- Invitation Status
- Posting Speed
- 1-3 posts per day
- Writing Levels
- Elementary
- Intermediate
- Adept
- Preferred Character Gender
- Female
- Genres
- Fantasy, Magical, Horror
It was an hour after sunset when the train pulled in at the station. It was an old thing, with a horrendously outdated diesel engine. It ran on rusty steel girders laid on rotten wood. The station wasn't much better either. It was little more than a platform, a raised bit of land covered in stones to allow people to more easily get on and off the train. The carriages were wooden, and crudely built. The glass barely held in the frames, and a chilling wind blew through the gaps in the planks. It was a wonder people remained in Bedrock at all, Shiro thought. She stepped off the train and watched it leave before turning to the street. The platform was situated at the edge of the town, and one had to navigate a few corners to get to any recognisable location.
It was Shiro's first time in this town. She had visited Churchtown before, but she had never had much reason to come to Bedrock before. This would be her first Blood Moon too, so it was quite a coincidence that her work had happened to bring her to one of the few locations where it would be visible. She didn't really know what happened at a Blood Moon, beyond rumours that vampires became significantly more powerful in their presence. She glanced at the sky. The light pollution here was average, but worse than her homeland and she couldn't make out many constellations. The moon was still low, but by the size of it it looked like there was still a week or so before the Blood Moon would occur. Plenty of time to get orientated.
As she looked around, she caught a glimpse of a small gothic style shop on the corner of the road. It was more like a front room than a proper business, and if she hadn't been looking for it, it would probably have escaped her view completely. On a black wooden sign above the door was painted "Sarah's Odds and Ends". She opened the door, and a small bell tinkled lightly. A kindly old woman turned to greet her from behind the counter. The room was completely full of miscellaneous items, most of which were clearly fakes, though she could make out a few genuine artifacts too. Those weren't the main reason the shop existed though. They served more as a distraction to validate the building's existence to the human eye.
"Sarah Winsthorpe. A pleasure to meet you."
"And who would you be?"
Shiro did not give a name, instead choosing to conjure a small flickering flame in her outstretched palm. It glowed with a ghostly violet blaze. The elderly woman recoiled a little upon seeing fire, but quickly regained her composure.
"The Violet Flame. The pleasure is most certainly mine. So, how can this ancient one help you?"
The exchanged light conversation, before getting down to business. It wasn't often that two legends of the Spiritual world encountered each other seemingly by chance. After a while, money was exchanged and Shiro left the store, the door bell tinkling once again. She looked down at the map she had just purchased. It seemed to be a simple enough route to her destination, and she set off.
The Castle was a rather nondescript building. Both it's interior and exterior design suggested that it was a generic hotel with an out of place name. She walked towards the reception desk after looking around a little, and asked in a whisper for The Prince. She couldn't tell if the receptionist was a vampire. If she was, her signal was incredibly weak. She was probably a Thrall, considering that most normal humans wouldn't be able to work if they knew a council of vampires resided in the same building as them. She was directed to a side door, that had a 4 character code electric lock protecting it. She inputted the numbers the receptionist had told her, and headed through. On the other side was an elevator, whose doors were made of a thick silver metal and inlaid with gold. She knew the metal couldn't actually have been silver though, since there was no way a vampire would be able to withstand that much sheer death. Silver radiated a strange aura that acted like a strong poison on the bodies of most supernaturals that came close enough to it. She entered the lift and pressed the solitary button, labeled with an up arrow.
The lift began to slowly ascend, the journey taking enough time that if another person had been in the lift it would have just begun to get uncomfortable by the time it stopped. The door opened and she walked out, finding herself in the presence of 10 very intimidating monsters. She stepped up, and as she did so, one of the 3 standing people turned around. He was dressed in black robes edged in crimson and gold, and he wore an obnoxiously large solid gold cross on a chain around his neck.
"Cardinal. It's been a while. I heard about your exploits in Russia. I must say, for a generation 11, you really do know how to kill things."
"Well, you know humans. Rather prone to exaggeration. It seems we'll be working together for a while."
With that, the Cardinal turned to leave. No one tried to stop him. Shiro approached the council. It was very obvious who the Prince was - he wore a crown of a similar silver metal to the lift doors. It was probably to try and trick more stupid vampires into thinking he was powerful enough to resist Silver.
"I've been expecting you. Don't tell me. The train was late again. It always is..."
Shiro thought the man looked really rather American, though there was no denying he spoke in a British accent. She wondered if it was handed down through the Gilded bloodline. She hadn't met a gilded so far that wasn't posh.
"Well, I guess if you were expecting me then there's no need for me to announce my presence."
"Indeed not." He stood up and moved to where Shiro stood, before turning around to view the rest of the council. "Friends, trusted advisers. Let me introduce to you, the Violet Flame. She will be working with us until the current issue is sorted."
There were a few shocked gasps from the members, as well as a few doubtful mutterings. Shiro wasn't psychic, but she knew what they were saying. "The Violet Flame is so young?" "What would she be doing here?" "That's really her?" "Has the prince gone mad, inviting her here?"
"I assure you. This is no mistake. This IS the Violet Flame, and she is my personal guest in Bedrock. And, contrary to popular belief, she is not a vampire hunter. She hunts who she is told to hunt, not just any vampire."
Shiro smirked as she turned to leave. It was fun seeing powerful and reputed rulers left speechless.
"Oh, but one thing, Violet Flame. You may be my personal guest, but the same thing applies to you as applies to everyone who enters this city. You will not enter the Black Tower. If you do, you will have a Blood Hunt placed on your head. And it doesn't matter how powerful you are. Even you cannot stand against 6 entire clans."
"Understood."
With this, she abruptly left.
It was Shiro's first time in this town. She had visited Churchtown before, but she had never had much reason to come to Bedrock before. This would be her first Blood Moon too, so it was quite a coincidence that her work had happened to bring her to one of the few locations where it would be visible. She didn't really know what happened at a Blood Moon, beyond rumours that vampires became significantly more powerful in their presence. She glanced at the sky. The light pollution here was average, but worse than her homeland and she couldn't make out many constellations. The moon was still low, but by the size of it it looked like there was still a week or so before the Blood Moon would occur. Plenty of time to get orientated.
As she looked around, she caught a glimpse of a small gothic style shop on the corner of the road. It was more like a front room than a proper business, and if she hadn't been looking for it, it would probably have escaped her view completely. On a black wooden sign above the door was painted "Sarah's Odds and Ends". She opened the door, and a small bell tinkled lightly. A kindly old woman turned to greet her from behind the counter. The room was completely full of miscellaneous items, most of which were clearly fakes, though she could make out a few genuine artifacts too. Those weren't the main reason the shop existed though. They served more as a distraction to validate the building's existence to the human eye.
"Sarah Winsthorpe. A pleasure to meet you."
"And who would you be?"
Shiro did not give a name, instead choosing to conjure a small flickering flame in her outstretched palm. It glowed with a ghostly violet blaze. The elderly woman recoiled a little upon seeing fire, but quickly regained her composure.
"The Violet Flame. The pleasure is most certainly mine. So, how can this ancient one help you?"
The exchanged light conversation, before getting down to business. It wasn't often that two legends of the Spiritual world encountered each other seemingly by chance. After a while, money was exchanged and Shiro left the store, the door bell tinkling once again. She looked down at the map she had just purchased. It seemed to be a simple enough route to her destination, and she set off.
The Castle was a rather nondescript building. Both it's interior and exterior design suggested that it was a generic hotel with an out of place name. She walked towards the reception desk after looking around a little, and asked in a whisper for The Prince. She couldn't tell if the receptionist was a vampire. If she was, her signal was incredibly weak. She was probably a Thrall, considering that most normal humans wouldn't be able to work if they knew a council of vampires resided in the same building as them. She was directed to a side door, that had a 4 character code electric lock protecting it. She inputted the numbers the receptionist had told her, and headed through. On the other side was an elevator, whose doors were made of a thick silver metal and inlaid with gold. She knew the metal couldn't actually have been silver though, since there was no way a vampire would be able to withstand that much sheer death. Silver radiated a strange aura that acted like a strong poison on the bodies of most supernaturals that came close enough to it. She entered the lift and pressed the solitary button, labeled with an up arrow.
The lift began to slowly ascend, the journey taking enough time that if another person had been in the lift it would have just begun to get uncomfortable by the time it stopped. The door opened and she walked out, finding herself in the presence of 10 very intimidating monsters. She stepped up, and as she did so, one of the 3 standing people turned around. He was dressed in black robes edged in crimson and gold, and he wore an obnoxiously large solid gold cross on a chain around his neck.
"Cardinal. It's been a while. I heard about your exploits in Russia. I must say, for a generation 11, you really do know how to kill things."
"Well, you know humans. Rather prone to exaggeration. It seems we'll be working together for a while."
With that, the Cardinal turned to leave. No one tried to stop him. Shiro approached the council. It was very obvious who the Prince was - he wore a crown of a similar silver metal to the lift doors. It was probably to try and trick more stupid vampires into thinking he was powerful enough to resist Silver.
"I've been expecting you. Don't tell me. The train was late again. It always is..."
Shiro thought the man looked really rather American, though there was no denying he spoke in a British accent. She wondered if it was handed down through the Gilded bloodline. She hadn't met a gilded so far that wasn't posh.
"Well, I guess if you were expecting me then there's no need for me to announce my presence."
"Indeed not." He stood up and moved to where Shiro stood, before turning around to view the rest of the council. "Friends, trusted advisers. Let me introduce to you, the Violet Flame. She will be working with us until the current issue is sorted."
There were a few shocked gasps from the members, as well as a few doubtful mutterings. Shiro wasn't psychic, but she knew what they were saying. "The Violet Flame is so young?" "What would she be doing here?" "That's really her?" "Has the prince gone mad, inviting her here?"
"I assure you. This is no mistake. This IS the Violet Flame, and she is my personal guest in Bedrock. And, contrary to popular belief, she is not a vampire hunter. She hunts who she is told to hunt, not just any vampire."
Shiro smirked as she turned to leave. It was fun seeing powerful and reputed rulers left speechless.
"Oh, but one thing, Violet Flame. You may be my personal guest, but the same thing applies to you as applies to everyone who enters this city. You will not enter the Black Tower. If you do, you will have a Blood Hunt placed on your head. And it doesn't matter how powerful you are. Even you cannot stand against 6 entire clans."
"Understood."
With this, she abruptly left.