Looking for Trouble (open RP)

Russel stalked through the less desirable part of town, taking all the back alleys and less-used paths he could. This was prime hunting grounds for unnaturals; people of lesser importance were more often dismissed if they vanished than those of a more wealthy background.

Wearing a black leather coat, he could easily conceal both his handguns. His survival knife was tucked into his sock, and he carried a duffel bag with his blade in it, to avoid suspicion. He also wore a pair of earphones, which, at first glance, appeared to be nothing more than standard iPod earphones; closer examination reveals them to be high-powered listening devices.

All around him, he heard what he had become attuned to hearing through these tiny things; average human activity. Domestic disputes, a burger sizzling on a grill, a glass plate falling to the ground and breaking... if any unnaturals tried to catch him unaware, they'd be in for a nice, cold-forged surprise.

Riley was just out for a stroll, having needed to get away from the apartment for a while. Her brother was driving her insane, with his lectures about her safety, and not dressing to impress. It wasn't her fault that she enjoyed dressing nice. She was half lycan, half vampire, so it was in her nature to dress comfortably, which was usually along the lines of boot-cut jeans with stilettos, a tank top, and a small purse that fit right against her side so that nobody could snatch it from her unexpectedly.

Her bright red hair appeared more like a maroon colour in the moonlight, and her slim figure would never give away how strong she really was. She had all the strengths of both races, but she was also vulnerable to being forced into her wolf form on the night of the full moon, as well as being outrageously sensitive to the presence of silver. She soon picked up the scent of a human, but something seemed very strange about him, as if he was missing part of his soul. She had never even heard of somebody missing only part of their soul, so she let the feeling pass, and continued on, sliding a hand down to her lasergun in case he tried anything out of the ordinary. It was only during the full moon that she needed to feed off humans, so unfortunately for the stranger, the full moon was just beginning. She'd be able to hold herself back so long as he didn't attack her. However, there was just something about him that she didn't like, and her wolf genes were racing, making her want to fight him to find out what was so different about him.

Her stiletto heels made clicks on the gravel road as she continued forward, using her infrared vision to keep track of his position, and anyone else in the area. The moon wasn't yet high enough to give enough light to see, and the cheap side of town didn't get the priveledge of having street lights. She stepped cautiously, her muscles twitching, ready to defend herself if she had to.

Russ continued to plod along, duffel bag at his side. He knew that even the most infested areas on Earth wouldn't have unnaturals coming out of the woodwork, but even so, he had expected to pick up something through his listening device by now. He continued his way through the paths less taken, feeling slightly claustrophobic. But still, he was confident in his abilities to defend himself, then hunt down whatever might attack him.

Russ leaned against an alleyway wall for a moment, and looked at his GPS. He had only partially covered the slums. This was good... he hadn't exhausted many hiding places. It was a big city, after all, and he was only one human being. That worked both to his advantage and disadvantage; he was able to attract the attention of individual unnaturals, hoping for easy, seemingly unaware prey, but it also meant that he had to watch his own back.

He looked up at the moon, pondering where to go next. It was sparkling brilliantly tonight, almost completely full.

As she strode closer to the stranger, the moonlight suddenly gave away her position on the street. She could see him in the alleyway, and she had no doubt that he could see her, or at least hear her heels clicking against the ground. As soon as he looked up at the moon, she felt her inner wolf suddenly jump at desire. Suddenly, the need to feed became all-consuming, and the next thing she knew, she was in the shadows again, in her wolf form. Riley appeared just like any fully grown red wolf, except that she didn't have the wolf's eyes that glowed yellow against any light. Her eyes were a pale blue, showing off her vampire side. She hoped to hell that he wouldn't figure out that she was a hybrid.

Stepping oh so lightly, she was walking up toward the alleyway that the stranger was in. Riley was in her wolf form, keeping to the shadows. He wouldn't see her right away unless he turned around. So, she assumed that she had the advantage. He was only human, after all, but now she seemed oblivious to the fact that he was missing part of his soul. Now that all she wanted to do was eat, it didn't clue in that he would have made a deal with somebody or something. His soul in exchange for what all humans wanted: power.

Riley padded forward as silently and swiftly as she had trained to do. No human would be able to hear her. Especially no human with ipod earphones in. When she got close enough, her claws extended out for extra grip against the ground, and she leapt up toward his thighs, her jaws slightly opened, ready to bite, and her claws out, ready to grab. When he made his move to counter-attack, she'd be able to see it coming, but now that she was in the air, diving toward this stranger in hopes for a meal, there was only so much she could do to avoid the blow.

Russ knew something had been following him. A rhythmic tapping on the ground, normally undetectable by human ears, had been amplified to clarity through his listening device. Then, just as he leaned against the wall, it stopped. An all-too-common sign of being followed.

What made his heart begin to race was not that it had stopped; if it had resumed normally, even in his direction, it would be a humanoid creature; a vampire, at worst. Instead, he began to hear the telltale pad pad pad of an animal's feet. Dammit, he thought, I wasn't expecting a werewolf this deep in the city. He slowly reached his right hand into his duffel bag, gripping the hilt of his sword. When the padding quickened, then suddenly stopped, he ripped it out of the bag, and through the blade's now-active combat measures, was able to sidestep the incoming attack. Human muscles, however, are not designed to move in such a quick manner, and he only had so much time before the attack coming at him would connect; as such, he was still grazed by one of the claws. It left a neat, but shallow cut across the upper portion of his thigh.

Turning to face this threat, he held his blade out in front of him, in a defensive stance.

"This should be... interesting."

As soon as he withdrew the blade, her senses began to sting. All she knew was that she did not want to get hit by that sword, and she weaved her body around to make sure of that, even as she was still in mid-air. When she finally did touch to the ground again, she spun around, snarling quietly at him, her ears pinned flat to her head. She wasn't exactly sure how to take this. Now her wolf senses were telling her to shy away, but it wasn't like her to back out of a fight. Especially not one that she started. She held her stance, watching him closely, even in the limited light. She was able to see him just fine, so she wasn't so worried about the darkness. She moved so swiftly that she could barely even hear herself moving. When he moved and held his blade out, she snarled a bit louder, readying herself for another attack. Soon enough, she reached out to his mind with her telepathic vampire ability, and agreed, "Yeah, let's make this real interesting." she wasn't sure if he would hear her or not, considering he was only human, however she could sense some sort of device on him.

Russ raised an eyebrow. He had heard her, indeed, but it was not through his listening device; it was channeled through his blade, directly into his mind. He wasn't aware that lycanthropes had the ability to speak telepathically. He thought that was a vampire-exclusive ability.

"Ah, yes." he began. "This is what I live to do."

He took a step forward, and made a horizontal swing at the lycan, hoping to end this quickly. With the sword scaling his reflexes to match those of his opponent, he moved at a speed that should not have been possible. The cutting edge practically rocketed towards the unnatural, aiming to sever a leg, or puncture an artery. As he swung, he took his left hand off the blade, and reached into his coat. His hand recognized the familiar grip of his Glock 18c, and he was able to draw it out of its holster almost immediately. He couldn't aim in the middle of an attack with his sword, though, so he continued to use the blade (intended as a two-handed sword) one-handedly, losing a measurable degree of finesse as a result. However, he intended to bring his Glock to bear after the initial attack, hoping to pepper the lycan with 9x19mm rounds.

She had not expected the speed that this stranger was managing right now. Taken by surprise, she wasn't able to counter-attack or move out of the way in time. As a result, the blade tore into one of her legs, creating a rather large, bloody gash. The pain forced her back into her human form, and she used the building wall with her good leg to push away from the attack, and used the shadows to hide herself, hoping he wouldn't be able to see well enough to bother making a shot. Every time she tried using her leg that had been sliced, pain erupted up her leg, forcing her to the ground, shaking. Her clothing was still well intact, and she was relieved to find her handgun was still in her back pocket. She pulled it out without hesitation, and aimed at the stranger, pulling the trigger as soon as she had the shot. Her gun was loaded with the vampire UV rounds. Seeing as she was over sensitive to silver, she didn't want to carry any sort of silver on her. She could only hope now that he didn't continue the attack. With her luck, he wouldn't stop until her head was missing. She pushed herself back, trying to use the brick wall beside her to stand back up, favouring her injured leg. The pain was only increasing.

Russ smirked as the blade tore through ligament, causing the sword to press against his hand. And following the blade would be a hail of bullets.

But, as he brought his Glock 18 to bear, the lycan leaped away. As it did, Russ saw it change back into its human form- but only for a moment, as it had hidden in the shadows. Spraying the area with bullets would accomplish nothing; it was either long gone, or seeking cover, and his listening device told him it sure wasn't gone. Russ carefully edged toward the shadows, sword in one hand, Glock in the other.

His temporarily enhanced reflexes saved his life. He heard the click that was characteristic to pulling the trigger of a firearm, and was able to dodge to the side before the hammer struck the aft end of the round... for the most part. He was still struck in his left shoulder, and the bullet went straight through. He could barely hold his Glock with that arm, let alone aim it, so he re-holstered it.

"God dammit! I knew they'd wise up one day."

Knowing that any more hits like that would probably disable him, he charged forward, blade still in one hand. He had seen the muzzle flash from the shapeshifter's handgun, and he knew where he was aiming. He intended to bisect the lycan with a single, lateral slice.

A little shocked that this guy was still fighting, Riley jumped around to the weak side of the blade (which she assumed was to the side of him, considering he was only hanging onto the sword with one hand, so swinging to the outside would take a lot more effort). She dug out a dagger from her side, and swiftly moved around him, aiming to stand behind him and hold the dagger to his throat so that she could get some answers. Part of her just wanted the kill, but the more sensible part of her wanted to know what exactly was making this human so efficient and swift in his movements.

She had heard what he said, and felt very offended. Though, perhaps he hadn't realised yet that she was actually a hybrid. "They who?" she growled at him, her desire for answers rising every second with the growing pain in her leg. She was sure he was talking about the werewolves, but she never made any assumptions.

Russ was growing frustrated and tired. His blade may have allowed him to match the reflexes of his enemy, but not their stamina, and he was used to fighting lycans in more open spaces. It didn't help that she was carrying a handgun, either.

He brought the attack across the area he had seen the flash originate from, expecting to feel the satisfying resistance of flesh against his blade... but found only the cold, hard masonry that composed the building. She was gone again. This didn't bode well for him. He was losing blood far more quickly than he had anticipated, and his quick movements were only exacerbating the problem; his heart was racing, and blood flowed from his left shoulder at a rather concerning rate. Then, just as she was gone, he felt a knife at his throat... and a question in his ears.

"They you. Werewolves." he answered, a trace of anger evident in his voice.

Riley wanted to laugh out loud, but the pain in her leg was starting to become unbearable. Perhaps it was a good thing that he didn't know she was also part vampire. She'd keep it that way. "So you're really good at stereotypes, then? How about you tell me what the hell that blade is made of? You fix whatever you did to my leg and, I'll spare your life. Deal?" she asked, only doing this because she wanted the pain gone from her leg. Also that she didn't like killing others just for the heck of it. She pressed the dagger closer against his throat, but didn't press hard enough for it to pierce flesh. The sharpness of it would probably hurt him, but it definitely would not kill him.

Russ sighed. He rather disliked disclosing any kind of information about his sword, but... hey, it's no good to him if he's dead.

"As you would have it." he began.

"First, this blade is not composed of anything particularly special. It just took a tiny fraction of my soul, along with a few other unnatural resources... and a rather intense forging process. It made it durable beyond compare, and menacingly powerful against unnaturals such as yourself."

Russ fidgeted a bit. The dagger made a tiny, shallow slice in his neck, and a small stream of blood began to flow from it.

"Second, the pain will vanish in a few minutes. I could not incorporate silver into the blade, so you'll recover all your injuries within an hour or so, if I'm right about your regenerative abilities. It merely causes a nervous system flare at the site of injury, so it's great for incapacitating unnaturals, but not outright killing them."

She slowly released pressure she was putting on his neck with the dagger she held, "Good to know." she said, stepping away from him, but still holding the blade out just in case he tried anything. "You really lucked out this time." she raised an eyebrow, watching him carefully. "My recovery time is much faster than you'd ever expect." she continued stepping backward carefully, planning on continuing on her way. "As fun as this was, I'll leave you to your business." she said, now noticing just how deprived of food she was. Her eyes glowed a smokey grey just long enough for him to notice, then she turned away from him, and continued down the road. Riley usually knew better than to attack unusual humans, but there was always something in her veins that drew trouble toward her. Trouble loved following her and giving her a hard time.

Russ sighed, and grasped his wounded shoulder. He was going to need a field dressing for the wound.

Making his way over to his dropped duffel bag, he thought on the other possible outcomes to the battle that had just transpired. She could have killed him, if she had felt like it. Russ sure thought that she was going to, regardless of her word. Alternatively, he could have paid more attention, and killed her. But, he thought, killing one of the few unnaturals who have the compassion to show mercy to a human probably wouldn't help anyone.

He placed his enhanced sword back in the bag, and removed a first aid kit. Not the kind you'd find in a school nurse's office, but the variant you'd find in a military outpost; it had a full array of coagulants, pain killers, high-grade bandages, a splinting kit, antiseptic, and a surgery kit. Just what he needed.

Working his shirt off over his arm, he let the antiseptic flow. He clenched his teeth, and cleaned the area. He retrieved the bandages, wove them around his shoulder, then replaced the shirt.

Thinking even more on the subject, Russ came to a rather... unexpected conclusion.

"Great. I owe my life to a werewolf."

He picked up his gear, and hurried back towards his RV.

She was actually surprised that he didn't try anything. He had the chance to shoot at her when she turned around to leave. For once, there was a human that actually kept a deal.

She went back to the basement underneath the Directorate building, and told her boss what she had just found out. The sword, the shared soul, the deal, and the surprise that the deal was kept. She soon learned that there was definitely no reason why she didn't kill him. Sure, she keeps her word, but he was definitely equipped to murder others like her. Well, either werewolves or vampires. Not hybrids. She was more werewolf than vampire, so she was able to walk in daylight just fine. She wasn't allergic to holy water, and wooden stakes won't kill her. Exposure to silver would definitely harm her. Nobody can beat decapitation. It's a little difficult to reattach it.

Either way, she had to find him again. Her boss decided this guy was dangerous, and he had to be taken out. Hunters, dedicated to relieving the world of nonhumans. She set out again, this time in whichever direction she thought this stranger to be in. She had grabbed a couple more guns to back herself up, slipped a couple daggers in her pockets, and even one of the heavier swords that was kept in storage. Riley was still dressed the same, seeing as she had only gone to the office, not to her apartment. She walked as quietly and cautiously as she could, keeping her senses sharp as she looked, listened, and tried to catch his scent.

Russ was feeling much less pain from his shoulder, but he decided that if his enemies knew how to use guns, it would be nice to have some protection. He finally found his RV, unlocked the deadbolt on the door, entered the code into the keypad, and scanned his fingerprint in. It opened, and he climbed in, content with the security it could provide him.

He went to his mini-armory; his favorite room in the little home on wheels. Sorting through the array of military-grade weaponry, he found his surgical kit. He sat down, and unwrapped the bloodstained bandages. He sterilized the site of the gunshot, removed a pair of forceps from the kit, extracted a few bits of the bullet that remained inside his shoulder, and quickly re-sterilized and re-bandaged the site.

No sense in risking that again.

With his self-surgery complete, he opened a compartment in the floor of the room, and pulled out a suit of Dragonskin body armor, and fastened it around his torso; the slim, non-bulky profile fit perfectly beneath his shirt. He also removed his S&W 686 revolver from his jacket, and replaced it with a sawed-off Mossberg 500 12 gauge. However, he still carried his characteristic duffel bag. The night was barely half over; he could cover some more ground before the sun came up.

Russ checked the exterior fiber-optic camera on his door, and, seeing nothing, left the safety of his motorized fortress. He took a somewhat different route than before, but still worked his ways through the alleys and back passages of the ghetto. He had intentionally left the small nick on his throat bleeding, knowing it would help attract hungry unnaturals.

No more screw-ups, Russ. This came too close to being a short trip.

It didn't take long for her to pick up his scent on the wind. Of course. she thought to herself, taking in short breaths to keep track of the scent, Figured he wouldn't fix himself up. He'd want to attract vampires. she made her way over toward him, making sure to keep to the shadows, and keeping a good distance between them. She wanted to see if any vampires or werewolves nearby would actually go for it. If so, she'd have to intervene. As she started stepping a little closer, her skin tingled. It was odd, only because her skin tingled like this when there was silver near her. Perhaps the stranger was now carrying new weapons, or perhaps someone in the neighbourhood took extra caution against werewolves.

She wasn't sure, and didn't really care which one it was. Her senses were high on alert, and she'd make sure that silver didn't come anywhere near her. In her childhood, she was constantly tormented and teased with silver, making her extremely sensitive to the metal. If silver did so much as touch her, she'd get burn marks on her skin, and she wouldn't be able to shapeshift. Silver shackles seemed to be the favourite for preventing her from shapeshifting. She didn't want to know how silver nitrate would feel.

Riley kept her distance still, but kept an eye on him. She was hoping somebody would come along, just so she could teach him the right lesson. She couldn't let him continue to murder her kind. Pureblood or not. Being a hybrid had many disadvantages as soon as somebody found out. She kept a hand on one of her guns, just in case something surprised her from behind, or any other reason for self defense.

Russ was not aware of Riley, at the moment. He had neglected to put his listening devices back in his ears. However, he had his mind dead set on enhancing another sense; his vision.

Finding a good, solidly-placed pipe on the side of a 3-story apartment, Russ took his sword from his duffel bag. He used it like an ice pick, digging it a few inches into the brickwork, and holding onto the pipe with his other hand. Soon enough, he pulled himself onto the roof. It was a cinch, what with his time with the US Rangers.

He took out a spotting scope, and scanned the streets below. He could see for a good half-mile at this elevation, and the scope allowed him to see yet further still.

And how better to attract a hungry unnatural... than with fresh meat?

Russ removed a small, disc-like object, marked portable campfire from the bag as well. He set it down on the ground, and took out one more object- an uncooked, blood-drenched cut of prime rib. He knew that unnaturals preferred human material to dine on, but that they had no problems going for other suitable prey if they felt like it. He popped the lid on the portable campfire, put a metal grid over it, and threw the prime rib on the grid. From here, he'd see any potential unnaturals coming before they saw him.

It had been a tough day. Way too long. To top it all off, he forgot his lunch. Being vamperic, Andrew survives the light of the sun, however it makes him uncomfortable when he spends too much time in it. Walking down an alley he keeps to himself, grumbling and not feeling very friendly. Ignoring his senses, Andrew crosses the street without really looking for cars or any other traffic. All he can think about is a nice piece of meat to soothe his aching need, and contemplate on his research, which ended in another fruitless day at the library.

Hugging the shadows as he makes his way down the road, his step is light, strong and hurried. Yet his shoulders are bent forward, making him look like the two millenia he has behind his name. As he enters a residential area, a slight breeze wafts over him, the very distinctive smell of meat reaching his nostrils. This scent catches him, mainly due to his hunger, secondly because of the quality, and best of all : Its still raw.

Before he can control himself, like he usually does, Andrew finds himself following the scent, his mouth watering at the very idea of something to eat, the part of him that is still human, and the vampire part both screaming for nourishment. Following the seducing smell, Andrew gets to an apartment block. Scanning up and down the building, he notices that there are in fact no lights on in the block. 'Thats quite odd' Someone must be making food in the dark.'

As a precaution, Andrew shifts his hands underneath his leathers, touching the calming and cold titanium blades hidden at the base of his back, then starts walking around the building, still searching for the source of that lovely scent, like a sheep following a butcher...

Riley had caught the scent as well, and soon found herself on the same road as yet another stranger. The streets were fairly quiet tonight, which was very helpful. She had more room to sort through the scents and catch her victim so much quicker. It was then that she noticed this other stranger had something silver on him. Her skin felt like it was stinging with that burning tingling now. Underneath of a street light that she thought was burnt out, she stood in the darkness, waiting, watching for something to happen.

She had no doubt the vampire hunter was around here. The scent of raw meat was teasing her to no end, however, she did have a job to finish. She forced that temptation (to lunge after that raw meat before the vampire did) away, and kept her focus on the task at hand. Of course, it wasn't too long before the street light above her came back on, like a connection was loose, or somebody was purposely pointing her out. She casually kept walking around the area, still listening, watching, sniffing at the air. The smell of raw meat usually made her sick. She couldn't stand the smell of blood, or raw meat of any kind. However, when it was so close to the full moon, her empty stomach had other ideas in mind. For now, she was able to keep herself under control.

Russ chuckled a bit as he watched the steak cook to a pleasant dark brown. He walked the edges of the building, looking downwards, wondering if any unnaturals were gathered. Sure enough, he spotted a single individual, somewhat hunched over, but slender. He appeared to be searching for something.

Just then, Russ had an idea. He took the plastic baggie the steak had been kept in, and poured the excess blood down the side of the building. With any luck, and if this person was a hungry unnatural, he'd notice it, and make his/her way up the building.

Walking around the building for the umpteempth time, Andrew hears a very indistinct trickle. No human ear would be able to hear it. The smell of raw blood has Andrew drawing huge amounts of air, his mouth watering and his more carnal side taking over. He finds the source of the new smell, and has a look up the side of the building. 'This could be a trap ' He shakes his head slightly, trying to get his instinct to hunt out of his head, his breath making small clouds of vapour in the crispy air. " You idiot!" he curses himself, knowing that he has enough meat and medical blood to go round at home.

He carefully lunges upward, in the corner of his mind, sensing another individual, but uncertain of what it is, dismisses it from his mind. Could either be vampire or werewolf, he was not sure of which. But for now, he had better things on his mind, his hunger driving him up the wall, losing more and more control as the scent becomes stronger and stronger...

Of course it didn't take long for him to go after the meat. Part of her wanted to fight him for it. She strolled behind the building, climbing up the ladder silently. She just wanted to see exactly what he was doing and what was going on once the vampire reached the roof. She blinked to her infrared vision for a moment to make sure that nobody was at the top of the ladder, then blinked back to her regular vision again. There was no use in walking into another trap he might have set up. If need be, she'd jump right into battle if the vampire didn't realise in time what was really going on.

Riley was kind of hoping that everyone changed their minds and went happy go lucky so that she could call it a day and go home for some sleep. However, she knew that wasn't about to happen. Cows would have to fly first.

She continued creeping up the ladder of the building, currently in complete darkness. There was no light at the back of the building, so she wasn't worried about being spotted. The only way she'd get in trouble, was if someone heard her movement. The ladder being as old as it was, was not the quietest. She was moving very carefully, keeping her weight in the middle so that she didn't have to worry about the ladder swinging. Only someone with absolute superior hearing could hear her from the top of the building. She hated heights enough as it was. She didn't need somebody breaking the ladder loose and letting her fall four stories.

Russ was sitting on a conveniently placed lawn chair, waiting for a hungry unnatural to appear. He knew they would, at one point or another; Melbourne was rife with them. For a moment, he stood up, and removed his blade from the duffel bag. No point in being unprepared.

The portable campfire was all but ash at this point, and the meat was well-cooked. The delicious odor it gave off wafted through the air, and Russ had to admit, even he was a bit tempted to chow down on it. But, being human, he didn't have the ravenous, gnawing hunger that afflicted those of a less than natural heritage.