Deryn’s reaction when she realised he was there hurt far more than it should, having only known her for a couple of days he shouldn’t feel so protective of her as he did, but his cultural instincts had kicked in regardless of the fact she was not Drow and the idea of failing her in some way tore at his insides. He remained silent as she panted and stuttered out her words, for now she would not notice the lack of fog from his lack of breathing, if she did it would likely cause her to panic more. He could see how wide her eyes were, even taking into account the darkness, plus how she was frantically checking her surroundings for threats or ways to escape he wasn’t sure.<br/><br/>He nodded as she explained why she ran, her reasoning at being spooked was true for certain if a little under stated.<b>“My name is Malkier as you know and yes, there are things that I have not told you about me, but there are reasons for that, namely things like this.” </b>He indicated gently to their current stand-off style situation. Her intent stare made her appear startled to Malkier and her face rather conflicted, like she was trying to work through the strange juxtaposition between what she had seen and what she had experienced so far. Malkier had been told many times by other members of intolerant nations that he was not what they expected from one of his kind, so for someone such as Deryn who had likely only heard horror stories of how unliving behaved and how they were abominations she was likely questioning many things.<br/><br/>Holding out his hands to show he was not armed and as neutral a manner as he could muster, nodding his head as he began to speak<b>“Okay, I will stay here for now” </b>the sound of a snapping branch in the distance snapped his head around looking for the source, he whipped his back towards Deryn at the feel of something striking her and the sound of her crashing odd through the forest once more. He looked down to see what had struck him, the bulb of garlic lay upon the ground, stooping with a smile and a shake of his head picked up the bulb before slipping into a pouch at his belt.<br/><br/>Looking up as she cried out Malkier could see Deryn’s prone form laying in the undergrowth, looking about in case the source of the breaking branch was something approaching them Malkier walked slowly towards Deryn.<b>“Would you like a hand up?”</b>He didn’t expect her to willingly accept his offer of help but it would be a start<b>“I do not intend to harm you Deryn, you were right, I do have things about me that you do not know.”</b>He was not quite sure where to start with his explanations, but leant down to offer his hand to help her up<b>“Well as you have guessed I am not just an Umbral, or not any more. I am a vampire.”</b>He paused letting that initial fact set in with her<b>“So I am a type of unliving, now, as someone hailing from Albion, you will have been told that we are all ‘<i>unnatural monsters who should be avoided or destroyed at all costs’</i> well as you can see, for the most part I am not a monster.”</b>The point seemed ironic based on his activities this night but he could explain that to her as well.<br/><br/>Standing again he suggested that they head back to their camp instead of talking in the wilderness. As they walked he could see Deryn stood further off than normal, understandable given the events of the evening.<b>“Oh, I believe this is yours.”</b>He opened the pouch at his waist and picked out the garlic that Deryn had thrown at him before,<b>“So as you may have noticed, no, garlic doesn’t do anything, in fact the taste is quite nice.”</b>He smiled hoping the light-hearted statement would begin to ease the tension in their situation<b>“In fact many of the ‘old’ superstitions don’t hold true since the cataclysm. The dragon accepted us as part of this plane, so many of the vulnerabilities you will have learnt of don’t affect us anymore.”</b><br/><br/>Continuing through the forest Malkier listed as many things that Deryn would likely have been told and what they meant for him now<b>“I can be out in the day as you have seen, but I am weaker. I have fangs and can feed, but it is not some crazy thirst, if I don’t feed then I become paler and paler until I am almost white and desiccated so feeding keeps me looking ‘normal’ and able to blend in easier, it will also fully heal any wounds I may have suffered, just as effectively as that potion that you carry for me. I can come and go as I wish, only common courtesy keeps me from entering someone’s home. I can cross water no problem and objects of faith do not cause me harm or at least not just by being ‘holy’, but if enough wielders of faith get together they can remove my existence from this plane”</b>Through the trees ahead the low glow of their fire could be seen, not much remained of it. Malkier slowed and looked around for some suitable fire wood to rebuild it for the night<b>“Oh, and sticking one of these through my heart”</b>he held up a piece of wood<b>“Will only do me as much harm as it would you.”</b><br/><br/>As they got back to their small camp site he set about rebuilding their small fire and making himself as comfortable as he could, trying to just be the person that Deryn had known before tonight and not the monster that Deryn likely perceived him to be right now.<b>“So, what questions do you have?”<br/>
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Tag: <a class="username" data-user-id="91" data-username="@Wren" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" href="https://blackdahliaroleplaying.com/members/91/">@Wren</a> </b>