Prologue - Luna Ashworth

[Shrike7]

Luna had gone places at the organization's request before, but this was different. This one felt less temporary than before. A week in a motel, a sparse apartment with a month's rent paid, eight days in the basement suite of a man's house who she assumed was someone else with ties to the organization, but was told not to ask. This time, she had a room in a college, enrolled in classes, with a car and a modest bank account, both tied to a fake Canadian I'd they had also provided. If it weren't for the envelope on the bed when she arrived, she'd have thought they wanted her out of the picture for a while.

Apparently, even in a relatively peaceful place as this, there are people corrupted enough to draw her attention. There is a businessman siphoning funds from education funds into his own pocket that recently purchased a home in town, near the east end. In the envelope was a face, a description, and an address, same as always.

((Can't seem to word it in a way that seems appropriate in character, but assume you arrived in the morning and have had the day to prepare :/ ))

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

~Luna's Perspective~

Five minutes until the the twenty first hour...

Looking up from her watch, the scarlet-eyed girl stared at the moon intently, as if deep in thought regarding many things. Why she had been forced to flee, why her residency appeared to be so..."permanent", and why her newest target seemed so trivial compared to the others. Granted. a sinner was a sinner regardless, there were surely ones that warranted her attention more immediately than this one. Slightly suspicious of ulterior motives hidden in the shadows of the events that had recently come to pass, the girl continued to ponder for a bit and craft theories detailing possibilities for the recent movements until the 21st hour, in which she abandoned the visage she used to mingle in with society and donned her "killer's mask". Regardless of what she suspected, cleansing the world of sinners would always come first, and in the manner which she herself chose... Setting out from the shadows in which she had hidden herself within, she began to carry out her plan for the "purging" of the businessman, her armaments devoid of the silenced sniper rifle the organization had granted her...

~Businessman's perspective~

It was a typical night for Rudolf Evslion following a long day of work. After having had a fine dinner and taken care of other needs, the man had opted to plop himself in front of his widescreen plasma television to amuse himself by watching some of the broadcasts before heading off to bed. Life was going unexpectedly well for him, he was well-off, in good health... and if all went according to plan, the fact that he had siphoned funds would be completely buried without any chance of resurfacing within a week. There was absolutely no reason for him to be worried, after all, what could possibly happen to him?...

It was then however, that five minutes into the 9:00 broadcast, that the power suddenly went out...

(Sorry this took so long, I was lacking massively in writing inspiration...)

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Rudolf blinked a couple times, looking around in confusion. "What the hell? What happened to the power?" He asked out loud, getting off the couch and walking to the basement to check the fuse box.

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

(Gah, I keep getting distracted...)

Upon reaching the basement, Rudolf would find that the fusebox was closed, and appeared to be fine...from a distance. Nevertheless, as he was disgruntled by the power outage, he moved in closer to inspect it. It was then that he'd notice the following things were wrong. Firstly, all the switches remained in their "on" positions, but there was no power. Second, other homes near his still possessed power, while his did not. Lastly... a faint waft of smoke was drifting into the basement, despite the fact that the windows should have been...closed. Upon realizing that panes of the windows in the basement were missing, the man moved towards them for a better look, voicing his disapproval as he did so.

"What the hell?..."

His fixation was such that he had yet to notice the shadowy figure moving in behind him blade raised...

(Eh....... On second thought >.>, I'll edit more upon being personally asked to. I honestly want to just get this murder over with.)

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

((Alrighty, that should work just fine.))

A smile started to cross Luna's face as she stalked in for the kill, blade moving cleanly through the air at the back of the man's neck... Before stopping suddenly mere inches away. It took Luna a half second to realize that the man's arm had shot up, faster than she could perceive, up and around the blade, catching it from the back and stopping the killing stroke.

"Not bad, you should do." The man says enigmatically, turning around to stare her in the eyes.

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

((Ooo, now we're getting somewhere... I like.))

Luna froze as she realized her "target" was more than he seemed, completely alert now as a result. Letting go of her blade, she backed away cautiously, her face betraying no real emotion as she replied to the man's comment.

"...Thank you."

Straightening her arm by her side in a manner to allow one of her hidden knives to slip into her hand, she wasted no time in throwing it towards her foe's face with deadly speed and accuracy...

(Think FMA2 Hughes style if you need a visual guide for what Luna did...)

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Again the man moved with blinding speed, though this time Luna caught the movement. He purposely held out his left hand to catch the blade, not by grabbing it out of midair, but be simply letting it slide into his palm, the well sharpened blade sinking into the hilt and sticking out the other side.

"Hold for just a moment, Siesta." The man said, and as he did, his features seemed to change. Or rather, they seemed to be different without actually changing, as if he had looked like this all along, and Luna had failed to notice. Which was, of course, impossible. He looked Middle Eastern, maybe Arabic. He dropped her Katana and raised both hands up, pulling the knife out of his hand and dropping that as well as he showed her the wound. It seemed to cover up, healing incredibly quickly, completely gone without a scar in under ten seconds. "The organization didn't send you here to kill me, they sent you to learn from me, take a part of me into you, and then to go off after your real target. I am Khalim, listen to me, and when I am done, if you still wish to kill me, you are welcome to try."

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Most people, upon seeing a person change completely in front of them, would have begun screaming and panicking hysterically. Luna however, stood there silent as she let another knife slip into her palm, taking no further action as she spoke...yet.

"...Go on..."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Khalim just smiled, and slowly walked over into the next room, sitting himself down on a weight bench as he began to speak, his voice a little deeper, more resonant than it had been when he was the corrupt businessman. His voice held no hint of an accent, Arabic, Canadian, or otherwise.

"There is a completely separate world hidden from ordinary people's view, from most extraordinary people, even. The targets you've been hunting so efficiently for the organization were bad and corrupt, it's true, but they were far from truly evil. Tell me, what do you know, or believe would be more apt, of the supernatural? And before you say it's all stories, smoke and mirrors, think about what just transpired."

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Despite the fact that the "man" she was speaking to had taken a seat, Luna herself remained standing, on constant guard in case the aforementioned being made any sudden movements.

"...A few..."encounters" now and then...little aside from that."

What she didn't mention was that these encounters had often ended in her barely escaping from what she believed to be the jaws of death...and that they had taken place mainly on targets that she herself personally chose, without the organization's knowledge. After all, even if the man truly was from the organization, as he claimed, there was no need for him to delve into her private matters...

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Khalim nodded, seeming somewhat satisfied. "Good, then you won't just scoff when I tell you this. I am a vampire. A blood-sucking, god-forsaken, creature of the night. I am part of a clan of Assassins, some of which work for the organization, like myself. You were sent here to become one yourself, and start hunting the real evil in the world. There is a target in this city for you, a beast that used to be a man. He calls himself Deacon, and an entire group of people like me could not kill him. I myself have seen some of the atrocities to humanity he commits within his haven, warping the bodies of innocent people, fusing their arms and legs together so they cannot resist as he hangs them from the ceiling to be picked like fruit, and eaten at his whim."

He pauses here for a moment, judging Luna's reaction, seated calmly with his gaze locked to hers.

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Having listened intently to the vampire's story, Luna slackened her guard slightly, as if satisfied for the answer for now. It was then however that an unusual icy smile, much akin to ones that her master used to have, crossed onto her face, as if she had come up with an amusing idea.

"Certainly...one such as that does not deserve to exist in this world... However, would you not have been better off converting me by force?...Few would throw aside their humanity that easily..."

Of course, rather than her being reluctant to toss aside her humanity, the scarlet eyed woman was more interested in finding out more regarding the strengths, and weaknesses of a vampire. After all, if the legends were correct, becoming a creature of the night who feasted on blood had several disadvantages and limiting factors. Should the powers of a vampire not be sufficient, it would be better to remain as a mortal, unrestrained by such "flaws".

"In fact... why not do so? Show me the power of a creature of the night, and finish your business here by force..."

Slipping a knife into her other hand as well, Luna looked on at the vampire, having made her intentions clear enough in the tone of her voice as she spoke. While she did not mind becoming a "monster" like him, she would resist nonetheless if so to ensure that doing so was an improvement upon her current self. Essentially "goading" the man to do as he was instructed by force, the white-haired woman had put herself into a combat stance...

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Khalim stands slowly, walking in a slow circle around her. "And if I had turned you first, before explaining anything, would you still have gone after Deacon when it was all said and and done? Or would you have turned your back to the Organization, out of some misguided hate? I do not know you well enough to have made that decision, so I took the route with a higher probability for success. If it's a demonstration you want however, I can oblige." He had walked nearly full circle as he walked, grabbing a 30-pound dumbbell and hurling it at her like a baseball.

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Rolling to one side, the scarlet-eyed girl barely managed to dodge the dumbbell as it soared past her, returning the projectile with one of her own in the split second of recovery after her maneuver before allowing another knife from her seemingly endless supply to slip into her hand.


"Perhaps... I know little of what others believe me to be...however I am merely doing as one has once advised me to..."

Continuing to move as she spoke, she dove into close range, feinting a slash with her right hand, only to duck and drop the knife so as to pull out her revolver for a point blank shot...

" 'One should challenge an immortal while they still possess mortal flesh..' "

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Khalim batted the knife out of the air, moving faster, but within human limits for now. He ignored the feint and tilted his head to avoid the gunshot, but the muzzle blast seared him down his cheek. He got his hands on her shoulders and pushed, sending her back against an inside wall and temporarily knocking the wind out of her, the drywall caving with an audible crunch. She must have gone backwards nearly ten feet from the push, airborne the whole way.

"So you know some of the lore surrounding my kind. Tell me, what else do you know?" He says, still rooted to the spot. Luna notices something interesting as well. The burn mark on his cheek from the muzzle blast didn't seem to be healing like his hand had.

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Luna let out a gasp as she collided against the wall with a sickening crunch, slumping to the floor against it as gravity did its work. Even so, the girl struggled to get to her feet again within a few moments of her impact, adamant in her resolve to remain standing. Grimacing slightly at the pain incurred from the earlier blow as she answered the vampire, she was already attempting to slip another knife into her hand.

"Asides from the fact thou drinkest blood and converts others to become like thou?...Little...Lest water blessed by an alleged priest or cross scorches thy flesh..."

As if to test her theory, the knife she threw at the vampire was cross hilted, unlike the others. However, even if her experiment could prove successful, the frailty of a mortal's body was already evident in her toss, which's aim and power were already severely lacking as a result of her injury. At this point, it would appear that the most logical action to take was to draw this fight to a close...although whether or not the scarlet-eyed girl would do so voluntarily was a different story.

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Khalim caught the flying knife easily, holding it up by the blade and pressing the resulting cross against his other hand. Nothing happened. "Blessed water, False. Cross or other religious symbol, Only under exceptional circumstances. The user must have complete, unshakable faith in their diety for it to have any effect, and even then it only holds us at bay, it doesn't hurt us. Such a thing is rare, most priests, even at the higher levels of the church, don't have the faith necessary." Luna noticed the sudden shift from 'my' to 'us' in his speech, and he was now speaking more as a tutor to a student than as equal to equal.

"Garlic, False, Silver, False. Fire and sunlight are our greatest weaknesses, do your best to avoid both. The fangs and whatever natural weapons your enemy can summon are also potent, but somewhat less avoidable. Our clan has the ability to turn our very blood into a weapon against our foes, to make ourselves invisible to our enemies, and to move with the speed you saw of me earlier. It is possible to learn more abilities from others, but such training often comes at a high price."

The entire time he speaks he just stands there, watching her intently, as if to make sure she is paying attention.

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Growing disinterested with the fight itself, and becoming more curious in regards what she was most likely soon to become, the girl finally allowed herself to become seated against the wall, her hands becoming completely free of weapons for the first time that night. Removing her killer's "visage" to allow expressions to flow out more naturally as she resigned herself to mere questioning as she awaited her fate, it would appear that Luna was done with battle...for now.

"And what of the fabled "wooden stake"?... Is that but another fairy tale spun by occult lunatics?..."

 

[Shrike7]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Khamir smiled, reaching into his suit and pulling out a stake from within. "Only half fictional. While it doesn't kill, it does completely immobilize, a state that we call 'torpor'. Note that this has been tried on Deacon, to no success. either he has had his heart shifted somewhere else in his body, or contracted a different clan to remove it entirely, in which case he has it somewhere for safekeeping. Are there any more questions about the nature of the curse itself? If not, then I would like to continue. There will be time to talk of the mission itself after you have acclimated."

 

[Keylo]

Re: Prologue - Luna Ashworth

Pondering for a moment if there was any remaining things she desired to know in regards to what she would become, the scarlet-eyed girl spoke out upon arriving at an answer, a smile on her face as she did so.


"I am satisfied...for now...Do as you like..."

Resigning herself to whatever came next, the girl slackened her body and chose to simply observe the vampire's next actions, whether they be a continued lecture, or converting her to the same creature as him.