Captive [open]

Aurelia’s breath came out in hazy rings as she walked along the slight boardwalk near the old, abandoned boat dock. She liked it here, it reminded her of those occasional cool days in Vietnam when the fish came up and became easy to catch. She closed her eyes and gently tipped her head back as she walked along, feeling herself drift back to those days.
It would be cloudy and cool; the canopy providing even more shade. Aurelia saw herself hunched over the mouth of a the small stream where it lead to the pond; bent in half with her legs braced on either side of the little stream, arms hanging down and her fingers ever-so-slightly parted. Then there would be a flash of silver, a large splash of water and the fish flying out of the water and landing on the bank of the stream. Aurelia liked to simply bat the fish out of the water. Or, when she went to hunt for larger fish, she would wade around in a shallow pond, waist-deep in muck and water, sticking her arms into crevices along the walls and floor to grab at a catfish.

She wondered if she could do that again. Aurelia came to the dock at last. She leaned over the water quietly and saw little fish coming up to the surface before rapidly swimming back down. But, among the ripples of the water, she saw a reflection. A young woman, late teens, with delicate black hair and black eyes to match. Her skin was pale as the moon, flawless except for a crescent-shaped burn on the side of her eye. Her name was Aurelia Locke… No. Her name was Rong Viet Mai.

And at this point, a few tears gently dripped into the water, scaring away the fishes and marring the reflection of the hunter.

At first everything was balanced and even, the same energies flowing in the same directions. It was nothing new or out of the ordinary as she leaned against the railing. It creaked a little under her weight; she briefly drew back but then leaned back down once she knew the whole thing wasn’t going to collapse and send her tumbling into the water. Not that she minded water; she had practically lived a most of her life neckline deep in it.

But then the energies changed. There was now a shift and she sensed it like a light push. Aurelia was confused at first; out in the forest the new energy could’ve been anything. But then a voice spoke to her side, ”Beautiful, isn’t it?"

Aurelia jumped to her side a little, never expecting the sudden voice and it took her most of her willpower to not yell something profound. She didn’t grow up around a whole lot of people so it made her awkward in social situations. She looked at the person who showed up… Or more like looked up at the man who just showed up. He was taller then her by 2 inches, so he was about 6 foot something she guessed. He was muscular for sure and ’triangular’ as Aurelia called men with broad shoulders and narrow hips. His hair was a nice dark brown, along with his eyes.

“Uh… Y-yeah, sure…” Aurelia stammered, suddenly feeling the urge to either run or rip out his throat. She hated when she was pulled in two directions like this, one being the side of her who just didn’t want to have to do with anyone; and the other, her ‘Komodo Side’, who wanted to kill and eat everything in sight. She leaned back onto the railing, harder this time, making it creak louder.

Aurelia rubbed her knuckles gently with her fingertips where her hands rested on the railing. She did this when she was nervous or excited. Then he said that he didn’t mean to scare her. Scaring her wasn’t the issue, it was a drawn out nervousness. Then he asked if he was disturbing her peace; she felt him watching. It wasn’t a threatening look; it was… Kind. Gentle.
”Ah, xin loi…” She bit her lip silently. ”Way to make yourself look like an idiot, Rong Viet” She said to herself in her head. ”Sorry, it’s okay, really.”

She turned to him but realized all too late that he was looking her dead on this time. She swiftly turned her head to the side, hiding the crescent-shaped mark on the side of her face. She often hid it, but hanging her hair in front of her face wasn’t that sensible, especially if you were a hunter. She didn’t face the person she spoke to because of it, making it even more awkward and made her look like she wasn’t listening.

”My name’s… Uh, Aurelia.” She cursed herself again. She had hesitated with her name… Damn.

Aurelia felt him take a step back and his eyes go off her. It felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, allowing her to breathe freely. Only now did she notice her thin her breathing was before. She found herself staring out at the water, it was beginning to get a little shady and the water reflected that; like a second sky. The faint traces of dark were beginning to creep in and the stars were coming out. How beautiful.

So, his name was Ryan, huh? Ryan Mulberry. It wasn’t very unique, the name she meant, but it had a ring to it and he just kind of looked like a person to be named Ryan. She couldn’t help but smile, even just a bit, when he told her that her name was unique. Now that was quite the complement. Most guys said a girl was pretty or good in bed or whatever as a complement, but Aurelia didn’t like all that crap. Uniqueness was something to be treasured.

”Not… A lot.” She shrugged. ”Sometimes, but not a whole lot. I don’t want much to do with other Hunters though, so…” She let her voice trail. It was true; she didn’t like most other Hunters and their consistent talk about their latest catches and whatnot. But she knew very well that some were different, like how not every kitten to a litter were born the same colour. She let out a deep sigh, it was nice out here. ”Hey… I think I heard about you somewhere before… From the other Hunters, I mean.” She hoped she didn’t offend.

Aurelia watched the little fish here and there, most of them were the more common ones that lived in the more shallow areas. Hm, so he liked to keep to himself too? Good, a little more in common.
But when she heard about the reason why he didn’t like to have much to do with Hunters, her expression shifted slightly. She could guess it was a mix of shock and disbelief. The reason she didn’t like to be around other Hunters much was that… Well, she simply had different reasons for going after Innocents, if her occasional sprint after and eat thing could even count as hunting. She never even went after Innocents actively, for Pete’s sake, just when she found one and could bring them down with only a bit of nuisance.
But this… Ryan’s reason was love. Aurelia never really felt that tingle in her chest before, nor really ever been close enough to a male to even think about it. What a difficult situation. It was also the trust that Ryan seemed to put in her hands, even if he barely knew her.

”It’s… It’s okay.” Aurelia finally said, again beginning to rub her knuckles. ”I probably have more secrets at the moment then you and your love ever will.” She bit her lip at that, it was probably true, but she hated to say it. She leaned some more on the railing, taking a foot off the dock. The railing creaked loudly in protest.


{OOC: If you were wondering about that whole 'xin loi' thing a few posts ago, it's just 'sorry' in Vietnamese. I forgot to add something about it.}

Aurelia began to feel Ryan’s restlessness. Did he want to be left alone? Should she leave? Her mother had used to tell her that watching Aurelia’s face while she thought was like watching her watch television; her expression would change along with her thoughts. This was the reason why she didn’t even like to think around people, because her face could be revealing.
She took Ryan’s restlessness into account though, because anything could be useful. It was also another commonality they had; restlessness. She wasn’t feeling that very much right now, but sooner or later she would.

”Why do I stay separate… I sometimes wonder that myself,” She felt him come closer to her, leaning one or two feet away. She heard the railing creak again, this time louder and more threatening. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking once again. ”It’s… Maybe… Maybe the way I hunt, maybe the way I’m just not like them. I don’t have big histories or impressive stories to tell. I don’t even think I could be counted as a Hunter; but I am. It’s bred into me. Maybe it’s even the way I was raised, I just don’t know.”

At last she felt the courage to look up. She looked up and faced him in the silence, her scar clearly visible on the side of her face; dark against white skin. ”Or maybe it’s just because of my talisman… The Komodo Dragon; a born killer.”

A hyena? She had never really seen a hyena before, only maybe once for a split second when she was flipping channels to find the news.
”The Komodo has deadly spit, ya know? Their saliva is full of a bacterium that rots you from the inside, pleasantly. They're also the largest living species of lizard.” She tried to make it sounds like she never did it before, but there was no lying, she had done it about 4 times already, not counting what she had to do in Vietnam. She frowned at that thought… Not really frowned, but turned her face neutral. Ryan said he didn’t like to hunt and had only done it once or twice. That’s okay, to her at least, it was okay.

”Yeah… In a way I do. But only if it isn’t a bother. I don’t go and track them down and stuff. It may sound cruel, but when I find one I just… Do off with him or her, if you know what I mean?” Aurelia drew her hand flat across her throat. ”Most of the time it’s barely anything more then a bite, then I just let them run. I track them down later, turn into a Komodo and…” She eased off there, sparing details. ”It’s just bloodlust.”

This time she leaned down on the railing. Hard. She felt anxious and like she had just done something awful and disgusting. She didn’t notice when a large section gave away under her force. For a second she didn’t know which way was up or down, all she knew was that she was falling. Then it was wet and cold as she hit the water with a loud splash.