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| Chapter Four: Down the Beaten Path | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Richard LeBlanc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The sun had begun to set over the forest wilderness - marking the end of yet another day. Deep in the forest - well beyond the reach of human civilization - the Setite assassin Calloway awoke and found himself in a dirty place. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| All around him was a pile of branches, soil and mud. The night before - in their haste to cover as much ground as they could - he almost forgot the time of day. When the dark sky began to grow lighter and lighter - he knew that he didn't have time to waste. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hesitantly he looked around and saw the child sleeping close by him. He sighed and allowed himself a moment to relax. If she was still there - if she was still alive - it meant that the women he had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting - did not whisk her away while he slept. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "We there yet?" the child asked tiredly. He looked down and saw that she was starting to wake up. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Not quite. Get under me - I have to get us out of here," he stated. Slowly she crawled over so that she was under him. Calloway took a deep breath - tensed up and then leaped up - smashing through the layers of dead trees, plants soil and mud. Majestically he flipped himself and the child away from where they had camped and landed a safe distance away. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Wee! That was fun! Again, again!" she said happily. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Perhaps later," he replied politely. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Uhm - I'm - hungry," she stated hesitantly. He was going to complain about it - but he was feeling it too. It was then that a deer happened by. Calloway blinked. His eyes shifted to a golden color - captivating the beast. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What good fortune - dinner for two. All I have to do is kill this. He thought - but stopped. His mind flashed back to the Gangrel he had encountered earlier in his quest. It was clear that he was deranged - perhaps delusional - but something told him - that - if he killed the deer - for whatever reason that he would not be able to complete his quest. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Oh - this is not going to be a happy mission," he muttered. His tongue lashed out and coiled around the neck of the startled - yet paralyzed animal. Slowly he began to feed. He healed his wounds - and then stopped. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The deer staggered a bit but then hurried away. Calloway shook his head. All his life - he had been trained to kill. Taking life from another being another animal came as natural to him as walking. Now - in this isolated place - he had to unlearn all he knew - lest he bring down the wrath of the werewolf guardians upon him and the girl. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "That would take care of me - now what am I going to do about you?" he pondered out loud. He walked over and sat down before her. "What are you used to eating?" he asked curiously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I'm not really fussy," she replied. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You eat meat?" he asked. She stuck out her tongue and shook her head. He sighed as he closed his eyes. Had he killed the deer to feed her - it would have been done for nothing. "Vegetarian - got it," he muttered as he looked around. It was then that he saw a small strawberry patch growing off to the side of the path. He then looked over at the girl. "Lets - pick some berries then," he suggested through gritted teeth. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I like berries," she said happily as she crawled over and began to gather the big ones. Calloway sighed as he leaned against a tree. He was one of the best fighters in the service of Snake. He had spent a lifetime mastering every aspect of forging his body into a living weapon. How was this weapon being used? Like a gardening tool. "You don't like it here - do you?" the girl asked curiously. He looked over at her and saw how dirty she had become - sleeping in the haven he had made. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "This is not what you would call my element," he admitted. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Then why are you here?" she asked - popping another berry into her mouth. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "To keep you safe. This forest is full of dangerous creatures that," he began but stopped. He could feel that they were being watched. "Some more close than others," he added as he looked over his shoulder. There he saw one of the two women he had encountered the night before. "You again?" he muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I told you that there was no where you could hide. You stick out like a big steaming pile of shit," she replied. Calloway looked to the side and saw the other one there too. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Normally - I have a bath at the start of a night - but as I am out here in the great outdoors - that isn't exactly an option," he began as he stood up and stood between the child and the two ladies. "Now - is there a reason for your being here? I thought you said everything you had to say last night," he asked seriously. They ignored him and focused their attention on the child. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Well - you got to see what your - guardian here is. He is a monster - a creature that lives off the suffering of others. A beast - cursed to live in the shadows," one of them began. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You could travel with him - hide in more dirty holes and other such places. His kind is used to dirt. His kind is used to hiding in holes," the other added. "Step out of his - world of darkness. Step out from the corrupt shadow cast by the Wyrm. It isn't too late," she offered sincerely. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I was told he would protect me," the child said as she nibbled on another berry. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I do not know what kind of hold you have on the child vile beast," the other woman began as her shape shifted - into a tall, lithe, fury werewolf. Calloway stood his ground - unwilling to let her get the child. Surprisingly - the other woman stood between him and her sister. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Stop that! You are scaring her!" she scolded. The werewolf stopped snarling and looked at the child that was now cringing behind the vampire. "All you are doing is making him seem more ideal," she reminded. Slowly - the werewolf shrunk down and assumed her human guise. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Don't let them get me," the girl muttered. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I won't," he reassured - not taking his eyes off the two. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "You must think you are pretty crafty serpent. You think you have accomplished something here? Think again," one stated as she walked over and stared him in the eye. "Our interest - is in the security and safety of the child. Others - will be far less concerned with her - emotional state so long as she ends up where she is supposed to be," she added. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I hear that - a hunting party of Red Talons are in the woods. I wonder how they would take to him defiling the forest with his presence," one pondered out loud. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Never mind them - I heard that the Get to Fenris have come this way. Something to do with a prophecy of old," the other added with a smirk. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "It doesn't matter who is here - for whatever reason. The child shall travel with me - and she will get - to where she has to be," he rebutted seriously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Let me kill him," the other hissed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "No - not yet," she reassured. "He will make one boast too many - say one word too foul in the presence of the others - and they will take him down. If they are merciful - they may kill him. If not - they will leave him," she added. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Both tribes do have a habit of toying with their prey," the other mused. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "They might not leave much of him - but I could amuse myself with his - leftovers," she mocked. Calloway smirked and shook his head. "Oh my - the lunatic - actually thinks he stands a chance," she said with a giggle. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "He must be under some fool notion that they are half as reasonable as we are," the other added as they laughed. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "By all means you two - go. Don't worry about getting lost. We will be able to follow you wherever you opt to go. A stink like yours - does not blend," the other concluded as they walked away - vanishing into the shadows of the darkness. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "They gone?" the girl asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "For now," he replied calmly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Will they come back?" she asked. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Not if I can get you to where you need to be," he replied seriously. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "I heard about those Red Talons and Get to Fenris things. They are mean and like to fight," she warned. Calloway smiled as he held her hand and motioned for them to be on their way. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| "Well - if that's the case - I guess that I will have something in common with them," he said confidently. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He had heard about werewolves that were from those two tribes - neither were entities he looked forward to fighting. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To Be Continued... | |||||||||||||||||||||||||