A Future Meeting Disaster

[Deleted]

Christina knew the outer city was much safer than beyond the wall but the risk it took just to make it out here, plus as far as she was aware there weren't very many people out here, if there were she always missed them when she had come out for hunting purpose. It surprised her how she still managed to always get back into the outer city when there were Gangrels and vampires out here. I appear to be lucky for not running into them yet, not that I'd have to much trouble seeing as I've lasted this long. She used to play bait to lure vampires out just for her fellow hunters to kill them back in the day, Gangrels are only beasts, going off of instinct, giving her an advantage because all she needed was to predict where they would go and shoot them as they approached, always putting them in hibernation since the only weapons on her was the arrows she made and the bow on her back.

Had there been more at once she would have had a harder time putting them in hibernation, but she was patient and that is why she had lasted so long out here. The fear of death never loomed over her, the fear of becoming a Gangrel, that was something she didn't want to think about. Sometimes she did try and imagine what it would be like to be a vampire though, but the fact that she wasn't likely to become one gave her ever reason in the world to stay away from them, plus drinking human blood creeped her out. At the same time though, she didn't feel like the rest of the humans, more than willing to kill them if it meant saving her own life, not that she would save a vampire because she wouldn't, but her innocent appearance always gave her the winning edge, they always underestimated her.

She crept forward, first wandering the Scorch as she made her way to the Fashion Outlet. She withdrew her arrow, holding it firm between her fingers as she held her bow ready to fire the arrow as soon as she noticed any possible prey lurking in the shadows. There was a screeching noise and she turned to see the Gangrel coming straight towards her. She watched it as she prepared to fire, more screenching, proving this Gangrel wasn't alone. Damn it. She fired her first shot, hitting the Gangrel in the heart, watching it go into hibernation as she withdrew a second arrow, aiming at another one of the Gangrel's heading her way. There were five in total, one in hibernation, another one she was aiming at, and three more still coming towards her.

Valko Holt

[Valko Holt]

He absolutely hated gangrels. Animalistic little hissy fits that unfortunately had good enough claws to add bite to their bark. This was only supposed to be a scavenging mission for him and a few other handpicked members of his tribe. However, the moment they hit the Fashion Outlet, he could hear the telltale screeching and hissing that announced they were after prey. By the sounds of it, they were close too.

“Those who are a good shot, get ready. The rest of you louts get out weapons to hack those crazy things’ heads off, got it?” He commanded, heading towards the noise instead of away. Even if they avoided them, those creatures would eventually seek them out for more blood. He’d rather take them down while they were distracted by whatever set them off.

Turned out to be some lone girl getting chased by five gangrels. One was already down, which he motioned to with his hand for one of his tribesmen to take out. “Take them down! Try not to waste arrows either!” He shouted, pulling back his own bow and taking aim at one of the slower ones. He let fly and managed to hit it in the back. While it didn’t take it down, it caused the monster to stagger and slow enough that he could let fly another one that made it fall. The rest his group focused on taking down while he took an axe to the gangrel to finish the job.

After the threat was destroyed, his blue eyes flicked towards the girl who'd served as bait. “You must be a special kind of stupid to be wandering around here without someone else."

@christina

[Deleted]

Christina was about to fire when she noticed the group coming in. She couldn't afford to be distracted by them though, so she did the second best thing, fled, leading the Gangrels straight after her, as she had done back when she had played bait. The Gangrels had turned when they noticed the group of people and she turned around and fired at any Gangrels his men had missed getting it in the heart.

When they were destroyed she was in the process of collecting her arrows when the leader spoke to her. She huffed at his comment, not caring that he held his opinion believing it to be smarter than hers. "No, just a normal stupid that doesn't give a damn about what others think of her." She corrected, "For the record, you need to hit them in the heart else they won't go into hibernation." She knew his men didn't need to hear it, she shared the information hoping that it would puss him off.

No she wasn't an innocent little thing, far from it. She was however a smart ass at times, times such as this. "Wandering around with somebody else would get me killed and place restrictions, now why in the world would i want something like that?" She asked, shifting the arrow bag on her shoulder. To hunt or linger here with him? The animal skin hung against her skin, at least it meant no ragged clothing.

Valko Holt

[Valko Holt]

At least she didn’t try arguing she was smart. Although she did have enough sense to collect her own arrows. “At least you’re honest.” He commented with a faint bit of amusement. “And I know where to hit them, girl. I’ve killed these things before.” Enough now it could be a dangerous hobby, if he was a madman.

“Yeah, if the person you’re traveling with hates you or you give them a reason to kill you out here. With a mouth like that though, I wouldn’t be surprised.” He responded with a scoff. “But it’s your life to end, not mine. I’m guessing you’re out here to try scavenging? That or hunting.” He mused. It was the only two options he could think of for someone to be out there.

“In either case you’re probably going to run into even more of these little shits.” He said, kicking the head of one of the creatures towards her. “Think you can take on a whole nest by yourself, smart ass?"

@christina

[Deleted]

Christina just smiled at him. "Only when it suits me." She had no problem lying if it gave her an advantage. She listened to him speak, he seemed to understand sort of. "Or they have terrible aim or they get themselves killed, or they could just flat out piss me off. The list goes on." She finished, not denying she had moments but it was clear that she only cared about herself. "Hunting." She answered his question, "Though I do know how to kill them if i wanted to." That was the problem, she lacked motavation.

"Most likely." She agreed, stopping the head with her foot. She glanced down at it before smiling over at him. "Possibly, I suppose there is only one way to find out." She paused before asking, "I sure hope you noticed, you didnt use me as bait. I used myself as bait." She corrected, had she not chosen to be bait the tables would have shifted quickly to some of his men being bait instead.

She wasnt done with her comment however, "Though if i did, im afraid there wont be any left for you and your men, so you might want to follow even if it is from a distance." She couldnt help but wonder what he might make of her comment, she folded het arms, hokding her elbows with her hands as she watched him.

Valko Holt

[Valko Holt]

”I figured as much.” He stated blankly. People lied all the time. Meeting a continually honest person was a rarity around these parts. Usually they ended up being as snarky and insulting as Valko himself, from his own experience. Still, it was a treat when they showed up.

“If they’re that useless, then use them as bait. At least you’d have a way of escape.” He responded. Although in those instances the tables could turn, but he didn’t care too much. If she ended up being used as bait and dying, then that was that. If she’d died just then when they’d found her, he couldn’t have cared less.

“Anyone who has to point out the genius of their plan is just a fool pretending.” He snorted, unimpressed. “We were both bait. You for us and we for you. Get over yourself.” In either case the gangrels were distracted by one of them, giving the other the opportunity to strike. In the end the beasts were dead, so did it really matter?

“Look huntress, we’re out to scavenge. If you want to go out by yourself and really risk your neck and blood to these things then be my guest. Just make sure you actually kill the things and not let them sleep.” He said with a mocking emphasis when addressing her. “You can continue your lone wolf adventure to your heart’s content."

@christina

[Deleted]

Christina was surprised by his comment. Well if he is really in the mood to just hand them over, I guess I'm not one to argue bit i will teach them how to shoot first. "If your really willing to give them up that badly, who am I to say no?" She was expecting her comment to catch him of guard. "Throw them to the dogs and risk them dying? Not without teaching them how to shoot first. Nobody is that useless." She stated plainly, wanting to add nobody is as good as bait as her but held back on making such a comment.

"You call that bait? Getting noticed on purpose is somebody skilled as bait, you didn't want them to stop following me just to pay attention to me. Yes they surprised me but I didn't play bait till after you showed up. You would have list men if it wasn't for me." She answered him back. Lets be honest here, I'm great at being bait. Your terrible at it. Your better at hunting." She finished, not explaining why that was so. She knew where to shoot but didn't desiring killing them. "I would kill them but i seem to have left any weapon to cut their head off back in the outer city." She had a smile on her face again. "Besides you said i could use your men as bait, so now who is the one without protection?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

"I'll come along, somebody has to teach your men how to shoot if they miss again." She waited for him to argue with her on the subject, she had after all just invited herself instead of accepting his invite to go with.

Valko Holt

[Valko Holt]

Give them up? “Oh no, you get your own play things.” He answered. Clearly there had to be a misunderstanding somewhere if she really thought he’d hand over his tribesmen just like that for her to use as gangrel fodder. They were his to train or sacrifice if he really had to.

“You were playing prey until we showed up, girl.” He retorted with a snort. “Not much better than bait. Which, if I actually plan on setting some, I’m actually good at. But you are right: I am better at hunting.” He didn’t support his tribe on sheer luck alone after all. He had to have more than just a little skill to support something of that magnitude. “But where the hell in this conversation did I ever say you could use my men as bait? I said if you had someone with you that was useless, you could use them. Not my men.”

“You want to tag along, then don’t try pulling any flashy tricks.” He said. Whether or not she came with them or went didn’t matter. If she became a liability, then he’d get rid of her himself. “I don’t want you luring any gangrels to us just so you can teach us how to shoot, got it?"

@christina

[Deleted]

Christina had misunderstood his comment from before, she had called his men useless as bait and unable to shoot, so when he suggested using them as bait she had forgotten all about their previous comment about using those useless souls as bait and thought he had meant his own men he would be giving up. There was no way in hell she would admit to forgetting it however. She forced a small smile to form on her lips as she explained herself to him but opted to be patient about it. "First off, I do make the better bait, it doesn't take much planning for me to become what I need to be to survive, second, I'm so glad you figured out you are the better hunter, now back to my previous comment, distracting them and luring them in a direction are two different things. I wasn't just distracting them I was luring them and once your men fired and got their attention, nobody was playing bait at that point." She wasn't going to let him be correct on the matter.

"As for my previous comment, your the one that said I could use them as bait. It can't be helped if you thought we were still talking about the reason I work alone over the whole I claimed your men can't shoot. In other words, I was counting on you making the mistake of giving them up." It was a lie, but it was a good lie. She shifted the conversation over to joining his group for now. "You tell me this after I try and cheat you from your men." She was only trying to get under his nerve with her comment though. "Why the hell would I do that? I believe in teaching them how to shoot before I drag them into danger." She told him, "Unlike some people." That smile was still pasted on her lips, "Doesn't mean I wouldn't do it if I had come prepared though." Mostly because she would kill the Gangrel before anybody else got killed. It wasn't everyday that she pitied somebody else, but watching them shoot and using so many arrows was just sad to her.

"So tell me, which will it be. Will you be going on ahead and risk them missing the target or will you have me teach them how to shoot first? Unless of course you want me to show you how to shoot first to prove how qualified I am for the task?" She asked, egging him on purpose. She loved firing her arrow, no she wouldn't do it at a person even though it encouraged them not to miss, but hitting a wall would be just as good as any. Though for her to show him what she could do, she would be shooting an arrow into the wall and then shooting the other one right through it. It didn't bother her that the noise might encourage more Gangrels to show up, mostly because Valko was there to kill them anyway.

Valko Holt
I forgot that we were talking about people that she could drag with her and mixed up the conversations, mybad. XD

[Valko Holt]

”Sure. Keep telling yourself that. At least you’ll believe it.” He said, rolling his eyes. He really wasn’t in the mood for arguing with some random stranger he’d found in the Outlet. At this point she was just trying to be in the right and make him off as wrong.

“Also that is the most bullshit thing I’ve ever heard.” He replied flatly. Who did she think she was fooling. “Look, I get that you made a mistake and mistook my words for something else, but that doesn’t mean you should start throwing lies around and try twisting words. You look like even more of an idiot than before, so just drop it.” He advised, more amused than anything.

Was her face naturally contorted into a smile? Or was she putting in special effort to see if it would annoy him? There was definitely an undercurrent of effort in her words. “I’ve taught them well enough, but it’s experience that helps the most in these cases. But if you really want to keep pushing this subject to prove your ’superiority,’” He stated with an emphasis on the word complete with air quotes, “Then by all means go ahead.”

After he said it and she fired, he figured she was going to anyways. Slowly he clapped his hands together, making it obvious how much he was joking. “Wow! Ain’t that just the greatest thing I’ve seen? You managed to slay the wall! And not only that, but you managed to waste two arrows at once! Really, color me impressed huntress."

@christina
(No problem, it happens)

[Deleted]

Christina didn't like how he didn't seem to believe her on the subject, she figured she would have to just prove it to him later on, assuming she was around him long enough that is. Though when he called her out on her lies she forced the smile to remain on her face, it bothered her that he wasn't going to believe her but to flat out point it out. "You try remember ever single conversation without the risk of mixing it up, it could happen to just about anybody and I don't have to give honest answers so I don't." He suggested to drop it and she did, only because it was a pointless argument anyway. When it seemed she had permission to show him she went a head and shot her arrow in the wall before shooting a second arrow, hitting the first in the middle. "What you call waste I call teaching."

She walked over towards the wall and pulled it out. The arrows were damaged but there was no sense in leaving it there for some idiot to fall onto it. If she wanted something dead she would shoot it in the heart and then cut off the head, not have help from an arrow sticking in the wall. "The name is Chris, don't wear it out." She answered him back, finding the name huntress fine but the way he said it, it was starting to annoy her. The smile that she had made so much effort to hold onto her face was gone now. "If you want a better chance of hitting them in the heart, try and focus more of where they are going instead of where they are at. It helps when you are trying to move and have to shoot at the same time." Yes she had done it before and it wasn't something she would expect anybody else to try unless they had a death wish.

"If you want me to do my share of killing, I need a knife or sword, you got any spares?" Yes she was looking for a volunteer to share with her. If Gangrels are out here I doubt any prey had been left over. Sure they don't need the prey but I doubt anything would survive nearby those things.

Valko Holt

[Valko Holt]

He only rolled his eyes in response. It was a possibility that people could mix up conversations, yes. Misunderstandings happened, and he knew that. Still it didn’t change the fact that she’d tried covering for it and failed. Now her smile was a little forced as a result, and he gained a smidgen of satisfaction from that.

“Teaching. Right. Why not set up a school while you’re at it?” He replied sarcastically. Although he didn’t fight her on the information she gave his men. If they actually learned something from this girl, then he wasn’t going to complain. It might help them be useful in their travel through the Outlet.

Now she was asking for a knife? Valko observed her for a while before tapping one of his men on the shoulder. “You. Give her something.” He ordered. Without hesitation, he pulled out a knife and tossed it at her feet. “There. Now let’s get going. Keep your eyes peeled for any more of those hissy fits. They swarm around her like vermin some days, I swear."

@christina

[Deleted]

Christina rolled her eyes at him, "I'm not patient enough to start a school." She told him plainly, noticing he had said it sarcastically, "I might reconsider if you join it though." She answered him back but was to tired to make an effort on creating her own face expression. She had asked for a knife and one of his men had tossed it at her feet. "You know, a little higher up and I could have caught it." The risk of being cut by getting the blade instead of catching the handle hadn't bothered her. She picked the knife up from the ground and placed it inside of the top of her outfit. "When you say 'her' your referring to the one that made all those things?" She asked, knowing that somebody had to create them but she never knew the gender unless she had searched them out.

If Valko knew the answer it meant he had done his homework. "Do you want me to play bait or stay near your archers?" He had seen her shoot, he knew that she was likely to hit the target once she aimed for it. It was just a matter of where he wanted her to be at, as for her, the gain would be her not being alone right this second and getting a chance to kill some more Gangrels since she had lost the chance to catch prey in here. I suppose the woods or Scorch would have been a better option, at least the woods has animals roaming it and the scorch has some birds that would fly down to grab a worm or two. She waited for Valko to walk before following after him, making sure to not be surrounded or behind his group of men. "What do I call you?" If you don't answer I'll just assign something to you.

Valko Holt

[Valko Holt]

”I would vow to be your worst student yet.” Was what he replied with. Schools nowadays were nonexistent. Most people didn’t even know how to read or write except for the vampires’ pets. Finding anyone else who actually could do either, or just one, outside of the Inner city was a miracle.

“No, when I say her I’m talking about that.” He said, pointing off in the distance. From here it was hard to see, but there was a boutique. A half-fallen sign hung above it with the weathered symbol of some woman fashionably dressed. Or she would be if the paint wasn’t nearly all gone from age, neglect, and the sun. “See that place? The gangrels love that spot. For some reason, they’re the thickest around there, so we’re going around it. Take note of that next time you come wandering out here alone. Lassie’s Skirts are no place to play around in.” He said, his tone serious despite the oddity of the place’s name. Someone else had named it, and it stuck. Whatever the case, he led them away from the store.

“You can stay back with the archers. We aren’t purposely baiting gangrels out, remember?” He said pointedly. “And I'm Valko, since you clearly don’t know me.” He added. Some people might not’ve known, but he didn’t care. As long as people feared the name of the Hounds of Fury, then he was fine with that. Besides, being underestimated could be useful.

@christina

[Deleted]

Christina snickered, "Yes well, it would still be a sight to see." She answered him back. I'd make one hell of a teacher. I have very little knowledge for reading or writing, I never had time to practice even though my family tried to keep us learning anyway. She remembered her parents trying to find the time to teach her as did her grandparents when they were alive. She had been doing so well, until it was interrupted and later she threw it away when her parents died and she left hunting for good. Maybe I should try and pick it up again... She wasn't sure if she really cared to learn, nobody else knew how to read or write, what good would it do if she couldn't find somebody else that could do it also.

She looked at the sign, surprised that he hadn't been talking about somebody but something. I guess that makes sense.... She huffed at his comment, "I'll be sure to keep it in mind if I bother listening." I guess he has a point, no sense in coming out here alone. I haven't seen anything to hunt besides Gangrels and I don't have an interest in going after those things all the time. She nodded her head slightly when he told her to stay back with the archers. Valko.... She noted to herself, "Is this the only group you have or are you hiding the rest back where you call home?" She asked, trying to figure him out.

This wasn't a good time to be asking such a thing since Gangrels were nearby, but still, he seemed like somebody worth challenging in the near future and it would be best to know exactly the type of person he was before she'd throw her cards down.

Valko Holt