|
|
Post by Octavian O'Connor on Feb 1, 2016 14:28:47 GMT
The sound of troop movements and gunfire could easily be heard throughout the forest. Soldiers moved about the fenced off woods in mock combat exercises, trying to out maneuver their opponents. The game was one that the neonate was very familiar with, each of the five groups starting from different locations with the same holdouts made for an interesting war. How many times had he watched them follow the by the books strategies? The were predictable. Soft brown eyes predicted each groups movements as he passed them, taking note of which groups were tracking, which were being tracked, and the one group that had been the most unique since he'd started watching them. The unique group wore red tags, and moved to specifically bewildered and misdirection the others. Preying on their inflexible natures and strategies.
Octavian had been scouting out and watching that particular group through numerous war games, and they were becoming more and more effective at stopping the other groups. This night proved to be far more interesting than the last. Two groups had allied together and we're on the offensive, screen searching the woods, and relying on superior numbers and suppression fire to defeat the others. One team was already nearly defeated by them in a fast ambush on an early position while the other was setting up for an engagement with the larger force by preparing terrain for a funneled attack.
"More by the books tactics won't win you this fight..." He spoke aloud, though he doubted anyone in any of the groups of soldiers could hear him. He'd come to see how the red team would adapt to the new threat, and adapting they were. Hit and run tactics by only four members of the reds were extremely effective while a few more were busying themselves changing the terrain to give the large group their advantage back against the remaining team. He had to appreciate their boldness, splitting their team into much smaller specialized groups and utilizing them effectively was very impressive for a group of enlisted men. But who was their leader?
Finding the leader would take time and patience, something he had plenty of, and likely without the disruption of most of the other clans. He was hunting on Gangrel territory, but because of his specialized taste, and his good relations with Mizuki the Gangrel Primoven, he was left uninhibited. What could he learn from watching them? Observing their leader. The neonate sought out answers, using the woods and war games for quiet and focus. It was here that the shade in the back of his mind was quietest. There was no one he was connected too, and nothing that could be easily leveraged against him. Perhaps it was indeed just the quiet that brought the young Ventrue so far away from his clans territory and his normal stomping grounds.
|
|
Rumor Black
Neonate
Maybe I'm the Kindest Demon
Posts: 51 
|
Post by Rumor Black on Feb 1, 2016 15:23:06 GMT
There was a noise that could only be described as a squeak from somewhere in the woods behind Octavian. Should he turn his head, he would have only a moment of amber colored fur, the sight of something disappearing into the bushes. Most would think it to be a fox, but those more superstitious would view it as a kitsune: a demon with a fox-like appearance. Should there be a spotting, mass fear would break out, and everybody of the Gangrel Clan knew that.
Everybody in the Gangrel Clan also knew what a squeak and fox-fur meant. And most of them knew it in time to get the hell out of the way. Poor Octavian... He was Ventrue, not Gangrel.
They were far enough away that the men would most likely be oblivious to whatever unfolded, unless he got too terribly loud. Which, considering he was Ventrue, she figured he wouldn't. She figured it was safe.
He would feel a light but sudden weight against his back, trying to tackle him to the ground. If it didn't work, she would take a tumble, herself, but that didn't stop her excited speech. "Oh my gosh Octavian you're back that's so great I didn't think that I would get to see you again where have you been?" It was all one breathless sentence, and there was only one person that had such enthusiasm bubbling up and over inside her: Rumor Black, Inuko Locke's childer and adopted daughter.
|
|
|
|
Post by Octavian O'Connor on Feb 3, 2016 17:35:15 GMT
With his mind still more than preoccupied, the little squeak went largely unnoticed. Most of his focus remained on the war games playing out before him, and that was his biggest mistake. Out of nowhere, something hit him in the back, and he tumbled forward into a combat roll, recovering just quickly enough that his hands hadn't reached the weapons hidden in his jacket when he'd realized that it was little Rumor Black. Warmth spread across his face like wildfire as he smiled, it had been far to long. "I'm happy to see you too Rumor." He laughed quietly his hands moving nonchalantly away from his weapons.
Rumor's question seemed simple enough to answer with a vague, noncommittal response, and we're it almost anyone else, Octavian would have given them that response. But this was Rumor, little Golconda-to-be. Her advice had brought him back from the brink on more than one occasion. "I wasn't expecting to find anyone else out here tonight, but you're probably exactly who I need to see." Soft brown eyes sought Rumor's brilliant blues. The neonate had never been difficult for anyone to read, and it had always been a good thing, honesty being his policy. It wasn't just warmth radiating from his chocolate brown eyes, but guilt, pain and fear. All tearing at his kind soul.
"Are you busy this evening?" He asked, not as a kindred with power in the court, but as Octavian. Just the teacher, soldier, and friend that he would have been without the Embrace, and could now always and forever be with it. "I'm more lost and afraid than I have ever been." He admitted to the little Gangrel, searching her eyes for the same harsh judgement Finn had placed on him. Was it fear he'd become the monster so many portrayed them as, or was it fear that his actions had lost him some of the only friends he'd known since his embrace.
|
|
Rumor Black
Neonate
Maybe I'm the Kindest Demon
Posts: 51
|
Post by Rumor Black on Feb 3, 2016 17:57:34 GMT
The moment he tumbled, she tried to gather her feet beneath her. She looked almost cat like, scrambling up to rest on her hands and feet, but her face expressed nothing but joy. Since moving to Nagasaki, she had come to adore Octavian. He made her feel like her journey and all of her research meant something. He had always supported her. Of course she knew what he had done - the entire City knew that much - but there was no judgement in her gaze. She stared at him with the same child like adoration she had always had.
However, he looked... different. Sadder, somehow. She tilted her head to one side and let out a very animal whine, concern flashing across her face. Her eyes, for a moment, would show the brilliant gold of her goal, and if he paid enough attention, he would see that all of the marks and scars she had worn upon her body previously had disappeared. Her skin was absolutely flawless. Obviously, she had made some progress towards her goal.
Moving over to him, still on fingers and toes, she moved her head to the other side. "Of course I'm not busy. I'm never too busy for you! Do you want to go up to the Cabin? David's busy and we can sit out by the water and talk!"
If he would let her, she'd shift to her feet and wrap both arms around him in a large, warm hug, rocking him slightly back and forth. She would smell far more human than she ever had, since the two met.
|
|
|
|
Post by Octavian O'Connor on Feb 4, 2016 10:35:20 GMT
Octavian shook his head slowly from side to side, while the thought of going to their little cabin in the woods greatly appealed to him, he wasn't about to place anymore of a burden on the little Gangrel than he absolutely had too. "I'd love too but..." Suddenly Rumor's arms were around him, hugging him and all he could do was hug back. He adored her kindness, and that no matter how guilty he felt, how horrible he was, there she was, comforting him and just... Being Rumor. His warm smile grew slowly, stoked by her wonderful kindness. "I hurt Finn. I hurt everyone with my actions... Even Amy." He slowly stepped back from her, giving her her own space. "I've got this... Voice... In my head." His hand moved mechanically, running nervously through his hair. "I can't get her to stop, and it's worse when I'm around Amy or the court."
He was spilling his guts out, confiding in her more than nearly anyone. He wasn't sure what had drawn it all out, but he couldn't stop. "I'm going to hurt someone, and it's going to be my fault. She's going to say something, I'm going to believe it, and someone could die." Both his hands came up covering his face. His voice had started trembling but he continued. "Finn was my friend, he helped me break the blood bond... And I betrayed him. I hurt him." The guilt and shame were obvious in his voice, in his stance, in every fiber of his being. "I'm going to kill someone... I'm going to do it because I'm listening to a voice of a monster."
His shoulders slumped as he leaned back against a tree. All hope seemed to have drained out of him, leaving him looking somehow lesser. He was losing everything, his mind, his honor, and he was losing Amy, his love. "I'm sorry Rumor, I'm sorry." He shook his head over and over, he wanted to hit the gym. Wanted to tear into the bags, into something, someone. Doors were opening in his mind, very dangerous doors, barriers between the people he cared so much about and his beast. "I don't know, I don't know what to do. I just don't know." Octavian was beginning to spiral dangerously close to a frenzy. "Help me." How pathetic he looked, how absolutely worthless as a Ventrue, a Kindred, and worst of all, as a person.
|
|
Rumor Black
Neonate
Maybe I'm the Kindest Demon
Posts: 51
|
Post by Rumor Black on Feb 4, 2016 18:47:10 GMT
"Hush, now," the little Gangrel whispered, stepping up to close the distance between her and her friend. Unlike most of the others in the city, Rumor had very little sense of self awareness. Octavian needed comfort, so obviously she was going to comfort him, right? Her hands would raise to gingerly cup his cheeks, blue eyes alight with her usual gentle kindness. Her skin was warm to the touch, almost like a mortal's, but she was still the little Rumor he knew.
Her fingers delicately danced across his face as she tried to call his Beast to her. It was something she had learned during her studies, and something she had become quite profecient in: calming a frenzy. The sooner she caught it, the easier it was to help.
"This voice... Tell me about it?" It was a carefully spoken question and she meant no disrespect or cruelty. Her smile was genuine, no hatred or cruelty behind it. "If it's bothering you so much... Octavian, you can give me that. Let me take your worries, okay? So you can go back home to your Amy and be okay. Talk to me. Let me have it all."
Her powers had definitely grown since the last time they spoke. A warm, encompassing security would wrap around him like a blanket, seeming to drown out the rest of the world. The more he spoke, the more he would feel the release of the burden he was carrying. His negativity would flow into her hands, and down her body, before dispersing into the ground below to be recycled and used again later.
Rini's voice would quiet... but it wouldn't quite go away. Instead of a yell, it would be a mere whisper, easy to identify and ignore.
|
|
|
|
Post by Octavian O'Connor on Feb 6, 2016 2:00:04 GMT
Octavian broke down, in Rumor's kind and warm embrace, every detail began to spill from his mouth. Starting from the very beginning. "I needed help. My sire had abandoned me, left me here and I didn't know what to do. I just knew about Ventrue, about protocol, about helping so I went to the Prince." His words stung him, the way he spoke, the way he described Amy. "She terrified me, she was cold and cunning and the Prince. But she helped me, for a price she helped me. I learned and did everything she asked of me. I saw her pain, I don't know how but I did. I saw it over and over, so I tried to fix it. I told her things, and she got angry." He shook his head, the night in the arena, as clear a memory as ever. "She showed me her past and it tore me apart... So I tried harder. I did more. I finally took her out of the court and showed her the good. Showed her that she didn't have to be sad..."
He was feeling better with each word, the bloody tears that had been flowing had mostly stopped as he recounted everything. "I took her out, stayed with her, and I grew to love her, really love her." He half chuckled, shaking his auburn locks. "She met my parents, went to my brother and sisters grave, and she was loved. My folks loved her. Laughed over jam, saw what driving was like in Boston. The aquarium, everything." He looked at the little Gangrel again, pouring his soul out. "We caught the Setite, we both got hurt... Nuko..." The younglings shook his head again. "It was awful. Every bit of that night, I will never forget. Then the funeral..."
Despite Rumor's comfort, venom dripped from his voice. "Christian bloody Sorel, her father hurt her. For wishing for comfort." More and more of his fury and pain drained away. "I broke his nose, I stood up to him when no one else would." He shook his head. "I asked her to marry me, she asked I break the blood bond, I agreed. It was agony until Finn offered to help..." He shuddered a bit remembering. "I locked myself in his chains and he broke that bond in one night... Then I went back to Amy and proposed." The warmth in his smile was truly his. "We got married then Queen Anne summoned us... Christian had painted me a monster to her, and she summoned me to plead my case. It turns out I was right. But Christian had to have his due, and to be honest, even though I beat him in that duel, the effect on Amy was real. VindIelo was there and took her out all night... The Queen asked me to stay, to train to replace Christian, but I couldn't leave her. We made it back, and things went back to normal for the most part."
He sighed quietly, the stress slowly evaporating from his features. "Then Rini took Rome... Queen Anne sent me to Rome to... Deal with her." He paused for a moment, taking his time to explain things as clearly as possible. "She was a monster, a real monster, and she said that I would be too. That I was a monster, nothing better then her, and Amy and I will destroy everyone and everything we love... Then one another. She told me what she did... Bragged about it... It was disgusting, horrible, evil... So I killed her, I killed her and took away her only redemption. I diablerized her... I took her from her husband in death... But I can hear her... Every night... Telling me these awful things.... I hurt Finn, I went to Queen Anne for help, but it's just not... I hurt people Rumor, people I cherish. Finn, no matter how he feels then or now he's my friend..." Octavian was drained, getting it all out, every last bit of it felt like he'd just been fed from. Warmth radiated from his gentle brown eyes, pouring appreciation out to the little Gangrel. "Thank you Rumor."
|
|
Rumor Black
Neonate
Maybe I'm the Kindest Demon
Posts: 51
|
Post by Rumor Black on Feb 11, 2016 20:57:59 GMT
Rumor watched as the words came pouring out of the lovely little Justicar-in-training. It was a beautiful story, in its own way: he was telling her his entire unlife tale and it made her heart ache in a few places. She had experienced some of the tale alongside him. As he spoke of her Sire and adopted mother, however, that gentle smile that had been seemingly glued onto her face faded. Her eyes flashed for a moment as sadness touched deep inside her soul. Nuko... She would never forget that rainbow-haired Gangrel, that woman that had taught her so much.
She reached out as he continued, fingers resting upon his shoulder in hopes of supporting him, of letting him know that it was okay. It wasn't an easy thing to talk about, she knew, but she didn't blame him. She wasn't upset with him. It was hard for him to talk about everything that had happened, about the Queen and Rome. She didn't need to tell him that she already knew most of these things.
When at last he finished, thanking her, she stepped forward to hug him again. Her hugs were legendary. Everybody from Nagasaki knew the calming effect that Rumor Hugs had, and whenever they were feeling terrible, they would find the tiny little Gangrel so that she could help them feel better.
"Don't thank me, Octavian," she said softly, resting her head against his chest. "We're family. Amy and Mama were like sisters, which makes her my aunt. And you two are married now. So you're family." It was strange, twisted logic, but hey. It was Rumor logic. She gave a shake of her head. "And besides. Everything will be okay. Rini? She's just a sick little girl. And Amy loves you. Finn will forgive you. It'll all be okay. I promise."
|
|
|
|
Post by Octavian O'Connor on Feb 12, 2016 8:02:36 GMT
Octavian smiled sitting back amongst the leaves on the forest floor. He'd been so wrapped up in the horrors and pain that he'd lost sight of the things that truly mattered, and as it had in the past, took the little fox tailed gangrel to remind him that the night wasn't that horrible. He had Rumor and David and so many of the other kindred, he had his mom and dad, and it was all thanks to Amy. "I owe you so much Rumor, I'd love to be part of your family." Warmth radiated out from the young kindred once more, in his eyes and in his smile.
Amy. He really shoul have returned ages ago, but with everything that had gone on... He shook out his hair a bit. Boston, the aquarium, dinner, Drake and Molly. All of it was because of his beloved. His entire existence made possible by her. "Thank you so much. If I can ever help at all Rumor." He offered with the most heartfelt gratitude. "You remind me of my mom. Lucy would love to meet you... My mom, Lucy that is..." He shook his head a bit. "Sometimes I wish we were all normal, so everyone could meet them. So Jude wouldn't be so angry... So Amy could really enjoy life..." A wistful smile touched his lips as he leaned back contemplating everyone he knew being mortal.
|
|
Rumor Black
Neonate
Maybe I'm the Kindest Demon
Posts: 51
|
Post by Rumor Black on Feb 12, 2016 15:20:43 GMT
"You know, Mama and her entire family knew Killy's family," Rumor said, thoughtfully. She sat down on the floor of the forest she held so dear, lifting her face to the branches of the trees. "She told me a lot of stories... They were at their wedding and they visited a lot after they first got married. I don't really know how, but I bet Amy does."
Her tiny shoulders rose and fell in a shrug, eyes showing her distraction. She was completely lost in thought, trying to figure out how such a thing was possible a few hundred years ago, and if it would be possible now. "You could talk to her. It might be exactly what everybody needs... Happiness, you know? Something to be happy about, despite all of this darkness."
|
|
|
|
Post by Octavian O'Connor on Feb 12, 2016 21:55:41 GMT
He listened carefully thinking of all the possible methods of travel to get to and fro. Then it dawned on him, happy. "If I bring mom and dad down, Jude would come to see them, Amy could host them and set out the jam!" Octavian laughed, so heartfelt and sincere at his personal little joke. They all needed some of his parents warmth and kindness in their lives. "Brilliant Rumor, you're absolutely brilliant!" Octavian leapt up. "I'll see if I can get them down here asap!" He reached down lifting the little gangrel if she'd let him almost dancing with her. "You'll love em, they'll love you and David and hahaha!"
He was already moving back towards the city. "Thank you Rumor, you should come by the Manor more often! Icecream! I owe you so many icecreams!" The kind venture didn't even try to stay quiet as he moved through the woods, laughing merrily along the way. He could help everyone! Make so many problems disappear with just a call. His icecream budget was going to be so very depleted.
|
|
