Path of the Hunters - NSFW

"I began to receive letters back. They told grand stories of mystery and grandeur... Royal blood ran through my veins. I was told that I could be a leader because of it. I was a poor girl, bored of 'er life... I jumped at the chance. I asked 'ooever was writing to me - a name was never signed - to come get me because the local stations knew not to sell me a ticket to anywhere."

"And so begins a time in Hell, huh?"

"Pas exactement... Someone showed up with the Laroche crest on 'is coat. My father demanded to know 'ow 'e 'ad found us, tried to 'ide me away... I do not know what 'appened to 'im and I do not know what 'appened to my mother. But I was taken away.

"Because my father was grand-mere's favorite, I was spoiled. I was treated the way I 'ad always wanted to be: I could do as I wanted when I wanted. It was my first taste of freedom and I loved it until... I dropped a knife onto my foot and this one... It did not go through.

"That is when they realized I 'ad no ability and the moment I was 'ealed, my training began. All of my special favors disappeared and I 'ad to do as I was told. The first thing I learned... Was this ability." She held a blade up, let it fall. It passed through her body, through his lap and clattered to the floor.

"This is when 'ell began."

"It can't be any worse than the experiments done on me, right?"

"There is no comparing suffering." She rubbed her hands together, frowning. "To teach me this skill, they put blades in. My 'ands, my feet, my legs, my... Everywhere that would not kill me, they would stab. I was stuck. Every day they would deepen wounds, create new ones... Every Laroche 'as this ability in their blood. They were not going to let me prove them wrong..."

Nova saw flashes of his own past in his eyes, of the horrible experiments they did on him... He shuddered softly, blocking them out of his mind. "Apparently, you didn't prove them wrong."

She smiled. "Oui. And it wasn't the blades that did it. It was those chains. I 'ated them. They were so angry with me, they began to chain me up in the basement. Punishment, they said, for failing my family. I could not see anything. I could not do anything. One day, they just... slipped off."

Again, the memories tried to flood his mind. They weren't so different after all... "Then what did they do to you?"

"They chained me up again, and I broke free again. Then they began to whip me with the chains to make sure I could control what I was doing. It took me another week..."

He rested a gentle hand atop hers. "Go on."

"The chains passed through me, and they stopped. I was able to 'ave my own bedroom again, but I was able to feel the metal in the room. In the 'ole building. I could feel water running through pipes, I could feel my 'and upon metal as if I was the metal.

"I did not learn that this was unusual until they came at me with a final test. They 'ad someone break into my room and attempt to stab me in the 'eart. I knew 'e was coming before 'e was in the room and I stabbed 'im instead. It was my uncle and 'e 'ad no idea it was coming, so 'e died."

And she had loved it. His blood had slid over her hands, along her arms, pooled on the floor... It had been a release.

"...That's when you discovered your bloodlust."

"Oui. Being in a 'ouse of Laroches, I could kill no one else that night, but they changed my training. I was now going to be an assassin. This I learned quickly. And those bastards did not know what 'it them 'alf the time.

"But I 'ated the orders. I wanted to be free again. So I escaped. I dropped my last name and began to learn the ways of bounty-'unting. It was much more satisfying."

He nodded. "I'll say. That's why I despise the Baudoin family. They call themselves bounty hunters, but there nothing more than glorified soliders, executing given orders.

"The Baudoin's are dedicated, though. I'll give 'em that much, especially since they start with nothing."

"The Laroches are as well. They do as they are told without complaint. Leaving them as my father did... Well, they 'ave not killed me. They leave their 'ome open to me because I do not shame them in what I do."

"Not the Baudoins. The best way to describe their feelings about me... They're the established police force, and I'm the vigilante. I'm making their pockets lighter, and inspiring more of my kind. As long as I'm still around, they feel that it's only a matter of time before half the clan decides to work for themselves. And that's when they sent an innocent girl to kill her cousin."

"They failed," she mused. "Pitifully. And I suspect they will continue to do so."

"'Many failures eventually make a success.' That's what a Elder Jean-Claude told me that after Amile succeeded in capturing me at one point. Good advice, considering I got away shortly after."

Aurélie smiled. "Then keep escaping."

"To what point and purpose?" he asked, growing a little frustrated. "They'll keep comin' after me with their psycho point of view, and they won't stop until either of us is dead!"

She shrugged. "Kill them."

He sighed. "I'm not you. It's not so simple to just take a knife and slit someone's throat. What If that person had a family? What's gonna happen to them?"

"The bounty we catch sometimes 'as family. Sometimes their family loves them. We turn them in anyway. And they are Baudoins. So fake your own death or kill them."

He shook his head. "There has to be another way. The Elder's got some serious skeletons in his closet; a laundry list of crimes and indictments. Maybe if I can bring him to justice... Oh, who am I kidding? It's a child's fantasy at best."

She smiled, licked the underside of his chin. "It is better than being 'opeless."