Goddess and Her Champion (Closed for Kaena)

[Lucian_Devine]

Kitaro let out a small sigh as he and Faye crested this hill for what he hoped would be the last time, in this direction at least. The sight of his destination, the large and sprawling city that had sprung up where two large rivers joined, should have been a happy sight. For him though, it brought a sense of unease that felt very foreign to him. It was only the second time he'd ever felt that feeling, with the first one coming when he'd decapitated his father.

With a slow shake of his head, Kitaro lowered one hand to pat the neck of the sturdy brown mare beneath him. "One last time, girl. I promise. Then we'll put this fucking place behind us and never look back." Faye let out a soft snicker in response to either his words or the pat, bringing a small smile to his lips before he spurred her to move, walking down the hill towards the town that he was drawn to.

It was hard to describe what drew Kitaro to this city. The closest he'd been able to compare it to was wanderlust. It wasn't so much the desire to travel though, so much as it was to go in a certain direction, or so he thought. Hell, it wasn't even so much the draw that annoyed him, so much as the fact that whenever he moved against it, the draw became stronger, only relenting when he started moving in the direction once more. It wasn't until he'd passed by this city the first time that he'd realized that he was being drawn to it specifically, and even then he only figured it out when the draw got stronger again, even as he'd walked in the same direction

Now a normal person might have just walked right into the city, but Kitaro was far from normal. In fact, he'd spent hundreds of years scouring libraries, temples, and archives, trying to learn as much about what he was as he could. The problem was how rare dhampirs were, the age that the condition started to reveal itself, and of course how easy it was to mistake them for vampires and destroy them outright. He couldn't really blame people for that though, given the nature of dhampirs and what would happen them if they weren't killed properly. In truth they were day-walking half-vampires born of a human woman and a male vampire. They were incapable of making more of themselves, by bite at least. There was some speculation that a male and female dhampir could birth a dhampir child, but they were so rare that it was believed that no dhampir had ever met another of their kind, despite their immortality. The thing that people didn't understand though, was why dhampirs were so rare, given the promiscuous and sexual nature of most vampires. They bedded plenty of women, many of them in the prime of their fertility, and yet the rarity of dhampirs could not be denied.

Kitaro closed his violet eyes and shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. He hated thinking about his past and who and what he was, and his hands clenched around Faye's reigns as he felt the anger rise. Part of him wished that his father was still "alive" if only so that he could suspect that that was what he was being drawn to. That at least would have made some sense, and could have been added to the limited recorded knowledge of dhampirs. Hell, even being drawn to his mother would have made sense, but the mothers almost never survived the birth, and his was no exception. Though even that feeling could been tolerable if not for the dreams that came to him at the same time. His location was never clear in the dreams, because he was surrounded by some sort of fog or mist. His body moved of it's own accord, moving towards the silhouette of a person. It started as little more than a vaguely human form, only getting clearer as he got closer to his destination. He still couldn't see any defining features, but could now tell that the figure in the mist was female.

So, with a nagging draw that got stronger the farther away he got, and nightly dreams that only got clearer as he got closer, Kitaro was stuck in a no-win situation. He'd resisted it as long as he could, even going so far as to indulge both halves of himself, hoping that either or both would fade if he was well-fed and fucked, but to no avail. So here he was, finally entering the city that called to him after scouting the surrounding area for any sign that it might be a trap or an ambush was waiting to pounce.

One of Kitaro's hands left Faye's reigns as he passed the threshold of the town, moving to the rest on the hilt of a sword as his violet gaze darted back and forth under the low hood of his dusty black cloak. He wasn't sure what to expect, and he hated that feeling. His muscles clenched tighter with every step Faye took. Using the feeling as a guide, he found his destination, but was utterly puzzled at how bland it was. It was nothing more than a small tavern whose sign was all but indiscernible, worn away by the effects of time. He'd of course circled the building to see if he was being drawn to a different one behind it, but no the feeling changed directions as he moved around the building.

With no other choice, Kitaro dismounted and secured Faye to the hitching post, taking a moment to press his forehead against hers and pat her neck with both hands before turning around. His muscles clenched once more as he forced himself to grab one of the door handles pull one of the doors open and step inside. The heads of a few of the patrons turned to look as he entered, while others were distracted with their card game. His hand abandoned the sword and joined his left hand in rising to pull the hood of his cloak back. The bartender had of course lifted his own head to look, but turned back to his own work shortly afterwards. A variety of scents assaulted Kitaro's nose, with only two of them standing out. The first was that of the barmaid. Her body was not yet showing evidence of the condition, but she was pregnant. He briefly wondered if she was aware of the condition, but quickly cast the thought aside and focused on the other scent. It was one that he couldn't recognize, which was as unusual as the rest of all this, given his abnormally long life. Still, at least he could detect it's source. His steps were slow and steady, weaving through the small but semi-crowded room of patrons. His gaze naturally fixed on the source, a cloaked figure sitting alone at the table in the corner with a mug and a bowl in front of them. Most of her features were obscured by the garment, giving him few details save for her gender. Still, his steady gaze studied her as he approached.

Kitaro's mind naturally raced as he approached, trying to think of what to say. Hell, he wasn't even sure if she was why he was here, since that nagging feeling had finally disappeared. "Can I buy you a refill?" He finally asked in low and steady baritone voice when he stood before the table, hoping to pass it off as a sexual advance if she ended up being unimportant.

 

[Kaena]

It had been 3 days that Kitara had been tracking her latest bounty. Three long days on horse back and 2 nights of sleepless nights under the stars, with nobody for company other than her horse, Storm. Each night had been filled by tossing and turning mixed with a desperate attempt to connect with the one chosen to be her earthly companion, as had every night since she had descended. She finally tracked her bounty to a small pub, not much more than a hole in the wall. She sat astride Storm watching the door from the shadows before urging the animal forward. Storm's hooves on the cobblestone echoed loudly as she approached, her pristine white coat glistening in the light of the lantern that hung in the doorway. Dismounting, she lay Storm's reins over the hitching post, not bothering to tie them, she knew Storm wasn't going to go anywhere. Groaning at the ache between her legs caused by the many hours riding the horse, she approached the door of the tavern, the sound of lively music and drunken banter filtering out to meet her. She hated the mortal life and all the inconveniences that came with it. Though she had retained her ability to shape shift and her strength, she had lost pretty much all her other godly attributes when she had fled to earth. No longer could she wish something into being and have it be true. Now, heaven forbid she had to actual work for it.

As each day passed, she cursed that she was not the goddess of wealth or prosperity. Being the goddess of Love and War provided very few options to pay for the few luxuries that she had. She could either earn a living by seducing men and taking their money, which in some circles would be nothing less than a well paid whore or she could use the more violent side of her skills and earn her living in a more honest way. That is how she had found herself here, making her way into the room full of rowdy men, most at one ale too many. Bounty hunting paid well and allowed her to stay in the shadows, away from prying eyes. The form she had taken wasn't one that drew attention, though if she really wanted to, she could change that. Instead she had chosen a look that was both functional and discreet for the most part. She was a goddess after all and with the title came the vanity that came with it. As much as it most likely would have been more useful to take the form of a homely woman, she couldn't help at least make herself passable in looks, her body firm and moderately curvy, her long brown hair hanging down to her waist and her eyes a striking blue. She didn't have any problem finding men to warm her bed in this form, but, it didn't make her stand out among the rest.

Raising the hood on her cloak, she stepped into the loud tavern, her eyes quickly scanning the room and finding her target. He was seated at a table along the back wall, a trencher of ale in front of him and one of the tavern maids perched happily on his lap. It was obvious that he was blissfully unaware of her presence or the price on his head. She took a seat at a table that both gave her a view of where he sat and allowed her to have her back to the wall and grabbed the attention of a passing serving maid to order a cup of hot cider and whatever slop they had on the menu that evening. With the realization that he was too intent on spending his ill gotten gains and wasn't going anywhere soon, she allowed herself to relax a little and discreetly watch the rest of the patrons in the room. After a couple of minutes the server returned with a steaming cup of ale and a bowl of surprisingly appetizing looking stew. She paid the girl, throwing in a gold piece as a tip and quickly ate what she had been given. It had been days she had had a hot meal, having had to resort to cold meat and cheese while on the road. As quickly as her bowl emptied it was filled again without her even asking, the server waving away the additional gold coin she held out to her.

She was at the bottom of her second bowl of stew when an almost electric feeling washed over her body. Her gaze was instantly drawn to the man that had just entered the tavern. Though she had never known a physical description of him, she knew this was the one, the man that had been chosen to be her companion. The one she had called out to each night in her sleep, drawing him closer and closer to her. She quickly lowered her gaze so as to not draw attention as he made his way towards her through the crowd. She could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest and her hands shook slightly as she lifted the last few drops of ale to her lips. After so long of searching for him, here he was, the one that would help her return to her life as a Goddess and be rid of this godforsaken earth once and for all.

It felt like an eternity for him to cross the room but finally he was standing before her. She could sense his apprehension as if he was still uncertain if she was the one he had been drawn to. A shiver trickled down her back at the sound of his voice. It took all her strength to gather herself and lift her head up to meet his gaze. Running her tongue lightly over her lips, she took a deep breath and motioned to the chair before her.

"It wouldn't be ladylike of me to deny such a courteous request," she replied, reaching up to finally lower her hood, revealing herself to both him and the others in the room. She waited to see if he would take the offered seat before continuing.

"Took you long enough to get here," she finally said, leaning in so only he could hear her, her voice taking on a serious and slightly judgmental tone. She had felt his nearness multiple times in the past and each time he had turned away from her she had grown more and more impatient. If she had not been forbidden to outright seek him out, other than drawing him to her, she would have hunted him down the day she had arrived on earth. "You and I have lots to talk about." She left the words hanging heavily in the air, waiting with bated breath to see how he would reply.

 

[Lucian_Devine]

With the woman's reply being standard enough, it was really only the fact that her hands lifted to draw back the hood of her cloak that led Kitaro to take the seat that she'd offered him. Her beauty threatened to distract him from her second statement, what with the way her brown hair almost shone in the firelight and the way her, such a deep shade of blue that they bordered on being unnaturally so. That was quickly remedied when that statement struck a nerve though. Her third statement was simple and obvious enough, but he let her finish it before he finally spoke.

"Yes, we certainly do..." Kitaro started, leaning in close as she had while speaking softly behind a fake smile as he turned away from her, lifted an arm, and signaled to the server. "But how's about we start with who, what, and why and go from there?" His own annoyance with the situation was obvious enough from the tone of his voice, even hidden as it was behind the fake smile that was for the benefit of the server and anybody else that happened to glance their way.

Kitaro had spoken slowly, ensuring that he finished moments before the server approached the table. He wanted to let his words linger in the air for a moment, letting the woman think carefully about her next words, in case he had to make them her last.

"A refill for the lady if you please, and a bottle of your finest wine." As he voiced his order, Kitaro's hand reached into his pocket. The gold piece that he slid across the table, after transferring the second coin into his other hand, would be enough for his request, along with a small tip. His other arm slipped around the woman's waist. The movement was natural in every sense of the word, both in the fact that he'd seen it happen more than once to the woman since he'd arrived, and done it more than his fair share of times in the past as well. It's purpose was different this time however as it was only a smokescreen to distract from his fingers dropping a platinum coin into her apron.

The server of course noticed, as she was meant to, and a simple glance was all that was necessary for her to tell the coin apart from the silver coins that were already in there. She turned towards him to protest as his arm withdrew from around her, but a simple hand gesture cut her off. "For the baby." Kitaro said. She flushed a little, but opened her mouth to protest once more, only to be cut off by the same gesture. "Now shoo. Mommy and Daddy are talking." His rude words and gestures were of course meant to further protect the woman, because he suspected that a fair few hands here would try to steal that coin if they knew about it.

With the pleasantries addressed, Kitaro finally turned his violet back gaze to meet the strikingly blue gaze of the woman sitting across from him.