[hr][hr][h3][i][b]Some Time Ago...[/b][/i][/h3][hr][hr]
[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/935994562026016780/1194313776577658880/candlelit-church-altar_611870-12872.png?ex=65afe661&is=659d7161&hm=108f528dcf47e80e7f8ce28df1d791a40ea3b7b6d182bf42fc5eb230128a8a55&[/img]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjt5oCmPvPo[/center]

[i]"I assume you've come to bid farewell?" The tall priest, wearing a plain black cassock despite his rank, did not turn toward Alistair. Instead, he faced the young man's long shadow upon the wall. Head bowed, the youth stood behind him in the open doorway. Bright sunlight spilled around him as the draft disturbed drifting clouds of incense.

"Yes. If I should not return, Master Rafael...Know that I can never repay the debt of gratitude I owe you." Stoic as ever, yet his words trembled with reverence.

"You owe nothing to me, boy. Give thanks to God." The man chuckled as he shook his wild golden mane of hair. "I, on the other hand, tried everything I know to keep you from this venture." But as his tone sobered, he adjusted a pair of tinted spectacles on the square bridge of his nose. "What you attempt is no less than a crusade, and the Church has no desire at this time for such things. Better, they feel, to do God's work among them as will receive it."

"Yet the Lord has spoken, and I must answer."

"As you've told me." Master Rafael sighed. "That the images of Gransylva, and its Red Dragon, are not mere symbols representing the disorders of your mind, nor parables as the Son taught the Apostles, but a direct order. And you will believe no other interpretation."

"It can be nothing else. Vampires I have slain, but nothing of that kingdom and its accursed history has ever burdened me." The shadow on the wall grew smaller, yet it concentrated darkness into a void that stared, resolute, back at the master. "Nonetheless it appears to me, again and again." Master Rafael did not blink as he folded his hands behind his waist.

"Then go, my son. If you truly do this out of desire to follow the Lord's will above all, then He will guide your course. My prayers go with you."

"Thank you, Master Rafael. And...goodbye." Alistair's shadow withdrew, and the dusky herbal scents clouded the chamber once more as the doors closed.

"...Young fool." sighed the priest. He looked up at the altar, and fingered the cross around his neck. "But...perhaps this is for the best, given how those old farts have been breathing down my neck." He made a gesture with his hands, and focused his mind on an unspoken prayer. "After all...what better prey for a monster to hunt, than another monster?"[/i]
[hr][hr][h3]Present[/h3][hr][hr]
[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/935994562026016780/1193952290516770928/vampirekillerpriesthead.png?ex=65ae95b8&is=659c20b8&hm=ac920701b2f3082381f4133a7fb89c4d6b159286a53c8a02f78d36965fd159ca&[/img]
The priest sat silently, reading his Bible in deep concentration. Every so often, his mouth moved, perhaps in prayer or simple recitation. Yet only his vestments, with their rustling and jingling, produced any sound. As each traveler had stepped into the carriage, he'd taken stock of them as best he could. Their clothes, their weapons--if they spoke, their accents. The movement of their eyes, the way their hands gestured. How the carriage driver spoke to them.

He had only greeted each of them with a nod, perhaps the softest hint of a smile. But it was difficult to see, for he currently wore his white mantle up so as to hide his scarred visage. Two long marks--where something had scraped, or perhaps burned away the flesh--were most noticeable on the bridge of his nose and his forehead. Other smaller, faded scars--including a paper thin duelist's mark along his cheek--peppered what little exposed flesh his robes did not cover. He never made the effort to shake anyone's hands.

For the first time, as they trundled along roads that had long ago turned from civilized cobblestones to mud-rutted dirt trails, someone spoke. A woman wearing coat and breeches rather than a dress, as well armed as Alistair himself. He could sense the blessings on some of her equipment, and more than once had seen the gleam of silver. [i]Hunter, and well prepared.[/i] She introduced herself as Valentina. Why did that name sound...somewhat familiar? Vampire hunter, or just monsters in general...and a chain whip? Yes, there was something there in his memory...

"Likewise a pleasure, Miss Valentina." Alistair said in a neutral tone, bowing his head slightly. "I am Alistair Miller." He then looked expectantly at the others.
[hr][hr][@Eviledd1984][@Kazemitsu][@shadowsaint007][@Vlad Tepes]