[Open-ish] So what'd I miss~?

[godsandbats]

WHO: Kirk and whoever he may encounter
WHEN: Immediately post-Mission 11
WHERE: Various locations in Etraya
WHAT: Someone comes back after a vacation of sorts alongside Etraya's pets
NOTES\WARNINGS: Please see here for potential content warnings.

After Mission 11 ends, various purple portals open up throughout Etraya. Pets and others animals emerge from these portals and are returned to their proper places. Meanwhile, one purple portal opens up near the Tower of Justice and a bat of a different kind has returned.

Kirk isn't ready to be relieved yet through. He wants to assess first how Etraya is after what sounded like an intense mission.

He's prioritizing the Tower of Justice and any other places where his friends may be to check on them first. But it's possible for others to also catch him while he's flying on the way.

Comments

[will_chase_balls]

"Help...warming up? Do you have a way to do that?"

[godsandbats]

Kirk shrugs.

"If you need a fire to warm you up more or something."

[will_chase_balls]

"Oh! Yeah, a fire would be nice! I didn't know you had anything with you to build a fire."

And as much as his fur helped to keep him warm, fire would definitely help more.

[godsandbats]

"I'll see what I can find," Kirk says. Tapping to his enhanced speed, he resembles a blur as he quickly gathers firewood and leaving it in an area clear of leaves and dry grass. Then he takes two rocks and strikes them over the wood to start a spark.

[will_chase_balls]

"Wow, that was fast."

Sure, he knows vampires are a bit faster than humans, able to come up on an enemy combatant too quickly for them to react, but what he sees Kirk do is far beyond what he's known any vampires back home to do.

[godsandbats]

The funny thing is back home, Kirk's the slowest and weakest Justice League member. But he's still fast enough to dodge bullets so his enhanced speed still serves him well more often than not.

"One of the few benefits to my vampirism," Kirk admits.

[will_chase_balls]

"I have heard some of the vampires back home say it's a pale half-life compared to being fully alive, but...I'm sure there's plenty of benefits other than speed, right?"

He watches, waiting for the fire to get going.

[godsandbats]

"I'm also stronger than a human, have an enhanced sense of smell, and can see heat," Kirk simply says.

The stones strike and sparks come out, igniting a campfire.

"If other vampires struggle with their blood thirst like I do, I can understand why they would call it a pale half-life."

[will_chase_balls]

"Yeah, so all that's really useful! I also have an enhanced sense of smell. It's really useful. I can't do those other things, though! I mean, I'm stronger than most humans, but not all humans."

Compared to Kirk's Justice League, Dwayne's powers really aren't much at all.

"They do struggle with the blood thirst. That's probably why they feel that way."

[godsandbats]

Kirk pokes at the campfire with a branch to ensure it keeps it going for now.

"I also still struggle with it," he says. "That kind of hunger isn't something too many people would want to deal with."

[will_chase_balls]

Dwayne huddles by the fire, shifting back to human as the water dries and flames warm him.

"Yeah. I understand. I wouldn't want to be a vampire, either. No offense. I mean, obviously I feel hunger, too. That's why I eat deer. It's just...what you guys go through doesn't seem the same."

[godsandbats]

"It's not the same," Kirk agrees. "I don't know how it is for the vampires from your world but for me, the hunger is maddening and almost painful if it goes on for too long. It's like another voice in you snarling and growling at you to eat and to give in."

For Kirk, the beast's voice is more controllable now than back in his early days as a vampire. But as long as he's a vampire, he'll always be a beast too.

"If I go too long without blood, I become like a rabid beast."

[will_chase_balls]

Dwayne understands that the hunger of vampires is more of a problem than his own, in large part because the desired prey is specifically people rather than 'anything that has meat', but his description...

"Well, isn't that all hunger, though? Severe hunger, I mean. Of course just needing a snack isn't like that. But the painful, and snarling and growling from within just sounds like the same hunger anyone feels when they need some meat?"

[godsandbats]

Kirk is still appreciating Dwayne accepting his vampirism so he remains patient in explaining. It's understandable as it's hard for non-vampires to imagine.

"It's an extreme version of the hunger everyone else feels," he says. "What I mean by maddening is that if I go hungry for too long, I start attacking people, regardless if they're friend or foe."

[will_chase_balls]

"Right. Well, then I guess it's important you never go hungry. I'll admit, I never let myself get hungry enough that I know what I'd do if I was starving. Karrnath has food shortages, but being what I am, I've always been able to shift and run into the woods. I'd always end up catching something."

[godsandbats]

"Yes, you have more choices," Kirk says. "Animal blood can be a substitute for me but it doesn't sustain me as well as human blood. It's difficult to handle without killing one."

[will_chase_balls]

"Yeah, I guess that's the real difference. Animal meat isn't a substitution for me. It's what I'm supposed to eat."

Sure, it still kills them, but he is fully satisfied.

"At least you have people here willing to donate blood if you ever need it. Myself included."

And he doesn't want Kirk to forget that. Dwayne stares at the fire a moment more.

"I'm warmed up now. Think we should put the fire out and keep going?"

[godsandbats]

"If you're fine now, then yes," Kirk says before he begins to dismantle the campfire and smothering it. "And thank you for volunteering. I'm still not used to anyone doing that for me."

[will_chase_balls]

"Yeah, I'm fine now, but maybe we should find a trolley stop and ride the rest of the way instead of swimming across."

Because Etraya is broken up a lot by streams and rivers, and so they're sure to come across another before they get to Farway.

"I'm glad to help. I think more people should volunteer, since it benefits everyone if we look out for each other."

Kirk gets fed, so he's okay, and he doesn't lose control, so everybody else is safer. It's win-win.

[godsandbats]

Kirk nods and starts walking towards the nearest trolley stop once Dwayne is ready. After flying over Etraya many times, he had memorized most of the landmarks.

“It would be nice,” he admits. “In my world, I’m the only known vampire so most people’s perceptions of them are from horror stories.”

[will_chase_balls]

"Even in my world, people's perceptions of vampires varies a lot depending on their background and religious beliefs. There are definitely people whose attitudes about vampires might not be much different than the ones from your own world," Dwayne explains as he lets Kirk lead the way.

His own knowledge about where things are is much less reliable than Kirk's.

[godsandbats]

"Understandable, considering the unfortunate diet people like myself have to have," Kirk says. "Any place that accepts vampires is surprising, like your religion. It... sounds nice."

At that last sentence there's just the slightest break from his usual monotone.

[will_chase_balls]

Dwayne smiles when he hears the ever so slight shift in tone.

"Yeah. It is nice."

[godsandbats]

Soon enough the trolley stop is within view.

"Have most of the vampires you've met been friendly?" Kirk asks.

[will_chase_balls]

"I haven't met any unfriendly ones, so...all of them."

Of course, that could be selection bias. All the vampires he'd met were priests of the Blood of Vol, so unlikely to be unfriendly to one of the parishioners. He heads up to the trolley stop and waits for it to arrive.