.: Mortician :.

 Noise. One of the first encounters of human nature that Dettlaff despised. Mortals liked to argue, get louder and louder, especially when intoxicated on some cheep brew. The sudden commotion of the tavern forced the man to peel open his eyelids, slipping away from the darkness of his mind and peering at the woman that yelled at the man behind the counter. Something about having no room for a Nilfgaardian and threatening a violent exit.

 Dettlaff smirked. Humans were so predictable as they singled each other out for having a certain citizenship. Meanwhile, here he sat, a higher vampire that didn’t even belong to this world. One would’ve felt superior to be powerful and immortal, and yet Eretein felt unfair. He should’ve enjoyed the landscapes of his world, speak his beloved Etruscan, and see his people instead of this filth. 

As expected, the woman was ordered to take her leave. He knew that she looked at him and though his eyes were glued to the empty goblet before him, the vampire was watching her the whole time. The curious creature she was, somehow she knew he was there.

 Once the woman disappeared from the tavern, Dettlaff elevated himself from his chair. This place already was at the bottom of his list, thus he needed to find a more friendly tavern to spend a night in. He took a step toward the counter where a huffing man gave him a strong look. Dettlaff only glanced back coldly, shaking his head.

 “If you speak to a woman like that once again, I will rip your throat to shreds.” It was all he said before following the stranger outside, vanishing into the night immediately. He didn’t care how the tavern owner responded, he already tasted the startled fear. With the moon rising high, the vampire followed the woman in the string of dark smoke that blended with the shadows before it transformed into his original tall form right behind her. 

“I suggest going around that alleyway. There are a group of drunken guards approaching with trouble.”  

{<  💀  >}

                   In a way she’d known he was there all along. She hadn’t seen him, but she had smelt him. His scent as alien and nostalgic as it was seemed to very hard to go unnoticed to him. She turned her head slightly to look at him from the corner of her eye before doing as he suggested. If barkeeps called her Nilfgaardian she wasn’t eager to see what guards would do. Quickly she swerved to her left into the alley and out of sight of the approaching guards before she turned her heels to face the stranger.

                              “Look.. I appreciate that but...why are                                 you following me? Don’t you know chasing                                 a lady in the middle of the night tends to                                 mean a number of suspicious things?”

With this she folded her arms. At this distance from him she gained a much better view of the man even if they were both bathed in the darkness.

It was his eyes more than anything she noticed, they seemed to glow and dance in the bleakness of the twilight. Two ghostly white hue’s that reflected like a cats. Everything about him seemed Predatory. From the way he handled himself down to the edges of his face. It was like seeing a cat ready to pounce. However she did not feel like a mouse.

Despite how much of a wolf in sheep’s clothing he seemed there remained that presence that drew her to gaze upon him before. It reminded her of home, that was not to say Riedbrune. No this sensation was different. It reminded her of a home that perhaps she had lost? or maybe it didn’t exist to begin with. A feint memory that felt more like fantasy that reality, a gentle song, soft eyes and a face that looked much like her own.

That was to say it reminded her of her mother? Which could to some be called impossible. She had not seen her mother, her real mother for many years. How was it now that a simple stranger could remind her of such? She briefly recalled once reading something about how scent was a trigger for memories perhaps that was it? He smelt similar, but surely that meant.. if he smelt similar was he like her?

“ You poor child… ”  The words were almost a whisper, unable to keep the concern from showing in his features. The vampire could almost feel her grief, her sadness – though it’s source may have been her naivety to the powers she held. 

He felt the need to help her – put her on the path to discovering who she was – as someone once had for him. He was hesitant to take on such a task but to simply leave her would be to condemn her to a life of eternal yearning and misery to eventually end at the tip of a witcher’s blade if she were to ever stray from the path.

Hands unfurled from beneath his cloak and gently rested on her shoulders as he smiled at her softly.  “ I may not be able to answer all your questions but I will endeavour to answer as many as I can. ”

Regis drew back and looked towards the street, a hand still lingering on her shoulder.  “ Come, it’s best we continue our conversation somewhere more private. I am a visitor here and without a quiet place where we can talk. At your residence perhaps…? ”  The gesture was not forceful but he didn’t care for an eavesdropper to hear and send a ravenous mob after them brandishing scythes and wooden stakes.

{<  💀  >}

                  She had not sought for pity, though she knew his intentions were pure. Slowly she lifted her hand to wipe away her tears, she would not cry here. Not today. A soft smile was offered to the stranger.

                          “ Thank you. “

Such small words to convey how truly grateful that she faced her burdens lift. She gave a nod. Certainly she hadn’t planned to have such a life changing conversation in the middle of a back alley that smelt of refuse and waste. She gestured back to the way she came. 

After a short walk they had returned back to the funeral home. Unlocking the door she gestured for the stranger to enter before her; following him after. The foyer was well kept with little dust resting on the wood work. Within the room there was a solid wood counter, a few chairs for waiting; a book case and a few sample items on display; flower arrangements and coffin ornaments primarily. 

                      “If you go behind the counter and through the door                        to the left it will lead into the kitchen. We can sit                        and talk there. Father is home but.. he is asleep,                        sleeps a lot lately. Age is getting the better of him.”

The reaction was unexpected. The vampire was dumbfounded by her babbling and rushed words. She made little sense as he lacked the context in which she spoke of, as if blind to something that was obvious to him. She surely wasn’t so young that she was ignorant to her vampiric nature. Surely her parents had taught her of her kind. Unless she had somehow developed amnesia – of which would be incredibly rare for a vampire – she couldn’t be that naive.

A wave of sympathy fell over him as the final question fell from her lips. He couldn’t hide the pity from his dark eyes as they remained on her. She truly didn’t know what she was.

Regis took a tentative step toward her, voice soft as he spoke.  “ How long have you lived like this? ”

{<  💀  >}

                  How long? what kind of question was that. In truth she hardly remembered a time when she wasn’t in the care of the Sauer’s, when she didn’t live among people. She had never recalled a time that truly she knew who she was or what she was. This was not to say she wasn’t greatful for Mr and Mrs Sauer’s care. Without them she would likely have starved in the forest or been shipped off to an orphanage. She was given food, clothes and care but the one thing they couldn’t give her was her identity. 

For as long as she could remember she was a stranger to ever herself; her only knowledge was that she was different and it was safer to make sure no one saw how different she was. She was to learn to be as human as she could possibly be for her own ‘safety’ as one would put it. 

Tears came to her eyes upon the realisation of this, her fears and insecurities now laid bare in front of a stranger no less. Wioletta Sauer was a woman without a past. That was to say that she knew not where she came from only where she was going. 

                            “ Since as long as I can recall. “

The cloak the vampire wore bellowed slightly as he moved between the crowd while his mind lingered on the young woman’s appearance. It wasn’t exactly rare to encounter another of his kind and not recall their face but something about her expression as their eyes met seemed odd. She also seemed terribly young. Perhaps she too had not seen another of her kind for some time, he thought dismissively.

The thought had almost vanished from his mind when the sense returned. Dark eyes were cast over his shoulder as purposeful pace slowed, catching the slightest glance of her raven locks before she disappeared into the fray again. The vampire’s brows furrowed as he resumed his quickened pace, aiming to hopefully lose this stranger in the crowd. He usually welcomed those of his kind but he was hesitant of strangers that pursued him with no apparent or discernible reason and he certainly did not want to get tangled in whatever affairs the current vampiric occupants of Riedburne had.

Another glance was cast behind him as her presence failed to disperse. Although he could not see her, the scent was strong. She was bent on finding him apparently, so the only option left to him was to face the music as it were. Without falter the vampire ducked into an alley, out of sight from any human who might pass by, and became immaterial. The smokey form rose, high enough that one might not see if they didn’t look too closely, just in time for the stranger to appear.

The movement of the smoke was barely detectable, suddenly dispersing like displaced mist as he once again settled on the ground behind her and at the mouth of the dead end alley. 

“I’m afraid I don’t recall ever meeting you before, so why is it you follow me so incessantly?” The vampire’s voice remained calm, soft and void of hostility. If anything it held curiosity, still wondering why this vampire had sought him out if they were not familiar with each other. 

{<  💀  >}

                    She turned heel quickly not at his voice but the sudden sound of his step. She looked on bewildered. How had he gotten behind her? There were no doors he could have ducked through... was he some sort of mage? Brows furrowed in finding no explanation for such a timely appearance. Even more questions rose in her and she fumbled in trying to get them all out at once.

                      “ Who are you?- no wait.. what are you?..                         how did you??” 

Fingers paced about in odd gestures as she tried to collect her thoughts into something at least slightly verbally coherent. For a moment she held her head in her hand, this was the chance to finally get answers...to finally know at least...something. 

                     “ Are you sure we’ve not met? because you smell                        familiar...thats not to say I sniff people all the time and                        I don’t currently know you but you don’t smell like the                        others. But its not a weird new smell its... something                        I’ve smelt before and....I’m making no sense... “

Mentally she began to kick herself as she fumbled over her words in a rushed and anxious fashion. She tried her best not to look at him. At this point she couldn’t face any weird looks or judging eyes. She was making a mess of this and just digging a deeper hole. She wanted to slow down but she just couldn’t help herself. What if he were to leave? what if this was the last chance she’d ever get to know??

                   “ What. Am. I? “

The street was throng of activity as all sorts travelled to and fro between the callings from stalls touting their wares to any who passed and the common travellers who filled the streets with carriages on their way through the popular town of Riedburne. It had been many years since the vampire had stepped foot on these streets and many more since he had been in the company of those he’d travelled with then. Though the streets were not as familiar as they would be to a local, some held distinct memories of the curious hansa he once was a part of. All distant memories of a calmer time.

Now he simply enjoyed his own company, lacking any real companion and travelling alone. He needed time to adapt to a world he had fallen out of, however short that time may have been. Things had changed and he needed to find out how and adapt, and what better place than the popular traveller’s rest stop.

Here he could listen to the clucking of gossip that spoke of current affairs. How the war with Nilfgaard had taken the continent by storm and who was in power currently down to how well or ill harvest had been as of late. All spoke of how the world had changed since the vampire’s untimely demise. It was enlightening listening to the streets and it’s people, passing through them with barely a wayward gaze meeting his. Everyone had a story to tell in the town of Riedburne.

Something drew him to a stop suddenly, colliding with a hurried human who muttered an insult or two as shoulders brushed one another. Although dulled by regeneration, the sense of another like himself was distinct and hard to miss when the aura wasn’t concealed. Dark eyes scanned the faces that passed, looking for one that may have been familiar. Perhaps Dettlaff had come looking for him.

A stranger met his gaze, pale green eyes and raven hair. He knew no vampire who looked like her. The vampire almost felt disappointed, drawing away with a quiet sigh and falling back within the rhythm of passing travellers and away from the stranger.

{<  💀  >}

                 She rushed back inside quickly to turn the sign on the door to ‘closed’ and lock the entrance. Out into the hustle and bustle she ventured, milky grass hue’s scanning each face that she passed. She could still somewhat smell the man though it had been much stronger moments prior. Desperately she tried to weave her way through the crowds to him. Was she being insane? she did not know for sure though to many others this may have indeed seemed like madness; chasing after old men you don’t know. 

His scent had become clouded by the cacophony of market place odours. Fresh fish, perfumes from afar, wine from Toussaint. They all filled her senses and yet she carried on. If this man had answers for her should would gladly fight through a crowd of ghouls just to find him. Though she was thankful that it wasn’t in fact ghouls she was fighting through. Just humans. Loud, smelly and very much alive humans. 

Finally she came to an area more sparsely populated of market goers and travellers... yet still she could not see him. ‘stop trying to use your eyes’ she told herself. A thought that almost came from nowhere. And so instead she chose to trust her nose. She followed his scent back into an alley. The tingle on her spine once again told her she was very close but once again her eyes betrayed to locate the man. 

                            “ Oh come on...”

A wide grin formed on Aurora’s lips. Fingers intertwining as she could not suppress an excited giggle. “Simply wonderful! You are indeed interested in it yes?”

Questions were a wondrous sign. Especially if they were genuine and not filled with confusion or feign interest as such a tone was known. Most of the books she has written were historical. This was her first to fairy tale story. Lips parted as she shook her head.

“No such creature exists in this world. Inspired by a creature of ours in part. I do not know if you have seen such an illustration of one. But I should point out they don’t have a unicorn horn but they do have horns.” As well as wings. At least that’s what the drawing had.

“I haven’t seen one before…well…not important! But I can’t spoil the story for you! I’ll make sure you’ll get a free copy! I just need to write that ending. But alas I do not wish to make it cliché.” 

{<  💀  >}

                   A creature of ours? She gathered she meant the world in which Vampires originally hailed. Something else Wioletta barely knew of. A sombre look passed over her face as she turned to look at the books Aurora so skillfully horded. All pristine and well looked after so much so that the oldest among them still looked untouched. 

She looked back to the book in front of her before turning to Aurora once more. She didn’t wish for the book to have a cliche ending..

                         “ Well it depends then on what kind of moral you                            are wishing to set. Most people tend to go down the                            root of an ugly duckling with such a story..but people                            don’t often explore self acceptance in one’s self. “

Perhaps that was maybe a story more people could learn from? Communal acceptance was hard and sometimes it did seem like the stuff of fairy tales. One only needed to look at such histories of the Elves, Dwarves and other non-humans. Even among their kind there were stories of kindly vampires revealing their true nature only to be hounded. No...perhaps learning to accept one’s self and your own choices was far better a moral? 

[ FOTR Sentence Meme ]

{<  💀  >}

                     To say his words utterly baffled the Bruxa was a vast understatement. She couldn’t be quite sure what it was he was referring to in such grievance.  She thought to maybe question but was very unaware of how to proceed. Rathain and Wioletta were two very different sides of the same coin. That coin being that they both were as far as she could classify; Vampires. And thus there was some level of kinship to be had. But to say that they were the same would be a drastic oversight. Rathain was feral, wild. He had never seemed to know of the comfort of hearth, home or even a cooked meal for that matter. But this was not to say she pitied him. On the contrary for once upon a time she too had been likened to ‘Feral’. But none the less there was that difference. Wioletta had become accustomed to life among men. Rathain had become accustomed to life in the wilds and for that there would probably always be a divide in their world view. 

She thought long and hard to how she would approach him with a response. Would she offend him by asking him to clarify? was she to comfort him? She had trouble dealing with domestic people let alone those of wild origins... 

                       “ Well at least you know you are alive though.                         Life has a way of making us suffer just so we                         know we are still living ~ “