Generation: Traipse
Date: 17. July. 2020
Features: Roman, Virgil, Logan
Word Count: 2,097
AU: Human; supernatural
Note: Start of piece

👓👑🌩👔🐍🐙

Roman urgently made his way through the wooded area, his eyes peeled for any signs of danger as he tried to escape the murderous peril that was behind him.

Honestly, this wasn't his fault; it was his broher, Remus, that created the uproar. The problem came in with the fact that they were identical twins- and that the uproar he caused started with he fact that they were vampires. Granted, the fact that Roman had become the vampiric equivalent of  vegetarian was not going to be willingly accepted by a town full of mortals that had just lost one of its own due to his own twin.

Stumbling through a particularly gnarly patch of braches and brambles, Roman felt his forward momentum come cease as he instead went flying to his left- a flash of light in his vision the only idicator as to what had occured. A groan left his lips as pain spiked along his side, his right hand immediately grasping at his left hip as he snapped his head to face his assailant. "What the heckity heck, Witchling?"

"You vampires are nothing but trouble!" The magic wielder responded, disgust written in his expression just as potently as it had been in his voice.

"I did nothing wrong!"

"Tell that to Elliot!" The other responded, a growl tinging his voice slightly, "Oh, that's right, you can't! He's on a slab waiting to be buried six feet under!"

Roman immediately knew who this Elliot person was, and while he felt bad- "That wasn't my fault! You need Remus!" This was met with a scoff as the magic wielder moved forward, so Roman pressed his back to the tree he was still beside. "Wait! You have that spell, right? The Blood Trail?"

This was honestly a less than ideal spell for Roman and those like him. The Blood Trail took his essence apart and examined it while making the findings easily readable for the person who cast the spell. The spell would inform the caster of every living being that the vampire in question had taken blood from. Seeing as Roman was a vampiric vegetarian, he was seen as weaker on the chain in regards to the superntural chain of command. This spell would unequivically cause some substantial pain to the vampire.

The witch glared for a few silent, drawn-out, seconds. Then, without question, the magic wielder lifted his hands and muttered a soft spell, partnered with a few quick had movements. Unbearable pain was the only thing Roman was aware of once the witchling's hands crossed before spreading apart for the final insance in the spell. It was an odd sensation, the pain accompanying the feeling of something without a physical presence normally being slowly torn from his body almost like velcro- if velcro felt like tendril-like nails. The pain was accompanied by a burning feeling, that spread across his the vampire's skin.

If Roman could open his eyes, he would see the magic wielder's own eyes widen in surprise- and vague horror. The sole reason being the truth behind Roman's recent history. The vampire in question had not lied in the slightest.

Rabbit, chicken, fox, himself, wolf, deer, rabbit, deer, himself- what was this vampire going through? A vampire's own self registering should be weird enough, having it register multiple times? The witch went through the visible list and counted out more than twenty instances where the vampire was listed as his own source of blood. Releasing the spell, the magic bearer watched as the vampire collapsed against the tree.

"Why are you your own source so many times?" The witch asked, his shoulders tensed as he waited for the vampire's reply; not entirely certain that the vampire could be trusted- but what other options did he have?

Roman looked up and gave a half smile, his own shoulders hunched over from the exhaustion he was already faced with. "Fighting my brother. Someone had to keep a clear head. He wanted to try what 'vampires were made to consume,' while I wanted to keep both of us safe. Nearly every fight, he would punch me well enough that my teeth would cut the inside of my cheek- and that blood would naturally make its way inside my system somehow."

This line of conversation continued for a few more minutes before the magic bearer released a heavy sigh, "Alright, I can see you aren't entirely terrible- that doesn't mean I think you're good or anything, don't get me wrong. I can also see that I did a number on you as well." The witch hesitated slightly, raising a hand to ruffle through his hair, "I also don't think it wise to let you go around when you and  your brother both seem to be in danger."

"Are you saying-?"

"I just don't trust you to be on your own!" The witch flared, his eyes shining with unused magic before he mumbled, "Fuckin' dunce."

Roman bit his lower lip, torn between muttering about his pain and smiling at the witch as he tries to stand on his own again- not entirely succeeding, "So, witchy boy, you're going to be staying with me for the time being?"

The witch let out a huff and rolled his eyes, "No shit, Sherlock."

"Then-" Roman paused to let out a grunt as he held out his hand; finally letting go of his side for the first time since he had been thrown into the tree, "we should probably know each other a bit. My name is Roman; Roman Richman."

There was a sigh as the magic wielder reached forward and shook Roman's hand, "Virgil."

"Virgil-?" Roman attempted to prompt the other.

"Just Virgil. Did you already forget that I was a witch? Names hold power among my type- you're lucky I gave you that  much."

~~~~~~

Logan picked his way through the trees with his notebook in hand and camera dangling around his neck. This was a daily trip he took; he had done this daily for a few years now, to the point where there was a slightly worn path in the grass where he entered the woods through the trees.

He kept track of the plants and fauna he came across. This time around, he had already detailed the majority of the plant life he had been keeping track of when a small creature caught his attention. It was just the briefest flash of fur out of the corner of his eye- and his mind immediately started going through the possibilities.

Why was a flash of fur of note? In his years of traipsing through these particular trees, he has only seen one hare- a dark brown one. This looked like a white (possibly light gray) hare- in otherwords, a color that was not necessarily indigenous to this area of the woods. An influx of a new coloring to the area of any type of animal could mean a multitude of things in Logan's mind and he instantly took that as a sign.

Heading in the direction of the hare, he quickly found himself leaving his beaten path; pulling a piece of chalk out of his pants pocket, he was quick to mark the trees he passed with an L and an arrow in the direction he was headed. He refused to get lost in among the trees and end up as a part of someone else's statistical analysis and research pool. If anything, the world was going to be his statistics pool, thank you very much.

He caught several more glimpses of the hare, but it never came close enough for him to confidently state one way or another exactly what coloring group it fell under. Logan continued to follow he path of the critter for what felt like hours, mostly unaware of anything else among the trees that wasn't the hare he had become nearly hyper focused upon.

The downfall of mankind, if Logan were to be thinking properly, is not only hubris- but their inability to see the greater picture. Logan was quite the specimen of human in this regard. He had hubris unmatched when it came to his favored areas of academia; and normally he is willing to let the greater picture come to him, rather than block it out. That being said, Logan was also aware of the fact that there is a saying every living being should take into account- especially whe travelling by themselves.

There's always a bigger fish.

That, my friends, is why Logan's laser-focused attitude toward this hare landed him as the smallest fish in the clearing. He was a lone human among a being who drank blood, and a being that could cast a multiturrrrrrrrrrrtewertde of spells using the energy of the planet around him. It didn't take a man of maths and science to see that he was the weakest being in the figurative pool.

That being said, his eyes quickly evaluated the situation before him, the magic bearer was definitely a threat- but the other, the blood drinker, seemed more frightened by Logan's presence. Analyzing the blood drinker, Logan figured out quite a few things.

"Hold whatever nonsense you were about to spew," He said calmly toward the magic bearer, waving them off with a single and as he turned to the vampire, "If I get you a source, would that help any?"

He could feel the surprise emanating from both of the stronger beings in the clearing. Had he turned to face the witch, he may have even seen the guilt of not thinking of offering blood flash briefly across his face. It took a few moments before the vampire gave a slow nod. It was clear that the blood drinker was anticipating some form of treachery from the human- but Logan was a man of science; and as a man of science, Logan wanted answers to something that was so outlandish according to his research.

Even Logan couldn't deny the existence of the being in front of him, though. With a curt nod, Logan turned around and left the clearing. It wasn't terribly long before he came across the critter he had seen but not considered in his chase of the lightly colored hare. It wasn't much, a darkly colored hare that was clearly injured; but, Logan figured any blood would be helpful to the vampire. Whispering an apology to the inured animal, he picked it up; he was careful of both of its broken paws, as he calmly re-entered the clearing.

Crossing to the vampire, he held it out with the simple explanation of, "It's dead either way, but I think this would be less painful for her in the end."

The vampire glanced to the witch, that nodded in response. Taking the injured animal carefully from the human's hands, the vampire bit into the fur and carefully drained the blood. It was a matter of minutes before the animal had passed and the vampire carefully set it aside, wiping his chin in the process. "Thank you."

"You're welcome; are you feeling any better?" Logan responded gently, one eyebrow raised in question.

The vampire gave a slight nod and opened his mouth to speak again, before the magic wielder cut in, "What are you even doing this far into the trees?"

"Well..." Logan hesitated, "I saw a rare colored hare and followed it to see if it would lead me to others of their coloration."

The witch let out a hum before Logan let out an exclamation and immediately looked a little nervous. "What? What is wrong?"

"I am sorry, but I have to recommend that you both move; quickly!"

"Why?" The vampire cut in this time.

"I mark the trees so that I know which direction I came from..."

"Which means you left a trail to our current location?" The witch was clearly barely withholding their temper. Logan's only response was a slow nod, "Well, fuck. Let's go you two. Roman, are you okay to travel?"

"Two?" Logan squeaked.

Virgil raised an eyebrow in response and gave a barely noticeable head tilt, "With as much as you know now? Do you really think I can let you walk away just yet?"

"I can walk, I might be a little on the slow side."

"So, human paced? Perfect," Virgil replied with a snort before silently urging both of them to follow him.

Logan released a soft sigh in an attempt to calm his nerves before following behind Virgil, Roman slightly to his left as they let Virgil lead the way.