2528/Reasons not to stay out at night

Reasons not to stay out at night
Date of Scene:	26 June 2015
Location:	The Great Mountains
Synopsis:	Raine and Echo meet, she assists him in locating a special flower for a sampling of his blood...
Cast of Characters:	604, 640

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Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Ahhhhh man..."

     Raine grumbled to himself as he stalked his way through the mountains. He held a flashlight in one hand, sweeping it back and forth across the immediate landscape as he made way across the rugged terrain. "Never are these damn jobs that simple. Never, ever." He sighed again. "Find me a flower that only blooms at night! Sounds easy, right? Nah, son."

     As he ranted to himself, eyes peering left and right, a faint giggle could be heard emanating from his general area. But no one else was around but him. "Serves you right for taking anything and everything that comes your way."

     The black haired youth narrowed his eyes. "Shut it." He shot back to the air as he proceeded to move under a dark overpass. He didn't think too much about it. He was sure enough of his ability that anything legitimately threatening jumping out at him never crossed his mind.

     "This is going to take all night, isn't it?"

Echo (640) has posed:
     From the glow of the moon there is a slight darkening, as if a cloud has passed over it. And was there the shape of something fluttering across it...? A bird? or maybe some kind of craft? It was gone already, didn't seem to matter. However there seemed to be some kind of... electricity in the air, the hair on the back of one's neck prickling perhaps. Was that fog rolling in from the trees? The scent of burning leaves would briefly pass by Raine, inexplicably.

     "I would hope not, deary," there came the sound of someone's voice suddenly, as something both starkly white and red stepped from the darkness under the overpass. The figure was clad in a sheer red nylon dress with billowy wide sleeves and seemed to only run to about mid-thigh, slender pale white legs fitted into red stiletto heels further down. Except as more of her stepped out of the darkness, it was evident that was not pale skin, but rather fur, as the wings and long bat-like ears became apparent--and those rich ruby red lips and white ivory fangs poking down over them. Yellow eyes seemed to watch him intently from black bangs.

     He was face to face with some kind of batwoman!

     "Shouldn't take too long at all, I think--are you lost, deary? you have that... torch there, are you a hitchhiker?" she grinned.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "....."

     Suddenly, something didn't feel quite right. Raine's supernatural senses were crude, but they were there. He slowed to a stop, and then turned around, aiming his flashlight in that direction, and then all around with an air of suspicion. Plus, what the hell was that smell that just- Oh. A voice. One that certainly wasn't his invisible companion. "Heh?"

     And of course, the one direction he /didn't/ look in, is where some suspicious figure was. "What the--" He squinted, pointing the flashlight at the figure's feet, and then slowly moving it upwards to get a better look at who or what this was. "...Uh-" What the hell was she wearing?

     No nevermind that! That wasn't important! ...Well, not right now.

     "Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Raine arched a brow as the figure stepped out into the light. ...Well, light-er. It was still pretty damn dark. But at least he could lower the flashlight a bit. This was a first. Some kind of batwoman? Literally? That fur, those ears, and those wings gave it away. ...It was kind of surreal.

     But then something hit him. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. What's not going to take long here?" Vampires weren't a typical thing where he came from, so he didn't make any immediate connection. "And no actally. I'm not lost. Just searching for something." The black clad youth tilted his head a tad upon answering. "Actually what are /you/ doing out here in just /that/? Is there a party going on somewhere that I'm missing?" He made a point of looking elsewhere, as if trying to locate this wayward 'party', before fixing his gaze back on the...bat woman...lady...thing.

Echo (640) has posed:
     At least the light of the flashlight reflected well off the shiny surfaces of those red vinyl stilettos, as for the rest of Echo the light caught her, and seemed to make her glow, making her white fur stand out from the darkness more. Those large white wings of hers rustled behind her as she began to step closer a few paces, heels clicking like she was wearing tap shoes. She had a hand on her hip and didn't seem to be in any kind of rush.

     "Well I think you found it, darling," she nodded with a little laugh through her lips, like a 'mhmhhmhm'. "Won't you stick around and talk for a moment? it's such a dark and scary night out there, I think I saw some kind of deadly muggers or secret agent assassins back there!" she balled her fists and held them close to her front, looking as if she was suddenly frightened and helpless. Those yellow, slit-pupiled eyes seemed to be locking onto Raine's non-red eye now, as if trying to suck him in.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "......" Did this girl think she was fooling anyone? The way she swayed those hips, walking forward methodically, and then suddenly switching to being frightened. Raine's eyes narrowed in a severely unimpressed manner. Interestingly, his left eye's pupil glowed a faint red under the cover of night, unlight his normal green one. But it seemed harmless.

     "I...." He rubbed the side of his head with a hand, looking elsewhere. Now that she got closer, he couldn't tell if she was properly dressed. "I'm preeeeeetty sure I wasn't looking for a person....bat...batperson." He corrected himself twice before making eye contact with this unknown lady before him.

     Whoops. That was a mistake.

     "So, I'm just gonna...go..." He said that, but his body did the /exact opposite/ and instead, he found himself taking steps towards her. Hey! Hey wait! That's not what he was planning to do! Leave! Don't approach! What the hell, body!? And then Raine realized too late; this was a spell. Crap. Craaaaaaaaap!

     Given his pitiful lack of magic resistance, the black haired youth continued to approach, despite his mind reeling and trying to do the opposite. "Fragarach....do....something...you...useless...little..." He mumbled under his breath, but unfortunately for him, no one responded. Leaving him stuck in the bad lady's looming clutches.

Echo (640) has posed:
     There was a sparkle in those yellow eyes as she noticed the man now stepping towards her. Those red heeled feet stopped just short of Raine's as the shounen hero would be made to stand still there. "I'm so glad you came by, I don't know what I would have done," already Echo's long red nails were plucking at the broad buttons of his coat and she sidled up against his side. Her twin white wings were now furling around him, blocking out the light of the moon.

     "Fragarence? Oh don't worry, there'll be quite a bit of that..." Echo apparently didn't understand the boy's muttering and broad a red nailed index finger against Raine's jawbone, tracing the line of the carotid aertery all the way down. Her gloating red lips pressed against his cheek with a little 'smak' sound just once briefly, before she grinned again, those lips drawing back to reveal long ivory fangs.

     "My heeero~"

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     God damn it...is what Raine thought as Echo got him into her grasp, folding her wings around the both of him. Hey, keep those claws away from his cheek! Don't unbutton his jacket! Don't kiss his cheek! Definitely don't find his artery! Definitely, definitely do not take a bit-

     Chomp!

     Raine squeezed his eyes shut, cursing everything in that moment. "......." He waited. Waited for the feeling of his blood leaving his body steadily. ".......?" But it never came. Curious, he opened one eye. Echo was definitely biting into him. But it looked like the thick collar of his sweater got in the way.

     Talk about a stroke of luck. Instead of piercing right through his neck, the tips of her fangs only just poked the skin of his neck, drawing a little blood, but not quite enough. "...Well. How about that?" He grinned in a silly manner at this ridiculous turnout.

     And right on cue, from behind the bat lady, white magic particles began to gather and congregrate. They grew more and more dense, and then in a flash of light, appeared a figure, floating in mid-air. Her hair was long and white. About the length of her body overall. Her skin was pale with blue markings all over it. And she wore a short, white dress with a pair of long, detatched sleeves. Interestingly, the sclera of her eyes were pitch black, and a long, long tail with a bow on the end extended from under her skirt. Her presence seemed to create it's own glow that made her obvious to see even in the dark.

     "I am so disappointed."

     This must have been Fragarach. She 'sat' in mid-air, one leg crossed over the other, leaned forward with an elbow in her lap and her in in a sleeved hand. She looked bored with this outcome. "You had the perfect setup and everything. And you blow it because his sweater was too thick. Tsk, tsk..." The ghostly girl shook her head in pity.

     Raine meanwhile frowned, still in Echo's grasp. "Hey! You mean you /let/ her do this for fun!? Come on! Do something about this! I can't break free from this spell!" Poor magic inept fool.

     Fragarach sighed and gazed towards Echo and Raine, shrugging her free arm nonchalantly. "Well, as you can see, dear, I happen to have need of my companion's continued survival. So if you could sepearate yourself from him. That would be grand." She still looked so disappointed.

Echo (640) has posed:
     CHOMP!

     Of course, after a few moments, Echo looked up rather confused as to the roll of thick green collar that her fangs were currently embedded in. As she pulled back in surprise, she was suddenly separated from Raine by quite a few feet, actually--moving away very rapidly as if she had blinked or teleported away. "Ohhh, magical, no wonder you're protected by some kind of familiar," Echo ran her red tongue over her teeth, pausing to give a curious hum. "Mmm, indeed, breakfast will be more difficult than I thought," she pouted a little as she gave a snap of her fingers, in chagrin.

     "That's a /lovely/ indigo bow on your tail by the way, and that dress," Echo practically squealed. "Brings back memories of something *I* used to wear," she put a white-furred hand to her front, taking a deep breath. "You might want to put a few bandaids on that, by the way, honey--and maybe some rubbing alcohol, though I don't think I have viruses," she giggled, pointing at Raine now. "You have the dubious honor of being a breakfast sampler for me, Echo, the dark sorceress," she made a little bow to Raine and blew him a kiss, winking at him with long dark lashes.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     Fragarach didn't say anything, but just smiled in amusement at Echo's antics. She certainly wasn't stoic. It felt more like everything amused her because it was beneath her. Like watching dogs play in the park. The comment about her tail caused said tail to weave around and the tip waved at Echo in a rather cute manner. As if it had a mind of it's own. While this went on, Fragarach floated over towards Raine, winding up behind and above him. She just watched the two talk from there on.

     "Eh?" Raine brought a hand to the side of his neck where he was partly bitten, but not quite enough to be truly troublesome. "...I'll trust you don't." He cracked a lopsided smirk upon that answer and lowered his arm. He'd take care of that later. Echo's wink caused him to pause. And then he narrowed his eyes. She was cute, sure. In a manner of speaking, but his first impression was always going to default to unimpressed now.

     "Echo, the dark sorceress. How terrifying." He said in a mildly sarcastic tone. But he sobered up after, bringing a hand to his chin. "...But maybe I can use this." He'd try and forget about this whole attack if he could spin this in a manner that was actually beneficial.

     Thoughts aside, Raine fixed his eyes on the bat lady once again. "Are you familiar with the night life in this area. If you are, I could use your help real quick. ....I'll pay if necessary. Whether it's money or blood." Ugh. Volunteering his blood. But if it was just a little to get this job done, then it would be fine.

     Maybe.

Echo (640) has posed:
     "You do? wow, you'd think you'd worry about being given a curse where you slowly transform into a batwoman, or something! Like when you get bitten by a werewolf!" Echo was surprised at Raine's apparently taking her word for it. "Ohh but in all serious it'd likely be more of a batman, if anything," she grinned afterwards, as if that was the least of Raine's worries! "Oh, but I practice necromancy too, would you like me to conjure up a few spectral assassins or perhaps a walking pile of denuded bone? Or I could turn someone you hate into a zombie and make them dance!" she clasped her hands together, as if she was quite excited about the prospects.

     "Huh? familiar with the nightlife around here..?" she looked around, as if dumbfounded, blinking. "You're near Castlevania sweetheart, I *AM* the nightlife around here," she laughed softly, peering back at him a bit smugly. "What is it your brave heart desires?" she said now in a lower, more velvety tone, her heeled feet hovered just a few inches off the ground and she floated a bit closer.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "....Definitely Confederacy." Raine decided aloud, hearing Echo's spiel about curses and necromancy. And then assassins and zombies. Sounds like someone certainly had fun with their abilities. "I'll keep all of that in mind. Maybe it'll be useful sometime down the line. Never know when you might need to have someone assassinated. Or turned into a zombie. Or cursed. He shrugged airily after that. "I'm not really worried about being cursed." He was either confident, or stupid. Maybe both.

     Fragarach, deeming that nothing else was going to happen to Raine, soon vanished, leaving white particles behind in her wake. She was definitely still there. Perhaps watching. Kinda creepy if one thought about it.

     Raine didn't pay it any mind, all too used to her appearing at vanishing at a whim, and instead focused on Echo. "You're the nightlife around here. You." He pointed towards her approaching form. "You entirely? Thats a bold claim to make." He rolled his eyes, halfway amused, and half finding this ridiculous. "But if that's the case..."

     He reached into his jacket and pulled out a photo from his pocket, holding it out towards her. "You familiar with this flower? Lunar Something or another...I can't remember the name. Just what it looks like." Good going. "It supposedly only blooms around these parts at night. Heard of it? I need to find one and take it back to a client."

     Well that explained why he was here.

     "By the way, the name's Raine Arland. Transporter and Sword for hire." He smirked and gave Echo a two fingered salute at that. "Nice to meet you! ...Minus the whole getting hypnotized and almost drained thing."

Echo (640) has posed:
     "Oh yes, I am of their association, and you?" Echo gestured to Raine, tilting her head. "What's your name then, Mr... hmm, B Positive? no no, wait, I got it right on the tip of my tongue," she seemed to be trying to judge what his blood-type was just by the flavor! "Oh, that's good, it's a good attitude to have, because well, if it was really going to happen well, I don't think I'd wanna help you stop it," she grinned. "Oh wouldn't it be grand to have another bat person around, hmm?" she 'batted' those eyelashes, pardon the pun.

     "Well, me and perhaps a few others," she finally admitted to his question about her being the entirety of the nightlife. Her yellow eyes blinked as she glanced over at the photo, peering at it for a few moments. "Oh, a night flower, is that all you wanted?" she sounded as if she was almost disappointed, though her ears perked up at the sound of his name. "Sword for hire, hmm? ooh, be still my heart," she walked around, heels clicking. "Pleasure was all mine, deary, on that. So, you want assistance finding this flower then? I am at your service," she mutteres silkily.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Confederacy." He answered simply. As if it wasn't obvious already. ...Actually the lines did kind of blur now and then, so perhaps it wasn't obvious. Oh well. Raine just smirked as Echo tried to determine what his blood type was by taste. He didn't answer. Let her figure it out herself, heh. "Well, if I became a bat person, at least I could fly without a ship~"

     What a carefree way of looking at things. "...Ah, but I wouldn't be able to store all my stuff conveniently. Crap." Nope. He'd still need one after all! Her near disappointment at the underwhelming reveal of his searching for a mere flower drew a chuckle from Raine. But he nodded all the same.

     "A job's a job, and my client wants a flower. I can't complain." Pause. "...At least until it becomes impossible to find." Yes, there was that. "But yeah, in a nutshell, I need to find this ridiculously elusive flower, you know the area better than I do. Know where I can find it?" Raine remained nonplussed at Echo's mannerisms and movements, following her with his eyes.

Echo (640) has posed:
     "Maybe you could just get a utility belt, I hear how that's how some handle that issue," Echo smiled, working her lips together as she noticed she'd left a fair bit of her lipstick on the collar of Raine's sweater. Whoops. She soon remedied that by producing a tube of red rouge from a tiny bat that seemingly came out of nowhere--that just poofed itself into the shape. Once she was done she casually tossed it away, resuming it's shadowy bat shape and flying off briefly before disappearing.

     "As for finding your little night posie, I might be able to, I suppose," she seemed willing but just a tad bored by the prospect. "And you'd keep your end of the bargain then, as you said?" she turned to face him and smirked. "I won't go around saying you frauded me if you don't, buuut I can't say you won't wake up to a rather amusing surprise one morning," she waggled a finger. "Now, the night flower, time to canvas the area," she spread her arms wide and the sleeves of that skimpy dress of hers began to whip around, HORDES of those same shadowy bat familiars of hers flying pell mell from the insides of her very sleeves!

     "...This will take about 5 minutes, hope you're not in a hurry, deary," she grinned.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I'll get a cape and cowl while I'm at it." Raine shot back with an amused smirk. Finally remembering his opened jacket, he proceeded to button it back up casually as Echo spoke. "Sure. I'll keep my end of the deal. It's just a little blood. What difference does it make losing it in a fight, an accident, or simply giving it away?" But now he was curious. "...Though I have to ask now-"

     Figuring there was nothing for him to be vigilant about, Raine plopped down to the ground and sat cross legged, staring at Echo. "What kind of surprise would you happen to leave if I /did/ fraud you?" They say curiosity killed the cat. But satisfaction brought it back. That aside, Raine watched as the sorceress worked her magic...with the particular side effect of whipping her dress about. He casually glanced away at a particularly high whip. Then he looked back, watching a huge assortment of bat like familiars ....come out of her sleeves?

     "Wow." Raine muttered as he watched them all fly off, apparently to search the area for this flower. "...That's useful." Why couldn't Fragarach just do that? He frowned at the thought, already knowing the answer. She just didn't care. At all.

     Sigh.

     Well, he had about 5 minutes, right? "So are biting attacks a common thing around here? Because I wish I'd known before I came here. Would have saved me a loaaaaaaad of trouble."

Echo (640) has posed:
     "Oh I don't know, I'd have to think about it. Maybe transform part of your body into something amusing, or maybe leave a dead prostitute in your bed, so you look them right in the eye when you wake up and roll over," she shrugged, but just then she was alerted to one of the returning shadow bats she had dispatched. "Hnn? oh? is that all? are you sure? ...Oh, well, I wasn't fishing for that compliment but /thank you/," she reached over and scritched the small spectral bat's chin and as quickly as it came it flew off.

     "Hmm? oh, well, I guess? this is Castlevania--or rather it's near here. You know, where Lord Dracula lives?" she raised a brow to him, as if expecting him to know that. "Either way, your nightflower is in bloom a mile or two from here, I suppose we have a walk ahead of us, or you do, anyway--I'd rather take wing," she gestured gently with a hand to Raine and then blew him another kiss--this one actually jumping from her lips in the shape of her actual lips, or rather a lipstick outline of them which soon floated over to him, gunning for his cheek. Whether it failed or not, it'd turn into a pinkish red glowing shadow bat, apparently to light the way.

     "This little token of my affection here will show you the way, if you like?"

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "...You seriously have /way/ too much fun with your magic." Raine muttered, rolling his eyes at Echo's answer to his ill asked question. A dead prostitute...Yeah no. He shook the thought away and waited.

     "Castlevania? Dracula? Am I supposed to know what those are?" Raine arched a brow. There were no Castlevanias or Draculas where he came from! "But since you keep mentioning it, I'll guess it's important." He cracked a smile and let that be that. He had more important things to focus on.

     Like flowers!

     And before long, the results came in. You ARE the fathe--wait no, wrong show. Nevermind. "A mile or two, huh?" He exhaled lightly and stood, watching as a disembodied lipstick outline floated it's way over to him. "......" Forever unimpressed, he leaned his head slightly aside, causing it to miss. But it turned into a bat afterward anyhow. "Oh-" He wasn't expecting that. "This will do, I guess I'll see you there then." He proceeded to follow the bat off, raising a hand in parting, assuming Echo was just going to fly and get there first anyway.

     Stupid convenient flyers with their wings and shit. How dare they?

     The walk was about as tedious as Rain expected it to be. Using his flashlight, he navigating the rough terrain, having to climb some high ledges, and climb down to lower elevations. All this effort for one god damn flower. The pay wasn't even that good, so why was he doing this?

     ...Who knew.

     Eventually, that mile or two became zero and Raine stepped into a clearing where the bat he was following fluttered in to a stop nearby the flower he was searching for. There it was. The exact same as the picture and everything. "Wow. It actually exists. So this trip wasn't a total waste of time." He managed to smile genuinely at that.

Echo (640) has posed:
     "Well it's not like I'd /kill/ anybody just to stuff them in your bed! But do you know how hard it is to find a dead hooker when you really need one? I'd be going through cheap motels all night, ripping open mattresses!" she blinked again. "Well, yes, considering this mountain area around here boarders the Lord's castle, you know, King of the Vampires, Lord of the Undead, Prince of Darkness? Vlad Tepes Dracula?" Echo raised an eyebrow. "My bat tells me the nightflower you want is on the rim of the forest of eternal night, y'see, it's always dark there. A vampire's castle is there, too," she sighs a little, as if out of breath a bit.

     "Indeed," Echo disappeared in a wreath of inky darkness, and when Raine had found what he was looking for, the same cloud reappeared nearby the glimmering night flower, those red heels the first thing to be visible upon her emergence. "There we go, now, we should prooobably collect your specimen and begone before anything thinks you or I are tasty, not that it was ever in question in my case," she barked a laugh and grinned. "Lettuce return to the citadel for now, if you are quite ready? or to wherever you may wish to go," she stood tall and confident in those stiletto heels, legs shoulder-width apart, the long wide sleeves of her dress billowing about in the night breeze, somehow commanding in presence as a witch or sorceress even in attire like that.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Right." He approached the flower and knelt down, producing a small jar from his pack and scooping out the dirt around the flower. Once he got it, he lifted it and the flower out of the ground, neatly despositing it into the jar and closing it. "Okay, we're good." He stood up, nodding to himself in satisfaction. Echo's mention of leaving before anything thought they were tasty gave him pause.

     "...So is fried bat usually on the menu?" He smirked, knowing full well that probably wasn't what she meant. Probably. He stored the jar away, and nodded afterwards however. "I've got a ship out by the western edge of this place roughly. I'm sure your familiars must have seen it by now. You can just drop me off there." He shrugged. "I'll give you your blood and then I'll be blasting off into the atmosphere. Problem solved, deal complete!"

Echo (640) has posed:
     "I hear in some other parts of the multiverse it could be called a delicacy, chicken of the cave, and all that," Echo giggled, finding the dark humor to her liking, unsurprisingly. "I see, I think I can take you there," there was a horde of chittering bats now surrounding them both, as if enveloping them.

     "As for the blood, well we'll see about that, I might not come for it right away, perhaps some other night, when you least expect," she grinned with a bit of gloating laughter. "For now here we go, the best way to travel is by bat!" she cackled as Raine might feel himself tumbling down, down down as if through nothingness as Echo's pocket of shadows there whisked him and her off, depositing them both nearby his ship.

     "That wasn't so bad, now was it? I do hope you weren't too.. uncomfortable, I must be off now, I think a bit of a visit to a blood bank is in order, Sanary's suggestion seems to be a good one at this rate, a little something chilled after this balmy night," she made a bleh noise. She flapped her wings and rose up into the sky, seeming to disappear or fade away into the moon.

     "See you and your pretty familiar later, Mr. Arland...~"

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     "Wait wha-" Raine was whisked away, suprisingly accurately to the outside of his ship. And then she was off, saying something about blood banks or whatever.

     "....Well, that was something." He muttered. The air shimmered beside him and Fragarach revealed herself in a spark of white particles.

     "Indeed. I do hope you enjoy volunteering yourself for such a...personal debt."

     Raine frowned. "I swear to god, you never help! If you just used a tiny bit of your power-!" He held up a hand, indicating a tiny space between his thumb and index finger. "Just a tiny bit, then this would have been done ages ago!"

     Fragarach giggled and turned away, floating /through/ the surface of the ship. "But watching you struggle is so amusing." Her voice carried through the air before silence fell.

     "....." Sigh. He opened up the hatch and stepped inside the normal way. God, he hated his life.