Alice had awaiting the food she had ordered from the moronic barkeep that seemed to have forgotten she had ordered anything, and she drummed her fingers on the table in annoyance before he finally gave her what she had asked for. Her eyes fell on Derek as he entered the tavern and she cocked her head wondering what the hell he was doing here.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">"Hi dear Alice?"</span><br/><br/>She looked at Derek smiling slightly at her once comrade and fellow Vampire. "Hi Derek, what brings you here?"<br/>She wondered if Derek knew that she had deserted the army only a few days ago. She doubted he would care even if she had Derek didn't strike her as the murdering deserters type. She liked Derek, he seemed alright, though she had seen him on the battlefield and the man was a beast. He killed anyone who stood in his path and he fought with passion. All in all he was the perfect solider. However Alice sensed that he had other motives for joining the war other then fighting. She had thought to ask him, but didn't really think he'd answer her questions. He didnâ€™t seem to like people all that much.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">â€œYou filthy rat! You did that on purpose, you stupid shit!â€</span><br/><br/>Alice turned to see what all the fuss was about and her eyes fell on a mountain of a man who was beating on a young boy Alice couldnâ€™t quite see. Aliceâ€™s vision flashed red and rage took her for a moment, she couldnâ€™t stand bullies. She hated cowards who picked on children she fed on them and allowed them to bleed out in the streets just for the hell of it. Scum and shit, they shouldnâ€™t breathe and they wasted precious air that could benefit someone else much more then them. Sheâ€™d always had a soft spot in her heart for kids, she slipped money to streets rats every now and again so they could eat. Very few knew about this since they were never really around enough to see it but Rick knew and he had encouraged this soft spot, thinking it would keep Alice from losing her mind off in the future. She wasnâ€™t sure if Rick was right but she knew she would always love children, and come hell or high water she would deal serious harm to anyone who harmed one in her presence. Right then her mind was calling out for her deal harm and she was more than happy to take out her frustration and anger on one who didnâ€™t know how tp be decent.<br/>She stood so fast she knocked her stool over and strode over to the man. Her hand reached out and wrenched the man back with superhuman strength and threw him to the ground. She placed a boot on his chest and leaned down pressing her boot hard into his chest. He was drunk, how clichÃ©d. The smell rolling off of him was revolting to her senses and the disgust showed clear in her eyes as she glared down at him.<br/><br/>â€œYou pathetic, child.â€ She practically spat at the man. â€œThe child had no intension of harming you. You are to blame for your fall for not paying attention to the area around you. He is but a child; do you really think he would go against you? You disgusting, failure, of a human.â€ She pulled her foot off his chest and delivered a sound kick to the manâ€™s ribs loving the cracking sound she heard. A cruel smile played on her lips and she stepped back as the man groaned and rolled about on the floor in pain. Aliceâ€™s eyes showed her cold fury as she watched. â€œQuite dramatic arenâ€™t you?â€ She hissed before turning to the child on the floor. The boy appeared to be in serious pain as he struggled to breathe on the floor.<br/><br/>Alice knelt beside the boy and stroked his hair and back, she assumed he was scared because no matter how many times it happened one always panicked initially when they couldnâ€™t get air into their lungs. The panic made it worse more often than not because panicking required more air and seemed to cloud the mind. Alice remembered every time sheâ€™d had the breath knocked from her and had barely been able to breathe for several minutes because she had become frightened.<br/><br/>â€œItâ€™s alright, calm down. Slow breaths.â€ Her voice was gentle now, her tone one that few ever heard her speak in. It wasnâ€™t often Alice spoke softly or gently to anyone, yet here she was kneeling on the dirty floor with this poor boy who didnâ€™t seem to have anyone to defend him. Alice eyes the area where the man hand kicked him while gently probing it with the hand that wasnâ€™t stroking the boys head. The kick would leave a wicked bruise but nothing was broken, she could see the swelling beginning to start on his lower leg where the man must have initially tripped.<br/><br/>Rage filled her again just thinking about someone who could harm a child. She had very few rules she held herself too children were off limits. They couldnâ€™t defend themselves; they didnâ€™t have the experience to be cunning, nor the age to have muscles. All they really could do was run from an attacker, and sometimes even then they were bested. She saw children abused so often she wondered how any of the races continued on given how they treated their young. If she had children she would never abuse them. She couldnâ€™t even see how one could be so upset with a child that they struck them exceedingly hard. Alice had always been told that children were meant to be defended, yet so many seemed to not believe the same. She simply couldnâ€™t understand it. She shook her head and focused on the boy in front of her. Trying to calm him down so he could breathe.