The way home..

[Mikaela Antony]

Mikaela had survived her date with the vampire escort, Leo, and was very much ready to return home. She had a long trek ahead of her, and prayed she would make it without running into anything else that could kill her in a few strikes. Her revolver was shoved into her boot, six silver bullets hidden from the gleaming moonlight. A Browning Hi-Power was strapped under her arm, and a two-shot, pure silver Derringer was tucked safely into its inner-pant holster. That meant it was pressing against her hip, but she was used to it by now.

Two thigh holsters were full of silver blades, tight over her black leggings. Her burgundy blouse billowed under the long black leather cloak, which hid the thigh holsters from view. Her last artifact, a sawed off shotgun with silver-plated emergency rounds (meaning they exploded on impact) was slung over the back of the tiny woman. She was maybe 5'4", long blond waves that hid the shotgun from view, and amber eyes that could pass for pure topaz when she was pissed; the look cut through resolve like a diamond-sharpened gemstone.

She was armed practically to the teeth; she'd gotten to her hideout as fast as possible after her "date" and changed immediately. The police didn't need to know she'd broken into on of the bathhouse rooms and hid her effects there before the date, and neither did the vampire. If something had happened, something bad, she had counted on making it back to those bathhouses to kill the stupid bloodsucker in. Lucky for her, it hadn't. The final pieces were the many Blessed crosses she donned; one on her neck, four on each wrist, and three on longer chains over her boots. Decorations, anyone?

Once Mikaela was satisfied with her fittings, she stood and flung a small black bag over her shoulder; it held extra rounds, wooden stakes, a mallet, and enough Holy Water to drown a vampire or two. Prepared, Mikaela? Naw.

The slight blond neared the entryway and checked both sides and the scenery before her, looking for any slight movement. She'd surely pissed a vampire off tonight, and wasn't up for taking any chances. Even if he'd been kind...

Mikaela decided, after a moment of scanning, that it was clear and walked out. If someone was going to attack, it wouldn't be any better for her to be running. It was harder to aim properly that way. She wasn't concerned about drawing, she was a damn quick one, but aiming while running for your damned little life? That was another question entirely.

Mikaela cut through the park in a directly south-westerly direction. She'd keep going until dawn when she could find a taxi and hitch a ride to the airport, hop a plane, and fly back to Spain. Or was she supposed to go back to Asia? She couldn't remember just now, possible shock from the incident, but either way... Cloud would know she wanted to be home, for just the tiniest bit. Comfort was something everyone was entitled to every once in a while. Hopefully Cloud would find her there at the gate, and she could strangle him once he dropped her off at her apartment.

Yeah, that sounded good.

Mikaela was walking past trees, and she kept her right hand firm on the handle of her bag, up high enough to reach for the shotgun if she needed. Nobody should be able to tell, vampire or otherwise, that she was doing it for protection and out of habit for the gun and not the bag. Nobody was that damn good. Her amber gaze shifted just slightly to the line of trees to her right, out of reach entirely but still too close for her comfort, before she continued looking around in front of her. If something moved, she'd know it. Call it instinct, but everyone had it. Hair would stand at the back of the neck when a predator was moving in. That was how Mikaela was able to fire in the dark. She could always sense when something preternatural was moving around..

[Horu]

Horu had just finished watching what he had at first thought was going to end up as another vampire attack. Oh how he loathed the cursed creature. Especially when they go hunting in his territory. And they don't even hunt, Vampires where more like spiders, or pitcher plants or angler fish. They lured their pray in they didn't go to the work of searching for it in his opinion they where lazy. Anyway thought the two didn't know it he had been sitting their in the shadows of the far off trees watching, and listening. He stayed down wind so that the vampire didn't detect him and so he could smell them instead.

He usually wasn't one to interfere with another creatures hunt but he didn't really like vampires. Plus the trees wouldn't shut up abut him at the very least meeting the girl the vampire was attempting to seduce. Unseen he watched as the two conversed. He knew the vampire was acting with out being able to smell his emotions. The undead tended not to produce pharamones which made difficult to judge their emotions. But what surprised him was not the vampire but the girl. He didn't smell infatuation, he smells something else. he wasn't close enough to hear her heart but something about her scent told him she was acting as well. That's why he hadn't struck when he had planned to.

Intrigued, He followed her after she escaped the vampire. He made sure to stay out of sight, and not making a sound was easy when you where as in-tune with nature as he was. When she left the bath house she was a totally different person. Well clothing wise she looked like she was about ready to go toe to toe with a pack of werewolves, with all the silver he smelled on her. He was glad that he wasn't one of those cursed hounds.

He flowed her through the forest with such stealth that he didn't think that even a bat could have detected him. But what good where senses compared to old fashioned instinct. Makaela had stopped sensing she was being watch most likely. He wondered why she had only started feeling that way now. He shrugged off the thought and padded his way around to be in front of her. he was careful to stay out of her line of sight, until the last moment. He walked into the path in front of her.as son as she looked forward she would see him. A fully grown timber wolf. Seemingly ordinary, except wolves usually keep to themselves and their packs and try to stay a way from people, humans are not a favored meal, plus killing them cause more trouble than their flesh is worth. Speaking of packs it would seem this wolf was without one. Rouge wolves weren't totally uncommon, but it made it even more odd that a wolf would confront a creature as dangerous as man, and in this case woman, without back up.

And there was one other thing that was odd about this wolf, "I'd say you handled your self quite well with that vampire." This wolf was talking to her.

[Mikaela Antony]

Mikaela froze. Her amber eyes connected with the wolf's, and something about them weren't right. He wasn't hungry, and he wasn't hunting... His gaze was steady, almost...human... It spoke to her. Wolves didn't speak. Mikaela was fast. She yanked her shotgun from her long leather coat, readied with safety rounds, and pointed it right at the animal. Her and Van Hellsing. Yeah. Her hair prickled for only a moment, but it didn't last. What did that mean? She ignored it, her hard topaz orbs focusing on the wolf form in front of her. Wolves hunted in packs, werewolves didn't. They could hunt alone. They could talk. Lucky for her, silver bullets lined each of her firearms.

"You know," Mikaela licked her light pink lips, looking over the creature. "Silver only harms and slows vampires...but it can kill were-creatures... What were you doing watching me?" Quick and to the point, that was Mikaela.

[Horu]

He had one ear pointed at Mikaela while the other twitched and swiveled,listening for other things around them. Even when the gun was raised the wolf didn't even flinch. he acted as if it wasn't really there. He didn't fear being shot as he had no intention of provoking her. The wolf raised an eye brow, a very human expression for a canine. "Do i look like a werewolf Miss Anthony?" He only knew that much of her name as that was what the Vampire had called her. "Last I checked Werewolves walked on two legs, where as I walk on four, plus i have paws not hand like claws and my legs and my real legs are too short. You need to learn you're monsters, and I'm not a monster in fact i just gave you a compliment but your reaction tells me you didn't like it. I could take it back if you like." He knew she had to have questions. like why he was talking "Oh and I'm not a Lycan either."

[Mikaela Antony]

Mikaela's eyes narrowed as the wolf continued talking. She sniffed at him. "No, not Lycan, and not demon..." Mikaela shifted through animal creatures in her head and only one other came up. "Shapeshifter..?" She made it a question. She shifted her weight and slipped a few blades out. If he was a shapeshifter, he could be injured much like a human. She shifted to the side, away from the wood, and pulled on the hammer with a satisfying click. Now she just had to yank the trigger.. Which was stiff, but he didn't need to know that.

"I meant no offense, but, being a hunter, I am naturally suspicious... Not all werewolves are like those of movies, either. Please remember that, Mister..." Mikaela sighed. "You know my name, and I do not know yours. What is your name, sir? And what do you want..?" She asked, her gun still pointed at him, and her blades glinting in her left hand between her fingers.

[Horu]

The wolf didn't budge, save for the ear that kept twitching back and forth. "Shape shifer would be part of what I am yes. I'm a druid, a human druid, but I prefer this animal's body to my own. And your right about movie werewolves being different, but I've met werewolves before. as long as I'm not human when I'm around them they are actually quite likable." He said in an politely informative tone.

The smell of gun power coming from the barrel of the gun in his face was staring to make his nose itch. "Well I came to learn more about you. I was watching you're little 'meeting with that vampire. Lets just say that the vampire would have left hungry whether you where armed or not, I don't like it when other creatures hunt in my territory with out my permission." He said that as excuse. In reality he did care about humans he was one after all, but he didn't think he needed to reveal it. "Oh and call me Horu. So who exactly are you and where are you from?" He asked curiously.

[Mikaela Antony]

"Likable.." That was far-fetched. At least in Mikaela's book. It really depended on each individual as far as she was concerned, and a lot in this area were far from gentle or kind. At least not from what she'd heard. Mikaela flushed when he mentioned the vampire. "Yeah, master's orders. I hate acting like that. And, of course, master picked the clothes..." The picture of her strangling Cloud flickered across her mind for a brief moment, a scowl on her fine features. "He owes me for it." Mikaela returned her attention to the Shapeshi- - Druid, and she shifted her weight through her hips.

Topaz eyes softened to a warm amber, and Mikaela shoved her gun into its holster on her shoulders. She let her hand hover near her Browning Hi-Power, though, and kept her blades out. Quick Draw McGraw and her, right. "Horu... how old are you?" She answered with her own questions instead. "Look, my name's not known, and I'd prefer it stay that way. For now. Obvious answer to your other question, though. I'm a hunter. I'm from Spain."

A smirk played at her lips. "And he would've either left hungry, or died trying to feed. Silver doesn't kill a vampire, but it makes them heal human slow.." Smirk turned into a grim smile. "A hit to the heart, and they're dead."

[Horu]

"Master? are you some sort of slave to someone else or do you mean master in a different way? Because i don't think it very nice for some one to order anyone into the hands of a vampire. Whether the servant in in debt or not.

Blast not being able to make human expressions with a dog's face. If he could what he said next would have sounded less like a threat and more like sarcasm. "Your a hunter, hunting, in my territory, without my permission eh? What should i do about that Miss Antony?"

[Mikaela Antony]

"Master as in boss, training master, teacher." Mikaela shifted her weight again. She didn't like standing still. Move or sit. She couldn't move with this wolf here, lest she provoke him, and she couldn't set lest he strike. She finally grumbled and found a decent position to stand in like a statue. Her and Michaelangelo's David. Yeah. The breeze picked up her long coat, making it flap out like a cape. Only the bottom two buttons were done so she could reach her gun on her back if she needed to. She hoped she didn't need to.

Yeah, here's to hoping. She took in a breath when the wolf spoke again. This was a bit odd. A slight tingle of unease crept up her spine, and she wanted to whine about not hunting, not really, but that would just be childish. Oh, hell. "I'm not hunting, really. Look, that vampire has killed. I kill things that kill humans. That's the definition of a hunter." She didn't break down and whine, and she didn't back down. Bully for her. She didn't want a fight, though.

"I don't know, Mister Horu. What are you really here for, good sir? I do not exactly have time to beat around the bush so to speak..."

[Horu]

"Don't act afraid, I can smell that your not. and you smell too much like gunpowder for me to even feel like harming you. And if you hunt creatures that kill humans why don't you hunt humans, they seem to be rather good at getting themselves killed on their own without help form the supernatural forces of the world. Don't worry yourself too much you not from around here and I'm not the kinda guy that punishes ignorance unless its faked ignorance in which case it really ticks me off."

He could tell that his canine form was making her feel the need to be on guard. "Here let me show you my more human side, if you have some sort of dead line we can speak while we walk and and don't seem all that comfortable with speaking to me as aI am now." With that Hie body began to grown and his libs began to distort, the sound of bones cracking and flesh stretching and reforming was disgusting to people with a weak stomaches and it sounded painful, but it wasn't. Now standing before Mikaela was a man with long brown hair and dark green eyes, dressed in a Wolf skin vest, which was open exposing his muscular chest and abdomen . looking at her. His arms where bare except for a band that was tied around his right bicep and to a singer rave feather. Around hi neck he wore a Bear tooth necklace and he wore a buck skin trousers for pants, which where held up bay a snake-skin belt. And on he feat he had a pair of buck skin boots.From which. He looked like a man of the forest. He stepped aside, "if you would like to walk lead the way."

[Mikaela Antony]

"Ok, I hunt creatures that threaten humanity..." Mikaela mumbled under her breath. "Yes, well, it was just that I really wish to return home as quickly as possible after...that." Mikaela raised her eyebrows to emphasize the last word, and couldn't say anything to stop the shapeshifter from changing in front of her.

Wet sucking sounds came from the wolf in front of Mikaela, and she saw bones breaking, skin moving back from bones to reshape, fur disappearing... She wouldn't throw up, she wouldn't. She looked away, which didn't help much more, but she turned her head when the awful noises stopped and there stood a man. A muscular, nature-loving man. Interesting.

"Thank you" she whispered, in reference with both his new form and his gentlemanly disposition. Mikaela shifted her weight and slung the forgotten bag back over her shoulder. "I'm heading South and West. I'm going to try to get to Spain before I get called away somewhere else new...again..." Mikaela unknowingly heaved a frustrated sigh and started walking.

"So you still haven't answered me. What are you hear for exactly..?"

[Horu]

He waited patiently to start moving. H had to think about how he really wanted to answer her question. Really, he thought he had answered it. He had said he wanted to talk to her, i guess he had. And now he didn't know what to do. "Well originally I was just curious. Here I was about to stop another human from being drained by that over grown mosquito, and the human I thought I was saving was doing the same thing I was doing. Need less to say i just wanted to know who you were and what you where doing. And now what you just said implies there are other like you. You have only added to my curiosities. Now how about you tell me what you where doing here in my neck of the woods?"

[Mikaela Antony]

A smirk pulled at Mikaela's pale pink lips. "Yeah, I'm sure that was interesting for you." The smirk turned to a smile. "There are more like me, you could say... I started young. My mother was possessed by a demon and exorcism wouldn't work, and my sister was killed by a vampire. I guess that's when the drive for it started, though I didn't start until a few years ago. Age limits and such." Her hairs were not standing, she was not shivering. He was holding in his power, and was not being a predator. Interesting.

"I was here on scouting business. A game of touch-and-go, if you will, for information. I'm sure you know what I'm referring to, considering what I was just touching." Mikaela shivered then, the memory still lingering, no, burning, in her mind. How many showers would it take to get the feel off her? Would she scrub her skin off first? Probably.

Her amberline eyes re-scanned the man's form, the raven feather catching her attention as it fluttered as they walked, heading, yes, due south. "What other forms do you have? You seem old enough to have more than one, sir. And why haven't you harmed me yet?" Perhaps that was the question she should have asked earlier instead of what he wanted.

[Horu]

Horu followed her and listened to he explanation with interest. He like the simple life he lived but he had been growing more and more bored of the inactivity of the solitude he had confined himself too. Maybe he would have to ask her more about this group she was part of. Then he asked a question he hadn't expected. Maybe he should have been offended by it. She seemed to think of him as no different than the vampire, she seemed to expect him to be the type that wanted to hurt people.

"You presume to much, I haven't harmed you because you haven't given me a reason to. I've only had to kill another human once in my life and that was because he started it, and I had only the choice between his life and mine. What would make you think I'd want to hurt you?" He asked. wanting to know her reasoning behind the indirect accusation.

[Mikaela Antony]

"I am a hunter. Anyone that approaches me is usually willing to harm me. Once they know who I am, I mean. What can I say? I hang around the monsters too much. Learned early on to be suspicious," Or paranoid, but Mikaela didn't say that. "Saves a lot of lives." She arched her brow at Horu. "I apologize. I did not mean any offense. Reflex. Like breathing." Short and to the point. She did not have time to pussyfoot around much with emotions. Yeah, big heap monster hunter with emotions. That would get her killed.

"You seem decent enough. And never killed a human, hm? So then you hunt, like a wolf would?" The thought interested her. A shapeshifter that didn't hunt humans. And hunted, instead, things that killed humans. She might have someone she'd like him to meet, though whether or not Cloud was interested in an alliance eluded her. She could mention it to him later.

"Tell me more, please, I'm interested. I might be able to mention you to someone..." Mikaela's eyes never left the view in front of her, and her guard never dropped. Her hand was as it had been earlier, holding the bag but near the shotgun. "How is it to be a shapeshifter, how long have you been alive, and why do you hunt the monsters? For example.."