Waiting

[Gia Rilan]

She moved as an animal would, that was the first thing that was apparent, were one to look at her. She skirted the woods warily, yellowish eyes reflecting the last of the glowing dusk like an animal's orbs as well. Her hair, though she tried to normally keep it clean, was starting to become lackluster and dull, and her face was pale and thin from lack of food.

It wasn't that she couldn't hunt--she could, and she did--but she was uncertain. She hadn't slept much durning the past week and a bit, nor was she keeping track of time. The full moon had come and gone, but even the wolf could bring her no comfort now. The wolf had been pushed away time and time again, becasue Gia didn't want the gentle 'I told you so' that her lupine side always brought, intentionally or not.

She'd tried before to be her own leader and master, making her own way in life, but it had ended badly. It always ended badly, master or no. She knew that, she knew it many times over, but... it was easier, having a master or lord. Having someone to turn to in times of uncertainty, someone who knew what to do and knew what they wanted her to do as well, who had no problems ordering her to do said thing...

Gia let out a little whimper and drew her dirty and tattered cloak around herself tighter, as though to block out the light chill of the growing night. Really, though, she was rarely cold. The cloak made a nice pillow, but she had been worrying the hem with her fingers recently. It also needed a wash and a good seamstress to patch it up, something Gia was only mildly skilled at.

But the cloak and its frayed state was one of the least of her worries now. She was alone. Again. And like the last time she'd been abandoned, she didn't know what she'd done. She was lost, too, though she could easily become un-lost by going into the town. But she couldn't face people right now, them with their lives all planned out and orderly. Them with knowledge of how to live without worrying about what to do and where to go.

She sat down in the roots of a spreading oak and stared at the dim lights of the town, the sun now well and truly gone from the sky and the stars beginning to shine dimly amongst the clouds. They also blocked the moonlight, and not for the first time Gia was grateful for that. She couldn't face the call of the wolf now, the call that would tell her to flee this town and run home, back to where people would treat her as their own and not question.

Also not for the first time she wondered why she'd left. She'd given some diplomatic non-answer when her fellows had asked, but she was questioning her own motives now. Why had she left? It wasn't like Zhaltev had been a bad place, far from it, but... she'd needed something different. She was regretting that now, regretting it most highly.

So she waited in the shadow of the tree, eyes dull and weary. She didn't know what she waited for, or why she was even waiting. But she was tired, though she didn't sleep, and she couldn't face walking any more. Walking meant that she seemed like she had somewhere to go, and she was tired of seeming like that. She leaned into the great old tree and stared at nothing but the lights of the town, listening idly to the sound of the quiet, slow wind and the rustlings of night animals.

[Belatucadrus]

There was someone in his woods. The vampire could not sense her presence yet, but he knew she was there. His network of allies extended well beyond the human realm that so many suspected were his primary sources of power and influence. Belatucadrus had not spent two centuries crafting the region of Thar Shaddin in his image by disregarding the wealth of spirits and creatures that lived on the Sooqui plane and in the Virdara woods.

Following the recent incident in Shim, he set out in search of more information about the brigands who had attacked. If there were any of them left, anywhere at all in Thar Shaddin, he was going to kill them. The bulk of their force fled like pathetic cowards after discovering the devastation he wrought upon them, and after encountering only a fraction of the military might Marn wielded. They were fools of the highest caliber to think that Shim was undefended. No town could survive isolated on the Sooqui plane without someone, or something like Bela watching over them.

Their foolishness did not absolve them of their crimes. Every last one of them who was not quick enough to be out of his domain this night was going to die. For testing his patience, for challenging his might, and for hurting his people.

The wisps in the woods told him there was one. They did not know who she was but they told him she neither human nor elven, nor was she born in Shim. The insects, so often overlooked for their colonies that spread right across the region, knew where she was too. Some of the spirits of the woods wanted to feast on her, others wanted to grant her safe passage. Eyes on all angles watched her while she sat, alone and dejected, silently weeping. Such were the Virdara woods. Completely alive, and always watching.

Finding her was not difficult for the old vampire. Once the woods gave him a general direction, he felt her out on his own. Soon he could smell her scent carried on the breeze. As he approached to investigate, he suspected he would end her miserable life and move on, not to take any chances that she was more trouble for the people of Shim.

He moved silently. Tendrils of shadows hugged his form, oozed along the ground, and wrapped around nearby branches to carry him along until he could see her sitting there. It was a pitiable sight. Whoever she was, she hadn't eaten properly in days. She took no care of herself, and did not seem as concerned as most outsiders would be about being in the haunted woods.

Quietly he observed, taking in everything he saw without making himself known. He could feel her pain. It was painted on her as black as the night sky. The inclination to kill her fell away, discarded like a shedding skin. If he left her here, she was likely going to die on her own.

But she had strength within her. Untapped, left to rot over whatever grief filled her soul, she was no weakling. A feral spirit dwelt inside that poor, miserable girl. The wisps could see it, and he could feel it and smell it on her. He knew that spirit well. He wanted to know from whence it came, what form it took. Curiosity got the better of him.

His voice came from the shadows that held him, masked by all the branches and leaves through which he peered. It was deep and quiet, enough to hear but not to startle.

"You cry but you shed no tears, lost one."

[Gia Rilan]

Gia's head rose at the sound of the voice, seeming to come from the depths of some darker shadows in the trees. A faint snarl touched her human face, a slight baring of her teeth. That was the wolf, of course, always ready to defend the human body. The wolf also caused her muscles to tense and prepare for either fight or flight as her nose drew in a deep and yet silent breath of air, trying to determine what this person was.

It was a new scent, one she couldn't place a name to. That was odd for her, and the wolf instantly didn't like it. Gia rose to her feet, covering the sad emotions that remained on her face with a more neutral expression. Her eyes glinted slightly with the presence of the wolf and her posture was wary.

The wolf wanted to shift forms, but Gia held the human. She needed the voice, and there was a tiny part of her, a part that she didn't want to recognize, that desperately hoped that maybe this new person, this strange smelling person, could be... no. She cut off the thought at that, not wanting to fall into that particular trap again.

"Cry?" She said quietly to the darkness. "I suppose. Lost one, that fits as well. But who exactly are you, to know so very much about me?" Her last few words were quietly scathing, not really caring if she offended or not. She didn't know who it was she spoke to, and until she did she felt no obligation to be polite.

[Belatucadrus]

The first thing she did was snarl. That was telling. He was right in his first hunches about her, and by the look he saw in her eyes, and the struggle he saw taking place beneath them, he began to understand more. Even in this state, ready to wither away in the woods, she could not mask her instincts behind that veneer humans wore.

Branches parted and the vampire stepped forward. He looked far more the part of the animal than she did. He was shirtless and spattered with blood all over his hands, arms, chest, and neck. Black pants and once expensive leather boots were all he wore, and they, too, were ruined.

Yet he carried himself like an aristocrat. He was not ashamed of his appearance to her. It did not matter to him what she saw.

The blood contrasted deeply with his pale skin, and was pink in places it had thinned out. He was thin but well muscled, defined like a creature capable of the violence he wore. His face was human, if only barely. Long black hair framed a handsome, if somewhat sinister looking face. His eyes were red.

"I am Belatucadrus, and you are in my home, mourning under my tree. You trespass, but you are lost, so I will forgive... Tell me your name."

[Gia Rilan]

Gia masked a scowl, mostly from the wolf side of her. She hated being patronized, and though she knew where he got his impressions, she wasn't going to let this whimpering human body die on her yet. He could stop it with the little weakling comments, though... the wolf was abruptly cut off by the human, who regained a little control.

Her first response was going to be 'you smell funny,' but rationally she knew that was a bad idea. She was perplexed at the concept of someone owning a forest as well--she was familiar with the idea of humans owning that which they built and pretending to stake claims on the surrounding lands, but she didn't really know how it was possible to own a forest. Some misguided human thing, again.

But, as she took a wary sniff once more, she didn't think this was a human. Her own human female side appriciated his looks but was cautious at the same time, and the wolf smelled the blood, which sort of covered his own smell. It wasn't a nice smell. It was a bit like dead flowers, that musty old scent that only partway covers the stink of rotting. The blood covered most of the dead flowers stench, though she wasn't entirely sure she was glad of that. Blood did strange things to the werewolf, and not just singularly to the girl or the wolf.

She breathed lightly from that point, trying to ignore most of the heavy metallic scent that floated on the air. She moved her lips silently, whispering his name to herself. Belatucadrus. Not a very common name. And he'd asked for her own name, so she gave it. "Gia. Rilan. Gia Rilan."

She eyed the tree she'd been sitting under, still wondering in some deep part of her mind how someone could own a tree, let alone a whole forest. Putting it down to human insolence and stupidity, though still curious, she went ahead and asked, point blank, "How can you own a tree?" Not the most eloquently phrased thing she'd ever said, but it would do.

[Belatucadrus]

She wanted to snap at him. He could see that much. Whatever was bothering her, whatever led her to seek solitude in the woods, was likely to still have her in a foul mood. She also didn't seem to like the way he approached her. Or, perhaps, it was the way he was shirtless and covered in blood.

The vampire looked human enough, but he did not look particularly alive. He didn't smell like a man, didn't blink or have body heat, and his breathing came only when he needed to speak. She might not know what a vampire was, but she would eventually be able to tell that he was either a demon or some kind of magical creature.

Gia's name was committed to memory immediately. It would not be easily forgotten.

Nor would her reaction to his claiming of rights over this land. Bela suspected he knew where her feral inclinations originated; if he had to guess, he would have said that she was a werewolf or an animal spirit. His evidence was shabby. All he knew was that she wasn't human and that he could see a familiar look in her eyes, touched by her desire to snarl and lash out.

If she was, she would understand his territorial rights. Perhaps there was a language barrier.

"The land is mine because I claim it." He then motioned in the direction of Shim with a red-spotted arm that glowed egg-white in the dim lighting, and added, "the people of Shim are mine too. They're mine because I take care of them, and they don't dispute it. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to fight me over it."

The last ones who didn't understand what he meant were the source of blood that covered his arms and chest.

"But enough of that. What has you so distressed, Gia Rilan?"

[Gia Rilan]

He sounded like he was talking about cows. That was the first thought in the girl's mind when he spoke of the people of Shim, that he was their herder and they his charges. She sighed. She hoped she wasn't dealing with another egomaniac--not that her previous master was, really, she though hurridly. He just... liked to get his way and thought he was always right, but he wasn't an egomaniac. Of course not.

She let that train of thought trail away and eyed the man, Belatucadrus of the unpronouncable name, again. A protective cowherder he seemed, as evidenced by the gristly red on his bare chest and arms. Very protective. So protective he was ready to kill for them. Gia shut down that train of thought too, privately grateful she'd not done anything to his cows. Not that she'd been contemplating it, but she was still glad that she hadn't gone into Shim in her current mindset.

With the arrival of this Belatucadrus, however, she was quickly pulling herself out of her depressed state. Partly that was the wolf, not wanting to appear as though she was weak. The best defense is a good offense, the wolf knew. But also it was subconcious, more so than the wolf. Gia was always looking for someone to fill the place left by a master's passing, always. She knew that if she appeared weak and useless, he'd be more likely to go on his way without a second thought.

But if she presented herself as strong and ready to serve, he'd be more likely to take her into her service, as Mavarion had done. She knew tis well, and was swiftly banishing the traces of depression and sadness from her face and stature. She made sure she was meeting his eyes--for a wolf it was a challenge, but humans tended to see it as a sign of strength. Usually.

She chose her next words carefully, trying to gently steer the stilted conversation away from her being 'distressed.' "I was abandoned again. It's hard for me to be on my own--not that it's impossible. And it's just Gia..." she hesitated, not really knowing how to address him, then steeled herself and said, "Lord Belatucadrus."

[Belatucadrus]

Staring into his eyes was not like staring into the eyes of a man or another wolf. The intensity was missing. Bela's eyes were not pools of life or windows into his soul. They barely moved, lacking the glisten and vibrancy of the living. They pierced like lifeless daggers.

His nature might be less obvious, and less creepy, if he blinked once in a while.

Still, his words and the tone of his voice were anything but sinister. He sounded like a nice man who was interested in her problems, who was giving her leniency because of her plight, and who would not have dipped his hands in the blood of his enemies unless they truly deserved it.

"Abandoned." He repeated the word without any obvious inflection or connotation. Simply repeated it, then motioned to the south-east and continued, "Come with me, Gia. There's no need for you to sit out here in the woods."

Assuming she was willing to follow, he started off toward Kaledin manor. "You may call me Bela in private."

[Gia Rilan]

Gia felt like she should have hesitated, should have questioned why she was following some stranger that she'd barely exchanged words with into his house, but she didn't. She felt the wolf snarl in reproach, but not for the first time the girl paid no mind to the creature. She moved out from under the tree easily and not as cowed as she had been when she stopped under it earlier.

Her allegiance was never a hard thing to win. Mavarion and Krevster had proved that easily--Mavarion had been a little nice to her and taken the wolf thing in stride and even partially welcoming her. Krevster had said he had need of her skills and powers and she'd followed him without a second thought. But there was something differen about Bela, something that quieted even the wolf. And since the wolf was usually very vocal about Gia's horrible choices in masters, she thought hard as she trailed Belatucadrus.

There was something different. Something about the tone of his voice, a slight undercurrent that she'd caught when he spoke. It was like he was used to giving orders, and not only giving them, but expecting them to be obeyed without question. The wolf liked that. It was in the way he moved as welll--or didn't move. She only saw him breathe before he spoke, and there was no useless movement like blinking or shifiting his weight or fidgiting with his clothing, something that the wolf always picked up on instantly.

The wolf approved. And Gia liked that the wolf approved, because it was rare that both of them agreed on something. It made things quieter inside her head, and she felt easier and more relaxed, though not any less wary, when that happened. So it was with a light step that she followed Bela, hoping against hope that he would allow her to stay with him and serve him.

[Belatucadrus]

Subtle manipulation by unseen forces parted the leaves and branches around the pair as the vampire began walking toward the manor with Gia just behind him. Whatever powers he was using was hard to see for what it was, but it kept everything parted out of their way so that they could walk freely through the woods without having to watch their step or touch the trees. All the obstacles were simply pulled back by their own shadows. Belatucadrus displayed no sign of effort, if he was causing the phenomenon at all.

"I have lived in this area for over a century now, since the birth of the human and elven settlement. In that time I've forged a strong relationship with the people and the creatures here. I function as their protector and in return they accept this as my dominion."

The vampire divulged some information he might not otherwise speak about openly, as though she wasn't a complete stranger. It might be interpreted as careless, though that was unlikely.

"Those in charge of Marn are likewise respectful of my position. It is not a widely kept secret that I maintain a degree of control over that city. But, as I suspect you are aware, people are not simple creatures. The task of maintaining order and security is not an easy one, and can not always be handled by direct authority. Much of my efforts go into maintaining the order you see around you."

He spoke while walking, casually stepping over an old, twisted root that grew a half-foot out of the ground. It was not far to the manor, and the trees began to thin out gradually, until there was no more need for the strange shadows to push things out of the way.

The ground sloped upward toward the manor, which was situated atop a hill overlooking everything. It was nothing if not picturesque in a creepy, haunted looking way. There were no lights coming from it, although the town of Shim, which lay to the right of them, had spots of light here and there. The Red Chalice was the brightest and largest of them, and sat right along the road not far from where Gia and Bela walked.

"You wonder why I tell you these things. That will become clear in time. Tell me, Gia. You are not human. What are you?"

[Gia Rilan]

Gia didn't really notice the strange parting of the trees and branches as they walked. She was more interested in Belatucadrus himself. She firmly planted the sound of his voice into her mind. That different voice than what she'd become used to hearing from people, the air of simply expecting to be obeyed.

She padded through the forest as the trees thinned, eyeing the lights of Shim and then the unlit house beyond it, looming slightly omniously on a rise. The manor was completely dark, and Gia was glad of her lupine eyes, which had more power in the night than would a human's eyes.

A century, he'd said. He obviously wasn't human, then. Mavarion had been the oldest human she'd met, and she harbored a sneaking suspision that he was using something other than mere human tactics to stay alive, that something more sinister was looming in him and enabling his life. Belatucadrus had lived here a century, and Gia always thought that if something had been alive that long and was wiling to mention it so casually, it was likely they were much older than that.

She'd never heard the name Belatucadrus before, but that didn't mean much. Gia knew her worldly experiances weren't much to go on when she had to guess whether someone was important or not.

She sighed as he asked his question of her, but it was more resigned than anything. It would have to come up, and she got the distinct feeling that it would be a very bad idea to lie to this man. She drew a breath as the manor got closer with each passing step and said, easily enough, "I'm a shifter. A werewolf, actually. So no, I'm not human." And neither are you, she thought, but didn't say. She wasn't about to ask.

[Belatucadrus]

"Mmm." His approval of her answer came out as a purr. "I suspected. It has been some time since I encountered one of your kind, but I can see it in your eyes."

He climbed the shallow incline of the hill with her following. Once they passed beyond the treeline of the woods, the scenery changed from overgrown and wild, to a manicured garden of pruned trees and various round bushes and flowers planted in neat shapes that delineated several paths. There were a few statues to be seen glowing gray in the darkness. They were all adult human forms in various expressive positions, either gesturing to the sky or twisted in eternal torment.

The manor he led her to was the largest structure to be found outside of Marn. Three floors of baroque architecture with many stone carvings and trim around the edges spanned at least the area of two dozen rooms. Now that they were closer, she could see that there was a small amount of light coming from a window in an upper floor, but all of the other windows were blacked out, as if painted opaque so that they could only be for decoration.

"You show a great deal of trust, lost one. I suspect this trust coincides with loyalty... and loyalty is the greatest capital of all. When you speak of abandonment, you speak of a longing for loyalty."

He paced down the path with her with a casual gait. Folding his hands behind his back, he looked over some of the plants with a passive interest, taking his time.

"Our serendipitous encounter may benefit us both. I can offer you a home here."

[Gia Rilan]

Was he some kind of mind reader? Or was he just incredibly astute? Either way it didn't really matter to the girl, because he'd said the magic word--home. She'd been paying attention to what he said, and she'd also been looking over the surroundings with slight interest. But everything that she'd been somewhat pressing into her mind fell away when he said home.

The last place Gia had called home was Zhaltev. She'd left it though, for certain reasons she didn't really wish to think about, and she hadn't been back. She was halfway planning to return, stagger her way back north and take refuge among her own kind, but doing so would require facing things she didn't want to face.

People had offered her homes before. Mavarion had said he could make her powerful and give her a home, but that didn't happen. Krevster hadn't even promised her that much, but she'd still followed him with hope. Nothing had ever come of her hoping and their promises, however. She knew by now to not expect anything--or she should have known--but she'd followed blindly, killing for them and guarding them.

But what Belatucadrus was offering her was tangible--almost. She could see the home on the hill, if she reached out and stepped forward a bit she could touch it. The blacked out windows were a point of curiousity for her but nothing more than that. When she spoke she did so slowly and quietly, not meeting his eyes and instead directing her words at one of the intricate statues. "I am loyal, my lord. If I'm nothing else, I am that. My trust and loyalty are never hard to win when I'm alone, and you've won the wolf's trust and loyalty as well, I think, which is harder to get than mine."

She paused for a minute and took a breath. "Your offer of a home is... it's--I don't even know how to put it. Thank you, my lord." The wolf sang thanks in the back of Gia's mind as well, as the creature was rather taken with this master, so sure of himself and not needing to shout it about, like she considered Krevster to have done. Or to old and crazy, like Mavarion had been.

[Belatucadrus]

"Don't thank me yet, Gia. Thank me once you have understood our arrangement, and once I have fulfilled my part of our bargain. You should not trust anyone implicitly. If you are to work for me, I don't want you to fall victim to the manipulations of others. We will have mutual respect, you and I. As I do for all my family. But this should be earned."

As he spoke the meandering path he led her down brought the two of them closer and closer to the manor. The building, on closer inspection, looked lived in and reasonably well maintained, though it was definitely old beyond a century. The stonework was stained with old moss and dark vertical lines caused by the dirt dripping of water. The windows, on the other hand, were clean, despite being purely for decoration. Someone was definitely maintaining the building along with the gardens.

He led her towards the rear of the building where there was a single door. It, too, was old and wooden, but not in need of replacing just yet. The small glass window in the door was real, and behind it a dim light could be seen.

"You have caught me at an opportune time. I am in need of someone to watch over these premises during the day who is able to fight. There are those who care for it while I sleep, but I seek a stronger hand."

Once they reached the door, he opened it. Inside she could see a lavish interior that one would expect after seeing the gardens outside. Warm, dry air that smelled like spices and old wood rolled over the two of them. He stood before her so that he could speak before letting her enter. Apparently it was not a trivial matter to be let in.

"And so I invite you into my home, lost one. The only act of faith I will ever ask of you is that you trust me enough to enter. I hope that it's to your liking."

Inside the halls were lined with artwork of all kinds. Paintings, all apparently done by the same artist of a similar theme were positioned between different kinds of statues, and suits of armor. All of the paintings were done in mono and duo-chromes of blue and green. Some, though not all, were identifiable as places in Shim, Marn, or the woods.

There was a lot of room inside as well. In a room to the side were a pair of large, plush, maroon sofas by a fireplace which was not lit. From the inside she could see that the windows were hidden behind heavy drapes, but that didn't explain the black look from the outside. The glass itself had been painted over. There was nothing on the table between the sofas, when he led her to and invited her to sit, nor was there any dust on anything.

[Gia Rilan]

Gia muffled a sigh. How could she possibly hope to explain that whatever he asked of her, she'd do without question? If he told her not to be trusting of anyone, her naturally untrustful nature would kick in again in an instant. Actually, it would just be the wolf taking over parts of her mind.

Being naturally untrustworthy, the wolf automatically suspected that her new master hadn't lived for over a century here without daytime guarding. She kept quiet about that though, as questioning wasn't always the best way to go when trying to draw answers from powerful older people, especially when she didn't know exactly how powerful or how much older.

As was her usual, she didn't hesitate when stepping over the threshold and into the manor beyond a look at what she considered her new master. Her eyes quickly adjusted to no light in the interior of the manor, though it wasn't actually all that different from the light outside. Once again she was grateful for her good vision at night. Her nose picked up a touch of the smell of musty heavy fabric and the slight tang on the air of old paint. The fire hadn't been lit in a while, her nose also told her.

But the scent spices and slightly fresh smell of wood were predominant in the air, and she let slip a slight smile. Spices were usually the least annoying for her nose, with wood running a close second. And she loved spice-scent. She drew her attention back to the interior of the manor so she didn't get distracted. The lack of dust was merely a slight interest for her, as the parting of the trees and bushes had been in the forest.

She sat down on one of the couches and eyed Belatucadrus, not really trying to hide the direction of her gaze. If what she'd seen so far was any indication, subtlety wasn't really an option around him. There wasn't any particular expression on her face, but her emotions were in a whirl. A home, a home... he'd offered her a home and she thought she'd accepted it properly. If what he said was true and not just another lie to her, like she'd been lied to so many times before, then this manor could be where she called home. And it was a very nice place, to Gia's biased eyes.