A mother's love (Job)

Some jobs you take for the adventure, delving into ancient tombs in search of forgotten treasure for example. This wasn’t one of those jobs. As soon as Remi picked up the flyer he knew he couldn’t just put it back and walk away. He would never claim to be a hero, he just wasn’t the type. He would never go looking around for “evil to slay” or pick fights with dark mages just because. There were already people doing that much better than he could, so he would prefer to stay in his lane as an adventurer. But then he read the job flyer. For the life of him, he knew he would have to help, sure he wasn’t one to go looking for good deeds to do but… He refused to turn his back on someone in need. Within hours he was en route to the village, shooting out messages to his friends to let them know what he was up to.

Once he arrived at the village he decided to wait outside the wall for whoever else it was who took the job. While part of him wanted to dive into the woods right away he knew that wouldn’t be helpful. Leaning against the wall beside the gate he quickly does his last-minute checks, the words of his sword instructor ringing out in his mind once more as he quickly checked his armor and gear. ‘Before anything else, preparation is key to success.’ Like everything the old man said Remi had taken it to heart, the least he could do for a man who was more father to him than his own. Once he was satisfied he settled in to get whatever relaxation he could with his back to the wall, a grim look on his face as he idly tapped the hilt of his sword, briefly wondering what the hell he was dragging himself into this time. Sighing, he drifted his eyes upward, thankful for the sunny day. “Au moins, ce n'est pas la pleine lune, alors les choses deviendraient intéressantes.”

WC: 345

A few yards or so, away from prying eyes the shadows at the edge of the woods began to coalesce, writhing and pooling together as if it was alive. From the dark abyss of the shadows a woman emerged, darkness drifting off the young woman's form like black ash and smoke. The young woman stood at 169 cm (roughly around 5'6"), she wore a black trench coat, a white dress shirt with matching black slacks, shoes and tie. Her light crimson hair was tied into a braid that hung over her shoulder. At her side was a longsword in its sheath, and in her coat was a holster carrying a silver 1911 loaded with purified silver bullets.

It did not take long for the young woman to walk to the village and locate the mage she would be working with that day. Her gaze fixated to a young man, she approached her footsteps silent with each stride she took. She gently tapped the shoulder of the young gentleman, she immediately greeted the young man with a warm and welcoming smile.

"Hello! I am Natalia Vanhellsing, I will be the mage that will be assisting you today. A pleasure to meet you." Natalia's eyes met Remi's, her golden honey colored eyes was filled with eagerness and warmth. She held out her elegant feminine hands for a hand shake to complete her introduction.

Despite her warm and friendly presentation, she was analyzing the mage she was working with that day. He was young but well built, he was quite tall just a few inches shorter than Natalia's personal butler, V. The young man looked like the generic hero, blonde hair, blue eyes, hell he had the armor and sword to boot. Natalia would chuckle softly, eager to see the young man in battle.

"Where you able to find any leads? Or did you just arrive as well?" Natalia inquired, as her eyes left Remi's gaze to scan the town. She was aware of the lycan threat that threatened the village, she simply wanted to hunt down the damned creature before any more lives could be lost.

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354 Words
TWC: 699

@Steelrain66

Once the woman stepped out of the shadows Remi raised an eyebrow in her direction. Taking a half-second to add her to his ever-growing list of evidence that magical people were just better looking than the mundane, he quickly pushed himself off the wall and flashed his typical warm smile in her direction. Noting her weapons his grin widens as his eyes rest on her blade, gently tapping the hilt of his sword. His typical Minstrelois accent was fairly noticeable today, Remi having long abandoned any notion that trying to hide it would help him. "The pleasure is all mine Miss VannHelsing. My name is Remi O'Connell, it's always a grand thing to run into a fellow blade singer. Not to mention a skilled one from the way you hold yourself. Très magnifique!"

Shaking his head in response to her question he glanced back at the village behind them for half a moment before giving her his full attention once more. Hopefully, she had some kind of skill or experience to help them find what they were looking for. Outside of his trick with the wind, he wasn't too sure about how useful he would be in tracking down something. In a forest at least, if the idea he was working on bears any fruit a birds-eye view during other situations would probably be very helpful. "No, I just arrived not long before you did. Truth be told this is outside my typical realm of expertise but what decent person would step away after reading the flyer?"

Sighing he shakes his head lightly before glancing off into the woods, his eyes narrowing momentarily. Shaking off his moment of doubt he gripped the hilt of his blade, drawing confidence from the familiar blade. "Don't worry about the fighting, new to magic I might be I am confident in my sword arm."

WC: 311
TWC: 910

"It is very nice to meet you Mr. O'Connell... Quite admirable of you to accept the request..." Natalia nodded as she took note of the young man accent. Her golden gaze observed the young mans body language. She noted how Remi glanced back back towards the village after shaking his head signifying he had no leads.

Remi explained that this job was not exactly something that aligned with his expertise. she noticed his yes narrow momentarily, her gaze sensed a moment of doubt from the young man. She smiled sweetly as he drew confidence from his weapon at his side.

"That's comforting Mr. O'Connell. I shall be in your care then...." Natalia laughed as her elegant hands covered her adorable chuckle. "I'll have my familiars search the area... come Mr. O'Connell... they shall be our eyes.... they shall warn us of any danger..." Natalia spoked at a deliberate and slow manner. Her words, although slow, was not of someone trying to fumble with their words. The weight of her words was forged with confidence. Her words were slow for it was not in a rush. Yet it was not condescending in anyway.

Without any hesitation or fear she began walking towards the forest, keeping a well paced stroll so that Remi could easily follow her movements. Her hands were in her pocket in the most casual and relaxed manner. She subconsciously found her self humming a tune of a somber sea shanty as she began tp weave her way through the foliage of the woods.

The deeper Natalia went through the forest ravens began circling above her and Remi. A few of the black birds would land and perch themselves on the branches of trees. A few of the Ravens would look at Natalia's companion, their blood red eyes staring at Remi with a eerily human like intelligence.

These Ravens were silent not a single crow would come from their beaks, many of them would land where the shadows were deeper and darker, allowing their jet black feathers to blend in the darkness. Natalia kept moving forward humming to herself as she slowed stopped. She lifted her hand out her pocket, as she did so one of the black ravens landed on her arm with something in it's beak.

Natalia offered her free hand to the bird, and the Raven obliged as it dipped its head down and gently placed a soft circular object in Natalia's hand. Natalia's golden gaze remained unshaken as she stared at a severed eyeball. Natalia let out a soft sigh as the Raven picked up the eye ball with it's beak before Remi could get close enough to see it. The black bird took flight as Natalia turned to speak to Remi. She took out a rose pink handkerchief that had the letter V embroidered onto it. She then began to wipe her hands with said handkerchief as she spoke to her ally.

"Mr. O'Connell I do believe there is a high probability that there are no remaining survivors in the woods... and should some poor soul be still drawing breath, I'm afraid their condition will most likely not be any better..." Before Natalia could explain why she had come to that conclusion, she was interrupted by the growl of some feral animal. She casually turned to meet the gaze of a pack of wolves slowly closing in on the two.

"Oh my... it seems that we are surrounded...." Natalia sighed as if minorly inconvenienced.

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WC: 597
TWC: 1,507
@Steelrain66

He wouldn’t exactly be willing to admit it out loud but he was rather thankful that Miss Helsing was very different from a certain redhead he used to know. Outside of similar body shape thus far the two couldn’t be more different and it helped Remi keep his mind on the present, instead of drifting to the last time he had walked into the woods with a beautiful crimson harried woman. Not knowing enough about magic to be wary of certain practices had its advantages, one of those being that when he noticed their feathered companions he merely raised an eyebrow before shrugging things off. Several months ago Remi would scoff at the idea of shooting lightning from his fingertips like some kind of fictional tyrant so nothing magical seemed outlandish to him, at least in the moral sense.

Following her into the woods he stopped briefly at the edge and snapped his fingers, his magic pulsing outward into the air around them. After a moment the air stilled, leaves no longer rustling in the trees as he diverted the wind around them, hopefully keeping them from being thrown about. He was honestly a little proud of the spell, even if it was relatively simple. The reasoning being it was the first he came up with on his own, without using his ancestors' diary for guidance. Recognizing the tune that Miss Helsing hummed, he smiled softly and added his own melodic tone to it. As the pair drifted on his hand soon rested on the hilt of his sword, despite the humming he kept his eyes on the lookout, deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry.

Catching up to Natalia once she stopped he froze for a split second once he saw the eyeball and grit his teeth. Doing his best to keep the thunderous expression off his face he quickly lets out a low breath. “Merde!” After gaining control of himself he opened his mouth to apologize for his language before snapping it shut once he heard the growl. Without a second thought, he ripped his blade from its sheath, quickly slipping into a composed duelist stance, altered slightly to keep his off-hand open. Seeing the wolves his eyes narrow and sparks of electricity begin to dance between his fingers. “So it would seem Mademoiselle. Back to back? It is their numbers that make wolves actually dangerous to someone prepared.”

WC: 405
TWC: 1911