Fun & Games

[Lovely]

September 16, 2008
2 a.m.


The scent drew him here. It was sweet, light and fresh and the kind that belonged to young girls - terrified young girls. The city emptied here to the expanse of these woods that swallowed people whole and never let them loose. Kain grinned as he leaned against the tree. Someone wasn't going home tonight, but whose game was this? The scent on the air was shifting and moving, fast - running? It was utterly, delightfully inviting. He'd fasted for too long and this was like the scent of a beloved dessert tugging on every ounce of willpower he held, and he was letting it slip quickly. He followed, covering ground like a whisper tossed aloft on the wind, faster than the eyes of the creatures who dwelled here - most of them, anyway. He stopped again to smell the air. There was something else, something acrid - the scent of wolves? Again he smiled and began to stroll slowly now, visibly, altogether loudly, allowing himself to be heard by the others. Let the wolves consider his intrusion a warning or a challenge. He was as hungry for that chase as he was for the young prey that had gotten his attention. Death was in the air and it was making him thirst for it all. Whose game, indeed, he wondered, listening to the sounds around him and feeling the quake of fear shuddering through the breezes - almost able to taste it is as took in the scent.

The game had been set in motion by her sire, the others of their small clan joining in the hunt gleefully and the prey was frightened. The fragrance of their fear filled the air in the deep dark woods, Ci was pleased for the hunt as it provided her the freedom to run and to be out of her sire's sight. It was rare that he allowed her to leave his side, he knew deep down she never would have chosen him but he had chosen her and kept her close. Her usually short leash was off for the hunt and her sire circled in the opposite direction that she did. Ciara's long dark hair was smooth and left loose, her lips glistening red with her lipstick but also the taste she'd taken of the prey before they'd been given the 'headstart'. The laughter of her clan had rung through the trees for awhile but one by one their voices faded, she was concerned but not overly as they may have simply gone quiet to stalk the prey. Her senses became aware of others in the wood, predators like her and the ones who smelled like filthy dogs. The one like her smelled quite tantalizing but she didn't dare even think that as her sire would get very cross and she'd certainly be punished.

Intrigued by the convergeance of scents, Kain strolled merrily deeper, absorbing them all like rays of forbidden sun on a lazy beach. This was his playground filled with an assortment of delightful toys he was finding it hard to choose from... annoy and destroy the wolves that left their fur and mess behind, trot along after the scent of the girls, or something even better? This scent was thick, but strange, tainted by a wealth of age and power that made his skin itch. "A competitor," he murmured gleefully to himself, having not known there to be another like himself, a vampire traveling in these same woods. He knew of several further up the canyon away from the city limits, but not here. After the same scent he was, without a doubt. Curious about this foe.. as he was likely not to be friendly... Kain turned to intercept the intruder, only to find the scent of the wolves had become richer and closer as well. "Easy as pie," he muttered on the breeze, having his toys come to him so easily.

They'd smelled him but their attention was toward the elder vampire as well. The wolves waited motionless save for the flare of their nostrils and the steam of their breath that reeked of a fresh kill, at least a fresh dispatch of some other damned creature, putrid with decay... such as the vampires they killed for sport.

The elder dove into the clearing, not caring to spar with the pair. He was after the girls and had no fear of these two filthy dogs. He leapt through the shadows, nearly undetectable to the eye, but just as Kain had sensed, the wolves smelled him and were ready to ensnare him, tumbling him down in a spiral of fang, claw and bloodied fur. The elder vampire shrieked in dismay as he was pulled from his chase. Within the same moment that a living creature might consider a breath, utter horror peeled across the elder vamp's features as he saw and smelled the blood on these dogs. The blood of his brood painted the steaming jowls that grinned down at him and again he shrieked, calling out to any that might still hear him.

Kain entered the clearing at the call, perhaps not brethren by nature of the elder's siring, but he was someone's sire and someone's childe, perhaps a cousin, but no less a vampire. Kain was not intent on helping, however, being curious why these wolves might have chosen to dispatch this clan yet ignore him, at least thus far. He looked at the menacing pair... juveniles, from what he could tell, but strong and certainly focused on terrifying the man before ripping him to shreds. The wind shifted again and Kain's attention turned directly into it, his eyes shuttering to the scent of something deliciously dark.

[Lovely]

Ciara continued her journey through the woods, she enjoyed the hunt and followed her master's direction but the game had not been her doing. Her ideas for fun were different than his, but she played along.. a hunt was always good fun and she loved the freedom it allowed her, loved the air and the crisp scent of fear.. her nose wrinkled again as she got a wiff of the wolves. They could make the game more interesting or they could ruin it.. her sire didn't like them and his mood would get more foul than their smell. She moved silently stopping when she came upon the torn remains of two of her clan, her lips turned into a pout as she knelt beside what was left of one. The wolves - obviously, so they wanted to play like that, did they? Ci stood slowly and turned her direction, following the scent they left behind. She moved more slowly now, hunting the dogs but also her clan siblings and her master, he would want to know of this and the kill belonged to him as head of their clan. What she found was more remains, some were just piles of ash and the others the mess left behind by the dogs. When she came upon her closest sister in the clan, she felt a terrible sadness but with it a fierce anger. Ci could only take a moment to mourn the other girl as she turned to ash in her arms and the breeze swept her from Ciara's grasp. The faintly red tears slipped down Ci's cheeks and she did something she never did, she reached along her connection to her sire, trying to find him. A chill ran through her at the shriek she heard and felt, like a tug at her insides, the voice was her sire's and the timing as as if in reply to her seeking him out. She staggered a step and fought a wave of dizziness, he was fighting the wolves and screaming out with his connection to her for her to come to him. She could not ignore the call or the feeling of hatred for the wolves that filled her from her sire and she began moving toward them as if being pulled on an invisible string.

The sting of the shriek echoed in his ears and surely annoyed the young wolves who stood over the creature. Why wasn't he fighting harder, he wondered as he circled the clearing toward the far-more-delectable scent. It hardly mattered. This was, as far as he was concerned, his part of the woods alone and he didn't want to share it with a hapless elder who couldn't manage two small wolves. Their attention remained on the elder and it was soon clear that they alone hadn't pinned him, but that the tumble down into the underbrush had speared him onto low branches, holding him painfully pinned as long as they wanted to watch his wounds seep away to the air... nothing more than a mouse for their play.

The elder shrieked once more and the sound was cut short by the slice of a paw across the throat, not enough to behead, but enough to silence the annoying sound.

Kain would have stayed to thank them, but he'd slipped into his sped-up run, intent to catch this newer creature before the wolves turned their sites on him or stumbled her also into their trap. He bounded closer to the scent, intent on diverting her. If the elder's shriek has touched the chord in his mind so well, perhaps she might hear him, or at least feel his presence and the urgent warning he thrust forward in his thoughts toward her.

Regardless of whether she could hear or sense the warning that the delightful smelling vampire tried to give her, she was being drawn by the powerful call of her sire. If she was able to resist her sire's demand, she never would have shared his bed, but unfortunately for her she could not ignore the pull or the power of his will over hers. She flew through the darkness hearing his cry echo and how it was suddenly silenced, her own throat ached and the connection between them vibrated with the urgency and his suffering. It caused her a second of confusion and with how quickly she traveled that second was eventful. She felt herself slam into something and then felt the earth beneath her as she was knocked down.

[Lovely]

The sudden stop bewildered him nearly as much. He peered down at her and at once clasped his hand down to her mouth, attempting to keep her from crying out to her sire whose stench seemed sewn into every fiber around her. Not fearing whether she fought him or bit him, he explained in a hurried whisper. "They'll hear you and they'll kill you, too," he said, though he sincerely doubted the two juvenile wolves were normally a match for any one of them, but they'd become lucky. Perhaps their luck was soon to run out.

She might have cried out in surprise or protest but she would not have cried out to her sire, she did not long for him or feel the need for his protection and company the way he did hers. Ciara stared up at Kain with wide eyes as he held his hand over her mouth and her expression clouded into a mix of anger and curiosity. Her hands reached up to claw at him and she bit into his hand to make him move it. His blood painted her lips with a fresh glistening coat of red and dripped deliciously over her tongue, making her reach to lap at the flavor. Her sire's call thundered inside of her and nearly made her dizzy as it rose to a crescendo as the wolves ripped at him.

"You bit me," Kain remarked with noted amusement as he pulled his hand away and looked over the marks. He pulled the wound to his own tongue to seal it as he sat back, watching her expressions. He glanced back to the clearing he'd left. She'd been running to the elder's aide. "Strange you weren't running beside him. Lucky for me you weren't. I mean... lucky for you... of course."

She shifted up into a crouching kneel, facing the stranger who seemed amused by her and the murder of her clan. "I should bite you again.." She hissed at him, her eyes narrowing but it was hard to concentrate on her anger toward him. "They're killing him..." She seemed surprised as if she could hardly believe such a thing was possible, she was pained by this because of her connection to her sire but not terribly upset over it. "I need.. to go.. to him.." The statement was broken as if she could not catch her breath to speak, as a vampire she didn't need to breathe but she was staggered by what came to her from her sire and how the connection between them was starting to fade.

"No, I don't think you do. They've been quite systematic and now they have what they want, it seems. Don't give them dessert on top of it," he said, giving her a strange look as he described her as a treat.

She shook her head weakly, almost cringing as she replied to him. "I have to.. I don't have a choice.." Her eyes closed for a second and when they opened her gaze focused sharply on the stranger. "And whose dessert should I be?" She asked, almost laughing as she realized she wasn't moving or rushing off to the clearing. The fact that she'd stopped and was paused to debate it with this man was proof of how her sire's hold on her was weakening with each passing second.

"You do have a choice," he said, grinning strangely still as he watched the strings that held her fade. She did have a choice now that the master was dispatched and even the stench of him seemed to fade away from her, making her own naturally enticing scent burst forth. He licked over his hand again where her lips had graced it. "Although perhaps I should be yours, since you've already had a spoonful, hm? Are you hurt? From the fall?"

"I don't deserve to have dessert." She murmured, her lips pulling down in a pout as she tried to deal with feeling disloyal for not going to her sire and with the sense of relief that his hold over her was gone. She was not saddened by his death but concerned over her own actions. The stranger had asked her something and it took her a few seconds to remember what it was. "No, I'm not hurt."

[Lovely]

"Why don't you?" He seemed amused as she struggled with the loss. She was apparently newer than himself, but then he'd had little of a conscience when he'd been human. He rested his arm across his knee, comfortable, casual and curious. "You're here, he's gone... pity, actually... all that power. Hmph, tragic, but unchangable."

"I should have..." She wasn't really sure what it is she should have done differently, the pout deepened and her eyes lifted to this handsome stranger. ".. I didn't go to him.. I belong to him." She didn't understand why he didn't understand what she'd done wrong. "He would be angry that I am even speaking to you." She offered as something of an explaination, revealing a little about how close her sire had kept her.

"You did go to him, rushing quickly. I'll grant you that and he'd have no cause to be angry for my saving you, hm? I did stop you from following into the same death, at least for now. Now, if you insist on going to him, by all means, but I'd rather you didn't," he reasoned out to her, holding her gaze with a mesmerizing and gentle expression.

She chuckled softly and sort of hmphed, her tongue playing along her lips and pulling his flavor from them. "He would rather I be killed than be saved by one so... handsome." She told him softly but made no move to do as her sire would have wanted, it wasn't what she wanted and she was held by this man's gaze. "Why would you rather I didn't?"

"Well that can't be helped either," he smiled, proudly accepting the compliment, though his tongue was planted in his cheek behind his similarly sharp fangs he made no effort to conceal. "I'd rather you didn't because the wolves haven't finished what they set out for. I'd hate to have them mistake you for the human girls."

She laughed quietly but the sound was quite amused. "I very much doubt that any wolf would mistake me for a human girl.. I hear that our scent is as displeasing to a wolf as thiers is to us." Her nose crinkled up rather cutely as she thought of the scent she'd picked up earlier. "I'm not so sure it is the human girls they are after.. they have killed the others of my clan, not just our master. I believe I am the only one left. I found some of them just before I felt his call. I do not sense the others.. I can not feel them.. and they did not come to him.. Were they alive they would have ripped the wolves to shreds."

He thought more now about the wolves seeming to ignore him but continuing to go after the elder. "A vendetta, do you suppose?" He thought out loud, wondering about the others and shook his head. "They thought that out, apparently, waiting to take the elder last. But then there's you."

"Perhaps they can't count very well?" She insulted the creatures with her remark as she wondered herself why they had not yet come after her. "Or maybe they are saving me for last? Unless they are smarter than they smell.. and could sense I would not be with him if the choice was mine to make.." She realized what she said and her eyes widened slightly, would this one strike at her now for being so open about her loyalty to her sire?

"That would imply they think... and that would be a tragedy," he smirked, enjoying her revelations. "So it was not your choice?" He seemed to think hard on this, reaching up to brush his chin with his thumb. "But he chose you, didn't he? Well, I certainly would, too, but if it were your choice... what might it have been instead? Stay human or have another master?"

"He chose me." She agreed with a slight nod of her head, he'd chosen, captured, changed, and kept her. She watched Kain, her eyes shifting to follow the movement of his thumb as it brushed his chin, her gaze drawn to his lips for a moment as she licked her own. "Another master." She replied simply, honestly, and without the slightest hesitation, she would not have remained human.

[Lovely]

He smiled with approval and reached his hand out to her. "Then perhaps I should make your acquaintance officially. Kain," he said, providing her a name.

Her hand clasped his and she smiled slightly, her gaze drifting up to his eyes again, his name was as enticing as the rest of him. It was a strange but pleasant feeling to be able to think such things without the worry of punishment for daring to find another desirable. "Ciara." She gave him her name in return and the sound of a soft playful giggle. "I like how you taste."

He lit up with the curious praise, smiling brighter with the enticing prospects of her comment. "Perhaps I'll be able to say the same... once we're sure you're not on anyone else's menu but mine tonight." He looked around as the wind shifted again. The scent of the girls came back to them. "Speaking of... that is also a lovely treat out there. Would hate to waste that. Can I buy you a drink?" He teased, nodding the direction of their scent.

The girls would be delicious and would quench her thirst quite well but her chin tilted in a defiant manner and her head shook a little. "No. He wanted them.. I do not want what he wanted.. I want to find my own." She leaned toward Kain, there was an urgency, a fire in her gaze and her voice that perhaps he would understand and appreciate more than her sire ever had. "Every hunt.. every kill.. when, where, who.. when I slept, when I fed.." She reached to Kain, intending to pull him closer. "Even in death he pulled me toward him, to what he wanted. Everything was his choice from the moment he found me.. never what I wanted... I WANT.." She paused for a moment and the hint of a smile returned. "I want you to take me somewhere.. away from him.."

"I love a woman who knows what she wants," he teased further, moving closer as she'd hinted, snaking around her, just out of reach but close enough to take into her senses - how he moved, how he smelled, how he reacted to her... "If I take you where I want, it's still not your choice. Tell me where you want to go."

"Ohhh but it is my choice if I want to go there with you.." She countered, the slight smile staying perched on her lips as he moved around her in an ever so delightful way. Her gaze followed, drinking in his fluid and graceful movements, his scent filled her nostrils and she could almost taste him again. "Do you know a place in this town where they go 'parking'? Doubtful there will be many in the streets at this time of night but in secluded locations.. covered in the scent of thier lust.. mmmm.." She closed her eyes and bit her lower lip as if longing for a favorite treat.

"As an observer or a participant, hm?" He whispered, wondering if the bite she'd taken was enough to begin to hear and feel him in the deeper, distant shadows in her mind. He slit the bite on his hand open on his own tooth this time, slight, but enough to well up quickly with glossy red he drew beneath her nose as her eyes stayed closed. ~Take another taste~ he suggested.

The scent of his blood made her mouth water and her eyes glowed softly as she opened them to gaze at him again, she wanted to be greedy and coat her tongue in him. She paused however and reached her hand out to him, offering and demanding at once. "Only if you do." Her mouth was open, her tongue poised to catch the drops from his hand and play over the small wound but she waited for him to accept her hand before indulging.

[Lovely]

She'd not opened herself. She wanted him to, asked him to. His fist clenched to work the flow loose into a tiny stream around his fingertips, letting the drops fall as he clasped her hand with the other, gently kissing her hand, but intending his bite elsewhere. At first a kiss to the strong but small hand in his, followed by another kiss and another as he brushed up her wrist, stopping just at the crook of her arm where he cut free the tiniest of drops and kissed it away.

She caught the drops as they fell and swiped her tongue up over his palm, lapping the wound and the taste he gave of himself with a deft and eager motion. Ciara pulled away from the indulgence with her lips in a pout again as he barely took a drop from her, was she that distasteful? It was hard to be too upset as he'd done it so sweetly but it was still an insult that he didn't want to drink of her as well. She let go of his hand and began to straighten her skirt, preparing to stand and wondering if she was the one who had done something wrong. Her sire had never allowed her to taste of others, even her own clan and of course never allowed another to taste her. Ci had always assumed it was his jealousy but perhaps it was her flavor? She'd agreed to have another taste of Kain, only if he took one from her and since he didn't take barely a drop she would not continue to enjoy him, even if she did like his flavor.

He chuckled and reached after her before she'd gotten far, moving to embrace her and keep here on the forest floor with him. "Oh I'm not finished yet," he said, his eyes alight with a fire similar to her own, stoked ever so gently with the taste he still held of her on his tongue.

She hadn't expected him to care that she was insulted or that she was pulling away but apparently he did and the embrace surprised her. "You're not?" She stared at him for a moment, curious as to what he was going to do and making no move to prevent him from what that might be.

"Far from it. I'm in no hurry, are you? His voice fades further and with time it will be gone altogether. All the better to allow you to enjoy this without such bitter distractions, hm?" He pushed her dark hair off her shoulder, admiring the gloss as it caught the slips of moonlight that scattered in around them.

"I thought we were leaving.. before the big bad baby wolves come eat me..?" She pouted and teased, aware of the danger if she was a target for the wolves but distracted by Kain's attention. Every gesture seemed so tender but she could feel his strength in his embrace, the coiled viper poised to strike.

"We'll go, but they won't eat you. They're going the other direction - distracted, I'm sure, by the scent of human honey.. the girls and their fear. Can't deny I smell it too, but I've found something much, much sweeter and more to my liking," he said, sliding his fingers from her shoulder up to her neck to gently stroke her chin.

His words and the feel of his fingers against her skin sent a gentle ripple of delight through her and drew her to lean toward his mouth, her lips slightly parted and trembling. Her sire's hold had been strong and still lingered deep within her even though he was gone, she fought that last bit of control he had over her and closed the space between her and Kain. Her lips brushing his like a whisper at first but lingered for more direct contact.

He grasped a little tighter on her neck to hold her kiss to his and let his tongue glide over the razor edge of her teeth, sweetening his kiss for her. In return, his own grazed her lip, nipping quickly and harshly, then soothing away the sting as he savored every moment. He was truly in no hurry to drink his fill, intending only to enjoy, and entice her in return.

[Lovely]

She was more than enticed by his kiss and the way he sweetened it for them both, a soft moan was muffled into his mouth as she chased his tongue and the flavor he teased her with. Her strong hands clung to his shoulder and arm, pulling him closer and herself up against him, feeling like she could never get her fill of him.. that she would always want more of him.

~Tell me again you're sorry I stopped you~ He teased in her thoughts, deepening the kiss more and leaning to bring her with him to the soft underbrush.

She could hear him as clearly as she'd ever heard her sire but Kain's voice in her mind didn't make her tense or cringe, it sent a pleasant sensation through her like his touch did. ~No.~ She giggled softly as she defied him and teased back. ~I'm not sorry you stopped me.~ This was stated more firmly and with less teasing so he would know it was the truth and not her simply saying what she thought he wanted her to. They tumbled gently into the underbrush and she wrapped herself around him a little more, enjoying the kiss they continued to share.

The ground beneath them may have been cold to some, or wet from the gathering morning dew, but for him it was only a cushioned fall with this stunning creature that filled his senses. His mind swam lazily around thoughts of his remaining clan and his desire to find a worthy companion to join them. The images of former beloved companions and children who'd been destroyed swam through those same thoughts, some louder and more vibrant than others as his emotions welled around their memory and flowed into what he shared in his embrace. The passion and longing, the strength in him to forge on and his vengeance to cut down those who'd hurt him were mixed into the sweetness of the kiss that told her more than words could about who he was and how he'd found her here. Though he parted the kiss briefly to look on her in his arms here amongst the nettles and leaves, his thoughts still spoke to her ~I want you to join us~.

Some of the images were strong enough to be seen in her mind as well, though not all of them were. The ones she did see made her gasp softly and her hand found it's way to tenderly cup his cheek as she met his gaze. He understood the kind of loss she'd suffered tonight in losing her clan even if she was not as close to her sire as he was to those he'd lost. How could she refuse such passion, strength, and tenderness.. not to mention the deadly sexy package it came in? Why would she want to refuse it, to refuse him? He was not only asking her to be with him but to join his family.. he'd saved her from the certain death her sire had called her toward. ~Yes.~ She knew he was what she wanted and it would be ridiculous to pretend any different. ~Take me home?~ She didn't know where he resided only that home was now where he was.

He smiled again and met her with another kiss, still not biting enough to claim her but nipping now and then to keep their essences entwined. ~A stop first by the 'parking' lot... ~ Even in his thoughts his small laugh chittered and brightened their embrace with promises of better things than she'd known with her prior master. ~You'll need your strength, hm?~

~Will I? Perhaps it's you who will need yours, hmmm?~ She teased back, nearly diving into his kiss with an eagerness for more of his touch and taste like she'd never felt before. It was an electricity that ran through her with his attention, exciting and energizing her in ways she'd not ever imagined. She nipped back at him but was very careful not to break his skin as she'd already had much more of him than he had of her and something within in her wanted him to feel her flowing through him as much as she could feel him.

He didn't want her scent to fill the air overly much here while the wolves were still about, even though their own scent had faded a great deal and perhaps they'd assumed their human forms, masking themselves as they moved about in the shadows. Still, Kain could not sense them as being close-by. Her tease and challenge was met with a brief kiss then one to her cheek, then another behind her ear where he kissed softly then bit gently, a hidden mark and a tender gesture of a kiss and razor's sting together. ~Careful what you say or we may not even make it home~ His voice was filled with a desire to drink his fill and fill her in return with more than just the essence of his blood.

[Lovely]

Her eyes closed to the sensation of his soft kisses and then the gentle bite that had her sighing with pleasure. She wrapped around him more tightly for a moment savouring the sting and feel of him close to her, his words sending shivers over her cool form. ~We better get home.. the sun will be up in a few hours and the ideas I'm having will keep us busy for much longer than that.~ She promised him with a small nip in return, his desire mingling with her own and adding to it.

He found it difficult to stop. He'd fasted so long and the temptations around him caught him in a moment of weakness. Her thoughts tipped him back carefully as he swabbed the cut closed and kissed over her neck. "Did I say I love a woman who knows what she wants? I most definitely will," he suggested, turning her kiss back to his own. He hoped she wouldn't stop at a mere few hours of diversion if these few moments were an indication of her ability to make him lose himself so easily.

"Mmm you will..?" She hummed and sighed the question and part statement against his mouth as she could not seem to pull away from his kisses just yet. She'd never tasted such sweetness or such passion and it was like she was starved and his mouth a bountiful feast for her to enjoy. As much as he lost himself in the moment, so did she - pouring her own desire and passion into the kiss for him.

Kain nodded and forced a small space between them as he listened to the sounds of the woods around them, anger and determination seering the tips of his words he nearly hissed. "Yes, but we can't afford to be distracted here," he reminded her. His moment to strike his vengeance at the others might pass if he was caught napping like this.

The pout was genuine as he forced a space between them but she did understand the reason for it and she nodded slightly to his words. In a fast and fluid movement she was on her feet and swirling her skirt over his face in a teasing flash and brush of the material as she turned to peer in the direction of the town. "Fine, but I will distract you later."

He watched in awe as she rose with her graceful and appreciated tease. "You've already started," he defended, bringing himself up beside her shoulder and smelling the air. The girls' scent was distant now and he was torn between taking her to town, to the carpark or deeper into the woods to find the girls they'd been hunting. A thought came to him now that if the girls survived and spoke of what they saw, the hunters would come next and his somewhat peaceful woods would be wrecked. Girls alone in these woods with the hunters he was after already, however, made him wonder on their chances. "Ciara... what of the girls? Who were they? Do you know if they've family here?"

She turned back to face him reaching out for his hands with a slight shake of her head and a bit of a shrug. "I don't know who they were.. He chose them.. because they were the same and he wanted a set like Gabriel brags of having. He wanted his own set of twins so that when we went to meet with Gabe and his clan.. bragging rights and competing as boys will do. They weren't from here.. we followed them, took them from the road.. and brought them here."

"No family. So no one really knows they've gone." Kain's grin was wicked and cold but brief. "If a tree falls and no one hears.. Ciara, if it were your choice now, would you leave them to the others and come with me now?"

"I thought that was what we were doing?" Her head tilted to the side and she listened less to the outside for a moment and more to the whispers of his thoughts. "I'd rather let the wolves have them.. I don't think I'd want to kill them if we found them.. but I don't think I would want the constant reminder of HIM if we kept them."

[Lovely]

There was the appearance of a grateful tear shining in his eye for an instant before he grinned and took a step toward the direction of town, reaching out his hands to her. "Have you heard any scream? Niether have I. We'll go."

She used his hands to pull and gently twirl herself up against his side, her arm wrapping around his back, down low at his waist, and her head tipping lightly against his chest as she walked beside him a moment. "I didn't hear them, but then again I wasn't listening for them... I was listening to you."

"How long did he have you under his wicked spell and why couldn't I have tripped him earlier?" He chuckled at the compliments as his thoughts twisted around ideas she would glimpse whispers of now and then. He led toward the edge of the wood, in minutes reaching its embankment over the causeway and road that ran beside it. Here was a view down into the heart of the city that made him pause and wonder.

She stood quietly admiring the view for a moment, as if this town was thiers and they were looking down over thier kingdom. "You're not supposed to ask a lady her age.." She spoke quietly and turned herself so that she was against his chest now that they'd stopped walking. "..but I'll tell you.. if you tell me how old you are first?" Her finger stroked a line down from his throat as she tried to make a trade of their ages and gazed up at his face wondering just how long it had been this beautiful.