Hunting Madness (Aviaris.)

Delko spun his sword briefly, but nodded. "Anything you are willing to tell me. I'll admit, I'm curious about you, Shade. But I suppose to start... why are you living the way that you are?"

Shade laughed softly. "You and Lilith are a first. Most would rather just kill me." She muttered. "Where to begin." Her mood darkened a bit as memories came pouring in. "Guess the best place to start would be the beginning." A soft sigh escaped her lips. "The man that changed me...was my fiancee. At least...that is what he was at the time." She laughed a bit. "Found out on my 25th birthday. Same day we were set to marry. When I found out about it, I asked him to change me." She glanced towards Delko. "Unfortunately....I did not realize that the taste of blood made him insane. He killed my family, and nearly killed me." She pushed aside her hair to reveal the only scar that was on her body. It was two holes but the difference was, that there was also a tear mark running down from both. "When I came to...I trained, and learned to fight. After...I hunted the bastard down...and killed him." She moved her hair out of her face. "From there, I came to resent what I am. I found I was good at killing, and chose to take up a profession as an assassin. Gave me the resources I needed to track down other insane vampires. Been picking them off one by one ever since."

Delko nodded slowly. "I see. Sounds more like severe bloodlust than insanity. Some vampires learn to suppress their thirst so entirely that they barely feel it anymore or even need to feed. Then when they next taste blood, they go berserk. It's rare, but it happens. Generally happens when they don't learn to control themselves." He sighed. "I understand part of the pain though. Particularly the loss of loved ones. Had far too much of that..."

Shade nodded once. "I would have had to deal with them dying either way." She shrugged, referring to her family. One could tell it still bothered her though, despite her attempt to shrug it off. "The worst was that the.....the bastard burnt them." She chringed a bit at the memory of finding her families charred corpses. "Couldn't even tell who they were."

Delko nodded sadly. "Would you like to know how I got to where I am, Shade? It's a long story, but one I'm willing to tell." It would also help her realize that he could indeed identify with her pain.

"Only if you wish to tell. I do not pry into other's lives unless it is necessary." She blinked. Shade leaned against a tree while she let him choose to tell her or not.

Delko paused, then nodded, leaning on his sword. "I died a human a little over nine-hundred years ago, and was reborn as an angel. I was assigned as a guardian angel to a woman named Lena. And I fell in love with her. I made her a necklace with an unbreakable chain, to signify my love for her, and how our bond would never break. I came home one day to find her hanging by the necklace. She'd been murdered. I broke down right there, and didn't even realize the culprit was still in the house, waiting for me. He attacked and turned me, and made me a slave. Mostly for a blood source, partly to torture me for the fun of it."

"After awhile, however, I got stronger, and escaped. I'd fight him several times throughout my life, only barely escaping with my life, until I became stronger than him. Only to find he was immortal. However, with the help of some friends, we managed to seal him and his insanity away. I moved on with my life. Met a woman, got married, had children... and then my home was destroyed in a disaster brought about by some abomination that was a pet of some fool with a god-complex. My wife and children were killed. That was about three hundred years ago. And now here I am." He was staring up at the sky by the end, and indiscernible look on his face.

Shade listened in silence. "Seems there are control freaks everywhere." She glanced to the side a part of her curious. "What is like to be married?" she finally asked, looking towards him. "To be able to have someone you care about always be there for you?"

Delko smiled very softly. "Wonderful, Shade. Wonderful. Those years are my most cherished memories.... even the pain of losing them isn't enough to overshadow the happiness of that time. And I sincerely hope you get to experience that for yourself some day."

"As much as I would love for it to happen...I don't hold hope that it will any longer." She shrugged one shoulder. "To much worry that something like last time might happen again." She muttered. Even after a century, she still feared that she would be left in pain once more.

"The only way to guarantee that it will not happen, Shade, is to believe that it won't, and not give it a chance. For all you know, perhaps Lilith is that special someone and you just don't realize it yet." He didn't even consider himself there. He doubted he was ready just yet, and even if he was, Shade held no interest in him, of that he was sure.

Shade glanced towards him with a shake of her head. "Maybe." she muttered, thought there was little belief in her voice. Shade kept her arms crossed, trying to clear her head of the past. "So what now?" She asked, finally looking towards him once more. She would not say that she had an interest in him, though she did. But the fear was there, and it would be a while before it would go away.

Delko shrugged. "Whatever you want. I don't care. I simply enjoy the company of others; I have simple tastes. It's Lilith who is always wanting to do one thing or another."

"It does not seem that Lilith wishes to leave yet. So I will continue to train." She shrugged one shoulder, before she moved to sit. She crossed her legs and took a deep breath, closing her eyes figuring she could meditate to help her clear her mind of memories.

Delko watched her for a moment, then took a seat not too far away, to meditate as well. He soon had mostly zoned out. He'd sense if there was an immediate threat, but otherwise he was unaware of the world around him.

Shade managed to meditate for about two hours before she finally had to move once more. She stood and started to stretch her muscles, needing to have something to do. Glancing around, a soft sigh escaped her lips. "I should be working, not lounging around." She spoke under her breath, running a hand back through her hair.

"Working on what?" Lilith was nearby, standing in a tree, looking both curious and bored. She'd been watching Delko and Shade for the past hour and a half. Delko was still meditating.

"Tracking down my next target." Shade said, looking up at Lilith. "I don't make a living just sitting around." She shrugged a shoulder. "I have no other way to make money and be able to live at the time."

Lilith shrugged. "Me and Delko can take care of that. We both have plenty of money. Also, Delko can teleport us anywhere we want. He's useful like that, you know?"

Shade shook her head a bit. "It would not be right for me to allow the both of you to pay for me." She had plenty of money, after all she had been working for quite a while. She mainly wanted to be doing something she was comfortable and knew how to do.

"Well, then just tell us where your targets and such are, and we'll back you up. We have no set destination, so wherever we go is fine." She shrugged. "That, and I'm really bored."

"Three day's north of here is the next target." Shade said, thinking over the contract. "There's four of them that are keepin themselves locked up in an old warehouse."

Lilith grinned. "Delko can get us there in less than a minute, and then we can help you clear them out. Well, Delko could do it himself, but I know you want to do it, right?"

"I don't get paid unless I do it." Shade said, looking towards Lilith. "And I can handle them. They are human." She shrugged a shoulder. "More of an annoyance then anything." Shade glanced towards Delko, respect for him in her eyes, that had not been there before. When she lookd away, a slight smile came to her lips but disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.

Lilith noticed, but didn't comment. "Want me to 'wake' Delko from his meditation so we can get going, or what? He won't come out of that until he's good and ready, he senses a threat, or you physically force him out of it."