The Taming of the Shrew

[Zhou Lei]

"What?" Came the vampire's hoarse reply. Zhou Lei did not flinch. It was apparent to him that she was more of a ravenous animal than a person. Under different circumstances he would be more inclined to rid the world of such filth as she has already demonstrated herself to be. He could almost smell her from where he was standing.

Before he could answer Ryxa took it upon herself to try an escape plan, using the burning wand and Jenica's distraction to her advantage. There was little onus on him to actually save Ryxa, and there wasn't much he could do in their position. If the vampire was stronger than him, which she undoubtedly was, it would be impossible to subdue her.

He folded his arms and stood ready to vanish at the first sign of danger to himself. In the process, the small eastern man looked quite regal. He spoke over their scuffle as though it wasn't even happening.

"I can cure your thirst and give you life."

[Jenica Sabiny]

She was distracted enough that the female freed her own arm, but not enough to ignore the fire rushing at her face. The flame came close enough to burn, to begin to singe and bubble the skin against her cheek. With a hissing snarl the vampire loosened her grip enough to pull her own face back, away from the female's hand. The fire rested where her face had just been, the light burning her eyes once more as she flinched and tilted her head away.

Annoyed that the game had been ruined by the woman's own actions, the vampire's free fist cracked forward to strike the back of her skull. Whether or not it put the female down, she didn't care. She just wanted to hit her.

Rather than watching to see what the woman would do or how she might land, the vampire's eyes narrowed to glare at the male before her. His words took several seconds to register, and even then, she could only stand in dumbfounded silence. Life was beyond her; it hadn't been so long that she'd forgotten her memories, but it had been long enough that she did not remember what a living body felt like. She did not know if this was something she wanted back. The body she now inhabited was full of pain, constant pain, but it was sturdy enough to heal most of the damage it took. Wouldn't a human's body be weaker?

She tilted her head.

"How?"

[Blood Ravenous]

She saw stars, and went with it, rather than resist. Her body went limp and she half-fell, half-slumped to the ground. This made her finally slip out of the vampire’s immediate reach. The battlemage leaned on her hands and knees, gathering her senses, completely missing out on the short, back and forth words between the foreigner and the vampire.

“Celerity,” she whispered to herself, and felt the sudden power course through her body. The energy coiled like a spring, filled to the limit in her unmoving body, and she exploded in motion. She was up, and away, using the wall to rocket around the one who had just used a slightly faster speed to capture her. There she stood behind that ragged form, away from both Zhou Lei and Jenica. She was ready now, the energy spiraling up within her more and more as the spell progressed. She may not be able to see Jenica move, but she could guess, and with her speed, now, she had a better chance of getting away. There would be no nudity in front of the males tonight!

Ryxa watched them both, warily. She thought of attacking Jenica to keep her pride, but the mission was more important. Because in the end, there would be a lot of time to have revenge, and she had yet to figure out the whole plot behind this. Jenica was involved, and she had a yearning to find out why.

The fire burned anew in its normal fiery blaze after being partially doused by the wind rushing by. The light put the three in an odd contrast compared to the night, and the heat rolled off in waves as the stick was an eighth of the way burnt down.

[Zhou Lei]

Zhou watched the two women go through their motions with arms folded over his chest and his thin dark eyes a sedated mask. Not when the fire came close enough to burn Jenica's face, nor when Ryxa was punched in the back of the head, did he move an inch to help either party. He took it all in, appearing to do nothing more than study them both.

Once it was over, the vampire spoke up. She asked him how.

"Your blood is tainted." Every word came out quick and twisted by his eastern tongue, but he looked quite serious and held eye contact with Jenica to show her he was.

"You do not need to live like a worm crawling in the dirt, hiding from the sun and drinking the blood of peasants. The one who created you left your veins full of cursed blood so that he can control you. We have a cure.

"But nothing is free, Jenica. If you help us to criminals and murderers, we will give it to you."

There was no hint of dishonesty in his words except, perhaps, the integrity of his conviction that it was murderers and criminals he wanted help with. She would have to be studying him carefully and skilled at detecting lies to suspect even that much.

[Jenica Sabiny]

The vampire shuttered her eyelids as Ryxa flashed away. Both of them could move quickly, and the vampire didn't have the patience to keep on eye on both. Especially not with how they were now positioned.

Male at front, female behind. Vampire in the middle. She clawed her hands as tension began building within. She felt cornered, and bared her teeth at the male as she moved to the side towards the wall - not an active threat, only a warning. Keep away - I bite and scratch.

Once she felt the wall close enough, she leaned back against it and crossed her arms lightly over her chest. Now they were both in her sight, with neither behind. Nevermind that she'd essentially cornered herself between the two humans - she didn't particularly care about this detail. If either one attacked, regardless of speed used, she would fight until the body shut down.

The male's words ran through her thoughts as she moved and settled comfortably against the stone. Although he had spoken, her eyes turned instead to watch the female. She'd been the one to make fire, the one who'd caused the vague stinging sensation from the burn against the vampire's cheek. This male was offering a deal and hadn't moved in any threatening way - he would be the greater threat, able to explode into action at any moment. But the female was more likely to attack first.

And there was another reason. The female represented what the vampire had once been - feminine and alive. The blood in her veins, the rise and fall of her chest as needed breath was sucked in and forced out. The vampire remembered that once, her own body had done these things. That her skin had been soft and supple, her eyes not so glazed. The hunger which perpetually roared within her belly had not always been there.

Once upon a time, she'd been warm.

The male tried to maintain eye contact, but the vampire wasn't interested. She kept her gaze fixed on the female - the woman. Her scent still rose from the vampire's own body, drifting into the air as it slowly dwindled and dissipated into the surrounding air. She inhaled deeply, taking this in. Then she snorted it back out. From deep within, a small girl's voice echoed. She hadn't heard this voice in years, had forgotten it existed at all. Now it held her full attention.

He's saying they can fix me.

Shuttered eyes lowered to the ground as her mind slowly rolled into action, pondering over the offer. Of course it wouldn't be free; people always wanted something.. She felt strongly that the male was an idiot for even saying such a thing. She'd once been an assassin, bits of her still remembered the idea. Take and give, strike an accord, get the job done and receive payment for work.

Something struck her, then. The next line was easy. Why? What do you - they - want me to do? It would be so easy to assume the role of the human once more. To participate in the conversation, give a little and get a little in return. Ask the burning question which any creature would ask, when told such a thing.

Who is we?

But she didn't care who "we" was. She didn't want to know who they wanted killed. She could kill criminals and murderers on her spare time, and easily enough. A bath and fresh clothes, the effort to look weak, and she was a perfect target for hunting. She'd played this game several times; she liked how they squeaked in surprise when the prey turned against them.

"Trick."

Red tinted her gaze, and the light from the female's fire danced against her ragged clothing as she raised her eyes to the male. She only lifted her head enough to be able to see him easily; any further movement was unnecessary and strenuous. The lack of dishonesty in his tone was lost on her, as was any conviction or sentiments conveyed one way or another. She didn't care to read his tone, and wouldn't have been able to delve in depth if she tried. She only knew, for certain, that he was lying. One way or another, this male was offering a trick to her - and she didn't care to take it without evidence of his promise.

“Prove it.”

[Blood Ravenous]

Ryxa steadily stared back at the vampire. She did in fact debate attacking, but what Zhou Lei had to say was interesting enough. All she had been told was that she was to accompany Zhou Lei to convince a vampire to come with them. To join them. She had thought there was no plan, and that they would just talk with her... But now she knew for a fact the other battlemage had a bargaining chip. Whether it was a truthful one was hard to tell. She wasn't watching him, and his voice was the accented, stoic tone he always had.

The reason they wanted the vampire was also unclear, and his reason seemed very lame. What would they need a vampire for, to track down common criminals? She was itching to speak up, and demand answers, but that would weaken their position. It was as if she was just backup for some master plan that she was perpetually left out of. Soon that would change. Oh, very soon...

[Zhou Lei]

Prove it.

"Yes vampiyah, I have your proof."

Zhou looked at Ryxa again. There were more secrets being kept from her than she could know, but he had no doubt she had secrets of her own. Surely she understood by now that he was more involved in this mission than she was told.

He reached up to his neck and pulled the collar of his cuirass away from his neck by snagging his fingers behind the metal. The space allowed him to pull out a small necklace of some kind, tied around his neck by means of a simple string.

Leaning his head to the side, he pulled the necklace off and, in a single fluid motion, tossed what consisted of a glass container the size of a man's thumb, attached to a string and filled with a few drops of blood, to Jenica.

"Drink it... and you will see."

[Jenica Sabiny]

She reached to catch the small vial thrown to her, her eyes following its path rather than remaining fixed on the man's face. She raised the vial against the filtered moonlight, tilting her head as she examined the liquid within. It was viscous and somewhat thick, but still flowed easily.

She lowered the vial to remove the top with her other hand and sniff at the contents, her nostrils flaring. It was blood, plain blood. Nothing special or unnatural that she could tell; she pulled it away and stared at the male for a moment, looking annoyed. There was nothing different here.

Her eyes moved to the female again, red tinting her irises as the bloodlust rose once more. Plain blood. They thought they could tempt her with plain blood? Fine. She'd play the game through, drink the vial, and then attack both of these humans with rage bordering on insanity. Perhaps then they'd never try to tempt her with such a blatant lie again. Or perhaps they would finally send the guard for her, to capture and kill the monster preying on their citizens.

Not that they cared.

She pushed away from the wall, baring her teeth at the female and taking a purposeful step. With the second step she raised the vial to her lips and drank the small amount of blood within - no difference in texture or taste. Idiots and fools. Couldn't they play a trick better? She swallowed, to let the droplets tempt her bloodlust. At least she'd gotten something from the bottle.

On her third step, she froze in mid-stride and her eyes went wide and distant. The blood slammed into her stomach and then filtered out, racing through her extremities and filling her with enough energy to make her flinch and shake. But worse was the warmth that followed. True warmth, a sensation so foreign that she did not even remember the name until it was already gone and she was left reeling, craving its return as desperately as she'd ever wanted anything in her life and death.

She blinked several times, forcing herself to refocus enough to turn and stare once again at the male. The vial in her hand let out a small crunching sound as she squeezed hard enough to crush it, glaring at him and snarling once more. She started to advance him now, but kept her steps slow. She didn't intend to threaten him directly. She was just mad.

"What was it? What did you give me?"

[Zhou Lei]

Jenica's anger was strange, but came as no surprise to Zhou. He'd already determined that she was unstable and quite probably insane or possessed. Negotiating with her was bound to be a power struggle from the beginning and words would only go so far with someone like her.

Brown eyes studied her steps, waiting for her to get too close. There was not much distance between them. Three meters became two in a single stride. He was not going to back away to give her ground, no matter how slowly she was going. Zhou anticipated an attack from her and took action before it was possible for her to succeed.

In a fraction of a second his body became out of focus and vanished. Like a trick from a lens, his features blurred into those behind him and he was gone, replaced by a familiar sucking sound and movement in the air.

He appeared behind her a dozen meters, standing atop a ruined pillar that held him another two meters off the ground with his back facing her. He turned and continued speaking in a firmer tone than before.

"In this I am only a messenger. I have been sent to give you the offer of a better life. The life that was taken from you. You have your proof. Now you must decide."

[Jenica Sabiny]

She stared where he'd been, finding herself confused once more. Perhaps he had been a hallucination, detailed down to scent and physical presence. It had happened before; when she lost her way inside of her head, it could take hours to dig herself back out.

She tilted her head down and raised the palm of one hand, where glass pieces still stuck to her skin. A few had pierced through, though not deep enough for her to care. She reached out to pick one of the pieces, pressing her fingers together tightly until it snapped into even smaller shards. It felt real enough...but still, she couldn't trust her senses. She'd fooled herself into worse things before.

But he wasn't fake, and a voice from behind began to draw her attention. She didn't flick around to see him; instead, she began a slow, pacing rotation, still eying the glass pressed between her fingers. As she pulled her eyes away from the shard to find him atop the pillar, she placed the small piece between her front teeth and twisted hard enough to crack it yet again, into even smaller pieces. She couldn't trust her senses, but she'd learned to trust her teeth. If they felt the physical presence of the glass, tasted her own blood as she cut her tongue against the shard in her mouth, she had to believe it was real. Which meant the man was real too.

She still couldn't fathom that all they wanted was someone to hunt criminals down. It made no sense to approach her, as though the guard weren't good enough. Or even those who wore the same style armour that these two did. She'd figured out the puzzle, though she'd never directly encountered them before. The humans held magic inside them. She'd dissected the magical before, but never so powerful as either of these. She wondered if she could find it inside of them.

Her eyes pulsed red as she continued staring at the male, envisioning his carcass in the same pose as the skeleton she'd abandoned. The distraction almost succeeded - but that human voice within spoke again, prodded at her awareness.

Pay attention. There must be a mark. Ask.

Mark. Assassins killed marks. She remembered this. She spat out a word without further clarification. The small sliver of glass remained in her mouth, clicking very lightly against her teeth.

"Who?"

[Zhou Lei]

Who? Who what? Who sent him or who were they after? How dare she question him like that. Did she want to live like this filthy animal until they came hunting to kill her?

"I gave you a choice, vampiyah. It does not matter who. Who sent me, who you are to kill. Say yes, or you will never taste that blood again."

Zhou struggled to fit in with the role of negotiator or diplomat. He found it difficult not to strike out at people he didn't like, and even more difficult not to force someone who didn't do what he said. There were only two things keeping him from lashing out at her question.

The first was that Moryldar instructed him to be diplomatic and not attack or kill the vampire. This was a minor issue. Zhou could always provide an excuse that would get him off the hook in the end. In all the meetings Zhou had had with Belatucadrus, who was surely Jenica's creator, survival of the fittest came foremost.

The second, more important reason why Zhou would not attack Jenica was that he was uncertain of whether he could win or not. Part of him wanted to test this uncertainty, but another part of him highly suspected it would end in his death. No child of Bela's should be weak enough to fall to one human in regular combat. Something in the back of Zhou's mind feared her, and although he had become numb to fear over the years, the fear pulled back against his confidence. Her mind struck him as weak and lost, but not her body.

"Look at yourself. You are disgusting. You stink of unwashed death. You are like a stray dog in the streets, scrounging for scraps of food. You must be waiting to die, or you would not test the battlemages like this. How much worse can we make your life, Jenica?"

[Jenica Sabiny]

Something about choice, but she disregarded this comment. The choice was apparent enough that even she did not need it outlined for her. It was the next statement that mattered.

It does not matter who.

He was right. It was a stupid question. As the male continued droning on in his oddly accented voice, she rubbed her tongue against the glass in her mouth, slicing a thin line in the muscle to taste the blood. The taste and slight sting calmed her, soothed her enough that for a moment she could focus. Now he asked for self-awareness, and finished with a question. She continued to ignore him as she pondered over the blood he'd given her before.

It hadn't been true life, but it had been only a few drops. Perhaps it took more, to make the heart beat. Or perhaps it was a trick the whole way through, rotted to the core. She could at least relate to that. She lived it every moment.

Her eyes drifted up to the night sky, one of the natural elements that she took pleasure from. The stone cold black interrupted by tiny globs of brilliance, the colors flickering and wavering, some brighter or even larger than the others - she felt herself drifting away in the vastness, the craving for that cold black to overcome her rising like bile -

Focusfocusfocusnownownow.

She visibly jerked and stared at the male in confusion. She had no idea how long it'd been; she didn't care to ask. They wanted a weapon. If nothing else, it would at least be a new type of game. The body would live on regardless; it wasn't worth the effort to refuse. She suspected she'd have to leave this place, and she could do that any time. So play along, learn the rules, find out what the blood had inside. How to feel that warmth again. At best, she'd be alive again, able to keep the warmth until the body gave out naturally. At worst, she'd be tricked. There was a simple way to avoid pain here. Just expect it from the beginning, and perhaps be surprised in the end.

"Fine."

She shrugged, crossing her arms lightly over her chest, still tapping the glass against her teeth. Clenching her fist to rub the tiny pinpricks into her palm.

"Now what?"

[Zhou Lei]

Zhou didn't trust her, but it hardly mattered. As long as they could keep her on a leash with the promise of more of that blood, she'd behave.

"Now you come back with us. There are those who want to meet you and prove your loyalty before we promise you anything."

He looked in Ryxa's direction then.

"I believe Ryxa will want you to clean up before you work together."

The Xianian man couldn't help but smile when he revealed this last piece of information. It was probably the only other thing he knew that Ryxa didn't, but it was more amusing than all the rest. Moryldar had plans to have Jenica and Ryxa work together, and although he did not tell Zhou why, he suspected it had something to do with Chrishton.

Moryldar was foaming at the mouth when he told Zhou to go searching for Jenica. Something had gone very wrong for the Judge recently, and Jenica was some kind of a clean up tool. Chrishton's escape was the only reason he could think of. Someone was coming down hard on Moryldar for that failure.

[Jenica Sabiny]

Click click click, click click.

Her tongue had already healed by the time he started speaking again, and as before she only listened to half of the words. The mark must be the proof "they" wanted. This male hadn't told her who it was because he didn't know. There was no reason to bring her, deadly as she was, to meet this "they" to hear whatever mission they wanted her to complete. It put them at more risk should she decide to hunt them down instead.

There was no trust from any direction with these humans. These two clearly didn't trust each other and whoever had sent this male as their messenger hadn't trusted him with much information. She could only assume this male shared that same lack of trust back.

It all meant that they must be in a constant power struggle, forever trying to out-do one another or play the final trick that would guarantee their own superiority.

She snorted to herself, even shook her head a bit. Stupid and pointless. They would all inevitably die regardless. But it seemed that humans needed these games to feel alive in some way, to feel powerful and grant their own lives further meaning. She couldn't help but note the hypocrisy of human power games. If they wanted to know what feeling alive truly meant, perhaps they could try being dead for a while.

When he mentioned cleaning herself up her eyes flickered to the female who stood quietly observing the conversation rather than look down to herself to assess her own damages. Working with this human would not bother the vampire, but she wondered if it would bother the human. She couldn't suppress the lazy grin that shifted her facial features as she stared at the female. Perhaps their game would continue after all. She doubted this female who exuded such a blatant desire to control everything around her would let such a physical violation of personal space stand.

She did not look back to Zhou Lei. If there was somewhere to go, one of them need only lead the way, and she would follow.

[Blood Ravenous]

"Fine."

At that one word, the burning stick sputtered. With some rather abnormally intense concentration, she got the fire down to a faint flutter, and then it puffed out with an acidic smelling smoke. She blew on it gently, and the last cinders extinguished as the smoke drifted lazily away.

"I believe Ryxa will want you to clean up before you work together."

The battlemage returned the vampire's smile, but her own was colder, more of a grimace than a smile. It disappeared as quick as it came. Her eyes flicked over Zhou Lei who stood poised on top of a pillar. She wouldn't let on that she didn't know about this, but inside her mind was reeling. The Judges must be insane to think she would work with this disgusting creature! She was fuming, and it showed in the subtle movement of her eyebrows and her set lips. Though, she almost always had this expression one way or another.

The time their exchange had taken had burnt a good portion of her stick, but there was plenty left, and she kept it ready in her hand. Now that they'd supposedly won the vampire over, did not mean it wouldn't attack. It also did not mean she wouldn't enjoy burning its face off.

Disregarding Zhou Lei's reply, she didn't know the exact answer to the creature's question of, "What now?" but she knew what she was going to do. As far as she was concerned, their 'new ally' was Zhou's responsbility, and she had some angry words to exchange with Moryldar and all those other assholes back at the 'Hall. She cared not for what Zhou Lei had said. Now, "us" had no more meaning than "friend" to her. He was on his own.

Her speed spell was still ticking away from when she activated it, so she employed its full use. She turned, and then appeared to blur, and zipped around the corner and back to the horses. Gravel crunched, and air was whipped away from her, causing dust to rise over and around her route. She came to a slidding, abrupt halt near her horse, obviously too near, for she startled it into neighing and rearing. A homeless man bundled up across the lonely-looking cul-de-sac stirred, and a few people peered from out of their huts. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the horse. Upon seeing her, the people retreated back from where they came, having had their dose of excitement for the year.

Her spell wouldn't last too much longer, and so the horse was the fastest way. She waited, tapping her foot, for the horse to calm down. 'Steady and reliable,' right. The stablehand was full of shit.