[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/jasswPn.jpeg[/img][/center]
[center][h1]All we do is run[/h1][/center]
[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3LJlZBWI8w[/youtube][/center][hr]Characters: Yuliya, Kaureerah: [@Force and Fury][hr]

On this Three Moon Night, the Sanguinaires came out to feed once more. Many were out celebrating the end of the trials, but the night was young and most were milling into pubs and venues to indulge in expensive foods and Ellermane Bleus. Some, for one reason or another, strayed from the herd and found themselves more isolated and out of sight - perfect prey. That said, the risks tonight were greater than normal.

On a familiar rooftop not too far from Cathedral Square gathered the bloodsuckers that prowled the streets of Ersand'Enise. Yuliya was among them, much to her chagrin. These people that had invaded her feeding ground irked her so, but any attempts to get rid of them had failed. So, she had stuck to working alongside them to lessen the damage that they could potentially cause. It was for this reason she usually went last most nights, in case a mess needed to be cleaned up, but this time, something called to her. A lone eeaiko girl who her company had hired a few times to model their clothes. 

There was something unusual about the girl, aside from being an eeaiko, which were far from common in this area. It wasn’t a bad signal she’d had prior, but something immensely different and unusual. She sat on top of the city’s eastern wall, strumming her lute and singing to the three moons that graced the sky and the sea that churned below.

[color=#DEB887]"Oh silver night, oh golden mooooon,
By thee I wish to see thee sooooon.

For all the sea is shifting and the ground, she feels strange.
Heavy clouds hang in the sky and even seasons change. 

Oh silver night, oh golden moon,
By thee I wish to see thee soon.

I long for the embrace and touch of truest sort of love.
I pray now with my earnest heart that hawk shall bow to dove.

Oh silver night, oh golden moon,
By thee I wish to see thee soon.
By light divine, this heart of mine
Knows well that peace for which I pine
Will lie
They'll die
And only Ipte knows, I say, of all the tears I'll cry."[/color]

Then, there was only silence as the final strum of her lute faded. The waves washed in and out. Above them, barely audible, was the sound of sniffling. From behind, Yuli could perceive the eeaiko reaching up to brush her face with the back of a hand. 

Yuli slipped the mask off her face and listened for a moment. She truly was talented, more so than she was vocally. Even with all the lessons she'd had with the cello, the eeiako was something near prodigious when it came to song. And even as she felt the hunger kicking in, she only wanted to listen further. But as she heard, with those ever keen sanguinaire senses the sound of sniffling, she began to approach. Her danger signals were blaring - for this was far too easy a mark - but this wasn't about going after a mark. It was... curiosity? Why was a girl so beautiful and so talented so sad? 

[color=pink]"What's wrong, songbird? Boy trouble?"[/color] she asked earnestly, climbing up the wall and sitting next to her. 

Kaureerah turned abruptly, startled, the tears still staining her cheeks. [color=#DEB887]"Oh!? Yulee?"[/color] She shook her head and turned away momentarily. When she turned back, any sign of the tears was gone. She sighed, though. [color=#DEB887]"Moost deys, Eye woold weesh too bee e berd, yoo knauw."[/color] She shook her head ruefully, patting the section of wall beside her for Yuli to sit. [color=#DEB887]"Too fly ewey end never woory ebaut aull auf te leetle peeple dauwn there."[/color] She placed the lute aside and crossed her arms, glancing out at the ocean. [color=#DEB887]"Eye'm saurry too wex aull pheelesauphicel."[/color] She let out a snort. [color=#DEB887]"Eye've been thet berd my whoole laife,"[/color] she admitted, glancing over at the new arrival. [color=#DEB887]"Aull Eye ever doo ees raun."[/color] 

Her eyes returned to the waves and she breathed in and out. [color=#DEB887]"Baut Eye faind now... Eye waunt nautheng moore then too stey. Foor aull auf yoo too bee okey."[/color] She began to choke up. [color=#DEB887]"Gauds, Eye haurdly knoow yoo, Yulee, end heere Eye em, speeleeng my haurt aut."[/color] She hugged herself tighter. [color=#DEB887]"Fauck,"[/color] she cursed. [color=#DEB887]"FAUCK!"[/color] She shook her head, tearing up. [color=#DEB887]"They're aull goonah die because saum oold men weeth fency hets sey soo: peeple Eye knoow - peeple Eye lauve.[/color]" The tears came again. [color=#DEB887]"Eye'm saurry. Reely, Eye em."[/color]

Yuli listened quietly to the girl's sad ramble, the tears and all. She liked to pretend she was immune to bouts like this - but at the end of the day - she was a teenage girl too. She'd cried like this to Zarina before, hell, she'd done it on her own with a bottle of vodka more than a few times, when she was afraid of appearing weak. Yet, was it desperation or bravery to continue her spiel as Yuli came to her. It made her hunger go away. Toward the end - she'd begun tearing up a little herself. She leant over toward her and gave her a hug, wrapping the girl in her arms. Even if her blood normally ran cold, it was times like this that reminded her that in a way, she was still human.

[color=pink]"It ok, Kaury."[/color] she sniffled into her ear, stroking her hair a little as she held her in a hug. [color=pink]"I know feeling of running too... you don't need know someone to open up to them. You are brave, brave girl."[/color] she squeezed a little tighter, taking great care to not crush her like a baby bird. [color=pink]"But, is ok. Our friends are strong. Maybe war over quickly, we can only hope"[/color] she whispered, pulling a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping one of Kaureerah's tears away, before flipping it and wiping her own.

[color=#DEB887]"Yulee?"[/color] Kaureerah replied, after indulging in the embrace for a good minute or two, [color=#DEB887]"Deed Eye ever tell yoo thet, beck een my veelege, when the naun-autcests staurted mooveng een, there waus e reech femelee. They hed e saun whoo waus e senguinere. They woold pey my femelee too use mee es a bloodbenk."[/color] She reached up and bared her neck. [color=#DEB887]"Eye doon't feer yoo. Yoo onlee heve too esk, fren."[/color] She did not let go, even if her grip weakened slightly. 

Yuli stiffened suddenly as she heard Kaureerah's words. How did.. she know? She hadn't even come to the girl with the intention to feed, merely with the intent of listening to a song and a story. Quite frankly, she was going to ask Yvain. And yet... she didn't back away out of fear. She was going to offer herself up as a meal even when she was at her saddest.

[color=pink]"Kaury, how do you know?"[/color] she asked, softening the hug. [color=pink]"I.. didn't come for blood. I came because I like your song."[/color] she said, tearing up a little again. This girl was simply too sweet. But, she was simply famished. Time vanished in the conversation with her and she'd not fed properly since the bout with Laska. It was emotionally tumultuous. [color=pink]"Are you sure? You don't have to, if you don't want."[/color] she murmured shakily, trying not to give in to base instincts when a meal was presented so kindly before her.

Kaureerah pulled back to arms' length, one hand still resting on Yuli's shoulder. The other brushed some hair from her face. [color=#DEB887]"Een... my laine auf woork, yoo heve too knauw boody lenguege. Eet's te wey yoo moove: yoo're soo queeck, soo precaise, end noo megeec drauweng too meke eet look thet wey."[/color] She shook her head reassuringly. [color=#DEB887]"Yoo hoold beck when yoo haug soo yoo doon't brek leetle Kaureerah either."[/color] She giggled, faintly. [color=#DEB887]"Eye heve yeears auf experience. Doon't worry. Yoor secret ees sefe weeth mee."[/color] She took a deep breath as if to prepare herself. [color=#DEB887]"Yoo cen dreenk, soonei."[/color] She bared her neck. 

Yuli was shocked. It wasn't from rumour mills, or from her being caught one night. It was pure, meticulous observation. And it was all bent into a compliment. She was simply a sweetheart, and she wouldn't let this go unrewarded. [color=pink]"Thanks, Kaury. If you want something at auction, let me know. You are good friend."[/color]  she wiped her last tears and gave her a reluctant smile, before digging in with feelings of guilt. Even after being used as a blood bank, she still had no fear.

Ultimately, neither could understand each other very much, but the experience bonded them: two neutrals who'd run and convinced themselves that they weren't running, who'd come to care more about this place and the people in it than they'd ever thought they would, and who'd come to the realization that it would soon - if current events were carried through to their logical conclusion - come crashing down as war took hold of the twin continents. What could they do but commiserate? They could cry, but they could laugh, too, as a tonic, in defiance of the impending sense of doom. That's what Kaureerah had been doing her entire life. Maybe it was the true gift she'd given Yuli that night. Maybe Yuli had already found it herself. These things were often hard to say.