#Kriemhild and Leopold

[radicalrascals]

@brimfire-and-hellstone liked for a starter - Kriemhild & Leopold

"Bitte," the vampire pulled his hood back to allow Kriemhild a good enough view of him through the gap in the door. His face was weatherbeaten. Remarkably young and exceptionally old at the same time. Fresh scratches met ancient scars on a canvas mostly obscured by a raggedy beard and long hair falling in front of olive coloured eyes.

His gaze briefly wandered up the street eastward, the red of the morning sun was quickly creeping over the horizon. It made him shudder and pull the hood deep into his face again.

"Let me in, bitte," the vampire pleaded, "I will find a way to repay you. But please. Do not condemn me to burn in the light of the sun."

[radicalrascals]

"Ich bitte um Verzeihung." Leopold's voice softened for shame of his insolence. He'd taken her resentment towards his kin for a good omen, assuming she'd agree to help him in his quest. Happily even. But too many decades on his own had chipped away at his once profound knowledge of human nature.

"I have lived long enough. Death, I shall greet you like a friend, when the day comes that my sire is no more. Through my own hand or someone else's." The vampire wrapped his arms around his knees and pulled his legs closer to his chest. "You are right. It was foolish of me to ask. I did not expect you to come with me, but I should not have assumed you would get involved in what is my own personal feud. Forgive me."

Even when the witch froze, her hands managed to set her plate aside before she could drop it. As if on command, the fox awoke, his head popping up and turning in her direction; the red creature stood, stretched, and ran to Kriemhild, jumping onto her lap and turning to look at Leopold with his ears pinned back on his head. " What makes you think-think that I would want to help you kill your sire, hm?" She asked the vampire, her hands resting on her beloved fox. "I do not hunt anything- not even your kind..."

Kriemhild paused, her lips pressed together to keep whatever sound she wanted to make from coming out, her eyes boring into the man she foolishly invited into her home. " Du bist eine dumme Sache...That was a stupid, stupid request you made. You don't even know me-who says I wouldn't want to kill you after you killed your sire?"

[radicalrascals]

Not a wide variety, but perhaps insight was part of her repertoire, because when she mentioned she renounced the arts of necromancy, Leopold couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment, even though it hadn't crossed his mind until Kriemhild had mentioned it. But then, what could an eternal, undead creature want from magic, if not necromancy? The vampire nodded slowly, indicating he'd understood her stance.

Time to explain his; "I used to be a lawman. Many, many decades ago. A series of murders plagued the city I lived in and I wanted nothing more than to catch the killer. Finding him cost me everything. And in the end he made me his own just to mock me. Telling me that now I would stand a chance. The only importance my sire holds for me now, is my desire to kill him. And that has kept me alive in return." He paused briefly, frowning.

"You say, you do not engage with the dead, but would you aid me in a vampire hunt?"

The question caught the witch's attention, she paused her work, appearing to take a moment, then started again as if nothing happened. " Yes, I do. What of it?" Kriemhild wiped her hands on a cloth, and picked up a bowl. When she exited the kitchen, the witch took a sat down in a wore down love seat in a corner of the room, propping her feet up on the end.

"Mind you, I don't practice a wide variety of magic-and I don't have anything to do with raising the dead or ghosts." She picked at her food absentmindedly while talking, " You mentioned you had a sire. Why would you want to kill him? Is he not considered...important to you?"

[radicalrascals]

Leopold cast a fleeting smile at Agosto and Junio and nodded to signal he had memorised their names. Perhaps it was that little shred of humanity left in him, that found the two cats, and the little fox, quite endearing, instilling the softest urge to pet them. But the vampire made no move, only looking up to the witch, hugging his knees, as he tried to rearrange himself on the floor to find a more comfortable position.

"Am I too human because I do not kill indiscriminately?," Leopold shook his head. " Turned by a madman, I was born from the madness of my own grief. I will see to it that my sire is slain, whether through my own hand or someone else's. Perhaps this is the madness you were looking for, perhaps it is the only thing which keeps me sane." Kriemhild was right; his undead existence was one characterised by sadness.

But this didn't mean their conversation had to be either: "You are obviously acquainted with the likes of me. Am I correct in assuming you practise magic?"

" How strange. You're going to drive yourself mad," the witch commented, " that is, if you haven't become so already from having to keep your little promises. You're a little too human for a vampire, I would ask if you became one on purpose-that just doesn't feel like what occurred either. Either way, it's rather sad." After hearing the question, she hummed softly in confusion to what he was talking about, a soft "oh" followed when the witch realized. " Agosto and Junio are by the fireplace, the fox is my dear Oak."

Kriemhild paused, glanced to her left at her unexpected guest, staring blankly at him, seemingly frozen, until she sighed. " They're friendly-they would want your attention when they wake up, and cats always do as they please. For the time being-the fox does as well, he's my youngest angel."

[radicalrascals]

It wasn't lost on Leopold how much his host avoided him, and frankly, he couldn't blame her for it. Before he had been turned, he'd had the same attitude. Nowadays he only treated as a monster who acted like a monster. But that'd make Kriemhild still right about him; he was the monster who killed other monsters.

"I do not slaughter who does not deserve it." Which was a horribly self-righteous thing to say, and an even more sanctimonious creed to live by. Nevertheless, Leopold was unwavering in his belief. "Not all of my kin murder; none of us requires it, though it is our nature. I understand your hostility and I am all the more grateful for your hospitality."

If one could call it that. The vampire was sat on the floor, eyes scanning the room he was in until his gaze landed on the two cats by the fireplace. Their mere presence tugging on his lips and he smiled. "What are their names?," he inquired, attempting to put his hand out to pet them, when he remembered his promise and shoved it back into the pocket of his heavy leather coat.

Kriemhild shut and locked her door, watching Leopold with a solemn face. Shelves and shelves of books lined one of the walls, trinkets resting on the tops of them, the rest of the living room appeared nothing short of cozy yet rather organized, perhaps a little too organized, and various scents of flowers and food polluted the air. On a worn rug beside the fireplace, two black cats rested together, and across from them near the bookshelf, a fox was fast asleep.

" I said I want nothing from you, Mr. Grimm," the witch reminded the vampire. She walked by him then, turning so as to completely avoid any opportunity for their shoulders to touch, and entered the next room, tending to the bowls and hot food before her while remaining within his sight. " Ich bin Kriemhild," she reluctantly introduced herself. " It would have been wiser if you found somewhere to stay sooner; as a demon of the night, you could have deceived someone to let you inside then killed them so you would have free food and a free room-yet you ended up at my doorstep. Why the hesitation?"

[radicalrascals]

Covering his hands with his sleeves and his face with the hood of his coat, Leopold stood hunched against the closed door, ducking away from the sun's first rays creeping along the deserted streets. He nodded franticly. No matter how outlandish and ridiculous the witch's demands would have been, he'd agreed to them. Just to get out of the sun's harming light.

"Ja, natürlich," he promised and when the door was opened and the vampire was invited in, he almost flung himself into safety, stumbling into desired penumbra. "I shall keep my hands to myself and leave as soon as the sun sets again. You have my word. Vielen Dank!" He removed his hood to reveal his face.

"Ich bin Leopold. Leopold Grimm. And I owe you my life."

The witch sneered at the vampire, her eyes briefly sweeping over him disapprovingly. " Erbärmlich, böse Sache! I wouldn't want a anything from you!" her head tilted a little so she could see the sky herself, and when she addressed Leopold again, Kriemhild scowled at him. " Verdammt...You listen and you well: Don't touch anything, if you wish to sit-you take a seat on the floor. Do no test me."

Kriemhild hesitated before, with a heavy sigh, she stood back and opened her door so the vampire could enter the home.

[brimfire-and-hellstone]

Even when the witch froze, her hands managed to set her plate aside before she could drop it. As if on command, the fox awoke, his head popping up and turning in her direction; the red creature stood, stretched, and ran to Kriemhild, jumping onto her lap and turning to look at Leopold with his ears pinned back on his head. " What makes you think-think that I would want to help you kill your sire, hm?" She asked the vampire, her hands resting on her beloved fox. "I do not hunt anything- not even your kind..."

Kriemhild paused, her lips pressed together to keep whatever sound she wanted to make from coming out, her eyes boring into the man she foolishly invited into her home. " Du bist eine dumme Sache...That was a stupid, stupid request you made. You don't even know me-who says I wouldn't want to kill you after you killed your sire?"

The question caught the witch's attention, she paused her work, appearing to take a moment, then started again as if nothing happened. " Yes, I do. What of it?" Kriemhild wiped her hands on a cloth, and picked up a bowl. When she exited the kitchen, the witch took a sat down in a wore down love seat in a corner of the room, propping her feet up on the end.

"Mind you, I don't practice a wide variety of magic-and I don't have anything to do with raising the dead or ghosts." She picked at her food absentmindedly while talking, " You mentioned you had a sire. Why would you want to kill him? Is he not considered...important to you?"

[brimfire-and-hellstone]

Kriemhild shut and locked her door, watching Leopold with a solemn face. Shelves and shelves of books lined one of the walls, trinkets resting on the tops of them, the rest of the living room appeared nothing short of cozy yet rather organized, perhaps a little too organized, and various scents of flowers and food polluted the air. On a worn rug beside the fireplace, two black cats rested together, and across from them near the bookshelf, a fox was fast asleep.

" I said I want nothing from you, Mr. Grimm," the witch reminded the vampire. She walked by him then, turning so as to completely avoid any opportunity for their shoulders to touch, and entered the next room, tending to the bowls and hot food before her while remaining within his sight. " Ich bin Kriemhild," she reluctantly introduced herself. " It would have been wiser if you found somewhere to stay sooner; as a demon of the night, you could have deceived someone to let you inside then killed them so you would have free food and a free room-yet you ended up at my doorstep. Why the hesitation?"

The witch sneered at the vampire, her eyes briefly sweeping over him disapprovingly. " Erbärmlich, böse Sache! I wouldn't want a anything from you!" her head tilted a little so she could see the sky herself, and when she addressed Leopold again, Kriemhild scowled at him. " Verdammt...You listen and you well: Don't touch anything, if you wish to sit-you take a seat on the floor. Do no test me."

Kriemhild hesitated before, with a heavy sigh, she stood back and opened her door so the vampire could enter the home.

[brimfire-and-hellstone]

The witch sneered at the vampire, her eyes briefly sweeping over him disapprovingly. " Erbärmlich, böse Sache! I wouldn't want a anything from you!" her head tilted a little so she could see the sky herself, and when she addressed Leopold again, Kriemhild scowled at him. " Verdammt...You listen and you well: Don't touch anything, if you wish to sit-you take a seat on the floor. Do no test me."

Kriemhild hesitated before, with a heavy sigh, she stood back and opened her door so the vampire could enter the home.

@brimfire-and-hellstone liked for a starter - Kriemhild & Leopold

"Bitte," the vampire pulled his hood back to allow Kriemhild a good enough view of him through the gap in the door. His face was weatherbeaten. Remarkably young and exceptionally old at the same time. Fresh scratches met ancient scars on a canvas mostly obscured by a raggedy beard and long hair falling in front of olive coloured eyes.

His gaze briefly wandered up the street eastward, the red of the morning sun was quickly creeping over the horizon. It made him shudder and pull the hood deep into his face again.

"Let me in, bitte," the vampire pleaded, "I will find a way to repay you. But please. Do not condemn me to burn in the light of the sun."