The Thrill of the Hunt(Private)

The other would remain alone for a few seconds longer before somewhere off to the side the very fabric of reality would wrinkle and shift as a strange being materialized quietly in the area. The lamb with the wolf like scarf around it would give the area it was in a lazy look before its eyes landed on the other standing there. It could sense nerves around the guy as it watched him put up the flyer for what appeared to be a class of some sort. Curious the lamb would step a bit closer to the other not caring that it might invade personal space as it looked at the flyer.

Hmm. A hunting class? …For vampires…
…

Well it was certainly not a vampire, but hunting was something that it could use practice on. Hmm. What to do? The lamb would consider its options before looking over at the other as it stayed where it was for the moment.

“You teach hunting to vampires only?” it would ask as it kept its strange eyes on the other.

The creature would watch the other carefully taking note of the twitch as its senses searched the air for what the other may be feeling at the moment. Was there fear here? Nerves or something else? Well whatever the case was the creature would patiently wait for an answer and when it got it? The creature would make a humming sound before moving away a bit. "We want to learn to hunt for our food source, but also to capture for research and even kill if need be. You teach this to one such as us?" The creature would look back over at the other with a curious gaze wondering if a dream could even be taught the latter. 

The creature’s eyes would scan the area they were in. Taking in various details of the place all the while keeping an eye and ear on the what appeared to be a child before them. However, this creature knew better than to judge anything by looks alone, especially in a place like this. For all it knew, this one could be an adult in disguise or one of the beings that aged slowly or never aged at all. The possibilities were endless really though the creature was guessing by the fangs it could see on this one and the coloration of his skin that perhaps this one was a vampire. It was hard to say without more study, but for now that guess would have to do as it was neither that important to find out at the time. In any case, the creature would turn its attention back to the other fully when he decided to ask it its name. The creature would give the other a slow blink as the wolf answered versus the lamb.

“Akumu Yume. And yours?” The creature would say in a deep masculine voice that was quite different than the softer feminine voice of the lamb.

A glimmer of surprise came from the other as the wolf spoke, an amusing sight to the pair as was shown by the wolf’s slight grin; however, the amusement would only last for a second before the creature was titling its head at the name given. “Yuuki Ozaki. Do you prefer us to call you by your first name? Or perhaps Mr. Ozaki?” the creature would ask before becoming silent and watching what the other did. As the other stuck out his hand, the nightmare would tilt its head one way then the other as it looked at the other’s hand.

He didn’t seem to want to give anything, so why was he holding his hand out like this? The creature would hum softly at this small puzzle before deciding to try something. Mimicking the move, the lamb would hold out a small hand to the other not sure what else it was supposed to do as it looked at the other. “Like this?” it would ask curious about the next step. While the creature was quite clever it was not always caught up on certain greetings, but it was always willing to learn more. As for that question the other asked…

“I am Yume,” the lamb would start before lifting its hand to pat the wolf. “This is Akumu. Together we are Akumu Yume. You may call us both that or call us by our names if you want specific input from one or the other,” the creature would finish watching the other to see if the other was satisfied with the answer or perhaps more confused.

The nightmare would appear to be a complicated thing when it came to names or defining exactly what it was gender wise, but in reality the creature was quite simple and simply was what it was. Nothing more nothing less. It did not care what name it was given or even if people found nicknames for it. It didn’t care if it was called he, she, it, or them. The creature simply flowed with whatever came about from a situation and that was that. Granted all this could not be known if one did not spend time with the creature or questioned it on these matters. And it was not something the creature gave out freely either.

So the creature would remain a confusing affair for the vampire before it. Hardly blinking, it would notice the other becoming more flustered, but at the same time would say nothing to question it for the time being as it received its answer on what to call the vampire. In response the creature would nod. “As you wish,” the lamb would say as she watched the other do his best to appear strong though that nervousness around him was still there. Did this bother the creature? Not at all. In fact, it didn’t bother to question the matter or try to make the other more comfortable. It simply let what was there be.

Besides there were much more interesting things than nerves going on. Like this strange event with the hands. When the creature held out its hand and mimicked the other, it would seem the young man with her would become confuse once more. Though why the creature did not understand. It was doing this right no? Or was it expected to do something else? The creature was unsure for a few seconds, but was quickly brought back to reality as the other moved a bit and grasped it hand shaking it.

“We have heard of this thing called a handshake, but this is the first we have participated in such a greeting. Is it common here?” the creature asked, its mind fascinated by the simple thing. Where it came from, handshakes were not a thing. The culture she was from was more about bowing and other gestures that did not require such actions, so the change up was nice.

That little bit of amusement aside though, the creature would nod at the next bit of conversation. “Mmm. Food. We love food,” the creature would say with a light chuckle. Though it wondered if this one knew exactly what sort of food it ate. Hmmm. Well only time would tell and this creature mostly certainly wasn’t for revealing all just to make things easier for someone or something. This would be fun. Though…

“Oh and what is that which we must get?”

The Nightmare would consider the words said about the handshake, so it was a common thing, but only used here and there versus all the time. The creature could understand that well enough, but wonder about when the handshake was suppose to be used since it was used, but formal and not done all the time. It wanted to ask, but decided not to as the nervous energy of the other shifted to excitement when they asked about the item they were to get.

The creature would shift its weight to its left leg as a dark finger tapped its mask. “Black Tourmaline Crystal? It sounds like something very useful.” Especially if one was on a long trip or perhaps stuck somewhere where negative emotions were not around. The creature would smirk under its mask as it gave an amused hum. “It sounds like picnic basket.” Or at least to the creature it did and for whatever reason that analogy made the creature very happy. That strangeness aside though, the creature would eventually focus back on the other as it gave a slow blink. “Mmm. Vampires require a different sort of food, but are hunters no? Do you not feel the emotions of your prey then?” it would ask a bit curious of how the other worked in comparison to itself. He said he could not feel negative emotions, so did he mean he couldn’t feel the emotions of others around him? Or was he perhaps saying something else?

Answer or no answer though, the creature would go from curious to something similar to happy as it chuckled at the question given. “We like all sorts of emotions though we typically like sadness the best. It is bittersweet in a pleasant way. Thus we like graveyards and where death resides. It seems to pull that emotion up well; however, we are flexible and can eat any negative emotion we come across. Though we are not particularly fond of the spice of too much anger,” the creature would say as it gave the other an amused look. He was cute with his confusion and changing emotions. Cute and entertaining, but that was something the odd being would keep to itself for now. 

The Nightmare would shift its weight as the clip-clop of hooves against the flooring of the school sounded softly next to the footfalls of the one it followed. The creature had taken notice of that eager nod the other had given making it wondered if perhaps artifacts interested this one. They would have to ask, but not right now. For now, they would listen to the answer given about feeling emotions.

“Hmmm. So the flavor is in the blood.” The Nightmare would ponder that wondering if the taste of blood with such flavoring to it would be good for itself. Could it live off of that? Hmm. An experiment for later perhaps. Anyway, it would seem that the talk of such taste caused the other to react on an emotional level causing the Nightmare to look over at him with a curious eye; however, the emotions whatever they were, were quickly shutdown leaving no room for the Nightmare to examine them. How disappointing, but oh well. There would always be next time.

“You do not need to distinguish between emotions. Just aim for where the negative ones are and we should be fine. Though we wonder if we will have to create negativity to get a good meal versus stumbling upon it easily.” Emotions were a tricky thing after all, flipping and flopping all over the place making a good meal sometimes hard to come by without a little help of course. Though…how willing was this vampire to cause chaos just to get food for them. They had to wonder. “Would we starve if we went to the library?” the creature would ask as its own sense of dry humor came out as it mused at such an idea. Starving due to research taking too long. Sound absolutely delightful no?

That aside though, the creature would come out of its musing as it hummed at the comment about morgues. “Morgues are nice, but a bit too sterile for our liking. They be like hospitals. There is some negativity to be found, but not as tasty as that around the mourning,” the creature would say as if it was talking about any regular feood with a friend. While it was true it preferred sorrow, the Nightmare wasn’t too picky when it came to eating emotions. As long as it was filling, the creature could care less what the emotion was in the end, but where to find such negative emotions in public or out in the open? That was always the challenge.