The Enemy of My Enemy! (Razer and This Guy)

[razerwing]

France. Even with tensions as high as they were, it was still beautiful. Kat doubted it would hold up. Something big was coming. She looked out from her perch in the village's bell tower, surveying the boundaries of the small town. The humans were starting to interfere in their affairs but that was the least of their concerns. The raven-haired lady pulled a map from one of the pockets of her trench coat. The ground below was covered in freshly fallen snow. "Arras. It's a long way from home, but there's a reason I've been sent here." She sighed and tapped the red circle on the map. Arras. Why did border towns always have to be so dangerous?

Just as she was about to make her way back down, she picked up the faintest sound of snow crunching. Why would someone be out at this time of night? Kat made sure to keep herself out of sight, eyes riveted on the strange figure below. There were no obvious weapons, and she didn't exactly smell anything dangerous, but still. She'd been through enough on the way over from her homeland. This was all foreign territory to her. Her hand rested idly on the pistol at her side while she waited for more clues about this strange new-comer.

 

[Then There's This Guy]

In the Deuxième Bureau, the half of French military intelligence dedicated to observing the enemy and gathering intelligence on possible hostilities, there existed a sub-office. The Office for Supernatural Affairs was responsible for dealing with every case of the things that the French government didn't wish to admit was a problem. Vampires, zombies, and even what Adrienne Rochefort could only describe as simple demons. They'd all been out there. The storybook horrors that she'd only read about as a child that her mother told her about to make sure she behaved really were lurking out in the shadows. Of course the heavy presence of metal she felt under one arm and at her waist as she stuffed her hands deep in the pockets of her jacket reminded the Frenchwoman that they weren't exactly as the tales had told. Many of the more "tame" problems didn't need stakes or garlic or holy water. A good 7.65mm Browning delivered at speed was all it took to take care of them. Of course, being a bit of a traditionalist at heart, Agent Rochefort's had crosses etched on the shell casings of each round, and she was told that her rounds were blessed by holy water straight from Rome.

A comforting thought to know she had the two Model 14s with her now, having left her shotgun stowed away safely before coming into the village of Arras. A place far from her comfortable office in Paris, but as a field agent she was used to such discomforts when the people of France called out in alarm at dangers against their homes. In the troubles of war, any figure in the woods, or woodsmen gone missing was a sure sign of German spies just across the border to the locals. To Adrienne, it was a sign that something was amiss. A vampire by all the reports that her coworkers back in Paris had been able to gather. And she'd been sent to investigate.

It all began with a late night stroll through the town to get her bearings of the place. She had both gloved hands stuffed deep in the pockets of her coat, fur-lined boots crunching snow underfoot, and several rebellious strands of cherry-blonde hair had escaped from the bun she'd put in that morning to catch the cold night wind and whip about in front of her face. Hazel eyes drifted about the buildings of the small village. Eventually settling on the bell tower, more in thought than in scrutiny. This had the makings of a bad job, she thought. One vampire with the ability to scare so many people into not leaving their houses at night, even if they thought it was a Nazi spy, was going to be a handful.

 

[razerwing]

Kat growled a little bit, pulling out the TT-33 she had with her and hiding behind one of the bell tower's supports. Had she been found out? No, no that couldn't be it at all. Otherwise there would be some kind of panic, right? "Pravo. Just a human Kat." She sighed to herself, her fingers grazing a stray stone. A sudden idea popped into her head. If she threw this, it'd make enough noise for her to jump down and make a break for it she hoped. "Only one way to find out," she whispered to herself. Without any hesitation she gave the stone a good throw, watching it land a few meters behind the woman. Not waiting to see if the other woman turned to investigate the sound, Kat made her move and jumped. She landed a bit awkwardly though and made more noise than she'd intended. Did she have enough time to duck behind something?

She tried hiding herself behind the corner of the church. Hopefully the woman hadn't noticed anything. Kat couldn't let herself be found just yet. She had a job to do. France had its divisions and sub-divisions, and so did every other country involved. Her department had received many reports of the same things that were happening here in Arras, though not quite on such a blatant scale as this. Whatever it was, it needed to be stopped. Kat held her breath, waiting for either a scream, gunshots, or for the other to walk away without noticing anything. Damn humans were always so unpredictable.

 

[Then There's This Guy]

Adrienne would look back when asked by fellow agents and say that she was most certainly not surprised by a piece of rock flying out from the tower. She barely glimpsed it in the low light of the moon trying its best to shine through the clouds. A high arch that was most clearly not aimed at her directly. To be safe she kept an eye on it and did her best to get clear of where it would land - only to hear the comparatively much louder sound of somebody hitting the ground. She already had one of her pistols in hand as she turned in time to see the faintest glimpse of some sort of figure disappear behind a corner of the church. Adrienne scowled in anger and took aim only to think better of it. Most in the village were likely asleep and there was no better way to hurt the situation then firing off a pistol in the middle of the night in a border town with relations between the neighbors being as they were. Instead the young woman ran for the corner of a nearby house and saw the tracks through the snow.

She took cover partially around the corner of the small house and kept her pistol trained on the corner of the church while she kept the occasional glance up to the room in case she was dealing with, God forbid, some obscenely powerful master vampire waiting to swoop down on her head. But she had to control her breathing, edging around her cover with the pistol at the ready. She moved from the main corner of the house to being tucked behind the outcropping of the chimney of the house. Squinting her eyes, Adrienne watched for movement. Maybe she could play the part of the oblivious local. Get the vampire to lower its guard, make a mistake, and give her an opportunity to kill it or capture it.

She didn't dare shout too loudly, lest she wake the villagers, "Come out, spy. I know you are hiding over there."

 

[razerwing]

The stone idea may not have been as rock solid as she would have liked, but at least it gave her time to get to cover. She flinched when she heard the other woman call out just loud enough to be heard. Kat peeked around the corner quickly, just to get a general idea of where the girl was now. Judging by the footprints, the human was hiding behind the house a little ways off. It seemed she was trained. No normal villager would have been able to take cover that fast, and have a weapon drawn.

Now, Kat was far from an obscenely powerful vampire master. In fact, she looked quite harmless, standing only at 5' 5". She stepped out from behind her corner, her pistol above her head and a slight smile on her face. Her hair was tied in a ponytail for now, and the rest of her frame was hidden by thick trench coat. When she spoke, her accent was apparent, though not too strong. "Calm down friend. I'm no spy, I promise you." She slowly bent down to put her gun on the ground, and slowly stood back up. "Please, don't point that at me. I'm not fond of being threatened." Good, now she was on the other side of a gun. Kat took a few careful steps towards the human's hiding place. Oddly enough she couldn't smell fear.

"I know you just want to protect the town. Please, put your weapon away. I mean you no harm, I just want to go home and get some rest, khorosho?"

 

[Then There's This Guy]

"Very nice. Speaking Russian in a French village." Adrienne felt her finger tighten reflexively around the trigger, "You don't like being threatened? I don't much like people causing trouble at this hour of the night."

The vampire had set her gun down. That was both good and bad. Good because it was one less weapon Adrienne had to worry about being used against her. Bad because it likely meant the vampire she was dealing with had the skills and power to not even need one. Adrienne only had her own experiences and all the limitations that being a human entailed. So with that in mind, she didn't step out from behind her own cover just yet, even as the vampire took a step closer. She didn't like this situation and mentally kicked herself for not having grabbed the shotgun when she'd first come into the village. For now though the agent didn't have any choice on how to deal with the matter. It was a committed situation and that was what had to be dealt with now.

"Oh, you aren't a spy? Well then I suppose I should just take you at your word." She still plaid the part of obliviousness, of somebody who didn't know just what they might be dealing with, "How about you stop walking before I make you stop walking, eh, friend? I'd say you walking around my village like this is a far bigger threat to me and my people than my holding a gun to you." She scowled, "There's no home for you here, spy."

 

[razerwing]

Kat's smile dropped a bit. "If I wanted to cause trouble friend, I would ring the bell. And I would have shot you a long time ago." Her hands lowered slightly and she took another step. "I won't ask again. Put your gun down, and I can continue being friendly. I think you'd prefer me friendly, ponyal?" Another step forward. She was getting closer, and she really had no intentions of hurting anyone. The other girl may notice though that Kat had her pistol on a strap, and that with every step she took, the pistol followed. The vampire stopped about 6 meters away from where the girl was hiding. "I promise I'm not a spy. Even if I was, what would I have to gain by spying on Arras?" She flashed a friendly smile again, really just wanting to go home.

Then Kat noticed something off. Something smelled different. It didn't just smell like human and snow anymore. There was something else. Kat's whole being tensed and the smile dropped fast. Her eyes were no longer focused on the other girl. She even started to back up, and rather quickly at that. "If you don't trust me, then shoot me already, or handcuff me and take me to the authorities. I won't put up much of a fight if you choose the second option, but I would like it very much if we went somewhere else yes?" The scent started to fade. Whatever it had been seemed to be going away now. Still... it put Kat on edge, and that may not be too helpful for the current situation. If she really needed to, she could have her pistol back in her hands by the time the human girl got a shot off, and she could put her down by the next round.

She didn't want it to come to that though. Vampires needed humans, and to recklessly waste their blood wouldn't be acceptable to her.

 

[Then There's This Guy]

Adrienne didn't like this. She didn't like it at all. That strap? It was a good concept if shit in actual execution given how exposed things like that could get. All it would take was one well-placed round and she'd essentially disarm the vampire of the gun. Not that it would make much difference given what she was dealing with, but it wasn't like Adrienne was completely dependent on guns herself. She just wasn't fond of the idea of going toe-to-toe with a vampire in hand-to-hand combat. They had fangs and other nasty treats for somebody who got that close to them and her agency didn't have many in their number who'd been bitten. As far as she knew the general record of those bitten and returning to the agency was small. Many were lost to self-inflicted death, shot by their partners before they could fully turn, or they simply ran away too ashamed and afraid to return to the agency.

"Or how about you let go of your fancy strap, hm? Or by the second round you'll lose a knee because you keep walking. Then we'll think about going somewhere else, hm?"

She didn't like this. She didn't like this situation at all and again thought back to the shotgun stowed away for safekeeping. Maybe she should have brought it with her. Even the vampire seemed to have a flash of nerves for a second. Maybe her coven was nearby? If that was the case, why was she so nervous? Adrienne couldn't even guess but she was already getting sick of this whole 'game' they'd been playing.

"Okay, you fanged cunt." She growled the words, "Lets quit playing games, hm? I know what you are well enough and I'm fucking sick of it." She took two steps back, matching those taken by the vampire, "I know you don't need that gun, but I don't need a bullet wound anymore then I want your fangs buried in my neck. Its been a cold, long day and I'd rather not end it beating one of your kind to death with my hands if I have to." Now the olive branch of sorts, "Surrender now. You won't be harmed. I know people, who can help you. Maybe then you won't have to slink around and terrorize innocent people all night."

 

[razerwing]

Kat sighed a bit and fiddled with the strap. A few seconds later found it falling into the snow. The vampire then took a step backwards. She was done playing around. It was obvious that the human knew what she was, though she obviously didn't know who. Once Kat was finished the smile dropped along with every bit of friendliness. "Fine, hunter. I surrender. Please don't treat my weapon roughly either." She growled a little, putting her hands above her head. "Can we please leave now? I suddenly don't like being exposed." She wouldn't make any more movements, no matter how small until the woman had restrained her however way she saw fit. The scent from a moment ago was gone now, and while she couldn't quite put her finger on it, she felt she knew it from somewhere. But where?

And more importantly, where were the other hunters? Whatever agency this woman worked for was either incompetent, or had a lot of faith in this one girl. Most hunters worked in teams of two, at least as far as Kat had seen. Maybe the French worked differently. "You'll find that was the only weapon I had on me tonight. And between you and me podruga, I don't think I'd want to bite you anyways. You seem sour." Kat chuckled a bit at this, as if it were a joke. This human wasn't exactly the brightest bulb in the bunch, but once again, perhaps the French operated differently. After all, every agency needed cannon fodder. "I would like to start again if that is alright with you. My name is Kat, and I can promise you that I'm not a spy. For whatever country you pick. Now please, let's move." Regardless of whether or not the woman had restrained her or not, Kat started to walk away, off towards the tree line it seemed. "Will you follow or not? Depending on what happens, you may find you need me later on."