A Hunt by Midnight's Light.

The request had been vague, noting a bloodsucker in an area, and while groups of hunters were sent, they had yet to return. which was how I found myself in the Cursed Lands, a place far from Magnolia, and farther still from Hargeon. I didn't complain most of the trip, the 13 day trip on foot, because I made it a 3 day trip by flight, bypassing other groups in my haste to get to my goal. it was not like I wanted to get it done, I just wanted to be out of the Cursed Lands, one half of my being overjoyed to be here, and the other half feeling a excessive feeling of permeating peril.

Apparently, this bloodsucker was different from the rest of his or her kind, strong enough to warrant a monster hunter like myself to investigate the matter. It was listed in the House of Lost Souls, a House found in, much to my horror and dismay, the Cursed Lands. This land is off-putting to most normal people, but my body both rejoiced and rejected the magic in the air around me, as I came into view of the House itself. Once, ages ago from the looks of it, the house itself once belonged to a hunter of these creatures, long before his demise. Since then, this newer breed of vampires, dubbed thus by the pitiful hunters with no magic, or more specifically their Leader. The reason they needed a being like me, and (much to my curiosity and annoyance) my compatriot, who was the other person hired onto the job. I flew on for another few minutes before I came to land just inside the barrier, the strange feeling I got from the little bubble thing felt like a shower with cold slime, and it was not pleasant, to say the very least.

I took note of my surroundings with a quick glance all around me, noting the particularly ominous background of our little escapade, taking in the knowledge that: 1, I was currently alone, despite the fact that they said I'd be working with someone, and 2, we were deep into the Cursed lands, and surrounded on all sides by dead looking trees and the deep shadows between them. There seemed to be little I could do to aid my newfound ally, even if I did know where they were. So, I kept to the side of the small porch that overlooked the house's door, and looked out to the macabre spectacle that was the lands around it. Not even the light of the gentle moon was strong enough to pierce the magical darkness that permeated through the lands around me, a deep silver mist obscuring all that I could see within 50 feet around me, so even if I wanted to see beyond the tree line, or into what was once a clear night sky, I'd have to leave the area of the job I was called out to do. So, option #1, out the proverbial window. Then, I could just wait, which seemed like the most likely prospect, despite the loosely tense atmosphere that emanated from the very ground beneath me. Option 3 was the least likely, so I ignored it, despite all it entailed was trying to communicate beyond the bubble, see if anyone was coming. However, willingly reliving that strange magic slime shower was not high on my list of priorities right now. So, I went and did what I wanted to do in the cool sunshine of Hargeon: Nap. I made my way over to the swinging chair that rested on the porch, and rested. It had only been a few minutes before the startlingly close sound of a howl pierced my napping mood, and nap-based energy.

It seemed that the Cursed Lands themselves were unwilling to let a girl get her beauty sleep.

Anyhow, I sat down to wait, and began to hum. It was not the first, nor last time that I would not get the sleep I wished for, as the first signs of footsteps, of dead twigs snapping underfoot, and of dead plant life were audible for what felt like miles around, as I could see no one in the fog. Just my luck, my first foray into one of the most non-welcoming places around would be the first time something attempted to ambush me, and would have been successful. It was only after I began to see something materialize in the fog that I remembered: Hey, I have omnipresent sight magic. Ugh I'm such an idiot.

You gotta love it when a plan comes together. I sat in that spot, the same swinging bench, stock still, concentrating the magic in my blood to create the form of Iktomi's power from his essence laced into Arachne's blood, making several eyes appear in a blink, before I heard the nigh stereotypical sound of a twig snap. Something near me either fell upon it with considerable force, or they stepped on it, allowing me to relish in the fact that the mist around me screwed up a potential ambusher. I shut the eyes conjured by the magic of Iktomi, and stretched out the eyes into the fog, each seemingly unperturbed by the mystical mist that blocked my eyes earlier, though the same congruence in terms of how far each of these eyes can see. I first started by stretching the magical eyes in every direction, give me a general sense of where everything was, looking out for my safety, and hopefully, find my ally. It didn't take long to find the streaking figure of color in this nigh colorless, desolate place. The blue of her skirt and jacket contrasted the darkness, and the white shirt definitely contrasted alongside the previous. However, I found the query of my search within moments of looking at them.

I laughed, because I found it weird that such a person, a guild mage of such color was here, and wearing tennis shoes, though my choice of attire may have been strange too, but at least my symbol wasn't immediately visible. However, I was glad, as she wasn't the worst sort, as she came across a dead body on a bench, visibly drained of their Vitae. I quickly changed my appearance, re-coloring my skin to its usual pale, though keeping the fire hair, a favorable color in my eyes. I ruffled my leather jacket, dusted off my black denim jeans, and made sure my hair was up into a slightly off-kilter ponytail. The Sports bra underneath my jacket provided me with no armor, certainly, but the comfortable demon made steel-silk material that my seamstress wove into it was a favorite piece of several outfits. I recalled the magical eyes now that I knew where the figure was coming from, I kept my eyes closed, even the magical ones so that they minor ripples in the air that someone would have to be a strong mage to notice, until I finally heard the heavy thudding footfalls of (presumably) their approach.

When I heard the muttering of "another corpse." I flicked open the eyes on the left side of my face, the ones on the left side of my face, from forehead to cheek, and the one on my neck, giggling lightly in my mind, before saying: "Sorry, not dead just yet. I presume you're my ally for this mission? Name's Isabella. Nice to meet you." I then stood unceremoniously, dusting myself off yet again, and extending a hand. My face contorted into a smirk, as the scar impeded the muscles on the left side of my mouth from pulling the corner of my mouth up. "You ready to get this done?"