Ripples in a Pool -{13}-

[Darin Astennu]

Darin calmly walked towards the streets of Amsterdam at night, close to sunset. He was walking along the outskirts without a moment of thought. Most of the humans would be going to bed here, so it would most likely be just him and the creatures of the night. He smiled and thought back to Sekhmet, wondering if she had liked the dinner he had prepared for her of many different meats, etc. He never was one for eating humans, but sometimes he did it out of a necessity every once and a while. None the less, she had wanted to do something without him, most likely to hunt, so he came here to walk and take in the sweet air. Unfortunately, right when he came to the city limits, there was a woman standing there with glowing demonic eyes. He stopped and looked at her.

"What do you want?" he asked.

She simply looked at him and replied, "I could ask you the same question. Your kind are not welcomed in this city".

"Who are you to say if I can or can't go where I wish", he retorted back.

"Perhaps you do, you, wolf boy, are not welcomed here because this city doesn't need a lycan fucking up our work", she said.

"Well I'm not here to fuck it up", he said and then shifted, moving past her with a smile, but before he knew it a gang of demons rushed him at once with the girl. He hadn't expected this, mainly because he didn't think they were serious because usually demons who resided here let every immortal come in. So what was his problem with them. He soon shifted into his lycanthrope form and fought back, he had to atleast defend himself. The demons seemed to have been aware of the realities of his kind because he began to get hit with Silver knives and knuckles. He groaned at the burn, but kept at it. Demons were nothing like what he had ever fought and they used their own unique strength behind the blows and the fight continued for what seemed like forever, but when it was over, the demons had retreated, two of them dead and the others badly injured as they seemed to disappear. Darin shifted back and fell to his knees, bloody and close to death as he took out something from his pocket and took it. Wolfsbane and some human blood. The mix helped alot, but he cringed and began to lose consciousness.

[Thirteen]

Loping along the outskirts of Amsterdam, a city greatly loved by the demons but also by Thirteen, the Lycaness caught a familiar scent and turned her jackal-like Lycan form around and headed toward the scent that smelled like Darin. As she sprinted along, another smell hit her nose and Thirteen's eyes widened in panic. A snarl rose on her lips and she howled as she ran to let him know she was coming.

She knew the burning smell of silver as it mixed with Lycan blood, for it was the same smell which had stuck with her since the day she and her mother had been attacked. The smell had stayed with her since she had watched her mother die and since then, Thirteen's shoulder still sometimes ached from where she had to suck the poison out of her own body so she would not die as well. She would do the same for Tarik if she had to, to save his life.

Howling once more, Thirteen's breath caught in her throat when she spotted the maimed body of the person she loved with all her heart. Skidding to a stop, Thirteen's body shifted so quickly that she looked to be quite a mess, but she didn't care; what she looked like didn't matter at the moment. What she looked like wasn't as important as what she could do to save Darin.

A snarl replaced the howl, which let others know that if they came near, they were going to be in trouble. With eyes still fully black from her shifting forms, Thirteen began to assess the wounds. She could smell the human blood and Wolfsbane which was helping to keep him alive, and Thirteen pulled out a vile of her own, more human blood than Wolfsbane, but she knew he would need it. "Drink this, love," she murmured softly as she looked over his wounds. There wasn't much she could do other than sit with him and wait for him to heal... but... she could see some of the deep wounds and she knew what she had to do.

Feeling more like a Vampire than a Lycan in that moment, Thirteen leaned over and began with the deepest wounds, trying to work the silver's poison out of his system. "This is going to hurt like hell, Tarik, but I need to do this to help you..." She went back to work and waited for his cringe, hoping he wouldn't rip away too harshly. So the difficult work began.

[Darin Astennu]

Darin faintly heared her howl and smiled weakly, the wolfsbane and human blood working its magic. He did his best to stay conscious, but then again he did manage to be able to do worst. He gently smiled at Thirteen and nodded weakly. He slowly lifted his head and drank what she gave him. He cringed again, the mix never did taste good together. He blinked as he looked at her, about to wonder what the heck she was doing, but the instant sharp pain told him so. He cringed and whimpered. He looked at her and gently pushed her head away.

"Don't... you..shouldn't do that... its only poison to me if its silver nitrate.. I'm immune.. only to the extent it burns and that it slows my healing abit... I.....should... be fine...j..just we shouldn't .....stay... here...I...may..have...killed...3 of them....and..wounded badly... the others.. but I shouldn't...stay here...you know that.." he said slowly, carefully and with some difficulty.

[Thirteen]

Thirteen growled in response to his slow statement, continuing to suck out the poison. Stopping to spit out a mouthful of silver (which burned her, but not as badly as it was burning Darin), she decided to reply. "I'm not leaving you like this, whether you're immune or not. I can't--" Her words were choked off by determined tears as her roughly two-hundred year-old silver wound burned like hell inside her shoulder.

Behind her eyes, a perfect memory of her mother's writhing body as she died in pain, Thirteen went back to work, tears mixing with Darin's blood. As for moving him, it was out of the question; the Lycaness was much too busy removing poison from her love's system. She couldn't handle seeing him in so much pain, for it was too much like what had happened in her past, and that was an experience she didn't want to relive.

This must have been humans, she thought as she removed the silver, spitting more out. Not that she thought highly of them and their "power," but Thirteen was sure that only humans would attack so ruthlessly. The demons feared Thirteen's wrath and they knew better than to mess with her, just as she knew it was better to stay out of Amsterdam for the most part. She loved the adventure and loved annoying the demons, but they never did more than spook her a little if need be. Only humans would act in such a way toward another Lycan, Thirteen was sure.

"Most of the deep ones are emptied," she mumbled, wiping her mouth and feeling the slight burn upon the skin of her arm and across her mouth, but it healed quickly since it wasn't cut into her flesh. "You'll be better soon, Darin. Hang in there... please," she begged, staring into his eyes.

[Darin Astennu]

Darin tried to stop her, but he wasn't strong enough to. He groaned and looked at her. She needn't take that chance of taking out the burns from the silver. He turned and coughed up some blood and shuddered. He closed his eyes as he listened to her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vile with some purple liquid in it. Being in Greece, you tended to learn a few things about herbal potions for healing, etc. He handed it to her.

"Here.. that should take care of your burning.." he said softly with a weak smile.

He did his best to roll onto his hands and knees and eventually he succeeded. He slowly got to his feet, even if he wobbled. He seemed to draw strength from her being there as he limped through his pain, making a few faces as he did his best to get away from the place. He clenched his teeth, but he kept moving, not willing to stay there and risk her safety. He groaned and continued, until he got outside the city lines completely. It was then he found a nice patch of soft grass, where he fell back down. He didn't care if she scolded him, they were safe now.

"By the way.. Demons did this.. I had to get us out of there just in case".

[Thirteen]

Thirteen protested the whole way as Darin led them outside city lines, but she followed him anyway. "Demons did this?" She cried, shocked. "What the hell is wrong with them? They know better than to mess with me!" She growled and looked around, finally smelling a bit of Demonic residue on Darin.

She cursed, and looked around again, but no one was there, in human form or any other form. Thirteen was pissed. "Why did they attack you? Why... I don't understand! Everyone else... they know not to mess with me... I guess I just assumed that you had let them know not to mess with you either..." She sighed, running her hands through her hair.

Finally remembering the vile Darin had handed her, Thirteen looked at it. Opening up, she sniffed it and scowled a little. "I can handle the burn. I've dealt with it before, I can deal with it again. You need this more than I do." She handed the bottle back to Darin, hoping he would take it and drink it. She was shaking. Thirteen could barely hold it in as she relived some of the worst moments of her life. She just couldn't let go until she knew Darin was okay.

[Darin Astennu]

Darin shook his head and put the vile back in his pocket. He looked at her and coughed some more.

"Its got nothing to do with that.. These demons seemed really pissed off that a lycan was coming into their territory. Its not like it was a fair match.. They had 6 in their group, highly leveled ones, but three I killed and the others are probably worst off than I am. it won't matter now.. they can't try and come back, they're probably scared of what I'll do to them. But..Sekhmet.. Is there some place.. I could stay? I don't think.. I have enough strength to try and go my home.. which isn't much of a home.." he said softly, coughing from now and then.

[Thirteen]

"Not much of a home?" she asked, trying to think of how to get him to the hotel she was staying at, or if they should even go there. "There must have been some sort of conflict with your pack because the Demons here don't mess with my pack... we can go... wherever you want, Darin. I have a hotel room in the city, but if you don't want to go back there, I understand. But you'll be safe with me, I promise."

She didn't know what to think. Demons had done this, not humans! She had thought that, for the most part, the other breeds lived in some sort of odd harmony. Yes, she knew that there were always problems with them, but Thirteen had never heard of anything like this. She'd never had a problems with the Demons in Amsterdam, or anywhere else for that matter. She had always thought humans to be even more cruel than Demons, but apparently she was wrong. "Did you do something to instigate the fight?" She asked again, wanting to make sure this wasn't really his fault; it was difficult for the Lycaness to believe.

[Darin Astennu]

Darin thought a moment and shook his head as he looked at her.

"They merely said my kind was not welcomed there.. and then I said that I could go where ever I wished... and then they pretty much said that they didn't need a lycan fucking up their work.. well correction.. it was a female demon who I first talked to.. when I told her that I wasn't here to fuck anything up and walked past her.. that's when I got ganged up. Anyway..I really don't mind anywhere love, so long as its still with you.. your company makes me feel better.. and plus.. I feel cold for some reason", he said thoughtfully.

[Thirteen]

Thirteen tried to think of why they would act this way, but couldn't find any reason why they would attack Darin. Besides, they always expected a little terseness in return for their territorial ways, but they never had followed through that Thirteen had heard of.

"You're cold?" She asked, suddenly trying to figure out why Darin would feel cold. Taking his hand, Thirteen readied herself to help him stand. "Any idea why you're cold? I can take you back to my room, it's not far from here. Even though the Demons don't bother themselves with my presence, I like to stay nearer the city's borders than stay deep inside." Holding tight to his hand, Thirteen realized how cold Darin really was.

"Holy... you're cold as ice," she said, shocked. Her always-hot Lycan skin felt odd against Darin's, which should have felt normal to her. "Something's wrong. The silver, is there something left of it? You need to drink that other stuff, my arm and face are almost healed." She didn't know what to do and felt more panic rising. "You can't die, Darin!" She exclaimed, suddenly desperate.

[Darin Astennu]

Darin slowly got up and supported himself on her. He shivered and began to shiver. He closed his eyes and looked at himself in a small puddle, he looked pale too. He looked at her and laid his head on her shoulder.

"We just need to get out of the night air.. and into a safe and warm place.. I think its blood loss.. I heard about that.."

[Thirteen]

Thirteen shook her head. "No, Lycans don't lose blood fast enough to be so cold, there's something else wrong. Just stay with me." She was crying, but wouldn't let Darin know that. With her voice staying strong and firm while her heart broke into a million pieces, Thirteen carried Darin along; she was strong and able to support his body, which she would do the whole way there.

"Just stay awake, the hotel isn't far from here. We'll be there soon, Darin. Just stay away." Another tear fell, but she kept on walking slowly, keeping him up while she held on tight, hoping that her hold on him would keep him alive.

[Darin Astennu]

"not unless the silver slows the healing and the gash hit an artery", he said softly.

He stayed with her, slowly getting his strength back, but slowly. His wounds had stopped bleeding profusely, but they remained open. He groaned alittle more as he continued to shiver. He looked at her, he could smell the tears. He looked down and closed his eyes, he never should have put her through this.. after what had happened to her mother, seeing him like this was the last thing she needed.

"I'm Sorry Thirteen.. You don't derserve what I'm putting you through. I think I'll be fine.. I just need warmth, a nice raw steak and some sleep with you next to me", he said softly, ending with a smile.

[Thirteen]

"No, no, it's fine," Thirteen said, trying to stop any more tears from escaping. "I'm fine, really. And that nice raw steak will be easy to get once we make it to the hotel."

She continued to walk, keeping her breathing even and her steps strong. With the movie behind her eyes still playing, Thirteen shuddered as phantom pain ripped through her shoulder. "Sorry, I guess you're making me cold, too," she stated, brushing off the fear and surprise the visions were giving her.


(OOC: Sorry it's so short and crappy)