Even with one leg dragging behind her, somehow Catherine was able to set a pace that nearly pushed Flynn and Sodia to their limits. By the way she would flick her eyes to the trees, it became obvious she wanted to reclaim the height advantage, but how her body hadn't recovered kept her from doing so. She finally turned her burned side to them, exasperated. "If you two would keep up, this would go much faster."

"If we knew what we were looking for, it might go faster," Sodia retorted before Flynn could open his mouth. "All you've said is we're looking for the thing hunting the people of the town, and mention of a vampire. That says nothing to what we're actually looking for."

For a moment, there was silence, then she turned fully to them. "A vampire is someone killed violently returned due to deep feelings for someone. They kill. Or at least how this world defines it." Catherine held up her good hand before either of them could open their mouths. "No stupid questions, please. There is a full unnatural world both of you happened to stumble upon, and the answers you will get won't make sense until you see it. So don't tax me with questions that will be answered in time. Once we take care of what is hunting this thing, my business here will be done."

"And what was your business, Catherine?" That question wasn't one Flynn knew that would be answered in time. He watched her tilt her time in thought, then a low rich laugh rolled from her lips. Sodia let out a soft moan next to him, then slap her hands over her mouth in mortification.

Catherine smiled at her, white sharpness in a dark face. "Partially relieving boredom after a few decades of behaving myself." She limped over to Sodia, dark fingers lifting to touch her light skin. Purple eyes sharpened suddenly, grabbing the woman's wrist before they could brush her cheek. "Impressive, little Knight. I wouldn't have thought you have any sort of resistance to a fascination."

Flynn heard a scrape of metal, and felt the weight of a sword in his hand before realizing he had drawn it. "If you don't want this to end now, I would recommend not antagonizing us any further." The idea of her subjecting Estellise to not even knowing if actions were her own, of puppeting around people to assassinate not only himself but Ioder merely out of boredom... Need to run her through again, to watch her slowly heal around his blade pressed from inside him, drawing his arm back before she broke Sodia's grip and stepped back.

Her eye looked over him, narrowing slightly as she did so. "You've been rather violent," came a calm statement, darting her gaze back to Sodia for a moment. "I'm impressed that you can hold onto a grudge for this long." A grin crossed her face as she turned back around, her knee attempting to bend again as she walked. "It might make a good fight some day. Perhaps when we're not hunting," she commented over her shoulder.

Sodia looked over at him, her cheeks still stained red. "Sir, I-"

Flynn shook his head, starting after Catherine. "She drew the entire castle, Lady Estellise included, under her spell." He broke off as a chuckle rolled from the wounded woman's lips, his hand shifting its grip on his sword. "And she considered it fun, apparently, to create something we're still fighting the effects of to this day. I wouldn't take the blame for this."

There was an inhalation of breath next to him, Sodia ready to speak, when he realized Catherine had stopped. Her head tilted down and slightly towards him, hair obscuring her expression. "What did you say?"

"Are you denying it?" Flynn retorted, something twisting his lips into words. His shoulders squared as she spun around with blazing eyes, his sword coming up into a guard.

"Of course I don't fucking deny it!" Her speed took her closer than Flynn was comfortable before Sodia's sword raised against her throat stopped her. The good hand at her side clenched while her other hand twitched. "But the other part. You're still fighting the effects. You're still fighting the fascination." She shook her head as she stepped back, a helpless laugh trickling from her. "You give me too much credit."

Sodia kept her sword up as she shifted beside Flynn, moving to a place so they would both have a clear path to their target if it came to it. "And what do you mean by that?" she demanded, biting her lip as Catherine turned her gaze to the other woman.

"What I mean is I am not that powerful." Another laugh escaped her as she shook her head. "I'm flattered, but whatever is going on is Zaphias not my work anymore." Her eyes locked with Flynn's, no humor leaking through. "And is not my concern, before you ask. I have no obligation to help the nobles of your country."

The way she spat the words held real anger, almost as if her time pretending to be a noble was hateful for her, only there to twist what was happening. Before he could form any questions, Catherine turned, her fist shaking. Her words weren't needed for her to say they were to keep looking for Yuri, and in silence this time.

A thought tickled at the back of his head, purple hair and a worried voice, overwhelmed by an odd urge to watch Catherine choke on her own black blood.

Despite the fact the river held a good day's walk between them and where it lay, Flynn could almost hear it babbling in his ears as darkness fell. Catherine stopped her furious march, leaning up against a tree in exhaustion. "Don't start a fire," she warned, trying to flex her ruined hand. For the untold unnerving time, her eyes raked over Flynn, calculating. "That is, unless you want a fight you can't win."

"Is that a threat?" Sodia countered. She couldn't stop the flush rising to her skin when Catherine turned a heated gaze on her, but her steely gaze didn't waver.

"No." Ever since her revelation about Zaphias, all her teasing humor had drained from her voice. "I can make it a threat if you disobey. But since I hunted for decades as a career, I recommend you listen to me." Her head tilted up, nose flaring. "Daylight is when we can hunt. Night is when we're hunted. So don't make us a target." Eyes darted back to Flynn, lips tightening. "And why are you twitching?"

"You've been making us march for something we haven't found all day," he informed her coldly. "If you didn't know, humans require rest and water. There should be a stream nearby, and-"

"No." Sodia shifted, her sword coming up as Catherine growled the word. "You will stay right where you are. There's a canteen by your side. Drink that."

Slowly, Flynn raised it to his lips, and took a sip. It tasted flat, unsatisfying, hot. He needed the cool rushing water against his body, against him- he jumped, feeling fingers on his elbow. "Sir," Sodia said, her voice low. "And I know she's hearing me. But I don't think we should let this threat continue."

Catherine merely looked at them with slitted eyes as Flynn felt his sword against the palm of his hand. Then her eyes flitted up as she inhaled again, her good hand shifting. A knife slid into her palm, and both Flynn and Sodia fell into a defensive posture, trying to watch her movements in the dark. She nearly blended into it, her skin and hair the same color as the shadows, making it difficult to track her. He watched her body coil as she kept her eyes above, then looked at him. Something warred in her eyes, springing just as there was a rustle in the branches and he was knocked aside. A bone white shape landed on Catherine instead, snarling teeth and dirty hands meeting her knife. Sodia took in a sharp disbelieving gasp as Yuri slipped past Catherine's faltering guard, fastening on her throat and tearing a chunk of skin out.

If Yuri killed her, the world would be better for it. She was beyond the justice system, beyond any human system at all. But at the same time... not like this. Not the feral creature he had become. Flynn's sword made a shining line in the darkness, pressed up against the too white throat as he was about to lean back down. He could see a cut on Yuri's face, deep and unbleeding. Bile rose through his throat as he remembered feeling no pulse against his fingers, and fought to keep his sword steady as Yuri looked at him with no recognition. The two stood slowly, black blood matte against Yuri's chin as the press of the blade coaxed him to his feet. Without warning, he darted back into the trees, the bone pale skin slipping into shadows.

Sodia's wide eyes caught his as he started to go after Yuri, the look of dawning understanding mixed with fear and panic. Her mouth worked, not sure what to say, her face tilting back towards where Yuri had gone. "Sir," she started, voice strained before a hand wrapped around her wrist, dragging her down as Catherine surged up. Her sword whipped around, biting into the newly healed arm. "Go!" Sodia shouted over Catherine's inhuman howl, slamming a boot into the wound. "Get Lowell! I have her!"

Flynn's feet moved over the uneven ground before she could finish. Yuri wasn't hard to follow in the darkness; with even the slightest light, his deathly white skin stood out like a ghost. Problem was, he was so far ahead of him. If he could get closer, he could stop Yuri, stop the feral animal he had become. His feet faltered, yearning for something. The sound of water filled his ears, as loud as blood in his veins, Yuri leading him towards water-

Water. River. Flynn blinked, his feet frozen and waves lapping at his legs. He looked down, moonlight shining in river water. When had he made it to the river? He looked around, not quite feeling connected as he did. The river... what was he doing before? He remembered... blood? Catherine. A soft boil started in his veins, but he didn't want to move. Not from here. It was- so nice. The moon shimmered in the water, silver and long, like hair-

Someone stepped from the tree line, steps haltering. He turned slowly, lip lifting as he saw a bloody Catherine barely holding herself up, hand wrapped around her injured arm and throat just barely covered with healed skin. "What did you do to Sodia?" came the question, dragged out almost without him thinking.

"Snack. But that's not the issue, is it. We both know I know you're there," Catherine responded, her voice sandpaper rough. "I remember how the Commandant reacted to me. You're less subtle."

His lips twisted without him knowing why. "You're better than your pathetic heritage claims." The words didn't make sense, couldn't be stopped-

Catherine's head tilted. "If you're trying to make me angry, you're a thousand years too late for that to be an insult. Now. Get out of him and if you run away into the water like before, I swear I will light you on fire before I take your head."

Lips stretched into a humorless smile. "If you could catch me before I drowned this one. And anyway..." A surge of vindictiveness spiked through his veins as he felt her, that girl, the one puppeting him press against his skin. "I think he would have something to say about the one that gave him a moment of peace, that made him think everything would be okay, his precious Liliya would be killed by a filthy demon like you."

Time stopped for a moment, Catherine too still. Her body went too stiff, every bit of her suffused with pain. With her insane burst of speed, she darted forward, yanking the sword out of his hand with inhuman strength, turning it to shove it into his chest. "How dare you," she hissed, looking past his eyes to the one hidden inside. "That name is not yours to use." She yanked his head down, lips pressing against his in her deadly kiss. But this time, he could feel something, his puppeteer being pulled by her press of lips. Catherine pulled back, inhaling the entire time as she yanked the sword out.

And Flynn dropped, the girl's possession the only thing keeping him upright. Somehow, he collapsed halfway across the river bank, watching with pained eyes as silver hair shimmered in the moonlight, a horribly innocent looking being now corporeal, moving backwards to the river. A swipe cut a long wound across her face, river water streaming down from the bridge of her nose before her feet met water and she melted into it in seconds. Catherine stumbled to a stop, her teeth gritting as her breath came harsher, almost sobbing.

The last thing he heard was Catherine turning to leave, dropping his sword beside the river.