Pestilence Truculency [LeighaMoscove]

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Mekina woke to the prominant sound of a child crying. She groaned and rolled over, looking to see if any of the other nurse-maids had woken within their chamber of the orphanage. If any of them were awake, they didn't show it. The young woman waited a minute or so, having been up with the children for over a week every night -- even skipping meals to make sure that they were okay. She was, by far, the skinnest nurse there, and had a most unique olive tone to her skin. Most of the other women were quite plump and lazy, feeling as if they didn't get paid enough to constantly take care of the children that depended on them for life. It was sickening to see such neglect.

She had only been working in the orphanage for roughly eight months. Nobody guided her on how to take care of the children; nobody made sure she was fed every night before bed. It was more or less an eat-or-be-eaten situation. If she didn't make it to the kitchen in time, the rest of the nurses would gobble up the bit of soup, bread and cheese that was to have been left for her.

A loud wail from another room persuaded her to ignore her aching stomach and cold feet; sliding quietly into her house slippers as she got up from the bed. The wind howled rather gently outside, and rain pattered softly against the windows. There was no thunder or lightning, so what could be making the babe cause such a fuss?

As she pulled a robe around her body, she noticed the nurse next to her snicker, and turned her head with a deadly glare. The other woman blinked and rolled over, facing away from Mekina, grumbling under her breath. "If you hadn't eaten so much for dinner you would have more energy to check on the things," snapped Mekina, careful not to wake the Head Nurse in a neighboring room. The papery-thin walls let any sound travel with ease.

She walked tiredly, with a slightly anxious step, toward the larger room with the infants. It was the largest room of the entire orphanage. There were ages 0-1, 2-3, 4-6, 7-10, 11-12, and finally 13-16. At fifteen, the boys were sent away to a trade, and at sixteen, the girls were simply kicked out. It was up to them what they wanted to do. Of course, this only happened if they survived long enough.

With the cracks in the walls and windows, with the cold weather and rain dripping down, with the poor care from the nurses, most of the children didn't make it past a few months. So far there were eight babes, three boys all in the 4-6 section, and nine girls between the 7-11 section. So far they were all healthy, but most of the babes were sick. Just the week before, Mekina had to order three tiny coffins. She hoped she would never have to do such a task again.

Upon arriving soundlessly to the room, she noticed that the fire within the hearth had gone to embers. She shivered; surely the babes were freezing if she was this cold. The woman piled up some small logs and crumbled old paper, lighting a match to get it going, then moving the small cribs a bit closer to each other. She wished there was more she could do.

The babe that had been crying was the only one awake, and it was gently sniffling, reaching up at the air with tears running down its cheeks. A tiny little girl, who had arrived just days ago; the one that Mekina had rather fallen in love with, really. She had secretly named the girl Emilia, and had slept with her wrapped in her arms near the fire the night she'd arrived.

"Ah, my love," Mekina whispered, wrapping her snugly in a blanket and holding her to her chest. There was something about the child's beautiful cerulean eyes -- that seemed to glow at times -- that just captivated her. There was a regular-sized bed near the fire that was used for nursing, if someone ever came around to offer it. So Mekina laid on the hard mattress, giving up her own rather comfortable one back in the nurse's room. The infant curled knowingly against Mekina's chest, sighing softly almost in relief. She couldn't have been but a few months old.

It was then that Mekina saw something move within the shadows, out of the corner of her eye. The child suddenly giggled and looked up, reaching up to touch Mekina's lips. "Shh," Mekina hushed, but the events scared her. Was there something in the room that had made the girl cry before? Mekina noticed that her eyes had that interesting glow in them once more.

Lightning suddenly flashed, hitting a tree just outside, just as thunder rolled through the area hard enough to make the ground shake, causing Mekina to cry out in sudden fear. The child in her arms began crying instantly, whailing as loud as her tiny lungs could handle. With the sudden distraction, Mekina didn't notice that tall figure of a man pushed against the corner of the darkest side of the room, hidden mostly by a column to keep the ceiling up. "Oh, shh, Emi," the woman cooed, rocking the child gently.

There was a ghastly noise outside the window, causing Mekina to slam her back against the corner directly opposite that the man was. It sounded like a snarl, and upon looking outside, she realized that it was. There was an enormous wolf -- two, three times bigger than she had ever seen before -- staring through the window. Not toward the babes, though; not toward Mekina... but toward the darkest corner. The brown eyes of the creature very slowly ran their way across the room, finally landing on Mekina and the tiny child with glowing eyes. It was then that Mekina bothered to look to the corner, where the tall man was staring at the wolf in the window.

It was then that Mekina realized that something completely out of her control was happening, and she knew it had to do with creatures of myth. Being that she was a rather mythical creature as well... it didn't really surprise her. Nymphs were mysterious. These creatures, though... what were they? Why were they here?

Why were Emilia's eyes glowing the same color as the man's in the room?

ooc: This is pretty much a do-what-you-want RP. The man in the room can be just about whatever you want, but the notion is that the little girl (Emelia) is the same creature as he is. He may or may not be related to her -- whether it be his child, a niece, grandchild, whatever you wish. I originally had the idea that he was a vampire, and that's why there was a werewolf outside the window, but really it's up to you. You can play both men if you wish, or just the one; let me know what you want to do and where you wanna take it! PM ;]

A soft sigh escaped Deimos's lips as he looked at the child. It had been a long time since he's seen one so young, but the youngest always made the best ones. They were so young, so naive, so easy to corrupt. Not now though, this one was too young. Every day he watched as the odd girl take care of these children while the others practically abused her. There was no physical harm, no. It was the small things like eating her food, not taking care of the children in favor of having her do it, and not getting up in the middle of the night when these children cried because they knew she would. It made him sick, and only served to believe that he was of a superior race. Vampires were the ultimate race indeed. They would never let one of their own kind fall behind to better themselves, because they understood that a group of strong members, whatever their strength may be in whether it be physical or intellectual, was better than several isolated superior members.

This was not the kind of place he would look for members, because they were far too young. It was a situation beyond his control. One of his members had been killed by a werewolf, nasty creatures. It was an attempt to cut down his numbers, which was obviously effective. The member had left behind a child, which went straight to this orphanage. It hadn't taken much time to find the babe. This was the only place where it could go, which was a blessing on his part. All he had to do was find the place. Since then, he' been keeping a silent eye on the child. The others didn't matter to him, but she did. This one was very important.

In a way, he liked the odd girl for the care that she gave the child, but it would not be enough. By the way she treated the child, he could guess that she had no clue what the child was. He would have to be there. His mind was racing. How he would deal with this child? It was far from the age of needing blood, which was a good thing. Vampire children were similar to human children in the respects that you had to take care of them the same way. Once they hit the age a maturity, though. That was a different story. Yes, he needed to be there. Gently, he brushed a hand across the child's face. It was a girl, that was good. Female vampires meant vampire children. Brilliant. The child woke sleepily, opening her glowing blue eyes to look at him curiously. As soon as her mind realized that he was not her caretaker, she began to cry. Great. The sound broke his heart. He considered her one of his own, but he had not been the one to take care of her therefor she had no idea who he was, or how much he loved the child like a daughter. Yes, all of his members were family.

There was no time to leave the way he came in, so he went to the darkest corner, and hid behind the pillar holding the ceiling up. There was no way that it could hide his whole body, but it worked well enough to keep him hidden unless she was searching. The shadows helped a bit too. Not long after he hid, the girl had entered. As expected, it was the odd girl that usually did most of the work. The other nurses really were useless. The way she took care of the children was careful and loving, just a reminder of why he could not take care of the child himself. He didn't have the love and care that a female could give the child. He was cold more often than not. Any child growing up under him would become unstable and emotional. It needed the love that he could not provide it. The fact that she lit the fire to keep them warm only proved it. How would he know of the suffering of others when he himself cared to little?

Her scream made him jump. When he realized that she still had yet to notice him, he let his breath out in a silent sigh of relief. Still, he hadn't been noticed. The fear as well as the fact that she had yet to notice drove him to feel protective of the girl. This was the girl he wanted taking care of his future member, so he wanted her safe. How could a girl scared of thunder protect herself? Even more important, how could she be safe when she didn't even notice him in the room? It was okay though, for no one would be after her, and the child wasn't known of yet. They were both safe, for now.

Growling. No, snarling. Outside the window. His head spun towards the source of the noise, only to relax. For a moment, he had suspected a werewolf had followed him. The child would not be safe if they saw his interest in the child. It wasn't though, just his familiar. A large black wolf. Everything was okay as long as the familiar was around. Wait, why was it growling at him? That was odd.

He had no time to think upon that though. A glance at the odd girl told him that she had noticed his existence. Now that she's seen him, leaving would serve no purpose. It would not benefit him. Mostly, it might frighten the girl. He took a couple of steps towards her, but stopped at a far distance as to not appear as a threat. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the wolf. It was confusing, the way it was acting. To be safe he had to keep an eye on it. He focused his eyes on the girl, glancing every so often to keep a close eye on the wolf as well, but showing his fear or confusion at what was happening would only serve to give her fear. Stay calm. He told himself as he watched the girl trying to decide the best course of action. An action that would assure her, inform her, and hopefully comfort her. Comfort would be the hard part. He didn't know how to comfort anyone.

"Do you know what you are holding?" Deimos asked in a curious voice.

A glance out of his eye showed that the wolf was slowly moving forward. His familiar was not to move forward unless it were to protect him. Either there was a threat, or it wasn't his familiar. That didn't make sense, what would look so similar to his familiar. A turn of his head to lock eyes with the wolf gave him is answer. Brown eyes, that wasn't his familiar. His wolf had glowing blue eyes like his. This was not good, and getting worse fast. Still, he couldn't move quickly. The odd girl. Taking another step forward, Deimos got between the wolf and the girl, but kept both in his sight as he turned to face the girl once more. This was dangerous, but it seemed to be for the wolf as well, or else there would have been an attack by now. His mind was racing for possible scenarios to cause the wolf to act in such a way, but he kept getting distracted by the girl in front of him. Two disturbing situations at once was not a good thing. One, he could handle. Two was dangerous, even for him. if his familiar wasn't around, then he needed to summon it soon.

OOC: I'm so sorry for the wait!

A stranger. Standing in front of Mekina as she held the child protectively. The wolf outside of the window was becoming angrier, it seemed. More aggressive. Surely it wasn't going to burst through the windows and attack? That would cause too much noise, and the girl wasn't sure if it was there out of pure bloodlust of sorts, or if it was protecting anyone within the room. She'd never seen such a creature before, and so her wide jade orbs stared almost helplessly between the man and the enormous wolf.

Mekina was exhausted and hungry. She could draw magic from deep within herself in order to defend her and the child, but if either one of these creatures truly wanted to harm her, there was no way she would be able to hold them off for long. She could blame the other nurses for that; not allowing her to eat, bathe, and sleep properly. Her eyes were a dull green, but it was almost obvious what color they should have been. The child in her arms -- dear, sweet little Emilia -- stared up at the man in awe, reaching out towards him before Mekina jerked her back.

"Do you know what you are holding?"

The question took her by surprise, and she realized that the entire time they'd all been standing there -- almost facing each other off -- neither of them had said a word. The only noises came from Emilia's gentle cooing, the wolf's snarling and growling, as well as the thunder outside. So the pleasant sound of the man's voice was welcomed through the chaos of the night. How could she respond? Of course she didn't know what she was holding. Other than being a child, Emilia was unique. Even Mekina's instinctual abilities told her that she was very special... but how?

"No," she said softly. For almost a full minute, she didn't say anything else. The wolf moved forward. Mekina pressed her back against the wall and turned her full attention towards it. Obvious fear flashed into her eyes, causing her body to run cold. Was this a werewolf? It seemed a bit too large... unless it was an Elder. That was possible. But why would such a creature be here, at this night? Connections slowly began ticking their way into Mekina's thoughts, and for a split second she wondered if this man was a vampire. After all, weren't vampires the natural enemies of werewolves? It would only make sense. She shouldn't jump to conclusions, though, about matters she had no knowledge in.

Without taking her eyes from the massive creature, she addressed the man standing near her, in a quiet, hesitant voice. "Can you fend off that creature..?"

"What's that racket?!" The door flew open, and a rather plump woman in a nightgown stormed in, glaring all around. Her eyes narrowed on Mekina and the man, and her mouth opened; dangerous insults spewing out. "Why, you no good little harlot! Put that child down! You!" She jabbed a finger toward the man. "Get out of here, now! I knew you've been rolling in the sheets; I just knew it! All the young ones think they can just bring men here and play their little games and not get caught. But I'll tell you--"

The wolf snarled outside, and it snapped at the window, causing the plump lady to gasp and take a step back. "Why! Why you, you, you--" Her voice was drowned out by the sound of crashing thunder, and the room was washed in a blinding whiteness as lightning struck very close. It caused the creature outside to flinch away, but it retaliated quickly, charging forward as if it were going to smash through the glass.

She didn't know what she was holding. Well, she would find out soon enough. In any other situation, he would have left it at that and walked away. He couldn't do that now though. He had to protect this child. That also meant that he had to protect the girl. She was the only person here that was capable of protecting the child. Did she know magic? It didn't matter. Even in full health she wouldn't be able to protect herself if there was more than one werewolf. It was obvious that she was no where near full health. This wolf was big. Too big to be an ordinary werewolf. It couldn't be, could it? No. He did not want to think of the possibilities of an elder being here. If that was the case, he would not come out of this unharmed. One on one, he could handle it. It would be a struggle, but he could do it. This was not the case. The wolf would go after the child the moment it had the chance. The girl would probably protect the child, and get herself killed. They both needed to live. This was not good. His mind was racing, but he didn't let it show. He could see the fear in her eyes, and the fact she was trying to figure out what she had said earlier. If this kept up, she would know soon, very soon. This girl may have just unwittingly walked right in the middle of a war that has been going on for ages. The ancient war between vampires and werewolves. If he had the brain power left, he would pity her. It wasn't her fault after all.

She was about to ask something. Just by the first few words her question was obvious. Of course he would protect her. She didn't need to know that though. It might cause her to get into more danger, or ask for favors. He did not want the extra burden. He was wary of the fact that he might not want to even admit that he would protect the baby. That could be used against him. It didn't matter. If this continued, she would figure out soon enough. The girl's question ever was finished, though. Another nurse had barged it. Change what he said earlier. Now he's dealing with three dangerous situations. This could not end well. Her first things was make accusations about the girl in front of him. Could she not see the fear in their eyes. The air reeked of tension, but this intruding nurse was oblivious to it. Not only that, but every move he made was slow and calculated. This girl seemed to understand the intensity of the situation as well, for she was being cautious. The intruder ruined that. In any other situation, he would have laughed at this. He might even laugh at this years from now if he lived. Right now was not the right time to laugh. The intruder may be oblivious, but he could not point that out. It was dangerous, and this intruder just may have caused the wolf to snap.

No. It was the lightning. Or it could be a combination of both. Whatever is was, the tension had completely snapped. That's what gave the wolf the ability to make his first move. His mind no longer worked. It only worked on instinct. This other nurse was not important. She was a threat to this girl, and consequently the baby. He had no use for her. He immediately stood between the wolf and the girl, getting as close to the girl as possible. He wanted to get them on the ground, but he couldn't. Not without risking injuring the child. He would half to do this the slower way. "Girl, get down. Protect the child. As of now, the easiest way you can be assured that you'll live is if that child is in your arms and you keep it safe!" He would protect the girl regardless, but if it came to a choice between the girl and the baby, he would instantly choose the baby. His future member. To his instincts, the baby was family and this girl was the baby's caretaker. To his instincts, they were both safe but the baby a little more so. His voice was a low growl as he continued, "Get in the corner. Put something between you and the wolf." The window crashed.

There was no hope for the other nurse. The wolf had her by the throat in an instant. She was the closest after all. He couldn't look back to see if his orders were followed through the wolf attacked, and he had no time to call his familiar. Just proof of how dangerous it was to be protecting people. His familiar would have been here if he had the time to. A growl escaped his throat as he attacked the wolf, trying to push it away from the action. Something was said in a foreign language, a language that only a vampire would know, and a howl sounded in the night. It was his familiar. He only needed to hold off this wolf a little longer, but could he do it? If this girl could help, he would. If she didn't, then the chances weren't looking good. At least, he would come out injured if he did at all. This was not supposed to be a mission to protect the child, just to check on it. He was silently glad that he was the one here. If he had sent anyone else into this situation on his own, they would have been killed in an instant. As it was, he would have to get this girl and baby out of here. IF there was an elder, there were sure to be others. This was obviously a mission set up for the child. They were just unfortunate enough to have hi in their way.