Another Mercenary Among Merchants

[Felypsa]

oOc| yay! I've missed this thread so much ^^ <3 But I don't know what to do until Hikaru posts again >.> Besides just have Rosaline continue to blubber and get on Fortune's nerves some more. Uhh....I'll cook up a December post for now, and Jolene can pop in whenever Hikaru can




December did not have Imi with her to warn her or inform her of happenings outside of her awareness, but the mercenary could not shake the feeling that something very wrong was going on. She let Jolene guide her to the best-bragained supplies so they could spend their limited amount of money, but she was only half paying attention. The other half made her continually glance out of the window, as if expecting…oh, something, Taro coming back, Father Hyde leading a torch-bearing mob…

But all she saw was a couple walking by. At first, December dismissed it and turned back to her task, but something made her pause look again. She had definitely seen that blonde hair before—and was the man she was with half naked? December narrowed her eyes and smelled a rat. “Stay here,” she said briskly to Jolene, handing her some coins from the purse she had taken from Taro. She strode outside, meaning to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

Once outside, she confirmed her suspicions. Fortuné was walking about with that idiot of a girl, Rosaline. December felt her anger rise. After all that had happened, was he still chasing after her? Or—a horrible thought struck her—was he trying to get her blood? Was this his way of hunting? Was Zayn nearby, ready to take part in this feast?

Not sure what was going on, but sure that it was wrong, December marched behind them. Only when she was sure she was within hearing range did she call out coolly, “Fortuné.” Standing where she was, she put her hands on her hips and glared at his back until he would turn around.

Rosaline was happily chatting away about their future that she thought she had only imagined hearing someone else calling her lover’s name. But there was something chillingly familiar about it. Against her own will, almost, the girl turned around first, furtively. She saw the mercenary and gasped aloud. “No, no,” she murmured, grabbing a firm hold on Fortuné’s arm and practically pulling him along, away from that awful woman. “Not now. Forget her, Fortuné. We’re eloping, remember?”

[Aveilthé]

Rosaline's voice only went through and out the vampire's ears so
that he hardly caught a word she said. In response, he would
continue to mutter a half-hearted "of course", "definitely",
or "yes, dear", every time she would pause in a sentence or
statement, as if expecting him to reply, but he did so mechanically
anyway.

"Fortuné."

Now, if this were an animé, Fortuné's eyes would have been
humorously round as saucers, and his jaw would have fallen
to the ground. But it was not, but his eyes were certainly round
and his jaw had hung heavily due to the shock spreading through-
out his body like poison.

Fortuné stood rigid like a thief caught in the action of stealing.
Though Rosaline had tried to drag his arm along, he stood rooted
on the spot. Ironically, a flaming street lamp had shone upon his
form in the night, which had given him a kind of embarrassing,
unwanted spotlight.

Deciding it best to not run away, Fortuné turned on the spot
and tried to look comfortable. "Oh, hello December."
He tried grinning, but his mouth kept shuddering as he spotted
her glaring down at him. How would he explain to her being with
Rosaline, especially wearing only torn pants? What would
the seraph girl think of him now? If he told her the truth, would
she believe him? Most likely not.

Subconsciously, Fortuné ran his hand nervously down his dark
hair that hung loosely about his face. "Fancy meeting you here!
I was just... um... Oh! Err, Rosaline! Hello to you! Wow, fancy
meeting both of you here!" He quickly tugged his arm away
from the clinging Rosaline. 'Good Lord, she'll never believe that,
you idiot,' came a little voice inside the vampire's head.

"I was just going shopping! Yep, shopping! And I think I'll be on
my way now!" Giving an airy wave to both Rosaline and December,
he turned away from December, trying not to look at Rosaline.
He attempted to walk away from them, albeit quickly, which would
undoubtedly give away his deceit.

[Felypsa]

Of all the stupid things for him to do…December stared at Fortuné, as if not comprehending what she was looking. Is he really that stupid? Or bold? She scowled. Probably the former. The vampire’s absurdity had reached a level not even December could understand. Just how stupid does he think I am?

“Fortuné,” she said again, for the moment ignoring the shocked, confused, and hurt expression on Rosaline’s face, though it obviously told more of the truth than Fortuné’s extremely lame attempt to escape the situation. “Don’t be moronic. I know it’s in your nature, but at least try.” And then her voice took on an even colder tone. “If you take one more step away from me, I will draw Seraphim.” She knew Fortuné would know it was not an empty threat. She also knew how little he liked her angelic sword.

Then, more quietly so that Rosaline would have trouble hearing, the half-seraph said, “If you leave her behind now, I will not be too angry. But if you continue with this folly—” Her eyes blazed, and she left the sentence hanging, leaving it up to Fortuné’s imagination what the consequences would be. “And remember, you ran away from me with her before. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten what happened after that.” That had only been a few days ago!

Shocked, confused, and hurt hardly began to describe the torrent of emotions in Rosaline’s heart at that moment. She gazed from December to Fortuné, as if trying to figure out what exactly was happening. She only regained her “sense” when December had finished speaking; a spark of anger flared in her.

“Don’t listen to her!” Rosaline cried. “She’s not in control of your life, Fortuné, she’s not—not your mother or anything! She has nothing to do with us. Don’t walk away from me because you’re afraid of her. She can learn to deal without you.” With that, Rosaline boldly (and foolishly) glared at December. The mercenary turned her cool gaze to her, and Rosaline swallowed, for despite her words, she was terrified of December. The awful woman had a sword, for the love of all things holy. It was entirely unnatural. Everything about December was unnatural, really. She couldn’t let her fear show, however.

[Aveilthé]

Fortuné listened with a thumping heart. Never in his life had
he been in such a horribly difficult situation. Reluctantly he looked
into December's eyes, for he couldn't let his gaze meet with
Rosaline's hurt ones. For some reason, it was better for the
fatuous vampire to watch December only. At least, it made him
feel better. He did not want to see anyone sad anymore.

He refused to speak for the moment, but allowed the two women
to snarl at eachother to bide time for his mind to think of what to
say.

Then his mind formulated a different idea. "Rosaline, you're right,
she is not my mother." Fortuné peered deep into December's
furious ones. Boldly, he took a step back, his face impassive, as
if daring December to draw Seraphim. As before mentioned,
Fortuné never quite thought but with five seconds in front of his
face. He was certainly asking for it at this point.

[Felypsa]

December could not believe what she was hearing. Fortuné was actually listening to Rosaline’s babbling, blubbering nonsense? “You’re really trying hard to screw up your own life, aren’t you,” she said to the vampire, shaking her head. “Keep going with that foolhardy attitude of yours, and you’ll succeed. Well, far be it from me to prohibit you from ruining your life!” She narrowed her eyes at him. “If I sound like a mother, it is only because you’re not mature enough to make the right decisions. But fine. If you think you are ready to take on your own life, go ahead and ruin it.”

She sighed, letting out all her initial anger. “You know, Fortuné, I really wanted to care for you, but you are making it extremely difficult.” She spoke with disappointment, as if she had completely given up hope in Fortuné’s ability to think clearly. “Zayn and I will survive, then—and either you or Rosaline or both of you will suffer for as long as you are together.” With those final words of doom, December turned away from them, beginning to head back into the shop to buy supplies with Jolene.

Rosaline turned to Fortuné as soon as December had begun to walk away. “You did it!” she exulted. “You called her bluff! Now we can resume what we were doing—beginning our lives in perfect happiness with one another.” She grimaced, making a funny face. “One without her.”

[Aveilthé]

Fortuné continued to look impassively at December, though the
only emotion divulged were the clenching of his fists at his sides.
With a great deal of satisfaction, and indeed some anger, he
glared after December. So, he was too immature; such a
foolhardy person, was he?

Ignoring Rosaline's own babbling, Fortuné strode with a purpose
after December, albeit quickly. Without saying a word, he tried
to grab her arm, and attempted, though with surprising strength,
tried to hold her firm. With a free hand he reached into the pocket
of his pants and pulled out half the Escavan money that
Rosaline coveted. Though he did this, he never let his gaze fly
away from December's. He tried to take her hand, and with it,
he placed the bag of very heavy coins into her palm. His
expression was rather rough now, though he was frowning.
He then released her, gave her one last look, and walked away
from both Rosaline and December.

[Mama Z]

Fortune was just making things difficult in order to prove a point. And it was disgusting. Zayn had been watching with silent eyes, hiding in the shadows as he had done so many times before. Though he knew his brotehr was foolish, trying to do things without clearly thinking them through, the ghost knew that his heart meant well. Happiness with yourself and while happiness for anothers sake often didn't co-exsist perfectly.

His belly full and ready to move on with the night sky, he turned quietly and began to walk back towards the place of his refuge. The sound of his cane really the only sound that echoed through the otherwise quiet village. Prehaps though, this journey was all that they needed. Hopefully it could give them all a chance to grow closer to one another, at least thats what Zayn was currently hoping for. He loved his brother dearly, and losing him again would be a little more then difficult the second time around.

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[Felypsa]

For a moment, December did not know what to say. She had flinched when he grabbed her roughly, though something in his gaze made her not instantly whip out Seraphim to ward him away. The money that he placed into her palm was certainly gained by dubious circumstances; one look at Rosaline’s surprised, then angry expression confirmed December’s suspicions. Ill-gotten gains. He had taken money from Rosaline, promising love in return, so that December could survive the journey.

She had mixed feelings about that. Part of her was glad of the money, for it was definitely helpful, and even flattered that Fortuné would forgo his own meal so that he could ensure her own survival. But another part just wanted to hand the money back to Rosaline, say, “I’m sorry, but you tried to buy his love with this, and his love is clearly not for sale,” and deal with buying the supplies with Taro’s bit of money. For that speechless moment, December weighed her emotions and reasons. Then she came to a decision.

“Isn’t that my granma’s money?” Rosaline demanded of the departing Fortuné, indicating the money sack he had given December. “I—wait, Fortuné!” Seeing him turning away from her, she chased after him. Not daring to touch him, she kept up with him, panting out what she had to say.

“All that money—you just gave it to her—we need that for us, Fortuné—how do you expect us to live without—unless you never expected—” It had finally dawned on her. Her voice became hurt and furious. “Fortuné, how could you—here you had me hoping, and all along it was a ploy to help her—oh, Fortuné, you have slain me tonight!” For her angry speech had ended in tears, and, not even waiting for her once-lover to respond, she ran away from him, ran back home, thinking herself such a fool for ever believing him.

December watched her go, feeling pity for the idiot girl despite her streak of stupidity, which was even worse than Fortuné’s. Someone was going to learn a lesson from all of this, and even though it wasn’t Rosaline’s fault for being seduced, at least she would always be reminded of the time she let her heart go so easily. But Rosaline was no longer December’s concern now.

“Fortuné, wait.” She jogged to catch up with him, swallowing all her pride in the meanwhile. It would cost her much dignity to say what she was about to say. “Fortuné, I—forgive me. I am so often thinking with my head and of the future that I’d all but forgotten there are some of us who think with our hearts and in the present.” She weighed the heavy bag in her hands. “This is…very helpful, and more than sufficient. I don’t need to tell you to never do it again, however. You can’t use people like that—but I will not lecture you. You know just as well as I what wrong you have done. And I think self-shame is enough of a punishment…for both of us.”

She tried to meet his eye to confirm the apology, not wanting him to forget what he had done wrong while acknowledging what she had done wrong. They would both learn from this experience.

[Aveilthé]

Thus he walked, continuing down the cobblestone road, his ears
catching the horrible words that Rosaline was throwing at him.
Trying his best to tune out her voice, he suddenly found himself
listening to her blaring in his head. This caused an overwhelming
guilt to seize over him, but he refused to turn around as he kept
walking forward, away from them both. Then the clitter-clatter
sounds of the young girl's heels died away, and Fortuné knew
her to have departed... perhaps back to her grandmother's home...
perhaps to tell her all that has happened. The vampire's life was
still on the line. That grandmother of hers would have his head.
He'd have to worry about that later.

Then there was pride for what he had done to December, but guilt
and blame outweighed it all. Thoughts were lost now. The poor,
heartless, inclement vampire had perhaps created a great scar
on his life; something he'd indeed dwell on for a while before
he gets on with the rest of his eternal life.

Suddenly, a voice called out to him. A gentle, consoling voice, it
seemed. Fortuné couldn't help himself; he halted, and knew the
voice to belong to December's.

"There's nothing to forgive," he replied softly, turning around to
face her. "What I have done was horrible, and now Rosaline will
return to her grandmother. Who knows what will happen next.
December, I have to flee this country." He said this in deep tones.
Something inside of Fortuné seem to have changed. "I will flee
because I am in danger in ways more than you can imagine, which
will endanger you in the longrun. I can't have that happen.
Forgive me, December. You are a strong woman, and I admire
you a great deal. But me... I seem to be cursed more than with
vampiric taint."

He paused, and looked up to the sky, where a large, round moon
shone with bits of hazy cloud covering it.

[Felypsa]

It was as December suspected, and he was beating himself up for what he had done. So she did not belabor the point; the point was made, dead, and buried; let them move on. But this self-sacrificing attitude had to stop. “Don’t be so dramatic,” she said with an exasperated smile. “We’re fleeing together—you, me, Zayn, Jolene, and Imi. We’ve decided this already. Don’t think for a second that we’re going to change the plan and let you go off on your own lonesome self with a price on your head. And I know I’m not the only one who doesn’t need you to separate yourself from us.” She was thinking, of course, of Zayn.

“He’s your brother,” she said gently. “Do you think he won’t risk whatever curse you think you have just to travel with you? You have been separated for centuries—why separate yourselves again?” She glanced from Fortuné to the money bag she now held, the money that had come at such a heavy price. “I don’t care about what this ‘curse’ is,” she said after a moment. “Don’t you remember that I swore myself to friendship upon hours of meeting? Don’t delude yourself, Fortuné, we’re going together, and that’s final.”

The way she said that last bit dared him to contradict her. She hoped she did not sound too much like a mother, for despite everything, Rosaline’s words had gotten to hear. She wanted to be a friend, not an overprotective parent. Heaven knew she knew what those were like.

[Aveilthé]

Only half-heartedly did Fortuné want to hear those words come
from December. It felt good to know that people cared for him,
too.

"It'll be dangerous," he mused in response, but knew that
December had been in as much danger as he had. "Thank you.
Honestly, there's nothing more for me to say... except perhaps
run back to tell my dear brother the news of our flight. Shall
we?"

At that moment, he glanced towards Jolene, only half-visible
through the shop.

"She is definitely not human," he muttered, grinning. "Well I must
say, our fellowship has quite a unique batch of people,
don't you think?" He was, of course, assuming the seraph-girl,
cat-girl, and the two vampires along with the pack-animal,
Imi, which now seem to exclude poor Rosaline, the innocent
human that once got pulled into this story.

[Felypsa]

December let out a relieved grin; for once, Fortuné decided not to be stupid. “Of course it’ll be dangerous—but don’t you think we can handle a little danger? We, a ‘fellowship,’ as you call us, of non-humans?” Her violet eyes sparked. It was true, then, that she believed she could handle whatever came their way on their journey. It would be good to be on the road again, and away from this prejudiced cesspool of a city.

“Before we go running back to tell Zayn what he already knows,” December said with a single raised eyebrow, “we’ve got to finish getting what we need. For instance, you need a shirt and some other clothes. We are not traveling with you looking like that. Come.” She gestured back to the store where Jolene still was. “Now that we’ve got the money, the least we can do is spend it.”

oOc| if you want, we can skip the boring details of shopping and hop right into the journey—might I suggest beginning a new thread? this one's gone on too long, it's longer than the original xD

[Relairah]

OoC: Hmm.. sounds good to me ^^ Keehee, this plot is so awesome! And.. long lol So.. who wants to start off the new one? Ooo! It should be called.. More Mercenary Among Merchants xD




Jolene had looked at the money, though it was a small amount, and
then watched December leave. She'd been rather curious... as she
knew the shop like the back of her hand, she didn't need to look
around, so she followed, but only to the window. She watched
everything, quite surprised. Yet once things seemed to calm a bit
outside she backed away from the window, and simply waited. She
knew it wouldn't take long before they'd all be leaving. And she was
more than excited about it.

[Aveilthé]

OOC: Soooo I guess... well I'm not much for planning out plots and everything 'cause it gets dull, but this is unavoidable since there are numerous people in the plot and everyone has to agree on what move we must take with this roleplay XD

'Kay so, Fely, you want the group to linger in Escavas a while longer? 'Cause they still have to meet up with Zayn unless Z agrees that Zayn already knows and the whole group is leaving the country now, unless something happens to prevent them from ever going, or from going, or whatever will happen 'cause quite frankly WE DON'T KNOW and that's what makes this RP so exciting. XD

[Felypsa]

oOc| Erm...I actually have no idea what you just asked me, Kaoru, but I can't really think of anything to prevent them from leaving Escavas, unless Father Hyde does come after them with a torch-bearing mob...not likely. So I says we just go on the journey, but if you had somethin' in mind for them in Escavas, that's cool too. I really don't know oO;;