to the fans
Wolf: Venatoris means hunter in Latin, according to the google language thingy. it took me forever to figgure out which word i was gonna use and i eventually just settled on 'hunters.
Harry2: Here's your Kurt, a small piece tho. I wasnt really a big Nightcrawler fan till the X2 movie, i have to admit, so i don't know his character very well and don't write him in as much as he deserves. Kitty wasnt in my rough draft, but maybe i can find a place for her, i need to expand my fight scene anyhow.
Quote:
Ch. 7 Very Nice
The X-Men swung the heavy wooden door open, recieving many angry vampire glares in return.
"We promised to leave you alone, X-Men. We never said that if you insisted on pestering us that we wouldn't kill you," Sahal said with evident annoyance.
Wolverine's claws extracted slowly as he picked up the familiar scent of the girls blood. He growled low in his chest, "Where is she ya blood-suckin' sack o' dirt?"
Anger covered the vampire's features for a fraction of a second before it changed to smugness. His hand raised dramatically in a gester behind him and a large black velvet curtain was pulled back. The X-Men looked up with shock as Kurt muttered a prayer in German.
A large cross had been constructed in the back of the room. Large Spotlights shone from all directions, eliminating any shadows that she would be able to use to any advantage of hers. Mounted upon the wood was Shadow, in an attempt to mock her faith, they had crucified her. Blood continued to drip from the nails through her wrists, while her ankles had been untacked, causing more pull to her arms. Her head drooped but the bruises mottling her face were just visible. The bite mark on her neck seemed little compared to the rest of her. The vapires had taken her shirt, but she now wore her bra and jeans. Dark bruises colored her sides, accompanied by random blood streams from open and healing wounds. She struggled to raise her head, which caused her hair to reveal like a curtain her face and unfocused eyes. Blood from her nose and mouth covered the front of her neck like a bib. Her unblackened eye struggled to focus and her split lips parted, "Out...Get...out." she managed in a whisper only Wolverine and the vampires could make out.
The X-Man snapped and charged the cratures. Mutants and vampires collided. Bri turned her head in time to see Estaban lead a group of Hunters through a side door. 'Must by my cue,' she thought and set her jaw. A muffled scream erupted from her throat as she tore her right arm from the nail. She had calculated it. The X-Men, and hopefully the venatoris would create a distraction so she could remove herself from the demonic cross. The nails that held her up had no heads, just metal spikes. After tearing through one arm, she swung that half of her body to cling to the opposide side of the cross. The left arm was harder to pull out, however.Her right arm, holding desperately to the wood, started losing its already diminished strength. 'yea...'she reprimanded herself, 'lets pull out one at a time, that'll make it easier...'
A puff of bluish smoke appeared with a noxious smell and suddenly Nightcrawler and she were on the ground.
"So..." Shadow panted, "The deamon...reveals himself as...the angel." She leaned heavily on him for a moment while trying to catch her breath.
"Ve should--" the X-Man started but stopped to gasp at the sight of her back, striped with whip marks. He muttered something in German that the other wasn't sure was words of comfort or curses. Her German wasn't too great.
"She is ours, mutant. She made a deal," Zackary said from behind.
"Ja," he responded with anger, "But she said she vouldn't escape. Ve are just TAKING her back."
The vampire's face contorted into a snarling hiss as he lunged at them. Kurt released Bri and griped the charging blonde. They vanished in a puff of smoke.
With no support, Shadow fell to the ground, painfully trying to brace her fall with her injured arms. Colorful words escaped her lips as she struggled to stand and made an attempt to take a step toward the main fight. After the first step, her ankle rolled under the pressure and she stumbled. She was saved from another painful fall by the white haired Zekk.
"You look terrible," he said with his normal humor. His eyes, however were scanning her body with concern. He removed his trenchcoat and covered her with it.
"Zekk." She panted as a greeting, allowing him to support her. A frown formed between her eyes as she noted he was leading her toward the door. "You're going the wrong way." She took back some of her own weight and started to gingerly walk on her own, if her stumbling could be called that.
"We need to get out of here, child," he ignored her statement, resorting to the nickname he'd given her decades ago when they'd first met. "And you're not to fight, Estaban's orders."
"Fxxk Estaban." she licked some blood from her lips and spit it back out, "And his orders. I'm goin' huntin'." She snatched Zekk's gun from its holster, and struggled to grip it, resorting to a clumsy two handed hold. It was aimed at the first vampire in sight and blew a hole the size of a fist through the chest. "Very nice," a glint came to the woman's eye.
"Not going to listen are you?" The welsh voice held an undertone of dissaproval. Not getting a response, he switched tactics to humorous, "Well, I'm not going to hold you here and let you have all the fun. Especially if you've stolen my gun."
At this Shadow took small, tentative steps away from Zekk, sighting in on the next target.
He returned to his scolding, "Would it hurt you to accept the fact that you're nearly dead and just let the others take care of things?" Turning, he shoved a stake through an advancing vamp as if it were only a small interruption. His gaze returned to the woman in time to see her blow off half the head of Zackary and spit ont he nearly instant pile of ash. The Hunter shook his head, and went in search of Estaban, who would certainly be more than a little displeased.
Nightcrawler dispatched an attacking female vampire and turned back to his first, only to find a pile of ash and Shadow limping away from it. He bounded up the the woman and touched her elbow.
The stake she aimed at his heart stopped a frogs hair from his uniform. "Don't do that right now," she snapped at him, then turned back slowly in time to meet the foot of another vampire. 'The place is crawling with the vermine', she thought as she hit the ground. Looking up, she watched Nightcrawler hold the attacker at by with a brightly glowing cross. 'He has a lot of faith. This might be the only place that it'll do him any good.' She watched as he slammed a stake throught the vamps chest, missing the heart and having to try again. His face revealed that he didnt revel in the delight of an ashed vamp like she did.
"Ah, do vhat, exactly?" he bent down to help her back to her feet.
"Sneak up on someone with a gun." Her body protested having to get back up.
Kurt looked up in time to see Jubilee paff three vampires at once, sending them screaching backwards. "Ve vere told zat you vere not to fight."
"I don't care." Once again she pulled away from the much needed support of another person, brushing off the native born Germans helping hands. "Go put your faith to use," she growled, annoyed at her weakened state.
She fired off Zekk's last bullet and reached into his trench coat to retrieve another stake kept in one of the numerous inner pockets. Going after a vampire who was chasing a young brunette, she had to blink twice when she saw the girl phase thru the vampire, taking its heart with her.
"This is so gross..." Kitty muttered, leaving the shrivled up heart with the pile of dust one the floor.
...some time later...
Shadow could barely move with out pain. This fact alone drove her through her raged rampage, killing any vamp within range. She was ready to collapse when she saw it. There were few of the vermine left but HE stood in the center.
"Fxxk,"she said without force,"Estaban."
Sahal stood among piles of vampire ashes and one or two fallen, but not yet dead, venatoris. There HE stod. The thing that had slaughtered her grandfather, caused her mother to fight for the single purpose of HIS death. The blood-sucking creature that had murdered her mother infront of her eyes was now holding the only blood relative that she had left. Estaban's face was bathed in blood, either his or his prey of that night. HE was holding the collapsed hunter on his knees by his shoulder length hair, the blade that no other vampire could even touch was held to the vain of the hispanic's neck. HE was looking at Shadow, an arrogant smirk on HIS face. She hated that smirk, and rage boiled her very blood. With new strength, she marched toward the object of her hatred and pain, both physical and emotional.
"Do you want me to spill his blood too?" Sahal said quietly. There was no need to speak above the battle, it had ceased. All eyes were on the three in the center of the room.
The woman stopped. The room grew darker and the shadows seemed to dance on their own accord. Her anger encouraged her to do a thing that she had sworn on her mother's still warm corpse never to do: accept her fate as The Wielder.
Her voice started slowly, her exhausted brain calling up the words that she had tried to forget but had haunted her through all her years:
"Forged of silver in the fires of the dead Cooled in the blood of the blood drinkers themselves The Blade of the Venator came to be."
Sahal's eyes widened, "No!" he demanded angrily, "STOP IT!" as the blade in his hand began to glow and vibrate.
"Destroying the undead, creatures of the night Though bane to its crator, this heir does live Now I summon the blade to me."
"NO!" Sahal roared, but it was too late, the short sword flew from his hand and into Shadow's. He glared at the woman who stood defiantly back. The shadows continued to dance and te whispering noise rose int he air. He charged at her with a wordless scream. She doged and waved her hand across his face in one motion. The next scream that emitted from his lips was one of apain. He pawed at his eyes for a moment then looked around wildly, a black shadow had covered his vision.
"That was form y mother," Bri hissed. She gave a roundhouse kick that hit him square in the jaw, knocking him back. "that was for my mother's sister." The next kick was made to his stomach and brought him to his hands and knees, "That was for my grandfather." She raised the small sword and brought it down into his back, through his heart, effectively impaling him, "That was for Estaban." She pulled the blade out as the vampire gasped, too powerful for the single blow to kill him. "And this is for me," she growled through bared teeth as she swung the blade down in a final stroke, remvin ghis head. Sahal's body turned to ash.
Bri dropped the sword, warm to the touch having finally recieved it's blood revenge. She fell to her knees by the pile and then all became dark.
One more chapter left. Sorry if Kitty only had a one liner, i was never a big fan of hers either. and sorry it took so long to get this posted, been busy, but im already working on the last one...shifty eyes...i swear...shifty eyes