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[h3][i]Ransacked Village - Whereabouts Unknown[/i][/h3]
Conversing with [@VitaVitaAR] & [@Drifting Pollen][/center]
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	[i]"I expect she's here for exactly the same reasons as you."[/i]

	Alucard turned his head slightly, fixing his attention on the woman to the left of him, though he kept his hand hovering over his weapon.

	He was well aware of her presence beforehand, having noticed a faint hint of blood in the air, but this wasn't like the blood he smelled earlier upon entering the village.  It had a sharpness to it, a cold, metallic sensation Alucard couldn't place.  It didn't even smell remotely human.  His eyes met with the piercing green of the stranger's, immediately recognizing her stern demeanor, not once a betrayal of fear upon her....rather charming face if Alucard could be so bold as to admit.  She had quite the commanding presence, yet the dhampir couldn't help but detect...that she was suffering inside from a sort of affliction.  Was it a curse?  No, the feeling wasn't arcane or magical in any sense.  A disease, perhaps?  If so, what kind of disease?  

	These questions mulled Alucard as he issued his own hardened glance at the mysterious woman, silently listening to her as she spoke, acknowledging her words with a curt nod of his head.  He noticed briefly the sword at her side.  Another combatant, he thought.

	Populated she said the village was, but by whom?  From what Alucard could tell, there was nobody left in this village but corpses.  He hadn't seen a place so thoroughly razed than when his father waged bloody war against the humans of Wallachia.  The poor souls who were lost in those wretched days...especially in Targoviste where the war began.

	After she had finished her sentence, Alucard reluctantly released his hand from his blade and rested it at his side, issuing a bothersome sigh and shutting his eyes briefly.   [color=fff200]"Hmm...so it would appear."[/color]  He muttered giving a short look around his dire surroundings.  At this point, the shock of seeing so many dead had subsided.  It almost felt mundane to the dhampir.  Besides, death was nothing new.  [color=fff200]"If what you say is true, then we are all strangers in a strange land.  I do not know what sort of magic, if any, it was that brought us here, but I intend to find its source."[/color]

	A wry smile he put forth as he placed his hand over his chest and gave both females a gentlemanly bow.  [color=fff200]"Forgive my earlier brashness.  I was merely keeping my guard.  One cannot be too careful in a situation such as this.  It is not my intention to harm others, lest I feel they are a threat."[/color]