One Dark Night

Who: Hunt, Pandect, Reiz.
Where: Outside.
When: Night time.

Even though it still wasn't a very good idea to stay outside, Reiz did anyway. After what had happened that afternoon--he didn't feel very comfortable around people. Even though he'd managed to push back the urges and instincts for those few moments, he'd still had a lust for blood that he needed to work out.

He'd stayed outside all day, hiding behind tree trunks, and when night finally came, he... He shifted back to his original form.

Reiz hated how good it felt. It was like wearing clothes too tight, or not being able to breathe. It was just a reminder that he, no matter how hard he tried to be different, or better, in the end, he was a demon.

He wasn't going to hunt humans. He wanted to keep his word. But he needed an alternative--and animals was that option. Being winter, he had a hard time finding any critters frolicking around, but he knew their hiding places. He wasn't as strong as he use to be, but something like a squirrel, he had no problem crushing. Reiz sat there for a moment, reveling in the taste, in the rush he felt--even at the very, very minor hunt.

Hunt was prowling - there was no other word for it. The day had past in a blur of half-recalled unimportance. He couldn't have said what he'd done - but what did it matter? What he'd done, he was sure, was to wait for the night - for darkness to fall, so he could be ready for the hunt. There was bound to be something out there in the dark. Something that deserved what it would have coming to it. He'd left his guns at home tonight, wanting the feel of the knife in his hand, wanting to be up close and personal with whatever he met.

He was dressed relatively lightly for the cold, he wanted to be able to move as he entered the park, keeping to the shadows at the edge of the path, though it was hard to hide when the ground was covered in snow. That had ts advantages, though - it was easier to track after snowfall. Easier to be tracked as well, but he was ready, if anything decided to come at him first.

Leaving the animal there was probably going to be suspicious, but it's not like Reiz could bring it with him. Souvenirs weren't really his thing. There was blood on his teeth and hands--which were larger (his prints on the snow would cause much alarm) with claws to rip flesh. His skin matched his tail in texture and color, but even against the black, he could still see tints of red.

His posture was crouched, his elongated limbs bent and on all fours, always ready to jump on anyone. It was a habit in this form, it was to keep him alive.

After finishing up on his current meal, he started to dash off to find his next target.

Hunt left the path - if anything was out there, if anything had dared to stray into town, then it wouldn't be walking down the middle of the path - it would be sticking to the shadows. Hunt was sure he knew how things like that thought. If they could be thought to 'think' at all - Hunt didn't have much time for non-humans, for anything different. That had been the way he'd been raised to think, that was all there was - any other part of his persona, any part that maybe cared, that had been fractured away, hidden deep as part of his other personality and there was no sign of that this night. All that was left of Hunt at current was exactly what his name suggested - the hunt, the hunter. He stepped down into the deeper snow and headed towards the treeline - and it was as he moved there that he saw the darkness against the snow and changed his track, spotting the still-warm animal carcass. He looked up and around, eyeing for whatever had ripped this thing to pieces.

Reiz stopped for a moment, head looking up and off to the side. After his life of hunting, he'd developed a feeling for when he wasn't quite alone... Sometimes it was right, sometimes it was wrong. A part of him wanted to chalk it up to his dull senses and paranoia, another part was thinking that maybe it was another small animal.

He crept carefully, backtracking, wanting to make sure.

Hunt eyed his surroundings as he kicked snow over the carcass, burying it enough for it to be less noticeable, keep the smell down. He stopped as he thought he heard something, maybe saw a shadow move, and he reached to loosen his belt knife, gripping it in his right hand. "I seen you," he called out to the night.

Crouching lower, Reiz moved even slower, trying his best not to make a sound. He wasn't sure what to do... if he ran, then someone would know there was something here, and he'd get hunted. And despite the urges telling him how much more satisfying it would be to kill a human than a squirrel, he couldn't and wouldn't.

Hunt moved towards where he was certain he'd seen movement, the snow hindering his progress, meaning he moved far slower than normal - even more so since he was taking his time, being cautious. He knew the types of things that could be out there in the night, after all. He could have used magic to create a light, to illuminate the night and reveal what was there, but if whatever it was was further away, out of his reach, then all he would be doing would be making himself a target and ruining his night vision. No, for now, he'd rely on his senses and nothing more.

Maybe Reiz could reason with this person? At least they weren't running in guns blazing, that always left some hope, right? Maybe if he could just let it out in the open that he wasn't going to do anyone any harm, it'd be okay. Just... talk it out, or something.

Cautiously, he stepped out from behind the tree. Reiz was aware he was probably going to get shot at--people didn't exactly look at his demon form and run up to hug it (though he wondered if Amy would?) but if he was careful, and slow, maybe...

There! Hunt turned to face the emerging shape, stopping where he was. There was no shot - after all, Hunt had left his guns at home tonight, but he smiled in the moonlight as he made out what he was facing. A fiend, if he wasn't mistaken. "Demon," he said, almost as a greeting, though there was an edge to it.

So far so good?

Reiz kept his distance, though he loosened up on his crouch a bit. He didn't want it seem like he was going to pounce on the man for attack. He wasn't really used to talking in his demon form, he didn't really need words when it came to that, but he growled out slowly: "Won't.. hurt you..."

Hunt laughed at the words, sounding genuinely amused. "It's not myself I'd be worried about demon - coming this far into town. That, back there - yours, I presume. Funny, I didn't think scrounging around for animals was really your kind's style. That's more... me, isn't it? So - come and get it..." he taunted, holding his arms out in apparent invitation, despite the fiend's promise. With half his mind gone, splintered off as part of the backlash of the spell, Hunt was hardly reasonable or rational and the knife in his right hand caught the moonlight with his gesture.

Reiz didn't feel right attacking the human. A part of him screamed at him to, this human knew who he was, he wanted to hunt him, to kill him, that part bared his teeth out at the hunter, growling warningly. He wouldn't do anything until he was attacked... He wouldn't doing anything until he was attacked... He had to repeat that in his head, trying his best to control himself.

Hunt had no such qualms. As far as he was concerned, this thing wasn't human. It didn't belong here and he'd been indoctrinated and trained since birth to know what to do there - it had to die. Never mind that he knew what he was facing, going up against a fiend. Nevermind that he knew that he was lacking the blessed weaponry he really knew he needed to take the thing down - he would do what he had to do, and he ran at the demon as best as he could through the snow with an almost snarling cry, finally calling forth black magic to light up the night, casting an eerie blue glow across a small area of the park - not enough to attract attention from a distance, but enough to let him see his prey.

At the sight of the flash of magic, that part of Reiz screamed louder at him to fight back, to kill, this human had something he didn't, and would never have. But even in the heat of the moment, he held himself back, barely--waiting to hold his ground.

Hunt threw himself at the demon, muttering another spell under his breath, activating the earlier-prepared white magic charm around his neck. There was no visible effect, but that was how he'd worked it. It was there to defend him - to protect him from taking too much damage, and he'd need it, he knew, against this foe. It wouldn't stop him from getting hurt, but it would be the difference between life and death, it would prevent serious injury, though he knew he could still be harmed. He would have to trust on his more physical abilities to protect him from anything else.

He impacted with the demon, seeking to drive it to the floor.

Not being as strong as he used to be, the force of the impact nailed Reiz onto the ground. He was feeling distracted, his mind in a flurry of thoughts and debate within himself, to fight or not to fight? Hitting the ground was like his demon self shoving his ascended self back, like a well-delivered point in a debate.

"Don't... want... fight."

Hunt delivered a blow to the demon's face with his right fight, the hilt of the knife adding power and weight to it. "Since when has this been about what you want?" he asked, jumping back out of reach for a moment, expecting and anticipating the swipe of claws - whether out of attack, or simply reflexive defence. "You shouldn't have come here, demon - this is our town. Our area. Scum like you don't belong here - you don't belong anywhere. This is our world."

The man was right. Demons didn't belong with humans, that's why they tried to hurt them. Reiz glanced down at the ground, feeling the throbbing pain of the punch, feeling the throbbing in his mind, wanting to scream: Fuck you, humans are weaker, humans are the ones that don't belong. He glared back up at the man, stumbling onto his feet.

Hunt didn't care that the demon wasn't fighting back - it just made it all the easier. It wasn't the fight, for him - that wasn't why he did it. He'd been raised to a cause - and that cause was that anything that wasn't human, didn't belong here. Anywhere. That was the be all and end all of it as Hunt also got to his feet, dropping into a fighting stance, clearly about to attack once more.

Reiz growled quietly, neither part of him liked getting beaten, but... He. He'd promised. And though he'd promised, as the fight went on, and with each hit he took, he could feel himself becoming more hostile at the man, wanting to toss the promise aside and give the man what he deserved.

There was a rush and a thrill that Hunt felt as if he was feeling anew every time he did this - it always felt too, too long, as though his life was stretching between hunts. But it couldn't have been - he had no memory of any time passing since the last time he'd spilt blood - he remembered it as though it were only hours ago, yet at the same time, it felt like weeks. It was confusing and disorientating, yet it didn't matter - nothing mattered except spilling demon blood, killing it if he could.

Pandect had gone into the woods to look for Amy, he wasn't the boss of her, not in charge of what she did, but he couldn't help worrying about her, especially with the revelation that talking with Kurt had brought him. So here he was, out in the woods mucking around in the cold and biting wind. His irritation felt weak even to himself, he was worried.

He had heard the sound of fighting and his heart had sped up sharply, he spun on one foot and ran toward the sounds of battle, his long legs eating up the ground before he could spare a moment to think, to process what he was doing. It was too far away, Amy could be hurt, Amy could be dying. Once his brain caught up with him he slowed down. Amy would scream he knew it. She would squeal. But the only sounds he heard were the sounds of scrabbling and fighting, and voices in the male register. He crept slowly toward the noise, he had no interest in going in the middle of a fight that had nothing to do with himself.

Reiz's head whipped to the side, hearing footsteps... was it anyone? Was it more hunters? Maybe it was just a passerby... a night time walk... He didn't want to drag an innocent person into all of this.

His glance went back at the hunter, with the same cautious eyes, waiting for him to attack.

Hunt heard the steps as well and came to the same conclusion - he didn't want to involved a passerby. He didn't want someone else to get hurt by this thing - and so he'd have to make it quick as he went in once more, his knife arching down in the hope he could do sufficient damage, even without a blessed weapon, to end this here and now.

Reiz saw the man coming with his knife, and he knew if he didn't move, if he didn't fight back then he'd be hurt badly.

'Move!'
'I don't care!'
'Move now!'

Reluctantly, and slightly delayed, he shifted off to the side--not enough to dodge the knife as it pierced his side--letting out a cry of pain. Glaring over at the man, reflexively, he stepped forward, swiping at the man with his hand.

Hunt felt his head snap back as the impact struck his cheek and he knew that it was only the defense provided by his spell that had stopped the blow breaking his neck, or at least leaving him stunned. He jumped back, on the defensive, his knife bloodied.

Reiz was crouched down, glaring and growling at the human, his demon self in control at the moment. It was just defense, that was what he was telling himself. Self-defense, he hadn't done anything wrong...

He charged forward, wanting to pounce on the man.

Pandect came upon the happy scene slowly, muffling his feet in the snow as best he could, but in these conditions (and a hundred some odd years out of Canada) he was sure he wasn't exactly silent. There was the flash of a knife, the cry and the dark spots of blood as well as the answering blow. A hunter. He had no respect for hunters, looking for trouble. Bringing the monsters they hunted down on the heads of innocents.

But still, he could not allow a man to die because of his philosophical objections. He leapt into the fray so to speak, lunging in between the two of them, digging his heels in as he braced for impact on both sides. He knew from experience what could happen if he stepped in between a hunter and what they deemed their righteous duty, but the man would get himself killed. Stopping the hunter with a hand to his chest, pressing him back, he lunged forward into the demon's pounce.

Hunt was arching his knife around when suddenly he was being pushed back, his feet going from under him as he fell back, landing hard in the snow, the bloodied knife skittering off to one side as the breath was driven from his body.

Currently... Reiz didn't like surprises. Especially not if he was suppose to get a pounce on the enemy--but he didn't. He growled as he felt the impact of the stranger's shoulder in his snout, baring his teeth out. Who...

"Gar...nier..."

It was self defense, an angel and a hunter, he knew it. He knew the angel would turn on him one day. Even though his rational mind would say it was because he was the bad one, but right now... It was because he was an angel and you couldn't trust any of them.

He let out a roar, snapping his head against Garnier to push him back.

The demon's teeth snapped against Pandect's shoulder, cutting through his shirt, drawing thin lines of blood. He twisted away from the teeth narrowing his eyes. Rey would call him by his first name and he was pretty sure the enfant terrible didn't know his name, or at least would use much fouler language. And that left Reiz.

Reiz had broken their agreement. Hunter or not Reiz would have killed that man.

He felt a white stinging heat move up through his insides. He hit the demon in the jaw with his elbow, throwing his body into it, narrow men often tried to fight like large men. Pandect had learned better, and used his sharp angles to good advantage. "Nous avons eu une traité Reiz" he growled.

Hunt recovered quickly and though he didn't understand what the newcomer had said, he recognised someone joining in the fray when he saw it. And, from the looks of it, this was someone who knew how to fight. Hunt had no problems going two against one here, none at all. He circled around, wanting to come in from the back.

It didn't matter what Garnier said, at the moment all Reiz recognized was that he was in danger, and his demon instincts were screaming at him. A hunter and an angel, he had to fight back.

The blow threw him back a bit, and he could feel the throbbing where he was hit--but he didn't stop to acknowledge it, and instead rushed forward, charging at him.

Pandect was thrown down on his back by the force of Reiz's charge, he drew his knee up to give him space to breathe. Chopping his hands down on either side of Reiz's neck hard to try and stun him, Pandect twisted under Reiz's grip. The important thing was to get out from under the demon. Reiz didn't look too stunned, he drove his kneecap up hard into the demon's belly so it felt like he nearly cracked it in half. Twisting hard Pandect kicked out from under him and got a bunch of snow up under his coat.

With gritted teeth he kicked Reiz in the shoulder. He had settled himself into living in Marquette with an awkward agreement with the demon. The demon respected his privacy and did no harm to anyone and in return Pandect kept his privacy and didn't kill him in the woods. It was a hard agreement for him to make and it was only his need to keep himself safe that got Pandect to agree in the first place. But that hadn't taken away the low simmering hate in his gut, now with an excuse his whole body was singing to be fighting. At the mechanical swing of arms and legs.

Hunt didn't know what the newcomer was, or what he knew. Looked human - and he was fighting something clearly demonic, so the guy knew something, but still, it made Hunt wary of revealing too much, and the spell he cast was a muttered one, low level as he turned the snow under the demon to ice - hoping that he might have gotten lucky with the spell, maybe caught his foot, or trapped him somehow. At worst, Hunt knew, it would make the fiend's footing precarious beneath him. It was a highly localised spell, targeted, only affecting the area immediately below the demon.

The successive blows succeeded in stopping Reiz, as he paused for a moment on all fours, trying to catch his breath. All he could think of was fighting back--it didn't matter how much he got hurt, it didn't matter who else got hurt, all he needed was to get out of this alive.

He bent down, about to pounce again, but... he glanced down, noting his feet were caught by ice. He looked back, growling at the hunter, trying to force his way out of the ice.

Witchcraft. Pandect didn't need any help dealing with this. Fumbling for a moment he was able to get his English back. "Back off," Pandect growled at the hunter, springing up into a crouch. "I'll deal with this. Get out of here hunter." The demon was off balance, caught by the ice that at least the Hunter knew how to spell correctly. He twisted and caught Reiz across the face with the heel of his new boot.

Hunt laughed at that - at least that answered his question, if this newcomer recognised magic that easily. He'd been less than obvious, so clearly this one knew the results when he saw it. He wondered at the comment though - was this guy that cocky and confident that he was convinced he could deal with a fiend on his own? They were hardly a walk in the park - even as demons went.

Reiz let out a grunt as the foot met his face, his weight being thrown to the side cracked the ice that held his feet. He fell with a thud, stumbling back onto all fours, glaring at his two adversaries. He could charge again--but he hadn't had very much luck with it. His tail whipped around behind him, as he waited for them to come towards him.

The important thing was to keep Reiz's focus on him, the demon was no idiot, although fiends weren't generally known for their brilliance. Cunning certainly, but as a rule not rocket scientists. Pandect swung one fist at him, drawing the demon's attention while moving so he drew Reiz away from the hunter. One thing in his favor, life had seemed content to pit him aganist much stronger opponents, he knew how to use his speed and angles instead. It was important to know how to fight as much as how to fight. Where the weak points were so to speak.

If Reiz wanted him to make the first move, then Pandect would oblige. He leapt forward, catching Reiz hard around the neck and using his momentum to hook behind him. He locked his arm in place and settled in. There wasn't a chance that Reiz would go quietly, not while he was snarling like this. Choking his to unconsciousness would make his job easier.

Hunt watched as the other man dealt with the demon - an almost cruel smile on his face - the world would be a better place with one less of that kind, after all. He would never lose a moment's sleep over the death of something like that, even if it was at another's hand and not his.

As the man grabbed onto Reiz, he threw his neck around, trying to throw Pandect off, but damn it he had a strong grip. He started to run forward towards the hunter--maybe the collision between the three of them will get him to let go.

"Reiz," Pandect said sharply. Trying to dig in his heels, not that heel digging was easy with a fiend lopping around under him. He tried to hook one long leg in between Reiz's to trip him up, but he couldn't quite catch him. "Glus, paltonier," he gave up on that tact and launched himself over Reiz's back instead pushing the hunter forcably out of the way instead, he slapped him once upside the head. "Idiot," he snapped at him in French, trying to get back to where he could get a good swing at the demon. "You're encouraging him."

Pandect was out of practice fighting large animals (although he counted it as a small blessing, ha! blessing, that Reiz didn't have horns- Pandect had no interest in being gored) and this was difficult enough to... take care off without having to take care of the hunter as well. He pulled back his leg again to kick Reiz in the chest.

Hunt didn't know what the guy had just said to him, but he really didn't appreciate the tone there, which it didn't take a linguist to understand - and it didn't go over too well with Hunt, considering this guy had gatecrashed his fight - and was turning out to be, apparently, not a team player, which didn't help things at all. They'd just end up getting in each others way and Hunt was half tempted just to leave the guy to it, around here, there was bound to be other things to take down. "Have it you way," he muttered, then smiled and stepped back, gesturing to the other guy that it was all his, before retracting his spells - the ice and light both, and fading back into the darkness.

A part of Reiz was screaming at him for letting a hunt go away, but it didn't matter--the angel was still here at least, and that was enough to please him for now. As he was kicked, he didn't take even a moment to stall, immediately making a swipe at Garnier's leg.

Pandect went down hard on his back, his arms and legs going out. He bit down on his cheek, hard enough to sting and to taste a little bit of copper on his tongue, but not enough to bite a wound in his mouth. He held his breath so it wouldn't be knocked out of him when he hit the cold ground.

He let out a growl as his hit landed, and walked over, looking down at the angel. He couldn't eat the angel--but he could make him bleed at least, and that's what he wanted to do. He lunged forward, aiming to bite down hard.

Pandect got up the thick soles of his boots up to brace against Reiz's attack. The demon's mouth snapped and ripped down at him. He felt a white hot line of pain zip down the inside of his right leg, nesting in the bend of his knee. Hissing in pain, he swung up, striking at Reiz's face.

Reiz flinched at the attack towards his fist as his grip on his leg loosened, he snarled and raised one of his forelegs, about to slam down on Garnier.

Pain aside, he was still in pretty good shape, pain could be circumvented easily enough with a little will power. He folded a little to the left, just enough out of the way so that Reiz's foot wouldn't crush his ribcage, wincing at the pull at the scab on his side. At least Reiz's stomping maneuver got him close enough so that Pandect could get his fist into the joint of his front leg leg where it met his body.

Growling at the blow, Reiz stepped back just a little, the front leg that had been hurt had a small limp. He took a strong step forward with his other leg, aiming to ram Garnier with his skull.

Fists grappling with the demon above him (Pandect didn't want to be pinned, he hated being pinned) and the snowy ground below him, Pandect found a long sharp rock in the snow and fallen leaves. He got a fistful of wet and slimy leaves and snow that made his bare palm pull back and prickle along with the snow, but didn't waste time trying to move the debris away with his numb finger, he's only drop the stone he found by luck anyway.

He sliced the stone along the demon's head, trying to aim for his face but getting more crown than anything else. They're positions were terribly awkward to aim in, so he supposed he should be happy with that. "Look, its nothing personal," Pandect said in heavily accented English. "We had an agreement and you went after a human. Granted he's a hunter," Pandect tried to take another swing and wasn't able to do any injury. "And I have some serious doubts about the type of person it takes to hunt. But that doesn't excuse your actions, you're fair game."

Stumbling back at the blow to his head, Reiz could feel a tickly warm feeling trickling down his face.

He looked up at Garnier, his reflexes wanted to keep going--but his thinking self was telling him that what he said was wrong. He used all of his will to hold himself back, his muscles tense and growled: "He... came at me..."

Pandect wasn't stupid, he didn't relax his grip on the demon, he was so close.

He gave his word.

The demon's neck. Right there.

His word.

He could use the stone, he could use his hands (his left arm was twisted limply between them, giving him space). Well, one hand.

His word.

The demon's belly was right there.

He could...

He could do nothing.

"Get the hell off of me."

Reiz gave one last growl before he backed off, eyeing Garnier. He was reluctant to leave--he didn't want to be spared by an angel. Did he have no pride? Did he have any self respect? Spared by an enemy.

No. He didn't.

If there was anything he learned in life--there were a lot of things that were more important than pride.

Which is why he took his chance to run off.

This had not been a good night.

Pandect curled his legs up to himself, protecting his injured leg, his injured side, his limp arm, his aching jaw (when had Reiz gotten a shot at his face?). He narrowed his eyes at Reiz and sneezed once, sharply so it hurt in the back of his throat. He could recognize the voice panting at the back of his brain pan. It was like an itch, an ache. Lie this once. Burn the body in the woods. Gas up and take care of Rey before heading for Florida. Rip him open. All demon are the same.

It made him sick.

Mache was in his head sometimes, making him snarky and sharp, telling him to kick and laugh and bite at people. But it was his own voice that wanted him to kill.

He watched the demon run and didn't chase him.

He was an honest angel.

It was going to be a long walk back.