A Mercenary Among Merchants

[Felypsa]

December said nothing in reply. Let Fortuné have his bout of self-pity. Instead she watched in reverent silence as the old man's corpse rolled down the pit, from which no sound emerged. Like a bottomless pit. Like Hell. December couldn't suppress a shiver, though the basement was hardly cold. She looked at Fortuné, whose face had an eerie glow in the soft candlelight, and decided there was no point in hanging around here. "We've completed the task," she announced, breaking the silence. "Let's go back upstairs so we can decide what to do next."

She beckoned to bat-Imi, and murmured quietly so Fortuné wouldn't overhear. "Make sure that's not a soldier following us...come back when you've had full detail of what our shadow looks like." Imi made a high-frequency pinging sound in return, and fluttered away. December nodded to Fortuné, smiling a bit. "Come on, this place gives me the creeps. Take your candle, and let's go back up."[/color]

[Aveilthé]

The vampire stepped towards the table and retrieved
the candle obediantly without hesitating. For a moment
as he followed December out of the basement, his
expression remained impassive, but his words revealed
his feelings rather than expression for now.

"The great light weakens me - the sun, you know.
Sometimes I stay in here - only sometimes, to hide
from it." As he followed December back into the grand
livingroom of the ancient house, Fortuné promptly
moseyed his way towards one of the many couches.
He ripped the sheet off, and sat upon it, placing
the candle upon the table next to him. He sat up
straight, and proper, like a gentleman, grinning
stupidly at December again.

Idiot.

From outside, the wind started to pick
up. It howled against the roof of the house. The air
in the house became a little cold - but that was all in
a manner of opinion to an individual. He was as vague
as an empty tea pot about the girl outside though.

"Shall I start a fire in the fireplace? Tis getting quite
chilly. And you needn't worry about the chimney;
thousands of houses will have their chimneys smoking,
thus ours wouldn't be so different, thus we'll go
unnoticed. I've done it before," he simpered, his voice
affable. "And I can get blankets from a shelf... I'll make
you some cocoa..." He suddenly sounded a little
excited.

[/center]

[Felypsa]

Once they were upstairs again, December relaxed visibly. She did not join Fortuné on the couch, but instead walked slowly around the room, examining all the paintings. She was slightly nervous about what Imi would find, but decided to push that to the back of her mind. As she admired the works of art, she shifted in her mind what she was supposed to do now. With luck, Fortuné won't be transforming for a while...that gave her some time. But time to do what?

She was shaken out of her reverie by the vampire's sudden tirade of questions. She turned and stared at him as if he'd gone crazy, then nodded and smiled. "A fire would be delightful. But I'll have to decline your offer of blankets, although some cocoa sounds good too. Make some for yourself as well; I have a feeling this night is going to get much colder." Why so eager? she wondered. Does he really need to be helpful?[/color]

[Aveilthé]

Fortuné clasped his hands together. "Brilliant! Is
Imi hungry?" He looked around, looking for the
shape-shifting mockingbird. "Ah, but... where is the
little fellow?" The question was said vaguely, but he
shook his head. "I'll make 'er something as well."
He slid off the well-cushioned beige chair, then bounded
like a hyperactive mutt towards a small group of stairs.
Three steps was all it took, until he was up to a
rather huge kitchen - dusty, like the rest of the house,
and perhaps unsanitary also. Fortuné was aware of this;
he wouldn't use unsanitary items to make cocoa.

The sound of a masculine yell was heard, and a loud
break of china. "Ahh, uhm... That was nothing!" the
vampire yelled airily. The sound of singing soon filled
the house with his voice. He had a nice voice, but he
was terribly off-key, but apparently he did this to distract
December from the clatter and bustle he was making.

Fifteen painful minutes later, Fortuné arrived back
with a tray with three crimson mugs, steaming with the
smell of chocolate cocoa. He moseyed to December,
offering her cup. "The other is for Imi; there is really
nothing else. I hope Imi likes it. And I hope you like it,"
he grinned. If she took hers, Fortuné would turn around
and grimace at his own cup of cocoa. He'd have to
pretend to drink it to please December. The only meal
that fills him properly... is human blood, unfortunately.

Once that was over, he'd set the silver tray with his
mug of cocoa on the table where his violin case was,
and promptly prepare to kindle the fireplace. As he was
doing so, he noticed a painting above the mantelpiece
depicting a soldier of Escavus of old riding upon a
magnificent white steed. It was a very nice picture.
Deciding it best to not be distracted by paintings, he'd
bend down to gather the firewood into the pit, then
reach over to obtain the candle.

After a few moments,
there was the smell and sight of a healthy roaring fire,
and the pleasant stench of hot cocoa filling the
livingroom. It was like the whole house burst into life
with the festivity. Fortuné settled himself onto the chair,
pulling himself a blanket over him that he obtained
from the shelves that was mentioned. There was
another for December, though she said herself she
didn't need one. But being a kind - although dark soul
that he was, he decided she might need one later. He
didn't know how long December was to stay, but
Fortuné decided to stay here for tonight, though before
he met her he planned on going elsewhere. He liked
her company though. Perhaps more than a lot. He didn't
want to be parted from her. She was independent, but
he felt that she was like his sister, or something else...
That is why he felt drawn to her.

Laughable imbecile.

[Relairah]

Jolene stood there outside the window, not entering,
even after they had gone down to the basement. She
bit her lip, hands pressed against the wall of the house
behind her. She peared into the window, her brunette
hair falling in front of her shoulders, and bright orange
eyes looking about the empty room. She placed a hand
on the sill of the window, rubbing her finger along it a
moment and picking it up, looking at the dust upon her
finger a moment then rubbed it off and placed her hand
back on the window sill. She prepared herself to make
an easy leapt inside, yet when she went to jump, her
ears twitched at the sound of the two coming back
upstairs. She was rather curious as to what they had
done with the body, but wasn't going to risk her cover
to find out.

She removed her hand from the window sill, standing
near the window silently once more. She scowled, and
a thought crossed her mind. 'What the heck am I
doing here anyway?' she asked herself. 'What am
I going to do... stand here forever until they go
somewhere else? Stay here until they notice me? Or... I
wonder if they even know I'm here.' Her mind
buzzed with thoughts, and she was being quite
unobservant, different than her usual self, for if she had
been she would've noticed Imi. But, instead, her
attention was on the two inside the house, her ears
listening to what was going on inside. Her nose
twitched with the smell of hot cocoa. It made her mouth
water, and oh how she wanted some. She shook it off
as the smell of smoke and the soft cackle of a fire inside
came to her senses.

She sighed inwardly, giving a mental shrug. Her hand
clutched the hilt of her left dagger, and she wondered if
she shouldn't just go inside, or if she should just wait a
little while longer and see if they'd notice she was
there. Did she want to be noticed? No, that would
prove she was faulty, but then, no one is flawless. She
wondered if there were another way in the house or
not. While they were talking, she could find out. She
moved from her spot beside the window, going around
the house, ducking when she might come to a window,
and letting her curiosity out. With how much she had
learned the city and knew it, she found that she
seemingly learned something new about it all the time.
This house, for one, she had never known about, at
least till now. This house interested her, quite a lot.

[Felypsa]

While Fortuné was upstairs making a mess and filling the whole house with his less-than-perfect singing, December was examining the architecture of the house. This place really isn’t in bad shape, she thought to herself, and it was probably beautiful when its last owner left it…so why did they leave? She winced as she heard the crash of china and the off-key singing of Fortuné, and sighed. That vampire was really unexpected. Not like anything she would’ve imagined a vampire to be. Really, he was so very silly and eager for a creature of the dark…an unusual paradox, she mused. But she didn’t realize that she herself was one as well: a fighting, independent mercenary of an angel.

When Fortuné came back in, bearing three steaming cups of cocoa—one for Imi? she thought, amused—she took her own and sipped it carefully, for it was very hot. The liquid warmed her insides, and she began to relax some more, for the first time taking a seat at one of the couches—though not the same one Fortuné had claimed. She watched his efforts to make a fire, not saying a word, simply lost in thought. Once the fire was roaring pleasantly, she lifted her mug of cocoa to him as if in a toast, and said, “Thank you. Cheers.” She took a draught from her cup.

At that moment, bat-Imi came fluttering in and changed into mockingbird form. “Imi,” December greeted her, feeling oddly cheerful, “have a drink of this good cocoa Fortuné’s made us. She likes chocolate a little too much,” she added to Fortuné. Her spirits had really lifted, and though she was aware that Imi had some news for her, she wanted to put on a good front.

Imi dipped her beak into the third cup of cocoa, before fluttering back to December’s shoulder, twittering softly. December smiled at Fortuné, then stood up. “I’m going for a brisk walk outside,” she announced. “You can stay here, I won’t be long…I just want to see the rest of the house from outside. Imi, stay here.” The mockingbird obliged, soaring over to her cup of cocoa, taking a few more sips, warbling jovially at Fortuné. December left before Fortuné could get a chance to protest.

Imi had informed her where she had last seen their shadow. Though December had the element of surprise, she was careful. She drew her sword as soundlessly as she could. She moved slowly and silently, her ears and eyes alert, in case she should accidentally bump into their follower. She paced along the whole exterior of the house, hoping Seraphim’s glow wouldn’t give her away.

Before long, she saw a figure—a shape of darkness only a shade darker than the rest of night. December’s grip on her sword tightened as she approached the figure. “I suggest you don’t move,” she said lightly, though she was still a short distance away from the girl. December lifted Seraphim up slowly, ready to attack if need be. The white blade glinted menacingly.[/color]

[Aveilthé]

He nodded cheerfully as December left. Just as she
dissapeared, he allowed his thoughts to be dominated
by her. Slowly did he begin to realize that his
cup was tilted too far to the left, and hot cocoa
sloshed down his front - but on his blanket, thankfully.
The vampire gritted his teeth and gave a noise of
irritation as he settled his cup onto the table next to
his chair.

After a few moments of settling down again, Fortuné
looked at Imi. "I see you like it," said he, pointing
at her cup.

[Relairah]

She was about to turn the last corner, when she heard
foosteps behind her. But, before she could turn, the
other spoke. Great, she'd been found out. She gave a
slight scowl, how the heck did they know, she
wondered. She simply stopped in her step, her back
turned toward the other, both of her hands gripping
the opposite dagger, thus her right hand gripping the
left, and the left hand, the right. She had seen that the
other had been carrying a large sword on her back,
from before, and by the voice she made a guess at who
it was. She glanced down at her daggers briefly, then
looked back up. "Why shouldn't I?" she questioned
softly, her voice indicating she was quite young, yet it
held an icey tone to it.

She suddenly twirled around, daggers held in either
hands, she ready to defend or attack. The blades of her
daggers gleamed slightly, and her bright orange eyes
glared at the other from the shadows where she stood,
her features a bit hard to make out, except perhaps
seen by the glow of the sword, Serraphim. "How'd you
know, anyway?" she asked, rather demandingly, eyeing
the sword a moment before meeting December's gaze.
'This isn't any ordinary sword... I've gotta be careful,
she thought to herself, yet showed no signs of her
thoughts.

'What now? It probably wouldn't be best to attack
her... I guess I'll just wait and see what she does first...
stupid of me, though. I shouldn't've been so
unobservant. I hope this doesn't happen again later
when the guards are after me.

"What are you going to do... kill me?" She snorted
slightly, "I'd like to see you try," she murmered under
her breath, unsure if the other had heard her or not,
but not caring in the least. She hoped that the
vampire... or, that's what she'd learned back in the
alley... didn't come out. She really didn't want to have
to fight two, but she was sure she could handel it. She
practiced every day with the guards in the market. She
mentally shrugged, perhaps she was getting ahead of
herself. She did that so often.

[Felypsa]

Imi chirped in amusement at Fortuné's predicament. She fluttered away from the cup of cocoa and became a very strange creature. Its body was batlike and the size of a pebble. Its wings were proportionately enormous, each one practically ten times as large as its body. The creature in its entirety was, of course, still the same size as Imi the mockingbird. Imi flew down close to where Fortuné had spilled his cocoa, and began to flap her wings. For a being so small, it hardly seemed feasible she could control her great wings, but she somehow managed it. Flapping her wings hard enough, she got enough of a gust to hopefully help the liquid dry.[/color]

"If you fight me, you will regret it," December replied. "And I do not have to kill you to make you regret it." She did not move, examining the other extremely carefully. She was a girl, much younger than December, but had quick instinct, was agile, and probably was good with her daggers, too. Nevertheless, December was undaunted. She had handled much worse than a well-trained street-urchin before. Besides, she hardly believed this girl's intent was malice - probably only curiosity. But curiosity killed the cat, December reminded herself. It was probably best that news of December and Fortuné did not reach the wrong ears. Besides, December had no idea how much this urchin had seen. What if she knew Fortuné was a vampire? What if she knew December's secret as well? This was worse than December had originally thought.

But she refused to be intimidated. "Put down those knives," she ordered the girl. "I've no quarrel with you. I just want to know why you were following us. It's not a nice thing to do. It's called spying and eavesdropping and other such rude terms. So, why? And are there any others besides you? Answer, and quickly." As an incentive for her not to attack, December also lowered her sword, although she did not sheathe it. There was a chance she had misjudged her. December was never too hasty in trusting others.[/color]

[Aveilthé]

"You're such a good little thing," he mused, wanting
to reach out and pet Imi. "I've never seen a creature
like yourself before. It would be so neat if animals could
talk, then I could better understand you. Hah, but that
tis no problem for you; you seem to understand
everything. Either Lady December has trained you well,
or you are more magical than I thought."

He gently pushed himself deeper into the plush
couch, his mind back to December. "I wonder what
she's up to..."

[Felypsa]

Imi landed on Fortuné's still-wet blanket and became a ferret - her first creature without wings. The furry little ferret sniffed Fortuné's hand and even licked it affectionately. Then Imi jumped and turned into a bat, pinging wildly. She fluttered about Fortuné's head, clearly wanting him to follow her, because she was afraid that December might have gotten herself into trouble. She had just sensed the daggers that the girl was holding, and though Imi knew December could handle it, she didn't want to take any chances. She became an owl and hooted nervously, then soared over to the door, wanting to go to December and wanting Fortuné to help as well.[/color]

[Relairah]

Jolene stood there without movement, except the soft
in and out of her chest as she breathed, yet even her
breath un-audible. She noticed how the other lowered
her sword, and did lower her knives.. yet she didn't
know if she really could just trust the other not to run
her through once her knives were down. She didn't
sheath her knives, wanting to make sure she'd have
time to defend herself if she needed to. She simply held
them at her sides, senses alert. She flicked a brunette
curl over her shoulder as the other began asking
questions, orange eyes never leaving the other.

She frowned slightly. She has no right to question me,
she thought stubbornly, keeping her mouth shut a
moment. But... she didn't have to tell her
everything. She thought a moment, how far should
she say she had been following them? That would give
her how much she knew in reality. She wouldn't be
lying... simply not telling the full truth. She shrugged, "I
wanted to know why you two were sneaking away with
a dead body," she said simply. "And no, there is no one
but me. Just me and my curious self." She half wanted
to say more, but held herself back.

[Felypsa]

December sighed, figuring that there was more to it than that but not expecting the girl to disclose any more information to her. "Very well, then. If that's all you want to say now." She decided to believe her, and sheathed her sword as a result, wondering absently if the urchin would also sheathe her knives. December raised an eyebrow at the scrawny little girl. "You know, most other people would go to the authorities if they saw two suspicious-looking people - one with a sword on her back - carrying a corpse in the dark alleyways of the city and arriving at an abandoned house. Unless the authorities are not your particular friends either..." She shrugged. "What's your name? I feel odd addressing you without even knowing what to call you." Though December asked the question, she herself did not reveal what her own name was. It was a usual policy of hers.[/color]

[Relairah]

Jolene scowled slightly at the mention of the
authorities. "Me going to the authorities is like a fish
swimming into a shark's mouth," she stated with a
frown. "Besides, it's much more fun to follow." A hint of
a smile shown briefly upon her lips. She really had
enough to deal with when it came to the authorities...
and she had no plans of telling anyone anything about
herself. It wasn't necessary.

The other asked for her name. She hadn't actually used
her own name in a long time it seemed. Everyone
around the market simply called her nicknames, such as
thief, bandit, trickster, bastard. She laughed at them
when they did, escaping around somewhere out of
their grasps, and they grumbling each time about how
she always got what she wanted, and they never could
do anything about it. She found it so amusing how she
could get them so upset. She shook these thoughts
from her mind, there was no harm in a name.. right?

"Jolene," she said simply, orange eyes watching the
other suspisciously, yet with curiosity. "Yours?" was her
immediate response afterward. She seemed to have
forgotten she still held her daggers in each of her
hands, but slowly, after a moment, she raised her
hands and slid both daggers into their sheathes at her
sides. Her hands rested on their hilts a moment, but
made no suggestions of movement to draw them again.

[Aveilthé]

The oblivious vampire looked at the Imi-bat with
curiousity. Setting aside his cocoa (and with an obvious
look of distaste on his face; it was obvious that he was
acting that he liked it to please December), he threw
off the blanket and grunted as he stood straight up.

"What's gotten into you, eh?" were his words, in
his usual French accent. Suddenly he gasped
dramatically. "December!" He realized that she had
been gone a while, thus he understood Imi's distress.
He trotted off towards the door, threw it open - the
door was thrown off it's hinges, partly because of his
strength; or perhaps it was just old and very worn - and
puffed out his chest. He jogged around beneath the
shadows from the old house, looking for her. In no
time at all, he heard tense voices coming from an
area just about twenty feet away. He held his breath,
and listened. He wondered if December was in trouble.

'Besides, it's much more fun to follow,' said a voice.

How queer, Fortuné thought, peeking from around
a corner as his bright green eyes landed upon the
little girl and (his heart leapt) December. Alas! She
was fine and dandy, or though it seemed. But what was
this? From what Fortuné could tell, December seemed
to know this girl... perhaps.