RP:A Strange Ally With An Even Stranger Shadow

From HollowWiki

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc


Summary: As Khitti serves as a sort of night watchman for the war camp, Dominic happens upon the vampiress. An interrogation ensues until it's decided that Hildegarde may very well have another ally.


Entrance to the Park

Khitti had been, up until now, practicing her archery. She'd made it a rule for herself that it was a necessary evil that needed to be done. When she was bored, overwhelmed by the camp, worrying about Alex. If there was a reason for her to be unfocused, then it was the perfect time to hone her skills. She'd begun to slack now. It was late and there wasn't the typical small crowd that came with her practicing, thankfully. With nearly everyone bedded down for the night, she was free to be by herself. A somber, calm mood had washed over the red-head as she studied the tree that had been her target for a fort-night. Her duster had been cast aside, red locks set free from their braid. The thin-strapped, knee-length black dress glowed faintly in the moonlight as she stood there, verdant hues idly viewing the arrows that had been shot into the tree. With the solitude came the thinking...the dwelling on recent events and the ones to come. It wasn't always a good thing for the vampire to do. Now wasn't any different.

Dominic liked a sense of purpose to his wanderings, even if there wasn’t honestly much of one to be found. Otherwise, he just ruminated on the wrong things. A reason to wander gave him a focus, something to redirect his thoughts toward when they went too far astray. Today, it was scoping out this war camp he kept hearing whispers of. He had so far paid little attention to the political goings-on of Lithrydel as a realm; he hadn’t gained the necessary context to understand or have a stake in much of anything, yet. And he was too preoccupied by his own problems, anyway. But this thing, this was something that came up over and over again, as murmurs in taverns and rumors on the road. He was still torn about if he actually wanted to fight anything, but... he felt too drawn to it. And so there he was, the sky overhead lit only by distant stars, wandering vaguely in its direction. Hopefully, the perfect time to observe it for himself without necessarily getting swept up into anything. And maybe --- his thoughts halted at the same time his legs did, as he spied the gal with the red hair from a distance. With his hands sunken deep into his trouser pockets, he observed her observing the tree. Well... he should have expected someone would be awake, really, even if it was just someone keeping watch. So... screw it, here goes nothing. He announced his presence with a loud clearing of his throat, his posture relaxed and -- hopefully -- unthreatening.

Khitti had been distracted to be sure, but that doesn't mean she didn't catch the stranger's scent along the late night breeze that wafted through the area. For his sake, she hoped he'd just pass on by. He didn't, though. That was a poor choice. There would've been a moments hesitation before, but now, after the recent assassination attempt on Hildegarde that the vampiress had unfortunately not been there to help prevent, everyone that passed by her here was regarded with a grain of salt and their weight in suspicion. Cynicism came easily to the dark ranger, but with the war nipping at their heels and her friends lives at stake, it was so much worse. Like a blur, those vampiric reflexes were used in an instant. A pivot to face him, the bow in her hand raised, an arrow nocked back and focused on the male. With the clearing empty, she'd even decided to go to more drastic measures if he became a problem. "Stop. Now. Vhat business do you have here?" The foreign female's words roll off her tongue in a demanding tone, her thick accent accompanying it oh so nicely.

Dominic flinched backwards as she targeted him, hands quickly drawing out of his pockets and raising in a gesture of “no harm intended.” In that same moment, a smoky shadow grew long behind her and halfway corporeal, disappearing again in a puff as his emerald eyes flicked from her bow to the figure and back again. He -really- needed to figure out how to control that better; it probably didn’t help his case if she was at all aware of its magical presence. And even if she wasn’t... boy, was he ever in it now. He swallowed hard before stammering, “S-sorry, I -- I didn’t mean --” What could he possibly say that wouldn’t get him shot on the spot? This had been an awful idea. “I don’t -- I mean -- I thought maybe I’d look into all the rumors about this camp for myself?” Brilliant as always, Dominic. No one had -ever- been shot for telling the truth in the history of forever.

Khitti tilted her head to the side as she felt that flux of odd shadow magic, the sight of the darkening spot on the ground caught out of the corner of her eyes. Despite having a sort of magic of her own, she still knew very little about most magic in general. The shadows, well, that wasn't all too unfamiliar too her thanks to the elder vampire, Daermon. Still passing judgement on the male, she lowers her weapon somewhat, but the interrogation continues, "Who are you? Your curiosity may get you killed, you know." All the while, a strange, distorted butterfly makes itself known. Black and purple the large insect was, neither truly existing here or on the plane of existence it was pulled from so long ago. It flits around Khitti for a moment, darts down to inspect the spot where the shadow had been, and then zooms over to Dominic, hovering in front of his face as if it too were deciding it's fate.

Dominic took a couple steps backwards, trying to create distance between himself and the odd butterfly. He laughed uneasily at Khitti’s statement, though his eyes were fixed not on her anymore but on her accompanying ... creature. His hands lowered, just slightly. “Y-yeah, uh, I see that now.” He’d be kicking himself later for this, if he survived. Brand had once said that he was the one that trouble always found, but it seemed this time he was the one foolhardy enough to go out and seek it. “Name’s Dominic.” No fancy titles or even a last name to add, but he felt like he should add -something-. “Um, I kind of thought that... maybe -- maybe I’d see how I could contribute to the happenings here?” He really had very little idea what exactly that was beyond a few names and such, but couldn’t resist throwing himself into the fire anyway. Absolutely daft.

Khitti's 'creature' clearly had a mind of it's own as it edged closer to him, not letting up on staying near until finally it decides to attempt to settle itself on Dominic's head. If he tried to shoo it away, his hand would go right through it. "You...vant to help?" The words came out of her mouth in an almost confused tone. Her bow is lowered finally, though her guard is kept up. She's hesitant for a moment, eyeing him with that unwavering mistrust as she muttered, "Khitti." A few paces towards the male is taken, "Most vould show up at a more...normal...time of day vhen zhey come seeking a place like zhis. Zhis is a time of var. Are you really zhat stupid to be sneaking around?" Not that he'd really been sneaking, but she needed to keep up that hardened outer shell she wore as a mask. "Also, vhat zhe hell vas zhat?" She tilts her head towards where the shadow that was not her own had appeared.

Dominic winced as the butterfly landed, squinting up at it through dark bangs and furrowed brows. He attempted blowing upwards to deter it; his bangs fluttered but the butterfly stayed put. His lips twisted to the side as he peered up at it a bit longer, but then, dismissively, he dropped his gaze back to the vampire woman. If death by inter-dimensional insect was his fate, he’d apparently decided to resign himself to it for now. “It’s… uh, you know, that’s a good question,” he mumbled, his voice only barely carrying far enough to her. He was addressing her last question; the others were clearly more rhetorical, and he had just barely enough of an ego to not want to admit aloud that, yes, he really hadn’t thought this through in the slightest. He shrugged, then continued on. “You startled me, and sometimes, uh, -that- happens.” He could have elaborated, maybe, but he didn’t know where to start. He was almost as in the dark about the shadowy figures as she was (pardon the pun).

Khitti's dear companion just sat there. On his head. Studying him. Waiting. Khitti, on the other hand, well, she was a little stumped by him. Or maybe it was that she could relate on that topic. She's not really the best at conveying her emotions unless it's anger or sadness. "It just...happens?" There's that confusion again. "Yeah. I know vhat you mean." Dark eyes shift towards the ground, then across the clearing. "If you vant to help, you're going to have to speak to zhe voman in charge, Hildegarde." She juts a thumb in the direction of the war camp to the south. "Be varned, however. You vill be vatched."

Dominic exhaled some of the tension in his posture. “Right, of course,” he said, to her last few sentences. Her first couple had a delayed impact and only hit him once he felt just enough out of imminent danger to consider them. He canted his head, eyes narrowing a tad. Confusion, maybe, or suspicion. “Wait, ‘you know what I mean’ …?”

Khitti almost looked...what was it...ashamed? No eye contact is made with him now as the subject isn't allowed to rest. The steps she had taken towards him, to get a better look and judge his character more fully is retraced, the place she had one stood at before in front of the tree reclaimed. "Possibly." is offered in hesitation. The bow and arrow is raised again, a deep frown creasing her lips. Amarrah finally alights off of the male once she too had made her decision, flits over to Khitti, and settles herself on her shoulder. "Don't start vith me, Amarrah." A side glance spared for the butterfly before she aims and takes her shot. By time the war camp left Xalious, the poor tree that the dark ranger chose as her target might be missing quite a bit of bark. With a deadly 'thunk', the arrow's tip embeds itself deeply into the trunk of the tree, a little higher than the rest of the marks she's made recently.

Dominic hung back, rather than approaching Khitti as she and the butterfly retreated or approaching the camp. Even in his impulsiveness he realized it probably wasn’t the greatest idea to march in, wake up the leader of the war camp, and insist that he could help. Somehow. Despite the fact that he hadn’t mastered those shadows and despite the fact that he wasn’t even entirely sure what the other voice in his mind would think about him volunteering himself (though he suspected Brand was eager for any kind of combat for any kind of reason whatsoever). “Right,” he repeated, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I’ll, uh, come back during the day sometime, though.” A pause, in which he started to pivot to leave, then turned back to look at her. “...I realize I’m probably asking someone terribly biased, but... this Hildegarde. Is she a good person? What exactly is she fighting for, in a nutshell?”

Khitti lowered her bow again as she peered over her shoulder at Dominic. A moment is spared to take in his questions, considering them carefully. She turns back to him, giving a shrug finally, "Hildegarde is...noble in her cause and she's certainly trustworthy. She does vhat she must because it is zhe right zhing to do." Holding her bow in her left hand, her right rises to her face, her index finger tapping her chin thoughtfully, wondering if that answer was good enough. "I'm not as biased as you may zhink. I have my own reasons for helping. Zhe frost giants are terrible and ~do~ need to be stopped, but my concern lies elsewhere. It's once Frostmaw is retaken and my job can finally commence zhat my thoughts lean towards." As if an exchange of questions, she allows her own curiosity to get the better of her, "How long have you had zhat ability?"

Dominic twisted his lips in consideration of her words, eyes wandering their surroundings. He’d suddenly begun to feel like his mind was in a haze -- that wasn’t good, whether it was mere tiredness or... something else. Khitti’s words about Hildegarde and the frost giants were stored away in his mind to be contemplated more fully later, when he wasn’t feeling like he was mentally swimming through murky, frigid waters. But he could still answer her question, not that he had -much- of an answer. “I don’t know. Maybe always, and I just didn’t know. Maybe only recently, and it was something I did to cause it.” He took another step or two away, still avoiding eye contact. “I should go. I’ll seek out Hildegarde soon. And -- thanks.” For answering his questions? For not murdering him on the spot? For making him suspect he wasn’t the only one with some ability he wasn’t quite sure how to control? Some combination of all of them? He didn’t elaborate, but instead turned away.

Khitti's frown reappears when his odd behavior is noted. Perhaps she was...too harsh? It was something she needed to work on, clearly. His intent to leave is also gathered before it's spoken of, a little sadness flickering in her dark green gaze. Way to scare off someone with potentially the same problem, you idiot. "I see." is said after his vague explanation, a brief nod accompanying it. "You're velcome." She wasn't sure either what the thank you was for, but she could be as kind as she was suspicious, and as he was ready to depart, she opted for the former rather than the latter. If he was to be an ally, she might as well get used to it. "Goodbye..." For someone that seemed to rather like her solitude, it was an odd thing to see her reluctant about letting a stranger leave. She does regardless, however, and after staring at him with minor scrutiny, she too turns the other way. Her arrows are gathered and she returns to the camp to ponder on things and maybe, just maybe, actually get some sleep.