Ice Fangs, Hot Blood! (Private)

Somewhere in the North border of the Everfree Forest as the sun was setting, a large stallion was taking off his tattered and bloody travel clothes as he retreated into a large hollow tree to rest and treat his wounds after hunting and chasing off Timberwolves that were beginning to come closer into populated areas. Unfortunately, a miscalculation on his part got him injured when he blasted one of them with magic too close to him and was punctured with splinters on his right side, forced to keep fighting them off in that state with little rest, and then having to retreat to tend to his wounds in a more secluded spot as it was starting to rain heavily, and it had been a long day of searching and hunting.

Still bleeding from his wounds, he then began to use healing magic on himself along with basic first aid supplies slowly as he kept a watchful gaze over the entrance of the hollow tree. He had to treat himself slowly not just because he was tired, but because he had lost more blood than he should have allowed himself, and was struggling to stay fully coherent and conscious.

Nearby in a secluded hut, a mare, with coat as white as snow, and a mane a deep and as scarlet as freshly spilt blood, lifted her head. She looked around, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed the air like a hound. Licking her lips, she stood up slowly, glancing around the lonely hut. Picking up a dress, black and gothic in style, she opened the door, the last rays of the setting sun striking the trees as she pulled on the dress and stepped into the rain.

She darted through the forest like a beast, her hooves barely touching the ground as she sped across the difficult ground. Stopping in front of a tree, she sniffed the air again, and grinned like a predator as she stalked towards the entrance.

The stallion, a more common looking unicorn in terms of coat color being light brown with white patches on his flank, limbs, and nose with with a long somewhat unkempt white make and tail, stared with dark brown eyes ever more cautiously at the entrance of the tree. Years of training and experience gave him the odd feeling that the lively Everfree forest was now uncannily quiet even if much of the sounds were being buried under the rain slowly falling more and more.

Activating a magic bag he had with him, a soft light briefly shone in mid-air and in its place a spear appeared which the stallion grabbed with great caution as he kept looking outside with a barely steady gaze, and leaned on it for support while tending to himself still.

The mare paused, listening as the sounds of the forest faded. Of course they were frightened by her, she was after all, the very definition of unnatural. She shook her head, her ears twitching as she listened for the sounds of beasts. Apparently pleased, she stepped inside the tree, the rain sliding off her dress. She saw the spear and cocked her head, eyebrow raised. "Just what do you plan to do with that?" She asked in an ironcially angelic voice.

She stepped a little closer, sniffing the air. "You're bleeding profusely. You haven't long to live." She smiled broadly, watching him.

The stallion stared down at the mare with some disdain. He felt something about her that was the wrong kind of familiar. Her lifeforce felt warped and dark to him. Unusually strong, and yet not quite like that of most living beings. Her presence, quite frankly, was unsettling to him at this moment. It didn't help that she addressed him bleeding with such a calm tone, and was completely dry effortlessly. He slowly began to point the spear at her. "... I'm bleeding, but I'll live once I treat my wounds and get some rest... Who are you and why are you here?" In truth, the who did not concern him at the moment so much as the what. He suspected what sort of creature she was, and it greatly concerned him that he was far more vulnerable at the moment than he cared to admit, and for all he knew, she was dangerous.

"My name? Well, my name is Isabelle Von Tempest. As for why..." She sauntered up to him and licked his neck. "I'm here for your blood." She purred. She pushed his spear away effortlessly. "I could kill you of course, but that would not benefit me much, as your blood would go to waste..." She pondered this, apparently talking to herself." She took a step back and sized him up. "And you are quite well built. Perhaps I should save you instead..." She licked her lips again, bending down to taste his blood. "Oh, but you taste incredible..." She stared at him, eyes distant as she gazed.

It disturbed him to the core that her movements were swift and graceful, and his were slow, dull and sloppy along with his responses. He was barely in any condition to fight, much less keep up with her, and she was likely just toying with him as it were. Staring back into her hungry eyes, he was left with a very limited number of choices: Fight her off with his magic and risk injuring himself further in the process, not fight her and leave himself even more vulnerable, or... play along with her apparent needs as he made a double-sided dagger of ice appear with his magic and pointed it at his own throat. "Stay away! You'll have nothing to save if you don't!" It was a gamble, but it was all he had in a pinch. If she tried something aggressive, he could use the dagger on her in self-defense. Personally however, he had no plans of taking his life.

She giggled loudly and purred like a cat. "Silly stallion. A dagger made of ice? I must thank you for the present, but I simply cannot accept it." With but a gesture, the dagger melted away into nothing. "It has been a while since someone actually tried to stop me... I have been awfully alone after all." She shrugged and picked him up. "If you are so desperate to stay alive, I will look after you then. But I will get some of your blood, are we agreed?" She looked at him over her shoulder, eyes both curious and serious. What an intriguing stallion. I cannot wait to drink his blood.

What was moments for her were barely a few blinks for him as he had lost his leverage to a magic user in better shape and health than he, and winced and groaned in pain as he was grabbed far too quickly for his liking before he could try and retaliate again. "Grahgh...!!" Some of his wounds had opened again, and he was left with labored breaths within her grasp as his consciousness became weaker still. He could neither accept nor deny her offer as he was too busy just breathing.

She rolled her eyes, and sighed. "I'll take that as a yes." With naught but a step, they virtually vanished as she sprinted to her house, the wind and rain barely touching either of them. She stopped outside her door, panting slightly as she opened it. Stepping inside, she placed him on the lone bed, before struggling to light a fire.

The fire began to crackle now, and she shied away from it as she walked over to him. "Now, where does it hurt?" She cooed gently, stroking his mane.

The stallion slowly turned to look at her, rather angrily too as the right side of his body had several bandages placed on it with a fair more red hue on them than was reasonable. His focus was slowly going and getting worse, but still he managed a decent enough reply. "... Everywhere..." He was most certainly not happy to be there with her against his will, but she had caught onto him injured and after a very long day of work. He was at a complete disadvantage, for now.

She rolled her eyes again and sniggered. "You are such the drama queen." Still shaking her head, she began to mix a poultice together. She grinned and stripped him of his bandages, smiling slightly. "Nice body," she muttered. "For a mortal..." She trailed off for a second before grinning and applying the poultice to the wounds. "That might still a little," she whispered as she reapplied fresh bandages.

Watching him for a moment, she blinked, still smiling. "How did you get these wounds?"

He once again winced in pain as the bandages were removed and the strong medicine was applied... leaving him feeling less bothered by the end of it as she replaced the used ones.

As it were, he wasn't exactly feeling all too keen on having a conversation with her, and was actually still in need of much needed rest, but he still managed to speak eventually while he could. "... Chasing Timberwolves away... I got careless..." Was all he'd tell her. The full story was that he had injured himself unintentionally when one got too close before he disposed of it while trying to keep as many of them away from the borders of the North of the Everfree by any means necessary, but he was still tired from the blood loss and exhaustion. Fact is, the only reason he hadn't fallen asleep in her comfortable home was because he did not trust her in the least... yet.

She blinked and shrugged, tucking him into the bed. "Alright. Not sure how the timberwolves hurt you exactly. Rest now." She whispered quietly. Turning away from him, she skirted round the fire quivering as she passed it. She sat down at the table and began to write in a book, glancing in his direction before scribbling more. Standing back up, she glanced at him again. "Rest here, I have to go get actual pod for you." She opened the door and started to walk outside.

He was left alone baffled. It seemed she well and truly intended to take care of him, but the way things had gone still made him feel uneasy. Once he was almost certain she was gone, he tried to get up from the bed, only to find his strength failing him and the pain returning when he tried to make more effort to move. He still needed proper care... and this house was as good as it was going to get under the circumstances. He really didn't want to, but today, his body was just plain not cooperating with him. It had been pushed to its limits recently, and now it was time to pay the toll as he reluctantly, and eventually, fell asleep as his breathing became more steady.

Isabelle returned much later, walking into the room quietly. She restocked the fire, still trying her best to avoid it whilst she checked the stallion's condition. Shaking her head softly, she lay down next the bed, the basket of food she had collected next to her as she closed her eyes and drifted off to a peaceful sleep herself.

It would be several long hours before the stallion would awaken again from his forced, but nonetheless weary state bedridden state. As he awoke, his eyes would dart open after the half-lidded point since he had not forgotten where he was and how he got there. He carefully looked around more carefully as he examined the place he was in somewhat more thoroughly... and eventually noticed the 'host' of the house sleeping, or so he thought, peacefully.

He had mixed feelings from that point on as he recalled the events in full. It was rough, it was awkward, it was unnerving... but at the end of it all, she seemed to have genuinely been treating him well up to the point where he began to wonder if she ever really posed a danger to him in the first place. Even so, that wasn't for certain, but at the same time, while feeling somewhat better, he was hardly doing much better off under the circumstances aside from being much more focused as the rain kept falling for the time being. Still, he did proceed to slowly charge up his magic to begin testing how his Mana had recovered at least with subtle ebbs and flows from his horn of non-elemental magic as he kept his mind clear, but his senses sharp...

Isabelle yawned as she woke up slowly, rolling onto her bac and staring at the ceiling for a while. Finally, she glanced at him, and blinked when she realised he was awake. Standing up, she smiled at him, her fangs clearly visible. "You're awake. Feeling any better?" She asked gently, before holding out a basket that had some mushrooms, flowers, and a loaf of bread. "Is this any good?" She asked quietly.

As she held out the basket, Isabelle studied the stallion. He was handsome, to be sure, and despite the wounds she was sure he was a strong fighter. Not to mention his blood tasted fantastic... She shook her head gently. No, she didn't have time for a love life. Her father was in trouble, and she was to help him as only she could.

Again he stared at her very cautiously, his horn still glowing a soft pink with magic. He then stared at the food he was being shown, then back at her, questions forming at the back of his mind that he'd eventually voice to her. "... Miss... Who are you...? And is that really for me...? Because if it is... It looks good..." He, in turn, could not deny that the vampony before him was beautiful in her own right, and her dress was certainly eye catching in various ways... But he still did not feel secure around her, though part of him more or less did as he was still very much alive and in recovery.

She nodded once and placed it on the edge of the bed, within easy reach for him. "Who am I? I already told you silly. I'm Isabelle Von Tempest. Please, feel free to eat it. I wouldn't want it to go to waste." She smiled again and sauntered out of the way of the fire, relaxing on the cold wood across from him.

She continued to stare at him across the room, a pleasant smile on her lips.

Given that he wasn't going anywhere fast, he had little choice but to accept the meal given with mixed feelings. He was actually grateful for it, but could not bring himself to voice it just yet. "... Ah... Yes, I guess you told me your name already... But, that's all I know so far. I was hoping you'd tell me more. Why you're here of all places. Why you chose to help me... Unless you were serious about what you said earlier..." He was referring to her apparent intention of keeping him for herself, but again, he was just guessing what might really be on her mind.

He looked outside and saw it was very early in the next day with some rain still. The sun had not risen yet, but some light could be seen on the horizon, meaning that it would only be a matter of time. He winced somewhat as he reached for one of the mushrooms since they might spoil rather quickly, smelled it, and as he looked back at her while waiting on her response, began to eat it in small hungry bites.

"Why I'm here? To look after my father of course." She sighed. "It's too long a story to tell you mortal, but suffice to say he is unwell. As for why I brought you here... I had a choice of course. I could have eaten you straight away, but that would be one meal I could only enjoy once. So I took you in instead. That way, I can drink from you as much as I want later on." She giggled.

She watched him eat, giggling slightly as he ate it in short bites.

He finished eating the mushroom, but now stared at her in return with a very bemused expression. "... What if I don't want to be your meal either way? Are you gonna try and stop me?" He was curious about her story, but not nearly so much that he'd disregard his own life so easily. And while he might not be back to full strength, if she tried to make any sudden movements against him this time, she would find that he was now far more alert, and was more agile and strong than he'd appear to be. He was a mortal, but he was far from ordinary; He had earned that claim.

She blinked and shrugged, standing up slowly. "Well, if you don't want to be my meal, that's fine with me." Ice crackled at the edge of the door and the window, and began to spread across the room. "But I promise you, you won–" she gagged and stepped back, blinking rapidly as if seeing the room for the first time.

"Wh- what? Where... Where am I?" She spun, still blinking, her eyes filled with confusion and fear. She froze in place, and began to quiver. "What's... Going on?" She whimpered.

He would not be intimidated. As she used her magic, he in turn, rapidly increased his output and prepared himself for a fight as his horn flared rather vigorously... But was then left somewhat perplexed at the sudden shift in personality and her own use of magic. While she might not be behaving against his well being it seemed, he nonetheless wasted no time in using his magic to dispel and push back the ice nearest to his immediate spot, ready to attack and defend in a split second as he quietly stared at Isabelle.