PASSED THROUGH FIRE

A bruise is a lesson, she told herself, and each lesson makes us better. Nataliya Petkova

[nataliyapetkova]

Name: Nataliya Petkova Occupation: Historian Age: 28 Sexuality: Bisexual Species: Hunter Clan/Pack/Coven?: Brotherhood Hometown: Sofia, Bulgaria Relationship Status: Single Personality Traits: Dependable / Brave Rigid / Entitled

The noble house of Petkov is one of the oldest and most respected surviving hunter families in Europe. Active since the 14th century, the Petkov made it their mission to protect their home from vampires at any cost, no matter how much of their own blood was spilled. Always vigilant, always willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.

It's in this legacy that Nataliya was born.

Nataliya's known she would continue to follow her family's tradition and become and a hunter since she was old enough to understand what it meant. She wanted it, too. For her, following on her elders' footsteps was the greatest honor she could think of.

While many failed to meet the expectations of the rigorous training, Nataliya thrived. Every type of training, every hurdle she had to overcome motivated her even further to make her family proud. By 15 she had already received her tattoo. By 21 she had already killed more vampires than many veteran hunters.

For the following years, Nataliya and the rest of the Petkov family traveled the world looking for more of their prey to hunt; in particular their longest standing rivals, the Lomidze family, the reason why they became hunters in the first place all those centuries ago.

And for centuries they had eluded their family. The Petkov managed to get a few of their clan over the years, yes, but they never got too close to strike the original family. So when the hunters heard the news of their rivals having been seen in Port Liery, they knew they had to make their move.

Despite all of their training and discipline, however, the city turned out to be more than some of their members could handle. Too much supernatural activity in one place meant an unfocused group of hunters chasing different targets for the glory of the kill.

One of these hunters was Nataliya's older sister, Veronika, who went after another vampire, Kali Shukla, on her own. She failed. And not only did she fail, she was taken by Kali and used as bargaining chip. Her safety in exchange for one hunter for her to use how she saw fit. Nataliya accepted the deal without thinking twice.

But maybe she should've thought twice. Now under Kali's control, Nataliya knows she will be forced to use the skills she dedicated her life to learning for tasks she can only describe as abhorrent. A life of torture instead of living up to her family's legacy.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

HUNTERS - Many hunters have heard of the Petkov's family history. They don't know, however, of the deal Nataliya accepted and that she's now working for a vampire. Interesting plots for hunters include someone learning about her secret, or Nataliya working against them.

LOMIDZE`- The Lomidze and the Petkov lived on opposite ends of the Black Sea. After the Lomidze became vampires, the Petkov were forced to become hunters to defend their own. The hatred for the Lomidze still burns strong on current hunters. Nataliya's ultimate goal is to seek them out.

REARDON - As a hunter working under the service of a Reardon vampire, she will come in contact with others of her clan. Her relationship with them can be adversarial or not, but will likely start off as strained.

SUPERNATURALS - Being forced to work for and with other supernaturals will cause Nataliya to have a different view of supernaturals - which until then were only seen as prey. Would love any type of connection with vamps, werewolves and witches.

[kaliofruin]

For a beat, there is nothing but the sound of Nataliya's breath and the tick of some gilded clock in the corner of the room. Kali's thumb stays pressed to the wound, right over the bite, hard enough that she can feel the soft, painfully mortal give of Nataliya's skin beneath it.

The bite, the nerve, the fucking gall.

Kali presses harder. "Jealous would be easier for you to digest, wouldn't it?" She murmurs, voice razor-thin. The sharp of her nail pushes down until a small trickle of blood breaks past skin and runs down the column of Nataliya's neck.

Yes. She's jealous. That much is obvious; it is fever-bright and unhidden. But it would be easier if that were all this was.

"Tell me, how does one from such a prestigious hunting lineage get herself brought this low, hm?" She could almost laugh. Almost. It's awfully ironic, isn't it? But the anger claws past her throat too fast, too wild. Fury, not just at the bite itself, but what it means. That Nataliya, her hunter, let someone get close enough to bite. They could've turned her. They could've killed her.

And after everything Kali's orchestrated? Sanctioned hunts. A safe place to lay her blade and her head. A purpose. An enemy. Blood to mend her wounds.

It is her protection Nataliya stands in. Her station. Her patience. Her grace. She is the reason Nataliya continues to draw breath, after all these years, is she not? And this is how she's repaid?

Kali's lips curl. She leans in, her breath warm against the hunter's cheek, and when she speaks again, her voice drips venom.

"How do you think this makes me look? That the hunter I keep at my side cannot even keep herself from a common bite without the crutch of verbana?"

A beat passes. Her lips part like she might say something else, like she might ask if it hurt, if it was rough, if it was wanted. But Nataliya has disappointed her, and if there's one thing Kali has always done with disappointment, it's make it bleed.

"Pathetic."

[nataliyapetkova]

Nataliya can feel her wound burning under Kali's finger, but doesn't show any pain on her face — she remains stoic, a shield the vampire can't pierce through. It was easy, too, she's used to the pain. She's trained to fight under it, Kali would have to do much worse for Nataliya to so much as wince in front of her.

Much harder, though, was to hear what Kali had to say. Even if she knew those words were fueled by anger and jealousy, Nataliya also knew that they were true.

Kali was right and it killed her inside.

Not because of how it made the vampire look — she couldn't care about that if she tried — but because of what it said about her as a hunter. A failure.

She'd avoided thinking about it since the bite, telling herself she was too busy to care about that, or that it was Kali's fault in the first place, but the simple truth was that she failed, she relied too much on external tools and not enough on her own skills.

Nataliya was thankful no one would ever hear about this; she wouldn't be able to bear the look on her 'mentors' face if they knew.

She couldn't let the vampire talk to her like that without fighting back, however. Nataliya was too combative for that. So without taking her eyes from Kali's, the hunter grabbed the vampire's wrist and moved it away from the bite.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" she spoke through gritted teeth.

"What did you think would happen when you took away my protection? There are beasts everywhere here, I'm gonna get hurt. Do me a favor and don't throw a tantrum every time it happens."

Nataliya held her stare, hoping Kali would buy into at least some of her logic. She knew most of it was bullshit, that she could've and should've done much better, not only against the girl that bit her but against Aria — letting her draw blood during the fight was careless and it could've cost her life. But she couldn't let Kali be right. She just couldn't.

"I think you forgot what kind of monster you are," she struggled again to free herself from Kali's grasp. She needed to get away from her, she needed to breathe again.

[kaliofruin]

who: @nataliyapetkova where: conclave gala, during performances

For the most of the evening, Kali has been the picture of elegance and discipline, steadfast in averting her gaze from Nataliya, as tempted as she has been. Restraint is damn near like a second skin. Her attention, by design and intention, belongs to Gael and the clan tonight. In the spirit of honoring this, she'd even called Nataliya some days ago to deliver yet another gift: the hunter would on her own for this event.

And yet.

Somewhere between polite laughter shared with some old friends of the Kanoute, her composure begins to crack, just at the edges. Her eyes drift, without permission. Her gaze catches on a mark she knows well, just beneath the thin strap of Nataliya's dress. Jagged imprints of teeth, too fresh. Not hers. Not given by Aria, she knows because she had memorized exactly where Aria had injured her.

The fury of possession surges up so swiftly, it would steal her breath if her lungs held any air. Her limbs move before any thoughts of decorum can catch. One second she's laughing, the next the world is burring.

In less than two heartbeats, Nataliya is slammed against the side of the conference table in the west wing, door shut and locked behind them with a click that sounds at the same time as her back collides with the wood of the table.

Her thumb finds the wound, presses into it in a way that threatens to pierce into the skin below it.

"What," she hisses, low and livid, "is the meaning of this?"

[nataliyapetkova]

It wasn't peace exactly, but Nataliya was thankful for having one night without worrying about Kali in the all-consuming fashion that she had from the moment their deal was made. Of course, the vampire was still there that night, and the hunter still watched with the corner of her eye every now and then to see if she was anywhere near, but for the most part, she believed in her promise to leave her alone during the gala.

Her mistake.

They lock eyes for what it feels like a moment, and next thing Nat knows, she's being pushed against a conference table, God knows how far from where she was standing. Her hunter instincts activate, and she tries to push her arm against Kali's neck, a protection against a bite she's almost sure is coming in that moment. When the vampire speaks, she needs a moment to understand what she's talking about, and then... right, that.

"What do you think? This is what happens when a Hunter can't use verbena." It was stupid of her. Over the past few days she'd made sure to keep that bite mark hidden from everyone, mostly out of embarrassment for letting herself get bitten by some random vampire; she'd completely forgotten that her choice of dress left her and her recent wounds almost completely exposed.

"Why? Jealous?" Nataliya used a combative tone, ignoring the pain she felt as Kali pressed against the wound. "Are you mad that someone else played with your pet?"

[gabrielismss]

who: @nataliyapetkova . ♡ where: The Supernatural Conclave and Gala .

         gabriel’s starting to think this night intends to leave him in ruin as it develops an expertise for opening old wounds with a savagery. ones he’d never considered, ones he’d forgotten about, completely, lost to a nostalgia he’s tried to forget. family holidays, the excitement kicking up when nataliya had come to visit from a place he’d never been to, with stories that would be impossible to believe, had they not come from her. as he sees her from across the room, the emotion comes back in a swell of fondness, he forgets the silence that had been between both ends these past few months. no news, no stories, and no question from gabriel. surely, at some point, running from gael, he’d thought about her. adrenaline cloaks that night from being entirely his to remember. there’s no use going back to it. gabriel wants to talk to her, anyways.

         he finds the courage to greet her with a smile that’s just not quite certain.  “ hey, nat. ”  he tries, anyway, calls upon the boy of a few months ago, who only knew a quite grief, a shame that’s too muted to touch.  “ i missed you, i don’t remember the last … anyways, how’s it going, the … hunt? ”

[nataliyapetkova]

For a Hunter, there is no place in the world quite as isolating as the Conclave; a never-ending parade of everything they swore to protect the world from. Nataliya is sitting by herself, but can't help to overhear conversations about blood, about magic, and full moons. At one point she wants scream, maybe find a pointy stick and end the party right then and there - and surely end her own life with it. She half-wonders if it'd be worth it.

She hears his voice and the feeling goes away almost completely, taken over by the warmth only family could bring to a place like that. "Gabe?" she beams, unable to hide her surprise and excitement. "Look at you, you look so handsome. What are you doing here?" There's a pause, and a reminder of where they were standing. She repeats in a much more stern tone, "What are you doing here? This place is dangerous." She looks around for any sign of Kali or his father. "I can't tell you about my hunt, I'm sorry, I just can't, but you. Tell me everything. It's been so long. I'm sorry I've been distant, I just- I've missed you."

[therawend]

Closed Starter for @nataliyapetkova

Where: The Conclave

The betrayal in the hunter’s eyes shot to Thera’s core. Nataliya Petkova had been a loyal customer and in some moments, Thera might have called them friends. But as she stood in her small storefront in Saranda, Thera could feel none of that friendship. What have Nataliya expected, yes Thera worked for the Brotherhood but the Wendells were known for working with all supernaturals. Maybe it took seeing the vampire leave Thera’s store for it to click. But either way the storm of hurt in that woman’s eyes were the last thing Thera Wendell thought she would see of her old colleague.

Stunned isn’t the right word as Thera’s eyes snag on a familiar head of brown hair. What was Nataliya Petkova doing here? In a highly mixed supernatural event. What was she doing here, looking so calm?

It isn’t an entirely conscious choice that brings Thera over to her old acquaintance, she’s grown so used to seeing familiar faces appear out of nowhere, used to being that face herself. But Nat being here makes little to no sense. When she’s brought face to face with the huntress, the final confirmation needed that it is indeed her, it takes everything within Thera to pick her jaw up off the floor.

“Nat?” she stutters. “What are you doing here?”

She doesn’t bother to reintroduce herself. She has faith enough that Nataliya wouldn’t have forgotten her. But how she would react to seeing a witch she had once called a traitor, Thera had no idea.

[nataliyapetkova]

Nataliya expected to face some ghosts at the Conclave — it would be impossible not to given how many supernaturals would be at the event. Except she thought that by ghosts she meant sires of vampires she killed, or old hunter friends who had since been turned after an unlucky fight with vampires, and not old friends who had stabbed her in the back. Kind of.

She knew she had been tough on Thera, but Nataliya had more than good reason for that. You can't associate yourself with vampires and expect to get anything out of it except from pain and suffering - something that Nat herself was learning and relearning every day since her deal with Kali went into effect.

There was a lot she wanted to tell Thera, including things she didn't even know she did until she saw her again, but she refrained. "Long story short? Made a deal with a vampire to save someone and now I work for her. You know, as one does," her tone was dry, not one you'd usually use with an old friend, but it was the best Nataliya could offer. "I'd say it's a surprise to see you here too but... it's not really. Many deals to be made, I assume?"

[photoaria]

INITIATION RITE: PART II Tideview University with @nataliyapetkova

ARIA: 

Find the target. That's the goal here. What the actual fuck had she gotten herself into? The man had been described to her before she'd been set loose: white, 6'5, black hair gray streaks, glasses, smells of dead. A vampire, then. It hadn't seemed like it would be that much of an issue when she was set loose into the university campus – most people here smell of something to satiate her hunger: metallic and filling. 

She'd been told she had twenty four hours to complete the job. She'd considered letting loose on the whole damn place, but she'd been made aware that they were testing her for discretion rather than what she'd done before with the nightclub down south. 

The first hour started with reconnaissance. 

It felt ridiculous, if she were going to be completely honest with herself. It felt like she was making a mistake. But she didn't stand out in Tideview with her camera at this time of year. If anything, she was simply here to take photos for the website, commissioned and paid for already. One person in administration had already questioned her, but a quick compulsion and she was free to roam with a visitor's pass without signing the guest book. 

That quick compulsion also let her check the records of those who worked in the university and their IDs stored in the computer. It was a guess, really, that the target worked there. The peppered gray and black hair was all she had to go off for age. She compiled a few possibilities looking through the professors and administrators. It was then, only, to get close to them to see which one 'smelled of a dead thing'. 

The fifth hour rolled as she was taking a photo of another professor leaving their class. Not the one, but photos help sell the story nonetheless. She flicks through the ones she already haves, and makes her way towards them to pass by in the crowd unseen. A subtle breath in tells her that something like her is near, but when she looks up - it's not the man she'd had eyes on. Whipping around, she sees a retreating figure with graying black hair. 

Shit. 

Running would make a scene, and he's already too far away from the crowd for her to switch gears. Aria finds herself walking a little further in the direction she's already going, then makes two left turns in the hallway to hopefully intercept – no speed, can't use speed here. Her height gives her long enough strides to look like she's in a hurry, and by the time she makes it back to the quad, this person has already made it into another building. Fuckin' A. 

With people around and looking, she keeps with the long strides until she makes it to the building. She makes it into the empty-ish science building, and only takes a moment to gather her surroundings and start forward on the trek to find the mark when she's knocked into the nearest wall. 

NATALIYA:

Nataliya's not happy about this. Even if hunting vampires is something she would do without Kali's influence, she can't shake the feeling she's only playing her games. To what end? She doesn't know, but it has to benefit her somehow. Or benefit Reardon, which is just as bad. Nataliya knows she's nothing but a pawn, and will continue to be one for as long as her deal is in effect, she has no other choice but to do what Kali says, but maybe at least some good could come from this. One fewer vampire in the streets means more lives will be saved no matter what game Reardon is playing. And, God, does she miss hunting.

Her mission is almost too easy, though. With all the information she was given, it was trivial to find Aria's target and shadow the man from a comfortable distance. She blended more than well enough at a university too, being an academic herself, and only had to worry about the vampire making the mistake that would cause her death. It was never like this in real hunts. No, hunts usually meant throwing herself at the danger head on, it was dirty work with no promise of a monster happily walking into your trap. It was hard fought and exhilarating. By the third or fourth hour of waiting for Aria, Nat was already getting bored.

Nataliya is ready when the bell rings signaling the end of a class. She'd been watching the man long enough to have a general idea of his schedule and his movements, so all she had to do was to look for any weird movements around him. It was just starting to look like her wait was going to continue when she saw her, Aria, following him to the next building. Game on.

The easy part was over, and now the fun part began. She had to be fast and not give Aria the chance to act, but in a hunt, giving yourself away too soon means death. She used a different path, using a side door to get into the building and in the right position to attack. She controlled her breath and reached for her stake. Her heart is beating fast. One... two... go.

Nataliya pushes Aria against a wall and follows up to press her forearm against her neck. She has to check if Kali was telling the truth, that she was actually hunting a vampire, and luckily her target's fangs quickly tell her everything she has to know. She only has maybe a quarter of a second to drive the stake through the vampire's heart — not long enough. Aria frees herself in her struggle and strikes back. Nataliya is almost glad she does. She wants the fight. After all this time, she needs it.

The two use any weapon they have at their disposal, from fangs and stakes to pure physical strength. Nat isn't as strong as Aria is, but she's a better fighter. She has no idea how many times the vampire battled a hunter but Nataliya has over a decade's worth of experience in killing monsters like her. She knows their moves, and how to counter them. When Aria tries to run, Nataliya throws her stake with the aim only the most well trained would have in that moment to hit the vampire on her back. Aria's on the floor, agonizing.

Not over yet. Nataliya's blood is pumping like it hasn't in weeks, she's grinning, she's gonna win. While she walks over to Aria she notices the blood in her shirt. She was caught somewhere in the fight, another scar's joining the collection, but nothing she can't live with. Just the sign of a job well done. When she reaches the vampire she pulls the stake out of her back and with her leg she turns the vampire over. Another hunter would probably throw some quip at the poor thing, say some final words and curse them to death, but not Nataliya — she just wants to finish the job. She adjusts the stake in her hand, aims for the heart, and drives it through Aria's flesh.

She misses.

ARIA: 

The fight is panic-inducing, most of her action fueled by the need to fucking live more than the need to win this thing and finish the initiation. The stake through her back burns like fucking fire, and it's when the hunter misses that Aria takes her shot. She smells the blood and her nostrils flare, fangs poking through her lips making it clear who the monster really is here. Swallowing, Aria stops breathing altogether and scrambles backwards to get away from her. 

The miss and the shot: Aria flails backwards with her elbow to hopefully knock her out and not fucking kill her. She doesn't stay around long enough to double check the damage or to finish the job. That's not what she's here for. 

It's too late for discretion, though, so she speeds away to a clear hallway, stopping there for a beat to look up at the nearest security camera to flip it the bird. "Dickweeds." And then she's moving again, breathing again to follow the scent of the man she'd been trailing. 

She finds him in a chemistry lab, preparing for the next wave of students to come in, in a white lab coat and blood on slides. Whatever the fuck they're studying, she's not trying to make sense of it, and simply rushes him - pinning him against a fridge the smells full of formaldehyde and chemicals. It burns. He begs, like he knew this was coming. 

Maybe he was always going to be a target, but she's certain that it's not her place to ask, and it's certainly not something she's ever going to learn soon. She presses her hand against his chest, digging in until her fingers find his heart – with its lack of heart beat and cool slick blood against her fingers. 

She looks into his eyes, tries to find something about this that gives her some sort of pause, some sort of trigger into the person she was before – all she finds is, again: exhilaration. 

The heart comes free cleaner than she expects it to from a vampire. In front of her eyes, he starts to crumble and shift. His skin goes gray at first, then he falls into a pile of ash and dust. Aria blinks. Looks at the heart, still intact now that it's been removed from the body, and looks up - once more - at a camera. The heart is held up like a prize a kid might have won at the local arcade. She waves it. Job done.

[nataliyapetkova]

NATALIYA PETKOVA — THE CONCLAVE GALA

Nataliya's heard stories of the Conclave for as long as she's been a hunter, and researched its history for as long as she's been a historian, so when the opportunity came to attend the gala in Port Liery, she simply couldn't refuse, whether Kali ( @kaliofruin ) wanted her to or not. Lucky for her, the vampire had plans for her during the event. Nat shows up unarmed and as vampire's plus one, but as the Hunter that she is, she's ready to fight should the occasion arise.

[kaliofruin]

Kali almost laughs. Instead, there's just the tiniest, amused exhale of a breath. Nataliya's fire reminds her of Nimmi. Loud, brash, brave, far too brave. All-consuming. Inviting, all the same.

She hovers, watches as Nataliya huffs and folds her arms like it will keep Kali out. As though anything as mortal as posture could stop her from slipping beneath her skin.

"No," she says. More gentle than amused. "That won't be all." She holds Nataliya's gaze there, carefully watches for any shifts.

"When Adrian and the kids," she says it with an imperceptible sneer, because she doesn't trust them with Nataliya. Or with Gael, for that matter. Kali never bore children of her own, but she's had them, ones who even lived and died as mortals, who called her mumma with wide eyes. She knows what it feels like, to have something precious, plucked right from one's soul, out of grasp. "as you so fondly put it, ask where you are...what will you tell them? When they know you're in town, when I tell you not to hunt because your services are required elsewhere, what will you tell them?" She doesn't need to mention the lifeline Kali holds delicately between two fingers, as though it were a simple teacup, but it's there. Looming just right over the hunter.

Her gaze flicks towards a stack of books half-buried beneath a sweater, bindings worn, a few pages marked with dog-ears. "And one more thing." Her head tilts. "I'd like you to tell me about those." She doesn't care if it seems invasive. Frankly, she wants to be invasive, as much as Nataliya will let her, and then some. If she has it her way, she'll nestle comfortably into the cracks Nataliya keeps hidden and then pry them open until the only sacred thing remaining is Kali herself. "No historian brings books without purpose. So indulge me. Which ones are for pleasure, which for function?"

[nataliyapetkova]

Nataliya never had to answer to anyone like this. Not even Brotherhood leaders, as strict as they are, didn't feel as suffocating as Kali does. She closes her eyes for a moment trying to remind herself why she was doing this, that by listening to this vampire she was keeping her family safe, but it was simply too difficult to keep her cool around Kali. Everything from her tone to her choice of words seemed to be specifically chosen to piss her off. And honestly, at this point Nataliya wouldn't be surprised if that was exactly the case.

"If Adrian and the others ask, I'll tell them I'm busy following a Lomidze track. They know it's family business." Nataliya knew it was better to just obey Kali blindly and hope she grew tired of her soon, but the reality was Nat had no intention of keeping this from Adrian, not when Gael was involved. It was risky, it could very easily get people killed, including herself, but she was confident enough in her own abilities to manage at least this one lie. Some things were worth it risking your own life for, and Nataliya loved Gael and his family enough that there wasn't a question in her mind of what the correct course of action was here. She had to do something. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't. "Honestly, this whole thing is kind of risky. You'd be much better off if you just picked someone off the street and compelled them to do your dirty work. That what all you bloodsuckers do anyway."

When Kali shifted her attention to her books, Nataliya instantly moved, putting herself between them and the vampire. "These are private," she spoke in a stern tone. There was nothing really that special about those books in particular, they were just what she decided to bring to Port Liery for her trip, she had no special attachment to them, but Nat badly needed something that was just hers, that Kali wasn't allowed in. It was either that or her sanity. "There's nothing about them that concerns you, and there's nothing in our deal about me sharing everything about my life, so, kindly, I'm gonna need you to let me be alone in my room for 5 seconds so I can finish unpacking my stuff in peace, before I do something we both regret," she said, closing the door on the vampire.

[caskalomidze]

"Nat. Cute. That's very cute." She says, with a big smile. Nat takes the offer and Çaska skippingly makes her way to the back of the store, where the fitting rooms are, Nat asking questions as they go. Çaska turns as they reach where they're going, and she puts a hand to her chest. "Doesn't every pretty girl deserve a pretty dress?"

Someone special. That question hangs in her head. "Nobody specific, but you never know when you'll meet someone special, right?"

She steps into the booth, but she doesn't close the door. It's only underwear, after all, and surely that's nothing the other girl's never seen. Çaska's body, as it exists, is hard fought and hard won. She's no qualms with sharing it.

"Zip me up?" She asks, turning around for Nat once she's got the dress on.

[nataliyapetkova]

'Doesn't every pretty girl deserve a pretty dress?' Nat let out a chuckle and scrunched her nose at sentence that she was sure she'd heard from Gemma almost word-for-word. "If you say so, yeah," Nataliya herself had a much more pragmatical approach to fashion and very rarely dressed up, so she couldn't exactly relate but she wasn't going to question the other girl, who was clearly having a good time.

Çaska confidence was impressive to say the least. Nataliya averted her eyes on instinct, but even so she could tell there was something peculiar about the girl — though it was possible she only felt that because she still couldn't quite place why she felt so familiar. "That's a really nice sentiment," one that didn't quite apply to Nataliya for the foreseeable future, but she tried not to think about that for too long.

Nat joined Çaska inside her booth and did as she was asked, taking the liberty to also fix her dress here and there so it fit just right. "There you go," she said, looking at the other through the mirror. "One thing is for sure, whenever the special someone does show up, they won't be able to take their eyes off you," she complimented her with a smile.

[viktorialomidze]

Viktoria genuinely only had vague memories of this family Nataliya was from - and even then, she couldn't even be certain if they were her memories or stories she'd heard somewhere else. Either way, whatever grudge this woman held, she wanted nothing to do with it. It's a favor for a friend, nothing more, nothing less. Kali had asked, and Viktoria had agreed, easily so.

"Fun for me?" Sharp features pinch a bit together as she turns to look towards the hunter, "Of course I'm having fun, but it's not because I'm keeping you here, dear." Her laugh is somehow also sharp, cutting through the tension building here with great effort.

She looks at the piles of books in front of her - some with history that may prove useful. It's been a few hundred years since she's looked at them. If Nataliya cared to peek, they were there - but instead she's tasked the hunter with the menial task of flipping through and making indexed lists of the information within the stacks of tomes. Occupy her, is the goal here.

"Kill you? I don't want to kill you." She flicks another book off the shelf and sets it down in front of Nataliya with a smile. "I barely know you. Besides, you are being such great help today."

[nataliyapetkova]

Nataliya wants to explode when Viktoria mentions her family; she wants to jump at her and remove her unbeating heart from her chest with her bare hands, and she would've done it — or die trying — if it wasn't for her deal with Kali. She couldn't ignore that kind of insult, though. She had to be lying, right? Her family had hunted her and her clan for centuries, surely she knew who they were. It had to be some kind of trick to piss her off even more. Kali had to be behind that, too.

She hated knowing that she was helping the Lomidze too. It went against everything she was taught, even if it was something as simple as indexing her books. The twist of the knife here was that she actually enjoyed it. As a historian, to go through centuries old books like these, and books that belonged to the Lomidze family on top of that, was a one-in-multiple-lifetimes opportunity, and, well, Nataliya couldn't help but doing a bit of research with what found in the books.

A great deal of it is already known to her — Nataliya didn't spend the better part of her adulthood researching vampire history for nothing. At this point she was probably the leading expert on the field outside a few very self-indulging vampires, but she does find interesting content here and there. Comments about other vampire clans, both big and small, name of people turned over the centuries, their traditions, even a few words on what the Lomidze did to their own younger sister.

Then she sees it, the name listed among a few other international vampires: Kalindi. Could be useful. She feigns no interest and lets the book drop to the side as she stretches her arms and her neck after a long session of going over Viktoria's books. "You have a really weird sense of self-preservation, you know that, right? I think any other vampire in your position would've killed me right now if they knew how badly I want to kill them," she comments matter-of-factly. "If the stories are true your sister definitely would. At least she definitely wouldn't make me go through her personal book collection, that's for sure." Nataliya knew she probably wouldn't be able to bait her into doing anything she didn't want to, but that's okay. If Kali didn't want her friend to hurt her, she did have one weapon on her side: being as annoying as possible. "Kinda sounds to me like you and Kali have a thing for keeping humans as pets. I'm curious - is it a sex thing?"

[nataliyapetkova]

⚡️ what are your thoughts on reardon?

SEND “⚡️” AND A QUESTION AND MY MUSE WILL BE FORCED TO ANSWER HONESTLY

I think they are the lowest of the low. Not only they are literal monsters who only exist to kill, they also use the powers and influence that they have to run a criminal organization, because apparently they weren't hurting humans enough. There's nothing redeemable about these people.

[nataliyapetkova]

⚡️would you rather spend 48 hours in a storm with no supplies or 48 hours in the same room as kali

SEND “⚡️” AND A QUESTION AND MY MUSE WILL BE FORCED TO ANSWER HONESTLY

Trick question, those two are the same thing. But I choose Kali — she's not that bad once you learn to tune out when she starts yapping.

[kaliofruin]

Kali sighs audibly into the phone. Her patience is reaching the end of the line, sped along by the tiny, stupid little gasp on the other end of the phone.

"No hurricanes in Bulgaria," she mutters. Nataliya is a traveler. She and her family don't stay in one spot for very long, Kali knows this. She knows Nataliya. She's memorized everything she can about her and her family. Surely this is not the first storm of this caliber she's dealt with. "You're scared, aren't you? Don't insult me again by pretending otherwise." Her tone grows a little exasperated, but a special level of concern reserved just for Nataliya pokes through. "I don't have many investments that bite back. That makes you special, believe it or not." She wants to suggest Nataliya come to her. No, she wants to order Nataliya to come to her. But part of Kali also wants Nataliya punished for not coming to Asphodel in the first place.

She's scared? Alone? Fine. She did it to herself. Kali will only leave her with a tired warning. "Don't drown out there fighting something bigger than you. I won't have you fished out if you go under." Lie. Kali has done it before. She'll do it again.

[nataliyapetkova]

'You're scared, aren't you'. Nataliya hates this. She hates that she's afraid, she hates how weak she feels, hates that Kali knows, and more than anything, she hates that Kali sees right through her even miles away from each other.

This is not how any of this is supposed to be. She's supposed to be strong, to not be afraid of anything, to hunt vampires like Kali, not to cower in her bed and be mocked for it. She holds the phone in silence for a few moments, trying to come up with an explanation, a lie, an excuse, anything that would get her out of that situation, but she has nothing. She's defeated.

"You're right, Kali, okay? I'm scared. I've been scared of thunderstorms since I was a child, I hate that I'm here alone, and I wish I was at Asphodel right now. Happy?" No response. "Kali?" It takes her a moment to realize that the signal is gone, the conversation is over and probably wouldn't continue any time soon. Now more alone than ever Nataliya hops off her bed to find a safer, quieter place to be for the remainder of this storm. A place to hide, where she wouldn't be exposed like this ever again.

[kaliofruin]

Kali snorts at that, nearly chokes on her tea. More defiance, more sass. Is that all she gets after all these years of...watching? After that one fateful night years ago? Hardly seems fair. Kali deserves more. Gratitude, reverence, something. Still, she's not ready to reveal her hand quite yet, so she plays her part. Nataliya can hate her. That's fine. Kali is patient. She's waited this long, she can wait some more for her well-deserved flowers.

The wind surges, hair whips loose, the hem of her silk sari dampens with rain. Then a sound. Barely a gasp, but she years it. Spine straightens, gaze sharpens as if Nataliya were standing right in front of her. "I told you. I'm checking in." An investment she expects a full return on, with interest. "I don't like the sound you made." A hunter turned prey? "What's happening, Nataliya?"

[nataliyapetkova]

Nataliya can't possibly believe Kali actually cares about her well-being. Maybe she cares about her investment, sure, but so what? How difficult would it be for a vampire like her to find another Hunter to do her bidding? She knows she's entirely replaceable and her survival hinges on her never forgetting that. "I'm alive. Breathing, which is more than I can say about you."

The last thing she wants is to share her phobia with Kali. She doesn't want to give her any kind of weapon to torture her with in the future. No, she has to look strong in front of her, impenetrable. "Nothing's happening here. Just loud noises catching me by surprise. We don't have any hurricanes like this in Bulgaria." Not the best lie in the world, but close enough to the truth that Kali might buy it. "Don't you have anything else to worry about? Any other investments?"

[kaliofruin]

The window is open again. The rain curls in like a lover, followed closely by gusts of wind while the hurricane still ramps up. Gael isn't around to snap it shut this time, and she smiles to herself at the thought. A ghazal crackles from a battery powered cassette player like an old memory.

Kali's mind drifts towards Nataliya. The very stubborn, impossible hunter she'd left behind with no patience for her protesting. She was needed at Asphodel. Priorities. There had been no time to argue.

She dials out to her while the cell towers hold.

A woman kneels across from her, hand sliced open and bleeding neatly into Kali's teacup. Part offering, part ritual. Kali watches the deep red swirl into her tea before gesturing lazily -- enough. Another flick of her wrist, and someone else steps forward to bandage the girl's hand and take her away.

Kali takes a sip of her tea, and when the phone is finally answered, Nataliya's voice immediately grumbling through, Kali simply smiles, then laughs lowly.

"It's irresponsible to leave pets unattended in this weather. I thought I'd check in." A pause. "Have you tried to stake the storm yet?" Hunters can be so brave and so stupid. Kali would not put it past her to try.

[nataliyapetkova]

"Ugh. don't call me that," she didn't know what she hated the most, this or investment. At least investment sounded like a purely business transaction, while pet... she'd rather not even think about it. "Hilarious, Kali. But actually maybe I should. There are no hurricanes like this in the Pacific Northwest and this storm just happened to be strong enough that vampires can walk around during the day, so. Very convenient."

Nataliya isn't 100% serious about her accusation, but she wishes she was. She wishes she could make it all stop with one good swing of her favorite weapon; no more storm, no more wind, no more thunder. Instead she shifts on top of her bed so she can keep eye on the hurricane outside her window — maybe if she saw the lightning, it wouldn't scare her as bad. Not quite. There's another flash of light followed by loud crackling and Nat almost drops her phone with a gasp. She tries to recompose herself. "Why are you really calling me, Kali?"

[caskalomidze]

"I don't think we do, know. But I do have a familiar face, I find. People are always telling me that."

It's all the paintings, illustrations, epics, poems, sonnets, plays, songs; all the labors of love heaped upon her name and face over the course of eighteen hundred years. It's a strange sort of celebrity, being one of the eldest things to walk the Earth.

Or maybe they know Lana or Viktoria. That could also be the case. She does not acknowledge it.

She looks at the one Nataliya has chosen, pursues her lips, nods.

"You're right - we wouldn't want to be trying too hard."

A sniff then, as she re-racks the other. A sniff that picks up the floral spice of arcane. "Hm." Her brows twist a bit when she still feels eyes on her. "I'm Sasha." She says, turning back to the other. Her expression quirks. "Do you want to see me try it on?"

[nataliyapetkova]

The girl doesn't convince her. Nataliya knows in her gut that she knows her from somewhere. Someone with a life much more normal than hers would guess maybe she's an actress or a singer, but Nataliya would much sooner recognize a prominent middle ages history professor than the world's most popular pop star.

No, it had to be Hunting related. Her brain didn't have space for anything else. Her mind rushed through the list of all the important people she had memorized over the years trying to recall who she is, but she had nothing. Such a young girl too... it was odd. Nat blinked when she realized she'd been staring, "Oh, yeah, sorry, my bad. Go ahead, I can give you feedback. And you can call me Nat."

In reality, Nat wasn't all that knowledgeable with fashion either, but she did have a younger sort-of-sister who was, and maybe some of Gemma's fashion sense brushed off on her. "So, what is the dress for? Big date? Wedding party?" She tried to make conversation to get more information out of the girl. If only she was better at... talking. "You said you wanted alluring... are you looking to impress someone special?"

[nataliyapetkova]

who: @kaliofruin where: kali's estate / asphodel

Nataliya was always someone who liked being on her own, but ever since she was forced to move in with Kali she desperately held on to every moment of solitude — her mental health needed it more than air. So when the storm came and she was given the choice to either stay and watch the estate or follow everyone to Asphodel, she didn't have to think twice.

Although she almost wishes she did.

Nat, for as good of a Hunter as she is, always had one fear, a stupid, embarrassing, good-for-nothing fear: thunders. She could face any vampire on Earth with her eyes closed and she would do it with a smile on her face, but she felt like a child the moment lightning started. Pathetic really.

So now Nataliya finds herself curled up on her bed, hoping for the hurricane to pass as quickly as it manifested itself. Her eyes were closed, trying to block everything that was happening outside of her room when she jumped, startled by sudden flash of light followed by music. Her damn phone. She took a moment to answer it, already know exactly who was calling. "The world is ending and you're still stalking me?"