"You're right, good thinking... thanks Zamu"
Zamu finds a good washed out gully that the group can push the piled up ashes out of and make a good defensible camp for the night, protected on 3 sides.
The lack of trees means it's a cold camp...
In the early dawn, Lingfeng is trying to stay awake as the other's sleep, when she notices that the dim dingy grey light has taken on a purplish hue. Looking up quickly, she notices spirit balls floating slowly through the air, leaving purple trails behind them.
A voice that seems to whisper in her ear speaks.
"My my, I had wondered where the wonderful smell of blood came from. Such a nice mixture of types as well..." A woman in elaborate robes floats down out of the sky, her toes touching the ash, barely, as she alights, her right eye covered by a talisman. "It is unfortunate there are so many of you... perhaps we could work out... a trade... for a few swallows of blood?"
"...Um. I would, uh, need to... consult with my, um... compatriots before we make any decisions regarding... that." Ling says with as much civility as she can muster.
With her voice just a little louder, she says, while reaching over to touch the nearest of the party, "Ahem! Friends, we have a visitor! A very nice lady has come calling and wants to know if we can do business. Up, please!"
Lingfeng will remain as pleasantly neutral as possible while the others awaken, sure not to offend or alarm the new arrival.
Avernus sits up at Lingfeng's rousing, and narrows his eyes as he regards the strange woman and the flitting purple lights. He starts to ask a question, but quiets himself and allows Zamu to speak instead though he watches curiously, wondering at this woman's intentions.
Kimiko wakes and rubs her eyes.... yawns... looks around and slips out of her bedding when she sees there is indeed company... curiously, she asks quietly... "business?"
The woman smiles, and her teeth seem to almost glow in the purple lights. The canines are very long and pronounced. "Yes, things are not as they should be. Finding food is proving... annoying. I would trade with you, information and protection, in exchange for information and food." She makes a small gesture of acceptance. "I realize generally the rule is to fight some, and then feed off the losers... but, I do have a pressing engagement that I would prefer to show up for without bloodstains and torn clothing. It would be... polite. Would you consider such an exchange? Or do we have to do it the time honored way instead?" She asks, raising one eyebrow and waiting patiently for an answer.
"I assume you are desiring blood... Does it have to be direct from a vein, or can it be from a cup?"
The woman continues to smile. "Well, blood would certainly likely be easiest, unless someone was looking for an excuse to cut off an arm or leg?" She looks a bit hopeful, but when no-one volunteers they were looking for an excuse to lose a limb, she sighs. "In that case, yes, blood would suffice. Direct from the vein is likely better for you, as it will require less to tide me over. Once it's out of the vein, it's power fades quickly. I think, a flask from four of you would suffice? Or three from four of you, if you really want to fill the flask first. Neck or wrist suffices, whichever is more convenient or pleasurable for you..."
Xu considers the extremely strange circumstances but as it seems to be the case that the group is not fighting the situation, I er...that...is...you could just drink from me?
Avernus watches the others with bald disbelief, the tiefling obviously surprised that everyone seems to be so nonchalant and willing to let a floating woman in the wilds drink from their veins.
Kimiko frowns as Xu volunteers.. sighs deeply. "Are you sure about this Xu.. it could go badly... "
Ling purses her lips as she considers the circumstance. "Listen, miss- um, what was your name? This might sweeten the deal a bit. I've got dragon's blood running through my veins. Maybe if Xu and I offer you a pint each, we can be friends?" If nothing else, she just doesn't want Xu to have to do this alone.
The woman looks at Zamu, and shakes her head. "That would be... impolite... I'm afraid." She looks to the others. "Feeding from only one might be dangerous for the one. The more the feeding is spread around, the less danger for you." She nods at Zamu. "Other than him that is." She gives a small hopping motion, and her body moves almost faster than the eye can follow as she lands a foot in front of Kimiko. She bows, then holds up one finger. The fingernail grows long and wickedly sharp.
She draws the razor sharp claw over her own wrist of her other arm. Dark purple black blood wells up, but doesn't drip off, it instead beads up and moves as if a living thing.
Then she turns around, and moves her bloody wrist in an arc. The blood flings off in a solid line that forms an arc in front of the little area. As the blood falls to the ground, the ash on the ground 'whuuf's back, pushed away. The blood lands liquidly on solid stone beneath it, forming a bit of a barrier. "There, nothing that cannot kill me will come near this place for several days. At least, nothing that operates off instinct."
Kimiko blinks, barely able to follow her movement and surprised when the floating woman lands in front of her. "Thank you."
Avernus still watches on in a mute mixture of surprise and baffled confusion, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Did this creature bewitch them all?
|
Strange. It seems the blood of clan Tomoshabe is more powerful than I realised. I had not known it was famous amongst the Kaiju, I am so used to the ignorance of the Bito.
"A boon if you will, milady. What do you know of the blood of Tomoshabe? I am curious since it seems largely unknown amongst the Bito beyond our own clan."
The vampire blinks, and looks thoughtful for a moment. "Tomoshabe... Tomoshabe..." She pinches her lower lip thoughtfully between two fingers for a few moments, and then her eyes widen. "OH! The little archer Tengu.. oh, yes, well... let's see... he had Type A blood, a bit bland honestly, and all those nasty wooden arrows he kept shooting me with... honestly it wasn't worth the effort. He was a good archer though..."
The vampire looks to Xu. "May I have your wrist?" Then she smiles. "Or would you prefer the neck? The wrist is less... intimate..."
Well as a teller of stories I think I should ah....go for the most intimate experience I can I suppose...
Xu steps forward so as to present his neck....
The vampire sidles up to Xu, using an odd hopping gate and wraps her arms around him. There's quite a bit of snuggling as she licks up the side of his neck. What exactly happens is hidden by her hair, but Xu doesn't seem to be in any pain.
The sensation is a small sharp pinch, like an injection, and then a great deal of pleasure. It seems to take about an hour for her to feed.
A couple of minutes later, she steps back. There's a small red scar on his neck that doesn't bleed (it looks like a bite that's healed over several days).
That was uh...well it was...uh...thanks!
Xu blushes a bit and simply shrugs with a big smile on his face.
"Are you satisfied now, ma'am? It seems at least that you both enjoyed the experience. If you don't mind me asking, what is the information you would part with in exchange? Can you tell us about these creatures we're fighting and how we can stop their incursions here? Who creates them and why?"
The woman holds up one finger, and licks rather dark red lips. "I can give you some answers, but perhaps not as many as you'd like. I've had one meal." She finishes licking her lips clean, and takes a seat... on thin air, and looks thoughtful. "That was actually my question, I think. The local's are all gone. Usually I stop in, pay a few coins, feed, and move on, when I need to come through here. There's not much in this area other than some small Oni and Oniku. Nothing much here, you know. Every village I've stopped at for the last two days has been deserted. It's one reason I'm rather hungry. Something's been cleaning out the local villages." She shrugs. "That's not very hard, I could do it in about two minutes, if I cared to bother. I suspect whatever it is you fought, is also what has been cleaning out the villages. It seems... so small minded. Why bother wiping out these villages? It's truly not worth anyone's time, not even if they were just completely chaotic and insane. And it would take many fighters to wipe them out so thoroughly, only corpses remain."
She pauses. "That is my information, as I said earlier, I thought my protection would be worth more than my information. Now, my question, and then we'll move on to the next meal. There is a village nearer to the lands of the living, which has Oni living in it. It is a day or so from here. Did you pass through it? And if you did, did you find them gone also? In other words, was it abandoned, or were there living things there?"
"We passed through a village that was once the residence of oniku'ki but they were gone before we arrived. There were some blood stains, but no bodies in the village. Tracks and blood indicated the entire village, from the youngest to the oldest was taken and marched out of the village by creatures larger than themselves and all within a couple of months of our arrival. There were no creatures still living there... we met but one in the village, and he was just passing through and not an oni himself. We were following the tracks of the captives and their captors when we came upon the strange melting oni we fought recently. Does that satisfy your curiosity regarding the village? If so, as you say, we can move on to what comes next."
The vampire holds up a hand. "The one you met, describe him please?"
Somewhat reluctantly, as she feels almost like she's betraying a trust, though in truth, he never said not to mention his presence to others, she replies, honestly, "That would be difficult to do, as he was heavily armored and never removed his helmet. He did have wings, so we knew he wasn't one of the oni we sought."
"I see, so he is there. Ah well, I have given my oath, so I guess I must continue on..." The vampire sighs, as if she just received bad, or at least annoying, news. "Very good. One more meal, and I shall give some additional information. You, I think..." She points at Dunja, who reluctantly extends her wrist to be fed from. The feeding doesn't seem nearly as... intimate... as Xu's.
When she's done, she licks the blood from her lips again. "And now, my exchange of information. That sword, young woman, it is incomplete." She leans forward and whispers into Dunja's ear. Dunja stiffens as she listens. When the vampire is done, Dunja's eyes are wide, and she looks at her blade as if she had never seen it before.
"How do I know you speak truth? No offense, but..." Dunja says in a voice that seems strained.
"If you twist the handle, like this..." She makes a twisting motion with her wrist that's moderately complex.
Dunja places her hand on her sword, and duplicates the motion, it takes her a couple of tries, but then the handle clicks, and comes loose. She pulls the handle from the tang, and looks at it closely. She gives a small gasp, and then pushes the handle back on, securing it with a click. "What do I do then?"
The vampire shrugs. "That is up to you, however, I gave an oath once to the previous owner of the blade. If you wish, I will escort you to where it needs to go, once I've completed my current obligation. You would need to come with me."
Dunja turns to the group. "Please give my apologies to Adachi'san, but I... I have matters of honor to attend to."
Kimiko looks concerned... worried even... over Dunja's decision. "Are you sure of this path, Dunja? It could be dangerous to go off alone."
Yanyeeku, still euphoric from his blood letting, offers a functional though slightly nonsensical goodbye to the sword woman. Somewhat content, the kitsune settles down for more rest, assuming that everything is just fine...
-Posted with Wayfinder
Ling feels the slightest hint of offense that her dragon blood is not good enough for the vampire, but it could be worse.
"Farewell, Dunja. Take care of yourself."
Avernus shudders as the floating woman coaxes Dunja into accompanying her. It's plain from his posture the tiefling thinks its a terrible idea, and he seems more than eager for the vampire to make her exit and leave what remains of the group in peace.
Seeing that there are no further questions, the vampire hops back closer to the wall, and motions. "Feel free to sleep, per our agreement, I shall make sure non harm you this night..."
------------------
In the morning, if you can call it that, given the perpetual cloud cover blocks 90% of the sun, the vampire and Dunja give small bows and head out, heading toward the village with the Tengu Spirit in it.
The small barrier of blood still keeps the ash away from the stone, and small drifts of it have built up on either side of the vampire's blood, which still looks wet on the stones.
Avernus shakes his head at the strangeness of the evening and eeriness of the blood barrier surrounding their camp. Wordlessly, he gathers his things and prepares to depart - long past ready to be out of the vampire's company.
Kimiko wakes slowly, and sits up, gathering her knees inside the circle of her arms. "did that really happen or did I dream a vampire? "