Welcome to Gaia! ::

Karik ran after the girl, changing to a wolf in mid-stride. He never saw her look back as most would, only pause long enough to pull free of the branches that caught her hair or clothes. He blinked and the girl was disappeared from sight. Since when could her kind do that? He slowed to a trot, smelling the air. He smiled; she had only hidden behind a tree. He went to her, growling and acting the part of a ferocious wolf. Oddly enough, she didn’t run. Only glare defiantly at him. He laughed, snapping at her legs. She darted past him to run away again.
‘She’s not dumb and isn’t as slow and untrained as their women usually are,’ he though as he raced after her once more. She tried the same trick again, though this time he tried something different. He changed forms, sneaking up around the other side of the tree. Much to his surprise, only instinct and hours of training kept him from being beheaded as a sword hit the tree where his neck had been less than a second before. He smiled coldly; the girl’s sword was stuck.
“Bit of trouble dear?” he murmured, smirking. She kicked him hard in the stomach then hit his head with her knee as he bent over, winded. She yanked her sword free from the tree trunk and fled, sheathing it as she went.
Karik cursed, changing to his wolf form yet again before chasing her yet again. He watched as she tripped, catching herself on a branch. It snapped with her weight and threw her to the ground. She started to scramble away, but he was too close. She managed to get her back against a tree, though she was still on the ground. Karik slowed down to a walk, knowing he had her. Her bow was out of reach, and very few could draw a sword, much less wield it in that position.
“Please, make it quick.” He blinked, had she actually just asked that in her soft voice, or was he imagining things? As he drew closer he could see her clearly now, she was pretty. Long dark red hair, eyes the color of a stormy sea framed with long lashes. She had a narrow waist and thin figure, not as filled out as some of the women he knew. She held herself tall and straight, despite the ankle which was probably broken from her fall. She held it gingerly, watching him warily with those blue-gray eyes. Karik changed back to his human form, crouching in front of her and holding her gaze.
“No pleas? Begging for mercy? Not offering bribes? Anything to save your hide?” he asked.
The girl only gave a small smile. “Why?” she asked, “Better to be killed with some decency than to beg and have none or be killed anyway, just appearing a fool,” she said simply, shrugging.
“What’s your name, and let me see your ankle,” Karik said, moving to splint her ankle.
“Aki, Sir, and there’s no need. Would you cut it though, to the bone where it’s broke, if possible,” she asked.
“The princess?” he asked innocently as he did so. She only tensed, not crying out or visibly wincing. She didn’t answer, biting her wrist and cutting the vein there with her sharp canines. She let the blood drip onto her ankle, watching it coat the bone.
“It should heal within an hour or two; I’ll be able to walk on it tomorrow. Provided of course, you don’t kill me,” Aki told him quietly.
“Answer the question,” Karik ordered, watching her intently. He didn’t miss that she left off her many titles; he knew her to be the princess. He just wanted to know if she’d admit it.
“Yes sir, I am…” Aki confessed, dropping her eyes to her lap.
“Yet you own a sword and bow?” Karik asked, curious now. He’d take her back to the camp in a few more minutes.
“A guard, a friend, had helped teach me. It wasn’t that hard to get away with him to buy them, Father just never knew I was training.” Aki explained, shrugging.
“Hmm. Well, they should be done and heading back by now.” He said, standing up. “Come on, I’m taking you with me.”
“By done you mean finished slaughtering my people?” The princess asked him bitterly. She managed to stand, not putting her weight on her foot and using the tree to pull herself to her feet.
“Some might have survived, if they got away.” Karik said, knowing she was worried about the boy she’d screamed for. He doubted the boy had lived though.
Aki nodded, hiding the pain and sorrow from her features. “What’d, you put on the sword?” she asked with her speech slurring as she swooned. She had time to glare at him before she passed out, falling to the ground in a heap.
“Sorry dear.” Karik murmured, wrapping her ankle and wiping the sleeping powder off his dagger, which he’d used to cut her ankle. He took her weapons and his and then scooped the princess up, carrying her towards their camp.

Aki was roughly shaken awake at dawn, only an hour after she’d fallen asleep. She opened her eyes and was immediately blinded by the sun, just high enough to shine over the trees into her eyes. She cursed fluently in her own language, turning her face into the bedroll she’d been lent and shutting her eyes tight. She heard laughter and muttered darkly under her breath, slowly letting her eyes adjust to the light.
“Stare in a pitch black room and then shine a bright light in your eyes.” She muttered, drawing another laugh from the Werewolves. She pulled the cloak from her bag with a soft sigh, pulling the cowl down low enough to shield her eyes from the harsh sunlight.
“So Karik, yet another girl can’t keep away from you?” Someone asked innocently.
“Shut up, she’s a Vampire who wanted blood, not another drunk slut you scared off,” Karik retorted.
Aki’s attention was drawn by someone coming up to her, sitting down beside her.
“Here,” he said, offering her some dried fruit and meat. Aki shook her head, and hand a bit.
“No thanks,” she said, smiling.
“I’m Matt, by the way. And don’t worry about them, they’ll get used to you soon enough. But, you’ll get a lot of hell about Karik; especially after last night. And, no offense meant by this, Princess, but you’re not homely by any stretch of the imagination,” He told her, smiling.
“Thank you…” Aki mumbled, blushing faintly.
“Matt, stop flirting! We’re leaving in five minutes!” The Were who had been giving Aki a hard time since she came called, grinning.
“That’s Jason. If anyone will tease you all day, it’s him.” Matt explained as he blushed a little himself.
Aki nodded, starting to pack up her few things. “Need help?” she asked as she saw Matt struggling to get everything in a bag.
“Please, if you can get it to fit,” he said, sighing. It wasn’t working.
Aki smiled and went over to him, pulling everything out. She looked over it, then started packing it up. “There, that work?” she asked once finished.
“Are you a princess or Packing Goddess?” Matt asked, awed by how neat everything was and how much room was left in it.
Aki laughed, grabbing her bag as the others started to leave. She fell into step beside Matt, having a little trouble keeping up. Every so often she’d have to jog a little to keep up; they went too fast for her. She, as a vampire, was faster than a human, and also faster than most vampires, but a Lycan was still faster.
They stopped for lunch around noon, and once again Aki turned down any food offered. Finally, after being asked hundreds of times, she explained why she wouldn’t eat.
“I Fed last night, if I eat anything I won’t we able to keep it down.”
“Is that normal?” Jason asked, “Or is it just because Karik is still here?”
“It’s normal, and before you ask, it’s not something that everyone, suffers, for lack of a better word. I can never eat afterwards, and it’ll be longer now since it’s been so long since I’ve Drank before last night.”
“How long had it been?”
“Not quite two weeks.” Aki replied, “We have to have blood at least every three weeks or else we’ll Lust, letting instinct take over. It’s nearly impossible to bring us back once we reach that point,” she explained quietly. “We become mindless animals, following instinct and nothing else. We’ll Feed from anything we can catch; draining them dry and moving on to whatever’s next. The only thing there is to do is kill it, like I said, it’s near impossible to reverse the change.”
“So, you’re not hungry now?” someone asked.
“Not really.”
“Does it matter? She doesn’t want food; leave her be,” Karik finally said, putting a stop to the endless questions.
Aki gave him a small thankful smile, which he either ignored or did not see. Probably ignore, she decided. They left again in another ten minutes, at a slightly slower pace which she could hold more easily.
“Karik, why are we rushing? She gave us a month, it’s only been a week,” someone called. There was a chorus of agreements that followed.
“Fine, we’ll slow down. I just wanted to get back.” Karik said, shrugging and slowing down more. Now they were at a comfortable walk. It was still a little quick for Aki, but she didn’t complain.
They didn’t stop again until about an hour until dark. The Were started setting up camp almost immediately, while Karik came over to Aki with her weapons in hand.
“Is this even your bow?” he asked, sounding amused. Unstrung, it was a good foot and a half taller than she was, strung it would reach about six feet.
“Why, think I can’t string it?” Aki asked, a hand resting on her hip. She hid a smirk; she’d met similar doubts before.
“Show me,” was all he said.
Aki pulled the string from the pouch and hooked it on the bottom. She braced it against her foot and used her weight to pull the end down, deftly slipping the other loop of string over the end of the bow. She hooked her hands over the end, leaning lightly on the bow. “Still doubt me?” she asked.
“But can you shoot it? That tree,” he told her, pointing to one a hundred feet off and tossing a quiver to her.
Aki easily caught the quiver, picking an arrow and setting it to the longbow. With a fluid motion she drew back the string, aimed at the tree, and released. It only took a second, if that much. It hit the tree trunk, dead center.
“Can you do it twice?” Karik asked, thinking it was luck until she emptied her quiver into the tree. “Ok, ok, I believe you. But how good with a sword are you? Oh, your arrows. Matt, go get those for her, and don’t break them!” he yelled, watching the younger boy run off to do so. “Ready? Sparing,” he said as explanation.
Aki nodded, drawing the longsword before he attacked with his. She parried his attacks for a few minutes before she began to return the blows, avoiding anything she couldn’t block. She didn’t notice the others forming a wide circle around them, staying well out of their range. They were used to Karik going everywhere if he sparred with someone who was good and lasted more than a couple minutes. He was going easy on the girl, who looked to be fighting with a little ease. He’d make it harder any minute now.
Aki winced as she missed the feint, getting a cut on her arm for her troubles. Another minute and she found herself with her back against a tree, her sword across the clearing, and his with the tip against her throat. She was breathing fairly heavily, though he looked as though he hadn’t even had to try. He probably hadn’t.
Karik stepped away, giving her the sword back. “You can keep them, just keep up with them,” he told her before walking off.
“Here’s your arrows,” Matt told her, coming up and offering her them.
“Thanks… Is he always like that?” Aki asked, taking the quiver with a small smile.
“Yea, he is. And don’t worry; you did better than most of us thought you would. Most can’t hold their own against him for that long, even with him not trying very hard. He’s one of our best swordsmen,” Matt assured her, leading her off to where their things were. They were using the tents tonight, and there weren’t enough for her to have her own, even though she was the only female. She didn’t mind much though, she liked Matt surprisingly enough. “So, ready to help with supper? I can’t cook, and it’s my night,” he asked innocently, grinning to her as she set her things down in the tent.
Aki laughed, nodding and following him outside to help with what she could.