Bem vindo à Selva!

[Bordeaux]

    Brushing the dew-soaked fern leaves with his fingertips, Enzo quietly assessed his surroundings. Familiar scents of an uninfected  human village, a sharp scent of cooking and skin but tinged with fear. The "home" smell of the jungle. The softly swaying trees, the steady drip of water, the smell of creatures that are completely comfortable in the jungle. But there was something he could not place. Closing his eyes, he focused on the smell and sound around him. Something was... off. It felt like a predator but not one he knew of. Which is very difficult to do since he 'grew up' surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of different animals. It smelled like a cave full of icy, stale water.
    Disconcerted and annoyed by the unfamiliar feeling, Enzo walks faster into the deep wild. Trusting his instincts to guide him, Enzo recalls where the bottlenecks are in this area. Being of the jungle, Enzo has memorized where almost every path goes. Sensing the 'unknown' force still following close but not too close, Enzo speeds up more to put distance between them or to make it/he/she more reckless or determined to stay near. Enzo starts to feel anger toward the sense of being hunted, feeling the inner wolf start to scratch and gnaw at the locked cage inside his mind. "...Droga" he whispered under his breath as he increases his pace once more.



~~There is no such thing as paranoia. Your worst fears can come true at any moment.~~
(Hunter S. Thompson)

[Pacha]

The older she got, the less she needed to sleep, it seemed.  Here it was, still a couple hours off from sunset and Pacha was stirring from her slumber.  Though the sun still burned her flesh, she no longer felt the all-consuming lethargy that the daytime hours seemed to incur on her; as if some sort of survival instinct built in to each vampire.  Her sire, in centuries past, had instilled a great sense of fear of the sun in her; though it seemed slowly, and to a small extent, that her body was trying to adapt.  While she always believed she would thrive in the night, lately she was venturing out into the daylight hours (under the darkness of her shawl, at least).  Perhaps her body had simply become suicidal instead of adapting.

Whatever the case, she was up now; there was no need to continue to lie prone waiting for the stars to rise.  Sitting up, Pacha looked around the cave she'd made her home for the last 15 suns; all of her belongings remained intact and undisturbed from outside influence.  The vampire moved gracefully from the hole in the cave wall she called her bed, letting the dirt, leaves and bugs fall carelessly from her body.  Long ago she'd made friends with the unpleasantries of unlife.

Across the cave, the woman approached a collection of bones, laid out systematically upon large, broad leaves, left to dry.  Picking a long bone up casually, she inspected her work; it still needed more time to dry, so Pacha placed the bone back in the exact spot she picked it up from.  She'd need to go out and get more supplies to finish her project tonight.  She's also need to hunt and refill the back-up vials of blood she kept in case of emergencies.

Rummaging through her pack with dirty hands, Pacha pulled out a golden mask, specially cast to fit her features and allow her to pass through the sun, with certain other precautions of course.  Next, the vampire grabbed two long, thick stockings and a pair of thick gloves that reached almost to her elbows.  Setting these things aside, Pacha grabbed the dark shawl that accompanied her on all her ventures out in the jungle while the sun crept behind the trees.  Slinging her pack over her shoulders and donning the gloves, stockings, mask and shawl, the vampire left the safety of her cave.

Thick vines and tree branches covered the entrance of the cave, blocking any light that managed to shine through the dense canopy of leaves high above.  As she emerged, it became abundantly clear that the sun had in fact moved further beyond the treeline than the vampire had guessed.  In fact, there was hardly any light showing through to the jungle floor.  She was safe.  No need to hide from daylight's violence.

Pacha was about to free herself of her sunlight-blocking clothes when she caught the faint sound of footsteps moving over the brush, approaching from the South.  Who, or what, ever it was seemed to be moving at a brisk pace.  Almost as if... they were being pursued!  The thought excited her; maybe she wouldn't have to travel far for her meal tonight...  Although, that rose the question as to Who would be hunting so deep in the jungle at this time of evening.

Moving away from the entrance of her cave, Pacha positioned herself behind a nearby tree, peering out from behind her featureless, gold mask at who might be approaching, trying to stay out of sight.