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He then walked to his closet again and pulled out a shirt that was rather large, buttons running down the front, and tore it down the back from the collar about five inches straight down. He then removed removed what little fabric was left hanging from him, belonging to the shirt the ranger had bought him before drawing on the new shirt, the base of the rip tucked under his wings as he pulled the shoulders up and started to button up his shirt as he was thinking.

The ranger hadn't said much more and had begun to slip back into mowing down the soup when Micheal turned away from her. Having not been paying attention, Jay's attention shot toward the ripping sound while the overly large gulp of soup painfully went down her throat. For a moment, she sat there looking Micheal's way while fiddling with the spoon sticking out of her mouth like a farmer chewing on a piece of cattail grass. Seeing that he was just replacing his shirt for the second time, she turned back to her soup and began eating again.

When he finished with the last button, he adjusted his wings until they were comfortable. "So how would you remove the barbs?" He walked over and then sat on the floor next to the bed.

Caught with the spoon in her mouth again, she hurriedly swallowed and was about to set it back in the bowl when she paused and then waggled it a little in Micheal's direction. "Do you still have those arrows on you? That or we can just grab one of mine. I just need one to demonstrate."

He thought as he stood back up and retrieved one of hers. "I don't remember picking any up."

She shrugged at the reply as she took the arrow. The two from the last inn she had been at must have been lost or left behind. She told herself that it didn't really matter. It wasn't all that surprising really. It wasn't as if a vampire had any use for arrows after all. He must have left the two she gave him behind at the tavern or lost them or something.

She looked around a moment, her eyes stopping on the bed a moment before looking back at Micheal. "I suppose stabbing the bed or a folded up blanket is out of the question?"

Micheal looked at her oddly. "You know how old these things are."

She thought a moment about that having forgotten what time period the contents of the room all might be from.

Quietly she set aside the bowl of soup on the table next to the pitcher and with the spoon and arrow in one hand, got up and slowly walked toward where she had left her previous clothing lying on the floor. Snagging her shirt, she brought it back to the bed where she gratefully sat down again and began to fold it up. Then temporarily she set the bunched up shirt on the floor. Her other hand lifted the arrow, point aimed downward and she drove it into her shirt enough so that it at least went into the first few folds. She picked up the folded shirt now with the arrow sticking out of it and set it over a knee before looking back at Micheal.

He was watching trying to see what he was missing.

She held up the spoon. "I have a tool sort of shaped like this." She lowered it toward the place where the arrowhead had sunk through. "Arrows, barbs... similar set up. They are set up so that they go in and stay in. If you pull on the arrow here, the back end hooks on whatever is behind it." She moved the spoon so the fat part was placed behind one of the back points of the arrowhead and pushed back on the cloth.

Lifting the corner of the arrowhead carefully, as if she were working with actually skin, she moved around the arrow to the other two points pushing back the cloth so that when she inched the metal upward, it wouldn't catch and tear up more cloth... or at least as best she could with her shaky hands. Eventually she lifted the arrow from her now multi-scarred shirt.

He left her alone for a long while but came back before morn, shutting the curtains quietly before the sun rose. He never really explained why they didn't wander in light and through the travel thus far Dark would fly above the clouds so Jay couldn't see and Roman and Micheal would travel in their wolf forms.Though seeing a wolf with wings was probably a sight to behold. But with the little light that was showing Micheal didn't have his wings anymore and he walked over to a corner and leaned against it as he looked at the woman lying in his bed.

For once, the ranger was actually sleeping in the bed without question, stirring from time to time as she lay under the covers. Next to her head beside the pillow was the water skin Micheal had brought to her, already half emptied.

It wasn't until that evening, nearly a full day later, that the ranger began to fully stir from her sleep, opening her eyes to the barely lit room.

Micheal was slumped over in an awkward position almost like he was trying to do a head stand but for the first time he was snoring.

Slowly sitting up, Jay heard the snoring and was confused. Looking in the direction the sound was coming from, she pushed back the covers and slipped out of bed. Grabbing a strikestick and a candle from her pack that she wandered toward in the dark (after stubbing her bare toe on something), she lit the candle and looked to see that it was actually Micheal.

Sleeping? That's strange... she thought as she looked at him. Then a frown crossed her face. She wondered for a moment if it was a trick. If it was though, there wasn't much harm to it so she left him be.

He slightly raised his lips ready to snarl at the light but he lightly looked at her and then stretched from his odd position and then plopped flat on the ground his back looking at the ceiling.

When he shifted, she backed away a step out of instinct. She took the candle and moved it to the opposite corner of the room before moving her items and bag to the same corner where she could see them. From the barely lit corner she pulled on her socks and boots, glancing over at Micheal from time to time in silence.

He smiled as he watched her. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than before," she said. The thirst that been dragging at her insides was not as it had been the past few days, though her mind was still wandering to the skin she left on the bed and the pitcher at the table. There was a feeling of being somewhat refreshed from the sleep, not necessarily completely back to her full self, but enough so for a short period before she'd tire again.

Micheal chuckled as he was in a better mood. "I could get more water, and I can heat up the soup for you too if you'd like."

"There's still plenty here... for now," she said referring to the water and tipping her head in the direction of where she left the skin. "Though the soup would be good. Can't run on water alone, though right now I feel like I could." She finished with her boots and returned to sit on the bed, grabbing the skin, opening it, and downing a fair portion of the remaining water.

"So, how long has this been your place?" she asked after she had munched through a fair portion of the bread while waiting for Micheal to say anything more.

"Long time." He thought more of it. "It's the oldest home I own, but one I often stay in when I need to get away from it all."

"I suppose asking where else you usually hide out is asking too much, so I expect no answers to that, but mind mentioning where you usually travel?"

"It was random - and usually frequent moves. It's amazing how many times people change the names of their towns and cities over a period of time. Like it's important to them that it's this name or that name." He ruffled his hair. "I am sure you probably came across remnants of your clan where ever you traveled."

"Remnants of the rangers before me?" she asked, uncertain. She sipped more water to wash down the bread in her mouth. "Not really other than the main camps and a few hunter lodges. Sticking around in one place isn't a common trait for us."

"See, it's the same for us."

"Only makes sense," she said with a nod, nearly finishing the loaf in her hands. "Any places of interest that I should take a detour to see sometime?"

Micheal looked at her. "You like this place?"

"For what little I've seen of it so far," she said, looking back at him. "Then again, if I said I liked exploring the spider cave, would you hold it against me?"

"I hate spiders," he sighed.

"Not like I enjoyed them any better," she answered, rubbing her wrapped leg with the hand now empty of bread. "Though I'm sure I would have enjoyed the blaze that Roman had set on them afterward." She forced herself to grin some, trying to get him to smile. She could only coax a half smile from him though.

"Still it would have been better if I went in alone," he replied.

"Maybe, but what's happened is what's happened," she shrugged. She wasn't going to mention what could have happened if had been just her alone as it would have been normally.

"Do you think you would have made it out?"

Confused for a moment, her face turned into a weary frown. "I've got to remember one of these times you can do that," she said, avoiding the answer though her head was now playing out possible scenarios.

He was now puzzled. "Can do what?"

"Maybe it was coincidence but I was just thinking about what might have happened if I was alone at the cave when you asked that," she said, now leaning against the headboard.

A purple haze seeped into the lightless bedchamber, silent and shifting. A distinct female hourglass form began to shape itself as it drew closer to the hapless body.

"You know you are very restless, Miss Ranger," a voice crooned, deceptively attacking the sleeper's senses in a smooth seductive tone, a hint of a dark hunger building up beneath the soft words. "When was the last time you had a really good sleep?" the voice asked as it ran a pair of fingers through the sleeper's hair.

The succubus pulled back when the woman shifted and her nose twitched. "I am sorry. I am only trying to help." Fully formed, the female vampire watched carefully as the ranger rolled on her side. "Shall I risk it..." the succubus considered aloud to the ranger as if she was conscious. When an unintelligible murmur slipped from the human woman's lips and into her pillow, the succubus giggled. "Now, don't be shy."

The murmuring then turned into a sort of annoyed grumble as the noise outside her head grew.

"Is Mich the one preventing you from this sleep?" the succubus asked, beginning to sway in place. When the grumbling only quieted some, a hummed melody began to drift from the succubus. Over the ranger flowed notes familiar, a tune once hummed by someone who was now rooms away. As the succubus continued to toy with the human, she watched as the ranger's built up tension began to drain away and her breaths began to slow.

The succubus smiled.



In a study hall a few doors down, Micheal pulled out his paints that had remained untouched since he had last visited the home. Even with all the tools of his craft out, he only could sit in front of them perplexed. He wanted to paint something but found he couldn't. Giving up, he grabbed a journal and instead began to write, tossing his feet up on the desk and tilting his chair back at a precarious angle.

The scritching of the writing pen halted and he looked up from his book when he heard a lingering sound. At first he had thought it was just in his head and went back to writing and rereading his words. When the melody continued on, he listened closer. "I swear that song..."

He got up and went back to check on the ranger.



Micheal gently pushed the door inward, a frown crossing his face when he saw Sondra standing against the wall facing him. She lifted a finger to her lips, shushing him before he could say anything. In place of words, he sent her an accusatory look as he stepped into the room with his book in hand, watching her carefully.

The female vampire only smiled and began to hum again.

What's her game? He began to reveal his fangs, finding that focusing his anger was becoming more difficult, finding comfort in the song that was being hummed. Then there was a stray, faint feeling that jumped in the air, catching his attention, one that was not his and not Sondra's.

Chancing a look at the guest in his bed, he watched as the ranger slowly drifted into a deeper sleep while the notes were hummed. Sometimes a split second of contentment would echo with a note while another would be a flicker of sadness.

Sondra nodded happily as Micheal smiled before closing his eyes and adding his voice to hers, humming along. ((As Micheal smiled before closing his eyes and adding his voice to hers, Sondra nodded happily.))

As the duet continued on, however, while the flickers of contentment continued, the ones of sadness creeped in more often as the notes went on.

Micheal then stopped and opened his eyes, turning immediately for the door and opening it only to see Roman standing there with Millie paraded on his shoulders.

"Well Millie, either Mich learned how to split his voice or Sondra is in there with him humming the ranger to slee... oh. Um... Hey, Mich," Roman stuttered when he saw Micheal staring at him. Micheal just walked right by them saying nothing, a little more frustrated now. Sondra had stopped humming when she saw Millie and Roman and followed Micheal out of the room, lightly shutting the door behind her so it didn't slam.

"Huh?" Jay looked at him befuddled. "Could have said what?"

"That you needed something to drink and eat on the way here."

"Oh. That. I thought it would cause problems," she said, speaking into her bowl, using it to hide the dour look he could just make out from the side.

"Problems?" he asked, giving her a worried look.

"Yes, problems," she said, her teeth grinding down on the rim as she tried not to think of the topic anymore.

"Roman would probably ask if ceramic was part of your diet," he lightly laughed though he still had a worried look. "Really, what's bothering you?"

He heard a small 'clink' as her teeth bit down on the bowl despite what he had just teased her about. She was silent, but he could sense her thoughts were all but. Finally, she lowered the bowl, staring at its contents and away from him.

"Is it always like that? Just short of the edge to want to - to have to take blood from something?" The phrase 'you asked' could be read just as easily on her face as if he was pulling it straight from her own thoughts.

Micheal paused and thought about it. "Will it scare you?

Her frowning face was turned toward him now. "The answer or the actual thing?"

He looked at her for a long moment. "I have a strong hunger for blood due to my past, but I can satisfy that hunger without sinking my teeth into anything by simply taking its life energy. I am just a monster when you come down to it."

As soon as those words came out of his mouth, he could feel a ripple of her disapproval. At first it seemed as if she would refute his statement, but then she started thinking of herself as a monster. Curious indeed.

"Blood for a short time after feeding gives my body warmth that it no longer can sustain by itself," he continued, "and truthfully, I will always long for that warmth. Feeding from life energy, I will admit, is less fatal for the prey for it only leaves it ill if I leave it alive. It will regain its energy by continuing to eat its normal diet."

The new knowledge was running through her interested mind, but she still seemed to be reaching for some information that was eluding her so far.

"That's not quite what I was asking, though that is... informative," she responded. "I wanted to know how-" Jay paused, her eyes looking back and forth along the wall for the words that would not make her question sound like a tragedy. "How easy is it to slip when you don't want to?"

Micheal looked at Jay, unflinching. "I don't have to think about it to do it."

"But-"

She almost reminded him that she wasn't his run-of-the-mill traveler, almost echoing a previous conversation she had all but tried to forget. "-but I'm not the best with words. I'm no bard."

The vampire ball. Now that the ranger had been reminded of it, she wondered if it had already happened. What unlucky lady had been subject to be Micheal's 'guest' for that trip she wondered until she realized once again that Micheal had probably overheard her thoughts. While she mentally kicked herself, she stuffed her mouth with a good-sized piece of bread so she didn't have to say anything immediately.

Trying not to think is like trying not to breathe... she grumbled in her head, mostly to herself though she knew it probably wouldn't stay to herself.

Micheal almost said something, but then he stopped, looking confused. "No, you're not a bard. You are a ranger."

"Exactly," she said, relieved he hadn't crossed over to the party topic. "At best, a ranger or two would take it seriously. Anyone else who didn't tell me to shove off would consider it a great campfire tale."

Micheal looked at his hands. "I am not going to force you to go."

"Go tell the other rangers?" Jay asked, confused.

"You think to hard about things," he said, shaking his head. "Though I could make a practical dress, I thought of a few already where you could hide daggers and arrows. Hiding a bow would be difficult," he chuckled. "But no, I wouldn't let you go. Not now."

As soon as Micheal mentioned the word "dress", Jay knew what he had been referring to. "Bloody bladeshards," she said after she swallowed down the rest of the crumbs in her mouth. "You can't be serious?"

"I am. You're not going."

Jay looked for the waterskin and found it half buried under a pillow. "I meant about wearing that damned dress." She dragged out the skin and worked at the stopper after setting the bread bun in her lap. "That party of yours still hasn't happened? What, do they just wait until everyone decides to meet before it begins? And as for thinking too much, in my line of work, when you don't think, you get killed," she grumbled as she got the top off.

"They give nearly a half year's notice."

"Well, that's nice of them," she said before taking a sip of water to wet her tongue.

"And apologies, I guess I don't think."

"For as long as you've been around, I would suspect much of it is instinct by now," she said as she lowered the skin, swirling around the water inside as she tried to imagine a dress where she could hide her belongings and still move around... and then any time she pictured herself in that dress she kept imagining purposely shredding the thing to pieces.

Micheal chuckled. "The dress wouldn't look anything that complex."

Micheal looked at the wall and then at her. She had gone tense again and was holding back. "You're upset about something."

Jay brushed the crumbs from her shirt. "Upset? Shoot no. What's your business is your business though this one-way bit is going to get old sometime. Really, if you don't want to talk about something, just say so." The fact that she was practically an open book to the man while he was the embodiment of a locked door ate at her.

"Fine. More reasons to just hate me more." His teeth started to click together as he looked at the door.

"Oh, featherbristles. Stop that," Jay said as she cocked her head at him after rolling her eyes. "Taking it a touch too personal that I ask you to be blunt?"

"Blunt? Fine. How about this for blunt? After a few visits and when I got the money needed, I would lure the ...Fefee. Women who liked me would welcome me into their home where I could feast upon their thick, young, blistering hot blood," he growled, still focused on the door as his voice grew louder.

The ranger held still as she watched Micheal's limbs tense as if he was about to spring out of the room, his words beginning to boil over. "So... do we need to break out the wine again and have storytime?" She sounded half serious, both in voice and in mind.

"Tsk. If Roman didn't drink it all," he purred out a grumble more quickly than he intended.

Guilty relief washed over the ranger. She wasn't in the state to down anywhere near as much as she did previously and afterward would be worse off if she actually did so. "Maybe we'll just have take a trip to town sometime soon then." She held back a small, throaty laugh before remembering she was broke. Then again, that never stopped her before.

Micheal chuckled, loosening up some. "Yeah? When will that be?"

"When I can ride, I suppose." It couldn't be too much longer. It was whether she was fit to ride for longer distances that she questioned.

Micheal stood up and placed both of his hands in front of her. "Press against my hands."

"What's this all about?" she asked, wondering what he meant of this action as she set the waterskin aside and raised her hands toward his hesitantly.

"To see how long you can hold up. Your back can only take so much pressure from your arms. This will let you know how much."