Hush Hills Outskirts

[Taras Van Vranken]

Darkness falls as the sun sets

Taras and Yakov find themselves on the outskirts of Hush Hills. Taras takes a break to write into the little black journal he carries with him. Yakov takes a moment to stretch his legs, with so much power and no chance to really use it, a stroll through the canopy of trees should be exhilarating at the least.

Taras looks at Yakov eyeing him with the blood red eyes that Yakov has somewhat gotten use to. Taras's eyes always seem to stop Yakov in his tracks however. Though Taras is the lesser of two evils, his eyes still carry a certain vibe about them. As if the subject was looking straight into the pits of Hell himself.

"What is it?", Yakov stated viciously. Taras leaned back against the tree still staring at him, he spoke as if he was all of a sudden the most intelligent immortal alive, "I just dont think you should have fun just yet, we dont even know what immortals habit this wasteland of a town". This enraged Yakov even further, "Brother, why do you always try to downgrade my fun? It never fails for you to control me, its not like your stronger that I". Yakov spoke with such pride that it even surprised himself.
Taras was surprised at the way Yakov handled his role. Taras was the leader, and Yakov knew it, though he was never so quick to admit it, they both knew. Taras smiled now, it was a sarcastic smile, as if set in place only to further piss of his younger brother. Now Taras was speaking with a hint of contempt in his voice. "Oh my dear little brother, how you forget the strength our mother has given to us, and how you forget her words so quickly." Yakov knew these words well... "Taras is in charge', the last words of a dying witch, he thought. Still she was his Mother and he had to respect her.

Yakov glanced at Taras quickly not catching his eyes. He spoke with humility now. "I will be back by the time you're done writing in your wretched book, then we can unleash our frustration on the many humans inside this town. Do you think its possible that Hush Hills could become our home brother?" Taras now confused by his insinuation wondered why Yakov would even want to. " I do suppose it's possible Yakov, but Hush Hills is small, and sooner or later everyone will know us. Its better that we travel through this small town, than to stay longer than we have too."

Yakov knew Taras's reasoning for this. He knew they were pure bloods and would never be accepted into any immortal or human atmosphere. Not to mention their lack of self control. Yakov seemed to revel in his strength and abilities while Taras resented every bit of it. His brother had been through alot and was more sensitive to the Humans than himself. Yakov never gave his heart away either, and he loved to spill blood that was his favorite part about being immortal. With all of these thoughts in mind, the Pure Blood took off bounding for the trees above, this walk of his should be fun.

Taras sat while his brother went off on another Canopy Walk. They had called it that for their innate balance and ability to walk atop the tree line. Taras continued to write in his journal, he recorded his thoughts knowing that he wouldn't get another chance to for a while, as they moved deeper into Hush Hills. He sat wondering about the other immortals here, as well as the humans. Taras wondered if there was a human here who had sweeter blood than Sorai, his late love interest. As he leaned back against the trees, he rested his head knowing that this moment marked the beginning of Yakov's and His journey through Hush Hills. He couldn't help but think that this small town hidden deep within North Carolina, would yield to him a much greater challenge than to just travel.. Though these were only thoughts... Taras rested his eyes now, hoping to get some rest before Yakov returned. At nightfall tomorrow they would make their way into Hush Hills for the first time.

[Heinrich Drake]

EDIT: Lolz, I just realized everytime I meant to put vampire... I put werewolf. Lollllzzz

Bloody Hell.

The scent drifted into Drake's nostrils at his spot outside the gas station, the unmistakable scent of vampire. It was a new scent, different from all others that he had picked up before, and now, it seemed there were actually two different scents. Two fething vampires, newcomers, and they had the guts to walk into Hush Hills at the same fething time. Bastards.

For a minute, Drake debated going to find Twilight, or Nix, or even Vara, and check it out together, but Drake decided against it. He could deal with two outsiders. Perhaps it could impress the other immortals. In any case, if the two vamps proved to be hostile... Drake was packing Ravenwood-grade ammunition for his gun. He'd be fine.

Sniffing once, the vampire zeroed in on the scents' location. He walked to his parked car, on the edge of the station's lot, and got in. An Audi Quatro, it wasn't much, but it was a decent stand in for the car he lost not to long ago to mercs. Plenty good enough for finding vampires.

Putting his ride in drive, Drake pulled out of the lot, and rolled down his windows, and began heading in the direction the scents seemed to be coming from.

------------

The vampire sighed. The second scent had drifted away by the time Drake had gotten near, but the first remained, stronger than ever. Lucky him, he wouldn't be dealing with multiple vampires. Which meant he really didn't need to have used the scent disguiser he bought at the hunting store. Sure, he smelled like a deer, but it wasn't useful with only one vamp... he could do that without it. Oh well.

He ditched his car on the side of the road, having locked it and checked his gun. The vampire then began to make his way into the trees, in the direction that the scent was leading him. Eventually, Drake stopped, and leaned up against a tree. The source of the smell was within two hundred meters of him. He wasn't about to go barging in, demanding to know the wolves busyness, so he would make a quick survey before he went in. For all Drake knew, the other vamp was close by... and that wouldn't do...

[Vara Saraphine Grimmark]

It was hunting night. It had been a good two or three weeks since the last time that Vara had hunted. She had noticed the weakness in her muscles and over all strength earlier in the week but had made no plans to refuel herself given the circumstances. Now that everything had settled down and she didn't feel the need to baby sit Elizabeth 24/7 Vara decided to gorge herself on animal's blood. As little strength as animal blood provided it was better than nothing because humans just simply were not an option.
The only thing that she was unsure about was the species of animals located in the forest surrounding Hush Hills. It would be easy enough for her to find a game trail and track down a deer or two but she needed to find an animal strong enough to sustain her with its blood for another good week or so.

For the fifth time in an hour Vara cursed herself for not hunting before she and Elizabeth had made the move all the way to North Carolina. Vara didn't like the idea of hunting in a place that was unfamiliar to her. She felt vulnerable. With her strength waning it would be all she could do to keep her mind and her senses focused on tracking down prey large enough to replenish her vitality and stamina. Weakness was not a comfortable feeling for Vara especially while being constantly surrounded with some feral and unpredictable immortals.

The even air was fresh and perfect against her skin. The way it would flow over the many grooves and creases in her face made Vara feel a bit better about tonight's hunt. She was driving her glossy black Camero with the windows rolled down. Perfect, she thought as her car swiftly grazed the winding roads within the mountains. Once she found a certain small, out of the way area by the road, she would park her car and face the forest.

As Vara began to near the spot that she had staked out a day before, her nose began to crinkle at a sickly sweet and dangerous scent. Vampire, ran through her head like a viper striking its prey. The thought sent her conscious into overdrive. Vara new of the dangers that ordinary vampires posed but she also knew of another breed that that sickly sweet scent followed that could wipe a large colony of half breeds, such as herself, out. Pure bloods. The discovery rang in her ears. Her body surged with new energy. Her reflexes and vision sharpened as fear leaked in as her senses went into over drive. That's not good.

Instinct screamed at her to turn around and run, not to pull over and investigate. Part of her wanted to get a far away from this town as possible but she had responsibilities that kept her moving in the same direction. Toward the scent. Toward her possible end. "This isn't happening." she spoke aloud as if stating what she knew in the open would make everything else just disappear.

[Taras Van Vranken]

Taras had awoken a little confused. The time had passed to the next night and he knew where he and Yakov were headed. Hush Hills, a seemingly volitile town called to them like nectar to a bird. Taras was ready, he hadn't fed in two days but he wouldn't have to feed for another 3 days at least. Taras arose to find Yakov still away. 'He should of been back by now', Taras thought.
Though he knew that Yakov was always up for adventure and no matter what he was probably stronger than any immortal already integrated in Hush Hills.

Something didn't seem right to Taras though, with an unnerving feeling Taras took a deep whiff of the air. The scent of two immortals passed through his senses. one near what smelled like a gas station, the other on the opposite end of town. Both driving sports cars, and both headed towards his location. "Half Bloods", Taras said deeply.

Taras had killed many half blood vampires in his day and even a few pure bloods. All seemed to want to test their strength and all fell short. But this was different, for a few reasons.
One: The smell of a female half blood piereced his nostrils. He had killed only males in the past, but never cared to eliminate females. His Love for Sorai blinded him of that freedom to kill without regret.
Two: the male half blood was carrying ammo. The stench of Gunpowder was everywhere in the vacinity of the male's scent. Bullets didn't scare Taras, with his speed, they weren't much of a threat, and unless this male had the skill of a blade he wouldn't be much threat either. Half bloods had never posed a threat to Taras, but what concerned Taras was the female. He knew that he wouldn't kill her, he couldn't; but if the male and her showed up together the male might have a chance. Then again, even if they did, Yakov would kill both without a glimps of thought.

He never was too good on sentiments. "Maybe they'll just let us pass", Taras spoke to himself, "but if not... then we'll have to fight"... Taras didn't know what he was trying to accomplish by speaking, but with any luck Yakov heard him, and would soon return. For the moment he would wait until the half blood's arrived. For some reason Taras was eager to meet them, even with the unnerving thought that he might have to kill.

[Heinrich Drake]

As Drake got ever closer to where the vampire had to be, he kept getting a nagging feeling that something was amiss. And indeed something was, for with a sudden flash of memory, Drake knew what was wrong. Pure-Bloods. As if a regular vampire wasn't a big enough problem. Drake could deal with a dozen half-bloods at any given time. But purebloods tended to be a tad bit nastier.

And wasn't that an understatement.

In his long life, Drake had ran into purebloods on three occasions. On his 41st birthday, he had caught the scent of one, but didn't directly interact with it. Two days later, though, Drake had found out that an entire coven of vampires had been slaughtered... and that purebloods scent had been everywhere.

The second time he found one, had almost been his deathday. He had been six hundred and fifteen then, a rather respectable age. The pureblood he had found ended up slaughtering a group of Drake's immortal friends. Drake himself was almost killed by the pureblood, but one doesn't reach such an old age on luck alone. Drake had killed the pureblood, burned it alive, but it had been a close fight. Drake hadn't been able to walk for months.

The third time had been like the first, a simple wiff of a scent. But it spooked Drake, and had him in hiding for a month. In anycase, Purebloods were bloody deadly, and even a vampire with as much experience as Drake had issues dealing with them. And there were two of them here. Two of the creatures. Not exactly good odds.

To make matters worse, Drake caught a familiar scent in the wind. Vara... Like a knife in the gut, the vampire felt a stab of fear. Vara was nearby, and she would be investigating this as well, for certain. At this point, there would be nothing Drake could do to stop her, either. She was too far away to cut off, and even if he got to her, she likely wouldn't listen to his warnings. He could only hope she would know the scent, and wouldn't risk investigating.

Visibly shaking at this point, Drake rested his hand on his holster, and walked ever closer to where the pureblood waited. Whatever happened... chances were, it wouldn't be good. Even so, Drake clung to that small chance. It would be his only comfort here.

[Vara Saraphine Grimmark]

Vara had always taken the time to assess her surroundings before running straight into a life threatening situation but today was a different story.

She had already reached the small fork in the old highway when she had spotted a spot to pull over. Today Vara was weak in strength and weak in mind which directly resulted in a lack of common sense. She was focused and weary and she hoped very much that she hadn't made the biggest mistake of her life by pulling over to investigate.
Whipping out her cell phone she punched in a quick text to Elizabeth telling her to keep inside tonight.

Be back soon.
Stay inside.
Don't worry.
A moment later the screen read back "sent".

After her cell phone was stashed away in the glove compartment she locked the doors and headed out into the darkness of the forest. The creaking branches of trees over head left an erie presence in their wake. She had always noticed that the forest seemed to take on a mind of its own after dark. The wooded expanse became one with the night. Vara started to feel more and more as she crept deeper and deeper in like she was traveling through the bowls of a beast. The air around her appeared to stand still as she ran but Vara knew how deceiving her speed could really be. The wind could actually be ripping wildly at the leaves in the trees while her small pocket of air protected her from the wind's thrashing. Although the screams of her companion, the wind, could be loudly heard over the subtle peace within her bubble.

Vara began to run over in her mind the dangers of Pure Bloods.
They were uncannily fast.
They were ruthless and unchanging.
Their keen instincts and reflexes were as deadly as a snake's.
Their strength was unmatchable.
Their thirst for blood was unquenchable
And lastly, they were monsters.

That about sums it up.

Vara knew that it was always wise to not only keep your potential opponents strengths in mind but also their weaknesses.
Only a single question lingered in Vara's mind at this moment. But what are Purebloods' weaknesses?