The return (Open)

[Draven]

The crowds of the busy market place had gone for the day with their newly bought items. And the caravan was long gone. Most of the area was empty with only a few tents still up.

Even under the night sky Draven stayed in the shadows of the trees . He liked it that way. The little he was noticed the better. He wore a black and gray striped shirt under a black hoodie jacket. And simple blue jeans. His favorite weapon two wood handle daggers were sheathed inside his jacket. His life had become so different in the last ten years, There was no doubt he had changed but he was not so sure it was for the better,

Draven was not sure he should be there, It had been so long since he was in Brigade territory. The reason he left was the same reason he was back, Merry Lovelace. She would not recognize the prince she once knew. He was a killer. A assassin for hire. Who only had one rule, no women or children. So it came as a shock when he received his next target. It was his beloved,

He look the mission like normal. With only a warning about no more women targets. If he did not take it. They would find someone else. He had to take it. At least it would buy him some time. He had to warn her. He knew it would be hard to get her away from the Brigade and alone. Using dream manipulation he was able to be his old self for her. Hoping she would follow Chris' words and meet her there. She had to trust him. Even when he looks like a young punk vampire. Deep inside he was still Chris Ryan.

Draven climbed up one large tree to get a better view. He Perched on a large branch as if he were stalking his prey. He hated his new found senses. But the worse was the thirst for blood. If at all passable he would drink the blood of animals. But sometimes the thirst would be too much to bear. And human blood would be the only cure.

Tonight he could smell the blood of different races. Some from people who had not been there since four hours ago. Then one caught his attention. "Could it be her?" He thought.

[Merry Noelle Lovelace]

She had had a dream that Chris had come to her. Whispering to her that she needed to trust someone whom wished to meet her in the Caravan area. She had dressed as subtly as she could, her dress in a drab brown that would attract no attention because it seemed to blend into the dirt. The craftsmanship was something she could not hide; however, and so even in the drab coloring of her gown she still stood out like a beacon. She seemed to float because of her nature and had an inner light that never truly left her.

It was this inner light that sustained her as she moved as if in the air through the caravan area. She glanced here and there hoping to catch sight of the person Chris said wished to speak to her. Glancing about she caught sight of a vampire and quickly averted her gaze out of respect and a little fear. Vampires had been the partial cause of her misery and she feared what they might do if they found her.

There had been rumors that the king of the vampires was looking for her after his return and so she was careful not to put herself in harms way. It was what made it so hard for her to be out here alone and waiting to visit with a stranger that she knew nothing about. She decided she would give him a half hour before she headed back home to pick up her duties once more. It didn't matter if she controlled the portals; she still had work to do. It wasn't going to disappear just because she had to meet someone. Smoothing her dress she decided to sit with her back to a wall so she could keep an eye out and not be surprised by someone sneaking up behind her.

[Draven]

Draven eyes were quick to spot her. And even at this height he could smell her blood and well as the power pouring off her. As a ghost he could see her power. But now behind vampire eyes, he could only smell and taste it in the air. As he watched her none of that mattered. He missed her so much. She looked just like the day of the accident. As he looked nothing like himself. He remembered being ushered away by portal staff as he watched from a distance Merry drop to her knees and cry. She was crying for the death of Chris Ryen.

Draven smiled as he watched her lean against a wall. She was always cautious. No one could sneak up on her. Seeing her there made him understand one thing. She would do anything for her Prince. Even when he was dead.

Draven jumped down in one motion and with inhuman speed he was standing on the wall looking down at her. Then in front of her in less then a second. He fought to keep his emotions in check. He wanted to grab her and kiss her.

"Merry Lovelace." His voice was cold and rough. "Glad you made it." He smiled. On the outside he was just a young looking vampire. But on the inside was the ghost who loved her more then anything. He could not let that part of him show. If she never knew who he was, a part of him was fine with that. He had done things as Draven he was ashamed of.

[Deleted]

Once Agatha had heard the disturbing reports, she had made sure that she told her subordinates to take care of any other problems, chase down any lead they could find to these assassins that thought they could exist and act on her jurisdiction. She wasn't one for pride, not as much as Jon definitely was, or the impression she got from that girl that the Queen had with her usually these days. Still, this did feel personal, even more so once she had figured out that this particularly situation was in regard to one of her fellow Brigade Commanders.

This meeting definitely took place off the beaten path in a way, and there had been moments she was sure that her lesser experienced underlings would have been shrugged off by the one that obviously led Merry here, who she had kept under close watch since she gotten the word about the plot on her. She managed to keep herself out of sight pretty well, with a good line of sight to Merry, and even seeing the silhouette of the guy. She could even make out what he said to her, causing her to raise an eyebrow for a second. That was a pretty odd greeting for someone that thought he could carry out an assassination on one of her colleagues under her nose. The thought alone still made her blood boil for a moment, thinking that this already had gotten further than she should have allowed to begin with, a mistake she was more than determined in setting straight if she had the chance.

She still felt like there was a higher calling for her, but then again, this was already a duty she would not just abandon, a duty she was willing to carry the rest of her life, and as long as she had the skills to do so. She shortly and very quietly pulled a little on the watch she had hanging on her belt, before letting it zip quietly back, letting out a short sigh as she looked back up toward the scene. Things had changed over the years, more than she really liked, and she also felt like she had accomplished a lot less than she should have.

Agatha shook her head, pulling her hood up straighter and her eyes lighting up in an attempt to watch the situation unfold in more detail, ready to strike and defend Merry if she even saw a slight threatening movement or posture from the guy. She did want to see how it would go first though, she wanted to see if this guy could also give away a clue to whoever hired him to do this, that thought that Agatha was one to be defied and challenged. What the hell was exactly happening here? She asked herself, her glowing eyes under her hood narrowing as the thought went through her head.

[Merry Noelle Lovelace]

Merry was worried when she saw the young vampire approach her. "You wish to speak to me?" She asked the young fledgling vampire. She glanced him over and looked puzzled as her sensing gave her an odd reading. She remembered how Chris spoke to her in her dreams and she bit her lip. She folded her hands in front of herself and waited to see what he had to say. Agatha's presence went unnoticed since Merry hadn't announced what she was doing. Had she known the Black Butterfly was taking care of her she would have felt better. As it was Merry forced herself to try and relax.

Softly she exhaled. "Why did you call me here?" she asked quietly and relaxed against her chair. Merry was not going to let this vampire see her fear of his people. The idea that someone would take her from her home made her shiver inwardly but she was glad that none of it showed on her face. The young man seemed like he had some skills with how much athleticism, grace and dexterity. This made her more wary of the young man that was before her.

She hadn't survived this long by being ignorant of how dangerous others could be to her. She'd almost been murdered with her own family and she wasn't going to die today if she could help it. The evening smelled of flowers and the light chill in the air. She exhaled softly as she waited to see what he would say.

[Draven]

His body may have been Draven's but Chris was in charge at the moment. He felt and sensed everything as a vampire, including a werewolf that was watching them. He could tell it was female. Was she there to make sure he did the job? But the ones who hired him don't strike him as the kind that works with werewolves.

"I came to warn you that an assassin named Draven has been hired to kill you. He has a policy to not kill women but with you he has made an exception. He is known to be one of the best. And if he fails someone would only take his place. A lot of money has been offered for your blood. "

He moved closer toward her taking in her smell. "I come to you as a concerned vampire. You don't remember me. But I have seen you before. It was ten years ago I think. I was traveling through the portals when something went wrong and the portals, well I was stuck. I was pulled out by some of your officers. They said I was lucky to have been a vampire. And that my healing abilities saved me. But as I was being escorted away I saw you. You where on your knees, you looked up at me. Tears covered your face." He stopped himself from saying too much. "I just thought you should know. If you want to hide, protect yourself. And you can stopped hiding in the shadows! That is my trick." He yelled to the werewolf. "She a friend of yours?"

[Deleted]

Agatha hadn't been sure if she should let Merry know that she was there, but she did not want to take the risk of putting her in any extra danger by doing so. So, in the end she had decided to stay hidden and only show herself if she deemed it necessary. As she listened to how at first Merry asked him why he had called her here, she narrowed her eyes underneath her hood as she heard the guy answer. Draven, she would have to remember that name, look into it. She didn't take kindly to other assassins acting without her permission or that of the Brigade. It was a dangerous power, the ability to kill, to use stealth, skills that could easily upset the balance if in the wrong hands.

Money for blood, it made her sick to her stomach, the idea that a life was still something that a price was apparently so easily set upon. There were far better reasons, even reasons with justice, to commit to being an assassin, and a task that might come up, but never had a sum of money been a decisive factor for that since Agatha had led the assassins Division.

Agatha found herself having to fight the urge to make a sarcastic and skeptic sound, as she heard him telling Merry that he came to her as a concerned vampire, something that she had highly ever come across to begin with in her personal experience, so she was quite skeptical about this. What he told her after that though, was more intriguing and confusing at the same time, her eyes wandering to look at Merry for a moment, trying to examine from her expression what she was thinking. What there was behind this what he was telling her.

Well well, it had definitely been a while that someone managed to spot her as she was in her own stealth mode and hiding, which made her even more sure of the fact that this was anything but just some coincidental concerned vampire. Even with their senses, there was only so much concentration that even an untrained vampire had. After all, she had snuck by plenty of those vampires through the years alone. His words did annoy her a little though, but before she would show herself, she had to make sure of one thing.

She turned to the cat that had been perched calmly and almost just as curiously as her beside her on the roof, causing it's head to turn and look at her, before it seemed to listen closely as Agatha whispered. She needed to be sure that she relayed a message to her division, and it was helpful that she always had at least one person ready to receive these kinds of messages when necessary. She watched as the cat soon after swiftly and smoothly made it's way off, her head turning back to look down.

She didn't bother putting her hood on better, not sure how good he would be able to look past it anyway, even in the darkness, as she jumped off the roof, landing on her feet smoothly diagonally in front of Merry between her and him, faced towards him as she got back up straight. "The shadows are not just a 'trick' you know? They're not just some tool to be used for your own benefit." She said, her eyes narrowed, but deciding not to try and make her understand exactly what she meant by that and how she viewed it. It was pretty typical for a man though, especially a vampire, to claim right to something as shadows. "That is none of your concern. What is mine though, is this assassination order that you speak of!" She said quickly, although she did not intend to speak for Merry, but she did not see the relevance in him knowing right now that at least Agatha did consider Merry somewhat of a friend in the Brigade. Besides, she did want to make a good hint for him, with the thing she was anything but pleased about, nor was she planning on letting it happen under her watch.

[Merry Noelle Lovelace]

This whole thing was a mess. She wanted to hide and pretend she'd never come here, "I thank you for telling me this. As for my friend..." she trailed off for a moment till Agatha made an appearance, "I didn't know she was here but I appreciate her presence." she said softly as she looked at the dark haired Gothic vampire. "I shall keep your words under advisement. Thank you for telling me. I'll be sure to let others know what you have said."

Right now Merry just wanted to leave. First she had lost Chris and now someone wanted to kill her. There was a wave of sadness that washed over her and her eyes filled with tears. She had to leave, "I...thank you. I was not at my best that day." Her voice broke and she shook her head, "Excuse me. I have to go." the last word came in a choked sob and Merry took off blindly, heart broken and sad as she blindly ran down the ally just wanting to cry in her own bed away from prying eyes.

The great mage commander brought to a sobbing mess by a strange vampire. That was going to be the talk of the Brigade for sure she thought bitterly as she scrubbed at her face, dodging between people as her training had taught her. She just had to get to a clear spot and then she could teleport out of this place and back home.

[Draven]

"Merry please," His heart ached at the sight of her tears. He wanted nothing more then to kiss her lips. Tell her he was not dead but right here. But she would only see Draven. If he told her it might put her in danger as well. And what if he could not control his blood lust around her. He was too deep in thought to hear what the she wolf was saying. "Princess," He called out to her, not realizing what he had called her. It was the name Chris always called her.

He looked at Agatha then back to Merry. Draven inside his own head rolled his eyes. And maybe it was Draven that said the next thing that came out of his mouth. "I did not tell you my name, My name is Draven," Chris heard that and fear arose. He pulled his two daggers from his back and held them tight, "Am sorry." He said to Merry with sad eyes. Fighting for her was all he had ever known. And he was still fighting for her. Even if it meant playing the part of her assassin.

[Deleted]

Agatha didn't exactly get the chance to say something to Merry, before she had run off, not to mention that she was trying to figure out what was going on with the conversation they were having and talking about, because she wasn't exactly sure what that was all about. All that she knew, was that there was a threat here in front of her, in more ways than one, not just for the balance, the greater good, but also for one of her friends, even if he was strangely warning her in a way.

"Don't you even try! If you really wanted to warn her, you could have done something else than draw her here with whatever ability you did, probably something with dreams the way I saw it. And what would have happened if I wasn't here?" She asked, narrowing her eyes, before they fell on the daggers that he drew, making her shift her stance into a more defensive one already. "I suppose I will take that as an answer already." She said, taking in the name that he told her. "Let me make this as clear as possible then. The only assassinations that are authorized, are by the assassins division. Rogues are not allowed!" She told him, her eyes still narrowed and having a bit of a pissed fire in them in a way.

She kept her position, her eyes locked on Draven, prepared for him making a move and giving her a reason. "Just stand down and surrender, or retreat. If you're as good as you claim to be, I'm sure you could make use of me giving you a two-minute headstart, before I hunt you down." She warned him.

[Merry Noelle Lovelace]

Hearing him call out the nickname that Chris had given her made Merry whirl around in confusion, "How do you that name?" She asked wide eyed, her tone shocked as she tried to process what the vampire was saying, "Only one person has ever called me that and he died." she said softly, her voice catching as she looked from Agatha to Draven.

Agatha's defensive stance made Merry instinctively step out of the line of fire. Hearing the assassin admit that he was the one who had come to kill her made Merry go white with shock, "Why would you take a contract on me? I've done nothing to you." Merry wanted to leave the area. The thought that someone wanted to murder her made her stomach twist and her heart flutter with fear. Bad enough that a stranger called her by the nickname Chris gave her but to threaten her? That was terrible. The brunette mage forced herself to breath and focus. She was trained not to react to what others said, at least on the surface when magic was involved but this involved her heart and was so much more difficult than ignoring someone who was trying to get the magical jump on you. She forced herself to calm down and stood there, waiting for a signal from Agatha to leave or stand and fight.

[Draven]

When Chris called her Princess, he was sweet and kind. But through Draven's voice it sounded like an insult. "Look Princess. Not everything is as it seems." He replied to her when she said the person that called her that was dead. Dead no, bugging the hell out of Draven right now, yes. He had gotten them into this mess. Merry then asked why he would take the contract. He looked at her with a smile. It was simple. Taken the hit would by him time to find out who ordered it.

"I took it to keep someone else from taken it." His words were meant to be confusing but it was the truth. With a smile he pointed to her and said, "A women with so much power running through her." Draven moved slowly toward Merry. "Yet with all that power you have been scared." He was talking about the scar Chris gave her back in his time. A scar only Chris and Merry could see. But before she could answer he was gone in a flash .

He reappeared behind Agatha. "I did not come to her in a dream." It was Chris that did. "Me and the assassins division never did get along, being apart of the Brigade and all. I try and stay away from the Brigade now a days. So call me a Rouge if you want. she wolf." Draven was tried of this. He had to take over and save their buts, again.

In the blink of an eye Draven appeared by Merry's side again. This time he held a bottle of pink dust. It was the crushed petals of the night shade flower. It would put Merry to sleep but not harm her. It was his distraction. If Chris was in charge he would never have put Merry in harms way. But this was Draven.

He blew the dust into her face as he said a short sleep spell. But he doubted that the she wolf would know it was only a sleep spell. He hoped she would think the worst. To help that, the moment she started to fall, Draven brought his dagger only inches away from her neck. Making it look like he sliced her.

When Merry had fallen to the ground, Draven was at the wolf. "And I don't need a head start." He said as he took off running.

[Deleted]

Agatha didn't say or ask anything, although when Draven called Merry Princess and hearing what he said, did make her think that either he was playing even more mind games than she had thought, but mostly figured that there was more than she knew right now going on. Not that it mattered, the most basic thing right now was to protect her friend, and make sure that this guy knew that she wasn't going to stand for him just messing up the greater good by taking contracts from whoever knows what.

Her eyes narrowed as she kept standing with her guard raised, raising an eyebrow as well soon while looking in Merry's direction with a questioning look, but tried to hide her confusion. "Merry, what the hell is going on here? Who is this guy?" She asked her, her gaze going back cautiously to Draven, frowning as she took in when he said that he didn't come to her in a dream, thinking that she might have to take that as literal as possible. She just wasn't sure how that changed anything right now.

The way that Draven called her she wolf and talked about the assassins division, made her hands form into fists, with how it made her blood boil. She worked so hard to make sure that even for assassins, they did what was right or the people that didn't have the strength to fight, and now there was this guy, who acted like he was all that, and more. She wasn't just going to let that slide. "I know how it is to stand alone, but this is not the way to guarantee your own survival." She told him, making sure that there was a warning and threatening tone in her voice as well for if he decided to stick on this path and keep challenging her.

Her eyes widened, just for a second as she saw what happened to Merry, shooting forward while her claws already came out, ready to be used, and a whistle sharply came from her lips. Two of her people quickly landed on the ground next to her and she looked at them. "Keep her safe, whatever you do." She told them with a nod to Merry. She then ran off, following Draven, eventually seeing a way to cut him off in the direction he's heading, making use of it and sliding a little with one leg in front of her in an attempt to tackle him as she caught up. "Only cowards act tough, then run off to flee!"

[Merry Noelle Lovelace]

The chaos of this conversation was not lost on her "I don't know but I think he knew Chris." she said quietly as she tried to puzzle out how this guy knew Chris in the first place.

His dosing her with the sleep agent caused her to collapse as the drug knocked her unconscious and her delicate form fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Two of Agatha's assistants sprung to watch over Merry's body while Agatha took over the chase for the vampire named Draven. It would not take long for word of this to go through all of the command and for justice to be swift.

[Draven]

"Am not a coward, just smart."

On the outside Daven was running from the she wolf. Dodging trees and leading her deeper in the woods. On the inside a fight was going on between a ghost and a vampire.

"What the hell did you do?" Chris yelled.

"Saving our ass. It was turning bad. Why don't you just tell them."

"No, I could not do that." Chris replied.

"Then that is why am saving our ass."

"Is that what you call this? You put Merry at risk. Now were are on the most wanted list. Not to mention the very upset werewolf on our trail. Good job. I feel so safe. What now, do we fight her. She is only protecting Merry. Something I would do with out question."

Daven was silent. He ran to a clearing and stopped making sure only the wolf was following. He dropped to his knees and closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked.

"I have a plain."

"To get us killed. Great plain."

"To not hide anymore."

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