Nebb 05-19-2009 03:31 PM<br/>A warm wind blew through the city, filling the streets with a musty smell that reminded Ariel of summer in her hometown. She had been watching the Prince's mansion for the last few hours and had seen men wearing military clothing enter the building not even an hour before sunset.<br/><br/>Now, only a few hours later, hugging her legs and with her back to the wall, she watched as a vampire she had never seen before, walked up to the Prince's mansion and surveyed the area. From her vantage point she had a good view of the building, and since nobody but this lone vampire had dared approach it, her curiosity was already tickled. For the first time since sitting down just before sunset, Ariel consider moving in closer. Ordinarily she would not have even given a vampire entering the building another thought, but the beast within her writhed about unrelentingly. She silenced it with a force of will, else the vampire would sense her immediately.<br/><br/>She watched closely as the vampire entered the Prince's abandoned building. For a moment, she closed her eyes as she imagined exactly what the vampire might be seeing...<br/><br/>Not even two hours before, minutes before the sun had set, Ariel watched as men dressed in military uniform, broke into the Prince's mansion, with a look about them that told her nobody was leaving the building alive. Even from the darkened alley, the smell of gunpowder and the barely audible sound of a rifle compressor told her she was spot on.<br/><br/>Movement came from above her; "Not to shabby." she thought to herself as she heard the hushed voices of two men, coming from the abandoned first floor apartment of a motel that overlooked the Prince's mansion. These soldiers were better than she had first thought; two guards posted in front of the building being infiltrated, two more overlooking those; providing cover from the building across the road, and lastly two more, one covering the escape route and another manning the getaway vehicle.<br/><br/>Ariel tightened the leather strap on her shoulder, where it held an ornamental sword in place. Risking a few seconds of sun exposure, she covered her body as she crossed the alleyway and headed up the stairs to where the soldiers overlooked the infiltration of the Princes mansion. For the soldiers, finding a building to overlook the mansion was not difficult. The building itself was derelict and marked for destruction, hence entering it really just meant tearing one's way past the layers of orange tape with the words; "Do Not Enter" sprawled across it.<br/><br/>Standing directly behind the two soldiers, and seeing exactly what their eyes were seeing, Ariel witnessed the flashes of suppressor fire, as it broke through the windows of the mansion. The flashes moved from one room to the next, as the soldiers cleared their way through the building.<br/><br/>"Ground floor clear." came a voice through the one of the headsets. "Movement up ahead. UV grenade."<br/><br/>Opening her eyes again, Ariel saw the vampire's shape disappear deeper into the building. She looked down at the two bodies on the floor and slid from the shadows invisibly and down along the alleyway. Entering the building as she had done a few days earlier, the feeling of abandonment wore strong on her psyche, especially since the presence of the most formidable foe she'd every fought, was now nothing but a memory. Almost subconsciously, her hand reached for her neck, and she looked down at the moist colour of red on her fingers. "Another day at least to heal." she thought to herself, as she covered the scar with her shawl . She walked towards the door of the Prince's quarters and stood watching as the vampire traced the outline of a burnt shape with his eyes. He would not see her while she was hidden, and he would not sense her while she had the beast under control. Powerful as this vampire was, she suddenly wasn't in the mood for company, even if the company was as powerful as the Prince had been. Ariel turned and headed back the way she came. As she did this, a blood curdling roar came from behind her that sent her Beast rushing to the surface. Ariel had to suddenly fight for control, as her beast tore at her emotions with everything it had. It didn't want to be sedated, it no longer wanted control...it wanted blood, old blood. She quickly brought herself under control. "Is this what your years of training has taught you, to be a slave to a mere animal?" she asked herself, half dismissing the fact that she in fact was more dead than human and half denying her bestial nature.<br/><br/>There was no voice inside her that urged her to make a connection with this vampire. There was no feeling inside her that told her she needed to stay to revenge her Prince. For a moment she paused, undecided as to whether she wanted to be part of this city any longer. To anyone else the situation the city faced may have seemed dangerous, with possible dire consequences for any that remained behind. But to Ariel, thoughts like these never crossed her mind. Pain and death had always been around her, merely a path chosen for her. What she was seeking for was... beyond everyday life, beyond the everyday struggle for survival. She hadn't even realized it yet, but the next few steps she would take, would seal her fate for years to come.<br/><br/>Ariel was sure that by now the vampire had sensed her. It would not be long for an 'old one' to pick up the scent of one younger. She could mask many things, but she had been unprepared for the rage that emanated from the old one and her beast, still now, struggled within her. Any vampire lesser trained, would have risen to its challenge, but that was not her way. "And in any case..." she thought to herself. "Anyone who entered a Prince's chambers in this fashion surely wasn't there to take orders. No, he intended to be giving them..."<br/><br/>"Good evening." Ariel bowed slightly before entering the room. "My name is Ari'eil Nashiram." She watched and waited to gauge his reaction before continuing. Feeling confident he was not going to attack her, she continued.<br/><br/>"On behalf of the Ordo Dracul, I welcome you to Solace." As Ariel opened her mouth however, she begun struggling with her words. Whenever she felt the slightest bit of tension, her training taught her to empty the mind of all things and focus on being an effective killer. Unfortunately social etiquette was not her strong point, and realizing this made her uneasy. Uneasy made her tense, which unfortunately also made her clear her mind halting almost all non-instinctive thoughts, and usually ended up with her looking very menacing. She had to make an concerted effort not to actually take a battle stance.<br/><br/>"I have been seconded here by the Ordo Dracul to... assist the Order and the Prince in... in matters of... in matters relating to... well..." She breathed a sigh as she realized that she had just seriously botched her first impression. She had been lucky that the first impressions with the former Prince and her current Order Master had gone so off well as it did. But for her to display social graces twice in a row, much less in the same week, was a success she could never hope to repeat. "I'm sorry, I'm just not good with the song and dance as some are." Ariel managed a weak smile, realizing the humour of the situation.<br/><br/>Her shoulders dropped as she seemed to relax a little. "If you are looking for the Prince... he is... no longer." She wasn't sure if telling him anything more would elevate his mood, but she preferred being thorough: "I've heard speak of treachery by the Mages, but the Council Elders say that the Mages had no hand in the death of the Prince and his liege. In fact, even the weavers have lost a few of their own. The Council Elders gather to elect a new interim Prince, as a new threat has taken hold in the city."<br/><br/>Ariel looked around the room and noticed that everything had been ransacked. All the ornaments and paintings had been removed and almost nothing remained to show that the old Prince had been there. A feeling drifted along the void of her consciousness. She had felt this feeling many a time before in battle, but now it was also in this room as it had been a few days before. Change was coming.<br/><br/>SeditiousAmbitions 05-19-2009 05:14 PM<br/>Malachi looked up sensing the presence of Kindred. He saw nothing at first but soon a female appeared within the door and began speaking. She mustâ€™ve been trying fairly hard to conceal herself if she was able to get so close to him without creating any evidence of her presence. Malachi smirked at this and allowed the girl to go on about her prior duties and shortcomings as a herald. His mind was already rolling over a thousand different possibilities and scenarios and calculating various paths and courses of action that he might choose. That was they way his mind worked and long ago he had learned the value of seeing seven sides to every six-sided figure.<br/><br/>Once Ariel had finished speaking, Malachi rose calmly. He looked her over for a moment and clasped his hands behind his back. With slow and soft steps he paced a bit closer to her and then back again. The tension she fought with her body revealed itself in her face. There was something difficult about talking to him that made her uneasy. This was peculiar in itself but would eventually make its purpose known. These types of hidden agendas or quirks always had ways of unraveling all on their own.<br/><br/>Malachi stopped some seven feet directly in front of Ariel. He spoke in soft tones but somehow made his voice resonate off the empty walls. â€œItâ€™s a pleasure to meet you Ariâ€™eil. I am Malachi.â€ His face drew up a pleasant countenance but not a smile. â€œMy observations theorized much of what you have told me, but I am grateful for the confirmation. You neednâ€™t be so formal. Not here, anyway. There is nothing but rubble, so if it eases you to speak plainly or gruffly, I will not mind.â€ He spun on his heel and walked in the same fashion as before to the window and looked down onto the street.<br/><br/>â€œTell me, Ariâ€™eil. Before this attack, was the coven of Solace strong? Did the Prince garter the respect of the cityâ€™s Children?â€ He turned around again and walked along the wall tracing the fingernails of his index and middle finger along the paint. His gaze went from the floor to her face. He noted the scarf around her neck but made a point to focus in on her gaze. â€œYouâ€™re quite the sneaky little girl, arenâ€™t you? I must admit that Iâ€™m a bit impressed, Ariâ€™eil. I wonder if I could retain your services for a while.â€ He had now come to be about three feet to her left and replaced his hand behind his back again. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed the close foot over the other. He never broke his gaze and never blinked. He was not threatening or seducing but merely probing. Curiosity at its finest. â€œI am new to Solace, I could use a seasoned guide.â€ Malachi had toyed with the idea of invoking several disciplines to force her cooperation, but he had decided to use those only if necessary.<br/><br/>braioch8201 05-19-2009 08:57 PM<br/>Enoch stood in the darkened alley. His eyes on his the rubble of his old home, the burns and marks on his body, deep wounds that seared him everytime he moved, still apparent, but considerably better than they had been. Now he could actually move without wanting to grit his teeth and scream, the pain was managable. It seems that the whole of the city had gone to bloody hell since he'd been on his little..."vacation."<br/><br/>The loss of Memnoch weighed heavily on him, the man hadn't made it through the blast, hell Enoch had barely managed it. Floating for who knows how long it some god forsaken place. When he'd finally got back to himself he'd found himself in a realm of excruciating pain. Only after summoning the last remnants of his strength did he find a victim and from that find a place to hide, only going out to feed and gain his strength. Eventually he'd been able to take a few weak vagrant fledglings. Only after a few doses of that and a couple drinks of stronger vampires had he managed this amount of strength. In all reality he'd found that his strength was back, but his body was still brittle, easily hurt, the wounds still needing more blood.<br/><br/>Nonetheless he wasn't going to sit around and let everything crash down around him. The other groups had made a mess of everything, and thank god his own kind had had the sense to avoid most of it. Hell they'd even evacuated the building, for the most part. His contact with them was hesitant, only contacting those that were loyal to him. They flanked him as it was, his own personal guard. He hated needing such a thing but knew it was necessary. What he could manage was a touchy thing and needed a few pairs of extra hands and swords.<br/><br/>He watched the two, climbing over the rubble of what had once been his. He was furious, the humans had made too much headway as it was, and now they'd done him an insult. Not to mention the Lycans and Mages were falling like flies around them. Idiots, all of them. Too absorbed in their own petty squabbling and differences to have seen the threat in front of them. It was ridiculous, those fools had not only brought about the strong potential for their destruction, but they'd brought it on him and his kind. They'd destroyed everything they'd worked for, hurt him mortally, and killed Memnoch.<br/><br/>He glanced towards a couple of his guards, "I need another, someone stronger this time, much stronger, even if it's one of our own, keep it silent, subdue him, it should be enough."<br/><br/>With a nod they were gone into the night.<br/><br/>He had to make his move soon, his own decisions floating through his mind. This city had been the vampires, but it seemed the humans were moving in fast and it called for action.<br/><br/>He licked his lips and smiled, he had a few ideas of what he could do.