Post by Joliette Thorne on Dec 26, 2006 9:19:04 GMT -5
Tene had followed a trail of blood from Kelay tavern, leading to a blue bandanna like the one usually worn by Jack the Black outside the rogue's hideout. She races inside…
Leoxander had been clumsy on his escape. Threads of shredded vines, blood that couldn't be distinguished human, and various items from a ruined pouch led the way. The blue bandana out front was soaked in blood, whether picked up by the Necromancer or not. Here, the rogue was welcome, despite the stench of death. A hide-out was one place the thief could be welcome, and he'd carried the injured to sanctuary with a desperate plea to the other rogues present. Now, he was inside, on the wood floor, along side a lump of shaggy black fur. His white shirt was soaked in red, and not only was the left side burned from the explosion of a trap, but vines curled around his body, still withering away. A bottle of whisky half empty rolled sideways across the ground toward the door.
Tenebrae held that bandana, limp and covered in blood. Her hand trembled, as she looked to the man and dog lain on the floor, and her voice was a breath: "Leo ... Jack ..." She was shaking her head, eyes filling with moisture. In seconds, she knelt beside the pair, her lower lip bitten hard as she looked to the rogue, the question, the concern, burning in her eyes.
Leoxander 's lucky black shirt was in his hands, armored in something different. And that clothing was pressed to the wound in his dog's body, revealing the whites of rib bones through the gash parting fur and flesh. Head bowed, he was still breathing hard from physical exertion and panic. He didn't lift his head when she entered, but remained bowed over the animal. Jack whined low at Tenebrae's approach, pale brown eyes rolling open to search wide-eyed toward Tenebrae.
Tenebrae said, "Jack ...." Her hand came to her mouth, fingers reaching to brush tenderly at his bloodsoaked fur. She scrambled in her pack for bandaging and healing herbs, a bottle of the liquid that had healed Leo's goblin bites and anything else she thought might help. Her stomach lurched horribly.Tene knew a mortal wound when she saw one. "Tell me later, how this came to be ... for now, pour that bottle over the wound, pack it with the supus and cloth...."
Leoxander wasn't a surgeon, nor a healer, and he'd done what he could to keep his friend alive over the course of the night. The animal had lost a lot of blood, but Jack was as strong as the human he traveled with. The dog's breathing was weak, but he was in fact breathing. Nodding, but unable to speak, the rogue backed up some to let Tenebrae closer. She'd saved him before, but of course, a human was far different from a domestic beast.
Tenebrae reached to her back, drawing from strapping there what appeared to be a plain oaken staff. The cup she took from her pack, however, was incredibly ornate, covered in oddly gleaming gems and runes that made the mind ache just to look at them. "Just in case." She nodded to the wand and cup. "I can bring him back." She places these objects down on the ground beside the animal, blinking away her tears. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Tene tore the stopper from the bottle with nimble fingers, pouring it to the wound, quickly followed by the vials of supus one after the other.
Leoxander pulled his knees to his chest, watching the morbid scene through the space allowed between mask and hood. The composed rogue, for once, was visibly shaken. Head bowed to bury his face moreso against arms that crossed over his knees, curling up into a ball against the wall with a stare locked toward the Necromancer and his dog. Of course, a guy like Leo didn't cry, but he looked damn ready to crack one way or another, sitting there. He still couldn't manage to answer her.
Tenebrae started then to incant a darkling prayer, an eldred appeal to the Lords of Dissolution to whom she had pledged herself. This, muttered in unholy intonations, made the very air crackle and prick at the hairs on the flesh of the humanoids. There's be a price to pay, but she'd pay it, if it would save Jack. Of course, he might not be the same either, it was a matter of wait and see. She watched the flesh begin to knit, her vampiric liquids serving their purpose.
Leoxander buried his eyes against his arms, at that point. He had no God to pray to. Fingers curled into angry fists as he seethed with hate for the dragon, wishing every violent thing he could think of his enemy's way. Vines withered brown, still wrapped around his biceps and throat from where they'd entangled him. Someone had helped him escape, but he'd never had time to look and see who. A wasted trip, the supplies he'd stolen had been broken, save one bottle of liquor stolen from Mesthak's bar, right in front of the dwarf. It was all he had to clean the wound.
Tenebrae finished her chant with an eldritch ululation; the sound scarcely human. Indeed, it was difficult for any anthropoid tongue to mimic the speech of the Dark Gods, but she did it adequately enough, it seemed. Whether her prayer was heard, or her fluids still potent, or the supus stronger than she'd hoped, or a mixture of the three, Jack let out a terrified yelp and sprang to all fours, white-eyed in terror and fur stuck up every which-way, and bolted like a black streak to the side of his master. The necromancer collapsed to the floor, her breath coming ragged. The toll of the dire magics she'd invoked - more than once that day - was being felt on her slight form.
Leoxander said, "Jack..." The name left the human's lips in a murmur after looking up, startled at the yelp. His own eyes wide with disbelief, he crawled on hands and knees forward toward the dog. A dog he often acted like he didn't care about. But when tattooed arms came around the animal's throat to clutch him tightly, the truth was obvious. Disbelief and awe were the things his whisper was made of. "You're alright..." Leo clutched the animal's fur, a glance over his shoulder meant to give some sort of due thanks to Tenebrae. But his eyes lowered, spotting her there, on the floor. Immediately, he let go of Jack and began to crawl toward her. "...Tenebrae.."
Tenebrae 's delicate nostrils flared, her upper lip flickering in a snarl. Oh, the Dark Lords had a price, alright. And now she paid it as the near-revenant lunged toward Leoxander, hardly resembling the sweet woman he knew, nothing of the human in her, but the demonic disease of her vampirism. She uncoiled herself from her prone position, green irises a toxic, sickly hue, and threw herself upon him. Lips retracted, no longer rosy, as lengthening and needle-like fangs lunged toward his throat.
Leoxander would have normally been on his guard, ready to move, roll, and kick the attacker away. But c'mon, this was Tenebrae. The woman that just saved his best friend's life. He'd been reaching out for her wrist when she suddenly moved, cat like lunge quick enough to have his bruised (recently kicked by Demonian) back slamming against the ground. Jack barked angrily, wildly, uncertain what to do. He wouldn't attack the Necromancer, either. Were the two playing? Not by Leo's yell, which sounded as his hands went for her shoulders, trying to keep her back. ...Of course... could the human really overpower the vampire? Especially in that moment of rage and hunger? His eyes squeezed closed to try with all his might.
Tenebrae pushed aside his resistance as though he'd made none, and latched to his throat like a beast; like the beast she -was- at that moment. Nothing of the girl remained, this was a monster, and Leo her prey. Already, he might feel the weakness of his life's-blood draining away as the vampiric necromancer had her fill.
Leoxander wasn't just another easy human prey. Just because she pushed him away, or he weakened, didn't mean he didn't fight her. Fingers bit into her shoulder, the other hand pushing right against her face and cheek to try to tear those piercing eye teeth from his throat. "Te-...Tene..." Through the haze of ache he felt, her name was attempted, growled out with a violent flail of his body beneath her pinning weight. "...Let go! Stop..." Eyes that had squeezed closed opened wide, panicked and confused with his vision lined up toward the ceiling of that hide-out house. His fisted hand hit against her shoulder one more time, and the palm against her cheek slid down... "...stop..."
Leoxander never heard the heavier growl that overpowered his voice soon enough, behind her...
Tenebrae, however, was beyond reason. The demon-spawned blood she'd inherited from those that sired her - and they, the worst of the worst - was at the uppermost and she didn't even recognise her name... The crunch, when it came, would not be not the sensual feeding she might share with a lover, but the bestial hunger of a beast unfed.
Leoxander tensed up when his vision began to fog over, blinding him to the intricate carvings of the banister that led to second floor. Yet, his eyes remained wide, even as his breathing deepened, and shallowed, and his head fell somewhat more to the side. His heartbeat quickened furiously to try to pump the lost blood through his veins, only to spill from that new wound at his throat. But Leo had another defender, protector, and whether the was usually friend or not, she was killing his human. Jack made whatever attempts a dog could to attack her, weight ramming into her from a pounce, strong jaws closing on one of her arms with a violent thrash of the beast's head.
Tenebrae was ripped from Leo's throat by the fierce pull of Jack, newly healed and still imbued with something of the supernatural, as he tore her backward. The revenant snarled, lunged again, this time toward the dog; Jack danced back in the agile way of his ancestors, or the few of pure blood he had, to avoid her clawing grasp. Snarling, Tene stood and ran from the building, madness and the streaming dark amassing within. Could there be a shred of her left, in that abberation?
Leoxander wasn't the one to peek out that open door, left thus in the woman's haste to escape. It was in fact the brown eyed, black furred companion of the rogue's that stuck his nose out, sniffing the air, before stepping outside with a reluctant whine. To leave the human there was one thing, but an attempt to help Leo to his feet hadn't yet been successful. Jack would have to find the woman...
Tenebrae looked up from the corpse of the mongrel at her feet. Squatted over it, mouth smeared with blood, peridot eyes held fading black rims that soon turned back to crystalline green as she saw Jack push through the door. Her heart broke then, her mind returning with the blood that fed her, fuelled her heart ... Her face was a mask of misery, as she followed the dog, back into that house...
Leoxander 's dog stood not far from the door, staring toward the female who loomed over the corpse of a mutt he didn't particularly like. Those sad chocolate eyes seemed to convey the words of reason he wasn't capable of speaking, and before long, his tail brushed in a sad wag at her approach. The dog would turn, making his way back inside.
Leoxander had moved, but... unfortunately, it wasn't much. There was that initial puddle of red where he'd been, then the smeared version of color across floorboards showing where he'd started to drag himself toward the door, and surrounding it all was vermilion paw prints, having paced circles around the human to try to encourage any way he could. Canine blood mixed with human blood. The white shirt soaked in Jack's spilled life was now pressed to his throat, but his body was still prone on the ground, propped against the wall with an arm tucked beneath him to try to sit up. His head was bowed, though. And in the dark a steady drip of liquid tapped against floorboards.
Tenebrae was an unnatural colour. She wasn't herself, that was plain, as she followed Jack through the roughly-boarded doorway. The mongrel's blood had done the trick, barely. Now, filled with shame and horror at what she'd done, the vampiress came to Leo's side quickly. A swift nip to her wrist answered his blood loss,the wound offered him. Sure, it rebounded some ties he was perhaps better off without, but he'd heal, and so would her guilt...
Leoxander did what any mortal would do at the return of their attacker, he shied away. He pressed back against the wall at once, after looking up to the blurry visage of another presence, never hearing the sound of her approach with his own ears pounding with a dull heartbeat. His breath quickened as he hand came toward him, and as disoriented as he was, he didn't realize she was offering blood, and not reaching for his weakened frame. One hand held the blood soaked shirt, dripping at a steady leak, to his neck. The other pushed at her hand with a gruff protest. "No... d-don't..." Leo wasn't trying to make her feel terrible, but he wasn't thinking or seeing straight. He didn't want to die, and his body and voice were weak enough already. "Ge..get away from me..."
Tenebrae let out a soft sigh, and pushed her bitten hand closer. She could smell death, and wanted none of it. "Drink, Leo ..." Her tone was a plea. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..." Her sobs punctuated her words. This ... this was her tragedy.
Leoxander wasn't going to. He could be a stubborn fool of a human when set on it. Her arm was pushed away with a weak groan escaping his lips, eyes squeezing closed from what pain he could feel, but the tips of his fingers and feet were already numb. His skin was cold to the touch, paler than normal, but he was smart enough to keep that old shirt pressed against the wound, slowing, eventually stopping the flow of blood from the attempt to sever his artery. Slumping heavily against the wall, his eyes drifted toward the door, and the dog who stood tense near it, staring worridly toward his human. Panting hard, his head lolled to the side, eyes forced to remain open. Leo knew better than to shut them. "...Tenebrae..." The name was whispered... where was she? That couldn't have been her... it must have been a dream. The color of his eyes, even, seemed to fade to something more lurid.
Tenebrae took then the only path she had left, and gave him a more mortal cure. Slower than her blood, less profound. But effective, if he'd trust her. She reached once more to her pack, vial after vial produced and thrust toward him, her sobs a mark of her fear of the loss of one she held so dear. And closing her eyes for a second, she sent out a call to one she knew could help Leo, her mind shrieking the words to that of the healer: "I need your help! In the house, off Kelay road, if you can? I would be indebted to your clan!" A pulse of will extended, like a shroud of shadow, to float to the ether. Now, she need only wait for reply...
Leoxander was tired. So... very tired. Jack approached the two warily, nosing against Leo's blood touched cheek with a concerned whine deep in his furred chest. The human lifted his free hand to reassure the dog, but instead curled red stained digits into that thick black fur, leaning against the dog heavily, face burying against the canine's throat. The vials touching against his stomach, resting in his lap, caused his pale eyes to drop. That same trembling hand managed to grasp one, while the opposite still held that ruined shirt against his shoulder and throat. The vial was lifted... and then it slipped out of his bloody fingers, and thunked against the ground, rolling away to clink against the empty whisky bottle.
Myrall enters the room, breathless from running "How may I be of sevice my lady?"
Tenebrae said to Myrall, "He has loss of blood... Please, help him!" She could do little but watch, her eyes a pall of concern, though she has trust in the Lady Myrall's ability to help her friend.
Myrall rushes to the crumpled form of Leoaxander, and drops to her knees, gingerly feeling his prone form for signs of injury, seemingly unaware of the blood that rapidly stains her hands and cloak. "May I ask what happened?"
Leoxander remained on the ground, a white shirt soaked through with blood pressed to his shoulder, perhaps his throat. It was hard to see in the darkness of that house with the clothing soaked through in red. His eyes had closed by this point, his breathing shallow. And Jack was growling deeply at Myrall, intending to let her nowhere near the fallen rogue.
Tenebrae said to Myrall, "I bit him. He was already weak..."
Leoxander wasn't aware to stop Jack when the dog snapped at Myrall's hands, hackles raised.
Tenebrae grabbed for Jack, forcing the canine back.
Leoxander lost his grip, unconscious, on the shirt held to his throat. It fell away to reveal the ooze of blood from the deep bite. Face down on hardwood floor, Jack, the dog, shuddered in Tenebrae's hold, ears perked intently to watch the woman at his companion's side.
Myrall looks at the mongrel so fiercely guarding it's master, and whispers softly to the cur, her sweet tone seeming to placate the animal, as she carefully lifts the sodden shirt so she may better see what needs to be done. Sharply sucking air in over her teeth as the extent of the wound becomes apparent the priestess works swiftly, her deft hands probing the deep wound, turning her fact to Tenebrae, and trying not to allow the concern see feels show she whispers urgently "In my bag, a green vial, quickly give it to him it will ease the pain"
Myrall chuckles trying to ease the tension in the room "Your fangs are sharp mistress, and go deep I must say"
Tenebrae reached for said vial, rummaging madly. At last, she produced it, holding the glass high. "This it?" Her question was frantic.
Leoxander was unaware of what surrounded him. Blackness had engulfed a man who dressed and stalked in that dark hue on a nightly basis. His cheek pressed flat to the floorboards, he was doubled over on his stomach, looking almost to be in a deep, drunk-induced sleep, if not for the creep of blood trailing over his jawline, toward the floor. At least the flow was slower now.
Myrall nods "Aye that's the one, should also serve to help clot the blood, 'tis one I have used in similar cases, *raise a brow* though never at the attackers behest I must say"
Tenebrae was crying. The odd occurrence of her weeping over one she'd bitten; so very strange. He was her friend, her confidant, and she'd done her best to save him, though she be the cause of much of his present condition. Odd? Yes. Did she care? For once, yes, she did.
Myrall presses her childlike hands to the wound and begins to hum a hauntingly sweet refrain, that soon fill the small room, as each note echoes around the confined space the Dwarves hands begin to shimmer, ethereal orange and gold light start to radiate outward growing in in intensity and brilliance, as the priests melody gains momentum, until at last the mystical energy seems to explode into the surrounding ether, in a shower of multi hue droplets. Sighing deeply and slowly removing her hands Myrall surveys her handy-work. Two livid red spots remain to mark the place of the erstwhile injury, but the wounds themselves are no more and the blood surrounding them now begins to dry and crack as no fresh life fluids join those already lost.
Leoxander remained prone on the ground, 'sleeping'... but now his heart beat with a will to continue, and color would eventually return to a more normal tan familiar with the tattooed human. Jack's ears pressed to his skull and tail dipped between his legs at the shower of magic, heightened senses knowing something unordinary was happening. And though Leo made no move to open his eyes just yet... as blood dried and wounds healed, he looked healthier already. His eyes stayed closed for the time being, breathing becoming regular once more.
Tenebrae clung to Myrall, the seemingly fearsome vampiress suddenly vulnerable, as she holds the dwarfess, her words suddenly taking an archaic and formal tone. "Thy Temple is henceforth under my personal protection. Thy family hast no need to fear, for thy blood is as my own. I thank thee, and thy magics."
Myrall gently cradles the fearsome lady, her voice soothing as she whispers "'Twas nothing really my lady, thanks are not needed, though accepted graciously.
Leoxander 's dog seemed to relax, watching the women briefly, before pacing the floor downstairs with a sniff at the unholy goblet still laying in Leoxander and the canine's mix of blood. It was there, honestly.
Tenebrae patted the arm of the silvered hair of the dwarfess. "I make no promises, only vows." She glanced to Leo, her visage a mask of concern. "I will put him to his rest." And with that, the diminutive vampiress gathered the body of the tall youth, taking the stairs two at a time. Once in the loft, she had laid him out on the couch, her hands stroking his cheeks. "Leo ..." She planted a soft kiss to hid forehead. "Be well, pet.."
Leoxander sunk against that couch in what could be the deepest of recovering sleeps. Though perhaps painted with nightmares, eventually. Exactly what he'd wake up thinking it all was. His head rolled to one side, messy blonde falling over closed eyes. The dog followed, and stationed himself, laying down on the floor by the foot of the couch.
Tenebrae watched the pair a moment and, with an expression of infinite loss, took to the downward stair.
Leoxander had been clumsy on his escape. Threads of shredded vines, blood that couldn't be distinguished human, and various items from a ruined pouch led the way. The blue bandana out front was soaked in blood, whether picked up by the Necromancer or not. Here, the rogue was welcome, despite the stench of death. A hide-out was one place the thief could be welcome, and he'd carried the injured to sanctuary with a desperate plea to the other rogues present. Now, he was inside, on the wood floor, along side a lump of shaggy black fur. His white shirt was soaked in red, and not only was the left side burned from the explosion of a trap, but vines curled around his body, still withering away. A bottle of whisky half empty rolled sideways across the ground toward the door.
Tenebrae held that bandana, limp and covered in blood. Her hand trembled, as she looked to the man and dog lain on the floor, and her voice was a breath: "Leo ... Jack ..." She was shaking her head, eyes filling with moisture. In seconds, she knelt beside the pair, her lower lip bitten hard as she looked to the rogue, the question, the concern, burning in her eyes.
Leoxander 's lucky black shirt was in his hands, armored in something different. And that clothing was pressed to the wound in his dog's body, revealing the whites of rib bones through the gash parting fur and flesh. Head bowed, he was still breathing hard from physical exertion and panic. He didn't lift his head when she entered, but remained bowed over the animal. Jack whined low at Tenebrae's approach, pale brown eyes rolling open to search wide-eyed toward Tenebrae.
Tenebrae said, "Jack ...." Her hand came to her mouth, fingers reaching to brush tenderly at his bloodsoaked fur. She scrambled in her pack for bandaging and healing herbs, a bottle of the liquid that had healed Leo's goblin bites and anything else she thought might help. Her stomach lurched horribly.Tene knew a mortal wound when she saw one. "Tell me later, how this came to be ... for now, pour that bottle over the wound, pack it with the supus and cloth...."
Leoxander wasn't a surgeon, nor a healer, and he'd done what he could to keep his friend alive over the course of the night. The animal had lost a lot of blood, but Jack was as strong as the human he traveled with. The dog's breathing was weak, but he was in fact breathing. Nodding, but unable to speak, the rogue backed up some to let Tenebrae closer. She'd saved him before, but of course, a human was far different from a domestic beast.
Tenebrae reached to her back, drawing from strapping there what appeared to be a plain oaken staff. The cup she took from her pack, however, was incredibly ornate, covered in oddly gleaming gems and runes that made the mind ache just to look at them. "Just in case." She nodded to the wand and cup. "I can bring him back." She places these objects down on the ground beside the animal, blinking away her tears. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Tene tore the stopper from the bottle with nimble fingers, pouring it to the wound, quickly followed by the vials of supus one after the other.
Leoxander pulled his knees to his chest, watching the morbid scene through the space allowed between mask and hood. The composed rogue, for once, was visibly shaken. Head bowed to bury his face moreso against arms that crossed over his knees, curling up into a ball against the wall with a stare locked toward the Necromancer and his dog. Of course, a guy like Leo didn't cry, but he looked damn ready to crack one way or another, sitting there. He still couldn't manage to answer her.
Tenebrae started then to incant a darkling prayer, an eldred appeal to the Lords of Dissolution to whom she had pledged herself. This, muttered in unholy intonations, made the very air crackle and prick at the hairs on the flesh of the humanoids. There's be a price to pay, but she'd pay it, if it would save Jack. Of course, he might not be the same either, it was a matter of wait and see. She watched the flesh begin to knit, her vampiric liquids serving their purpose.
Leoxander buried his eyes against his arms, at that point. He had no God to pray to. Fingers curled into angry fists as he seethed with hate for the dragon, wishing every violent thing he could think of his enemy's way. Vines withered brown, still wrapped around his biceps and throat from where they'd entangled him. Someone had helped him escape, but he'd never had time to look and see who. A wasted trip, the supplies he'd stolen had been broken, save one bottle of liquor stolen from Mesthak's bar, right in front of the dwarf. It was all he had to clean the wound.
Tenebrae finished her chant with an eldritch ululation; the sound scarcely human. Indeed, it was difficult for any anthropoid tongue to mimic the speech of the Dark Gods, but she did it adequately enough, it seemed. Whether her prayer was heard, or her fluids still potent, or the supus stronger than she'd hoped, or a mixture of the three, Jack let out a terrified yelp and sprang to all fours, white-eyed in terror and fur stuck up every which-way, and bolted like a black streak to the side of his master. The necromancer collapsed to the floor, her breath coming ragged. The toll of the dire magics she'd invoked - more than once that day - was being felt on her slight form.
Leoxander said, "Jack..." The name left the human's lips in a murmur after looking up, startled at the yelp. His own eyes wide with disbelief, he crawled on hands and knees forward toward the dog. A dog he often acted like he didn't care about. But when tattooed arms came around the animal's throat to clutch him tightly, the truth was obvious. Disbelief and awe were the things his whisper was made of. "You're alright..." Leo clutched the animal's fur, a glance over his shoulder meant to give some sort of due thanks to Tenebrae. But his eyes lowered, spotting her there, on the floor. Immediately, he let go of Jack and began to crawl toward her. "...Tenebrae.."
Tenebrae 's delicate nostrils flared, her upper lip flickering in a snarl. Oh, the Dark Lords had a price, alright. And now she paid it as the near-revenant lunged toward Leoxander, hardly resembling the sweet woman he knew, nothing of the human in her, but the demonic disease of her vampirism. She uncoiled herself from her prone position, green irises a toxic, sickly hue, and threw herself upon him. Lips retracted, no longer rosy, as lengthening and needle-like fangs lunged toward his throat.
Leoxander would have normally been on his guard, ready to move, roll, and kick the attacker away. But c'mon, this was Tenebrae. The woman that just saved his best friend's life. He'd been reaching out for her wrist when she suddenly moved, cat like lunge quick enough to have his bruised (recently kicked by Demonian) back slamming against the ground. Jack barked angrily, wildly, uncertain what to do. He wouldn't attack the Necromancer, either. Were the two playing? Not by Leo's yell, which sounded as his hands went for her shoulders, trying to keep her back. ...Of course... could the human really overpower the vampire? Especially in that moment of rage and hunger? His eyes squeezed closed to try with all his might.
Tenebrae pushed aside his resistance as though he'd made none, and latched to his throat like a beast; like the beast she -was- at that moment. Nothing of the girl remained, this was a monster, and Leo her prey. Already, he might feel the weakness of his life's-blood draining away as the vampiric necromancer had her fill.
Leoxander wasn't just another easy human prey. Just because she pushed him away, or he weakened, didn't mean he didn't fight her. Fingers bit into her shoulder, the other hand pushing right against her face and cheek to try to tear those piercing eye teeth from his throat. "Te-...Tene..." Through the haze of ache he felt, her name was attempted, growled out with a violent flail of his body beneath her pinning weight. "...Let go! Stop..." Eyes that had squeezed closed opened wide, panicked and confused with his vision lined up toward the ceiling of that hide-out house. His fisted hand hit against her shoulder one more time, and the palm against her cheek slid down... "...stop..."
Leoxander never heard the heavier growl that overpowered his voice soon enough, behind her...
Tenebrae, however, was beyond reason. The demon-spawned blood she'd inherited from those that sired her - and they, the worst of the worst - was at the uppermost and she didn't even recognise her name... The crunch, when it came, would not be not the sensual feeding she might share with a lover, but the bestial hunger of a beast unfed.
Leoxander tensed up when his vision began to fog over, blinding him to the intricate carvings of the banister that led to second floor. Yet, his eyes remained wide, even as his breathing deepened, and shallowed, and his head fell somewhat more to the side. His heartbeat quickened furiously to try to pump the lost blood through his veins, only to spill from that new wound at his throat. But Leo had another defender, protector, and whether the was usually friend or not, she was killing his human. Jack made whatever attempts a dog could to attack her, weight ramming into her from a pounce, strong jaws closing on one of her arms with a violent thrash of the beast's head.
Tenebrae was ripped from Leo's throat by the fierce pull of Jack, newly healed and still imbued with something of the supernatural, as he tore her backward. The revenant snarled, lunged again, this time toward the dog; Jack danced back in the agile way of his ancestors, or the few of pure blood he had, to avoid her clawing grasp. Snarling, Tene stood and ran from the building, madness and the streaming dark amassing within. Could there be a shred of her left, in that abberation?
Leoxander wasn't the one to peek out that open door, left thus in the woman's haste to escape. It was in fact the brown eyed, black furred companion of the rogue's that stuck his nose out, sniffing the air, before stepping outside with a reluctant whine. To leave the human there was one thing, but an attempt to help Leo to his feet hadn't yet been successful. Jack would have to find the woman...
Tenebrae looked up from the corpse of the mongrel at her feet. Squatted over it, mouth smeared with blood, peridot eyes held fading black rims that soon turned back to crystalline green as she saw Jack push through the door. Her heart broke then, her mind returning with the blood that fed her, fuelled her heart ... Her face was a mask of misery, as she followed the dog, back into that house...
Leoxander 's dog stood not far from the door, staring toward the female who loomed over the corpse of a mutt he didn't particularly like. Those sad chocolate eyes seemed to convey the words of reason he wasn't capable of speaking, and before long, his tail brushed in a sad wag at her approach. The dog would turn, making his way back inside.
Leoxander had moved, but... unfortunately, it wasn't much. There was that initial puddle of red where he'd been, then the smeared version of color across floorboards showing where he'd started to drag himself toward the door, and surrounding it all was vermilion paw prints, having paced circles around the human to try to encourage any way he could. Canine blood mixed with human blood. The white shirt soaked in Jack's spilled life was now pressed to his throat, but his body was still prone on the ground, propped against the wall with an arm tucked beneath him to try to sit up. His head was bowed, though. And in the dark a steady drip of liquid tapped against floorboards.
Tenebrae was an unnatural colour. She wasn't herself, that was plain, as she followed Jack through the roughly-boarded doorway. The mongrel's blood had done the trick, barely. Now, filled with shame and horror at what she'd done, the vampiress came to Leo's side quickly. A swift nip to her wrist answered his blood loss,the wound offered him. Sure, it rebounded some ties he was perhaps better off without, but he'd heal, and so would her guilt...
Leoxander did what any mortal would do at the return of their attacker, he shied away. He pressed back against the wall at once, after looking up to the blurry visage of another presence, never hearing the sound of her approach with his own ears pounding with a dull heartbeat. His breath quickened as he hand came toward him, and as disoriented as he was, he didn't realize she was offering blood, and not reaching for his weakened frame. One hand held the blood soaked shirt, dripping at a steady leak, to his neck. The other pushed at her hand with a gruff protest. "No... d-don't..." Leo wasn't trying to make her feel terrible, but he wasn't thinking or seeing straight. He didn't want to die, and his body and voice were weak enough already. "Ge..get away from me..."
Tenebrae let out a soft sigh, and pushed her bitten hand closer. She could smell death, and wanted none of it. "Drink, Leo ..." Her tone was a plea. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry..." Her sobs punctuated her words. This ... this was her tragedy.
Leoxander wasn't going to. He could be a stubborn fool of a human when set on it. Her arm was pushed away with a weak groan escaping his lips, eyes squeezing closed from what pain he could feel, but the tips of his fingers and feet were already numb. His skin was cold to the touch, paler than normal, but he was smart enough to keep that old shirt pressed against the wound, slowing, eventually stopping the flow of blood from the attempt to sever his artery. Slumping heavily against the wall, his eyes drifted toward the door, and the dog who stood tense near it, staring worridly toward his human. Panting hard, his head lolled to the side, eyes forced to remain open. Leo knew better than to shut them. "...Tenebrae..." The name was whispered... where was she? That couldn't have been her... it must have been a dream. The color of his eyes, even, seemed to fade to something more lurid.
Tenebrae took then the only path she had left, and gave him a more mortal cure. Slower than her blood, less profound. But effective, if he'd trust her. She reached once more to her pack, vial after vial produced and thrust toward him, her sobs a mark of her fear of the loss of one she held so dear. And closing her eyes for a second, she sent out a call to one she knew could help Leo, her mind shrieking the words to that of the healer: "I need your help! In the house, off Kelay road, if you can? I would be indebted to your clan!" A pulse of will extended, like a shroud of shadow, to float to the ether. Now, she need only wait for reply...
Leoxander was tired. So... very tired. Jack approached the two warily, nosing against Leo's blood touched cheek with a concerned whine deep in his furred chest. The human lifted his free hand to reassure the dog, but instead curled red stained digits into that thick black fur, leaning against the dog heavily, face burying against the canine's throat. The vials touching against his stomach, resting in his lap, caused his pale eyes to drop. That same trembling hand managed to grasp one, while the opposite still held that ruined shirt against his shoulder and throat. The vial was lifted... and then it slipped out of his bloody fingers, and thunked against the ground, rolling away to clink against the empty whisky bottle.
Myrall enters the room, breathless from running "How may I be of sevice my lady?"
Tenebrae said to Myrall, "He has loss of blood... Please, help him!" She could do little but watch, her eyes a pall of concern, though she has trust in the Lady Myrall's ability to help her friend.
Myrall rushes to the crumpled form of Leoaxander, and drops to her knees, gingerly feeling his prone form for signs of injury, seemingly unaware of the blood that rapidly stains her hands and cloak. "May I ask what happened?"
Leoxander remained on the ground, a white shirt soaked through with blood pressed to his shoulder, perhaps his throat. It was hard to see in the darkness of that house with the clothing soaked through in red. His eyes had closed by this point, his breathing shallow. And Jack was growling deeply at Myrall, intending to let her nowhere near the fallen rogue.
Tenebrae said to Myrall, "I bit him. He was already weak..."
Leoxander wasn't aware to stop Jack when the dog snapped at Myrall's hands, hackles raised.
Tenebrae grabbed for Jack, forcing the canine back.
Leoxander lost his grip, unconscious, on the shirt held to his throat. It fell away to reveal the ooze of blood from the deep bite. Face down on hardwood floor, Jack, the dog, shuddered in Tenebrae's hold, ears perked intently to watch the woman at his companion's side.
Myrall looks at the mongrel so fiercely guarding it's master, and whispers softly to the cur, her sweet tone seeming to placate the animal, as she carefully lifts the sodden shirt so she may better see what needs to be done. Sharply sucking air in over her teeth as the extent of the wound becomes apparent the priestess works swiftly, her deft hands probing the deep wound, turning her fact to Tenebrae, and trying not to allow the concern see feels show she whispers urgently "In my bag, a green vial, quickly give it to him it will ease the pain"
Myrall chuckles trying to ease the tension in the room "Your fangs are sharp mistress, and go deep I must say"
Tenebrae reached for said vial, rummaging madly. At last, she produced it, holding the glass high. "This it?" Her question was frantic.
Leoxander was unaware of what surrounded him. Blackness had engulfed a man who dressed and stalked in that dark hue on a nightly basis. His cheek pressed flat to the floorboards, he was doubled over on his stomach, looking almost to be in a deep, drunk-induced sleep, if not for the creep of blood trailing over his jawline, toward the floor. At least the flow was slower now.
Myrall nods "Aye that's the one, should also serve to help clot the blood, 'tis one I have used in similar cases, *raise a brow* though never at the attackers behest I must say"
Tenebrae was crying. The odd occurrence of her weeping over one she'd bitten; so very strange. He was her friend, her confidant, and she'd done her best to save him, though she be the cause of much of his present condition. Odd? Yes. Did she care? For once, yes, she did.
Myrall presses her childlike hands to the wound and begins to hum a hauntingly sweet refrain, that soon fill the small room, as each note echoes around the confined space the Dwarves hands begin to shimmer, ethereal orange and gold light start to radiate outward growing in in intensity and brilliance, as the priests melody gains momentum, until at last the mystical energy seems to explode into the surrounding ether, in a shower of multi hue droplets. Sighing deeply and slowly removing her hands Myrall surveys her handy-work. Two livid red spots remain to mark the place of the erstwhile injury, but the wounds themselves are no more and the blood surrounding them now begins to dry and crack as no fresh life fluids join those already lost.
Leoxander remained prone on the ground, 'sleeping'... but now his heart beat with a will to continue, and color would eventually return to a more normal tan familiar with the tattooed human. Jack's ears pressed to his skull and tail dipped between his legs at the shower of magic, heightened senses knowing something unordinary was happening. And though Leo made no move to open his eyes just yet... as blood dried and wounds healed, he looked healthier already. His eyes stayed closed for the time being, breathing becoming regular once more.
Tenebrae clung to Myrall, the seemingly fearsome vampiress suddenly vulnerable, as she holds the dwarfess, her words suddenly taking an archaic and formal tone. "Thy Temple is henceforth under my personal protection. Thy family hast no need to fear, for thy blood is as my own. I thank thee, and thy magics."
Myrall gently cradles the fearsome lady, her voice soothing as she whispers "'Twas nothing really my lady, thanks are not needed, though accepted graciously.
Leoxander 's dog seemed to relax, watching the women briefly, before pacing the floor downstairs with a sniff at the unholy goblet still laying in Leoxander and the canine's mix of blood. It was there, honestly.
Tenebrae patted the arm of the silvered hair of the dwarfess. "I make no promises, only vows." She glanced to Leo, her visage a mask of concern. "I will put him to his rest." And with that, the diminutive vampiress gathered the body of the tall youth, taking the stairs two at a time. Once in the loft, she had laid him out on the couch, her hands stroking his cheeks. "Leo ..." She planted a soft kiss to hid forehead. "Be well, pet.."
Leoxander sunk against that couch in what could be the deepest of recovering sleeps. Though perhaps painted with nightmares, eventually. Exactly what he'd wake up thinking it all was. His head rolled to one side, messy blonde falling over closed eyes. The dog followed, and stationed himself, laying down on the floor by the foot of the couch.
Tenebrae watched the pair a moment and, with an expression of infinite loss, took to the downward stair.