Mossy Willow

@Kim Minjeong 'willingly' the word echoed in her frenzied mind, it made irene wanted to crack up upon that remark. that was impossible. why would the humans come to vampires without any ill intention? and vice versa. humans and vampires could not live in peace, let alone falling in love. the word alone was disgusting. irene had watched her fellow vampires were burnt alive right in front of her very eyes. by who? by those vile humans. from there, she existed only to avenge the slaughter of her friends. was it wrong? morally yes, but irene cared less. as long as the humans were alive, she would be the last one they see before they closed their eyes forever. a dark and twisted one beneath her bright facade.

it was a completely fruitless attempt to get to her prey immediately as irene watched the frost box turned into opaque, restricting the view of the unconscious guy with more thick layers forming around it. strategy was long gone, every irene's actions was driven by emotions itself. blinded by the thirst. all these attacks was not strong enough to immobilize the other vampire, frustation and exhaustion slowly consumed irene as she watched the other effortlessly defended herself without getting any scratch. irene was too preoccupied with trying to come up a strategy to defeat the other without exerting too much energy, she failed to see the incoming attacks. the moment she looked up to the icicles hovered over her head, it was too late to protect herself and got drowned by a shower of the frozen sharp daggers.

falling on her knees before her slumped form thudded roughly on the ground. it was a good thing that the ice itself numbed her in a way that she could not feel her body except the intense coldness slowly seeping through her veins. before her vision dimmed completely, one last thought ran into her mind. why would the other vampire defend human so badly? what an interesting one. irene took a last look of the frosted walls as her hand trying to reach something and muttered shakily, "i..." then her entire world went pitch black.

@✡︎ Seo Joohyun She stepped closer, her footsteps make a loud clacking sound around the area. "You just did a sacred rite, however I never interrupted you until you're finished with your ritual." Seulgi responded, true to her words, she never interrupt the sacred rites that the other had done. "Therefore, I stand here, watching you do something." She added, the blood of the poor sheep now spilled on an old marbled floor, such precious blood to be spilled on the floor for a sacrifice of one's desire.

"Although, I'm quite curious what you asked for your god of something in exchange of a poor sheep's life." The vampire rubbed her chin, "Judging by the sacrifice you made... Did you only ask for a temporary power?" She teased the other as she chuckled a bit.

@Kang Seulgi Barely getting the blood off her face, the lone matriarch of the Church of the Night moved with deliberate grace within her circle, her hands weaving through the air as she recited an ancient incantation. Bursts of fire came from her fingers, not burning her flesh nor the sycamore tree the professor used as a target. A coy grin played on her lips, satisfied of the result despite her stomach making a somersault from the thick blood she drunk. The elements responded to her call, winds howling softly, while tendrils of fog began to curl around the base of the stones.

As she conjugated the final words, a chill crept through the air, silencing her. In that moment of stillness, a figure emerged from the shadows. It was a vampire, with an elegant posture that belied her nature. "Professor Kang." Seohyun did not flinch, her attention unwavering. "Tonight, I performed a sacred rite. You have no place here." The witch immediately grabbed the golden sword, sheathing it back before anyone can steal still. "It might make you ill." The witch responded, regretting that she said that since the other professor is Cold One. She doubts that the blood of the carcass would have any harm to the vampire, yet she is not so sure.

@Bae Joohyun Having separated the hunter and her prey successfully, Minjeong moved between them to further shield the innocent man. Normally, she wouldn't have any issues with most vampires hunting, as there was an unspoken rule that most of them adhered to. To only take enough blood without killing any human. But of course not everyone followed said rule, especially the lower ranking vampires and newly turned vampires seemed to have difficulties stopping themselves. That, or someone was simply evil and ruthless, their hatred for humans running deeper than anything.

"Unlike you, I don't have to chase people through the woods. They come to me willingly." For Minjeong, it was a different kind of chase, one that often would involve coy smiles, the batting of eyelashes, sweetly whispered words to draw her prey in. By the time she would feed on them, they would already be intoxicated by her charms, the sweet and floral scent of her skin, the promise of an unforgettable night. Except, by the time they woke up, all their memories would have been wiped, the two little puncture wounds by her fangs barely even visible, making most people question whether it all had just been a dream or not.

Noticing how the other's attention drifted back to the poor man lying on the ground, Minjeong made sure to reinforce the ice walls by a few more layers, a simple twirl of her hand behind her back enough to do so, all while her eyes remained calmly trained on the woman in front of her. She could see the annoyance, the anger, the impatience in her eyes, her own lips curving into a smug grin. Good. The more agitated someone became, the more they let their emotions lead them, the more mistakes would they make. Still, the blonde knew that she had to be careful.

Watching stones and boulders being hurled her way, Minjeong still stood her ground, not moving even an inch. If she really wanted to get to the prey, she would have to get through her first. Creating large water orbs in her palms, she would reshape them into sharp ice shards and launch them at the stones and trunks thrown her way, using them as projectiles to shatter them or at least deflect them from their trajectory. It was one of the most basic things she could do with her ice manipulation, barely taking up any energy. Child's play.

Drawing water from the mossy patches on the trees and on the ground, it was now her turn to launch an attack, the blue glow of her eyes only intensifying as she let dozens, if not hundred of ice daggers rain down on her opponent. Not with the intention to really hurt her but to distract her enough to find an opening for her to get closer and subdue her. Although part of her did wish she could just simply kill the other one, Minjeong knew better. It wasn't her place to enforce a judgement on an unruly blood crazy vampire. That she would have to leave to the authorities. But the thing she was allowed to to was to protect herself and other people.

@✡︎ Seo Joohyun Seulgi closed her eyes at the other's action against the poor creature, sacrificed for a ritual, never in a thousand years she heard such cries from a docile creature being sacrificed. She never really wanted to sacrifice such lovely creatures for something valuable, but to this extent-- What is the professor's motives in doing so?

More power? Restoring her youth? or... Immortality?

She clenched her fist at those questions in her mind, she had met witches before, they were powerful as well but they had rituals much cleaner than this, they desire for a long life, Seulgi seen that herself. She sniffed the blood of the sheep and watched as the professor drank its blood. If Seulgi could drink that, it is like drinking a water-- but in her case, since she is a mortal, it would be difficult for her to swallow it.

The vampire sighed and showed herself before leaning against the pillar, crossing her arms and greeted her with a bright smile through the dimmed light of the area. "The blood smells good! Can you share some for me?" She greeted as she interrupted the eerie ambience inside the church. Her eyes glowed amber hues as she looked at the professor.

@Kim Minjeong finally. a fresh blood, a decent one at last. better than animal blood. injecting the venom into his vein as she on his blood but this euphoria was cut short by this ice mage. at least that was irene thought who the other was. water splattering onto her back made her chuckle, it was just like a kid who used a water gun on her until that flowing substance froze and formed a shackle around her wrist. making her losing her grip around the human’s throat, stumbled at the forceful tug around her waist and getting separated fully from her prey.

“,” she hissed sharply, her fangs were dripping with thick blood. irene glanced at the lone figure slumped down on the ground with a thick ice box shielding him from herself. it seemed she was no ordinary mage, but a vampire just like her. studying her rival quietly, normally irene would read someone’s mind to know the weakness but those blue striking orbs, was too distracting in the dark night. she pulled her fangs back into her gums and her lips clean with a smirk.

“did you listen to someone’s “nice” plea when you feed on them? begging you to let them go. helplessly clawing your clothes with their dirty hands to make you stop.” she inquired the other vampire and purposefully laid stress on the ‘nice’ word in a mocking way. “or should i ask you nicely to leave me alone?” she jeered before returning her attention to her prey.

irene gained a little strength from her short feeding time, at least. with that, she managed to conjure one of her abilities, moving objects with her mind. still being in a blood frenzy, irene grew more impatient that she was disturbed when it was her feeding time. she moved the nearest boulder with a single flick of her wrist towards her opponent. another large stones dropping between both of them, making a wall of stones and other trunks, anything that would block the other vampire from stopping irene or shielding her prey. another frantic attempts to shatter the ice box in pieces, so she could continue draining his blood. little did she know, those excessive amount of her power she use, could drain her energy and lose her mind completely.

@Kang Seulgi [Warning: Dark Themed - mentions of sacrifice and blood]
Standing before the altar, she took a deep breath, centring herself as she summoned forth her magic. Tension gripped her heart; it had been decades since her last sacrifice. While it was a necessity in the circle of witches, it left a heavy mark on her soul. She had grown fond of her students, but the essence needed for the forest was not easily found.

But what could be given without losing parts of herself, she pondered as she closed her eyes, familiar faces flashing before her mind—the young, hopeful eyes of her students, their laughter echoing in the hallways of the academy. The thought twisted her heart, yet she knew the consequences of failing the Hecate's demands could be catastrophic, not just for her, but for all those who depended on her protection. Besides, she cannot allow the high priest to return in power. "Forgive me" Seohyun looked down at the black sheep docile, breathing slowly. A tear trickled from the professor's eyes.

Seohyun felt her heart thump wildly in her chest as she swung the golden sword down. In that moment, she remembered her brother, Suho. He was everything she admired—kind, brave, and fiercely intelligent. The memory of sacrificing him was unthinkable, and yet, he had unknowingly stumbled into her moment of desperation. It was a ticking time bomb. A twin but one must defeat the other in order to achieve a fulfilled life.

Blood gushed and sprayed across her white suit when the sharp blade went straight through the creature's neck, decapitating the head from the rest of its body. Seohyun dropped on her knees and the sword hit the blood-stained altar. She intertwined her hand as if in prayer and begun chanting ancient language when a gust of wind, warped around her. Out of nowhere, a beautiful woman clad in a long robe, holding burning torches staring down at the witch from the altar. The woman's feet not even touching the carcass. The shadowy figure floating around and inched her face towards Seohyun. Sound of barking dogs echoed throughout the forest. "Drink." The woman reached inside her robe and pulled a silver goblet containing a crimson liquid then offered it to the witch. Seohyun gulped, taking the cup between her hands and got a whiff of the metallic scent. She gazed up, hesitating but she must do it for her coven. She inhaled and squeezed her eyes tightly, not taking a moment to breath, gulping it down without even giving her brain the time to process everything. Red fluid dripped from towards her neck. "hmmmph!" She covered with a hand, trying not to throw up after drinking the last drop. She returned the cup back to the shadowy figure that soon disappeared, a eerie voice echoed throughout the forest. "Your prayers have been answered."

@Bae Joohyun Of course Minjeong didn't expect the other to simply listen to her threat, knowing that the blood thirst had already clouded her mind, but watching the woman barely even pay any attention to her warning make her feel mildly annoyed as it meant that this would drag out longer than she wanted to. Which also meant that her own hunt for prey this night would be cut short. All because of some rogue turned vampire who seemed to have no control over herself.

As the heavy scent of iron and fresh blood wafted through the cold autumn air, Minjeong let out a soft sigh, clicking her tongue in disdain. He didn't even have particularly high quality blood. The more she smelled it, the more disgusted she felt, her stomach churning at the thought of someone actually enjoying something so nauseating. Served her right. Low quality food for a low life form. For a moment, Minjeong even considered of just letting the turned vampire be, let her enjoy her meal, but of course that wasn't an option. After all, instead of satisfying, quenching the first, drinking his blood would only make her hungrier, make her lose control even more.

"Fine, you asked for it." Clicking her tongue once again, Minjeong lifted her right hand, drawing the moisture out of the air to form into a moderately sized water beam, quickly unleashing it to lash out the the woman clad in black. Aiming for the wrist that was still squeezing the poor man's throat, she quickly let it freeze to form a shackle before she gave the water leash a hard tug to force the woman to let go. If they had been fighting alone, without the human in her way, the blonde would have used a lot more force, more offensive tactics, but for now she needed to get the blood thirsty vampire off of him first.

It took her merely a second to close the distance between them, still tightly holding the other's hand in the ice shackle while her free arm curled around her waist. Although Minjeong had a rather frail build and small frame, she possessed more strength than a normal human which allowed her to yank the other away from the human, before she pushed her away with all her might. Of course it wouldn't do much damage, but it did give her enough time to construct an ice wall around the unfortunate man, practically forming a safe thick layered ice box around him to keep him out of danger while she was dealing with the other.

Once that was done, Minjeong turned back to the other woman, an icy blue glow in her eyes as she bared her own set of fangs. "You should have listened when I asked you nicely."

@Kim Minjeong irene checked herself at the mirror once more, making sure she was completely different than she used to be in the school grounds. donning herself into a black velvet cloak as the outerwear and from head to toe, midnight black clothes that perfectly blend into a dark night. although many years has passed since she turned, irene still struggled from keeping her blood-thirst in check from time to time. unable to satiate her thirst with animal blood in daily basis, she spent almost every weekend outside the campus, looking for a fresh human blood.

going out through the back door that only few people would know about it, she ventured along the quiet forest until she caught a whiff of a sweet blood scent from several miles away. the smell itself elevated her thirst, taking a deep breath, letting the familiar scent of blood invaded all her senses. the corner of her red lips curled up into a ruthless smirk, her upper canines grow into sharp razor like fangs and her previously dark brown orbs turned into dark crimson in color.

“bingo. found one,” or two. never thought tonight’s hunt would be fairly easy, maybe it was because she went out later than she used to. she dashed up close to the targets with the speed of lightning, hiding behind a huge trunk as irene listened to a pair of human couple’s quarrel.

“i can’t believe you cheated on me with her!” a tight slap on something, could be cheek or somewhere else. irene did not care, she just quietly leaned against the trunk, all there listening to their mindless argument with a muted yawn while contemplating on which one she would feed on. the guy or the girl. she made her choice, the one that would be insignificant to the other would be her prey tonight. or perhaps both of them. their blood could last for weeks if irene drained the couple to husks.

“that’s because you were never there for me when i need you!” pft, what a pathetic excuse. irene mused. “screw you, ,” the sound of rustling leaves reached irene’s sensitive ears, indicating one of them has left the other. peeking through the tree, a lone guy was there all alone, without any companion. delicious meal. yet seemed alarmed by a snapping sound of a thin branch that irene unconsciously stepped on. .

chasing for the prey, run and run just like a human ran. those feet would weaken in moments. irene liked the fear on people, she indulged in them. fear looked so good on living creatures like them, screaming for help — looking so hopeless like that. a wicked cackle was emitted. run boy run. not long after, impatience has settled in irene. she completely underestimated this human’s ability to run. bolting towards her target, the young guy was slammed against a nearby tree with irene’s fingers wrapped around his throat tightly, cutting off the flow of oxygen to brain. “you test my patience too hard, boy. i will definitely fetch you in hell, alright?” she flashed a toothy grin, revealing the sharp canines all bare, a horrifying sight before his eyes. she was ready to drain his blood, all of it until an ice dagger was thrown at her, almost hit her head, just few inches away.

she was so hungry yet this irritating creature interrupted her feeding time. irene’s head whipped around to glare at the culprit with her blood hazed eyes. “make me,” she snapped, feral. her grip around the human’s throat become tighter, almost crushing his trachea. surging forward to puncture her fangs on the innocent one’s neck without heeding the empty threat, the fresh blood. a pure euphoria.

@✡︎ Seo Joohyun It was that time of the night where Seulgi casually walked through the Mossy Willow, Seulgi walked along the grassy part of the forest where she could hear the sound of the owls, crickets and the rustle of the leaves. Seulgi is a vampire, darkness is her comfort, she never felt fear as she embraced the darkness surrounding her. While walking, she starts humming a song that her mother used to sing to her when she was only a little, the only difference is she could no longer remember the lines that her mother used to sing to her.

But then she stopped in her tracks when she stumbled an old church within the forest and there she also heard hooves of a horse and the cry of a sheep. Someone must be here. She moved silently and carefully before she sees a familiar figure, her eyes widen as she saw Professor Seo Joohyun. She hides behind the pillars as she sneaked inside, she sees the professor casts a spell... of what? Seulgi tilted her head as she watched what the professor is doing.

@Bae Joohyun Breathing out into the cold night, Minjeong watched her surroundings as she sat high up on a tree, legs leisurely dangling midair. Despite her laxed posture, all her senses were on alert, scouting the area for one unfortunate soul that would fall prey to her tonight. Since she was still fairly close to Castlebay grounds and it was Saturday, there were plenty enough reckless youngsters walking through the deep forests, some using a shortcut that would lead them to a busy main road after a quick 15 minutes walk, some other walking in pairs to get to an infamous clearing that was well known as the perfect dating spot. Especially on a dark night like this, where the crescent moon was barely visible, giving way to stars and their constellations to take center stage.

Just for a moment, Minjeong allowed herself to reminisce, memories of past lives flashing before her eyes, when the skies were even prettier, less polluted with artificial lights and stars shining brighter than ever. She too had once wandered the nights with a warm body hanging onto her arm, laid in soft grass as she pointed out constellations while explaining the stories of their origin. Many years had passed since then, yet each of the fond memories still lived vividly inside of her.

The short moment of calm and peace only lasted for a few seconds though. She could feel it first, that eerily ominous presence, before all her other senses kicked in. The sound of rustling leaves, branches breaking, heavy footsteps running for their dear life, another much lighter set of steps following close behind. Turning towards the direction of the sounds, she could pick up their scents next, a mixture of sweat, shampoo and fear, with a distinct hint of iron. Lastly, she eventually found the two shadows rushing through the woods. It seemed like someone else was on a hunt as well.

Normally, Minjeong wouldn't have cared. But something just seemed off about the whole situation, the scent of blood hanging in the air growing heavier and heavier the closer the two figures were to her. Squinting her eyes, the young vampire soon caught a glimpse of glowing red eyes, her own dark ones widening.

Blood frenzy.

She herself had never experienced it, but throughout her life she had witnessed it several times before. If not stopped, this could become a much bigger problem, especially when they were this close to Castlebay with many of the mortal students still out for a fun night.

Watching their path through the trees for another moment to determine their most likely route, Minjeong soon hopped off her tree, using her powers to create a thin layer of ice underneath her feet to glide over the uneven forest ground to start her chase. Catching up to the hunter, who by now had her prey pinned against a tree, the blonde didn't think much, already pulling water from the air and forming it into a sharp ice dagger before launching it towards the stranger, making sure to miss her head only by a few inches as a warning shot. "That's enough. You better stop now."

[Warning: Dark themed - mentions of sacrifice. Open to anyone]

On a crisp evening, with the moon casting silver rays over the land, Seohyun donned her long flowing cloak. It's fabric glistening with faint magical sigils. She is a powerful witch yet she must live in fear of mortality in any given time. Champion of the Church of the Night, she make way into the Mossy Willow. A place shrouded with in legends and tales of enchantment. The townsfolk spoke of it with reverence and fear, claiming it was the haunt of spirits and creatures forgotten by time. Yet Seohyun was undeterred; the forest held the key to her ambitions. She had a choice to teleport herself with incantations but she rode on a white stallion with a sword sheathed on her waist. Tied to her horse, a poor black sheep being dragged all over the rough path ahead. The creature cried in agony but the good ol' professor unbothered. Seohyun stopped at the riverbed, where an altar made of stone lies. The horse neighed being pulled towards a tree and was secured. "Shush, Prudence." The woman brushed her hands against the stallion's neck. "We must do this for my sake and the others."

Seohyun turned her attention to the sheep and cut the rope, separating the sacrifice from her beloved pet. Open palmed, she stretch it forward and said, "Levo" In an instant, the dark creature floating in the air. The witch twisting her arm as if conducting an orchestra, she softly laid the sacrifice on-top of the altar. She stood near the altar and uttered, "Born with a flawed mind and inferior body, I, Seo Joohyun, a Gemini Twin and daughter of the night, offer you this unholy sacrifice." With that, she drew the sword. The blade made in gold and shimmered when the moonlight kiss it. "Please hear my prayers."