Tomoe was walking along on patrol, when he came across an odd sight. A man knelt over a cow on the side of the road, doing... something to it. The cow was dead, clearly, but from the man's hunched over frame there was a number of things he could be doing. In Tomoe's mind, none of those things could be good. As a guild mage, it was only right that he check up on things. He wasn't a villain, after all - there was no way he could overlook a person in need or a potential threat, and the way things were looking, it could be either.

"Hey. Buddy. You doin' okay over there?", Tomoe spoke openly, walking toward the hunched man with an inviting posture and hands free of weapons; the most deadly weapons in Fiore were always attached to him anyway. The ol' 'one two jab' hadn't failed him yet, so he was more than confident about relying on that if he needed to.

The man stood up and turned around slowly, revealing the scene. His mouth was painted scarlet, fangs showing openly, and a hunger in his eyes. The cow had part of its stomach exposed, trickling blood. It was obvious that vampirism had overtaken the man. Perhaps even turned him insane, due to his drinking from cattle rather than a live human. Cow blood was simply of an inferior quality when compared to the blood of a human, so either the man was weak or desperate.

"Feral, huh? Or just really damn hungry. Either or, ya can't stay this way. Sorry. Them's the rules."

After stating such in a cold voice, trying his best to distance himself emotionally from the tragedies of vampirism that he knew so well in the past, his eyes stayed stern and reactive as the shade barreled towards him.

"It's not enough... I need more! Give it to me! You'll quench my thirst!", the man exclaimed in a maddened tone, showing all the signs of a starving beast.

The man must have been young in his life as a vampire, because he was slow; slower than many mages Tomoe had seen in the past, anyway. The man didn't even get to lunge or force the Joyan to dodge, but rather found himself slammed into the ground with the force of a kick from Tomoe to his stomach. The vampire rolled around on the ground, barely able to keep conscious before stumbling to his feet and raising his hands erratically in defeat.

"W-W-Wait! I didn't mean to attack! I just... I don't know...", the vampire spoke hastily as Tomoe advanced step by step, panicking while believing that he had found his executioner.

Stopping a few feet away from the bloodsucker, Tomoe sighed and allowed the stern look in his eyes to vanish, relaxing his brow. He put his hands on his hips and made eye contact with the vampire, possessing within him a mixture of blood lust and understanding. Tomoe had been through all the struggles of a vampiric lifestyle himself, so he knew how starting out felt.

"What's your name? We'll start there."

"Alistair. It's... Alistair.", the vampire responded, somewhat returning to his senses in the process.

"Well, Alistair, you mind tellin' me what you're doing? Seems to me like you're real eager to feed, but it doesn't seem like ya like it very much, do ya?", Tomoe questioned, proposing the idea of reluctance within Alistair.

"I... don't want to be this way, I really don't. But seeing you, I think maybe I could become human again. It'll require some assistance from you, but please sir, I need your help! I'm tired of lashing out at people, of violence, of madness... please!"

Alistair was practically begging, clearly keeping all of the emotions he had for his transformation inside. Who could he talk to about such things, after all? It was a difficult and lonely life he must have lived. Tomoe ran a hand through his ruffled mane and looked upon the man who seemed almost fearful of his own potential.

"Fine, I can help ya out. Can't turn a blind eye when you're like this, anyway. But I'll need money for it. Not workin' this job entirely for free, got it?"

Alistair nodded in agreement. "Thank you, sir! You won't regret this. I'll pay you greatly for your efforts."

"Good. Then let's get outta the cold and figure out what we're doing, yeah?"

And with that, Tomoe and Alistair headed for shelter. Anything to get out of the chilly night air and the partially devoured cow corpse that lay in the field.

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WC: 425/425 (15% reduced)

- Exit -