In restless dreams I walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone

[interposal]

[This was supposed to be just a night off, a break from responsibilities that even the most diligent of leaders needed to take in order to refresh and be able to operate at their best. With everything going on lately, that was certainly the case for Young-ho.

Perhaps the first sign that something was wrong was the fact that there were reports of unrest in the area, and that while there hadn't been anything lately, there didn't seem to be any indication of the perpetrators being either caught or told to stand down. Being more careful was something that made sense, of course, but sometimes there are small moments that nobody could really account for, either.]

Comments

[lesinset]

[There wasn't any real need to keep tabs on Young-ho. He was a young but powerful lord with big ideas. He had resources and contacts throughout their world and he wasn't someone who needed an extra hand to navigate around the laws that made up their world. It was just a habit to keep tabs on the younger vampire, to make sure that he was doing okay and that there wasn't anything too weird going.

Just. Habit.

Which was probably why he found himself surprised when he came across the small group maneuvering to surround the young leader. He wasn't sure who was more surprised first - him or them - but as it was, he was far quicker then they were. After all, Tarr didn't get to his age by running from trouble.]

[interposal]

[He had a feeling he was being followed for a little while, but had chosen to not show any signs of acknowledging it for the sake of trying to draw them out into the open or the feeble hope that they would talk first before potentially coming to blows. Granted he didn't know the exact number, their full intentions and where they possibly stood as far as status was concerned, but it was enough for him to take it seriously.

Not that he was the type to not take threats against his person seriously, but it was an inevitability considering his position. He knew that he had angered a lot of older clans with his suggestions of making an alliance with the hunters, but there were far more important things to worry about and worse enemies to deal with. Prior incidents had proven that, and at least he had an in with the guilds as well through Molly.

Still, the fact that some of their kin would react so viscerally to the mere suggestion of trying to make peace was something that disappointed him greatly, though it wasn't terribly surprising. Many clans were still fairly old-fashioned in their way of thinking.

He tenses, and is ready to strike if the opportunity ever presented itself. However, the presence of one particular elder gives him pause.

Things were getting curiouser and curiouser.]

[lesinset]

[They weren't ferals. Tarr quickly shifted between two of them and felt the slight burn as one slide a silver dagger into his side as he backhanded the other into a wall. The one at his sides hifted their grip on the dagger but then howled as Tarr's skin shifted into that of a sucking, tooth lined hole that swallowed the dagger and their hand. He jabbed an elbow back, felt bones crack and turned on his heel, feeling the silver burn as it was shifted before he held his hand out at level to the wound and the metal was spat out .

Raising it to eye level, he hummed, his body shifting slightly in ready for more attacks.]

Bloodfangs, are you?

[Vampires liked to pretend they were fair, that they worked everything in a kind of strangled order of ruling classes and structures, but there were always going to be assassins and mercenaries. Clans were small groups and no true leader liked the idea of sacrificing their own children in wars. The vampires that make up the fighters for hire were abandoned or ferals that somehow managed to retain their intellect. Taken in by the commanders of such group, they fought and died for money or even the hope of being given a spot in a family.

Tarr had probably saved a few people from joining their ranks, if he thought about it. As it was, he shrugged and tossed the dagger into a wall where to cracked.]

You've angered the wrong people again?

[interposal]

It wasn't my intention, you know that.

[Got to give him kudos for being relatively calm in the middle of an assassination attempt, though. Young-ho scowls a bit before and arm shifts to an organic-looking blade at the throat of the one that tried to stab them, the only other sign that he was furious over this being the slight red glow in his irises.]

But unfortunately, my so-called "lofty ideals" have given me more enemies than I'd like to admit these days.

[The question now was who sent them and if they'd even be willing to give that information up. It was hard telling at this point. The vampire that he had pinned hisses, probably trying to curse him out, but he simply presses the blade slightly more against their throat.

It's only thanks to his instincts that he's able to discern another member of the little assassination party coming forward with another silver dagger, quickly throwing their comrade toward them and leaping over both of them to thrust his blade-arm through both their chests, wrinkling his nose in distaste.]

So the question is more who specifically decided to attempt this.

[lesinset]

[Tarr hummed in agreement. When he had been a young elder-in-the-making, it wasn't unusual to have come across some person that got mad at the loner for defying or ignoring common vampire courtesies. He had all sorts of enemies, and it took a long time before he managed to defeat them or turn them into grudging allies. But he had not been like Young-ho when he was human. He only wanted to work on the ships like his father before him and maybe marry again once he was ready. He never wanted to be involved in the greater world.

So while they both had enemies, Young-ho had more of them.

Unless there was something else going on.

Tarr gave the last assassin a look, noting the stance and weapon, his skin growing back from where the silver had burned it. It would take a lot more silver then what these ones had on them to hurt either one of them for long, which meant that they were relying on something else. Which meant....

Hissing through his teeth, Tarr turned and threw himself at Young-ho, his body morphing into a winged horror just as something clicked on the ground and broke. Magical sunlight lit up the alley.]

[interposal]

[He understood that with this particular line of thinking that he would make enemies, and especially after he had been chosen to succeed his clan.

But perhaps he underestimated the vehemence of his enemies, and the sheer lengths they would go to in order to try and stop him from fulfilling this.

Still, something about this didn't seem right - and it was only confirmed with Ki-moon slammed into him, his features already shifting and becoming more inhuman before he flings an arm up with a hiss after they hit the pavement. Even if his eyes are shut and he's covered, he can still feel the remnants of the sunlight against them.

Clearly, they were serious about killing him. Enough so that they didn't have much regard for their own men's fates. Which that infuriated him more than anything else, to be perfectly honest. He coughs as if the wind has been knocked out of him, despite not needing to breathe.]

Mages...?

[lesinset]

[ He may benefit from his bonds with a magic user and he may also have skin toughen by age to the point in which sunlight isn't as much as a bane as it was to other vampires, but it still burned. His skin crack and hissed and blackened and he knew that through his bond Dusty would feel the burn and react. But it was fine, more then fine since he was far less likely to get killed as Young-ho was from a sun bomb.

But it still hurt.

The other vampires were down; he could smell the way their skin and blood and bones burned, hear the way they tried to force screams out of throats that couldn't respond. Tarr pushed himself off of the younger vampire, feeling his own skin crack and tear from the movement. Some of it was healing but he knew that if there were more, he would be driven into a frenzy and that would not be good. But for the moment, he was more concerned at how Young-ho was doing. ]

Mage bomb. A real one would have tossed a few more. [ Making sun bombs was harder then storing up the spells, so it was more of a weapon sold to whoever wants one instead of something a mage would carry. ] Did you get hit?

[interposal]

[It takes him a moment to gather his thoughts before he shakes his head a bit, hauling himself up to his feet while brushing off his coat. Not that it would matter much anyway considering one sleeve was now shredded from transforming.]

No, I'm okay, thanks to you. Just a little nauseous from it, I think.

[He frowns down at the remains of the majority of the assassination party, quickly taking out any of them that were still clinging to life so that they wouldn't suffer any longer. They may have been after his head, but that didn't mean they had to die slowly like this.

But then again, it was that same line of thinking that made him unpopular within some elder circles.]

But we need to get you somewhere else where you can recover. Do you have any safehouses or contacts in this area?

[lesinset]

[ He should have finished their attackers but he did not feel much pity. After all, one of them had to been carrying to sun bomb which meant that they did not expect to get caught. A suicide mission which would narrow down the list of people that Young-ho had angered. There were few vampires that could buy a suicide squad like this one; it was a trait of most of their kind to value living above everything else.

Shaking his head, he just stayed where he was, squatting on his haunches and taking deep breaths. He was fine, really, he just needed to make sure that he was capable of moving before he actually did so. It wouldn't do him any good to bleed any more, even if getting out of danger should be a priority. He just needed a few more minutes.

Of course that was when he felt the surge of power close by. Taking a breath, he pushed himself to his feet, and watched the shadows roll and pulled back as a single figure stepped out from nowhere. ]

[interposal]

[The fact that they had a mage craft them a sun bomb was disconcerting in and of itself, and Young-ho was thinking along the same lines - that there was at least a shorter list of who was trying to eliminate him, if they were able to afford this type of assassination squad.

Still, perhaps it was one of the lingering traits of his humanity that had him being more merciful than most. He had been criticized for it enough in the past.

He frowns, and was about to further reply with suggesting they contact Molly - this was closer to her hunting territory, and she would want to know about this anyway - when the shadows in front of them start to shift and he steps in front of Ki-moon, his fangs running out and arm already transformed back into a blade, ready to strike.]

I don't know who you are, but I've already had one attempt on our lives tonight, I'd rather not let it become two.

[lesinset]

[ Shadows clung to his dusky skin, lingers fingers of the clouds dripping down touching the ground and bring with it a hint of old bones and empty crypts. He smiled, reaching up to tap slender fingers against his lips, the silver rings on his hand glittering and then Tarr growled, low and exasperated, and the human mage laughed. ]

Well, you're no fun. I'm not allowed to joke when you go off and toss yourself into danger?

[ Tarr's eyes narrowed, but he didn't move. In fact, he could feel some of the tension leave his muscles. If there was a mage around, they wouldn't have an easy enough task to take out someone like Dusty. ]

Shut up.

[ Dusty laughed and the shadows clinging to him faded away, his skin tone turning more golden than ash gray. Dressed in casual sleepwear, he had a bag slung over his shoulder and a lot of jewelry on him, some gold, some silver, but all of it looking like it had been grabbed and put on in haste. Giving the two vampires looks, he took a few pieces off and shoved them into his bag. ]

Relax. I'm not here to kill anyone.

[interposal]

[ While Dusty's presences seemed to have Ki-moon relax, it had about the opposite effect on Young-ho; tensing as he stood his ground, though his fangs did seem to retreat a bit. It's not for another couple moments that his arm starts shifting back into a legitimate limb rather than a blade as well. He's still wary, there's no doubt about that. ]

We didn't "toss ourselves into danger" - more like it threw itself at us. [ He says it with a small huff. Apparently irritation and exhaustion brought out the sarcasm in this one - or perhaps it was the fact that he knew he didn't have to be as formal here as he would normally. Though the sharp scent of the grave has him faltering for a moment. ]

... who are you?

[killingfloorblues]

Oh, I know but that one has the tendency of throwing himself into the path of sun bombs all the time.

[ Tarr's scowl deepened and Dusty fished out a bag of blood and a straw. He looked at Young-ho for a moment and then stepped around him to hand both to the older vampire, patting him on the arm fondly as Tarr grabbed it and stabbed the straw through the plastic. ]

His partner. You can call me Dusty.

[ Turning around he moved to one of the dead vampires, swinging his bag back and crouching down next to it. Dark stains twisted over his fingers, forming hooks and keys and daggers as he poked it. ] Bloodfangs?

[ Tarr made a face around his straw. ] You're not going to...

Too late. [ The body jerked, shadows clawing into the blackened skin, Dusty's face stern, cold. ]

[interposal]

Kim Young-ho.

[ He doesn't have anything to say at first beyond that (he's sure rumors of what he's trying to do have reached the other's ears, never mind whatever Ki-moon might've confided in him if he thought it were necessary. He trusted the elder with that much, at least), but it's not until Dusty mentions that he's Ki-moon's partner that his eyes widen slightly as he watches the mage slip past him to hand off the blood bag to the elder. ]

He never mentioned that you were shadowkin.

[ He knew why - he understood that probably better than most. It's more of an observation at this point. He would've been the same in talking about Molly if the incident that confirmed her relation to her ancestor wasn't so infamous in multiple circles. That and her heritage was a key point in why they needed to change things.

Dusty moving past the both of them to one of the remaining corpses of their attackers nearly goes unnoticed until the body starts to twitch. He tenses again, eyes narrowing as he sees the shadows seeping into the body. ]

Or a necromancer, apparently.

[killingfloorblues]

[ The blood was stale and lacking anything that he really wanted, but Tarr knew that most of that criticism came from his baser want for a living neck to bite into. He shoved it away and instead just drained the blood bag, watching Dusty as he started working his magic on the dead vampire. That was not very usual. Dusty didn't like to invoke his darker powers, letting his minor shadows do most of the work. But even he knew that there were times when Dusty needed his magic.

Feeling strengthened by the first blood bag, he walked over to Dusty and tugged on the bag, rooting out another bag to replace the drained one. Dusty didn't pull away from the body, but he did look up, making a face, and Tarr calmly stabbed the fresh bag and started drinking. The burned skin was knitting itself together and he didn't feel as shaky as he had been before. ]

Well?

[ The shadows had consumed the body hissing as they settled in and then there was a sharp crack as the surviving bones were twisted. ] Twice dead are not that easy to get to talk, brat.

[ Tarr rolled his eyes and stepped back and Dusty stood up, his fingers twisting as lines of shadows stretched from their tips to the twitching body. ] But I am good enough to know what they whisper.

[ The body became ash as the strings vanished. Dusty brushed his hands off and turned around to Tarr, poking at his cheek before he walked over to Young-ho and held out his hand, the shadowed forms gone and his skin a pleasant tan again. ] It's nice to meet you. Are you one of Tarr's strays?

[interposal]

[ He's silent again while Dusty tries to get the information out of the corpse and he frowns again, nose twitching from the scent coming from the blood bag. It was a sharp reminder that he probably should feed after all this.

When Dusty holds out his hand, he takes it firmly, his eyebrows raising slightly at the last question before shaking his head. ]

No. I'm ... a bit different. I'm sure that you may have had heard whispers of an attempt at an alliance between hunters and vampires, the young lord and the huntress with blood ties to one of our progenitors.

[killingfloorblues]

Ah? I suppose I have heard a little whisper about that.

[ He glanced back at Tarr, and then swung his bag around, humming as he pulled out another blood bag and a fresh straw, holding them both out to Young-ho. ] Here, you probably need a boost after getting a little tanned.

[ Tarr finished up his second bag and sighed, walking over to shove the empty into Dusty's bag. ] You're stalling.

And you are annoying. [ Dusty reached up with both hands and smushed them together, ignoring the glare that Tarr was giving him. It was probably one of those kind of moves that usually would have the offending person get smacked into the nearest building but that he allowed Dusty to do it showed his feelings far more then mere words. It still didn't mean that Tarr didn't do anything, he just turned his head and nipped at the long fingers on his cheek. ]

Brat. Fine. Does the name Han Sang-suk mean anything to you?

[interposal]

[ Young-ho blinks a couple times when the blood bag is presented to him - though he has the feeling that he really can't say no in this case at all. He takes the offered blood bag and straw and quietly inserts it. He drinks, eyes widening quite a bit more now that he's seeing the dynamic between the two of them.

It was ... odd. Kind of endearing, really.

But odd.

In all honesty, he's shifting on his feet a bit as he turns away, feeling a bit like he's intruding on a private moment between the two of them. He's about to speak up again when Dusty finally answers their question. ]

Sang-suk ... [ He lets out a huff of air, closing his eyes and looking almost disappointed - before he opens them again and nods, his eyes flashing red for a split second. ]

Yes. He's an elder Lord. Never was too fond of my ascension, never mind the talks of an alliance.

Though I hoped he wouldn't stoop to assassination attempts.

[lesinset]

No doubt you did something and he felt threatened or that his pride was wounded... stop that.

[ Tarr had managed to catch one of Dusty's fingers and was worrying at it. Not hard, no, but it was almost like a playful cat that managed to catch a finger and wanted to show that there was no real malice to their play. Dusty managed to tug his finger free after a moment or two, scowling at the very obvious smirk on Tarr's face. ]

Waking me up and making me use my magic and now you're being a brat.

I didn't make you do anything you didn't want to do. [ Dusty's scowl deepened and Tarr ignored it as he turned back to Young-ho. ] He has a stronger base in the local council last time I checked.

[interposal]

Probably one or both. I wouldn't be surprised if he took offense to something my partner in this has done either, but they know they'll have almost quite literally hell to pay if certain parties catch wind.

[ One of the perks of Molly's ancestry being what it was, though it still made the both of them prime targets.

That slightly embarrassed feeling from intruding upon a private moment has come back, and Young-ho makes a pointed effort to look away, blushing slightly before he clears his throat to continue. ]

That doesn't surprise me. It would make it easier for him to be able to find Bloodfangs desperate enough to take the chance at ... this. And unless I have hard evidence to prove it, it will be my word against his. As much as I would like to put more faith in my fellow council members, I have both my youth and ideals working against me.

[lesinset]

He probably feels that you don't have any true backing like her.

[Which was how things were in vampire society. Bloodlines mean a lot and when Molly's ties appeared, no one was willing to sink to certain moves because of how the most honorable ancestor would react. True she was a hunter and there would always be a chance to her days being numbered, but a full out assassination attack would not make the ancestor happy. ]

Idiot.

[ Dusty raised an eyebrow at Tarr and peers at him before turning towards Young-ho and blinks. Then he grinned and reaches over to squish his cheeks together, his hands cool and soft. ] Aww, are you blushing?

[interposal]

[ He doesn't want to admit it, but- ]

It's the best explanation we have so far. Considering it was a ... bit of a predicament with my ascension in the first place, as you know.

[ Never mind that he wasn't supposed to take the throne so early. Beyond that, as mentioned before, he knows that his youth also betrays his inexperience, despite his insightful moments.

Young-ho stiffens as Dusty squishes his cheeks, his face reddening even more at the contact. If anything betrayed how unused to he was with contact, it was this. His voice is even softer as he replies, voice muffled from the position he's in: ]

I'm ... Trying not to. Please stop.

[killingfloorblues]

So cute!

[ It would take a lot to get Dusty to back away from a blushing vampire, even if he knew just how embarrassing it might be for someone of a prominent social standing. Tarr had told him at one time that he was like one of those grandmothers who would pull out all the baby books just to show off how much silliness a kid did right before calling them baby names. Dusty disagreed, but well, Dusty would disagree if he didn't like where Tarr was going with his words.

But probably to Young-ho's relief Dusty does end up stopping, but only because he was squinting at Young-ho like something was puzzling him. He dropped his hands and looked over at Tarr, who saw his expression and raised both eyebrows in a slow dawning horror. Dusty opened his mouth and Tarr pounced, attempting to cover said mouth with his hands.

He didn't make it. ]

Are you two related?

[interposal]

[ Embarrassing and never mind the fact that Young-ho still doesn't really know how to respond to that sort of contact, either. He had heard from Ki-moon about how his partner was a bit ... eccentric at times, but he didn't really think it was to this extent.

He does let out a breath that probably was more for show than anything else once Dusty gets his hands off his cheeks, tilting his head in slight puzzlement at the mage's odd look between himself and Ki-moon. His gaze flickers up to the elder vampire and he registers the movement before he really sees it, and the words come out of Dusty's mouth before he can stop it -

But Young-ho looks more confused than anything at this little exchange. It hasn't fully sunk in for him at this point, bless his heart. ]

Related? I ... what makes you say that? [ It's not like where Ki-moon is trying to stop Dusty from voicing the connection, it's more that the younger vampire actually, genuinely doesn't know where Dusty's coming from with the sudden question. ]

[lesinset]

You two feel -

[ Tarr finally got Dusty to shut up basically by covering the mage's mouth with his hands. Which meant that the mage was glaring up at the elder and making muffing sounds against his hands. ]

He has no reason to say tha - ow!

[ He jumped back and Dusty grinned, pointing at Tarr. ]

You are, why else are you hiding it?