Asali heads up the stairs to the private third floor, followed by Dean, an MIB, and her pure white chihuahua Snowdrop.

"Winter is on the way up to the third floor," the MIB says to no one in particular. It seems as if he has some sort of communication device as two MIBs are waiting outside the conference room.

They step away from you as Asali growls at them, but they gather themselves, and remain at their post.

"I'm here to report," she says. "Step aside!"

Their respect, or is it fear, for her is apparent, but they hold fast. One of them knocks on the door. It takes a while before there is a response. "Enter."

Inside, she looks at the two African American men, starting with the Baron.

"The Big Guy here is a Schimba," she starts. "So I'm taking him home to potty train him." She then heads back out.

"No," the Baron says and Asali freezes before reaching the door. She turns back to face him.

"We still have things to discuss regarding their future. No one is leaving."

"We do not train with an audience," Asali continues.

"Then find a place."

"As you wish." Asali turns around and leaves the conference room.

[African American males portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson and Mike Colter.]

Dean, now bound to Asali by both blood and the will Prince De Vega, seems resigned to follow the woman wherever she led him. He considers peppering her with questions, but seeing her attitude and her ferocity towards the staff, he thinks better of it.

He is lead into the conference room where his mind is both a gesture of respect to both the men and a confirmation of what Asali was saying.  He tenses when the Princes voice contradicts Asalis plan, but the moment passes swiftly.

And just like that they were moving again. He nods his goodbyes and follows his Sire back out onto the hall.

Asali searches all through the floor to find a room that is unlocked and that fits her unstated needs. When she has done so, she commands "Protect!" and the little dog turns around in place, at least as well as a prize-winning show dog, and growls at the MIB following you.

He ignores the dog and starts following you into the room, but Snowdrop bites his leg, hard. The MIB yells in pain. And the dog wrestles him to the ground. Snowdrop then places itself between the MIB and the now closed and locked door to the office she had selected.

"We are shapeshifters and transformers," Asali tells you. "We are more durable than other vampires. And animals like us. Only Schimba can shift, but the other clans can learn 'our' other powers. So in theory, you could be of another clan, but the likelihood of that is infinitesimal. Unless you are older than you say you are."

"The easiest one is this." With a snapping movement of her fingers, her nails have extended into claws.

"Show your power, Big Guy."

Dean can not help but break into a surprised grin as the tiny dog managed to get enough leverage to bring down the attendant. That has to be a shitty job, he thinks to himself. Butler to a bunch of Vampires.

Dean listens with interest. Just as ClanLupator was known for its strength, so was Clan Schimba known to be tough, and apparently he only ones that animals reacted well to. That sounds pretty good to him, all things considered, but the warning was still fresh in his mind. Even if his Clan were the toughest around, most of them still perished early and often from the sounds of things. But how?

When Asali extends her claws Dean instinctually takes a step back. Last time he had seen anything like that he had been gutted like a fish. He looks at them, can practically feel how razor sharp they are. Remembers the feeling of them plunging into his stomach.

"Alright..." Dean accepts the challenge and rolls his shoulders once more. He brings his big hand up to his face, looks at the callouses from practice, his nails cut short, the little hairs on the back. He turns it over two or three times slowly. He nods to her, indicating he is ready.

He imagines that the same claws that Asali has are inside there, can see them in his minds eye like an x-ray, long sharp claws just under the protective caps of his fingertips. Like a bear, or a wolverine. He remembers the X-Men movies and grins faintly.

He takes a deep breath and focuses, and just like the movie he had just envisioned, he flicks his hand down hard towards the floor as if to force the imagined claws out by force of gravity, to force the blood in his arms straight into his fingers.

It took Dean a few times, but soon enough, the claws were his!

"Now that we know that you can learn Big Guy. What do you want to learn next?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:37, Thu 14 Nov 2019.

Dean has trouble trying to describe the sensation. How do you convey using a sort of muscle that you never knew you possessed? The way that it flexes, and relaxes?

It itself the notion that he was now armed, perpetually. No matter where he went, a razor sharp surprise was just waiting there, ready. He felt strange, yet a little proud and more than a little dangerous. Furthermore, the blood of his Clan was all but confirmed

Every time he "extends" it becomes just a little more familiar, until he feels himself growing weaker.



Dean considers the question.

"Asali, when you say most new Vampires don't make it, Younglings from Clan Schimba at least, what usually kills them in the end? Is there anything you can teach me, you know, to at least give me a fighting chance?"

And when appropriate he adds.

"When you say we can change, shift, that's what our Clan is known for. What does that mean? Besides what you've just taught me?"

"What kills the younglings, any youngling, is the war with the werewolves," Asali said. "And now, with our elite task force wiped out, we are at a disadvantage. The only good thing was that the werewolves they took out were even more important to them. So we have an advantage. Even if it cost us dearly."

"To survive, you need to be wise. You need to learn from their mistakes. And avoid making mistakes of your own. Don't be a hero."

"I'm sure you've heard the stories. Vampires changing into wolves or bats or mist. Some are even trying to figure out how to shift into werewolf form so that we can infiltrate their ranks. Which is stupid, pointless waste of time as they walk in daylight."

"That reminds me. How did you die?"

As you answer one question, she asks another.
Do you live alone? [If Dean indicates that the answer isn't about San Diego, she will ask about San Diego.]
If it's clear from Dean's previous answers that no one knows he's dead and that he doesn't live alone, she will ask what his plan is with his family. Pointing out that vanishing into thin air isn't always the best method. And having a funeral for him now to give them closure have their own difficulties.

War. That makes sense. Dean thinks to himself as he tries to absorb the lesson. Those others in the conference room, they would not be the ones on the street. Vampires like himself and Jack, others like Abe and Tom, they were new.

They were expendable.

It would be easy, Dean concludes, to convince, or coerce, their group into joining the conflict. They may not have a choice at all. Asali, despite being eccentric, seems to have given him good advice.

Don't be a Hero. No, really, don't.

Survive.



It is such an odd question, but an accurate one. Dean recollects for a moment before he answers.

"He came through the...hole, that Sparrow made, and he cut me with his claws, from here to here" Dean traces the motion with his fingertips. "Pretty much at the same time somebody came up behind him and put a hand through his chest, he fell on top of me, and...well, I guessed I died right there" Dean looks away and licks his lips.

"I woke up covered in blood."

Dean goes on to explain his situation. How he was attending college out of state, how he had lived with hi parents in Miramar. How they were expecting him.

"What was his name? My blood Sire? What was he like?" Dean figures Asali had to have known him. They were from the same Clan after all. If he was to learn from his Sires mistakes, it could not hurt to at least know who he was.

"Is the Prince going to recruit us for this war? Do we have a choice?" he asks next.

"There were two members of our clan in the strike force," Asali says. "I don't know which one turned you. Something is going on for sure. Normally he would have let us go. So I'm not sure what his plans are."

"So what is your plan with your family? You said they were expecting you. Are you going to vanish, leaving them without closure? Are you going to contact them and break things off? Are you going to go home and play the long game? All of those options have both pros and cons. Or are you going to figure out an option with only pros? Time is ticking."

Dean feels his heart sink as he knows he has to face the problem of his family sooner than later. He fights back tears as he is forced to concede that he is, for their purposes at least, dead. His life is over.

There is a lot there, more than he wants to face in front of Asali. He does not want to break down in front of his new sire, and so he takes a steadying breath before he continues.

"I don't know. I've never had to do anything like this. I might try to just buy some time, get my head on straight. Come up with a real plan, ya know? I mean if I'm going to be in this area I'm going to run across old friends, maybe family. It's complicated." he sighs deeply, then looks to her. "Any advice?" She was already doing a lot for him, he knew, but there were few he could turn to, and she was the voice of experience.

"If you don't want to vanish," Asali begins. "You may consider contacting your family. Letting them know that you are fine and will be late or that your plans have changed. Maybe give them a reason for that. Ha-yoon likes tall men, I'm sure she can give you several."

Dean subconsciously touches his pocket as if making sure something is still there.

"Good to know" he paces a little out of frustration. "I'll work with Jack as well. Talk to him as soon as he's free. He's in the same boat, maybe the others in my cohort too. We can come up with something together."

It would not work to say they all died in a car wreck only to have Tom show up for class like nothing happened.

Dean mentally files that away as a priority. He had a few others on there as well.

"I also need to find a place to sleep, buy new clothes, I don't even have my truck here..." He says half to himself, and glances to Asalis helmet.

"And I'm going to need to find a way to get around, and defend myself, it's like completely starting over" he says as the immensity of the task looms before him.

"I really appreciate this Asali, you taking the time." He knew she probably did not have a choice, but he was grateful. Her warning was still at the forefront of his mind. "Hopefully this is not the only time we'll have together? Can I continue to learn from you? I know you're probably busy, but I can find some way to make it up to you."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:56, Fri 15 Nov 2019.

"I am your Sire," Asali says. "I am here to train you. To make sure you can keep the Secret and stay alive on your own. Spending time with me will be an important part of your nightly routine."

"There is a place we Schimba use for Younglings, I was taking you there before De La Vega stopped us. You can sleep there, unless he has other plans. I also think you should prioritize getting a dog and turning it into a ghoul. As you have seen, they can be quite useful. And they can look after you when you sleep."

"I'm sure we can find some clothes for you too, but they won't be new. A vehicle will be harder."