Hawkins Bellator

Hawk sank down into the warm water, until the current washed over his blood soaked hair and his knees protruded awkwardly from the surface. He was far too tall to submerge completely, but he needed the stench of death, smoke and blood gone. His arms floated lazily beside him, dark waves of hair moving across his peripheral. He lay there, staring at the ceiling through the swirling ripples on the surface, contemplating the night's events. The vampire he’d found had been young, freshly turned, wild with hunger and power. Dispatching it had taken little effort, as crazed as they so often were. It brought a myriad of horrid memories he’d long tried to forget to the forefront of his mind. His sister’s wide eyes, perpetually frozen in fear, her throat slashed wide open, carotid pumping hot blood into his mouth, through his hands, soaking him in warmth. A violent shiver moved through him, and he crossed his arms despite not really feeling the cold.

But it wasn’t the newborn who’d given him the most trouble tonight, it was another. Far older and with a look that said he knew who he was. His anger had been palpable at the loss of his offspring, and they’d fought for what felt like hours, lashing back and forth, ripping apart one another’s flesh. Had the newborns been a trap? Something to draw him out into the open? If he’d been human still he’d have sighed, overwhelmed with the implication. What was abnormal was the bone deep weariness he felt. He’d need to feed again soon, he thought angrily, his healing had been slower than normal. The fight had left him tired in a way that told him it had been too long already. He did not need to go mad with thirst. Before that though, he knew he needed to restock some of his supplies, having used so much during the fight.

He pushed against the tub, splashing water wildly about the room. It brought a slight smile to his hollow features. Dressing quickly, he made his way out into the morning light, the buzz of the city starting to awake. He could hear various people calling out their morning wares and the day's new paper. Children were already running up and down the street, begging or stealing, whichever they’d find the best luck with. Many were familiar faces now, coming to take the coins he handed out to their eager palms. Their thin faces pulled at something deep within him, some shred of humanity he’d managed to hold onto after all these years.

Forcing himself down the darker alleyways, he spotted the shop he was looking for, the old weathered sign above the door reading Toad & Thyme. He’d only been in a few times and very briefly. He had spoken with the owner Tanyi a few times, her aura feeling so very other. A deep knowing and knowledge most mortals would never know. Her silver gaze had seemed to look straight through him, as if searching for the soul that had long ago been ripped away from him during the change.

Opening the heavy door he made his way inside, finding it mostly empty at this early morning hour. The scent of herbs, dirt and bone invaded his senses first. The atmosphere changing at once, as though he was not alone amongst the shelves. Truthfully, it gave him the creeps a bit. He was dead too though, he reasoned, what could they want with him? He caught sight of a flash of coppery red hair and made his way towards her, his posture drawn inward once more as though he could put her at ease. ”Excuse me? I was wondering if you might be able to help me find something?”

Shanton.  The outlaw's holy land with its fetid dark alleyways hugging the decrepit shingles rotting on the side of apartments and businesses alike.  Its air was always thick with oil, smoke and hints of blood that clung like a slick film over the windows.  Most of the city smelled of industry and corruption.  Some considered it a foul place; rotting and cruel as the lords who ruled it.  Their greedy hands played a part in the increasing amounts of robberies, crime and murder.  Desposible accomplices in their rise to power dancing on the strings of their puppet masters.  Pawns in the greater scheme of things. It was one of the reasons why Tanyi LeFer kept her shop close to the outskirts.  She drank in the quiet of the forest most mornings when only the birds and the sun began to stir but watched as the streets hummed with life from beyond the grime-stained view of her shop window.  When she wasn't stocking her shelves or trying to organize the mess that was in her spell room, Tanyi settled on listening instead.  It was a valuable asset to have in a city so eager to whisper. Their visits were becoming more frequent these days.  Dressed in the guise of mortality, the veil of magic rippling around their forms to hide the fangs beneath.  Tanyi listened to their attempts to fit in with humankind, a wolf among sheep, a shadow snaking through the alleys searching for their enfeebled prey.  It wasn't blood they were after, however.  Their appetites seemed sated by something beyond the hedgewitches' understanding.  That wouldn't stop her from trying to learn what it was the vampires were up to. One such creature walked through the doors, his presence announced by the chime of the bells above.  A soft, melodic tinkering of metal on metal cleanses away any foul energies from tainting her well-kept supplies.  Tanyi lifted her head from an old tome whose faded ink promised knowledge of lost alchemy.  A gift from her dear friend. From a distance Tanyi watched him, recognition igniting on her features.  He'd come here a few times before, purchasing things that were lethal to his ilk.  In some ways, he reminded her of the vampire before him - the man who sought a more powerful face.  This man was handsome - most vampires were.  Brown hair was swept back to fully display the hot honey of his gaze.  His features were sharp, jaw angular, and he seemed charming.  His stature was tall and perhaps intimidating to a girl who was over a foot shorter in contrast.  Where others may have shown uncertainty, perhaps even cowering to some degree, Tanyi's red lips greeted him with a smile as she closed the cover of the worn tome.  "Excuse me?  I was wondering if you might be able to help me find something?" "I can certainly try my best."  She offered in turn while propping her elbow on the counter, her chin coming to be cradled in the palm of her hand.  The tip of a thin finger tapped on her cheek.  "I can't help but feel like I've seen you wandering between my shelves before.  Becoming a regular, are you?"  Her chuckle was melodic as she regarded him, studious eye ever weary for the telling sign of vampiric magic.