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Post by thatangel on Feb 24, 2012 17:27:01 GMT -5
The Sun was setting and Delphi, who preferred to go by Emma, glanced back quickly over her shoulder as she made her quickly and silently down the stone steps leading out of the castle. She laughed quietly as she headed towards the Forbidden Forest.
She was being very stupid. Emma was going on a mission. Well, not so much as a mission, as she had been dared to do something. Her and a small group of kids had been playing the Muggle game, though she was a Pure Blood, of Truth or Dare. She had taken to the game immediately, and the hyperactive sixth year loved a challenge.
Her dare: Enter the Forbidden Forest, find the patch of NightShade, and bring it back to the group. Emma hadn't even hesitated, she merely rose from her spot, put on a heavy coat, and slipped out of the library where they had been. She had narrowly escaped a few run ins with Mr. Filch and and his cat, but she had managed to make it outside.
Emma grinned wildly to herself as she made her way closer to the forest, not planning on entering it until she knew she was right in front of the patch of what she needed. She wanted to simply walk straight in until she got to where she needed, and straight back out. She was walking with a bounce in her step down the edge of the forest, watching the sun slowly set, when she saw a dark figure up ahead. It seemed to be heading away from her. Emma continued to walk, not particularly caring if she were being quiet or not, suspecting it to be a student, and walked right up beside him, matching his pace.
Controlling her energy, she said, "It's getting late. What brings you to the Forest of Sorrows?" She joked playfully.
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Post by mordred on Feb 24, 2012 17:44:21 GMT -5
He hadn't expected anyone to join him out here, let alone someone from his own house. Ravenclaws were studious by nature, law-abiding; they didn't do reckless things like this, preferring knowledge and their ability to think something through before they just went out and did it. Such a thing was a Gryffindor quality, the brash sort of bravery that would often lend a quick and easy - but oftentimes not long-lasting - solution to any problem.
Fascinating indeed.
He himself had been out here for logical reasons - he needed to hunt, needed to feed like full-blooded humans did on their food. Of course, being a half-breed, he could easily digest their food, but there was just something about... blood, something the vampire blood called for. It didn't help that his father had fed him nothing but ever since his fangs grew in, only fitting for a life among other vampires.
He wondered if, in the dark she could even tell who he was.
"Hunting," the half-vampire said simply, his voice controlled as he glanced towards the girl, his eyes allowing him not only to see better in the dark but to identify the girl as Delphi Jaymesinn, the Ravenclaw Champion. "And you? It's dangerous out here, you know."
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Post by thatangel on Feb 24, 2012 18:04:24 GMT -5
"Hunting. And you? It's dangerous out here, you know."
'Hunting?' She thought to herself. Then she understood. Emma's eyes widened drastically, but then she merely shrugged her shoulders. Who was she to judge? She smiled again.
"Well," She drug out, "I was out here on a dare, but hunting does sound more interesting. However, I wouldn't want to impose. But while I'm here, maybe I could keep you company. Oh!" Something had occurred to her. "Maybe you would like to accompany me on my mission?" She said conspiratorially, a tricky gleam in her eye. "I'm looking for NightShade." She walked beside him still, almost forgetting the other part of his comment. "I guess it is dangerous, but these are dangerous times, and the school is run by dangerous people. So it can't be that much more dangerous." She shrugged her shoulders again.
"If something happens, it happens. I'll just have to make sure it doesn't some to that." She said confidently, and quite seriously." She was silent for a moment. "Do you hate it?" She asked rather vaguely and quietly.
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Post by mordred on Feb 25, 2012 14:45:46 GMT -5
Mordred listened quietly while she talked, not sure if he should be amused at her boisterous attitude or confused that she wasn't sorted into the Gryffindor house. He didn't say anything until she was done, though, drawing his lips over his fangs while he waited. Staying silent, listening, were things he was good at. His father had always been like that with him, and it was likely due to Carlotta that he even spoke at all, as Adalrick almost never uttered a single word unless it was important. Mordred didn't mind - he knew nothing else, his own mother and his cruel grandparents merely ghosts in his memory after years raised away from them. Carlotta was more his mother than anything. She was certainly bossy enough to be.
"I hunt to eat," Mordred said first, though of course he did take some form of satisfaction and glee from the tracking and hunting itself. The feed at the end was just added bonus. When he had first entered Hogwarts, no less introverted than he was now, then-Headmaster Albus Dumbledore had instructed Rubius Hagrid, the groundskeeper, to let him into the forest at night. Mordred had been able to handle himself even at eleven. His father had taken steps to ensure he was. He found her comment about not imposing amusing, a small smile flickering across his face at the direct contradiction in her next statement. Still, he said nothing. He could hunt with noisy company and he could hunt without it. A good hunter didn't let these things deter him (or her) from the right path.
"What kind of nightshade are you looking for?" he asked then. "I am assuming Atropa, the deadly nightshade, is the correct one." A pause, then, as he thought of her next comment, one of his fangs piercing his lip. He lapped at the blood unconsciously, sighing when he found it unsatisfying.
"I hate a lot of things about the school now," the half-vampire said carefully. "What do you mean?"
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Post by thatangel on Feb 25, 2012 20:24:15 GMT -5
"I hunt to eat,"
Delphi nodded her head in understanding. "I think there should be blood banks for that sort of thing." She shrugged her shoulder. "I would donate to that sort of thing. She looked up at him in thought, "Unless it has top be completely fresh." Her interest piqued at the idea of learning more about his kind. Her thirst for knowledge over shadowing everything else and she calmed down dramatically.
"What kind of nightshade are you looking for?" he asked then. "I am assuming Atropa, the deadly nightshade, is the correct one."
"Amara Dulcis, actually." She smiled up at him, her eyes finally beginning to adjust better. "It goes by so many names. It can be deadly, but many consider parts of it as a herbal medicine." They walked farther, and she began to wonder rather or not she should leave him in peace. He seemed..irritated? Annoyed? Frustrated? She couldn't tell, but he seemed interesting, and kind, in a way. She didn't want to misjudge the situation.
"I hate a lot of things about the school now," the half-vampire said carefully. "What do you mean?"
Delphi chewed on the bottom of her lip. She had been referring to him being part Vampire, but honestly, she was glad he hadn't made the connection. Almost as soon as she said it, she felt that it had been too personal. Her heart beat slowed as the conversation shifted.
"I hate having Death Eaters in charge. And I hate the prejudice's present in the school." Her eyes flickered up to his face. "Of all kind." She said quietly, but she figured he had heard her anyways.
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Post by mordred on Feb 26, 2012 18:59:34 GMT -5
"There are," came the flat reply as Mordred turned his head, eyes focusing on something in the distance, inwardly hoping that it wasn't a centaur. That would cause problems he didn't want to deal with. Certainly they were used to him, but they hated his presence, and when they encountered each other it hardly ever went smoothly. After all, the centaurs had declined the status of "Being" because they didn't want to be associated with vampires and hags. "But my coven and I, my father included, we prefer the hunt, if only as an excuse to leave the coven itself. The Ministry fears us, and because mortals don't like what they don't know, they try and keep us as far away as possible." He paused then, speaking more than he had in quite awhile. How strange. "It is good to know, then, that you would be willing to donate to them. Many do not. They fear us as well, as they fear the unknown. The blood itself sustains us whether fresh or frozen." He rolled his shoulders in a parody of a shrug, his fangs becoming more prominent as he scented something, hoping it wasn't one of those spiders.
His pacing even, never out of step with the invisible and soundless beat that seemed to guide his steps, Mordred paused at the base of one of the large trees, its roots thicker than the trunks of many, more ordinary trees. Everything in the Forbidden Forest seemed to be like that: larger than life, and either a great hindrance or a great help.
He was glad he had stopped, for the declaration that rushed from the mouth of the Ravenclaw Champion would have surprised him to the point of freezing him in his tracks. As it stood his shoulders tensed a little, and he glanced around out of habit. "There is always prejudice," he said at last. "For me, the hatred of the Death Eaters, it is nothing new. In many ways, I myself am hated more than any normal vampire is, because they do not know anything about me. They do not know what I am capable of, or what I am not; they do not know, and..." he trailed off. And it scared mortals. But she likely already knew that; he had explained it before. "In a perfect world, there would be no prejudice." A slightly sardonic light came into his eyes. "But then where would the challenge be?"
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Post by thatangel on Feb 26, 2012 19:54:10 GMT -5
Delphi listened with sincere interest as Mordred explained the coven and the Ministries fears. She shook her head in irritation.
"I find that absolutely ridiculous. The biggest difference is dieting habits. You have enhanced and unique abilities, but so do other Witches or Wizards." Her hair turned an icy blue and she smirked. "I'm a Metamorphmagus, and half Veela. There are Witches and Wizards out there with different heightened senses. It's ridiculous to say one is scary then another."
Mordred had stopped, and Delphi took and extra few steps, turning around to face him. He looked a bit frightening, but it just made Delphi smile. Mother Earth made all her creature's beautiful. And to see humans discriminate against each other made no sense to her. Here was a man, who had feelings, who had thoughts and a personality. He wasn't some brainless animal driven by the Hunt, or by the need for blood. He was someone who was capable of thought and self control. A low growl escaped her lips at the memory of her father lecturing her on who she was and was not to associate with once she entered Hogwarts. Vampire's and Muggle Borns being some. She had completely ignored him of course, and now one of her best friends was Muggle Born. She very much disliked her parents and all they tried to force upon her.
"There is always prejudice," he said at last. "For me, the hatred of the Death Eaters, it is nothing new. In many ways, I myself am hated more than any normal vampire is, because they do not know anything about me. They do not know what I am capable of, or what I am not; they do not know, and..."
Delphi shrugged her shoulders. "I know." She said in reference to the prejudice. Her head tilted to the side as something occurred to her. "Doesn't that put you in more danger?" She assumed it did, but she also assumed he could take care of himself. Not that anyone his age should ever half to.
Delphi laughed. "I guess it wouldn't be, would it. But I think I will have enough challenge to deal with in the upcoming weeks."
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Post by mordred on Feb 29, 2012 23:37:12 GMT -5
Mordred considered this. "You are correct," he said finally, "but I have noticed, with mortals, that the scent of fear is always the strongest when they fear they are... outmatched. Outmatched against something they do not know how to combat." He frowned lightly, his actions short and precise, but with an otherworldly grace acquired from a lifestyle of subtle movements. "Mortals," he began flatly, "are foolish creatures."
It wasn't to say his own weren't - he had seen many vampires act foolishly, giving into their primal instincts to a point where they could no longer control themselves, their minds and their bodies indulged in desires and actions that would bring them immediate satisfaction, no matter the cost for them, and others of their... species. His father had never tolerated vampires to join who had been deemed dangers to themselves, not to mention the coven itself. There was always control, Carlotta had said once. Even when giving into your instincts, it was always possible - hard, but possible - to stay in control.
The scent of prey reached him then, unbidden, and his fangs were bared as his body tensed, coiled, ready for an attack. His eyes flared briefly, brightening to a luminous red instead of the dull red-brown they usually were.
Danger. That was what he was; an unknown factor, X, the missing variable. He hissed, though it wasn't at her. "Yes," he said, though the "s" was elongated, the word coming out as "Yesssss" even as he thought more about her question. "But danger... life is boring without it. You, the Champion, will know thisss." A pause, though it was brief. "I will return shortly," he said curtly before all but vanishing into the shadows of the trees, chasing a prey he could not see but that he could feel with every fibre in his body.
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Post by thatangel on Mar 5, 2012 20:22:06 GMT -5
"Mmmm." Delphi gave some thought to what Mordred said, but was shaking her head at the last statement.
"No. Not foolish. Fear is a basic survival instinct that humans have used to survive. In the past, unknown meant danger, and it still does. Fear keeps the species alive. We are not a foolish being. We are foolish in our handling of those we fear. Instead of learning about what we fear, and trying to understand things, we try and suppress it. That is humanities flaw."
"I guess I will find myself in plenty of danger in the coming weeks." A grin slowly graced her features and she shrugged. "When you've been dating a Slytherin for two years, not much else seems dangerous." She laughed, her eyes creasing at the edges.
Delphi watched in pure amazement as the Vampire said he would be back, and then turn to take off into the Forbidden Forest. She shook her head in awe.
The Ravenclaw looked around and the win picked up some. She shivered and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Into the forest, Emma." She told herself, heading into the forest. She knew where she was going, and so slowly and carefully made her way past the tree line. Delphi slipped her wand into her hand.
"Lumos." She muttered softly, the light guiding her path. Delphi was surprised, and a little worried to be shrouded in complete silence. It worried her. Finally she made it into a small clearing, a smile breaking out on her face as her eyes landed on the Nightshade.
"Good work, Emma." She quickly walked forward, only stopping when she heard a snap come from behind her. Delphi froze, but slowly turned around, wand out in a defensive position.
Delphi made eye-contact with a centaur. She couldn't be sure if he was friendly or not. Another snap came from behind her.
"Shit." The Ravenclaw Champion hissed under her breath.
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Post by mordred on Mar 24, 2012 22:59:04 GMT -5
The hunt was fast, and he didn't waste a second lamenting the life of the forest creature whose life he had taken. He had stopped paying attention to them long ago, having learned young to stay away from the centaurs. Their relationship could hardly be called symbiotic, in any way - commensalism, mutualism, parasitism... none of those terms worked to describe it. The first time they had caught him, Mordred had only remembered watching them with fear as they surrounded and towered over him, wondering what he was - a vampire child? No, impossible, see that? His eyes are human.
So they tolerated him, because he didn't pose a threat. Neither wanted anything to do with the other.
But then he scented them, and his stance immediately became hostile, because the centaurs usually steered clear of him when he hunted. They knew his routine, and Mordred was careful to stick to it, which means there was only one possibility.
They had found the girl.
Suppressing the small flare of irritation, Mordred retracted his steps. He only hoped she would be alive when he got back.
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Post by thatangel on Mar 28, 2012 3:16:12 GMT -5
The unusual Ravenclaw found herself surrounded by centaurs and she inwardly cursed herself. Only she, the most un-Ravenclaw Ravenclaw, at times, would find herself surrounded by the creatures of the Forbidden Forest. Delphi closed her eyes as she remembered everything useful that she could about centaurs. Respect. Definitely demanded to be treated with respect. Delphi spun around in a circle, looking for one in particular. She stopped when she turned around completely. Her eyes resting on the centaur who was bigger, and stood a step closer then all the rest. Delphi respectfully bowed her head, keeping her eyes low, and not making eye contact.
"I have entered your territory." It was stating the obvious of course, but she might as well get it out there that she at least knew her mistake. "It was not intentional, I assure you." Delphi heard the rough footsteps of hooves on the ground and her body stiffened. A deep rumble sounded from the depths of the centaurs chest as he spoke.
"It never begins intentionally. You are a sly and corrupt species, and you are not welcomed here." Simultaneous footsteps and Delphi's eyes widened as she saw every centaur take a step in her direction. Thinking quickly, Delphi dropped to her knee's, a vulnerable position, and put her arms up, palms out.
"Wait, give me a minute!" She pleaded. Her breaths came steady, and despite her nerves, she managed an almost perfect mix of confidence and humbleness. "My intentions are innocent. Please, let me explain." The centaur glanced around his colony before finally giving her the go-ahead. Delphi sighed inwardly in relief, and rested on the backs of her feet. She had a chance. "You said that my species was sly and corrupt, and that holds true for the most of humanity, but not all. I was not here on those terms. And though not sly or corrupt, I am guilty of entering the forest- your forest, for immature and childish reasons. A," she searched for the right word, "challenge, was issued to me; to enter the forest and collect a batch of nightshade. I'm afraid I delved in too deep. I apologize, and I can assure you that it will not happen again."
"You're right it won't." More steps forward and Delphi closed her eyes, bracing herself for whatever it was that would happen. But another creature, she assumed centaur, spoke. Delphi understood none of it, or rather, heard none of it; for her blood pumped through her system so intensely that she could hear nothing but her own heartbeat in her head. After a few moments of deep breathing, her hearing improved and she opened one eye, and then the other. The clearing was empty of centaurs. Her heart crashed in relief and she dropped one hand forward to the ground, the other clenched over her heart.
"Sweet Merlin, I have got to be the stupidest Ravenclaw to be sorted into Rowena Ravenclaw's house." She chuckled, wondering what the woman herself had been like. She herself had no idea how she had managed the house. Her father had been a Slytherin, but then again, after her mother's death when she was born, her father didn't do much with her at all. Delphi had been raised almost entirely by a House Elf, and almost all the times she interacted with her father were the times she was lectured about the importance of "Blood Purity." Delphi rolled her eyes. He didn't approve of Delphi's views- well, he wouldn't if he knew. Delphi was adept at keeping her views private from her father, and despite their differences, as extreme as they may be, she wanted to prove herself to him. And that was the only reason she had submitted her name for the tournament. Delphi didn't know what house her mother had been sorted into. In fact, Delphi knew almost nothing about her mother. She had never been allowed to discuss her mother with him, though they had been deeply in love. Delphi only knew the circumstances of her death, and that she had been a full blooded Veela. Delphi suspected her father blamed her for her mothers death- and she believed, that in a way, he was right. Delphi suspected her social attitude grew from her need for approval. Approval from her peers, and her professors. The Ravenclaw shook her thoughts from her head, and stood, deciding it best to leave now before they centaurs changed their minds and returned.
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