Target Practise

Seraphine strode through the woods until she got further away from civilisation. She needed to focus. It had been too long since she had last trained, and she was out of practise. She had picked up her bow and arrows from where she had left them, outside the gate, and now she tossed her quiver onto the ground, plucking her dagger from the holster on her upper thigh to mark a cross on the nearest tree.

She stood back, making certain it was in the right place, then carved it a little deeper so that she could see it from a distance. She plucked a lighter, longer arrow from the quiver, chosen for its speed and precision, and shot. The arrow landed only a few centimetres from the centre of the cross.

Her mouth twitched in annoyance, and she walked over to pluck it from the wood, standing back to try again. This time it landed in precisely the right place. She gave a satisfied smile, and retrieved the arrow, moving back a few paces this time.

She took a deep breath, closing one eye as she aimed.

Giacinto hummed as she strolled through the forest.

She wanted to try her hand at target practise now that she was feeling stronger.

Since she had ingested Seraphine's blood she had been feeling much better. The Succubus could almost feel the power buzzing in her muscles and the Elf's blood attacking the poisoned blood in her system.

She hadn't felt this healthy and well for hundreds of years.

Of course that small amount of blood wasn't nearly enough to completely cure herself of the Blood Poisoning. But it was enough to kick-start the process. She'd have to search out Sera again in the future to take more blood.

Her head cocked to the side when she heard the thud of arrow piercing wood and she strolled in that direction, clutching the longbow she carried at her side tighter.

Giacinto watched the back of the elf silently (speak of the devil and he shall appear) as she loped towards the tree to retrieve her arrow.

Sera heard footsteps approaching, but kept her sight fixed on the target, listening hard. Light, but long strides. Female, most likely. Giacinto? It could be someone else, but she doubted it. She let the arrow fly, shooting fast and straight to hit the centre of the target. Perfect. She gave a satisfied smile, lowering her bow to turn around and greet the woman.

Yes, Giacinto. Her senses were correct as always, then. She turned, flashing a smile at the other woman. Normally she was not very amicable when people interrupted her when she was practising, but she would make exceptions for a nice-looking young woman. Especially as Giacinto seemed willing to join her in practising archery.

"Nice night for it." she called over, before strolling back over to the tree to pull the arrow out of the bark. She knew that having someone else there would probably distract her, but she did not mind all too much.

"I couldn't agree more."

She followed the woman forwards towards the trees, pulling a thick paper roll from her quiver of arrows.

When she reached a large enough tree - one rather close to Sera's - she unrolled the paper and stuck it to the tree via two small but sharp pocket knives.

The Succubus nearly skipped backwards to where Sera had been standing and notched her longbow with an arrow.

She waited and watched Sera silently. First rule of archery practise, don't shoot until people are well away from your target.

Sera moved swiftly away from the target, deciding to take a break for a moment. Wiping some of the mud off an old tree stump, she sat down, watching the vampire's performance out of the corner of her eye as she pretended to restring her bow. She tested the tautness with an expert thumb.

The elf remained silent for a moment while the brunette notched her arrow and aimed, not wanting to spoil her concentration. Her hands moved to undo and re-plait her hair as she waited for Giacinto to shoot, fingers deftly weaving through the black and white locks.

She flashed the elf a cocky grin as her feet slid apart slightly and she raised her elbow to her ear looking down the shaft of the arrow.

After a few moments of gauging the wind and distance, she left the arrow fly.

It pierced the paper and hit the wood with a dull thud. Exactly centre.

Her grin spread wider across her face. That hadn't taken much effort at all. Nothing like when she had tried to do it weeks prior.

Which means the blood truly was working.

Excellent.

Sera laughed at the cocky grin, crossing her legs. "Show-off." she teased, giving the woman a wink.

Truth be told, she was a little surprised at the vampire's skill with a bow. Most of the vampires she had come across favoured a sword or their jaws as their weapon of choice. Seraphine personally preferred a bow, or, from time to time, a knife. She had an excellent aim when throwing a dagger.

As she continued to plait her hair, her fingers flit briefly over the wound that had been made the first time they had met. It did not hurt, but tingled a little as she touched it. A satisfied smirk flit over her lips slightly as she remembered.

"If you've got it, flaunt it, m'dear." Her eyes ran over Sera's form slowly, burning paths into skin and cloth. "And I have to say, you have a rather nice body. You should flaunt that." With that not-so-subtle hint to get the woman to remove her clothes she returned the wink with a flirty wink of her own and turned back to the tree.

She pulled another arrow from her quiver and notched it. She loved archery practise. It was one of the first weapons she had ever been taught to use. The Succubus wasn't overly keen on close-range fighting. She could use swords and knives and her teeth if forced but she rather preferred arrows or guns.

Her eyes followed the brush of fingers to the small wounds on the woman's neck after she let the arrow fly. "I have to thank you for that." She wouldn't be out here shooting holes in a poor defenceless tree if she hadn't taken Sera's blood.

Sera laughed, willing herself not to blush. She wasn't entirely sure whether Giacinto was being serious or not. "Yours isn't too bad either." she smirked back.

Her eyes followed the arrow as is flew swiftly through the air, finishing the plait to tie it tightly, tossing it over her shoulder.

"It was no problem." Her smirk widened. It wasn't as though she hadn't enjoyed it, after all. Sure, she felt a little weakened now, but that would fade in a couple of days.

"Mine is not without its flaws," was her quiet reply as she notched and shot another arrow. Giacinto was not proud of her body. Or, moreover, the scars that decorated her inner thighs. Long, thick angry whip scars covered the entirety of her inner thighs.

And all for something as menial as cooking.

"You truly have no idea what it is you have done for me. Without your blood I would be on my way to being bed-bound." If not already there.

What? She did not understand, and would not question, but what Giacinto had just said made her stand up, walking over to the brunet slowly. Normally, she would have scorned another leader for seeming vulnerable around her but this... this was different. After a moment's hesitation, she embraced her from behind, a hand stroking along the young woman's cheek to guide her, once again, to the wound on her neck, tilting her head back.

"Then drink again."

She dropped her bow to the ground when arms wrapped around her from behind.

And when she was guided down to the other woman's neck she purred, tongue darting out to taste the skin.

But all she did was place a kiss on the already abused skin before lifting her head. "Not today, lover. You're still weak from our last session."

Sera gave a shiver as lips met her neck, leaning her head back further to allow better access. She tensed slightly in expectation, looking up at the other woman in surprise when no pain came.

"It's not that bad." she reassured her. "I've lost more blood than that before."

"I've also been a lot closer to death before." She patted Sera's arm before pulling away with a small smile.

She turned and wrapped her arms around the woman's waist, pressing her lips against the younger woman's in a chaste kiss.

"Wait until you're stronger before you offer your blood to anyone."

A hand came to rest on the back of the vampire's neck, tilting her head back slightly with the kiss. She licked her lips nervously as the woman pulled away, willing down the redness in her cheeks. Her gaze met Giacinto's with a faint smile.

"Just... promise me you will take it when you need it."

She slid a hand into the other woman's, squeezing it tightly.

The Italian woman gave a small smile and a nod.

"Of course."

And yet even as she said it she knew she was spewing bullshit.

Giacinto was the type of woman that suffered through things in silence and wouldn't ask for help until she was already drowning in her troubles.

She wouldn't let herself get as bad as before. She wouldnt allow herself to become almost bed-ridden again.

Seraphine nodded, feeling slightly reassured. At any rate, if Giacinto was lying, and she saw her looking unwell, she would make her feed. It would not be a problem. She was good at telling when people were unwell. It came with the territory of being a priestess. Most people came to her for healing rituals, and over time, she had come to be able to tell when people were sick. Even if they were particularly good at hiding it.

"Good." she smiled at her.

Her arms wound around the taller woman's waist, embracing her. She did not mind if the vampire read it as simply comfort or something more. She wasn't entirely sure herself.

Giacinto's own arms wrapped around the younger woman and she let out a soft hum.

Her nose nuzzled against the elf's soft hair and the hum slowly formed words. Word's of an Italian children's rhyme.

"Ninna nanna, ninna oh
Questo bimbo a chi lo dò ?
Se lo dò alla Befana,
Se lo tiene una settimana.
Se lo dò all'uomo nero,
Se lo tiene un anno intero.
Ninna nanna, ninna oh,
Questo bimbo me lo terrò!"

She had just been struck with the need to sing that one particular song.


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Translation:
Lullaby, lullaby, ooh,
Who will I give this baby to?
If I give him to the old hag,
For a week she will keep him, ahh.
If I give him to the bogeyman,
For a whole year he'll keep him,
Lullaby, lullaby, eeee
I will keep this baby for me!

She gave a contented sigh, arms tightening slightly around Giacinto's waist affectionately. Her head tilted back and she met the other woman's eyes, smiling gently. "What's that song? It's beautiful."

"It's a children's lullaby." Her lips quirked upwards. "It's meaning is less than beautiful."

She pulled Sera backwards gently until she was sitting on a stump with the elf in her lap.

"The song is about a woman wondering who to give her baby to and how long they'll keep it."

Seraphine chuckled, tilting her head back to press a soft kiss to the woman's jaw. "Well it sounds beautiful anyway."

She toyed slightly with the back of the woman's shirt, nuzzling contentedly into her shoulder.

"Languages we're not familiar with always do."

She purred softly, resting her head on the other woman's shoulder, fingers trailing up and down the elf's back softly.

"Voglio fare sesso con te contro uno di questi alberi," she purred.

Seraphine shivered slightly, hands sliding into Giacinto's thick hair. "Well, I don't know what that means, but it's beautiful." she laughed, a little nervously, toying with the hem of Giacinto's shirt.

She bent her head and purred in the other woman's ear.

"It means I want to fuck you against one of these trees," she whispered huskily, lips brushing the elf's ear softly as she spoke.

The fingers that were running up and down the woman's back moved to rake down her sides and smooth over her thighs.

Seraphine gave a surprised shudder, a soft whimper choking at the back of her throat as her cheeks dusted a deep pink. "Well, I have to say that translation is pretty nice." she grinned back nervously.

Hands hooked around the back of Giacinto's neck, pulling her in for a kiss.