Log: Complete

[sinfulpride.livejournal.com]

When: April 14, evening
Rating: Teen for blood and violence
Characters: Kurama [banditfox] and Vlad Dracula [sinfulpride]
Summary: After investigating the plant that Girlycard used to torture an apology out of him, Dracula discovers the source to be another resident of Building 3. He determines to exact vengeance on Kurama after a brief exploration of the kitsune's apartment confirms his connection to the plant.
Log:

Dracula had underestimated this Kurama's abilities when he had initially probed the boy's apartment, and was forced to admit that he had made a grave tactical error in so doing. Truthfully, he had not expected that the plants would be so varied, so vicious, or so aware. It was fortunate that he had not ventured past the door himself, and had instead called upon the small, putrid life of the darkest hours to reconnoiter for him.

If he struck quickly enough, the boy would have no time to prepare.

Comments

[banditfox.livejournal.com]

Kurama was content to wait for Dracula. He knew that this one was weaker than Alucard and less prepared to deal with things outside of his immediate experience. However, if Dracula wished to fight him, he would first have to find him ... and that, he would not do unless he ventured into the forest. It was more dangerous to face Kurama here than anywhere else in the City.

[sinfulpride.livejournal.com]

The boy had left the apartment. Dracula frowned in annoyance, but made quick work of finding his intended victim's trail. Kurama only delayed the inevitable. His plants were remarkable, but how would he fare if he was caught away from their protection?

[banditfox.livejournal.com]

Perfect. The vampire was coming, not a hint of hesitation in his aura or his movements. Kurama generally detested overconfident adversaries, but this once, he would delight in making an example of the ambitious nosferatu. Esoteric plant species would not even be required. There were plenty of typical Ningenkai varieties that would serve the kitsune's purposes well.

[sinfulpride.livejournal.com]

He might have been unprepared, but Dracula was not a fool. The significance of the forest dawned on him well before he stepped within its reaches. How far did the boy's control of plants extend? To what sorts and over what range? It was not something Dracula was eager to test for himself.

[banditfox.livejournal.com]

Did the vampire truly think he was safe because he had stopped beyond the shadow of the trees? Kurama snorted at his arrogance and moved further out on the branch he had chosen for his vantage point.

"Good evening, Count. There's no need to introduce yourself. I've seen more than enough films and read your story. I've also had the dubious fortune of becoming acquainted with your counterparts. I'm afraid that I know you far better than you know me. If you would like to call this off, no one would label you a coward. They would probably praise your good sense instead."

[sinfulpride.livejournal.com]

"My intentions do not include letting you go," Dracula countered. He was unimpressed by the figure the boy presented--young, human, and almost feminine in appearance. If not for the odd plants, he would have discounted Kurama as a threat. "Acquit yourself well, and I may reward you."

[banditfox.livejournal.com]

Why did everyone seem to include promises of reward in their challenges to him these days? Kurama allowed himself an exasperated sigh. Roto, Karasu, Yomi ... Each had felt certain of victory, and each had promised a boon of one kind or another if Kurama fulfilled their wishes. He had not allowed them to sway him, and he was not about to be moved by the vampire's offer.

"Acquit yourself well, and I may leave you in a single piece."

As he spoke, Kurama shifted a fragment of his attention to the roots of the tree in which he stood. They shuddered in response beneath the concealing earth, then gave in to his urging. Thick spikes of living wood burst from the ground, the offspring of a hawthorn cutting Kurama had grafted to the base of the tree before the vampire's arrival.

[sinfulpride.livejournal.com]

Dracula had only an instant to dissolve into mist before the improvised stakes impaled him. The boy was clever, but he would not win. Before the night ended, he would be either a corpse or a slave.

[banditfox.livejournal.com]

Kurama tensed as he was forced to track Dracula's movements through his aura rather than the more traditional physical senses. He intended to draw the vampire deeper into the forest, where futher traps had been laid. When Kurama judged the count to be infringing upon a safe distance, he dropped from the tree and ran.

[sinfulpride.livejournal.com]

Had fear taken the boy? Or did he hope to draw his opponent into a place of his choosing, where he felt he held the advantage? Dracula would have liked to believe the former, but there was no smell of fear in the air. It made no difference. His fangs would touch that pale throat, and he would enjoy the taste of his victory. The chase only whetted his appetite.

[banditfox.livejournal.com]

Planted in various parts of the small clearing Kurama had chosen were several plants oft-praised for their virtue in repelling the undead--garlic, rosemary, white ash, rowan, yew ... When Dracula arrived, it was the work of moments to call all of them forth from seed. The rose whip snapped through the air.

[sinfulpride.livejournal.com]

Dracula staggered back as the fumes of crushed garlic and herbs swept over him. Through watering eyes, he saw the boy coil some kind of whip in his hand, and he saw the plants that had been cut into pieces by the odd weapon. The odors that had been released weakened him as surely as a wreath of garlic and a crucifix set at a bedroom window barred him from entry.

[banditfox.livejournal.com]

Unlike Alucard, this Dracula possessed vulnerabilities that could be readily exploited with a basic knowledge of Western vampire folklore. For this, Kurama was grateful. He had a point to make, after all.

"You were warned," he informed Dracula. "If the reactions of my houseplants were not warning enough, then my words at the beginning of this chase should have been."

A pair of rowan saplings twisted like serpents and pierced Dracula through each shoulder.

[sinfulpride.livejournal.com]

The vampire cried out in surprise at the pain, but before he could pull away, the young trees had somehow bent to drive their tips into the earth. Dracula willed his body to become insubstantial, but the pungent herbs and sacred wood that surrounded him ate away his power.

[banditfox.livejournal.com]

"I am not going to kill you," Kurama continued from across the clearing, "because I have no intention of inadvertantly destroying either Alucard. Hopefully, you will learn from this experience and not pursue me again."

Youki flared from Kurama's body, creating a corona that even a common human could see, and he pushed that energy into the roots and trees that surrounded him. A dozen stakes drove themselves through Dracula's body. Their tips emerged bright with blood that dripped steadily onto the forest floor.

Kurama stepped closer to Dracula, and leaned in to speak in his ear. "Should you manage to free yourself, remember that any further invasions of my territory will be met with more lasting consquences." He drew back and dropped a seed at the roots of the sapling that had grown nearest the vampire. "I leave you with the kyuketsu shokubutsu to keep you company."

The kitsune left the vampire to the attentions of the kyuketsu shokubutsu, and spared only a moment to wonder how vigorously the plant would bloom after it had fed on Dracula's blood.