The bottle left the hunter’s palm and came throttling towards Ren at a healthy speed. The vile spun through the air, that lethal liquid shaking like a deathly cocktail beneath the cork. The vampiress resisted the urge to roll her eyes and kicked her legs, flipping her body backwards in an arc through the air. Tucking her wings, she rotated with the grace of a ballet dancer and dodged the bottle a little narrower than she’d have liked. She and Holy Water had a tricky relationship. She’d had many near-disasters with the stuff. In micro-doses, blessed water would simply burn and itch. But the balance between safe and sore was a tricky tightrope to traverse.
Renaissance watched as the miniature bottle lost momentum and began to plummet downward. Shooting forward with a “WHOOSH” of her wings, Ren narrowed her eyes and lifted her dainty hand far behind her head. The razor sharp talon that extended from her finger unsheathed with a ring and she brought it upward with a hefty swing. It didn’t cut like butter, not like it can slice through flesh. But it did collide with the body of the bottle, shattering the glass upon impact.

As if the two of them were playing some sick form of baseball, the bottle and her talon cosplaying as bat and ball, Renaissance watched the glass fragments rain down, tinkering like a wind chime when they met the empty road below. With a satisfying splash, Holy Water formed a new puddle on the tarmac. Ren watched it hiss, angry that it hadn’t made contact with it’s intended victim. Between Ren’s aerial acrobatics and this Huntress’ overarm… Were the two of them holding back?

Almost definitely. The ancient vampire was sure this brave young supernatural slayer had far more in her arsenal than the toss of a bottle. But it worked well as a threat. It said [i]“There’s more where that came from”[/i] and that, Ren could respect. 

This face-off was resulting in a manner of things. It was allowing the natural-born enemies to assess one another, to feel eachother out. Like burly men in a pub eyeing eachother up full of one too many pints; Who’ll throw the first punch? Except these two were not mere humans having a squabble. They were 2 opposing sides of the same coin. One dead, one alive. One good, one evil. And yet? Neither were going all in. Not one of them had unleashed their full power. It’s true, they were holding back.

Above them both, the starry sky and full moon set white fire to the skyline. A low rumble came from Mother Nature as a storm brewed angrily above their heads. Renaissance sighed. This meant her sky bound ventures were soon over. She’d navigated stormy skies before, of course. There wasn’t much more magical in the world than flight surrounded by forks of lightning, but it didn’t exactly make for a safe battleground. The ancient vampire’s sleek wings fanned out against the stormy, starry backdrop. Renaissances wild hair wrapped round her neck like a winter scarf, rippling in the breeze. 

[i]”Will we do this all night, little one?”[/i] Renaissance called out. Her voice forceful and oozing gravitas. A voice with a vocal fry and dripping honey. One that, when lowered, had a natural seduction and persuasiveness but when thrown across airborne metres of space, would have seemed leerily looming.

Ren and The Huntress had barely broken eye contact, this thread tying them together in a match of wits. Don’t blink. Don’t look away. Don’t take your eyes off of one another. The atmosphere was thick with challenge. She could so easily lose patience and eliminate instead. But this dance was one Ren enjoyed partaking in. 

[i]“Storm’s coming,”[/i] the vampiress sung, lifting her arms out wide to gesture at the backdrop behind her. [i]“Lightning doesn’t agree with my wings… So I’ll be forced to come down there with you-“[/i] Slowly, a mischievous smile began to spread across Ren’s face. She allowed her fangs to drop down, just hanging over her pillowed bottom lip. They glinted in the moonlight, winking at The Hunter below.
[i]”Then all this foreplay will have to cease and we’ll have to get down to it, properly”[/i] Renaissance let her wings falter, her body lowering closer and closer to the ground. Still keeping her distance, but moving out of the firing line of the storm, Ren began to count the visible weapons and various other little treats the Slayer had in her belt. A quick count? Multiple blessed metals. More bottled Holy Water. Viles of Hallowed Powder.

‘That’s quite the kit she’s got…’ Ren marvelled internally. Hunters really did come prepared these days…

In a graceful, practiced movement, she slowly tucked a stray curl of dark hair behind her dainty, almost-elven ears. Revealing her sizeable diamond hoop earrings and the curvature of her elegant neck, Renaissance cocked her head curiously at this young but clearly ambitious Hunter. She found herself wondering what the next move would be…