Thank you all for your reviews but most of all your patience, begrudging or no. Let's try and get this grotesque little number back on track, shall we?
Tanis was clearly having a hard time keeping pace behind him, but Kraven had nothing else in mind other than leaving the area as fast as he could. The two of them traveled in a strange silence. There was nothing between them that needed to be explained, considering that Tanis now held joint custody of all his memories no matter how scattered. Any idiot could piece some of the puzzle together. But Kraven certainly hadn't revived Tanis for conversational purposes, and the latter must have known it.
His nerves were beginning to get the better of him. He had just defied Marcus, the most powerful vampire on the face of the planet. If and when he should return to find Kraven gone, there would be hell to pay, and he was narrowly focused on finding a place to hide. His mind scrambled to try and formulate some sort of plan as to where he could go or what he hoped to accomplish. He didn't know this area. There was too much open space, no cover—not the city that he was used to by now. Not that it mattered. If Marcus was truly intent on finding him, nowhere would be safe.
"Remember, Kraven," He tried without success to push the words from his head. "You'll be very easy to find."
He stopped suddenly as he felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back a tad gruffly, and he turned his head to the source with a look that demanded explanation. Tanis raised an eyebrow at him and gestured a head toss to their fore, towards the road that Kraven had distractedly walked right into. He stepped back as a car passed. "There's a road there." Tanis offered with a mild sarcasm.
Kraven blew him off with a snort and pushed his hand away, turning to try and find another direction.
Tanis looked around and drew in a breath. "He's gone to find Selene and the hybrid."
Kraven turned back and blinked, eyes piercing.
Tanis sighed sharply and went on. "Well now, all things considered I'm surprised he didn't take you with him. But whatever the case, they're a ways off, so that buys us some time. We don't have to be running around like madmen, at least not yet."
"I'm not willing to risk sitting out in the open. We're moving." He informed, turning back around and ambling up the slight slope that flanked the road.
Tanis paused before following. "Alright, but shouldn't we at least have a—a destination in mind?" he stuttered as stumbled.
"Just keep up." He ordered. His head was aching, and he began rubbing his temples as he marched swiftly along into the woods. He didn't need to be asked the same questions he was currently asking himself.
"Well," Tanis half grumbled, catching up. "Is that saying you don't even know where we're going?"
"Does it matter?" Kraven turned on him this time with fangs bared.
Tanis backed off a little, brow creased. "Yes, I should think so. I don't know what in the hell you're playing at, but—"
"I'm leading you away from danger, so shut up and be thankful instead of badgering me!" They glared at one another. Vampires were spontaneously aggressive creatures by nature, but Kraven quickly reminded himself that there wasn't time for this. Circling each other wouldn't forge a plan any quicker, and all the while the sun was rising. "You're the one who's been living here. Where is the closest stronghold?" he asked with a conscious effort not to speak too roughly.
"Well I rarely leave my manor. Or left, rather…" Tanis licked a lower lip as he studied the ground in concentration. "There's a…tavern close by, that won't do any good. I'm fairly sure we'll be found out. Other than that it's just a few solitary farmers. But if we're going that way it won't be a short journey on foot."
"If we can't make it there by sunrise, don't bother bringing it up."
"I'm not saying we can't, I was just—" Tanis huffed, setting his hands on his hips and lowering his shoulders as he looked off into their intended direction. "Let's just get on with it."
Kraven continued on his way without another glance back. The path was illuminated fairly well, not that they needed it to be for vampire eyes. It only made Kraven even more paranoid, thinking that surely anyone could see them. The moon lit from odd angles above, reflected over a thin layer of clouds gleaming like planes of ethereal ice under the safety of a sunless sky. Owls loomed overhead like night vultures. The occasional bat flittered by in an attempt to go unnoticed. They traveled for hours in silence, no questions and no conversations.
The area was dry. Twigs and leaves cracked so loudly and with such ease under their feet as they tread that Kraven half suspected his heel to strike a flame each time it touched down. Slopes and rocks served to hinder his path at every turn, and as he began struggling up one of the larger inclines, he was forced to nearly climb rather than walk. He tucked his hands under his arms tightly as he went. This was lunacy. Where had he gone wrong, how had it come to this? Power had been a simple red fruit dangling in their garden, ripe with blood and ready to snap from its twigs into his opened hand. But upon reaching for it, he had been caught by his lord and barred from that garden, sent to walk the tribulations of a cold and unpitying world for the remainder of eternity. Now he was here. Eden was gone. All that remained was he—Eve, who had tasted the fruit—and Adam—an ignorant Tanis shambling along after. They were both forsaken. Kraven mentally coiled away from the pain of defeat and the bitter tang of failure spurred by his own analogy.
Well into their journey, Kraven was beginning to doubt that Tanis knew where they were going at all. It was all woods to him, and he wouldn't have been surprised at any moment to come across his own tracks. These thoughts dissipated as they came up on the last rise, and were left staring out at a shabby old farmhouse resting off in the distance on the grounds before them. They both exchanged glances and Tanis offered a brief smirk, as if he had somehow known his companion's doubts.
It was utterly silent as they made their way slowly across the property, around a flock of freely grazing but haggardly sheep littered nearby. "I know this place." Tanis said with mild surprise.
Kraven looked to him curiously, his voice sounding strange after their stretch of soundlessness. His head was fuzzy with exhaustion, so he didn't reply.
"Nevermind how…" he glanced at the sheep with a strange grimace of loathing before getting back to the point. "Some elderly crow lives here, deaf as a stone. We shouldn't be noticed if we're careful about it." Tanis continued on, Kraven forcing himself in tow. Tanis momentarily inspected the windows with a cautious gaze before moving to the side of the house and towards the cellar. The shelter was old and cracked, and ambiguous as to how much light it would allow from looking at the entrance, but it was really their only option. An indignant Kraven scowled at the idea of such shoddy accommodations and watched with contempt as Tanis wrenched the door opened and motioned down the stairs. "There we are. It's the best we're going to do at this hour."
Kraven opened his mouth to argue, but then shut it, glaring back at Tanis in the silent demand for him to go first. Tanis shrugged tiredly and ambled down. Taking one last long look around the area—dry grass, looming woodlands, muddy sheep and a gray sky, none of which proposed any danger but none of which seemed void of the potential—Kraven slipped quietly down after him.