[centre][color=crimson][h1][b]Vitius Dragomir[/b][/h1][/color]&
[img]https://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjcyLmFjYjg3YS5RMjlzYVc0Z1VtbDJhVzVuZEc5dS4w/quick-pangolin.regular.png[/img][hr]Collab Between: [@ZAVAZggg] (Vitius) & [@NorthernKraken](Colin)[hr][/centre]

Red slipped over the edge of the creature’s cup and the sticky droplet rolled, slow and viscous, down the side. 

Colin’s stomach turned. He pushed his own plate far away from himself, what little appetite he’d managed to work up over the past hour disappearing in an instant. A glance around the hall. No one else seemed to have batted an eye at its open display of contempt. And sure. The hoods probably hadn’t provided human blood. But what difference did it make? One slip, and because they’d kept the thing alive, someone else was dead. 

 His face warmed as he curled and uncurled his fists under the table. He needed to do this, couldn’t just walk away now. Didn’t have the luxury of going it alone like the knight from before. But still, he’d be damned if he was just going to sit there and watch as the monster practically flaunted its disregard for humanity before his very eyes. 

 He stood, intercepting it as it made its way towards the table. It was taller than he was. Bulkier too. He felt his heart pick up. A thin sheen of sweat slip across his forehead. He didn’t let it bother him as he squared off against the monster, [color=8dc73f]“So,”[/color] he hissed, [color=8dc73f]“how long’s it gonna be ‘till the blood in that cup’s come from some family you slaughtered instead of a deer?”[/color]

Vitius cleaned the droplet of red blood off of the cup with a finger that he then wiped on one of the pieces of cloth woven into his armor. Normally he would have been upset about blood being wasted like that, but he had more than enough in this cup to sate his thirst. Even if it was from an animal.

Looking up from the cup, Vitius saw Colin blocking his path back to the table, his body language and posture telling him all he needed to know. The idiot was trying to start something. His intentions were made even clearer by the question he'd just asked, which was clearly meant to put him on the spot or make him feel guilty about his "actions" even though he'd never consumed or thought about consuming someone's blood without their permission first.

Though to be honest, right now he was considering just ripping out Colins throat so he didn't have to deal with his shit anymore. Not that he'd actually do it mind you. But still...

It was tempting.

"Well preferably never." Vitius replied bluntly. "Now tell me, how long is it going to be before you almost shoot another child?" He asked, a knowing smirk spreading across his face.

Colin bristled, hand wrapping instinctively about the handles of the daggers at his belt.  The fucking creature was trying to play mind games. Of course,[color=8dc73f] "This bow's reserved for putting your kind out of your mysery."[/color]he hissed, [color=8dc73f]"only blood [i]I've[/i] ever spilt's had it coming." [/color]

Vitius scoffed, but didn't make a move to grab his sword. Instead he simply took a sip of his drink and set it down on the table before crossing his arms in a casual manner, as though this were just another ordinary conversation. Vitius knew it was better to appear calm and undisturbed in situations like this. Yelling or resorting to petty name calling now would only weaken his position and worsen his already shaky standing amongst the Red Hood's. Something he did not need right now.

"Are you sure about that?" Vitius asked coldly. "Haven't you ever considered the possibility that some of the monster's you murdered didn't wish to be that way?" "Haven't you ever stopped for a moment to think about how terrified a person is when they first turn and realize their life is over? That everyone they knew or called friends now hates them? That they're now forced to run forever to avoid being caught and killed, or worse? Or have you only ever thought about wiping the world clean of us [i]filthy[/i] creatures?" He said, nodding towards those in his group he knew were monster's like him.

Colin watched the blood in the cup slosh as the creature set it down on the table, bile rising in his throat. His grip on his daggers remained tight. Back when his Dad was still alive, he’d told him once to never approach a wild animal whilst it was feeding, to do so was to wish for death, when it needn’t come. 

 Of course, barely a year later, the man had been lying in a pool of his own blood with his throat ripped out, so what did he know? 

[color=8dc73f] “What, you expect me to feel [i]sorry[/i] for you?”[/color] he said, lips curling around each word, [color=8dc73f]“Sorry, but my sympathies are with Janey from the village’s mum, after her daughter was found without a spec of blood left in her. Or the Dwights, after their oldest son got murdered right before the harvest. Or the [i]thousands[/i] of people that’ve died because your lot didn’t walk out into the sun the [i]second[/i] they got turned.” [/color]

[color=8dc73f]“Besides,”[/color] he said, voice low, [color=8dc73f]“If you didn’t feel guilty, then why’re you even here?” [/color]

"I'm here because I had no choice. It was join or watch the Red Hood's execute my friend." Vitius said with unexpected steel in his voice. "Ironic isn't it? That the people who claim to be our protectors against the supernatural, are willing to stoop to murdering innocent people who get in their way. And before you ask, no I did not manipulate my friend into defending me. He did so because he knew me. Because he knew who I was before I became [i]this[/i]." He gestures to himself. "A mortal man who spent his life protecting other's, who was then unjustly betrayed by everyone around him after being bitten."

 [color=8dc73f]“Then he was naïve.”[/color] Colin matched the hardness of the leech’s voice, eyes narrowed, [color=8dc73f]“Or delusional. Or just a fool.”[/color] He glared at the creature, taking in the way it moved and spoke. It must’ve been turned recently, [color=8dc73f]“Whatever you were before, you’re not that anymore. He died the second [i]you[/i] were born. And sure,”[/color] he said, [color=8dc73f]“maybe his memory’s strong right now. I guess you’ve only drunk animal blood, right? You’re not like [i]them[/i] – the ones in the mountains that terrorise the villages, drink off humans like we’re meals that just happen to have bloody legs,”[/color] a pause, he let his voice drop again after noticing the stares of people nearby, [color=8dc73f]“but you’re not fucking [i]special[/i],”[/color] he growled, [color=8dc73f]“you might have some of your humanity left right now, or at least you seem to think you do – but the second the chips are down? You’ll turn some other poor sod just like the leech that turned you.” [/color]

"We'll see." Vitius said, his eyes narrowing into slits. He held Colins gaze for a few more tense moments before letting his arms fall to his sides and turning towards the table. Pulling out a chair Vitius sat down and picked up his drink, then took another swig from it. Staring out across the dining room with a dark expression on his face, Vitius thought about what Colin had said. Maybe he was right. Maybe he would become just like the vampires he had fought up in the hills and mountains. A cold hearted monster who only existed to feed off of life and cause desolation wherever he went.

The very idea of it was both repulsive and terrifying at the same time. Repulsive because he knew the human inside of him would die before senselessly murdering others and tearing apart their lives...

And terrifying because he knew the vampire inside of him would do it without a moment's hesitation.

Letting out a low and barely audible growl, Vitius pushed the thought aside as he turned to stare at the sunlight streaming through the large glass windows behind the three chairs at the opposite end of the hall.

[i]"Perhaps he's right. Maybe I should have just walked out into the sun..."[/i]

 Colin kept his eyes fixed on the creature for a moment, before shaking his head and backing away once it turned and sat at the table. For the barest of moments, he considered his own plate, lying abandoned, but as much as he despised the idea of wasting food, his stomach turned at the mere thought of eating, never mind right next to a leech. 

 He cleared his throat, giving the others a look, before quietly muttering, [color=8dc73f]“Anyone that wants it can have my plate. Not hungry,”[/color], shoving his hands in his pockets, and making a hasty retreat from the overcrowded room. Apparently, the budding friendship he’d struck up with Eliza that morning had been a fluke, and others here were not so amicable. Surrounded on all sides by murderers and monsters, he’d to keep his guard up if he wanted to survive longer than a week in this place. 

He just hoped that, in the end, it’d be worth it.