The man's question takes Tom aback. Is it a test of some kind, or was it akin to Heath Ledger's "You wanna know how I got these scars?"

"Definitely a lion," he says after a beat. If one could be both a lion and a bird simultaneously. At least both were living creatures. "But a creek wouldn't be so bad, either."

"Dean, Jack, I guess I'll leave you guys to your thing. I'll hang with Abe until you guys are ready." With this, he follows Abe and his escort upstairs.

Glasses nods to Tom's response. He then whispers something to the African American female next to him who coughs in surprise to whatever he told her.

"Quid pro quo," Glasses says and turns his eyes towards the vampires being tested.

Dean feels good about his performance. Lifting up one end of a car was no joke, it was on par with the kind of stuff they did in the "Worlds Strongest" style competitions. But when he sees Ha-yoon do the same thing as easily as lifting the lid of a dumpster, his heart sinks. Is that whats expected of me? he thinks to himself

It would be very convenient, he thinks. A big defensive tackle just happens to wind up in the clan with the most physically powerful Vampires, if that's indeed what these Lupator are. But if he did not have Lupator blood, then what Clan did he belong to?

Maybe I need to really try to push it? he thinks again.  It was not inconceivable that he could have lifted up one end of a car before all this happened, and if Ha-yoon could manage it with one hand, maybe he just needed to try harder. He nods to the older Vampire and looks around.

He walks over to a concrete bollard, one of the ones used to make sure that cars did not take the corners of the parking structure too tight, sets his beefy hands on either side of the top, and then tried to snap it off its base in one violent motion.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:09, Tue 12 Nov 2019.

With loud crashing noises, Dean broke off the bollard from its base, and Ha-yoon compliments him again. And she doesn't repeat his feat of strength. She continues to challenge him to show his strength, and through various means, he does. And every time she compliments him, but she doesn't match his efforts again. And every time she asks him to do it again. And Dean does. For 30 minutes!

"Unfortunately, you're not one of us," she says and pats Dean on the chest three times with her right palm. She is more than half a foot shorter than Dean and less than half his weight. She steps away from him and returns to the old man who is almost as tall as Dean is and almost as big. At least, no one else is even near him in size.

When it becomes evident that Dean does not belong to Clan Lupator, he is visably disappointed. He feels that he had been doing well, he had shattered concrete, lifted what he had thought to be an impressive tonnage, but it is becoming apparent that such matters were not exceptional in his new world.

All his life he had been the big guy, the strong guy, but in death it seemed that he was starting from square one. He feels lost once more.

He has to keep looking, and he forces himself to keep his head in the game.

"Alright, not Lupator, thank you" he nods to Ha-Yoon a few times and paces a few steps back out onto the center of the gathering. He tries to envisioned the man that had attacked him in his minds eye, the demeanor, the claws. Who else here could he imagine gutting somebody with a flick of a wrist?

Who could he potentially eliminate from the list?

He looks to the Middle Eastern woman on the hood. "You don't seem to think I'm one of yours..." he states as he paces a little closer to her, crossing his meaty arms across his chest.

She was one he had a hard time putting a label to, her and the man in the gray sweater. Was the arrival of a new face not of any interest to her? Was Dean missing something?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:00, Tue 12 Nov 2019.

From under her cloak, she picked up a snow-white, short-haired chihuahua.

Half of the remaining vampires moan in displeasure at the sight of the dog.

"You brought a pet," the Israeli said. "You shouldn't have brought a pet. They make such a mess."

The dog was clearly happy as she scratches him in her lap.

"Pet the dog."

The Israeli, the redhead, and the African American clearly thought this was a bad idea based on the various noises they produced. The same trio that had expressed their dislike of the dog earlier.

As Dean gets closer, he makes the estimate that only the African American is shorter than the dog-lover, but larger in frame. The redhead might be as petite as the Pakistani.

She looks at Dean. Waiting to see what he's going to do. Apparently with no care in the world.

Dean seems slightly surprised, and a little amused to see this Vampire carrying around a tiny dog in her...well, he did not actually know where it had been hiding.

It feels good to let out a little chuckle, and helps to break the tension. Everything else in his life might have been turned upside down, but even Vampires could be funny in their way.

He notes that she had not given a name, or any introduction like Ha-Yoon had, and he seems to think that she's wants to be away from here as soon as possible.

"That's it? Just pet it?" Dean uncrosses his arms and goes to pet the tiny dog, half expecting it to freak out when he gets close enough.

She nods. "That's it. Just pet it."

So Dean approaches, carefully. Things quiet down as all of them wait expectantly to see what's going to happen. Only Glasses breaks the silence, but the African American female shushes him into line.

Dean slowly reaches out his hand towards the dog and pets it. Anticlimactically, the dog likes it. It enjoys itself and licks Dean's hand. Sounds of disappointment come from the vampires behind him.

"I'm Asali," the female says. "Welcome to Schimba."

Dean smiles as he pets the tiny dog and it nuzzles up to him. His family had a white dog of their own, a big goofy pitbull named Raider he had grown up with. He misses that dog.

But the chorus of disappointed noises behind him catches him off guard. He glanced back. We're they hoping the thing had latched on to his finger? Started barking up a frenzy?

The welcome is also unexpected, and Dean seems confused. He had heard so many new words that he was not sure what she was referring to. Was a Schimba another title? A place? A group?.

"Dean, nice to meet you Asali" he tries to match her pronunciation and smile. "I've got to ask, what's a Schimba?" he asks, not guessing that he may in fact have found his Sire by sheer luck.

"Don't worry about your name Big Guy," Asali says. "I'm not going to remember. You're probably going to die anyway. Like your Sire. I'm your Sire now. And members of clan Schimba don't train before an audience. We're leaving."

She slides down the hood and picks up her motorcycle helmet. She walks towards the elevator and holds out the hand in which she is holding the dog towards each of the vampires as she passes them. And every time, the dog goes wild, barking like a dog several times its size. It even barks at Jack.

The vampires are not intimidated by this display.

As she approaches the elevator, she looks at the only remaining MIB, "Stay!" she commands.

The MIB takes a step back away from Sparrow and to no one, in particular, he says, "Winter is coming. She brings a youngling. Reception is needed."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:31, Wed 13 Nov 2019.

Oh shit Dean thinks to himself as Asali starts to move as his eyes go wide. Schimba's a Clan. She's Schimba, we're Schimba.

Dean has barely enough time to look around at the faces of the other assembled Vampires. Had they been disappointed on his behalf? Were some of them hoping to claim him themselves? Would he ever get to find out?

You're probably going to die anyway.

Dean feels a cold wave of worry wash over his mind. Just as he had wondered how many younglings perished earlier in the evening, he now has his answer. Many, most. At least in Clan Schimba. So many that she did not even bother with his name. It was like something out of an old war movie.

He moves after her, a million thoughts racing through his mind. Some of his stuff was still in the truck, Abe and Tom, they were also part of the Cohort. They should know

"Jack" he says as they walk out. "Can you let the guys know I'll call them when I can? I, uh, don't know when that'll be"

Dean does not even break stride as he glanced to his Sire and back, the dog barking like mad the whole time. "Wish me luck"

Even Dean is taken aback at the command snapped to the attendant. Then just as the elevator doors close he fixes Jack with a look of muted panic. He does not know a thing about where he is going, and he is not expected to survive.

Inwardly he tries to get a grip. Whatever was coming, he had endure it. Failure, as the old saying went, was not an option. Not for him.

Or at least, that's what he tells himself.

Jack was unsure of what to make of the parade of strange individuals, sights and sounds. He was barely taking in the information he was getting, having only just received his fill of blood. It was nice at least to know the women enjoyed it, but that meant he was probably going to stick to ladies; otherwise it would just get... weird.

Unsure of what the pecking order was supposed to be, Jack simply introduced himself to the vampires he was introduced to in turn, doing his best to be charming, even as he innately cowered at their impressive presences. With all the introductions, it was taking all he had simply to remember names and appearances and keep up his facade of courtesy, even though he was being overwhelmed by fear, curiosity and some slight hunger pangs.

Jack introduces himself to the six remaining vampires. He already knew Keren's and Ha-yoon's names, as they had introduced themselves previously.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:25, Sat 16 Nov 2019.

She introduced herself as Isabella.
This message was last updated by the player at 20:56, Sat 16 Nov 2019.

He introduced himself as Phillip.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:25, Sat 16 Nov 2019.

She introduced herself as Adanna.

He introduced himself as Kalama.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:25, Sat 16 Nov 2019.

They all looked at him, wondering who he would pick as his first test giver.

Jack steeled himself, and went before each of the vampires in turn to be tested.

First, he went before the red-headed woman, Isabella, having something of a liking for red-heads, although I suspected a romantic relationship with any of these women was a far-fetched prospect at best.

Second, he went before Ha-yoon, whose strong personality he had difficulty denying. He wasn't sure if he'd be blown away by her, literally or figuratively, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Third, he introduced himself to Phillip, the older gentleman, because he seemed nice enough, and also to not seem like he was being steered entirely by his attraction to the pretty women.

Fourth, he spoke to the Israeli woman, Keren, who he was almost certain could snap his neck easily, even in his enhanced state, but in an odd way there was something appealing about that.

Fifth, he spoke to Adanna, the woman in the shadows, who seemed mysterious, but that was probably on purpose.

And finally, he spoke to the mixed-race man, who he felt no special attraction nor antipathy towards. Jack simply hoped the man wasn't offended at being saved for last.

Jack approaches Isabella to be tested.

"As Fermec, we can see, hear, and otherwise sense that which others cannot," Isabella says. "Focus on sensing something that normal people cannot sense."


[OOC: Please be specific. Which sense are you focusing on, perhaps a sense humans don't have, and what you are trying to do with that sense.]

Jack closed his eyes. Since vampires were premier hunters, it seemed reasonable to him that they should be able to detect their primary source of food: other, living human beings. He tried to focus on their presences around him- not just the sound of their heartbeat or the smell of the blood in their veins, but the very essence of their beings. If this was indeed possible, perhaps he could sense life itself through his mind.

Jack tries and he fails.

Isabella continues to guide Jack in his efforts to sense his prey. How to focus. How to connect to the unseen world. And how to tap its energies. And attempt after attempt after attempt fail.

But failure is not an option!

Despite your intense focus, you note that Dean, despite his impressive physique, has failed to join the vampire clan that prides themselves on their strength.

You will not fail and you lock eyes with the beautiful redhead.

Not accepted as a Lupator, Dean walks to the indifferent female sitting on the Benz they had driven cross-country. She has a small dog with her and for some reason, the other vampires don't like that. And when Dean pets the dog, she accepts him as one of hers and they leave. But not before sticking the dog in the face of every vampire on the way out. Dogs don't like vampires and he barks at all vampires, except the two of them. Including barking at you.

Now that both of you know what clan you are a member of, the other vampires left the garage and left you and your new Sire on your own.

[OOC: Some posts in this thread do not appear in chronological order.]

Isabella continues training Jack, if it could be called training. It was more about expanding what already was there, but still, it took hours. At least it felt like hours before Jack's face changed in subtle ways.

After your face had changed, she vanishes into thin air and instantly appears further down the garage.

And now, Isabella is actually teaching Jack something! How to instantly move from one place to another. Many attempts were needed before Jack succeedes.

"Kill the lights," Isabella says looking at the MIB who nods.

The fluorescent lights flicker and die. There are still a few lights on. Above the door to the staircase, at the elevator, and guiding lights towards the exit to the street.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:20, Fri 22 Nov 2019.