#bvbstarters

‘‘Thank you again for your time.’‘ Nadya nodded gratefully at the elder vampire before her as he stood upon threshold of his home. She had stepped out into the cool night after spending some time in his house for work purposes.  His lips tipped up into what she could barely categorize as a smile before he turned to enter his home once again. As his door closed, she lifted the sketchbook she was holding, inspecting the portrait she’d made of him one final time. The gentle tip of his lips captured on paper to her felt like a successful representation. She could certainly recognize the stern expression to his face even though she had tried to get a more pleasant look by light conversation as she worked. But to no avail. It was probably best to portray the citizens as natural as she could, and apparently, this vampire was naturally stern? A soft laugh slipped from her lips as she closed her book and pushed it into the leather satchel she’d brought along before she started walking towards the marketplace.

The moment Ayanna had made her new role within Sanctuary official, she had dove straight into creating the citizen sketches. There were hundreds to be made, and the Keeper had requested a steady flow of them periodically. So, she’d started making house calls, requesting to take up some of people’s time to draw up their portrait. She had purposely chosen to alternate districts every day, giving herself some variety to work with.

She arrived at the marketplace before she realized she’d forgotten something important. The Keeper had given her a map of Sanctuary with all inhabited homes blanked out. Whenever she finished drawing up the sketches of a particular home, she needed to fill in the blank spots, indicating she’d wrapped up all portraits of those inhabitants, which she had forgotten this time. She opened her satchel, pushing her papers aside, searching for the folded map as she moved along the different stalls. The moment she pulled out the map, her leather pencil binder dropped from the bag and fell to the ground with a soft thud. Several pencil’s slipped free and rolled across the ground in different directions. ‘’Shoot.’’ she muttered, pushing the paper map back into her bag with a soft huff. She picked up her binder and scanned the ground for the pencils she’d lost.

A week into a new life. A week into new streets, new walls, a new roof over her head. Nothing was like it was before, but Odalis was grateful that she had been given a chance within Sanctuary. It was HARD starting over; before, she had had love, and family… respect and help in her community. 

Now, she had the clothes on her back and the GRACE of the Tribunal. 

She was beginning to understand the streets around her better than she had when she had first been brought into the city, but she was by no means comforted or at home. YET. She just had to keep telling herself yet. Rebuilding took time. 

She couldn’t rebuild if she couldn’t find the bedamned SMITH. The sun was beginning to set, and she still had none of the hardware she had set out to find to make her abode that much nicer ( that much reminiscent of home ). So she bit down her pride and asked.

The thoughts continued to do rounds in her mind even as she tried to push them away actively by concentrating on other things. The blonde had literally cleaned every inch of her office, set things in order twice, and made a list of everything she could think of, for the town.

Yet the thoughts had not stopped haunting her. Her heart was still thudding irregularly in her chest, reminding her of the way it had hammered in its enclosure while she was gripping the vampire tight and close. And then he had just pulled away. No line of argument justified what she had done in her office.

Putting one foot ahead of another, hearing the gravel and the snow crunch under her feet as they fell in a meditative cycle, the Keeper ran along the perimeter of her town, keeping out of the districts but, still close enough to the town to be in line of sight of even humans. While her body appreciated the burn in her muscles, it didn’t burn away the thoughts plaguing her.

     The mud clinging to his shoes made his footing slippery as Kaheer tried to climb the tree, its bark digging into his palms as he hoisted himself up by his hands, arms trembling at the strain. He was still weak from his time on the run with Jaael through the wilderness, his body thin and his face still gaunt despite the month or two within Sanctuary. He breathed out, a puff of mist in cool air as he accidentally scraped an elbow against the bark, his foot slipping out for the nth time beneath him in his scramble to find another branch to support his weight. Above him there was a mewling mass of white and grey fur as a thin kitten kept her claws firmly implanted in a branch to keep from being jostled off of it in the wind. Leaves fell and skimmed him before landing on the ground as another gust bellowed through. 

                                                          Almost there. 

     He found purchase on a thick limb and put his weight on it and pushed up to his full height, remaining steady all the way. He was eye level with the small creature now. “It’s scary up here.It’s okay I’ve got you.” He spoke softly, his hand moving beneath the kitten to dislodge her from the branch and bring it to his chest, where its claws dug deep in lieu of the branch, but he barely felt the sting. With one hand he began to navigate back down, slowly and steadily until his foot slipped once more, and without a free hand to rescue them, he fell the rest of the way down, his body hitting the leaf padded ground with a thud that knocked the breath out of him. The kitten leapt up, still mewling and stepping on him but Kaheer remained still, staring up at the pieces of sky through the branches. 

Frowning, the Upyress watches them leave with little interest, instead wondering how easily she’d be caught feasting on the gaggle of women. Eyes dart around to survey the square, taking note of those openly watching her and the others that stare from behind their hands. She debates seeking a fight in the pits again, wondering if anyone might be courageous enough to step in with her. Dark eyes dance between faces around her and she gives a sigh, dropping down next to anyone who will have conversation with her. 

“Tell me,” she starts, with a glance in their direction. “What might you find entertaining to do today?”

The sky had finally gone grey, and as the last rays of sunlight faded from view, Jaael watched as the last third of Sanctuary began to rise, faces peering out from behind carefully drawn curtains. She was standing to the side of a narrow alleyway, dark eyes observing the people milling about – but straying, repeatedly, towards the Vampire District. Not for the first time since arriving in town, she found herself thinking of what it must be like, living in the dark. On the occasions that she worked a night shift, there were more than a few vampires present, and she kept finding herself struck by how normal they all seemed. How.. mortal. But then– that’s what they’d been, once. As she stood there, watching the Vampire District come to life, she wondered if they missed it – daylight.

She snapped out of her musings the second she heard someone walk up behind her, and she took a quick step to the side as she turned to face them, carving away whatever unease always nagged at her until there was nothing but calm politeness left.

Wolfgang grinned toothily at the crowd that had filled the sloped bleachers surrounding the walled pit as he walked the edge, stepping carefully over the thick tie downs holding the net covering the opening. It was still primarily his people with a few upyr and humans that had gotten into the habit of coming to watch... whether to bet on the vamps or to study their fighting techniques or both, he didn’t particularly care. There were new faces in the crowd, such as the Keeper and the Bone Queen who sat together in the front row, but they had an obligation to attend the opening night, plus new watchers from all three... four... groups. He doubted Milena would even stay past the first couple of bouts, her disdain already twisting her sharp features. Unlike her advisor, Darius Vasilescu, and his ever present shadow, Costin Petrescu, she rarely seemed interested in learning more about the other people in the community beyond their secrets.

He could feel the deep, steady beat of the large drums placed on opposite sides of the pit. The vibrations pounding into his chest, he almost could swear he was alive again, that the sounds effects imitated a beating heart. Probably why we like the damn things so much. Time for the grand introduction. He raised his arms and the drums muted, the talented musicians striking nearer to the rims to keep the beat but allow the king to speak easily.

“Welcome one and all to the Pits...” The vampire contingent pound the ground with their feet, the benches with their hands, hoot and howl in delight. “A time-honored way to air and solve grievances... and to improve our fighting skills. The tribunal has graciously approved...” He half-bowed and nodded at Ayanna and Milena then straightened. “...opening and expanding our pit to allow human and upyr fighters in the mix.”

“First off, the rules...” A handful of his most eager hunters booed. “Shut it kids... don’t want to break the breathers... Get permission from your leaders reps, consent first between both fighters, tap out and not incapacitate or kill, and level the playing field. You got more strength or speed or power, level it down to your opponent. This is about skill first. If you’re a wicked who wants to use your powers, I’ll allow it against my people on a case by case basis.” He looks over the crowd and smirks as he sees Noah perched eagerly on a seat near one of the entryways into the pit.

“In honor of the occasion, I offer myself as tribute. I give myself permission to fight anyone who’d like to test themselves against me.” He slaps his chest, his grin widening. “Who will take me on?” He bellows to be heard over the roar of the people in the stands.

It wasn’t really a secret that the Upyr’s weapons were a point of fascination to her – at least not for those who actually knew her – so her first choice was naturally to pick up a sword. A wooden one, at least at first, until she could gauge her strength. There was no point in chipping a steel blade by hacking away with it at a tree, and besides, she wasn’t half bad at carving those things out of logs, and those were much easier to replace than the real thing.

Swinging her training sword experimentally to accustom herself with the feel of it in her hand, Rory circled a lonesome tree trunk, trying to keep as close to the steps she’d seen Upyr accomplish. She rolled the blade, flicking her wrist between the edge and the flat of the blade, before whacking at the tree. The flimsy material smashed, turning to kindling in her hand. She tossed the leftovers away and went to pick up another one of the swords she’d carved, hefting it tentatively in her hand. Testing the limits of their resistance sounded like as good a place to start as any, so she didn’t actually mind the idea of breaking some of them to figure it out.

This time, she threw the blunted sword at the trunk, tip first, a smirk flickering across her features for a moment as the thing embedded in the trunk. She was just about to hurl a second sword, when a noise made her spin around, her hold on the weapon tightening. “What do you want?”