Lost my mind

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

It was very rare that Nadya put herself in potentially fatal situations. She avoided them at all costs, ever the coward. She would be the first to admit it. But when Mr. Moribund pleaded with her that she head to a vampire colony in Germany to investigate claims over a rather ancient artifact, she couldn't say no. Nadya needed her job; none in Russia interested her. Nadya also really loved her job and it would be a shame to throw it away because she didn't want to look at some old piece of equipment. From vampires. She'd arrived in Germany that night and a man greeted her at a pub. She paid him the money needed to travel by horse through the forest. "Don't worry, young lady," the man said to her, as if sensing her hesitation. "The Fleur du Sang only ask to feed, they don't attack." There was a pause. "Usually."

Oh how comforting. Nadya gave him a look before continuing to look around. It was a bit chilly out for a summer evening, though that might have been because the air drastically changed once they officially crossed into the colony. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and shivered. She didn't have gloves and her fingers were beginning to freeze. "How much longer?" she asked him in her broken German. He shook his head. "Another hundred yards or so. That's where we get off to travel another few yards by foot. And that's where I leave you."

Nadya swallowed hard. An owl sounded in the distance.

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

Asil was always the travelling type of vampire, and while he usually was found in Frankfurt, he frequently visited the other colonies around Germany and France and like all colonies they were underground the cities so that the vampires could avoid the sunlight. Today, the vampire had been visiting the rural colony in Germany. It was a little beyond the forest, and as he traveled there, he noticed a carriage and a woman in it, most did not travel in this direction.. Unless..

Asil climbed a tree, and within moments jumped on top of the carriage. A loud thunk. He was wearing his usual assassin clothing, a white cloak and robe, with armor and weapons visibly presented on him. He landed as the carriage came to a stop so that the humans would pay attention to him. He didn't say anything, the lower half of his face was covered by a black cloth mask, and the lower part was barely visible due to how much the hood of his cloak shadowed over his eyes.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya was just about to lean out the window of the carriage again to take a look at the night sky when it sounded like something fell on top of them. The next few seconds were a blur - the horse neighed loudly and the man cursed as he tried to calm the steed before it'd take off with her inside. Nadya had screamed in the process. Once everything had calmed down, the man spoke again. "We mean no harm!" he said. "They are expecting her." She panted heavily in her seat, staying away from the window as far as possible. She had no idea what had ambushed them and she was suddenly afraid that she'd die in a German forest. That's not how she wanted to go.

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

Asil, stared as the man shouted in a panic. He had a very blank stare, and so he jumped off of the carriage wandering up close to the man. A shadow in white, he did not touch the man but instead disappeared into a blur. He took off running it seemed, having not said a thing, not long after he came back, walking with the a calmed down horse that had just run off from their carriage. He helped the man put the reigns back onto it, his lips strewn tightly across his features under the black piece of clothing.

He finally spoke, "I will accompany you, the rest of the way.." He spoke, low and calm.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya carefully stuck her head out of the carriage to see what was going on. She watched as her guide and a man in a white cloak speaking. By the way her guide spoke, she figured this man was indeed a vampire, but she wasn't sure. Nadya just now wanted to get the hell out of here. Her guide walked over to her and explained the new events to her calmly. "We travel on foot from here, Miss Berezhnaya," he said. "What?" she asked. "With him out here?" She pointed to the maybe-vampire. The guide sighed. "He says he will accompany us the rest of the way. They are not Ramanga, so I don't think he's playing any mind tricks on us. Let's go."

No, was Nadya's initial reaction. She didn't want to go. She would rather drop this account and leave, go back to St. Petersburg and sleep the day away. But she couldn't leave her clients like that and business wouldn't do well if she left based on such prejudices. Eventually, Nadya nodded. Grabbing her ledger, she climbed out of the carriage and walked over with her guide to the to other man. Nadya avoided looking at him.

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

Asil had exceptionally good hearing, as all of his senses had enhanced upon his turning, and so he could hear the girl speak of him. He couldn't help a smirk behind his piece of cloth, it was most amusing to listen to a human fear him so very deeply. He wasn't a bad man, he had never been a bad man. He had no intentions of hurting her, but perhaps his weapons and outfit were a bit off-setting, and very old. He seemed like a man stuck in the days of old. Unfortunately.

Asil looked over to the guide and walked to him. "It's not necessary to go on foot, I can accompany you in this carriage too." He added, glancing over to the woman, not that she could particularly see him do that, he was in the shadows. Much like a ghost.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

The guide turned to Nadya who looked only at him. Was he expecting her to give the call? She sighed, her breath visible in the cold air. "Let's go back in the carriage," she said. There was a blanket in there she could use to warm up. The guide nodded before gesturing to the other man. "Climb in," he said to him as he mounted the horse again. Nadya quickly turned on her heel and headed back to the carriage. She made sure she remembered where her wand was in case things soured. Climbing back in, she sat back in her seat, casting her eyes away from the spot the man would no doubt take. She stared out at the night again.

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

Being told to climb, Asil would have much preferred the top of the carriage, but it would be best as to not scare the horse once more, and so he climbed into the seat across the woman and leaned forward, his eyes cast down. He was staring at his feet and his elbows were planted on his knees firmly. He wasn't a very talkative man it seemed, very quiet and reserved. Very humble, and respectful. He could sense the fear on the woman, and not wanting her to feel out of place in this manner, he looked up for a moment to look at her still out of the shadows.

"You fear me.." He stated quietly, he knew it. He could read her thoughts.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

The carriage set off once more and Nadya pulled out the blanket not long after. She wrapped it around her, trying to warm up her hands. That was when he finally spoke. She raised her head slightly, taking a quick glance in his direction. What he said was right and she was sure that her body language was enough to tell anyone that she was afraid of him. But she was ever so stubborn.

"No, I don't," she said shortly.

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

"But your mind and body, say the opposite." He responded, he whispered. He didn't want to be heard talking very much. He felt it was unnecessary, he could get his point across silently. Most often, and so he leaned up and looked at the woman, his left hand moving up, grabbing the top of the black piece of cloth, and pulling it down. Revealing full lips and finally his nose. Though his eyes remained unseen.

"Why?" He asked, inquiring of her fear. He wanted to know, perhaps it was his youth talking. That curiosity.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya watched him carefully as he pulled down the piece of cloth that covered his nose and mouth. She chuckled nervously. "Excuse me for not being very warm to strangers who jump on my carriage in the middle of a dark forest where vampires live," she said. She was always afraid of strangers. Afraid that they would ask too many questions and that they could see the guilt that stained her soul for what she'd done. It'd been so many years ago - ten, next year - but Nadya was still haunted by it. She could still feel the blood on her hands, sticky and warm.

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

Asil was not one to usually smile or grin, taking care of hiding his vampire fangs, perhaps a bit too carefully and too much. But he couldn't help a grin, and as the moon shined into the carriage window, one could see those bright sharps fangs gleam. Though for a man who had lived for almost nine hundred years his teeth were certainly in good shape. "I am a vampire." He revealed, and while he figure the woman already knew, he should at least confirm her fears.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya looked away quickly when his fangs flashed in the moonlight. When he confirmed he was a vampire, she glanced at him again before looking back out the window. "I know," she said quietly. "That's why I'm afraid." While she knew about vampiric lore, enough to get her sent out into a colony by herself, she still feared them. What was to sway her opinion on blood-suckers where a few rogue vampires were known to shred humans to pieces?

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

When she had confirmed her fear finally, Asil nodded and pulled the cloth back up. He just needed her to stop lying and now everything seemed alright for him. He glanced up briefly once more before leaning down, looking back to his feet. He was silent for a moment, before finally speaking. "You know very little of me, so why fear me?" He asked. Often times he forgot that humans feared him because he was a vampire.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

His question made Nadya completely turn her head to him. Her eyes were wide. The question was so simple. He must've not understood how humans operated. "I wouldn't be human if I didn't fear that which I'm not familiar with," she said. "It's human nature. It's why wars start, a government turns against its own people, why people kill each other." Nadya shrugged. "Why a father would strike his daughter. A fear of the unknown."

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

When the woman spoke to him as if he didn't understand that, Asil looked up to her. For once, his emotions flashed into a suppressed anger. He spoke, still calmly but his hidden eyes did not reflect his words, "Do you believe we are not human?" He asked, teeth grinding together at his question. He had been human once, he had faced more war than anyone could in a lifetime. He had killed more than anyone in a lifetime. He knew of corrupt governments, he knew human nature.... He was human. Just with a different hunger.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya could hear and sense his anger at what she said. "That's not what I meant," she said firmly. "I was speaking in terms of myself. It had nothing to do with you." She quieted down. She wanted nothing more than to just leap from the carriage and run out of the forest. Where would she go? Home, of course. If she could find her way out of here. Nadya wanted nothing more than to get to the colony, appraise what needed to be appraised, and leave.

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

Asil calmed down in that moment, and sighed. "Human nature should not make you fear me, or despite me. I have done nothing wrong to you, and I do not plan on it. I am not at all hungry, and never am. Naturally, I also can ward off other vampires if you are so very frightened." He tried to remain civil, the girls thoughts. They were so loud, her body language screamed fear. He figured it would be best then, to reveal himself fully, a stranger was much more frightening than what would seem to be like a friend.

He moved his left hand (which if one took notice he was missing a ring finger there) up to his hood, slipping it off, he then went right to the black cloth and let it drop down to his collar. Black short cropped hair, a slight hint of facial hair, piercing blue eyes, and a youthful face.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya was relieved when the situation seemed diffused. That was when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. She glanced in his direction once more as she watched him pull down his hood. They weren't lying when they said vampires looked younger the older they were. She would have thought maybe he was a younger vampire, but the way he spoke and the way he carried himself told her differently.

There didn't seem to be any reaction on her end until a second passed. Then she slowly pulled down her own hood, revealing a head of thick dark brown hair that pooled around her shoulders. Her blue eyes were lit up by the moonlight.

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

Asil sighed when the girl took her hood off, he couldn't help but shaking his head. "I could see you just fine with your hood on." He revealed, all of his senses were quite enhanced after all. So there he sat, rubbing his hands together, occasionally reminiscing in his missing finger. Looking over it with those blue eyes. It was a good memory, a painful one but a good one. Had he been more emotional he would have smiled, but he didn't. He kept his default face silently. Looking rather pouty, to his dismay.

Looking to the female briefly he raised an eyebrow. Everything seemed perfect on him, marbleized with age. "You are Russian." He commented knowingly.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya pursed her lips when he seemed annoyed that she'd taken off her hood. "Well," she stressed gently. "It was only common courtesy to do so." She settled back into her seat. It stayed quiet long enough for the rocking of the carriage and the warmth of the blanket to make her fall asleep. She was awakened when he suddenly noted that she was Russian. Nadya sat up straight again and looked at him.

"Yes, I am. You?"

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

When the girl asked him where he was from, he looked around awkwardly, how was he supposed to explain he was from Alamut and Masyaf? Those were fortresses at the time, and for that matter he lived in the county of Tripoli. No longer in existence of course. Rubbing his forehead for a moment, he pondered and thought about what he could possibly say to explain. He knew the current locations, but was that really enough?

Letting out a very soft sigh, his brows furrowed in frustration, before he finally spoke. "I suppose you could call it modern day Syria and Iran..." His age remained a mystery of course, he wasn't one to usually talk about his age. It made him upset.

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya watched him have something of an internal struggle with himself when she asked the question. She was horrible at conversation - it seemed like everything she asked was a loaded question. He eventually answered, however, and his answer intrigued her. "You must be really old if you call them 'modern day,'" she remarked. Nadya realized her tone. "I don't mean old in the bad way. But the older you are in your clan, the more powerful and more influence you have so I guess it's not a bad thing."

[Asil ibn Al’Nisr]

Asil sighed, the topic of his age suddenly came up and he couldn't help to breath that heavy sigh. It came with such a burden, and that was very obvious. He looked down, and shook his head only more so. "I understand what you mean, bambina..." He uttered softly. It felt almost like something he could not escape, he sensed her next would be something about his age, and he just beat her to it, but he cringed when he did. Very subtly, but it did hurt to say, "I will be nine hundred years old in three years.."

[Nadezhda Berezhnaya]

Nadya turned her body towards him as he sheepishly told her his age. The fact that he seemed embarrassed, like a woman revealing her own age, intrigued her. She actually smiled; it was a soft smile, barely noticeable, but it was there. "Well... congratulations, I guess? Do they... do something special when you reach a new century or a millenia?" Nadya was only asking these questions to pass the time. The guide had said they had a few hundred feet until they had to start walking, but it felt like they'd past 'a few hundred feet' already.

"What was it like back then?"