Moonrise Under Unfamiliar Skies

How long has it been? The wind against her body, the scent of leaves and trees invading her nostrils, no body in sight, no prey under the Machine Tornador's headlight? How long has it been...

Since she was free?

Black helmet concealing her head, but the occasional light that glistened through the visor met her eyes color of a summer sky. Lamps lined the road heading towards the woods, and before she knew it, her ride was parked and holding onto the helmet, and the tall girl entered the woods. Right hand in the pants' pocket, left holding the phone as a flashlight that illuminated her path.

On her mouth, a small bar of chocolate, something to warm her up once she started to feel it tempting her to slumber, her weakness to lower temperatures was starting to bite at her and she couldn't afford to nap now. "Hm... I just hope there's nothing to pursue tonight... Ah, guess I'll just explore the woods a bit and then double back to the dorms once done.", she mused, ruffling her orange hair.

Without someone to lead her into the hunts, Basté found herself "lost", having to hunt her own prey, but in a place she was not familiar with yet, having recently arrived there. Swallowing the last bit of that candy she had in her mouth, the huntress had to bring yet another to her mouth.

Step after step she continued her way, but the intervals between them increased, the sound of leaves and sticks crushed under her feet gradually muffled... Until only silence remained. Never a true silence for either of them... Crickets and the sounds of nature could still be heard by Basté, while the sudden stalker would certainly hear more than that.

Eyes over her shoulder, the tall girl shone the phone's light in their direction, and quickly assessed who was it as non-threat. "No sleep at all?", she did not know the vampire, or even the fact he was a vampire. All Basté knew is that she was being tailed by him, and would soon resume her wandering through the woods, stopping to look back if he ever stopped tailing her.

"Want chocolate? That's all I've brought with me, and about enough for one hour of exploration.", there was a little more than that, if she managed the four bars she had remaining wisely and avoided the chilling breezes that would slip by.

"And I'm one conditioned to little sleep. So, while I got no sleep, better take a look at the woods and see if I can find a vampire or werewolf or something, if there's any. Here ya go.", Basté stepped closer and passed him a chocolate bar, one with creamy strawberry filling. It was when their hands touched that she couldn't help but notice something unusual about him... But that didn't change anything. And too Leandro would feel...

This tall girl had a body temperature lower than any average human. And that never bothered her! She has never pulled her hand away quickly, Basté has always been comfortable with how she is, and with how some people are. Hands still meeting with only a candy bar between them, she gave a light bow with her head and identified herself: "Basté Rose Bywan, student, huntress at night. My friends prefers to call me Bastet."

"But, don't let that stand between us.", she had to make sure to let him know, that he was not her prey. Bastet was, after all, a huntress that wouldn't absentmindedly assume every creature of the night to be evil. No, she knew well there were those who earned their right to be, to live.

"Just really to check what they are like. I don't believe in the whole "Vampires are all evil, they sold their soul to Devil", yadda yadda. And Werewolves... Well... Werewolves...", did she just blush a little? "I like wolves. That's the short answer.". How else could Basté explain that she caved in really hard at the sight of a werewolf, and had to struggle to not reach out and pet them?

"Ah? Not exactly nickname, it's my given name, just pronounced a little differently, that is it. My father's Goddess of Protection had that name, and since I was his first child then he wanted to give me a name associated with that Goddess.", that was a good way to return her face to her normal fair tone, "As for the hunting... Currently it is more of scouting. Checking if there are troublesome evil beings lurking nearby and I'll then see what I can do. Let me guess: because of the complex nature of this island there are laws of preservation in effect, right?"

Common knowledge of hunting abroad: Don't. Check whether it is allowed, or for some bounty hunting board, maybe... "If so, guess I'll just study them, right? After all, why would someone stir trouble here when many are more than human? But now that I think... I might find a rival. Just so we can clash swords and test each other, maybe who knows, friendly rivalry can exist, correct?", a warm smile as she eyed the sky, and the moon above.

"Exactly! It makes no sense for such claim to be made! And there are also those who are turned into vampires too! Sometimes it's their choice to be close to someone who they care about, sometimes they had no choice, or it would be dead or undead situation, right?", she did catch a glimpse of his fang and snickered a little, "I knew there was something non-human about you."

How deep were they right now? A brief look at the sky, as Bastet thought about the route they took here, but then she realized it was time to make a change of route to head back via a different path, as this would still allow them to explore a little more AND return to the starting point. "Noted. We could spar someday. Hand-to-hand combat? Swordmanship? Racing? What do you like the most, of these in which we could compete?", to form a friendly rivalry with a vampire... That felt like a good start.