Riven Wight

Mystic Orphanage (Aristocles and Siaya Dragalorn)

Hilda’s smile grew impossibly warmer at Ferdinand’s statement. “Thank you. The extra help will be needed.” She watched him place his supplies on the floor, then slowly headed back toward where Thayva waited. “We haven’t really needed more, though, until now. We’ll have to bring it up to him or Thayva.” She gave a sad sigh. "But they've been a lot tenser than usual. More stressed. Perhaps it should wait until we get closer to needing to replenish our stocks."

* * *

Kia groaned and flopped lifelessly on the rooftop. “Do we have to move?” she muttered into the shingles.
“C’mon.” Laya stood and kicked her lightly in the side, before she heard a commotion on the balcony below them.

* * *

“Leave!” Nick hissed to Jorn as Aurelian said “Run!”
When the human bolted past them to the door, Nick made to follow, but then Aurelian tripped. Nick gave a surprised shout as he stumbled over the human, then landed on top of his friend.
Above them, the heads of Laya and Kia peeked over the edge of the rooftop, peering down at them a moment before Belle joined them.
“Nick?” Laya’s eyes went wide.
“Aurelian!” Belle’s cheeks flushed and she pulled back onto the rooftop, disappearing from sight to those below.
“Well, if it isn’t Jorn!” Kia said through a guffaw that echoed around them, as if having three boys listen in as they spoke about them was as far from embarrassing as possible. “You little eavesdroppers!” She rolled onto her back, her laughter intensifying at the mortified expressions on her friends’ faces. She could all but read their thoughts: How long had the boys been there for?

Mystic Orphanage (Aristocles and Siaya Dragalorn)

About revising things at the orphanage, I wouldn't worry about it unless it actually became a problem or something, or if you really wanted to. I just decided to make that something that bothers Kia.

... I have no idea what Legends of the Hidden Temple is. xD What is/was it?

Mystic Orphanage (Aristocles and Siaya Dragalorn)

Hilda placed her buckets down against the wall beside the hallway the lizardman had gone down, the tops frothy with soap. Her arms were thankful for the break.
“Ferdinand!” she called after him. She skidded to a stop in front of him when he addressed her. She gave him one of her friendly smiles as she looked up at him. “Thayva wants our help in doing an inventory of the supplies.”

* * *

Kia laughed and the other two girls smiled at Laura’s reaction.
“Better start trying to get him in adventuring shape, then!” Kia said as her laughter died down to a bout of giggles.
Belle glanced to the sky, the time difficult to gauge with the clouds covering the sun. They looked a bit darker now, and a flash of lightning streaked across the sky far in the distance.
“Is anyone watching the time?” the human asked worriedly. “We don’t want to be late for cleaning. They’re already furious about the whole mess. We don’t need to add another thing to that.”

* * *

Nick grinned and nudged Jorn at Laura’s agreement for inviting him along for an adventure. “Looks like you’ve got yourself an adventuring partner,” he taunted in a whisper.

Deleted

“I don’t know what you have against that title,” Izzy snapped at Cerasus, incapable of holding her own tongue when his newest chiding rubbed her the wrong way, “but I asked him a question, and an answer kind of involves speaking. So get off your high horse and go mope somewhere else if it bothers you that much.”
Izzy turned to Riley when she heard him answering her, doing her best to ignore any reaction Cerasus had. Her face lit up when he offered to step in. Whether he was a reliable source or not, she could use whatever help she could get.
“Really? That would be great. For the record,” she added with a light snort, “it wouldn’t be being a busybody. I’m the one asking you, not Mr. Underwear-In-A-Knot.” She hesitated. In many settings she had seen on television or read about involving the supernatural, help came at a price, and people in general almost always wanted something in return. Mix the two, and you had a perfect storm. Just to be safe, she asked, “But, is there something you would want in return for your assistance?”

Deleted

Izzy’s gaze followed Cerasus, her expression quizzical at his peculiar reaction to her question. After his superciliousness regarding his bloodline, he was sulking about her asking about his abilities.
She watched Riley replace his unlit cigarette in his mouth for the umpteenth time that night, listening intently to his explanation. She breathed a sigh of relief that he did not care to kill aberrations, as he so called them. Though she now knew he was a sort of peacekeeper, that did little to explain how he did what he did, but it was far better than “a mystery.”
“I’ll be sure to add ‘negotiator’ alongside a countertenor in a women’s choir.”
Izzy glanced to Cerasus when Riley gestured to him. She nodded at his question with a soft, “Yeah.”
She looked to Cerasus when he interrupted, him calling Riley “boy” making her pause. Then, she remembered that, in comparison to the vampire, Riley very could well be little more than a boy.
Izzy snorted at Cerasus considering the obstacle the hunters created a “simple matter.” “Says the guy who had his arms and legs torn off and was left for dead,” she muttered under her breath.
“To put it lightly,” she answered Riley.
But you’re not human, are you? a small, harsh voiced asked in the back of her mind. She looked to the floor with a somber, yet sour expression. Which brought her back to the suicidal task at hand. Knowing that Cerasus’ reputation was apparently based around what he could do to his own, not humankind, it was just a matter of accomplishing the mission so she could leave the outrageous absurdity of this world behind. Even though she had the nagging suspicion he had only told her he could help her so she would do his bidding, it was still her best chance.
“So, how am I supposed to separate them?” She looked up, glancing between the two, then her gaze settled on Riley. “Unless you know of a better way to locate his,” she gestured to Cerasus, “stolen parts than trying to get the hunters to tell me. Which would only be another problem,” she added with a sigh.

Deleted

Izzy scowled as Riley basically stated only what had already been said, with his ‘You’re only helping yourselves’ mantra tacked onto the end. “Sure. But the issue is of how I get them alone when they work as a unit.”
Ceresus’ outburst made Izzy jump, and the desk behind her scooted further back, knocking her off balance. She caught herself and straightened, glad she was not the object of his ire. She stood there, glancing between the two as Cerasus asked the question that had been on her mind as well.
Though Riley had seemed quite calm since she first met him, she kept an eye on him just in case. After all, she had seen how easily he had stopped those hunters, and though she doubted she could do anything, at least she could try to intervene if things escalated. But his composure never broke.
Izzy cocked her head slightly in mild amusement at how childish Cerasus looked in his anger, which, if not for the rage in his eyes, made it almost impossible to take him seriously.
Finally, they got an actual, fairly straight answer from Riley.
‘There’ and ‘here?’ “You mean between humans and the supernatural.”It felt odd on her tongue to say, to refer to humanity and not include herself. Izzy's eyes rested on Riley as he continued speaking.
She glanced to Cerasus at Riley’s comment to her. “Not cowardice exactly,” she said slowly, “just the whole safety and strength in numbers aspect.” All the same, thus far, she had not thought if it quite like that. She had thought Cerasus’ was simply a proud, boastful soul. She had not stopped to consider exactly how much of his pride came from his true abilities. To her, his name meant nothing, but until three days ago, vampires were only stories made up to frighten kids and entertain teenagers. For all she knew, he really could be at the top of the supernatural food chain. If she helped him, what would she be unleashing?
Despite Cerasus being only a couple feet away, Izzy had to know. “And what,” she began, trying to make the question sound as innocent as she could without arousing too much suspicion, “exactly, is he capable of?”

Deleted

Izzy nodded her agreement at not counting on Riley, her shoulders sinking slightly at his wordless response. She had hoped that, since he had accompanied her back to the school, he would at least offer some form of aid, but that was dashed with a couple noncommittal laughs.
“At least I gave it a shot,” Izzy muttered, disheartened, as Cerasus hopped onto a desk. She followed his lead, leaning on another desk and stretching her legs out in front of her. It scooted a couple inches against the tiles of the floor at her added weight, then stopped. She stared at her shoes, trying to think of something else, then raised her head to look to Cerasus when he spoke again. Her stomach did a flip, and she inhaled sharply at the thought of being tracked, whether they wanted it or not, before her attention turned to Riley.
Yet again, he had helped them. She glanced to Cerasus, trying to gauge exactly what he thought about the unusual man, but his own glance told her he was just as suspicious of him as she was. Him showing up when he did to save the day more than once was far too much of a coincidence to settle right with Izzy. He had to be here for something more than just to save a damsel and man-child in distress.
“Why are--” she started asking, but cut herself off before she could finish with “you helping us.” So far, any questions to him had been answered in an irritatingly roundabout way. She doubted this time would be any different, and suspected she already knew the answer that would follow.
“Thanks for that,” she said instead, caution in her voice. Perhaps if she got him talking, either she or Cerasus could catch him in a Freudian slip. “Since we’re,” she nodded toward Cerasus, even though Riley could not see her, “out of ideas here, what would you suggest we do in this case?”

They Live Among Us (Vampiricchild x Siaya)

Victoria instinctively flinched back when Alex held the package of cookies out to her. She rubbed the back of her neck and gave him a small apologetic smile. “Sure. Thanks.” She reached into the package and took a couple cookies, more than glad for the subject change, even if it was to the topic of cookies. She bit into one of the sugary confectioneries, and glanced to the doorway again. Illyad had fallen rather silent.

* * *

Jevan sat at his desk filling out paperwork. Such mundane chores, he thought bitterly. But such is the bane of maintaining a public appearance. There were so many other things he longed to be doing, but he still had a role to maintain and play with the wretched humans.
The fire burning in his office fireplace crackled weakly behind him, and a slight chill entered the room. He glanced to it, the once mighty blaze now dwindling into glowing embers with a couple desperate tongues of flames begging feebly for food.
With a sigh, Jevan put his pen down, stood, and went to place another log on the fire from the small pile stored nearby. He picked up one of the logs, and froze.
A tingling sensation ran down his spine as if someone watched him, only more electric. More magic. A snarl twisted his face. Someone was trying to delve into his business. And there was only one person he knew who could do that.
“Illyad,” he spat. He viciously threw the log onto the fire, making surprised sparks fly into the air and dance up the flue. “I should’ve known.”
With the fire’s hunger temporarily sated, he sat in front of the fireplace, his legs crossed. He closed his eyes, bent his head, placed his hands together horizontally in front of him, and concentrated, focusing on finding Illyad’s signature and connecting with it.
“Oh little brother,” he called sardonically. “Come to play with the big boys, have you?"

Deleted

“You didn’t know about the bounty.” It would seem that Cerasus knew little more than she had before facing the hunters. Something about his lack of knowledge on the matter made Izzy feel slightly better. At least she was not the only one in the dark, metaphorically speaking. And at least it was not normal for a bounty to be out on vampires. Just, apparently, Cerasus. She resisted the urge to ask what he had done to get a bounty put on him, but only just.
When Cerasus turned to her with his answer to her final question, Izzy’s eyes narrowed. “Because it’s totally normal to be capable of escaping with the state you were in compared to the power of the hunters,” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as his gaze softened slightly.
“What time difference?” She shook her head and placed her fingers to her temples. “Know what? Not important right now.” She moved both hands in a dismissive gesture, more to try getting the question out of her mind than anything else. If things were to get any better, she needed to put her head in the game, if for no other reason than so she would not be beheaded. Or de-limbed. Whichever came first, if not both. “We need to get your missing parts back... Man, I already miss conversations that didn’t involve that sentence.”
Izzy exhaled slowly and put her hair up into her usual half-ponytail as well as she could without a mirror or hairbrush, hoping having it out of her face would help her think.
“We need a plan,” she continued thoughtfully, twirling a piece of her hair that was too short to reach the ponytail. “If I’m the only one in any shape to face them between the two of us, we’re in trouble. I don’t know how much Mr. Riley is willing to... help us help ourselves,” she glanced to him, hoping she had gotten one of his favorite phrases correct, “but either way, meeting them on their turf was a fiasco. We need to set a trap for them, and get them to come to us without them knowing it. They said they’ve been trying to find your hiding place for a while. Where were you staying before here? I don’t know how they sniff vampires out, but if you’re smell, aura, or whatever they can track is still there, maybe we can use that to our advantage. Unless we want to lure them here.” She glanced around the room, then to the door leading to the shadowy hall beyond. “There’re three of them, and two of us. This place is pretty big. If we separated, unless they wanted to risk one of us escaping, they’d have to split up to catch us, right?"

Mystic Orphanage (Aristocles and Siaya Dragalorn)

It's up to you. Heck, even if I'm busy, you're more than welcome to post, and I'll respond whenever I can.

Technically, I said it's "likely," not definite. xD I was expecting to be unavailable for a good portion of that range, so gave the warning, but with everything packed away, I don't exactly have much else to occupy me when I take breaks and whatnot. I keep my laptop in a backpack, so that did not get tossed into the truck. Thus, RPG. Called it quits for the night a couple hours ago, so now I'm mulling around on the internet. Still at the old place for another day, so I have internet access, which is going to be up here through the end of the month.