Midnight Call^^

Mikael

I clambered up out of the dirt and turned to Luke.
"Well done, Monsieur Prince. Not many men can boast having landed a blow on me." I flexed my shoulder, loosened the strap on my shoulder peice and turned back to him.
"I must have that sword. It is all that remains of my life before this. It was given to me by the Archlord of the Iron Knights and father of my wife. I need that sword ... please." I spoke solemnly. I turned and walked back toward the house apologising to each person as i met them.
"Please excuse my outburst. I apologise most deeply. That sword is all that remains of my past life and it means more to me than you can possibly imagine." I sat down and wiped the blood from my nose before re-adjusting my armour. I moved the breastplate and found the source of my loss of speed. Wedged behind my breastplate and sticking into my side was a small pearl hair clip.
"Sophia, I believe this belongs to you." I held it out in the palm of my hand and she quietly took it away. I dived into a tree and grabbed my small sack of possessions. I searched through the bag moving peices of armour, old battle trophies, my large warhammer until eventually i found two small rings. I placed one on my finger and threw the other to Luke.
"Put it on and i will be able to find you always. That way maybe someday i can make up for assault." I bowed, returned the bag to the tree and sat down quietly.

Sophia

Mikael held out a beautiful pearl hair clip.

I quickly snatched it from his hand, closing my hand around it.

I could feel Peter looking at me, but I didn't want to look back.

Now Mikael threw a ring at Luke. He snatched it right out of the air, and stared at it in the palm of his hand disapprovingly.


*I don't know what you want to do with this Skull, so Ill leave it at this.*

Mikael

I couldn't help but smile at their reactions. So long as Luke wore that ring i could find him, and if i could find him, i could get my sword from him. Sophias reaction suprised me slightly. That beautiful hair clip had been the object of her almost getting mugged all those years ago. I had stolen before i disappeared in the night, unable to say goodbye to one of the few friends i had on this earth. I took out my spiked warhammer and began cleaning its brutish violent visage. Since i had been robbed of my sword this hammer had kept me safe from many an foe.
"Sophia, i am sorry."
"Sorry?!" she laughed. "Why are you sorry? You have given the greatest present ever. Not only have you come back my faithful dark protector." I smirked at her choice of words. "You have returned this and after all these years, it is still as perfect as the day you took it."
"I put my hammer back in my pack and darted off into the forest to find a meal, followed closely by Nightfall.

Sophia

Mikael darted off into the forest.

'Why did he take it?' I thought.

"Hey. Whats that?" Melody asked. "Is it yours?"

"Yeah. It was my mums. Its the only thing I had left of them. It was in my hair when Lyla found me."

Peter stood next to me. I put my arm around his waist. He didnt respond.

Mikael had returned. The only guy I had been able too think about for years up to the moment when I met Peter. These two were so different.

I stared at the forest.

It stared to drizzle, then the clouds opened, and the rain poured down on us.

"Lets get back inside." Ana said.

They started to walk to the house.

When they saw I didn't follow Ana came to me, stood next to me with an arm around my shoulders and asked, " Wanna talk about it?"

I shook my head and followed the others into the house making a trail of water on the wooden floor.

Ana

I finally managed to direct Sophia back inside the house. The rain had started coming down faster and pattered against the roof. Everyone stood around in the kitchen and dried off in front of a fire Peter lit in the hearth.

"So." Melody said.

"So." I echoed her.

Several people raised eyebrows and gave us confused looks. I guess not everyone could speak to eachother in single words.

"So, what's the plan?" Melody asked.

"Plan?" Johnny asked. "Plan for what?"

"Plan for life." she said. "All of us have something we were doing before getting here. I'm just asking if anyone is going to continue on whatever sort of mission they had been on."

No one spoke, that is until Peter spoke up. "Well my plan is to stay on my farm and try to get something to grow this season. Any of you are welcome to stay around here as long as you want, granted you either pay some sort of rent or help around the farm. No one stays for free."

Everyone had seemed a little down until Peter put out the invitaton. Then others started to speak up with what they were planning to do. Daybreak looked excited to be able to stay around, she kept jumping around where she was, though I don't think she would say anything until Nightfal came back and could decide for them.

Haha Lauren, you capture Daybreak perfectly all the time XD

Nightfall-

I followed Mikael with great agility as we flew past trees and shrubs in search of a decent meal. That accursed bird of Luke's that I was not permitted to eat had flared my hunger in such a way that it was not to be ignored. Tiger paws flew out in front of me with each enormous stride I took. A juicy smell floated through my nostrils and forced me to stop.

"Got something?" Mikael asked as I stood there, smelling the air carefully.

I nodded. The rain, to some degree, obstructed the smell, but I could still pick up that tiny herd of deer. I trotted towards the scent, staying low to the ground. As we got closer, I could tell Mikael could smell them too. When we were close enough, we both charged out from our cover and attacked the unsuspecting creatures.

Mikael sucked his catch dry. I ate the head and neck of mine and dragged the rest back for the others - with the exception of Sophia - when they wanted it. I dropped it in the barn and thoroughly shook my coat before morphing back and heading inside. Everyone was gathered around a warm fire. Other than that though, the room was dim and silent and almost lifeless. Daybreak's face lit up when she saw me. I sat next to her and turned to Peter.

"Uh...dinner's in the barn, when you want it..." I told him. He nodded gratefully, but his face showed something resembling disgust and fear at my brutish feline nature. "Of course," I said, turning to Sophia, "you'll need something else."

She swallowed hard. I smiled half-heartedly at her. She attempted to smile back, but it didn't come out to much more than a flat line. Daybreak looked at me anxiously.

"Peter said we can stay if we help out!" She exclaimed energetically. I sighed. "Can we? Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please?!?"

I glanced at Peter. He nodded slightly, as though verifying that what Daybreak had told me was true. I looked at her again. "You have no idea what it takes to work on a farm," I told her.

"I can learn!" She cried. "Please? You've kept me from people my whole life! Don't take away my friends...!" Sadness clouded her eyes.

My heart went out to her. She was trying to guilt-trip me, make me seem like the bad guy, and well, right now, it was working. I was. I was the mean big sister that sheltered her from the world all seventeen years of her life, and she deserved to stay with the only real friends she'd ever known. I sighed again, this time, a sigh of defeat, and nodded. Daybreak squealed happily and she hugged me. I patted her shoulder and turned to Peter again.

"What kind of work can be done around here?"I asked him.

Haha, well she's a fun character, and I have a friend who acts almost exactly like her.

Peter

I thought about this for a moment. "Well, I always need a lot of help with the planting at the beginning of a season and harvesting at the end. We have a few animals to tend to, horses, pigs, chickens, and such. The dogs always seem a little lonely as I don't have as much time to spend with them anymore, so they could use some company. And there's always some fixing up to do around the place. It's a small farm, it's not like the work load is too terrible when balanced between a few people."

Daybreak jumped up and down, still filled with excitement and Nightfall contemplated over everything. A place deep inside of me hoped for their help, though I would never admit it. Sometimes it was hard with just Ana and me. I also hoped some of the others would consider the offer too.

"And well, pretty much anything you can do or like to do that could help out would be fine too." Ana added. She tried not to show the excitement of having more people around, but it was pretty much obvious. She looked around expectantly, waiting for the decisions of everyone.

Sophia

"I maybe could stay. I can cook ... kinda...". I suggested. "Or, I dunno. I used to do allot back at Lylas..."

"Sounds good to me." Ana said smiling, as if she knew something I didn't. "Or Peter?"

"Uhm. Yeah!"

I smiled. He was so cute. If I ever went back to Lylas, Id... I dunno... feel so terrible...

Mikael stormed inside. "Hey. Whats new?"

"Nightfall, Daybreak and I are going to stay here, with Peter and Ana." I answered.

"Cool." Mikael nodded.

Mikael

"Cool." I sat down in stoney silence remaining deathly still, not even breathing.
"Is something bothering you?" Asked Sophia looking at me.
'Of course something is wrong!' i thought bitterly 'I haven't seen you in years and i wish i could stay with you. But i am suppposed to ride around righting wrongs and protecting innocent people.'
"Nothing" i whispered in a voice from beyond the grave still unmoving. Sophia didn't probe any deeper but i could see her thinking it over. Can vampires love, i thought still unmoving. I realised everyone was looking so i started breathing again. What a pointless charade!

Sophia

Mikael didn't breathe for several seconds. I knew that vampires didn't breathe, but still, every time I saw something like that, my heart stood still. It kinda froze.
When he started breathing again, we all relaxed.
Peter had his arm around me, when he saw what chills Mikaels not breathing gave me. It was such a beautiful feeling being cared for.
Mikael stared at Peter in a weird way, who stared back.
"OK." Ana said to break the ice. "Anyone else wanna stay?"

Sophia

Johhny looked around. "I wanna stay."
"Lord have mercy!" Ana sighed loudly. I giggled. But she was right...
"Only over my dead body." Peter threw in.
"Hey. I'm not that bad."´He responded.
"I will not have you stay on our farm or anywhere near it." Ana spat in his face.
"I am sure we can... make some kind of arrangement..." Johhony answered slimy.

Mikael

"I would like to stay. I could do with a break from my quest and i have almost run out of villains to defeat or people to save. That is if it is alright with you Peter? I will not require food or a bed but i could use a roof over my head."
"Well i would much rather you than Johnny."
"Hey that hurt" said Johnny looking hurt and drawing a sparkling laugh from Sophia that made me feel ... odd.
"Well my unique gifts lend me to anything involving with heavy lifting or hunting animals of any size."
"Hmm this place is going to be crowded. Perhaps you could set to work building yourself that roof to sleep under."
I smiled and for the first time in years i really meant it. It was no longer a human reaction. I was actually happy.

Nightfall-

"I could herd sheep!" Daybreak cried. "If you have any!"

Peter looked a little fearful. "She won't eat any," I assured him. He looked at me quickly. "Daybreak's not much of a hunter, and she would never do anything that would put a black mark on her record with her 'new friends'."

Peter, looking a little calmer, nodded. "And what about you?" He asked me. "What would you do?"

I thought for a minute. "Well, as I understand, Ana and Melody are thieves?" He coughed with shock, a totally disapproving look on his face. Ana and Melody laughed and nodded. "Cats have a knack for being sneaky. Or," I added, "if that doesn't suit you, I can hunt and pull heavy loads. Basically anything Mikael can do," I said, looking towards him. He nodded slightly in acknowledgement. Peter nodded too.

Luke spoke up for the first time. "What about my thievery?" He asked, looking at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, I would offer help, but as a "king" of such things, I think you've got it covered." My black stained lips formed a smile. He looked down and chuckled, sounding almost flattered. "Plus," I added, "I don't know how well I would work with...that..." My eyes flitted viciously to the bird perched precariously on Luke's shoulder.

"Dakota??" He asked, shocked. "Oh no, she wouldn't tease you or anything."

Daybreak looked down. "It's not her we're worried about doing the teasing..."

Luke thought for a moment, then a look of understand appeared on his face. "Right..." he noted. "Cat and bird. Well, Dakota doesn't actually 'steal' with me," he told me. I glanced up at him. "She just kinda...keeps a look out. Not very inconspicuous, seeing a bird try to take money and jewels and such things. A cat would actually be a great help."

I smiled. "Alright."

Peter didn't look the slightest bit happy. "Stealing is not necessary."

I looked at him. "Perhaps not, but a little extra money here and there couldn't hurt, could it?"

He sat in silence, contemplating my words.

Ana

"I think I can agree with you Luke, it's what I've been telling Peter for a very long time." I said.

Peter glared at me. "We do not need to lower ourselves to those standards."

"Oh, well thank you." Luke said.

"Didn't mean it like that." Peter mumbled.

I turned back to Luke. "Your assistance would be great if you would like to stay." I told him. I then turned to the entire group. "Everyone's assistance would be great."

The whole group seemed to like the idea of staying around. It would be great to have a house full of people again. It had just been Peter and me since Mother and Father...

Peter grumbled and stood up from his seat. "Well, if you're all staying then we might as well set to work. We can't have everyone living in the barn forever. We might as well set to work adding on to the house as soon as possible."

----
eh it's all ive got. we need some action again.

Sophia

"Do you guys here what I hear?" I asked looking around. What I heard sounded like the thunder of horses galloping towards us.
"FTLOF What now?!" Johhny sweard.
"Nice. Really smooth." Ana chimed, "But yeah. I hear horses too."
I threw my heard around, nervous, scanning the outside for something important. Couldn't there be a little peace here... For once.