viewed with suspicion, and knowing that attraction between women was viewed as sinful in this part of the world, she didn’t want to give anyone more cause to hate her. Her unstable vampiric nature also made any relationships with her very dangerous, and prone to heartbreak and tragedy. Élise knew this, and yet she still struggled to avert her eyes from Rhiara. However, this desire was quickly turning into something else. Hunger.

She had only fed yesterday, and yet Élise could still feel herself on the verge of succumbing to the Blood Hunger. As a pureblood vampire, she must feed more regularly than other vampires, but even still, Élise had not expected to feel the Hunger quite so soon. Her hands began to shake as she attempted to control herself, however she quickly realised that these efforts were failing. Stumbling from the frozen path, she collapsed under the shade of a frost-covered tree, hoping that Erwyn would notice her and avert disaster.

Her hope was not in vain. In a blur of blinding speed the elder vampire was there, materialising next to Élise as he drew a small vial of deep scarlet liquid from within his long coat. Unsealing the container with a faint hiss of air, he gently lifted the young woman's head, waving a hand in front of her eyes to check that she still retained some degree of consciousness. Through his black calfskin gloves, his palms glowed with the eerie light of necromantic magic; a healing spell, but one attuned to undead flesh. "Here," he whispered, holding the blood vial to her lips. "Drink."

On the verge of losing control, Élise initially fought against Erwyn as he attempted to get her to drink, however his magic quickly calmed her. As she drained the vial, the black colour of the sclera so characteristic of hungry pureblood vampires began to fade from her eyes, and she regained control of her own body. Her eyes darted around as her consciousness returned to her, and stopped when she made eye contact with the man who just prevented a tragedy. “Thank you,” she weakly responded, “if you weren’t here, well… That’s not worth thinking about.” She lay back against the tree and buried her head in her hands as she recovered.

“She is turning.  I can see it.”

The voice that rasped from behind the two vampires was accented and muffled by a curtain of chainmail, and before they even turned, it was clear who had spoke.  Nima stood, gazing at Élise, one hand on his sword and the other lingering near the leather pouches that ringed his leather belt.  His armour was still gleaming from the polish that the Order had applied in Mirador, and the snow that had started to fall was melting on his shoulders and rolling over the shining steel.  “Step away from her, creature.  She must be dealt with.”

Erwyn rose slowly, turning to face the easterner with cold grey eyes. His hand slipped down to his side, grasping the hilt of his sword and drawing it in an instant, the shimmering flamberge blade of his rapier marked with strange, ancient symbols; arcane runes that seemed to writhe and warp like nightmarish creatures from the depths. Flipping the sword deftly around in his grip, he rested his hand on the weapon's hilt in a manner akin to a gentleman's cane, his stance calm; relaxed. "Then by all means, deal with her," he said, his tone not betraying even a hint of anger or stress. "I invite you to try."

Nima looked past the showy display, his eyes fixed on the younger vampire.  "She is not a natural creature.  What you gave her before, it was blood, yes?  She feels hunger so soon after she fed, on the night she came to us?"  He shook his head, producing a soft clatter of steel clashing with steel.  "Dangerous.  What will you do when she needs the blood again?  When she drinks all of your supply?  Even if you are in control, [i]she[/i] must die, this is clear."

"Do you believe I had not noticed that her hunger was unnatural in its frequency? Had it not crossed your mind that perhaps I intended to find out why?" The Count shook his head contemptuously. "I was about to ask her, in fact, before you so very rudely interrupted. And with the answer, I would be a significant step closer to helping her control herself." He glanced back at Élise for a second, before returning his gaze to Nima. "I take your point, of course; she is dangerous. So am I. So are you. If everyone in this group who is dangerous was to be slain, do you think we would stand even the slightest chance of defeating the greatest danger of all?"

"The Count is correct, Nima," said Grandmaster Aquila, a ways away from the conflict. He stepped forwards, unarmed, into the center of the confrontation, looking either way at the two of his belligerent companions. To Nima he spoke first, to follow up his introduction, bowing his head courteously to the slave-soldier. "I beseech you to stay your blade as it stands for the time being. I say unto you that our warband would benefit from Élise's company, should Count Erwyn properly control her. As she is recent in her conversion to undeath it is to be expected that she has not yet learned to fully take back her mind from the curse." He turned to Erwyn, gesturing for him to sheathe his own weapon. "Having said this I must reiterate that, Erwyn, you are indeed responsible for her as the most qualified individual to teach her self-restraint. I offer my assistance, and would glady do so were the lady to accept the aid of my Father, Mother and I. However the brunt of this task falls to you. And should she indeed lose control and vindicate the Furusiyya's concerns, verily she must be put down for the good of the rest of the warband. We have discussed this and I am placing my trust in you -- something that I do not offer blindly."

"That helping her is my duty is something of which I am very much aware. It is not a responsibility I have any intention of shirking, I can assure you." Slowly, the elder vampire slid his sword back into its scabbard, eyes flicking back and forth between Nima and Lucian. "I rather suspect, though, that she will not be particularly accepting of your parents' help. Rather, her devotion lies firmly with your grandmother." He turned his back on the pair, crouching down beside Élise as she slowly recovered. "One more thing; a condition, on your last point," he said, speaking over his shoulder at the Grandmaster. "If there comes a time when such an unfortunate deed must be done, it will be done by my hand. Agreed?"

Seeing it as not worth further conflict, Lucian dismissed the remark regarding the faith of Lilith, replying, "Your condition is agreeable, but do not think for a moment that I will not defend myself or my companions in the event she loses control spontaneously. I trust you will follow through on your end of the condition, but I cannot afford to wait if attacked without warning. I suppose, though, that this is also not something you need to be told."

Nima obeyed the Grandmaster, moving his hand from his blade and noisily stalking away from the confrontation. The Grandmaster turned to the two vampires and bowed to each of them once before following the slave-soldier away from the center of the incident, leaving the two to themselves.

Élise was still recovering from her episode, and was feeling incredibly faint, but upon realising what had just been said, she lifted her head from her hands and gave Erwyn a look of sadness. “You would kill me?” Her voice was soft, and a bit strained, conveying with it a feeling of betrayal. “Am I beyond redemption?”

"I will do everything in my power to help you, for as long as I possibly can and then longer still; that I promise," Erwyn replied, reaching out and laying a hand gently on the young vampire's shoulder. "But our ultimate goal is to slay a being that quite literally threatens all of existence. If your loss of control threatens to jeopardise that goal, and all other measures any of us can take to pacify you fail, I may have no choice. You must understand that if I am forced to choose between you - between any one person - and the [i]whole world[/i], I will choose the latter."

“I… I understand,” Élise replied sorrowfully as she wiped tears from her eyes.

The Count sighed. "Good." Rising to his feet, he offered a hand to his fellow vampire to help her to her feet. "I meant to ask, before our eastern friend made an appearance... do you have any idea why you were so hungry so soon after you had last fed? Even in the very youngest vampires, I have never observed the Blood Hunger manifest so quickly before."

With the help of the Count, Élise rose from the ground and onto her feet, making her feeling slightly light-headed in the process. She was surprised by the Count’s question, as she had assumed this was something he would already know the answer to. “I am unsure,” she responded after pondering the question for a short while. “I was under the impression that all vampires must feed this regularly, but thinking back to yesterday, I do recall you mentioning that you were not turned by Lilith herself. I was. Perhaps this is why I find it so much more difficult to resist such urges?”

"Perhaps," murmured Erwyn, deep in thought. "It would make sense, certainly - as far as I am aware, direct conversion by Lilith is an incredibly rare phenomenon, but the magic of a goddess would in theory be able to more efficiently strip the mortal essence from one's body and replace it, thus creating a biologically purer vampire than the standard conversion-via-bite ever could. And that purer vampire would logically require more blood to sustain." He shook his head. "A blessing and a curse, then. You may have divine favour, but I only need to feed once a week. Good thing I brought plenty of blood along."

“Will that be enough?” Élise responded worriedly. “Your supplies are limited, and there is no way you could have predicted that you would encounter another vampire on your quest, let alone a pureblood like me. What happens when your supply is exhausted? Is this when I must die?”

"I'll find a solution, don't worry." The Count paused, thinking. "When we reach the next town, I shall send a rider to Graafenschloss Veresegyházhof, under instruction to collect as much blood as his horse can carry from the castle cellars - more, if possible - and rendezvous with the party at a later date. The journey may take a while, but I think my existing supplies will last that long."

The Count’s words did not seem to reassure Élise. “And what if they don’t last that long?”

Erwyn's mouth twisted into a wry smile. "Well, while we can hardly have you running around preying on the innocent... not everyone is innocent, are they?" The Count chuckled, and shook his head. "Anyway, I must excuse myself for a while. Letters to write, and other such dull duties. Goodbye for now." He began to walk off in the direction of his carriage, stopping and turning back to the younger vampire after a second. "Oh, and Élise? Be careful what you say to that lot. They're already suspicious, and I can't guarantee they have no plans of treachery."

As Erwyn left, Herbert and Rhiara approached the young vampiress with the intention of discussing her [i]problem[/i]. The monster hunter had kept Rhiara occupied to discuss whether the Narbosi woman could be trusted. With their conversation concluded, Rhiara almost ran to Élise’s side, a look of concern on her face in stark contrast to Herbert, who looked as collected as ever, though there were clear signs of interest in his expression. “Hey, Élise?” Rhiara began, sounding as soft as ever. “Are you okay? I, ah, wanted to come sooner, but Herbert kept me.”

“I’m fine,” Élise responded, looking almost embarrassed about what had happened, “I hope I didn’t scare you.” She was gladdened to see that Rhiara cared enough about her to be concerned, but was also worried considering that it was Rhiara who had inadvertently triggered her hunger in the first place. Herbert’s presence was causing her some concern, however. She had felt uneasy around the monster hunter before, but with her having just lost control, this feeling was somewhat amplified.

"Glad to hear that you're feeling alright." Said the monster hunter as he studied Élise thoughtfully. It was certainly intriguing that she had felt the hunger again so quickly. Herbert had heard tales of vampires directly transformed by the Dark Lady, but he had never come across one before. "With any luck, Erwyn's supplies will last, but if not, I may have a back-up plan. Would you mind terribly if I took a blood sample from you?"

The monster hunter’s request further amplified her sense of unease, and this reflected in her nervous body language. “What?” she replied in shock, “You want my blood?” This caused Élise no end of distress. She knew that he had promised to help her, but she also knew her blood was powerful. Being as knowledgeable about blood magic as she was, she knew that he would be able to use her blood to enhance his own abilities, and more disturbingly, track her down or potentially even control her magically. “Why do you want my blood?”

Herbert gestured for the frantic vampiress to calm down. "Three reasons. First of all, if I have it to study, I may be able to find a way for some of my reserves of magical creature blood to provide you with nourishment. Second, I may find a way to help you with self-control. Lastly, I've never come across a pureblood before and I'm curious as to what properties your blood has."

Bearing what Erwyn had said to her earlier in mind, Herbert’s words offered her no comfort. “Forgive me, Herbert, but why should a monster trust a monster hunter with her blood? I know you promised that you would help me, but if I were to give you some of my blood for study, would I not just be assisting you in your efforts to hunt and kill people like me? Surely there has to be another way?”

"On the contrary," replied Herbert, "you would assist my efforts to hunt and kill beings unlike you. Those who slaughter the innocent without remorse and have no intention of changing. Your kind has a choice as to whether or not to be monsters. You wish to control yourself and therefore have chosen not to. Surely a person can trust a monster hunter with her blood for the purpose of saving lives. Or are you more comfortable with creatures you see as similar to yourself being permitted to murder as they please?"

Rhiara simply listened to the conversation between the vampire and the monster hunter play out, fearing that she’d get in the way. However, she knew she had to say something once they had reached an impasse. “Herbert, m-maybe we should leave her blood alone. She’s not going to trust us if we force her to do things she doesn’t want to do.” She turned to Élise, who seemed grateful for her speaking up.

 “Thank you, Rhiara.” Élise responded in an appreciative voice, before turning back to the monster hunter and returning to a more sour tone. “Now I’m sorry, Herbert, but I am not going to be allowing you to take any of my blood. I know you mean well, but this is something that I am absolutely not comfortable with. Blood magic is not something I am unfamiliar with, and so I know what my blood could be used for. This is not a risk that I am willing to take, even if you are being honest with me.”

An expression of faint disappointment crossed the monster hunter's face and he a gave a curt nod. "Very well. I understand your reasoning and wish you luck in controlling your hunger." He turned to Rhiara and continued. "You are probably right. I will leave the matter be."