Blowin' in the Wind

[Lydia "Rhapsody" Kruger]

Lydia wasn't a fan of boats. She didn't like being on water as opposed to land. It wasn't as stable, and if you wanted to--for lack of better word--"abandon ship", you didn't have much chance of surviving, at least in the ocean. She was grateful for the free passage across the Atlantic, though; the captain was an old friend of her uncle's, and he had apparently owed her uncle a favour.

As soon as the boat touched the harbour, Lydia barely took time to say goodbye to the captain before hauling her bag over her shoulder and taking off, away from the ocean. Lydia wasn't sure where she was heading, but that wasn't that unusual for her. Since she was seven, her existence was a very nomadic one. Having a place to stay was an exception, and she was alright with that.

She raised her free hand to shade her dark copper eyes from the sun then narrowed her gaze. A glance at the battered watch on her wrist confirmed her initial thoughts. In a few hours, the sun would set, and the city would become considerably more dangerous. Lydia would have rather taken solace for the night outside of the city, preferably somewhere in a forest, but she didn't know the layout of the area. On top of that, she believed that the group of people she was looking for was probably somewhere in New York proper. Hiding out in the forest wasn't going to get her any closer to her goal.

It was with something akin to delight that she found a park nestled in the center of the city. The park was thick with shrubs and trees, and she could see children playing in the distance under the supervision of their parents. That image sent a momentary pang of longing for her own parents, but she quickly pushed it away. Sentimentality could get her killed.

She slowly walked through the park, studying it with a sharp eye, until she came across an old, stately oak. With little difficultly, she climbed up in its branches and secured herself in. Lydia guessed she had three or four hours before dusk settled, and after setting an alarm on her watch, she fell asleep.

Lydia woke up three and a half minutes before her alarm went off, long enough to watch the last beams of the sun disappear over the buildings . She couldn't see a single person in the park near her, but that didn't mean there wasn't anyone. After untying herself from the oak tree, she opened her bag and slid out a glint of silver. With a quick thrust of her wrist, the glint unfolded into a delicate but deadly silver recurve bow.

Next, she pulled out half a loaf of bread and sliced a piece of it off with a pocketknife. The bread wasn't fresh, but Lydia hadn't eaten since before getting off the boat earlier, and she was starving. It didn't take her long to scarf down the entire half loaf.

Lydia stood up, feet carefully balanced on the thick branch of the oak, and held her bow close enough to her body to avoid the light from the nearly full moon to glint off of it and attract attention, but she also kept it in a position that would allow her to easily use it if need be. A cool wind hit her face, and she was grateful for the black, fitted clothing she wore. Earlier, the afternoon sun had made it quite hot, but now that the sun had set, she was quite comfortable.

At least, as comfortable as someone standing in a tree, waiting either for the sun to rise again or for some manner of create who wished her harm, could be. Lydia let out a breath, and she began watching her surroundings carefully, waiting.

[Alejandro Cepero]

The night was about to descend on the city, and Alejandro sighed slightly. Another night... Another hunt for rogues. Getting out of bed, he wandered over to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face, trimmed his beard, and then walked over to the kitchen still in his skivvies. Grabbing a pack of blood from the cabinet, he walked over to the television to catch some of the evening news as he had his meal. Better to have a meal before a hunt. Often times, hunts occurred right after a fresh kill, and he wanted to ensure he did not devolve into a frenzy after being strong for so long.

The news was interesting (what with a full out attack on the zoo, he'd need to have a talk with Vaughn about subtlety) but aside from the main event it was pretty common. A homicide here, a rape there, a missing person, etc. News was never cheery. Then again, neither was he.

With the blood pack spent and the night finally upon the city, he put on his black armani suit with red shirt, tucked his pistol into its holster, ensured he had enough rounds, and grabbed a new little device of his. It was a knife that, at the press of a button, would slide up from his right wrist and give him something to fight with that was more stealthy than a sword. Tonight wasn't truly a hunting night anyway. Tonight, he was simply going to conduct some reconnaissance in the park, see if any groups had begun congregating there.

Stepping out into the night, he took a deep breathe as he walked towards the park. It was a short walk, and once there he observed it was for the most part deserted. He could sense one or two supernaturals in the area, but there was no scent of blood, so it may be nothing. Or it may be something. He walked into the park.

As he walked past a rather large oak tree, he could sense something that wasn't supernatural. Usually, this would mean nothing. However, given the fact that the park was deserted, he looked around until he gazed directly at the tree he sensed the human from. Aside from the human's presence, he could not distinguish anything else, whether the person was armed or not, its sex, anything. Try as he might, however, he could not see the human either. Walking up to the tree, he called out in his spanish accented voice as low as possible so as to not attract to much unwanted attention...

"Hey, I know you're up there. My question to you is what are you doing in the tree in the middle of the night? I told the hunters I was covering the park tonight." He knew he probably shouldn't bring up the hunters to an unknown, but there had been a rise of vigilante supernatural hunters who had no idea what they were doing and endangered themselves and others. Best to err on the side of caution.