These Tables are Numbered [Dorrance/Ren]

As if on cue, Claes rushed over to cushion Kiara's fall, though it ended up with the two of them falling onto the floor together.

"Kiara, you okay!?" Claes said holding onto her from behind.

Delilah rushed past them just as Dorrance was getting up. A magic circle appeared beneath Dorrance, but she quickly leapt off it. She felt the pull of gravity at her foot, but managed to dodge the binding circle completely.

That seemed to have been Delilah's plan, however. As Dorrance dodged, she'd find the barrel of the rifle aimed right at her. Delilah's eyes narrowed, and for a moment Dorrance didn't see her godfather's affectionate and whimsical sister. No, in those icy blue eyes were a determination to kill. The shot fired.

Dorrance barely had the time to make the quickest of barriers and only succeeded in protecting her vital areas.

Blood splattered as the hot bullet grazed her side. Dorrance bit down on her tongue, refusing to scream lest her voice give her identity away. She fell to the floor, Delilah ready to pin her down, but Dorrance had one last trick up her sleeve.

She fell to the floor, clutching her wound. As Delilah readied another binding circle, Dorrance pulled something from the cuff of her sleeve. It was another glass vial. However, instead of crushing it on the ground, she crushed it in her palm to conceal its appearance.

The glass shattered in her palm, giving her tiny cuts, but the purple smog was almost imminent.

"Crap!" Delilah cursed.

She tried to cover her mouth and nose, but Dorrance sent a knife flying in her direction. Delilah dodged, just barely in the smoke, but it was enough to stop her from blocking the fumes. Delilah fell to her knees, trying to stay up as she cast a spell.

"Don't breathe it!" Delilah said.

The bleeding assailant ran into the hallways.

A larger gust of wind emerged from Delilah, blowing the fog away. As Claes got up and helped Kiara up, Delilah glared at them.

"GO! Don't let that person get away!"

***

Viola froze as Ren spoke. To some degree, Ren was partially sound of mine. Sure she was feasting on a noble's bleeding corpse, but at the same time she wasn't going after the other thing. If feeding would stall for time, maybe that would be better than struggling with keeping her still.

Viola clutched the weapon in her hand and retreated it. She stiffly nodded.

"Fine. But only until Dorrance gets here," she said.

Kiara was surprised when the ground turned out to be much softer than she th-

Oh it was Claes. Honestly she should've recognized her body instan-

Oh wow she should move on from that train of thought. "Thanks to you, I'm fine." She managed to squeak out, moving her focus to the enemy once more as she was set on her feet. She was surprised to see Delilah going for the kill, honestly that would've made her job easier.

She began to move forward when another cloud of smoke burst in the area. She saw Delilah breath some in, but Delilah was quick with another gust. Delilah had barely opened her mouth when Kiara began sprinting after the enemy. Of COURSE she wasn't going to let her get away!

For now, she needed to close the distance before throwing out any spells. The enemy was fighting Delilah before this, and was injured. She had to be struggling by now, at least, that was Kiara's thought process.

--

Ren let out a small giggle as Viola relented, she could take her time then. Actually enjoy the flavor...Still, the rest of what Viola said made Ren pause. She pushed up a moment, her eyes moving towards the corpse she was draining. "Is she...bringing more?" Maybe the woman...That made sense. Dorrance took care of her after all. Without waiting for the answer, Ren went back to her feast. She was almost done with this one...Yet she was still hungry.

It was okay though. There would be more soon.

Dorrance focused her magic on the wound, slowly sealing it. It would stop the bleeding and a large part of the pain, but her degree of magic wouldn't fully heal it under these circumstances. No, for now she needed to get away and find Ren! She knew Viola was on the case right now, but she didn't trust leaving Ren too long.

God, how were the two ever going to get out of this?

Dorrance could hear Kiara catching up to her. From behind, Claes' voice echoed.

"Kiara, wait for me!" she said.

Kiara was definitely a faster runner than Claes and was already making up for the lost ground, but Dorrance wasn't going to let her get there that easily.

Dorrance reached into one of her pockets and pulled out an orb and rolled it onto the floor. This time, the orb would burst into a green mist. The floor would suddenly turn slick and the air sticky. If Kiara wasn't careful, she was going to slip and then stick to the floor.

Dorrance found it odd that traps she had prepared for Ren going wild were going to be used on officers instead.

***

Viola almost shuddered. Ren's lack of hesitance of asking for more "food" just felt so different from the usual fare.

"She'll bring you stuff to make you feel better," she said. "Perhaps...you'd like to finish that meal inside the room. Where no one can disturb you?"

Kiara had a wide smile as she continued chasing the enemy. She was gaining! She would catch her in no time at all! Or should she kill her? Kiara wasn't sure given Delilah's actions earlier.

Whatever she'd figure it out.

Claes calling made Kiara glance back a moment. "Can't! I almost got her!" She honestly WANTED to, but time was of the essence! Especially since the enemy had more traps.

Kiara grinned and gave a small hop, twisting her body as she reached down to touch the tattoos on her leg-

...

Oh fuck.

She'd forgotten about THE STUPID UNIFORM CHANGE!

The poor girl tried to course correct, but only managed to land right on her back in the sticky mist. She let out an angry cry and began to thrash.

"AHHHH THIS UNIFORM IS THE WORST! I SHOULD'VE JUST GONE NAKED." She began to thrash as hard as she could, hoping to free herself at any cost.

--

Ren seemed to relax a bit more as Viola spoke of Dorrance once again. She was bringing something to help. Ren didn't care what it was really, she trusted Dorrance after all...

Then, Viola made another good point. The room was nice...better than the hallway. Ren hadn't considered it before, but there was a chance people would bother her. She just wanted to finish this meal..."That's...a good idea." She nodded, pushing up from the man and grabbing his leg. She would then, unceremoniously begin to drag him back to her room. As she passed by Viola, she glanced at the woman, her red eyes narrowing. "You'll tell Dorrance I'm in there right?" A beat would pass, then she'd continue dragging the body in. Once fully in, she'd get back to her feast.

Almost done...

"Kiara!" Claes called out in concern.

As the green mist spread, Claes covered her eyes.

"Wh-what is this stuff!?" she said as she ran.

Kiara's screams suggested that it was perhaps not the best idea to make contact with the green stuff on the ground. Casting another wind spell to repel the smog, Claes created a Cartic rune platform to avoid touching the ground and leapt ahead of where the slick green spill ended.

"You take care of her, I'm going after the person!" Delilah yelled from behind.

As Claes landed, Kiara would see bright points of light form and spread across the hallway in a single line. A zap of lightning formed and from the end of the hallway, Delilah zipped forward almost as if she was being carried along the electric current. Following Dorrance, the two disappeared as they turned the corner.

Claes quickly started pulling Kiara up.

"We have to hurry," she said. But the two would find that Kiara was still pretty stuck in the slime good. "I-it won't let go!"

***

Viola would watch as Ren dragged the body away. Her eyes narrowed. There was still that woman...if that woman got too far, she'd find the Expiate and...

"Do you promise to stay here?" she asked Ren. "Because I need you to wait for Dorrance while I...d something."

Of course, whether or not Ren agreed to, she was planning on bolting the door closed.

Kiara let out a long sigh as Delilah zipped over her and continued running along, and a small blush made its way to her face as Claes knelt down and tried to help her. She was absolutely mortified to be caught like this. She'd been so cool before and now...Well now she was stuck and Claes was trying to pull her free.

"This is why my outfit would've worked." She huffed, trying not to pull to hard on Claes. It would be bad if she accidentally got HER stuck too...Or..."...What if you pull to hard and my skin comes off?" Her eyes widened a bit. She didn't know what the hell this was, and it WAS on her arms and in her hair..."M-maybe you should leave me for now...That woman had vials on her that unbound my spell from her. Maybe it would work here?"

She sighed, going limp and accepting her face.

This sucked...

--

"Mhmm." Was all that came from the other side of the door. There was no point in going anywhere else at this point, at least in Ren's current mind. She would be finishing her meal just as the door would be bolted shut, and, for the moment, Ren obeyed her promise, pushing the useless corpse to one side of the room before sitting near the foot of the bed, her eyes watching the door hard. Quietly, she held up her hands, still bloody from slashing at the man. She began licking the blood off them. Not at good as the meal, but it would do for now.

She was still hungry after all...

Claes bit her lip. It was true; they didn't know what would happen if they tore Kiara away. But at the same time, was it really a good idea to leave her here alone when everyone was fainting left and right? Not to mention Creepy-Poison-Knife-Person going around.

"I don't feel good about leaving you here," she said firmly. "But you're right. I want you to call for help the minute you think something bad is nearby, okay? I'll come here right away."

She gave one more glance at Kiara before rushing off after Delilah. While she was sure Delilah was more than enough to handle that woman, she was uneasy.

Kiara would be left alone in the hallway for the meantime. If she moved a bit, she would notice the liquid drying out. More minutes passed and she'd hear no news of Claes or Delilah, but she would feel a little lighter. The liquid seemed to be sticking more to the floor now and she could probably pull away from it albeit feeling a slight resistance.

***

"Hah...haah..."

Dorrance panted as she made a turn in the house away from Delilah. She gained enough ground to lose her and make a turn. Now she just needed to hide.

Dorrance rushed towards a door and quietly closed it, still grasping her sore arm. Okay, things had gotten out of plan, but it was still fixable. She could fix this. She could if she were smart about it. Her father had been smart about his "practice" and she was sure she could do the same.

Dorrance heard footsteps just as she leaned against a wall to recover. The door opened. Dorrance quickly grabbed a smoke bomb. When the door opened, she raised her hand, but it was caught.

"Mistress."

Panic quickly subsided to relief.

"Viola..." Dorrance said.

The maid stared back at Dorrance, her expression blank. She looked a little more frazzled than usual, but not by much. Dorrance quickly hugged her.

"Viola, I was so scared..."

She squeezed her tight, but Viola pushed her back.

"Now is not the time, Mistress," she said. "She is still out there. But I have made a bit of a distraction. You need to get dressed and cover your tracks. You need to go to Ren now."

Dorrance's eyes widened.

"Ren...how is she?"

Viola's eyes looked to the side.

"I can't explain, but she's...fed," she said.

Dorrance's heart sunk.

"What?"

Viola looked at her firmly.

"I have no time to explain," she said. "But I have a plan. You just need to trust me on this."

Dorrance nodded.

"Okay...if you say so."

***

As Ren waited by the door, she'd hear a variety of sounds. Gunfire, fighting, spells, running, muffled discussions...she'd still feel hungry but the smell of blood was still faint. At least...it was.

The smell of blood suddenly seemed a lot closer. She could hear a heartbeat.

"Oh my god..." a voice said in the hallway.

It was Dorrance.

The door opened with Dorrance dressed down in nothing but her chemise. Her gown was gone and she looked like she was ready to go to bed. She came in slowly, trying to see where Ren was in the room.

"Ren dear?" she asked.

"Go kick her ass for me." Kiara sighed as Claes ran off. Well this was embarrassing and totally not her fault. Still, it very much sucked to be stuck here like this. Once Claes would out of site, Kiara simply did her best to relax, muttering expletives out loud. Eventually, she began to feel the substance seem to dry. Slowly, she began to pull, making sure she wasn't about to tear her skin off.

The moment it felt safe, she tug hard and try and free herself completely.

--

Through the dim light of the room, Dorrance would see two red eyes staring back at her. There was a moment of pause before a light sigh could be heard. "Dorrance..."

Ren didn't shift from her position, clearly comfortable. She'd wiped or licked much of the blood off her at this point, but the stains on her gown were clear indication of what had happened. "I'm excited to see what you brought." She held out her arms with an almost endearing smile. "Come and join me..."

Kiara would manage to pull herself away from the slick ooze. She'd still feel a thick coat attached to her back, kinda like the feeling of cornstarch and water if you dipped your hand in it, but aside from discomfort there was nothing harmful about stepping up now.

The two were probably up ahead. She could vaguely make out Claes and Delilah talking.

***

It took all of Dorrance's energy to smile as calm as she did. It was clear that Ren had already succumbed, but perhaps the fact she had fed would mean whatever feral state she had been in would soon abate.

"Hi, my love," she said as she walked slowly towards Ren. She tried to gauge Ren's appearance in the little light there was. She could also see a dead body on the floor.

Oh no... she thought.

"Why yes," Dorrance said softly. "I did bring you something. But perhaps I'll show you in the morning. It is quite late, isn't it dear?"

Dorrance's hand was inside the ruffle pocket of her dress, and it was clutching something nice.

"Let me put you abed, dear, please?"

"Eeeeewww." Kiara whined as she clawed at the ooze on her back. She was by no means some prissy noble that fainted at the site of dirt on their nails, but this was some next level gross. She shifted, almost trying to shake off the layer before sighing dejectedly and moving forward.

It wasn't long before she'd caught up to Claes and Delilah. Kiara would appear, looking several kinds of miserable.

"Did ya catch them?" She harrumphed.

--

Ren's eyes lit up as Dorrance affirmed that she'd brought something. She smiled wide, reaching up towards the woman as she drew near. Oddly enough, the smile seemed to only grow wider as Dorrance instead suggested waiting until morning. "Aww love, don't be like that~" She cooed. "I waited patiently all this time, I deserve a reward." She giggled, trying to grasp Dorrance and pull her into an embrace.

"I'll pout if I have too." As she spoke, she tried to trail her hand down Dorrance's arm, moving towards the pocked she'd hidden her own hand in. "Is it in here maybe?"