The Huntsman (SweetMarie and Lost)

"Our world is inhabited by many types of monsters that all prey on humans as you all know, and it is the job of the Huntsmen to slay those threats to humanity. To do this the Huntsmen drink the Elixir of Beasts giving up a piece of their humanity in exchange for the power to fight. The Elixir is taken over the course of four years in small diluted doses, the reason being most humans cannot withstand the power of the Elixir and die from it, even in it's diluted form it must be taken with great caution. There are several side effects of taking the Elixir though. Some of the minor ones are that our hair and eyes change in colour to the signature golden hue of the Huntsmen, a major one is we loose the ability to have children with humans. The power of the Elixir is carried through our blood and cannot be passed on to a normal human."

"What about the stories of the Huntsman that drank the Elixir all at once? Is that a myth?"

"Far from it my child. There was once a man that drank the entirety of the Elixir undiluted. For many days and nights his screams of agony rang through the halls of our Organization as the Elixir coursed through him, and at the end of the seventh day the screams stopped. What was born from that moment of reckless abandon became the legend of our Organization, a man so powerful that the Gods themselves fear him."

"Cut the shit old man. I am not some almighty being that was passed down from the heaven, who concurred the depths of hell and all that shit that you spoon feed these novices." A tall man with a face that looked as though it was carved from the finest of porcelain. His hair was pulled back into a tight single braid that went down to the back of his knees. The most defining feature though was his amethyst eyes that were locked on the golden haired old man that was sitting at the front of the room.

"Rude as ever I see." "Don't lie, you haven't seen anything in nearly ten years you blind, lying bastard." It was true, the bearded face of the old man had a very distinctive set of scars going across both his eyes and nose. "That is no way to talk to your superior Remy." "No it is not, but you pulled me from the field with a message that simply reads "You are urgently needed back at HQ." So what is the emergency?" A sage like smile spread across the old mans face. "I just wanted to see my favorite pupil, it's been so long since you have taken a break Remy."

Narrowing his eyes and frowning Remy took in a slow deep breath. "Now, now. Don't give me that look my boy. I do have a new assignment for you. In a village about a hundred miles north of here there has been a series of disappearances." "You brought me here for that? You could have said so in the message and I would have gone." "Yes but I would not have been able to see you, also I needed you to return so that we can re-equip you. In the five years you have been away in the field you have not once came back for anything." "I haven't needed to, but since I am here I suppose I should stop by Quartermaster Ulysses to see what he has."

"Ulysses is dead, Galaen has taken over as Quartermaster." "Unfortunate. Either way I must be leaving." Turning and heading back towards the door he paused. "Also to all you new recruits, keep your head about you. Never underestimate the power of those we hunt. They are stronger, faster, and tougher than we can ever hope to be."

Turning around once again to face the room a devilish smile crept to his face. "So what we must to as hunters is be smarter, more resourceful and above all completely committed to slaying the evils that prey on us. The moment your resolve is shaken is the moment your life is forfeit. Fight hard my brothers and sister, May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home, and may the hand of a friend always be near."

Taking his leave for real this time Remi's face held a sad smile as he heard the excited murmurs of the novices who were soon to be inducted into the halls of the Organization. Their lives were soon to end as humans, and they would never be able to go back to what they once had. All that was left for them was an endless battle and the hopes of an painless death.

“The world was once a beautiful place before the hunters came and ruined it for us.” One of the many elders said in a hushed velveteen voice. His accent was thick in Russian and seemed to draw more attraction to him then what it should. “We once thrived alongside humans and were seen as almost god like there were even movies about us.” He said as if remembering these so called movies of the past. “They were romantic movies about humans falling in love with us.” He grinned wildly as if that would or could ever happen. “That is disgusting.” A young man said leaning against a wall a foot kicked up against the wall almost like it was holding him in place. “Humans with vampires.” She huffed in laughed “Never would happen.” She raised his head up slightly and the elder sighed “Humans and vampires weren’t always enemies child.” The elder said eyeing the yearling. The elder though he only looked to be about eighteen maybe nineteen was much older then he seemed. His long thick shiny black hair was pulled back at the nip of his neck into a tight ponytail that seemed to fight in a time of ancient days rather then now. “Do shut up Arnold.” A soft voice said from the darkness “And don’t speak back to your elders.” The voice was feminine and delicate on the ears but there was no one there that it belonged too. “I do love hearing the elders stories.” The voice cooed stepping out of the shadows.

“Tray Bella.” Arnold said standing up straight and then bowing at the hip. It wasn’t typical to see Tray out of the darkness. Tray was young and beautiful even for a vampire. Her long golden hair cascaded down her neck and back like a river of gold. Her skin was clean and milky almost that of a percaline doll with no imperfections. Her eyes were pools of blackness which was one of the few ways to tell she was nothing short of a monster, that and her ruby red lips that had been stand that color over her long life span. Yes Tray was beautiful even in her own kinds eyes. She smiled allowing Arnold to see the pearly whites of her extended fangs.

“Tell me Elder classify our race for me… What kind of vampire would you say I am.” Tray said with a silken voice. “I would say you are royalty or close to one.” The Elders eyes flickered over Tray Bella. Yes there were classes of vampires and Tray was one of the hundreds of Royals. “Tell me all the classifications.” Tray’s voice wrapped around the elder like a snake, urging him to do as she bid him “There are five classes of our race, the royals, such as yourself, the elders, like myself, the true bloods, who are born vamperic, the changelings, who are made vampires, and the fallen.” He stated the races and it was easy to tell which ones were which by just the class. The last class was the reason vampires had become hunted creatures. They had become so consumed by the hunt or need for blood that they kill as much as they can and feed themselves stupid.

Tray watched the elder as he tried his best to resist her charms and pull. Royals had the uncanny nature of luring or pulling any creature into their trap as long as they were a high royal. Tray turned her eyes to Arnold with a soft smile allowing her lips to part ever so little her long canines no longer sharp and extended but that of a humans. “So royals can hide their feeders?” Arnold asked Tray and she nodded “All of use can it just hurts less when they extend for royals.” She said walking over to Arnold. “I have just come here to find something and it’s not here.” She said with a long heavy sigh as if she had been searching for this thing as long as she had been alive. “I suppose it goes to show you that fallen vampires are much trickier then they look.” She turned on her heels and began to walk away with a bounce in her step and just like that she was gone leaving both vampires in wonder as to where and who exactly she was searching for. Sure they knew she was after a fallen but vampires never chased after fallen vampires before, so why was this one so important to her? Who was it and why did she think it was here?

Remi walked down the familiar corridors of the Organization to the Quartermaster's workshop. Opening the heavy wood and iron door he was hit by a wave of heat and the smells of metals, leathers, polish, and other unidentified scents that filled the room. In the far corner of the room the massive back of a man was hunched over a work table. "I hear you are the Quartermaster now Galaen." "Yeah you heard right." "So you still run the forge and do all the work yourself?" "It's what I have done here for twenty-nine years. Why stop now that I have some fancy title. Now do you need something or not you are bothering me." Galaen said in a stern and agitated tone as he finally turned in his seat and froze. "By the Gods Remi you coulda said it was you." "You didn't recognize my voice?" "I haven't heard your voice in five years so no I didn't ya daft bastard." Getting up from his chair Galaen towered a head and a half over Remi and was nearly twice as wide as him. "I have some things for you." "I would only hope so."

Walking across the room Galaen fished a key from his pocket and unlocked a handsome, almost obscenely large, wooden chest. Opening the lid he smiled down at the contents. "You have kept me in good stock with some of the best materials I have had the pleasure of workin' with." Pulling out a white leather duster he held it out for Remi to see. "Made from the skin of that dragon you slayed three years ago." "Helped slay, there was a team of us." "Pssh, that's besides the point. Anyway this Duster is made from the skin of that dragon which is highly resistant to flame and majik. There is a layer of Mitrhil mail for added protection against physical threats and finally it is lined with the fur of ice wolves." "Very nice." Remi said shrugging off his old duster and taking the offered one. It was lightweight and moved freely. With a grand flourish he whipped the garment around him sliding his arms easily into place and finished it all off with a tug of the collar to pulled the shoulders in place. "It fits well." He said as he began to button it. "Of course it does, I made it." Galaen said as he reached back into the trunk. Pulling out a two objects wrapped in cloth he laid them out on a nearby table. One of them was nearly as long as Remi was tall. "New blades I suppose?" "Correct my boy."

Unavailing them Remi let out a low whistle. "Impressive, but why do neither of them have a guard." "I know, but honestly Remi, when was the last time you had an actual sword fight where you even needed a cross-guard?" Remi paused for a moment and then shrugged. "True enough. So what are these engravings?" He asked pointing to the elaborate and mysterious words etched into the side of the longer of the two swords. "Mostly words of prayer, and a couple of enchantments to keep the blade at it's sharpest." "Silver?" "Yes, and the other is sharpened dragon bone, I don't have to remind you how hard it is seeing as it also came from the dragon you killed."

Going back to the chest again Galaen pulled out a box and sat it on the table. "I know you get excited about your work Galaen, but I do have a mission I am on, so if we could skip the explanation on all the tools that would be great." Frowning and narrowing his eyes at Remi he stared at him for a prolonged moment before laughing loudly. "Never change do ya? Alright, well this chest is yours, so arm yourself however you see fit and you know the way out. I still got a lot of work to do." He said giving Remi a hardy slap on the back. "Thank you Galaen." Remi replied as he set about equipping himself with a plethora of weapons and tools before taking his leave with a final farewell to the hulking Quartermaster.

Finally outside again Remi took in the fresh air with a deep calming breath. The village was a hundred miles north, at a casual pace he could make it easily in two days. Closing his amethyst eyes he took in another smooth deep breath. As he exhaled he opened his eyes which were now a bluish silver in color with a slight glow. "Why waste two days when I can do it in two hours." He said to the trees around him and took off whipping through the trees. Using his power he increased the power of his legs and thus his speed and was moving at roughly sixty miles per hour.

The freedom he felt as he charged headlong recklessly through then out of the heavy woods and into the open fields was the main reason he stayed away from the organization for such long stents. It was also because of this that his powers were even greater than when he first took in the Elixir. He constantly pushed his upper most limits, nearly none of the other Hunters could move as quickly as him, and the ones that could, could only do it in short bursts before becoming exhausted.

Tray walked or more like glided along trying to figure out what exactly she was going to do to catch her fallen comrade and hopeful save them from themselves. Vampires after they had turned to a fallen never were the same but Tray had heard rumors about them being turned back to normal and with that rumor hope had bloomed in Tray’s black heart. This fallen vampire wasn’t like others this one was important to Tray for many reasons but the number one reason was she knew the fallen to well to let it sink deeper into the darkness that was the fallen way. Tray had decided a long time ago that she was going to save her friend no matter what, even if it killed her, and that might happen. Tray was going to have to do some stupid things along the way that would be dangerous. No vampire, were-creature, mermaid, zombie, really any creature of the dark would venture into doing. Tray was going to have to find herself a hunter and convince him or her to help.

Without knowing it Tray had realized suddenly that she had been holding her breath for the past seven minutes without her lungs screaming at her like a humans would be. She slowly allowed the air to fill her lungs to the max and exhaled slowly. “This sucks.” She said out loud to herself frustrated with her situation and looked around. Tray wasn’t a werewolf so it wasn’t like she could sniff the air and find a hunter, which sucked because right this minute it would have been more then helpful. It did help to be old though like Tray was, is. All her life she had traveled the world keeping herself hidden from the world like most of the royal vampires and now she was going to be reveling herself and her vampire royalty to a hunter allowing them the knowledge there were stronger vampires out there then the fallen that they had and were hunting. No Royal blooded or pure blooded Vampire had ever been caught by the hunters.

Tray was going to venture into dangerous territory endangering herself and maybe every one of her kind in the process of finding her fallen friend. “It’s for your friend Tray.” She told herself trying to convince herself more thoroughly. It really wasn’t working “She’d do it for you!” She said stomping her feet down like a child trying to get their way. Tray noticed then just how crazy she might have looked to the outside world if she weren’t by herself. She brushed her clothing off and took a long deep soothing breath. “I’m not crazy.” She murmured to herself and smiled “Maybe a little.” She chuckled and continued on her walk. She needed to find a hunter convince this hunter to help her and then at the end hope the hunter wouldn’t try killing her though killing a Royal had never happened before she was sure it was possible.

Though Tray wasn’t a werewolf who could just inhale the wind and find a target she did have a sense of smell that was incredible. Tray wondered if she could gather enough energy to work with a werewolf after all werewolves and vampires weren’t the greatest of friends. They even at one point in time had a war between each other which still was sort of going on in the background. There was no way in hell Tray was going to join up with a werewolf they were too unpredictable and typically followed their nature as wolves and destroyed everything in their path even their own kind. So werewolves though helpful in some aspects weren’t worth the hassle. No right now she needed to find herself a hunter and make them help her. Now to figure out where to find herself a good hunter who wouldn’t kill her or her friend she needed to save. Tray closed her eyes searching through the archives in her mind as to where she would find such a hunter. Tray sighed long and hard she wasn’t going to be able to find one she could trust completely. “Oh well. I guess it’s better to start at the hunter school.” She said and disappeared in thin air.

Tray shifted her body as she landed on solid ground she’d only stepped foot in this place once for the pure fact it was way too close to the school for stupid humans. Why humans ever hunted her kind was stupid but then again she figured it was slightly smart of the mortals to try and defend themselves. Though humans could fight back cattle could but if they could humans would have a triable time living. She grinned at the thought of humans being cattle. Sure it was some sort of sick joke thinking that way but it was true humans was no longer on the top of the food chain more like in the middle.

The image of human cattle with bells around there necks made Tray laugh quietly to herself as she moved through the large opened meadow only to through herself down against the warm slightly moist meadow floor. There was no one there just a second ago but then within a blink of an eye a male mortal appeared. Tray felt her face flush with anger she had never been so unaware before it angered her that a mortal could make her fall to the ground off guard just to hide. Tray hated this mortal male and growled lowly at herself for having allowed the mortal to get a jump on her. It didn’t seem to appear he noticed her much.

Tray’s eyes roamed over the male mortal sizing him up as well as making sure he was mortal it would be a horrible thing to come across another vampire or other creature to ask for help and then regret it later. This male was reckless that was for sure. He may have the speed of a vampire but his reflexes and eyesight weren’t as good as vampires with his speed. That was a pure and simple give away for him being a mortal and one of the hunters now all she needed to know was if he was stupid enough to try and attack her. Tray was going to follow him and stay out of sight for a while.