Roleplay

The young girl smiled gently as she felt herself become wrapped in her love’s arms, letting herself uncurl slightly. Now she was here, and there was nothing to be afraid of anymore. She felt warmth, down to her very soul, and the warmth was accompanied by many other things as well. Love was one of them, as love would forever continue to be one of them. She whispered her thanks to him, a small “Thank you,” as she let her yellow eyes shut, blocking out the light from the dancing flame.

She felt herself chuckle lightly as she listened to Callum’s rambling. Whether or not it was something he was embarrassed of, the vampire found it endearing. In fact, it was odd, she could listen to him sit and ramble and imagined that she’d never grow bored of it. She shook her head as he apologized, squeezing Callum’s hand.

“My original statement still stands,” The girl cooed, opening one of her eyes to look up at him, “I don’t mind the rambling. I love it actually, it’s very entertaining.” A wave of tiredness washed over her in her blissful content, yet she fought to stay awake. She did most nights, just incase Callum would need her. It was a good time to get things done, anyway. This night should not be any different- she guessed she’d probably find something to busy herself with after Callum fell asleep. But for right now, everything was perfect.

“You were right in guessing he was a nice man,” She told him, smiling to herself, “I won’t tell you everything, we’ll be going after a friend of his tomorrow, but…. He was a merchant, at least that’s how he made money, though what he really enjoyed doing was teaching. He and my mother would travel, sometimes long ways away, to teach. At least, until Callidora.” Lucine trailed off after that.

The door flew open, and the pair’s weapons were tossed into the room, along with an exasperated looking Keaton. He was about as red as his hair, and leaned against the door to catch his breath, as though he had run at top speeds up the stairs. Lucine jolted up in the bed, too shocked to glare at the intruder, who’s face got redder as he stared at the pair.

“If you…” Pant “Were gonna…” Pant “Do ‘it’...” Pant “You should’ve…” pant “Asked for a bigger bed…”

“Is there a way in which I may assist you?” Lucine asked him, beginning to climb out of the bed, her face turning red.

“Get out. Get out of here.” He told them, moving to the window to open it “Vampire hunters are in the village. Did anyone follow you? Hell, I don’t even know if they know you’re here, but I’m taking no chances…”

“Vampire… hunters..?” Lucine asked, collecting her things quickly and unfolding Callum’s cloak. So much for him getting sleep.

“Do I speak French? Yes, vampire hunters!” Keaton exclaimed, getting the window open. “Hurry up!”

“I refuse to go out through the window.” Lucine said, shaking her head, “It’s dangerous.”

“So is walking out the front door into a town full of em!” The boy shouted, and then he lowered his voice, “C’mon, I can sneak you out into the woods.”

Lucine looked at Callum nervously before slinging her quiver back over her back and approaching the window.

Callum looked at Lucine lovingly when she commented on his rambling, blushing as she admitted to finding it entertaining. Would it be possible for him to bore her? He didn't want to necessarily try, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't just a bit curious. Ah, well. Right now, he was with his love, and he wasn't wanting to let go. By the looks of things, Lucine didn't seem like she wanted to let go either, and that was just fine with him.

He moved his empty hand to Lucine's hair, running his fingers through the dark curls soothingly. He was happy to know that he was right about her father, in that he was nice and treated her well. His eyes were half-closed, exhaustion glimmering in them, yet he fought to stay awake. He could've fallen asleep right there, embracing Lucine, holding her with no interruptions.

He was about to say something else when Callidora was brought up. He felt a swell of pity invade his chest. Why pity? Well, that was part in due to the fact that he never got to apologize and thank her for choosing to help him and Lucine in the end. That didn't mean he liked her completely. He absolutely loathed the way she had treated Lucine while she was growing up with her, and she reminded him very much of his brother, Connor. She had even tried to kill the girl, much like Connor had tried to kill him by slitting his throat in a cemetery.

However, he didn't hate her completely either.

He had sagged against Lucine, his muscles loosening completely. He was waiting for her to continue, if she was going to, when the door flew open in an alarming fashion. He nearly cried out, his face reddening instantly. Raven barked in alarm and dashed out from behind the other bed, looking at Keaton with wide eyes. Call very hesitantly swung his head around to look at Keaton, blushing even deeper when a very specific... um... topic, was mentioned. He froze on the bed as Lucine was beginning to get up, unable to really move. However, what Keaton said next nearly drove him up the wall.

Vampire hunters.

He growled, his hands curling into fists as he felt energy rising up within him. Raven bristled as well, almost immediately transforming into her adult form with ease. Her eyes were glowing, and they weren't showing any form of gentleness. Call himself felt as though he was about to explode with anger. He finally pushed himself off of the bed, nearly flinging himself across the room at that. He thanked Lucine quickly for unfolding his cloak, looking at her with worry and a bit of protectiveness in his eyes. The cloak was on him within the span of a few seconds, however, the blue parts of it could barely be seen.

An aura of Shadow magic was coating him, bristling angrily. If any of those d**ned hunters touched his love, he would skewer them. He would put each of their heads on a spike. He would... he stopped more graphic thoughts from forming in his mind. He found himself a little disturbed by the anger beginning to consume him. He had to freeze himself on the spot to prevent from trembling. He was focused on all of that while Lucine tried refusing to escape through the window.

"I'll h-help you out, l-love," he stammered, taking his dagger and storing it in the holster. He would probably have to use it when he got outside. "I won't let them hurt you."

The aura indicated that his magic was ready to use as well, and seeing as how this town was mostly abandoned to time, there would be plenty of sources to draw the shadowy spikes from. Both of his eyes were glowing a fierce orange as he approached the window along with Lucine, ready to help her down. He was getting ready to cast a dome over them, just in case any arrows flew at them. Of course, he would make it more translucent than usual. Raven was ready as well, ruffling her wings.

Lucine felt the pit in her stomach growing with every moment.

She should have just known that there would be no rest. She didn’t know what she was thinking, going on a quest so soon after the hell that was her life only a few months ago. She felt like shouting every swearword she knew- that seemed to be her way of calming down in situations like this. Still, she had to keep a mind about her. If the hunters were after her, then she wouldn’t hide from them by shouting into the middle of a quiet night.

Keaton stared between Callum and the wolf pup, as the latter transformed right before his eyes into a fully-grown wolf, and former had orange glowing eyes. He found himself muttering “What the fck?” as he watched the boy approach Lucine.

Lucine took Callum’s hand, turning to face him. She could sense his anger, she could feel it herself, and she squeezed his hands tightly, looking right into his eyes. “I’m going to be okay, my dear,” She told him, all of her own fear leaving her body. She was a protector before anything else, a voice of reason, and she couldn’t let herself get overemotional. Not anymore. “I can watch over my own being, you know this. I won’t allow them to lay a hand on us- not just me, us” She gave him a sad, reassuring smile, and turned back to the window, taking a deep breath, still clutching Callum’s hand.

Out through the window and into the night she went. It wasn’t as high up as she expected it to be, and she slightly pulled Callum through with her, landing on her feet in a dark alleyway behind the tavern. It was hard to see in the night, the moon’s brightness didn’t seem to reach back here. She let go of Callum’s hand for a moment, only to draw her bow, just in case. Though she stayed close to him, looking behind her to see the boy coming out through the window as well, as though he was a natural at things such as this.

He landed next to them, looking around the alleyway, and began to swear under his breath. Lucine tried to block out the unnecessary noise from the boy- she was trying to listen to the hunters on the street.

From the sounds of it, they weren’t directly infront of the tavern, but close, making as much noise as they wanted to. From the snippets of their conversations Lucine heard, she was appalled- they were talking gaily of their recent escapades. She knew of vampire hunters- they trapiesed the world, eliminating living beings who they saw as lower than them for the sole reason they were undead. Lucine knew that vampires didn’t bring harm unless they wanted to. And it was humans like vampire hunters that made them want to.

She felt herself feeling sicker, inching closer to Callum, attempting to listen to his breathing instead of the words of the hunters. She was waiting for him to move first- she didn’t want to be the one to run out into the street with vampire hunters.

Callum could feel it. The emotion known as anger, working to transform him into someone else. Something else. He was a trembling mess, at least, until he felt someone take hold of his hand. He shifted a little in place, looking directly into the yellow eyes he found so soothing. The glow in his orange eyes dimmed a little, allowing him not to see so much red and orange. Most people would see red whenever they were angry, but Call was a bit different. He saw more than one color, and both didn't indicate anything good.

But it wasn't just anger threatening to fill him entirely.

His heart was beating at a fast rate as Lucine spoke to him. He nodded quietly, understanding what she was saying through the rage pounding in his ears. He did indeed know that Lucine could watch over herself. After all, he had faith in her. He even told himself that before coming into this tavern. Of course, he should've known that there was a chance of running into danger as well, but he wanted to enjoy his time with Lucine in a tavern room. They hadn't been able to do that until now... they didn't get to spend an entire night there, but he enjoyed the time while it lasted.

I won't allow them to lay a hand on us.

Not me, us.

He stopped shaking when those words came out, sighing. He tried smiling, which partly succeeded. Sure, it was a smile, but it was a nervous one. "Okay," he murmured, nodding. He squeezed her hand before the two went out into the night, hopping out of the window to land on the ground, having to jump a shorter distance than one would expect. He landed on his feet, not stumbling once. Raven waited for Keaton to climb out of the room through the window before leaping out herself, fluttering her wings as to not make too much sound with her paws touching the ground.

They were in a dark alleyway behind the tavern, and this made Call concerned about himself. His magic was at its prime here, and he could feel it. It was going to become overwhelming soon. He had learned to have control of it, for the most part, but combined with his confused emotional state, multiple feelings crossing him, the darkness would find a way if they didn't get out of here soon. Raven whined a little, quietly too, looking up at Call with a hint of worry in her amethyst eyes.

"I'll be fine, girl," he whispered to her, reaching down for a moment to stroke her head. He lifted his hand when Lucine let go of his other hand, probably ready to draw her bow. He found one of his hands resting on the scaly holster hidden by his cloak. He had actually never used the crystal dagger before. He had been rather unsure of using it, especially after the strange circumstance of its bestowal. But he damn sure was going to use it if it meant guaranteeing Lucine's safety-

No.

Both of them needed to be safe.

Yet, he was starting to forget about that thought. He could hear snippets of the vampire hunters conversing with each other, and they were boiling his blood. He could vaguely hear Keaton cursing under his breath, but that was not what he was paying attention to. He was trying to shove the burst of magic within himself down, unwilling to release it. He found himself trembling with rage again, eventually deciding to try and find something else to focus on. That, of course, was a route of escape.

He could almost sense hesitation in Lucine, and it was clear to him that she was waiting for him to move first. His breathing was shaky, and he found it hard to calm it down. He could quiet it, but he couldn't stop it from trembling like his body. He adjusted his scarf subconsciously, moving it over the scar curling around his neck. He felt an urge to flip the hood of his cloak over his head, yet he didn't. Doing that might limit his field of vision, and that wasn't what he needed right now. He stepped forward to peek around the corner of the alleyway. He narrowed his eyes, expecting to see the hunters there.

He glanced back at Keaton, as if expecting him to lead them towards the forest, like he said he would. The shadowy aura became a bit thicker, his eyes glowing brighter as he returned to trying to find an escape, pausing as his eyes landed on another alleyway nearby. It didn't help that this place wasn't crowded. Perhaps one could hear a nail drop in this place. He would prefer it if the vampire hunters weren't aware of their presence here; either way, he would put up a defense.

He turned to face the others, looking at Keaton. "Which way to the forest?" he asked quietly. "And stick close to me; I'll be putting up a dome so they can't strike us with their weapons." Raven moved in close proximity to him at that moment, urging Keaton to do the same. Call muttered something in another, most likely ancient language under his breath before a thin, mostly translucent dome fell over the group. It was something he had practiced on his own time, not having the capability to do so until after the mage-lights had shone upon him and Lucine. She would still be able to shoot arrows through it, but oncoming weapons from the outside wouldn't pass through unless it was overwhelmed somehow. The strange thing about the dome was that there were black patches on it, not arranged in any specific order, and Lucine would be able to feel a familiar, spiritual energy surge from it.

The dome was his expanded soul.

After his feet hit the floor, Keaton looked wildly round the alleyway, trying to listen in on the conversation that the hunters were having. He could pick up snippets of it, small bits and pieces and things being sad that made him feel uncomfortable and almost a little bit queasy.

“That one family we found, hiding out in the middle of nowhere-”

“Oh the mother was begging, it was ridiculous. “Please don’t hurt my children, please, take me but let them go-” Like those kids aren’t gonna grow up to be cold blooded killers themselves.”

In the dark of the alleyway at night, Lucine could hear the footsteps of the hunters and see the warm glow of their torches they carried, their harsh words reaching her ears and causing her to almost drop her bow. Families. Mothers, children. All dead, because of a misinformed preconception of the nature of a different species. She instead gripped the handle of the bow tighter and looked to Keaton, waiting for the boy to give some sort of instruction.

“Right, yea,” he said, in response to Callum, looking around the alley to gauge the situation, “If we sneak back here, we’ll hit the forest after a few minutes, and then we can run in there and try to hide out. I can go back to the tavern and try to push the hunters out of town-”

He was trying to keep his voice low, but the hunters had trained ears.

“Did you hear something?” Came a gruff voice from out in the street, and the footsteps stopped. Lucine looked straight ahead, turning her attention from the dome and the familiar feeling she received due to it towards the street, waiting for another noise, as she noticed Keaton beginning to back away slowly.

Quickly stowing her bow and grabbing Callum’s arm, she decided they needed to do the same.

A tall man rounded the corner, his beady eyes finding the three teenagers standing there. Lucine stared back at him, her yellow eyes widened, watching as his face turned from confusion to comprehension, and then beginning to run after Keaton once the man called for reinforcements.

The boy was swearing under his breath as he led the party behind houses, jumping over barrels and dodging garbage lying in the backstreets. He seemed to know his way around pretty well, but Lucine wasn’t focusing on that, she was focusing on how loud the footsteps of the hunters behind her were.

She was stopped when Keaton stopped up ahead and looked behind him.

“Listen,” the boy said, looking frantic, “We need to split up. I’m gonna try to chase them back out into the main street, and you guys make a break for the forest while I’m distracting them, deal?” He said, quickly snatching up a large rock and chucking at the head of a vampire hunter, before running out down another alley. Lucine watched him go, and without waiting to see how many of the hunters followed him, mad a break in the opposite direction, towards the forest surrounding the village, her hand still clasped around Callum’s arm. When she finally reached where the cobbles break out into soft dirt, and the trees began to twist and grow, she slowed her pace slightly, looking behind her to see that most of the hunters had taken the boys bait. They must not have been the brightest.

Lucine then proceeded to trip over a protruding root and tumble to the ground, releasing Callums arm and landing on the soft turf of the forest floor.

Call could hear the words of the hunters, and every single one made him sick to his stomach. It didn't help that he couldn't handle nausea as well as he used to, thanks to a specific occurrence that he would rather not bring up. He glanced at Lucine worriedly for a moment. Those words must've been effecting her deeper, he realized. He barely even heard Keaton's response to what he said earlier. He had to stifle a low growl.

He nodded along with the plan, however, it seemed as though the hunters had good hearing, because one of them was already onto the group. He let his gaze dart between each and every dark spot that littered the translucent dome he conjured up. His legs were locked up, but he was begging them to move. He wouldn't be like this again. Raven noticed Keaton backing up and followed his lead, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Call felt Lucine grab his arm, a bit startled by the action, yet he understood why she did it. They were about to be found out, he could tell straight away. He made it a point to stay close to her. He was slightly pulling Lucine along as he backed up, making sure she stayed with him. The forest was definitely their best bet, even if hostile creatures were to pounce on them while they were hiding. He hoped that wouldn't be the case, but he was prepared for that particular circumstance.

His eyes remained orange and glowing slightly as a man rounded the corner, spotting the group. He grit his teeth and immediately turned to run, however, he only truly started to run once Keaton did. He hadn't run like this in a while. When was the last time? He couldn't spend his time trying to remember, for something like that was trivial at this moment in time. He ran as fast as he could while also keeping Lucine's speed, his heart beating faster by the second. Raven, of course, was trying hard not to leave the party behind. She was a wolf, after all. She could run faster than Call ever could.

He barely managed to stop once Keaton did, listening to his plan with urgency. He found himself worried about the boy's well-being, however, there was no time to argue. He watched as Keaton quickly threw a rock at someone's head, enticing them to chase him. Or at least, he thought so. Before he could see the results, Lucine was pulling him in the opposite direction, right towards the forest, where they would presumably be safe. Raven ran after them, her paws hitting the ground hard as she sped up.

They were close to the forest; in fact, they might as well already be there. Call could tell that Lucine was slowing down slightly and looking back to see how many people Keaton had fooled. He wasn't looking back, even though he wanted to. He became alarmed the moment he felt Lucine's grip slip from his arm, stopping and turning as she tumbled to the ground. "Lucine!" he called quietly, a bit of worry leaking into his voice. He ran to her and bent down to scoop her up. She must've tripped over a root, and that might mean a foot or ankle injury.

At the precise moment he scooped her up into his arms, Raven had ducked underneath his legs, putting him right on her back. He lowered Lucine to where she was sitting on Raven's back as well, in front of him at that. "Thanks," he whispered to Raven. The Night Wolf nodded before taking off into the woods as fast as she could possibly go, avoiding the roots jutting out of the ground.

"Hold on," he told Lucine, glancing back for a moment before wrapping his arms around the half vampire to help keep her balanced while on Raven's back. He shuddered uncomfortably, feeling as though he was being watched. He wasn't sure as to the reason, but he decided not to think about it too hard.

Lucine inhaled sharply as she tripped over the protruding root, feeling herself hit the soft turf of the forest floor. She heard her name, and began to pick herself gingerly up off of the ground. She wasn’t hurt, just a little shaken up after recent events, and exhausted. She was already pushing herself up when she felt Callum’s arm’s scoop her up, and so she stopped, giving him a reassuring smile. Her stomach jolted slightly as they were raised up onto Raven’s back, but more out of surprise than anything else. Once she was settled nicely on Raven’s back, she gave the nightwolf a small pat and turned back to look at Callum, giving him a look that was almost like This always seems to happen to us.

The forest was quiet, and Lucine could no longer hear the commotion of the village, and typically she would have thought this was nice, but right now all she felt was unnerved, as though there were eyes peering into the back of her neck. She leaned back into Callum as a way to try and settle that nervousness, but it persisted, and she looked up to the sky. The moon was big and bright and bold and hung in the sky, illuminating the forest around them. Lucine knew this might mean werewolves, which, being half-vampire, might be an issue for her, but then she remembered what her late sister’s wife had told her about werewolf attacks- ”If you get em between the eyes, they’ll take their sorry a**es somewhere else.”

Plus, they had Raven with them. People generally don’t mess with you when you have a large nightwolf hanging around you.

“Well, I’d consider that an interesting conclusion to the night,” She said, her voice barely above a whisper. It felt wrong to talk at normal volume in such a quiet forest. Quickly, she considered what their next actions would be. Depending on how long the vampire hunters would stay in the village, they wouldn’t be able to go back- but what she was looking for would probably remain there.

An old friend of her fathers. She had met him, once, when she was very young. He had come around every so often, and every time would offer to take Callidora back with him. Her father had eventually asked him to stop trying to ship Callidora away, it just made her more rebellious.

Lucine had always wished she could go with him.

“I don’t know what we are to do now,” she told Callum, shifting slight so she was looking at him, at least from the corner of her eye. She felt a small urge to turn around completely, cup his face, and press her lips against his. To tell him that she was sorry for tonight, and for every night before that when her rotten luck and trouble’s tendency to find her had once again made things difficult. She wanted to send him and Raven back to their home, where she could send him occasional letters about how she was doing, just like she sent Felicity, so that neither one of them worried about her too much. Lucine wanted to walk through her door 3 months later, her father in tow, and see Callum there waiting for her- lonely and worried but safe from all the darkness that seemed to surround her.

But hey, when you’re in love with a shadow mage, you’re pretty much asking for some kind of darkness.

“Potentially, we could go a few villages over, and return here tomorrow. I’m not sure exactly which home we are searching for, however….” She stopped herself, unsure of what she was really going to say next.

What if he didn’t live there anymore? What if he didn’t have any idea what they were talking about, or who she was.

She took a deep breath, and then shook her head. “I’m sorry, Callum..” she finally said, smiling sadly, “I knew this wasn’t to be easy, but I didn’t expect the first night…”

Once they were at a safe distance away from the vampire hunters, Raven slowed down to a trot. Call kept his arms around Lucine as they went along, though, he loosened his hold on her a bit. He looked at her as she did, his expression soft. He was trying to be comforting without saying a word, which wasn't all that difficult for him nowadays. After all, he had to do it plenty of times in the past, since he had been far too injured to maintain a comforting tone in his voice and scraping his voice box in the process.

The forest was deathly silent to him, and he swore he would be able to hear a pin drop here. He looked up to see the bright moon glowing above them, and he felt a dull throb in his head as he studied its details for a moment. He had no idea why that was. It wasn't like he was a creature that would be affected by the full moon. Then again, he shouldn't have been affected by... that howl, but he was anyway. Saying it had been horrible was an understatement. With every passing day, he strangely felt a little less human, if even a smidgen. The moon often reminded him of that feeling.

He still felt like a pair of eyes was boring into the back of his skull. It made him tense a little, but almost immediately, he told himself to try and relax. Tensing would make Lucine worry, and he didn't want her mood to dip any further into the negative than it already was. "Mhm," he responded to her statement, hugging her a bit closer. It could've been worse, he thought about saying. He didn't speak those words because he knew it wouldn't help at all.

His worry increased a little when Lucine expressed her confusion over what to do. He supposed they could wait a short while and return to the village when they were sure it was empty. All the same, they would have to gauge exactly how long they would have to wait... and then there was the matter of where they would stay in the meantime. What if the vampire hunters somehow ran into them again? What if a different threat decided to target them in a short span of time?

He closed his eyes for a brief moment as Lucine suggested settling elsewhere for the night and returning the next day. It honestly didn't sound that bad of an idea. He wasn't sure how vampire hunters worked, but there was a chance that they didn't actively hunt all that much during the daytime. It wasn't smart for a vampire to be active for long periods of time while the sun was shining down.

Call gave Lucine a brief comforting squeeze when she apologized for what went down tonight. He smiled sadly. "It isn't your fault, love," he whispered. He was briefly reminded of when she said the exact same thing to him, rain pounding on the green tent they had been in at the time. "You have nothing to apologize for."

He paused and sighed quietly. The throbbing in his head continued as he tried to relax. His eyes felt a little heavy, and thinking about lying down only made it worse. "We can come back tomorrow and ask around," he suggested openly. "We shouldn't settle too far away from that village, but we shouldn't be too close either... just in case those hunters decide to travel in our general direction."

He shuddered. He would be very lucky if Lucine hadn't notice his body vibrating, considering that he still had his arms wrapped around her. "Should we go back two villages for tonight?" he asked her softly. "Raven could get us there faster if we fly there, if you'd like." After he spoke, his head rested on Lucine's shoulder against his will. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't will the strength to lift it back up. He didn't know if he should apologize or just remain quiet until Lucine responded. His eyes shut themselves and his body relaxed a little more.

"It'll be okay... I'm here... to support you..." he murmured, his voice slurring a bit.

Meanwhile, Raven was focused on the foliage in front of her, stepping over roots and brushing past shrubs. She was being cautious, as this was a quiet forest, and that usually meant danger to her. She would've liked to hear a bit more noise than this. It wasn't until a foreign scent hit her nose that she froze stiff. It wasn't any of the vampire hunters, but it was definitely something else. Something about the presence unnerved her enough to render her body stiff. She whined a little and turned in multiple directions. Call managed to crack open his grey eye, looking worried. However, he still didn't have the strength to lift his head from Lucine's shoulder.

"Huh...? What's wrong...?"

The young vampire sighed as the mage told her that one of what had previously occurered was her fault, yet she could not help but feel that it was. There would be no point to running if Lucine hadn’t been a vampire- it would have been nice to just have one night. She said nothing, because at the moment she was too exhausted to argue, and could tell he felt the same, but still managed to curse herself in her own head.

She could feel his body shaking as he had his arms wrapped around her, which clued her into the fact that she was not the only one on edge at the moment. The forest had gone from quiet and calm to silent and unsettling- the only noise was the sound of Raven’s soft paws hitting the Earth. Had Lucine been more than half asleep at the time, she would have been nervous, but the lack of sound and the fact she was in Callum’s arms was beginning to lull her into sleep, like a siren’s song.

“Two villages back is fine,” she nodded, her voice barely more than a mumble. She felt his head lie on her shoulder, and could tell that Callum was beginning to fall asleep as well. She didn’t mind the touch, and she could feel his body relaxing slightly, which made her become more alert. If he was going to sleep, she would have to keep a lookout.

She felt bad about leaving that boy, Keaton, behind in the village to deal with the vampire hunters, but her mind didn’t stay on him for too long. When the trio returned the next day they would thank him, and that would be that. Right now, her focus was making it two villages back, and finding Callum somewhere nicer to go to sleep than just her shoulder, as much as she wanted him to stay there, all wrapped around her.

She patted his arm gently, not in intention to stir him but just to let him know she was still there, and let her amber eyes scan the forest. The silence had gone from unsettling to creepy, and the hair on the back of her neck and arms was beginning to stand on end. Being a vampire, or at lead half of one, she had somewhat greater senses than a humans, though still not as good as a vampire’s. Lucine was more human than vampire anyway, one might say, and so she didn’t need as much blood to keep her sustained. This was good, but it also meant she didn’t possess many of the feats vampires were capable of- strength or agility. All she could really do is hear more things than the average human.

As she traveled on Raven’s back, searching the forest around them for some kind of other beings, she felt a chill run up her spine. Raven stopped at essentially the same time, and for a moment, was frozen stiff. Lucine blinked in slight surprise, and then reached down to patt the side of Raven’s back, letting out a whisper of “What’s wrong, girl?”

She continued to pet the wolf as she began to whine, and then removed her hand once the animal began to turn. She could feel Callum stirring behind her, but he still didn’t raise his head from her shoulder, so she tried to keep her body relatively relaxed. This was the opposite of how she felt, but she found Callum’s hand with her own and gave it a small squeeze.

“Raven, what’s the matter?” She asked, turning her head slightly to look at the forest behind her. It still looked empty, aside from trees and bushes and all sorts of things. Lucine let her free hand find her quiver, just in case. She didn’t like to be so quick to draw her bow, but she with the night she had already had she couldn’t be so sure that they would remain safe. And with Callum and Raven with her, she wasn’t going to risk anything hurting them.

Raven relaxed a little bit when she heard Lucine's voice, but she was still acting worried, glancing up at the girl with concern in her amethyst eyes for a moment. Around and around she turned, but she couldn't see anything. The scent was there, but nothing visible was present. It was then that the fur lining her neck bristled. Her wing muscles tensed, ready to spread and capture the air needed to make a quick escape. She wasn't exactly sure why she wasn't already taking to the skies. Probably because of the risk that they would pass over the village with the vampire hunters. They would most likely see the silhouette of a large Night Wolf in the sky with two passengers and shoot at them.

Meanwhile, Call could feel the chill that had slithered up Lucine's spine and immediately became more concerned. He wished he could take his weight off of her so she could have a better chance of defending herself in case this was a threat, and he even tried again. Even though he didn't succeed with the next attempt, he was looking at his surroundings with caution. He felt both of his hands and even arms twitch in anticipation. It wasn't long before the same chill Lucine had received came to him. He grit his teeth inwardly when it came.

He remembered the last time he felt this way while in a forest. It wasn't any of the forests he had ventured through when he had first been sent to the past alongside the rest of his former group. No, it was the one he knew so well from when he was a little kid. The one that concealed the hidden cemetery with old gravestones; the same one he almost died in. It had been deathly quiet while he had frantically ran from his killer, who he hadn't known at the time to be Connor before it was too late.

He squeezed his eyes shut to block the memory, finding it to be surprisingly easy, though he kept his eyes closed. It was as if he was trying to focus on listening for other noises. The air suddenly felt colder in the forest while the deathly silence seemed to persist. Raven whined again and winced a little at the noise she made. She narrowed her eyes a little and growled quietly. She flinched slightly at that noise as well. She lifted a paw and brought it forward to take a single step when a slow hissing sound reverberated through the air, followed by a voice that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Monsters... you can't trust them... the Vein-Diggers...

Call's eyes snapped open when a thin woosh! came in from the right side of the trio. He inhaled sharply as his right hand shot out in front of one side of Lucine's neck in tandem. He felt something sting his extended wrist as the swift action was taken, but he couldn't see what it was. Raven went into a panic afterwards, suddenly barking in distress and flapping her wings frantically, taking to the skies. It didn't take long for her to shoot through the trees and soar directly underneath the clouds.

Call was holding onto Lucine tightly, his body momentarily stiff. He refused to breathe for a while, but he did loosen his grip on the half-vampire positioned in front of him in case he was hurting her, which he seriously hoped he wasn't. He leaned back and inhaled deeply, sighing raggedly afterwards. He almost winced at the slight burning sensation in his wrist. He took a look at his arm as the wind blew past him and was a bit horrified to see a needle with purple fuzz at the end sticking out of his wrist, inserted into one of his veins.

Instead of freezing up, he used his free trembling hand to yank the needle out, however, his instinct to throw it as far away as he could didn't manage to take him over. The afflicted arm was tingling, but nothing further than that was happening to him. He jammed the needle into his pocket and wrapped both arms around Lucine again, trying to calm his nerves. Any chance of him falling asleep now was gone for the moment. "A-Are you okay, love?" he stammered. They were above the forest now, flying in the direction they needed to go; back two villages.