[IC] Unlikely Team [Sporko+Grizz]

[SporkoBug]

New Auburn City A hooded figure thought to himself as he entered, looking around quietly before he moved to grab his sidebag. They'd know as soon as I entered the city. The Vampire connections around here are... Very strong. He continued as he walked along.

Down a small alley off the main street sat the safe-house for Hunters; Vampires never dared to attack it for the fear of everything that could possibly be inside.
Jayce unlocked the door before entering and closing it quietly behind him, He felt his bag move slightly before he set it down on the couch with a small smile. He dropped his hood down to reveal his thick, messy Strawberry Blonde hair.

His bag moved quickly, a flash of red shot through Jay's vision before a small mix of a domesticated cat and an eastern dragon clattered over his entire torso before it draped over her owners shoulders.
"Hello Wyf~" The young male said to his companion, moving his hand to pet her gently, "I hope you weren't too cramped." He cooed as he paced around the small lounge.

[GrizzTheMauler]

Rex sat in the study of Lord Mayor Jivarn's office. He'd commandeered the place from him for a few days, the Elder vampire having been a friend of his father, Magnus. He had gotten hold of a report on a subject he was very interested in, the rise of nonsapient undead. It was information he had been trying to get the Council to actually acknowledge but they refused to do so, since it would mean being open to an alliance with their most hated enemy and the current de-facto leader of the Council, Lord Regent Argos, hated his father and him by extension, sneering that he wasn't fully of age yet to hold any weight, even if he was the King.

"My King,." Lord Jivarn poked his head in, the slim vampire looking at him. "A hunter has entered the City. I thought you'd might like to know. He appears to be alone for now. As you know only a select few know of your presence here."

Rex nodded. "With this new report... I can no longer wait on a Council led by that fool. I thought we'd changed, especially when Uncle and the others were hunted down. Skuggi, go check the skies, it's a cloudy night so you'll be fairly unseen." A fluttering of wings headed out into the night. Standing, Rex headed for his jacket and gloves. A plain mask went over his face, hiding away the tattoos around his eyes and the rest of his face. Either side would have a field day if they knew he was here. As far as the Council was concerned he'd vanished from his home, a note saying he was travelling. He stepped outside, breathing deeply before he slipped into the night.

[SporkoBug]

Jay moved to reach for his cellphone, before he realized he had chucked it into the river on the way here. He held back a laugh before he moved to pull up his bag again to walk to the bedroom to put his things away.
The Young Hunter didn't know how long he was going to be here, but he knew things weren't going to be easy.

Wyf gave a small rumble before she set off into the air and flew around the bedroom to find a suitable roosting place. She watched her owner set up and settle in a bit more.
Jayce looked at the time and moved over towards the kitchen.
Jay glanced around, the house to an outsider, looked normal. But to a trained sight; small parts of the walls seemed slightly out of line, holding compartments that held material and items for hunting the Unknown species- Not that Jay intended to use anything like this, it was for the other Hunters.

Jay felt the shift in weather from a mile away, he got here when it was overcast, but now as the night slowly bloomed; the clouds rolled closer and bubbled in the sky.
The sound of rain slowly started to trickle on the cottage roof; the quiet sound of nature made Jay smile for a moment before he moved to place a book on the Kitchen table.
"God knows what the Vampires will do if they find me here..." He trailed off for a moment, "A Hunter entering a sanctuary, that'd be a cause for concern. I hope they don't get the wrong idea..."

[GrizzTheMauler]

Rex was grateful for remembering to bring an umbrella, as the clouds above began their downpour. A hunter in a sanctuary city... A foreboding sign. If he had chosen any other one he'd most likely be dead due to the Council's extreme prejudice against hunters. With that in mind, Rex made his way to where the report came from. He'd always liked the feel of this city, it was a rare bastion against the struggle for survival for him and the rest of the Unknown. He'd always wondered why the Humans would let their fear rule them when it came to those who were different. Sure there were always a few bad eggs, but neither side seemed willing to work towards peace.

"I just want someone to actually listen for once..." Rex sighed. "They're blind to the danger that surrounds them..."

But right now he needed to make contact with this hunter. He was well aware of the danger, but he was no fool. A simple whisper sent Skuggi towards the cottage, the shadowy bird shifting into shadows to examine the house. What he found was odd, a solitary hunter, young. Rex frowned as Skuggi alighted on his shoulder. "A scout" the bird had thought to him. He didn't look armed but Rex was cautious as he strolled up to the door, for all intents and purposes just appearing there as he knocked loudly to be heard above the rain.

[SporkoBug]

Jay moved to the fridge to see what they had stashed inside. He knew that someone kept the house stocked while no Hunters were here; Although he wasn't sure if it was a Spirit or another Unknown kept by the Hunters to do so.
He pulled out a small can of lemonade and opened it before he heard someone knock on the door. He let out a small whistle to call Wyf to her. Wyf took to the air and flittered quickly to Jayce's body, tucking under his hoodie quietly and hiding.

The Hunter moved towards the door before he moved to open it slowly. He blinked at the look of the figure on the other side of the door.
"Good evening." Jayce said politely, "May I help you with anything?" He asked with a small tilt of his head.
To Rex, he wouldn't seem like a Hunter; he didn't have the armour they always seemed to wear, he was in plain clothes, he was unarmed... But the male had a weird aura to him, it was soft and calming.

[GrizzTheMauler]

Rex waited, after his knock. Skuggi preened himself on his shoulder as the door opened to reveal the cottage's occupant. It struck him as odd, he didn't look lile any hunter Rex had seen, for starters. No visible arms, no place to really hide arms. Also he was so damn tall, standing over half a foot above Rex. There was also something else about him, Rex feot calmed by it and had never seen what it was before, which set him on edge a bit more.

"Greetings." Rex decided to keep it cordial. At least he wasn't being immediately attacked. "I am Rex, I was given notice that a Hunter had entered our fine city. You do know the General Council has a Detaining Order and the Vampire Court demands all Hunters be put to death immediately when found, yes? Either you are very confident in your skills, or you are a scout." His tone was matter-of-fact, while still being quitee polite. Rex instinctively knew his Charm would most likely backfire if used here. Skuggi was intently watching the hoodie, having seen the catvyrn before.

[SporkoBug]

Jayce looked down at the smaller Vampire, his nose twitched slightly before he blinked at his words.
"I had the belief this was a safe haven." He started slowly before he moved his hands behind his back. His Catvyn poked her head out of his hood and gave a small whistle. She looked towards the Bird on the Vampires shoulder and gave a small whistle.

He moved to lift his hand with a gentle smile. "Rest assured I mean Unknowns no harm." He started, "I can say I am no Scout, no. I'm... A proper Hunter, but I'm not here to harm anyone. I'm here for research and information." He almost bit his tongue, wanting to continue his sentence, he wanted to mention he was here without the other Hunters knowing.

[GrizzTheMauler]

Rex thought for a moment. Research and information, hmm? He was of no threat, he was certain, and Rex would make sure he was left alone, telling the hunter as much. "Very well. This Sanctuary is run by my father's friend, an Elder vampire on the Council. He will see you are not to be disturbed."

Skuggi gazed into the catvyrn's eyes intently. He cawed once and wehnt back to preening. "I do, however have a few questions for you if you have the time? I am looking into something important and I might not get a chance to compare notes like this again. Frankly, your kin are quite rude and irritable."

[SporkoBug]

Jay blinked at the Vampires words. "I mean, if undisturbed means not hunted or killed; I would be more than happy." Jay said with a small smile, "I do really mean you no Harm." He said before he nodded in agreement to the next string of questions.

"I would be more than happy to answer questions!" He said, stepping aside to offer the doorway to Rex, "Come on in, I have drinks if you'd like one too." He said as Wyf gave a small mew at him, "Yes Wyf, I'm sure this is safe." He turned back towards Rex. "And I can agree to that last statement," He started, "Hunters tend to be... More than irritating to your kind. And I apologize for that."

[GrizzTheMauler]

Rex nodded at his words. "Very good." He entered the cottage, eyes scanning around as he left his umbrella by the door. He removed his jacket and held it under an arm as he turned to Jay. "Forgive my rudeness, I am Rex. Indeed my name is also the same as my status, though I refuse to align myself to my forebears other than my father." He gave a small dip of his head.

"As for the information..." He paused for a moment. "I have found an unusual amount of nonsentient undead recently. So much so that at first glance looks like a ghoul infestation... However, it's more than that. There is a necromancer, I think it might even be something stronger than that, raising bodies of both of our kin... I have taken measures to keep my own family from rising again, as I don't think either of our sides would want that but it appears that this might have lead to my father's death. This is what he was researching before the Hunter Helbram killed him."

[SporkoBug]

"I understand the hesitation to introduce yourself; I don't see it as rudeness." Jayce said with a small smile, he moved to close the door.
"I'm Jayce, but please call me Jay." He started before he motioned to his Catyvrn companion, "And this is Wyf, she won't harm you. She's a cuddler not a fighter." He said with a laugh as Wyf gave a string of angry sounds before flittering into his Hoodie and attempted to tickle her owner.

Jay twitched slightly as he walked into the Kitchen before he motioned to Rex to have a seat, pulling one out as Wyf fluttered out of his sleeve.
Jay's eyes narrowed as Rex mentioned about the Undead.
"That's why I'm here too." he admitted, "The Hunter's didn't really see this as a high risk as of yet, so I took it upon myself, without anyone elses knowledge, to take a look into it."
He froze as he had blurted out what he was trying to keep hidden. He almost hit himself but braved through it with a smile, Maybe the Vampire wouldn't care- Or better yet, be happy that he didn't tell the others where he went.

"I told them I was heading in the opposite direction, and then found out they had a tracker in my phone so I ended up throwing it into a river." He said with a small smile. He realized how side-tracked he was getting before he cleared his throat.
"RIght, where were we?" He asked before he moved to the fridge, "First of all, would you like a drink?"

[GrizzTheMauler]

Rex nodded. "My companion is Skuggi. As you can tell he is no ordinary raven, but a Skullbird. Most of his kind are hidden, as the Seidmann and Seidkonna aren't usually willing to part with a valuable familiar such as these. Don't mind his manners he's a bit cold at worst." He listened as Jay spoke, nodding as he said he was looking into it. It struck him as odd that they would ignore the threat of the Feral Undead. "They are fools, the lot of them. The Council deems themselves safe in their Castles, the Hunters find solace in their Dens. Meanwhile the threat grows and those willing to take it on are few. I myself am... Hidden from my Court. They view me as a child, as I've yet to hit my first century. They cannot deny my right to the throne but can stop me from doing anything since I have not reached the "proper" age. As for a drink, a mint tea would be very welcome."

He shifted in his seat. "This first meeting will have to be relatively short for now... As I do not have my notes with me at this moment, and to have you come with me to the Manor would be a bad idea. Tell me, what is your magical Heritage, I will admit that there is a queer presence around you and I find my natural vampiric charms rebuffed, of course I haven't used my magic, nor would I as that would be rude, but you have a charm of your own it would seem." He eyed the man in front of him. He gave off more presence than any human he'd seen outside of a hedge mage and yet his seemed more... Ancient.

[SporkoBug]

Jay gave a small laugh as Rex mentioned about his companion, he glanced back as he moved to put the kettle on to boil the water. "He is a very beautiful bird, I must say." He said with a grin, "I haven't read much about them as the Hunter archive really only has information on how to hunt and kill everything rather than general knowledge." He gave a small sigh before he turned back to the fridge to pull out milk for his drink.

"I know the feeling of being viewed as a child." He said with a bit of a furrowed brow, moving to an overhead cupboard to grab the teabag and hot chocolate powder. "My Grandfather stops me from going on 'serious' missions because he doesn't want me to get hurt; or usually interfere." He frowned a bit more before he stepped to the cups and seemed to rummage around, stretching to his tiptoes to get out the back.

He paused as he listened to Rex's next words, taking in the words as much as he could.
"My door will always be open if you ever want a meeting." he mentioned, "Since this place became a sanctuary the Hunters have sort of just taken it off their maps; it still had old styled weapons but I would never think to use them on anyone."
He paused at the mention of Magic, he blinked before he looked down at his hands.
"Honestly?" he started, "I don't... actually know. Grandad said I was gifted when he's happy, and then when he's angered at me he says I'm cursed." He continued with a roll of his eyes. Wyf gave a small churrup at the mention of Jay's grandfather, fluffing her wings almost angrily.

[GrizzTheMauler]

Rex watches the other man move about the small house, eyes scanning nearly everything he passed. It was more out of curiosity, as he could smell the subtle scent of garlic and herbs used for poultices that were always present in Hunter dens like this. While he didn't see many visible weapons the room's design told him that they were hidden away. He was going to do his best to ignore them a for now. He had a job that needed to be done.

"I felt the same around my Father. He was a stern man. Often hyper critical of my lack of interest in magical effects. Even though I have great potential I don't like the feel of my magic. It's... Odd. A subversion. I didn't want it but they saved my life." He rubbed at his arms and sighed. "I feel a bit more.. Anger towards him I would say." He takes his tea and sips at it.

There was a lot he didn't know, and because of his father's refusal to talk about things that mattered in the day to day, he had no idea how the Courts worked at all, especially when the Regent refused to listen and even give him anything to work with. He was naught but a child to everyone around him, and it was rather infuriating.

[SporkoBug]

Jay gave a small nod at Rex's words. "I'm sorry you had to go through that." He said solemnly before he moved to pour the hot water into the mugs for the drinks. "Feel free to let Skuggi roam, by the way." He added, "Wyf won't harm him, she's trained in tracking rather than hunting." He smiled.

He moved over to the other side of the table and placed Rex's drink in front of him before he moved back to the side his cup sat on. He didn't sit down just yet, moving to the cupboard and pulling out a small box of cookies before placing it between the two of them.
"My Grandad said my father was killed by Fae." Jay started, sitting down with a frown before he took a sip of his drink. "He mentioned something about my magic being the cause of the Fae coming to my parents in the first place." He shrugged before he sighed.

"So." He said as he chirped up, "What exactly did you want to ask about?" He tilted his head with a small smile.

[GrizzTheMauler]

As Skuggi heard roam free he leapt from Rex's shoulder, heading over to the book shelf interested in the things he saw there, namely a bird skull. It was a well known fact that Skullbirds liked other animal skulls, often using them for nests. He chirruped in amusement as he stood on it. "He's pretty hardy. He doesn't easily spook or get hurt for long." Skuggi slipped into his shadow and went through the eyehole of the skull. "And there's that."

He takes a cookie and nibbles on it. Unlike most vampires he's fully able to eat normal food. He just supplements it with blood. When he heard Jay talk about the Fae things sort of clicked. "I see... That could mean several things, for one... I'm pretty sure you are part Fae. It would make sense, seeing as they are immune to compulsion magic of all kinds and well, super secretive. Father went to them during his travels before I was born." He shook his head. "It's all speculation since I wouldn't know much other than what Father wrote. I can assure you it wasn't the Unseelie court... They would kill you if you were part Fae, they see it as a Blight and remove any half breeds they find."

"As for why I am here... Well, as I have established that you could be an ally, I would like to compare any notes that you have on this Undead menace. If there is a Lich behind it... I'll need help taking the, out. They threaten everything we both hold dear. Would you be willing to assist me?"

[SporkoBug]

Wyf watched the bird quietly, fluffing her wings before she took after the Skull Bird. She landed beside the birds skull and pressed her snout into one of the eyeholes. She let out a small cherrup into the skull.
"Hullo?" She said quietly, "I can't follow you in there!"

Jay froze up slightly, "Half... Fae?" He asked with a small blink, "I don't... I don't think that's possible?" He shook his head slightly, "I've heard of the Unseelie Court, Granddad mentioned it a while ago; Warning about what they would do to me because of whatever my father did." He seemed naive to what he actually was, but he didn't seem too bothered.

Jay's eyes lit up at the idea of allying with the Vampire.
"I would be more than happy to help you!" he said with a big grin, "The other Hunters dislike my practice; They're quick to kill without questions of even the thought of helping." He continued with a small frown, "I tend to try to help the Unknown when I'm sent on missions... Not that I get sent out... A lot."

[GrizzTheMauler]

The skullbird chirruped softly back at the catvyrn. It wasn't old enough yet to form words, despite being able to understand nearly any creature with it's mental imagery, so it thought back images of a nest of bones with the emotion of safety and comfort. It very much liked the skull it occupied, having yet to grow out of it's current skull. It sent along a few images of young skullbirds, telling the other familiar that it was still a hatchling.

Rex shrugged. "It's possible. My mother was half vampire. What she was exactly I'm not sure, Dad never spoke about it, other than he loved her and it was the reason he removed himself from the rest of the family." He thought over the many times he asked and was only brushed off. "He did say that I was different than most of the other vampires. Hell I'm barely thirty and I'm stronger magically than any vampire I've come across. Not much so in physical strength, it's pretty average."

Rex smiled when Jay said he would help. "That's wonderful. I will do my best to handle preparations on my end. However, working with you must remain as secret as possible. Neither of our kin would handle this... Well." He shook his head. "They are too set in their ways to see past their prejudices. We'll be relatively on our own."

[SporkoBug]

Wyf fluffed her wings at the sudden images in her mind. She shook her head slightly before she gave a small nod. Wyf moved to dive off the perch and fluttered over to Jay and chewed at his ear, getting the mans attention before she motioned towards the bird-skull.

Jay frowned at his words, briefly getting distracted by Wyf's nibbling. "Hey, Darling, What are you-" He looked over to the Skullbird and the bird skull and tilted his head. "Hm." He said before he turned his attention back to Rex.
"That's a shame that you don't know who she is." He sipped his drink quietly, "I guess in a way we are similar." He said before he nodded again.

"Being Relatively alone can sometimes be good." He said with a tilt of his head, "I'd rather not be intruded by the other Hunters, which is why I broke my phone on the way here."
He frowned softly, "How many Vampires in this city work for the Council?" He asked, "I was always under the impression that all of them worked under the council but meeting you makes me believe otherwise."

[GrizzTheMauler]

Skuggi poked his head out of the eye socket, black eyes intently watching the room as he rested there, content to not move. Rex just shook his head at the bird's antics. He was used to his quirks.

"I do not know whether she lives. But that is a question for another time." He peered into his cup. "As for the Vampires... Not al Vampires work under the Council. In fact, the Council only exists to make my job easier. However, due to the... Circumstances, that is not the case. Most will ignore you as a threat so long as I am with you. It is a minority who actually like those pompous fools. Just yesterday I received a letter that they wanted to raise the Taxes again, and that I of all people would be subject to it as well... Which is preposterous. They have grown fat on greed. Some days I have half a mind that wonders what would happen if they were... Removed." Rex chuckles darkly.

Rex had often thought about the reforms he was going to put in place when he reached his Fiftieth birthday. He knew they would very much try and "remove him" before that, but he would see their comeuppance. "In all honesty, there may very well be stirrings of... Rebellion. My favor among the people is relatively high and my rather... Progressive viewpoints are among the majority." He shrugged. "When I am of age I migh very well abolish the whole Council and replace it. I'm of the mind that I would be a terrible king."