New Wave

[The Cedar Witch]

She was too vulnerable, this drained and exhausted. The girl had a feeling that he somehow knew this, and the fact that he wasn\'t making any sort of move yet frightened her. Storm clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms. It was almost as though he was taunting her.

"Nothing to worry about right now. I\'m just tired."
The Akari knew he wouldn\'t believe her, especially since she would not mentally let go of him. But this wasn\'t any of her concern right now. Not when she was so close to panic.

Slowly she regained her composure, still clinging to Damien but hiding it well on the outside. She had to be strong. Funny, though, the very instant she regained herself she could feel the Zalmric roughly push against her, announcing himself and seeking a reaction from her. She was too god-damned tired to even think, let alone push back. Storm glanced back at the general area where she felt him, trying to gather her strength and trying to stay awake.

"Please..." It was more of a quiet whisper then anything really. But she could feel her mind remembering things she wasn\'t in the mood for remembering. Lust. Pain. Anger. Hate. Power. Greed. God, she needed to sleep.

[Saiketsu]

Without thinking about what he was doing Damien wrapped himself around Storm\'s mind, finding the urge to protect her too overpowering to ignore. He was used to the feeling of protecting her even before he did it. The action was something he had done so many years before Storm. The action made him feel so guilty as well. For betraying Isabella. But Storm\'s quiet pleading pulled on him somewhere deep inside his mind. The vampire had no other choice in the matter.

He followed her eyes quickly. His face ran cold when he realized that there was indeed someone looking back at the small group of vampires. And while Damien couldn\'t see him, the presense was minimal, yet noticable if one were to focus or know what exactly to look for. He only knew because of Storm.

The cold commanding face of Damien hardly flickered as the conversation of matters between the Genuine Ones continued weighing the pros and cons of each situation. Publicity versus money, power versus publicity. Damien couldn\'t help but grab onto Storm\'s mind harder. Was it worth it to tell everyone that they were being watched? How well would the stranger now know what was going on? There was no way of incorporating this man into the ranks -- Storm would obviously never go for that.

But if the others weren\'t alerted problems could possibly arise, problems which could end in even bigger problems. "I trust you, Storm. Just make sure you\'re not putting us all into a mess. Because I can gaurantee that you\'ll have a problem with more than Nikolai."

[The Cedar Witch]

The girl relaxed immensely, feeling herself settling into the vampire\'s protective grasp. She found that if she focused only on that, the desire to panic was lessened. Not that Storm ever admit how comforting it was to have him around. Never. But in the back of her mind she was plagued with the thought that he was only guarding her because she was Isabella\'s incarnation. The girl tried as hard as she could not to be bothered by this, but found herself filled with a hidden jealousy. Just a tool, she had to remind herself, ignoring all other feelings she may or may not have been developing.

Her teal eyes flickered back and fourth on the faces of whomever was speaking, appearing as though she were listening when really, her mind was in a numb state. The conversation seemed to drag on and she didn\'t understand why she needed to be present to listen; the Akari was never that good with management. The only thing she really could do was fight. But she\'d done enough of that for one night.

"I\'ll tell you later, but please don\'t be upset with me." Storm gently transmitted. It wasn\'t as if it was her fault that the Zalmric was following her. She never really wanted that.

[Saiketsu]

"Damien?" Nikolai glanced back at the leader as Pierre called for his attention. He watched as Damien flickered his attention between the surrounding border of the forest to the twat at his side, who had seemingly inched closer to him. There was definitely something going on between them, Nick could smell it in the air. The fact that the commander was paying little attention to his own problems and focused rather on the girl made Nikolai extraordinarily bitter.

"Are you even listening?" Nikolai growled angrily as he shifted his own eyes to see exactly what was so interesting in the forest.

"As of right now," Damien spoke with a low voice which was almost inaudible over the ocean waves, "the money is not my only concern. I trust that you and Jack are very well capable of obtaining the monetary needs. Do what needs to be done, but keep it legal--"

Stunned, Nikolai instantly turned offensive towards Damien\'s attempts of commanding him. "Are you trying to say that you think you can control my business operations?"

"No, I\'m saying that I don\'t want any dirty money. Clean it and keep it legal before it ever reaches Jack\'s hands. I don\'t want any affliation with anything dirty. Jack nor Elias are ever to be spoken of in your business expedentures, understood? In fact it may have been better if Jack hadn\'t met you either."

Judas growled lowly again in the back of his mind. He wasn\'t liking the things Damien was saying much, his comments bordering on insulting. What was so wrong with what he did? It brought them money, didn\'t it? And it wasn\'t as if anyone were forcing the money from Nikolai\'s hand...

"On another hand," he continued with the same hushed, guarded voice, "we have a tidious situation developing involving some alliances. We\'re in need of more. I encountered a group of wolves earlier in the night whose youth seemed promising. And with so few fledglings living in the city, it may be a consideration to have these Dark Wolves allied with us, if only for a short time."

Nikolai really didn\'t have much of a reaction to Damien\'s words, except for the rise of a crafted eyebrow and a folding of his arms across his chest. They were vampires, regardless of how few. Why would a vampire as old as Damien need the help of a lowly pack of rabid wolves in order to conquer one city?

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm\'s attention returned to the group at the mention of the Dark Wolves. She said nothing aloud and made no outward hint that she knew who they were.

"What is with you and being affiliated with people I fight with?" there was humor in her tone as she sent the message with light laughter, and she tried not to let it get to her much. In her mind she began to formulate and gather exactly what she was willing to explain to Damien to save time later. Obviously, there would be no details, but he would need enough to chew on for awhile. She inhaled deeply, eyes wandering to the ocean and remembering a few nights earlier when a certain vampire saved her from drowning.

Laurent was getting rather bored with waiting around. Honestly, how long would they talk? He could feel Storm\'s exhaustion growing, leaving her extremely vulnerable. But he was tired of playing with her and needed something new to do.

That boy is too young for a leader, Laurent reflected silently, reading him from a distance. He probably hasn\'t even noticed that I\'m here yet. The Zalmric resisted the urge to giggle boyishly with delight. He was so good at hiding.

Feeling rather bold, he reached out with his mind, trying to brush against the boy\'s consciousness and get a reaction from him. I wonder, I wonder. He grinned through his fangs.

[Saiketsu]

He couldn\'t help but pull his focus towards the forest again as a feathery pulse flitted across his mind. Something and someone foreign to the vampire. He was unaccostomed to any other person but Storm, Pierre, and Isabella so near his mind. This guy was toying with him and he was in for it. No one invaded Damien\'s mind. No one threatened him or taunted him.

With the quickest of movements, Damien put himself physically between the one in the forest edge and Storm. Touching his mind was one thing, touching Storm\'s was another. And without making it extremely obvious, Damien gathered his fortress tighter around Storm and himself, forcing a stronger and opposing touch back to the stranger\'s mind, the equivilent of a waranted push. Nothing significant and more of an acknowldging defensive approach. Ace still knew nothing about this guy, catching the tiniest flavor of his dark aura. Feeling it made his skin crawl unnoticebly.

"What\'s with you being interjected into drama at the wrong possible moments?" He smiled nonetheless, trying to shrug off the stranger. "I\'ve been approached by two of the Dark Wolves clan members who are looking for an extra help. Something about throwing off their elder members. Now I\'m not completely excited about the idea of having young rebels in a regiment of vampires older than their ancestors. I am however significantly considering allying the regime with these youths and what remains of their clan after all is said and done on their side. Allies are nessecary for a regime to take power. No forces have ever met with success unless united and backed by an outside force.

"So first of all, what do you think?" He turned to Storm and asked for a different reason than what it would appear to be. She was what this guy was after and he needed her to stay with himself. She couldn\'t be swayed by this guy. No doubt if the stranger had brushed up against him, he was already in Storm\'s head. "You fought them. What do you think should happen?"

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm inhaled sharply at Damien\'s sudden move. She peered curiously up at him, questioning his reasons. Something told her that the Zalmric must have done something to him mentally from a distance. She colored at the thought of all the possible things the Captain could have sent him. Hoping Damien hadn\'t seen anything too graphic, Storm returned her attention to the group, suddenly becoming serious.

"Personally, I think they\'re a bit uncontrolled. The Dark Wolves are a radical group, they have huge egos. They literally remind me of a pack of dogs." Her eyes flickered black momentarily, reflecting on the rashness of the one she met first.

"They\'re extremely childish. But at the same time they are very loyal. If you\'re not too concerned about having attention drawn to you, I\'d say go for it." She shrugged indifferently. Just as long as she didn\'t have to see them, the girl wouldn\'t complain.

[Saiketsu]

"Personally, I don\'t think attention\'s what we need right now," Jack chipped in. Jean-Luc nodded in agreement, responding with "You\'ve made that clear enough tonight." Judas loved it when he felt as though Pierre were on his side, even if it wasn\'t the exact side he wanted Pierre to be on.

"Yeah, but I meant that simply with the law, with Elias especially. And you know that."

"And don\'t you think that if these wolves call attention to themselves, they\'ll call attention to us as well?" Nikolai noticed that his darling Jean-Luc was the only one of the group who was fully capable of referring to Damien with such a tone in his voice. It made Nikolai nearly jealous.

He, on the other hand, refused to give his opinion in such a situation. Judas felt it appropriate enough not to respond in any conversation that the girl were partaking in. He wouldn\'t lower himself that far. Instead he simply watched as the conversation rotated, admiring the different reactions of Jean-Luc, trying his hardest not to even acknowledge the bimbo at Damien\'s side. In fact, insults were still flowing through the back of his mind, asking what he could possibly call her next. Cunt. Bitch. Twat. Slut. Tool. Whatever. Oh, what was that word she had used? Ah yes. "Worthless."

Judas would have given anything to invade her mind at that exact moment, just to taunt her a little bit. Alas, it was because of her that he had lost his ability to hack into anyone\'s mind for the next couple of nights. He couldn\'t even tell if she were properly guarded without pushing himself over his limit.

"So what\'s the verdict here, Ace?" Doxy asked impatiently.

The leader then did something which made him roll his eyes. Ace turned to the bimbo at his side and asked her to make the decision for them. Some fucking key. She\'s done nothing this entire night but stand there.

[The Cedar Witch]

"I don\'t think it would be wise to have them closely affiliated with us." Storm glanced briefly at Nikolai in a cool manner, hoping she would never really have to deal with him again.

"However, I don\'t see the harm in having an impersonal alliance with them, just as long as they know as little as possible about us." The girl hated making decisions. She was so new at being in charge. Back when she was a part of the Akari-Zalmric war, her opinion was never considered on either side. With exception to what happened with the Captain, she was largely ignored.

"It would be better to stay on their good side." Storm concluded, locking eyes with Damien as though trying to wordlessly communicate the fact that she was uncomfortable making decisions when she was this tired. She needed to clear her head.

Laurent was only mildly taken aback at the leader\'s rebuttal. Well this is unexpected... he mused, recognizing the boy as something a little more then a weakling. He would back off, for now. The man was more interested in the whore then this little boy.

He would wait until she was asleep, which shouldn\'t be too much longer. Surely the leader would leave her then? Storm hated the confinement of a watchful eye, Laurent was all to aware of that. As soon as she drifted off he would have a little fun. It had been too long. She needed to remember her place and learn never to run from him again.

Silently, Laurent turned his back on the ocean, drawing further into the forest to simply wait. Effortlessly he shifted into a crow, wings pushing the wind as he flew into a tree to become less noticeable. As soon as he had her alone... The thought of it made him caw in delight.

[Saiketsu]

Of course Damien would never allow the decision to be made without his support. Storm was severely inexperienced in such decision making; he was not unaware of this when he through the question into her court. She would need the experience, nonetheless, and she had ended up passing anther one of his tests. She could pass good decisions with significant reasoning behind them. That was very good.

Damien nodded in agreement, secretly enjoying her usage of the word "us" in her statement. It was also good that she considered herself part of the picture. And even though there was a gleam of anger in her eyes, Damien couldn\'t help but beam with the slightest tingling of pride over Storm. "Good choice," he transmitted, trying not to let his enjoyment of the brief moment show, knowing full well that she absorbed everything around her.

"It\'s settled then. No one is allowed to discuss anything of importance to this regime. Not Storm, not me, not our plans, nothing. Only simple and extremely vague information is to be discussed. I only want them there as a back-up in case things ever run sour. These youths are nothing significant to me but they may be useful if things don\'t go as planned.

"A male and a female who seem to have some sort of intimate relationship. The male is Scorpid. The female is Writmo. The two of them are members of the so called Dark Wolves Clan. Both Storm and I had the unfortunate coincidence of running into them." He ignored Nikolai\'s scoff.

"I want it to be known that any and all information leaked to these wolf-children will be considered treasonous. Then you\'ll have to answer to me directly. Is that clear?" His voice held a hard edge with all intent. Murmurs rose from the group. "Good I\'m glad we understand each other.

"Now I would personally suggest exactly what Storm has said: don\'t get too close. You may find yourself the victim of a childish impulse." Damien\'s countenance turned up into a smirk as Pierre laughed quietly. "I want to make it clear that I am not here to tell you what you can and can not do as individuals. I am here to tell you what you can and can not do as intimate parts of this regime. If we want empire, we need unity. The terms I\'ve laid down are non-negotiable. Nothing spoken of here is to ever be spoken about in public to anyone, including another member. This information is not to leak down to the lesser ranks or the fledglings at any cost.

"I ask only your loyalty and confidentiality." He took out the throw-away cell phone from his back pocket. "It\'s now 1:30. The sun rises in almost four hours, so I suggest you all go out and commit your crimes and fufill your lusts of body and blood while the sun still lies in its black womb." Damien smiled at the memories of the farewell, used so many times before. "Good-bye my friends."

And as Nikolai and Pierre begin to turn away silently, Damien called the younger vampire to his side, strolling off towards the ocean, out of Storm\'s hearing range.

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm\'s eyes flooded red as she felt the unfamiliar feeling of praise coming from Damien. "Good choice..." she scoffed in her mind, pulling a little away from him. Not out of anger, she was simply uncomfortable with any form of praise, no matter how little. Her eyes followed his face as he spoke to the rest of the group, not really taking in his words. The Akari studied the way his jaw moved as he spoke, how his eyes shifted. Simple curiosity. Nothing more.

It was a strange feeling, being held this high in importance. She couldn\'t help but flinch whenever her name was spoken, as though she couldn\'t understand why she was being brought into the conversation. As hard as she tried, she could not concentrate on what was being said. Sleep... she thought bitterly, is a necessary evil... Storm was relieved as she felt the conversation draw to a close and when Pierre and Nikolai began to turn away. She began to prepare herself for giving Damien an explanation, picking her words carefully in advance.

When the vampire summoned Nikolai and walked away from her, she panicked a little inside, instinctively clinging to his mind. Only because she was afraid of being left unprotected. Or at least that is what she told herself. Forcibly she relaxed, wings fluttering anxiously with the wind. Storm glanced awkwardly at Pierre, unsure if she should say something to him.

[Saiketsu]

Nikolai bristled as he passed so near to the Akari girl, biting back the urge to either hiss or lash out at her. Had Damien not been four paces ahead of him, he may have done that; the air of defensiveness Ace had was borderline sickening. For the umpteenth time Judas couldn\'t suppress the glare he had to throw at her.

But as the two vampires walked aout towards the low tide, Nikolai\'s mind flickered onto other things. He knew he hadn\'t made a wonderful first impression on Damien, and perhaps that was what this rendez-vous was about. The ocean grew louder and the aura around the leader grew stronger, as if he were building himself up guardedly. Nikolai sighed inwardly.

Yet as Damien turned to face him, he looked distracted, as of something were going on in the back of his mind and this were only a show and that his real purpose for singling Nikolai out was an issue within himself. The leader no longer looked as though he had no age, but rather had the soft lines of a young man again, the sharp and lively eyes of a nineteen-year-old man. Nikolai admired the leader\'s ability to do that, to retreat back in age, but he was not so easily fooled. The leader\'s eyes flickered and reveiled his real age.

"I don\'t know what you know, Judas. And I\'m not asking you to tell me." The leader spoke with a young man\'s voice, a coolness and a detatchment Nikolai could have never managed. the younger vampire watched as the leader removed his crumpled pack of Marlborro\'s from his front pocket and light one up. "What I need to know is whether having you here is going to be a problem."

Nikolai scoffed at the comment, turning away from Ace with a casual gesture.

"No, I\'m serious though. You know as well as I do that Lady Storm is not leaving under any circumstances. If you stay, orders will eventually trickle down through the ranks or be directed at you specifically. And while I don\'t care much for the past relations you and the Lady have had, I\'m not so willing to give you the boot simply over a little arguement.

"Pierre has defended you well," he exhaled through smoke. "You should thank him the moment you can. It\'s because of him that I even looked at you as a possible allie.

"Now. I need an honest reply before I let you go anywhere. Are you going to do the loyal thing, or should I be worried about the safety of both you and Lady Storm?"

Pierre watched over the roar of the ocean as his maker and his best friend spoke in private. Jack had said his piece and had left moments ago, his footfalls drowned out by the crashing of low tide at Glitter Beach. Now that the action had settled, though he knew he\'d get it from Nikolai later about Pierre\'s lack of support for Nikolai\'s clause, a sense of peace washed over Pierre Jean-Luc. He had done well for the night and he knew that.

Not ten paces from him, the strange new girl stood gazing at Damien, her expression unreadable to him. And as Jean-Luc looked upon the face of Lady Isabella\'s incarnation, he knew well enough that they had finally found her, after how long? Jean-Luc smiled as he looked at her, sliding on the charm.

"Bienvenue, Mademoiselle Storm, à la régime."

[The Cedar Witch]

In silence, the girl watched as Damien spoke quietly under the rush of the ocean to Nikolai. She caught herself subconsciously memorizing his gestures and posture. She blinked slowly, trying in vain to eavesdrop on the conversation. It must be about me, why else would he want to talk to Nikolai alone? What if the topic wasn’t about the fighting, but about the subjects that were brought up in the wake of the argument she shared with the younger vampire?

Storm paled at the thought of Damien drilling him for the details of what had been spoken. She hoped to the gods she never prayed to that Nikolai knew very little and that Damien would have more sense then to go to him for that information. In her anxiety, she gently pulled at him, trying to communicate her urgency. She still felt the Zalmric relatively nearby and she could feel her body begging for sleep.

Pierre’s silky words had a strange reaction on the girl, despite her lack of understanding. His tone made her flush, eyes swimming with blues and reds. The Akari turned to face him, trying to read his intentions. The vampire’s face seemed soft if not approachable, at least to her. Storm measured a few steps toward him, smiling gently and shifting the position of her wings.

“I’m not sure exactly what you meant…” she spoke with quiet authority in a way that carried no confrontation. Something about the way he spoke made her feel accepted, and for that she smiled appreciatively at him. Storm couldn’t help but like Pierre. His aura was pleasant, once you got past the part that he was friendly with someone she didn’t particularly like.

[Saiketsu]

"Relax," he thought to her, trying to ease her mind somehow from distracting him. Her gentle pulling didn\'t go ignored, but he had to wrap things up correctly or there may be bigger problems down the road.

"What\'s it gonna be Nikolai?" Ace watched Nikolai inwardly debate himself, felt his restricted aura churn blackly with the decision. "I gotta know and your gotta decide." The leader took another drag, resting his eyes on the younger vampire.

Judas threw a glace over at the girl and smirked, stirring a touch of anger within Damien; the look wasn\'t unreadible to him. "Just keep her away from me for the time being. I wouldn\'t want to ruin all your plans by hurting your precious key." His arrogance severly irked Damien, but he said nothing, ignoring his rise in temper. As if he could, Ace thought childishly.

"Done. I\'ll keep in contact with Pierre. I trust he knows how to find you." With another smirk Nikolai was on his way back to Pierre\'s side, and Damien to Storm\'s.

Pierre smiled gently. "Pardon moi. I said \'Welcome to the Regime\'. I\'m so used to speaking French sometimes, I forget that other people don\'t understand it." He knew better than to expect a response to her. Damien had made it clear that she was a different person than Lady Isabella had been.

"I hope it\'s not too bold to say but it\'s a pleasure to meet you at last. For the past four hundred years, Monsieur Damien has spoken of little besides finding you. Let\'s just say it\'s a pleasure to finally get him to shut up." The last part he said under his breath as the other two vampires joined their sides.

"Écartez-vous des mensonges au sujet de moi, Jean-Luc?" A smile spread across his face as his heels dug into the soft white sand of the beach. He took his spot at Storm\'s side, watching Nikolai closely as he eyed Storm viciously. The anger and jealousy directed towards Storm explained all.

"Jamais, Mon seigneur!" The two vampires laughed easily, a brotherly bond evident between them as was the private joke. Their old French was something which was unable to be understood by the average person, and for that both vampires were pleased.

Damien spoke taking a last drag and blowing the smoke away from Storm; girls never seemed to like the smoke. "I assume that everything is settled, then?"
Pierre nodded. "All loose ends, I\'ve got."
"Good. So I presume that we\'ll be seeing each other again sooner or later. Au revoir, mes amis. And Nikolai. Remember what I said."
The youngest vampire threw a dissmissing wave over his shoulder. "My word is my blood, Caesar."

Ace watched both vampires leave together before turning to Storm completely, the expression on his face unreadible. "I think we have quite a bit to talk about, now, don\'t we?"

[The Cedar Witch]

Storm smiled and laughed quietly at Pierre\'s last remark, trying to stifle it as Damien and Nikolai returned. Blatantly she ignored the youngest vampire\'s attempts to stare her down; she was done with childish games for the night. She listened to the tone and rhythm of the words spoken between the two vampires, enjoying the silky feel of the language.

The girl was very disappointed to see Pierre go, and did nothing to hide this from the vampire standing beside her. "I like Pierre." she stated simply, eyes a light and carefree blue as she looked into Damien\'s face. He spoke with an unreadable expression, causing her to drift back into reality.

The girl exhaled softly, watching the other vampires leave until they were well out of sight. Her wings painfully retracted into her back, skin fading to a fleshy tone leaving her looking small and vulnerable. With the vast majority of her energy consumed, she began to waver a bit where she was standing, feeling her footing slip slightly. Her hand shot out for Damien\'s support, wearily glancing back at the spot where she last felt the Zalmric.

"Someone from my past is trying to find me. Someone I have been running from for some time now." The Akari exhaled slowly, fighting to stay as awake as she could manage.