[Aarya] Haunted and Hunted

[Brone Van Estra]

The forest was dense and dark. And Brone liked it that way. The dark never gave him trouble and the sun scattered small shadows through the foliage, tiny spots of glittering light which he could pass through. The speckled light made a jaguar pattern on his skin. Spots of dark and light, good and evil, marking on his skin.

The crowned prince moved quickly. He needed more and fast or else he might turn on another. The need for blood pulsed through him, it was the closest a vampire ever got to feeling a heartbeat. For surely, one with no blood of their own cannot have a heartbeat. Brone ran faster, managing not to hit branches on his way, the light and dark blurring as he went. He finally caught the scent of something big enough to satisfy him. A rabbit. Granted, it was not much when there was deer, but he only needed that much, and he'd rather a rabbit than a human slave's child.

Brone grabbed the rabbit as easily as he would have picked up a pine needle and sunk his teeth into its side, feeling the life leave it as it stopped twitching in his grasp. But everyone had to live, it was the circle of life. Eat or be eaten. He disposed of the carcass under a bush for the vultures to get.

As he was making his way back, he heard a sound. The sound of footsteps, and vampires almost never moved in a way that you could hear them. So who was in the forest with him?

[Aarya Waldewick]

Aarya moved quickly through the forest, it seemed she'd lost track of time, wondering about and breaking the rules. There was no better rush then that of one you recieved from rule breaking, but the feeling she had now, one of getting caught, well, that wasn't so pleasant. Soon enough, her sister, or her mother, worse her father, would be looking for her. They often liked to check on the youngest child, making sure she wasn't up to anything funny. Which, more often the not, she usually was.

Aarya heard a slight rustle in the bushes not too far off, but passed it off as an animal, a creature she needn't worry about, not while she had her sword tucked safely in it's sheath--oh wait, she'd left all her bulk at home, relying purely on her newly trained magic abilities to keep her alive and well. Luckily for her she hadn't run into anything threatening yet. Yet being the key word. She flittled as quietly as she could, being Aarya Waldewick, it was not an easy thing. Her clumsy movements would have alerted a fleet of vampires, had they been around, but she didn't sense anything. Unfortunately, the senses of a witch were flawed.

And just to prove her point, Aarya's eyes fell on the broad back of none other then Brone van Estra, the prince of the vampires. Prince vs. Princess, well, Aarya would like to say she'd win, but without her sword, and her stubborness, and her clumsyness, and her smart lip, she was practically asking to be sucked bone dry. Without second thought, Aarya ducked her head and tried to casually breeze past him. Maybe he wouldn't notice? Yeah, and her mother wouldn't notice a group of elephants trampling around the foyer.

In other words, fat chance.

[Brone Van Estra]

The movement was right behind him now, he could feel the person in the air. But it was either a runaway witch gone a bit too far or a human slave trying to escape the palace. Either way as it tried to move passed him he grabbed the figure from the back of their shirt.

His fingers knew the difference before his brain could catch up. The fabric between his fingers was not rough like that of a slave, indicating a witch. But then his eyes found the face and he would not let the shock show on his own features. He had ben to the Waldewick castle only once before with his father, but he knew that face. The baby of the royals, Aarya.

"A bit far from home aren't you princess," Brone said quietly, his voice utterly emotionless, the only noise in the forest, except for her breathing. He let go of her, letting her fall the few inches he had pulled her up. She was so light, and even though she was close to his height, she wasn't ever slightly a threat.

[Aarya Waldewick]

Aarya took her time answering him. She made sure she was situated properly on the ground, not near anything that would asist her tripping, or constrict her ability to run away, should she need it. Brone was clearly faster then her, he was a vampire, but maybe, just maybe if she could manage to get him at a weal spot, she'd have a chance at a getaway, and no piece of rock was going to be the cause for her untimely death. Not that Brone would kill her, not yet at least.

However, she inched backwards slowly until she found herself a safe distance from him. Maybe she was aggravating him with her delayed response, maybe he thought she had special problems, but really she was buying herself time, however slightly trying to tick off the vampire. "Far from home? Whatever do you mean? My house is just over the mountain, and I believe your is on that side of the forest," Aarya pointed in the direction she believed the castle was in, or what she thought it was in. But then she realized she had no idea which way she needed to go. And basically, she was trapped in here, at least for now. Aarya smirked, she was just being a troublemaker, as always, but it probablly wasn't smart to irke a vampire. Her fists clenched into defensive balls, ready to shout any spell that came to mind, her implusive actions usually did the job.

"What are you doing in the forest?" She asked, somewhat snidely. It took someone with a lot of guts to speak to the prince the way she did, even ask him the question she did, but Aarya payed no mind to it.

[Brone Van Estra]

Brone smirked as he watched her back away from him, as if he was a monster as if he really thought he could get away with killing a princess for trespassing without being punished. Or maybe she thought he was as reckless as she was. That was one thing Brone certainly wasn't, reckless. His eyes were still dark, but a flicker of amusement crossed his face. If he wanted to kill her, he could have done it easily by now, and he still could if he wanted too.

"You have that all mixed up little witch," He said snidely. He knew his way around the forest perfectly, and she had all her directions confused. And he watched her carefully, wondering how she'd react when she knew she was lost in enemy territory. "But you are far from home, I wonder what dear old daddy would say if he knew you were here."

Brone laughed, a loud, deep sound like the clanging of bells before he could stop them. But they were almost harsh in that they were not laughter at something funny, but at her ignorance. His face darkened, even his smirk disappearing within his skin. "I came for blood, and you are lucky i didn't find you a moment sooner."

[Aarya Waldewick]

Aarya opened her mouth to say something, but she found instead she was almost paralyzed with fear, her words wouldn't come, maybe she could use this time to think of something rude and witty to say, because for some odd reason, her comebacks weren't up to par with how they usually were. Aarya simply glared, "I think I can find my way out perfectly fine, thank you." She said cooly, bitterly too. "Don't talk about my 'dear old daddy' like you know him. No one of your kind could possibly understand that of a warlock." She insulted, a smirk finding her lips.

Aarya rolled her eyes, "I don't believe you could hurt me if you tried." She said smoothly, a smile finding her lips, "A vampire's powers couldn't possibly compare to that of a witch's, and I'd like not to be compared to you." She added rudely again. She had quite a mouth, and not a care in the world who she was talking to. She was reckless, this was his turf, his forest.

[Brone Van Estra]

Brone just shook his head with a smirk as be said she could find her way out of here and defending her father. She was so defensive, and it was almost funny. Since people would be trying to get out of here, and in they were lost they would just try to appeal to his better nature, which few witches even thought he had.

"I could hurt you easily," Brone said before materializing behind, twisting one arm up in back of her and grabbing her other wrist. He peered over her shoulder with a toothy smile. He could feel her heartbeat through her back and he knew he did not have one to compare it too. "But I, unlike you, have impulse control." He said, still smiling over her neck. Any other vampire might have killed her by now. But he did not need blood just then. Besides, killing her now would do nothing but trouble, and if she even thought for a moment that she could kill him, she'd be sadly mistaken.

[Aarya Waldewick]

Aarya let out a little gasp of air, she hadn't expected him to try anything because she truly thought he wouldn't hurt her, and he still had yet to. How much more could she push her luck? "I'd expect you to be letting go of me now, I believe you've proved an unnecesary point." Aarya snapped, trying to shake his grasp. She was uneasy with him so close to her neck, she had chills running up and down her spine, and goosebumps raising the hair on the back of her neck. Her heart was pounding in her chest, she would have been surprised if she didn't have waves of fear emanating from her.

"Well, if you won't let me go, bite me, isn't that what you want? I know it's tempting, to be this close, and yet so, so far." She smirked, was she teasing him with her life? Yes, in fact, she was dangling it before him, waiting to see how he'd react. Aarya had never been so careless, but she'd never recieved a chance like this, had she?

[Brone Van Estra]

"I told you little witch, I've already eaten. I don't need your blood. I'm not a glutton." Brone said lightly, moving his face from her neck but still holding her arms, just standing behind her. There was no point in taking more blood than you needed, kill only enough to survive. "I don't take more life than I have to, no reason for that." Brone looked at the back of her neck as he spoke. It looked soft, and her body was warm with life in a way that his would never be.

Brone held her a nit longer, she was so uneasy, he could feel her heartbeat racing through her hands. He gave a quiet laugh as he let her go and materialized back to where he had been at the start of this bizarre conversation. "You're heartbeat is a dead give away, I don't even have to see your face to know you were afraid."

[Aarya Waldewick]

Aarya had to put on a tough face, she couldn't look weak in front of the enemy. Even if her heart beat was irregular and he could clearly hear that, she had to act like she wasn't afraid at all, maybe she'd believe it herself. "A glutton? You're not one? Really, could have fooled me." She said with a smirk, "Any bloodsucker is a glutton." Surely that wasn't true, he clearly seemed to have some moral ethics, however, Aarya wasn't about to give him the benefit of the doubt. She laughed.

"Afraid? Of you? Huh, never crossed my mind, how do you know my heartbeat wasn't because you are so devilishly handsome?" She teased, Aarya would never admit it, a true vampire couldn't be handsome as he, but he was. It surprised her, she'd seen vampire's before, but it was a surprise to her that Brone was attractive. Last time she'd seen him it had been for a few seconds, since she was sent up to her room, but she didn't remember him quite this way. Aarya crossed her arms in front of her, trying to keep the invading smile off her face.

[Brone Van Estra]

"Am I more of a glutton than anyone who eats animals? I eat their blood, you eat their flesh. It is the same idea," Brone said simply, a smirk of amusement on his face. She would so easily be killed if she wasn't a princess, but on the other hand, he enjoyed banter, especially since she rarely had a good comeback. But if she was just a witch, he'd only be playing with his food. The best thing to do in an argument was find something about your enemy that was like you.

Brone laughed again, more in good humor. This was a game. "Well," Brone said, a crooked smile showing his teeth coming over his face. "If I was so handsome it would have fluttered, not pounded when i grabbed you. So I'm going with fear."

[Aarya Waldewick]

"Well," Aarya started, a smirk finding her lips. "Clearly you have realized I'm not your average witch, therefore, how would you be sure the pattern of my heart and it's fluttering?" Aarya wondered curiously, she had the air of a little girl about her. "So, really, you just made an assumption that's quite wrong. Proving that vampire senses aren't all they're played up to be." Aarya finished her point strongly, a smile on her face.

Aarya shrugged, "Don't be too hard on yourself, everyone knows witches have more superiority then that of your race." She said this sarcastically, she wasn't actually serious. Aarya wasn't like that, in fact, she wouldn't mind having a few vampire friends, but it was her family that kept her in check.

[Brone Van Estra]

Brone wondered if she had actually found him attractive would she say so out loud? But this was a joke, obviously. "I've studied heart patterns, i know the difference between pounding and fluttering." Brone said. It was not like he had his own to interfear with feeling hers. It was simple to distinguish others when you could not confuse yourself into the equation. Brone just shook his head, was she trying to be insulting? It was not working. She only seemed more foolish.

"I can hear your heart from here," Brone said. "Mysenses are just fine." He wondered if she'd say some smart mouth thing like 'you're only hearing your own' and then he'd have the perfect chance to prove her wrong. then maybe she'd shut up for once. Her constant chatter and glancing insults were tiresome.

[Aarya Waldewick]

Aarya laughed, rolling her eyes slightly, "Well, you're clearly mistaken, I don't fear you at all. You're not nearly as scary as you think. Honestly, I think you're hearing the pattern of your own heartbeating." She said smartly, putting a hand on her hip, studying him closely. "But don't fret, I don't attack unless provoked, you haven't given me a reason...yet." She said cooly.

Aarya took a quick look around the forest, they were completely alone out here. She wouldn't be found for a while if he decided they should fight. Aarya was tough, but she knew she wouldn't be able to kill anyone.

[Brone Van Estra]

Brone laughed. She had fallen for it. And in a second he materialized in front of her, grabbing her warm pulsing wrist with his cold hand and pressed it to his chest, right where a heart would be, if he in fact had one. She would feel nothing. "The heart is used to pump blood around a body. I have no blood of my own, and therefore, no need for a heart." Born vampire's never did. If you were killed by loss of blood by a vampire as a human you became a walking dead.

Perhaps that was the biggest difference with witches and vampires. Witches thought with gut, what their hearts could tell them. Emotion was said to be a heartfelt thing. But really, emotions-even love- was all in the brain, it was just always equated with the heart. Vampires knew that, they had the same feelings, even without a heart. But Brone doubted a witch would ever understand. And for a moment he felt terribly empty, a shell for other blood, nothing showed he was alive except for his breathing.