Sojourn of Shadow

[Tonash Drahow]

Dimitri chuckled in response.

With a snap of his fingers, the candles came to life, illuminating the area. The glow of the light accentuated every glorious aspect of Gabrielle's form as she placed them into their new resting places. He couldn't contain a warm smile as he admired her even in the most mundane of settings.

After settling in, he sat down against the wall, removing his armor but his weapon was still strapped to his back. He motioned for his companion to come closer and sit with him, to simply admire the moon together through the window.

Such a request seemed to be cut short however as a knock was heard on the door...

"Messengers... There's nobody else that could possibly find a place this remote and knock so nonchalant about it."  

[Zulma san]

Gabrielle smiled back at Dimitri, it looked like they would have some times together, to discover each other and in her case, learn about herself. She stepped closer to the man and looked at the beautiful moon.

It had been past midnight for a while and the night was at its deepest. She felt calm and relaxed when she heard the nod. She raised an eyebrow and went for the door.

She did not know if she was pleased or annoyed as a young novice who she did not know stood there, shy and not knowing what to say. He was squeezing his hands uneasy.

"Are you Gabrielle?" he asked sheepishly.

Gabrielle nodded. She noticed a strange feeling coming into her as she looked at the blond head with perfect blue eyes. He was in no way her type and yet she felt attracted to him.

The not yet monk felt relieved. "Good good..." he murmured then looking up at Gabrielle he repressed a shiver which the woman did not understand.
"Good night then." he trotted away towards the near by monastery.

Gabrielle was puzzled. Was it Emilien or Bertrand who had sent the kid? Was it a friend or a foe? They would know soon enough.
But her thoughts were clouded as she closed the door. She felt dizzy all of a sudden and could still smell the young one's scent with delight.

She turned to Dimitri. "Nothing to worry about." her voice was huskier than she had expected and when she looked at the other knight her eyes were pitch black.  

[Tonash Drahow]

"Gabrielle..."

Dimitri felt disturbed at the way her eyes were gleaming. It was as if she was forgetting who she was when something new came into her sight.

"You really should feed soon, from what I know of vampirism, you must drink blood to preserve your strength. The more you deny that hunger, the weaker you will become and the stronger the effects of vampirism will appear. The effects that mar your features, causing them to become sunken and monstrous, the visible extension of your fangs, the discoloration of your eyes."

He sighed.

"Animal blood can be enough to satiate the hunger for a while, but you will need human blood eventually. You need to consider your options. It is fully possible to drain only enough blood from a human to satisfy the hunger and still not infect them with porphyric hemophilia."

He blushed for a moment when he realized that he had been simply spouting facts like a textbook.

"Old Grim taught me a good bit when I encountered him in Deepanvil. He was very concerned about you and thus told me all he knew. I'm sorry if I'm being overbearing."  

[Zulma san]

The voice of Dimitri seemed to dissipate the fogs which had surrounded her mind. She frowned and listened. It seemed that the man she loved knew more about herself and her condition than she actually did.

When she looked back up at Dimitri, her eyes were back to their amber ton and nothing in her features seemed to show that she was something else than a mere human.

"Dear Old Grim..." she sighed. She was surprised that the old dwarf really cared for her and the thought brought her a little smirk which quickly faded.
"I shall find animals then." her ton was sharp as if she wanted to remove from her mind the idea of feeding on humans. It was sufficient that she was now a monster. She did not want to add up being a murderer.

"There are two rooms. Choose the one you want. There should be bed sheets and covers ready. You should have some rest." she was speaking mechanically. The truth was she wanted to share a bed and much more with him but after the nightmarish previous night and her discovery of how thirst could affect her, she did not want to play with fire.

Without another word, she left the little house, closing silently the door behind her. Once outside she concentrated on any movement she could see or hear around her. Soon she leaped and started running, the exercise would calm her down.

 

[Tonash Drahow]

Dimitri gazed out the window into the starry sky.

Gabrielle was fighting within herself, not nearly as much as she used to when she was succumbing to the disease.

The holy knight pondered what to do. She needed to feed to sustain her new form. The blood of animals and beasts alone would only serve as a buffer for so long...

He hearkened back to the conversation he had had with Old Grim, the dwarven priest of Deepanvil.

"Aye lad, if a vampire refuses ta drink blood of a human or others of the humanoid races, their features become disfigured, their eyes crimson, their skin sinks and their fangs become more and more prominent. At the latest point o' this transformation is the point where they cannot turn back, they cannot reverse the deepened effects o' blood starvation... The adverse traits begin to come into unnatural proportions. It's at this time that if a vampire goes out in the sunlight, their skin does not simple burn, it incinerates...

Ye cannae let tha' happen ta the lass. Dunnae let her deny her hunger so long that she accepts death instead of life."

Dimitri sighed as he turned back away from the window. He lazily looked about the cabin, to the wooden table. A bowl lay on the top of the surface of the counter.

If I cannot convince her to feed from a human, I can at least give her what she needs.

He unsheathed his blade and held his left palm over the bowl, then gently slid the sword across his skin, drawing a crimson line of blood that began to fall into the small wooden bowl. Dimitri winced at first but sheathed the sword once more and allowed the blood to flow into its container. When the flow began to decelerate, he placed his hand on his sliced palm and conjured heat within his hand and ran two fingers across the cut, cauterizing the wound.

With a satisfied sigh, the Holy Knight leaned up against the wall and descended to the floor, awaiting to give his gift to the one he cared for so much.  

[Zulma san]

The run in the wood and the finding of another rabbit and a fox calmed down Gabrielle. The vampire was enjoying the hunt, her senses in full alert. The world was new and despite the darkness of the night, she could see very well.

She was calmer when she headed back to the little house. A smile had found its way to the woman's lips and her heart seemed at peace.
But the closer she got the house, the more her senses alerted her. She could smell the most delicious thing and yet...she realized with horror what it was: Dimitri's blood.

She rushed to the door. What had happened? Did Bertrand send an assassin or something? But who could hurt him like that without her hearing anything while she was hunting? Her thoughts were racing, she was cursing herself for leaving him alone.
She would never forgive herself if she lost him now. After having been away from him for so long, she could not live without him.

The door slammed opened and her voice roared. "Dimitri?"
She was so scared about what might have happened to him, that for several instants she did not realize how her body was reacting to the presence of human blood.

She saw him sitting on the floor against the wall. She ran to him but something was off, there was no traces of fight, outside of the young monk's smell, she could only smell Dimitri. The Holy Knight was alone. As she reached him, she understood and her reaction was at the level of her fear. A dark anger appeared in her blood thirsty eyes and she leaped backward landing on the table crouched with her hands touching the wood. She looked more like a feline ready to jump on its prey than a human.

"What have you done?!" she gasped. Now that she was not scared for his life, she was realizing how dizzy she felt.  

[Tonash Drahow]

The Holy Knight glanced upward, his eyes showing no alarm at her obvious dismay. He simply outstretched his hand, pointing towards the bowl.

"Drink. You need your strength. Animal blood is only a crutch that will keep making you hunger more and more until it no longer satisfies your thirst. Humanoid blood should satiate your hunger for days... I knew you would never accept the task of drinking from a living being..."

He paused for a moment and stood, still glancing between her and the table.

"That is why I poured my own for you. It shouldn't cause any issues, I don't know as much about the eating habits of vampires to know exactly the difference of drinking from a living body and drinking from a prepared meal."

His tone became firm as he noted the obvious discomfort she displayed.

"Drink," he said again, with a commanding inflection.  

[Zulma san]

Gabrielle flinched at his word. He had what?! Cut himself to pour his own blood for her. She gasped, trying to breath.

"And I was fearing for your life..." she chuckled sadly, her voice husky and animal like, yet in her eyes passed the shadow of a very human concern, the concern of a lover for her beloved.

She jumped from the table back on the floor and stood up. She was clenching her jaws, feeling her aching canines. Her fists were hiding her claws. The smell was delicious and tempting...however it was not tempting her towards the bowl...but towards Dimitri. She could feel his heart rate, his pulse seemed like the softest music.

"It is cold." she whispered, shivering a little at the urge. "Smelling like nectar, tasting like poison." she paused and looked at the Holy Knight. "I did my homework too." bitterness was in her voice. He was speaking of knowledge after his discussion with Grim, but she had spent years in a quest to find a cure and to do so, she had accumulated a very high knowledge about what she hated the most. But would she act on it...?

"You should get rid of it, or I might -" she heard footsteps coming up the mansion. "You have company." she said before opening the door and disappearing. There was no way the vampire could stay in the house without being a thread. She went back in the woods, trying to calm herself with some more animals.

The old Emilien knocked at the open door. "Gabrielle?" he asked, painting at the hard walk, before making a caution step forward and coming face to face with an impressive Knight.
"I am sorry to intrude so late...but...is Gabrielle h-?" asked the old monk, but his voice stopped as he saw the bowl on the table.
"Is she...?" his voice was a whisper.  

[Tonash Drahow]

Dimitri was uncertain as to how to react to Gabrielle's sudden outburst and departure.

He had no time to consider it however as the old priest entered and already questioned the presence of the sanguine filled bowl placed on the table.

Dimitri's eyes narrowed. He knew there would be countless individuals who would not understand her new form. He would not allow someone to look down upon her merely due to her condition.

"She is out," he answered flatly," And who are you, who wanders so familiarly into this abode?"  

[Zulma san]

The old monk looked at Dimitri and shook his head. He entered, closing the door behind him and took a chair. Every movement was slow and he finally sat down.

"I am Emilien..." he started. "I raised her." he concluded staring at the bowl.

Then slowly the monk looked up at the knight.

"You must be Dimitri." he said bluntly. "She spoke your names many times when the dwarf was healing her on her last visit."

His eyes saddened. "I am glad that you are staying by her side despite...who she is now. I am afraid I will not be able to help her much. I am too weak now."

The old man sighed, shaking his head several times.  

[Tonash Drahow]

Dimitri eased a bit at his knowledgeable introduction.

So this was the Emilien of Gabrielle's past. His words stung, even though he could tell that her condition pained him just as much as it had Dimitri and Gabrielle. There was a somewhat fatherly attitude about his mannerisms.

"I stay beside her as the same person she was prior to her condition. The fact that she has transformed into something else matters not. The soul that belonged to Gabrielle is still the one that inhabits the changed body."

Dimitri's voice was calm and certain, pronouncing his everlasting loyalty and dedication.

"Why have you come then Emilien? Solely to see her? Or do you have something else in mind?"

The last question was sharpened and filled with presumption.  

[Zulma san]

The old monk had a sad chuckle. Although the Knight did not introduce himself, his promise to stay by Gabrielle was enough to identify him.

"Indeed, she remains Gabrielle...for now." the last words were pronounced in a whisper.

"I am glad she has you." he said after clearing his throat several times and standing up heavily.

"You can say that the old fool I am wanted to see the daughter he never had one last time." he admitted between coughing. The walk from the monastery to the little house had taken a toll higher than he expected for he had barely walked outdoors for the last months. Too weak indeed...

As the old monk pushed the chair back in place, he added. "I also came to warn you. The young monk got scared by Gabrielle and right after reporting to me, he reported to Priest Bertrand." he paused, catching his breath.
"A messenger was sent to the Holy City. I do not know what they will decided there, but it cannot be good. Maybe you should leave...I don't know." he slowly walked to the door and opened it.

"God bless you Holy Knight and may He not forget two of his stronger servitors." Emilien coughed some more. In a way, he was glad not to have seen Gabrielle. He would remain the nice old monk in her mind, and she would remain the young Holy Knight in his. Not a dying old man and a vampire.

The door closed on Emilien and he left as fast as he could.

Gabrielle had calmed herself. This time she had to kill bigger preys, dears and a wild boar.

As she headed closer to the little house, she smelt the familiar scent of the old monk. Emilien She wanted to rush, but stopped her movement. There was only one person left in the house, plus did she really want Emilien to see her now? She shook her head.

The woman walked slower and slower towards the door and stop in front of it, staring at the wood. Then...strangely, she knocked, waiting for Dimitri to open.
She wanted to apologize for earlier, but she could not, just the mention of his action was steering anger deep within her. She wanted to be calm and composed, she wanted to control herself.  

[Tonash Drahow]

So the Holy City knew of their location... After the chaos caused by the Twins, he was certain that the Theocracy of Light would over react to their lack of defenses. This would likely force them to make some rash decisions.

The Holy Knight's eyebrow arched at the knock.

The monk surely did not leave anything behind and he found it odd that Gabrielle would knock. Regardless, Dimitri stood and made his way to the door.

Pulling open the portal, he was half-surprised to see her standing before him.

"Hello, and who are you?" he said with a flat sarcasm, a joking grin on his face.

"Come back inside already, I want to apologize for my actions. It was wrong of me to do something this drastic without your consent."  

[Zulma san]

"I am a lost soul..." answered Gabrielle with the same flat tone.

She entered when motioned in and was glad to see that the bowl had disappeared from the table and the smell of blood had been replaced by the smell of soap.

Gabrielle shook her head at his apologies and took a chair and sat. "I am sorry,...I ...I have trouble controlling myself...I need to calm down...it might take a while to adapt." she gave him a little shrug and sad smile. She would try for him. She was calmer now, although if human blood were to appear, she would probably react the same way to her own annoyance.

She changed subject, hoping to hear good news. A genuine smile came to her lips and she looked up at Dimitri.

"It was Emilien, wasn't it?" without waiting for the answer which she knew, his smell was unmistakable...and so was Dimitri's, she added "How is he? What news at the monastery?" as she waited for answers, she looked at him like a child waiting on news about friends or family.  

[Tonash Drahow]

"Indeed, it was Emilien. He did not wish to burden you with a visit, as he says he cannot comprehend for himself what you are going through. He wanted to let us know however, that the Holy City now knows of our situation, and location..."

He left the words lingering as he thought of how to proceed.

"Whether we flee, fight or face them on the field of conversation and diplomacy is something that I leave to you, my dear. I am here as your protector, friend and lover."

While he was uncertain if such a claim was appropriate, as the words left his mouth, they felt right.